Showing posts with label Ho Che Anderson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Ho Che Anderson. Show all posts

Thursday, September 21, 2023

#IReadsYou Review: KILLADELPHIA #25

KILLADELPHIA #25
IMAGE COMICS

STORY: Rodney Barnes
LAYOUTS: Jason Shawn Alexander
PENCILS: Germán Erramouspe
INKS: Jason Shawn Alexander
COLORS: Lee Loughridge
LETTERS: Marshall Dillon
EDITOR: Greg Tumbarello
COVER: Jason Shawn Alexander
VARIANT COVER ARTIST: HC Anderson
28pp, Colors, 3.99 U.S. (November 2022)

Rated “M/ Mature”

Killadelphia created by Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander

“There's No Place Like Home” Part I: “A Cold Place in Hell”

Killadelphia is an apocalyptic vampire and dark fantasy comic book series from writer Rodney Barnes and artist Jason Shawn Alexander.  Published by Image Comics, it centers on a conspiracy in which vampires attempt to rule Philadelphia.  Colorist Lee Loughridge and letterer Marshall Dillon complete Killadelphia's creative team.

Killadelphia focuses on James “Jim” Sangster, Jr. and his father, revered Philadelphia homicide detective, James Sangster, Sr., a vampire!  Father and son lead a ragtag team comprised of a medical examiner (Jose Padilla), werewolves, a witch, and a rebellious, but special young vampire (Tevin Thompkins a.k.a. “See Saw”) in a bid to save Philly.  Their adversary is a former First Lady, the vampire Abigail Adams.

As Killadelphia #25 (“A Cold Place in Hell”) opens, Anasi the Spider-God parlays with Corson (the demon lord who raised some … Hell in Baltimore, Maryland in Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog).  Can Anasi save the world and therefore humanity, whose worship sustains many supernatural beings?  Does Corson give a damn?

Meanwhile,  General Toussaint Louverture and his Haitian army have been resurrected by the side of the light for one thing and one thing only: exterminate all vampires.  So what happens when one of our favorite vampires has a confrontation with him?

THE LOWDOWN:  We are at the first chapter of Killadelphia's fifth story arc, “There's No Place Like Home.”  According to the musings of creators Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander, we, the readers, are not prepared for what was coming.

Killadelphia #25 affirms that.  I can say of Barnes and Alexander what I say about Mark Millar and his collaborators:  they not only deliver superb comic books, but they also deliver twists and turns to challenge their readers' imaginations.  One can be cynical, or one can chose to believe that they love their readers.

New pencil artist Germán Erramouspe and colorist Lee Loughridge deliver a burning spectacle of  confrontations and rumination.  I am enjoying their new contributions, but I'm still in a daze because of this issue's sudden turn of events.  And, dear readers, this first chapter is a jumping-on point, so...

NOTE: Killadelphia #25 is also available in a “Noir Edition,” featuring black-and-white line art interiors.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of vampire comic books and of exceptional dark fantasy will want Killadelphia.

[This issue contains an afterword by Jason Shawn Alexander.]

A+

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"


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Tuesday, February 28, 2023

I Reads You Juniors: February 2023 - Update #42

by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

You can support Leroy via Paypal or on Patreon.

NEWS:

EN MEMORIAM - From Deadline:  The manga and anime creator, Leiji Matsumoto, has died at the age of 85, Monday, February 15, 2023.  Matsumoto directed the legendary Japanese anime series, "Space Battleship Yamato" (1974-75), which is also known as "Star Blazers."  He wrote and drew the manga, "Galaxy Express 999" (1977-81) and "Space Pirate Captain Harlock," to name a few. Matsumoto supervised the creation of several music videos for the French recording artists, the duo known as "Daft Punk," set to music from their 2001 album, "Discovery."

SONY MARVEL U - From ScreenRant:  Series star Tom Hardy says that "Venom 3" is officially in pre-production.

COMICS - From TCJDan DiDio, publisher of Frank Miller Presents and former DC Comics boss, talks to "The Comics Journal."

MARVEL - From BleedingCool:  In the wake of the debut of the Disney Channel series, "Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur," reprint trade collections and back issues of the Marvel Comics' series of the same title are hot. So much for "Go woke, go broke."

CULLEN BUNNWORLD - From BleedingCool:  Master of horror comics, writer Cullen Bunn, is dropping two new horror comic book series in May.  "Lamentation" at Oni Press and "Ghostlore" at BOOM! Studios.

MARVEL STUDIOS - From Variety:  Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige talks about the studio's upcoming film slate.

DC STUDIOS - From THR:  Director Todd Phillips shares a first-look at singer-actress image of Lady Gaga as "Harley Quinn" in the upcoming film, "Joker: Folie à deux."

MARVEL/SONY - From Deadline:  Actor John Leguizamo talks about losing the role of "The Vulture" in Sony/Marvel's "Spider-Man: Homecoming."

DC STUDIOS - From DeadlineWarner Bros. Pictures debuts a trailer for "The Flash," which is due June 16th.

DC ANIMATION - From DCBlog: Screenwriter Josie Campbell talks about the recently released animated Blu-ray movie, "Legion of Super-Heroes."

DC COMICS - From DCBlog:  Writer Tom Taylor talks about taking Jon Kent into the world of "Injustice" in the upcoming comic book series, "Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent."

From DCBlog:  Alex Jaffe of "DC Blog" interviews writer Jeremy Adams about the upcoming arc in "The Flash," entitled "One Minute War."

DC STUDIOS - From Deadline:  Warner Bros. has released a new poster for its upcoming superhero flick, "The Flash."  The film is due in theaters on June 16, 2023.

COMICS TO FILM - From IndieWire:  Director of the upcoming "Cocaine Bear," Elizabeth Banks says she once made a pitch to direct "Thor: Ragnarok," but she never heard back from Marvel Studios.  She also had a pitch for a Catwoman movie.

EN MEMORIAM - From CBR:  Comic book artist, Lee Moder, has died at the age of 53 on or around January 15, 2023.  He was best known for creating Courtney Whitmore/Stargirl with writer Geoff Johns, the star of the series "Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E."  He also drew "Wonder Woman" and "Legion of Super-Heroes" for DC and "X-Force" for Marvel Comics.  He also created the vampire comic book, "Shinku" with Ron Marz for Image Comics

MARVEL - From CBR:  The great cartoonist and comics creator, Ho Che Anderson, talks about the cancellation of "Luke Cage: City of Fire" in this wide-ranging interview.

DC ANIMATION - From Deadline:  "Abbot Elementary's" Quinta Brunson will voice "Hawkgirl" and Tyler James Williams will voice "Hawkman" in the upcoming animated Valentine's special, "Harley Quinn: A Very Problematic Valentine's Day Special." The special will debut Feb. 9th on HBO Max.

DC COMICS - From DCBlog: Writer Morgan Hampton talks about bringing Cyborg into the 21st century in the new "Dawn of DC" May 2023 launch, "Cyborg."

DC STUDIOS - From Deadline:  DC Studios' co-CEO Peter Safran says that the cancelled "Batgirl" film was "not releasable."  He says that he wants to be "back in business" with the film's creative talent.

COMICS TO TV - From DeadlineAmazon Studios is developing a deal to adapt writer Ed Brubaker and artist Sean Phillips comic books series, "Criminal," into a TV series.  Brubaker will serve as head writer and executive producer.

