Tag: Comics

Marvel and DC Faces Controversy as Creators Speak Out on Lack of Compensation

Marvel and DC films have been quite a success for the companies involved. Yet, the harsh reality unveils that it hasn’t been too kind for the creators of the characters, we’re seeing on the silver screen. In a very revealing piece by The Guardian, we get insight into how comic creators are facing the harsh restrictions set by frugal companies and their refusal to compensate their creators.

We get quite a few examples of how contractual wordings are quite the slippery slope. Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons created the iconic Watchmen series that became the basis for a popular HBO series. They had a contractual share on merchandise profits, but they simply retitled it “promotional items” and refused to pay out the comic creators.

An anonymous Marvel creator had the following to say after his character’s appearance in the popular film franchise:

I’ve been offered a [special character contract] that was really, really terrible, but it was that or nothing. And then instead of honouring it, they send a thank you note and are like, ‘Here’s some money we don’t owe you!’ and it’s five grand. And you’re like, ‘The movie made a billion dollars.

It’s just a small glimpse into how contractual obligations are misconstrued. Harley Quinn’s Jimmy Palmiotti also recommended to lawyer up when you work with a comic book company. They also get a ticket to the premiere alongside the check, but there is no obligation to do so. The reason this practice is the norm is due to how comic creators work for the companies. Marvel seems to be quite infamous for its tight contracts and frugal approach. It’s not too surprising given the rumors surrounding their CEO Isaac Perlmutter.

Still, it’s terrible to read how these creators of our childhood classics are being treated to this day and, hopefully, this is the necessary wake-up call to make due. If you’re interested in reading the full article on the controversy, you can check it out here.

Source: The Guardian

August 9, 2021
‘Y: The Last Man’’s Turbulent Journey to FX

After what seems like an eternity, the Y: The Last Man trailer finally got released. With a little over a month to go before its September 13th premiere on FX, it feels like a good time to go back and remember just how difficult it was bringing the Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra iconic comic series to the small screen. In 2015, the series was announced to enter development over at FX. Since, the show has not only gone through different showrunners, a different main cast, but also a different title. From just the initial Y, it has since moved back to the source material’s original title, Y: The Last Man.

Michael Green (Smallville, Heroes, American Gods) was once slated to serve as showrunner, and was co-writing the pilot with Brian K. Vaughan., After working on the show for four years, he left the production in 2019 following “creative differences” being replaced by Eliza Clark (Extant, Animal Kingdom). With principal photography for the pilot taking place in 2018, it’s perhaps fair to assume that, following the changes to the leadership behind the show, we’ll be getting little to no footage of that period to show up in the final product.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, filming got postponed to later 2020. It only concluded last month, July 2021. Around the time filming began, it was also announced that the show would feature an almost entirely different cast from the one initially announced in 2018. Barry Keoghan (Eternals), Diane Lane, Imogen Poots (28 Weeks Later), Lashana Lynch (Captain Marvel), Juliana Canfield, Marin Ireland, Amber Tamblyn, and Timothy Hutton were all set to star in the show, but perhaps due to delays and the way the approach towards the show evolved, some ended up getting replaced. Ashley Romans and Olivia Thirlby (Dredd) stepped into the roles which initially belonged to Lynch and Poots. Ben Schnetzer replaced Keoghan as Yorick Brown, the series lead. Paul Gross also joined the show at a later stage as Hutton, another of the big names from the original cast list, left following a restructuring surrounding his role.

Getting the show off the ground was obviously an extremely turbulent affair, something that might probably end up hurting the series’ quality. But it’s rather poetic if a show that focuses on a global cataclysmic event, that got postponed due to a global pandemic, somehow found redemption to its lackluster development story in a series that does justice to the brilliant, Eisner Award-winning comic series it’s based upon.

As stated above, the show focuses on the aftermath of a cataclysmic event that ends up killing every single mammal on planet earth with a Y chromosome. In layman’s terms, only females survived. Enter Yorick Brown, who mysteriously manages to survive with no idea of how that came to be. Alongside Ampersand, his pet monkey, he becomes involved in a world of governmental espionage and international intrigue. All of this with the backdrop of humanity possibly being on the verge of extinction for simply not being able to reproduce. We’re led in a globetrotting adventure, across multiple continents as Yorick, the Last Man, fights not only for his own future but also for his race. It is set to premiere on September 13th, 2021, on FX.

Source: Hollywood Reporter, Deadline, Variety, Deadline, GameSpot, Collider, Deadline, ScreenRant

August 5, 2021
Murphy’s Most Anticipated Comics from the September 2021 Solicitations

Over the past week, publishers have released their monthly solicitations for their September 2021 comics. Here’s a brief look at what books have me most excited and are sure to end up on my pull list, if they’re not already there:

Marvel Comics

INFERNO #1 (OF 4)
JONATHAN HICKMAN (W) • VALERIO SCHITI (A) • Cover by Jerome Opeña

VARIANT COVER BY ARTGERM
VIRGIN VARIANT COVER BY ARTGERM
STORMBREAKERS VARIANT COVER BY CARMEN CARNERO
WRAPAROUND VARIANT COVER BY MARK BROOKS
VARIANT COVER BY JEFF DEKAL
VARIANT COVER BY OSCAR VEGA
VARIANT COVER BY PEACH MOMOKO
HOMAGE VARIANT COVER BY R.B. SILVA
HIDDEN GEM VARIANT COVER BY GREG CAPULLO
THE CULMINATION OF JONATHAN HICKMAN’S X-MEN BEGINS HERE!
“There will be an island—not the first, but the last…” Promises were made and broken. The rulers of Krakoa have been playing a dangerous game with a dangerous woman, and they are about to see how badly that can burn them. Mastermind of the X-Men JONATHAN HICKMAN brings his plans to a head, joined by an incredible lineup of artists beginning with VALERIO SCHITI… as one woman follows through on her promise to burn the nation of Krakoa to the ground.
56 PGS./Rated T+ …$5.99

Hickman’s run as Head of X has been nothing short of fantastic. When I first heard Hickman was returning to Marvel Comics, my wish was that he’d take on the X-Men but I never dreamt this big. The seeds he planted back in HoX/PoX are all ready to bear fruit and this is going to be one for the ages.

