It’s Stanford’s first day at school, and he and his mech will have to see if they can keep up with the other students.
Writing
After being selected by one of the robots, Stanford finds himself welcomed into the robot pilot training program. This is where the issues continues to expand on the world and ramifications of the pathway opened to the young boy. A lot of good events play out like Standord’s mom having to sign a release form, Stanford bonding with the Maintenance crew, and the cadets naming their robots help to show how much they have bonded. These events all help to make the series feel more real and alive.
Writer Greg Pak is slowly building towards something big here. By the end of the issue, there is a lot of setup for what is to come, and the future looks bright, but not for the characters. Also, there seems to be nods to Neon Genesis Evangelion present as it appears as if the human race doesn’t much understanding of the technology at their fingertips.
Artwork
The art by Takashi Miyazawa continues to help make the series so recognizable. Each of the different robots have their own distinct look and personality thanks solely to the visuals. The action scenes also have a gravity thanks to the art and make every turn of the page more enjoyable.
Conclusion
Mech Cadet Yu is a fun series with a lot of heart. The second issue continues to showcase the world the creator has in mind and the potential it has in the future. If you haven’t taken the time to check out this comic series, you are missing out on something good. Also, by the end of this issue it becomes apparent the drama and intensity is going to be kicked into high gear with issue three so this is the perfect time to read the first two issues and wait in anticipation for more Mech Cadet Yu.
Tragedy Girls is the story of a group of teens who decide to use social media in order to become famous serial killers, or something along those lines… The trailer is fascinating, and this paired with the psychological thriller Ingrid Goes West might be the indication of a new subgenre of horror cinema: the social media horror.
Check out this trailer:
“Best friends Sadie and McKayla are on a mission to boost their social media fandom as amateur crime reporters hot on the trail of a deranged local serial killer. After they manage to capture the killer and secretly hold him hostage, they realize the best way to up get scoops on future victims would be to, you know, murder people themselves. As the @TragedyGirls become an overnight sensation and panic grips their small town, can their friendship survive the strain of national stardom? Will they get caught? Will their accounts get verified?”
It has all the familiar high school dark humor of Heathers, and a healthy dose of teen gore, only the landscape has been vastly upgraded to show obsession with media, internet fame, and followers. There was that film Unfriended, a decent horror with a ghost haunting a video chat space; but this, and Ingrid Goes West where Aubrey Plaza plays an internet stalker, indicate a burgeoning sea change for what popular horror might be over the next few years.
Tragedy Girls could be the tip of the spear, a.k.a. the moment when these new social media thrillers haven’t become tepid, saturated to the point of absurdity. That shouldn’t take long, so enjoy a movie like Tragedy Girls before the imitators come calling.
Nicolas Cage. What else is there to say about this man? This American treasure (or should I say, Nationa… no, I won’t), who has transformed into one of the most legendary B-movie shlock action trash savants we have ever seen. Once an interesting young talent, then an Oscar winner, then an action star, and now paying off debts left and right and keeping studios like Hannibal in business.
It seems now that Nicolas Cage will reach peak Cage in Primal, his new action movie where he will fight a jaguar on a boat.
Oh, and not just a jaguar, mind you. Here’s the Hollywood Reporter explaining it:
Frank Walsh (Cage), a big game hunter for zoos who has booked passage on a Greek shipping freighter with a fresh haul of exotic and deadly animals from the Amazon, including a rare white jaguar. However, the big cat isn’t the most deadly creature on board. Richard Loffler, a political assassin being extradited to the U.S in secret, is also along for the ride. Two days into their journey, Loffler escapes the team of U.S. Marshals guarding him and releases the captive animals, throwing the ship into chaos. Walsh must now find a way to save the crew from not only the dangerous beasts, but also the mad man on the loose.
Yeah, we got marshals and assassins and jaguars… and Nicolas Cage. I’m not saying place money down on Oscar nominations, I’m just saying think about it.
There’s no news as to the release of Primal. It will likely have a trailer where we will all collectively chuckle, then next thing you know you’ll pass a Redbox at the grocery store and there it’ll be.
