I usually only review the mainstream comics and omit the books for younger readers but this week it’s all about Scooby-Doo, which easily surpasses the other books.

Not one of the other books I read stood out as much as the Scooby Gang’s offering, but on the other side of the fence The Flintstones was not enjoyable at all.

Harley Quinn deserves a shout out for you to read it especially with its unique look at her past and present.

With Justice League moving forward that is beginning to be unmissable too. What are your thoughts, folks?

Grab your Scooby Snacks, it is time to join me for my look into the DC Universe this week!

JUSTICE LEAGUE #18
Timeless: Part 4
Writer: Bryan Hitch
Artist: Fernando Pasarin
Inker: Matt Ryan
Cover: Fernando Pasarin, Matt Ryan
Variant: Yanick Paquette & Nathan Fairbairn

The Timeless tell Superman that that have his family captive and while they try to force Superman’s hand, Batman, in Superman armour sneaks into the Timeless mothership. At the same time Molly, ‘The Keeper,’ realises her plan has failed as the Timeless arrive to capture her.

As the League fight through time Batman tries to let natural sunlight get into the chamber Superman is trapped inside. With Superman soon charged up enough to fight back he reveals the Timeless leader is a hologram.

The Timeless were machines and with that revelation something the World’s Finest does in the present shuts down the Timeless across history.

Molly smiles as she unleashes her true power and a reveals a secret that shocks the entire League.

To Be Continued…

ART: 5/5
The art chores this issue have been fantastic.  The visuals don’t disappoint or slow in momentum and though Superman predicted the climax last issue it was still brilliantly executed.  The scenes with Lois and Jon were cool but the League through time really stole the show art wise.

COVER: 5/5
A fantastic cover.  If you wanted to feel like Tempus and the Timeless were a genuine threat, this is how you do it.  Incredibly detailed ink and pencil work and a brilliant final product.

OVERALL RATING: 5/5
There was a little bit of a misstep with continuity during this story with one chapter literally repeating itself, and now timeline wise Justice League is almost a month behind the Superman titles referencing things that have already happened, this isn’t the writer’s fault but it takes something away from the story as a whole and even repeats themes in Reborn. Aside from that this is a genuinely fun and interesting storyline that I urge you to check out.

HARLEY QUINN #17
Red Meat Part 1: Mantra Mix Up
Writers: Amanda Conner & Jimmy Palmiotti
Artist: John Timms
Inker: Mark Deering

Harley searches for her homeless friend, Skipper and stumbles upon a mutual Josh who reveals people have been vanishing from the city streets.

Later, when Spoonsie also visits Harley with news of other disappearances, she decides to act.

Harley decides to sleep in the outdoors to find some answers while Red Tool tries his best to keep an eye on her.

Three punks attack Harley, but with the help of Tool, they are quickly dispatched.

This attracts the attention of a criminal element that mistakes Harley for a homeless girl and promptly kidnap her.

To Be Continued…

ART: 5/5
Wow, John Timms, you’ve hit a home run! For a storyline that is more about the drama than the action, Timms has really made the best of Harley with those constraints and delivered some great layouts.

OVERALL RATING: 5/5
It isn’t a wholly original plot but one I’d probably never have attributed to a Harley Quinn storyline. With her portrayals in video games and Suicide Squad it is easy to forget that she is more than a caricature.  The story took my by surprise if I’m honest and definitely in a good way.

BACK UP FEATURE:

Harley Loves Joker – Part 1
Writer: Paul Dini
Artist: Brett Blevins

Christmas and New Years are a bit of a miserable time for Joker but Harley’s upbeat attitude helps steer Joker back onto the path of fun. He takes Harley to see the fireworks as a romantic surprise before the next part of his surprise.

To Be Continued…

ART: 5/5
If you miss Batman: The Animated Series and Harley’s roots then look no further as Blevins delivers some faultless art that is right out of an episode of the show while expanding on it further with some over the top comedic energy.

COVER: 3/5
A great piece of art but there wasn’t that feeling of it being as special as past issues. The colour scheme seems to ‘swallow’ up the art though I do like that it explores both Harley’s past and present with a playing card theme.

OVERALL RATING: 5/5
It is interesting to read this issue and see how far Harley has come as a character and the direction she is going in while also enjoying how unique she really is and the bad influence of the Joker upon her.

GREEN LANTERNS #20
Polarity Chapter 2: Drowning
Writer: Sam Humphries
Artist: Eduardo Pansica
Inker: Julio Ferreira
Cover: Robson Rocha, Daniel Henriques
Variant: Emanuela Lupacchino & Michael Atiyeh

Despite Simon’s desire to escape the metal underwater prison, he lacks strong enough willpower to escape.

Jessica stays calm and focuses her will enough for the duo to reach the surface and race to find Emerson’s brother.

Meanwhile Emerson is tormented by his dual personality and slipping back into his Polaris identity and has kidnapped his brother in hopes he can cure him.

With the aid of Cyborg the Lanterns are able to track down Emerson and find the unhinged villain itching for a fight.

The fight then leads to a sad twist of fate that will change things forever.

To Be Continued…

ART: 5/5
This issue of the Polarity storyline really ups the ante in the art department with some dynamic art and creative layouts that seem to learn from last issues restrictions.

COVER: 5/5
Anything over last issues cover would be an improvement (No, I really found it creepy) this issue returns to a more traditional art style and shows how deadly a threat Dr Polaris truly is while also playing as the story points of Simon & Jessica’s weaknesses.

OVERALL RATING: 4/5
Last issue now feels positively rushed in comparison to the last chapter but now as the story begins to escalate the storyline becomes far more in depth and expands a lot more of the character work. I never really thought that the Green Lanterns’ strengths and weaknesses mirrored one another but this issue successfully conveys that fact.

GREEN ARROW #20
Vertigo: The Fall of Roy Harper: Conclusion
Writer: Benjamin Percy
Artists: Eleonora Carlini & Mirka Andolfo
Cover: Otto Schmidt
Variant: Mike Grell & Lovern Kindzierski

As a distraction Black Canary, on her motorcycle, attacks the gang of Wild Dog copycats. At that same time Green Arrow & Arsenal blind side the thugs with a three pronged attack.

Roy’s mind wanders to the moment his and Ollie’s relationship collapsed and we see how Count Vertigo struck with his corrupting influence.

The past and present play out in parallel with Ollie reaching out to a broken Roy, while in the present he does the same to stop Roy killing a corrupt sheriff.

The memory of being saved as a teenager and Ollie’s perseverance allows Roy to see sense in the here and now and gain new perspective on what happened in the past.

Arsenal, with the aid of Dinah and Ollie finally manage to free the pipeline.  Roy is at peace with himself and for that reason he makes Ollie an offer she couldn’t refuse.

To Be Continued…

ART: 4/5
The art isn’t as fantastic as it was last issue, feeling a lot more like a ‘by the numbers’ effort to get from a to b.  It feels almost like the creative inspiration was burnt out last issue, like a Netflix show that has run out of money. It isn’t bad art but it has been much better.

COVER: 3/5
What a shame the cover to this issue is so weak. It does nothing to illustrate to the reader how truly brilliant the story is inside. It doesn’t even feel like it is about the story at all.

OVERALL RATING: 3/5
Like the art this issue felt like it had worked towards a moment and then ran out of steam. We knew what the out come would be (for the most part) the offer was something that took me by surprise as I thought those days were gone forever.

EVER AFTER #8
Gleaming The Cube: Part One
Of The Unsentimental Education
Writers: Dave Justus & Lilah Sturges
Artist: Travis Moore
Cover: Tula Lotay

Inola Tanner Looks at a report on The Shadow Players when her estranged partner drops her son Garrett home. While his mother has a confrontation in the driveway Tanner and his friends Vad and Kellen explore the house. Tanner believes his mother is a Fable Hunter and they sneak into her room to search for evidence and by pure luck they find her stash pf magical weapons.

The three kids each with a stolen artifact head to school the next day and when a group of bullies mocks them in the school canteen they unleash their weapons and a massacre begins.  As the media gets involved Inola realises what has happened and tries to get through the police cordon to the children.

Failing to get through she reaches out to Ishael Feathertop and the Shadow Players offering a deal, the safe passage of the children in exchange for the lives of the children.

To Be Continued…

ART: 5/5
I wasn’t expecting much from this series but was embarrassed by my preconceptions as the art really blew me away. That double page introduction to the Shadow Players was just brilliant.

COVER: 3/5
The cover is so different to the art inside it misleads you into thinking it was going to deliver a completely different experience. Gotham Central thematics and heavy brushed inking gives a macabre feel but the story inside is far more grounded than I expected. I’m glad I gave the book a chance.

OVERALL RATING: 4/5
An uneasy read considering the theme of students killing of their classmates and the twist of magic didn’t make it any easier. Within the structure of Fables however does mean there is more to this that an exploitation story and I look forward to seeing how the Shadow Players solve this media frenzy and terror attack.

Somehow the tube opens into the computer world of Perilandria. A place he and childhood friend Keiji Otani created for a video game they programmed in camp.
8 bit created attack Vic and a shocked Cyborg is surprised to find himself face to face with Keiji once more but his former friend is now a foe named H8-Bit!

Keiji explains that Vic, in his rebellious phase had given his friend access to STAR Labs digital mainframe and got grounded in the process.

Keiji however was sent away and punished for selling secret information he leaked onto the dark web. While incarcerated the boy discovered access to an 8 bit dimension and created Perilandria.

After a fight Vic summons up enough power to boom back to Earth but inadvertently brings Keiji with him, with H8-Bit causing havoc on Earth Vic realises the answers ro stopping his foe are back in the game world and uses a bug in the system to get the better of him only to cause a horrific chain of events by doing so.

Opening a boom tube a deeply saddened Vic decides to take on the rats once more…

To Be Continued…

ART: 5/5
H8-Bit and his world really breathe life into this issue with some truly inspiring are bringing the video game world visuals to life in a believable way. A realistic looking Cyborg fighting monsters from an old 80’s console game was just fantastic. After last issues Danger in Detroit chapter I wasn’t expecting this and being unpredictable is this titles bread and butter it seems.

COVER: 5/5
Continuing the themes brought to the fore by Keiji and Perilandria, this is one of the best Cyborg covers for a while.

OVERALL RATING: 5/5
A nice issue that seems like padding in the length and breadth of this storyline and its predecessor. It was a good exploratory issue that expanded more on Vic’s past and delivered a life lesson but considering evil Silas’ plot it feels like it was out of place.

THE FLINTSTONES #10
Buyer’s Remorse
Writer: Mark Russell
Artist: Steve Pugh
Cover: Denys Cowan, Bill Sienkiewicz
Variant: Nicola Scott & Romulo Fajardo Jr.

Fred & Barney sneak into the cinema to watch a movie about cavewomen.  Wilma meanwhile discovers that the local gallery she had submitted art to had thrown her work in the trash but as the fiery housewife angrily heads home, a famous movie maker finds the art and decides he must hire the artist as a set designer for his movie studio!

Bedrock has to close its children’s hospital due to it’s inept mayor’s mismanagement and his growing insanity, something they will have to live with for the next four years until a re-election.The people decide to take action but new set designer Wilma happens upon a great idea build a movie set that Mayor Clod can live in obliviously while Bedrock recovers from his mistakes!

The End

ART: 3/5
I was brought up with the show, the toys, the cereal and to see something so different was like sitting through the terrible live action movies. I just couldn’t shake the feeling that ‘this is all wrong’ and that is a major disservice to the art team that are working hard to make the book enjoyable. It’s my problem and I’m not sure I’ll be able to shake it to be honest. I would like to see Pugh’s work of something other than this to really get a feel for his art.

COVER: 3/5
Just like the interior art the cover is a bit of a turn off. The Flintstones was the original animated sitcom. The show that provided the building blocks for The Simpsons, but reading this and then looking at the cover do they feel like they are the same product? Not to me.

OVERALL RATING: 3/5
The social commentary and parallels with the Trump Presidency are inescapable but it feels so out of place here. I kept waiting for the book to make me laugh or in the least… smile. I just read it, put it down and thought to myself ‘what did I just read?’ I’d wager not what they were hoping for.