ETERNALS: THANOS RISES #1
KIERON GILLEN (W) • DUSTIN WEAVER (A) • Cover by ESAD RIBIĆ

Variant cover by Ron Lim
Variant cover by Dustin Weaver
STORMBREAKERS VARIANT COVER BY IBAN COELLO
HEADSHOT VARIANT COVER BY TODD NAUCK
• Eternals are created, not born. They have families, but their families make no new children.
• It’s simply not what Eternals do.
• Some of them thought they could find a way to change that and believed it would be for the best.
• They were terribly, terribly wrong.
32 PGS./ONE-SHOT/Rated T+ …$3.99

Kieron Gillen on Eternals was always going to be a win and he’s done great so far. Thanos is a big part of the story and now Gillen, one of Marvel’s most imaginative writers, is going to take some time to focus on the big guy.

BLACK PANTHER #2
JOHN RIDLEY (W) • JUANN CABAL (A) • Cover by ALEX ROSS

Miles Morales: Spider-Man 10th ANNIVERSARY Variant Cover by KEN LASHLEY
Variant Cover by SKOTTIE YOUNG
VARIANT COVER BY JOSHUA “SWAY” SWABY “THE LONG SHADOW” PART 2
T’Challa must act quickly to save his sleeper agents before they are assassinated! With the help of his sister, Shuri, he might be one step closer to the culprits…but is it too late? The assassins seem to always be one step ahead. And T’Challa better watch his back, for secrets lie everywhere…
32 PGS./Rated T …$3.99

This is really here because I didn’t do one of these for August and John Ridley’s Black Panther is probably my most anticipated non-X-book of the second half of 2021. Ridley has done some great work at DC this year that you should read to get an idea of what he’s going to bring to the stories of T’Challa, Shuri and more.

DEFENDERS #2 (OF 5)
AL EWING (W) • JAVIER RODRÍGUEZ (A/C)

Variant cover by JOE QUINONES
Teaser Variant Cover by JAVIER RODRÍGUEZ
THE MOTHER OF GALACTUS?
The Defenders find themselves in the birthplace of Galactus — but the Devourer is not the man they remember. Meet Taaia, Omnimax and more as Al Ewing and Javier Rodríguez expand the cosmos — and put Doctor Strange’s makeshift magical team in extreme jeopardy!
32 PGS./Rated T+ …$3.99

Same as Black Panther #2, this is here because I missed August. Al Ewing on a Defenders mini! And revisiting Galactus! I’m all in. My guess is you’re all going to want to read this one.

EXCALIBUR #23
TINI HOWARD (W) • MARCUS TO (A)

Cover by MAHMUD ASRAR
VARIANT COVER BY DIKE RUAN
THE CALL OF DOOM!
As guardians of the gate, Excalibur has sworn to safely escort those who quest to the Otherworld within, but their duties are tested to their limits when DOOM returns to Avalon.

Tini Howard has written maybe my favorite volume of Excalibur to date and bringing Doom into the mix isn’t going to do anything to hurt!

ALIEN #7
PHILLIP KENNEDY JOHNSON (W) • SALVADOR LARROCA (A)

Cover by MARC ASPINALL
Variant Cover by GERARDO SANDOVAL
Variant Cover by Giuseppe Camuncoli
THE SEARCH FOR SANCTUARY BEGINS!
• A small colony of “Spinners,” looking to lead a simpler life, have nearly completed terraforming a moon.
• A ship crashes into their Eden from the heavens.
• A terror is unleashed.
32 PGS./Parental Advisory …$3.99

Phillip Kennedy Johnson is ascending as an author and he’s having a lot of fun with this book. If you’re a fan of the early Alien films, give these books a chance. He’s doing a great job adding to the big story.

DC Comics

GREEN LANTERN #6
Writer: GEOFFREY THORNE Artists: TOM RANEY and MARCO SANTUCCI

Cover: BERNARD CHANG
Variant Cover: BRYAN HITCH
$4.99 US | 40 PGS | $5.99 US VARIANT (Card Stock)

Far Sector’s Jo Mullein goes head-to-head with one-time Green Lantern Sinestro, now the leader of the Sinestro Corps that harnesses the yellow light of fear. But as Jo deals with Sinestro, Simon Baz finds out his former partner, Jessica Cruz, just joined the Yellow Lanterns as the Corps’ newest member. Then, in deep space, Kilowog, who’s been cut from the Corps, fights for his life in the Dark Sectors. But without a working ring, he may not stand much of a chance of survival.

I’ve mentioned a few times that the disaster that was Ryan Reynolds’ Green Lantern film stripped me of my love for the stories of the Lanterns. For the first time in years, I’ve actually gotten hooked into a new Green Lantern book and have really been enjoying catching up on some of the newer characters I’ve missed. A fun space book!

INFINITE FRONTIER #6
Writer: JOSHUA WILLIAMSON

Artist: XERMANICO
Cover: MITCH GERADS
Variant Covers: BRYAN HITCH
$4.99 | 40 PGS | 6 of 6 | $5.99 US VARIANT (Card Stock)
ON SALE 9/7/21

One story ends and the next phase of the DC Multiverse begins. We have one name for you: DARKSEID.
Our heroes knew that someone had been pulling the strings this entire time, but are they prepared for it to be the biggest bad of all? As President Superman, Alan Scott, Roy Harper, and the rest converge for a showdown, the secret of Omega Planet is revealed. Plus, Barry Allen is put on a path he may never get off!