The first episode of Vice Principals is reminiscent of the dark humor which made Eastbound & Down a hit.
Summary
The final season of Vice Principals centers around Neal Gamby’s (Danny McBride) quest to find out who shot him at the end of the first season. Gamby suspects everyone at North Jackson High and enlists the help of a psychotic pal, brand new principal Lee Russell (Walton Goggins) to track him down. Could one of his own students be the culprit behind his attack or could it be the one person he considers a friend?
What Worked
The chemistry between Gamby and Russell is undeniable. Those two characters are the pillars that hold this comedic narrative in place.
The writing in the first episode is darker than Season 1 which is a good thing.
Goggins plays his character with the right amount of comedy and sleaze. The audience doesn’t know whether to laugh with him or at him.
McBride’s character in the second season is very reminiscent of his iconic character Kenny Powers. Just like Powers, Gamby is losing touch with reality going so far as to turn his bedroom into a diorama reminiscent of the Kennedy Assassination.
Busy Phillips is hysterical in the role of Gale. Her character is the perfect mix of white trash and someone who’d be arrested on Cops.
The first episode of season two is very inviting to new fans of the series. Someone could easily just jump into the series and not miss a beat.
Towards the end of the first episode, Dr. Belinda Brown (Kimberly Herbert Gregory) makes a return after leaving town at the end of last season. Brown is the perfect foil for Gamby’s character. It would be foolish for them not to incorporate that character into the new season.
What Didn’t Work
Too much time was spent on Gamby’s recovery and not enough time was given to his triumphant return to North Jackson High. The first episode takes off when he’s back to interacting with the students and faculty rather than moping about.
Overall
Vice Principals hasn’t lost a step and is off to a great start in its second season. This isn’t shocking as Mcbride and his talented writing partner, Jody Hill, are extremely gifted writers. I’m sure if HBO could convince Mcbride and Hill to stretch this series for a third and fourth season, the quality would remain consistent. However, it appears that the talented writing duo is committed to just seeing this storyline play out and fans can’t wait to see the end result.
That’s what makes him so fascinating, no matter the project, no matter the setting, no matter who the character is under the microscope. Whether his film unravels in the cramped hallways of a Brooklyn apartment building, under the spotlight of the ballet, or in the wrathful landscape of the Old Testament, Darren Aronofsky is here to use his characters’ obsessions and addictions to break them down. He uses the vulnerability of high-focused obsession to destroy his characters, or at least destroy the place in which they have found themselves.
It may not sound like an appealing afternoon at the cinema to most and that makes sense. Aronofsky’s films are often armed to the teeth on a psychological level, never ready to shy away from the provocative imagery or disturbing depths of addiction. They aren’t for most even. With mother!, his latest horror starring Jennifer Lawrence, he will undoubtedly wade back into the waters of addiction, even if it may not be as clear cut as it was in his previous protagonists.
Pi was crystal clear: Max (Sean Gullette) has dedicated his life to finding a loophole in the stock market, even if the obsession drives him too insane to enjoy the fruits of a seemingly impossible labor. Requiem For A Dream is an even clearer examination of addiction, at least when it comes to the trio of dope-sick drifters played brilliantly by Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, and Marlon Wayans. But Ellen Burstyn’s Sarah Goldfarb, lonely and tucked away in her lifeless apartment, has her own addictions.
There is the television, the remote control fetishized by the pop-art camera work of longtime Aronofsky collaborator Matthew Libatique. There are her chocolates, sexualized by Goldfarb’s roaming fingers. And when she mistakenly believes she is going to be on the television herself, the obsession to trim off the weight becomes her ultimate undoing. It is the most profoundly affecting examination of addiction in Aronofsky’s career-long journey across the topic.
