This All Hallows’ Eve, Nightmare is bent on conquering our waking world by crossing through the Dream Dimension, and converting each dreamer into a monster. Can Dr. Strange, Hulk and the Howling Commandoes hold the line and put an end to his nefarious scheme?

“Marvel’s Hulk: Where Monsters Dwell,” the first animated, feature-length film centered on Hulk, premieres on Digital HD on Oct. 21. In this spooky, action-packed feature, the Green Goliath and Sorcerer Supreme team up with the Howling Commandoes, a supernatural strikeforce, to thwart the villainous plan of Nightmare, the evil, supernatural lord of the Dream Dimension.

Welcome back to Graphic Breakdown!

Let’s jump into some other books that have been released over the last few weeks!

Moonshine #1

Written by Brian Azzarello
Illustrated by Eduardo Risso
Published by Image Comics

When the team behind 100 Bullets reunite to create a new comic, you have to read it. And it’s not a disappointment either. This could be the start of one hell of a series.

Set during Prohibition, and deep in the backwoods of Appalachia, Moonshine #1 tells the story of Lou Pirlo, a city-slick “torpedo” sent from New York City to negotiate a deal with the best moonshiner in West Virginia, one Hiram Holt.

What Lou doesn’t figure on is that Holt is just as cunning and ruthless as any NYC crime boss. Because not only will Holt do anything to protect his illicit booze operation, he’ll stop at nothing to protect a much darker family secret…a bloody, supernatural secret that must never see the light of day… or better still, the light of the full moon.

Azzarello is a writer who is at the top of his game. Here he pushes himself and challenges himself in new territory. Same with Risso on art. It’s exhilarating. I’m not as big a fan of these two separately at times…when they are together?

They totally rock.

I’ll be reading this series each month. You should too. It’s pretty damn awesome.

RATING: A-

Scarlet #1-10

Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Illustrated by Alex Maleev
Published by Marvel Comics

After a sporadic publishing schedule that was truly maddening, I was finally able to read Scarlet numbers 1-10…and it ended on a cliffhanger telling me it will continue next year which is even more maddening.

It’s only maddening because the comic book is so damn good.

Bendis used to be a writer who I would buy anything he wrote. Lately, it’s been less than so for me. I like Bendis still, but he sort of wore on me. This book reminded me that when Bendis hits, he really hits. His story of Scarlet and her struggle against the police force and the city is mesmerizing. I can’t get enough.

Alex Maleev Illustrates this book and it’s the best of his career. These two are such a good team on anything…but this is just awesome. It would get an A plus if it had anything resembling a normal schedule.

Still, this is a book of passion and I love every second.

RATING: A

Reborn #1

Written by Mark Millar
Illustrated by Greg Capullo
Published by Image Comics

Man, Image Comics really is one hell of a publisher. They are really pushing what can be done in comics. Now comes this from the always reliable Millar and it’s another great start to a series.

I think eventually all of Millar’s books will hit the big screen. It’s not hard to see why. The story goes like this: Where do you go when you die? Not heaven or hell; somewhere else. Somewhere you have to fight to survive. Somewhere the people from the past are waiting for you—the good and the bad.

The story follows an eighty-year-old woman named Bonnie Black who passes away and finds herself young once again, in a limbo-like dimension that she must fight through to find her husband, who she lost fourteen years prior.

The opening sequence starts this series off right. Fast, fun, and just damn enjoyable. Millar continues on his roll of hits and Capullo is just a master artist at this point. What they do together is amazing.

Another great book from Millar. I don’t know if his streak can be beaten at this point.

RATING:A

Another Chance to Get it Right

Written by Andrew Vachss
Illustrated by Various
Published by Dark Horse Comics

I actually bought this book on the stands in 1993. This book here is a reissue of that same book I bought.

So I reread it. And let me tell you: It’s as moving now as when I first read it.

This book is a groundbreaking collection of short stories, poetry, and allegory by Andrew Vachss, one of the most powerful voices in the field of child protection. This work is an illumination of the realities of child abuse, juvenile violence . . . and tribute to the power of imagination. It features a line-up of award winning artists, including Geof Darrow, Paul Chadwick, Frank Caruso, Dave Gibbons, and Tim Bradstreet.

I forgot how good this book is…and how there has never been quite another book like it. I remember being stunned by this. I read it again, and I was stunned all over again. A must read.

RATING: A+

I love Halloween, I planned my costume months ago and I’m currently in the process of making it, but if you haven’t planned yours by now then that’s okay, you enjoy your store bought Sexy Trump costumes *shudders* and last minute dollar/pound store capes and fake blood. Alternatively, let me offer up a few ideas of some awesome video game inspired Halloween costumes.

I’m not going down the route of other-worldly, monstrous creatures, I’ll leave those high maintenance costumes to the hardcore cosplayers who do it so well. I’m also omitting zombies as everyone and their mums have overdone them to death. In fact, let’s all agree that the trend of putting ‘zombie’ in front of literally any costume needs to stop already. With that in mind here’s my list of video game themed, Halloween costume suggestions:

Alice (American McGee’s Alice/Alice: Madness Returns)

My own costume this year is Alice Liddell from American McGee’s Alice and Alice: Madness Returns. Inspired as I often am by video games, my attention turned to those game characters that are slightly dark and twisted (it’s for Halloween, after all) and this entire series is full of potential costumes with lots of characters to draw upon for inspiration, however Alice is my favourite.

Not only does she don multiple looks but her weapons are also customisable, meaning you can pick and choose your favourite elements. I’ve opted for Alice’s Vorpal Blade over her Hobby Horse (mainly because I don’t have time to craft a larger weapon…you see? This is why planning in advance is important)!

Alice may be a psychological mess of a character but she’s also strong, can cause serious damage and her blank gaze is unnerving. I’m going to be cosplaying at MCM London Comic Con as Alice this October too and I can’t wait to perfect her look!

Various Minecraft Skins (Minecraft)

Time to get your paper craft on. This is an option for those of you who are perhaps trying to do Halloween on a budget but still want a “costume” that looks good, though let’s face it, it’s less a costume and more of a hat or mask. All it requires is a little prep work, a pair of scissors, some card and tape and what ever art materials you have to create whichever character or skin you like.

There are numerous tutorials on creating head sized Minecraft blocks and once you have that covered then you’re pretty much good to go! Additionally, you could even make multiple Minecraft block heads to swap out and maybe add a Minecraft sword to really finish off your look. If you want to make it more macabre or spooky, then opt for a Minecraft Creeper or Skeleton!

I found a great tutorial site to help you create Steve’s Head and you can adapt it easily to fit which ever character or bad guy you like.

Splicer (BioShock series)

Masks have always been creepy, from weird Pagan harvest rituals, Venetian masquerade festivals and Japanese theatre depicting masked demons, every culture seems to have their own variation and almost all are damn right creepy.

Hiding your face on Halloween is now a tradition and a costume that combines both video games and optimum masked creepiness is a Splicer from the BioShock series. This is particularly easy to create costume and requires papier mâché components and paint.

