Suicide Jockeys #1 begins a new indie comic series from Source Point Press. Writer Rylend Grant crafts a world that’s full of kaijus and mechas, but still feels rather similar to our own. The mechanical designs by artist Davi Leon Dias are something to behold. Colorist Iwan Joko Triyono makes more than a few elements stand out. Finally, letterer HdE keeps the story flowing smoothly.
Suicide Jockeys #1: More Than Escapist Fantasy
On first glance, Suicide Jockeys #1 looks like your usual escapist fantasy full of mechs and time travel, but it’s actually a series that’s specifically about escapism. “Suicide Jockeys” are the closest thing this series has to superheroes, battling aliens, kaiju, and other threats with their specially designed armored vehicles. But, as exemplified by lead character Denver Wallace, a Suicide Jockey’s life is full of PTSD, burned bridges, and burnout. If anything, Denver seems like he’d rather go out in a blaze of glory. If given the choice to live in a world like ours, he’d rather live in some escape fantasy.
But… what if this fantasy had the chance to fix everything? Suicide Jockeys #1 engages the reader and Denver with an offer too tempting to refuse: time traveling back to the point where everything went wrong for Denver and his crew. Their last job was the first domino in a series of bad events, like the earthquake before a tsunami. Why wouldn’t Denver want to prevent a personally traumatic event when he has everything to gain from it?
Art
Dias’ penciling shows some incredible mechanical designs. The giant robot Denver’s crew is fighting against is a marvel to behold. It’s got a sleek, showy design, and bright coloration by Triyono that tells us more about its billionaire pilot than her actual appearance ever would. Compare this to Denver’s paramilitary unit, which pilots more practical armored vehicles with a darker color scheme. They don’t look too impressive at first, but their combined form, Big Mama, looks like it should be turned into a collectible model.
HdE’s lettering sets the pace of Suicide Jockeys #1. Between the faster motion of the robot battle, and the slower beat of the conversational scenes, the captions and word balloons flow very smoothly. It almost feels like watching a movie instead of reading a comic book.
Gear Up In Suicide Jockeys #1
Suicide Jockeys #1 entices readers with an escapist fantasy anyone in a post-2020 world would want to dive into. Reading Suicide Jockeys #1 feels like experiencing a science-fiction action movie firsthand! Pick up Suicide Jockeys #1, out from Source Point Press August 25th, at a comic shop near you.
Catch and Kill: The Podcast Tapes is a documentary series on HBO that examines the bombshell reporting of journalist Ronan Farrow by adding a visual layer to the story. Along with that new layer is a richly diverse score from composer David Benjamin Steinberg.
In 2019, Ronan Farrow released the book Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators, which recounts the challenges he faced in unveiling one of the biggest stories of 2017. The story was about sexual abuse allegations against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. It was a report that helped make #MeToo a worldwide movement. Farrow followed up the book’s release with a podcast that included interviews with victims, whistleblowers, and other sources for his book.
PopAxiom talked with composer David Benjamin Steinberg about collaboration, the docuseries Small Town News, and adding a sonic layer to the incredible stories at the heart of Catch And Kill: The Podcast Tapes.
Thrive
David doesn’t “remember a time when there wasn’t music in the house while I was growing up. My dad was really into musicals. West Side Story was the holy grail. My mom was a school teacher and a good piano player who played classical music and the American songbook. When I started to write musical features for Ru Paul’s Drag Race, it came pretty easily. I think it was part of my DNA from growing up listening to them.
David’s musical career started “in rock bands and as a session drummer in my teens and into my early 20s in LA. My dream was to be a session musician playing in the studios in LA, but there were so many amazing session drummers when I was coming up…that I just felt like I was never going to be able to make it at that level, so I started focusing more on writing and producing.
The switch to composing happened gradually and began with an “opportunity to write music for advertising,” he says. “I developed a good client in ad agency Chiat/Day; they were famous for creating the 1984 Apple spot. They were arguably the best ad agency in the world at that time. So I did a couple of things for them, and it led to a fairly long relationship.”
