Monday, May 17, 2021

DC Comics New Releases from Lunar Distributors for May 18, 2021

DC COMICS:

Batman Fortnite Zero Point #3 (Of 6)(Cover A Mikel Janin), 4.99
Batman Fortnite Zero Point #3 (Of 6)(Cover B Jim Lee & Scott Williams Card Stock Variant), AR
Batman Fortnite Zero Point #3 (Of 6)(Cover C Donald Mustard Premium Card Stock Variant C), AR
Catwoman #31 (Cover A Robson Rocha), $3.99
Catwoman #31 (Cover B Jenny Frison Card Stock Variant), AR
Dark Nights Death Metal War Of The Multiverses TP, $19.99
Flash #770 (Cover A Brandon Peterson), $3.99
Flash #770 (Cover B Brett Booth Card Stock Variant), AR
Harley Quinn And Poison Ivy TP, $16.99
Joker #2 (Francesco Mattina 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $5.99
Joker #2 (Trevor Hairsine 2nd Printing Variant Cover), AR
Justice League #61 (Cover A David Marquez), $4.99
Justice League #61 (Cover B Kael Ngu Card Stock Variant), AR
Justice League Galaxy Of Terrors TP, $16.99
Legends Of The Dark Knight #1 (Cover A Darick Robertson), $3.99
Legends Of The Dark Knight #1 (Cover B David Marquez Card Stock Variant), AR
Legends Of The Dark Knight #1 (Cover C Francesco Francavilla Card Stock Team Variant), AR
Legends Of The Dark Knight #1 (Cover D Riccardo Federici Card Stock Variant), AR
Looney Tunes #260 (Cover A Walter Carzon), $2.99
Nightwing #80 (Cover A Bruno Redondo), $3.99
Nightwing #80 (Cover B Jamal Campbell Card Stock Variant), AR
Shazam The World’s Mightiest Mortal Volume 3 HC, $49.99
Superman Red And Blue #3 (Of 6)(Cover A Paul Pope), $5.99
Superman Red And Blue #3 (Of 6)(Cover B John Paul Leon), AR
Superman Red And Blue #3 (Of 6)(Cover C Derrick Chew), AR
Truth And Justice #4 (Cover A Rob Guillory), $4.99
Truth And Justice #4 (Cover B Sanford Greene Card Stock Variant), AR
Wonder Girl #1 (Cover A Joelle Jones), $3.99
Wonder Girl #1 (Cover B Bilquis Evely Card Stock Variant), AR
Wonder Girl #1 (Cover C Blank Card Stock Variant), AR
Wonder Girl #1 (Cover D J. Scott Campbell Card Stock Variant), AR
Wonder Girl #1 (Cover E Joelle Jones Card Stock Variant), AR
Wonder Girl #1 (Cover F Rafael Grampa Team Spot Foil Card Stock Variant), AR
Young Justice Book 2 Growing Up TP, $24.99


Review: "THE NEW MUTANTS" is the Final Stinker ... Finally

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 34 of 2021 (No. 1772) by Leroy Douresseaux

The New Mutants (2020)
Running time:  94 minutes (1 hour, 34 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for violent content, some disturbing/bloody images, some strong language, thematic elements and suggestive material
DIRECTOR:  Josh Boone
WRITERS:  Josh Boone and Knate Lee (based on the Marvel Comics characters)
PRODUCERS:  Simon Kinberg, Lauren Shuler Donner, and Karen Rosenfelt
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Peter Deming (D.o.P.)
EDITORS:  Andrew Buckland, Matthew Rundell, and Robb Sullivan
COMPOSER:  Mark Snow

SUPERHERO/HORROR/FANTASY/ACTION

Starring:  Blu Hunt, Maisie Williams, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Heaton, Henry Zaga, Alice Braga, Adam Beach, Thomas Kee, Colbi Gannett, and Happy Anderson

The New Mutants is a 2020 superhero movie from director Josh Boone.  It was 20th Century Fox’s thirteenth and final film film based on Marvel Comics’ X-Men comic book franchise.  The film uses comic book characters and stories created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Bob McLeod and Bill Sienkiewicz.  The New Mutants movie focuses on five young mutants held in a secret facility where they try to deal with their powers, pasts, and sins.