My hopes for the future of DC Comics rests on how this event ends…and this is the ending. Here’s to a future where the continuity makes a little more sense to me. Don’t let me down, Josh Williamson!

RORSCHACH #12
Writer: TOM KING
Artist: JORGE FORNÉS
Cover: JORGE FORNÉS

Variant Cover: BEN OLIVER
$4.99 US | 32 PGS | $4.99 US VARIANT (Card Stock)
BLACK LABEL | 17+
ON SALE 9/14/21

The end to the mystery is here!
It’s been a long road to get here, and there have been a lot of dead bodies along the way, but the detective is very near closing the case. All the disparate threads lead back to the crime itself, to the assassination attempt that claimed the lives of the would-be assassins. Find out how it all went wrong for the comic book artist who put on a mask and declared himself Rorschach.

As is often the case with Tom King’s limited series, things don’t really start to come into focus until the second half of the series and I end up rereading the whole thing once it’s come out. I’m finally starting to understand what Rorschach is about (or am I?) and as sad as I’ll be to see it come to an end, I can’t wait for the finale!

THE NICE HOUSE ON THE LAKE #4
Writer: JAMES TYNION IV
Artist: ÁLVARO MARTÍNEZ BUENO
Cover: ÁLVARO MARTÍNEZ BUENO

Variant Cover: TIFFANY TURRILL
$3.99 US | 32 PGS | 4 of 12 | $4.99 US VARIANT (Card Stock)
BLACK LABEL | 17+
ON SALE 9/7/21

A terrifying truth about the house is revealed!

David wants nothing more than to make his fellow residents of the House laugh. He’s the Comedian, right? That’s what he does. But if no one’s in the mood to laugh, then perhaps it’s time for him to perform the other function of comedy: to tell his audience an unbelievable truth…

James Tynion is a Swiss Army knife of a creator. Batman, conspiracy and now horror. I’m guessing it won’t be long before this one is optioned for a streaming series somewhere.

Image Comics

PRIMORDIAL #1 (OF 6)

WRITER: Jeff Lemire
ARTIST / COVER A: Andrea Sorrentino

SEPTEMBER 15 / 32 pages / FC/ M / $3.99

Mind-bending sci-fi collides with Cold War thriller in this six-issue miniseries by the bestselling and Eisner-winning creative team behind GIDEON FALLS! In 1957, the USSR launched the dog, Laika, into Earth’s orbit. Two years later, the USA responded with two monkeys, Able and Baker. These animals never returned. But, unbeknownst to everyone, they did not die in orbit…they were taken. And now they are coming home.

Lemire is one of my favorite creators of the past decade and even though I have no idea what Gideon Falls was about, I loved it. This one sounds absolutely amazing and I’m pulling the series.

CROSSOVER #10

WRITER: Donny Cates
ARTIST / COVER A: Dee Cunniffe, Geoff Shaw, John J. Hill

SEPTEMBER 22 / 32 pages / FC/ T+ / $3.99

“MEANWHILE,” Part Three
“Hey hey! We’re back with another mysterious slaughter-filled romp! And man oh man, is this one…honestly, guys, there’s not much I can say here without spoiling every single page. Look, I don’t know, guys. Writing solicitations is hard. Come read our crazy little book!!”

Crossover has been a pretty consistently fun book with a really wild premise (kind of Cates’ thing). It deals with a lot of his previous work at Image, so it also gives you a reason to go back and read something like God Country. Cates is a big idea guy, let’s see how he delivers as this book keeps moving along.

THE DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH #13
WRITER: James Tynion IV
ARTIST / COVER A: Martin Simmonds

SEPTEMBER 29 / 32 pages / FC/ M / $3.99

Thirty years ago, Cole Turner dreamed up a Star-Faced Man who ate children in the basement of his preschool. Today, Cole is going to make sure that nightmare can never haunt another kid. The second arc of the smash-hit THE DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH ends here with a revelation that turns the series upside down!

The Department of Truth is the kind of book that would never find a home at the big 2 and makes you thankful for creator-owned comics. This book is crazy as hell and has already been optioned for a streaming project. Tynion holds nothing back and I’m looking forward to how this new arc wraps up.

RADIANT BLACK #8
WRITER: Kyle Higgins
ARTIST: Marcelo Costa

COVER A: Felipe Watanabe
COVER C: Tyler Kirkham

SEPTEMBER 15 / 32 pages / FC/ / $3.99

The battle for the Radiants tears through Chicago. Can this unlikely new team stand against an enemy who knows more about their powers than they do? And even if they win…what happens next?

Higgins has hit us with a couple big surprises over the last 2 issues and now I will go into every book thinking nothing is sacred. That makes for one hell of an exciting series. If you aren’t already reading Radiant Black, it’s not too late!!

This is just a glimpse of what’s available out there and just scratches the surface of what I’ll be ordering for the month of September. You can find full solicitations for DC and Marvel at Newsarama/Games Radar and for Image at Image Comics.

June 28, 2021
Comics: Murphy’s Fab Five New Books from the Week that Was

As promised, here’s the first of what I hope to be a weekly series taking a look at the 5 best comics I read from the most recent NCBD. Let’s hop right in…

1. Guardians of the Galaxy #15

Al Ewing’s Guardians of the Galaxy has been a gift to me. Marvel Comics made a huge mistake when they changed up the comic book Guardians to make them more recognizable to fans of James Gunn’s MCU films. Fortunately, Donny Cates and now Ewing have taken them as far away from those iterations as possible and, in doing so, blown open the doors to all kinds of new possibilities.