SCOOBY DOO, WHERE ARE YOU? #80
Wash, Rinse, reFreak
Writer: Derek Fridolfs
Artist: Randy Elliott
Cover Randy Elliott & Silvana Brys

After unmasking the Bog Beast, the Scooby gang decide the Mystery Machine needs a much needed clean.

Heading to a local barely used car wash, Scooby is horrified to see a squid monster living inside the car wash and alerts the team.

As usual Fred, Velma and Daphne are skeptical but decide to investigate by revisiting the wash to see if they can see this ‘horrifying monster’.

Sure enough, the monster attacks but the gang realise the identity of the monster and his trickery earns him a ticket straight to jail.

The End.

ART: 5/5
Scooby Doo never looked better! The classic look, everyone in their signature outfits and a genuine feel like the cartoon has come to life.

OVERALL RATING: 4/5
The plot might be lacking but the combination with it and the fantastic layouts elevate the story to a completely different level – one that The Flintstones could have benefited from.

BACK UP FEATURE:

It’s A Mystery!
Writer: Paul Kupperberg
Artist: Fabio Laguna

Velma is very late for her birthday party, a fact that worries Fred as the detective is never late. Meanwhile, Velma happens upon a stranger who reveals her evil uncle has poisoned her and that she needs help to get an antidote. Velma sacrifices her party to help the poor stranger and race to her home to search for the cure. Through her investigating Velma discovers that the girls uncle intends to poison her aunt so he can seize control of their chemical company and the race for the cure leads them to a chocolate shop where they narrowly stop an attempted murder and administer a cure in the nick of time from the evil uncle.

Case solved, Velma has just enough time to enjoy herself before the next mystery!

To Be Continued…

ART: 5/5
Like the main feature the art is brilliant. Faultless.

COVER: 3/5
The cover is the weakest part of the book. The squid monster doesn’t feel like he belongs in comparison to Shaggy and Scooby. A bit disappointed that it isn’t as strong as it could have been.

OVERALL RATING: 5/5
For a back up feature and a comic aimed at a young audience I was pleasantly surprised with just how good, complex and interesting this story was. Bravo for making the story enjoyable for readers of different ages.

John Wick: Chapter 2, the highly anticipated, hard-hitting second installment in the thrilling John Wick saga, shoots its way onto Digital HD May 23 and on 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack (plus Blu-ray and Digital HD), Blu-ray Combo Pack (plus DVD and Digital HD), DVD, and On Demand June 13 from Summit Entertainment, a Lionsgate company. Keanu Reeves (The Matrix franchise) returns with director Chad Stahelski (John Wick) and writer Derek Kolstad (John Wick) in this globe-trotting, action-packed thriller. Reeves stars alongside an all-star cast including Bridget Moynahan (TV’s “Blue Bloods”), Ian McShane (TV’s  upcoming “American Gods”), John Leguizamo (American Ultra), Common (Selma), Peter Stormare (TV’s upcoming “American Gods”), and, reuniting with Reeves for the first time since The Matrix films, Laurence Fishburne (TV’s “Hannibal”).

Legendary hit man John Wick is forced out of retirement again by a former associate plotting to seize control of a shadowy international assassins’ guild. Bound by a blood oath to help him, John travels to Rome, where he squares off against some of the world’s deadliest killers.

The 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray, and Digital HD releases feature over three hours of extensive bonus material including feature-length audio commentary with Keanu Reeves and director Chad Stahelski, three deleted scenes, nine featurettes, the official John Wick “Kill Count” video, and the Dog Wick short. Featurettes include “RetroWick: Exploring the Unexpected Success of John Wick,” featuring the cast discussing the success of the first film; “Training John Wick,” showing Keanu Reeves and Common training with guns, cars, and hand-to-hand combat; “Wick-vizzed,” which looks at the blueprint “pre-viz” of John Wick’s action beats; “As Above, so Below: The Underworld of John Wick,” exploring the assassin’s underworld in the movie; “Friends, Confidantes: The Keanu/Chad Partnership,” delving into the long-standing relationship between Keanu Reeves and one-time stunt coordinator – and now director – Chad Stahelski; “Car Fu Ride-Along,” where fans can experience a true ride-along with Keanu Reeves and the stunt driver; “Chamber Deck: Evolution of a Fight Scene,” breaking down one of the fight sequences from concept to screen; and “Wick’s Toolbox,” looking into John Wick’s bag of tricks. The 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray versions will also feature Dolby Atmos audio remixed specifically for the home-theater environment, to place and move audio anywhere in the room, including overhead.

The DVD release features audio commentary with Keanu Reeves and director Chad Stahelski, and the featurettes “RetroWick: Exploring the Unexpected Success of John Wick” and “As Above, So Below: The Underworld of John Wick.” John Wick: Chapter 2 will be available on 4K Ultra HD Combo Pack, Blu-ray Combo Pack, and DVD for the suggested retail price of $42.99, $39.99, and $29.95, respectively.

4K/BLU-RAY/ DIGITAL HD SPECIAL FEATURES

• Deleted Scenes
• “RetroWick: Exploring the Unexpected Success of John Wick” Featurette
• ‘Training John Wick” Featurette
• “WICK-vizzed” Featurette
• “Friends, Confidantes: The Keanu/Chad Partnership” Featurette
• “As Above, So Below: The Underworld of John Wick” Featurette
• “Car Fu Ride-Along” Featurette
• “Chamber Deck: Evolution of a Fight Scene” Featurette
• “Wick’s Toolbox” Featurette
• “Kill Count” Featurette
• Dog Wick Short
• Audio Commentary with Keanu Reeves and director Chad Stahelski

DVD SPECIAL FEATURES

• “RetroWick: Exploring the Unexpected Success of John Wick” Featurette
• “As Above, So Below: The Underworld of John Wick” Featurette
• Audio Commentary with Keanu Reeves and director Chad Stahelski

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Welcome back to Graphic Breakdown!

It’s April and things are heating up in comic book land. Let’s get started!

Aquaman #20
Written by Dan Abnett
Illustrated by Phillips Briones

The cover on this book by Joshua Middleton is pretty amazing. I actually love it so much if I was a kid, I would have bought the poster. It’s super cool. The story and art underneath that cover isn’t so bad either.

This is part two of the “H2.0” storyline and things here have gotten a little more interesting to say the least.

Aquamarine has partnered with the Aquamarines and the Scavenger on a task for the United States government. Abnett writes a tense tale here.

There is this crazy creature (see cover) that has killed everyone in a research lab. And it’s up to Aquaman and gang to take this creature out.

It’s a good story accompanied by decent art. Aquaman has been better the last ten issues or so now that it has found a groove.

Let’s hope that groove continues!

RATING: B

Deathstroke #16
Written by Christopher Priest
Illustrated by Carlo Pagulayan

Another great cover gets this issue off to a great start. This one is by Bill Sienkiewicz and it’s a beauty.

There is also one by Shane Davis which is quite nice as well. The issue that is contained within is also very, very good.

This is part five of the “Twilight” storyline. Deathstroke has had someone close to him murdered. He wants revenge. The problem is, he’s been wounded pretty badly. And the guy he is fighting, Deadline, is a pretty tough son of a gun.

All hell is about to break loose.

Priest is at the top of his writing game as usual. This is a taut, exciting book. Pagulayan does a great job on art. This is an excellent book…how long can they keep it up?

Let’s hope for a good long while.

RATING: A

Nightwing #18
Written by Tim Seeley
Illustrated by Javi Fernandez

“Nightwing Must Die!” Part three!

This issue bring back one of my least favorite Batman villains…. Professor Pyg. I guess the tap must really be running low to have this guy back. Anyway, here we go!

Nightwing and Robin team up here, and the results are sort of boring.

I blame the writing. The whole issue sort of clunks along until the ending. I feel like I should like these characters better. Seeley doesn’t swing for the fences either….so we get a pretty basic story.

The art is pretty good however…if there were something stronger behind it, I would like this more.

Instead, it’s just disposable entertainment. Disposable entertainment with Professor Pyg…and he sucks.

RATING: C+

Shade The Changing Girl #7
Written by Cecil Castellucci
Illustrated by Marguerite Sauvage

This is one of the best issues of the year. It’s well written and extremely well illustrated.

Shade has been a great comic book thus far, having finished up the first arc. This is a special one off issue. And it’s wonderful.

After the first arc, Shade starts to wonder what life has to offer her in the future.

There is a prom approaching and Shade reflects on her time on the planet Meta…and then questions why the hell she would ever want to go through it all again.

Having Sauvage do the art is a treat.

It’s well drawn and well put together. The story is sweet, funny and nostalgic. I really loved this.

It’s a great starting point for new readers too.

Pick this up. You’ll be glad you did.

RATING: A

The Fall And Rise of Captain Atom #4
Written by Cary Bates
Illustrated by Will Conrad

Man, Will Conrad is doing the work of his career on this title. The artwork is just top notch. Captain Atom never really was a standout character…but in this series he certainly is thanks to Conrad’s art and Bates’ steady writing.

In this issue, Captain Atom is reeling.

After the events of last issue, he tries to rebuild and reclaim his life. It does turn out to be trickier than he thought. And that leads to plenty of drama with a small dose of humor.

Like I said, he’s never been a standout character to me. I never could relate to him.

Now that this series has come along, I finally can. This is just super.

Hopefully it becomes a regular series.

RATING: B+

Batman #20
Written by Tom King
Illustrated by David Finch

I was really hoping this newest storyline would have been great. Alas, it’s not. This is the final chapter of “I am Bane!” It’s very underwhelming.

And why is it?

Tom King has proven he can write with the Sheriff of Babylon.

I feel like I’ve been cheated out of my time and investment with his writing here. That’s never a good thing.

Batman fights Bane. That’s about it. This is really all the drama King creates.

The art is pretty decent.

As a whole? It doesn’t work.

Let’s hope next issue’s Watchmen tie-in fares better.

RATING: C

Savage Things #2
Written by Justin Jordan
Illustrated by Ibrahim Moustafa

This is a fairly cool comic book.

It’s a kind of combination of a Bourne movie and a Quentin Tarantino bloodbath. And I’m enjoying it.

I’ll have a better perspective of it when the eight issues end (it’s a limited series), but right now it’s a hell of a lot of fun to read.

Abel, our main character, escaped a government terrorist cell years ago. He now finds himself under surveillance again. The government apparently needs him back to stop some of his former colleagues.

Things get intense from there.

Jordan does a great job writing the book. He’s never been my favorite, but here he shines. The art is appropriate for this book as well.

I can’t wait to read all eight issues together. This is some pretty solid stuff!

RATING: B+

Superman #20
Written by Peter J. Tomasi and Patrick Gleason
Illustrated by Patrick Gleason

This is turning out to be one of the best Rebirth books, just behind Deathstroke. The stories are intense and interesting. And the art is the top the DC line has, month in and month out. It used to be Snyder and Capullo as the top creative team at DC. Tomasi and Gleason are certainly giving them a run for their money!

Batman comes to Superman’s house in this issue to check things out.

It seems things aren’t to Batman’s liking. He starts questioning things. Then all hell just breaks loose.

This is another great jumping on point for this series.

Pick it up. The creative team will leave you breathless and wanting more.

RATING: A

Back in August, I interviewed George Khory, author of his love letter to the comic book culture of the Seventies and Eighties, Comic Book Fever.  Publisher Two Morrows, will soon be publishing Hero-A-Go-Go from author Michael Eury. 

The book is a spiritual older sibling to Comic Book Fever, covering the campy decade prior of the 1960s.  Covering one trend after another, Eury’s phenomenal tome examines such touchstones as the Batman television series, superhero and humor comics, revised characters, The Monkees and other bubblegum pop music, heroes on television, and one oddball character after another.

Comics-A-Go-Go is a wonderful look back at an era of pop culture that was presented parallel to an otherwise calamitous decade.

Michael took some time to discuss the book, it’s origins and his upcoming plans.