The New Mutants opens with Danielle “Dani” Moonstar (Blu Hunt), a young Cheyenne Native American, experiencing the devastation of her entire reservation by what seems to be an “F5” tornado.  After falling unconscious during the tornado, Dani awakens in an empty hospital room to find herself secured to a bed by restraining straps.

Dani soon meets Dr. Cecilia Reyes (Alice Braga), who comforts Dani.  Dr. Reyes explains that Dani is not an ordinary human being, but is rather a “new mutant,” a mutant who is just awakening to her mutant abilities and powers.  Dr. Reyes also explains that Dani will be confined to this mysterious and unnamed medical facility until they discover what exactly Dani's mutant power is and also until Dani learns to control that power.

Dani is introduced to four other new mutants:  Sam (Charlie Heaton), Illyana (Anya Taylor-Joy), Roberto or “Bobby” (Henry Zaga), and Rahne Sinclair (Maisie Williams).  Rahne befriends Dani and the two set out to discover the secrets of both the facility and the identity of the mysterious entity (Essex Corporation) that controls it.  Dani discovers that she isn't the only one trying to escape the traumas of her past.  Will her mysterious power and her past, personified by a mythical creature called the “Demon Bear,” destroy not only Dani, but also the other new mutants.

Apparently, Josh Boone, the co-writer and director of The New Mutants,” described the film's same-sex love story and subplot between Dani and Rahne as “character-driven stuff.”  That pretty much describes the character drama and development in The New Mutants; it's all just stuff.  Dani and Rahne's gay-teen-puppy-love is actually sweet, and when The New Mutants focuses on that, the film is actually enjoyable.  All the other character-driven … stuff is the usual young adult tropes:  (lame) bullying; (lame) guilt, (lame) grief, and (lame) teen squabbling and conflict.  And the rotten cherry on top is Anya Taylor-Joy's awful, lazy, and deplorable Russian accent as Illyana.

I am a decades-long fan of The New Mutants, going back to the original Marvel Graphic Novel (written by Chris Claremont and drawn by Bob McLeod) in which the characters made their debut and to the first issue of their own comic book, The New Mutants #1 (cover dated: March 1983).  The screenplay for The New Mutants film is not so much an adaptation of any particular New Mutants comic books, but is rather a cherry-picking of a few elements from particular stories like “The Demon Bear Saga” (written by Claremont and drawn by Bill Sienkiewicz).

The New Mutants is an explosive concept, especially considering that it follows kids with traumatic pasts who have largely unknown and untested, dangerous extraordinary powers.  The New Mutants film is a misfire instead of an explosion.  It is not that this film's story is incoherent; it is simply an easy-to-follow, but boring story.  I wanted the characters to save themselves and to have a happy ending because I simply wanted this tiresome and uninspiring movie to end.

When I first heard that 20th Century Fox was making a horror movie set in the X-Men franchise, I thought that this film could be a disaster, but I secretly hoped that they could pull it off.  But my first instincts were right, and luckily Disney absorbed Fox and put an end to Fox's parade of trashy X-Men movies.  As bad as The New Mutants is (and it is awful), its ending also signals the end of a nightmare series of movies in a franchise that had a very promising start back in 2000 with the film simply entitled, X-Men.  I won't recommend The New Mutants to anyone, even to the fans that feel they have to watch every X-Men movie.

2 of 10
D

Wednesday, April 14, 2021


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

-------------------

Amazon wants me to inform you that the link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the ad below AND buy something(s).


Saturday, May 15, 2021

Comics Review: CHAOS CAMPUS #33

CHAOS CAMPUS: SORORITY GIRLS VS ZOMBIES #33
APPROBATION COMICS

STORY: B. Alex Thompson – @ApproBAT
ART: Ricardo Mendez
COLORS: Alivon Ortiz
LETTERS: Krugos
POST-SCRIPTING/POLISH: John P. Ward
EDITORS: B. Alex Thompson and John P. Ward
MISC. ART: Ricardo Mendez with Alivon Ortiz
COVERS: Ricardo Mendez with Alivon Ortiz
24pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. print/$1.99 U.S. digital (2017; digital release date – December 20, 2017)

Rated: Teen 13+ / 15+ Only – comiXology rating

Chaos Campus: Sorority Girls vs. Zombies created by B. Alex Thompson

“Higher Learning, Part l of 4”


Chaos Campus: Sorority Girls vs. Zombies is the long-running zombie apocalypse comic book series from Approbation Comics.  Mixing in elements of comedy, horror, adventure, and magic, it is the creation of B. Alex Thompson.  The series is set during a zombie invasion and follows the adventures of three members of the sorority, Epsilon Alpha Zeta Upsilon (EAZY):  ass-kickin’ Jamie Lynn Schaeffer, brainy and magic-wielding Paige Helena Patton, and sexy goddess-type Brittany Ann Miller.

