Review: Expanding The World With THE POWER OF THE DARK CRYSTAL Volume 1

The Power of the Dark Crystal Volume 1 collects the first third of the magical journey into a familiar world wrought with new dangers. Drawing on inspiration from the much loved children’s film of the 1980’s, the collection is a pleasure for fans as well as those new to the franchise.

If you have a little extra cash left over from Christmas, then you can treat yourself to one of a number of trade collections that are being released this week. One of the most interesting, if you haven’t already read it in the monthly format, is BOOM! Studios The Power of the Dark Crystal. This is especially relevant as Netflix has started to leak out details of their upcoming prequel TV series based on the 1982 Jim Henson Movie.

The Story

For those who don’t know, The Power of the Dark Crystal is loosely based on a script written for an unproduced sequel to the original movie. The planned movie had a number of problems in pre-production and never really got off the ground, However, BOOM! Studios have the publishing rights to the franchise and over the years have put out a number of short stories set in the Dark Crystal universe.

The Power of the Dark Crystal, helmed by Simon Spurrier (The Dreaming and Motherlands), Kelly and Nichole Matthews (Lumberjanes/Gotham Academy), and Jim Campbell, is set 100 years after the Great Crystal was healed and Thra began to prosper. The glowing light of the Great Crystal was once more allowed to heal the land, free of interference from the Skeksis and Mystics.

Into this seemingly idyllic world a Fireling springs, searching for a way to save her home. In her wake is chaos and fear. Aughra, the sage and possibly most entertaining character from the movie, has seen the danger that the Fireling represents and she tries to warn those in power.

The old world and the new are about to be tested by the appearance of this frightened child and the fate of the Great Crystal, and Thra itself, is in the balance.

The Power of the Dark Crystal Vol 1 — Page Splash from The Power of the Dark Crystal

The Writing/Art

This first softcover volume collects the first 4 issues of the 12 issue run. It successfully introduces all of the characters and the story arc, bringing back most of the characters that people will recognise from the film but using an original character as a way into the world of Thra. This is a clever technique from Spurrier, as it allows readers unfamiliar with the franchise to become engrossed without feeling that they are apart from the narrative. There is nothing worse when reading a comic to feel as though everyone else knows what is going on but you don’t.

You also have Aughra as a central character, who is neither hero or villain, but an observer who acts as storyteller for the narrative. She allows the natural progression of the story to unfold without having to constantly explain the situation in an info-dump way.

The Power of the Dark Crystal reads like a movie, in the best possible way. It embraces its origins, and Spurrier doesn’t shy away from the fact that this was originally going to be a sequel movie. In fact, he revels in it, giving the scenes a larger than life scope which encompasses the world around the characters. There is a great sense of myths being created; this is reflected in the opening monologue and through the dramatic set pieces that follow.

The Matthews Sisters’ artwork embraces the magical elements of the world in which the Dark Crystal is set. It may be a little jarring for anyone expecting the same, dark aesthetic of the movie created by Brian Froud‘s outstanding design because the Matthews Sisters have a much smoother, fluid art style. Everything has a cleanness to it, a delicate touch which highlights the sensibilities of the characters much better than a gritty, dark palette would. The coloring is beautiful as it contrasts the two worlds, above and below Thra, and visually pits the different characters against each other.

Where the script is mythical in tone, the artwork is lyrical.

This method of narrative style can, at times, lead to some clichéd scenes and awkward character development, but due to the combination of tight script work and mesmerizing art work, these moments are easy to overlook, especially when read in a collection like this. It is difficult to read just a few pages of this collection; once opened, the chances of closing this book before the end are slim and the parts your will remember and think of later are not the cheesy plot points or simple character decisions, it is the sense of wonder and beauty.

Conclusion

As an introduction to the Dark Crystal you can’t ask for a better book. The story is fresh, exciting and packed with larger than life, colourful characters. The artwork is expressive and beautiful to behold, although at times it does lack depth. This is especially noticeable in some of the splash pages where the full page shot has an emptiness to it. Fans of the original film and new readers wanting an expanded universe of characters will find something to love in The Power of the Dark Crystal. In the hands of Simon Spurrier, a master of creating fantasy worlds, the Dark Crystal franchise can only get larger and more mythic in quality.