*  *  *  *  *

FOG!: The Sixties was a decade of Spies, Sci-Fi, Superheroes and Bubblegum Pop Music. Do you think it was the best decade of pop culture?

Michael Eury: I sure do… but as a child of the Sixties, I’m biased. Most people would say that the decade of their formative years was the best decade of pop culture, thanks to childhood nostalgia.

That said, I will argue that the Sixties was the best decade of pop culture because of the enduring icons that emerged during that era: the Beatles and Bond remain vital fifty years later, and it was the decade that witnessed the emergence of the superhero (particularly Batman) as a cultural, incredibly commercial phenomenon that extended beyond the kids’ demographic. The style of the Sixties remains unmatchable, and has helped make everything from retro fashions to Mad Men to biopics to cocktail culture tiki lounges perennially popular. Plus the music—from Motown to bubblegum pop, Sixties tunes still get a lot of play and remakes.

Hero-A-Go-Go does an amazing job showcasing some of pop culture’s biggest and most obscure icons. What was the genesis of the book?

Thank you!

I have to credit Mark Voger’s Monster Mash book (also from TwoMorrows) for planting the seed that sprouted into Hero-A-Go-Go. Mark’s celebration of the monster craze of the Fifties and Sixties made me think, “I’d like to do a similar treatment of the Camp Age.”

From there, I spent the better part of a year gathering and reading appropriate Sixties comics, watching campy cartoons and TV shows, and listening to Sixties oldies—essentially, revisiting my childhood, which was a great privilege, especially as it turned out to be the last year of my mother’s life… by reliving the joys of my youth, it made it easier to deal with Mom’s decline. In my essays in the book I address this campy material with the affection of my childhood tempered with the intellectual and historical curiosity of my adulthood.

I’ve got to give a shout-out to Scott Saavedra, the book’s designer. He did a great job—and truly “gets” the material. When I thanked him for helping bring my childhood back to life with his layouts, he said, “Hey, it was my childhood, too!”

You were in third grade when Batman premiered. Was this a monumental event for you?

Absolutely! It changed my life.

Of course, most other eight-year-old American boys felt that way in 1966—we were one half of Batman’s target audience (our parents were the other half, since the show worked on two levels, as a kid-friendly adventure series and as high camp).

But for me, Batman wasn’t just the latest cool new fad. I was obsessed.

During recess, I played Batman. At least once, one of my classmates, Mike Keel, was Robin to my Caped Crusader. My poor third grade teacher, Miss Propst, had to put up with us, and other kids, having Batman fights before and after class.

The funniest moment I recall from her class is her saying, when our classroom’s heater was on the fritz, that she needed to call the repairman—who happened to be named “Mr. Freeze.”

The mere mention of that cold-blooded Bat-fiend led me, as Batman, and Mike, as Robin, to leap from our desks and assume a Bat-battle pose! The class erupted into laugher. Miss Propst didn’t think it was very funny…

But TV’s Batman led me to Batman comics, which opened up a whole new world—and eventually, a vocation. Meeting Adam West at the 1994 San Diego Comic-Con was an awesome experience.

Much of the decade embraced “camp.” How would you describe it?

As I write in my introduction, the Camp movement was defined in 1964 by writer/activist Susan Sontag as: “Camp is art that proposes itself seriously, but cannot be taken altogether seriously because it is ‘too much’.”

Others have said Camp is something that is so bad, it becomes good… sort of like Ed Wood movies.

Camp dominated almost everything during the Sixties, even modern art, where portraits of comics panels and kitschy paintings ruled. Also, television sitcoms were over the top, with outlandish premises like “poor mountain folk strike it rich and move to Hollywood” and “sassy Allied prisoners of war befuddle nutty Nazis at a concentration camp.”

But as I also write in the intro, the Camp movement, with its excesses and laughs, provided escapism from the harsh realities of civil rights demonstrations and the Vietnam War.

Why do you think superheroes became so prevalent during this decade?

Great question! I believe that the Space Race had something to do with that, as it took science fiction and outlandish concepts such as space travel and brought them to the mainstream, allowing more “average” people to open their minds to such things. Television also helped, by providing broader exposure of superheroes to the masses.

Despite the Cold War, Civil Rights and The Kennedy Assassination, the decade at least through pop culture seems light and emphasizing fun. Do you think this was a conscious decision encourage a lighter tone that the world around them?

Another good question! I doubt there was a think tank out there with decision-makers who said, “Let’s crank up the Camp to help the masses cope.”

Instead, it was probably just an example of capitalism at work—when something is popular, produce more, and more, and more. Of course, when a fad or product explodes in popularity, it will inevitably implode… which also happened in the late Sixties when Camp ran its course.

What are your five favorite comic books from this era?

All things Batman (including Detective Comics, The Brave and the Bold, and World’s Finest Comics)

Metamorpho, the Element Man

The Inferior Five

Not Brand Echh

The Teen Titans

Why do you think that pop culture in the seventies became so much darker?

Two reasons: First, Americans became bitterly cynical after Watergate. Second, the creators of media were allowing their material to grow up with them, providing more a window into the world than an escape hatch from it.

Do you have any other projects coming up?

My day job is editing TwoMorrows’ Back Issue magazine. This summer we’ve got some exciting issues on tap: Bird People in BI #97 (Hawkman, Hawkworld, Hawk and Dove, Condorman, etc.), DC in the ‘80s in #98 (Secret Origins, Action Comics Weekly, DC Challenge, etc.), Batman: The Animated Series 25th Anniversary in #99 (with a wonderful oral history between BTAS writers, animators, and talent in interviews conducted by John Trumbull), and Bronze Age Fanzines and Fandom in BI #100 (wow, 100 issues!).

I’m also developing a new magazine for TwoMorrows… but that’s all I can say now.

And, of course, I’m required by (starving artist’s) “law” to say that Hero-A-Go-Go, which ships on April 19th, can be ordered from the publisher’s website.

What are you currently geeking out over (movies, tv, comics, music, books, etc)?

Per my retro sensibilities, I re-discovered the Monkees during my Hero-A-Go-Go research, and also got their reunion album, Good Times, and nearly played it to death. I liked the Monkees’ pop tunes when I was a child, but as an adult I’ve grown to appreciate their musicianship, versatility, and quirkiness.

I don’t read a lot of new comics these days, but follow each of DC’s Batman ’66 titles (yeah, like that’s a surprise) and Future Quest (sorry to see it come to an end).

My wife and I have become hooked on the CBS drama Blue Bloods. It’s the only show I’ve binge-watched.

And as a diehard DC fan, I’m anxious for November’s Justice League movie. But I’m also looking forward to Spider-Man: Homecoming. Tom Holland is perfect in the role (and stole Civil War), and I could watch Marisa Tomei do her laundry.

Hero-A-Go-Go arrives in stores and via digital on April 19th!

Spring has arrived!  Which means the sun is shining, the days are longer and there’s no better time than now to break out a new parasol.

They’re the perfect accessory for strutting your stuff in the city, a hot rod car show, the beach, a garden soiree, concert, burlesque performance, whatever-wherever. No ho-hum-standard-fair of cherry blossoms and dragons designs here. Instead, Retro-a-go-go offers up some spicier, custom-made, bright and bold options just for you. Get the attention you deserve while protecting your precious skin from the evil rays of the sun! They also make for stylish décor for any special space of your choice.

Here’s a few of our favorite designs from Retro-a-go-go’s paper parasol collection.  Each one  features beautiful, hand-crafted worksmanship and retails for a mere $24.99 and measures 33″ diameter w/ a 22.5″ bamboo handle.

Bettie Page Mermaid Bettie Parasol

Mermaid Bettie is as ravishing as ever surrounded by the sweet tropical pink hibiscus flowers. In the mood to show off your feminine style, take a spin with this island paradise for a while. This flirty Mermaid Bettie is ready to go; she’s your oasis and this you should know.

Chevy Parade Parasol

Zip from here to there, with your new & colorful Chevy Parade Parasol. Show off your unique style with these popular Chevy favorites!

Comic Chaos Parasol

A zap and a pow with superhero might — you’ll love this pop culture parasol day into night. If you like your sun parasols, bold, bright and powerful, just like you, this comic lover’s parasol is the one that will do.

Pin Up Parade Parasol

Lights, camera, action! You’re today’s “it” girl flaunting the Pin Up Parade Parasol. Is your pin up favorite the classic Clara Bow or the steamy and ultra-popular Marilyn Monroe? Each magazine features a real gem and you’ll look perfect standing next to them!

Monster-rama Parasol

Calling all monster freaks! Guys & ghouls unite! Show your love of all things Ghoulsville & downright creepy with your new Monster-rama sun parasol.

Red Old School Tattoo Parasol

What’s your favorite old-school tattoo? Is it the black panther ready to pounce? Or is it the mermaid? They’re all here to surprise and delight, and with you in the middle, ooh what a sight.

To check out the other available designs click HERE!

Produced by Nicolas Chartier, Zev Foreman,
Dominic Rustam, Nahikari Ipiña,
Shawn Williamson
Written and Directed by Nacho Vigalondo
Starring Anne Hathaway, Jason Sudeikis,
Dan Stevens, Austin Stowell,
Tim Blake Nelson, Simon Pegg

A mondo mash-up of Godzilla B-movies and “girl finding herself” indie sounds like a terrible idea for a film and yet it’s one of my favorite movies of the year so far.

In this instant cult classic, Anne Hathaway plays Gloria, a writer who can’t seem to find a job in New York City and would rather party with her equally irresponsible friends. That’s the last straw for uptight boyfriend Tim (Dan Stevens), who kicks her out of his apartment after her latest screw-up.

With nowhere to go, Gloria heads to her boring old hometown, where her parents have a conveniently empty old Victorian home she can crash in. She immediately bumps into old schoolmate Oscar (Jason Sudeikis) who never left and now runs his dad’s old bar and he invites her to work at his bar. This is not a good idea for many reasons, including that Oscar has always had a thing for her, but Gloria is out of options, so she signs on.

During one of her infamous drunk blackouts, Gloria awakens to shocking news: A giant lizard-like creature has been terrorizing the city of Seoul, South Korea. Slowly, she recognizes some of the monster’s gestures as her own. Could it be…?

As Gloria tries to do the right thing (and not destroy a whole city), the film is a freakishly funny spin on the “learn and grow” trajectory of most Hollywood movies.

But just when you think the movie is going to become a monster-ized version of a standard romcom like, say, Sweet Home Alabama, where our heroine finds love and happiness in her hometown instead of the big city, it takes an unexpectedly dark turn.

Without beating us over the head, the monster becomes a metaphor for Gloria’s power — and the men who want to tell her how to live her life. Can she sort it all out and take control? It’s the oddest empowerment film you’ll see this year, but one that’s wholly original.

Even if Hathaway normally bugs you, she’s terrific as Gloria, who’s a remarkably likable mess. And count me in for any future Nacho Vigalondo films. And I’m going to go back and check out his first feature, Timecrimes (Los Cronocrímenes).

Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Meet the craziest teachers ever when “Fist Fight” arrives onto Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD and Digital HD. Ice Cube (“Barbershop: The Next Cut,” the “Ride Along” movies) and Charlie Day (“Horrible Bosses,” “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”) star as high school teachers prepared to solve their differences the hard way in the comedy “Fist Fight,” directed by Richie Keen (“It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia”).

On the last day of the school year, mild-mannered high school English teacher Andy Campbell (Day) is trying his best to keep it together amidst outrageous senior pranks, a dysfunctional administration and budget cuts that are putting his job on the line just as his wife is expecting their second baby.

But things go from bad to worse when Campbell crosses the school’s toughest and most feared teacher, Ron Strickland (Ice Cube), causing Strickland to be fired. To Campbell’s shock—not to mention utter terror—Strickland responds by challenging him to a fist fight after school. News of the fight spreads like wildfire as Campbell takes ever more desperate measures to avoid getting the crap beaten out of him. But if he actually shows up and throws down, it may end up being the very thing this school, and Andy Campbell, needed.

