Welcome to September 2021. Welcome to Negromancer 2.0. This is the rebirth of Negromancer, the former movie review website as a new movie review and movie news site.
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Wednesday, September 1, 2021
A Negromancer September 2021
Tuesday, August 31, 2021
Comics Review: KING SPAWN #1
KING SPAWN #1
IMAGE COMICS
STORY: Sean Lewis; Todd McFarlane (additional dialogue and back-up stories)
PENCILS: Javi Fernandez (King Spawn); Stephen Segovia (Haunt); Marcio Takara (Nightmare); Philip Tan (The Hero); Brett Booth (Gunslinger)
INKS: Javi Fernandez; Adelso Corona; Daniel Henriques
COLORS: FCO Plascencia (King Spawn); Andrew Dalhouse; Marcelo Maiolo; Peter Steigerwald; Dave McCaig
LETTERS: Andworld Design (King Spawn): Tom Orzechowski
EDITOR: Thomas Healy
COVER: Puppeteer Lee
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Todd McFarlane with FCO Plascencia; David Finch with FCO Plascencia; Sean Gordon Murphy; Brett Booth and Todd McFarlane with FCO Plascencia; Greg Capullo and Todd McFarlane with FCO Plascencia; Donny Cates and Todd McFarlane
56pp, Color, $5.99 U.S. (August 2021)
Rated: “T/ Teen”
Spawn created by Todd McFarlane
Spawn is a superhero/antihero character that stars in the long-running comic book series, Spawn. Created by writer-artist Todd McFarlane, Spawn first appeared in Spawn #1 (cover dated: May 1992).
Spawn was Albert Francis “Al” Simmons. A career military man who becomes a highly capable assassin and dies a violent death. He makes a deal with the devil, Malebolgia, in order to return to the living realm to see his wife one last time. However, Al returns with almost no memories accept that his name is Al Simmons, and he learns that he is now a “Hellspawn” in service of Malebolgia. Rebelling, Al Simmons, now “Spawn,” finds a new purpose in stopping evil.
Back in February (2021), Todd McFarlane announced his plans to build a larger, multi-character, interconnected, comic book universe based around his Spawn comic book – a “Spawn Universe.” McFarlane also announced four new comic book titles coming out in 2021, with three of them continuing as regular monthly titles. The first of the three titles, King Spawn, has arrived.
King Spawn is written by Sean Lewis; drawn by Javi Fernandez; colored by FCO Plascencia; lettered by Andworld Design. King Spawn finds Spawn battling one of his old adversaries, but it is someone only Spawn knows that exists.
King Spawn #1 opens at an elementary school in Seattle, Washington. There, a bombing kills sixteen people, including fourteen children aged five and six years old. Spawn and Jessica Priest (She-Spawn) surreptitiously attend the funeral of one of the children, and Spawn, enraged, tells Priest that he knows who committed this crime and that he is going after them.
The suspects include a legendary angel, Metatron, and perhaps, an underground religious group, “Psalms 137.” Or maybe, the people behind the bombing are fans...
THE LOWDOWN: I read Spawn #1 back in 1992, and I had mixed feelings about it. Yet I was a fan and followed the series for another five or six years.
2021 finds me reading my a Spawn title first-issue for the first time since I read Curse of the Spawn #1 back in 1996. I like the main story in King Spawn #1. In fact, Sean Lewis has written the best first issue for an ongoing Spawn comic that I have read to date. His dialogue is sharp and natural-like, which I can't say for Spawn creator Todd McFarlane's dialogue and exposition, which often describes things that we can see in the art. Lewis' script is lean and mean, and Lewis does something at which McFarlane is quite good – make the reader feel for the victims.
I've always preferred my Spawn comic books to be drawn by McFarlane, but as a businessman from the beginning of Spawn, he really could not commit to drawing Spawn on a regular basis past the first two years of the original series. However, Javi Fernandez's art and storytelling shares a sensibility with McFarlane's art that will satisfy me.
So far, I find that King Spawn #1 is the closest to what I will get to those early days of Spawn. Also, the ending makes me want to come back for more.
I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of Spawn will want to read King Spawn.
[This comic book includes four back-up stories and “Spawning Ground” Presents “The Breakdown,” in which Todd McFarlane and Sean Lewis interview each other.]
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
https://twitter.com/Todd_McFarlane
https://mcfarlane.com/
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.
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Negromancer News Bits and Bites from August 22nd to 31st, 2021 - Update #26
by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
You can support Leroy via Paypal or on Patreon:
ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:
REVIEW - From Negromancer: Here is my review of "Candyman."
DISNEY - From Deadline: Frank Oz, the filmmaker and puppeteer who originally performed such Muppet characters as Miss Piggy and Fozzy Bear, has said that Disney, which has owned the franchise since 2004, does not want him to work with "The Muppets" anymore.
