After a quick recap page to catch readers up on GWAR’s time-travel antics, the third issue of Matt Miner and Matt Maguire’s mini-series continues fleshing out the band’s latest misadventure.
The second issue of GWAR: Orgasmageddon ended with the Scumdogs of the Universe (i.e. the core members of the band) locked in battle amid the sinking wreckage of the Titanic with a vagina-faced Lovecraftian squid monster fittingly dubbed “The Krakunt.” Our lords and masters’ latest trip into the past resulted in the aforementioned ship’s sinking as a result of a hole torn in its side by the dick-shaped spacecraft they hijacked from current arch-nemesis, Mr. Perfect.
A fair amount of carnage ensues, the beast is defeated, and GWAR finds themselves jumping back in time to 16th-Century Italy, where they cross paths with their bodyguard, The Sexecutioner. In that time period, Sexy is still waiting for the Scumdogs to be unthawed from their Antarctic slumber.
While this addition to the story is welcome enough, the real treat comes a few pages later when GWAR jumps to 1997 and crosses paths with their younger selves — including a still-living Oderus Urungus, whose dialogue is all pulled from tweets, interviews, and movies. As Miner stated regarding the decision, “I didn’t want to put words in the man’s mouth.”
The issue also once again features a handful of backup stories, including two more following the follies of GWAR’s slaves and one written and drawn by Sleazy P. Martini himself, Don Drakulich.
The art continues to serve up a nice throwback to the ’90s, and the story is bridging the gap from the band’s last album to the upcoming “The Blood of Gods” well with explanations built-in for Oderus’ in-canon death, changes to the characters’ appearances and more. If you like GWAR, this is still a must-buy. If not, did you really read this far?
At this point, it may be old news, but Game of Thrones is the biggest show on television. The finale, which aired on Sunday, only confirmed this.
The most recent episode, which was entitled “The Dragon and the Wolf”, was viewed an astonishing 16.5 million times, based only on those who tuned into HBO live while the episode was airing, and those who streamed it that night. Considering that every other episode this season, of which there were only six, logged an average of about 31 million viewers total, this number is likely to skyrocket once live views, time-shifted views, on-demand orders, and stream numbers are tallied. It cannot be understated that 16.5 million is quite the record breaking number; to put that into perspective, if you took the countries with the top ten lowest populations, including Liechtenstein, American Samoa, Monaco, and Palau, you would not have half the number of people who watched Game of Thrones.
Domestically alone, the finale was viewed about 12.10 million times, which is a significant increase from the previous episode, “Beyond the Wall”, which logged about 10.24 million views. That roughly calculates to a 13% increase. The fact that a show this far in its run is still shattering its own records is surely something the showrunners did not foresee when they began writing the show. (In fact, David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the showrunners, have claimed that they didn’t expect to even make it to the Red Wedding, an event which surely helped the show rise to the level of prestige it now holds.)
At this point, Game of Thrones has surpassed The Sopranos as the most watched HBO series of all time, and it has usurped AMC’s The Walking Dead, which was at one time the unquestioned, and seemingly infallible, giant of television. It will be interesting to see how the final view tally shapes up after all has been accounted for, and whether or not the show continues to smash its own records when it returns in an estimated 18 months.
What do you think? Is Game of Thrones rightfully the most watched show on television, or is it over-hyped trash?
Comic creator and Texan, Donny Cates and Skybound have put together a limited edition REDNECK t-shirt to raise funds to support the relief effort in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. The proceeds from the “Texas Forever” shirt will go to the Houston Coalition for the Homeless.
‘We here at team Redneck want to help our Texas friends who need a hand. Help us help them and get a cool shirt in the process!’ said Cates.
The first look at Evangeline Lilly (The Hobbit) as The Wasp in Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man And The Wasp has been released. Lilly revealed the first look on her official Twitter account, on what would have been Marvel legend, Jack Kirby’s 100th birthday.
Lilly was first introduced as Hope Van Dyne in Peyton Reed’s Ant-Man, but we will finally see her suit up as The Wasp in the highly anticipated sequel.