“Fist Fight” also stars Tracy Morgan (“30 Rock”), Jillian Bell (“22 Jump Street”), Dean Norris (“Breaking Bad”), Christina Hendricks (“Mad Men”), Dennis Haysbert (“The Unit”), JoAnna Garcia Swisher (“The Astronaut Wives Club”) and Kumail Nanjiani (“Silicon Valley”).

The film is directed from a screenplay by Van Robichaux & Evan Susser (Funny or Die’s “What’s Going On? With Mike Mitchell”) who also worked on the story with Max Greenfield. “Fist Fight” is produced by Shawn Levy, Max Greenfield, John Rickard, and Dan Cohen, with Toby Emmerich, Richard Brener, Samuel J. Brown, Dave Neustadter, Charlie Day, Ice Cube, Marty P. Ewing, Billy Rosenberg, and Bruce Berman serving as executive producers.

“Fist Fight” will be available on Blu-ray Combo Pack for $35.99 on May 30, and includes the film in high definition on Blu-ray disc, a DVD and a digital version of the movie in Digital HD with UltraViolet*. Fans can also own “Fist Fight” via purchase from digital retailers beginning May 16.

BLU-RAY AND DVD ELEMENTS

“Fist Fight” Blu-ray Combo Pack contains the following special features:

• Georgia Film Commission
• Deleted Scenes

“Fist Fight” Standard Definition DVD contains the following special features:

• Deleted Scenes

Facebook.com/FistFightMovie

#FistFight

I’m not a video game guy.  I’ve tried.  In some ways I envy friends of mine who can play for several hours engaged and having a terrific time playing the latest new release.

Growing up, the first big game system was the Atari 2600.  I never had one.  The closest I came to a game system was playing Starfighter on the TSR-80.

And that got old quick.  Trust me, it was no Star Wars.

Even now, despite having a dusty Xbox and a stack of uncompleted games, when I do want to play something I usually do so on my phone.

So, if you’re like me and can’t wrap your head around Halo or Call of Duty, check out these five games.

1.  X-Men

Now this one takes a little skill, but I think it satisfies my need for any side-scroll fight game.  Based on the 1992 Konami arcade game, the game let’s you choose your character (Cyclops, Colossus, Wolverine, Storm, Nightcrawler, or Dazzler) as you fight through Sentinels and such bad guys as Pyro, The Blob, Wendigo, Nimrod, The White Queen, Juggernaut, Mystique and Magneto!

2.  Ms. Pac-Man

Nothing warms my cockles more than a good game of Ms. Pac-Man (Pac-Man works as well), aka video game comfort food.  It’s one of the few games that I can play for an extended period of time, the beat of eating power pellets letting me slip into a zone and evade the infamous Inky, Pinky, Blinky and Sue (Clyde in Pac-Man).

3. Blackjack

It’s Vegas, baby, but on your mobile.  Granted you’re not getting comped or get to see a show, but you do get to play such time-sucking games as slots, blackjack and roulette.  And you’re not just limited to playing on your phone, you can play at Schmitts-Casino.

4. Tetris

True confession time.  I play Tetris for hours on end.  It’s the perfect way to watch bad sitcoms, giving only half of your attention on the screen and the other half on the other screen.  Boom.  Three hours and six episodes of Two and a Half Men and it’s time to get something to eat.

5. Words With Friends

I should think that Scrabble is the go to app for Scrabble, but Words With Friends just seems to work better.  If you want to waste a day, start up several games, enable your phone’s push notifications and have fun.

What mobile games are you addicted to?

It seems that since its arrival into mainstream culture in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s, hip-hop music has embraced the world of comics. From graffiti artists borrowing styles and imagery from the pages of their favorite funny characters to MCs and performers using the names of their favorite heroes, comics have always had an influence on hip-hop culture.

At the Hip-Hop and Comics: Cultures Combining panel at WonderCon, Comics Alliance’s Patrick A. Reed chatted with a group of artists and innovators to talk about the ties of the two fields of pop culture.

“Five years ago when we did this panel, people were like, ‘Well, I guess you can talk about Wu-Tang, but what else are you going to talk about? But now it seems everyone automatically has their own reference points when they walk into a room, which is a very nice place to be. For me, comics and hip-hop are both combining elements like words and pictures or bass and rhymes or graffiti and dance,” said Reed.

“I grew up with hip-hop and comics, and was a fan of the comics scene, but got roped into the graffiti aspect and hip-hop, I rolled with a couple crews,” explained Erin Yoshi. “A lot of my stuff is rooted in cultural diversity and a lot of stuff around the ecosystem. I’ve also been doing a lot of art on social justice and community based art.”

Also on hand for the panel was Ted Lange IV, the creator of the comic Warp Zone.

“I saw Ted and his book Warp Zone and said, ‘Who are you people and I need you on this panel?,” joked Reed

“Warp Zone is a surreal afro-futurist fantasy that follows the exploits of Jack Elsewhere and the Elsewhere crew as they through the cosmos without the use of starships. They only use warp zones. It’s a hip-hop influenced books. Hip-hop by way of Mario Bros.,” said Lange.

Rounding out the panel was Kenny Keil, the author of Rhyme Travelers, a sci-fi comic book heavily influenced by rap and jazz music, and James Reitano, the mastermind behind the graphic novel 1985, the semi-autobiographical tale of a graffiti artist in the ‘80s looking to fit it.

Together, the group looked at the history of hip-hop and comics, including a deep dig into the first hip-hop comic, Rapping Max Robot, which was published in 1986 as a mini comic by Eric Orr and Keith Haring.

Yes. That Keith Haring.

“Comics reflected hip-hop even before hip-hop had a name,” said Reed. “Comics became part of the iconography of early hip-hop. Even through to today. Take the Green Lantern symbol, flip it sideways, and you have the symbol for the World Famous Beat Junkies.”

“Music deals with time, space and rhythm, but so does comics. It’s the whole idea of spacing out stories.

You take big notes, small notes, and lead the reader to the big discovery. This is something that happens in music,” said Keil. “You have beat, rhythm, chords, all these things. So for me, I enjoy, bringing all these elements together and trying to create a story that is unique unto itself. There is something about it tastes familiar when you read it, but you can’t quite but your finger on it.”

DC Comics unleashed some pretty impressive news about their upcoming slate at WonderCon last weekend.

DARK DAYS AHEAD FOR THE DC UNIVERSE

Kicking off a massive event this summer, The New York Times best-selling writers Scott Snyder (ALL-STAR BATMAN) and James Tynion IV (DETECTIVE COMICS) collaborate with iconic artists Andy Kubert (DARK KNIGHT III: THE MASTER RACE), Jim Lee (SUICIDE SQUAD) and John Romita Jr. (ALL-STAR BATMAN) for DARK DAYS: THE FORGE #1 and DARK DAYS: THE CASTING #1.

Spearheaded by Snyder, these new stories will reveal the dark underbelly of the DC Universe. The mysteries of THE FORGE and THE CASTING will hit shelves on June 14 and July 12, respectively, and break new ground in DC’s publishing line.

“Art like this demands an epic story,” says Snyder. “DARK DAYS posits a mystery that traces all the way back to when I started on BATMAN. I’ve hinted at them over the years with Easter eggs and clues. This is a mystery that literally begins at the dawn of man and spans generations of heroes and villains and ultimately leads to huge revelations about the past, present and future of the cosmology of DC. I couldn’t be more excited for DARK DAYS. It’s the prelude to the event we’ve been developing for years.”

“We’re taking all the ethos and excitement of the work Scott and I have been doing in the Batman titles and unleashing it across the entire DC Universe,” adds Tynion IV. “The size and scope of what we’re looking to do with DARK DAYS could only be accomplished by the best of the best. Andy, Jim and John are legends. All of us on this project are pushing one another, and every concept, to the extreme.”

Visually powering this event is a master class of artists, including Kubert, Lee and Romita Jr., who will drive DC’s initiative to bring artists to the forefront of the storytelling process. Beginning with DARK DAYS, these writers and artists will collaborate to develop new ideas and characters, further enriching the DC Universe.

“Working with Scott and James on DARK DAYS is the culmination of the big ideas and endless brainstorming that came out of a recent creative summit,” explains Lee. “It was tremendous fun having peers like Andy Kubert and JRJR in with some of our top writers. Strategically, Dan and I have talked for a long time about bringing the artist back to the table in the genesis of big, epic events. The creative summit was just that, and the level of collaboration was truly invigorating and electrifying. We can’t wait to share DARK DAYS with the DC faithful…they’re in for a thrill ride!”

DC’S YOUNG ANIMAL ELECTRIFIES AT WONDERCON

DC kicked off WonderCon 2017 with a spotlight on DC’s Young Animal, the edgy and weird pop-up imprint curated by My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way. The panel thrilled and excited attendees and fans of DOOM PATROL, MOTHER PANIC, SHADE, THE CHANGING GIRL, and CAVE CARSON HAS A CYBERNETIC EYE with new details on future issues and a first look at the upcoming series BUG!: THE ADVENTURES OF FORAGER.

The panel, moderated by Vertigo Group Editor Jamie S. Rich, included curator and DOOM PATROL writer Gerard Way, CAVE CARSON HAS A CYBERNETIC EYE writer Jon Rivera, SHADE, THE CHANGING GIRL writer Cecil Castellucci, and MOTHER PANIC writer Jody Houser.

The panelists showed off new interior pages from the main and back-up stories, as well as shared what they think makes each of these books so unique to other comics on shelves. Way teased a special one-shot issue of DOOM PATROL with fan-favorite artist Michael Allred coming this July, and fans were elated to hear that CAVE CARSON HAS A CYBERNETIC EYE will have a brand new back-up feature called “The Wonderful World of Rocks” by fan-favorite writer Mark Russell (THE FLINTSTONES, PREZ) and artist Benjamin Dewey (Autumnlands). Look for it in issue 7.

As a bonus, first pages from BUG!: THE ADVENTURES OF FORAGER were revealed.

This new miniseries is an Allred production with Lee, Michael and Laura Allred leading the team. This new series will follow the life of Forager, from creator Jack Kirby, as he finds himself in a mysterious house in an unknown realm. When he attempts to make his way home, he’ll meet a number of strange creatures, but none so dangerous as the evil General Electric. Look for it on shelves on May 10!

DC CELEBRATES WILDSTORM’S 25-YEAR LEGACY AT WONDERCON

Fans treated to first look at the upcoming anniversary book available this August

WonderCon attendees got more than they expected at the WildStorm 25th Anniversary Panel. This year marks a major milestone for the imprint, and the founder, DC Publisher and artist Jim Lee, was joined by other superstar artists and writers as they honored the line’s legacy, revealed details of an anniversary book and looked toward the future of the WildStorm universe.

The Saturday afternoon panel, moderated by Lee, included Ryan Benjamin, Carlos D’Anda, Richard Friend, Mark Irwin, Dustin Nguyen, Alex Sinclair and Scott Williams as they shared fascinating and fun memories of their time working together, turning a passion project into a line of comic books.

“‘It’s hard to believe 25 years have gone by so fast’—says everyone who has ever stuck with anything for 25 years” said Lee. “Our hope is to celebrate the future of the WildStorm characters, sharing the origins of its past and also giving fans a chance to watch some of the WildStorm talent do some live drawing to showcase what made WildStorm Studios so unique.”

The panelists divulged fresh details on WILDSTORM: A CELEBRATION OF 25 YEARS—an oversized hardcover collection coming this August. The book will include thrilling new stories from some of comics’ legendary creative teams, including a WILDCATS story from Jim Lee and Brandon Choi, a GEN13 tale from J. Scott Campbell, THE AUTHORITY story from Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch, and a BACKLASH short from Brett Booth; brand-new pinups of classic characters from John Cassaday, Tim Sale, Fiona Staples, Adam Hughes, Carlos D’Anda, Lee Bermejo and Ryan Benjamin; behind-the-scenes material; and reprints of WildStorm’s greatest stories!