The Fountain, his long-gestating follow up to Requiem, may tell the story of his character Tommy (Hugh Jackman), who journeys across time and space to try and find a cure for death in order to live forever with his love (Rachel Weisz); but it also tells the story of Darren Aronofsky’s own obsessive nature, as his determination for The Fountain to be a sprawling science-fiction/fantasy epic was ultimately tinkered with and trimmed down by undoubtedly nervous and confounded studio suits to a brisk 90 minutes. It may be a mess, but it may also be the most personal glimpse into the powers of addiction throughout the course of his own career.
His next two films, The Wrestler and Black Swan, proved to be his most successful set of films – depending on your definition of success, that is. Both films found strong audience numbers, terrific Awards season buzz, and Natalie Portman won an Oscar for her turn as Nina, the mentally fractured young ballerina in Black Swan (Mickey Rourke deserved the Best Actor Oscar in 2008 for The Wrestler, but was inexplicably beat out by Sean Penn, who was… fine?… in Milk). They’re obsessions are clear, right on the surface, and they both involve physicality and self-mutilation for the sake of success – or fame.
The addiction and eventual madness of Noah never hit the sort of biblical proportions that the film needed, but credit to him for creating such a detailed, individualistic depiction of the place and time. Noah deserves more credit for its reach than its grasp, and Russell Crowe is game to put this Noah through the ringer as his obsession soon becomes his undoing. The addiction is, in a sense, the word of God, which Noah refuses to break regardless of the damage it could do to his family.
Which brings us to mother!, his take on Rosemary’s Baby. Or something along those lines. But the addiction here feels more opaque. It may be obsession with conception; it’s an avenue Aronofsky hasn’t quite tackled head on. The addiction isn’t as clear this time, not as much as his previous films, but make no mistake it will be lurking in this madhouse thriller somewhere. One thing is clear whether their is addiction at the heart of mother! or not, Darren Aronofsky will put Jennifer Lawrence through the ringer.
RED ALERT! Billed as the spiritual successor to Galaxy Quest, Seth MacFarlane’s new showThe Orville copy/pastes the Family Guy creator’s same old jokes and adds millions in effects. Let’s get this out of the way from the start. If you’re looking for this to be something like GQ the TV show, then you will be sorely disappointed. Wait for the Amazon reboot.The Orville is less GQ and more an attempt by MacFarlane to fulfill a childhood dream of being on a Star Trek show, which is great. He even utters a line about a boyhood dream not two minutes into the first episode. More power to him. But this isn’t a Star Trek show, and so the dream should take a form with its own direction and purpose. Instead, it’s Macfarlane’s usual shtick in space.
The Orville stars Seth MacFarlane (he also wrote and created the show) as Captain Ed Mercer, a talented starship officer who falls on hard times when he finds his wife cheating on him with an alien. Cue the first dick joke. Mercer is given one last chance to command a ship of his own, the titular Orville. To make it as contrived as possible, his ex-wife (Adrianne Palicki), also an officer, is assigned as his second-in-command. In the first episode, they’re sent on a uninteresting mission which becomes a battle ground between Mercer and the antagonist aliens known as the Krill.
1Don’t Let Seth MacFarlane Write Episodes
Yes, he created Family Guy and American Dad. And yes, we know MacFarlane has a huge following. MacFarlane is wildly talented. But for many others, he’s hit or miss.
MacFarlane’s biggest issue is that he’s a one-trick pony. It’s dick and fart jokes and pop culture references. In a modern world setting or animated show, it’s great. In a show taking place 400 years into the future, where the dynamics of language should have changed, it’s just dull. It’s proof MacFarlane can’t write anything else but Family Guy-style stuff. So, like Star Trek, the show should use an ace team of writers who can balance out the humor with the drama. MacFarlane clearly can’t contain himself from inserting jokes into every damn scene no matter how out of place or out of character it is. That will ruin Orville quickly.
2Less Humor, More Character And Purpose
The Orville’s first episode just plods along. And while it has to suffer a little with introducing new people to viewers, it doesn’t have to be done in such an uninspired fashion.