Splicers are the remnants of those rich, elite inhabitants of Rapture who became too addicted to ADAM as a result they are crazed, psychotic and extremely terrifying. Perfect for Halloween!

Simply cut out a mask into whichever shape you want making sure to include eye holes then begin the papier mâché process of layering newspaper and paste to build multiple layers. Once dry, simply paint your mask. Finish your look with an evening gown or suit.

Alan Wake (Alan Wake)

This is an incredibly basic costume that requires little to no work bar finding a torch and various items of clothing. He has multiple costumes too and I included it specifically for this reason. I hope you enjoy layering though because Alan wears multiple layers including a green shirt that goes over his hoody?

At least you’ll keep warm if it’s a cold night though right? And you’ll be equipped with a torch. So actually a pretty practical costume all in all.

Juliet Starling (Lollipop Chainsaw)

This year, we’re bound to see multiple Suicide Squad Harley Quinn costumes on All Hallow’s Eve but if like me, you like her aesthetic but don’t want to run into multiple Quinns, perhaps Juliet Starling from hack and slash comedy horror game Lollipop Chainsaw could be a cool alternative? I mean, it’s practically the same look!

Plus, you’ll be able to use lollipops as endless props maintaining that perfect sugar high Halloween feeling.

Pyramid Head (Silent Hill 2)

This looks like it would be a lot of work but actually, it’s quite easy. All you need is a heap of cardboard, lots of fake blood, a cricket bat (for the base of your sword), paint and a dirtied up apron.

There are lots of tutorials online but all you really need to do is get yourself some strong tape and heavy duty cardboard. Cut out your “pyramid” sides leaving a head sized hole in one and tape each part together. Spray paint or paint (preferably with something metallic) and once dry, dirty it up with brown or rust coloured paints. Alternatively, rub some actual dirt into it.

Apply the same process for your sword remembering to attach it to your cricket bat hilt, don your apron, splatter it with a copious amount of fake blood and hey presto, Pyramid Head. It might not be perfectly accurate but hey, it’ll have cosplayers recoiling in horror and I can guarantee that any Silent Hill fan will know exactly who you’re meant to be!

The Moon (The Legend Of Zelda: Majora’s Mask)

Perhaps one of the most terrifying versions of the moon I’ve encountered, this would make for a pretty terrifying costume.

Whether you choose to go sandwich board style to slip over your shoulders or simply opt for a mask, it will no doubt freak a lot of people out. To this day I am still incredibly unnerved by the moon from Majora’s Mask.

In fact, now I that I mention it, most of the masks in the game are super eerie and could provide costume inspiration for many Halloween’s to come!

I hope I’ve inspired some of you with my list of ideas however I’d love to see some other awesome homemade costumes suggestions or cosplay so if you are planning a video game themed costume this year or have done in the past, show us in the comments section!

The Halloween season is upon us and so this time we are going to forego the actual mission of this column (that of obscure, unaired and unloved pilots) and we are going to look at a couple of the great Halloween Specials from years gone by. There are plenty of horror themed pilots I could examine and I will get to them eventually but for now… it’s Halloween so lets dive right into that.

I have a great connection to the Halloween season. I love this time of year. The smells, the dropping temps and the general tone of it all makes me feel so amazing.

To me Halloween is the only real holiday… all other holidays are simple excuses why I don’t get mail. Halloween is special and part of that is the great Halloween Specials that used to litter the airwaves in that 10th month of the calendar year. They don’t do this much any more and that’s a shame. The ones I am going to spotlight here are mostly forgotten or merely remembered for being kitsch and goofy and truth be told many of them are… but they are also married to my memories and my nostalgia so…

Lets start with 2 amazing ones (they go together) that set a perfect tone. The 1984 and 1986 Elvira MTV Halloween Specials.

In 1981 Elvira burst onto the scene (I was so tempted to say Busted onto the scene but good taste prevented it) with her Movie Macabre show. Breaking syndication records around the country after it went across the entire USA it was inevitable that Elvira would become the unofficial queen of Halloween. Just as inevitable was that she would show up on MTV.

At this point in 1984 MTV was still very much breaking the rules of television and they did so again with Elvira at the helm.

Elvira was given a 6 hour programming block on Halloween night 1984 to show all the spooky music videos there were interspersed with her usual shenanigans. Not just that but the middle 2 hours of this was a showing of Night of the Living Dead (with a special, shot for MTV, intro by George Romero) which Elvira would pop up into now and then.

Unless you were alive at the time you don’t understand just how awesome this was.

This was followed up in 1986 (not sure what happened with there being no 1985 special) with MTV giving Elvira a 4 hour block of videos.

She had more original skits (many of them pretty risque for 80’s TV standards) and more cool spooky videos. This time instead of being on her Movie Macabre set Elvira was in Salem, Massachusetts to celebrate Halloween. Gave a great mood to the entire thing.

I hate that no one does this kind of thing any longer.

Along the music video special lines in 1984 Vincent Price hosted a syndicated 1 hour special titled Halloween Thriller where he showcased similar spooky videos along with his affable and pointed introductions.

When is Vincent Price showing music videos not classy as hell?

Price also performed some magic tricks. I just love Vincent Price.

Halloween 3D is a real oddity to the point it doesn’t even have an IMDB listing.

Okay, in the mid/late 80’s 3D was making a comeback (short lived as it was) with Elvira hosting a nationwide TV screening of Return of the Creature, a national screening of The Mask in 3D and this idiosyncratic little footnote.

John Astin and Los Angels reporter Chuck Henry co-hosted an LA only TV special all in 3D.

This is the old red and blue 3D by the way so it’s headache inducing to see today.

They would show you clips from classic 3D movies and even the host segments were shown like this (which makes a harsh and blunt transition when the commercials pop in).

Next up is one of the oddest and yet most unique Halloween special I remember. Halloween Monster Bash. How to describe this…

Starring Rhonda Shear (USA UP! All Night), comedian Bobby Kelton, S.D. Nemeth (the “I’d buy that for a dollar” guy from Robocop), Bobby Picket (Monster Mash) and John Astin again. Another syndication made special released in 1991 this was filled with skits (some funny, some painfully unfunny), redubbed clips of old movies (again, some funny, some painfully unfunny) and a self aware attitude that I personally found enduring.

Not from the special, but you get the idea…

Ever want to hear S.D. Nemeth do a white guy rap version of Edgar Allan Poe’s The Raven? Here you can. Rhonda Shear making fun of Bela Lugosi’s acting is a nice highlight.

Again no IMDB link despite the talent involved (noticing a pattern here).

We can’t leave out the (in)famous The Paul Lynde Halloween Special.

Paul Lynde may not be that familiar to the audiences of today but in the late 60’s and 70’s he was a staple of television from his role Uncle Arthur on Bewitched to being a perennial guest on Hollywood Squares.

Well in 1976 someone at ABC got the bright idea to give him a Halloween show all to himself and wow… just wow.

I almost can’t even put this thing into words. It’s so gaudy and ostentatious that it screams 1976!!!!!, with no regard for good taste.