“I liked the whole dynamic of that,” he adds about working in the ad business. “I learned how to work with a creative team, how to come up with music concepts to tell a story and compose really tightly to picture. “The collaborative process is something I really enjoy.”
About Catch and Kill: The Podcast Tapes
David became a part of the Catch and Kill-team through a longtime working relationship. “I’ve worked with the owners of World of Wonder, Randy Barbato and Fenton Bailey, for close to a couple of decades. They approached me about writing the music for an HBO version of Ronan Farrow’s audio podcast series that they were directing.”
“I started by listening to the podcasts,” he says about his preparation for the project. “I went through the series and got familiar with the episodes that we were going to be working on.”
As with any project, David’s job in creating the underscore is to “Support the story,” but he adds, “I just really didn’t want to f*ck it up.”
So, how did choosing to tell the sonic story occur? “There is a lot of dialogue in a podcast of course, so it was about discovering how big the score was going to be. Initially, I sold the directors on my writing minimalist cues without many melodies, I wanted the podcast’s voices to be the lead lines. But as the edit developed, we felt like it wasn’t enough, so the music became more prominent, and I started adding more melodic layers. In fact, once I wrote the title theme, we started using that as a motif to thread throughout the stories. So we ended up making the theme a strong element of the score.”
However, finding that perfect balance is a tricky game. Collaborations involve time and toiling. “Going back to what I learned in the ad business, we had HBO and their team weighing in about cues which they felt were too aggressive and wanted something more understated. I think the directors felt this was a TV version of a podcast, and it needed more ‘oomph’, so it was about finding that common ground that makes everybody happy.”
“As the episodes go on,” he explains, “the series shifts into a real spy thriller, so I wrote cues that supported that part of the story. I used a lot of analog-y sounding synths and the score took on a bit of a Vangelis vibe in spots.”
Small Town News
Catch and Kill isn’t the first World of Wonder production for David, and it wasn’t going to be the last. The longtime collaborators brought another project to him — Small Town News. “I had done another documentary for HBO about Heidi Fleiss over ten years ago that took place outside of Vegas in a small town called Pahrump. While shooting there, the directors came upon a small, independently owned television station called KPVM. They got to know the people that worked there and wanted to do a documentary series on this entrepreneurial TV station that was a fish-out-of-water story with a diverse gaggle of employees trying to grow their business.” I must be the only composer around to have done two HBO docs taking place in Parumph, Nevada!
David worked on the music for the pitch to HBO and joined the crew after the green light. “It’s a docuseries, but it plays like a comedy.
Like any project past, present, or future, it’s “about finding the appropriate tone,” he continues, “we didn’t want it to feel like a reality show. We didn’t want it to feel like we were laughing at the people in this small town, and It had to have a rural feeling to it. It’s Pahrump; it’s not exactly a big city.”
“In the same way as Catch and Kill,” he says about the process, “you start to write, and you get closer and closer to finding the tone that captures the players and helps tell the story.”
Despite a rural setting, the music finds its roots through a composer from a faraway land. “Some of the music was inspired by a Vivaldi piece that I discovered. I ended up using organic instruments like mandolins and guitars, which had the effect of elevating the comedic moments. It had a whimsical tone to it that never poked fun at the subjects.”
“I’m proud of the theme,” he declares, “because it was inspired by the old News of the World film Newsreels. A sort of morse code motif that works its way through.”
Here’s A Story
David scored a project that’s wildly different from the other two discussed today. “It was fun,” he says about Ru Paul’s Drag Race/Brady Bunch crossover. “They recreated an iconic Brady Bunch episode, pretty much shot for shot.”
The Brady Bunch featured a famous theme song but also an underscore from legend Frank De Vol. “De Vol’s orchestrations and comedy sense are so sophisticated. It was impressive, and a little intimidating going back and listening to his work.”
“I recorded our new cast members singing the original theme,” he explains, “The underlying cues I composed inspired by the vibe of the original music. About a third of the rest of the score was licensed from the original 1960’s broadcasts, and I re-recorded the master tracks.”