DC has ushered in the next generation of WildStorm storytelling with a new pop-up imprint, curated by Warren Ellis, placing these beloved characters in reimagined stories. Readers can check out THE WILD STORM #1 and #2, on shelves now, written by Ellis with art by Jon Davis-Hunt. This flagship series of the imprint will launch future series, including MICHAEL CRAY, later this year, with more to follow.

Attendees were treated to live demonstrations throughout the conversation, first looks at exclusive new artwork, and everyone in attendance left with a printing of the new cover from the anniversary collection. To catch a glimpse of what was seen on this thrilling panel including the exclusive artwork, check out the gallery below.

DARK NIGHTS: METAL

Snyder and Capullo Reunite, Transform the DCU with #DCMetal

Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, along with DC Publishers Jim Lee and Dan DiDio, announced that their highly anticipated event, DARK NIGHTS: METAL, will rock​ ​comics this summer. The news was revealed at Fan Expo Dallas and streamed​ ​worldwide via Facebook Live.

“I’ve been planning METAL for as long as I’ve been writing BATMAN,” says​ ​Snyder. “But this is bigger than BATMAN. Greg and I started dropping clues​ ​during Court of Owls, we continued through our Joker stories and we placed our​ ​biggest hints in the run that culminated with BATMAN #50. And now we’re back to​ ​tell a story that breaks everything apart. This will be the definitive project of our​ ​careers. METAL takes us in an entirely new direction. Greg and I will dig beneath the​ ​surface of all the stories we’ve told to find a place of terror and twisted nightmares.”

The New York Times bestselling BATMAN writer and artist team of Scott Snyder and​ ​Greg Capullo made their mark as one of the great duos in Batman history. Together​ ​on a single title for an outstanding fifty issues, Snyder and Capullo’s award-winning​ ​stories The Court of Owls, Death of the Family, Zero Year and Endgame turned​ ​generations of Batman fans into a global horde of Batman superfans. With DARK​ ​NIGHTS: METAL, Scott and Greg will build on this strong foundation and broaden​ ​the scope of their storytelling to encompass the full expanse of the DC Universe.

“As you’ve probably heard by now, brother Scott and I are renewing our comic​ ​wedding vows,” says Capullo. “I’m looking forward to rock’n’ and roll’n’ together​ ​again. Fans have been loud and clear; they want more from us. You know what they​ ​say; give the people what they want. Jonathan Glapion and FCO, the original Bat​ ​team, will be riding the lightning with Scott and I once again. We’re primed and​ ​ready to blow it up.”

“I couldn’t be more excited to see Scott and Greg take on the DC Universe,” says DC​ Entertainment Publisher Dan DiDio. “DARK NIGHTS: METAL leans into the strength​ ​of the relationship Scott and Greg forged on BATMAN to launch something new and​ ​unexpected. We’re pushing the world’s finest heroes in new, unexplored directions​ ​to tell a giant story, using all the characters in our pantheon.”

DC’s new summer blockbuster publishing plans complement DC Universe Rebirth,​ which is filled with stories about superheroes that push characters beyond their​ ​potential to a place where their courage is tested and they persevere in the face of​ ​evil. DARK NIGHTS: METAL will examine every choice a hero doesn’t take and every​ ​path they don’t walk, and open up worlds that are forged by nightmares.

“I want METAL to be built upon the stories happening now in Rebirth and create​ ​new material that feels really modern and different,” continued Snyder. “And above​ ​all, it’s going to be fun. Even with terror and nightmares, it won’t be grim. DARK​ ​NIGHTS: METAL will be celebratory, huge and crazy. I’ve said it before: I am going​ ​ for out-of-control dinosaurs and lasers.”

DARK NIGHTS: METAL is DC at its most heroic, clashing with titans of terror from​ ​ realms yet to be explored. Look for the first issue on shelves in August 2017.

Produced by Richard W. King,
Irina Popov, Logan Brown
Screenplay by Andy Mitton
Screen Story and Directed by
Jesse Holland, Andy Mitton
Starring Annette O’Toole, Clark Freeman,
John Glover, Giovanna Zacarías,
Laura Heisler, Jay Dunn

Phobia-ridden Miles (Clark Freeman) is so terrified of dying that he takes out a huge ad offering $30, 000 to anyone who can offer irrefutable proof of the afterlife.

His tough-ass mother (the terrific Annette O’Toole) tries to talk him out of it, but after she realizes the extent of his stubbornness, she insists on helping him on his quest. Her main goal is to protect him from con artists and the like.

Miles receives many submissions and, along with his skeptical mom, whittles them down to three candidates.

We Go On certainly hits the ground running. The film’s co-writers/directors do a nice job of briskly and efficiently outlining our lead characters (with major assists from O’Toole and Freeman), while meting out further character development throughout the running time.

The first half or so is fascinating, with the desperate-to-believe Miles and his atheistic mother shuttling to visit the scientist, the unwilling medium and the worldly entrepreneur who made the cut.

Throughout their journeys, the mother and son have well-written debates amount the meaning of life and possible afterlife.

What could have been annoyingly episodic or scattershot in lesser hands feels fresh and suspenseful here.
The film eventually narrows its focus around the halfway mark and remains interesting and creepy until the end credits roll, but the novelty is gone at this point.

I was very curious and excited about where the film would lead during that first half.  Once the shift arrives (no spoilers), a wee bit of disappointment set in. The fine filmmaking and acting continues unabated, but the settling-in of the script is a bit of a letdown.

I honestly don’t know if they could have effectively sustained the vignette structure of the first half of the film – and the film does indeed remain entertaining, involving and creepy – but the philosophical adventure is lessened considerably once the film chooses a straightforward path.

We Go On is certainly worth checking out: it’s a solid, thoughtful, occasionally scary flick. It would have truly special if the film could’ve kept up its unconventional storyline to the bitter end, but the resultant effort is still a cut above most horror fare.

We Go On is available on DVD & Blu-ray
and is streaming exclusively on Shudder.

Forces of Geek Presents OH NO THEY DIDN’T covering remakes, sequels and reboots

We’re back this episode to talk about T2: Trainspotting, a sequel twenty years in the making, and Beauty and the Beast, a remake ruining 25 years of one of the greatest animated films of all time.

Also, we’re sharing our thoughts about the new IT movie and a reboot of the 90s animated series ReBoot. You can’t make this stuff up folks.

Listen to our episodes and SUBSCRIBE to the show on iTunes or Google Play.

Follow us on Twitter at ONTDPodcast Be sure to rate us, and tell your friends about the podcast!

If you’ve read my column or followed my Facebook for any decent duration of time, then you know my general fandom for the sitcom Black-ish.

It’s funny. Really funny. How couldn’t it be, with Anthony Anderson, Tracee Ellis Ross, and national treasure Jenifer Lewis working together in a series consulted on by Larry Wilmore?

But even though Black-ish makes me laugh a lot, the show hangs its hat on handling social issues. In short, it’s black even when that means dealing with the hard stuff – and being black comes with a world of hard stuff.

We’ve seen Dre, Rainbow and the Johnsons tackle police brutality, consumerism, intraracial prejudice regarding skin tone (aka colorism), politics, protest, interracial relationships, the burden of representation, survivor’s remorse, respectability politics, and other things with general aplomb and specificity.

So, imagine my disgust in seeing Chris Brown on this program the previous week.

In the episode, “Richard Youngsta,” Dre is excited about doing a campaign with a popular rap star but becomes conflicted when Bow and his mother, Ruby, tell him the ad promotes racist and sexist stereotypes.

That rap star, Richard Youngsta, walks into the office, and it’s Chris Brown.

Why?!?!

This is the person you, a show that has made much hay about how it pays attention to social issues, decide to bring into the fold? How can a show this self-conscious and prideful on its self-awareness make this big an error?

It’s not only that Brown has a long list of abusive, criminal behavior since he assaulted then-girlfriend Rihanna in 2009. It’s not only that he has remained largely unrepentant about everything. That he keeps recording and touring in a vastly diminished career under which he still has the nerve to record a song built around the hook “these ho’s ain’t loyal.”

What truly turns this episode so sour is that casting Brown as the linchpin of an episode about double standards and men throwing shit on black women is just ridiculously tone-deaf.

Why Chris Brown?!? You couldn’t get a Chris Brown-adjacent recording artist instead?

Trey Songz, who has all of the objectification issues but nowhere near the abuse record, wasn’t free? Jason Derulo, who does a more primetime-safe version of Brown’s act, couldn’t come down to the set?

Shit, they didn’t call Tyga or Wiz Khalifa or 2 Chainz? Flo Rida couldn’t do it? They each have their own ish, but they ain’t Chris Brown.

Even better: Richard Youngsta is a rapper the show made up for the episode, so you didn’t even need a real recording artist to play him!

During the episode, Dre and Bow get into a great conversation about black artistic freedom and the burden of representing an entire people. The conundrum of black artists’ work under the white gaze is a big issue, and Dre sees it when his bigoted white neighbor laughs and laughs at the ad in a way he finds unsettling.

But who gives a shit, when Dre’s “art” is a commercial of Chris Brown pouring champagne on an argumentative black woman , which then transforms her into a smiling and compliant white woman?

Even the “classy” revised version of the Uvo, in which Rich Youngsta exits a luxury car to a private jet, is undercut by using Brown’s song “No Bullshit.” Y’know, the artless booty-call anthem that starts with “3 in the morning, you know I’m horny,” and demands “Don’t you be on that bullshit.”

You can’t make those points about double standards on black men, and the depictions of black men and women having wider, adverse effects, while bringing an unquestioned Chris Brown onto your show as a cool guy everyone’s trying to impress.

This is not to say Brown can’t ever work again. People separate the awful artist from the awesome art day after day. Each of us compartmentalizes and draws lines on the regular on this stuff, and anybody attempting purity on this will fail.

However, there’s no room to separate Chris Brown from anything in this Black-ish episode. You can’t make an episode about black men mistreating black women and then uncritically put a serial abuser in a guest role.

Simple shit, guys. Talk about taking all the air out of your own points.

Black-ish’s regular non-interaction between Dre’s home and office lives is accentuated by Brown’s presence. He’s never around the other women on the show, not even the female CEO. Did Wanda Sykes ask out of those scenes? Makes you wonder.

It’s not that the show hasn’t had its blind spots before. Particularly, they have been around gender, as the show is filtered so much through Dre that Bow doesn’t get as much time or emphasis.

And then there’s continued antics between Bow and Ruby. Oh, the wife and mother-in-law don’t get along well, with MIL giving 32 flavors of “You’re a bad mother.” Never seen that before. (And “Richard Youngsta” doesn’t skimp on that in the B-plot.)

Sometimes it looks like the Black-ish creative team knows it has this issue, and tries to do something about it. Earlier in the season, Rainbow shone in the real-as-hell “Being Bow-Racial.” The episode addressed some of the most guarded, “in house” issues within the black community, and the episode’ – colorism, black men’s fear of white women, everyone’s fear of black women, and finding a place among black people when half of you isn’t.

But hey, who cares? Chris Brown in stinking up the entire episode, and I hate all of this.

For an episode that considers the dilemma of the white gaze distorting work by black artists, especially when it’s black people behaving badly, putting Chris Brown in the middle of it does no favors. When the white neighbor laughs and laughs at Dre’s original Uvo commercial, she mentions that it’s funny “like Madea.”

Oh, Tyler Perry, the bulls-eye of respectable, cosmopolitan black people everywhere, 10 years ago. It was chic to profess your hate for Perry and his empire built on drag, mediocre plots/dialogue, problematic colorism and gender issues. To deny his roots in the church and chitlin circuit theater, a for-blacks-by-blacks world that Perry brought to the masses.

And, yes, I wager much of that revulsion was tied to concerns of how the white gaze would use those images against us, to demean us. I remember that especially homophobic episode of The Boondocks.

But, and I speak for myself and others I have read/heard in recent years, it seemed as if many black folks made their peace with Perry. In those pre-Scandal years when prominent roles and black creator-driven projects were even more scarce, Perry was out here employing more black actors in his self-owned, independent studio. That even if they don’t rock with Tyler Perry, they could respect that and let him be. He serves black audiences foremost, white gaze be damned, if it’s considered at all.