Chaos Campus: Sorority Girls vs. Zombies #33 opens in the aftermath of “Lineage” (from issue #32).  Paige is having bad dreams, and the uncertainty and the frustrations with the responsibilities and hopes placed on her begin to push her to a breaking point.  Her friends and her mother, Morgan, and brother, Tyler, try to comfort Paige.  Even Oliver offers help, but Paige is not sure about his motives.

However, the fam and the friends are not the only ones who have been noticing Paige's emotional and mentally vulnerable state.  Tech Locke, always one dream or portal away, makes his move in trying to recruit Paige to his side.   What could Tech possibly have that would make Paige turn her back on her family, friends, and mission?  It's a secret.

THE LOWDOWN:  After bringing “The Road to Salvation” story line to an end, writer B. Alex Thompson continued to bring levity to Chaos Campus via a series of standalone stories.  However, in the most recent standalone story, “Lineage,” writer B. Alex Thompson revealed that Brittany shares her body with an ancient Greek goddess known as “the Twelfth.”

Now, Thompson turns Chaos Campus' narrative eye to Paige Helena Patton with the beginning of a new story arc, “Higher Learning.”  At first Tech Locke, the mystery man who is obsessed with Paige, seems like nothing more than a pest.  Thompson throws in a twist when he uses not Locke's own secrets, but the secrets others keep as the hook to pull readers into this new arc.

As usual, Ricardo Mendez's art and graphical storytelling are strong, and in many ways, he has become the second signature “voice” of Chaos Campus.  This series' narrative engine runs smoothly under the guiding hands of Mendez's compositions.  It seems that, at least for now, no one can transform Thompson's Chaos Campus scripts into comic book art and storytelling better than Mendez.

Good coloring has blessed Chaos Campus, and the colors and dazzling color effects by Alivon Ortiz make even the quite pages in issue #33 pop. Letterer Krugos continues the steady beat of this series, and that beat may very well carry more of you, dear readers, to Chaos Campus #33.

POSSIBLE AUDIENCE:  Fans of zombies and of horror-comedies will want to try Chaos Campus: Sorority Girls vs. Zombies.

A

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


Buy Chaos Campus #33 at comiXology.

www.ApprobationComics.com
https://twitter.com/ApproBAT
www.AlexThompsonWriter.com


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

----------------------------------


Negromancer News Bits and Bites from May 9th to 15th, 2021 - Update #24

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

You can support Leroy via Paypal or on Patreon:

ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS

TELEVISION - From Deadline:   CBS dramas, "SEAL Team" and "Clarice" will be moving to the Paramount+ streaming service for the 2021-22 TV season.

TELEVISION - From Deadline:   ABC has renewed "Black-ish" for an eighth and final season.  The series is currently wrapping up its seventh season.

DISNEY - From Deadline:   Boyd Holbrook and Shaunette RenĂ©e Wilson ("The Resident") are set to co-star opposite Harrison Ford in the next installment in the Indiana Jones series at Disney and Lucasfilm.

ANIMATION - From BleedingCool:   There are new images from "Monsters at Work," the Disney+ sequel TV series to Pixar's "Monsters, Inc."

STREAMING - From Deadline:  Actress Kathryn Hahn ("WandaVision") has joined the cast of director Rian Johnson's "Knives Out 2"

TELEVISION - From Deadline:  The CW is expanding to primetime Saturday night with new programming, starring this Fall with the 2021-22 television season.

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Actor Robert De Niro has apparently suffered a leg injury while in Oklahoma to film "Killers of the Flower Moon."  The injury is apparently not related to the film's production, but the extent of the injury is not known.