All the characters are introduced in a lineup of lazy writing. “You are Character X, you’re species is known for this, <insert joke>” on to the next character. That’s about five minutes of the show as it goes character by character. Director Jon Favreau begins an epic pan around Mercer and Isaac, a crew member from a planet of AI lifeforms who thinks all humanoids are inferior. Isaac is a “racist” robot as Mercer puts it because MacFarlane can’t bring himself to be less doltish. As the camera pans around, the the characters talk about “racism” (which would be “species-ism” if MacFarlane were actually clever). There is an expectation to end the shot with a punchline. Instead, the shot ends, there is no real joke or purpose to it, and we’re on to the next scene.
The show borrows plenty from Star Trek: The Next Generation. However, it completely forgets that in the first episode, which is plenty cringe-worthy, each character is introduced with a bit of patience. And the characters get to SHOW who they are, not just tell us.
3Homage Or Spoof?
Are you sending up sci-fi tropes or are you honoring them with a fresh take on it all your own? MacFarlane can’t seem to decide if he wants the show to be Spaceballs or Galaxy Quest. The former is a brilliant spoof of Star Wars, and the latter is a brilliant homage to Trek. Both are comedies, but one, the homage, also has drama while the other, the spoof, does not. Spaceballs is silly because that’s what spoofs are supposed to be. The Orville bounces between spoof and homage and doesn’t function as either.
It seems as if MacFarlane wanted to make a spoof. But he quickly realized that it wouldn’t hold up well for an hour-long TV series. Particularly one that’s supposed to run for multiple episodes and seasons. Spoofs wear out quickly, and The Orville is proof of that.
4Don’t Undercut Drama Or Action With Jokes
One of the biggest things that plague the first episode of The Orville is a problem persistent throughout A LOT of modern shows and movies. It’s the undercutting of drama with a joke. It happens in basically every Marvel movie, Star Wars, and beyond. A scene plays out that’s supposed to be important for the film. The scene is meant to create a weight and add drama. But then, as if producers are scared of leaving a scene on a serious tone, they add in a one-liner joke. The quip basically makes the entire scene a joke and thereby, erasing all dramatic tension and becoming meaningless.That happens repeatedly here because, again, MacFarlane simply can’t help himself.
5Build The World
The biggest flaw of The Orville is that MacFarlane is just doing his modern day thing. There’s almost no difference between future Earth and our Earth as if culture stopped evolving. Look back 100 years, and words used then are dead now. Look back 200, 300, 400 years and even more words have vanished or evolved. That’s the nature of humans, we change, and language evolves. And just like how we don’t say “top of the morning to you” and instead say “good morning” or even just “morning,” the people in the show should feel like they’re in their world, not ours.
Star Trek has plenty of bad episodes. But it always kept you in the sense of being in a future world. Even when Kirk and Spock were on a planet or in a time that was much like their modern-day Earth, the pair were still clearly aliens. The entirety of Star Trek IV plays up this fish-out-of-water thing. However, MacFarlane’s Mercer could travel back to today and no one would think he’s from the future.
We’re not ruling out The Orville.
MacFarlane always writes like he’s in the now, no matter if it’s western or sci-fi. And for the most part, when it comes to animated works, it’s not a big deal. We expect less of those details from cartoons. But this is a multi-million dollar live-action TV show and it comes off as supremely lazy writing. And the lovely sets and effects make MacFarlane’s weak script and one-trick comedy stand out like a sore thumb.
We’re not ruling out The Orville. There is plenty of potential, such as the positive tone that truly reflects the show’s Star Trek inspiration. Also, the effects are pretty fantastic for a network show. And a we should not judge a show based solely on the first episode. But if the same lack of cleverness continues on, it’s going to be hard to boldly keep going anywhere with this show.
Back in May of 2005, Star Trek: Enterprise ended its 4-season run to less than mediocre reviews. It was the end of an era. After nearly 40 years of (mostly) consistent programming, be it on television or the big screen, Star Trek’s impulse engines came to a full stop.