Besides Lynde the special also has such high profile guests as The Osmonds, Tim Conway, Roz Kelly, Billy Barty, Florence Henderson and Betty White all playing in a variety of unfunny and tedious sketches. What really makes this special stand out other than it’s shear tackiness is the musical performances by a relatively unknown band called KISS.

Yes, this is the first national introduction to KISS, right here in this ridiculously stuck in time hour.

The one I really want to showcase here though is The Halloween That Almost Wasn’t. Sometimes released as The Night Dracula Saved the World strangely enough.

Ostensibly a children’s program The Halloween That Almost Wasn’t is far smarter and more clever than it’s outward appearances may radiate. Written with a sly wit and some very astute subversions of horror cliches, The Halloween That Almost Wasn’t is made for adults as much as kids.

The plot is that monsters are no longer scary and they are selling out (a particular bit I liked was the Wolfman shilling for a razor company) so Dracula gathers all of the classic monsters at this castle to form a plan to retake Halloween and make it scary again. Problem is that The Witch doesn’t want to be Dracula’s pawn any longer and is going to quit if all monsters are not given equal status (seems old fangface is kind of a egomaniac).

In the end Halloween is saved, the monsters see their place in pop culture and they disco dance (it was 1979 after all).

Shown in 1979 and then repeated every year for nearly a decade this great special has since fallen into obscurity.

Judd Hirsch looks to be having a ball playing Dracula and Mariette Hartley steals the show as The Witch. Henry Gibson is a fun Igor and John Schuck is Frankenstein’s Monster years before he would be Herman Munster. The great and underrated Jack Riley is over the top as The Wolfman.

I miss these kinds of Halloween treats.

On the heels of three new miniseries featuring Midnighter, Hawkman and Deadman this month, January will bring more unique and noteworthy miniseries to readers, including a tale of the Amazon warriors in the years before Diana, and the return of Captain Atom.

THE ODYSSEY OF THE AMAZONS

THE ODYSSEY OF THE AMAZONS #1 is a brand-new miniseries set in the world of Wonder Woman from writer and actor Kevin Grevioux (New Warriors, Underworld) and artist Ryan Benjamin (BATMAN BEYOND). Years before the birth of Princess Diana, a group of Amazons set out on a globe-spanning quest to find others of their kind, encountering legendary creatures and beings along the way. But their journey soon turns into a rescue mission as two of their own are captured by the legendary Storm Giants of Norse mythology. It’s up to their leader, the stalwart Hessia, to keep them together through the many trials that lie ahead. The series will run for six issues.

THE FALL AND RISE OF CAPTAIN ATOM

THE FALL AND RISE OF CAPTAIN ATOM #1 is a new miniseries from the writing team of Cary Bates and Greg Weisman (CAPTAIN ATOM) and artist Will Conrad (Buffy the Vampire Slayer). Bates and Weisman return to the character with “Blowback: Part One”! Captain Atom hasn’t been seen or heard from in years—and even if you think you know what happened to him…you’re wrong! But you’re not alone. To this day, no one on Earth—not even the other superheroes—has an inkling of the missing Captain Atom’s true fate. At last, the truth is about to be revealed in a saga that transcends not only the meaning of life and death, but the limits of time and space. The series will run for six issues.

Both titles will debut in January 2017, beginning with THE FALL AND RISE OF CAPTAIN ATOM #1 on January 4, and THE ODYSSEY OF THE AMAZONS #1 on January 18.

During the warring period of the three kingdoms, ancient China is in turmoil. To unify the country, General Cao Cao (Wen Jiang), the real power behind the emperor, enlists the aid of the greatest warrior in the land Guan Yu (Donnie Yen). However, Guan Yu is a loyal friend of Cao Cao’s enemy Liu Bei (Alex Fong). To persuade the peerless warrior to fight, Cao Cao takes his beloved Qi Lan (Betty Sun) hostage.
After leading Cao Cao’s forces to victory, Guan Yu sets out with Qi Lan to rejoin Liu Bei. But now Cao Cao has deemed him too great a threat to live, and on the journey he must face all the forces at the emperor’s command sent to destroy him.

International superstar Donnie Yen (Ip Man series, Hero, 14 Blades, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Green Legend and the upcoming Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) leads an epic cast in The Lost Bladesman, loosely based on Luo Guanzhong’s historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms, arriving on Digital HD & On Demand and on DVD from Anchor Bay Entertainment November 1. Also starring in the action-packed, gorgeously shot film are Wen Jiang (Warriors of Heaven and Earth, Let the Bullets Fly, The Sun Also Rises), Sun Li (Empresses of the Palace, Painted Skin) and Andy On (Mad Detective, True Legend, Blackhat).

Written and directed by critically acclaimed filmmakers Alan Mak and Felix Chong – creators of the successful Infernal Affairs trilogy, The Lost Bladesman won several Golden Lotus awards at the 2011 Macau International Movie Festival including Best Film, Best Director for Mak and Chong, and Best Actor for Donnie Yen. Wen Jiang also won the Best Actor award from the Shanghai Film Critics for his performance in the film. The Lost Bladesman will be available on DVD November 1 for the suggested retail price of $19.98.

For more details, visit anchorbayentertainment.com

Amazon Studio’s The Neon Demon directed by Nicolas Winding Refn, is a sumptuous horror-thriller, set in the highly competitive and often vicious world of fashion modeling, where the term “eat their own” takes on a decidedly new meaning. When aspiring model Jesse moves to Los Angeles, her youth and vitality are devoured by a group of beauty-obsessed women who will use any means necessary to get what she has.  The film is co-written by Refn (Bronson, Drive, Only God Forgives, Valhalla Rising), Mary Laws (”Preacher”) and Polly Stenham; and stars Elle Fanning (Maleficent, Super 8), Karl Glusman (Love, Stonewall), Jena Malone (Inherent Vice, The Hunger Games series), Bella Heathcote (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Dark Shadows), Abbey Lee (Gods of Egypt, Max Max: Fury Road), with Christina Hendricks (“Mad Men,” Drive), and Keanu Reeves (John Wick, The Matrix series).

And we’re giving away two copies of the Blu-ray along with a mini-poster autographed by Elle Fanning, Bella Heathcote, Jena Malone and Abbey Lee!

To enter, please send an email with the subject header “NEON DEMON” to geekcontest @ gmail dot com and answer the following:

How many films has composer Cliff Martinez scored for Nicolas Winding Refn?

Please include your name and address (U.S. Residents only. You must be 18 years old).

Only one entry per person and a winner will be chosen at random.

Contest ends at 11:59 PM EST on October 30th, 2016.

Matt Damon (Bourne Franchise, The Martian) is back and this time it’s personal in JASON BOURNE, the action-packed fifth installment of the blockbuster franchise, coming to Digital HD November 15, 2016 and 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD and On Demand on December 6, 2016, from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.  Nearly a decade since fans last saw the former operative, the explosive return brings Jason Bourne into a whole new era, revealing key secrets about Bourne’s origins to a new generation. The 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD include commentary from the cast, filmmakers, stunt performers and fight coordinators, plus behind-the-scenes features that take viewers inside the making of the film’s intense stunt choreography and one of the wildest car chases in Bourne history.