MOVIES - From WeGotThisCovered:   In 1996, Michael Jordan starred in the live-action/animation hybrid, "Space Jam."  Now, comes word that Jordan will appear in the LeBron James-led sequel, "Space Jam: A New Legacy," which is due in August.

STREAMING - From Variety:  The "Friends" reunion special, which will reunite the leads of NBC's late sitcom, "Friends," will debut on HBO Max May 27th.  The special also has a teaser trailer.

MOVIES - From EW:  "Entertainment Weekly" has a first-look at Henry Golding in the upcoming "Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins."  The film is due in theaters July 23rd, 2021.

ANIMATION - From WeGotThisCovered:   The first photos from Netflix's upcoming animated series, "Masters of the Universe: Revelation," have emerged.  Although it is a reboot, "Revelation" will apparently follow the continuity of the 1983-85 "Masters of the Universe" animated series.

MUSIC - From RollingStone:   The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame has officially announced this year’s inductees: Foo Fighters, The Go-Go’s, Jay-Z, Carole King, Todd Rundgren, and Tina Turner will join the class of 2021 in the Performers category.

CELEBRITY - From Variety:  HBCU Howard University is reestablishing its College of Fine Arts, and its new dean will be beloved actress Phylicia Rashad, most famously of NBC's former series, "The Cosby Show" (1984-92).  Rashad is an alumna of the Howard (1970).

TELEVISION - From Deadline:   "2020-21 TV Cancellations & Renewals For Broadcast, Cable & Streaming":  Here is Deadline’s list of renewals and cancellations for TV series on broadcast, cable and streaming services from August 2020 to present (excluding syndicated shows), with new series in bold.

STREAMING - From Deadline:  Oscar-nominated actor Edward Norton has been cast in the "Knives Out" sequel, which is due from writer-director Rian Johnson and Netflix.

TELEVISION - From Variety:   Fox has cancelled its crime drama series, "Prodigal Son," starring Tom Payne and Michael Sheen, after two seasons.  The May 18th season finale will now also be the series finale.

CELEBRITY - From PopSugar:  Are Bennifer (Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck) a thing again?

STREAMING - From Deadline:   Leonardo DiCaprio has revealed a first-look at his next film, "Killers of the Flower Moon," from Apple Original Films and directed by Martin Scorsese.  The film, which also stars Robert De Niro, has begun production.

BOX OFFICE - From Variety:  The winner of the 5/7 to 5/9/2021 weekend box office is Guy Ritchie's "Wrath of Man" (starring Jason Statham) with an estimated gross of 8.1 million dollars.

OSCARS - From YahooEntertainment:  When she did not win in the "Best Song" Oscar category at the recent 93rd Academy Awards, songwriter Diane Warren became the woman with the most nominations without a win in Oscar history.  Warren is 0-for-12, but she is taking that in stride.  And she might get a another nomination next year.

GOLDEN GLOBES - From Variety: "Black Widow" star and Oscar-nominated and Tony Award-winning actress Scarlett Johansson speaks out against the HFPA, the organization with hands out the Golden Globes awards.

From Deadline:  Netflix becomes the latest media organization to shun the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) over its attempts to ... change.

OBITS:

From Deadline:  The actor, director, and producer, Norman Lloyd, has died at the age of 106, Tuesday, May 11, 2021.  Lloyd worked in every facet of the entertainment industry, including theater, radio, television, and film.  He worked with such luminaries as Charlie Chaplin, Orson Welles, and Alfred Hitchcock.  He may be best known for his role on the former NBC television series, "St. Elsewhere (1982-88), as "Dr. Daniel Auschlander."  Lloyd was also a two-time Primetime Emmy Award nominee.

From YahooSports:  Former college and professional football player, Cole Brennan, has died at the age of 37, Tuesday, May 11, 2021.  Brennan was the record-setting quarterback at the University of Hawaii from 2005 to 2007.  He had a brief NFL career with the Washington Redskins and Oakland Raiders from 2008-2010.

From YahooLife:  The former White House dog, Bo, has died at the age of 12, Saturday, May 8, 2021.  A Portuguese water dog, Bo was the family dog of President Barack Obama and his family and was the White House dog from 2009-2017.  Bo joined the family and entered the White House in April 2009.