DC STUDIOS - From THRJames Mangold, director of the upcoming "Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" and previous "Logan," is in early talks to direct DC Studios' just announced "Swamp Thing" film.

MANGA TO TV - From CBRNetflix has announced that its live-action series adaptation of Eiichiro Oda's legendary manga, "One Piece," will debut later this year (2023).

DC STUDIOS - From YouTube:  Here is DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn's video announcement about Chapter One: Gods and Monsters of the new DC Studios film and TV slate.

From DCBlog:  Here is a run down on the next generation of DC Comics movies and television, according to DC Studios co-bosses, James Gunn and Peter Safran.  Chapter One (not Phase One) is entitled "Gods and Monsters."

From DCBlog:  DC Studios Co-Chairmen and co-CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran talk about building a new DC Universe.

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JANUARY 2023 COMICS SOLICITATIONS:
From BleedingCool:  Ablaze Publishing for January 2023
From BleedingCool:  AfterShock Comics for January 2023
From BleedingCool:  Band of Bards for January 2023
From BleedingCool:  Black Mask Studios Entertainment
From BleedingCool:  Blood Moon Comics LLC for January 2023
From BleedingCool:  BOOM! Studios for January 2023
From BleedingCool:  CEX Publishing for January 2023
From BleedingCool:  Dark Horse Comics for January 2023
From BleedingCool:  DC Comics for January 2023
From BleedingCool:  Dynamite Entertainent for January 2023
From BleedingCool:  Frank Miller Presents for January 2023
From BleedingCool:  IDW Publishing for January 2023
From BleedingCool:  Image Comics for January 2023
From BleedingCool:  Keenspot Entertainment for January 2023
From BleedingCool:  Kodansha Comics for January 2023
From BleedingCool:  Marvel Comics for January 2023
From BleedingCool:  Oni Press for January 2023
From BleedingCool:  Opus Comics for January 2023
From BleedingCool:  Rebellion Comics for January 2023
From BleedingCool:  Scout Comics for January 2023
From BleedingCool:  Seven Seas Entertainment for January 2023
From BleedingCool:  Source Point Press for January 2023
From BleedingCool:  Sumerian Comics for January 2023
From BleedingCool:  Titan Comics for January 2023
From BleedingCool:  TOKYOPOP for January 2023
From BleedingCool:  Valiant Comics for January 2023
From BleedingCool:  Vault Comics for January 2023
From BleedingCool:  VIZ Media for January 2023
From BleedingCool:  Whatnot Publishing for January 2023
From BleedingCool:  Yen Press for January 2023
From BleedingCool:  Zenescope Entertainment for January 2023

FEBRUARY 2023 COMICS SOLICITATIONS:
From BleedingCool:  Ablaze for February 2023
From BleedingCool:  AfterShock Comics for February 2023
From BleedingCool:  Archie Comics for February 2023
From BleedingCool:  AWA for February 2023
From BleedingCool:  BOOM! Studios for February 2023
From BleedingCool:  Dark Horse Comics for February 2023
From BleedingCool:  DC Comics for February 2023
From BleedingCool:  Dynamite Entertainment for February 2023
From BleedingCool:  IDW Publishing for February 2023
From BleedingCool:  Image Comics for February 2023
From BleedingCool:  Keenspot Entertainment for February 2023
From BleedingCool:  Kodansha Comics for February 2023
From BleedingCool:  Mad Cave Studios for February 2023
From BleedingCool:  Marvel Comics for February 2023
From BleedingCool:  Marvel Comics "Spider-Man" and "Dark Web" for February 2023
From BleedingCool:  Oni Press for February 2023
From BleedingCool:  Opus Comics for February 2023
From BleedingCool:  Rebellion Developments Ltd for February 2023
From BleedingCool:  Red 5 Comics for February 2023
From BleedingCool:  Scout Comics for February 2023
From BleedingCool:  Seven Seas Entertainment for February 2023
From BleedingCool:  Silver Sprocket Press for February 2023
From BleedingCool:  Storm King Productions, Inc. for February 2023
From BleedingCool:  Sumerian Comics for February 2023
From BleedingCool:  Titan Comics for February 2023
From BleedingCool:  Vault Comics for February 2023
From BleedingCool:  VIZ Media for February 2023
From BleedingCool:  Whatnot Publishing for February 2023
From BleedingCool:  Yen Press for February 2023
From BleedingCool:  Zenescope Entertainment for February 2023

MARCH 2023 COMICS SOLICITATIONS:
From BleedingCool:  AfterShock Comics for March 2023
From BleedingCool:  Ahoy Comics for March 2023
From BleedingCool:  Ablaze for March 2023
From BleedingCool:  Antarctic Press for March 2023
From BleedingCool:  Asylum Press for March 2023
From BleedingCool:  AWA Studios for March 2023
From BleedingCool:  Band of Bards for March 2023
From BleedingCool:  Blood Moon Comics LLC for March 2023
From BleedingCool:  BOOM Studios for March 2023
From BleedingCool:  CEX Publishing for March 2023
From BleedingCool:  Dark Horse Comics for March 2023
From BleedingCool:  DC Comics for March 2023
From BleedingCool:  Dynamite Entertainment for March 2023
From BleedingCool:  Frank Miller Presents LLC for March 2023
From BleedingCool:  IDW Publishing for March 2023
From BleedingCool:  Image Comics for March 2023
From BleedingCool:  Keenspot Entertainment for March 2023
From BleedingCool:  Mad Cave Studios for March 2023
From BleedingCool:  Marvel Comics for March 2023
From BleedingCool:  Oni Press for March 2023
From BleedingCool:  Opus Comics for March 2023
From BleedingCool:  Rebellion / 2000 AD for March 2023
From BleedingCool:  Scout Comics for March 2023
From BleedingCool:  Source Point Press for March 2023
From BleedingCool:  Sumerian Comics for March 2023
From BleedingCool:  Titan Comics for March 2023
From BleedingCool:  Udon Entertainment for March 2023
From BleedingCool:  Vault Comics for March 2023
From BleedingCool:  Whatnot Publishing for March 2023

APRIL 2023 COMICS SOLICITATIONS:
From BleedingCool:  Ablaze for April 2023
From BleedingCool:  AfterShock Comics for April 2023
From BleedingCool:  Ahoy Comics for April 2023
From BleedingCool:  Antarctic Press for April 2023
From BleedingCool:  Archie Comics for April 2023
From BleedingCool:  BOOM! Studios for April 2023
From BleedingCool:  Dark Horse Comics for April 2023
From BleedingCool:  DC Comics for April 2023
From BleedingCool:  Dynamite Entertainment for April 2023
From BleedingCool:  Frank Miller Presents for April 2023
From BleedingCool:  IDW Publishing for April 2023
From BleedingCool:  Image Comics for April 2023
From BleedingCool:  Mad Cave Studios for April 2023
From BleedingCool:  Marvel Comics for April 2023
From BleedingCool:  Marvel's "Captain America: Cold War event solicitations for April 2023
From BleedingCool:  Marvel's "Sins of Sinister" solicitations and checklist for April 2023
From BleedingCool:  Oni Press for April 2023
From BleedingCool:  Opus Comics for April 2023
From BleedingCool:  Rebellion Publishing for April 2023
From BleedingCool:  Scout Comics for April 2023
From BleedingCool:  Source Point Press for April 2023
From BleedingCool:  Titan Comics for April 2023
From BleedingCool:  TOKYOPOP for April 2023
From BleedingCool:  Udon Entertainment LLC for April 2023
From BleedingCool:  VIZ Media for April 2023
From BleedingCool:  Whatnot Publishing for April 2023
From BleedingCool:  Yen Press for April 2023

MAY 2023 COMICS SOLICITATIONS:
From BleedingCool:  Ablaze Publishing for May 2023
From BleedingCool:  Marvel Comics for May 2023

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Tuesday, August 31, 2021

I Reads You Juniors: August 2021 - Update #96

by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

You can support Leroy via Paypal or on Patreon.