Wrapping Up
David grew up on a healthy dose of a lot of music from around the world. But he says without a doubt, “My idols were the Beatles.” He adds, “I went through my heavy jazz period, too.”
“Film score-wise,” continues, starting with one above all, “Bernard Herman has been my main man since I was very young. I was obsessed with the Ray Harryhausen movies that he scored, like The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. I still watch those. I love Mike Abels and Thomas Newman. Trent Reznor is doing incredible stuff of course and Cliff Martinez.”
“Working with the Coen Brothers,” he says about a dream project, ” their films with Carter Burwell are favorites of mine.”
But for David, he’s living the dream. “I feel lucky that I am keeping busy with a fun mix of projects. I’m always inspired by new bands and new music…this is a golden time to be writing for TV.
Are you watching Catch and Kill: The Podcast Tapes on HBO?
Thanks to David Benjamin Steinberg and Impact24 PR
for making this interview possible.
Free Guy is the best video game movie to date and feels like it combines Ready Player One with Grand Theft Auto. A unique premise that delivers humor and a surprisingly clever love story. The film’s high concept may never reach its full potential, but what it does in between brings an engaging experience for families and die-hard gamers. Free Guy is a hilarious ride that relies on internet culture to catapult itself to the top as a must-see summer hit.
The life of an NPC (Non-Playable Character) can be difficult in the world of video games. Online players can be cruel and you have no control over them. Free Guy examines the gaming experience from the perspective of a highly intelligent NPC. Directed by Shawn Levy and written by Matt Lieberman and Zack Penn. Free Guy stars Jodie Comer, Lil Rel Howery, Joe Keery, Taiwan Waititi, Utkarsh Ambudkar, and Ryan Reynolds. The film centers on Free City, an open-world video game where Guy (Reynolds), an NPC who discovers his status and uses the knowledge to save his world from the game creators.
Free Guy handles humor, action, romance, and its brief social commentary quite well. Never filling overstuffed with an uninteresting romance angle, and provides several likable characters audiences can root for. Outside of Free City, we have Millie (Comer) and Walter (Keery) as the film’s protagonists. Both worked together to develop a game called Life Itself, and its code was stolen by Soonami Games to create Free City. While attempting to expose the truth, Millie’s adventures in Free City as Molotov Girl creates a problem. Penn and Lieberman’s screenplay truly is thought-provoking, having the narrative carried by an NPC is bound to make gamers reconsider the value of these characters.
Guy works as a bank teller, gets robbed daily, and goes through the motions of life. His encounter with Millie unlocks the intelligence that becomes useful in getting Millie and Walter the recognition they want. Free Guy taps into its emotional/romance aspect once Guy discovers he isn’t real, so it sends him on a downward spiral. It’s a difficult moment to sit through at times because he has become a viral sensation that audiences are sure to grow attached to. The commentary on online trends and their influence speaks to the current internet culture.
Reynolds delivers a heartwarming performance as Guy. His uplifting voice mixed with childish innocence makes the character easy to care for. The chemistry between him and Comer amplifies the romantic attraction Guy has towards Millie. Comer is a scene-stealer every time she’s on-screen, her online persona seems to speak to the inner strength she hopes to possess. Keery’s portrayal as Walter, who works with Soonami to expose his stolen codes, is adequate. He’s the romantic interest Millie doesn’t recognize so audiences will feel for his character.
Levy makes the film energetic and fast-paced for most of the runtime. The pacing never feels like it’s dragging because of the well-written characters that are carrying the narrative. Free City is a visually stunning creation to watch come to life through the perspective of Guy. Its larger-than-life landscape is a great escape from the reality, Millie and Walter, deal with. Christophe Beck’s score assists in elevating the film’s romantic moments, as well as the more action-packed sequences. During Free Guy’s finale, Guy’s race to expose the truth about Free City will have audiences on the edge thanks to Beck’s tremendous score.
