WaterTower Music Announces "Fantastic Beasts: The Secret of Dumbledore" Soundtrack

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) Now Available From WaterTower Music

FEATURES THE MUSIC OF GRAMMY- AND EMMY-WINNING COMPOSER JAMES NEWTON HOWARD

LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--WaterTower Music is excited to announce the release of “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)” – the substantial 39-track soundtrack to Warner Bros. Pictures’ highly anticipated film “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,” the newest adventure in the Wizarding World™ created by J.K. Rowling, which opened in theaters internationally beginning April 7, 2022 and will be released in North America on April 15, 2022.

Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) features the music of distinguished Emmy- and Grammy-winning composer and nine-time Oscar nominee James Newton Howard (“The Hunger Games” franchise, “News Of The World,” “Defiance”), who returns to the Wizarding World to once again construct the music for the film, powerfully underscoring the characters and their adventures. Wizarding World fans will be quite familiar with the celebrated composer’s work from the first two “Fantastic Beasts” films, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” and “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald.”

“Composing the music for the ‘Fantastic Beasts’ movies has been a musically fulfilling and challenging adventure,” remarked Howard. “What more could a film composer want than to be given a canvas as rich and exciting as ‘Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore?’ It's a pleasure to collaborate yet again with director David Yates, who has made an intricate and powerful cinematic experience that fans will love.”

The Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is now available for digital purchase and streaming, and on CD. The 39-track track list is as follows:

1. I’m Expecting Someone

2. We Can Free Each Other

3. She’s Ready

4. Wyvern Rescue

5. Young Man’s Magic

6. I Know You Are There

7. Lally

8. Call Me Jacob

9. Countersight

10. A Message to Deliver

11. Insufficient Evidence

12. Do You Know What It’s Like?

13. Kama’s Memory

14. Same Blood

15. The Erkstag

16. Let Him Stand

17. Manticore Dance

18. Go to Him

19. Assassin!

20. Ted and Pick

21. The Escape

22. Kingdom of Bhutan

23. Powers of the Beast

24. Family History

25. Reanimation

26. The Room We Require

27. Surrounded

28. Hey Fellas

29. Case Chaos

30. A Full Heart

31. The Vote

32. He’s Lying to You

33. The Twin

34. He Sought to Kill, I Sought to Protect

35. I Was Never Your Enemy

36. The Promise

37. The Ceremony

38. Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore

39. Heaven - By Gregory Porter

ABOUT “FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE SECRETS OF DUMBLEDORE”:

Warner Bros. Pictures’ “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore” is the newest adventure in the Wizarding World™ created by J.K. Rowling.

Professor Albus Dumbledore (Jude Law) knows the powerful Dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Mads Mikkelsen) is moving to seize control of the wizarding world. Unable to stop him alone, he entrusts Magizoologist Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) to lead an intrepid team of wizards, witches and one brave Muggle baker on a dangerous mission, where they encounter old and new beasts and clash with Grindelwald’s growing legion of followers. But with the stakes so high, how long can Dumbledore remain on the sidelines?

The film features an ensemble cast, including Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne (“The Theory of Everything”), two-time Oscar nominee Jude Law (“Cold Mountain,” “The Talented Mr. Ripley”), Ezra Miller, Dan Fogler, Alison Sudol, William Nadylam, Callum Turner, Jessica Williams, Victoria Yeates, Poppy Corby-Tuech, Fiona Glascott, Katherine Waterston, Maria Fernanda Cândido, Richard Coyle, Oliver Masucci, Valerie Pachner, Aleksandr Kuznetsov, and Mads Mikkelsen.

Warner Bros. Pictures presents a Heyday Films Production, a David Yates film, “Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore,” in theaters internationally beginning 7 April 2022 and in North America on April 15, 2022. The film will be distributed worldwide in select theatres and IMAX by Warner Bros. Pictures.

ABOUT JAMES NEWTON HOWARD:

James Newton Howard is one of the film industry’s most versatile and honored composers, with a career spanning over thirty-five years and encompassing more than 140 film and television projects. He is a nine-time Oscar nominee, and Emmy and Grammy winner. Howard has also been honored with ASCAP’s prestigious Henry Mancini Award for Lifetime Achievement and the BMI ICON Award.