“Matt Damon returns to his best role ever,” touts Max Evry (comingsoon.com) in JASON BOURNE.  Paul Greengrass, the director of The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum returns for the next chapter of Universal Pictures’ Bourne franchise, which finds the CIA’s most lethal operative drawn out of the shadows.  Damon is joined by Academy Award winner Alicia Vikander (Ex Machina, The Danish Girl), Vincent Cassel (Black Swan, Irreversible) and Academy Award winner Tommy Lee Jones (Captain America: The First Avenger, No Country for Old Men), while Julia Stiles (The Bourne Supremacy, The Bourne Ultimatum) reprises her role in the series.

BONUS FEATURES on 4K ULTRA HD, BLU-RAY, DVD

For more details, visit jasonbournemovie.com

Shout! Factory TV has partnered with the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) to present the best of The Jerry Lewis MDA Labor Day Telethons throughout the years in the new digital series MDA Telethon Presents, streaming now on Shout! Factory TV.

For half a century, this inimitable, mesmerizing and thoroughly enchanting end-of-summer variety show was the highlight of live television and together Shout! Factory TV and MDA are proud to celebrate the history of broadcasting Labor Day Telethons to entertain online viewers as well as raise awareness for MDA initiatives.

The MDA Telethons spanned five decades from 1966 -2014 and consisted of hundreds of music, comedy, Broadway, magic, and a variety of other performances as well as dozens of special moments between Jerry Lewis and various celebrities.

MDA Telethon Presents brings you the finest entertainment around with featured performances and appearances from stars such as Carrie Underwood, Rick Springfield, Pitbull, Fall Out Boy, Jimmy Fallon, Drew Carey, Whoopi Goldberg, Bob Newhart, Mr. T, as well as Broadway performances from Rent, Mama Mia, and Jersey Boys.

Available exclusively on Shout! Factory TV, MDA Telethon Presents features a series of 30-60 minute long episodes grouped into a variety of different themes.  Episodes now available for streaming include Stand-Up Comedy Showcase, Today’s Pop and R&B, and 80’s Flashback.

Full List of Performances – Today’s Top Pop and R&B

• All American Rejects, “Walk Over Me” (2012)
• Aloe Blacc, “The Man” (2014)
• American Authors, “Best Day of My Life” (2014)
• B.o.B., “Nothing On You” (2012)
• Brandy, “Put It Down” (2012)
• Carrie Underwood, “Nobody Ever Told You” (2012)
• Enrique Iglesias, “I Like It” (2010)
• Fall Out Boy, “Young Volcanoes” (2014)
• Hot Chelle Rae, “I Like It Like That” (2012)
• Jason Derulo, “Trumpets” (2014)
• Karmin, “Brokenhearted” (2012)
• One Republic, “Secrets” (2010)
• Pitbull, “Get It Started” (2012)
• R5, “(I Can’t) Forget About You (2014)
• Vintage Trouble, “Blue Hand Me Down” (2013)

Full List of Performances – Standup Comedy

• Bill Engvall
• Bill Maher
• Bob Newhart
• Don Rickles
• Drew Carey
• Jimmy Fallon
• Ralphie May
• Roseanne Barr
• Whoopi Goldberg

Full List of Performances – 80s Flashback

• Betty Buckley
• Billy Crystal
• Charo
• Diana Ross
• Don Rickles
• Frank Sinatra
• Gallagher
• Hulk Hogan
• Mr. T
• Rick Springfield
• Smokey Robinson
• Solid Gold Dancers
• Yakov Smirnoff

Shout! Factory and MDA are also proud to present the MDA Telethon YouTube channel with videos to be uploaded weekly on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  Each video will feature an all-star individual performance from the MDA Telethons.

ABOUT MDA
MDA is leading the fight to free individuals — and the families who love them — from the harm of muscular dystrophy, ALS and related muscle-debilitating diseases that take away physical strength, independence and life. We use our collective strength to help kids and adults live longer and grow stronger by finding research breakthroughs across diseases, caring for individuals from day one and empowering families with services and support in hometowns across America.

ABOUT SHOUT! FACTORY TV
SHOUT! FACTORY TV is a premiere digital entertainment streaming service that brings timeless and contemporary cult favorites to pop culture fans. With a uniquely curated entertainment library, the channel offers an unrivaled blend of cult TV shows, movies, comedy, original specials and more – presenting an exciting entertainment alternative to major streaming services. SHOUT! FACTORY TV’s programming leverages a distinctive library of pop culture-defining entertainment curated from Shout! Factory, Westchester Films, Timeless Media Group, Scream Factory, major studios, independent producers and other sources from around the world. Whether reliving childhood memories or discovering television series, movies and comedy specials for the first time, SHOUT! FACTORY TV will provide an immersive, high-quality viewing experience across a wide variety of screens and platforms, online at ShoutFactoryTV.com and on smartphone devices, tablets and connected TV, with an initial rollout on Roku players.

World-famous YouTube superstar KSI makes his much anticipated feature-film debut alongside Caspar Lee this fall in the laugh-out-loud, chaotic comedy LAID IN AMERICA. A hilarious and outrageous film that’s the perfect mix of sex, stupidity and fun for its millennial audience, LAID IN AMERICA is now available on Digital HD, Blu-ray and DVD from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.

Duncan (KSI) and Jack (Caspar Lee) are exchange students with just one night left in the United States and one final chance to lose their virginity with the girls of their dreams.

To accomplish their goal, they must get into the school-bully’s house party that night but they haven’t made the list. The two friends hatch an elaborate and desperate plan which takes them on an unexpected adventure, navigating a mine-field of problems from gun-wielding gangsters to deviant drug lords. Their friendship is tested as they blunder through the night in a bid to fulfill their fantasies before their flights back home.

And we’re giving away five copies!

To enter, please send an email with the subject header “LAID IN AMERICA” to geekcontest @ gmail dot com and answer the following:

Co-star Bobby Lee was a writer/star  for several seasons on this sketch comedy tv series?

Please include your name and address (U.S. Residents only. You must be 18 years old).

Only one entry per person and a winner will be chosen at random.

Contest ends at 11:59 PM EST on October 30th, 2016.

In this episode of OH NO THEY DIDN’T! we take on Walt Disney Studios modern strategy to reboot every classic animated film in barf inducing live-action. With computer animation. And in 3D. Stop the madness. Make it stop.

Hosted by Archie Cubarrubia, Todd Sokolove and TJ Morales.

DON’T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE PODCAST FOR FREE…
LISTEN TO PAST EPISODES! GET AUTOMATIC DOWNLOADS!

• iTunes
• Google Play

Follow the show on Twitter @ONTDpodcast

Doctor Thorne (Tom Hollander) lives a quiet life with niece Mary in Greshamsbury, home of the Gresham family. Unbeknownst to others, the Greshams have lost their fortune and the snobbish matriarch Lady Arabella (Rebecca Front) has a scheme to regain it via an arranged marriage with her son and an American heiress. However, her son is in love with Mary (Stefanie Martini), which complicates Lady Arabella’s plans.  From Julian Fellows, the creator of Downton Abbey, Doctor Thorne also stars Richard McCabe, Harry Richardson, Alison Brie and Ian McShane.

