Marvel’s had some pretty big milestones recently and this year it’s the Avengers and the X-Men hitting their 60th anniversary! The momentous occasion will feature new titles, collections, and other great treats for fans throughout the year, but first Alex Ross will start the party in August! Given the impact these two revolutionary superhero teams have had on the comic book industry, is it any wonder that the acclaimed artist was tapped? He created two magnificent pieces of art that will be featured on various Avengers and X-Men titles as connecting variant covers.
Ross is the ideal candidate to embody the amazing soul of these teams, and these images are sure to live on in the years to come. August drops the first part of both covers in Uncanny Avengers #1—an upcoming title that finds Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and mutants fighting side by side to protect the Marvel Universe!
“In the case of the Avengers, I wanted to capture something of the era I grew up with, but also something extensive,” Ross said. “So I captured the first 30 years of that team, from the ‘60s through the ‘80s. I end where 1989 closes. I’m trying to make sure my work is aligning with how the characters looked and also the attitudes the characters had.”
Ross’ astoundingly detailed cover encompasses 60 years of the Avengers’ adventures featuring well-known big names alongside fan favorites and everyone in between who has starred in the title over its mighty run. Here’s a peek while you wait for Monday to reveal the X-Men 60th anniversary connecting cover.
UNCANNY AVENGERS #1 AVENGERS 60TH ANNIVERSARY CONNECTING COVER BY ALEX ROSS
Marvel has been teasing something called the Summer of Symbiotes for a few months now. As of today, we’re incredibly close to the start of that sure to be violent and terrifying event. The Summer of Symbiotes starts this May, and coincides with the 35th anniversary of the anti-hero, Venom. Now a father and empowered far beyond most symbiotes, Eddie Brock and son Dylan are in for a roller coaster of hurt.
Here’s a snapshot of some of the stories that are sure to paint this summer red. Summer of Symbiotes will of course include Carnage. Cletus Kasady will be hunting new prey in the form of Miles Morales, but he’ll also have a Cult of Carnage, and Carnage Reigns stories to tell. We’ll also get introduced to new symbiotes in Extreme Venomverse and Edge of the Venomverse, culminating in an event called Death of the Venomverse. And last but not least, we’ll get to see if Normie Osborn fulfills his grandfather’s dark legacy as Red Goblin, or holds onto his humanity.
It’s sure to be a compelling Marvel event. Stay tuned to The Workprint for more must read Marvel news!
Syzygy has announced that it will be releasing a remastered and expanded edition of the long out-of-print 1970s superhero series, THE LEGENDARY LYNX. The comic book series, a flagship title of the now-defunct publisher Triumph Comics, features a street-level vigilante known as The Lynx. A heroine who was a precursor to gritty, noir runs on titles such as Marvel’s Daredevil, Moon Knight, The Cat, and Spider-Woman.
“The Lynx is one of those mythic lost comic series I’d heard whispered about over the years but had pretty much given of hope of ever actually seeing,” said Chris Ryall, Syzygy’s Publisher. “Just knowing that such a compelling and influential series is going to finally get remastered and released is a huge thrill for me, and even more so knowing I get to help make that happen.”
The series is widely regarded as an essential and influential part of comic history, particularly for its critically-acclaimed initial run by writer Harvey Stern, artist Doug Detmer, and guest writer Carmen Valdez. When Triumph Comics entered into bankruptcy in the early 90s, the rights surrounding the character became muddled. However, Syzygy Publisher Chris Ryall has managed to acquire the rights to THE LEGENDARY LYNX and was able to remaster and release the series. This is particularly exciting news for comic book enthusiasts who have been seeking out the series for years, as it has been one of the most mythic and elusive lost comics in the industry.
The remastered and expanded edition of THE LEGENDARY LYNX will be based on the comic book series featured in Alex Segura’s acclaimed and bestselling crime novel, SECRET IDENTITY. The novel features Lynx comic book sequences drawn by Sandy Jarrell (as “Doug Detmer”), and was nominated for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in the Mystery/Thriller category, in addition to widespread acclaim. Pages from this in-world comic book have already begun serialization via the digital platform Zestworld, and will see print later this year from Image/Syzygy.
“Comic book history is packed with stories that are lost to the winds of time – erased by the machinery of companies folding, misplaced files, you name it. We feel particularly lucky that we’ve been able to not only discover a nearly pristine set of THE LEGENDARYLYNX #1-4, but to have someone like Sandy to help remaster the original artwork by unsung master Doug Detmer, and Grey Allison to polish the colors” says Alex Segura. “Tracking down scannable pages has been a daunting task, and I’m thankful to our team – including editor Allison M. O’Toole and the legendary Jack Morelli touching up the lettering of his own cousin, Todd. I think readers will be drawn to not only the Lynx as a historical artifact – a lost piece of comic book lore that hints at what’s to come – but as a fun, engaging superhero adventure comic in its own right, crafted with care by writer Harvey Stern and, if you believe the rumors to be true, a young writer named Carmen Valdez. We’re thankful that Chris Ryall – a comic book historian himself – was familiar with the original Lynx stories and willing to give the book a new home, and a new lease on life in print after our initial, digital serialization on Zestworld.”
“He was workmanlike, sure, but more innovative than anyone remembers, if anyone remembers him at all. It’s an honor to have a hand in restoring Doug Detmer’s name to the pantheon of all-time greats,” said Jarrell.
THE LEGENDARY LYNX remastered and expanded edition is set to be a significant addition to comic book history and a must-read for superhero fans.
Gerry Duggan is paving the way for an epic new event called the Fall of X, and upcoming X-Men and Invincible Iron Man issues will lead the charge. Will Tony Stark be a champion of mutantkind or suffer along with them?
Here’s the premise of the upcoming event:
Following their soon-to-be-shocking debut in FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2023: AVENGERS/X-MEN #1, the new Stark Sentinels will have their first run-in with the X-Men in X-MEN #23. Feilong has devoted Iron Man’s technology to build the next generation of Sentinels! These upgraded versions are as hard to beat as old Shellhead himself and are fully devoted to crushing the X-Men!
Then in INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #7, Tony Stark is in dire need of a win! But how does he plan to get ahead? By building a new suit of armor! The suit’s first objective? Infiltrate and destroy Stark Industries! And that’s not all, July’s INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #8 will tie directly into this year’s HELLFIRE GALA! As the X-Men celebrate mutantkind’s biggest night, Iron Man has to contend with the new Stark Sentinels flying through New York! Can Tony stop these mutant-hunting machines alone?
It certainly sounds like a lot of fun, though I don’t normally associate Tony with mutant causes. Either way, stay tuned to Marvel in coming months to experience these stories firsthand.
X-MEN #23
Written by GERRY DUGGAN
Art and Cover by JOSHUA CASSARA
On Sale 6/7
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #7
Written by GERRY DUGGAN
Art by JUAN FRIGERI
Cover by KAEL NGU
On Sale 6/7
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #8
Written by GERRY DUGGAN
Art by JUAN FRIGERI
Cover by KAEL NGU
On Sale 7/26
Caitlin Bassett as Addison and Raymond Lee as Dr. Ben Song. Photo by: NBC
At this point, it’s impossible to discuss the latest episode of Quantum Leap without spoiling the previous one, as the show has been ramping up its reveals and each building upon each. So if you haven’t caught up on the show yet, the below review of the seventeenth episode, “Friendly Skies,” will include spoilers for episodes 1-16 (but not 17—I’m still trying to keep these reviews from spoiling the latest!). Review will commence below this delightful image of Ben as a 1970s flight attendant.
Raymond Lee as Dr. Ben Song. Photo by: NBC
All right, everyone who’s still reading has already watched through episode 16, “Ben, Interrupted,” right? Cool.
Last week’s episode threw a real curveball at poor Ben and the team back in Quantum Leap headquarters. First, Ben was unable to complete his last mission without the help of Martinez, aka Leaper X, whose motivations remain unclear—only for Martinez to almost literally stab him in the back (technically, Ben got stabbed in the neck… ouch). Then, Janis Calavicci realized that the reason Martinez was one step ahead was because he was being fed information by Ziggy. In other words, Ziggy was the “mole.”
So now Ben is left with some serious trust issues, while the team has to take Ziggy offline. The timing couldn’t be worse, since Ben has leaped into a 1970s stewardess on an airplane doomed to crash in a matter of hours. If he can’t stop it, not only will he fail his mission, but he will die along with the original victims. And the Quantum Leap team now has to go “analog”—relying on “old-fashioned” internet searches and analysis instead of Ziggy’s powerful probability-crunching AI. All they know is that the plane went down, and no one ever figured out why. How on earth is a flight attendant (and a woman! in the 1970s! when being harassed by dirty old men was practically part of the job description!) supposed to figure out why the plane crashes and stop it?
With some help! Or, so Addison advises. But Ben, freshly wounded (literally) by the last guy he trusted, isn’t willing to turn to any of the other crew or passengers for assistance. Despite the magnitude of the stakes, Ben chooses to go it alone, with mixed results. The whole “trust issues” theme of the episode made sense in the context of where the last leap left him, but the writers laid it on a bit thick for my taste. After what felt like the twentieth iteration of the “people will betray you!” and “you must learn to trust again!” back-and-forth, it got rather tiresome.
Random aside: Quantum Leap‘s gender-bending episodes have always been fun, though I’ve noticed that in this new iteration, the episodes where Ben leaps into a woman don’t always make the host’s gender a big deal. “Friendly Skies” did because it took place in the context of a sexist environment, which made it all the harder for Ben to fulfill his mission.
Quantum Leap has done a great job in recent episodes of integrating Ben’s leap with what’s going on at headquarters back in 2022, and it worked particularly well this week without Ziggy to fall back on. You really get the sense that saving the airplane will be a team effort, not just the work of one super-genius Great Man (as was the case with Sam Beckett in the original). Ben might be the one running around in the past, but he needs the team “behind the scenes.”
We’re nearing the end of season 1, and we’ve been promised resolutions to this current arc of Ben-as-leaper-with-unknown-motives. The show has also been mixing up its formula lately, with Jenn serving as the hologram, or Ian popping into the imaging chamber for a cathartic moment. I wonder if that means they’re setting up season 2 to play more with the formula, perhaps with different leapers from week to week, even.
Anyway, all in all, “Friendly Skies,” delivered another solid adventure while nudging the season arc forward, and the teaser at the end promises big things for next week.
The lighting isn't the only thing murky about this episode. Image: Paramount+
We’re nearing the end of Star Trek: Picard‘s third and final season, and the mysteries keep building up to what we’re sure will be an explosive conclusion! After watching last week’s episode, fellow Workprint writer Victor Catano and I have some theories. Well, mostly Victor. Anyway here they are below! Spoilers abound, so if you haven’t caught up to the sixth episode, “The Bounty,” yet, get outta here.
1. Wesley Crusher and the Travelers are the culprits
Victor: Do you want my wildest Picard theory? Wesley Crusher and the Travelers are behind it. It seems nuts to me that we’ve been talking about Bev’s new kid all season and mentioned Wesley one time.
Mary: Ooo true! Well, it’s pretty out there, but Wesley did pop in at the end of Season 2 of Picard, so who knows, he might make another appearance!
2. Deanna Troi is a Changeling
Victor: So do you think that’s really Deanna Troi in the Shrike or a changeling? My guess is Changeling, and Riker figures it out before betraying Picard.
Mary: Hmm I don’t know about that. For some reason I feel like none of the Next Generation crew are Changelings.
3. The Changelings need Picard’s DNA to hijack Frontier Day
Mary: The Changelings seem awfully keen on getting their hands on Picard’s genetic material — his son, his original body. For a moment, I thought it was because they needed it to imitate him but then I remembered that one imitated Sidney La Forge.
Victor: I’m unclear what the endgame for that is. I’m guessing they need Picard’s DNA to fool security scans at his big Frontier Day speech. Where “Picard” will denounce the Federation, reveal dark secrets, etc. And then set off a nuke or something.
Mary: That sounds like a solid theory to me! Though again, they were able to imitate plenty of other people without going through all this trouble, including Sidney, who’s still very much alive. But I guess that Changeling could have snatched her hair or something whereas Picard is synth now. I did like how they decided to bring that back.
Victor: Right, but Dr. Beverly made a big deal about saying how the Changeling had no DNA (which, I don’t think that’s how it works, but whatever). And I’d assume after all the changeling hullabaloo, whatever loyal Federation officers were in place would have amped up security to include a DNA scan.
Mary: Ah good point! I think you might have cracked it 🙂
4. Jack Crusher is possessed
Mary: Do you think Jack’s visions will have any ongoing significance? I hope there’s more going on there than a genetic disease. Part of me wonders if he’s possessed by a Pah Wraith.
Victor: I’m unsure. It feels like it has to mean something more than just “Jack brain crazy because Picard genes,” especially since it triggered him into becoming Jason Bourne when threatened. I would assume it’s the reason Vadic and her boss want Jack so badly.
Mary: Hmm, maybe he has some River Tam-like hidden combat abilities that they’re hoping to trigger? Could be…
Victor: More like they want what’s possessing him. Perhaps it’s some entity from the Changeling world, that Jack stumbled across on one of his medical treks? Maybe some kind of Changeling resistance leader that would put an end to the war.
5. Shaw will save the day
Victor: I’m sure Shaw will make a hero turn at some point. He totally geeked out about meeting Geordi, so he’s not all bad!
Mary: Hah that’s the one prediction I made at the beginning of the season that’s still feasible. Though I’d argue he already made his hero turn back in Episode 2, when, irritated as he was, he put his whole ship at risk for Jack. I guess you could call him an anti-hero at this point. Something of a jackass yet somehow on the right side.
6. The Federation is behind everything
Victor: I still think that one of my earliest predictions- that the federation is somehow at the root of this new changeling crisis—comes into play. I’m betting that Section 31—our new catch all for nefariousness—made an overture to the Changelings to create some trouble in order to get some secret weapons approved, and it got out of hand fast.
But no matter how it turns out, we’re just happy to have the old crew back for one last hurrah.
Victor: I will say that this season is pretty much what I wanted from the Picard show all along. A Star Trek: The Next Generation reunion with all the crew I watched all through college! That’s really all I wanted. The plot is secondary.