Friday, May 14, 2021

Comics Review: ALIEN #1

ALIEN #1
MARVEL

STORY: Phillip Kennedy Johnson
ART: Salvador Larroca
COLORS: Guru-eFX
LETTERS: VC's Clayton Cowles
EDITOR: Jake Thomas
EiC: Akira Yoshida a.k.a. C.B. Cebulski
COVER: InHyuk Lee
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Steve McNiven with Laura Martin; Peach Momoko; Ron Lim with Israel Silva; Todd Nauck with Rachelle Rosenberg; Patrick Gleason; Skottie Young; David Finch with Frank D'Armata; Salvador Larroca with Guru-eFX
40pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (May 2021)

Parental Advisory

Alien is a 1979 science fiction horror film directed by Ridley Scott and written by Dan O'Bannon, based on a story that O'Bannon wrote with Ronald Shusett.  The film depicts a battle for survival between the crew of the commercial towing vehicle,  the space ship named “the Nostromo” and an aggressive deadline extraterrestrial creature, the “Alien” of the title, that is now known as a “Xenomorph.”

Alien, which went on to win an Academy Award, spawned a film franchise, beginning with writer-director James Cameron's 1986 science fiction action film, Aliens.  Alien also begat a media franchise, which included a comic book adaptation and also a novelization of the original film.  In 1988, Dark Horse Comics launched its first Alien comic book series, a 1988-89, six-issue comic book miniseries, entitled Aliens.  Dark Horse had the license to produce comic books based on the Alien franchise from 1988 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2020.

Marvel Comics announced in 2020 that it had obtained the license to produce comic books based on the Alien film franchise.  Marvel Comics recently launched the first comic book series, Alien.  It is written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson; drawn by Salvador Larroca; colored by Guru-eFX, and lettered by Clayton Cowles.  This new Alien comic book focuses on a recently retired security agent who once faced the Xenomorphs and may have to again.

Alien #1 opens in January of the year 2200 on the Epsilon Orbital Research and Development Station.  It introduces Gabriel Cruz, a man who has given his life to Weyland-Yutani as a defense agent.  He is retiring as the security agent for Weyland-Yutani's Epsilon Station.  With the help of his friend, a Bishop-model android, Cruz hopes to reconnect and patch things up with Danny, his estranged son.  However, Danny has dangerous and ulterior motives for reuniting with his father.

Once upon a time, Gabriel barely survived an alien attack.  And now, it seems that his encounters are far from over.

THE LOWDOWN:  I am a big fan of the Alien film franchise, and I have lost count of how many times I have watched James Cameron's Aliens, including a few times just recently.  I have seen both Alien vs. Predator films numerous times and will watch them many times more.

Early in Dark Horse Comics' run of Alien comic books, I was devoted to the company's output, but lost interest after several years.  I thought the new Marvel Comics' title would be a good time to start reading Alien comic book again, and I was right.

Writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson whets the appetite with the promise of thrills to come while offering tasty teases of back story involving Gabriel Cruz.  Books about writing will always say that the writer should create strong characters and that the plot will develop from the characters.  Basically, the characters should act as the spine of the story.  I find the spine of this story, Gabriel and Danny, to be dull, and I have no interest in their crappy relationship.  On the other hand, the plot is quite strong.  Johnson makes Alien #1 a fun read when he focuses on the threat of the “Aliens” and on the looming disaster that will fully bring them into the story.

I would not call the art and graphical storytelling in Alien #1 peak Salvador Larroca.  For one thing, all the characters have faces that look like they underwent bad plastic surgery.  The compositions have a generic, Larroca clip art quality, but Guru-eFX's power-coloring and super-hues cover up the blemishes as well as any coloring can.

Still, Marvel's Alien #1 intrigues, especially if you, dear readers, are fans of the Xenomorphs.  I think I should keep reading … at least for the first story arc.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of the Alien/Aliens film and comic book franchises will certainly want to try Marvel's Alien.

A-

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


https://twitter.com/Marvel
https://www.marvel.com/
https://www.marvel.com/comics
https://www.comixology.com/Marvel_Comics


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

--------------------------

Amazon wants me to inform you that the link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the ad below AND buy something(s).