As a record producer, arranger, and songwriter, he has collaborated with some of pop’s biggest names, including Elton John; Crosby, Stills & Nash; Barbra Streisand; Earth, Wind and Fire; Bob Seger; Rod Stewart; Toto; Glenn Frey; Diana Ross; Carly Simon; Olivia Newton-John; Randy Newman; Rickie Lee Jones; and Chaka Khan.

In 1985, he was offered his first film, “Head Office,” and he quickly knew he had found his calling. He has since created the scores for a broad range of films, recently including “Jungle Cruise,” “News of the World,” “Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald,” “The Nutcracker and the Four Realms,” “Red Sparrow,” “Roman J. Israel, Esq.,” “Detroit,” “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,” all four installments of “The Hunger Games” franchise, “Concussion,” “Nightcrawler” and “Maleficent.” His long list of credits also includes “Snow White and the Huntsman,” “The Bourne Legacy,” “Salt,” “Water For Elephants,” “Batman Begins,” “Collateral,” “Snow Falling on Cedars,” “Outbreak,” “The Village,” “Hidalgo,” “Peter Pan,” “Wyatt Earp,” “Lady in the Water,” “The Sixth Sense,” “Unbreakable,” “Freedomland,” “Dinosaur,” “Treasure Planet,” “Signs,” “Falling Down,” “Primal Fear,” “Glengarry Glen Ross,” “Waterworld,” “The Devil’s Advocate,” “Dave” and “Pretty Woman,” among many others.

In 2017, Howard completed his first live concert tour, 3 Decades of Music for Hollywood, visiting 15 European cities, with the premiere being held at Royal Albert Hall.

In addition to his contributions to film and television music, Howard has written a number of concert works. He has written two pieces for the Pacific Symphony: “I Would Plant a Tree,” which debuted in 2009; and his “Concerto for Violin and Orchestra,” which premiered in 2015, featuring renowned violinist James Ehnes. He was also commissioned to write one of the encores for Hilary Hahn’s collection, 27 Pieces: The Hilary Hahn Encores, entitled “133 . . . At Least.” His chamber work entitled “they have just arrived at this new level” was commissioned and premiered in 2018 by the Seattle Chamber Music Society, of which James Ehnes is principal violinist and artistic director. Most recently, his “Concerto for Cello and Orchestra” was premiered with the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra.

ABOUT WATERTOWER MUSIC:

WaterTower Music, the in-house label for the WarnerMedia companies, releases recorded music as rich and diverse as the companies themselves. It has been the soundtrack home to many of the world’s most iconic films, television shows and games since 2001.

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Review: "THE KING'S MAN" is the Best "Kingsman" Yet

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 23 of 2022 (No. 1835) by Leroy Douresseaux

The King's Man (2021)
Running time: 131 minutes (2 hours, 11 minutes)
MPA – R for sequences of strong/bloody violence, language, and some sexual material
DIRECTOR:  Matthew Vaughn
WRITERS:  Matthew Vaughn and Karl Gajdusek; from a story by Matthew Vaughn (based on on the comic book, The Secret Service, by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons)
PRODUCERS:  Adam Bohling, David Reid, and Matthew Vaughn
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Ben Davis (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Jason Ballantine and Rob Hall
COMPOSERS:  Dominic Lewis and Matthew Margeson

FANTASY/ACTION/SPY/WAR with some elements of comedy

Starring:  Ralph Fiennes, Gemma Arterton, Djimon Hounsou, Rhys Ifans, Harris Dickinson, Matthew Goode, Tom Hollander, Daniel Brühl, Charles Dance, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Stanley Tucci

The King's Man is a 2021 spy and action movie and war drama from director Matthew Vaughn.  It is the third film in the Kingsman film series, and it is a “prequel” to the previous two films, Kingsman: The Secret Service (2015) and Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017).  All three films are based on characters and elements from the 2012 comic book miniseries, The Secret Service, by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons.  The King's Man focuses on an aristocrat and his spy network as they try to stop a plot to pit the British, German, and Russian empires against each other in a war that will wipe out millions of lives.