NEWS:

MARVEL - From BleedingCool:   Marvel Comics may be announcing some big news on Tues., Aug. 31st.

DC CINEMA - From ComicBook:   Henry Braham, the cinematographer for DC Films' "The Flash," says the movie is "complex" and is "not really a comic book movie."

DC TV - From Deadline:   Actors Neil Hopkins, who plays the villain "Sportsmaster," and Joy Osmanski, who plays "Tigress," will become series regulars on Season 3 of The CW's "DC's Stargirl."

DC TV - From DCBlog:   The CW announced it will kick off Season 8 of "The Flash" with a five-part epic event that will bring more than a half-dozen heroes and villains from throughout the Arrowverse to Central City for a massive story line called “Armageddon.”

SONY MARVEL U - From WeGotThisCovered:   Sony Pictures may movie its sequel, "Venom: Let There Be Carnage," again, this time to 2022.

IMAGE COMICS - From BleedingCool:   Actor John Leguizamo has his own comic book coming out from Image Comics.  Entitled "PhenomX," it features a Latinx superhero.

COMICS TO FILM - From Variety:  Actor Jake Gyllenhaal is set to star in a feature film adaptation of "Oblivion Song," the comic book by writer Robert Kirkman (the writer of "The Walking Dead" comic book) and artist Lorenzo De Felici.

MARVEL - From BleedingCool:   Barry Windsor-Smith's classic Wolverine saga, "Weapon X," gets the "gallery edition" treatment.

IMAGE COMICS - From BleedingCool:  Skottie Young has announced an ongoing "I Hate Fairyland" comic book series, but while he will write it, Brett Parson will draw it.

MANGA - From BleedingCool:   Yen Press announces 13 manga and light novel titles for February 2022.

MARVEL STUDIOS - From WeGotThisCovered:   Barry Keoghan, who plays the villainous Druig in Marvel Studios' upcoming "Eternals," has suffered serious injuries to his face which led him to be hospitalized for a short time.

MARVEL - From Nerdist:   Released 30 years ago this past week: How 1991's "X-Men #1" changed Marvel Comics' mutants forever.

MARVEL - From BleedingCool:   Marvel Comics is giving "The Thing" of the Fantastic Four his own comic book series, which will be written by novelist Walter Mosley ("Devil in a Blue Dress").

DC COMICS - From BleedingCool:   The site has a first look at "Superman vs. Lobo #1," the "DC Black Label" comic book that ships next week.

DC CINEMA - From THR:  Jurnee Smollett will reprise her role as "Black Canary" from the 2020 film, "Birds of Prey."  Misha Green, creator of "Underground," will write the Black Canary film which is slated for HBO Max.

INTERVIEW - From GQ:   In a "GQ" interview, horror master mangaka, Junji Ito, talks about his new book, "Sensor," and other subjects.

VIZ MEDIA - From ScreenRant:  New "Jojo's Bizarre Adventures" may be coming, as well as a spinoff manga.

VIZ MEDIA - From CBR:   VIZ Media is currently offering the first chapter of its recent release, "Star Wars: Guardians of the Whills," for free on its website.

DC COMICS - From Variety:   DC Comics characters are going to the digital comics platform, Webtoons, via deal between DC Entertainment and Webtoon.

From BleedingCool:  The Korean boy band, BTS, may be part of the DC/Webtoon deal.

MARVEL STUDIOS - From BleedingCool:  Marvel just dropped the final trailer for its upcoming film, "Eternals."

DYNAMITE - From BleedingCool:   Dynamite Entertainment is launching a comic book starring "Vampirella" character, "Nyx."

MANGA TO ANIME - From ANN:   Takehiko Inoue is writing and directing a new anime film based on his classic basketball manga, "Slam Dunk."  The film be released Fall 2022.

MANGA - BookRiot:   The site offers a look at the manga market in North America.

MANGA - From CBR:  Grammy-winning recording artist Ed Sheeran recently teamed up with Japanese illustrator and manga artist Rui Ikeda to release an anime adaptation of the music video for his latest single, "Bad Habits."

DARK HORSE - From BleedingCool:   Brian Michael Bendis is moving his creator-owned titles under the "Jinxworld" banner to Dark Horse Comics.  His new miniseries, with artist Stephen Byrne, "Joy Operations," starts in November.

MARVEL - From GamesRadar:   Novelist Christopher Ruocchio will write a Thor story for "Avengers #50" that Steve McNiven will draw.

MARVEL - From BleedingCool:  Joe Quesada, John Romita, Jr., and Scott Hanna are producing a new 9/11 memorial comic that will appear in select Marvel Comics titles published on Sept. 8th, 2021. 

DC TV - From DCBlog:   In an interview, "Stargirl" actress, Brec Bassinger, talks about Season Two and about the evil of "Eclipso."

DC COMICS - From BleedingCool:   Dick Grayson is finally on top in the three-issue miniseries, "Robin & Batman" by Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen.

DC COMICS - From BleedingCool:  Bryan Hitch is working on a "Superman" project for 2022.

DC CINEMA - From GiantFreakingRobot:   Warner Bros. may be looking to drop actress Margot Kidder as "Harley Quinn."

MANGA TO FILM - From THR:   Shinsuke Sato will direct Legendary Entertainment's live-action version of the smash hit manga, "My Hero Academia."  The English-language project currently does not have a writer attached to it.

IMAGE COMICS TO FILM - From THR: Brian Tucker, who penned the 2013 Russell Crowe and Mark Wahlberg crime thriller, "Broken City," has been hired to write the script for Todd McFarlane and Jason Blum's long-developing "Spawn" reboot film.

DC TV - From Deadline:   Vincent Kartheiser, who plays the villain Scarecrow on Season 3 of HBO Max's "Titans, has triggered at least two complaints and two internal investigations by Warner Bros Television. The allegations, which are believed to have included disruptive, juvenile behavior and inappropriate comments, were investigated by WBTV’s Labor Relations department.

DC COMICS - From EW:  "Dark Knights of Steel" is set in a new DC Comics medieval fantasy world.  The 12-issue miniseries will debut soon.

DC COMICS - From BleedingCool:  Actor Danny DeVito has written a "Penguin" story that will appear in the comic book, "Gotham City Villains Anniversary #1."  DeVito played the Penguin in director Tim Burton's 1992 film, "Batman Returns."

SONY MARVEL U - From Variety:   Sony has changed the release date for "Venom: Let There Be Carnage" again.  Sony has moved the film's release date from Sept. 24th to October 15th.

From Esquire:  In an interview with "Esquire," "Venom" star Tom Hardy says that Sony is very happy with "Venom: Let There Be Carnage.'