Thursday, May 13, 2021

Review: "Dark Phoenix" is a Failed X-Men Resurrection

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 33 of 2021 (No. 1771) by Leroy Douresseaux

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

Dark Phoenix (2019)
Running time:  114 minutes (1 hour, 54 minutes)
MPAA – PG-13 for intense sequences of sci-fi violence and action including some gun play, disturbing images, and brief strong language
DIRECTOR:  Simon Kinberg
WRITERS:  Simon Kinberg (based on Marvel Comics characters)
PRODUCERS:  Hutch Parker, Simon Kinberg, Lauren Shuler Donner, and Todd Hallowell
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Mauro Fiore
EDITORS:  Lee Smith
COMPOSER:  Hans Zimmer

SUPERHERO/SCI-FI/ACTION/DRAMA

Starring:  James McAvoy, Sophie Turner, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Evan Peters, Tye Sheridan, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Alexandra Shipp, Summer Fontana, Scott Shepherd, Ato Essandoh, and Jessica Chastain

Dark Phoenix is a 2019 superhero movie from writer-director Simon Kinberg.  It is 20th Century Fox’s twelfth film based on Marvel Comics’ X-Men comic book franchise.  This movie is also a sequel to X-Men: Apocalypse (2016).  In Dark Phoenix (also known as X-Men: Dark Phoenix), one of the X-Men begins to develop incredible powers that will force the rest of the X-Men to decide if this one mutant's life is worth more than all of humanity.

Dark Phoenix opens in 1975 and introduces eight-year-old Jean Grey (Summer Fontana) and depicts the automobile accident that changes her life and brings Charles Xavier/Professor X (James McAvoy) into her life.  Then, the story moves to 1992 and to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters.  There, Xavier has turned the X-Men into what some describe as a team of superheroes that steps in to protect and help mankind when no one else can.

The latest emergency involves a distress signal from a recently launched space shuttle, which has been critically damaged by a solar flare-like energy.  Xavier sends his strike team, “the X-Men”:  Hank McCoy/Beast (Nicholas Hoult), Raven/Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence), Peter Maximoff/Quicksilver (Evan Peters), Jean Grey (Sophie Turner), Scott Summers/Cyclops (Tye Sheridan), Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee), and Ororo Munroe/Storm (Alexandra Shipp) to rescue the astronauts aboard the space shuttle.  Raven goes along on the mission, but she is furious that Xavier puts his students in danger for the rest of humanity, which she still regards with suspicion.

The X-Men arrive in their jet, the Blackbird, to find the situation rapidly deteriorating and the strange energy mass approaching the shuttle.  While saving the astronauts, Jean is struck by the energy and absorbs it into her body.  This apparently helps her to miraculously survive the blast of the shuttle explosion.  The X-Men and Xavier's other students start calling Jean “Phoenix” because of her miraculously survival.

However, the result of absorbing that energy causes Jean's psychic powers to be greatly amplified.  In turn, that causes her emotional state to begin to deteriorate, leading to tragedy.  Soon, the X-Men are hunting Jean Grey, and so are the X-Men's adversary/rival, Erik Lensherr/Magneto (Michael Fassbender), and also the U.S. militaryVuk, the leader of a shape-shifting alien race known as the D'Bari, is also searching for Jean, specifically for the power Jean harbors inside her.  Can Xavier and the X-Men save Phoenix, or will their act of salvation doom humanity?

Both film adaptations of the classic X-Men comic book story arc, “The Dark Phoenix Saga,” 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand and 2019's Dark Phoenix, fail to approach the riveting melodrama and enthralling soap opera that readers found and continue to find in Marvel Comics's The X-Men #129-138 (publication cover dates:  January to October 1980).  The writers of both films alter the core original story – to the movies' detriment.

Writer-director Simon Kinberg apparently directed some of 2014's X-Men: Days of Future Past and much or most of 2016's X-Men: Apocalypse, although Bryan Singer is credited as the director of both films.  I consider both films to be disappointments, one more than the other.  True to form, Simon Kinberg delivers in Dark Phoenix a film that is mostly a dud.

The storytelling feels contrived, and the screenwriting offers laughable concepts, especially the entire D'Bari alien subplot; that's just some stupid shit.  Dark Phoenix is one of two final films in 20th Century Fox's X-Men film franchise (the other being the long-delayed The New Mutants, which was finally released in 2020).  I say that Dark Phoenix is deeply disappointing, but honestly, I did not expect much of it, from the moment I first heard that it was going into production.  In fact, this film is a devolution from the franchise's peak, which was released 16 years prior to Dark Phoenix, the fantastic X2: X-Men United (2003).