Free Guy is a video game movie experience that needs to be seen on the big screen. If you find yourself feeling bad about NPC’s you’ve killed in the past, then the movie has effectively gotten its point across. Reynolds is giving one of his best performances here and families of all sizes will have fun in the world of Free City.
Aisling Bea’s This Way Up has returned for a second season on Hulu in the US and Channel 4 in the UK and Ireland. The second season looks at the issues and relationships facing two Irish sisters in London.
Aine (Bea) is now in a relationship with Richard (Tobias Menzies). She gets an offer from her boss, James (Ekow Quartey), to start a business. But her relationship with Richard could raise a complication for her business. Shona (Sharon Horgan) prepares for her wedding but has to deal with the fallout of having sex with Charlotte (Indira Varma).
The second season of This Way Up can be described as decent if unremarkable television. It falls into the trap that many dramedies do where the drama overshadows the comedy. The focus of This Way Up was Aine’s struggles with mental health and Aine and Shona’s relationships. Aine and Shona were both navigating minefields throughout this season.
Shona had the most interesting storyline of the season. She was alone for most of the season because Vish (Aasif Mandvi) was in New York City and her relationship with Charlotte with fraught. The two women had to work together but tensions remain since Charlotte felt like Shona ditched her. Shona had to repair her relationship with Charlotte and maintain her engagement with Vish. It was a ticking time bomb that lingered over the season.
Aine’s story was about her relationships. She spent more time with Richard, James, and Bradley (Kadiff Kirwan). They all ended up being interlinked. Aine was dating the father of one of her students which led to complications with her boss. As the series progresses Aine gets closer to Bradley: she helps him during a fundraiser for the Windrush generation and Bradley supports Aine during a tragic event in the season finale. They could get even closer if there’s a third season.
The other relationship in the season was between Aine and Tom (Ricky Grover). Tom doesn’t appear until the fourth episode but their interaction became significant in the season finale. The impact of his actions forces Aine to reflect on her past and does make some important actions for her future. It was one of the best episodes the series has produced because it felt real when handling the issues presented.
The third episode was also a strong entry in the series. This episode focused on Aine and James making their business plan and Aine feeling she wasn’t being supported by her sister. The second half of that episode was relatable as Aine struggled to write a revised business plan and suffered from a depression spiral.
The comedy in This Way Up’s second season can be best described as light humor. The comedy came from witty exchanges between the characters, particularly between Aine and Shona. Some of the most notable exchanges were the first scene where Shona and Aine go into a sauna, when the sisters try to embarrass Vish during a video chat, and when the pair visit a bridal shop. But it wasn’t a show that produces belly laughs, more small chuckles.
This Way Up is a show about its characters and interactions. Aine and Shona had strong character journeys due to their relationships. But it was a show that suffered from some lulls.
From writer Shayne Berryhill (Chance Fortune and the Outlaws) and artist Mattia Monaco, and co-created by Alex Ogle and colorist Maja Opac, comes an all-audiences friendly Kickstarter graphic novel of massive proportions. Jacin And The Olympians is an immensely ambitious and entertaining read with tons of lore and infectious energy. With outstanding visuals and an intriguing setup, Jacin and the Olympians will be the Kickstarter to back before its release.
“In the near future, the titans of myth return, revealing the dark, alien truth behind their legend. The remnants of humanity escape aboard the Olympia, a spacefaring ark. Now, teen prodigy Jacin Mukai and her fellow Olympians search for a way to activate the robot Colossi, hoping to unite them to create their one hope for survival against the titan menace–the giant robot protector, Talos.”
*Critic’s Note*
I received a preview version of Jacin from the author. While it is a solid representation of what the graphic novel will be, it is not a finished product. I intend to appraise this book based on what I’ve seen and give my opinion on its current quality and how entertaining the finished product will be.