In 2017, the former attitude on Perry feels very 20th century. The latter, more 21st century. In 2017, we have Queen Sugar, Lemonade, Atlanta, Insecure, Get Out, and Moonlight, all making art about black lives apparently unfettered by white gaze in any way. You have How To Get Away With Murder, with Viola Davis taking off her wig on network TV. You have Empire and Love and Hip-Hop, which week by week flaunt their ratchetness and tango with white gaze.

Black-ish co-creator Kenya Barris is 42, and the show does in part instruct non-black audiences on what it means to be black. He has said the show is a variation on his own life and Dre his surrogate. The very premise of the show, down to the title, is about Dre trying to reconcile his old-school, deprived past with his privileged, new-school present, and how that affects his sense of black identity. Some of the best bits in the show is when we have interplay between Dre, his parents, and his children. You can see the ethics change, even when basics of black struggle never change.

Barris co-wrote the “Richard Youngsta” episode. And, frankly, Dre being concerned about Madea and the white gaze when his bigoted neighbor watches the old Uvo ad, seems pretty old-school. Even the “Will somebody think about the children?” responsibility stuff with Jack and Diane feels pretty old-school and hollow.

Because what does it matter if you have Chris Brown on the set? For a show that takes up the mantle of explaining blackness to white audiences, what are you teaching them now?

When you bill your show as social responsible, that reputation can be destroyed quickly. Black-ish definitely took a hit, and it can’t withstand a few more.

Of course, this episode is followed by the return of Raven-Symone as Dre’s sister! Ack!

Family loyalty is tested in this ferocious thriller about a successful businessman (Adrian Grenier) willing to do anything for his deadbeat brother (Johnathon Schaech) – including tracking down the vicious mobster (Nicolas Cage) holding him hostage.  Also starring John Cusack.

And we’re giving away 5 copies!

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

In I, Nicolas Cage reprises his role as Eddie, a part he played in this
1993 film directed by his brother, Christopher Coppola?

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 April 23rd, 2017.

This year is shaping up to be one of the most exciting movie years in recent memory, with new installments in the Marvel, Alien and Pirates of the Caribbean franchises, and Diamond Select Toys is there with the merchandise you need! From Minimates to Vinimates to Gallery PVCs to Select action figures, DST has the gear you’ll want from your soon-to-be-favorite movies, as well as past film favorites, TV shows and comics!

Read on to see what hits in fall of 2017, and pre-order through your local comic shop or favorite online retailer!

Aliens Covenant Movie Minimates Series 1 Asst.

A Diamond Select Toys Release! The most anticipated sci-fi film of the year is almost here, and DST is celebrating with a new assortment of Minimates! Springing out of the successful Alien and Aliens Minimates lines, this new assortment for Alien: Covenant will include four different two-packs based on the film, including crew members David, Tennessee, Daniels and a variety of new creatures! Each 2-inch Minimates mini-figure features 14 points of articulation and fully interchangeable parts and accessories. Each two-pack comes packaged on a full-color blister card. (Item # APR172627, SRP: $9.99/ea.)

DC Gallery Deluxe Batman TAS Harley Quinn 25^th Anniversary PVC Diorama

A Diamond Select Toys Release! Harley Quinn is turning 25, but you get the present! The first-ever Deluxe DC Gallery PVC Diorama celebrates Harley’s 1992 debut on Batman: The Animated Series with a new diorama of the Joker’s gal pal sitting on top of a gift-wrapped Batman – an anniversary present to Harley from her Puddin’! Measuring almost 10 inches tall, this diorama features detailed sculpting and paint applications and comes packaged in a full-color window box. Sculpted by Varner Studios! (Item # APR172648, SRP: $60.00)

Dark Tower Movie Minimates Series 1 Box Set

A Diamond Select Toys Release! The epic novels by Stephen King are now an epic feature film, and DST is epically excited about it! This all-new box set of four Minimates mini-figures features four characters from the upcoming film – Jake, the Gunslinger, the Man in Black and one top-secret character – each with up to 14 points of articulation and fully interchangeable parts and accessories. All four figures come packaged on a full-color blister card. (Item # APR172628, SRP: $24.99)

Marvel Gallery Captain America Sam Wilson PVC Diorama

A Diamond Select Toys Release! Interest in the Marvel Gallery line of PVC dioramas has gotten so high that DST’s newest offering needs wings! Sam Wilson, the former Falcon and current Captain America, spreads his wings in his modern-day patriotic costume. This highly detailed sculpt features exacting paint details, as well as a removable shield that can be placed on his arm or on his back. In scale to all Gallery and Femme Fatales PVC dioramas, FalCap measures approximately 10 inches tall by 9 inches wide and comes packaged in a full-color window box. Sculpted by Jean St. Jean! (Item # APR172655, SRP: $45.00)

Marvel Gallery Civil War Movie Black Panther PVC Diorama

A Diamond Select Toys Release! The son of T’Chaka stalks his prey in the newest cinematic release in the Marvel Gallery line of PVC dioramas! T’Challa, the Black Panther of Wakanda, wears his distinctive movie outfit from Captain America: Civil War as he crouches on a rubble-strewn street base. Measuring approximately 6 inches tall and 9 inches wide, he is in scale to all Gallery and Femme Fatales PVC dioramas and comes packaged in a full-color window box. Sculpted by Gentle Giant! (Item # APR172656, SRP: $45.00)

Marvel Gallery Netflix TV Daredevil PVC Diorama

A Diamond Select Toys Release! The Netflix-based series of Marvel Gallery PVC dioramas continues with none other than Daredevil himself! Joining Luke Cage and the Punisher, this approximately 11” sculpture depicts the TV version of the horned hero of Hell’s Kitchen in amazing detail. Capturing the likeness and costume of actor Charlie Cox, this diorama sees Matt Murdock standing on a rooftop pedestal, his billy clubs at the ready. Daredevil is in scale to all Gallery and Femme Fatales PVC dioramas, and comes packaged in a full-color window box. (Item # APR172653, SRP: $45.00)

Marvel Netflix Minimates Iron Fist Box Set

A Diamond Select Toys Release! The next Marvel Netflix TV show is powering up, and DST is expanding their Marvel Netflix universe with an all-new Minimates box set capturing the main characters! Based on the upcoming Iron Fist, the four 2-inch mini-figures include Danny Rand, Colleen Wing, Iron Fist and Thunderer. Each 2-inch Minimates mini-figure features 14 points of articulation and fully interchangeable parts. All four figures come packaged in a full-color window box with original Minimates artwork. (Item # APR172654, SRP: $24.99)

Marvel Premier Collection Psylocke Resin Statue

A Diamond Select Toys Release! Hello, ninja! The X-Man Psylocke has been a fan-favorite ever since her 1990s makeover into a psychic ninja, and now DST has created the ultimate Psylocke collectible! This full-size resin statue depicts Betsy Braddock on a burning rooftop, surrounded by ninja arrows. Measuring approximately 12 inches tall, the statue is limted to only 3,000 pieces, and comes packaged with a numbered certificate of authenticity in a full-color, hand-numbered box. Sculpted by Alejandro Pereira! (Item # APR172652, SRP: $150.00)

Nightmare Before Christmas Resin Busts

A Diamond Select Toys Release! Move over, elf – there’s a skeleton and a rag doll on the shelf! These highly detailed resin busts of Jack Skellington and Sally the Rag Doll from Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas each measure approximately 6 inches tall and sit atop detailed bases depicting the buildings of Halloween Town. Limited to only 3,000 pieces each, they each come packaged with a numbered certificate of authenticity in a full-color, hand-numbered box. Sculpted by Joe Menna!

• Jack Bust (Item # APR172629, SRP: $59.99)
• Sally Bust (Item # APR172630, SRP: $59.99)

Nightmare Before Christmas Deluxe Cloth Dolls

A Diamond Select Toys Release! The deluxe cloth Nightmare Before Christmas doll line continues with two new characters! These large-scale dolls of Zero the Ghost Dog and Santa Claus are in scale to the previously released Jack, Sally, Finkelstein and the Mayor, and look like they came straight from the movie! Based on the classic Japanese imports, Santa Claus measures approximately 10 inches tall and features a real cloth costume and multiple points of articulation, while the fully sculpted Zero hovers over a doghouse diorama atop a clear support stand. Each comes packaged in a full-color window box.

• Zero (Item # APR172632, SRP: $49.99)
• Santa (Item # APR172633, SRP: $49.99)

Nightmare Before Christmas Minimates Series 4 2-Packs Asst.

A Diamond Select Toys Release! It’s a new series of Nightmare Before Christmas Minimates and they’re a dream come true! The cast of creepy characters expands with three new 2-packs: Snowman Jack with glow-in-the-dark Oogie Boogie, the specialty-exclusive Devil and Corpse Boy, and the also-exclusive Saxophonist with Undersea Gal! Each 2-inch Minimates mini-figure features up to 14 points of articulation with fully interchangeable parts, including a removable snowman costume! Each 2-pack comes packaged on a full-color blister card. (Item # APR172631, SRP: $9.99)/ea.

The Nightmare Before Christmas Select Action Figures Series 3 Asst

A Diamond Select Toys Release! Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas is the gift that keeps on giving! Three new figure sets are coming your way for Halloween, including the Pumpkin King, Santa Claus, and Lock, Shock and Barrel, each sculpted in an approximately 7-inch scale with character-appropriate articulation. Plus, each figure set includes an exclusive figure or diorama piece – Lock, Shock and Barrel come with their walking bathtub, Santa Claus comes with an Elf and part of the town square diorama, and the Pumpkin King comes with part of the central fountain! Connect the Santa and Pumpkin King bases with other releases to make a larger diorama! Sculpted by Dave Cortes! (Item # APR172634, $149.94 per case)

• Pumpkin King (Item # APR172635, SRP: $24.99)
• Santa Claus (Item # APR172636, SRP: $24.99)
• Lock, Shock & Barrel (Item # APR172637, SRP: $24.99)

Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales Select Action Figures

A Diamond Select Toys Release! Avast, me hearties! Having dazzled audiences for over a decade, the swashbuckling Pirates of the Caribbean film franchise is headed into uncharted waters with the fifth installment, Dead Men Tell No Tales! These 7-inch scale action figures of stars Jack Sparrow and Barbossa are based on the new film and feature each actor’s likeness as well as approximately 16 points of articulation. They also include diorama bases that can combine to build the deck of the famous pirate ship the Black Pearl! Each figure comes packaged in the display-ready Select figure packaging, with spine artwork for shelf reference. Sculpted by Gentle Giant!

• Jack Sparrow (Item # APR172650, SRP: $24.99)
• Barbossa (Item # APR172651, SRP: $24.99)

Pulp Fiction Select Action Figures Series 1 Asst.

A Diamond Select Toys Release! Bring the coolness of Pulp Fiction home with you! Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 movie masterpiece is now a highly detailed line of 7-inch collectible figures, bringing the film’s cool-as-ice cast to your shelf! The first series includes go-for-broke boxer Butch Coolidge, born-again hitman Jules Winnfield and fearsome mob boss Marsellus Wallace. Each character is 7-inch scale, with detailed paint applications and the actor’s likeness, as well as 16 points of articulation and character-specific accessories. Plus, each comes with a diorama piece: Jules includes the room where the big shootout takes place, and Butch and Marsellus each come with a piece of sidewalk from their chase scene! Packaged in display-ready Select packaging with spine artwork for shelf reference. Assortment includes two of each figure. Sculpted by Gentle Giant! (Item # APR172649, SRP: $24.99/ea.)

Wonder Woman Movie Vinimates Vinyl Figures

A Diamond Select Toys Release! The Vinimates vinyl figure line explodes into the DC Comics cinematic universe with two vinyl figures based on the Wonder Woman movie! With one figure depicting Diana in her training gear, and one in her full Wonder Woman outfit, these two figures will kick off a line that will eventually unite the entire Justice League! Each 4-inch vinyl figure is sculpted in a pose straight from the movies, with an articulated neck to customize each pose. Each comes packaged in a full-color window box.