Mary: Indeed, the TNG reunion is what we were all here for!
Marvel has a long, storied history of doing fun things with time travel. Back in the day, we got to meet Cyclops and Jean Grey’s kid from the far future, Cable, not to mention all the back-and-forth time hopping involving Bishop and Apocalypse.
Now we’re getting a little time travel fun in Edge of the Spider-Verse #3. Dan Slott and David Betancourt are bringing back fan favorite Spider-Smasher, aka Billie Morales all grown up. She’ll go on adventures in the revolutionary timeline called Empire of the Spider.
Coming in June 2023, Edge of the Spider-Verse #3 not only features Spider-Smasher, but promises a brand new hero to be introduced. We’ll learn more in Spider-Man #71 courtesy of Dan and Humberto Ramos. Be sure and check out these Marvel stories and more in coming months!
EDGE OF SPIDER-VERSE #3 (OF 4) – 75960620643800111
Written by DAN SLOTT & DAVID BETANCOURT
Art by HUMBERTO RAMOS & JULIAN SHAW
Cover by PATRICK BROWN
On Sale 6/21
MAGNUM P.I. -- "Birthright" Episode 507 -- Pictured: (l-r) Tim Kang as Detective Gordon Katsumoto -- (Photo by: Zack Dougan/NBC)
The latest episode of Magnum P.I., “Birthright”, may not feature the most compelling central case. But it makes up for it thanks to some very strong emotional moments from Stephen Hill aka T.C., as well as Perdita Weeks as Higgins.
It all starts with a B&E. And old man named Gus is woken up by the sound of shattered glass. This isn’t a scared old man, though. He’s a tough nut, and he grabs a shotgun, fatally shooting one of two criminals and sending the other running for the hills. Then, for some reason, the story cuts to five days later, with Rick finally moving out of the Robin’s Nest to give Thomas and Juliette the alone time they deserve. T.C. and his adopted son Cade are helping the goofy bar owner move into his baby momma’s houseboat.
As for the client, that’s none other than the same old man that shot and killed a thief breaking into his home. Gus isn’t alone, though. His daughter Kerry lives with and takes care of him, and gives most of the details to Higgins. Where is Magnum, you ask? He’s with what he thinks is a new client. It’s a woman asking for his help. She suffered from mental illness and abandoned her husband and child, and now wants to reunite with said child 30+ years later. There’s just one little catch. Her child is named Theodore Calvin, or as we know him, T.C.
MAGNUM P.I. — “Birthright” Episode 507 — Pictured in this screengrab: (l-r) Martin Martinez as Cade, Stephen Hill as Theodore “TC” Calvin — (Photo by: NBC)
Higgins is helping track a stolen necklace, a family heirloom and the only remainder of Gus’s late wife. It quickly becomes clear that something is fishy about the burglary, such as how quickly the thieves found the necklace. Not to mention how it appears the windows were broken after they were already in the house. I instantly suspected that brother Brent was behind it, and he doesn’t help his case when he keeps pushing sister Kerry to file an insurance claim for the stolen property. Luckily, the flow of the case is more than a bit unexpected, and somewhat convoluted. But as someone that prefers surprises in stories, I’m okay with that.
Another good thing in “Birthright” is that Gordon Katsumoto is back on the job. Which means Magnum and company don’t have to solely rely on the whims of Detective Childs when they need help from HPD. On the negative side, Childs keeps stealing celebratory doughnuts offered by way of a welcome back to the force to Detective Katsumoto.
Magnum teams up with Higgins to investigate the girlfriend of the man Gus shot. She’s pregnant and wants to keep quiet, but eventually provides some key information. The living partner is a man named Nixon Haoa, and he’s a piece of work. He has a history of violent crime and served a five-year sentence already. Our intrepid duo tail him, and he stops in the middle of traffic to confront them, warning them off. To punctuate his point, he shoots out one of their tires before driving off.
MAGNUM P.I. — “Birthright” Episode 507 — Pictured in this screengrab: (l-r) Ryan Dorsey as Nixon Haoa — (Photo by: NBC)
This incident is used as an excuse to put out a BOLO, and Thomas and Juliette look at a likely fence that may have worked with the thieves to flip the necklace. Instead, they find a dead body of a man inside the building. Katsumoto and the HPD arrive to get evidence, and use the dead man’s face to unlock his phone. Inside, they find texts sent the night of the robbery.
While that’s all good and well, I did ultimately get a little annoyed by how meandering the storyline became. What I didn’t get tired of was T.C.’s emotional performance. At first he doesn’t want to see his mother at all, but Rick finally convinces him to talk with her, for himself if nobody else. They finally meet up and share a truly heartfelt and emotional conversation. T.C. finds it in himself to forgive her, but says she stopped being a part of his life a long time ago.
MAGNUM P.I. — “Birthright” Episode 507 — Pictured: Jay Hernandez as Thomas Magnum — (Photo by: Zack Dougan/NBC)
As for the main story, Magnum and Higgy find correspondence between Kerry and Nixon, which honestly shocked me. She claims she only mentioned the necklace to her prison pen pal by accident. Despite this, Higgy (and myself) weren’t convinced that Kerry had any role in the recent theft. Magnum does the good boyfriend thing and backs her up, even though he hasn’t come to the same conclusion. Then we get the real twist. Childs is stealing more doughnuts, and sees a picture of the necklace on Gordon’s desk. Just one problem: it’s a fake.
The truth is, Kerry replaced the real necklace with a fake a while back, and used the money from its sale to help her dad. We also learn that Kerry isn’t the only one in the family with a connection to the robber. Her brother helped him get a job once he got out of prison the first time.
MAGNUM P.I. — “Birthright” Episode 507 — Pictured: (l-r) Jay Hernandez as Thomas Magnum, Tim Kang as Detective Gordon Katsumoto — (Photo by: Zack Dougan/NBC)
“Birthright” ends with another break-in: Nixon stealing money from Gus and Brent at gunpoint, and Magnum and Gordon chasing him all over. Luckily, Magnum manages to use a car door to knock the criminal on his butt, and remove him from his gun. Then we get an emotional introspective moment for Higgins, as she feels guilty for putting her own mother in a facility years ago. She sees how Kerry devoted her life to taking care of her own father. Magnum is there to support her, though, and says he knows she did everything she could.
It ends with T.C. meeting up with his mom once more, being convinced to do so by his adopted son Cade, and they agree to try to include each other in their lives once more. A solid, if a bit all-over-the-place, episode. Here’s hoping they pick up the pace a bit next week.
John Wick: Chapter 4 goes all-in on operatic action excess and delivers a sequel that maintains and expands the worldbuilding that’s made the films so popular but also strives for the simple action purity that makes the first film still the best in my opinion. While I was worried that this was the first film not to have Derek Kolstad as a screenwriter, hot new kid on the block Shay Hatten—who worked on the third film as well as the spin-off, Ballerina—and Michael Finch—best known for the underrated Predators, which he followed with plenty of assassin movies—construct this film like it’s a goddamn symphony in three acts with a humming emotional through-line that offers genuine catharsis in the end.
After two sequels of pissing off the High Table, John Wick may finally have a way to freedom, and all he has to do is kill the Marquis Vincent de Gramont (Bill Skarsgård in excellent French asshole mode)…as long as he can navigate all these ridiculous and arbitrary rules that these assassins somehow live by. (One of my favorite things about the first movie was how it implied the existence of this labyrinthine underworld, but the more the sequels make things explicit, the harder they are to take seriously!) Since John may be at the end of his journey, the script very pointedly offers him moments of reflection about what his purpose is after he is free and also to consider how many people have died simply because they helped him survive his war against the High Table. That character focus is something I really liked about the third movie compared to the second, so I was glad that Hatten carried it over, and reminded us that even though all this started because someone killed his dog, it’s his wife he’s been grieving all this time, which grounds the film in human emotion even when the arcane lore becomes ever more absurd. But also cool.
All of this plot and character work constitutes maybe an hour total of this 169-minute movie, leaving nearly two hours to be outright mayhem. Thus, it’s not non-stop action, as it gives you time to breathe in between the three extended action sequences that are all actually several action sequences stitched together, but even that hour of connective tissue features beautiful scenes where director Chad Stahelski ratchets up the tension. There’s an early scene where characters discuss what will happen when an hourglass runs out and every single fucking shot shows the hourglass in frame.
The film’s greatest innovation, however, is putting focus on not one but two likable and sympathetic antagonists: Caine, a blind assassin and old friend of John’s who’s compelled to kill him to protect his daughter, and an unnamed tracker dubbed Mr. Nobody, who’s compelled to kill John because he wants to be paid a shitload of money. It’s natural to somewhat root for Caine because he’s under duress and he’s played by Donnie Yen, who gives the character an endearing playfulness that feels uniquely quirky compared to Mark Dacascos’s fanboy assassin, who in retrospect seems like Hatten’s first stab at writing an antagonist we might want to win. I love that he’s not fucking Daredevil or even Zatoichi, so he’s constantly feeling his way through environments and developing clever methods of determining where his targets are. While he does shoot people, Yen’s talents are much more on display when he’s using a blade or blunt object.
Meanwhile, there’s no good reason I should have ended up rooting for Mr. Nobody because he’s just another guy trying to kill John for money except he’s a scrappy, wry motherfucker with an emotional support dog, and this is a pro-dog franchise. Shamier Anderson makes the character a fun wild card throughout the film, not really as familiar with the lore as all the other characters and thus less beholden to the rules.
I’ve also got to shout out Hiroyuki Sanada and Rina Sawayama for lighting up the screen so vibrantly that the Osaka sequence feels like an entire satisfying movie where even though I only met their characters a few minutes before shit got real, I was super invested in their making it out alive. Sanada’s always a compelling screen presence, so that was no surprise, but pop star Sawayama makes a hell of a film debut, proving Stahelski right in his decision to cast someone who could handle the choreography of these balletic fight scenes.
And that’s really what we’re here for, isn’t it? While the film doesn’t have as many gonzo moments as the previous sequels, it shines in its utter relentlessness once an action scene kicks off. I love watching John Wick kill people because he’s so ruthless and resourceful, fighting with everything he’s got and always shooting the corpse for good measure, but I also love watching Caine kill people because he fucking has FUN with it and I also love watching Mr. Nobody kill people because he’s got a DOG and I also love watching Sawayama’s Akira kill people because she WILL SHOOT AN ARROW INTO SOMEONE’S HEAD AT POINT-BLANK RANGE. If you can suspend your disbelief that this secret assassin underworld just conducts their business in public and people don’t seem to be very bothered by it, you can appreciate delightful scenes where people are trying to kill each other in the middle of a club full of dancers or in the middle of a street full of cars. I cannot properly explain in words why watching John Wick fend off a horde of assassins while attempting to dodge cars filled me with such glee—part of it was the sick Gesaffelstein needle drop that had me bouncing in my seat—but it’s all in how this series creates choreographed chaos. Also it’s got a bit where John Wick just does donuts around dudes whilst shooting them from his doorless car.
Cinematographer Dan Laustsen captures that chaos in gorgeous wide shots dappled with neon and rain, making other action movies look dull and grey. Also there are plenty of scenes at night or in darkened rooms and YOU CAN SEE EVERYTHING. Editor Nathan Orloff restrains himself, rarely cutting up combat unless a certain move might have more impact up close, and luckily the cast and stunt team do their fucking jobs well enough that he can allow Laustsen’s long shots to shine. Including a glorious overhead tracking shot that briefly turns the movie into Hotline Miami and it may be the coolest fucking thing I’ve ever seen.
Composers Tyler Bates and Joel J. Richard deliver a score that reflects the influences of whatever area the film is in at the time, but there’s also some cheeky diegetic music to underscore the action.
When Stahelski opened the film with a reference to Lawrence of Arabia, I cackled, but you know what, I sure did watch an action epic. It was certainly no brief encounter, but I never felt its length. To watch a John Wick movie is to be sucked into this weirdo world and admire the cinematic glory of precisely crafted violence in so many forms. And despite the occasional stilted line reading that somehow just makes John Wick more endearingly beleaguered, Keanu Reeves gives the film its beating heart—with an assist from Ian McShane’s warmth as Winston—that left me extremely satisfied with its conclusion.
June is Pride Month and Marvel isn’t missing a beat with their annual one-shot Marvel’s Voices: Pride #1, in celebration of LGBTQIA+ characters and creators!
Featuring a bevy of new and existing Marvel stars, this revolutionary anthology collects a brilliant variety of stories to bring Pride Month to the masses visiting their local comic book shops. Marvel’s Voices: Pride #1 goes into its third year with characters representing a wide range of lifestyles and identities with stories both touching and thrilling. The usual suspects like Black Cat, Hulking, and Wiccan are all here along with some brand new faces and lead-ins to upcoming titles to really kick things up a notch! You may recall Somnus and Escapade, who made a memorable splash by dropping in the 2021 and 2022 Marvel’s Voices: Pride before going on to appear in Marauders and New Mutants. Who’s it gonna be this year? Marvel’s Voices: Pride #1 invites True Believers and fans from all colors of the rainbow to see where Marvel Comics is headed in 2023!
Here’s what’s in store:
· Gimmick, the breakout character from 2020’s Children of the Atom, will star in an as yet named X-Men title set to launch later this year with a story by Steve Foxe and art by Rosi Kampe!
· A Chicago community is getting their own “Nightshade” as a new hero dons the mantle to protect her neighborhood in an exciting tale by writer Stephanie Williams and an exciting new artist!
· Making their Marvel Comics debut, writer Sarah Gailey pens an adventure starring Black Cat! Felicia Hardy is at New Orleans Pride when she clashes with the Thieves Guild – but riches aren’t her sole mission!
· Writer Shadi Petosky (of The Sandman fame) dips her ink into Marvel Comics for the first time! A vacation gone awry finds Wiccan and Hulkling stranded. Luckily, the all-new super hero they’ve made friends with is happy to lend a helping hand!
· Author H.E. Edgmon introduces a brand-new symbiote character!
· And much, much more!
Also returning are Pride Variant Covers with heroes from Marvel and a galaxy far, far away! Fans can check out some of this year’s STAR WARS PRIDE VARIANT COVERS right now at StarWars.com and stay tuned later today for the reveal of this year’s MARVEL PRIDE VARIANT COVERS.