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Review: THE EMPTY MAN #3 Brings Violence To The Streets

Darryll Robson

What do you do if you are breaking the law and the violent mob are at the door? Run and hide or fight to the death? Can you ever escape from The Empty Man?

In issue 3 of Cullen Bunn’s virus based horror comic, The Empty Man, all of the main players come together to create mayhem. It is a violent and disturbing sequence of events which resemble something from The Purge movies.

The Story

Bunn used the first two issues of The Empty Man to introduce the characters and their affiliated groups. In this third issue, he has brought them all together and allowed the inevitable conflict to spill out across the pages. But, before he does this, he gives the story a human, sympathetic face, for the reader to identify with.

In the opening pages we are introduced to Renee, a woman desperately wanting to be accepted and, unfortunately for her, she is being manipulated by Karl, the leader of the an obsessive religious cult known as the Whisper Oracles. Bunn introduces the character and shows how easy it is to twist the truth to make it seem acceptable, even reasonable. As a reader, we know what the Whisper Oracles are really about, but poor Renee is blinded to the truth by the need to be accepted. The script references her blindness and there is a stark contrast between the descriptions in the caption boxes and the images drawn by Jesus Hervas.

The reader automatically has some sympathy for Renee because she is identified as a victim of the Cult, just as Melissa Kerry is a victim of the Empty Man virus. The heart of this issue is comparing the central characters, especially the victims, and how they deal with the situation they are in. Renee is a victim of the Cult and embraces it in desperation; Melissa is a victim of the disease and unwilling succumbs to it; Monica Jensen, the FBI agent, is also a victim of the disease who is fighting it in every possible way she can.

This issue of The Empty Man is about what you do if you are a victim. Do you embrace your lot, accept the inevitable, or do you fight back? The narrative stretches beyond the confines of the page and reflects the current state of world politics. This is illustrated via the masks worn by the Whisper Oracles because, just like the bank robbers from Point Break, they wear Presidential faces. This elevates the confrontations from street brawl to political defiance.

The Art

Hervas picks up on the sympathetic qualities of the script and produces some outstanding emotional characters. The emotional attachment that a number of the characters have with each other is only possible because of the believability of the art work. Characters such as Renee express some raw emotions and are totally engrossing. Despite the fact that Renne is ‘on the wrong side’, as a reader you find yourself rooting for her, hoping that she will see the error of her ways or break through the lies that she is being fed. This reaction can only happen because of the expressive quality of Hervas’ face and figure work.

The tension and, eventually the horror, in The Empty Man is mostly provided by the colorist Niko Guardia. The majority of this issue is set during one night and Guardia gives the sky a harsh modernist look with block colors of blues and purples. It’s slightly oppressive and disconcerting especially contrasted with the more realistic foreground art work. The only time that Guardia changes this gloomy backdrop is when he needs to accentuate an element of the story, such as a particular gruesome moment or a defining character moment.

For example see the penultimate panel on page 4 (below) where it’s Renee’s final chance to back out but instead she wholeheartedly opts in to the madness. Guardia has colored every other panel on this page with the oppressive blues, deliberately making it hard to pick out details in the darkened street but on this single panel he has dropped the color entirely, leaving the background white. It draws your eye and makes you realize this is an important moment for the character and the narrative. Simple but extremely effective.

If Guardia’s colors provide the atmosphere, then Ed Dukeshire’s lettering gives the comic its pacing. He breaks up speech with linked speech bubbles which both slows the dialogue down and adds emphasis to certain words. On the very first panel the name ‘Karl’ is separated from Renee’s speech showing that she has an intimacy with the leader of the Cult and that she is expecting something specifically from him. That break makes the reader stop and contemplate the relationship between these two characters from the very first moment.

Dukeshire’s decision to use a shadowed box for the captions throughout Karl’s speech not only provides an extra layer of separation between the words he says and the actions taking place but it also reminds the reader that he is speaking duplicity; his words are covering up the truth.

And finally, the sound effects are designed to be jarring against the otherwise quiet and empty setting. When there is a knock at a door or a car alarm blaring, the sound shatters the uniformity of the panels. The design of the font, including its color, is a harsh intrusion on the page, working in the same way as a ‘scare jump’ in a movie. It breaks the tension for a moment and allows the reader to take stock of the situation.

