Dick Grayson and Huntress team-up for some ex-Spyral action in Nightwing #27. This arc revisits Dick’s days as a spy from the Grayson series.
***SPOILERS LIE AHEAD***
A welcomed change in scenery, moving away from Bludhaven and the relationship drama with Shawn. Only it’s not, and she is still lingering around. I get that Seeley wants there to be closure on their romance, but I don’t think anyone would mind if we moved on quickly.
Nightwing started off as one of the best Rebirth titles. It’s been solid throughout, but for some reason the Bludhaven cast isn’t striking any major chords. The city still doesn’t really feel like it belongs to Nightwing yet either, more like a summer home to Gotham.
Tim Seeley has such a great handle on Nightwing, the problem is there are too many less interesting characters eating up his face time. This has slowly become more noticeable in recent issues, this time being very obvious.
If you haven’t read the Grayson series (which is a solid run by Tom King), you’re going to have a hard time with this issue. There’s nothing wrong with calling back to that era of Dick’s life, but this issue assumes that everyone is well read on his days at Spyral. That being said, there isn’t really much spy action in this issue.
The art takes a bit of a dip once we get to the casino bar. Suddenly the color and quick detail that was working really well just disappears in an effort to give this subpar lighting effect. Some of the action is a bit clunky, the invisible helicopter didn’t pay off like it could have. The digital effects also don’t do the art any favors, they’re very noticeable.
One thing that Javier Fernandez excels at, especially this issue, is faces. Character expressions and even masks are a major highlight of this issue. There’s also a beautiful splash page towards the end depicting the infiltration of a Spyral facility.
This is by no means a worthless comic book, it just doesn’t hit all the notes it needs to for this to sing. It’s also not an easy read for anyone who started reading Nightwing comics with this series.
Rami and Campbell met in junior high and became best friends. The duo eventually made a 30-minute film ‘Within the Woods’ which was used to attract financing for ‘Evil Dead.’ The rest is cinematic history. Who doesn’t want to see a Netflix series about a young Bruce and Sam running amuck in the early 70s?
If you’re still not sold on the idea, listen to Campbell describe his first encounter with Rami.
“I thought he was a little creepy kid. He was dressed like Sherlock Holmes playing with dolls sitting on the floor in the hallway blocking the hallway,” said Campbell.
When asked if there was enough material for Netflix series Cambell responded.“Funny thing is we could actually,” the actor then proceeded to reminisce about high school with Rami.
“I poked him in the eye with a pencil one time. We would rush at each other with a pencil, and you would try and stop right at the last minute. And I poked him. I just poked him in the eye. And then he would sit behind me in school; I’d go to answer a question this is in drama class. I’d answer a question, and he’s sitting behind me, and as I’m answering, I feel that there’s a tip of a pencil going into the back of my neck and slowly increasing the pressure as I’m answering the question. It became a massive test of wills of like you’re going to have to snap that thing off in the back of my neck before I give you, you son of a gun. He’s like, “You’re going to break. I’m going to break you.” So that was our relationship from the start,” said Campbell.
“I was his assistant at bar mitzvahs. We would go to bar mitzvahs, and he was a lame magician, and every time he hit me the kids would laugh. And I think he took a mental note. Hurting Bruce is good. So that’s where that came from,” said Campbell.
Do you think Campbells and Rami’s high school high-jinx carry enough weight for a Netflix series?
What is Bruce Campbell’s greatest role? Comment below.
By the time this film is done, Marvel Studios might need to change the name of ‘Thor: Ragnarok’ to the ‘Mighty Avengers’ with all the superheroes popping up in this film. It appears that Doctor Strange has a chat with Thor before Hela takes over and banishes the God of Thunder.
Check out the international trailer below:
With the film sitting at 100 minutes according to director Taika Waititi, this will be a fast and furious adventure across space and time.
About ‘Thor: Ragnarok’:
Thor’s world is about to explode in Marvel’s Thor: Ragnarok. His devious brother, Loki, has taken over Asgard, the powerful Hela has emerged to steal the throne for herself and Thor is imprisoned on the other side of the universe. To escape captivity and save his home from imminent destruction, Thor must first win a deadly alien contest by defeating his former ally and fellow Avengers… The Incredible Hulk!
‘Thor: Ragnarok’ stars Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Idris Elba, Cate Blanchett, Jeff Goldblum, Tessa Thompson, Karl Urban, Mark Ruffalo, and Sir Anthony Hopkins. Taika Waititi directs with Kevin Feige producing the film.
‘Thor: Ragnarok’ will destroy the universe on November 3, 2017.
For Astonishing X-Men‘s second installment, writer Charles Soule teams up with artist Mike Deodato Jr. and colorist Frank Martin. This book is quickly proving itself as the top X-book.
