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Monday, April 25, 2022
Image Comics from Diamond Distributors for April 27, 2022
Marvel Comics from Diamond Distributors for April 27, 2022
Comics, Magazines and Books from Diamond Distributors for April 27, 2022
DC Comics from Lunar Distributors for April 26, 2022
DC COMICS:
Trial Of The Amazons #2 (Of 2)(Cover B Rose Besch Card Stock Variant), $5.99
Trial Of The Amazons #2 (Of 2)(Cover A Jim Cheung), $4.99
Teen Titans Beast Boy Loves Raven HC, $19.99
Teen Titans Academy #14 (Cover B Dan Schoening Card Stock Variant), $4.99
Teen Titans Academy #14 (Cover A Tom Derenick & Jeremiah Skipper), $3.99
Talon By James Tynion IV TP, $39.99
Swamp Thing #12 (Of 16)(Cover B Liam Sharp Card Stock Variant), $4.99
Swamp Thing #12 (Of 16)(Cover A Mike Perkins), $3.99
Rogues #2 (Of 4)(Cover C Jorge Fornes), AR
Rogues #2 (Of 4)(Cover B Leomacs), $6.99
Rogues #2 (Of 4)(Cover A Sam Wolfe Connelly), $6.99
Robin #13 (Cover C Roger Cruz & Victor Olazaba Connecting Card Stock Variant)(Shadow War), AR
Robin #13 (Cover B Crystal Kung Card Stock Variant)(Shadow War), $4.99
Robin #13 (Cover A Roger Cruz & Norm Rapmund)(Shadow War), $3.99
Justice League #75 (Cover G Tony Harris Card Stock Variant), AR
Justice League #75 (Cover F Simone Di Meo Card Stock Variant), AR
Justice League #75 (Cover E Todd Nauck Team Card Stock Variant), AR
Justice League #75 (Cover D Dan Jurgens & Norm Rapmund Card Stock Variant), $6.99
Justice League #75 (Cover C Alex Maleev Card Stock Variant), $6.99
Justice League #75 (Cover B Mikel Janin Card Stock Variant), $6.99
Justice League #75 (Cover A Daniel Sampere & Alejandro Sanchez Acetate), $6.99
Joker #14 (Cover D James Stokoe), AR
Joker #14 (Cover C Belen Ortega), $5.99
Joker #14 (Cover B Alan Quah), $5.99
Joker #14 (Cover A Guillem March), $5.99
Hellblazer Rise And Fall TP, $19.99
Harley Quinn #14 (Cover C Bengal Card Stock Variant), AR
Harley Quinn #14 (Cover B Derrick Chew Card Stock Variant), $4.99
Harley Quinn #14 (Cover A Riley Rossmo), $3.99
Detective Comics #1059 (Cover C Rodolfo Migliari Card Stock Variant), AR
Detective Comics #1059 (Cover B Lee Bermejo Card Stock Variant), $5.99
Detective Comics #1059 (Cover A Ivan Reis & Danny Miki), $4.99
Deathstroke Inc. #8 (Cover C Roger Cruz & Victor Olazaba Connecting Card Stock Variant)(Shadow War), AR
Deathstroke Inc. #8 (Cover B Chris Burnham Card Stock Variant)(Shadow War), $4.99
Deathstroke Inc. #8 (Cover A Jonboy Meyers)(Shadow War), $3.99
DC Pride 2021 HC, $17.99
DC Connect #24, AR
Dark Knights Of Steel #6 (Of 12)(Cover C Mahmud Asrar Character Sheet Card Stock Variant), AR
Dark Knights Of Steel #6 (Of 12)(Cover B Joshua Middleton Card Stock Variant), $4.99
Dark Knights Of Steel #6 (Of 12)(Cover A Dan Mora), $3.99
Batman Fear State Saga HC, $49.99
Batman Beyond The White Knight #2 (Of 8)(Cover B Sean Murphy), $4.99
Batman Beyond The White Knight #2 (Of 8)(Cover A Sean Murphy), $4.99
Aquamen #3 (Cover B Mico Suayan Card Stock Variant), $4.99
Aquamen #3 (Cover A Travis Moore), $3.99
Aquaman Green Arrow Deep Target #7 (Of 7)(Cover B Rahzzah Card Stock Variant), $4.99
Aquaman Green Arrow Deep Target #7 (Of 7)(Cover A Marco Santucci), $3.99
Action Comics #1042 (Cover B Julian Totino Tedesco Card Stock Variant, $5.99
Action Comics #1042 (Cover A Riccardo Federici), $4.99
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Saturday, April 23, 2022
#IReadsYou Movie Review: THE KING'S MAN
Running time: 131 minutes (2 hours, 11 minutes
MPA – R for sequences of strong/bloody violence, language, and some sexual material
DIRECTOR: Matthew Vaughn
WRITERS: Matthew Vaughn and Karl Gajdusek; from a story by Matthew Vaughn (based on on the comic book, The Secret Service, by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons)
PRODUCERS: Adam Bohling, David Reid, and Matthew Vaughn
CINEMATOGRAPHER: Ben Davis (D.o.P.)