Conclusion

The Empty Man is an exciting, heart thumping read which embraces the medium to tell a brilliant horror story. Cullen Bunn has been proving himself with other off-shoots of the horror genre, especially in his haunted house series Cold Spots, and he brings his A-game to this virus/zombie influenced narrative. Everything about the art work, from the pencils and the colors to the lettering and design, works in tandem to produce the greatest effect on the reader, whether that’s to build tension, shock or create sympathetic characters. There are some amazing sequences towards the end of the comic which are surreal in nature and have to be seen; it has an element of David Lynch about it in the best possible way.

The third issue of The Empty Man is a glorious success of storytelling and leaves the reader begging for more. If you are a fan of the Purge movies or Guillermo Del Toro’s The Strain comics, you should be reading this comic from BOOM! Studios.

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STRANGER THINGS #4 – The Lingering Effects of Depression

Corey Patterson

Fans of the Stranger Things franchise across the globe have been enjoying Dark Horse’s recent series of the same name. The art and story have stuck close to the tone of the Netflix television series while adding its own perspective into the mix.

STRANGER THINGS #4 wraps up Will Byers’ journey into “the Upside Down” dimension and his loved ones’ attempt to rescue him. But it also goes deeper than your standard, straightforward story. This concluding issue gives the reader a look in a person’s life after they’ve experienced a traumatic event, illustrating depression and its lingering effects.

Jody Houser’s story picks up with a frightened Will navigating the mirror-version of the forest in Hawkins, Indiana. He’s spent the majority of the previous issues finding a way back to our dimension while trying to avoid detection from the Demogorgon, a horrific monster that brought him into the Upside Down.

Will the Wise

Issue #4’s beauty lies in its ability to perfectly capture Will’s internal thoughts and feelings of depression through the narration and illustrations.

While Will is going over his predicament, the panel shifts to the alter-ego from his Dungeons & Dragons campaign – Will the Wise. It shows us Will slowly transforming into a mighty wizard traveling across a fantastical realm. This is how Will sees himself, even in the midst of such dire straits. The dreariness of the Demogorgon and the Upside Down effectively represents his depression while the wizard persona stands for his struggle against it.

Stefano Martino, Aleksi Briclot, Keith Champagne, and Lauren Affe’s collective artwork sets the tone of this issue in a beautiful yet unsettling way. For instance, the field Will imagines is filled with thorns and mists, emphasizing the difficulty one faces when trying to live his or her life in the midst of depression. The panel also shows Will staring at a castle in the distance, a giant structure that remains cloaked in shadow. This castle is Fort Byers and Will’s last hope of escape from the Demogorgon.The story’s events serve a double-meaning: Fort Byers is both a literal make-shift shack that can hide him as well as a metaphor for the fortified defenses we create in our minds to stand against depression. They’re often something familiar yet extravagant, serving as our shield against those negative thoughts and emotions. Will chooses Fort Byers as his defense and imagines its strength to be much greater than it is.

But as we will eventually see, the fortresses we build up for ourselves eventually crumble.

Ups and Downs

Will is rejuvenated by the hope Fort Byers offers – a literal refuge that ties him back to the real world. This serves as a coping mechanism to protect himself against the ever-encroaching darkness. But this too is eventually tainted by the darkness of the Upside Down as the Demogorgon hones in on Will’s location.

The Upside Down as Depression

Will’s mishaps in the Upside Down give us a hauntingly accurate depiction of a person experiencing depression. The elated feelings he goes through after finding Fort Byers are immediately followed by the encroaching monster moving toward his location. No matter how much Will tries to be positive, the negative forces represented by the Demogorgon and the Upside Down find a way to crush all hope of escape.

A Real Look at Depression

Rather than treating depression as a trivial feeling, one can simply push past, the Stranger Things series highlights the true hopelessness one experiences. We’re able to connect with Will’s real feelings in the midst of a made-up world.

Readers will have to wait and see how Will’s story concludes. If you’re a fan of the franchise and want to see a psychological look at Will’s journey through the Upside Down, pick up a copy of STRANGER THINGS #4 on January 2, 2019.