Writing & Plot
What Shayne Berryhill and Alex Ogle have created here feels like a mixture of a YA novel and a Toonami-era anime. Jacin and the Olympians’s opening sequence is exhilarating and is a familiar yet engaging introduction to the world and stakes. The fusion of Greek mythology and sci-fi/space opera is a delightful new experience. Jacin herself is a great young protagonist. Berryhill takes many of the gifted child tropes and throws them in a blender to craft a driven mad-genius of a teenage hero.
The Percy Jackson meets Star Wars meets Voltron feel emanates through every aspect of this book’s writing. This creates a couple of problems. First, there is a massive amount of lore and backstory that the reader is just thrown into. Second, each segment of the book was separated by an unspecified time jump that introduces new characters and concepts with no introduction. Again though, I received an unfinished preview version. This could easily just be an issue only I ever see. Regardless, the unique blending of mediums and styles keep this a delightful read on the storytelling side.
Art Direction
The most obvious draw upon first glance at Jacin And The Olympians is the incredible artwork. Mattia Monaco and Maja Opac create a visual experience that is stunningly detailed and energetic. Monaco’s pencils are reminiscent of the likes of James Stokoe or Daniel Warren Johnson. There’s an obvious manga/anime influence in his work. This makes itself especially apparent in his character and environmental designs. Every surface is laden with crosshatching, which gives it that 80’s worn future aesthetic. This is not to say that Monaco’s work is purely manga inspired. On the contrary, it’s a perfect fusion of eastern influences and western art direction.
Monaco’s character designs are intricately drawn love-letters to this comic’s named influences while still staying unique to this story. The massive blend of mythologic and space opera visuals are neatly tied together by the artistic vision. Monaco fuses 80’s-esque geometric designs with elements indescribably alien. His characters are expressive and all uniquely drawn in a way that will make them instantly recognizable in a crowded panel.
While much of the preview I received wasn’t colored yet, there was enough work completed that I can honestly say Maja Opac’s work here is equally spectacular. She matches Monaco’s aesthetic language by utilizing a dark vaporwave styles color palette. There are dark pinks and purples on almost every panel, punctuated by darkness. This creates the almost inescapable feeling of claustrophobia when living on a spaceship. This is interrupted however by the brightness the characters bring. Jacin herself is a sort of unspoken beacon of hope and progress. She lights up every panel she’s in. This could be a totally accidental effect, but regardless it is a delightful detail. This graphic novel has an infectious visual energy that is worth the price of admission on its own.
Verdict
Jacin And The Olympians is a unique and immensely enjoyable graphic novel. Shayne Berryhill and Alex Ogle have crafted a story that anyone can enjoy. This comic takes concepts from mythology and timeless space operas, wraps them in a Saturday morning cartoon and manga wrapper and succeeds in spades. The visuals from Mattia Monaco and Maja Opac are full of thoughtful detail and booming energy. This is a Kickstarter well worth backing, so make a pledge by September 12 to reserve a copy!
Gambling has been a popular source of entertainment in the real world for years, with fans enjoying everything from Canada casino games to wagering on sports. The industry has also managed to make its way into fiction through numerous TV shows and films, which have also inspired more interesting titles. Here are some great fictional gambling games that you might see in different films and television shows.
Triad in Battlestar Galactica
Battlestar Galactica is among the best sci-fi TV shows of all time. The show is about a battleship “the Battlestar Galactica” and a spacecraft carrier searching for a new home for the last 50,000 humans surviving after a devastating nuclear attack from a cybernetic race known as Cyclones.
Triad is the game played by the Battlestar crew and the other survivors on the ship. The game features a 52-card deck with numbers and suits, which makes it similar to poker. However, the highest winning hand in Triad is “Full Colours” and it uses hexagonal cards.
Poker in In Time
“In Time” is another interesting sci-fi movie, where time is used as the currency and everyone has an individual clock to count to their death. In this film, Justin Timberlake (Will Salas) visits a casino where he wins a millennium in time, greatly extending his life. The movie only shows the part where Will plays against the ultra-rich Philippe Weiss, although the hand is a bit preposterous – even by movie standards.