The King's Man introduces British aristocrat Orlando, Duke of Oxford (Ralph Fiennes).  In 1914, Orlando has formed a private spy network consisting of domestic servants employed by the world's most powerful dignitaries.  His own servants, his butler, Shola (Djimon Hounsou), and his maid/nanny, Polly Watkins (Gemma Arterton), are his closest aides and confidants.  The primary objective of Orlando's network is to protect the United Kingdom and the British Empire from the conflagration of the approaching “Great War.”

Orlando's only son, Conrad (Harris Dickinson), is eager to fight, but Orlando forbids him from joining the British Army and uses his connections to keep him from entering service.  Besides, there are other things to keep father, son, and the spy network busy.  Orlando's friend, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand (Ron Cook), and his wife are assassinated.  Orlando learns that the assassin is part of “The Flock,” a group plotting to pit the German, Russian, and British empires against each other in the Great War.

Orlando and his network then engage in a series of adventures to foil the Flock's plans, that includes killing Grigori Rasputin (Rhys Ifans), the priest and mystic who serves the Flock's mysterious leader, “The Shepherd.”  As his personal physician, Rasputin practically controls Tsar Nicholas (Tom Hollander) of Russia.  And if Nicholas does as Rasputin wants, Great Britain may be doomed.  Can Orlando and his network stop The Shepherd and save the British Empire?  And will Conrad remain with his father's network or will he force his way into military service in a war in which young men like him are dying by the thousands?

The King's Man is easily the best of the Kingsman series, thus far.  The villain, “The Shepherd,” is ridiculous, but his motivations will make more sense and is more likely to appeal to British audiences.  For me, The Shepherd is what keeps The King's Man from being a truly great film.

The film's remix of the history of the “Great War” (World War I) seems inappropriate, but the film's inclusion of WWI is what makes it stand out from other films based on comic books.  In fact, The King's Man is grounded in a darker take on that war than another comic book movie, Wonder Woman (2017), which is also largely set during the first World War.  In a way, The King's Man seems like a salute to the men who served and the ones who died in the muck and mud of Europe during “the war to end all wars.”

Ralph Fiennes brings a touch of class and some serious dramatic chops to this film.  It seems as if director Matthew Vaughn and his co-writer, Karl Gajdusek, take this film more seriously than Vaughn did with the previous two films, which were action-spy movies with a strong comic overtone.  The King's Man is a war drama, spy serial, and action-thriller, and Fiennes, as Orlando, the Duke of Oxford, sells this film's seriousness.

Gemma Arterton and Djimon Hounsou are also quite good as Orlando's top lieutenants, Polly and Shola, respectively.  As Rasputin, Rhys Ifans offers a performance that is off-beat, over-the-top, and colorful.  Tom Hollander, with the help of the make-up and hairstyling crew of The King's Man, is credible in three roles, but makes his most potent turn as Britain's King George.  Harris Dickinson as Orlando's son, Conrad, gives the film's most hot-blooded and nuanced performance.

The best way I can describe The King's Man is as being like a serial adventure.  The film's plot is comprised of multiple missions and subplots, which keeps the film's narrative hopping.  The film moves fast, fast enough to keep audiences from focusing on the film's inconsistencies and flaws in logic, but also fast enough to make the story seem like a non-stop, breathtaking adventure.  Like Matthew Vaughn himself, I want to see a fourth film in the series, one that focuses on the characters that make it to the end of this film and on their first decade as the “Kingsman.”  I highly recommend The King's Man to audiences that have watched either of the first two films or both.  They were really a build up to the best of their lot, The King's Man.

7 of 10
A-

Thursday, April 14, 2022


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Review: "KINGSMAN: The Golden Circle" Improves on the First Film

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 22 of 2022 (No. 1834) by Leroy Douresseaux

Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017)
Running time: 141 minutes (2 hours, 21 minutes)
MPAA – R for sequences of strong violence, drug content, language throughout and some sexual content
DIRECTOR:  Matthew Vaughn
WRITERS:  Jane Goldman and Matthew Vaughn (based on on the comic book, The Secret Service, by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons)
PRODUCERS:  Adam Bohling, David Reid, and Matthew Vaughn
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  George Richmond (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Eddie Hamilton
COMPOSERS:  Henry Jackman and Matthew Margeson