Thankfully, Star Trek returned the big screen in the 2009 J.J. Abrams alternate timeline/reboot, followed by Into Darkness in 2013 and Beyond in 2016. Though many Trek loyalists saw this new take as a far cry from the source material, it injected a much-needed boost of adrenaline in a staling franchise.
Cut to 2017, where the airwaves (or stream-waves, rather) are ready to activate their warp drives with Star Trek: Discovery, a new story in the prime timeline set 10 years before Kirk’s deep space mission on the Enterprise.
In that decade-plus gap, there have been many attempts to get Trek back on TV, as well as the big screen, that were not successful. Here’s a look at the shows and movies proposed to revive Star Trek between the time of the cancellation of Enterprise in 2005 and the premiere of Discovery this month.
9American Trek Story
Back in November 2015, a brand new Star Trek series was given the greenlight. Bryan Fuller (Hannibal, American Gods) was at the helm. However, the concept that would eventually evolve into Discovery didn’t start out that way.
“The original pitch was to do for science fiction what American Horror Story had done for horror,” Fuller said in an interview with Entertainment Weekly earlier this year. “It would platform a universe of Star Trek shows.”
Initially, the Discovery story was only meant to last for one season, followed by a new crew on a new ship in a different era in the prime timeline, and so on and so forth.
CBS executives were wary about the concept, and opted to move forward with a straightforward Discovery series, with each season having an overarching story. Fuller, not too happy with that decision, stepped down from running the show in October 2016, but would stay on as a writer and consulting producer.
However, as production began, Fuller drifted further away from Discovery, having numerous disagreements with CBS’s decisions. Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron Harberts eventually took over as showrunners.
Would you have liked to see any of these Star Trek series or films actually happen? Let us know in the comments.
After scoring a hit with The Archies One-Shot, Archie Comics is poised to launch an ongoing version this October. Co-writers Alex Segura and Matt Rosenberg were cool enough to take time off their busy schedules to give us some Behind The Music style info on the upcoming book and its creation. So sit back, put a record on and check it out!
Monkeys Fighting Robots: First off, Alex and Matt, thanks for taking the time to talk to us. I know you guys are busy.
Matt: Thanks for the interview!
Alex: Yes, thanks for having us. Always good to chat.
MFR: Was having the band something you guys always knew was going to be part of this new version of the property?
Matt: I think Alex is best suited to answer that from the company point of view. I’ll just say, I think what Mark Waid and the other Archie creators are doing with the new feel of some of the books, I love it because it feels fresh and different and vital. But most importantly is still feels like Archie. We all love these characters and this universe and I don’t think anyone wants to stray too hard from that. And Archie playing music, The Archies, is such a crucial part of who he is and what Riverdale is.
Alex: I think The Archies are a big part of Archie and the story of his friends, sure, and when Matt and I got the gig, we wanted to show this sprung directly from the bigger stories Mark was telling on the flagship book. Having Joe on board as the artist really helped, because he’d just finished a nice run with Mark and then a stint on RIVERDALE, so it felt very official if that makes sense. Creatively, like Matt said, the band angle gave us a lot of new ground to explore – it lets us play with the character dynamics in a different way and also take the kids out of their comfort zone, which always makes for interesting drama.
MFR: What was it like working with the art team of Joe Eisma, Matt Herms, Jack Morelli?
Matt: It’s amazing. I’ve been a huge fan of Joe’s work for years since Morning Glories first came out. He has such a fun style that feels really unique but still captures these real human emotions and moments so well. His characters feel so alive. And add Matt’s colors and we just have this gorgeous, vivid looking world. Jack too. They all work so well together to create a world that you just fall into as you read it.
Alex: Joe’s the perfect artist for this book because he gets what we’re trying to do and he makes it better. We all love music, but Joe knows how to capture the feeling of music on the page, which is not as easy as it sounds. They say you’re lucky if a collaborator is two of three things – nice, fast and great. Joe is all three. Matt and Jack really round out the team, and I couldn’t be more impressed with them. Rock comics aren’t your typical story, so the drama builds in different ways, and the colors and letters are so important to that process. They make it look easy.
