Comic Books, Magazines and Books from Diamond Distributors for August 31, 2022

COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS

JUN221845 AGENT 9 GN VOL 01 MIND CONTROL (C: 0-1-0) $12.99

JUN221846 AGENT 9 HC GN VOL 01 MIND CONTROL (C: 0-1-0) $18.99

JUN221867 AGENT OF WORLDE #2 (OF 4) $4.99

JUN221722 ALLEY OOP IN WONDERLAND GN (C: 0-1-1) $19.99

JUL222295 ARIFURETA I HEART ISEKAI GN VOL 04 (RES) (C: 0-1-0) $12.99

JUN221136 BELIT & VALERIA #4 CVR A (MR) $3.99

JUN221137 BELIT & VALERIA #4 CVR B (MR) $3.99

JUN221138 BELIT & VALERIA #4 CVR C (MR) $3.99

JUN221139 BELIT & VALERIA #4 CVR D BUCHEMI HOMAGE (MR) $3.99

JUN221441 BEST SHOT IN THE WEST ADVENTURES OF NAT LOVE GN (C: 0-1-0) $9.99

MAR228800 BLACKGUARD GN VOL 04 (C: 0-1-1) $12.95

JUN221739 BLINK #2 CVR A SHERMAN $3.99

JUN221740 BLINK #2 CVR B WARD $3.99

MAR228054 BLUE LOCK GN VOL 02 (C: 1-1-1) $12.99

MAY211895 BOTTOM TIER BUREAUCRAT FOR 1500 YEARS GN VOL 02 (C: 0-1-2) $13.00

JUN221375 BROKEN SOULS BALLAD #3 HELL IS FOR KIDS $4.99

JUN222198 CELLS AT WORK CODE BLACK GN VOL 08 (RES) (C: 0-1-1) $12.99

JUN221152 CIH PRESENTS KURTZ VS KURTZ ONE SHOT (C: 0-1-2) $4.00

JUN221561 CLASSIFIED BLACK BOX CVR A LYLE (MR) $12.99

JUN221562 CLASSIFIED BLACK BOX CVR B SAPOLSKY (MR) $12.99

JUN221563 CLASSIFIED BLACK BOX CVR C SEVY (MR) $12.99

JUN221857 CONCRETE WORLD TP VOL 01 (C: 0-1-2) $25.00

JUN221758 CRADLE OF FILTH #2 CVR A CHRISTENSEN $6.66

JUN222087 DEADLOCK GN VOL 03 (MR) (C: 1-1-2) $14.95

JUL222292 DEATH MAGE SC NOVEL VOL 01 (C: 0-1-1) $14.95

JUN221332 DEVILS HIGHWAY VOL 2 #4 (OF 5) (MR) $3.99

JUL221487 DF BACK TO SCHOOL MULTIPUBLISHER STARTER SET (C: 0-1-2) $33.33

JUN221978 DOCTOR WHO ORIGINS #4 (OF 4) CVR A TAYLOR $3.99

JUN221979 DOCTOR WHO ORIGINS #4 (OF 4) CVR B PHOTO $3.99

JUN221980 DOCTOR WHO ORIGINS #4 (OF 4) CVR C SHEDD $3.99

JUN221188 DOGS OF LONDON #4 $3.99

JUN221221 DRAWING THE VOTE ILLUS GUIDE VOTING IN AMERICA GN (C: 0-1-1) $16.99

JUN221719 DREAMS FACTORY HC (C: 0-1-2) $24.99

MAY221337 ELECTRIC FRANKENSTEIN HC (C: 0-1-1) $74.99

JUN221725 ESSENTIAL DYKES TO WATCH OUT FOR SC NEW PTG (MR) (C: 0-1-0) $18.99

JAN228325 FANTASTIC FOUR FULL CIRCLE ALEX ROSS PX SLIPCASE ED $40.00

JUN221156 FANTASTIC FOUR FULL CIRCLE GN (C: 0-1-1) $24.99

MAR221545 FIVE LIVES OF HILMA AF KLINT GN (C: 0-1-1) $35.00

JUN221239 FLORIDA MAN #2 CVR A MARTINS $3.99

JUN221240 FLORIDA MAN #2 CVR B MCCLAIN JR $3.99

MAY229748 FLORIDA MAN #2 CVR C FLORIDA VAR $3.99