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INTERVIEW: Composer Of THIS IS US Siddhartha Khosla Talks Goldspot And Temp Love

Ruben Diaz

December 27, 2018

In case you’re not up-to-speed, This Is Us is a Golden Globe and Emmy award-winning, tear-jerking drama on NBC and tying all the heartbreaking and beautiful moments together is the work of composer Siddhartha “Sid” Khosla.

This Is Us is only one of three shows Sid is currently scoring. The musician-turned-composer also weaves his sonic spells around ABC’s The Kids Are Alright and Marvel’s Runaways on Hulu. It leaves Sid with little time, so PopAxiom stopped time long enough to talk to Sid about making music for This Is Us, the great collaboration that is filmmaking, and disrupting “temp love.”

The G-Spot, That’s Goldspot, Pervs

Sid’s music career started as a singer-songwriter and founder of the band Goldspot. But things changed “Eventually my career evolved into composing.” A big reason for the transformation was This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman “[Dan] … called me up to work on a show he created years before called Neighbors.”

Work on Goldspot waned, but Sid says composing is “… what I do and I absolutely love it.”

It’s been five years since Goldspot released an album. As a full-time composer, does Sid envision a return to that kind of music-making? “I’d like to make a new record. I plan on it. When I have the time, it’s going to happen, and it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

If and when Goldspot returns, expect something spectacular “I look forward to returning to that but with the experience of composing now as an influence.”

Composing And Compartmentalizing

Three shows and more; that’s the life the composer juggles. How does he do it? “My brain likes to compartmentalize … I enjoy jumping from one show to the other because it kind of keeps everything fresh to me. I don’t burn out on any particular project. My mind is taking breaks … I think that’s a good thing.

Sid adds to the list of what he thinks are the benefits of his ‘compartmentalization’ “It widens your palette too, so you’re jumping from one sonic texture to another … maybe I can learn something about one while working on the other.”

Every project requires a different set of compartments too “My process depends on multiple things. Who is making the content? Who is the director of the film, who are the Producers? Understanding what they want and what they respond to.”

Sid cites an example “I work on Marvel’s Runaways, and I know that Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage who created the show and music supervisor Alex Patsavas they listen to a lot of great music and appreciate different things because the music they listen to is so diverse.”

About This Is Us

After Goldspot and various shows and films “Dan sent me the pilot script [to This Is Us] and asked me to write a piece of music that the script inspired. My instinct was to pick up my acoustic guitar and write something … knowing there would be these jumps in time. I felt that doing a score that sounds like the 60s and the 70s and the 80s would be too manic. So I focused on something organic, timeless, and classic.”

Dan calls Sid the “secret weapon” of the show and over time their work as evolved “We had an idea of what the world would be, and it was just a matter of coming up with something cool and interesting that we all liked. We’ve lived in that space over the course of the series, and over time it’s become more cinematic in a way.”

Conforming the Cue

Making film and television is the culmination of work performed by (often) hundreds of people. And while Sid has his personal process for doing what he does, it’s only part of a great process that’s going on “I can write something but the scene might change 50 times, and the editor might conform the sound cue so that it works the way it was intended.”

As part of the great collaboration that is filmmaking “The team is important. Without all those people it would be insane for one composer to try and keep up with everything.”

The final result of all this cumulative work “It’s a special thing. You get to collaborate with people that sometimes you never even see. People all over the world doing their part and this show comes out that people love.”

Temp Love

Temp tracks are part of the filmmaking process. For This Is Us, previous episodes are now the temp tracks. However, that’s not the norm “Sometimes I receive a cut that has music and sometimes there’s nothing. I go and figure out what the scene needs and make it happen.”

What does Sid think about temp tracks? “I like having temp [tracks] once in a while. But it’s also nice to see a scene clean.” And there is a dark side to it “People get attached to temp. But it’s hard because they’re seeing the scene or cut over and over with this same music. It’s a challenge sometimes to bypass ‘temp love.’”

Wrapping Up

What composers does Sid listen to? “Alexander Desplat blows my mind. He does quirky and dramatic in such interesting ways. But there are so many. Nathan Barr and Mac Quayle do phenomenal stuff too.”

Sid creates music for three shows right now, but is there still more coming? “I’m working on the Netflix film called Beats.”