Ewing’s Guardians have opened up their ranks to keep up with the problems caused by several volatile political situations going on throughout the galaxy. Issue 15 narrows the view a little bit and puts Richard Rider at the center of the book (this auto-ranked it as the best book of the week). Rider’s been through it over the last couple of years, is struggling to reconnect with his bestie (a very changed Star-Lord) and has had enough of compromising with villains. This is exacerbated by the Guardians inviting Doctor Doom to join the team and a visit to S.W.O.R.D. headquarters to meet with Magneto. The Human Rocket and the Master of Magnetism have a great brawl followed up by a better conversation that takes place on the eve of the Hellfire Gala: big changes are coming to the galaxy, even bigger than the ones that have already shaken it to its core. And while the mutant terraforming of Mars seems like it should be the biggest blip on their radar, another team of Guardians make a huge discovery that leads directly to the upcoming crossover event, The Last Annihilation.

It’s common for publishers to joke that new books or new events will “change everything.” It’s no joke to say that Ewing’s work on Guardians has done that without any of the hype.

2. Infinite Frontier #1

I’ll happily admit that I’ve never been very good at keeping track of the DC Universes Crises and Otherworld tales and Rebirths and that, to me, the overall continuity is confusing. I’ll also admit that all the Death Metal stuff just really confused me more. That having been said, Infinite Frontier #1 gave me a feeling of hope that even I might be able to understand where DC Comics is taking things moving forward because it seems like there making a move to streamline things. So while it might get worse before it gets better, I think it’s going to get better.

With the general populous now aware that they exist within a multiverse, a group of heroes, lead by Green Lantern Alan Scott, has set out to monitor any threats to its well-being; Thomas Wayne arrives on an alternate Earth looking for the Flash and meets President Superman and Justice Incarnate; another Flash discovers a new way to move through the multiverse where he meets Psycho Pirate, in the employ of Darkseid, on Earth Omega Dr. Bones blackmails Cameron Chase into coming back to work for the DEO; Roy Harper is revealed to be Roy Harpers, including the Black Lantern Roy from Death Metal and is being chased by a new villain named X-Tract.

The book seems like an all-new direction for a DC event, though Psycho Pirate does tease a new Crisis is imminent. I’m not sure what direction DC has planned for things after this event, but issue #1 sets up the key players and plots to be resolved over the next few months in a way that seems like the right place for you to jump in and enjoy the ride.

3. S.W.O.R.D. #6

Another book by Al Ewing on the list and that shouldn’t surprise anyone. Ewing has been one of Marvel’s most consistent top talents for years now and while he’s been hailed for his work on The Immortal Hulk, he’s been having a lot of fun playing in the Cosmic corner of things dating back to his work on The Ultimates. This book neatly follows up on the events of not only the prior X-books but also the aforementioned Guardians of the Galaxy #15. Here, we pick up after the mutants have terraformed Mars and moved the island of Arrako and its inhabitants there.

The book features a surprising and entirely welcome 3+ page conversation between Steve Rogers and Doctor Doom in which the 2 show mutual respect for one another while they try to come to terms with the mutants incredible display of power. As they continue to grab more and more control of power on Earth through their pharmaceuticals, the mutant’s parallel move to control trade and power in the galaxy is revealed by Abigail Brand: a new material called mysterium that can only be made by mutants. Mysterium is a new metal that is tougher, stronger, a better conductor and all around better than pretty much any other option available for building ships, making computers and doing all sorts of other space shit.

The big reveal, however, isn’t the metal itself but that Brand is giving it away to those who will acknowledge Planet Arrako (the one that used to be Mars), not Earth, as the governing body of the Sol system, a system the mutants now see on par with the other great empires of the galaxy. And the issue ends with a great reveal as the Regent of Planet Arrako and the Voice of the Sol system makes her appearance. S.W.O.R.D. has been a great ride from book 1 and it doesn’t lose any momentum here.

4. Robin #3

I’m a sucker for anything with Damien Wayne so when this new book was announced, I knew I was in. Damien has been taken to an island where the League of Lazarus, an offshoot of the League of Shadows, is holding a Lazarus Tournament that includes old, new and reinvented characters. It’s a great “tournament” setup that’s allowing readers, and Damien, to explore what makes Batman’s son tick. Damien’s more than capable of handling himself in almost any situation but the book, this issue especially, does a great job of exposing the weaknesses he refuses to believe he has and it ends with one hell of a cliffhanger…well first a clifftoss and then a cliffhanger.

5. Shadowman #3

A new take on an old 90’s book, Shadowman by Cullen Bunn is becoming one of the most interesting horror books on the market. After taking the fist 2 issues to catch up on who Shadowman is and prepping the canvas, book 3 takes us down a path that ends with a revelation that makes everything a whole lot bigger. Bunn has always done great work in the horror genre and the art in this volume, by Jon Davis-Hunt, is captivating and reminds you why this medium can be so great. It’s not too late to find all 3 issues of this one in your LCS and get on board for what’s looking like a wild ride.

June 27, 2021
‘Immortal Hulk’s Al Ewing and Ram V Taking over ‘Venom’

It looks like the iconic symbiote is heading in a new direction, as Marvel has just revealed the brand new creative team working on the next Venom run. In a blog post, they’ve announced that the masterminds behind IMMORTAL HULK, Al Ewing, and Ram V will bring their horror inspirations to the symbiote. They are planning a dramatic and dangerous new direction of the symbiote with Bryan Hitch lending his artistic talents to the new comic line. Ram V shared his enthusiasm about the chance to tackle such an iconic character and offer a new look at what it means to be possessed by a symbiote:

When my editors at Marvel reached out about taking on Venom alongside Al Ewing and Bryan Hitch, I was not prepared for the kind of creative thrill it has been ever since. This story is going to expand and push the symbiote narrative and lore in even more unexpected and fantastic directions. It is also an utter thrill having the sort of call and response mechanic I’ve had with a writer like Al and an artist of Bryan’s caliber. Fans and new readers, strap in—you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.