Sabacc in Star Wars
When it comes to popular sci-fi gambling games, Sabacc remains largely unmatched. The game is widely referred to in the Star Wars franchise and it’s thanks to this epic game that Han Solo managed to get the Millenium Falcon when playing against Lando Calrissian.
Looking at how the game works, you can tell that sabacc is incredibly similar to blackjack. The game features 76 cards, with 60 distributed evenly across four suits and 16 special cards, each with numerical values. To win, the player must get a total of 23, when the value of their cards is added up or be as close as possible with exceeding the number.
Dabo in Star Trek
To date, Star Trek remains among the most popular science fiction TV shows, expanding to other media, including video games, films, comics and more. Dabo is quite popular in the Star Trek universe and it’s evident that the game is highly inspired by roulette. The game features multiple reels with various slots and the winner has to shout “Dabo!”.
Hunger Games Sports Betting
While it’s quite normal for people to bet on boxing, martial arts, football and other sports, the “Hunger Games” movie features another type of betting. This action-packed movie features a scene where the viewers of the “Hunger Games” wager on the death or survival of the participants. However, the implementation of this gambling scene in the movie has great attention to detail.
Conclusion
Mixing gambling and movies is an extremely popular crossover that has worked many times, helping to achieve huge success in the entertainment sector. The awesome environment and the thrill of casinos is a great opportunity for movie producers to add while creating films, whether it’s sci-fi, action or romances.
THE UNITED STATES OF CAPTAIN AMERICA #3 hits your local comic book store August 25th, but thanks to Marvel Comics, Monkeys Fighting Robots has an exclusive four-page preview for you.
About the issue: The shield thief targets a cultural landmark in Kansas, hoping to put a permanent stain on Captain America’s image. Sam and Steve are hot on his trail — and aided by Joe Gomez, the Kickapoo Tribe’s own Captain America! But there’s more to the thief’s agenda than meets the eye. Are the three Caps headed straight into a trap? And do they have any other choice?
The issue has two stories in it: The first story is by writer Christopher Cantwell and artist Dale Eaglesham, while the second story is by writer Darcie Little Badger, penciller David Cutler, and inker Roberto Poggi. Both stories are colored by Matt Milla and lettered by Joe Caramagna. The cover is by Alex Ross.
Marvel is celebrating Captain America’s 80th anniversary with this series, showcasing Steve Rodgers, Sam Wilson, and five new characters who have taken up the Cap mantle to protect their communities. Cantwell and Eaglesham take the lead on the series, while a rotating team of creators is telling the stories of the new Captains.
Check out the THE UNITED STATES OF CAPTAIN AMERICA #3 preview below:
Are you reading THE UNITED STATES OF CAPTAIN AMERICA? Sound off in the comments!
GIRLS OF DIMENSION 13 #5 hits your local comic book store August 25th, but thanks to AfterShock Comics, Monkeys Fighting Robots has an exclusive four-page preview for you.
About the issue: The dimensional war comes to a head as Abby and the girls face off against Abraxis and his army of demons, with 13 universes in the balance! Can the girls prevail against these odds? Perhaps with a little help from their friends…
The series is by writer Graham Nolan and artist Bret Blevins, with colors by Gregory Wright, and letters by Carlos M. Mangual. The cover is by Blevins and Wright.
Check out the GIRLS OF DIMENSION 13 #5 preview below:
Are you reading GIRLS OF DIMENSION 13? Sound off in the comments!
Writer Ricky Mammone and artist Max Bertolini team up for a heavy dose of neo-noir action in Second Chances #1. With DC Hopkins on letters, this first issue debuts a generic but entertaining plot and bolsters it through sheer stylistic drive. With solid narration and outstanding visuals, Second Chances is off to a damn good start.
“Second Chances Hotline—call now and get a new identity! All you need is some cash, a proper referral, and a very good reason to start over. When Leblanc, the man behind the hotline, is approached by a shady figure from his past, he’s forced to accept a new client who doesn’t meet any of the requirements—a client with chemically induced amnesia in desperate need of protection.”
