With Black Panther reviews flooding the web and the film just under two weeks away, IMAX has unveiled a wonderful new poster. Check it out below.
Critics are absolutely loving the film. At the time of this writing, Black Panther has a staggering 100 percent on Rotten Tomatoes with 49 reviews counted. While this percentage will almost undoubtedly drop a few points, it shows that Black Panther is no ordinary, run-of-the-mill superhero flick.
“After the events of Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War, King T’Challa returns home to the reclusive, technologically advanced African nation of Wakanda to serve as his country’s new leader. However, T’Challa soon finds that he is challenged for the throne from factions within his own country. When two foes conspire to destroy Wakanda, the hero known as Black Panther must team up with C.I.A. agent Everett K. Ross and members of the Dora Milaje, Wakanadan special forces, to prevent Wakanda from being dragged into a world war.”
Directed by Ryan Coogler, Black Panther stars Chadwick Boseman, Michael B. Jordan, Lupita Nyong’o, Danai Gurira, Martin Freeman, Daniel Kaluuya, Andy Serkis, Agela Bassett, Forest Whitaker, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, and Sterling K. Brown. Click herefor the full cast list.
With its fourth issue, Image Comics’ No.1 With A Bullet, by Jacob Semahn, Jorge Corona, Jen Hickman, and Steve Wands begins to explore the more personal and psychological consequences that come with the abuse of media and power.
No. 1 With A Bullet #4 Written by: Jacob Semahn Art by: Jorge Corona Colors by: Jen Hickman Lettered/Designed by: Steve Wands
Her social media, strong. Her variety show segments, a hit. Nash Huang is at the top of her game. But when the iRis Shutter contact lens hits the market, Nash’s life is personally invaded. The latest leap forward in “technological progress,” these contacts not only play video or augment reality…but also record footage. Fighting to keep her life together after a leaked sex tape with media star Jad Davis goes viral, a clingy super-fan is the last thing on Nash’s mind…but that’s exactly when the bodies pile up and the terror begins.
And now, with tensions mounting and the media drawn into a frenzy, Jad addresses allegations head-on. Meanwhile, Nash inches closer to the void as stress-related hallucinations creep ever closer.
Writing
No. 1 With A Bullet, for all its suspense, escalating body count, and growing mystery is at its heart a very timely story dealing with power and abuse in a social media-saturated world. This fourth issue tones down the more ‘genre’ aspects to focus on the consequences that come from a blatant abuse of power by a powerful and rich white male. Jacob Semahan does a great job of addressing these issues. The opening monologue ‘apology’ by Jad Davis rings (unfortunately) very true. When one of Davis’ producers says “Is that an apology? Because if so you are missing two important key words”, it brings to mind the way too many celebrities have handled allegations of their own: with avoidance and self-entitled bluster, furthering proving the claims against them.
We also witness how Jad’s wife and daughter are impacted by what is happening, in a scene that reveals Jad is as much a piece of shit to his family as he is to everyone else in his orbit.
One of the best sequences is a scene of Nash falling prey to stress-induced hallucinations. It’s a well-written scene that hints at her past, adds suspense and further develops her character.
Semahn, however, doesn’t leave out the suspense completely as at the end we get another great cliffhanger from him, with the added bonus of a fucking fanatic use of the lyrics to Johnny Cash’s When The Man Comes Around (for you non-audiophiles it’s the awesome song at the end of Logan).
Art
The art team of Corona, Hickman, and Wands has really grown together with each issue, as this chapter has some of the best line work, panel layouts, page designs and colors in the series yet. There are moments the art here reminds you of the work John McCrea did in Hitman; that is a good thing.
In particular, the faces and body language really stand out stylistically, creating a unique visual identity. For a story about a near future world, the rough look of the art creates an interesting, jarring dynamic.
Conclusion
No.1 With A Bullet continues to be a very relevant piece of science-fiction. With an extremely important theme, message and some truly unique art, this is a comic you should be reading. Pick this issue up at your local comic shop this week.