***SPOILERS LIE AHEAD***
After the X-Men entered the Astral Plane in pursuit of the Shadow King, they find themselves the pieces in a psychic chess match between he and Professor Xavier. On the other side of consciousness, the rest of the team protects their psychical bodies in a troubling setting.
This is the freshest an X-Men book has felt in a long while. It’s not a ground breaking concept, but the execution is flawless. Nothing about these two issues has felt formulaic. By feeling new and strange in itself makes this also feel like a potentially classic X-Men story.
Soule’s commentary by way of the dialogue is efficient and pairs so well with the setting and visual scheme. This is the X-Men book Marvel has desperately needed.
The reveal of Mystique was a surprise to no one. It almost feels cheap given how every online community suspected it immediately yet Logan did not.
The twisted game being played, and how it’s being played, is very clever. How the participants are realizing their role as pawns, and what they plan to do with it, makes for a fun read.
The Inception-esque narrative, between those dreaming and those on the outside, is a lot of fun. Getting a look at the situation from the Ministry Of Defence’s perspective is interesting.
I’m a sucker for superhero politics and any government interaction with super humans. Whenever a comic book presents a government’s reaction to superhero antics, it makes it feel more real to readers.
The visual layouts on these pages are very stylized and beautiful. Despite being in some grim surroundings, this never loses its vibrancy.
The transition to Deodato’s art is smooth, his style is a great fit for the creepy psycho circus that following Shadow King into the Astral Plane would be. Frank Martin’s colors also do wonders with Deodato’s pencils.
Deodato has always shined brightest on books with bigger and bulkier characters. His more slender character models tend to have the occasional ill-fitting hulk hand, there’s only a small bit of that here.
Overall, Astonishing X-Men #2 is a very pleasing issue, more than worth your time. Soule & his rotating team of artists are onto something special here for the X-Men.
DC Comics have been pumping out a lot of Jack Kirby related stuff this year, now they are adding yet another cult character from Jack the King’s list of creation to their current roster. Fan favorite rhyming demon Etrigan is getting his own new mini series from writer Andrew Constant with art by Brad Walker and Andrew Hennessy. Titled The Demon: Hell On Earth, the book is scheduled to hit stores November 15th, 2017.
From DC Comics:
Look here, fans, and take a break. A new comic announcement we’re ready to make. About a war on Earth to destroy all man And a rhyming demon named Etrigan.
Andrew Constant writes this new tale of fright, Bringing startling new layers of the Demon to light. He’s assisted by artists of the highest skill: Messrs. Walker and Hennessy their duties fulfill.
Fans can expect both action and chills In a tale that addresses our modern-day ills. In this month where we celebrate Jack Kirby’s birth We’re pleased to announce THE DEMON: HELL IS EARTH!
Artist Walker said:
I was excited to work on a great, slightly lesser exposed Kirby character. As I’ve gotten into Andrew’s scripts, I’ve been having fun doing something tonally different than books I’ve worked on in the past. It’s fun tapping into moody, darker aspects of my art. It has a bit of a Vertigo vibe. It’s maybe not a side of me people know, but it’s stuff I am a fan of, just as much as the big, bombastic, superhero stuff.
DC Comics describes the series as “a large-scale, thrilling mix of action and terror featuring tense, conflicted relationships and brutal, kinetic combat, with no less than the fate of the world at stake. Because in the world of Etrigan, the Demon, war is literally hell.”
What do you guys think? I was a big fan of some of the stuff Garth Ennis did with the character in the ’90s. And he was a big part of some fun story lines like Day Of Judgment and Kevin Smith’s run on Green Arrow, Quiver. Check out the official solicitation below, along with some preview art. Comment and discuss as well!
THE DEMON: HELL IS EARTH #1
Written by ANDREW CONSTANT
Art and cover by BRAD WALKER and ANDREW HENNESSY
Jason Blood and Etrigan: the best of enemies, destined to spend eternity bound together. When a haunting vision leads Jason to Death Valley, a supernatural weapon is unleashed, radically transforming not only the land but also Blood…and the Demon. The worst, though, is yet to come, as hell begins to make its way into our world.
Don’t miss the start of this horrifying miniseries, where Etrigan and Blood’s relationship will be changed forever!
On sale NOVEMBER 15 • 32 pg, FC, 1 of 6, $2.99 US • RATED T
The Demon: Hell on Earth Art by Brad WalkerThe Demon: Hell on Earth Art by Brad Walker
This afternoon, Variety published an interview with Joel Weinshanker, proprietor of the Elis Presley estate. Weinshanker discussed many things about The King on this, the 40th anniversary of his untimely death. One interesting nugget he dropped into the interview caught this reader’s attention more than anything else he said… Elvis Presley is going to be in Blade Runner 2049.