Writing & Plot
The script for Second Chances #1 is a good example of taking a well-worn concept and dusting it off well enough to keep it engaging. Ricky Mammone’s script isn’t going to surprise any neo-noir fans. The entire “second chance at life” fixer angle in a crime story isn’t new. However, there are some refreshing elements that keep this story exciting. Mammone glosses over Leblanc’s life and past, making for true noir goodness. His story interweaves with the b-plot following our main secondary character (no spoilers). The overall plot development is well-conducted and makes the audience do a bit of headwork to make sense of events.
Mammone manages to take predictable plot beats and make them engaging enough to stay intrigued. Stylistically, he knows how to let the art speak. There are numerous moments where the script just lets the visuals do the storytelling via good direction. Mammone’s external and internal dialogue uses just the right amount of genre-influenced and stylized cheese to really sell the noir experience. This script won’t be breaking any boundaries in the genre but it’s a fun enough ride to keep things interesting.
Art Direction
The real selling point for Second Chances #1 is the astounding visual work from Max Bertolini. The artist’s heavily inked black and white panels are stunning and atmospheric, making for the perfect setting to place this noir tale in. Bertolini immaculately crafts details with almost labyrinthine precision. You can get lost in the penciling and inking done on every page. Character designs and animations are all unique and instantly recognizable. Each person is designed with striking features, such as Leblanc’s hair or some mysterious hitwoman’s tattoos.
The city environments look incredible and threatening. Bertolini takes a classic noir design mechanic by making the urban environment look actively menacing. The action sequences are phenomenal as well, with character movement and gunfire exploding through the panels with kinetic force. The lettering from DC Hopkins fit the noir atmosphere perfectly as well. His italicized, rough font reads like you would imagine noir dialogue to sound, like it’s coming from a 1940 microphone. The entire visual experience of this comic is outstanding.
Verdict
Second Chances #1 is written well and beautifully drawn. Ricky Mammone’s script is entertaining and well paced, doing just enough to keep itself separated from the neo-noir genre. Max Bertolini’s visuals are gorgeous, with some of the most striking art seen in any comic this year. Be sure to pick up this comic when it hits shelves on 8/18!
Dark Horse’s Black Hammer: Visions #7 has a brilliant message at its core. Unfortunately, the whole issue gets muddied by a lot of confusing meta devices, and ends up not making a ton of sense. That said, it’s hard to fault writer Cecil Castellucci, artist Melissa Duffy, colorist Bill Crabtree, and letterer Nate Piekos for this issue falling flat. That’s because this issue revisits one of the very few moments from Black Hammer that just didn’t work. So, to really talk about why this issue struggles to deliver, we need to take a little detour and talk about why it didn’t work the first time, in Black Hammer: Age of Doom #6 &7, a two-parter I’ve come to refer to as Black Hammer‘s “Limbo arc.”
All the Way Back in Black Hammer: Age of Doom #6 & 7…
There was a lot to love about the “Limbo arc” in Black Hammer: Age of Doom. Not only did writer Jeff Lemire, and guest artist Rich Tommaso, create a brilliant cast of “forgotten characters,” but they got to joyfully employ old, cheesy narrative devices. It was a taste of retro comics with a twist. A huge influence on the arc, it seems, was Grant Morrison’s Animal Man. But unlike the jaw-dropping finale to Animal Man, the “Limbo arc” ended on a note that was just… silly.
From BLACK HAMMER: AGE OF DOOM #7. A meta device ought to add to the story being told in one of two ways: it should bring real life into the comic book world in a literal or figurative way.
Escaping Limbo finally, Colonel Weird, Inspector Insector, and Golden Goose climb out of Jeff Lemire’s ear. Lemire, as a character in the issue, stands on a barren landscape. Pink clouds cover his face and he’s standing shoulder to shoulder with a whole slew of other writers/artists. It seems that Lemire wanted the meta twist that happened in Animal Man for Black Hammer. But unlike Animal Man, the seeds had not been sown. This twist came out of left field. And even worse, it wasn’t actually very meta. Lemire didn’t write himself into the comic as he actually is. He was a statue, there as some confusing plot device but nothing more. The meta commentary was lost in the details. Lemire appeared as the silent “Creator” and had nothing else to offer the story.