IMAGE COMICS - From THR:   Todd McFarlane's "King Spawn" has sold 497,000 copies, which is Image's biggest monthly title release in 25 years. "King Spawn #1" actually goes on sale August 25, 2021.

MARVEL - From BleedingCool:  Apparently, WalMart has obtained and is selling Marvel retailer variant covers in its three-pack offerings.  This includes variants that are exclusive to particular retailers.

SUBSTACK - From BleedingCool:  Skottie Young is moving his comic book, "I Hate Fairyland," from Image Comics to whatever Substack Comics is.

CONVENTIONS - From BleedingCool:   In 2022, six of Wizard World's top conventions will be rebranded as "Fan Expo" events.  Is this a prelude to Fan Expo taking over Wizard World.

MARVEL - From BleedingCool:   Captain America and Iron Man have been teaming up forever.  But they will team-up in a miniseries for the first time in November with "Captain America/Iron Man," from the creative team of Derek Landy and Angel Unzueta.

DC/LGBTQ - From YahooEntertainment:   So Tim Drake, the third character to carry the mantle of Batman's sidekick, Robin, is officially bisexual.

DC COMICS - From CBR:   James Tynion IV announced on his Substack newsletter that he is both starting a new creator-owned series on Substack and that he will be leaving DC to focus on his creator-owned work.

MARVEL/DC COMICS - From TheGuardian:   Marvel and DC Comics faces backlash over the paltry royalty payments issued to comic book creators for the use of characters and story lines they created in films and television series.

COMIXOLOGY - From BleedingCool:   Scott Snyder explains why he has eight comic books coming from comiXology.

COMICS - From BleedingCool:   Vault Comics announces the rapid expansion of its "Barbaric" franchise.

MARVEL - From BleedingCool:  Marvel Comics admits that Jack Kirby co-wrote "The Fantastic Four #1" with Stan Lee."

DC CINEMA - From IReadsYou:  Here is my review of "The Suicide Squad."

THE SUICIDE SQUAD - From Deadline: "The Suicide Squad" has an opening day box office of 12.1 million dollars.

From CBR:  "The Suicide Squad" director James Gunn explains why "The Peacemaker" is the character getting his own series.

From DCBlog:  In an interview, writer-director James Gunn talks about "The Suicide Squad's" colorful lineup of characters.

From YahooEntertainment:   Margot Robbie, DC Films' Harley Quinn, had a profane warning for writer-director James Gunn concerning Harley's fate in the new film, "The Suicide Squad."

From DCBlog:   Who the f*** is the Peacemaker - all about the character.

From Insider:  8 of the wackiest DC characters James Gunn considered for "The Suicide Squad."

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INTERVIEW - From GamesRadar:   In an interview, "Daredevil" artist Mike Hawthorne talks about his decision to leave Marvel Comics.

MARVEL - From GamesRadar:   Marvel's current "Runaways" comic book series comes to an end with issue #38.

COMICS - From BleedingCool:   Behemoth Comics is starting a record label and music publishing company, Behemoth Records.

DC CINEMA - From Time:  Here is a list of DC Comics-based films and TV shows coming after "The Suicide Squad."

BLACK COMICS - From Nerdist:   Rodney Barnes and his Zombie Love Studios have landed the rights to produce a graphic novel based on the seminal African-American and American horror film, "Blacula" (1972).

MANGA - From Siliconera:   Udon Entertainment is now the publisher of the manga, "Persona 5: Mementos Mission," with the first volume due December 7, 2021.

MANGA - From TheMainichi:   The legendary Japanese manga, "Goldgo 13" now has the largest numbers of volumes for a manga ever wit the release of its 201st volume.

MARVEL/VIZ - From ScreenRant:   The tentative release date for the English-language release of the "Deadpool: Samurai" manga is February 2022.

MANGA - From CBR:   Paru Itagaki, the creator of "Beastars" and "Bota Bota," announces the upcoming release of her new manga "Sanda" in Weekly Shonen Champion.

FANTAGRAPHICS - From ScreenRant:   There is a video trailer for the hardcover graphic novel release of Simon Hanselmann's "Crisis Zone."

DC COMICS - From BleedingCool:   Hellblazer Vols. 25 and 26 will collect the final issues of the original 300-issue run of "Hellblazer."

MARVEL - From BleedingCool:   Jesus Saiz and Paul Azaceta may be the art team of Jason Aaron's "Punisher No More."

MARVEL - From BleedingCool:   Celebrated alt-comics creator, Ho Che Anderson ("King: A Comics Biography of Martin Luther King, Jr."), is writing his first Marvel Comics title, "Luke Cage: City of Fire."  The three-issue miniseries will be drawn by Taurin Clarke and is due in October.

IMAGE COMICS - From BleedingCool:   Take a look at three interior pages from the upcoming "King Spawn #1."

FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS - From SlashFilm:   Fantagraphics Books will collect all of Underground Cartoonist Gilbert Shelton's "The Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers" comics in a four-volume set.  The first volume arrives January 2022.  There is also an eight-episode animated series based on the brothers from Lionsgate TV that is due to arrive by the end of 2021.

FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS - From TheBeat:  There is a trailer for Fantagraphics new, hardcover edition of R. Kikuo Johnson's 2006 original graphic novel, "Night Fisher."

COMICS TO FILM - From Deadline:  Paramount Pictures have chosen brothers Colin and Casey Jost had write a new "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" movies.

MARVEL - From BleedingCool:   "Marvel Legends" is a new line of comic book miniseries from Marvel Comics, intended to be collected in paperback.  The target audience is middle-grade graphic novel readers in bookstores, book fairs, and libraries.  Each miniseries will retell or reboot the origin of a well known Marvel character.  And it will begin in October with "Black Panther Legends," a four-issue series by novelist Tochi Onyebuchi and artist Setor Fiadzigbey that will retell the origin of the Black Panther.

DC COMICS - From DCBlog:   DC Comics and Walmart unite for the "My First Comic" program. Each comic book is a 48-page two-in-one flipbook featuring comics stories and activity pages.  They arrive at participating Walmart stores and Walmart.com the week of August 3rd, 2021.

COMICS TO FILM - From YahooEntertainment:  "Cowboys & Aliens" creator, Scott Mitchell Rosenberg, explains why director Jon Favreau's expensive 2011 film adaptation of the comic book never got a sequel.

EISNER AWARDS - From BleedingCool:   If you care, here is a list of winners at last night's 2021 / 33rd annual Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards.

COMICS - From BleedingCool:  The site has made a list of agents who sell graphic novels to the book publishers.

MARVEL STUDIOS - From IReadsYou:  My review of the new "Black Widow" film.  

DC COMICS - From GamesRadar:   The new "DC Universe" explained ... and it's a doozy.

comiXology - From THR:   Scott Snyder and his Best Jackett Press have signed a deal to co-create eight titles for ComiXology Originals. The titles will first debut via the Amazon-owned digital comics service and Kindle, and then appear in print via Dark Horse Books.