JUN221875 FOREVER FORWARD #1 (OF 5) CVR A JACOB PHILLIPS $4.99

JUN221876 FOREVER FORWARD #1 (OF 5) CVR B STEFANO SIMEONE $4.99

JUN221877 FOREVER FORWARD #1 (OF 5) CVR C JAHNOY LINDSAY $4.99

JUN221770 FRANK FRAZETTA DEATH DEALER #4 CVR A TURINI $4.99

JUN221771 FRANK FRAZETTA DEATH DEALER #4 CVR B FRAZETTA $4.99

JUN222069 GRIMM FAIRY TALES #63 CVR A VITORINO $3.99

JUN222070 GRIMM FAIRY TALES #63 CVR B FAJARDO $3.99

JUN222071 GRIMM FAIRY TALES #63 CVR C RON LEARY JR $3.99

JUN222072 GRIMM FAIRY TALES #63 CVR D GARVEY $3.99

AUG212353 HAGANAI I DONT HAVE MANY FRIENDS GN VOL 19 (RES) (MR) (C: 0- $13.99

JUN221938 JOHN CARPENTERS TALES OF SCIFI INTERFERENCE PATTERN #2 (MR) $3.99

JUN221333 JONESES #5 (OF 5) $3.99

JUN221403 KNIGHTS OF THE FIFTH DIMENSION #3 (OF 4) $3.99

JUN221470 LACEY & LILY MAGIC & MAYHEM GN (C: 0-1-2) $19.99

JUN221457 LADY DEATH BLASPHEMY ANTHEM #1 PREMIERE ED (MR) (C: 0-1-0) $25.00

JUN221456 LADY DEATH ENCHANTMENTS #1 PREMIERE ED (MR) $9.99

JUN221458 LADY DEATH SCORCHED EARTH #1 (OF 2) JONBOY MEYERS RAW ED (MR $25.00

JUN221459 LADY DEATH TREACHEROUS INFAMY #1 (OF 2) SPIDER DEATH DAMAGED $25.00

JUN221460 LADY DEATH TREACHEROUS INFAMY #2 (OF 2) RAW ED (MR) $25.00

JUN222140 LOST LAD LONDON GN VOL 02 (MR) (C: 0-1-2) $15.00

JUN222139 LOVE OF KILL GN VOL 09 (C: 0-1-2) $13.00

JUN221707 MAD CAVE STUDIOS LEGACY BATTLECATS #1 CVR A CAMELO $2.99

JUN221708 MAD CAVE STUDIOS LEGACY BATTLECATS #1 CVR B LONERGAN $2.99

JUN221709 MAD CAVE STUDIOS LEGACY NOTTINGHAM (MR) $2.99

JUN222131 MAGIA RECORD PUELLA MAGI MADOKA MAGICA ANOTHER GN VOL 01 (MR $13.00

MAY222149 MAME COORDINATE GN VOL 03 (C: 0-1-1) $13.99

JUN221917 MECHANIX #2 $3.99

JUN221881 MEGA CENTURIONS #2 (OF 5) $4.99

JUN222062 MYTHS & LEGENDS QUARTERLY WONDERLAND CVR A VITORINO $8.99

JUN222063 MYTHS & LEGENDS QUARTERLY WONDERLAND CVR B FAJARDO $8.99

JUN222064 MYTHS & LEGENDS QUARTERLY WONDERLAND CVR C KROME $8.99

JUN221847 NEVERLANDERS GN (C: 0-1-0) $16.99

JUN221848 NEVERLANDERS HC GN (C: 0-1-0) $22.99

JUN221371 NINJA KAIDAN #2 CVR A MEYER $3.99

JUN221372 NINJA KAIDAN #2 CVR B GAY $4.99

JUN221904 NOA NOT OTHERWISE AUTHORIZED #1 (MR) $3.99

JUN221710 NOTTINGHAM #10 (OF 10) CVR A VOLK & ROMANO (MR) $3.99

JUN221711 NOTTINGHAM #10 (OF 10) CVR B VOLK & ROMANO (MR) $3.99

JUN221905 OBLIVION TRIALS #3 (OF 4) (MR) $3.99

JUN221189 OCEAN WILL TAKE US #5 $3.99

JUN222135 OTHER WORLDS BOOKS DEPEND BEAN COUNTER GN VOL 02 (C: 0-1-2) $13.00