EDITOR: Jason Ballantine and Rob Hall
COMPOSERS: Dominic Lewis and Matthew Margeson
COMEDY/ACTION/SPY/SCI-FI
Starring: Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Djimon Hounsou, Rhys Ifans, Harris Dickinson, Matthew Goode, Tom Hollander, Daniel Brühl, Charles Dance, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Stanley Tucci
The King's Man is a 2021 spy and action movie and war drama from director Matthew Vaughn. It is the third film in the Kingsman film series, and it is a “prequel” to the previous two films, Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015) and Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017). All three films are based on characters and elements from the 2012 comic book miniseries, The Secret Service, by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons. The King's Man focuses on an aristocrat and his spy network as they try to stop a plot to pit the British, German, and Russian empires against each other in a war that will wipe out millions of lives.
The King's Man introduces British aristocrat Orlando, Duke of Oxford (Ralph Fiennes). In 1914, Orlando has formed a private spy network consisting of domestic servants employed by the world's most powerful dignitaries. His own servants, his butler, Shola (Djimon Hounsou), and his maid/nanny, Polly Watkins (Gemma Arterton), are his closest aides and confidants. The primary objective of Orlando's network is to protect the United Kingdom and the British Empire from the conflagration of the approaching “Great War.”
Orlando's only son, Conrad (Harris Dickinson), is eager to fight, but Orlando forbids him from joining the British Army and uses his connections to keep him from entering service. Besides, there are other things to keep father, son, and the spy network busy. Orlando's friend, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand (Ron Cook), and his wife are assassinated. Orlando learns that the assassin is part of “The Flock,” a group plotting to pit the German, Russian, and British empires against each other in the Great War.
Orlando and his network then engage in a series of adventures to foil the Flock's plans, that includes killing Grigori Rasputin (Rhys Ifans), the priest and mystic who serves the Flock's mysterious leader, “The Shepherd.” As his personal physician, Rasputin practically controls Tsar Nicholas (Tom Hollander) of Russia. And if Nicholas does as Rasputin wants, Great Britain may be doomed. Can Orlando and his network stop The Shepherd and save the British Empire? And will Conrad remain with his father's network or will he force his way into military service in a war in which young men like him are dying by the thousands?
The King's Man is easily the best of the Kingsman series, thus far. The villain, “The Shepherd,” is ridiculous, but his motivations will make more sense and is more likely to appeal to British audiences. For me, The Shepherd is what keeps The King's Man from being a truly great film.
The film's remix of the history of the “Great War” (World War I) seems inappropriate, but the film's inclusion of WWI is what makes it stand out from other films based on comic books. In fact, The King's Man is grounded in a darker take on that war than another comic book movie, Wonder Woman (2017), which is also largely set during the first World War. In a way, The King's Man seems like a salute to the men who served and the ones who died in the muck and mud of Europe during “the war to end all wars.”