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AUGUST 2021 COMICS SOLICITATIONS:
From BleedingCool:  Free Comic Book Day for August 14, 2021 
From BleedingCool:  Action Lab for August 2021
From BleedingCool:  AfterShock Comics for August 2021
From BleedingCool:  Archie Comics for August 2021
From BleedingCool:  Artists, Writers & Artisans for August 2021 
From BleedingCool:  Bad Idea Comics for August 2021
From BleedingCool:  Behemoth for August 2021 
From BleedingCool:  Black Mask for August 2021
From BleedingCool:  Dark Horse Comics for August 2021
From BleedingCool:  DC Comics for August 2021
From BleedingCool:  Dynamite Entertainment for August 2021 
From BleedingCool:  Heavy Metal for August 2021
From BleedingCool:  IDW Publishing for August 2021
From BleedingCool:  Image Comics for August 2021
From BleedingCool:  It's Alive for August 2021
From BleedingCool:  Oni Press for August 2021
From BleedingCool:  Rebellion for August 2021
From BleedingCool:  Scout Comics for August 2021
From BleedingCool:  Second Sight Publishing for August 2021
From BleedingCool:  Source Point Press for August 2021 
From BleedingCool:  Titan Comics for August 2021
From BleedingCool:  Valiant Comics for August 2021
From BleedingCool:  Vault Comics for August 2021

SEPTEMBER 2021 COMICS SOLICITATIONS:
From BleedingCool:  Ablaze Publishing for September 2021
From BleedingCool:  Action Lab for September 2021
From BleedingCool:  Archie Comics for September 2021 
From BleedingCool:  AWA for September 2021
From BleedingCool:  Black Mask for September 2021
From BleedingCool:  BOOM Studios for September 2021
From BleedingCool:  Dark Horse Comics for September 2021
From BleedingCool:  DC Comics for September 2021
From BleedingCool:  Dynamite Entertainment for September 2021 
From BleedingCool:  Heavy Metal Magazines for September 2021
From BleedingCool:  IDW Publishing for September 2021
From BleedingCool:  Image Comics for September 2021
From BleedingCool:  Marvel Comics for September 2021
From BleedingCool:  Oni Press for September 2021
From BleedingCool:  Scout Comics for September 2021
From BleedingCool:  Source Point Press for September 2021
From BleedingCool:  Titan Comics for September 2021
From BleedingCool:  Valiant Comics for September 2021
From BleedingCool:  Vault Comics for September 2021
From BleedingCool:  VIZ Media for September 2021

OCTOBER 2021 COMICS SOLICITATIONS:
From BleedingCool:  Aardvark Vanaheim for October 2021
From BleedingCool:  Action Lab for October 2021
From BleedingCool:  AfterShock Comics for October 2021
From BleedingCool:  Ahoy Comics for October 2021
From BleedingCool:  Antarctic Press for October 2021
From BleedingCool:  AWA Studios for October 2021
From BleedingCool:  Behemoth Comics for October 2021 
From BleedingCool:  Black Masks for October 2021
From BleedingCool:  BOOM! Studios for October 2021
From BleedingCool:  Dark Horse Comics for October 2021
From CBR:  DC Comics for October 2021
From BleedingCool:  Dynamite Entertainment for October 2021 
From BleedingCool:  Heavy Metal Magazine for October 2021
From BleedingCool:  Hero Collector for October 2021
From BleedingCool:  IDW Publishing for October 2021
From BleedingCool:  Image Comics for October 2021
From CBR:  Marvel Comics for October 2021
From BleedingCool: Oni Press for October 2021
From 2000AD:  Rebellion for October 2021
From BleedingCool:  Titan Comics for October 2021
From BleedingCool:  Valiant Entertainment for October 2021
From BleedingCool: VIZ Media for October 2021

NOVEMBER 2021 COMICS SOLICITATIONS:
From BleedingCool:  Archie Comics for November 2021
From BleedingCool:  Black Mask for November 2021
From BleedingCool:  BOOM Studios for November 2021
From BleedingCool:  Dark Horse Comics for November 2021
From BleedingCool:  DC Comics for November 2021
From BleedingCool:  Dynamite Entertainment for November 2021
From BleedingCool:  IDW Publishing for November 2021
From BleedingCool:  Marvel Comics for November 2021
From BleedingCool:  Oni Press for November 2021
From BleedingCool:  Rebellion for November 2021
From BleedingCool:  Red 5 Comics for November 2021
From BleedingCool:  Silver Sprocket for November 2021
From BleedingCool:  Titan Comics for November 2021
From BleedingCool:  Vault Comics for November 2021

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Sunday, February 28, 2021

#28DaysofBlack Review: Ho Che Anderson's KING

KING
FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS

WRITER-ARTIST: Ho Che Anderson
EDITOR: Gary Groth
ISBN: 978-1-56097-622-5; paperback with French flaps (February 16, 2005)
240pp, Color, $22.95 U.S.

Introduction by Stanley Crouch

King was a three-volume graphic novel series written and illustrated by Ho Che Anderson and published by Fantagraphics Books.  Anderson is a British-born, Toronto, Canada-based comic book creator and illustrator.  Over his three-decade career, Anderson is known for such works as I Want to Be You Dog (1997), Scream Queen (2005), and Godhead (2018).

King was a comic book biography of slain Civil Rights leader and icon, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968).  The first volume was published in 1993, the second in 2002, and the third in 2003.  In 2005, Fantagraphics collected the series in a single over-sized paperback volume, entitled King, and subtitled “A Comics Biography of Martin Luther King, Jr.”  Stanley Crouch provided a weighty three-page introduction to the book.  The 2005 edition eventually went out-of-print, and Fantagraphics released a new hardcover edition in 2010 (which is currently still in stock via Amazon).  This review references the 2005 edition.

Any reader who is a fan of comic book biographies or historical comics will find that the King collection, even sixteen years after its collection, remains an essential edition to any comic book library.  This paperback collection, with its French cover flaps, has the book design and printing quality of pricey art books and illustrated historical retrospectives.

THE LOWDOWN:  King, Vol. 1 debuted in the second half of 1993, and, of the three volumes, it is the closest to actually being a biography that focuses on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. as a human.  Certainly, the narrative here reveals him as a man grasping at greatness, but the Dr. King in Vol. 1 is like clay still being molded into a great man.

In this volume, Anderson uses collage and traditional drawing in various styles to illustrate the narrative.  Some of the art may remind readers of Kyle Baker and Dave McKean and, from the fine art world, Pablo Picasso.  It is simply a virtuoso performance in the illustration of a comic book, but it is also an example of someone taking advantage of the comic book medium's storytelling potential.

The script and dialogue are also important in Vol. 1.  The easy thing to do is to describe this as a biography of King.  It is that, but much more.  King, Vol. 1 covers the early movements of the entire Civil Rights movement.  It does so with such force and flavor that this sometimes comes across like a documentary film, except we're getting the most powerful and informative still moments from that film.  The reader really gets a sense of struggle and conflict through the characters.  Anderson manages to give each character a unique voice, which in turns broadens the scope of the narrative about the movement.

Early in Vol. 1, Anderson creates a series of talking head panels.  Each character, a sort of background player, has a say, which allows him or her to have an immeasurable impact on the narrative's ability to communicate multiple points of view.  It also allows for multiple points of view of the main character.  This is similar to a Greek chorus, or even closer, this is like Frank Miller's use of the television talking heads in Batman: The Dark Knight Returns.

If, back in the early 1990's, Joe Sacco showed us how comics can be journalism (Palestine), Anderson, then, showed us how comic books can tell history.  Thus far, comic's biggest achievement in the field of history is Maus; other than that, it's mostly been war stories.  King might come across as that dreaded important book one must read, but it is a great work of comics in the tradition of Maus.