JUN221376 PENTAGRAM OF HORROR #4 CVR A FONTANILI $5.99

JUN221380 PLAYTHINGS #3 $4.99

MAY222117 PULSE GN VOL 01 (C: 0-1-1) $19.99

JUN221365 REDMAN #3 (OF 5) CVR A FRANK (MR) $3.99

JUN221366 REDMAN #3 (OF 5) CVR B PEREZ (MR) $3.99

JUN221367 REDMAN #3 (OF 5) CVR C FRANK (MR) $3.99

JUN221224 ROBONIC STOOGES STOOGE WARS #1 CVR A SHANOWER MAIN PARODY $3.99

JUN221225 ROBONIC STOOGES STOOGE WARS #1 CVR B PACHECO $4.99

JUN221226 ROBONIC STOOGES STOOGE WARS #1 CVR C CENTURY LTD ED $29.99

MAR228064 SOMETHINGS WRONG WITH US GN VOL 10 (C: 0-1-1) $12.99

MAY221330 STUD & THE BLOODBLADE #1 SIGNATURE SERIES ED (C: 0-1-2) $29.99

JUN221399 SULFUR WELLS #2 CVR A DANIEL PAGE (MR) $3.99

MAY221981 SWORD ART ONLINE GIRLS OPS GN VOL 08 (C: 0-1-2) $13.00

MAR211683 THIS IS WHERE WE FALL TP (MR) $19.99

JUN222153 TRINITY SEVEN 7 MAGICIANS GN VOL 26 (MR) (C: 0-1-2) $13.00

JUN221906 ULTRAMAX #4 (OF 4) (MR) $3.99

JUL222225 VAMPEERZ GN VOL 01 MY PEER VAMPIRES (RES) (C: 0-1-1) $12.95

MAY221221 VAMPIRE MACABRE HALLOWEEN SP ONE SHOT CVR B SGN (MR) (C: 0-1 $14.99

APR221391 VERY FINAL LAST GIRLS GN (C: 0-1-2) $24.99

JUN222044 WEST OF SUNDOWN #5 CVR A CAMPBELL $4.99

JUN222045 WEST OF SUNDOWN #5 CVR B TERRY $4.99

JUN222046 WEST OF SUNDOWN #5 CVR C SEELEY $4.99

JUN221288 WORLD OF BETTY & VERONICA JUMBO COMICS DIGEST #18 $8.99

MAY221858 WRASSLE CASTLE GN BOOK 03 $9.99

MAGAZINES

JUN221723 COMIC REVUE PRESENTS AUG 2022 (C: 0-1-1) $19.95

JUN221466 COMIC SHOP NEWS (100CT BUNDLE) #1828 (NET) $PI

MAY221455 MUTINY #3 CVR A WILLIAMS (MR) $15.00

MAY221456 MUTINY #3 CVR B PHAN (MR) $15.00

MAY221457 MUTINY #3 CVR C COCKER (MR) $15.00

MAY221458 MUTINY #3 CVR D LUCKY STAR LAVAUD (MR) $15.00

MAY221459 MUTINY #3 CVR E RENAUD (MR) $15.00

JUN222057 VAMPIRESS CARMILLA MAGAZINE #11 $5.95

BOOKS

JUN211591 HALFTONE HORROR HISTORY OF HORROR MOVIE COMICS HC (C: 0-1-1) $34.99

JUN222156 ISHURA LIGHT NOVEL VOL 02 (MR) (C: 0-1-2) $15.00

JUN221455 LADY DEATH EVEN MORE NAUGHTY ARTBOOK HC (MR) (C: 0-1-1) $45.00

APR221666 MOONSTONE TRIPLE LONE RANGER & DOMINO LADY PROSE SC (C: 0-1- $6.49

JUN222168 REIGN OF SEVEN SPELLBLADES LIGHT NOVEL SC VOL 06 $15.00

MAY221583 STAR TREK BABYS FIRST KLINGON WORDS BOARD BOOK (C: 0-1-0) $12.99

JAN221691 STAR WARS INSIDER PRESENTS MANDALORIAN SEASON ONE VOL 02 (C: $17.99

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DC Comics Shipping from Lunar Distributors for August 30, 2022