Thanks to Siddhartha Khosla and Impact24 PR for making this interview possible.

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Review: Robots Strike Back In GO-BOTS #2

Darryll Robson

The rebellion has begun and the Go-Bots go head to head to destroy, or save, their human creators. When the violence ends and the smoke clears who will stand victorious?

Issue 2 of IDW Publishing’s new Go-Bot series picks up from the end of the last issue with Cy-Kill using the testimony of Go-Bot abuse to rally his troops. Like a true dictator he uses the suffering of others to ‘prove’ his own case and spread fear and hatred. In this case the maniacal robot is painting the Human creators as abusers who care little for the machines they have built.

This leads to a series of destructive attacks which announce the Go-Bot revolution to the world.

Meanwhile A.J. and her Go-Bot companion, Scooter, run for their lives and barrel directly into Turbo and Matt Hunter. And Leader-1 makes a stand in defence of his life and those he has sworn to protect.

Go-Bots cover image — Go-Bots #2 Cover Art

A lot happens in this single issue. This is partially down to the fact that Tom Scioli (Story, Art, Lettering) loves dense, panel packed pages which allows him to tell long sequences of the narrative using very little space. For example, the mining Go-Bot, Screw Head, tells his story of a mine cave in which fuels Cy-Kill’s call to arms. This story within a story is told across 18 panels on the very first page. This economy of space helps the narrative in some ways allowing the narrative to move quickly in a single issue but it also interferes with the greater story telling elements of the comic.

One drawback is that a number of the images disappear in the panel, weighed down under large speech bubbles. Some of the pages look so crammed with white space coated in text that it is easy to forget you are reading a comic. A lot of these expositions could easily be played out with images in panels. Scioli needs to take a little more time and pace the narrative over more pages. Ultimately this may increase the total number of issues in the series or mean that elements of the story need to be edited out but it would make for a smoother, more aesthetically pleasing comic.

Go-Bots issue 2 artwork — Go-Bots #2 First Page

There are some moments of brilliance within these pages, especially when Scioli plays around with the structure of comic books. In one chase sequence, the characters literally hang from the boarders of the panel, to the point where their hands curly into the gutter. Scioli also uses the page turn transitions wonderfully, employing the use of cliff hangers and narrative full stops.

Having said this, the art style takes some getting used to especially if you are used to the slick, fast paced Transformers comics that IDW have been producing in recent years. If you are used to the more popular Robots in disguise this title is going to be a bit of a culture shock. Scioli plays with form and representation choosing a direct approach to illustrate the story. The physical depiction of the characters is very two dimensional which works in some case but misses the mark in others. The Human characters suffer the worst, becoming floppy doll like creatures that have no substance.

As far as Go-Bots is concerned, narrative intent is more important than realistic representation. There is an impressionistic style to Scioli’s art work and the influence of Jack Kirby is plain to see on every page.

Another miss in this issue of Go-Bots is the humour. Whether intentional or not, scenes with a serious nature are made ludicrous by cheap gags or simplistic art. It becomes difficult to tell what kind of story Scioli is trying to tell. Are we, the reader, meant to find the rise of the Go-Bots threatening or a joke? Is this a satirical take on the long running Transformers series? If it was to be the later, then this could be a clever, witty comic, doing for giant robots what The Tick did for street level superheroes. Unfortunately, the purpose is not made clear and is lost in crowded pages and incomprehensible art.

If you can get used to the art style and accept the silliness of the story, Go-Bots can be an enjoyable read. The design has a nostalgic feel that will appeal to some readers. Overall this comic is a fun tale that does not take itself too seriously. The narrative is simple and over explained but Scioli excels in playing with panel layouts.

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X-FORCE #1 – Out With The Old, In With The New Cable

Brandon J. Griffin

Spinning out of the X-Men story event, Extermination, comes an all-new X-Force series. A new era for Cable means a new era for his bruising band of mutants.

SPOILERS LIE AHEAD

Out goes Old Man Cable, in comes Kid Cable and with him comes a bunch of questions. Most of the old X-Force squad is back together and they want answers from the younger version of their leader who killed his future self.