June will also see the launch of a new LOKI limited series, one of many Marvel Comics titles publishing throughout the year that spotlight LGBTQIA+ heroes. Fans can also continue to celebrate Pride in the Marvel Universe this June in current titles like Betsy Braddock: Captain Britain, New Mutants: Lethal Legion, Star Wars: Doctor Aphra, Star Wars: Sana Starros, and more, plus upcoming titles and Marvel Unlimited Infinity Comics this summer, including a yet to be announced FALL OF X title!
There are very few things as a’meow’sing as the love of an adorable pet, and in this adventure, we see the beginnings of a dedicated four-part series. The adorable Marvel Meow series, starring a slew of Marvel superheroes’ cats, combines adventures with the best buddy to the Hawkeyes: Lucky, The Pizza Dog. All for a series of short vertical comics meant to ‘awwww’ and inspire.
In the first issue of the infinity comic, while going out for a cup of coffee together with their pets, The Avengers are called to assemble by the one and only, Captain America. This leaves Kate to sit out and sit after the three cantankerous cats including Carol Danvers’ Flerkin (Chewie), Bucky’s white tomcat (Alpine), Natasha Romanoff’s Black Bombay (Liho), and of course, Kate’s partner, the Golden Retriever, Lucky The Pizza Dog, to help sit after the cantankerous little furballs.
It’s exhausting work, as you can see in our preview below. Though Kate and Lucky find fun ways to keep the cats entertained. A simple but fun story loaded with colorful art and a story by Jason Loo. Check it out for a fun short escape available every Friday, exclusive to the Marvel Unlimited App.
It’s been two months sliced into the cold of winter since the Wiskayok team of stingers had been stranded in the wilderness. It’s naught but beautiful yet cruel snow and the only thing starker is the past of a bleak yet bountiful uncovering of deception, angst, and trauma of death. At this point, all goals scored are both wins and losses.
Review:
Opening with Sharon van Etten’s “Seventeen”… isn’t it a dream and a half?
Though the girls may appear to sleep tight, dreams aren’t anywhere in their future. They have to melt snow for broth. They have to flavor it with blood. Taissa (Jasmin Savoy Brown) has to tie herself to Van (Liv Hewson) and Shauna (Sophie Nélisse) needs to grapple with the fact that her best friend died a popsicle.
Lottie (Courtney Eaton) keeps watch over the dwindling colony. Natalie (Sophie Thatcher) and Travis (Kevin Alves) head out on a cold, bitter trek for food, but not without Lottie’s blessing in the form of a drink containing her blood. Apparently, it’s helped before and there’s something she knows or has that nobody else is aware of or possesses. Is it a gift or is it a curse?
In the chill and wilderness, Travis thinks he sees the cold corpse of his dead brother, Javi… but let’s trek back to 1998…
The girls are internet famous before it was a thing. They are celebrities. Lottie, on the other hand, is shaken. What does her perfect parental parasol do? Answer: Put her away and pepper it with electro-shock therapy.
No worries, though, since a grown Lottie (Simone Kessell) is in command of a wellness group of her devising. She’s the Tony Robbins of nature. She’s abandoned the raw for the faux. Trust me, the ‘elemental’ is still stirring in her. If the ball is kicked at her, she will surely kick back…
Meanwhile, a grown Shauna (Melanie Lynskey) is being tested by the ‘adult’ Misty (Christina Ricci). Her testimony is as shitty as her family life. This ain’t going to cut the mustard, but Misty is trying. Kudos to her for frosting a key point unto an actual baked good.
The reality is, things aren’t so cut and dry or cut a piece and try. Taissa and Nats aren’t coming, and she’s hurt. More about Natty, but she’s got her own ghosts to work out since Natalie left her high and dry in the last season without a note.
Misty knows there’s something missing. Was it a note? Was it a note of love? Of friendship? Or just simply a note that was not picked up under their noses?
Across the way, Madame Senator Taissa (Tawny Cypress) is at a dog shelter. Now, from what horrid, but well-placed decapitated head of their former canine on an altar we’d been privy to the last season, she’s apprehensive. All she knows is that the dog had been missing.
She opts for the opposite of what they had, a small, cute, unassuming puppy. That will bring her son back into her arms, much like a newborn pup to like anybody. Yep. Yelp. Sorry, I spoke out of school. She has people that are willing to pull strings though on her lesbian platform…
Her campaign manager is already thinking ahead, but it’s far from what she’ll be worried about once their shit hits the fan, which, to be honest, was only a shart.
Misty does some research on where Natalie stayed. The African Grey’s got a bit of Poirot in her handle and outwits the manager of a motel of miscreants whose identities check out the moment they check in.
On the other side of town, it doesn’t help that Shauna in the now is on the outs of her daughter Callie, (Sarah Desjardins). Though kept on the bench, she knows the score and somehow finds it more offensive that Jeff, her father, knows it as well.
Sometimes, in soccer, you have to be in the first third of the game to figure out where the other team lies. There are different positions to play. Hers was to keep it away from the goal. These are the Defenders. Her daughter is trying to piece it together. This makes her the Attacking Midfielder.
Her daughter is taking ‘it in stride’. Her mother told her father that she was cheating back in the year 1998.
Shauna is speaking, and having a full-on conversation with Jackie (Ella Purnell). It’s like they never left. The only thing is one of them had left and one of them is alive. Keep that in mind. Hear that until it goes silent…
Elsewhere, Tai notices that Van has a rope burn on her wrist, from them being tethered together. Van doesn’t mind. She doesn’t fear love. That can’t be said for Tai and herself. Not all viscera comes from love… or does it?
While Lisa stirs the pot for their dinner, being suspicious of Misty (Sammi Hanratty), Lisa and the rest grow weary of Shauna’s talking to a frozen, dead, cold dinner. Hey, she was packed in ice. The one thing that’s not thawing is the two months she’s been in this grieving period.
There is one player that copes with it when the going gets tough. She hums through it.
We all have our own coping mechanisms and they come to play in odd ways. Hers is in the theater. Put a pin in that call sheet.
Upon the deep conversation, they were never meant to have something good but both were destined to, Shauna reveals to Jackie, her bestie the first time their friendship was fractured. In Holmdel, NJ the corpse of Jackie keeps drilling for information, but sometimes when you drill, you hit pay dirt. In this sense, emotionally and literally, it was her ear.
The illusion is fractured. So is her ear. Humpty Dumpty can’t be put back together again.
Pocket the ear. Right? Though the girl is blue, this ain’t Blue Velvet.
Shauna cuts back the rations. Why? Is it for them or is it for her? To keep the illusion alive?
Modern-day Shauna realizes there is a secret her secret boyfriend had been keeping. It really didn’t help that the key was splashed with yellow and blue. Buzz… buzzz buzzz…
Phoning Jeff (Warren Kole), high off on selling his business off and not wanting anything to do with this, he goes all in on them going all in on the last vestige of an artist’s life… erasure. There’s only one problem… this person had an affinity for her. Nudes, watercolors. Inks.
Granted, that’s only a little blood drip in the pond to what winner Taissa is facing. She tries to buy her son Sammie’s affection with a puppy but is met with staunch fuck you vibes by her erstwhile wife. Nope. Tai is someone that is untested in the market of trauma and she isn’t even aware… which is one of the most unsettling points.
It’s fucking tragic that a traumatic experience sets you off and you don’t even know it, almost like a somnambulism.
On one hand, you win, and on the bigger hand, you lose. Trauma is a thing and it’s not to be trifled with and much less understood.
Our minds are stronger than we know and concurrently weaker.
The breaking and melding points are sometimes at a crossroads. This comes when Misty gets information from a manager of the hotel… before breaking down, then, placing the pieces together.
We are truly stronger than we give ourselves credit for, however.
This you would think when Jeff comes across Adam’s paintings of his wife nude or her admitting to him she fancies her husband fucking someone else out of fear of losing him. Kinks aside or rather in play, the husband and wife have a fuckfest in front of her paintings. This gets weird. Backed by the Garbage track of “I Would Die For You” leave some ingredients out only for our dirty us to put them back in.
This is evident when 17-year-old Shauna is called for dinner, pocketing Jackie’s ear.
When the triangle is non-verbally rung, all leave Misty at the back of the line. Can’t be too careful. She has to get the water. Though others have been talking…
Leaving the present-day Shauna and beau to literally scrub the evidence and…
Leave the only singing team member to help and find a good friend in the nascent and crafty Misty.
Ostensibly, Natalie and Travis had been mapping out their environs from 7 miles north, south, east, and west, and had a decent mapping out for extraction. They seem the only sensible ones actually wanting out of this frozen Hell Hole.
Javi they know is fucked, but Coach Ben (Steven Krueger) wants to keep it together along with Natalie. For the team. They buzz together. They can also die together.
From picking herself back up, modern-day Misty realizes that Natalie (Juliette Lewis) was kidnapped. What was in this kidnapping?
A warm bed with leather constraints is Natalie’s only refuge, ironically. She’s a wild card. Though given food, she as a survivor knew more than her captors could ever lead on, buying herself someone by stabbing another in the hand and running away. She had a drop on them from the charm around their neck.
As Jeff regrets the hate fuck with his cheating wife by way of Papa Roach blasting through his speakers, he joins his love. Together, they burn Adam’s last remnants. License, journals, et al. They are parents trying to cover up a murder… but the worst is trying to cover up the truth about their most heinous crime… their daughter aka a fleshy snitch.
Speaking of trying to burn the past, Taissa is now just finding out hers. She plunges further into a cavern she knows or remembers little about. It all leads her to the decapitated head of their last dog on an altar. Remember that? Because she doesn’t. Helloooo, nurse.
I’d be out if she pon d’ replay this newly acquired pup.
At the dinner table, moms and pops make good as if nothing ever happened in front of their daughter’s eyes. Like her mother didn’t survive and process a horrible thing. Like she didn’t cheat on her husband. Like she didn’t tell him about it.
Their progeny knows the score, with one minute left in the game. They manage to go on Stoppage Time (look it up) and their daughter isn’t having any of it.
Back in the primal, Natalie and Travis enjoy the warmth of a fire. It’s the little things… the simpler things. Javi is most likely dead and he experiences a panic attack. Lottie is the only one that can save him, making him see something others cannot.
Natalie is pissed because she thinks Lottie is giving him false hope, but apparently, she is onto something.
We’re back to where modern Natalie does modern things. Like stabbing her captor in the hand with a fork. Rule number one: a free hand to eat is a free hand to do as thou wilt.
It matters none since no amount of running will escape the secrets Lottie may hold.
Getting back to the comfort of what Van and Tai may hold, literally, being tethered together, no matter what Tai’s carnality would rear itself, even going as far as nearly tearing the lip off of her beloved, Van ain’t going nowhere. It’s a trap inside of a trap.
Hey, love is love though, right?
This is exemplary when it’s all spelled/spilled out in blood. Van rules. She is staying. For better or worse.
Once modern Natalie finds her way in the stumbles of cultural burying, it is only then she sees the face of her captor… a grown Lottie. That has a message. From Travis.
Closing on one of the coolest songs of the ’90s (Tori Amos’ “Cornflake Girl”), we realize that there are more mountains to climb, more things to uncover, and more mysteries to unravel.
This ends with a young and starving Shauna eating Jackie’s ear. The Host has consumed the host. The game must continue. Zero stoppage time.
The Takeaway:
Yellowjackets season two opener took a backseat to the violence of the pilot. Well, the pilot of the pilot took a seat to the pilot. He was dead. I believe this new season is going to go more underrated and go subcutaneous. It’s going to give us an uncomfortable itch we just won’t be able to scratch.
I anticipate this new season is going to take the back seat and open up the widening gyre. It will be filled with blood, it will be filled with mire. It’s now winter, and as fluffy as the snowflakes may drop, the blood will drip more, and the more that is unsaid, the more the undead will squawk.
At this point, all goals scored are both wins and losses.
Oh, what a nostalgia-fest! The third season of Star Trek: Picard teased its audience by promising to get the whole Next Generation gang back together, trotting out the cast for promotional events and showing flashes of their upcoming appearances in trailers. But we soon learned that they wouldn’t be reuniting all at once, but trickling back in bit by bit.
They’re baaaaack! Image: Paramount+
This week’s episode saw Picard and Worf’s storylines finally merging, as the two meet up on the USS Titan to discuss the disturbing turn of events. Changelings and conspiracies and intrigue, oh my! Just what are those creepy shape-shifters up to? The only way to find out is to go back to the scene of the original crime: Daystrom Institute! While avoiding the wrath of a gazillion Federation ships that now see the Titan as a rogue, thanks to some Changeling shenanigans, and have been dispatched to capture them.
Worf’s return also meant another reunion: that of Raffi and (ex??) girlfriend Seven of Nine. Sadly for us shippers, the moment was brief—just a few meaningful looks and short words exchanged. But I get it, this episode had a lot to cram into its hour, including… *drumroll*… the long-awaited return of Geordi La Forge! Seriously, this whole episode should’ve been called “The Reunion” instead of “The Bounty”.
Night at the Museum. Image: Paramount+
Riker, Worf, and Raffi execute a museum heist of sorts—attempting to break into Daystrom to figure out what the Changelings really wanted from that place. The Institute is kind of like the Federation’s Area 51—a place for them to house weird and experimental tech. Including stuff gathered from the show’s previous missions. Easter egg alert!
Meanwhile, Picard (presumably with Shaw’s blessing, though Twitter’s favorite cantankerous captain was sadly absent this episode… again, I get it, lots to cram in) instructs the Titan to flee. And where do they go? Why, to another museum! Specifically, the Fleet Museum, a mega space dock that houses famous starships from across the franchise and is run by none other than Geordi La Forge, now boasting a fancy Commodore title. Oh, and naturally, he’s rather miffed that Picard got his daughter Sidney into this mess. And he shows up with another daughter in tow: Alandra, played by LeVar Burton’s real-life daughter Mica.