MFR: How did you guys get Jaime Hernandez to do that gorgeous cover on the one-shot?
Matt: I sold my soul.
Alex: Once Matt threw his soul on the table, we were set. But actually – I just reached out to Jaime. He’s an Archie fan and had drawn a few things for us already – including a variant for ARCHIE MEETS RAMONES. I’m still pinching myself that Jaime drew the cover to something I co-wrote, though, for sure.
MFR: What is it about Archie as a concept that endures?
Matt: There is a sort of timelessness and purity to Archie and Riverdale. It’s Americana for sure, but it’s more than that. It’s about these characters that you feel like you know like you could be friends with them or even be them. Archie comics for me have always been this magical blend of wild adventures and comfortable familiarity. There is just something so amazing about getting to check in with them every week. I literally grew up with them always around me. I still have all my old issues and digests. They just feel like some of my oldest friends.
Alex: Archie’s the eternal everyman and good guy. You want to spend time with him and his friends, and his struggles are pretty universal – friendship, struggling to succeed and finding humor even when you’re facing some kind of adversity.
MFR: To get more specific with the previous question, why does Archie endure so much with music? Why is the band ‘The Archies’ always so important to the stories?
Matt: I feel like that plays more to the Americana angle. They are that accessible, relatable dream. The band you start with all your friends that practices in your garage. It’s this amazingly recognizable bit of daydreaming for so many people, but Archie never has to wake up from it. He never has to actually learn how to play an instrument, or find friends who know how. He never has to worry about noise complaints from the neighbors or booking a show. He just gets to be in a band and go on these great adventures because of that.
Alex: It’s kind of the rock dream, no? To not only be in a band but to be in a band with your best friends – and to be good at it! It’s kind of the crux of the book, too, but from a more realistic approach. The idea isn’t the same as the reality, though we still manage to tell the story with humor and heart, which is what Archie is all about.
This is also the third time you guys write together. What’s the process like? How did you guys get THIS rockin’ duo together in the first place?
Matt: We’ve known each other for a while now. We had a lot of mutual friends and just kept crossing paths in the New York comics world. When Alex wrote Archie Meets Kiss I was a big fan of the book and was working at a comic shop at the time. I set up a signing for him and we hung out. I think, and I might be wrong, that it was there that we talked about how much I’d love to write an Archie book one day. I really love Alex’s writing and I think we have similar sensibilities, so when the opportunity came about to work together on Archie Meets Ramones it was a no brainer for me. And it’s been a ton of fun since then.
Alex: Yes, I think that’s where the idea was born. Matt’s an old friend and we like a lot of the same things but also different stuff, so we play off each other well. I think we’re similar in that we write from an emotional place, which is where the best stories come from. I’m a fan of Matt’s work and I’ve loved to watch his career blow up. Having this chance to work together has been a highlight for me, and I’ve learned a lot. Writing these stories have been really fun, and it’s let us share our own musical experiences through the most iconic characters – it’s been amazing.
MFR: Alex, you especially have now written three Archie and music-based stories (Archie Meets Kiss, Archie Meets Ramones and now this one, The Archies). Matt, having read your work as well, I’ve seen all the many band homages and references you have done. I know music is a big part of both of your interests. Can you tell us a brief history of how music and playing it has been a party of your lives outside of comics and how it influences your work in them now?
Matt: Well I’ve been a big music person my whole life. I actually ran an indie/punk label with my girlfriend for a decade. Other than that I’ve done just about everything you can do in music that doesn’t involve having musical talent. I’ve tour managed, been a roadie, guitar teched, sold merch, booked shows, printed merch, and managed bands. Music has been a constant in my life, like comics, for as long as I can remember. So it just makes sense to me that some of that spills over onto the pages.