While Volume 1 of King covered the early years of the life of Dr. King and the early years of the American Civil Rights Movement, post World War 2, King, Vol. 2 leaps fully into detailing the life of the movement:  inner workings and conflicts, public tactics and the face the movement presented to the public.  Anderson reveals the players both major and minor, the movement's adversaries and sympathizers and people who straddle the fence.

Anderson uses the same illustrative techniques as in the first book: collage, drawing, painting, and some mixed media.  His script remains the darling of this project.  Here, Dr. King isn't so much a main character as he is a player (albeit the primary one) in a major social event.  We do get snippets of Dr. King's character, but here he is most interesting as the most prominent figure in a movement that swells and ebbs with tidal consistency.  I have a number of favorite moments in this volume.  There are the private meetings between Dr. King and President John Kennedy (Anderson's account is speculative, as the subject of the conversations were known only to King and Kennedy).  Two other exceptional moments are when Dr. King's daughter asked to be taken to a theme park and she couldn't understand why black children would be unwanted there; and the " I Have a Dream" speech.

This work could have had the same problem that movies have when they attempt to cover a large historical movement or a public figure with a rich past.  Sometimes, movies hop from one big moment to another and end up looking like an over produced highlight reel, as in the case of Michael Mann's film, Ali.  Anderson makes full use of the space on every page, using concise unadorned dialogue and brief bits of conversation that advance his story.  Imagine the excitement that Neal Adams brought to comics four decades ago in page layout.  Combine that with traditional layout, Film-Noir, fine art, collage, and you have Anderson's King.

When King, Vol. 2 was first published it was another example of the continuing evolution of comic books as a serious medium of storytelling, and revealed that comics could engage in the kind of myth making and communication that prose and film, both fiction and non-fiction, have been doing for a long time.

King, Vol. 3 is the last book in Ho Che Anderson's three-piece suite, an interpretative biography of Dr. King.  In his afterword to the third volume, Anderson wrote he understood that some readers might find this last book's appearance “visually eclectic.”  Anderson wrote that he felt he had earned the right to indulge himself.

The book's narrative eclecticism is, however, equally worthy of notice.  It's as if the author devoured the history of the Civil Rights movement and regurgitated a book that couldn't possibly contain the movement's far-reaching story, but the author would certainly give it his best shot.  Of course, Dr. King was the epicenter of the Civil Rights movement and is focus of Anderson's graphic novel, but even as a fictional character, King seemed lost in a movement larger than his life, but not his legend.  For all that King the comic has, it seems to be missing not just something, but a whole lot of things.  Vol. 3 perhaps revealed the shortcomings of this entire concept without crippling the larger novel.

If we accept Anderson's conceit of his book's personal bent, many notions of historical accuracy get tossed.  This isn't to say that the book is inaccurate, but as with any broad movement in history, each pair of eyes might see the same thing as any other pair, but look at it differently.  The Civil Rights movement is exactly that, a movement; it's not a single incident in time.  The Civil Rights movement is a whole bunch of events and moments artificially lumped together in hopes that it'll be easier to make sense of what happened.

It is best to examine King the comic as a graphic narrative and to investigate how well it works as a comic book, rather than to argue its historical merit alone.  Pretensions aside, this is still a comic book, and (dammit) there's nothing wrong with that.  We should always remember that comic book creators produce work like The Spirit or Love & Rockets just as they easily create digestible products for reading, which we can also enjoy

What Anderson does in King is take the graphic narrative another step forward the way comic books like The Spirit and Love and Rockets did.  Both were revolutionary in their form at the time of their initial release and even further ahead of the high concept/low brow narratives that make up the bulk comic book storytelling today (DC Comics' “Black Label” line).  It's as if Anderson took all the raw materials that he could use to make comix and used them to produce his final volume of King, making it far more adventurous than even the previous two volumes.

Anderson uses talking heads, collage, splash pages, photographs, line drawings, paintings, color effects, special effects, surrealism, expressionism, and guess what?  It all works; it actually looks like a comic book.  So often comic books try to look like something else, for instance, comic book art that looks like anime or painted comics that look like Norman Rockwell paintings.  King is a comic book, an expensive comic book printed on enamel paper with card stock covers, but by gosh, still a frickin' comic book.

Visually, King 3 has such a sense of organic unity, in which all the disparate parts come together to give this book its own life.  Each reading seems to tell a story different from the previous reading.  The book seems almost self-aware, as if the words and pictures deliberately communicate something beyond the static images on the surface of the page.

There is one thing about the story of movement Anderson gets right.  Civil Rights are an ever growing ideas that absorb people, places, and times, and the best an observer can do is understand just that.  Who can ever nail this thing down, and, in way, it seems that Anderson's fictional Dr. King can't ever really put his finger on it the entire pulse of the movement.  King has an idea of his place inside the movement, but he has trouble getting a fix on where the movement itself is going.

Anderson also seems to have a little difficult putting his finger on the pulse of the story because he moves from one plot to another or in and out of subplots like a journalist running madly from one news hot spot to another.  Best example is when Dr. King discusses with Ralph Abernathy the possibility of Abernathy taking King's place as spokesman for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference if something were to happen to MLK.  The wonderful exchange between the two is a fascinating peek at Dr. King's place in the SCLC, but it only tantalizes with the mention of other "leaders."  Ho Che leaves the idea of SCLC rivalries dangling because Dr. King's rivals for power over the larger movement are perhaps more important to this story.  Throughout the series, Ho Che gives the reader a small taste, here and there, of King the man, even if the narrative demands a deeper look than what the author gives.

Still it's good that Anderson didn't make the King he was “supposed to make.”  He didn't make the one for which other people (like me) would have wished.  In spite of what faults it may have, King is example of what a cartoonist can create within the medium of the so-called "graphic narrative" when he uses all the artistic elements available to him.  Anderson took an adventurous leap forward with this comic book – a brave, personal, artistic statement and an adventurous leap forward with the comic book – warts and all.  King shows that comics can deal with subject matter weightier than, say, Wolverine's origins or just how screwed up Batman/Bruce Wayne is.  Maybe Ho Che Anderson is one of the few cartoonists capable of treating comics as a medium of art and communication the way the great novelists, short story writers, musicians, and filmmakers treat their respective mediums.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of great comic books will want to read Ho Che Anderson's King.

A+
10 out of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"



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The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint or syndication rights and fees.

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Saturday, November 30, 2019

I Reads You Juniors November 2019 - Update #75

Support Leroy on Patreon.

Leroy's Amazon Comics and Graphic Novels Page:

From CBR:  The site recommends 10 manga titles for fans of Disney+/Lucasfilm's "The Mandalorian.

From ICv2:  DC Comics finds itself in the middle of a social media storm because of its social media promotion of the upcoming, "The Dark Knight Returns: The Golden Child."

DC TV - From THR:  "Supergirl" star, Melissa Benoist, reveals that she is a survivor of domestic violence.

MEMORIAM - From Newsarama:  Pioneering LGBTQ comic book creator and writer-artist, Howard Cruse, has died at the age of 75, Tuesday, November 26, 2019.  His best known work is probably the original graphic novel, "Stuck Rubber Baby," which DC Comics published in 1995.  Cruse first gained attention with his "Barefootz," series, and he was the founding editor of the gay and lesbian comics anthology magazine, "Gay Comix."