The team’s creative work on reimagining Hulk by exploring his horror roots offered a truly standout storyline in Marvel Comics’ historic line-up. The first artwork released for the 2021 entry in the franchise teases a space-focused storyline that is befitting the character’s roots. It also allows Al Ewing and Ram V to explore cosmic horrors in new and creative ways. It’ll be interesting to see how they continue the story that Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman explored into the King in Black crossover event. Whatever the future may hold, we’ll certainly get a lot more Venom-verse.

Source: Marvel

June 2, 2021
Brian Michael Bendis’ MOON KNIGHT Is Still Worth A Shot

Brian Michael Bendis can be a tough pill to swallow for a lot of readers. For an entire decade, his name ruled the Marvel stratosphere which a lot of fans grew tired of. He wrote an unreal amount of comics, having practically written almost all the mainline Marvel titles over the course of his tenure with the company. His work arguably served as the lynchpin for the creative direction of the company in the years that followed. It was in the Bendis era that the modern Marvel crossover event was introduced which a lot of people perceive to be one of the worst aspects of the industry. His distinct style of decompressing storylines, making them more drawn out than most, and his quippy Sorkin dialogue makes his work all the more polarizing.

As a storyteller, his strengths were always rooted in more grounded street stories. It’s no surprise that Bendis’ big picture stories such as Secret Invasion and Age of Ultron pale in comparison to his street-level stuff. The reason why Ultimate Spider-Man, Daredevil, and Jessica Jones were huge breakout successes is that Bendis has a full grasp of that seedy world. His impeccable skill in understanding the language of crime stories is due in part to his long stint writing film noir comics. So for him to take the reins of Moon Knight seemed like a no-brainer on paper.

Moon Knight has always been a tough cookie to crack. The logline for the character, in my head, has always been, “Fight Club but with Marvel’s Bruce Wayne.” As a character with a multiple personality disorder, a lot of his stories have leaned towards the unconventional. Writers and artists have taken numerous creative liberties in the ways they could tell a story of a superhero with a multiple personality disorder. Some of them are really introspective and almost surreal, like Jeff Lemire and Jordie Bellaire’s take a few years back. Some barely scratch the surface of the comic’s potential and are more action-oriented like Charlie Huston’s run. Bendis’ stuff falls somewhere in between.

This version of Moon Knight was written at a time where Bendis was riding high on his long-tenure with the Avengers. He had just finished a long run with the New Avengers and was beginning a new run under Marvel’s Heroic Age event. In this new event, Steve Rogers was running his own covert ops Avengers team called the Secret Avengers which happened to have Moon Knight on the roster. The character stepping up to the big leagues may explain why Captain America, Spider-Man, and Wolverine are all crammed into a Moon Knight book.

But crammed as they are, there is a twist to them appearing. You see, Moon Knight has three distinct personalities within him: Marc Spector, the main guy and mercenary, Steven Grant, the playboy millionaire, and Jake Lockley, the Taxi Driver who patrols the grimy streets of the criminal underbelly. Bendis nixes Grant and Lockley from this story and instead has Spector interacting with apparitions of Cap, Spidey, and Logan in his head. It’s a wild departure from Spector’s status quo but has its own merits.

For one, I think the whole thing makes the book a fine entry point for the character. As I said, he is already a fringe character, to begin with. His mythology feels far removed from the standard mythos we usually see in marquee characters (a CIA officer getting killed in Egypt but is revived by an Egyptian moon god and develops multiple personalities along the way isn’t an origin story made for normies). His rogue’s gallery is practically unrecognizable even to well-versed fans. Yet, you see this figure cloaked in ivory white cloth hanging out with the most famous Marvel characters, suddenly he’s a guy that you yourself can hang with.

Part of why Moon Knight gets likened to Batman is the high-tech gadgetry at his disposal. He’s got his own moon-themed vehicles, such as the appropriately named Moon Copter. This aspect of the character is on full display in Bendis’ story, albeit in a fresh utilitarian way, as his version of Moon Knight has gadgets that directly correlate with Cap, Spidey, and Logan. He has a web shooter, an energy shield, and collapsible claws on his forearms. This jack-of-all-trades approach to being an Avenger makes for some really interesting fight sequences. They can go in a slew of ways, some good and bad, but overall just makes Bendis’ core premise work on a utilitarian level. Moon Knight having imaginary Avenger friends isn’t a bug, it’s a totally new feature.

Like most New York-based heroes in the Marvel Universe, they’re bound to migrate to a new location at some point for a change of scenery. California seems to be the go-to for these characters. Even Moon Knight joins the fray of West Coast transplants alongside Daredevil (who made the move to San Francisco a bunch of times) and plants himself into Hollywood, where he gets an opportunity to cash in on his mercenary history by creating a TV series around it. It’s wacky as shit and a drastic departure from the character’s more grounded and serious trappings, but an undeniably interesting one. Bendis really does the job of refreshing the character for new audiences.

One thing that he also does in strides, he puts otherwise B-list characters into the forefront of the more popular stories. Bendis did that when he turned Luke Cage and Jessica Drew into full-fledged Avengers. He’s somewhat doing it here by bringing back long-forgotten Avengers baddie, Count Nefaria, and Echo, Daredevil characters he used during his Avengers run. Anytime an under-utilized character gets pushed into the limelight is always something I appreciate.

The actual plot of this 12-issue comic is, sadly, half-baked. Unfortunately, Bendis doesn’t reach the highs of his other street-level fare with Moon Knight. I think there simply just wasn’t enough meat in the story. As the story goes: Moon Knight discovers that a new crime boss is slowly making their play for Los Angeles. His investigation leads him to the McGuffin of the story: a smuggled head of Ultron. You’d think that in a span of 12-issues, Bendis would delve deep into the complexities of the underbelly of LA and give us a neo-noir hardboiled thriller disguised as a Moon Knight story, but the whole thing ends up whiffing into a plodding story.