*The end of this comic includes a few pages, moderated by Casey Gilly and Sara Sanders, that feature an interview with Woman’s Rights Activist and Attorney Alexis Liistro on surveillance and its effects on women. Make sure you read this eye-opening Q&A.
Oblivion Song from Image Comics and Skybound hits your local comic book store on March 7, and the creator of the series, Robert Kirkman is in the middle of a press tour promoting the book.
During our conversation with the writer, Kirkman gave his opinion on what makes for great science fiction.
“Well, I think the hallmark of great science fiction is that science fiction doesn’t alienate and actually kind of accentuates the human story. The best science fiction stuff that is completely out there, and very unreal, and very fantastical, and yet completely relatable. And so that’s something that we’re trying to do here. This situation is more than likely never to happen in real life we are never going to see a large chunk of a major city sent to another dimension. I mean we hope. This is something that we look at very realistically and that the characters have very real reactions to and it is something that on an emotional core we can all relate to. We’ve all suffered loss in our life. We’ve all dealt with tragedy, either small or huge depending on our individual cases. So, this is still something that we can relate to despite the fact that it is this insane crazy science fiction thing,” said Kirkman.
Placing a character in an unreal setting, but then grounding the story in personal relationships is a strength of Kirkman’s writing. The zombies are just the setting for The Walking Dead, the survivors are where Kirkman tugs at your heart. With Invincible coming to an end it’s exciting to see Kirkman creating a new vast universe of characters.
Listen to the complete interview below.
Oblivion Song is written by Robert Kirkman, with art by Lorenzo De Felici, colors by Annalisa Leoni, letters by Rus Wooton, and Sean Mackiewicz keeps everyone on track as the editor of the series.
Here’s the official synopsis: “A decade ago 300,000 citizens of Philadelphia were suddenly lost in Oblivion. The government made every attempt to recover them, but after many years they gave up. Nathan Cole… won’t. He makes daily trips, risking his life to try and rescue those lost, alone and afraid, living in the apocalyptic hellscape of Oblivion. But maybe… Nathan is looking for something else? Why can’t he resist the siren call of the Oblivion Song?”
Check out the 8-page preview below:
Oblivion Song hits your local comic book store on March 7, 2018.
Are you excited for this Kirkman series? Comment below.
We all missed it, so don’t bother lying about it. The ‘Sorcerer Supreme’ had a trick up his sleeve the whole time and we missed it!
There was an awesome easter egg thrown into a vital scene in Marvel’s Doctor Strange by director Scott Derrickson, who recently confirmed it to be true.
It’s been two years since the release of Doctor Strange, the highest-grossing Marvel Cinematic Universe origin film in history (well, until Black Panther shatters the record). MCU fan, Timothy Lydon, recently pointed out on Twitter that Stephen Strange’s car accident was actually set on Groundhog Day, Feb. 2 (with the shot of him setting his father’s watch), to which Derrickson replied how he has been waiting for quite a while for someone to notice.
We all knew that the repetitive scene with Dormammu at the end of Doctor Strange was a throwback to Bill Murray’s Groundhog Day, but we missed this one. If anything, it makes for a nice question on movie trivia night. So, the moral of the story is this: If anyone ever asks whether Stephen Strange and Weatherman Phil Connors have anything in common, the answer is, yes.
Heads could soon roll once again as Amazon is rumored to be developing a potential series for Conan the Barbarian.
That’s right, the Cimmerian could once again be dominating hordes and conquering foes, but this time in his classical persona, which would be based on the Robert E. Howard novels.
The ferocious warrior hopped onto the screen in 1982 when Arnold Schwarzenegger took on the character in Conan the Barbarian. He also reprised the role in 1984’s Conan the Destroyer. The series was rebooted in 2011, starring Jason Momoa as Conan the Barbarian, but sadly did not get a sequel, as it was originally supposed to be a three-movie series. There was also a short-lived television syndication, Conan, which starred Ralf Moeller, as well as an animated series in 1992 called, Conan the Adventurer.