And we’re giving away a copy autographed by Fellowes.

To enter, please send an email with the subject header “DOCTOR THORNE” to geekcontest @ gmail dot com and answer the following:

Doctor Thorne co-star Alison Brie was a part of two different tv ensembles at the same time from 2009-2015.  What shows were they?

Please include your name and address (U.S. Residents only. You must be 18 years old).

Only one entry per person and a winner will be chosen at random.

Contest ends at 11:59 PM EST on November 6th, 2016.

Nobel Prize
The Nobel Prize for Literature winner has been announced in Stockholm and in a big surprise legendary songwriter Bob Dylan won.

Reading Bad
Bryan Cranston shares some Breaking Bad info in the audiobook of his recently released memoir, A Life in Parts.

Election Memoirs
Once the election is finally, thankfully over, who’s going to be writing and publishing books on their experience?

Indies Doing Well
An interesting insight into how and why independent bookstores are thriving in Seattle.

Anne of Green Gables
The new adaptation of the literary classic is well on its way to becoming a thing and here’s the brand spanking new trailer for it.

YA Authors Turned Advocates
Young Adult authors are reaching new levels to help their young readers with problems and complex issues.

Is Social Media Toxic To Writing?
Why one debut author chose not to make a presence on social media.

truTV and Nitro Circus, the world’s leading youth action sports and entertainment brand, are coming together to produce a two-hour special live event, Impractical Jokers Live: Nitro Circus Spectacular, an ultimate celebration to cap off the fifth season of the popular truTV series. Hosted by extreme sports superstar Travis Pastrana and powered by the unmatched showmanship of Nitro Circus, the season finale will feature Joe, Murr, Q and Sal, collectively known as The Tenderloins, tackling their biggest challenges yet, including two high-stakes live punishments and a four-part obstacle course.

Set to air Thursday, Nov. 3, at 8 p.m. ET/PT., the Impractical Jokers Live: Nitro Circus Spectacular will be broadcast live from Prudential Center in Newark, NJ and will reveal which Joker can best overcome their nerves to claim victory for ultimate bragging rights – and their favorite charity. The Jokers have a great history with Prudential Center, having visited The Rock to film punishments with the New Jersey Devils and Top Rank Boxing.

To further fuel fans’ thirst for all things Impractical Jokers on the night of the Impractical Jokers Live: Nitro Circus Spectacular telecast, truTV.com will stream a pre- and post-episode digital show, live from Prudential Center. Beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT, the pre-show will feature guests, exclusive video and surprises leading into the night’s event. Immediately following the live special, the four Jokers will sit down with the truTV.com post-show crew for an exclusive interview to discuss their experience as well as answer questions fans have submitted via social media.

Who’ll get punished at Impractical Jokers Live: Nitro Circus Spectacular?  For the 1st time, FANS DECIDE. Vote using #Fanshavethelastlaugh and #PunishJoe #PunishMurr #PunishQ #PunishSal.

And to celebrate the event, we’re giving away a prize package courtesy of truTV to host your own Impractical Jokers party!

One winner will receive:

• $50 Visa to host a live viewing party on November 3
• Seasons 1-4 of Impractical Jokers on DVD
• Impractical Jokers T-shirt

To enter, please send an email with the subject header “IMPRACTICAL JOKERS” to geekcontest @ gmail dot com and answer the following:

Who is the only married Joker?

Please include your name and address (U.S. Residents only. You must be 18 years old). Prizing courtesy of truTV.

Only one entry per person and a winner will be chosen at random.

Contest ends at 11:59 PM EST on October 23rd, 2016.

For more details visit the Official Website
Like on Facebook •  Twitter • Instagram • Youtube
#JokersLive #Fanshavethelastlaugh

Every Halloween I sit near the front door with a huge bowl of candy, and another bowl for trick-or-treaters. In front of me I have propped up a tablet on which I always have a classic scary movie playing. Well… sometimes scary. Most of the time it’s more of a funny-scary. It’s my personal Halloween tradition now that I live in the suburbs.

This year, my wife will be joining a friend and they’ll be taking the kids trick or treating. My son will be barely two months old. Yeah. I was invited to join them, but I think I’ll stay right here and continue my tradition while slowly working myself into a sugar coma.

Here are four great movies you can enjoy as well… and for free online via either YouTube of Archives.org.

No slasher flicks. No serial killers or purges. Just good Halloween fun.

Enjoy!

Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein

Famed comic duo Bud Abbott and Lou Costello play Chick and Wilbur, a pair of baggage handlers at a Florida train station, who receive a shipment addressed to a wax museum that supposedly contains the bodies of Count Dracula and Frankenstein’s monster. After a botched phoned-in warning from Lawrence “Wolf Man” Talbot (played by Lon Chaney Jr.), trouble begins. As this is a comic mashup with classic Universal horror monsters, it’s no surprise that Dracula (played by Bela Lugosi) rises and, in turn, revives the monster (played by Glenn Strange). The plan? Dracula is teaming up with a gifted surgeon who intends to correct Dr. Frankenstein’s original mistake and replace the monster’s brain with a more manageable one, in this case, Wilbur’s.

Hijinks ensue. The Wolf Man shows up and helps out Chick and Wilbur. Monsters are chased off and/or destroyed. Or are they? Keep an eye open for an invisible cameo at the end.

Fun fact: Despite Lugosi being best known for playing Dracula in the original 1931 film, this is only the second time he has ever played the actual character in a film. He has played other vampires in film, but not actually Dracula again for any amount of time until Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein.

This was the first of several Abbot & Costello meet Universal monster movies. Future films feature Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, the Mummy, and The Invisible Man. They’re all fun, but this is the one I make sure to catch every year around this time. There are a few official releases available on DVD and it’s now available on Blu-ray, and there’s a nice clean version available from the Internet Archive.

Plan Nine From Outer Space

Sci fi or horror? It can be both. Unintentionally funny? Well, that’s part of its legacy. That, and it being the final film of Bela Lugosi. This movie’s reputation precedes itself, but in short: aliens want to stop Earth from developing weapons that may one day pose a threat to the galaxy. They enact “Plan 9” which raises the dead in hopes of giving mankind another threat to deal with, and to listen to the aliens in rejecting doomsday weapons. If not, the aliens will use their armies of ghouls to wipe out humanity.

Long hailed as the worst movie ever made, its campy quality, bad acting, cheap and obvious special effects, and low-budget stagecraft all make for a fun movie to watch if for no other reason to laugh at it. The legacy of the film is as entertaining as the film itself.

The Tim Burton film, Ed Wood, does a great job in telling the story of the making of the film and the life of the iconic writer-director starring Johnny Depp. It’s a surprisingly good film for something from Tim Burton. And yes, Bela Lugosi died during the filming of this movie and was replaced by a larger actor who covered half his face with a cape, and bore no resemblance to Lugosi.

Not even close.

On the plus side, this film showcases the acting talents of Swedish pro wrestler Tor Johnson.