Bendis‘s worst habits are on full display in Moon Knight. For one, this is a very slow-paced story. During his pitch-perfect Daredevil run, Matt Murdock would have already gone to hell and back in just a handful of issues. In twelve issues, Moon Knight just kinda lumbers to solve this one case. There’s barely any intrigue to what could otherwise be a really good hardboiled detective story. There’s a fish-out-of-the-water premise to the whole thing that is interesting but doesn’t get explored in any meaningful way. It’s not outright terrible but very little happens in a story with a lot of real estate spread out. I’ve seen writers do more with so much less. It certainly doesn’t help that the story’s ending is a hamfisted tie-in to Bendis’ then-upcoming Age of Ultron event (which ended up being a hot pile of a mess too).

Despite all this, I still think this book is still worth looking at. It’s far from the best Moon Knight run on the market. Several writers have proven that there is more to the character than the generic Fight Club logline I mentioned. But as rough as it can get, a lot of Bendis’s ideas have a cinematic flair to them. It’s no surprise that next to Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, he has the most Marvel creations to ever make it into the live-action realm. His ideas, regardless of execution, resonate well in this modern franchise-driven world we live in. I think using Echo as a foil to Marc Spector is a great choice. I don’t necessarily agree with how Bendis writes Echo at a later point in the story but anytime Echo shows up, I love it. Count Nefaria is in the annals of Avengers history as one of the team’s most vicious villains. The fact that he’s a big bad, in a Moon Knight story no less, is pretty damn fun. I’d love to see Echo and Nefaria in the Moon Knight show.

Lastly, I wanna talk about Alex Maleev’s art. Even the story description didn’t quite work for you, the art of this book alone makes it worth looking at. I’ve long celebrated Maleev as the greatest artist to ever draw Daredevil (sorry, Frank). So, to see him do another street character like Moon Knight is unreal. He has a full grasp of this grimy world’s visual language. His panels always feel huge and grand despite it being set intimately on the ground level. Maleev’s vision is concretely bleak and rustic and brings to life a world in the Marvel Universe unlike any other.

April 14, 2021
‘007: No Time to Die’s Cary Fukunaga Adapting Rick Remender’s ‘TOKYO GHOST’

The list of comic book adaptations in development continues to grow. Rick Remender‘s Tokyo Ghost is a classic cyberpunk comic. It takes place in a futuristic Los Angeles and in the garden nation of Tokyo. It is getting adapted to the big screen with Cary Fukunaga (007: No Time to Die) set to direct. Hollywood Reporter also confirmed that Fukunaga will serve as producer with Remender penning the script.

The series, originally published by Image Comics, came out in 2015 and ended after its 10th issue. The story told in comic form is certainly something that, due to its structure, might allow for the development of not one but two movies. The original series ended with a massive cliffhanger. One might assume that it could go beyond the original story in subsequent chapters could become a reality. As a fan of the series, I certainly hope so.

Remender also worked on 2018’s Deadly Class, a series adapting one of his best comic series. It got produced by the Russo Brothers that sadly got canceled after just one season. Ever since, it gathered a considerable following after being made available through Netflix, which allowed it to reach a larger audience. Fear Agent, another of Remender’s comics, is also being adapted by Seth Rogen’s production company for Amazon. He remains one of the most prolific comic book writers of the past decade. has developed several brilliant independent series (Black Science, Death or Glory, and Low, Scumbag to name a few) as well as a few books for Marvel, being one of the minds behind giving Sam Wilson the Captain America shield, something being currently developed in Disney+’s Falcon and the Winter Soldier.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

March 24, 2021
FANTASTIC 1234: Grant Morrison and Jae Lee’s Vision of the First Family is a Wild Fever Dream

Grant Morrison and Jae Lee’s take on the Fantastic Four opens with First Family going through a routine that’s all too familiar for fans. Reed Richards is locked in his lab deep in thought while Sue rants about her husband’s unwillingness to make time for their relationship. Johnny runs off to get laid while Ben tells another sob story about how no one ever likes him. Meanwhile, Doom sets in motion his plan to destroy his enemies with the help of Namor and Mole Man while they get distracted by their squabbles. It’s business as usual for the first family, so how could this story be any different from the rest? In true Grant Morrison fashion, what seems to be like your run-of-the-mill story soon descends into a fever dream of Doom’s madness.

In the late 90s, Marvel was in the shitter. They had no money. People were getting let go. Office furniture was literally being sold to keep the lights on. The glory days of the very lucrative early 90s had clearly ended. It was the lowest of the low so there was no place left to go but up. So up they went.

Editors Joe Quesada and Jimmy Palmiotti were given the keys to the kingdom and created the Marvel Knights brand, an imprint where creators were given as much freedom as they could have to create a Marvel comic. They brought in the industry’s most exciting writers to do their own take on Marvel’s most iconic characters. Established names like Kevin Smith, Peter Milligan, and Grant Morrison were brought in along with burgeoning names such as Brian Michael Bendis and David Mack.

They probably were given too much freedom at first as Grant Morrison approached their own take of Marvel’s First Family in the most insane way possible. In an interview he did before the comic even came out, Morrison said:

“I’ve worked out this whole Freudian shit. The incest thing in The Fantastic Four. What you’ve got is a family. There’s Reed and Sue, the Mom and Dad. Johnny’s the big brother and Ben’s the little crazy baby. But in that situation you’ve got Johnny and Sue — brother and sister! So there’s an incest thing that the Fantastic Four hides.I looked at it and said, okay, Sue actually wants to fuck Johnny and Johnny wants to fuck Sue. So how do you do that? They make Namor, the Sub-Mariner who is always a linked pair with Johnny. The Human Torch and the Sub Mariner have always been together since the ’40s. Namor is the dark, seedy, watery, wet, dirty side of it. And Johnny’s bright, mercurial. So he doesn’t fuck his sister — but Namor does.”