Ralph Fiennes brings a touch of class and some serious dramatic chops to this film. It seems as if director Matthew Vaughn and his co-writer, Karl Gajdusek, take this film more seriously than Vaughn did with the previous two films, which were action-spy movies with a strong comic overtone. The King's Man is a war drama, spy serial, and action-thriller, and Fiennes, as Orlando, the Duke of Oxford, sells this film's seriousness.
Gemma Arterton and Djimon Hounsou are also quite good as Orlando's top lieutenants, Polly and Shola, respectively. As Rasputin, Rhys Ifans offers a performance that is off-beat, over-the-top, and colorful. Tom Hollander, with the help of the make-up and hairstyling crew of The King's Man, is credible in three roles, but makes his most potent turn as Britain's King George. Harris Dickinson as Orlando's son, Conrad, gives the film's most hot-blooded and nuanced performance.
The best way I can describe The King's Man is as being like a serial adventure. The film's plot is comprised of multiple missions and subplots, which keeps the film's narrative hopping. The film moves fast, fast enough to keep audiences from focusing on the film's inconsistencies and flaws in logic, but also fast enough to make the story seem like a non-stop, breathtaking adventure. Like Matthew Vaughn himself, I want to see a fourth film in the series, one that focuses on the characters that make it to the end of this film and on their first decade as the “Kingsman.” I highly recommend The King's Man to audiences that have watched either of the first two films or both. They were really a build up to the best of their lot, The King's Man.
A-
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
Friday, April 22, 2022
#IReadsYou Review: FUTURE STATE Gotham #1
DC COMICS – @DCComics
STORY: Joshua Williamson and Dennis Culver
ART: Giannis Milonogiannis
LETTERS: ALW's Troy Peteri
EDITOR: Ben Abernathy
COVER: Yasmine Putri
VARIANT COVER ARTIST: James Stokoe
32pp, B&W, $3.99 U.S. (July 2021)
Rating: Age 13+
Batman created by Bob Kane and Bill Finger
“Hunt the Batman” Part One: “Batman's Land”
Future State: Gotham is a new black and white comic book series written by Joshua Williamson and Dennis Culver and drawn by Giannis Milonogiannis. The series springs out of the “Future State” miniseries, Future State: Dark Detective, and focuses on Red Hood/Jason Todd as he wages a war against the “Bat-family.” Letter Troy Peteri completes the creative team.
Future State: Gotham #1 (Batman's Land) opens with the Red Hood battling “Mecha-Scarface” and Arnold Wesker. Although he is victorious, Jason Todd has earned the ire of the “Peacekeepers.” Then, disaster strikes Gotham City, and all evidence points towards “the Next Batman.” Now, Todd must choose justice over his “Bat-family,” when he is recruited by The Magistrate, which wants the Next Batman dead or alive (more the former than the latter). Peacekeeper Red is born!
But the Magistrate is corrupt. So what is Jason Todd up to in this forbidding world of tomorrow?
THE LOWDOWN: “Hunt the Batman,” the debut story arc of Future State: Gotham, will run six issues. Series writers Joshua Williamson and Dennis Culver offer a story that is explosive and has attractive and engaging characters. They also put Jason Todd/Red Hood in a precarious position filled with uncertainty that will make for high-wire tension and nail-biting drama.
Series artist Giannis Milonogiannis renders Future State Gotham #1 in stark black and white tones. This art evokes a gritty, noir aesthetic that recalls both the 1982 film, Blade Runner, and Katsuhiro Otomo's classic manga, Akira (serialized in Japan's Weekly Young Magazine, 1982-90). In fact, it is not a coincidence and is fitting that this first issue reprints the Batman short story, "The Third Mask," that Otomo wrote and drew for the first Batman: Black and White (1996) miniseries. I think that DC Comics and the creators want us to know that they are producing a comic book that exemplifies what is true to the spirit of Akira, if not being an heir to that manga.