When it comes to gaming, I often find that sports games have the most replay value. All the major games involving the major sports include leagues with 30 teams or more. If I want to rebuild a team or play as a contender I have the option. But since 2005, Madden has become literally the only option for a virtual NFL experience.
That’s because during that year the NFL sold its exclusive license to EA, meaning no other developer like 2K could make a game that involved actual NFL teams, and players. Which is a shame seeing how 2K really capitalized on their then NFL product. ESPN NFL 2K5 to me is the best football game of all-time. Before I could even put the disc in, the first thing that made it a great buy was its price.
While EA was selling Madden NFL 2004 for $40, 2K sold ESPN NFL 2K5 for $20. Imagine being in high school like I was back then and being able to buy a game with your own money. It felt great not having to wait for my birthday or Christmas for my parents to buy me it! But what made it memorable was its presentation.
On the field, there were multiple camera angles to choose from. Including a first-person camera that was placed inside every player’s helmet. Making gamers feel like they were on the field. Commentary didn’t seem repetitive, and the gameplay flowed from snap to snap.
ESPN NFL 2K5 Helmet Cam
Plus unlike Madden, ESPN NFL 2K5 actually utilized its ESPN feature and gave players the option to watch a “real-life” Sportscenter hosted by a computer-generated Chris Berman. Every week, Berman would show and provide commentary for highlights around the league, give injury and trade updates, and more. Making the experience unforgettable and immersive. So why isn’t Madden capitalizing on there not being any competition?
Well, that’s the problem. While Madden 18 became the first game in the series to be built with EA’s Frostbite Engine, EA still comes off as a kid that knows they have the whole house to themselves. Meaning they can do whatever they want, even if that means putting in as little effort as they want. It’s a shame.
Madden NFL 18
The franchise was built on its groundbreaking features. From having the first ever 3D field in John Madden Football ’92, introducing the league license in Madden NFL ’94, and Owner Mode ten years later. Sure there was Techmo Super Bowl in 1991, but every team had under 15 plays in their playbooks. Whereas Madden had playbooks with 113 plays around the same time.
So what do I hope EA does for Madden NFL 19? I write this because it’s going to be the only football game released, and even though I can refuse to buy it, I gotta have fully updated rosters, uniforms, etc. because I’m obsessive when it comes to those things. Plus pending on the team you can’t properly manually update them after free agency or the draft because of their salary caps.
Madden NFL ’94
First, it cannot just be another beautiful game with meh components. Games are like people. Aesthetics can only go so far and sooner or later there has to be substance. I would love the opportunity to have a story mode that played more like a career mode.
Allow me the opportunity to customize my character, and properly go through the NFL scouting and draft process with some cutscenes in-between. The NCAA has an actual playoff now, why not allow players to choose a school to attend and have their play affect their draft stock? Bring back the combine too, and have everyone’s rookie season intertwine with the story. Give me the chance to play a multi-year NFL career with risks.
If I holdout due to a contract dispute have it affect my team and I. If I suck throughout my rookie deal, make it harder for teams to trade me. Make it hard for me to get signed. Force teams to draft players at my position while I’m still under contract and give me the option to choose how I deal with it.
For franchise mode create a weekly show like 2K did 13 years ago. Allow people to upload actual draft classes like in the NBA 2K series. Make trading more realistic. I should not be able to get a top offensive lineman for a player that has a rating of 67 overall and a high 6th round draft pick. In terms of gameplay fix the injury issue.
Madden NFL 18 Longshot Story Mode
I know football is a contact sport, I’ve played it, I gave up an ACL at the NCAA level in 2006. But it seems every other play someone (especially on the offensive line) is getting hurt. I will say EA has taken steps in the right direction with updated commentary every week and roster updates. But that is not enough when you’re the only gaming company on the block with an NFL license.
Will these things happen? Maybe. I don’t want to be one of those people that have no faith when it comes to innovation and the improvement of video games. Oh, and EA when former UCF linebacker Shaquem Griffin (who has one arm) makes it into the league this Spring, there should be an option to give a player one arm.