Thankfully, that idea never came to fruition as Morrison insisted their intention was to simply create a story out of that idea and not have Johnny literally bang his sister. Still, it’s a fucked up notion to begin but one that’s in Morrison’s wheelhouse, for better or worse. All that said, Morrison’s idea of the First Family was never going to be one that we fully recognize despite the story delving into each of the characters’ archetypes.

Fantastic Four 1234 is a great read for a bunch of reasons, not the least of which is how Morrison and artist Jee Lee managed to concoct this unique tale of Doom attempting to destroy the First Family. Lee’s artwork is one of the most distinct in the business. His style, what I’d describe as gracefully grotesque, beautifully coalesces with Morrison’s bizarre sensibilities. The result is stunning; a vivid portrait of Marvel’s most iconic characters that cascades into nightmarish imagery with each turn of the page.

Morrison explores each of the family members’ pathos and desires in different ways. By far their most interesting exploration is that of The Thing. The mopey Ben Grimm is thrust into an It’s a Wonderful Life scenario where he’s freed from his monstrous form. Unfortunately, this life is wildly unrecognizable to Ben Grimm, who’s a total normie now. Reed is a rockstar scientist while Ben is thrust into obscurity. Ben’s notion of what a good life for him means is put into question.

As for Johnny, he does the only thing he knows how to do: have a good time. A chunk of the story has him driving with a girl who likes hanging out with him for his celebrity. However, the charade of being too cool for everything quickly wears off on Johnny, who soon decides to patch things up with Ben, who he fought with earlier.

Sue is visiting family friend Alicia Masters to vent about her marital woes when she is interrupted by the Sub-Mariner. Namor and Sue have always had a steamy dynamic, even more so than her and Reed. The sexual tension between the two is on full-display as Namor makes an argument to leave the life she complains about daily. Sue has always been the family’s keeper so for her to be devilishly seduced by Namor, who is essentially the antithesis of Reed (handsome, attentive, and rich), is something to see.

And then you have Reed. The galaxy’s smartest being doesn’t do much until the very last issue when his master plan is revealed. I don’t wanna spoil it but his fight with Doom is one of the coolest showdowns I’ve seen with these two icons. It’s a highly cerebral battle of wits that spans the warping of reality and it brilliantly showcases what these two characters can really do when up against the wall.

Doom is absolutely stellar in this. His plan is over-the-top that it’s almost reminiscent of the silliness of the Silver Age days of Marvel. Morrison writes Doom’s monologues as overindulgent poetry and it fits the madman perfectly. This version of Doom is grandiose and theatrical, something that tends to get lost in depictions of him throughout the decades I think. Jonathan Hickman does it the best but Morrison’s take on the character holds up.

With only four issues to it, some of the story beats don’t align as smoothly as Morrison’s deft take on thematics. I wonder if Morrison personally confined themself into doing 4-issues as a ludicrous easter egg of sorts. Moments feel rushed and don’t really get to simmer. I imagine that if this was a 5 or 6-issue arc, the story would be a lot more explorative. But even with all its flaws, Fantastic 1234 is a must-read for anyone interested in learning about Marvel’s First Family.

March 23, 2021
Tim Burton’s ‘Batman’ and Richard Donner’s ‘Superman’s Return Through Comic Sequels

The worlds of Tim Burton‘s Batman and Richard Donner‘s Superman will finally continue. They are receiving sequels in the form of comic books this summer. DC Comics announced that they are adapting the universes that started the comic book movie craze in two separate series, Batman ’89 and Superman ’78. They will play out throughout six digital issues. The first installments will drop on July 27th and will continue to release weekly. The books are similar to the continuations of television classic with Wonder Woman ’77 and Batman ’66 from a few years ago. It’s a move by DC that is sure to make fans excited, as both film franchises ended on sour notes.

Return to the movie worlds of Batman '89 and Superman '78 in two #DCDigitalFirst comics series!

– Batman '89 written by @SamuelHamm and illustrated by @Joe_Quinones
– Superman '78 written by @robertvenditti and illustrated by @mightyfineline

Details: https://t.co/gyraWErpzC pic.twitter.com/1GEN8rDMI4

— DC Nation (@thedcnation) February 16, 2021

Batman ’89 will be written by screenwriter Sam Hamm, who wrote the scripts for both Tim Burton‘s Batman films. Joe Quinones, of Dial H for Hero fame, will take over the art and help Hamm pick up the gothic adventures of Michael Keaton‘s Bruce Wayne right where they left off at the end of Returns. The series promises to tie up several loose threads left open by Tim Burton, including the return of Michelle Pfieffer‘s take on Catwoman and the debut of a new Robin, who potentially is based on Damon Wayans unrealized version of the character. Quinones is also creating a universe-accurate Two-Face, once intended to be played by Billy Dee Williams, that is “as close to movie magic as a comic can get”.

Superman ’78 will feature art by Wilfredo Torres, who previously worked on Batman ’66, and a story from Robert Venditti, who has operated in the world of DC before with a run on Hawkman. Set within the universe that made Christopher Reeves an icon, the book will tell stories that prove to fans that a man can truly fly. The timeline of the series is a little vaguer. The announcement did reveal that we will see a Lois Lane who does not yet know Clark Kent and Superman are the same. Plot details are also a little less ample. We may see classic Superman villains and other characters that didn’t get adapted in the film that would reflect Donner‘s vision.