Kid Cable breaks his partner, Deathlok, out of a Transian military facility before being intercepted by X-Force. This handful of scrappy heroes gets blamed for the assassination of Transia’s leader which inspires the country to declare war on all mutants.

First thing’s first, good on Ed Brisson for dusting off Deathlok and putting him on a team that he immediately fits into. We get to see a bit of his chemistry with Kid Cable, it’s an interesting dynamic.

Kid Cable presents us with a chance we haven’t really had before in exploring the younger years of Nathan Summers. We’ve seen stories and moments of a younger Cable, but never have we had him in an ongoing at such a young age. Brisson will no doubt utilize the opportunity and take us places we haven’t been before with the character.

One exciting detail with Kid Cable that we’ve seen already is that he’s not the man we’ve grown to know yet. Obviously with him being much younger, he’s not the old man that’s twelve steps ahead of everybody and always has a backup plan. It’s going to be a fun ride seeing him learn how to become the ultimate mutant warrior that we all know and love.

The rest of our X-Force team is composed of all-time favorites (minus Boom-Boom for now). They all have years of collaboration to build on, Brisson doesn’t skip a beat or set any of them back. He’s got a really good handle on them in X-Force #1.

Our antagonist being a cowardly and devious mutant-hating military leader means our ragtag group of mutants will have plenty of enemies to plow through. Brisson’s script not only sets up our team really well, but also develops the villain and his plot successfully in only a few short pages.

Stylized violence is always the best kind. The way people’s faces disappear from bullet blasts is done in an artistic and elegant fashion. There’s a sleekness to action sequences that benefits from the more cartoon-ish art direction.

The art style also allows each character to have their distinguishing features exaggerated. Everybody looks very much their own and in a new light that is both pleasing and accurate for each character. Dylan Burnett and Jesus Aburtov’s art allows the story to be deadly serious without getting up it’s on ass too far.

X-Force #1 doesn’t reinvent the wheel or show us anything we really weren’t expecting, but it’s damn good comic book entertainment. The potential of Kid Cable and his all-star supporting cast makes this a must-read for all X-Men fans.

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INTERVIEW: East Side Effects And The Visual Music of The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Ruben Diaz

December 26, 2018

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs is a new film on Netflix from the Oscar-winning Coen Brothers, and East Side Effects made the film look its absolute best with a dazzling array of effects that are both shocking and subtle.

East Side Effects boasts an impressive filmography that includes work on Creed, American Ultra, Into the Woods, and Mother!. PopAxiom talked with Alexander Lemke and Michael Huber, the driving force behind East Side Effects about their work on The Ballad of Buster Scruggs and a whole lot more.

In the Beginning …

The two men took wildly different roads to get to where they are. For Alex “… I always wanted to be involved with visual effects. I grew up with Star Wars, and that had a big influence.” However, Michael says “I didn’t know anything about visual effects. I was studying literature and philosophy. I went to film school and started seeing how all this stuff is done, and I was hooked.”

The reality of how any industry operates from the point of view of those within it is often full of surprises. Alex quickly learned “There’s so much that goes into a movie that most people aren’t aware of. The effects are hidden in there all over, helping to tell the story.” And for Michael, the surprises were “Everything!” However, he continues ”All the invisible stuff that puts viewers in the time and place.”

Did You Shoot An Arrow At James Franco?

In the trailer, James Franco is on the wrong end of a hangman’s noose when an arrow whizzes by, narrowly missing Franco who turned his head just in time. However, the arrow keeps going, hitting a rider on a horse way in the background. Buster Scruggs features many shots that require uncanny timing. Of that Alex says “We were very concerned about getting the timing right. If you don’t get that right, it all can fall apart.”

Michael adds “It’s a lot about helping the moment and what’s happening. Doing the little things that put you in the moment and makes it all more believable.”

Buster Scruggs isn’t just about invisible effects. Just watch the trailer, and you’ll understand “There’s a lot of subtle effects but also in-your-face ones because of the nature of these stories.”

Alex adds “There’s something a lot of fun about working on six themes. This was like making six different films.”

Buster Scruggs runs 133 minutes, and according to the team it features “704 effects shots.”

Practical and Digital

We’re in an increasingly CG world, but there’s a lot of practical going on too and discussions about which to use and when are “… a common conversation behind-the-scenes.”