Even the acting is bad.  Playing Vuk the alien is the lowest low point of Jessica Chastain's career, which includes two Academy Award nominations.  James McAvoy as Xavier, Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, and Michael Fassbender as Erik are overwrought, and when they are trying to have serious conversations, they deliver hackneyed and derivative dialogue and unoriginal speeches.  Maybe their bad acting is a result of uninspired script writing.  However, I did find that Tye Sheridan as Scott, Kodi Smit-McPhee as Kurt, and Alexandra Shipp as Ororo made the most of their scenes, especially Sheridan.  If his Scott Summers/Cyclops were the center of Dark Phoenix, the film would be much better.  Because of him, I am giving this film a higher grade than I planned to do.

Dark Phoenix just doesn't work, and it rarely connected with me.  I don't think that it will connect with audiences the way some of the best and most popular X-Men films did.  Oh, well – let's hope that Marvel Studios does better with its planned X-Men films...

4 of 10
C

Thursday, March 25, 2020


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

--------------------

Amazon wants me to inform you that the link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the ad below AND buy something(s).


Wednesday, May 12, 2021

Comics Review: GEIGER #2

GEIGER #2
IMAGE COMICS/Mad Ghost

STORY: Geoff Johns
ART: Gary Frank
COLORS: Brad Anderson
LETTERS: Rob Leigh
EDITOR: Pat McCallum
COVER: Gary Frank with Brad Anderson
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Bryan Hitch; Mahmud Asrar; Gary Frank with Brad Anderson
32pp, Colors, 3.99 U.S. (May 2021)

Rated “T+/Teen Plus”

Geiger created by Geoff Johns and Gary Frank


Geiger is a new comic book series from writer Geoff Johns and artist Gary Frank.  Published by Image Comics, Geiger is set on a dying Earth in the years after a nuclear war ravaged the planet.  Colorist Brad Anderson and letterer Rob Leigh complete the series' creative team.

Geiger is set 20 years after the nuclear conflict known as the “Unknown War” ravaged the planet, turning Earth into a dying world.  In the state of Nevada, desperate outlaws battle for survival in a world of rapidly disappearing resources and supplies.  In Boulder City, Nevada, there resides the fearsome man known by many names:  Joe Glow, The Meltdown Man, and the Walking Bomb, to name a few.  But before the war, he was simply a man named Tariq Geiger.  So who or what is Geiger, now?

Geiger #2 opens with a flashback into Tariq's past life.  Then, the story moves fully into Las Vegas.  There, a waitress in the fiefdom of Camelot has a plan to save her children – her older child, daughter Hailee, and younger child, son Henry – from the perverted desires of the thugs that rule Camelot.

Carolina's plan involves a powerful relic from before the war.  Will this relic bring hope or finish what the war started?  It depends on who gets Carolina's prize – the “Casino Warlords of Las Vegas” or the monster called Geiger.

THE LOWDOWN:  As first issues go, Geiger #1 was mostly an introduction, kind of like a prologue.  It introduced the title character, Geiger, giving readers a look at who he was in the past and a glance at who he is now.  Honestly, Geiger #1 was not Geoff Johns or Gary Frank's best work.

Still, I was intrigued by the concept, and Geiger #2 starts to deliver on the series' potential.  I thought that once writer Geoff Johns took readers into Las Vegas the intensity would rise, and it does.  If Geiger is the hero of Geiger the comic book, Las Vegas, in the form of “Casino Warlords,” will be the source of the villains and adversaries.  From what we see of Vegas, I think Johns is promising lots of conflict and action-driven drama.

In Geiger, Frank's pencil art is rougher and less refined than his usual work, which, as I wrote before, is a good thing here.  Geiger is dark, and perhaps, it will be apocalyptic, so with colorist Brad Anderson, Frank is preparing us for action, but not the shiny, superhero kind.  I think I should keep following Geiger … for the time being.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Geoff Johns and Gary Frank will want to check out Geiger.

A-

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


https://twitter.com/geoffjohns
http://www.madghost.com/
https://twitter.com/1moreGaryFrank
https://twitter.com/ImageComics
https://imagecomics.com/


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

----------------------------