Say what?
Here is the section from the Variety article:
Weinshanker reveals that in the new “Blade Runner” movie, the King makes an extended cameo. “You see Elvis for about three seconds in a trailer, but he’s in it for a lot longer.”
That’s the only thing Weinshanker mentions about the surprise cameo. There’s no explanation regarding the context, or the reason for Evlis’s inclusion in Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming sequel. Having such a gimmick in what certainly appears to be a serious, straightforward science-fiction noir is an interesting turn of events.
Also, there must be another trailer on the horizon, because three seconds of Elvis Presley would not have gone unnoticed to the masses. Three seconds is a sizable amount of time in a two-minute trailer.
Anywho, Blade Runner 2049 opens October 6, so keep and eye out for Elvis Presley hanging out somewhere.
This week, Batman and Harley Quinn made its way to theaters in a one night only Fathom Event before its home release. The movie has issues. It’s tonally inconsistent, the music is distracting and all over the place, and it never knows if it wants to be like the 1990’s cartoon or the 1960’s live action. Sure, the voice cast is excellent, and some of the humor is great even if they rely on sexual innuendo too often. But there is one fundamental problem with the movie that makes it even more frustrating: it completely misses the boat on the relationship between Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy.
Some slight spoilers ahead.
In the comics, the romantic relationship between the two reformed villains is firmly placed in cannon. They’re a great couple, and they seem to bring out the more heroic qualities in each other. DC even fully explained their relationship:
But in Batman and Harley Quinn, this relationship is nowhere to be seen. In the movie, they’re nothing more than “BFFs,” and for this film, that doesn’t work for a number of reasons.
The first issue is the humor of the movie. There are a lot of sex jokes. Even Batman cracks a few sex jokes. It fits Harley; she’s always been a sexual character. However, more than a few of those jokes involve homosexuality. She teases Nightwing that she always figured he and Batman never liked girls. One joke hints at Sgt. Steele doing something homosexual for “therapy reasons.” Okay, so there gay jokes. What’s the problem? Well, without exploring a legitimate queer relationship in the story, they end up feeling like outdated “I’m not gay” jokes from Seinfeld. The only thing missing is Nightwing following his defense with “not that there’s anything wrong with that.” These jokes could have worked if they led to something.
“It’s guy love, that’s all it is.”
Which brings us to the next issue. The movie didn’t shy away from queer ideas, even beyond jokes. There are scenes where you see people of the same sex dancing, passersby holding hands, etc. There’s a lot of these “blink and you’ll miss it” moments, but they exist in the film’s universe. Gotham, as presented in Batman and Harley Quinn, has a normalized queer culture—except for the superheroes.
And then the sexuality. There is an entire subplot of Harley Quinn and Nightwing hooking up, and eventually coming to respect each other even if they don’t continue as lovers—a subplot complete with a vibrator joke. Harley tells him she’ll give him a call if she “runs out of batteries.”
Batman walking in on Harley and Nightwing while they tickle each other. Literally. That’s what’s happening here.
But the sexual scenes between them are not coy. Harley strips in front of him, teases him, ties him to a bed, and is very sexually aggressive to the point where it looks like she’s going to rape him, but Nightwing says “don’t get me wrong, I want to” and becomes consenting while she’s naked on top of him. It’s a PG-13 movie, and the filmmakers utilized the rating as far as they could.
“No, Harley. We can’t…can’t not do this.” Summary of Nightwing’s internal feelings.
So, there’s sexuality and queer ideas all throughout the movie. But not for Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy. When they finally get to their climactic scene, they’re just friends. There’s no mention of a relationship. It’s one of the most wasted opportunities in the movie. The relationship between these two women has become a part of part of DC’s pop culture. Fans cheer them more than they do Harley and Joker. DC Animation has the perfect opportunity, using the style of the 1990’s animated series, to make Ivy and Harley’s romance a part of the beloved cartoon’s canon. It felt like they were using all of these jokes and images mentioned before to build up to show them as more than friends.
And then they didn’t. It makes all “gay jokes” insulting. The images of same-sex couples seem more pandering instead of being part of a community in Gotham. We didn’t need to see them get physical. We didn’t need an animated lesbian sex scene. We just needed a little more than the two of them hugging. Instead of Nightwing calling Ivy her “BFF,” he could have called her “your girlfriend.” Harley could have mentioned their love for each other. They could have shared a small kiss. They just needed SOMETHING. But when the time came, it felt like the filmmakers balked and decided not to “go there”—but left all the buildup to it.
That’s all they needed.