MOVIES - From Deadline: Lionsgate and Millennium Media are working on a fourth film in "The Expendables" franchise, with Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren, and Randy Couture set to return.
MOVIES - From Deadline: Lord Miller (the home of Phil Lord, Chris Miller, and Aditya Sood) will produce a film about former Chicago Bull, Dennis Rodman, and his crazy weekend in Las Vegas during the 1998 NBA Finals.
BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficePro: The winner of the 8/27 to 8/29/2021 weekend box office is "Candyman" with an estimated take of 22.37 million dollars.
From TheGuardian: An interview with co-writer and director of "Candyman," Nia DaCosta.
MOVIES - From CNN: With two new movies about him, we must ask, "Why won't Hollywood let Ted Bundy go away."
MOVIES - From Variety: The Grammy-winning recording artist and Oscar-winning songwriter, H.E.R., has signed on for her first major acting role, landing the part of Squeak in Blitz Bazawule’s forthcoming adaptation of “The Color Purple” for Warner Bros.
BOX OFFICE - From Deadline: Director Nia DaCosta's "Candyman" has a strong Thursday night of "preview shows."
MOVIES - From Deadline: "The Matrix 4" revealed some of its secrets at "Cinemacon." It's official title is "The Matrix: Resurrections," and it is due Dec. 22nd. There is no word on when the trailer showed at Cinemacon will hit social media.
TELEVISION - From Deadline: COVID-19 and the "anti-vaxx" controversies are both roiling on the set of ABC's long-running daytime soap opera, "General Hospital."
TRAILER - From Variety: Neon has released the first official trailer for "Spencer," starring Kristen Stewart as Princess Diana. The film is directed by Pablo Larrain ("Jackie").
DISNEY - From Deadline: Kelvin Harrison Jr. and Aaron Pierre are set to lead the voice cast of director Barry Jenkins' prequel to Walt Disney's "The Lion King."
SCANDAL - From Deadline: A Los Angeles grand jury has indicted legendary porn movie star, 68-year-old Ron Jeremy, on 33 rape and sexual assault charges. These new counts involve 21 individuals, age ranging from 15 to 51, and go back to the mid-1990s. He pleaded "not guilty" again.
TELEVISION - From TheGrio: The "Jeopardy!" team never really considered LeVar Burton for the position of new permanent host, replacing the late Alex Trebek, according to a report. TMZ reported that its insider sources say Sony Studios executives loved Burton, yet didn't think he was a "right fit."
MARVEL STUDIOS - From Deadline: During an overnight shoot in Boston for Marvel’s "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," actress Letitia Wright suffered minor injuries due to an incident with a stunt rig. She was hospitalized, but has since been released.
MUSIC - From Variety: When he was an infant, Spencer Elden, was photographed nude with his genitalia exposed. That photograph was used as the cover art for the rock band, Nirvana's seminal 1991 album, "Nevermind." Now, Elden is suing several people, including the surviving members of the band, Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic, and Courtney Love, the widow of deceased member, Kurt Cobain, over the use of the photograph.
NETFLIX - From EW: Netflix shares the first photos from its live-action adaptation of the beloved Japanese anime series, "Cowboy Bebop."
From Deadline: Netflix has announced the release dates of 42 films that it will release Fall 2021, beginning with "Afterlife of the Party" on September 2nd, 2021.
From WeGotThisCovered: "Beverly Hills Cop 4" gets closer to actually being a thing. The film has been award 15 million dollars in tax credits to shoot in California.
MOVIES - From Deadline: Amblin adds six more cast members to Steven Spielberg's next film, "The Fablesons," his semi-autobiographical film about his childhood.
BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficePro: The winner of the 8/20 to 8/22/2021 weekend box office is "Free Guy" with an estimated take of 18.8 million dollars.
DISNEY - From Deadline: Disney attempts to take its legal disputes with actress Scarlett Johansson over Marvel Studios' "Black Widow" behind closed doors via arbitration.
OBITS:
From Variety: Film and television actor, Ed Asner, has died at the age of 91, Sunday, November 29, 2021. Asner is the most most honored male actor in the history of the Primetime Emmy Awards, having won seven Emmys. He won five for playing the character, "Lou Grant." He first played Grant in the late CBS sitcom, "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" (1970-77), and then, he played the character in a lead role in the late CBS spinoff drama, "Lou Grant" (1977-82). He also notably provided the voice for the character "Carl Fredricksen" in Disney/Pixar's "Up" (2009).
From Variety: Longtime drummer of "The Rolling Stones," Charlie Watts, has died at the age of 80, Tuesday, August 24, 2021. Watts, Mick Jagger, and Keith Richards are the only members of the Stones to have been featured on all their studio albums. In addition to his Stones work, the jazz-trained drummer also released 10 albums, including several jazz recordings.