COMEDY/ACTION/SPY/SCI-FI

Starring:  Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Julianne Moore, Mark Strong, Halle Berry, Pedro Pascal, Channing Tatum, Jeff Bridges, Edward Holcroft, Hanna Alström, Calvin Demba, Thomas Turgoose, Tobi Bakare, Bruce Greenwood, Emily Watson, Elton John, Sophie Cookson, and Michael Gambon

Kingsman: The Golden Circle is a 2017 spy movie and action-comedy from director Matthew Vaughn.  It is a direct sequel to the 2015 film, Kingsman: The Secret Service.  Both films are based on characters and elements from the 2012 comic book, The Secret Service, by Mark Millar and Dave Gibbons.  The Golden Circle focuses on two elite secret organizations that must band together to defeat a common enemy that is holding the world hostage.

Kingsman: The Golden Circle opens a year after Gary “Eggsy” Unwin (Taron Egerton) defeated and killed the diabolical Internet billionaire, Richmond Valentine.  Eggsy has officially joined the independent intelligence agency, Kingsman, and has taken his late mentor. Harry Hart's (Colin Firth) position as agent “Galahad.”  Eggsy is also dating Tilde (Hanna Alström), Crown Princess of Sweden, whom he saved from Valentine.

One night in London, Eggsy is ambushed by Charlie Hesketh (Edward Holcroft), a rejected Kingsman applicant.  Eggsy defeats Charlie, who escapes.  However, Charlie has a new employer, a mysterious organization known as “The Golden Circle.”  Its leader, Poppy Adams (Julianne Moore), the world's largest manufacturer and distributor of illegal drugs and narcotics, launches an attack against the Kingsman that leaves the agency devastated.  The survivors, Eggsy and Merlin (Mark Strong), make contact with “Statesman,” the American counterpart of Kingsman, which uses a Kentucky-based bourbon whiskey business as a front.  [The Kingsman's front is as a Savile Row tailor.]

With the help of the Statesman, Agent Whiskey (Pedro Pascal) and Ginger Ale (Halle Berry), Eggsy tries to stop Poppy Adams' plot to use a toxin in the drugs and narcotics she sells to hold the world for ransom.  She wants her demands met or she will withhold an antidote to the toxin, which means hundreds of millions of people will die.  In order to stop her, Eggsy will have to face many challenges … and a number of surprising reveals.

I enjoyed Kingsman: The Secret Service quite a bit, but it was mostly a substance-free past-time.  As much as I enjoyed the film, I had mostly forgotten about it a few hours after seeing it.  Kingsman: The Golden Circle isn't quite as substance-free as its predecessor.  The bonds and obligations of friendship and love weigh on the characters, especially Eggsy.  He can no longer just live for the job, not when there is a serious relationship commitment in front of him.

I found some of the Statesman characters to be either superfluous or simply boring, with the exception of Halle Berry's Ginger Ale.  I am a longtime fan of Berry's, and she makes the casually smart and calm Ginger an endearing character.  Elton John also makes a surprising and shocking turn as something of a fun and offbeat action hero.

The film also has a wacky-ass and fun soundtrack.  It uses John Denver's 1971 hit, “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” including a poignant version sung by Mark Strong's Merlin.  There are a few Elton John hits, of course, some performed in the film by Elton.  The best song on the soundtrack may be a funky, country rock version of Cameo's “Word Up” by the German musical act “The BossHoss.”

Taron Egerton as Eggsy has star appeal and leading man quality, which is a surprise to me.  I wish the film had given some of the narrative time devoted to the Statesman characters back to Eggsy.  Egerton takes the Kingsman film franchise to the next level.  Kingsman: The Golden Circle is an improvement over the original film, enough of an improvement that I hope to see another sequel.

7 of 10
B+

Wednesday, February 16, 2022


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Comics Review: A TOWN CALLED TERROR #1

A TOWN CALLED TERROR #1
IMAGE COMICS

STORY: Steve Niles
ART: Szymon Kudranski
COLORS: Szymon Kudranski
LETTERS: Scott O. Brown with Marshall Dillon
COVER: Szymon Kudranski
VARIANT COVER ARTIST: Tony S. Daniel
28pp, Colors, 3.99 U.S.(April 2022)

Rated “M/Mature”

A Town Called Terror” created by Steve Niles and Szymon Kudranski

Part 1: “A Message from Home”

A Town Called Terror is a new comic book series from writer Steve Niles and artist-colorist Szymon Kudranski.  The series blends the genres of crime and horror fiction.  Letterer Scott O. Brown completes the creative team.