Obviously, this is a prime movie for the MST3K treatment. To fill that need, Mike Nelson of MST3K fame and RiffTrax has a download available at rifftrax.com, and there are some excellent versions available on Hulu and Amazon Prime. But even without the commentary, it’s a fun movie to watch on its own with friends. Everyone should see it at least once.

Them!

Seems a shame to go this whole column without at least one giant monster movie. While Japanese kaiju movies are great and all, I’ve always had a soft spot for Them!, a movie about giant, radioactive ants. A nest of these ants are discovered in the New Mexico desert, but become a larger problem when a queen and its consorts escape to build a new nest in the sewers of Los Angeles. There’s a fair amount of tension and action as police and military scramble to contain the threat, and there is, of course, the underlying message of man’s impact on nature.

It’s a fun, action-packed movie, and was partly responsible for launching the career of Fess Parker (Disney’s Davy Crockett) and James Arness (Gunsmoke). A very pre-Star Trek Leonard Nimoy has an uncredited role as an army staff sergeant in the communications room scenes. Try and pick him out. (I don’t recommend watching this with babies in the house. The sound effects given to the giant ants seems to be disturbing to very young ears. Alas, I won’t be playing this again this month while my newborn son is within earshot.)

House on Haunted Hill

This is one of my favorite Vincent Price films. He’s a creepy, looming, and constant, subtle threat. Price, playing eccentric millionaire Frederick Loren, invites five guests to a strange party in which the guests will each receive $10,000 if they manage to survive the night in a “haunted” mansion Loren and his equally creepy wife have rented. There is a lot going on–not just involved in frightening the guests with strange happenings and gunshots in the dark, but a husband and wife who despise each other, and a long-standing knowledge that the wife (Annabelle) is trying to kill the husband (Loren).

After a series of jump scares and other horror tropes, Annabelle and her lover fall victim to their own machinations, but the film closes on an even creepier note as the unrepentant Loren accepts whatever justice will dish out, then ends as one of the guests–a true believer in the supernatural–turns to the audience and warns that the ghosts are coming for you, too!

It’s a fun, classic gothic horror story. One of its claims to fame is that it was directed by notorious director William Castle who was known for him gimmicks. In this case, it’s the floating skeleton in the basement of the haunted mansion. In theaters, a large plastic skeleton would fly over the crowd on wires. In the film, it’s still pretty effective.

House on Haunted Hill makes for a great “drawing room horror” (as compared to “drawing room comedy”). It’s a good ensemble cast, placed in a great setting, and a very entertaining character study in addition to a chilling story. Highly recommended. There is also a Rifftrax version on Hulu, but you can view the original on YouTube.

Which is going to be my Halloween night’s viewing this year? Hard to say. Probably not Them! considering how the baby reacted. I’m leaning toward the Abbott & Costello one, but Vincent Price is good too. I’ve watched Plan 9 too much too recently. I think I need a break from that.

I think the way it will go will be Abbott & Costello while waiting on trick-or-treaters, and House on Haunted Hill just before bed.

Yeah. Just before bed.

What could go wrong?

Cheers! And Happy Halloween!

Progenitor of the body horror genre and master of psychological terror, filmmaker David Cronenberg is known for his visceral style, crafting stories that interweave audacious physical transformations with challenging narratives and complex emotional arcs.

This November, two seminal Cronenberg films, Dead Ringers and Rabid, make their Collector’s Edition Blu-ray debuts from Scream Factory. Each film features a new 2k scan and is loaded with new bonus features, making these critically acclaimed masterpieces must-owns for cinephiles.

Dead Ringers

November 15^th, 2016

Cronenberg’s haunting tale of twin gynecologists and the woman they both love will make its Blu-ray debut November 15^th, 2016 from Scream Factory, in conjunction with Morgan Creek Productions.  The two-disc Collector’s Edition Blu-ray of Dead Ringers comes loaded with bonus features, with over three hours of new bonus content including new audio commentary from author William Beard and new interviews with actress Heidi Von Palleske, Stephen Lack, special effects artist Gordon Smith and director of photography Peter Suschitzky. Fans can pre-order their copies by visiting ShoutFactory.com

Claire Niveau (Geneviève Bujold) is in love with handsome Beverly. Or does she love Elliot? It’s uncertain because brothers Beverly and Elliot Mantle are identical twins sharing the same medical practice, apartment and women – including unsuspecting Claire.

In a role that won the New York Film Critics Circle Best Actor Award, Jeremy Irons plays twin gynecologists whose emotional dependency collapses into mind games, madness and murder.  Cronenberg won the Los Angeles Film Critics Awards Best Director honors for melding split-screen techniques, body doubles and Iron’s uncanny acting into an eerie, fact-based tale .

Dead Ringers Bonus Features

DISC 1 (1.78:1 version)

• NEW Audio Commentary with writer William Beard, author of The Artist As Monster: The Cinema of David Cronenberg
• Audio Commentary with actor Jeremy Irons

DISC 2

• NEW 2K scan at the director’s preferred aspect ratio (1.66:1)
• NEW Carey’s Story – an interviews with Heidi Von Palleske (19 minutes)
• NEW Working Artist – an interview with Stephen Lack (24 minutes)
• NEW Connecting Tissues – an interview with special effects artist Gordon Smith (19 minutes)
• NEW Double Vision – an interview with director of photography Peter Suschitzky (12 minutes)
• Vintage interviews with Jeremy Irons, director/co-writer David Cronenberg, producer Marc Boyman and co-writer Norman Snider (17 minutes)
• Vintage Behind the Scenes Featurette (7 minutes)
• Theatrical Trailer

Rabid

November 22^nd, 2016

Cronenberg’s provocative take on the vampire mythos will makes its Blu-ray debut with the release of the Collector’s Edition Blu-ray of Rabid on November 22nd, 2016 from Scream Factory.

Brimming with bonus features, Rabid includes over 90 minutes of brand new bonus content, including new interviews with author Jill C. Nelson and Marilyn Chambers’ personal appearances manager Ken Leicht, and actress Susan Roman. Fans can pre-order their copies by visiting ShoutFactory.com

After undergoing radical emergency surgery, Rose (former adult film star Marilyn Chambers in her first leading role in a mainstream film) develops an insatiable desire for blood. She searches out victims to satisfy her incurable craving, infecting them with an unknown disease which, in turn swiftly drives them insane… and makes them equally bloodthirsty.

Follow the lovely but deadly Rose through her terrifying ordeal as victim by victim, the spreading circle of casualties grows… until no one can escape their grisly fate of becoming… Rabid.