The only good thing that might come out of this failed opportunity is that, if Margo Robbie brings Harley’s sexuality into Gotham City Sirens, it will have an even bigger impact. Robbie and whoever is cast to play Poison Ivy can give us the antihero couple that deserves a big screen debut.
Well, it seems that the rumors are true. As Bleeding Cool, who broke the story, is reporting that Wizard magazine is returning to the world of comics. And although the company’s own website is curiously quiet on the subject, details have indeed emerged.
According to Bleeding Cool, it’s going to be published quarterly, along with daily digital video news reports.They are also reporting that Nerdist’sBrian Walton (who also currently heads the content of Wizard World.com) will be its Editor-In-Chief.
What do you guys think? As a comic’s fan that got into the medium heavily in the ’90s, the magazine was a huge part of my (and most of my friends’) fandom. I picked it up as regularly as I did any comic I read. But can a print comics magazine survive in today’s digital heavy market, even as a quarterly? Industry coverage is also all over the place, with comic book news breaking in outlets like USA Today and other mainstream media. I guess we shall have to see if they can add anything unique or perhaps work a nostalgia factor. Comment and discuss below!
Wizard: The Magazine of Comics, Entertainment, and Pop Culture was a magazine about comic books, published monthly in the United States by Wizard Entertainment from July 1991 to January 2011. It included a price guide, as well as comic book, movie, anime, and collector news, interviews, and previews.
Casey Affleck made an appearance on the WEEIVideo Youtube Channel, talking to Dale & Holley with Keefe. With rumors surrounding his brother’s role within the DCEU now, the hosts asked Affleck if he had any inside information on Ben’s upcoming Batman role. While he seemed unsure, he did have some very interesting news that lead many fans to believe that Batman is getting recast within the DCEU.
“I thought he was an OK Batman. No, I thought he was great. He was great. He’s a hero, so he had something to channel and work with there. But he’s not going to do that movie, I don’t think. Sorry to say. Is that breaking news? Because I was just kind of making that up, I don’t know.”
If you’re interested in watching the actor say it, skip to about 6:02 in the video below.
Do you think Ben is staying in the Batman role? Comment below, let us know your thoughts.
Yesterday, MoviePass announced something that could revolutionize the movie industry. Their subscription service, where you can go to one 2D movie a day, every day, was reduced to just $9.95 a month. This was possible thanks in part to a funding deal MoviePass made with Helios and Matheson Analytics, who bought a majority stake in the company. Yes, they will be taking on a massive loss, covering tickets, but their subscriber numbers increased so much and so quickly, it shut down their site and app yesterday. Now, more people are going to go to the movies. At the same price as Netflix and Hulu, it’s a no-brainer. For film lovers, this is like God just smiled upon cinema.
The Godfather, The Good Son, and the Spirited Away.
But there’s one theater chain who’s not happy with the development. AMC theaters is exploring options on how to sue MoviePass so that they can get out of the program. “While AMC is not opposed to subscription programs generally, the one envisioned by MoviePass is not one AMC can embrace,” the company’s statement reads. “We are actively working now to determine whether it may be feasible to opt out and not participate in this shaky and unsustainable program.”
AMC’s attendance goals?
Here’s the odd part—AMC has nothing to lose. Moviepass covers the full cost of the ticket, and are willing to accept losing a lot of money while they gather data on how users use their services. They have long term plans to propose a deal with theaters to get a cut of their profits, but only if they can show that their service has substantially increased ticket and concession sales. In the meantime, MoviePass is footing the entire bill. Is it shaky? Absolutely. Is it going to hurt AMC? No.
AMC should embrace this development. The changes to their Stubs program were terrible. Many of their theaters desperately need new management. And above all, they need people to go to more movies. Butts-in-seats, as they say. And if patrons are spending next to nothing on tickets, they’ll be more likely to try some of their awesome new menu items, like the Buffalo Chicken flatbread pizza and the chicken and waffle sandwich. For a movie theater, these new items are reasonably priced (again, for a movie theater). The also have those magic coca-cola machines that now has diet Barq’s cream soda, a perfect match for that Buffalo Chicken flatbread.
Moviegoers need more pizza.
Many AMC’s also have the awesome MacGuffin’s bar. When you don’t have to pay 13 bucks for a ticket, paying ten bucks for a Sangria or 6 bucks for a beer is a treat.
The only way to enjoy the Emoji Movie.
MoviePass’s $10 subscriptions and AMC’s concession could be the best match for movie junkies. So come on AMC, embrace the change, and get that Chicken and Waffle sandwich ready—Logan Lucky opens this weekend and we’ll need lunch.
One thing that Javier Fernandez excels at, especially this issue, is faces. Character expressions and even masks are a major highlight of this issue. There’s also a beautiful splash page towards the end depicting the infiltration of a Spyral facility.