DC COMICS:

Batman ’89 HC, 24.99
Batman’s Mystery Casebook TP, 9.99
Brightest Day Omnibus HC (2022 Edition), 100.00
Dark Crisis On Infinite Earths #1 (Of 7)(2nd Printing Cover A Daniel Sampere), 5.99
Dark Crisis On Infinite Earths #1 (Of 7)(2nd Printing Cover B Daniel Sampere Foil Card Stock Variant), 6.99
Dark Crisis On Infinite Earths #2 (Of 7)(2nd Printing Cover A Daniel Sampere), 4.99
Dark Crisis On Infinite Earths #2 (Of 7)(2nd Printing Cover B Daniel Sampere Foil Card Stock Variant), 5.99
Dark Crisis On Infinite Earths #3 (Of 7)(2nd Printing Cover A Daniel Sampere), 4.99
Dark Crisis On Infinite Earths #3 (Of 7)(2nd Printing Cover B Daniel Sampere Foil Card Stock Variant), 5.99
DC Connect #28, AR
DC Saved By The Belle Reve #1 (One Shot)(Cover A Juni Ba), 9.99
DC Saved By The Belle Reve #1 (One Shot)(Cover B Riley Rossmo), 9.99
Flash 2022 Annual #1 (One Shot), 5.99
Harley Quinn 2022 Annual #1 (One Shot)(Cover A Jonboy Meyers), $5.99
Harley Quinn 2022 Annual #1 (One Shot)(Cover B Nathan Szerdy Card Stock Variant), $6.99
Harley Quinn 2022 Annual #1 (One Shot)(Cover C Jim Lee & Ryan Sook Homage Card Stock Variant), $6.99
Harley Quinn 2022 Annual #1 (One Shot)(Cover D Carmine Di Giandomenico Card Stock Variant), AR
Harley Quinn The Animated Series The Real Sidekicks Of New Gotham Special #1 (One Shot)(Cover A Max Sarin), $9.99
Harley Quinn The Animated Series The Real Sidekicks Of New Gotham Special #1 (One Shot)(Cover B Dan Hipp), $9.99
Harley Quinn The Animated Series The Real Sidekicks Of New Gotham Special #1 (One Shot)(Cover C Sergio Acuna), AR
Harley Quinn The Animated Series Volume 1 The Eat Bang Kill Tour HC, $24.99
Joker Volume 2 HC, $24.99
Sandman Universe Nightmare Country #5 (Cover A Reiko Murakami), $3.99
Sandman Universe Nightmare Country #5 (Cover B Aaron Campbell Card Stock Variant), $4.99
Sandman Universe Nightmare Country #5 (Cover C Sam Wolfe Connelly Card Stock Variant), AR
Superman Warworld Apocalypse #1 (One Shot)(Cover A Steve Beach), $6.99
Superman Warworld Apocalypse #1 (One Shot)(Cover B Mario Fox Foccillo Card Stock Variant), $7.99
Superman Warworld Apocalypse #1 (One Shot)(Cover C Steve Beach Distressed Card Stock Variant), $7.99
Superman Warworld Apocalypse #1 (One Shot)(Cover D Mikel Janin Foil Card Stock Variant), AR
Wonder Girl 2022 Annual #1 (One Shot)(Cover A Joelle Jones), $5.99
Wonder Girl 2022 Annual #1 (One Shot)(Cover B Chris Wildgoose Card Stock Variant), $6.99
Wonder Girl 2022 Annual #1 (One Shot)(Cover C W. Scott Forbes Card Stock Variant), AR

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Review: "JURASSIC WORLD: Dominion" Ends Trilogy with its Best Film

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 50 of 2022 (No. 1862) by Leroy Douresseaux

Jurassic World: Dominion (2022)
Running time: 147 minutes (2 hours, 27 minutes)
MPA – PG-13 for intense sequences of action, some violence and language
DIRECTOR:  Colin Trevorrow
WRITERS:  Colin Trevorrow and Emily Carmichael; from a story by Colin Trevorrow and Derek Connolly (based on characters created by Michael Crichton)
PRODUCERS:  Patrick Crowley and Frank Marshall
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  John Schwartzman (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Mark Sanger
COMPOSER:  Michael Giacchino