Ain’t she a chip off the old block? Image: Paramount+
This season is not shy about leaning into nostalgia, and they laid it on thick this week. Not only with the Next Generation reunions but with references to other series. I mean, why wouldn’t they, when they had not one, but two museum settings? And dammit, it worked. When the “camera” lovingly pans over ships from earlier Star Trek shows and films, underscored by matching theme songs, it got me right in the feels.
Sister, Sister! Image: Paramount+
In between basking in former glory, the show also presses forward with the Next Generation’s next generation as Sidney and Alandra La Forge plus Jack Crusher—those little rascals—unite to push their now-older-and-stodgier parents to boldly go as they once did. Like I said, lots going on in this episode. And I haven’t even brought up Jack’s whole vision thing. Which I suspect (hope) is more than what his mom and dad think it is.
The Next Generation’s Next Generation. Image: Paramount+
All in all, “The Bounty” managed to pull off quite a feat by packing in nostalgia/former glory and giving long-time fans plenty of references, Easter eggs, and reunions to delight in—while also advancing the plot and digging into some character moments. Jack and Picard’s relationship finally seems to be going somewhere beside “this matters because blood” and “oof, awkward”. It was interesting seeing Sidney’s dynamic with La Forge (funny how a Starfleet bridge officer still considers herself to be a disappointment because she became a pilot instead of an engineer… parents, amirite??).
Anyway, I could go on, but I got yelled at for spoilers last week, and besides, this review is already too long. So in conclusion, I think many fans will be happy with this episode. I certainly was (insert joke about my last name here).
Marvel Comics is gearing up to release a new line of variant covers this June. Releasing in tandem with the debut of ULTIMATE INVASION, the acclaimed revitalization series from legendary creators Jonathan Hickman and Bryan Hitch, Marvel comics is revisiting its iconic stories and characters of the Ultimate Universe that debuted at the turn of the millennium and is potentially setting the stage for its grand return.
Now, the return of The Ultimates Comics line can mean many things as it was a run that redefined superhero comics in the 2000s. This modern take was meant to relate to the then-young millennial generation and helped introduce an alternate universe for Marvel with a darker, grittier tone, featuring edgier versions of fan-favorite characters.
To celebrate this exciting new chapter in the Ultimate Universe, Marvel is showcasing the Ultimate versions of Marvel heroes and villains in a series of variant covers. The ULTIMATE LAST LOOK VARIANT COVERS will feature some of Marvel’s most acclaimed artists, including Bryan Hitch, Salvador Larroca, Francesco Manna, Mark Bagley, Juann Cabal, Stonehouse, Sara Pichelli, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Adam Kubert, and Pepe Larraz. The covers will be available throughout June and offer fans a chance to see their favorite characters from the Ultimate Universe restored for what could be the final time.
It’s unclear whether ULTIMATE INVASION will mark the definitive end of the Ultimate Universe or serve as a new beginning, but the variant covers suggest that Marvel is eager to offer a tantalizing glimpse into a world that holds a special place in the hearts of many fans. Whether the Ultimate Universe gets resurrected or if we’re bidding it a final farewell, one thing is clear: the Ultimate Universe left an indelible mark on the world of superhero comics, and these variant covers are a fitting tribute to that legacy.
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On Sale 6/7
CAPTAIN AMERICA: SENTINEL OF LIBERTY #13 ULTIMATE LAST LOOK VARIANT COVER BY BRYAN HITCH
DAREDEVIL #12 ULTIMATE LAST LOOK VARIANT COVER BY SALVADOR LARROCA
VENOM #20 ULTIMATE LAST LOOK VARIANT COVER BY FRANCESCO MANNA
On Sale 6/14
MOON KNIGHT #24 ULTIMATE LAST LOOK VARIANT COVER BY MARK BAGLEY
On Sale 6/21
GHOST RIDER #15 ULTIMATE LAST LOOK VARIANT COVER BY JUANN CABAL
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY #3 ULTIMATE LAST LOOK VARIANT COVER BY STONEHOUSE
MILES MORALES: SPIDER-MAN #7 ULTIMATE LAST LOOK VARIANT COVER BY SARA PICHELLI
On Sale 6/28
CAPTAIN AMERICA: SYMBOL OF TRUTH #14 ULTIMATE LAST LOOK VARIANT COVER BY GIUSEPPE CAMUNCOLI
STORM #2 ULTIMATE LAST LOOK VARIANT COVER BY ADAM KUBERT
THOR #35 ULTIMATE LAST LOOK VARIANT COVER BY PEPE LARRAZ
A squad-based dungeon crawler, Tiny Trinket Games and Anshar publishing’s Zoria: Age of Shattering is a tactical RPG with turn-based combat, outpost maintenance, and follower management. Set in the world of Zoria, players lead a team of 4 heroes across the vast world in an adventure utilizing epic skill trees and combat very WOW-like in design, dependent on both turn-based and heavy crafting utilization.
Check out their brand-new trailer below:
About Zoria: Age of Shattering
You are the Commander – Lead your diverse team through the fantasy lands of a Uram continent and challenge countless groups of monsters and bosses.
Explore the world of Zoria – Zoria has now fallen prey to the sheer brutality of the hellspawn that roams its land. Its lush forests, mysterious caves, and majestic buildings have transformed into haunting locations. Explore these mysterious lands to uncover the mysteries within.
Dynamic Turn Based combat – Use the unique skills of all of your party members to fight your way through the land. Attack from close range or distance with different attack patterns and directions; heal or shield allies with various spells and commands and use your surroundings to your advantage.
Craft, rest and survive – Keep a keen eye on your equipment and vitality as they both deteriorate over time. A bonfire in Zoria’s provides a safe spot to restock your resources and prepare for the next battle.
Class based accessibility – Take care of each of your warriors’ skill development, and it will repay you on the battlefield. Having an individual with the right skills can get you into previously inaccessible places and quests. Specific characters interacting with various objects in the world of Zoria may lead you to discover hidden treasures or make your travel easier, so explore all the options!
Base management – You have to be wise in and out of the battle. Players can regularly update the base by unlocking new wings to the buildings, which will reward you with resources, quests, or items.
Follow missions – In your outpost, you can plan and assign tasks to your companions. Send selected party members on an autonomic mission, in which you won’t participate but will receive what they find along the way. Never forget that their lives are in your hands!
For those at Pax East, Zoria: Age of Shattering will be available to play at Pax East at Booth #11046.
Kelly Thompson ends her final run with CAPTAIN MARVEL #50. An over-sized issue featuring art by Javier Pina and David Lopez, the comic will mark the end of a run by one of the longest-running writers of Carol Danvers with 50 issues.
The storyline marks the end of a legendary run of comics featuring story arcs like the revolutionary “Re-Entry” and Carol’s dark turn in “The Last Avenger” to pivotal tie-ins to some of Marvel’s biggest events like War of the Realms and Empyre. The writer shared both on social media and in a message to fans, how much this opportunity had meant to her.
Thanks for all the support, everyone. Could not have gotten here without you. 💙💙💙 #CaptainMarvel
Small FYI for everyone: Marvel article says "double-sized" issue — but it's "over-sized" 30 pages, not 40. https://t.co/AzmmSx40rC
“When Marvel asked me to write Carol’s new Captain Marvel series back in 2018, in the lead-up to her first film, I was delighted and also terrified. But I’m glad I didn’t let the terror win, because it has truly been a fantastic experience,” Thompson shared in a Marvel press release. “I’ve worked with some of the most incredible people in the business — I’d list them all but at 50 issues it’s a truly massive list! — but I certainly have to call out editor Sarah Brunstad who brought me in and helped build this book from the very beginning. She has been a constant source of support through a run that I don’t think either of us ever imagined would be nearly five years deep and heading toward issue 50. While it hasn’t always been easy, I’m so proud of the stories we’ve told with Carol, but none of it would have been possible without the fans. Captain Marvel fans are some of the best comic fans — and humans — I’ve ever experienced, truly. So thank you for this run. We made it, but you all made it so loved, and so long. Thank you.”
Below, is Carmen Carnero’s dazzling cover featuring standout moments from throughout the run. Overall, it’s an epic ending to a well-received run of a favorite and important character in Marvel’s history.
CAPTAIN MARVEL #50 Written by KELLY THOMPSON Art by JAVIER PINA & DAVID LOPEZ Cover by CARMEN CARNERO On Sale 6/7
One of the interesting things about the Children of the Watch, the sect of Mandalorians that Din Djarin belongs to, is their attitude towards abandoned or orphaned children, or foundlings. As has been established in past episodes, Mandalorian is not a race, but a creed. So they’ve adopted many strays that have fallen into their midst, like Din. And now, Bo Katan.
After her conversion, she’s strolling the beach while the Mandalorians train in the surf. Another adopted stray, little Grogu, is playing with hermit crabs in the sand, using the force to move them around. That is until Mando plucks him up and tells him to go fight the other foundlings. Mando seems like the kind of Dad who’d teach you to swim by throwing you in the deep end of a pool. (Which is ironic, considering that Mando sunk like a stone when he went into the deep end of the Living Waters two episodes ago.)
Poor Grogu with his big eyes looks very confused and sad. He left Luke so he could hang out with Din! I don’t think he expected to be thrown into Baby Fight Club, but this is the way. (I wonder of Mando ever watched The Great Santini on the Razor Crest.) Ragnar, the young Mandalorian who got his helmet back in episode one, picks darts as the weapon. He quickly pegs Grogu twice before Grogu – with encouragement from Bo Katan and Din – unleashed his Jedi leaping skills and hits Ragnar three times to win. Glad to see his time with Luke was well spent.
Ragnar sulks off by the edge of the lake, right where the giant alligator monster tried to eat him. Thankfully, no gators this week. Just a giant pterodactyl thing that grabs him and flies away. (Ya know, if I were the Armorer, I’d really start to think about finding a planet to hide out on. Maybe one with fewer creatures that find children delicious.) Several of the clan blast off after the monster (called a shriek-hawk) but the beast flies too far for their fuel tanks. However, Bo Katan follows in her ship and is able to track it back to its nest.
The shriek-hawk has a nest atop a rocky mountain spire and Bo Katan has a plan to get the child back. If they approach too close via jetpack or ship, they’ll scare the bird and it may kill the youngster. So, they’ll land a short distance away and scale the peak with their grappling cables. The raiding party jets off, leaving Grogu in the care of the Armorer. You’re too young, she tells him. (But he’s old enough to train to fight? I don’t know if that’s the way.)
The Armorer starts to tell Grogu about the Mandalorian culture and how everyone contributes money and beskar steel to help the foundlings. As she rhythmically pounds on the steel, memories are triggered in Grogu. The pounding sounds make him flash back to the fall of the Republic.
As many had assumed, Grogu was being trained in the Jedi Temple when Palpatine issued Order 66, the command for the clone troopers to turn on the Jedi and kill them all. (And if you think Grogu is adorable, you aren’t prepared for li’l baby Grogu with EVEN BIGGER eyes.) Four Jedi are valiantly defending Grogu’s bassinet from the troopers, but they aren’t doing well. Overwhelmed, they push Grogu into the elevator and send him upwards and away from danger. The doors open on the rooftop to reveal Jedi Master Kelleran Beq, as played by Amhed Best.
A brief word about Ahmed Best. A talented comedic actor, he had to eat an enormous amount of shit for decades because he had the bad fortune to be cast in the role of the literal worst Star Wars character ever written – namely the dopey Gungan, Jar-Jar Binks. (“Meesa destroy da Republica!”) Thank goodness social media did not exist in 1999. Best previously portrayed Kelleran Beq as host of the criminally underseen and underrated Star Wars game show for kids, Jedi Temple Challenge, and now he finally gets a hero moment as the Jedi who saves Grogu during the chaos of Order 66. And good for him. It wasn’t his fault that Jar-Jar was terrible; he did what he was directed to do. Very happy he gets to have some cool lightsaber scenes this week, and maybe more in the future.
Beq fights off the troopers with two lightsabers and then spirits Grogu away in his speeder to a launch platform. Carl Weathers (aka High Magistrate Greef Karga) directed this episode and the action sequences here are honestly thrilling. Obviously, Grogu is going to escape, because we’re seeing a flashback, but the scenes feel like they have actual stakes. Beq plays chicken with a train in a tunnel and the tension is high. They narrowly escape and take off for distant worlds.
This origin of Grogu still leaves a number of questions unanswered. Why were so many Jedi escorting him out of the temple? Viewers of Revenge of the Sith will recall the dozens of younglings that were murdered by Anakin. Why was Grogu still under such heavy guard when Mando first found him all the way back in season one? Is it possible he really is a Baby Yoda, that is, Yoda’s actual child? Would any records of his parentage have survived the fall of the temple?
Grogu is deep in thought when he comes out of his reverie. The Armorer has made Grogu a new piece of armor, a little chest plate that he’ll grow into. Does this mean we will one day get to see Grogu in his own little helmet? I’m trying to stop buying Grogu merch, but damn, I’ll clear some space for a Grogu in a Mandalorian Helmet plush.
Back on the Shriek hunt, Bo Katan is still figuring out the whole “This is the way” thing. Things like, how the heck do you eat with a helmet on? Din helpfully tells her that once you get your food, you find a quiet spot for yourself so you can take it off and eat. However, the big Mandalorian (Paz Viszla) tells her that since she is leading the war party, she gets the place of honor by the fire.
So Bo Katan is quickly ingratiating herself into the Mandalorian society here. I assumed that she was going to take advantage of her accidental redemption and induction into the Children of the Watch and use them to help her reclaim Mandalore, but she seems to genuinely be enjoying the camaraderie. I wonder how long she was alone in her castle…
They climb to the nest, only to find it empty. Din detects a heat source though, and Paz starts sprinting across despite Bo Katan’s warnings. It turns out that the snatched youngling is his son, and he’s going to get him back. (This gives me uncomfortable thoughts about two Mandalorians having sex with their helmets on. This is the way.)
However, the heat source wasn’t his son, it was three hungry baby shriek-hawks. And mom has just flown back with dinner. Mom barfs up Ragnar (miraculously, still alive) which makes Paz attack and try to get him back. This causes momma bird to fly away, Ragnar in tow, and the Mandalorians take off after her.