Check out the image below:
In the aftermath of Captain America: Civil War, Scott Lang (Rudd) grapples with the consequences of his choices as both a Super Hero and a father. As he struggles to rebalance his home life with his responsibilities as Ant-Man, he’s confronted by Hope van Dyne (Lilly) and Dr. Hank Pym (Douglas) with an urgent new mission. Scott must once again put on the suit and learn to fight alongside The Wasp as the team works together to uncover secrets from their past.”
Marvel Studios’ Ant-Man And The Wasp will land in theatres on July 6, 2018!
“Ed came to us and felt very strongly about this. We fully support his unselfish decision. It was not our intent to be insensitive to issues of authenticity and ethnicity, and we will look to recast the part with an actor more consistent with the character in the source material.”
Neil Marshall is directing the reboot, and Mila Jovovich will be playing the Lady of the Lake alongside David Harbour – who will don the red mask as Hellboy – and Ian McShane’s Professor Broom.
‘Hellboy,’ which was originally saddled with ‘The Blood Queen’ as a subtitle, will be here at some point in 2018, though a specific date has yet to be attached.
“Friends. Enemies. Frank Castle. “Marvel’s ThePunisher” is coming soon.”
Although no footage is included, it gives us a indication of not only the tone of the show, but also who will be at the forefront: Frank Castle. While this might be assumed, the marketing has consistently revolved around the character, his outlook on the world, and his peers.
Additionally, the titles for all thirteen episodes have been dropped. Be careful of spoilers, as a title can potentially reveal a plot point.
1. “3 AM”
2. “Two Dead Men”
3. “Kandahar”
4. “Resupply”
5. “Gunner”
6. “The Judas Goat”
7. “Crosshairs”
8. “Cold Steel”
9. “Front Toward Enemy”
10. “Virtue of the Vicious”
11. “Danger Close”
12. “Home”
13. “Memento Mori”
The Punisher stars Jon Bernthal as the title role and also features Jason R. Moore as Curtis Hoyle, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as David Lieberman, Michael Nathanson as Sam Stein, Jaime Ray Newman as Sarah Lieberman, and Deborah Ann-Woll as Karen Page.
“Frank Castle is haunted and hunted after the murder of his family and becomes a vigilante known in the criminal underworld as “the Punisher”, who aims to fight crime by any means necessary.”
What has become the norm, Marvel and or DC Comics spoiling the ending of an important comic book days before its release, happened again on Monday when ‘The New York Times‘ revealed images for Secret Empire #10.
Spoilers are ahead, and we respect your reading experience, but begrudgingly we have to cover the news when it breaks.
As you can tell, Captain America is back in all his glory, and he’s brought a friend, Mjölnir. Steve McNiven’s work never disappoints, the movement is brilliant.
It is a fascinating move by Marvel to not give a quote to ‘The New York Times’ from the writer of Secret Empire, Nick Spencer. The guy received death threats over the book! Marvel either, didn’t trust ‘The New York Times’ or Spencer to represent the company properly. Instead, editor in chief Axel Alonso took the lead and defended the storyline.
“We understood the story would challenge readers, but we also know how it ended. We also thought the story had something important to say about democracy, freedom and the core American values that Captain America embodies. Any parallels to the current political climate have been coincidental. Marvel had no idea that Secret Empire would end “at a time when our country would be engaged in — let’s call it heated debate — about fascism,” said Alonso to ‘The New York Times.’
This announcement also comes on Jack Kirby’s 100th birthday (Is nothing sacred anymore?).
Are you glad Secret Empire is finally over? Comment below.
With only two episodes remaining, Twin Peaks heads toward its conclusion by waking up an important character and revealing that another may still be asleep. Tulpas and secrets emerge while a bloody and funny shootout offers a few moments of levity. But there are many questions left unanswered and puzzles left unsolved. Luckily, someone has entered the frame to unravel that which remains.
The Case
Bad Cooper and Richard Horne made their way to the coordinates Bad Coop’s been looking for since the beginning. But this was no heart-warming father/son trip. Although, I guess its possible they talked about things on the ride over. That would explain why Richard trusted Bad Coop enough to walk up the hill and climb the rock.
But the whole thing was a booby trap and we bid a not-so-fond farewell to Richard. Bad Coop admitted he was his father, but too little too late for that guy. Also, let’s not forget that Richard ran over the boy with Billy’s truck. Oblivion may have been too good an end for him.
