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Saturday, March 1, 2025
#IReadsYou Movie Review: HELLBOY 2004
WEBTOON's "Webcomic Legends" Contest Opens March 10th
Friday, February 28, 2025
I Reads You Juniors: February 2025 - UPDATE #44
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TREATS - From AnotherCookie: There is a new online cookie retailer. It is called "AnotherCookie?" and the cookies are delicious.
NEWS:
DIAMOND - From BleedingCool: Bankrupt-ass Diamond Comic Distributors has sent invoices to comics shops it claims owes it money - about 22 million dollar specifically, with about 5 million of that irrevocably lost.
DC STUDIOS - From Variety: The website offers this article that includes a lot of DC Studios news, including two "Batman" films, a possible "Teen Titans" film, and a second season of "The Penguin." There is also news about several new animated series based on DC Comics' properties.
FANTAGRAPHICS - From BleedingCool: Fantagraphics Books has pulled out of Free Comic Book Day 2025, including pulling their "Lost Marvels" FCBD title. This story will be updated as information is available.
MARVEL/DC COMICS - From BleedingCool: There is big news out of "ComicsPRO," the comic book retailer summit held in Glendale, California. DC Comics Editor-In-Chief Marie Javins and Marvel Comics Editor-In-Chief CB Cebulski followed the Keynote speech to take to the floor and announce a new crossover between the two comic book publishers. Two one-shots, "Marvel/DC" produced by Marvel Comics and "DC/Marvel" produced by DC Comics, will be published later this year (2025).
DC CINEMA - From Deadline: The "Constantine" sequel just won't go away. The film's star, Keanu Reeves says that he and the film's director, Francis Lawrence, have put together a story and recently pitched it to DC Studios.
From DCBlog: It's the 20th anniversary of the 2005 film, Constantine, starring Keanu Reeves and featuring the DC Comics' character, John Constantine. With the release of a new 4K Blu-ray edition of the film, director Francis Lawrence looks back at his directorial debut.
DC COMICS - From DCBlog: Writer Matt Fraction and artist Jorge Jimenez will launch a new #Batman #1" September 2025.
COMICS - From BleedingCool: Midtown Comics' will revive its UCS Comics Distributors to help small publishers left without distribution because of Diamond Comic Distributors' bankruptcy. Previously, UCS distributed new issues of DC Comics to comic book stores for a short time back in 2020.
DC COMICS - From DCBlog: Writer G. Willow Wilson talks about the new "Poison Ivy" ongoing comic book that she is producing with artist Marcio Takara.
DISNEY - From BleedingCool: In case you might sue the Walt Disney Company in the future, you might have to write them a letter now informing them that you are opting out of "arbitration agreements" and "class action waivers."
MANGA - From Variety: In 2025, written media has become the most pirated data on the Internet, surpassing films and TV. This is thanks in large part to piracy of manga.
COMICS - From BleedingCool: Blood Moon Comics has shut down as a result of the bankruptcy of Diamond Comic Distributors.
LGBTQ - From BleedingCool: The comic book writer and co-creator of such characters as "Black Lightning," "Misty Knight," "Black Goliath," and "Tigra," Tony Isabella, has come out as transgender at the age of 73. Her name is now "Jenny Blake Isabella."
MARVEL STUDIOS - From ComicBook: In March 2024, Disney fired Beau DeMayo the showrunner of the Disney+ animated series, "X-Men '97." Now, DeMayo is addressing the firing and the incidents around it in a video posted on YouTube.
MARVEL - From THR: Deadpool co-creator Rob Liefeld has once again declared that he is done with Marvel after he detailed perceived slights surrounding the premiere of the 2024 hit film, "Deadpool & Wolverine," and its afterparty.
COMICS - From BleedingCool: Massive Publishing has signed with Lunar Distribution in the wake of Diamond Comic Distributors bankruptcy. Massive has also created a new entity, "Massive Indies," as a new sub-distribution initiative to help independent publishers and self-comics publishers get distributed through Lunar. Massive has also released their terms of use for this initiative.
COMICS - From BleedingCool: Joe Quesada and his new publisher, Amazing Comics, are at the "Angoulême International Comics Festival" in France this week. The company, which involves a partnership with Mad Cave Studios and French publisher, Dupuis, and have been announcing new projects in their bid to redefine graphic novels globally. The announcements include new comic books by Garth Ennis, Steven Paul Judd, Derek Kolstad, Christopher Priest, Esad Ribic, J. Michael Strączyński, Ethan Sacks, Ryan Stegman, Charles Dorfman, and Ronan Toulhoat.