• Wonder Woman Vinyl Figure (Item # APR172646, SRP: $9.99)
• Wonder Woman Training Gear Vinyl Figure (Item # APR172647, SRP: $9.99)

Find a store near you at comicshoplocator.com!

One part librarian.  One part researcher.  One part writer.  One part obsessive genius.

That’s probably the easiest way to describe the work of Jess Nevins.  His passions have resulted in reference works that immediately belong in the personal libraries of the pop culture and pulp culture obsessed. His latest book, The Evolution of The Costumed Avenger: The 4,000-Year History of the Superhero is an unprecedented detailed history and development of the superhero. 

Jess took some time to discuss the book, heroic archetypes and his upcoming projects.

*  *  *  *  *

FOG!: I think I first became aware of your work through your Kingdom Come and later League of Extraordinary Gentlemen annotations. What inspired not only those projects, but also the continuing titles that you covered?

Jess Nevins: I’ve always been a list-maker. It’s a temperament thing. I can never remember all the things that I want to remember, so I make lists. Before I did the comic book annotations, I ran a very successful Hollywood gossip web site that was essentially one giant list of gossip. Before that, I made lists of other things that interested me that weren’t covered elsewhere—notes toward books I’ll never write.

So when something catches my eye and interests me that I know I won’t remember all the details of, I inevitably end up making a list of it. (It could be argued I’m OCD in that regard). It was a natural thing to combine that with my love of comics and literature. I’m just fortunate that other people were interested in what I wrote.

Alan Moore filled the various LOEG with one obscure reference after another. At any point, did you feel that the work just being overstuffed with Easter Eggs, or do you think Moore genuinely intended that level of detail.

Well, first off, a lot of the detail comes from Kevin O’Neill—most of those visual-only walk-on cameos are O’Neill’s rather than Moore’s.

But to your question: I think Moore intended that level of detail, yeah. He wants the series, as he’s said, to incorporate everything from the world of fiction, and he’s taking advantage of the format of the comic book series to make a fiction mosaic.

I think part of your question, though, or perhaps just the inevitable follow-up, is whether or not the focus on the Easter Eggs detracts from the story.

That’s a personal judgment, of course, but I think there has been a point or two where the lure of Easter Egging perhaps overwhelmed Moore and O’Neill’s story sense.

Your next big project was The Encyclopedia of Fantastic Victoriana. What was the genesis of that project?

It really began as me making a list of characters that weren’t covered (yet) in LOEG—me wanting to get ahead of the annotation-making as much as possible. But I quickly discovered that there was a lot more to Victorian literature than I’d thought, that the books rewarded a close reading or in some cases rereading, and that perhaps I had something interesting to say about them.

After a while, somewhere around the 250,000th word, I realized that I had more than just the content for a large web site on my hands, that I had the makings of a book—and, better still, a book I’d want to read.

I’ve long belonged to the Disraeli school of thought that if I want to read a book, I write one. I write the books I want to read. A book delving into the genres and arcana and obscurities of Victorian popular literature? Sign me up for that!

The result was pretty good, I think.

Much of the work that you cover have decade after decade of material. What is your research process?

I begin by finding the most recent work on a subject, and then I bibliography surf—I see what books that author used, and then read them. And so on backwards and backwards, if I have to. I also use academic databases, like JSTOR—I’m an academic librarian, so I have access to resources a lot of people don’t. I do a lot of searching in those databases, and in places like Google Scholar and jurn.org.

After I’ve compiled enough research material—and a lot of times bibliography surfing just yields many books saying the same thing in different ways—I start writing. It’s a work-intensive way to go about doing things, but it’s the only way I know how to do things.

Your latest work , The Evolution of The Costumed Avenger qualifies the notion of a superhero by using the term heroenkonzept. Can you explain what that means?

It’s a German term I swiped from a German historian. Basically, it means the core concept or set of concepts behind a hero, everything from origin to superpowers to personality. “Hero concept” (a rough translation of heroenkonzept) didn’t seem to carry the same punch, so I went with the German original.

Superman’s heroenkonzept, for example, might be: “last survivor of a doomed planet” + “powers beyond those of mortal men” + “hero hiding behind a meek, passive human persona” + “farmboy goes to the big city” + “beacon of hope to other heroes” + etc etc etc.

Is there such thing, in your opinion, of a superhero archetype?

I think there are superhero archetypes, plural, yes. But I don’t think there’s any one archetype. Most genres of literature have archetypal characters. Westerns have black hats and white hats, ranchers and wanderers, cowboys and Easterners, and so on. Mysteries have hardboiled detectives and cozy detectives, cops and robbers, Holmesian Great Detectives and Gentlemen Thieves, and so on. Why should superhero literature have its own set of archetypes?

What those archetypes are…well, that would make for a great bar argument at a superhero con. You’d have your Overman/Übermensch, like Superman; Warrior Woman (Wonder Woman); Urban Avenger (Batman); Patriot (Captain America); Kid Sidekick (Robin); Man in a Machine (Iron Man)—alternatively, Capitalist Hero (Batman/Iron Man); the list could stretch out for quite some time.

But of course to be an archetype or icon there have to be imitators and others like the original. Which is why I’m wary of the over-use of the words “archetype” and “icon.”

But that’s an answer to a different question….

For millions of people, the mention of the first “superhero” immediately goes to the cover of Action Comics #1, with Superman throwing a car. Where does the costumed avenger originate and how did you go about researching the concept.

Essentially, as I was researching the superheroes of the 19th century, it occurred to me that there were two classes of them: the superpowered ones, and the ones who wore costumes or disguises. So I slapped labels on to them: Übermensch and Costumed Avenger. And I used them as the basic schema of my book.

How I went about researching them…well, once I had my two classes, it was a matter of seeing which cultural and literary heroes fit into those classes. Surprisingly, most of the proto-superheroes did; I’d stumbled upon a very useful and also accurate way of separating proto-superheroes.

As for the “how”…I made a list of historical literary and fictional and cultural heroes who I thought were influential on the modern superhero, and I began researching them. But I kept finding that I had to push farther back. Robin Hood, after all, is hugely influential on modern superheroes—but he wasn’t the first heroic outlaw of medieval literature, just the most famous, and I had to go back to people like Hereward the Wake to see the influences on the myths of Robin Hood. But as I did more research I found that the medieval heroic outlaws had an awful lot in common with the latrones, the heroic outlaws of Roman times. And they in turn were influenced by the boukoloi, heroic outlaws of Pharaonic years.

The act of putting on a costume to fight crime has a lot of roots, but one important one is the Ku Klux Klan, unfortunately. And before the Klan, it was the Molly Maguires, and before the Molly Maguires it was the French forest rebels, the demoiselles of Ariege, and before them various Irish rebel groups.

What’s the line from Watchmen? “Nothing ever ends.” Nothing ever seems to have a true beginning, either. I kept pushing and pushing and eventually found myself at the start of human popular culture, the “Epic of Gilgamesh,” 4000 years ago. Beyond that, there’s no going.

Do you think that in the history of the costumed avenger, characters such as Gilgamesh, Robin Hood or King Arthur are the same as a superhero?

Not exactly. I call them “proto-superheroes,” because they obviously aren’t superheroes in the modern sense, but they have a lot of the elements which make up superheroes. In the book I make the case that superheroes aren’t binary, yes-they-are/no-they-aren’t creations. It’s not black and white, because for every rule saying “a superhero must” exceptions can be made. There are superheroes without superpowers, without costumes, without supervillains, without origin stories, without all the things that superheroes usually have. I argue instead that superheroes work on a fuzzy logic continuum, with one end being “less of a superhero” and the other end being “more of a superhero,” and that there are a number of elements—I list seventeen in the book, though I could have listed a lot more—that make up that continuum. I argue that the only real must-have for a superhero is heroic intent/selfless mission, and event that is arguable.

So a character like Enkidu (Gilgamesh’s sidekick), while not a superhero in the modern sense, nonetheless has a heroic mission, superpowers, an unusual origin story, and a costume of sorts (his Wild Man’s unwashed body and long hair). He’s more than just your usual culture hero; he’s a hero-plus, a proto-superhero. Same with Robin Hood and King Arthur and Roland and El Cid and so on. They have the superheroic elements which set them apart from your usual heroes of myth and legend.

Why are superheroes important?

They are wish-fulfillment figures that respond to cultural needs and desires. In previous eras we had heroes of ballads and epic poems who fought our culture’s enemies. Now we have superheroes who fight the enemies of our modern culture. I don’t see any real difference between a Robin Hood and a Green Arrow in that regard, and I don’t see superheroes going away any time soon for that reason. Superhero comic books may eventually go under as a genre, but there will still be superheroes in other media. We need them too much to let them go away.

You’ve also just released the long gestating Encyclopedia of Pulp Heroes. Are you still planning your Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes? What else are you working on?

Oh, god, Pulp Heroes. Yes, that should be out by the time you read this. It’s a beast—1600 manuscript pages, 740,000 words long, but there’s never been anything like it.

In fact, the manuscript is so long that while we’re selling Pulp Heroes as one ebook, I’ve had to split Pulp Heroes into four books (Pulp Detective, Pulp Cowboys, Pulps Adventurers, and Fantastic Pulp Heroes) to sell them as print books.

I’ve been working on Pulp Heroes since 2001, off-and-on, more on than off the past decade, and I’m really anxious to have it done and for the world to see it.

I actually finished the Encyclopedia of Golden Age Superheroes a while back, and after running a Kickstarter campaign for it made it into a web site.

Currently, I’m working on three things: a roleplaying game (The Ministry, for EvilHat—“X-Files in 1958 England” is the elevator pitch), two book chapters for a British publisher’s history of science fiction (due out end of the year), and book on the history of horror literature in the 20th century. The game should be done in a month or so. The book chapters are due the first week in April. That leaves me with just the book on horror literature to work on, and I’m projecting that to be done sometime in 2019.

Of course, I have novels out to publishers, and I’ll drop everything to work on one of my novels in case a publisher is interested. And when the odd story idea grips me I write short stories and try to sell them. But my main focus right now is the game, the chapters, and the book.

What are you currently geeking out over?

Sadly, I don’t have much time for consuming things for pleasure any more—I’m too busy doing research! The last book I read for pleasure that I really enjoyed was Giorgio de Maria’s Twenty Days of Turin, which was a really good surreal horror novel about Italy in the 1960s/1970s. It’s not Lovecraftian, and I wish reviewers would stop saying that it is; its horror is of a different type. Good fun.

The Evolution of The Costumed Avenger is now
available from bookstores and e-tailers.

The Encyclopedia of Pulp Heroes is available HERE!

For more details, visit jessnevins.com

One of the most popular franchises in the history of horror, the Phantasm film series has terrified fans for generations. Well Go USA Entertainment answers the prayers of those fans with the highly anticipated release of THE PHANTASM COLLECTION, a six-disc Blu-ray^™ box set debuting on April 11.  The collection features all five frightening films in the series – PHANTASM: REMASTERED (1979), PHANTASM II (1988), PHANTASM III: LORD OF THE DEAD (1994), PHANTASM IV: OBLIVION (1998) and the most recent installment PHANTASM: RAVAGER (2016). In all five films of Don Coscarelli’s iconic series, Mike (Michael Baldwin) faces off against a mysterious grave robber known only as the Tall Man (Angus Scrimm) and his lethal arsenal of terrible weapons.

In addition to previously released archival material, Coscarelli has produced hours of new bonus material featuring new interviews with cast and filmmakers, as well as never-before-seen archival materials.  The material is interspersed throughout the discs, plus a sixth disc featuring additional new and archival bonus materials. Included with the collection is Phantasm Compendium, a 120-page book featuring exclusive interviews and rare, behind-the-scenes photos chronicling the history and impact of the franchise, plus a 21” x 27” reversible poster featuring the iconic original artwork.

Packaging on all five films will feature reversible sleeve art, with one side highlighting the original artwork and the reverse showing new artwork exclusive to the collection. In addition, the discs themselves will be BD50, which allow for less compression and a higher quality audio, as well as more space for the extensive bonus materials.