What did the Coen Brothers want? “The Coens are the kind of directors that if they can shoot it for real, they will. If they can solve it with a practical effect, they’ll use practical.”

However, the beauty of CG allowed the team to do the pragmatically and ethically impossible “They wanted these violent, forward fall of horses and it had to be done digitally.”

Michael asserts that a marriage of the two often works best “A movie like Mad Max: Fury Road looks so amazing because they shot much of it practically then went in and enhanced it with CG.”

Wrapping Up

What’s coming next from East Side? “We’re working on Ang Lee’s next film Gemini Man with Will Smith.” Alex adds “Also, we’re working on a Netflix show Triple Frontier.”

Thanks to Alexander Lemke and Michael Huber and Impact24 PR
for making this interview possible.

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AfterShock Comics Announces 2019 FCBD Offering in ANIMOSITY TALES

Michael Stagno

December 24, 2018

Just ahead of the turn of the calendar year, AfterShock Comics has revealed Animosity Tales, which will be its addition for Free Comic Book Day, 2019.

The FCBD book will be an all-new and fully-illustrated (by Elton Thomasi) one-shot and is an extension of the original series, Animosity, created by Marguerite Bennett and Rafael de Latorre. The story follows a ‘dog and his girl’ that must flee New York City, who are bound for San Francisco, seeking protection from the one person that may be able to protect her, following a day when animals have started thinking and talking … and taking revenge!

“I hope readers, new and old, will get a kick out of the more lighthearted tale of the world of Animosity and the events of the ‘Wake’, the day the animals all ‘woke up’ and gained the powers of thought and speech previously reserved only for humans,” said Bennett. “Our FCBD story is fun, funny (fin? finny?) adventures of a certain Siamese fighting fish and his college student mistress – while the birds, bees and other animals run amok in the aftermath. Our beta fish is determined not to let a glass bowl or tank walls keep him from living life to the fullest.”

The series will also soon be adapted by Legendary Entertainment, in which readers will see the intertwined tales of its main characters come full circle in a black comedy apocalypse where animals have risen to take control.

Click HERE for the official release from AfterShock Comics. Free Comic Book Day is set for May 4, 2019. For more information, visit the official FCBD website, HERE.

What do you think, are you excited for AfterShock’s FCBD offering? What would you like to see from an Animosity Universe? What do you hope to see in the eventual film? Let us know in the comments section below.

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Review: X-23 Volume 1 Will Melt Your Heart (And Your Face)

Anthony Composto - EIC

X-23 Volume 1: Family Album is out January 9th, and it’s an action-packed thrill ride that doesn’t skimp on the emotions.

The series is written by Mariko Tamaki with art by Juann Cabal and Marcio Fiorito. Colors are by Nolan Woodard and letters are by Cory Petit. Georges Duarte did the art for issue six with colorist Chris O’Halloran.

About the story:
When a genetic scientist goes missing, Laura Kinney (X-23) and her sister Gabby (Honey Badger) are on the case. Meanwhile, the Stepford Cuckoos are acting stranger than usual. How are they connected to Laura’s missing scientist?

Tamaki does an excellent job picking up the torch from Tom Taylor. She encapsulates the spirit of Taylor’s All-New Wolverine, but puts her own unique spin on Laura and Gabby.

“Family Album” is not a simply superhero comic. It’s a fast paced action story AND an intriguing mystery. It’s got comedy AND tragedy. X-23 is many things at once, and that’s what makes it so compelling.

But above all else, this is a story about family. It’s about Laura and Gabby, two people who are all each other have in the world. Their relationship is funny, it’s heartwarming, at times it’s even heartbreaking, but it’s also so relatable. Anyone who has a sibling – either literal or figurative – will love this comic.

And – just like in All-New Wolverine – Honey Badger absolutely steals the show. Tamaki captures Gabby’s voice perfectly. She’s so pure and good, despite also being an unstoppable killing machine. Every line out of her mouth is gold. If you read this comic for no other reason, read it for Gabby.

Cabal and Fiorito display a huge range with their art. Their action sequences are full of high octane energy, but they also pump the small moments with tons of emotion. The facial expressions deserve a special shout-out, especially the eyes. The characters’ faces are what will make you laugh the most, or cut you to the bone the hardest. Again, despite being about superheroes and clones, X-23 is incredibly relatable, and the art is a huge part of that.

