Review: WONDER WOMAN #39 Is A Beautiful Yet Hollow Battle

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The last issue, we learned our young woman named Vanessa Kapatelis. During a fight with the villain Major Disaster, Wonder Woman saved Vanessa after debris from building fell on her. While the incident crippled her, Diana kept visiting Vanessa while she was in the hospital. Over time, Vanessa learned how to walk again thanks to an experimental nanobot surgery. Sadly, because a hero’s work is never done, Diana came around less and less during the rehabilitation. This caused a rift that transformed the innocent Vanessa into the menacing Silver Swan. How will Wonder Woman deal with this villain she has created?

**Some Spoilers Below**

Story:

After Diana finds her former friend standing above a dead family, blood on her claws, the two start to fight. Throughout her assault, Silver Swan accuses Diana of abandoning her, as well as drift in between the Silver Swan and Vanessa personalities. Wonder Woman tries to stop her, but the fight proves too much for even the mighty Amazon to stop. Hearing of the battle on the news, Jason joins his sister to attempt to take the villainess down.

While I was expecting this fight to be a brutal exchange, it’s definitely missing something. Last issue, we learned of this girl that Wonder Woman left alone. She had hurt this girl and it transformed her into a villain. Wonder Woman is fighting a villain she created, so why does it not feel more impactful? All that emotional buildup is nowhere to be seen in this fight. Silver Swan states why she hates Wonder Woman. Diana says she didn’t. Then they fight. The emotional side of this fight is almost entirely removed and it leaves the issue feeling empty.

The issue also includes a look towards a future arc which features Darkseid and Grail plotting to rule Earth. Obviously, this part was included to push an overarching plot. If this part was removed, there would have been more pages to build on the emotional impact that this issue desperately needed.

Art:

While the story’s lack of emotional impact is disappointing, the art team truly creates a great looking issue. The pencil work of Carmen Carnero and Emanuela Lupacchino is exemplary in the designs of the characters. Wonder Woman and Silver Swan have never looked better, especially in the fight. The colors of Romulo Fajardo Jr. go hand-in-hand with the pencils, allowing the characters to really pop on the page. If there is any reason to pick up this issue, it’s to see the masterfully done artwork.

Conclusion:

While beautiful to look at, this issue is a massive step back in terms of storytelling. What started as an emotion-driven story has turned into a hollow slugfest. The art is extraordinary and does its best to give the reader something to look at. Despite this, the story’s lack of weight drags down this issue and leaves this reader wanting more in the worst possible way.

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Set Photos Reveal First Look At Brie Larson In Costume As Captain Marvel

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Kieran McLean

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January 25, 2018

Marvel Studios is usually pretty good at keeping secrets, which is why it’s surprising to see that some leaked set-photos have emerged, giving us our first-look at Oscar-winner Brie Larson suited up as Carol Danvers aka. Captain Marvel.

Also Read: Ben Mendelsohn Joins ‘Captain Marvel’

We’re not exactly sure what film the set-photos are from. The Captain Marvel movie wasn’t expected to start filming until February so unless Marvel is getting a head-start, the images could be from the set of the untitled fourth Avengers movie. Either way, it’s exciting to see what Brie Larson will look like in costume.

Check out the images below:

Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck are set to direct Captain Marvel, which stars Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, Ben Mendelsohn and Jude Law. The film is expected to land in theatres on March 8, 2019!

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Gary Frank Gives Batman A New Official Suit In Doomsday Clock #3

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Matthew Sardo

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January 25, 2018

Doomsday Clock #3 hit your local comic book store yesterday, and apparently, Superman wasn’t the only DC Comics character getting a new suit. Batman gets some cosmetic upgrades for 2018.

This will be used across the other comics, yes.
And thanks.

— Gary Frank (@1moreGaryFrank) January 24, 2018

According to IGN, the purple inner cape lining is gone, the utility belt is back to being full gold, and the classic yellow and black Bat oval have made a comeback, but no trunks.

What do you think of Batman’s new look? Comment below.

Geoff Johns and Frank are the creative team on Doomsday Clock a 12-issue maxi-series that will finish up in 2019. Johns also explained that Doomsday Clock is a stand-alone story with no tie-in material. However, it “will have an impact on the entire DC Universe. It will affect everything moving forward and everything that has come before. It will touch the thematic and literal essence of DC.” So by the time the final issue releases, “the rest of the universe will have caught up to it — and the repercussions of the event will become known.”

Doomsday Clock #4 hits your local comic book store on March 28.

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Joanne Whalley Of WILLOW Fame Joins Netflix’s DAREDEVIL For Season Three

By

Matthew Sardo

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January 25, 2018

Anytime we can put Willow in a headline; we will at Monkeys Fighting Robots.

Joanne Whalley, the British “bad girl” of the 90s has joined the cast of Netflix’s Daredevil for season three to play Matt Murdock’s mother, Sister Maggie, according to reports from Deadline.