SCI-FI/ACTION/ADVENTURE/THRILLER

Starring:  Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Laura Dern, Sam Neill, Jeff Goldblum, DeWanda Wise, Mamoudou Athie, Isabella Sermon, Campbell Scott, Justice Smith, Daniella Pineda, Omar Sy, Scott Haze, Dichen Lachman, and B.D. Wong

Jurassic World: Dominion is a 2022 science fiction and action-adventure and dinosaur film from director Colin Trevorrow.  It is the direct sequel to Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom (2018) and the final film in a trilogy that began with the 2015 film, Jurassic World.  Dominion also ties up the story line that began with the 1993 film, Jurassic Park.  Dominion focuses on the heroes of two film trilogies as they try to stop a corporation's genetic experiments from endangering the world.

Jurassic World: Dominion opens three decades after the events depicted in Jurassic Park and four years after the cataclysmic volcanic eruption on Isla Nublar and the incidents at Lockwood Estate (as seen in Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom).  Dinosaurs, no longer extinct, freely roam the Earth, causing ecological problems and the deaths of numerous humans – 37 in just the past year.  International corporation, Biosyn Genetics, has won the sole rights to collect dinosaurs, and it has created a dinosaur sanctuary in the Dolomite Mountains of Italy.

Meanwhile, Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) and Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard), former employees of the disastrous “Jurassic World” theme park, are still working to protect dinosaurs.  Claire works with a dinosaur protection organization and investigates illegal dinosaur breeding sites.  Owen works as a wrangler, relocating stray dinosaurs.  They live together in a remote cabin in the Sierra Nevada Mountains where they secretly raise 14-year-old Maisie Lockwood (Isabella Sermon), the granddaughter of the late Benjamin Lockwood and the granddaughter who turned out to a clone of Benjamin's late daughter, Charlotte Lockwood.  Living nearby is Blue, one of the Velociraptors (raptors) that Owen once trained at Jurassic World.  She is a mother, having given birth to a baby raptor that Owen named “Beta.”

It turns out that Lewis Dodgson (Campbell Scott), the CEO and owner of Biosyn, wants to possess both Maisie and Beta for the goldmine of information that their genes are.  Meanwhile, the original Jurassic heroes:  paleobotanist, Dr. Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern); paleontologist, Dr. Alan Grant (Sam Neill); and chaos theorist, Dr. Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), are also investigating Biosyn's dark plans.  But can they infiltrate Biosyn and avoid a hoard of hungry dinosaurs?

A few months ago, I read a review of Jurassic World: Dominion in which the reviewer said that the presence of the star trio of Jurassic Park:  Ellie, Alan, and Ian, diminished the presence of Jurassic World's star couple, Claire and Owen.  I disagree.  Actually, Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard make the most of every minute in which their characters are on screen.  In fact, I believe that the film is more about Claire and Owen than it is about Ellie, Alan, and Ian, although they are a huge part of the film's narrative.  I see the union of Jurassic Park's biggest characters and Jurassic World's biggest as the best of both worlds.  Frankly, this union should have happened in the first Jurassic World film.

In addition to the stars, Dominion sees the return of previous franchise supporting characters.  Omar Sy returns as Barry Sembene, Owen's fellow animal trainer from Jurassic World.  BD Wong's Dr. Henry Wu only appeared in the original Jurassic Park, but has appeared in all three Jurassic World films.  Dominion offers Henry a chance at redemption.  Dominion also offers two killer new characters, DeWanda Wise's Kayla Watts, a pilot who could be straight out of yesteryear's adventure serials – except Black women were not pulp fiction heroes.  Mamoudou Athie is espionage-cool as Ramsay Cole, the head of communications at Biosyn Genetics.

However, Jurassic World: Dominion is not really about stories or characters.  Yes, there is a lot going on; the movie is essentially a … park full of subplots, all around a basic (thin) plot – which is to stop Biosyn.  Dominion is really a science fiction action-adventure movie filled with action scenes.  There must be about twenty or so action set pieces:  a race to escape illegal breeders; a stop the poachers fight; run away from the giant, killer locusts; and running away from the dinosaurs in the forest, on a frozen pond, in plane, in a cave, etc.

And it all works.  The cast, director, writers, and crew of editors, sound, cameras, stunts, visual effects, assistants and everyone else.  They all come together to make a thrill machine of a movie with action scenes that keep the viewer too occupied to notice the lapses in logic and common sense.