This is another fine action scene directed by Weathers, as the Mandalorians zip around and try to dislodge Ragnar from the hawk without killing him. The aerial combat is fun to watch, and after rescuing the boy, the fight ends with an homage to Jurassic World as the team forces the hawk into the water where the giant alligator eats it. (Maybe it’ll be full for a while and stop bothering the foundlings.)
Our heroes return to the welcoming clanks of the clan on the beach. (Mandalorians applaud by banging their forearm gauntlets together.) Ragnar is safe, and Bo Katan brought back three more foundlings – the enormous baby chicks from the nest. I can guess we’ll see some Mandalorians ride them into battle when they retake their homeworld. The Armorer notices that Bo Katan lost a piece of her armor in the fight and offers to replace it. She asks that it bear the insignia of the Mythosaur, the symbol of all Mandalore, rather than her house crest of the night owl. One more step for Bo Katan in cementing herself as part of this clan and as a potential leader of her people.
This is the first episode of this new season that really felt like an episode of The Mandalorian to me. The elements that made me enjoy this show so much in its first two seasons are coming back into the picture. There are intriguing clues about Grogu’s past, exciting action, and some weird new bits of Mando-lore. It’s still not great that so many threads brought up in past episodes have just been discarded. (Remember the pirates? Those guys who swore revenge of Mando? Oh yeah, whatever happened to those guys? And IG-11? And Dr. Pershing? And Kane? Eh, maybe next week.) But, if the show is now focused on the Mandalorians returning home under the leadership of Bo Katan, it could be interesting. I’m still not entirely sold on her character, but she is starting to grow on me.
GROGU CUTENESS METER: Making up for lost time! We get him playing with hermit crabs on the beach, we get big sad eyed Baby Grogu, we get pensive Grogu, just cuteness overload this week.
Raymond Lee as Dr. Ben Song (Photo by: Ron Batzdorff / NBC)
With only a few episodes left in this season and promises from the creator that the mysteries that kicked off the series will be wrapped up by the end, Quantum Leap has started showing its hand. While plenty of questions remain, this week’s episode was not shy about answering some of the questions that have been lingering since the pilot.
Ben leaps into a man who is being interviewed for patient intake at a 1950s mental institution… and it’s about as pleasant as you’d expect. His lack of knowledge about what’s going on actually works to his advantage for once, since the man is actually a private detective hired by a woman to go undercover and find her sister, Judith (who’d been committed against her will by a jerk husband who wanted to get rid of her to marry again). But in the original timeline, neither the sister nor the PI makes it out. And soon, it’s easy to see why.
Caitlin Bassett as Addison and Raymond Lee as Dr. Ben Song (Photo by: Ron Batzdorff / NBC)
The institution is as appalling as you’d imagine for an era when the lobotomy was alive and well, and when the era of ripping out patients’ colons was still in living memory (yes, doctors used to literally dig out their patients’ guts, thinking that would cure them by getting rid of bacteria…). And the episode often feels like a horror movie as Ben is locked up and pushed around by abusive nurses and an unethical doctor. Though the leap is ostensibly about saving Judith from this nightmare, Ben soon finds he has to save himself.
Armando McClain as Nurse and Raymond Lee as Dr. Ben Song (Photo by: Ron Batzdorff / NBC)
Unlike previous episodes that have put the subject of Ben’s leap front and center, “Ben, Interrupted” doesn’t take much time getting to know Judith. And actually, I didn’t mind. The point of the episode is that no one should be in this appalling place, and Judith is simply a figure to center the plot around.
The episode is far more concerned with Ben, who soon needs some rescuing himself as the horrors of the institution take their toll. But he’s not the only leaper around… the mysterious Martinez reappears for a third time. And back in 2022, Janis Calavicci, under house arrest, tampers with her ankle monitor to get the Quantum Leap team’s attention. It’s all starting to come together…
Caitlin Bassett as Addison and Raymond Lee as Dr. Ben Song (Photo by: Ron Batzdorff / NBC)
As far as leaps go, this week’s felt more like a backdrop for the contemporary mysteries to be solved than the kinds of self-contained stories we’ve been seeing recently. But with such visceral horrors (yes, I’m using that word a lot… there really is no other to describe the institution), it doesn’t let you—or Ben—forget what’s going on. Whereas earlier in the season, the leap itself sometimes faded into an afterthought because Ben (and by proxy, the show) was more concerned about 2022, he literally can’t get away from this one. And it was interesting to see his vulnerability—how even with his genius intellect and a team of prodigies whispering in his ear, he has trouble even surviving this leap, let alone fulfilling its mission.
As the season draws nearer to its conclusion, I wonder how many future episodes will be about the leap, and how many will break formula to resolve the 2022 mystery instead. It’ll be a tricky balance, but the latter half of this season has given me reason to believe they’ll pull it off.
The DC and WEBTOON collaboration is bearing fruit fall of 2023 with the world’s largest digital comics platform entering the global book market. August brings Batman: Wayne Family Adventures Vol. 1 and Vixen: NYC Vol. 1 to print for mass consumption wherever books are sold, while Zatanna & the Ripper Vol. 1 land on bookshelves come October.
“Fans can’t get enough of our DC and WEBTOON content,” said Anne DePies, DC’s senior vice president and general manager, “and expanding DC’s creative partnership with WEBTOON into print with books like Batman: Wayne Family Adventures reflects this demand. Each page of these new volumes is meticulously reproduced to be read seamlessly in book narrative format. DC’s continuing partnership with WEBTOON combines legendary franchises with new technologies and global fandoms, and we can’t wait to get these new print editions into your hands.”
“We’re immensely proud of the stories we’ve been able to tell with DC and thrilled to bring these narratives to bookshelves,” said David Lee, VP of content at WEBTOON. “The creative teams behind these series have given fans fresh takes on legendary DC characters, and we’re excited to give WEBTOON and DC fans a new way to enjoy these titles.”
Batman: Wayne Family Adventures kicked off the popular partnership of DC and WEBTOON back in September of 2021. The acclaimed webcomic series, ready to start season two, finds Batman being a father to a colorful array of adopted, fostered, and biological powered kids on a weekly basis. Vixen: NYC debuted in May of last year and stars Mari Jiwe, a college freshman who learns she can harness the power of the animal kingdom, and not long after came Zatanna & the Ripper where the titular magician ends up in the wrong time pitted against the infamous serial killer on the mean streets of London circa the 1800s.
Batman: Wayne Family Adventures Vol. 1 (9781779523273, $14.99 US) publishes on August 1 and collects episodes 1 through 25
“Being a father can’t be harder than being Batman, right?”
Cover to Batman: Wayne Family Adventures Vol. 1
Vixen: NYC Vol. 1 (9781779523280, $14.99 US) publishes on August 15 and collects episodes 1 through 9
Cover to Vixen NYC Vol. 1
Zatanna & the Ripper Vol. 1 (9781779523389, $14.99 US) publishes on October 3 and collects episodes 1 through 11.
Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves rolled for initiative and won my heart. That’s a D&D thing, right? I’ve only played D&D a few times in my life, but I’ve absorbed enough from pop culture and friends to at least understand the basic vibe and mechanics if not the expansive lore. The film requires no knowledge of said lore, as it’s all explained in the movie, but if you are a fan, you’ll be like the little boy sitting next to me at a packed early screening exclaiming every time he recognized something like an owlbear or a gelatinous cube.
Writer-directors Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley, who debuted with one of the best comedies of the last decade in Game Night, rewrote the original script by original director Chris McKay and original screenwriter Michael Gilio—who still gets a writing credit, though who knows what of his script remains—and took influence from a host of films including The Princess Bride and the Indiana Jones movies. But the easiest way to describe why this film rules is that it’s essentially a fantasy version of Guardians of the Galaxy, a ragtag group of misfits chasing various MacGuffins to defeat a bad guy while also discovering their own inner strength and creating a little found family. I was also reminded of the recent Willow series, which reminded me how much I apparently missed high fantasy with a light touch. This movie is so fucking funny, and I was cackling at so many bits, whether it was exploiting the arbitrary nature of magical rules or referencing DreamWorks animated films from the year 2000. On top of all that, it’s a heist movie! Who doesn’t love a heist movie.
The film opens with some delightfully related backstory and lots of it, so try to keep up while Edgin Darvis—yes, we are definitely in *checks notes* Forgotten Realms—establishes the emotional core of the film, namely that he has a dead wife, because of course he does, he is a male action hero. But also remember what Harpers are (they are…good?) and Red Wizards are (they are…bad?) and, uh, I may have occasionally forgotten the finer details of some lore because there’s so much to keep track of, but luckily, the characters remembered and cared. I loved that the movie opened with someone telling a story, since D&D is a game of collaborative storytelling, and this theme recurs throughout the film. It’s not long before the film then establishes the goal of this campaign: retrieve a magical artifact from a vault and Edgin’s daughter, Kira, from her captor, Forge Fitzwilliam (THESE NAMES).
The plot is basically made up on the fly in the best way, very much in the spirit of the seemingly chaotic narrative of Game Night that reveals itself to be fairly intricately constructed, mostly designed to get characters from set piece to set piece but always giving those characters agency on this quest. They have to keep adapting to plans failing, but they adapt with knowledge and strength gained over the course of the film, each one offering something distinct in skills and sense of humor. All of them contribute, and it’s such a tribute to how the game is a team effort. During the movie, you can identify points where a GM would explain, “Well it turns out when you don’t follow the rules, bad things happen,” or a player would say, “Can I just do this ridiculous thing?” and the GM is like, “Uh, sure, let’s roll for—wow that actually worked.”
Though it takes such a circuitous route assembling the team and going on side quests to find magical artifacts that it feels like there’s little time for the actual heist by the time we get to it, it makes it all the more satisfying when everything comes together to be relevant in the end. For instance, about halfway through, the group discovers a magical item that proves useful in a specific situation and I thought, okay, they need to remember they have that, because it seems like it could prove useful in other situations, and indeed, it proves useful in other situations! They are not idiots! Some might call it lazy to fall back on one trick, but I call it clever and efficient writing. At 134 minutes, the film does feel its length, but I enjoyed myself every goddamn minute, so even when it was going in yet more new directions or having to course-correct because something else went wrong, when the movie finally did end, I totally appreciated how it got there.
While the script eventually left me in awe with its ability to remain creative and inventive as the characters overcame obstacles, the characters themselves won me over very quickly. Give casting director Victoria Thomas a raise, because what a perfectly cast film!
Chris Pine brings charisma, charm, and comic timing—and apparently a nice singing voice!—to the role of bard Edgin Darvis, but he also brings heart and vulnerability to the character that sell his desire to reconcile with his daughter even though we unfortunately don’t get to see him and Kira (Chloe Coleman, doing solid work in her limited but important role) interact much onscreen. Michelle Rodriguez is often cast as a brooding heavy, and thus a barbarian named Holga Kilgore seems like a perfect fit. But here, she weaponizes her fairly homogeneous delivery in the name of dry comedy, which is something I’m not sure I’ve ever seen her do! I’ve been fond of Justice Smith since The Get Down, and he’s perfect as adorably downtrodden sorcerer Simon Aumar, who engages in plenty of self-deprecating humor. As the tiefling druid Doric—please do not ask me to explain what the fuck a tiefling is—Sophia Lillis adds a particular blunt humor into the mix. Bridgerton hottie Regé-Jean Page gets particularly high billing presumably for being a Bridgerton hottie, and now I can see what all the fuss is about, since he’s delightful as paladin Xenk Yendar (THESE NAMES!!!), a good-hearted warrior who’s basically the Drax of the movie, the guy who talks in convoluted speech and takes things literally.
Meanwhile, Hugh Grant’s been living it up in villain roles, and he’s so overly pompous as rogue Forge Fitzwilliam that even though in some movies, an older man talking about how much he wants to keep a teenage girl around could come off as creepy, here we completely believe there’s nothing gross about this at all and it’s all about how good it makes him feel to have someone look up to him.
Having all these actors understanding their characters so well means Goldstein and Daley can rely on so much character-based humor, the character dynamics replicating the camaraderie of friends sitting around a table and declaring that they’re going to stab the dragon in the head. In addition, in combat scenes, everyone sticks to their roles and what they’re good at, so there are only a couple of traditional fight scenes where the barbarian or the paladin go ham on a bunch of enemies, and they don’t try to make the bard into a badass. He bashes people with his lute, that’s how he fights! The sorcerer does magic stuff while reminding everyone that magic can’t solve everything! The druid has a slingshot!
The…the tiefling druid, who can do *checks notes* Wild Shape and change into various creatures, which unfortunately stretch the overworked visual studios to their limit and don’t look as convincing as I’d expect in a movie that cost $151 million dollars WAIT HOLY SHIT THIS MOVIE COST $151 MILLION DOLLARS?? I cannot believe they threw that much money at a fucking Dungeons and Dragons movie after the first one did so badly and HOLD UP THE FIRST MOVIE GOT TWO SEQUELS (one on the Sci-Fi Channel, one direct-to-DVD)?? I am learning a lot about Dungeons and Dragons today. In any case, while the animals and insects don’t look great—though the ability is used SO WELL—the dragons and other magical effects did convince me we were in this other fantastical realm.
Honestly, I was ready to declare my love for this film simply because it kept filling me with glee, but then it emotionally manipulated me into making me Pixar cry, which just sealed the deal. The same movie that makes multiple jokes with talking corpses also supercharges a character epiphany with deftly deployed flashbacks, and I should never have doubted that Goldstein and Daley could do both. Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves reminded me that blockbuster movies can be fun, escapist entertainment AND genuinely well-constructed and affecting films.
It’s starting to look grim for Miles Morales as it’s revealed that he’ll be hunted by the one and only, Carnage! In this upcoming Summer of Symbiotes arc, Cletus Kasady wants revenge against the young web-slinger kicking off with Carnage Reigns Alpha #1.
“Carnage Reigns is an old-fashioned David and Goliath story pitting a greener Spider-Man against the most sadistic monster in the Marvel Universe—Cletus Kasady!” Paknadel explained to Bloody Disgusting. “Miles has only been this out of his depth on a handful of occasions, which is a gift from a storytelling perspective. I’ve really enjoyed crafting this tale with Cody Ziglar, and we’ve developed a really fun, really productive working shorthand and that fun is present on the page! We know this story will satisfy fans of both characters in their FIRST-EVER CROSSOVER!”