The sixth disc of THE PHANTASM COLLECTION features additional vintage and new special material, including the all-new featurette “Phantasm and You,” a comic recap of the first four films by PHANTASM V: RAVAGER director David Hartman and the previously released “Phantasmagoria” a documentary containing new and archival interviews with cast and crew.

Welcome back to Graphic Breakdown, special Monday edition!

Here are some comic books I checked out.  Let’s see what interests you!

 
Spencer & Locke #1 
Written by David Pepose
Illustrated by Jorge Santiago
Published by Action Lab Entertainment

Action Lab Entertainment really puts out some cool comic books. Spencer & Locke continues in that tradition.

This is a nice tightly written comic book with some spectacular art. You can’t ask for better than that!

This comic book is creative for sure. It involves a cop coming back to the big city to solve a crime with the help of his childhood best friend. It’s a wacky concept and I love wacky concepts. Pepose handles the writing with style and charm. The characters are wonderful, and well developed. I enjoyed reading it from start to finish.

The art is pretty freaking sweet too. I have never heard of Santiago but he is a star. His art is just fluid. If you’re looking for a new book that you may not have heard of, this is it. It’s great.

RATING: A-

 
Aliens: Dead Orbit #1   
Written and Illustrated by James Stokoe
Published by Dark Horse Comics

This is a new Aliens book from those wacky guys and gals over at Dark Horse. I used to read these religiously.

My interest has sort of waned over the years. When I picked this up, I was eager to see if it would be any good. Maybe it would be nostalgic for me.

The book isn’t bad. It’s just a little too familiar.

An accident happens at a space station. What could it be?

Aliens. That pretty much sums up the book.

Stokoe is a pretty decent writer and a really great artist. The book has a nice anime feel to it too.

I liked it. It’s a solid book. It’s just nothing new.

RATING: B

 
Beautiful Canvas #1
Written by Ryan K. Lindsay
Illustrated by Sami Kivela
Published by Black Mask Comics

It’s been a little while since I’ve read a comic book written by Ryan K. Lindsay.

He’s one of the most underrated comic book writers in the industry. Don’t believe me? Pick up a book with his name on it. It’s guaranteed to be good.
Lon Eisley is a hitwoman who is hired to murder a small child. She decides to instead save the young child. This makes her boss very angry. Action and intrigue follow as well as a ton of emotion.

It’s a dark premise and Lindsay handles it well. His writing only seems to get better. The art is awesome and fits this story well.

Black Mask is a publisher you should put on your radar. Recommended.

RATING: A-

 
Big Moose #1 
Written by Sean Ryan
Illustrated by Cory Smith
Published by Archie Comics

By gum, I really love Archie Comics. They have literally turned their entire line around in the past few years. This is no different. It a joy to read from start to finish.

This issue follows the further adventures of the character Big Moose. It’s a funny book from start to finish. The whole book is comprised of little story segments.

The first one is called “Moose Vs. The Vending Machine” and it’s a scream.

Sean Ryan does a great job writing this book. I love Cory Smith’s art as well. It’s expressive and full of joy.

Pick up this book or any of the Archie books. They are all awesome.

RATING: A

 
Kill The Minotaur #1 
Written by Christian Cantamessa and Chris Pasetto
Illustrated by Lukas Ketner
Published by Image Comics

I’m not so sure what to make of this comic book. It’s certainly got a lot of hype behind it. It’s well drawn and the writers have a ton of street cred.

I was just bored from start to finish.

In this story, Athens lost the war with Greece. Now they pay tribute to the King by making human sacrifices to run in a labyrinth.

What’s in the labyrinth? Why, a mighty Minotaur!

Maybe I’ll pick this up when there are a few issues out. Maybe I’ll like it better when there’s more of a story.

For a first issue this seemed lacking. I wanted to like it but just couldn’t.

RATING: B-

Strange futuristic machines, robots, or vehicles are just what we mean when we say “science fiction.”

They’re scientific rather than supernatural, they have some sort of logic to their origin or purpose, yet of course they’re also fictitious.

I thought it would be fun to list nutty devices from classic science fiction films and serials.

The list could get very long; some 1930s or 1940s serials alone have more than a dozen devices.

So I chose these conditions for the list:

1. The device must be specifically named
2. The device must figure prominently into the plot
3. Emphasis on underdog devices from older films
4. Emphasis on nutty devices
5. Limit one device per film

This installment, I’ll list seven nutty devices from the 1930s and 40s. Next installment, I’ll list seven more from the 50s and 60s.

THE WRITING TRANSMITTER – from Mystery Liner (1934)

Here’s a boring spy movie from “poverty row” studio Monogram. The story stinks. But the Writing Transmitter gets used many times.

It’s a two-part device used for remote communication. It’s like a combo of a two-way TV and an Etch-a-Sketch.

You write on the pad, and the message is sent to the other guy’s screen. It comes out in flowing script. Then he writes his reply, and flowing script appears on your screen.

The movie also features a remote-controlled ship, which probably excited audiences since the military was actually experimenting with remote control at the time.

But the Writing Transmitter is much more fun.

THE RADIUM REVIVING CHAMBER – from The Phantom Empire (serial, 1935).

Gene Autry the Singing Cowboy stars in this pre-Flash Gordon sci-fi Western serial.

Autry plays himself, and he’s the hero, so you know he can’t possibly die during his struggles with the evil Muranians…But then in Chapter 7 he actually dies! No kidding! Luckily, Autry is quickly brought back to life in the Muranians’ Radium Reviving Chamber, because radium has the power to restore life.

He briefly speaks “the language of the dead” (gibberish) when revived. But before long, he’s back to his old singing self.

The Chamber is a typical 1930s science lab, where the dead person is laid on a table beneath a glass cover. In the 1930s, radium was known to be toxic but was still widely used for luminescent clocks, dials, and instrument panels.

THE BRAIN DESTROYER – from The Lost City (serial, 1935)

Believe it or not, this device is designed to destroy people’s brains. You see it midway through the first chapter, and it’s surprisingly frightening in a simplistic serial aimed at adolescent boys in the 1930s.

When we meet the machine, a super zombie black guy grabs a regular screaming black guy and straps him into a rack with a metal dome that lowers onto his head.

“You must obey my commands!” shouts the evil Zolok after he flips the switch. A minute later, the poor guy’s brain is destroyed, and he is a zombified slave.

The serial is racist, sure, but the black guys are the white villain’s victims and we feel pretty bad for them.

THE RADIUM RAY – from Ghost Patrol (1936)

Here’s radium again. But now it’s a ray. The device is first visible at 3:30 into this short feature film, a dull Western that uses the ray for a sci-fi gimmick.

Ray guns had been mentioned in science fiction stories from the 1920s and earlier, but unless you count sparks shot from robots, the first genuine rays in science fiction film date to 1936, in The Invisible Ray (the Karloff-Lugosi film) and Ghost Patrol.

I would have loved to pick The Invisible Ray for this list, but Karloff’s ray is actually never named in the film, and it’s actually radium (again) flowing from a radioactive guy who focuses the radiation through a telescopic lens. So it doesn’t really count as a device.

Here in Ghost Patrol, a device creates a “radium ray” that can be aimed at planes to destroy their engines, causing the planes to crash. You never see the ray itself (as in The Invisible Ray), but you do see the device, which looks like a thin Tesla coil that makes sparks on top.

THE NITRON BEAM – from Flash Gordon’s Trip to Mars (serial, 1938)

Also referred to as the Nitron Ray, it will suck all the “nitron” from the Earth’s atmosphere!

This causes earthquakes, gravitational collapses, and natural disasters!

You’ll see it first at 6:30 in the first episode, a giant wavy ray traversing space from Mars and striking Planet Earth.

You can see the control room first at 17:10, with enough 1930s-style lab equipment to fill the whole place.

Watch Emperor Ming pull the giant lever and turn the giant dial to control the “firebox” (the power chamber).

Finally, at 18:50, you can see the giant gun shooting the beam toward Earth.

The first cliffhanger (end of Chapter 1) sees the beam striking Flash’s spaceship!

THE DEVISUALIZER – from The Phantom Creeps (serial, 1939)

It’s funny how it takes society years to find a good name for something. Until Victorian times, science was called “natural philosophy.”

If I had a belt that turned me invisible, I’d call it an Invisibility Belt. Here, the villain – Dr. Zorka played by the amazing Bela Lugosi – calls his belt a Devisualizer.

This decent serial is most famous for the grotesque-looking robot (“the cops’ll never let anything like THAT walk down the street!”), but Zorka actually uses his belt more often.

Most available prints of this serial are of poor quality (it’s not a classic like the Flash Gordon serials), but you can get the idea.

“Get the Devisualizer!” Zorka commands his servant at 7:30 into Chapter 1. Then he turns invisible so that he can hide his dangerous inventions from the government. You see the belt right afterwards, and it’s basically a thick leather belt with a control box instead of a buckle in the front.

Sometimes Zorka is totally invisible, but at other times he’s a glowing shadow – and this is why we call Zorka a “phantom.”

THE ELECTRO-ANNIHILATOR – from The Purple Monster Strikes (serial, 1945)

Being from Republic, this fast-paced serial is best for a spy-oriented plot, a few shootouts, and a lot of fistfights from Republic’s legendary stuntmen. But it has its share of devices used by the nefarious Martian known as the Purple Monster as he plots to invade Earth.

Chief among the Martian devices is the Electro-Annihilator (a disintegration beam) which figures prominently into Chapter 5. It was designed to disintegrate meteors before they strike airplanes, but it’s handy at disintegrating other things too.

“When the object moves into the beam, it is completely destroyed,” says the unscrupulous scientist during his demonstration. It looks a small anti-aircraft gun that swivels on a stand. The operator stands behind it and shoots.

The beam is invisible, but not so the results: watch it explode the hero’s sedan at 11:00 into Chapter 5, and then the heroine’s car a minute later.

I know, I know, it’s the same car explosion footage twice, but don’t worry, the Electro-Annihilator will get used again in Chapter 15, the conclusion.

It’s a glorious time to be a movie geek.

Star Wars is in full revival mode, and we’re going to be getting our first peek at Episode VIII any day now. There’s a new Alien movie from Ridley Scott coming out next month, followed by seasons of Marvel and DC superhero epics. The long-anticipated sequel to Blade Runner is shaping up to be astounding. Festival word-of-mouth on Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver is phenomenal. Steven Spielberg is working on multiple films, including a drama on the Pentagon Papers and an adaptation of the sci-fi book Ready Player One, but is apparently still doing Indiana Jones 5 for 2019, the same year James Cameron reacquires certain rights to his own Terminator movies.

As for James Bond, there hasn’t been much to report about for Bond 25 other than speculation on who might replace Daniel Craig and director Sam Mendes if push comes to shove.

The big news is that a script has been finished and locations are been scouted in Croatia and New Zealand.

Bigger news is that Daniel Craig has reportedly recently indicated “serious interest.” This despite last year’s news that he turned down a reported $100 million payday for a two-film deal, and this long after his morning-after hangover interview the day after SPECTRE wrapped where Craig indicated he’d rather slit his wrists than make another Bond picture right away. It’s no longer “right away” and perhaps enough time has passed that Craig has recharged his batteries, satisfied his love for theater by getting a few stage performances out of his system, and done enough other film work that he’s reacquired his thirst for 007.

However, director Sam Mendes removed himself from consideration by busying his schedule, and with Mendes definitely out, a new director is obviously being courted (or has been courted but the producers, ever tight-lipped, haven’t announced anything yet).

If Craig comes back for Bond 25, the producers will undoubtedly continue the multi-film arc of Craig’s previous four missions, but will hopefully conjure a more appropriately larger-than-life threat from the organization SPECTRE, as well as a juicier turn for its leader Ernst Stavro Blofeld. If Christoph Waltz returns as Blofeld, it would mark a series first for the role, a villain previously given face by the likes of Telly Savalas, Donald Pleasance, and Charles Gray, but none of them twice.

Stay tuned for more news to come.