After the events of The Defenders, season three of Daredevil looks to follow Frank Miller’s ‘Born Again’ storyline. Written by Miller with art by David Mazzucchelli, the storyline first appeared in Daredevil #227–231.

It will be interesting to see how far Netflix takes the ‘Born Again’ story, in the comics, Karen Page became a heroin addict and was reduced to starring in pornographic films in Mexico. Strapped for cash, she sells the information that Matt Murdock is Daredevil for a shot of heroin. The Kingpin gets this information and terrorizes Murdock on an emotional and physical level. This storyline would also take Deborah Ann Woll’s character to a very dark place.

Also in the comics, Whalley’s character Sister Maggie nurses Murdock back to health after a beating by the Kingpin. Vincent D’Onofrio return in season three to reprise his role as Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin of Crime.

Marvel’s Daredevil on Netflix looks to return in the fall of 2018.

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Get Into The Olympic Spirit With KICKING ICE, A Graphic Novel About Women’s Hockey

By

Matthew Sardo

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January 25, 2018

The Winter Olympic Games kick off on February 9, but you can get into the ice hockey spirit early with a new graphic novel from Ominous Press, KICKING ICE, about a few ice hockey girls breaking the mold. The book is written by Stephanie Phillips, drawn by Lee Moder, and colored by Marissa Louise.

Phillips launched a Kickstarter Thursday morning to fund the graphic novel.

Kicking Ice tells the story of two young female hockey players, Bella and Skye, who dream of playing professional hockey in the National Women’s Hockey League (NWHL). Bella and Skye are the only girls on their co-ed hockey team and learn to overcome bullying from some of their male opponents. In particular, a rival player named Derek likes to tease Bella and Skye by telling them that girls will never be as good at hockey as boys. Of course, Bella and Skye prove that kicking ice isn’t just for boys.

The NWHL, established in 2015, is an American women’s professional ice hockey league comprised of four teams: the Buffalo Beauts, Boston Pride, Connecticut Whale, and Metropolitan Riveters. The Isobel Cup is the league’s championship trophy, named after Lady Isobel Gathorne-Hardy, the daughter of Frederick Stanley, 16th Earl of Derby, donor of the Stanley Cup.

The average salary of an NWHL player is between $6,000 and $20,000 a year for a 16 game schedule plus playoffs.

“Our goal is to support the NWHL’s efforts to grow the game and foster equality through sports. As such, a portion of all of our sales go to the players and their efforts to grow women’s hockey,” said Phillips.

Check out the Kickstarter for KICKING ICE.

In the Winter Olympics this year the U.S. Olympic Women’s Ice Hockey Team is in Group A alongside Canada, Finland, and Russia, and will open the competition Sunday, February 11 against Finland at 2:40 a.m. ET.

Complete 2018 U.S. OLYMPIC ICE HOCKEY SCHEDULE

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Greg Pak Tweets About His Process For Writing Comic Books

By

Ruben Diaz

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January 25, 2018

Comic book writer Greg Pak began a thread on Twitter about his process for writing comic books. The thread, still live as I write this, exploded over the next few hours. Pak detailed many, many steps of how he puts together a story. For aspiring writers of sequential entertainment, the thread is a must-read as it demystifies a little of the process.

Unlike film or theatre, comic books don’t have a lot of written-in-stone standards for how they are put together. Notable authors like Alan Moore sometimes simply write prose and let other people handle the breakdown into a script. Additionally, if you take a look at scripts from different writers, they all vary in style. Scripts and Scribes offer up some sample scripts from a variety of writers.

Pak’s first bits of advice started with: Helping the thread along was Kelly Sue Deconnick, the writer of Pretty Deadly and Bitch Planet (Image).

Also, writer and creator of 8-Bit Theater and Atomic Robo, Brian Clevinger, chimed in with his thoughts:

Even veteran writers found some useful advice in the thread. Indie creator and writer-for-hire, Ken Lowery, who is credited with writing dozens of books found something important in the thread:

A comic book store in St. Louis got in on the fun by stating what every aspiring comic book writer should do:

Greg Pak details A LOT more steps along the way, including:

Greg also provides a friendly reminder about the writing process, and perhaps, the creative process as a whole:

Follow @GregPak to read the entire thread.

As a very rookie comics writer, I can tell you that this was an insightful read. The process to write film, television, theatre, or comics books is different for each of us. However, understanding what others do may demystify some of the process and provide new ways to tell an even better story.

Are there any aspiring writers out there who would like to share their own process? Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.

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CBS To Revive MURPHY BROWN

By

Parish Hodges

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January 25, 2018

Add CBS to the growing number of networks who are reviving classic shows.

Not only is Murphy Brown coming back, it’s original creator Diane English and star Candice Bergen are returning as well!

According to Deadline, Bergen will reprise her role as the famous investigative journalist and TV anchor at the FYI network, as Murphy Brown returns to a world of cable news, social media, fake news and a very different political and cultural climate. The first season will consist of 13 episodes.