David F. Sandberg has taken on the tall task of bringing Captain Marvel to the big screen. He will direct the upcoming Shazam! for New Line and Warner Brothers. Chuck star Zachary Levi will portray the iconic DC Comics hero, with Asher Angel set to play his alter ego, Billy Batson.
Production of the movie kicked off today which led to an official synopsis being released. You can check it out below:
“We all have a superhero inside us, it just takes a bit of magic to bring it out. In Billy Batson’s (Angel) case, by shouting out one word—SHAZAM!—this streetwise 14-year-old foster kid can turn into the adult Super Hero Shazam (Levi), courtesy of an ancient wizard. Still a kid at heart—inside a ripped, godlike body—Shazam revels in this adult version of himself by doing what any teen would do with superpowers: have fun with them! Can he fly? Does he have X-ray vision? Can he shoot lightning out of his hands? Can he skip his social studies test? Shazam sets out to test the limits of his abilities with the joyful recklessness of a child. But he’ll need to master these powers quickly in order to fight the deadly forces of evil controlled by Dr. Thaddeus Sivana (Strong)”.
The rest of the cast was also officially announced today. The film stars Jack Dylan Grazer, Grace Fulton, Faithe Herman, Ian Chen, Jovan Armand, Cooper Andrews, Marta Milans, and Ron Cephas Jones as the Wizard.
To round out the Shazam! news dump, it was revealed that Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson would serve as an executive producer on the film. Johnson has been connected for some time to Shazam! as he was set to play the villain Black Adam. It was then revealed that he would not be appearing in the film but rather in his own solo film. His first appearance is rumored to be in Suicide Squad 2
Does this synopsis get you excited for Shazam!? Let us know in the comments below!
The very-first Coliseum of Comics location, Millenia, which is just south of downtown Orlando, Fla., celebrated its 35th anniversary on Saturday, Feb. 3, 2018, with a visit from a legend.
What legend, you ask? Well, he is known for his incredible art on such DC Comics fan-favorite titles as Superman: For Tomorrow, Superman Unchained, Batman: Hush and the ‘New 52’ Justice League. That’s right. The C-O-C rang in its milestone with none other, than Jim Lee. He is the creator that jumped on the scene in 1986 with Marvel after graduating from Princeton University. The man whose X-Men #1 (1991) still holds the all-time sales record, having sold over eight million copies in a single month! The man that, in 1992, launched his own company in Wildstorm Productions and co-founded Image Comics as well. Needless to say, the line to meet him was stretched around the building.
“The Coliseum of Comics opened on Feb. 1, 1983,” said Store Owner Phil Boyle. “I started with 16-and-a-half long boxes of comics, a smattering of Dungeons and Dragons figures, along with a few handbooks, and a rather nice back selection of X-Men comics.”
The brand has grown significantly since then. There are nine CoC locations now, all over the state of Florida and, together, make up the largest retail chain in the world that is not an online store. The locations stretch from as far north as Jacksonville, which has two stores, through Central Florida, with six shops, and as far south as New Tampa.
“There were definitely times when nerd culture wasn’t cool, believe me,” said Boyle. “Collecting comics wasn’t always a ‘chick magnet’ (laughs). We went from a complete geek niche culture to something where, everyone knows who guys like Iron Man and Wolverine are. It’s great to see how far it has come.”
A lot of things pass through comics shops in time, especially over 35 years. For Store Operations Manager Edward Uvanni, a big fan of both the Silver- and Golden-Age of comics, and who has 12 years of service with the Coliseum, the coolest thing he’s ever seen, came through the doors quite recently.
“We’ve seen a lot of great things and that’s part of the fun,” Uvanni said. “I’m one of the buyers for the company and I recently purchased a Batman #2 and Batman #3, which was pretty freaking awesome. I’ve been here so long and that is the first time I’ve encountered those books. It’s a little scary when handling a book worth thousands of dollars, but it is so cool at the same time. I mean, these are pieces of history.”