A Town Called Terror #1 (“A Message from Home”) welcomes you to a town called “Terror,” population 1300.  A great man has just come back from the dead – apparently not for the first time.  Meanwhile, Henry West is enjoying some post-coital cuddling with his wife, Julie, when men break into the house, drug Julie, and kidnap Henry.

In the days that follow, Julie is unable to get help for her missing husband.  All evidence, or lack thereof, indicates a phantom crime.  But Henry knows where he is...

THE LOWDOWN:  Steve Niles may be the most famous modern writer of horror comic books in North America.  Artist Szymon Kudranski has been plying his trade on the dark side of comics with stints on Marvel Comics' The Punisher and on Spawn and Nita Hawes NIGHTMARE Blog from Image Comics.

Niles presents an interesting scenario, a town for monsters and freaks, which is not necessarily a new idea.  At least two of Dynamite Entertainment's recent Vampirella comic books series deal with something similar.  Apparently, Niles is bringing organized crime and crime fiction to the world of horror, and that is where it gets interesting.

The major treat here is Kudranski's beautiful art, which is part film-noir and part EC Comics.  His still images are the graphics of luscious blacks and creepy, silky shadows.  Flickering lights on wan faces and the criss-cross, interplay of light and dark and black and white instantly transports the reader to a town called Terror, and to corrupt law enforcement, and even to a happy marriage.

Yes, Kudranski takes you there, dear readers, a scary world where you will want to be for awhile.  Now, we just have to wait for the story to kick in, and, if it does, I think I should be in Terror … for at least awhile.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Steve Niles, Szymon Kudranski, and horror comic books will to try A Town Called Terror.

A-

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


https://www.steveniles.com/
https://twitter.com/SteveNiles
https://twitter.com/mrmarkmillar
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Comics Review: "Nita Hawes' NIGHTMARE Blog #6": You've Got Another Thing Coming

NITA HAWES' NIGHTMARE BLOG #6
IMAGE COMICS

STORY: Rodney Barnes
ART: Szymon Kudranski
COLORS: Luis Nct with mar and Silvestre Galotto
LETTERS: Marshall Dillon
EDITOR: Greg Tumbarello
COVER: well-BEE
VARIANT COVER ARTIST: Jason Shawn Alexander
28pp, Colors, 3.99 U.S. (April 2022)

Rated “M/ Mature”

Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog created by Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander

“The Fire Next Time” Part VI: “Revelations”

Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog is a comic book series created by Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander.  Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog is written by Barnes.  It has been drawn by the artists Jason Shawn Alexander, well-BEE, and Patrick Reynolds, with Szymon Kudranski being the current artist.  Colorist Luis Nct and letterer by Marshall Dillon complete the creative team.  The series focuses on a woman who is on a quest to root out the evil in her city.

In Baltimore, Maryland, which some call “Bodymore, Murderland,” there is a woman named Dawnita “Nita” Hawes.  She is the owner of “Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog” where citizens can contact Nita when they have a problem of a supernatural or paranormal nature.  Nita has just begun her quest to root the evil out of her city – with the help of her dead brother, Jason.

As Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog #6 (“Revelations”) opens, Jason chats with Anansi the Spider-God, about his life and about Nita.  Her first case is a hot mess, and Hell is threatening to spill over into the land of the living.  Now, Jason and Anansi must travel to Hell to free Nita from the one of the four demon kings, Corson, who snatched her soul from her body.  Now, he won't let go, but maybe it isn't necessarily Corson's power that is keeping her in Perdition.

Meanwhile, an elderly, wheel-chair bound Steve Carpenter waits in his mansion for a visit from the man he and his late business partner, Harry Boartfield, screwed over.  That would be one “Howlin'” Henry Hawkins, legendary blues singer and currently possessed by Corson.  Can Nita free her ass in time to save Carpenter's old white ass?

THE LOWDOWN:  Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog is a spin-off of Rodney Barnes and Jason Shawn Alexander's hit vampire comic book, Killadelphia.  Nita's connections to the series play a substantial part in this opening story arc, “The Fire Next Time,” which has now come to an end.