The creative team took to Twitter and share some of the artwork for the upcoming projects, which truly show that these designs will forever be iconic:

https://twitter.com/joe_quinones/status/1361771925777887232?s=21

https://twitter.com/mightyfineline/status/1361787931002830850

Source: Nerdist, Twitter (DC Nation), Twitter (Batman), Twitter (Superman)

February 16, 2021
The 5 Best Daredevil Stories You’ve Probably Never Read

With a murderer’s row of writers and artists throughout the years, it’s no surprise that Daredevil has consistently been one of the best titles from Marvel. The title, in many ways, has served as a platform for writers and artists to explore a wide spectrum of storytelling opportunities. Some of them have gone on to be benchmarks that transcend the medium – Frank Miller’s run is still highly regarded as one of the medium’s best – while some have gone on to achieve massive critical acclaim. And with an array of good stories to his name, it’s understandably easy for some stories to get overshadowed by their more popular cohorts. So here are some of the best Daredevil stories you may have never read.

DAREDEVIL: REDEMPTION

In a small hick town in the backwoods of Alabama, a child is murdered in what is believed to be a Satanic ritual. Local law enforcement is quick to charge three outcast goth kids with the crime. The mother of one of the suspects pleads for New York bigshot Matt Murdock to give her son, who she claims to be innocent, a chance to fight for the truth.

Based on the true events of the West Memphis Three, Daredevil: Redemption is a haunting portrait of a hysteric God-fearing town’s faith and the rotting corruption underneath it. The story stands among Daredevil stories not for the spectacle but for how focused it is on Matt Murdock’s character as a man of faith, law, and righteousness and how it challenges those tenets of his being. In fact, there’s barely any Daredevil in the story nor is Matt Murdock the star of it.

If you’re a fan of neo-noir detective mysteries like True Detective or Zodiac, this is an absolute must-read. Artist Michael Gaydos and writer David Hine absolutely knock this one out of the park, writing a Daredevil story that’s wholly unforgettable.

DAREDEVIL: FATHER

As the son of a single dad, stories about fathers hit differently. It’s a big reason why Daredevil’s journey resonates so much for me. So it probably shouldn’t come as a surprise that Joe Quesada’s tribute to his late father in the form of a Daredevil comic named Father is one that I highly recommend.

In the midst of a terrible heatwave crippling Manhattan, a killer on the loose goes on a rampage and mutilates the eyes of his victims. Matt Murdock is hired by an ailing cancer patient to sue a company for poisoning her land. Meanwhile, a new group of mystical vigilantes has a territorial dispute with Daredevil.

Joe Quesada fires on all cylinders as he flexes his storytelling prowess by masterfully weaving these seemingly unrelated moving parts into a shocking revisionist tale of the circumstances behind Matt’s accident. Seriously, this story contains one of the biggest twists I’ve seen in a comic. Plus, if you’ve ever wondered what a hulking Daredevil looks like, look no further.

DAREDEVIL: DECALOGUE

Brian Michael Bendis’ Daredevil run is arguably my favorite run of all time. I think it surpasses *gasp* Frank Miller’s on every level that it’s become the modern gold standard on how gritty Marvel crime stories should be. Over the course of 80 plus issues, Bendis and Alex Maleev took Matt Murdock to new lows and had him rise up from the pits of hell. That said, I think there’s one particular story in Bendis’ 80-issue run that stands out like a diamond in a sea of gold; Decalogue.

Decalogue stars a group of Hell’s Kitchen locals attending a support group in the wake of Matt Murdock’s ascent into the Kingpin of their borough. The comic dissects the essence of Hell’s Kitchen, the people in it, and Matt Murdock’s place in their lives as its self-appointed protector. Some lives have changed for the better, while some have irrevocably worsened. Layer by layer, the grime, and muck that binds each person to this fabled New York borough unravels as each member in the support group tells the story of the time they crossed paths with the Devil of Hell’s Kitchen.

Another thing I love about the comic is how it sheds light on not just Matt Murdock, the superhero, but also Matt Murdock, a practitioner of Eastern mysticism. I feel like the idea of Daredevil being a ninja first and foremost gets overlooked by a lot of interpretations.

DAREDEVIL: ANGELS UNAWARE

There’s never a shortage of superheroes punching their way through their problems so it’s always nice to see a comic that puts the superhero in a scenario where conflict is futile. In Angels Unaware, Daredevil is faced with the insurmountable task of getting a donor’s frozen heart across a terrible blizzard engulfing Manhattan to a dying child.

It’s a beautiful story that shows the full extent of Matt Murdock’s resilience to save lives. It doesn’t matter to Matt that he’s on the brink of hypothermia or that Kingpin’s armed forces are after him. The Devil of Hell’s Kitchen will move mountains to save someone’s life even at the cost of his own.

3 JACKS & GAME ROOM

I’m lumping these two stories together because a) they’re both really short stories and b) they’re by Ann Nocenti and David Aja, two of the most prolific comic creators of their generation. Nocenti, some of you may know as one of the watershed writers for Daredevil, having created characters like Typhoid Mary and Aja as the star of the fabled Hawkeye run of Matt Fraction. That creative pairing alone merits a place in this but that’s not the sole reason why these two stories are in this.

In Game Room, Aja and Nocenti ditch the comic format and craft a short story with Aja’s subdued art serving as flourishes to the story. With no paneled art, Nocenti does the heavy lifting and tries her damnedest to have the audience visualize every single detail in the comic through prose. She does it in spades and the result is a nice little story about Daredevil investigating a suicide that might have been foul play.

3 Jacks captures Matt Murdock at a point in time at the height of his beef with Bullseye. Two bystanders witness Daredevil get brutally beaten by Bullseye and spend the day nursing him back to health. It’s a heartwarming encounter amidst a bloodied backdrop that surprisingly tugs the heartstrings as much as it satisfies anyone looking for a good comic fight. Aja, as always, destroys with his art as he crafts an amazing fight with Bullseye that’s one for the books as far as visuals go.

January 5, 2021