Troy Peteri's dynamic lettering for Future State: Gotham #1 is pitch perfect for this series. His fonts ride Milonogiannis' manga-like action lines as if they were riding lightning. Yes, dear readers, I am strongly recommending Future State: Gotham #1.
I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of Jason Todd and Red Hood will want to read Future State: Gotham.
A
Future State: Gotham #1 includes the following extras:
- a Batman pinup drawn by the late French artist, Moebius
- A series design sketch by Giannis Milonogiannis
- A story from Batman: Black and White #4 (September 1996), “The Third Mask” written and drawn by Katsuhiro Otomo; translated by Jo Duffy; lettered by Bill Oakley
- A “DC Nation” “Spotlight On” Wonder Girl #1 interview with writer artist Joelle Jones
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
https://www.dccomics.com/
https://twitter.com/DCComics
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https://www.pinterest.com/dccomics/
https://www.periscope.tv/DCComics/1ZkKzezXwZdxv
The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
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Thursday, April 21, 2022
#IReadsYou: GEIGER #4
GEIGER #4
IMAGE COMICS/Mad Ghost
STORY: Geoff Johns
ART: Gary Frank
COLORS: Brad Anderson
LETTERS: Rob Leigh
EDITOR: Pat McCallum and Brian Cunningham
COVER: Gary Frank with Brad Anderson
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Brad Walker; Shawn Martinbrough; Gary Frank
32pp, Colors, 3.99 U.S. (July 2021)
Rated “T+/Teen Plus”
Geiger created by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank
“The Organ People”
Geiger is a comic book series from writer Geoff Johns and artist Gary Frank. Published by Image Comics, Geiger is set on a dying Earth in the years after a nuclear war ravaged the planet and focuses on a “walking bomb” hero. Colorist Brad Anderson and letterer Rob Leigh complete the series' creative team.
Geiger is set 20 years after the nuclear conflict known as the “Unknown War” ravaged the planet, turning Earth into a dying world. In the state of Nevada, desperate outlaws battle for survival in a world of rapidly disappearing resources and supplies. In Boulder City, Nevada, there resides the fearsome man known by many names: Joe Glow, The Meltdown Man, and the Walking Bomb, to name a few. But before the war, he was simply a man named Tariq Geiger. So who or what is Geiger, now?
Geiger #4 (“The Organ People”) opens with another flashback reveal of Tariq's past life. Now, it's time for Geiger and the siblings, Hailee and Henry, to begin their journey to the place on the map the children's later mother, Candace, gave to them. Early in the journey, they meet “the Organ People,” and things change.
Meanwhile, back in Vegas, the identity of “the Beast” is revealed. Plus, rival casino bosses strike a dangerous bargain.
THE LOWDOWN: As first issues go, Geiger #1 was mostly an introduction, kind of like a prologue. It introduced the title character, Geiger, giving readers a look at who he was in the past and a glance at who he is now. Geiger #2 went inside Las Vegas. With Geiger #3, Geoff Johns began to excavate the heart of the character drama and the passion of old grudges and conflicts.
With Geiger #4, Johns executes his first game changer – in terms of Geiger and the children's fates. Readers, however, will love the Mad Max 2/The Road Warrior action sequence and the A Boy and His Dog vibe.
In the third issue, Gary Frank's pencil art captures the emotions, passions, and hotter blood of the relationships of the past that shape the present of Geiger's narrative. In this fourth issue, Frank goes back to the kind of action comic book art and graphical storytelling that he regularly executes as a superstar superhero comic book artist. He makes Geiger #4 a bracing read.
I'm all in on Geiger now, and I highly recommend it.
I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of Geoff Johns and Gary Frank will want to check out Geiger.
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
https://twitter.com/geoffjohns
http://www.madghost.com/
https://twitter.com/1moreGaryFrank
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https://imagecomics.com/
The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
---------------------
Amazon wants me to inform you that the affiliate link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the affiliate link below AND buy something(s).