As dark as this series has been, writer Rodney Barnes has found time for humor, and this sixth issue shows that the supernatural are willing to talk shit to one another even with all Hell on the line.  In a strange way, it makes the threat of danger more dangerous or more threatening.  This is another reason why Nita reminds me of John Constantine and his dark fantasy and multitude of moods series, Hellblazer.  However, thus far, Barnes does not make Nita all-powerful, and it seems that he will grow the character before our very eyes.  What is she really and who or what will she be?

Artist Szymon Kudranski offers a mix of graphical storytelling styles – from clean line work and a smooth brushstroke to jarring and pitch-black compositions for the panels in Hell and from Hell.  Kudranski captures the series' signature – hope and damnation – and he conveys the right moods for a story arc that has an ending and also lingering elements and plot lines.

So, wow!  What a ride.  The series takes a quick break, which gives you, dear readers, a chance to read this first case in Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Killadelphia and of the original Hellblazer will want Nita Hawes' Nightmare Blog.

A+

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


https://twitter.com/TheRodneyBarnes
https://twitter.com/jasonshawnalex
https://twitter.com/luisnct
https://twitter.com/MarshallDillon
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http://rodneybarnes.com/
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#Comics Review: FARMHAND #16

FARMHAND #16
IMAGE COMICS

STORY: Rob Guillory
ART: Rob Guillory
COLORS: Jean-Francois Beaulieu
LETTERS: Kody Chamberlain
GRAPHIC DESIGN: Burt Durand
COVER: Rob Guillory
32pp, Colors, 3.99 U.S.(April 2022)

Rated “M/ Mature”

Farmhand created by Rob Guillory

Chapter 16: “Fallow Earth”

Farmhand is a dark fantasy comic book series from comic book creator, Rob Guillory.  Guillory is also known for his award-winning tenure on the long-running comic book, Chew (Image Comics), with writer John Layman.  Farmhand is written and illustrated by Guillory; lettered by Kody Chamberlain (who also designed the Farmhand logo); and currently colored by Jean-Francois Beaulieu.

Farmhand sees Ezekiel “Zeke” Jenkins, a graphic designer and illustrator, return to his hometown of Freetown, Louisiana with his wife, Mae, and their children, Abigail and Riley.  Zeke's father, Jedidiah “Jed” Jenkins, and sister, Andrea (“Andy”), own and operate “Jenkins Family Farmaceutical Institute.”  Using stem cell biotechnology, the “farm” grows plant-based replacement human organs and tissue.  Once upon a time, transplant recipients saw this as a miracle.  Now, Zeke and the rest of the world see the miracle as a curse.

Farmhand #16 (“Fallow Earth”) opens with a once upon a time – a flashback to when Jedidiah first staked his claim, had his vision, created a miracle, and first watched it turn into an abomination.  Now, his ex-partner, Monica Thorne, is a demon who rules the world … perhaps.

She is certainly the power in what is left of Freetown and its inhabitants.  Everyone is infected with the “Jedidiah seed,” the transgenic seed that combines human and plant DNA to produce human organs capable of being grafted onto patients.  In addition, the Jenkins are also infected with family dysfunction, as Abigail finds herself caught in the cold war between her father and grandfather.  Happily, there is sanctuary … for now.

THE LOWDOWN:  It is exactly two years since Farmhand #15 arrived in comic book shops – just as the world was going into pandemic mode  I had not forgotten about Farmhand, but I had forgotten how much I really liked it.  This is a really and truly great comic book series.

For a long time, I thought of Farmhand as a kind of mix of the original version of “The Twilight Zone” television series and of Stephen King's dark fantasy fiction.  However, Farmhand has both grown and evolved, and while it retains the touches of Rod Serling and of King, it has become something else.  I won't call it dystopian or apocalyptic fiction, although there are elements of both.

It is metaphorical and allegorical, and I see that in Jed Jenkins, who has some Biblical level anger.  Still, for the first time, I really identify with him.  Like many Black men of a particular time, he has some scores to settle with the Jim Crow society a.k.a. American apartheid.  His fall begins when his struggle becomes narcissism and revenge.