Written by Alex Paknadel and Cody Ziglar, with art by Julius Ohta, Jan Bazaldua, Federico Vicentini and Francesco Manna, this seven-part epic kicks off in May with a giant-sized one-shot. Details for the subsequent series tie-ins can be seen below, as revealed by Marvel.
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CARNAGE REIGNS ALPHA #1 - 75960620665000111 Written by ALEX PAKNADEL & CODY ZIGLAR Art by JULIUS OHTA AND MORE! Cover by RYAN STEGMAN On Sale 5/3
MILES MORALES: SPIDER-MAN #6 - "CARNAGE REIGNS" PART 2 - 75960620483000611 Written by CODY ZIGLAR Art by FEDERICO VICENTINI Cover by DIKE RUAN On Sale 5/17
CARNAGE #13 - “CARNAGE REIGNS” PART 3 - 75960620243001311 Written by ALEX PAKNADEL Art by FRANCESCO MANNA Cover by KENDRICK “kunkka” LIM On Sale 5/31
RED GOBLIN #5 - “CARNAGE REIGNS” PART 4 Written by ALEX PAKNADEL Art by JAN BAZALDUA Cover by INHYUK LEE On Sale 6/7
CARNAGE #14 – “CARNAGE REIGNS” PART 5 Written by ALEX PAKNADEL Art by FRANCESCO MANNA Cover by KENDRICK “kunkka” LIM On Sale 6/14
MILES MORALES: SPIDER-MAN #7 – “CARNAGE REIGNS” PART 6 Written by CODY ZIGLAR Art by FEDERICO VICENTINI Cover by DIKE RUAN On Sale 6/21
CARNAGE REIGNS OMEGA #1 Written by CODY ZIGLAR Art by JULIUS OHTA Cover by RYAN STEGMAN On Sale 6/28
In RED GOBLIN #5, Normie Osborn is the new Red Goblin, and he’s trying to escape his family legacy by proving himself as a hero. But when that eagerness puts him on a collision course with Carnage, Normie and his symbiote will emerge from this issue forever changed!
In CARNAGE #14, Cletus Kasady’s hunger has grown beyond limitation, and so has his ambition. With his soul trapped within the Extrembiote Armor created by Tony Stark during King in Black, Cletus has the means to level an untold amount of chaos on the entire Marvel Universe, and he may just leave a certain wall-crawling hero dead in his wake.
In MILES MORALES: SPIDER-MAN #7, Cletus Kasady has unleashed maximum carnage upon New York City with the awesome power of his new Extrembiote, and the only one left standing in his way is Miles Morales, who may have stumbled upon Cletus’ one weakness – which means Cletus will stop at nothing to put Miles down for good. To have a chance at stopping him, Miles will need help from the most unexpected allies…Cletus got an upgrade – why can’t Miles?!
And in CARNAGE REIGNS OMEGA #1, Cletus Kasady finally gets what he’s been after and unlocks new and terrifying possibilities with his Extrembiote armor, setting the stage for the next VENOM epic! Miles Morales can call in all the backup he wants – but he and his allies will learn the hard way that CARNAGE RULES!
The Dawn of DC has arrived, and with it a brighter future, but darkness is coming for this dawn.
May brings with it a free treat: The Dawn of DC Primer, designed to prepare readers for DC’s latest yearlong storylines. But it’s not the only month with something special to offer, June sees two DC megastars hit the milestone of 800 single issues. Congratulations to The Flash and Wonder Woman who will each get an oversized special issue in celebration of their astounding accomplishment; these comics will debut the new creative forces behind each ongoing series. The Flash has Simon Spurrier and Mike Deodato Jr., while award-winning Tom King and artist Daniel Sampere helm Wonder Woman. In other news, actor Michael Dorn (the voice of Steel on Superman: The Animated Series) has been tapped by DC to write Steelworks, along with art by Sami Basri. And the writer of Galaxy: The Prettiest Star, Jadzia Axelrod, makes her big DC debut with Hawkgirl, drawn by Amancay Nahuelpan.
Amanda Waller has seen the writing on the wall, she knows the heroes of the DC Universe are a deadly threat that could one day destroy the world. Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths only proved her fears justified, and since then Waller has been secretly amassing a stockpile of weapons and cultivating a cadre of allies who feel the same. Now some of the worst villains in the DC Universe are about to get an offer they can’t refuse. The Dawn of DC Primer promises to uncover Dawn of DC’s mysteries, stakes, and interconnecting tales this year, from the mind of Joshua Williamson with artwork by Leandro Fernández. This unique issue will be free at comic shops come May 16th.
The Flash #800 Main Cover By Taurin Clarke
The Flash is about to hit its whopping 800th issue on June 6th, and DC is bringing out the big guns to send the speedster off right. A bevy of legendary Flash writers including Mark Waid (Batman/Superman: World’s Finest), Geoff Johns (Justice Society of America), Joshua Williamson (Superman), and Jeremy Adams (The Flash), each get a story in this massive issue. Along with a collection of classic writers comes a talented pool of artists as well from current series artist Fernando Pasarin with Oclair Albert (Hawkman), Todd Nauck (Stargirl: The Lost Children), Carmine Di Giandomenico (Batman: The Knight), to returning The Flash artist Scott Kolins (Suicide Squad: King Shark), and Mike Deodato Jr. (Avengers).
The Flash #1 Promo Art by Mike Deodato, Jr.
The Flash gears up for Dawn of DC in September! Starting with The Flash #1, Simon Spurrier (Coda, Detective Comics) and Mike Deodato Jr. comprise the new creative team that will bring us the latest adventures of the Scarlet Speedster.
Wally West is on top of the world. He’s the fastest he’s ever been, the most fulfilled, the most heroic; he even has his family surrounding him. But, something’s not right. Something is, in fact, very, very wrong. Since he’s grown into his powers the knowledge has opened Wally’s eyes to what could be, and allowed him to sense when strange things are afoot. Beyond the Speed Force, a dark whisper is calling, and Wally’s need to test the limits of his powers will introduce him to new realms, unknown friends, and mind-blowing dangers. It all starts with the prelude provided by the monumental The Flash #800, then the Fastest Man Alive is on his way to a thrilling cosmic hellride.
Wonder Woman #800 Main Cover by Yanick Paquette
June 20th marks the 800th issue of Wonder Woman, not to mention “Whatever Happened to the Warrior of Truth?”, by Becky Cloonan (Trial of the Amazons) and Michael W. Conrad (Batgirls), is reaching its epic conclusion! Trapped in the dreams of those around her, Diana’s grip on reality is fading fast. She needs to find a way out before it costs her everything. Can Diana still be Wonder Woman at the end of everything? Wonder Woman #800 is written by Becky Cloonan, Michael W. Conrad, and Tom King (Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow) with art by Joëlle Jones (Catwoman), Jen Bartel (Wonder Woman), Daniel Sampere (Dark Crisis on Infinite Earths), and others.
Wonder Woman #1 Main Cover and Interior Artwork by Daniel Sampere
Acclaimed writer Tom King and artist Daniel Sampere kick off Wonder Woman #1 in September. There’s been a mass murder on American soil and an unknown Amazonian is the prime suspect; in a reactionary move U.S. Congress passes The Amazon Safety Act, which bars all Amazons from the U.S.A. To enforce the new law, the Amazon Extradition Entity (AXE) task force is established and sent out to expel any Amazons in violation by any means necessary. As Wonder Woman investigates what really happened, she’s made a fugitive in the land she promised to protect. The action-packed Wonder Woman #1 will be available at local comic shops in July, and Wonder Woman #800 features a prelude to the story.
Steelworks #1 Main Cover by Clay Mann
Known best as the voice of Steel in the Superman: The Animated Series cartoon, legendary actor Michael Dorn is writing the one-of-a-kind Steelworks with the help of artist Sami Basri (Harley Quinn). John Henry Irons—a.k.a.—Steel, with his company Steelworks, has brought the Metropolis of the future into the here and now, but when a terrorist is out for revenge can the super city survive? Especially if that person knows things that could cost John the legacy that is his life’s work?
John’s life is going pretty well. Not only is he killing it in his professional life, but on the personal front his relationship with Lana Lang may finally be putting down roots. But, being with Lana means giving up Steel. Who is John without his superhero alter-ego? Then there’s Natasha, John’s niece (the other Steel), how will she take the news? Although, it’ll all be irrelevant if Steelworks is destroyed while John is powerless to stop it.
Hawkgirl #1 Main Cover by Amancay Nahuelpan & Adriano Lucas
Hawkgirl, from the minds of Jadzia Axelrod (Galaxy: The Prettiest Star) and Amancay Nahuelpan (Wonder Woman), is a high-flying, action-packed, all-new adventure.
The DC Universe’s long reigning winged warrior, Hawkgirl, a.ka. Kendra Saunders, has lent her fantastic might to both the Justice League and the Justice Society. However, once the Justice League disbands, Kendra needs to find a new place to fly, thus begins her life in Metropolis. But, when an enigmatic villain with ties to the Nth Metal of Hawkgirl’s wings and weapons comes to the city, Kendra’s new life is at risk. Hawkgirl will also come with a series of variant covers that track Kendra’s history throughout the DC. Hawkgirl #1 will be available on July 18 at local comic shops.
DC has more Dawn of DC news to share in the weeks ahead. Stay tuned!
MAGNUM P.I. -- "Dead Ringer" Episode 506 -- Pictured: (l-r) Jay Hernandez as Thomas Magnum, Perdita Weeks as Juliet Higgins -- (Photo by: Zack Dougan/NBC)
While “Dead Ringer” sadly leaves Apollo and Zeus out of the story, it was another very solid episode of Magnum P.I. season 5. It actually featured one of the more complex cases of the entire season, and also does a great job of evolving the relationships of the cast. And even though it doesn’t tread new ground on the Greene case, it’s very much worth watching.
Now that Rick and T.C. suspect Magnum and Higgins are a couple (which they very much are), Rick is acting a fool. Early in the episode Thomas makes coffee for Higgins and flirts, ready to go in for a deep kiss, when Rick barges in acting weird. Higgy retorts with “Rick, are you having a stroke?”, which was pretty hilarious. He responds saying he’s going to be at work, and conspicuously mentions he’ll be gone all day before heading out. Juliette picks up on the weird vibe but lets it go and spends some quality time with Thomas. Afterwards, she throws some stacks of bills at him, which makes him uncomfortable. Luckily the money isn’t for “services rendered”, but a new case. And it’s a weird one.
For one thing, they don’t know who their new client is. All they know is they’re being paid to investigate a man named Jack Hill, who the client suspects is a murderer. They have no return address either, which makes Higgins all sorts of uncomfortable. She says they need to know more about their client first, but Thomas responds saying the only way to do that is to start gathering evidence. So Juliette tackles the envelope, while Magnum goes to check out Jack Hill’s residence.
Though their research shows Hill is a model citizen, that’s only the surface layer. He’s actually an ex cop. Magnum climbs up the side of his house and leaps in through an ajar window, taking photos as he strolls around. Objects of interest are a photo of a woman, many jars of peanut butter, and appendectomy notes on the fridge. It looks like Magnum hasn’t found much of anything, but then Higgins calls, and they trade notes. Turns out, she tracked the DNA of the person that mailed them the case and can tell it belongs to a red-haired woman. She also found the envelope was mailed from King’s Medical. Given the appendectomy notice, that becomes the next target of their investigation.
MAGNUM P.I. — “Dead Ringer” Episode 506 — Pictured: (l-r) Jay Hernandez as Thomas Magnum, Perdita Weeks as Juliet Higgins, Christiane Seidel as Dr. Cates — (Photo by: Zack Dougan/NBC)
At the hospital, they find the client is named Dr. Sally Cates. She overheard something alarming while Jack was under anesthesia. He muttered “they’ll never find her body”. While the doc was afraid she could lose her job over passing along the info, she nevertheless is worried someone is in harm’s way and cooperates with the investigators. They find out that Jack apparently left the HPD before his pension kicked in, which is also pretty shifty. While they don’t have an in at the HPD anymore, Magnum knows just the guy to hassle—Gordon Katsumoto!
Gordie is having a tough episode. He starts out rehearsing for his hearing later that day, and tries in vain to comfort his son. When Thomas and Juliette show up a couple hours before the hearing, he thinks it’s moral support. Magnum assures him it’s about a case, and Gordon indeed remembers Jack Hill. 7 years prior, his wife had died suddenly of an aneurism, and Jack fell apart. Started acting crazy and violent, and it was discovered he was seeing an escort when she complained to HPD about his behavior, which led to his being let go. The pair thank Gordon for his help and go to talk with the escort.
MAGNUM P.I. — “Dead Ringer” Episode 506 — Pictured: Tim Kang as Detective Gordon Katsumoto — (Photo by: Zack Dougan/NBC)
Meanwhile, Rick spends most of “Dead Ringer” being more of a goofball. He floats theories with Kumu and T.C. about how Magnum and Higgins are a couple, but Kumu tells him to let it go. Later he wants to plant a baby monitor on the premises to prove his suspicion, but T.C. and Kumu shoot that down. T.C. tells Rick it’s not about them; his weird behavior is about something personal.
Speaking of our intrepid duo, they meet up with the escort, Amber. And after being eager to join a threesome with them, they indicate they’re not her next client. She wants to clam up, but they ask about Jack. Amber tells them he always had her dress up the same way and wear the same perfume. It wasn’t about sex, but just about her company. They quickly put the pieces together and realize Jack was having Amber dress up as his dead wife. Then when Amber decided to change her hair, Jack went thermal. But the problem is Jack probably didn’t stop with her, since he was muttering about never finding a body under anesthesia. So they do more research on missing women and find a likely woman who also resembled Jack’s wife and worked at a place called Coffee Talk.
MAGNUM P.I. — “Dead Ringer” Episode 506 — Pictured: Michael Rady as Det. Chris Childs — (Photo by: Zack Dougan/NBC)
At Coffee Talk, Magnum and Juliette start chatting up the owner, a man named Abe. Turns out, the missing woman, Jenny, was his daughter. She closed one day and never showed up the next, and when HPD found her car burnt in the forest, they reached a dead end. Abe strongly suspects his daughter is dead. Even though his life fell apart that day, including his marriage, he wants the investigators to find his daughter so she can be put to rest. Without further leads, that leaves one course of action: talking with Detective Childs.