The show originally aired on CBS for 10 seasons from 1988-1998. It garnered 62 Emmy nominations winning 18 of them. Known for its political jokes, conversations about a revival began during the 2012 election year and restarted when Donald Trump became president.

No word on when filming will began. Are you looking forward to this revival? Let us know in the comments!

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BILL & TED Screenwriter Discusses BILL & TED FACE THE MUSIC in Detail

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Larry Taylor - Managing Editor

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January 25, 2018

Yes, ladies and gentlemen, that third Bill & Ted movie, Bill & Ted Face the Music, is still trying to happen. Three decades (give or take) after Excellent Adventure and Bogus Journey, the Wyld Stallyns will hopefully return in an all new adventure written by Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon.

While the third film was announced a few years ago, news and buzz surrounding the project has waned to the point where most people forgot it was happening. It isn’t greenlit just yet, but it sounds like Ed Solomon and everyone involved is ready to go. This week, Solomon spoke to Digital Spy about the process, and he gave some detailed information about the story and the production itself:

“We have been working for almost 10 years to get this thing made; Alex Winter, Keanu Reeves, Chris Matheson, me… we have a director – Dean Parisot, who did Galaxy Quest– Steven Soderbergh is one of our producers. We have a wonderful assembly of people.

We have a script that we really are proud of, that we worked very hard on, that we’ve done many iterations of – and we did it on spec, meaning we spent years working on it because we wanted to get it right, creatively.”

Whoa whoa wait! Steven Soderbergh is on board as a producer? And Galaxy Quest director Dean Parisot is at the helm? Now, you have my attention.

The article gives a brief description of the story, saying Bill & Ted Face the Music “will see Winter and Reeves play middle-aged versions of Bill and Ted, who are now family men rather than young aspiring musicians.” That makes perfect sense, but this whole thing still seems so bizarre.

“We are having issues raising money for it,” Solomon said, “getting it financed, because what we get all the time – all the time – is people wanting to reboot it… but what we wanna do is the story of Bill and Ted as middle-aged men, and tell what we think could be a really funny, and actually really moving, story about their lives and where they are now – their families, their kids…”

It could work, and it looks to have a great creative team behind it, but Bill & Ted Face the Music still has an uphill climb to find funding. Let’s hope it works out, because who wouldn’t want to see this?

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JUMANJI 2 To Battle STAR WARS: EPISODE IX In 2019

By

Matthew Sardo

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January 25, 2018

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle is the Big Bang Theory of movies with its mass appeal and shallow cinematic depth, but the film is a box office beast raking in $771 million from a $90 million budget.

All this box office magic was done while competing against Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which is more than impressive.

According to a report in the Wall Street Journal, Thomas Rothman the Chairman of Sony Pictures Entertainment would like battle Disney and Star Wars Universe again in 2019. The studio is looking to release Jumangi 2 during the Christmas Holiday in 2019, Star Wars: Episode IX hits theaters on December 20, 2019.

Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle was directed by Jake Kasdan from a screenplay by Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Scott Rosenberg, and Jeff Pinkner. The film stars Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black, and Karen Gillan.

No word on cast and crew for the sequel. Are you a fan of Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle? Comment below.

Review: The Rock’s JUMANJI Is The Anti-STRANGER THINGS

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MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE 6 Has a New Title and a Vague Synopsis

By

Larry Taylor - Managing Editor

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January 25, 2018

Mission: Impossible 6 has had a few hiccups during filming. There was Henry Cavill having to film Justice League reshoots with his mustache (more an issue for Warner Bros., not Paramount), and there was Tom Cruise breaking his ankle in a stunt.

Despite any setbacks, Christopher McQuarrie’s second film in the franchise never left its July 27 release date. Now, we have an official title, and a super vague synopsis for M:I6, courtesy of Tom Cruise’s Instagram:

Get ready. #MissionImpossible

A post shared by Tom Cruise (@tomcruise) on Jan 25, 2018 at 5:00am PST

There is it. Now Mission: Impossible 6 is (*intense whisper voice*) Mission: Impossible – Fallout. If you thought that was vague, check out the synopsis McQuarrie and Paramount released:

The best intentions often come back to haunt you. MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – FALLOUT finds Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) and his IMF team (Alec Baldwin, Simon Pegg, Ving Rhames) along with some familiar allies (Rebecca Ferguson, Michelle Monaghan) in a race against time after a mission gone wrong. Henry Cavill, Angela Bassett, and Vanessa Kirby also join the dynamic cast with filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie returning to the helm.

That is literally the plot of every Mission: Impossible movie. Interchange names, and it fits for all five previous films. No big deal, we don’t really need a detailed layout of the plot. Just give us the kickass stunt work.

Cruise also showed off a big action image:

We’ve upped the ante for the sixth #MissionImpossible. I can’t wait for you guys to see more.

A post shared by Tom Cruise (@tomcruise) on Jan 25, 2018 at 5:03am PST

Stay tuned for the Mission: Impossible – Fallout trailer, which might be here before we know it.

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