Like King, Rob Guillory has fashioned a great man vs. evil struggle without losing the human drama.  Zeke, Jed, and the rest of the Jenkins got family problems, and Guillory won't let us escape them.  The characters' personalities, motivations, and conflicts read as genuine.  Farmhand is more than mere genre fiction because Rob's imagination gives his readers both an incalculable crypto-zoography and characters whose humanity rings as authentic and meaningful.

It is good to be down on the farm again.  I hope you give Farmhand a try, dear readers.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of dark fantasy fiction of great comic books will want to be a Farmhand.

A+

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


https://robguillory.com/
https://www.instagram.com/rob_guillory/
https://twitter.com/ImageComics
https://imagecomics.com/
http://rodneybarnes.com/
https://www.instagram.com/imagecomics/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Image-Comics-Inc/178643148813259
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Comics Review: "The Immortal RED SONJA #1" is a Killer First Issue

IMMORTAL RED SONJA #1
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

STORY: Dan Abnett
ARTIST: Alessandro Miracolo
COLORS: Ellie Wright
LETTERS: Jeff Eckleberry
EDITOR: Nate Cosby
COVER: David Nakayama
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Junggeun Yoon; Joseph Michael Linsner; Sean Izaakse; Jae Lee; Marat Mychaels; Dave Acosta; Dominic Glover; Ale Garza and Nathan Szerdy; Gus Mauk and Kevin Conrad; Stephanie Hans; Josh Burns; Celina; Edu Souza; Sara Frazetta and Holly Frazetta with Brian LeBlanc and Raymund Bermudez with Sebastian Cheng; Jamie Tyndall; Gracie the Cosplay Lass and Jim Donnelly
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (April 2022)

Rated Teen+

“The Last House”

Red Sonja is female high fantasy and sword and sorcery hero.  She first appeared in Conan the Barbarian #23 (cover dated February 1973) and was created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor-Smith.  Red Sonja was loosely based on “Red Sonya of Rogatino,” a female character that appeared in the 1934 short story, “The Shadow of the Vulture,” written by Conan the Cimmerian's creator, Robert E. Howard.

In 2005, Dynamite Entertainment began publishing comic books featuring differing versions of the character.  The latest is Immortal Red Sonja.  It is written by Dan Abnett; drawn by Alessandro Miracolo; colored by Ellie Wright; and lettered by Jeff Eckleberry.  The series is set in the Britain of legend and finds Red Sonja wearing cursed chain mail and forced to save a fallen kingdom.

As Immortal Red Sonja #1 (The Last House) opens, Red Sonja is a weary traveler, riding her horse in the rain and seemingly talking to herself.  She arrives at a lonely place, seeking shelter, a roof, and a fire.  Lott, the master of this place called “The Last House,” offers that and food, but for a price.  Lott's price is a story, so Sonja tells him how she became a “She-Devil.”  But there is more to the Last House, to Lott, and to Sonja's story.  Her life and the fate of a lost kingdom rely on the whole story.

THE LOWDOWN:  In July 2021, Dynamite Entertainment's marketing department began providing me with PDF review copies of some of their titles.  One of them is Immortal Red Sonja #1, which is one of many, many Dynamite Red Sonja comic books that I have read.

I really don't want to spoil this first issue of Immortal Red Sonja, but as I write this review, I have just finished reading it.  As of now, I am calling it the best issue of a Dynamite Red Sonja comic book that I have ever read.  It may also be the best single Red Sonja comic book I have ever read.  Abnett's spin on the Arthurian legend is both imaginative and alluring.  He could run with this concept for years, and I'd probably be right behind him, trying to steal of glimpse of each issue before it arrives in stores.

Alessandro Miracolo's art and storytelling is mercurial and mystical.  He establishes an atmosphere of mystery that remains in place even when the story turns violent.  Miracolo seems to draw the vibe of magic and occultism into his very illustrations, but his Red Sonja is more practical and steady, less prone to blood lust.  Miracolo tells this story in a way that draws the reader in, and some, like me, may not want to leave.  Ellie Wright's potent colors and Jeff Eckleberry's precision lettering complete the effects of Miracolo's spell.

I highly recommend Immortal Red Sonja.  It is another Dynamite Red Sonja winner.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Red Sonja comic books must read Immortal Red Sonja.

[This comic book includes “Dynamite Dispatch,” which features an interview with writer Tom Sniegoski.]

A

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


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