Alex: Music has always been a passion, often an obsession, for me. As much as I’ve always wanted to write, a desire to play music and be in a band was right there, too. I’d been in bands through college – none really that successful, but always fun and a great experience. In NY, I actually played in a few groups that put on shows around town, and that was a great experience. My last band even put out an EP which you can dig up on the streaming services. Songwriting is a real challenge, and it makes all your writing better. That still plays a part in how I write – from prose to dialogue to scripting. A lot of my experiences in bands have bubbled up in some form with this book, which has been great, because it gives me a chance to look back and relive the fun times. It also makes me want to pick up my guitar again! Maybe when the kid goes to college…
MFR: What kind of sound do you guy think The Archies have?
Matt: That answer for me changes all the time. They’re obviously poppy, kind of rough around the edges, and super energetic. Right now I’d say they are somewhere between Sonic Youth, Joyce Manor, and The Thermals. But if you asked me tomorrow I’m sure that answer would be completely different.
Alex: Yeah, I think they have a strong pop sensibility, but also a bit of bite to them – a raw, garage-y sound, like the Breeders or Pinkerton-era Weezer. Fuzzy guitars, dueling vocals and great hooks. The bands I think of most are Imperial Teen, Rilo Kiley and Last Splash-era Breeders. But it changes.
MFR: Would they put out a release on vinyl? Or something special for Record Store Day?
Matt: Sure. I’d love to have a 12″ of Joe reading issue one complete with sound effects and different voices for the whole cast. Right? That’s what everyone wants, right?
Alex: Yeah, who wouldn’t want that?
MFR: Who would play on an ultimate bill with them? Who do you think The Archies would be crazy about playing with?
Matt: Well I think everyone in the band would have their dream lineup, so it would be a 6 band bill. You can guess who picked who if you want. The Archies opening for U2, Blondie, Metallica, Husker Du, and Taylor Swift.
Alex: I still think T-Swift would be a great guest-star. Let’s make that happen.
MFR: What would a ‘The Archies’ tour be like?
Matt: In the real world? A nightmare. In the Archie world? It’s in the book. You’ll have to read it to find out. Weirdly there is the same amount of junk food in either version.
Alex: Yeah, that’s the book! In reality, they wouldn’t make it out of Riverdale. But in the comics, they’re doing pretty well, all things considered.
MFR: What kind of music do you think each member loves? Do they each have a favorite band and who would they be?
Matt: They listen to all sorts of things. I don’t want to give too much away because people should be able to input their own stuff in there too while they read. But I think whatever you think Jughead listens to, he listens to stuff that’s way heavier.
MFR: Matt, you have always written extensively about kids and teenagers. Why do you find it so easy and relevant to do so?
Matt: I’m super immature.
MFR: What bands do you hope to have in the book?
Matt: My dream bands would be Faith No More, Bad Brains, Superchunk, N.W.A., and The Clash. But that doesn’t include a bunch of the bands we did get that I can’t mention yet.
Alex: I am so bowled over by the bands we have locked in. It’s the perfect mix of “oh, cool, wasn’t expecting that”-type of groups with major, iconic bands from different eras. It’s going to be fun. As for dream acts – I’d love to see the Replacements, Talking Heads, PJ Harvey, Neko Case…any of those.
MFR: Have any musicians expressed interest?
Matt: Yeah! I feel like everyone we’ve talked to has been super excited. It’s kind of amazing. Everyone loves Archie.
Alex: The great thing is that no one’s brushed us off. Every band we’ve interacted with has been interested and keen to figure it out, which is a great sign.
MFR: What do you hope will set this series apart from all the other great Archie titles already out there?
Matt: I think the big thing for us is getting out of Riverdale. We get our 5 main characters, cram them in a van, add all this stress and excitement and craziness, tons of cool guests, and then we just see what happens. Also, ours is probably the only book where you will see Jughead in a Converge shirt.
Alex: I think it’s the book that’ll keep people on their toes and talking – because there’s no template. Like Matt said, it pulls the kids out of Riverdale – there’s no Choklit Shoppe, No Mr. Lodge or Weatherbee chasing after Archie – they kind of have to survive on their wits and still make great music AND still get along.
MFR: Do you have longer arcs planned or more short tales?