Rabid Bonus Features

• NEW 2K scan from the negative at the director David Cronenberg’s preferred aspect ratio (1.66:1)
• NEW audio interview with author Jill C. Nelson (Golden Goddesses: 25 Legendary Women of Classic Erotic Cinema, 1968-1985) and Marilyn Chambers’ personal appearances manager Ken Leicht
• NEW Young and Rabid – an interview with actress Susan Roman (33 minutes)
• Audio Commentary with writer-director David Cronenberg
• Audio Commentary with William Beard, author of The Artist as Monster: The Cinema of David Cronenberg
• Archival interview with David Cronenberg (21 minutes)
• Interview with executive producer Ivan Reitman (13 minutes)
• Interview with co-producer Don Carmody (16 minutes)
• From Stereo to Video – A video essay by Caelum Vatnsdal, author of They Came from Within: A History of Canadian Horror Cinema (26 minutes)
• Theatrical Trailer
• TV Spot
• Radio Spots (U.S. and U.K.)
• Still Gallery

Produced by Simon Cornwell,
Stephenson Cornwell, Marc Platt,
Tom Rothman, Rhodri Thomas, Ang Lee
Screenplay by Jean-Christophe Castelli
Based on the book by Ben Fountain
Directed by Ang Lee
Starring Joe Alwyn, Kristen Stewart, Chris Tucker,
Garrett Hedlund, Vin Diesel, Steve Martin

Ang Lee’s newest film is locked in a battle with reality.

You’re going to hear a lot about Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk in the next month.

The modestly budgeted drama is a technological advancement in cinema that might have you shopping for 4K televisions at the nearest Best Buy after seeing it.

At least that’s what distributor Sony hopes.

Based on the award winning novel by Ben Fountain, the movie follows the honoring of a special Army squad at a Dallas football game.

19 year old Billy Lynn (newcomer-to-watch Joe Alwyn) is the central hero of the back-story, brought to the attention of the American public by a caught-on-camera act of courage during a 2004 Iraq battle.

Lynn’s act of courage opens the film in the manner most of us experience war—its context set by news reporter narration, its content grainy and blurred. The image begins to fill the screen until we’re completely pushed in on nothing but a collection reds, greens and blues.

Then you’re thrusted into reality.

At least you will be if you see the film in its intended 120fps, 4K, 3D presentation, which theaters need to be specially equipped to pull off. It’s this year’s Hateful Eight, but in reverse. Rather than the classic throwback of Ultra Panavision 70, Billy Lynn’s a purely digital endeavor.

And so begins the battle of the real. The picture is sharper than anything you’ve ever seen in a theater. The 3D actually works, with practically no blur. The color feels natural, and the contrast deep. From the smallest passing bug or bird to the largest pyrotechnic or explosion, you are there.

It’s a process that’s successful visually during quieter, dramatic exchanges of characters and way more successful in the titular “walk” sequence.

As for the film itself, it’s understandable why Ang Lee would take a gamble here. The new format serves as a metaphor for the personal impact of war and America’s perception of it from their living room couch. “I can’t imagine what you boys went through over there,” is just one of the script’s throwaway lines given to an array of talented actors, including Steve Martin, Kristen Stewart, Vin Diesel, Chris Tucker, and Garrett Hedlund.

There’s a hell of a lot of cinematic cliché that saddles the film, which I still can’t truly figure out if it’s intended as satire or simply schmaltz. If satire, there’s a subplot in which our heroes await the possible verdict that their story will be turned into a movie, resulting in a large payout. If schmaltz, there’s the doe-eyed cheerleader that falls for Billy by halftime and conflicts with his plans to go back to battle.

The soldiers are a rowdy, but ultimately loveable motley gang. Martin plays a villainous billionaire who battles deals when not overseeing the failing efforts of the football team he owns. Tucker also goes for non-comedic gusto playing a Hollywood agent desperate to put the movie deal together. Stewart is, surprise, a dark and brooding sister that threatens to kill herself if Billy doesn’t stay home after the game.

Everyone contemplates the meaning of life, the pointlessness of violence and the uncertainty of destiny. All of which you’ve seen this before in a hundred other war dramas, some of which were a hundred times more real and compelling than Billy Lynn’s.

As instantly-aware you were that HD television doesn’t do any favors to your favorite aging stars, the very un-film looking 120 frame-rate only heightens your awareness of bad line delivery, strange blocking, confusing editing and the occasional strange color-correction. Even the most talented director, and Ang Lee is certainly one of the top, may have to relearn everything they knew about filmmaking.

I get that Lee is playing with the overall themes of the story.

Through the eyes of the characters we see a post-traumatic reality of the present and flash to the horrific remembrance of reality’s past. Occasionally actors speak directly to the camera, putting you in Lynn’s POV. It’s immersive and achieves reality. But the more traditional shots, not to mention first time screenwriter Jean-Christophe Castelli’s routine script, brings you right back to the cinema.

It’s a shame that the film’s heightened, or really hijacked, by its flaws. But the boldness of the project is something to admire, and it represents a giant leap for movie-kind.

Cinema is dependent on persistence of motion, which is an optical illusion. The more real the process becomes, the more we expect actual reality. 120 fps might not be well-suited for dramatic storytelling at all, at least until the rules can be rewritten for filmmakers.

Not unlike Sony’s recent entry into VR with Playstation, all initial content designed for this brand-new tech is a guinea pig. Or is it a gimmick?

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk opens nationwide November 11th.
Check local listings for RealD 3D presentations.

Produced by Christine de Bourbon Busset,
Olivier Delbosc, Marc Missonnier
Written by Hervé Hadmar,
Marc Herpoux, Sylvie Chanteux
Directed by Hervé Hadmar
Starring Veerle Baetens, François Deblock,
Geraldine Chaplin, Lila-Rose Gilberti

This surreal three-part French film series begins as horror — a woman inherits a spooky, abandoned mansion — but by the final segment, it’s something quite different, almost a Jean Cocteau-like fairy tale.

Lisa (Veerle Baetens) is a speech therapist who tells her coworkers she’s married to get out of social events, but in reality lives alone.

She’s just moved into an apartment across from a Gothic-looking mansion that’s had the city grown up around it, seemingly unchanged by the passing decades.

She’s just one of the curious neighbors who gather on the sidewalk when a body is discovered inside — it seems the previous owner died 30 years ago and no one has been in the house since.

The next day, she receives a notice that the man, whom she’d never met or heard of, has left her the house. Despite the house’s sad state of neglect, she quickly sets up shop and begins demolishing the bricked-up fireplace. One night, she hears strange noises coming from behind the walls. She strips off the wallpaper (the peeling, Rorschach-patterned wallpaper alone is unnverving), takes a sledgehammer to the wall and finds a passageway that leads to a door.

To say that strange things happen once she opens the door is an understatement. The decaying set décor is terrific here as the endless rooms and passages seemingly go on and on forever. I won’t spoil what she encounters, except to say that Geraldine Chaplin adds another eerie role to her already impressive horror resumé. I’d advise not watching the trailer and just watching this one cold.

Rating: 3 1/2 out of 5 stars

Au-delà des Murs is available on Shudder October 20th

Brooklyn-based cartoonist Koren Shadmi’s latest book, Love Addict: Confessions of a Serial Dater, is a cautionary tale of how, in search of love, even a good guy can turn into a bad guy — and how technology works its dark magic de-humanizing even the most human of interactions, especially when it comes to matters of the heart.

Koren took some time to discuss the book, his background and his upcoming work with FOG!

***

FOG!: Koren, thank you for speaking to me today. Can you tell me how you got started with both writing and illustrating?