DC CINEMA - From YahooLifestyle:  Actress Zoe Kravitz reveals her new pixie haircut, which seems purr-fect for her role as "Catwoman" in the upcoming "The Batman" (July 2021).

DC CINEMA - From Variety:  This article says that Warner Bros. is plotting the future of DC Comics films and that they have been talking to J.J. Abrams and Michael B. Jordan about "Superman."

DC CINEMA - From CheatSheet:  "Joker" director Todd Phillips adds his tepid two-cents to Martin Scorsese's comments about "Marvel movies."

From Crunchyroll:  The "Demon Slayer" manga is outselling the "Bleach" and "My Hero Academia" manga in volume sales in Japan.

From BleedingCool:  Comic book writer, Leah Moore, talks about how American comics broke her father, legendary comic book writer, Alan Moore.

From Newsarama:  Marvel Comics has struck a partnership with Japanese media company Tsuburaya Productions to create new "Ultraman" comic books for American markets.

DC CINEMA - From Variety:  Actor John Turturro will play "Carmine Falcone," a crime boss, in Matt Reeves' "The Batman," which begins filming in January 2020.

MEMORIAM - From TheDailyCartoonist:  The noted and influential cartoonist and author, Gahan Wilson, has died at the age of 89, Wednesday, November 21, 2019.  His cartoons are noted for their horror-fantasy elements and situation.  He may be best known for his cartoons that appeared in "Playboy" magazines.

DC CINEMA - From ComicBook: Dwayne Johnson confirms that the "Justice Society of America" will appear in his "Black Adam" film which is due December 2021.

DC TV - From Newsarama:  Warner Bros. reveals the costume that actor Brenton Thwaites will wear in his transformance to "Nightwing" from "Robin" in the streaming series, "Titans."

From Newsarama:   Heritage Auctions has just sold the highest graded known copy of "Marvel Comics #1," the first comic book published by Timely Comics, the precursor of Marvel Comics.  The sale price was 1.26 million dollars.

From BleedingCool:  Clover Press now holds the license to produce comic books featuring the Will Eisner's character, "The Spirit."  Its first release will be February 2020.

From NewYorkPost:  Legendary comic book writer-artist Frank Miller is apparently going to take legal action against his longtime colorist and ex-wife, Lynn Varley, over allegedly stolen artwork.

DC CINEMA -  From Newsarama:  Actor Henry Cavil, who has played Superman in three films (The Man of Steel, Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Justice League) says he is not done with the character.

MEMORIAM - From Newsarama:  Comic book artist Tom Lyle has died at the age of 66, Tuesday, November 19, 2019.  He may be best known for drawing the first miniseries starring Batman's partner, Robin, in 1992 and its two sequels.  Lyle also drew "Starman" comic books for DC and "Spider-Man" comic books for Marvel Comics.

ALAN MOORE - From TheWrap:  An interview Alan Moore gave two years ago to a Brazilian outlet has resurfaced.   Moore skewers superhero films as a "worrying," and saying that D.W. Griffith's legendary and racist silent film, "The Clansman" (now called "The Birth of a Nation") is the first American superhero film.

MARVEL TV - From Newsarama:  Hulu's "Runaways," based on the Marvel Comics titles, will end after its upcoming third season.

DC CINEMA - From CBR:  "Wonder Woman" star, Gal Gadot, becomes the latest to ask for Warner Bros. to release director Zack Snyder's version of the 2017 film, "Justice League."  Joss Whedon finished the film after Snyder exited for personal reasons, and the released version of the film reflects Whedon's reshoots and editing... apparently.

DC CINEMA - From Variety:  "Joker" becomes the first R-rated movie to gross more than one billion dollars in worldwide box office.

From Previews:  Marvel Comics planning New Year's launch parties for new titles.

From ANN:  Through the rest of this year and through 2020, VIZ Media announces that it will add 9 digital manga to the digital edition of Shonen Jump.

From TheSkanner:  TidalWave Comics to detail the history of NBA superstar player, LeBron James, in the comic book, "Fame: LeBron James."

COMICS TV - From Deadline:  Legendary Television has signed a deal with Frank Miller to adapt his comic book, "Sin City," into a TV series.  It was adapted into two films by director Robert Rodriguez, who will executive produce the series with Miller.

COMICS CINEMA - From Deadline:  Spike Lee will direct and co-write a film adaptation of Ron Wimberly's graphic novel, "Prince of Cats."

DC CINEMA - From Newsarama:  Actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson tweets out concept art for his film "Black Adam" (based on the Shazam character), and says that the film is due December 22, 2021 from New Line Pictures.

MEMORIAM -  From BleedingCool:  The comic book historian and journalist, Tom Spurgeon, has reportedly died at the age of 51.  Since 2004, he had operated the site, "The Comics Reporter" (http://www.comicsreporter.com/), which won three Eisner Awards for "Best Comics-Related Periodical/Journalism."  With Jordan Raphael, Spurgeon wrote the book, "Stan Lee and the Rise and Fall of the American Comic Book.

DC CINEMA - From IndependentUK:  It seems that Joaquin Phoenix is entirely against the idea of a sequel to the worldwide, smash hit film, "Joker."

COMICS-STREAMING - From Newsarama:  "Avengers" super-directors, Joe and Anthony Russo, are producing a documentary based on "Slugfest: Inside the Epic, 50-year Battle Between Marvel and DC," a non-ficiton book by Reed Tucker.  The documentary would be produced for the streaming service, Quibi. Former DC President Diane Nelson is Head of Operations & Content for Quibi.

From Newsarama:  Beloved cartoon canine, Snoopy, of the beloved comics strip, "Peanuts," will see his original graphic novel, "Snoopy: A Beagle of Mars," debut on Dec. 18th.  Newsarama has a 5-page preview.

From BleedingCool:  Writer Brian Azzarello and artist Lee Bemerjo have produced popular and critically acclaimed projects for DC Comics.  But their next project may be not be at DC, in the wake of their controversy surrounding their "Batman: Damned" miniseries.

From ANN:  Yasuo Ohtagaki, the creator of the excellent "Mobile Suit Gundam" Thunderbolt" manga, has announced that his new manga, "Diana and Artemis," will debut in the December 17th issue of the Japanese magazine, "Manga Action."

DC TV - From Newsarama:  DC Universe's "Titans" will get a third season beginning Fall 2020.

DC CINEMA - From Collider:  "Fresh Julliard grad" Jayme Lawson has been cast in an unspecified role in "The Batman."

DC TV - From DCBlog:  Actor Cress Williams, "Agent Odell" of The CW's "Black Lightning," talks to DC about his character.

DC TV - From Deadline:  Kevin Smith will host, "Crisis Aftermath," an after-episode show focusing on The CW's "Crisis on Infinite Earths" TV series crossover event.

DC TV - From ComicBook:  Netflix has ordered a second season of its TV adaptation of Neil Gaiman's "The Sandman," although the first season has not gone into production.

ARCHIE COMICS TV - From Deadline:  The CW's "Katy Keene" television series, based on the long-running Archie Comics' title, will debut Feb. 6th, 2020 as a mid-season replacement show.

From ComicsBeat:   Here is so love for "Love & Rockets'" "Locas."