Meanwhile in Vegas, Agent Dale B. Cooper finally woke up. Even Mike in the Another Place — notice how the show has avoided the concept of the Lodges entirely — had to breath a sigh of relief. Oh, and what a relief. He immediately sprang to life, setting Mike to creating a new Dougie, giving Bushnell the message for Gordon and using the Mitchum brother’s resources to get him to Twin Peaks. Man, it’s good to see Coop again.
At the same time, I was surprised by how touching his goodbye to Janey-E and Sonny Jim ended up being. There was always a part of Cooper which longed for something traditional and domestic. He hoped for a life like the one Dougie bumbled into. And I’m glad the show had enough time to reflect upon that. Hopefully the replacement Dougie will be a good man for the Joneses.
Also, Hutch and Chantal got the final scene they deserved.
The Updates
Audrey is in a coma. Or in a sanitarium. Or in Another Place. She finally arrived at the Road House in her attempt to find Billy. The Road House even acknowledged her presence by playing “Audrey’s Dance.” For a moment, she was that girl in the RR again. But a quick bar fight had Audrey return to her tentative, frightened state and we got a glimpse of her in a white room confronting a mirror.
So, let’s assume she’s in a coma. A twenty-five year coma means a lot of atrophy. The white room shot was composed with her standing, something she would not be able for many years after waking up from the coma, if at all. I know Twin Peaks plays fast and loose with things like that, but to miraculously walk away from a quarter-century of sleep requires magic.
Of course, I’m prepared to admit I’m wrong if we see her next week at the hospital with a phalanx of doctors stunned by her recovery. Which would echo Cooper waking up and tie them together once more.
Also, there is the possibility that the white room is also part of her dream state.
The Questions
If Audrey was in a coma all this time, how does she know about Billy and Tina? Did the forces of the black & white Other Place fashion a reality to impart a message about Billy to her?
Was Richard Horne part of the “Richard and Linda” the Fireman told Cooper about back in Part 1? If so, will Linda be required at the other set of coordinates Bad Coop is headed to?
How does Cooper’s connection to Another Place work? He and Mike could pass items freely between one another without the need of a vortex. Does that mean Cooper is a vortex himself?
How did Jerry get to the field? Based on the location Diane gave Bad Coop, it’s somewhere near Twin Peaks, but would three days of walking bring Jerry to that location? Also, is Jerry aware that he saw his nephew die?
How did Randall Headley ever end up running the Las Vegas Bureau office?
Are we on Day 6 or Day 7?
Not about Judy
Oh boy. So Diane was a tulpa all along. Well, not all along. As she revealed to Gordon, Bad Coop visited the real Diane Evans, raped her and took her to the Convenience Store to be replaced by a tulpa he could control. Which is just utterly repugnant, but also indicative of the way Twin Peaks treats women. I know Bad Cooper is meant to be evil and the core of the series is about the ugliness of rape, but there is a cavalier attitude to it sometimes. Which is something that should be noted; particularly when this season is complete and we have a whole story to examine.
But back in the episode, Bad Coop’s plan to use the Diane tulpa to kill Gordon, Albert and Tammy failed. It hearkens back to the story Albert told Tammy about the Blue Rose; right down to Diane saying “I’m not me.” It was a thrilling moment with one of the craziest vanishing acts witnessed on television. It also suggests the nature of these tulpas is not absolute. Which makes you wonder how much of the Diane we saw was the real Diane. In fact, you also have to wonder where she is.
Also, now that we know tulpas are made with the golden Phantasm balls — or “seeds” — I can’t help but think of the tulpa seed in Buenos Aires. It has to come back into play.
Hearts of Gold
Having Cooper back in the world is such a joy. Not just because it gets us closer to a resolution, but because of the way he views the world. His praise of Bushnell, his love for the Joneses, and even the way he regards the Mitchum brothers is so unlike so many television heroes. He was always odd. Recall how he came into Twin Peaks with equal amounts of authority and boyish wonder for the trees. But part of that oddness was a freedom of expression. He told people about their finer qualities and championed the better parts of those he encountered.
And now we find him in a limo with mobsters headed for a private jet, assuring the mobsters his friendship will cleanse them of certain sins. He even managed to get Candie to say something with confidence. That’s the Dale Cooper we know and love and it is sad that we’ll only get to see him again for two more hours.