Koren Shadmi: Drawing definitely came first, I’ve always drawn since I was a toddler, but I think around the time I was 10 I got sucked into the world of comics through an after school comics course. Comics were not a big thing in Israel at the time, so it was almost a revelation to discover that the art-form existed. I grew up reading Superman, Batman and the likes, as well as Asterix and some other Franco-Belgian comics that were translated to Hebrew.

Writing definitely came later. When I was a teen I read a lot of Sci Fi and fantasy books, I wrote D&D adventures, and choose your own adventure books, so those were some of my first attempts at writing. As time went on I realized that I had to hone my writing skills in my own comics, and I thought: the best comics have both strong story and great art, so I have to sharpen both skills.

Who are some of the people who influence your work?

Sometime in my late teens I discovered all the Alt Comics, and left superhero comics behind, although I’m still a fan of the work of some of the older superhero artists such as John Romita and Alex Toth. One of my main influences from the alternative scene is Robert Crumb, and you can (hopefully) feel that when you look at Love Addict. I think there’s just so much life and intensity in Crumb’s drawings, it’s really hard to pull off. I also love the work of Dave Cooper, Chester Brown, and all the usual suspects. I’m also really influenced by French artists such as Blutch, Nicolas De Crecy, Blain, Killoffer and many many others.

How long does it take you to complete drawing a page?

It depends. I’m a pretty fast drawer, so I would say from beginning to end (without color) I can complete a page in a day. Sometimes you will have a page with a big, detailed establishing shot, and that really slows you down, and can take longer.

Overall, I try to keep things fairly simple, but grounded in reality. I see a lot of alt comics out there where artists glaze over drawing a background. I try not to do that. I think it’s important to keep the background readable in almost all frames, it lends the story more credibility and context.

Mike’s Place is a story you didn’t write, but it is based on a true story. How did they come about? I know you are Israeli. (L’shana tovah, by the way, from my family to yours)

Thank you, Happy New Year to you as well and hope you didn’t have to eat a fish’s head!  I was born in Israel and came to the US in 2002 to study art at SVA.

Mike’s Place was a graphic novel I did for First Second which came out last year, and is based on the true story of a suicide bombing that happened in Tel Aviv in 2003.

Mark Siegel, the editor of First Second, approached me because he was looking for someone to give the book an authentic, local vibe. I knew Tel Aviv pretty well, so it was fairly easy to place the story there. Drawing the book almost felt like I was visiting the homeland, and it was also difficult, since the subject was very dark and hit close to home.

I know your project The Abaddon was based on Sartre’s No Exit. What made you want to create that strip. How long did it take you to complete? Again I realize it started as an online comic.

It started with this weird question that popped in my mind: ‘Do ghosts have sex?’ That lead to the idea of having a ghost/roommate drama. ‘What if a bunch of ghosts lived together in an apartment, hating each other?’ It reminded me of No Exit, so I gave it a read and thought it would be a good story to riff off.

Abaddon is quite different than No Exit, which is a lot more minimal, but the atmosphere is similar. I like exploring the idea of a very mild form of hell, almost like a slightly worse version of our world. Abaddon took about 1.5 years to complete, and running it as a web comic helped motivate me to make new pages every week.

Your latest project, Love Addict: Confessions of a Serial Dater, was based on your life. How much of it was true? All of it? Anything you made up or left out? And how scary was it to jump into this pool?

I tell people that the book is 74% true.

Seriously though, a lot of what is in the book actually happened, I did move a lot of stuff around, and maybe merge a few dates, and also borrowed some dates that happened in other periods of my life.

The character in the book – K – dives deeper into the deep end of the dating world than I did, but you have to push things for the sake of drama. That being said, I feel like dating can be incredibly weird, and there’s tons of material to work with. Reality is much much stranger than fiction when you do online dating.

Jumping into the auto-bio pool was a little scary, because for years I was really against the whole auto-bio trend. But the older I got the more I opened up to that sub genre and started loving autobio comics by such authors as Joe Matt or Jeffery Brown.

Reading those books gave me an appetite to explore that world myself.

What are some of your guilty pleasures? Something you enjoy but know you probably shouldn’t?

Earlier this year I had a crippling addiction to this Blizzard game – Hearthstone. I had done some work for Blizzard for an ad campaign for the game, and figured I’ll give it a try.

Next thing I knew I was taking breaks from drawing to play again and again for hours and hours. At some point I gave my wife the code to the iPad, so she would be the only one able to unlock it. I would repeatedly delete the game and then re-install it the next day. It was sad.

A few months ago I went cold turkey and deleted it for good off my iPad.

Are there any mainstream superheroes you’d like to tackle?

Probably She-Hulk. If anyone in Marvel is reading this, let me write or draw an issue of She-Hulk and I will forever be grateful!

Are there any artists you’d like to write for? On the other side, are there any writers you’d like to illustrate for?

Good question. I have no one specific in mind. I really like to draw my own scripts and stories. That being said, If a good story comes my way that I feel passionate about – I would definitely take it.

What are your passions outside of comics?

I’ve been into baking bread lately, sourdough bread. I was creating a culture of natural yeast, which took forever, and looks disgusting. I’m still experimenting with baking the perfect loaf, and I feel like I’m not even close.

Finally, what’s next after Love Addict? What do you have coming up?

There’s a book I drew that’s coming out next year titled Rise of the Dungeon Master. It was written by Dave Kushner, who was the last person to interview Gary Gygax – the creator of D&D. It’s a non fiction graphic novel chronicling the origins of D&D. As a former gamer this book was a true dream project.

Love Addict: Confessions of a Serial Dater is available now from Top Shelf Productions

Based on a true story, Federal agent Robert “Bob” Mazur (Bryan Cranston) goes deep undercover to infiltrate Pablo Escobar’s drug trafficking scene plaguing the nation in 1986 by posing as slick, money-laundering businessman Bob Musella. Teamed with impulsive and streetwise fellow agent Emir Abreu (John Leguizamo) and rookie agent posing as his fiancé Kathy Ertz (Diane Kruger), Mazur befriends Escobar’s top lieutenant Roberto Alcaino (Benjamin Bratt). Navigating a vicious criminal network in which the slightest slip-up could cost him his life, Mazur risks it all building a case that leads to indictments of 85 drug lords and the corrupt bankers who cleaned their dirty money, along with the collapse of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, one of the largest money-laundering banks in the world.

And to celebrate it’s release on Digital, VOD, Blu-ray and DVD we’re giving away three prize sets!

Two winners will receive a copy of The Infiltrator on Blu-ray and one grand prize winner will receive a Blu-ray, a copy of the book The Infiltrator: Undercover in the World of Drug Barons and Dirty Banks by Robert Mazur and a movie poster autographed by Bryan Cranston and Benjamin Bratt!

To enter, please send an email with the subject header “THE INFILTRATOR” to geekcontest @ gmail dot com and answer the following:

Bryan Cranston and John Leguizamo previously co-starred in this 2011 film also directed by The Infiltrator‘s Brad Furman?

Please include your name and address (U.S. Residents only. You must be 18 years old).

Only one entry per person and a winner will be chosen at random.

Contest ends at 11:59 PM EST on October 30th, 2016.