The very purpose of a meta device is to say something about reality. That’s what makes something meta in the first place. But this issue had nothing to say in a literal sense — the appearance of the creators wasn’t realistic enough to — and it has nothing metaphorical to say beyond “creators create.”
From BLACK HAMMER: AGE OF DOOM #7. Not only is this scene too strange to take literally — clearly creators don’t stand around in clouds like this — but it has nothing figurative to offer the story beyond “creators create art.” Seems like an obvious point.
Writing
Black Hammer: Visions #7 inherits all the weaknesses of its predecessor. The meta commentary is garbled and confusing. Not only does Castellucci employ far too many “meta” devices — characters refer to “call sheets” and “communicators” through which they’ll be “called up to the main story,” characters rip through pages and dodge pens, writers and artists show up among the characters with inkblots for faces, the giant eyes of creators look through windows — but the devices used often don’t feel like they have a literal or figurative meaning. It also complicates some of the existing stories we already know. Golden Gail is seen pulling back a page and addressing a writer, yet nothing about her character in any other appearance suggests she knows she’s a comic book character.
That said, Castellucci still manages to make a point with this issue. Black Hammer: Visions #7 is about being underestimated. It’s about what someone is capable of when no one else believes in them. It even seems to be about glass ceilings and misogyny. Though the vast majority of the characters in this issue are women, it’s hard not to notice that our main character, Ms. Moonbeam, is a woman who is punished for her ambition. She’s created to be a refrigerator woman. It’s a brilliant commentary that’s hidden in what is unfortunately an overstuffed and confusing script. But much of that was simply inherited.
Art
Duffy’s art style often feels messy and scribbled onto the page. Sometimes, this effect works perfectly. When a giant being comes out of a portal to Hell, Duffy’s design is exactly what is called for. But in characters like Grizzly and Golden Gail, their style sometimes feels like a couple drafts from being complete. It’s entirely possible, though, that that is part of the point. For one thing, this is an issue about early drafts of comics. And Duffy’s art evolves in this issue. They begin by showing Ms. Moonbeam in panel that looks a little rushed. But by the end of the issue, she looks fully formed. Moonbeam’s outlines are neat, her proportions are right. She becomes a real comic book character.
Coloring
It’s not surprising that a comic with a character like Ms. Moonbeam would be so colorful. But Crabtree really plays with that concept. For one thing, when we first see Moonbeam, she’s experiencing the most relevant moment of her life. Colors swirl around her and she looks alive. Then, as she and the other inhabitants of limbo discuss it for years and years, trying to hold onto the relevance they felt, the table and walls around them fade more and more. Moonbeam’s life becomes rather monochromatic, until her explosive return to reality.
Lettering
Piekos’ letters are brilliantly done. As Inspector Insector and Ms. Moonbeam discuss their time with Colonel Weird, something occurs to Moonbeam. Insector describes what a big part he played and how he’ll surely be part of the main story soon. But, in small lettering, Moonbeam simply says “It was a cameo.” The font size tells us she says it more to herself than anything else, telling us so much about her self-worth in that moment. And later, when she auditions for a group of creators, Piekos lays out the steps across the page. The little labels for each of them look like they’re written on a typewriter, reminding us again that Moonbeam is a comic book character and nothing more.
Dark Horse’s Black Hammer: Visions #7 is a difficult read. It retreads the rockiest part of Black Hammer‘s history, and has no more luck making any sense of it. Despite all of this, this creative team does manage to say something worthwhile with this issue. Their meditation on glass ceilings and refrigerator women hits its mark. Unfortunately, it has to dodge a lot of clunky “meta” devices in order to get there. Pick up Black Hammer: Visions #7, out from Dark Horse August 18th, at a comic shop near you!