Katsumoto puts on a brave face in the courthouse, but it’s clear the stoic cop is worried. Then his son Dennis shows up for moral support. Gordon is brought in, and it’s a tough trial. They don’t want to accept that he was doing what he had to do. For his part, Katsumoto is about to read prepared remarks but instead speaks from the heart. He talks duty and family, and he isn’t contrite, but blunt and honest.
At HPD, Childs isn’t eager to help without more proof. But Magnum plays on his past, when he helped put away dirty cops in Oakland. Wouldn’t he want to do so again? So Childs helps out and visits Hill’s house, convincing him to chat at HPD. He gives a master class in manipulation and pushes all the man’s buttons. Hill finally relents and says he’ll tell everything, but asks for protein first. Childs gets him some snacks, and Hill picks a peanut-laden bar and starts chowing down. He talks for a little while, but then starts spasming on the floor.
Turns out, that peanut bar was a suicide attempt, and it worked. Childs is furious about being conned, and Magnum and Higgins are worried they’ll never solve the case. Until Thomas remembers Hill’s house was packed with peanut butter, which doesn’t make sense given his allergy. Which could mean that Jenny is still alive.
MAGNUM P.I. — “Dead Ringer” Episode 506 — Pictured: Jay Hernandez as Thomas Magnum — (Photo by: Zack Dougan/NBC)
Childs and the team rush through the house, at first finding nothing. Then Thomas helps find a hidden door, and thankfully Jenny is alive and well, if traumatized by her situation. The episode ends with Katsumoto getting a call that he’s gonna be a cop again. He celebrates at Rick’s bar with everybody, and Rick and T.C. pull Magnum aside to ask about him and Higgins. He can’t hide his joy any longer and tells his oldest friends. And then it ends with him and Juliette sharing a PDA, and her realizing their secret is out, but being happy about it. Overall a really solid episode, and hopefully a sign of things to come in Magnum P.I.
Well, Carnival Row is over. And it was… a TV show—one made by one of the most financially successful companies ever. Who could’ve done just about anything? But this is how it ends.
Yep.
It all comes down to a final would-be battle and a showdown with the Sparas. All of which would be great if it… sort of didn’t conveniently wrap in absolutely nothing changes. In fact, I think the reason most people are upset about the series is that we’re meant to accept the status quo, including the treatment of the Fae in Carnival Row…
My answer to that is: WTF. Why?!
After all of this loss and hard-to-watch violence. If we learned nothing and accept our political institutions as… the system. What was the point of everything? That’s my biggest issue. That’s all I have to say… End review.
… Alright, you know what? Let’s just run through it. One last time.
Episode 210 – Carnival Row
(L-R) Jacqueline Boatswain, Karla Crome (Tourmaline)
Everything has reached its end as the New Dawn intends to destroy Parliament. This is sort of what I think most fans of the series have been hoping for all this time. Of course, it begins with a story about how Darius wants to save Tourmaline. Even though they’re just friends and she apparently wants to be happy with Vignette. I’ve officially hit the give-no-Fs button regarding the romances in the show and this finale. Was easily the worst of it.
Meanwhile, I will say one of the big figures who has taken lead at Parliament since the deaths of its leaders in the mid-season finale… is um. Of course, revealed to be the enemy. Not the institution itself, which would have made for a great finale, but rather, just one of its members manipulating things behind the scenes. How this plays out and ties together is honestly rather unimaginative and reminds me of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Except instead of Emperor Palpatine, we get… a generic baddie who’s been there but we didn’t ever care about?
Seriously, I had to Google who the hell this was to remember why they were important… and I still don’t care.
Positive takeaway? Vignette as a rebel leader is a brilliant tactician with guts. You see it here in her reasons why and how the Black Raven should execute on their plans now, and you can immediately tell that she’s been the leader it’s lacking. Even if their tactics previously were mostly to just bumrush the enemy with knives…
Hey, at least they can fly fast.
It’s really upsetting that they kept forcing Vignette romance arcs because this season could’ve easily just seen her fully embrace her rebel leader side. In fact, that would have been great. Instead… we get a storyline that sees her embrace the anti-hero role one last time before riding off into the sunset… though with whom, I have to omit due to the embargo on spoilers.
The delivery of the end makes for a satisfying conclusion. You see a nice little jump between the rebellion and the inner politicians of Parliament. The New Dawn makes its move. Combined, New Dawn and Black Raven make for a hell of a revolutionary group. And I wonder why we’d spent the season having these two act as separate organizations until now.
I can happily say: they do the things we’ve wanted for so long in presenting a real threat to the status quo that the world has needed for so long. Sure, racists burn the Row in this one, but the rebels then kill them in turn. In the end, it all boils down to a plot with the Sparas. A big bad, that’s I guess acting as the show’s weapon of mass destruction? Which is odd given that it’s a very slayable creature.
Again, I think what the show forgot about is how to escalate tension. It’s well produced and acted best to the extent of the talents of its cast; however, anyone who thinks about the plot can realize that all of these actions could have been executed long ago. Back in Episode 1.
Why? Well, a trap to kill all the racists in the Row is easy. And the show more-or-less went a carrot-on-a-stick approach that felt like lazy writing. The Sparas? Was revealed to be someone who was always in a position to kill all of Parliament. In screenwriting terms, there was a ticking-watch moment that was forced in here because none of this was time-sensitive, which sort of makes this finale have little sense outside of forcing a prophecy Tourmaline had early on: her confrontation with the Sparas.
Honestly, from how it’s executed, I don’t think the series knew it was going to be canceled, as their resolution to everything was just to let the upset and angry fellows attack everything that represents the status quo. It’s something to be foiled due to the actions of our heroes. Toss in a few big speeches by our favorite characters and a lesson about how change is hard, and that’s the ending of Carnival Row…
Except, every reviewer hated it. I might have been the only person to give it an episode-by-episode chance on a weekly basis, only to have my hopes dashed of what the show could have been. The problem with the series is that nothing changes. The journey killed off so many characters. And the love stories felt moot in the end given the outcome.
Truly, the show feels like it was written for Network TV circa 2004. With storylines that meander nowhere and characters that are cool enough with great emotions, and gems of promise… but are forced to rinse and repeat the same plots and romantic will-they/won’t-theys.
So I’m kind of happy to say it’s the end of Carnival Row.
The thing about revolutions is that they begin with the need for something to revolt against. In Star Wars, it’s the Empire. In Quantumania, it was Kang the Conquerer. In the case of Carnival Row, it was very much The Burgue and its Parliament. An emblematic institution meant to represent the figureheads of the UK and its troubling legacy with colonization.
The show’s premise was originally pitched as a tale about the denizens of Carnival Row. All for a tale about xenophobia and how immigrants and refugees fled to The Row, having lost their homes to the very cultures and governments they were retreating from. The investigative murders that the show was meant to revolve around served as a lens into the underground world of the Fae. The fairy creatures, who in early European literature are often depicted as higher-class sort of ethereal beings. A mysterious deity, demon, spirit, or substance beyond the trivialities of human beings.
In Carnival Row, the Fae are meant to be seen as minorities. Their abuse in this world? Very much a device meant to startle audiences into shock to remind us just how terrible we are for treating people so cruelly. The problem therein lies that somewhere along this journey… as somewhere along the way Carnival Row got lost in its romance. The plot repeated itself. And a lot of the show felt like it was pulling repeatedly from the old Game of Thrones playbook of shock horrors. Something meant to define so much television in the last decade.
However, we live in a post-pandemic world now… Nothing’s quite as shocking as having millions of people die and continually seeing long-term effects on the disabled. Worst of all, nobody wants to feel like this shitty anymore. Not even myself.
This is why if you’re going to do this… feature deaths and shocking moments meant to disturb you. As a creator, you have to maintain the intent! You’ve got to show how the Fae minority gains power and wins the audience. As it’s there, you’ll find the heart of intention regarding the messages the show was meant to address.
This… is none of that. At we’re now entering the end.
Episode 9 Review
Remember when Tourmaline’s magical abilities served a purpose? Yeah, we didn’t either. At least, until this episode when we saw her pulling it off again for one last Philo case. For multiple episodes, the gift of foresight stopped being a device to aid in cases, and instead, became a rather poor foreshadowing warning of Tourmaline’s death. An omen that she’s trying to avoid despite the fact that we know it’s likely going to happen. Worse, is that for some reason, the writers thought dragging Vignette along with her was a good idea.
Not only has Vignette completely lost her point in the story, but now, she’s suddenly seeking to care for her best friend completely out of nowhere. As she’d spent the entire series ignoring her boy toy, Philo. Let me be clear: I want to root for these characters to get together. The problem? Is that the development to get us here: near non-existent, as most of the arcs for Vignette had her almost lead a rebellion only to abandon it for the sake of love… again.
If that weren’t enough, the show plays tug-of-war again with Vignette as she’s yet again called by her old friends, The Black Raven, to essentially rejoin and hook up with New Dawn. Whose efforts had recently sunk all the ships meant to ship their units and the Fae back to their homeland.
It’s a storyline that’s taken far too long to develop but that everyone knew was going to happen: a war between Fae and Humans. Even though the series had already done this in the previous war, once we killed off pretty much all of the government leaders in the midseason finale… this was obviously, how it always was going to end.
As for Agreus and Imogen, the two finally contribute to the main storyline’s resolution, serving as indirect but reluctant agents for the New Dawn. The show is breezing past a very troubling issue that I think was written in poor taste: Imogen, empowered, sort of completely does a 180 on her character after the death of her brother, Ezra. It’s something that makes no sense given that… she’s the one who murdered him in the first place? What’s worse is that she blames Agreus for his past despite his having been open about it this entire time. The result of all this B.S. ? Agreus is a slave to Imogen’s whims as he can’t really do anything back home without Imogen (who’s broken up with him), else risk being killed on the spot given how bad things have gotten on Carnival Row for the Fae. For whatever reason Imogen’s last-second empowerment storyline, that strangely, has made her qualified as being a movement leader? Feels about as realistic as Daenerys’ final season story arc… Fans of both, I hope you realize, that all these lame comparisons I’ve made this season between the two? Are because actress Tamzin Merchant, who plays Imogen, was the original Daenerys Targaryen in the pilot before Game of Thrones switched to Emilia Clarke. I say this to stress: the actress can pull off a badass English-sounding aristocrat turned leading lady… it’s just for some reason, the show kind of rushed the arc in this story. Likely, because of the knowledge that this was the final season.
Easily the worst of the lost beats is both Leonora and what’s revealed to be the Sparas. The earlier plays for a kind of racist caricature regarding every Russian communist revolution leader. While the latter? Is such a poor reveal in my opinion given that I literally had to Google search who the hell that was to even feel an impact. Given how big the Sparas is, I actually really wished it were one of the other more well-written characters. In fact, my money was on Mr. Millworthy up until the final reveal.
The best about this episode? Easily the tiny exchanges between Agreus and Vignette, as one is the voice of reason and modern-day capitalism from a perspective that’s very in-tune with most Millennials I know that grew up in the age of the tech boom. While the other alternative? Provided by Vignette, is very much a voice for the Gen-Zer, and the outrage I see.
The Take
With only one episode left, I am now starting to partially agree with some of the negative criticisms others have made regarding the series. I think when Carnival Row addresses politics, it works. I’m even a fan of the revolution. But whenever we get back to its main cast? In particular, Philo, Vignette, and dare I now say it, kind of Imogen as well?
We hope you’re not tired of symbiotes yet, because Marvel’s “Summer of Symbiotes” is far from over! This June, Taran Killam and Rod Reis team up for Extreme Venomverse #3. Think a multiverse, but full of symbiote fun, and you’re on the right track. The Extreme Venomverse event will last 5 issues, and feature several talented authors and artists.
Speaking about Extreme Venomverse #3 specifically, it’ll take fans to the Old West where they meet Madame Venom; we’ll meet a prehistoric Venom; there’s also a Venom Spaceknight; and a dark take on the Daily Bugle funnies written by Ty Templeton.
Want more? It’s not an Extreme Venomverse without Eddie Brock and his son Dylan, and the series will feature some dramatic arcs for the villain turned hero turned symbiote god. It’ll all culminate in an event called Death of the Venomverse, which I’m sure will turn out great for Eddie.
Be sure and check out the full cover for Extreme Venomverse #3 below. And stay tuned to The Workprint for more mesmerizing Marvel stories!
EXTREME VENOMVERSE #3 (OF 5)
Written by TARAN KILLAM, JED MACKAY, TY TEMPLETON & MORE!
Art by ROD REIS, DANNY EARLS, NELSON DANIEL & TY TEMPLETON
Cover by LEINIL FRANCIS YU
On Sale 6/14
Diversity is always important, but especially in an era where sinister forces are trying to wind back women’s rights, attacking trans individuals and ruthlessly trying to turn back the clock on advances we’ve made in social justice over the past 50+ years. So it’s great to see that DC isn’t just determined to embrace the entire LGBTQIA+ rainbow with upcoming content, but also they’ve supported a whole gamut of characters for a long while.
Starting this month and continuing all year long, DC is going to produce a ton of content highlighting LGBTQIA+ stories and heroes. One noteworthy example is DC Pride 2023, a massive anthology coming on May 30th. It’s 104 pages, a glorious prestige comic full of fan favorite characters and exciting team-ups. That will include an introduction by Phil Jimenez, a main cover by Mateus Manhanini and ready to order variant covers by the following artists – Gabriel Picolo, Jen Bartel and Oscar Vega.
As for some of the DC Pride stories, those include Tim Drake and Connor Hawke; Midnighter, Apollo and Alan Scott; Jon Kent and John Constantine; Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy and Crush, and many other exciting encounters. But that’s far from everything DC has planned to celebrate this year.
There’s also The DC Book of Pride, written by Jadzia Axelrod with cover by Paulina Ganucheau. This gorgeous hardcover will feature in-depth profiles on 50+ characters, sandwiched by wonderful interior artwork. Best of all, it’ll arrive just in time for Pride month, coming on May 16th.