There are a lot of parameters that need to go right to ensure the success of a comic shop, especially in today’s day and age of online shopping, but to spring up nine locations all over the state, speaks to consistency, but also in loyalty for the store’s employees.
“The thing I love about this place is the staff,” Uvanni said. “Everyone loves comics. Whenever a customer asks for a recommendation and your refer them to something, whether old or new, and they come back excited for more. That’s the best part of the job.”
This was not the first time that Lee has passed through the Coliseum doors. In fact, he also helped it celebrate its 20th anniversary back in 2003 as well. If the line was a test run for possible future signings with other creators, it was a successful venture.
“The people that are here today love Jim and fully embrace the geek culture,” Boyle said. “I mean, the crowd is significantly bigger today than it was for him the last time he was here. That is awesome! This was certainly a great precursor that tells us we could do more of these signings. We have already spoken with quite a few prominent creators about maybe coming in the near future, but it all just comes down to who and when and project timing.”
This series will be a brief, semi-comedic review of the CW superhero shows. You can check out last week’s review post here. The only shows discussed will be ‘Arrow’, ‘Flash’, and ‘Supergirl’. There WILL be some spoilers discussed, so only look at the reviews you’re up to date on!
Hard truth time: ARROW ruined Vigilante and Black Siren. Vigilante took a 180 degree turn, much like Deathstroke. Instead of being a moral counterpart to Oliver, he’s a generally heroic double-agent. This shift has also dumbed down Black Canary to a love interest for the character. Likewise, Black Siren’s obsession with Quentin has taken away her fundamental badass traits. These changes aren’t coming from meaningful development, they’re coming from plot necessity. Cayden James is a frightening villain, but can’t cover for the weakly written characters surrounding him. Vigilante’s death wasn’t surprising (the flashbacks made it too obvious) but maybe the Dinah vs Laurel conflict will bring them justice.
SCORE: 6/10 Card Games
WEEKLY WIN TALLY:
The Flash: 5.5 Weeks
Supergirl: 3.5 Weeks
Arrow: 2.5 Weeks
What show did you think won the week? Does Legends of Tomorrow or Black Lightning take your vote? Let us know in the comments below!
The creator of The Walking Dead, Robert Kirkman has a new ongoing comic book series hitting your local comic book store on March 7, Oblivion Song from Image Comics and Skybound.
Kirkman Monday afternoon talked with Monkeys Fighting Robots about monster design, writing style, the elements needed to make great Sci-fi, and his co-creator on the series, artist Lorenzo De Felici.
MFR:Oblivion Song is being labeled science fiction. In your opinion what are the most important elements that make up great science fiction?
Kirkman:Well, I think the hallmark of great science fiction is that science fiction doesn’t alienate and actually kind of accentuates the human story. The best science fiction stuff that is completely out there, and very unreal, and very fantastical, and yet completely relatable. And so that’s something that we’re trying to do here. This situation is more than likely never to happen in real life we are never going to see a large chunk of a major city sent to another dimension. I mean we hope. This is something that we look at very realistically and that the characters have very real reactions to and it is something that on an emotional core we can all relate to. We’ve all suffered loss in our life. We’ve all dealt with tragedy, either small or huge depending on our individual cases. So, this is still something that we can relate to despite the fact that it is this insane crazy science fiction thing.
Listen to the complete interview below.
Thank you for listening. If you enjoyed the interview, comment, review, and subscribe.
Here’s the official synopsis: “A decade ago 300,000 citizens of Philadelphia were suddenly lost in Oblivion. The government made every attempt to recover them, but after many years they gave up. Nathan Cole… won’t. He makes daily trips, risking his life to try and rescue those lost, alone and afraid, living in the apocalyptic hellscape of Oblivion. But maybe… Nathan is looking for something else? Why can’t he resist the siren call of the Oblivion Song?”
Check out the 8-page preview below:
Oblivion Song hits your local comic book store on March 7, 2018.
Are you excited for this Kirkman series? Comment below.