If you’re looking for a superhero story that digs deep and delivers on more than just action (but still delivers the action), definitely check out X-23 Volume 1: Family Album when it hits stores.

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How Skottie Young’s DEADPOOL Returns Wade To His Roots

Anthony Composto - EIC

Deadpool Volume 1: Mercin’ Hard For The Money is out January 2nd, and it’s a fresh start for the Merc’ With A Mouth, making it a great book to ring in the New Year with.

The series is by Skottie Young (words) and Nic Klein (art), with Jeff Eckleberry on letters. Scott Hepburn did the art for issues 4, 5, & 6 with Ian Herring on colors.

Gerry Duggan’s run on Deadpool changed the character’s status quo in a major way. Wade Wilson became a millionaire and an official Avenger; he worked to put his murderous ways behind him. The series had its highs and lows, but it was generally well-received by fans. However, in the end, Duggan decided to end his run by wiping Wade’s memory and returning him to the man he was at the start. Enter Skottie Young and Nic Klein.

Young and Klein don’t waste any time showing the reader what kind of guy their Deadpool is. Wade is done with superheroing and back to mercin’ full-time. He’s rented some office space in the back of a stuffed animal shop in the mall and hired Negasonic Teenage Warhead as his assistant. He’s a dirtbag, killing for money and screwing over his friends. But damn is he funny while doing it.

If you love big, over-the-top violence with a dash of Looney Tunes absurdity, then this book is for you. Young, Klein, and Hepburn do not hold back one iota; they go balls to the wall and have a ton of fun. Whether they have Deadpool fight a giant, cosmic monster, or some local street thugs, the team brings a ton of energy and maximum effort.

All of the artists on this book – both Klein and the team of Hepburn and Herring – add a layer of dirt to the story. Their pencils are gritty and their colors muted. It provides an edge to this world and sets the tone. This isn’t the superhero Deadpool comic fans had been getting; Wade is putting the “degenerate” back in “Regenerating Degenerate.”

Young, meanwhile, packs this series with humor, from the situations he puts Deadpool in to the actual dialogue. The insults, the out-of-date cultural references, all of it will have you laughing from page one. The writer brings all of his absurd stylings from I Hate Fairyland into the mainstream with this book.

Not to give Young all the credit either – Klein and Hepburn sell the comedy with their art just as much as they deliver the action.

Deadpool is told mostly in single issue stories, which makes it all the more fun and easily digestible. The first three issues are the exception; they tell one story to catch you up on Wade and bridge the gap from Duggan’s run. However, after that, you get three very different, but equally engrossing stories. The episodic nature of the series makes it feel more like an old school cartoon, which fits the character perfectly.

Perhaps the best story of this paperback is the closing chapter. Deadpool wakes up feeling pretty down; he’s not up to mercin’ today. The rest of the story follows him as he goes about his day in this sad haze. Seeing this usually upbeat, comedic character in a funk is actually pretty sobering. It adds depth to his character, and offers insight into who he really is beneath all the jokes. It’s also a realistic, relatable look into depression. Even people who don’t consider themselves “depressed” have days like this, where it’s a struggle just to get out of bed in the morning. The rest of the collection is a barrel of laughs, and then this issue comes along and punches you with emotions, but with a Deadpool twist.

It’s no secret that Deadpool is incredibly “in” right now; you can hardly escape him. It’d be really easy for Marvel to cash in on this popularity with a generic comic that just panders to the masses, but Deadpool by Skottie Young, Nic Klein, and company is a genuinely good series that will have you entertained on every page.

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The Story

The Writing/Art

Conclusion

The Story

The Art

Conclusion

Will the Wise

Ups and Downs

The Upside Down as Depression

A Real Look at Depression

The G-Spot, That’s Goldspot, Pervs

Composing And Compartmentalizing

About This Is Us

Conforming the Cue

Temp Love

Wrapping Up

***SPOILERS LIE AHEAD***

In the Beginning …

Did You Shoot An Arrow At James Franco?

Practical and Digital

Wrapping Up

SPOILERS LIE AHEAD