What do you think? Did the show hold him back for too long? Add your thoughts in the comments below.
Liam Neeson puts on a chilling performance as Mark Felt a.k.a. Deep Throat, the man who brought down President Richard Nixon in 1974. Felt did not reveal he was Deep Throat till 2005.
Sony Pictures released the first trailer for ‘Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House’ Monday morning, via EW.
About the film: Liam Neeson stars in the film as the titular whistleblower who assisted journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein break news of President Nixon’s attempt to conceal White House involvement in the scandal, which involved the arrest of five men apprehended after breaking into the Democratic National Committee headquarters.
‘Mark Felt: The Man Who Brought Down the White House’ is directed by Peter Landesman, and stars Liam Neeson, Diane Lane, Marton Csokas, Josh Lucas, Tony Goldwyn, Michael C. Hall, Tom Sizemore, Wendi McLendon-Covey, Ike Barinholtz, Bruce Greenwood, Brian D’Arcy James, Kate Walsh, Noah Wyle, and Maika Monroe.
The hits the Toronto Film Festival first, and then theaters on September 29.
Do you think this film has Oscar potential? Comment below.
It’s hard to think of a finale with a larger scope that Game of Thrones this season. The sheer scope of what this episodecovers in “The Dragon and the Wolf” is insane. The season seven finale wraps up the main plots of this season, while setting up the final run. The first half of the episode lags, but the latter half includes some truly insane moments. This isn’t the finest episode of television, but for fans of the show, it is monumental.
The weakest element of the episode is what comes first. Bringing everyone together for a doomed truce is fairly boring. While it’s amusing to see everyone in matching black leather outfits, it isn’t very exciting. The best part of the reunion, in fact, is how little time it takes. What makes Game of Thrones fun is watching the characters plot against each other, not do Defenders-style team-ups.
What is interesting is the fallout of this alliance. Cersei in particular has a compelling twist in her motivations. Having Euron go to collect the Golden Company promises that this shoehorned alliance won’t last. Seeing the Lannister siblings get extended screen time, and watch them splinter, is intriguing. It’s that kind of interpersonal drama that makes Game of Thrones exciting to watch. Well, that and ice dragons.
The murder of Littlefinger was beyond satisfying to watch. The set-up to his death was infuriating, due to how deep the lead was buried. Game of Thrones had the Stark girls at each other’s throats, without a sign of reconciliation. How the two came together to resolve their differences is hard to say. However, Littlefinger has long been one of the most sinister plotters in the Seven Kingdoms. While we may miss Aidan Gillen, no one will miss Petyr Baelish.
Jon Snow’s parentage sets up interesting backstory for the upcoming final season. The actual reveal of Jon Snow being a Targaryen came last season. It’s a more interesting development now that he’s so close to the throne. The information may not change much, as Jon and Daenerys are already, uh, very close. Now that their relationship is so close and fairy tale-esqe, seeing it break could be interesting. Whether it be over the throne, or a disinterest in incest, Westeros’ new power couple is due for some drama.
Tied to Jon’s true heritage is the shocking twist of Rhaegar and Lyanna. The idea that the rebellion was founded upon a lie is shocking. The entire series, and every remaining plot point, stems from that misconception. How things might change if the rebellion is a falsehood is unclear, but for “The Dragon and the Wolf,” it is a phenomenal reveal.
The true strength of “The Dragon and the Wolf” is both what it wraps up and opens up. A strong finale should conclude season-long conflicts, while setting up the future. Jon and Dany are allies, the Stark sisters are family, and everyone will fight the Night King. Considering the Night King just Blue Eyes White Dragon’d the Wall, the conflict is imminent. I’ve never been a fan of the Game of Thrones zombie plot, but it should make for some incredible CGI fights.
All in all, this season was mostly based on fan service. That isn’t entirely a bad thing, however, because of what Game of Thrones has become. It’s now a huge event in pop culture, and has built a huge world for six years. The fact that the series is now delivering on its promises isn’t a negative. Yes, fans may look back and see this season as a weaker point. But the moments it gave fans make it special, and this episode perfectly encapsulates that. Plus, there’s no way this season was as bad as season five.