NEIL GAIMAN - From BleedingCool: The fast-moving, ongoing demolition of Neil Gaiman's prestigious career as a world-famous author continues with the announcement that Marvel Comics has no plans to publish "Miracleman: The Dark Age," the final work in Gaiman and Mark Buckingham's "Miracleman trilogy."
From Variety: In an exclusive story, "Variety" is reporting that Netflix has cancelled "The Sandman" series after Season 2. Apparently, Netflix was considering dumping the show before the current Neil Gaiman controversies.
From ComicsBeat: Apparently, Neil Gaiman is being locked out of the Kickstarter-funded comic book adaptation of "Good Omens," the 1990 novel he co-wrote with the late Terry Pratchett.
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Tuesday, February 25, 2025
#IReadsYou Review: RED SONJA Black White Red #4
RED SONJA BLACK WHITE RED #4
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT
STORY: Sanya Anwar; Phillip Kennedy Johnson; Chuck Brown
ART: Sanya Anwar; Steve Beach; Drew Moss
COLORS: Kike J. Diaz; Steve Beach; Drew Moss
LETTERS: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
EDITOR: Nate Cosby
COVER: Lucio Parrillo
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Cat Staggs; Jae Lee; Lucio Parrillo; Rachel Hollon (cosplay)
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (October 2021)
Rated Teen+
Based on the characters and stories created by Roy Thomas, Barry Windsor-Smith, and Robert E. Howard
Conan the Barbarian #23 (cover dated: February 1973) saw the debut of a high fantasy, sword and sorcery heroine, Red Sonja. Created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor-Smith, Red Sonja was loosely based on “Red Sonya of Rogatino,” a female character that appeared in the 1934 short story, “The Shadow of the Vulture,” written by Robert E. Howard (1906-1936), the creator of the character, Conan the Cimmerian.
In 2005, Dynamite Entertainment began publishing comic books featuring differing versions of the character. One of those is Red Sonja Black White and Red, an anthology comic book featuring stories from well known comic book writers and artists, with the art presented in black, white, and red.
Red Sonja Black White and Red #4 is comprised of three stories. The first is “The Iron Maiden,” and it is written and drawn by Sanya Anwar; colored by Kike J. Diaz; and lettered by Hassan Otsmane-Elahou. The second story is “The Iron Queen,” and it is written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson; drawn by Steve Beach; and lettered by Hassan Otsmane-Elahou. The third story is “Cold Monger,” and it is written by Chuck Brown; drawn by Drew Moss; and lettered by Hassan Otsmane-Elahou. I'll review each story separately.
THE LOWDOWN: Dynamite Entertainment's marketing department recently began providing me with PDF review copies of some of their titles. One of them is Red Sonja Black White and Red #4, which is the third issue of the title that I have read.
“The Iron Maiden” by Sanya Anwar, Kike J. Diaz, and Hassan Otsmane-Elahou:
After being grievously injured, Sonja of Hyrkania passes out. When she awakens, she is under the care of Oenila, and two more different women there couldn't be. However, when Sonja later tries to save Oenila, she learns that a women can be a warrior on a different kind of battlefield.
“The Iron Maiden” is a nice story, but I think it doesn't show its power until the very end. I do like that the story shows that every woman does not have to be a she-devil with a sword in order to be brave in a struggle that she must face.
“The Iron Queen” by Phillip Kennedy Johnson, Steve Beach, and Hassan Otsmane-Elahou:
This a tale of Red Sonja's past and present, one that finds her aged and waiting for the opportunity to be great again. It takes a young woman who idolizes her to remind the She-Devil that she was and still is a she-devil.
The art for “The Iron Queen” by Steve Beach is beautiful, and has a quality that recalls the “ink-wash” art that could be found in Savage Sword of Conan, the old Marvel Conan comics magazine. Johnson's story is nice, but I'm sure that I have read something just like it in the past.
“Cold Monger” by Chuck Brown, Drew Moss, and Hassan Otsmane-Elahou:
Red Sonja meets a stranger in a strange, cold land. He tells her of King Ole VII, “the Cold Monger,” who uses magic to keep the land frozen and him in control of fire. Can the hot-blooded She-Devil with a Sword melt down the Cold Monger's rule?
I like “Cold Monger.” It's like a fairy tale with Red Sonja as the unnamed hero who passes through a land, staying only long enough to depose a despot.
It is not hard for me to pick a favorite story of the three offered in Red Sonja Black White and Red #4. “Cold Monger” by Chuck Brown, Drew Moss, and Hassan Otsmane-Elahou really stands out in this issue, which I must admit that I find to be the weakest issue of this series that I have read, thus far.
I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of Red Sonja will want to try Red Sonja Black White and Red.
B
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
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Monday, February 24, 2025
BOOM! Studios from Diamond Distributors for February 26, 2025
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