COMICS-FILM - From Deadline:  "Shazam" director David F. Sandberg will direct an adaptation of "The Unsound," a graphic novel from BOOM! Studios for Netflix.

From Newsarama:  Comic book artist John Paul Leon talks about fighting cancer and finishing the miniseries, "Batman: Creature of the Night."

From ChimeraObscura:  Here is a podcast interview of the incredible Canadian comic book artist and comics creator, Ho Che Anderson.

DC CINEMA - From TheWrap:  Andy Serkis will reportedly play "Alfred Pennyworth" in Matt Reeves' "The Batman."

DC CINEMA - From Deadline:  Actor Colin Farrell is in talks to play "The Penguin" in Matt Reeves' "That Batman" film project.  Already casts in villian roles is Paul Dano as "The Riddler" and Zoe Kravtiz as "Catwoman."

From Juxtapoz:  The art and culture site talks to legendary artist Robert Williams about his new museum retrospective of his work and a companion catalog to the retrospective from Fantagraphics Books.

From Newsarama:  A new "Ant-Man" comic book series will launch Feb. 2020.  It will star Scott Lang as Ant-Man and his daughter Cassie as the hero, "Stinger."

From Simplemost:  Was Elvis Presley influenced by classic Fawcett Comics hero, Captain Marvel, Jr.

MANGA TV/TRAILER - From MashableIndia:  Here is some kind of trailer for Cartoon Network's upcoming anime adaptation of Junji Ito's Uzumaki manga.

From PalmBeachPost:  Professional tennis' greatest female player of all time, Serena Williams, will be part of the web comics project, "Real-Life Superwomen Project."

From BleedingCool:  In the first issue of the upcoming "Hellblazer" relaunch, entitled "John Constantine: Hellblazer," there will be a depiction of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson naked.

From Decanter:  The cult, wine-theme manga, "The Drops of God," was just released in English by Kodansha and comiXology.

DC CINEMA - From YahooEntertainment:  Actor Robert Pattinson said that he is reading as many comics as possible for "assimilation" ahead of his starring role in Matt Reeves "The Batman."

From Newsarama:  DC Comics provides a preview of the first issue of its new "John Constantine: Hellblazer" title.

SONY MARVEL U - From IGN:  The Oscar-winning, 2018 film, "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse," officially will have a sequel.  "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse 2" will arrive in 2022.

COMICS FILM - From ThePlaylist:  Todd McFarlane says there is more Hollywood interest in his R-rated "Spawn" reboot (based on his long-running comic book) in the wake of the tremendous success of the Todd Phillips' R-rated "Joker" film.

DC TV:  From Deadline:  The CW is developing a "Superman & Lois" TV series from Tyler Hoechlin and Elizabeth Tulloch of The CW's "Supergirl."


NOVEMBER 2019 COMICS SOLICITATIONS:
From BleedingCool:  Ablaze for November 2019
From BleedingCool:  Action Lab for Novmeber 2019
From BleedingCool:  Aftershock Comics for November 2019
From Newsarama:  Ahoy Comics for November 2019
From Newsarama:  Archie Comics for November 2019
From Newsarama:  BOOM Studios for November 2019
From Newsarama:  DC Comics for November 2019
From BleedingCool:  Dynamite Entertainment for November 2019
From Newsarama:  Fantagraphics Books for November 2019
From BleedingCool:  Image Comics for November 2019
From Newsarama:  Lion Forge for November 2019
From Newsarama:  Mad Cave Studios for November 2019
From Newsarama:  Marvel Comics for November 2019
From BleedingCool:  Oni Press for November 2019
From Newsarama:  Scout Comics for November 2019
From BleedingCool:  Source Point Press for November 2019
From BleedingCool:  Titan Comics for November 2019
From Newsarama:  Valiant Entertainment for November 2019
From Newsarama:  Vault Comics for November 2019
From Newsarama:  VIZ Media for November 2019

NOVEMBER 2019 "ADVANCED" COMICS SOLICITATIONS:
From Newsarama:  DC Comics advanced solicitations for November 2019 (for acetate covers)
From Newsarama:  "Dawn of X" for November 2019
From BleedingCool:  DC Comics for 2019 with some guessing on the site's part


DECEMBER 2019 COMICS SOLICITATIONS:
From Newsarama:  Antarctic Press for December 2019
From Newsarama:  Archie Comics for December 2019
From Newsarama:  Dark Horse Comics for December 2019
From Newsarama:  DC Comics for December 2019
From Newsarama:  Image Comics for December 2019
From Newsarama:  Marvel Comics for December 2019
From BleedingCool:  Oni Press for December 2019
From Newsarama:  Red 5 for Comics for December 2019
From Newsarama:  Scout Comics for December 2019
From BleedingCool:  Storm King Productions for December 2019
From Newsarama:  Valiant Entertainment for December 2019
From BleedingCool:  VIZ Media for December 2019

JANUARY 2020 COMICS SOLICITATIONS:
From Newsarama:  January 2020 comics solicitations from 26 publishers
From Newsarama:  Ahoy Comics for January 2020
From BleedingCool:  Amigo Comics for January 2020
From Newsarama:  Antarctic Press for January 2020
From Newsarama:  Archie Comics for January 2020
From BleedingCool:  Black Box for January 2020
From Newsarama:  Black Mask Studios for January 2020
From BleedingCool:  BOOM! Studios for January 2020
From BleedingCool:  Dark Horse Comics for January 2020
From Newsarama:  DC Comics for January 2020
From Newsarama:  Dynamite Entertainment for January 2020
From Newsarama:  Fantagraphics Books for January 2020
From Newsarama:  HarperCollins for January 2020
From Newsarama:  Humanoids for January 2020
From BleedingCool:  IDW Publishing for January 2020
From Newsarama:  Image Comics for January 2020
From Newsarama:  Mad Cave Studios for January 2020
From Newsarama:  Marvel Comics for January 2020
From Newsarama:  Oni Press for January 2020
From Newsarama:  Red 5 Comics for January 2020
From Newsarama:  Scout Comics for January 2020
From Newsarama:  Seven Seas Entertainment for January 2020
From BleedingCool:  Source Point Press for January 2020
From Newsarama:  Titans Comics for January 2020
From Newsarama:  Valiant Entertainment for January 2020
From Newsarama:  Vault Comics for January 2020
From Newsarama:  Vertical Comics solicitations for January 2020
From Newsarama:  Yen Press for January 2020

FEBRUARY 2020 COMICS SOLICITATIONS:
From Newsarama:  AfterShock Comics for February 2020
From Newsarama:  Ahoy Comics for February 2020
From Newsarama:  Antarctic Press for February 2020
From Newsarama:  Archie Comics for February 2020
From Newsarama:  Black Mask Studios for February 2020
From Newsarama:  BOOM! Studios for February 2020
From BleedingCool:  Dark Horse Comics for February 2020
From Newsarama:  DC Comics for February 2020
From Newsarama:  Dynamite Entertainment for February 2020
From Newsarama:  Image Comics for February 2020
From Newsarama:  Lion Forge for February 2020
From Newsarama:  Marvel Comics for February 2020
From Newsarama:  Oni Press for February 2020
From Newsarama:  Scout Comics for February 2020
From Newsarama:  Valiant Entertainment for February 2020
From Newsarama:  Vault Comics for February 2020
From Newsarama:  VIZ Media for February 2020

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