Matt: All of the issues work as standalone stories, but there is a longer arc which is about the tour and the band figuring out who they are. So you can pick it up wherever and hopefully enjoy it. But if you come along for the whole ride it’s much more enjoyable I think.
Alex: Matt and I were mindful to make each issue stand on its own, but also feed into a bigger narrative – which has been an interesting challenge. You can hop in whenever, though, and each issue presents a cool guest star and leads you down the road toward something bigger, we hope.
MFR: And finally, can you give us a hint about the first arc? How do The Archies get on that road to rockdom?
Matt: Sometimes you just have to get in the van.
Alex: Yup. All aboard.
The Archies #1 will hit comic shops on October 4th, 2017.
Gina Rodriguez is set to produce not one, but two new series for CW and CBS. The Jane The Virgin star is ready for the word ‘illegal’ to be a thing of the past.
The first series Illegal is being co-written and produced by Rafael Agustin, and will be based on his real life experiences. Agustin was prom king, class president, and an honor roll student. One thing he didn’t know at the time was he was undocumented.
He discovered the news in 1998 while applying to college.
“I was in shock,” the Ecuador-born writer-performer recalled during a recent phone interview with The Times. “I knew I was an immigrant — I remember a time when I didn’t speak English. But I didn’t know we were undocumented immigrants.”
The series is in development with CW. Agustin describes it as an edgy Latino version of “The Wonder Years.”
The CBS project titled Have Mercy follows a Latina doctor who is demoted to a nurse after she’s unable unable to practice after moving to Miami. She begins an illegal medical clinic out of her home.
Both series hail from Rodriguez’s production company I Can & I Will Productions.
They couldn’t have come at a better time. On September 5 Donald Trump announced he’ll be ending DACA which protects around 800,000 undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children from deportation.
During an interview with The Chicago Tribune, Rodriguez had this to say about Trump’s decision
“For me personally I was just devastated. My heart breaks for these young kids that are just trying. America just seems real brutal these days. Everything that I’ve grown up with and thought America stood for has just been destroyed by this administration time and time again. I’m just so afraid for young kids who fear not having anywhere to go. I just wish I could change it all, but I can’t.”
No word on when either series will begin production, but check back for updates!
This morning in an exclusive, Variety announced that Patty Jenkins closed a deal to direct Wonder Woman 2. Jenkins is also working on a script for the yet untitled sequel.
Wonder Women Everywhere
We reported last month that Wonder Woman 2 will release on December 13th, 2019. As expected, Gal Gadot signed on to . She also plays the character in the upcoming Justice League film.
Patty Jenkins got about the same amount of press as Gadot, as the first female director of an American superhero movie. Variety reports her contract for Wonder Woman 2 also makes her the highest-paid female director of all time. “While an exact number could not be unveiled, sources say the number is in the $8 million dollar range to write, direct and produce…A substantial backend of box office grosses is also included in the contract.”
According to Forbes, this contract also marks one of, if not THE first time, a female director stays with a franchise after its launch. “Save for the Bridget Jones series, where all three films were directed by women and Sharon Maguire directed the first and third pictures, I can’t think of a single example of a franchise where a female filmmaker got to helm the first film and one of the sequels.” Fans and critics alike praised Jenkins and Gadot for their work on Wonder Woman.
Where In Time is Diana Prince
Will Diana return to her 1980s costume?
While no story details are confirmed, Jenkins has discussed setting Wonder Woman 2 in the Cold War era. Rumors have also surfaced that Steve Trevor who (spoiler alert) dies in the first film, will make a return. However, fans have already pushed back against the possible resurrection. Jenkins won’t say more about how Trevor may or may not reappear.
Bringing Diana forward in time makes sense, as Diana’s story so far has been framed by scenes in the present. If you can’t wait until 2019 for more Wonder Woman, perhaps Justice League will hold you over. Here’s hoping it has some clues for Wonder Woman 2.
Based on DC comics, Wonder Woman 2 released December 13th, 2019. The film is produced by DC and Warner Bros. Studios.
We reported 