From Variety: Singer-songwriter and musician, Don Everly, has died at the age of 84, Saturday, August 21, 2021. Don was one-half of the legendary country-influenced rock 'n' roll duo, "The Everly Brothers," with his younger brother, Phil Everly, who died in 2014. The brothers' close-harmony singing and acoustic guitar playing had a huge influence on a number of musical acts that emerged in the 1960s, including The Beatles and and the Beach Boys. The Everly Brothers had their greatest success from 1957 to 1961 with such hits as "Bye Bye Love," "Wake Up Little Susie," and "Cathy's Clown," to name a few. They were part of the inaugural class of the "Rock and Roll Hall of Fame" in 1986.
From CBSNews: Conservative radio talk show host, Phil Valentine, has died at the age of 61, Saturday, August 21, 2021 from complications of COVID-19. From his perch at SuperTalk 99.7 WTN in Nashville, TN, Valentine was a vaccine skeptic and disagreed with mask mandates. He changed his mind when he was diagnosed with COVID-19 in July and encouraged people to get vaccinated.
Monday, August 30, 2021
Manga Review: BOYS RUN THE RIOT Volume 1
BOYS RUN THE RIOT, VOL. 1
KODANSHA COMICS
MANGAKA: Keito Gaku
TRANSLATION: Leo McDonagh
LETTERS: Ashley Caswell
EDITORS: Tiff Joshua and TJ Ferentini
COVER: Keito Gaku
ISBN: 978-1-64651-248-5; paperback (May 2021); Rated “OT 16+”
244pp, B&W, $12.99 U.S., $16.99 CAN
Boys Run the Riot is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Keito Gaku. It began serialization in Kodansha's Weekly Young Magazine in January 2020, and then moved to Kodansha's “Comic Days” manga app in September 2020. Kodansha Comics began publishing an English-language edition of the manga as a four-volume trade paperback original series in May 2021. Each volume of Boys Run the Riot will also be available digitally upon release across all our participating digital vendors including Bookwalker, comiXology, Google Play, Kindle, Nook and izneo.
Boys Run The Riot, Vol. 1 (Chapters 1 to 7) introduces Ryo Watari, a second year high school student. Ryo knows that he is transgender, but he does not have anyone in which to confide about the confusion he feels. He can’t tell his best friend, Chika, who only sees Ryo as a girl who likes to dress as a boy. He can't tell his mother, who is constantly asking Ryo why he “dresses like a boy.” He certainly can’t tell Jin Sato, the new transfer student who looks like just another bully and a delinquent.
Ryo is into “street fashion,” and the only time he feels at ease is when he is wearing his favorite clothes. It is then and only then that the world melts away, and Ryo can be his true self. However, one day, while out shopping at a “pop-up” store, Ryo sees someone he didn’t expect, Jin. The new student who looked so tough in class has the same taste in fashion as Ryo! Ryo has someone with whom he can be open, but it is never that easy – especially when uniting with another outcast can make you even more of an outcast.
THE LOWDOWN: Earlier this summer, I came upon either a review or an advertisement that alerted me to the existence of Boys Run the Riot. I liked the title, and also, I have been curious about manga featuring transgender characters since I first read Shimura Takako's trans manga, Wandering Son Volume 1 (Fantagraphics Books), back in 2011.
Boys Run The Riot Volume 1 does an amazing thing. From the moment I started reading, I only thought of Ryo as a boy. Creator Keito Gaku only ever presents Ryo as a high school boy, and midway through the first chapter (entitled “Encounter”), Ryo declares to Jin, “I'm a guy on the inside!” At that point, the narrative makes conveys the fact that Ryo is a guy through and through – at least to me.
I like Guka's art with its expressive faces and large, emotive eyes on the characters. Ryo and Jin's street fashions fit them so naturally and with a sense of ease. Guka's graphical storytelling feels at ease, but it is also capable of sudden changes and explosive displays of emotion. Ryo and Jin's friendship is an evolving relationship, and there are plenty of bumps along the way, especially because Jin likes to tease and provoke.
Leo McDonagh's English-language translation perfectly fits the art and storytelling, while Ashley Caswell's lettering captures the many moods of the chapters contained in this first volume. I thought that I would like Boys Run The Riot, and this first volume makes me want to read more. The final chapter of Vol. 1 (Chapter 7: “Riot”) sets up some interesting things to come.
I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of transgender manga, of high school-set manga, and of comics about fashion will want Boys Run The Riot.
A
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
https://twitter.com/KodanshaManga
https://kodansha.us/
https://www.facebook.com/KodanshaManga?fref=ts
https://www.instagram.com/kodanshamanga/
The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.
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