Not enough pride for you? How about another epic comic book collection? DC Pride: Through the Years features 3 out-of-print stories collected in an oversized format. Those stories include The Flash #53. Written by William Messner-Loebs and Greg LaRocque, it covers the story of when Pied Piper comes out to his friend the Flash and helps thwart a dastardly villain. There’s also Detective Comics #854 by Greg Rucka and J.H. Williams III. This highlights the beginning of Batwoman’s first solo series. Then there’s Supergirl #19, by Steve Orlando, Vita Ayala and Jamal Campbell. We learn of Lee Serrano, a nonbinary teen that befriends the one and only Girl of Steel! There’s also a brand new story written by Tim Sheridan and Cian Tormey about Alan Scott, which teases future adventures.
Not to be outdone, DC will also feature Pride-focused stories all year long, including some of the following:
DC Pride: The New Generation hardcover (5/23)
Doom Patrol by Rachel Pollack Omnibus hardcover (3/14)—second printing
Harley Quinn Vol. 3: Verdict hardcover (3/21)
Multiversity: Teen Justice trade paperback (3/21)
Poison Ivy Vol. 1: The Virtuous Cycle hardcover (5/16)
The Authority Book One trade paperback (4/25)—2023 edition
Superman: Son of Kal-El Vol. 3: Battle for Gamorra hardcover (5/9)
Wonder Woman Historia: The Amazons hardcover (6/6)
In conclusion, there’s a ton of reasons to be happy about diversity courtesy of DC comics. If you want one more way you can check out upcoming stories through this lens, there’s also the DC Universe Pride hub page, where new stories are added every month, and free titles will be added during Pride month. So get ready to embrace a multiverse of compelling stories all year long!
Vita Ayala and Nikolas Draper-Ivey, helming fan-favorite Static: Season One and critically lauded Static: Shadows of Dakota, know a little something at making Milestone’s return a must-see event, with each issue harkening back to the beloved Static Shock! animated series.
Fans of Static and Static Shock! are about to lose their collective minds this June when Static and Anansi have their first-ever comic book team-up! Written by Evan Narcisse (DC Power: A Celebration, Batman: Gotham Knights – Gilded City, Milestone 30th Anniversary Special), Static: Team-Up: Anansi #1 will feature art by Charles Stewart III, in his DC debut from The Milestone Initiative Talent Development program. The main cover for this one-shot is brought to you by Static: Shadows of Dakota co-writer and artist Nikolas Draper-Ivey, with an open to buy variant cover byNatacha Bustos (DC Power: A Celebration), plus a 1:25 ratio variant cover by Cyborg cover artist Edwin Galmon.
Taking place between Static: Season One and Static: Shadows of Dakota, Static Team-Up: Anansi follows the popular African superhero as he takes a trip to Dakota on the hunt for a supernatural issue. The occult face of the Milestone Universe turns out to be a two-man job as Anansi realizes he’ll need Static’s help!
Static: Shadows of Dakota will pick up on July 4 with issue #5, followed by issue #6 August 1, with the series concluding on September 5 with issue #7.
Keep your eyes peeled on your local comic book shops and participating retailers for Tuesday, June 6th, 2023, when Static Team-Up: Anansi #1 drops. Static: Season One will be available as a six-issue collection as well.
The ‘X-Men 60 Uncanny Years’ Anniversary event pulled out all of the stops this year with multiple major unveils for the company. Hosted by This Week in Marvel host Ryan Penagos, major guests at the event broke down some of their experiences creating some of the greatest moments in the X-Men’s 60-year history with appearances by Chris Claremont, Walter and Louise Simonson, Gerry Duggan, Jonathan Hickman, and Grant Morrison (who did a very funny and embarrassing dance impersonation of cyclops tonight just for kicks).
An event that was exclusive to subscribers of Marvel Unlimited and Marvel Insiders, giveaway winners for ‘X-Men 60 Uncanny Years’ will receive email confirmations tomorrow regarding who won several Hasbro Legends figurines collectibles and an ultra-rare digital Veve NFT exclusive to Marvel Unlimited annual plus fans. Marvel insiders, could also claim the event’s attendance for 30,000 marvel insider points.
Overall, it was a fantastic event for any Marvel fan and we summarized some of the event’s big reveals below. With some added details from Marvel’s Fall of X press release.
X-Men 97 Details Revealed
Creators of the X-Men animated series Eric and Julia Lewald, director Larry Houston, and head writer Beau DeMayo (of the upcoming X-Men 97) talked about the legacy of the 90s animated series and even, shared with us the premise of the upcoming story.
DeMayo described the new season as picking up a little bit after Xavier was shot by Henry Peter Gyrich. An event that lead to increased sympathy for mutants all across the world. As a result, the X-Men lineup undergoes a bit of a shake-up, as things finally are starting to look good for Mutants, and even Morph and Bishop officially join the team.
In the wake of mutant acceptance, X-Men such as Jean Grey, Gambit, and Rogue, start to question if it’s time to call it quits as X-Men. Even Magneto finds Charles’ situation honorable and is willing to even try walking in his footsteps and be a force for good for mutant kind. But just when all seems perfect in the world: Mr. Sinister returns. And he’s got a plan to destroy the X-Men once and for all.
Marvel’s Voices: Negasonic Teenage Warhead Gets Her First-Ever Solo Story
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Available on Marvel Unlimited right now, in the latest installment of Marvel’s Voices, Negasonic Teenage Warhead is set to inherit her first ever solo story. In this one, the beloved character, popularized in the movie Deadpool, has used her power of clairvoyance see the upcoming world ending.
Yet, with doom soon to come, humanity’s only hope seems to be if she can find and kiss the right girl before that fateful moment. Because in doing so… maybe she can save the world? Check it out to learn more.
D23 is Hosting An Actual Hellfire Gala at San Diego Comic-Con 2023
The Hellfire Gala has become the ultimate event in comic book fashion featuring yearly collectible variants with some of the most stunning hero costumes and collectibles in Marvel comics. It’s also, proven to be a major launching point in the X-Men lore. The first event, announcing the terraforming of Mars. The second, revealing to the world the true nature of Mutant immortality.
It comes as a surprise then, that Marvel Comics has announced that D23, The Official Disney Fan Club, will be hosting the first-ever REAL-LIFE Hellfire Gala during this year’s San Diego Comic-Con in July! More details coming soon at D23.com/HellfireGala.
The Actual Hellfire Gala
X-MEN: HELLFIRE GALA 2023 #1 Written by GERRY DUGGAN Art by KRIS ANKA, JOSHUA CASSARA, RUSSELL DAUTERMAN, ADAM KUBERT, PEPE LARRAZ, R.B. SILVA, LUCIANO VECCHIO & MORE! Cover by PHIL NOTO On Sale 7/26
The Hellfire Gala is always the biggest event of the season…but this year’s will upend Krakoa as we know it. What is meant to be mutantkind’s greatest night becomes their worst nightmare as the FALL OF X begins! Written by Gerry Duggan alongside an all-star lineup of artists including Kris Anka, Joshua Cassara, Russell Dauterman, Adam Kubert, Pepe Larraz, R.B. Silva, and Luciano Vecchio, X-MEN: HELLFIRE GALA #1 will be a giant-sized one-shot that propels mutantkind into an unpredictable future.
All your favorite X-Men are going to be left reeling after a series of shocking revelations, stunning betrayals, horrifying tragedies, impossible deaths…and more. Fans will also see their favorite heroes from throughout the Marvel Universe turn out in the most glamorous looks of the year and witness the reveal of the all-new X-Men lineup, including the winner of this year’s X-Men Fan Vote! Page after page of jaw-dropping moments that no one will seeing coming, all in one CANNOT-MISS package!
Uncanny Avengers
FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2023: AVENGERS/X-MEN #1 [GOLD TITLE] Written by GERRY DUGGAN & JONATHAN HICKMAN Art by JOSHUA CASSARA, JAVIER GARRÓN, & VALERIO SCHITI Cover by JAVIER GARRÓN Available 5/6Announced by X-Men architect Gerry Duggan in a special video message, an all-new run of UNCANNY AVENGERS will kick off this August, spinning out July’s X-MEN: HELLFIRE GALA one-shot where FALL OF X, the X-Men’s upcoming era, will officially begin!
THE FALL OF X will be a major turning point for the X-Men franchise that will see huge changes in current ongoing X-titles and the launch of multiple exciting new series! The devastating events of the Hellfire Gala and the tragic circumstances of FALL OF X calls for the return of the Avengers Unity Squad in a new run of UNCANNY AVENGERS written by Gerry Duggan and drawn by Javier Garrón! Innocent people and world leaders are dead after simultaneous attacks on the U.S. and Krakoan governments, and that means one thing: it’s time for a new squad of Avengers. False flag attacks meant to whip up anti-mutant hysteria are unfolding and hey, some of Steve Rogers’ best friends are mutants. Marvel’s new unity squad will include Captain America, Rogue, Deadpool, Quicksilver, Psylocke, and Penance. This powerhouse new team must solve the mystery of who the new, murderous Captain Krakoa is — and stop his team of killers from igniting the fires of a new world war.
“Everything we’ve been working towards in our third act is coming to a head this summer,” Duggan told fans in a video message. “The Uncanny Avengers have existed to provide an example of unity between humanity and mutantdom, and they will need to work extra hard at that now as relationships and friendships have frayed in the events of FALL OF X.”
X-MEN UNLIMITED #80
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Launching on Monday, March 27th, the new 6-issue arc written by Grace Freud with art by Alberto Alburquerque and colorist Yen Nitro, is a doozy. Featuring Mutants introduced in her “LGBT-D” story in MARVEL’S VOICES: PRIDE, we see this new group deal with the likes of the disgusting, entertainment-obsessed Mojo!
Calling for the aid of Jubilee, hopefully, this intrepid group can keep themselves alive long enough to escape and prove themselves capable of being the heroes they aspire to be.
HERE WE GO! After spinning its wheels with some inane “twists” and overwritten dialogue in the last few episodes, Star Trek: Picard finally boldly goes into a daring and gasp-worthy plot with its fifth episode, “Imposters”.
After spending far too long stuck in a weird nebula creature thing, the USS Titan is heading back to Federation space. The crew seems to think it’s home free, but Beverly doesn’t seem so sure… she’s still worried about Jack. And with good reason—the super-special offspring of super-special characters has been getting disturbing visions of a red door and weird growths that look like blood vessels crossed with dead vines… and of himself as a deadly efficient killer. Of course, he doesn’t tell anyone about these hallucinations. Question is, is he hiding something, or just unsure of what’s happening to him? Whatever it is, the Changelings are awfully hell-bent on getting their grubby hands on him. (I swear, if it turns out he’s some kind of Changeling and all that development they did with his and Picard’s relationship turns out to be moot, I’m snatching back every star I ever gave this show).
Can someone please turn on the lights? Image: Paramount+
The Titan goes to rendezvous with the Federation ship Intrepid, and a gleeful Shaw can’t wait to send those troublesome pirates Picard and Riker, plus the mutinous Seven, over to face the music. I actually loved his jerkitude in this scene. I mean, poor guy started his day thinking he just had some routine Starfleet stuff to do and ended up getting swallowed by a nebula creature over some arrogant bigwig’s love child. I’d be eager to kick those responsible off too. Shaw’s irreverence for our classic heroes provides a much-needed grounding presence for the show, and he is quickly becoming my favorite character (who knew I’d be rooting for the cantankerous old white dude?)
The Intrepid sends over a contingent to question the troublemakers, and something seems off… they’re insisting on a shuttle, not transporters. After the whole fiasco last week with the Changeling on board, I’m sure everyone’s ears perked up at that. After all, this Changeling hid in plain sight among the Titan’s crew for who-knows-how-long, despite extra precautions Starfleet put in place following the Dominion War. There’s no way the Intrepid‘s bunch is all what they seem.
Their arrival brings back another familiar face: Ro Laren. Picard’s wayward mentee from the Enterprise, who ended her run on the series by betraying Starfleet and joining the Maquis freedom fighters. Which Picard is still sore about 30 years later. He’s immediately suspicious that this former terrorist is now a Starfleet commander, and Ro nicks her hand to prove she’s not a Changeling. She doesn’t seem any happier to see him and tries to stick with a “just business” approach.
But wait! The blood test doesn’t work anymore… Beverly’s examinations of the dead Changeling infiltrator reveals that they can now imitate internal organs, only revealing their true nature under intense dissection. And she surreptitiously tells Picard as much during his talk with Ro. Changeling alert… right???
I was a bit skeptical about Ro’s return at first—I’m still traumatized by how they brought back Icheb and Hugh in Season 1 just to have them die horribly for no reason—but my fears turned out to be unfounded. Michelle Forbes turns out another powerhouse performance (she was always one of the best actresses on The Next Generation, and she’s lost none of that shine)—understated yet intense, subtle yet brimming with unspoken thoughts. Her scenes with Picard were *chef’s kiss*. And her purpose on the show too—her scenes, in the grand scheme of the show, are few, but the impact is far-reaching. Now this is how beloved past guest stars should be treated.
Klingons do not believe in lighting. Image: Paramount+
Oh, and we get to see Worf and Raffi again this week! The two of them are still searching for answers regarding who robbed Daystrom and why, and their investigation takes them back to the criminal underworld. Worf dominates in every scene he’s in, though Raffi more than holds her own. The two play off each other wonderfully, and I wouldn’t mind an entire Worf-and-Raffi show where it’s the two of them leading whatever space adventures come next.
Kova Rin Esmar… I don’t know who you are, but that closeup says you’re gonna be important. Image: Paramount+
All in all, “Imposters” raises more questions than it answers, but in the best possible way. Conspiracies abound, with the bad guys having infiltrated the deepest reaches of Starfleet, and our heroes are thrown into a tense, high-stakes situation that promises more twists, action, and reveals to come. Now that we know that the whole Federation is at stake (and not just one famous guy’s secret son), the show feels like it’s really taking off. Oh, and as a bonus, the Worf/Raffi side quest finally ties back to Picard’s main storyline with a neat little bow.
If the show can keep up this momentum through the finale, then perhaps we can forgive the lackluster opening.