In the first trilogy, the films that followed Jurassic Park were inferior to it.  In the Jurassic World trilogy, the final film is the best of the lot.  Bringing in so many characters from previous films is a good idea.  Putting them in a series of well-staged action scenes is another good idea.  Giving us a happy ending full of happy endings and heartwarming resolutions is an even better idea.  Jurassic World: Dominion is not a great film, but it is a very satisfying conclusion to what started back in 1993, when Jurassic Park made us believe that its dinosaurs were real.

7 of 10
B+
★★★½ out of 4 stars

Saturday, August 27, 2022


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this site or blog for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Comics Review: "PANTHA Volume 2 #4" Walks Like a Panther

PANTHA VOLUME 2 #4
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

STORY: Thomas Sniegoski and Jeannine Acheson
ART: Daniel Maine; Igor Lima
COLORS: Adriano Augusto
LETTERS: Dezi Sienty
COVER: Giuseppe Matteoni
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (August 2022)

Rated Teen+

“Oh, Woe is Us!”

A Dynamite Entertainment, Pantha first appeared in Vampirella #30 (cover date: January 1974).  She is an ancient Egyptian queen who was cursed by the goddess of war and rage, Sekhmet, because of the murders she committed.  Pantha must walk the world forever, trapped between the forms of human and panther.  She will never know home or peace, burdened by the fury of a goddess and the rage of the innocents she ordered slain.

Pantha, like Vampirella, is now belongs to Dynamite Entertainment, which gave the character her own six-issue miniseries in 2012.  Pantha returns in a new comic book series, entitled Pantha Volume 2.  It is written by Thomas Sniegoski and Jeannine Acheson; drawn by Igor Lima and Daniel Maine; colored by Adriano Augusto; and lettered by Dezi Sienty, Carlos  M. Mangual, and Taylor Esposito.  In this new series, Pantha/Maatkar Samira must save the Egyptian pantheon from a mysterious adversary that is older than the gods and wants the gods' power.

Pantha Volume 2 #4 (“Oh, Woe is Us!”) opens in Cairo, Egypt – the present day.  There, the primordial god, Atum, lives as the humble artisan, Ahmed.  Now, one of his oldest creations has come calling for him.

Meanwhile, Pantha and Nick have escaped to the safe house of “The Mortalists,” a place known as “The House of Woe.”  Injured, Pantha needs some medical attention, and she will get it here.  However, their host at the House of Woe, Ba-Pef, is living foul.  Is he the traitor in their midst?  Is he one of their own, someone who will use their greatest fears against them as they prepare to face the so-called god-eater, Ta-Nakht.   

THE LOWDOWN:  Since July 2021, Dynamite Entertainment's marketing department has been providing me with PDF review copies of some of their titles.  One of them is Pantha Volume 2 #4, which is only the fourth Pantha comic book that I have read.

With Pantha Volume 2, writers Thomas Sniegoski and Jeannine Acheson are killing it.  Have I said that before?  If I have, that is because it is true.  Pantha is a wonderful dark fantasy-thriller full of eccentric heroes and monstrous adversaries.

Artists Daniel Maine and Igor Lima give Pantha #4 a look that reminds me of Neil Gaiman's beloved comic book series, The Sandman.  It featured many wonderful artists creating a world of shifting shadows.  Here, Maine makes the action expand the scope of the darkness.

I'll repeat what I said in my reviews of the first three issues.  Don't walk.  Don't run.  Drive like a maniac (without causing an automobile accident) to your local comic shop and get Pantha Volume 2 #4.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Dynamite's dark fantasy titles will want to read Pantha Volume 2.

A

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


https://twitter.com/DynamiteComics
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The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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

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Comics Review: "SAMURAI SONJA #3"

SAMURAI SONJA VOLUME 1 #3
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

STORY: Jordan Clark
ART: Miriana Puglia
COLORS: Kike J. Diaz
LETTERS: Jeff Eckleberry
EDITOR: Nate Cosby
COVER: Clayton Henry
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (July 2022)

Rated Teen+

Based on the characters and stories created by Roy Thomas, Barry Windsor-Smith, and Robert E. Howard

Conan the Barbarian #23 (cover dated: February 1973) saw the debut of a high fantasy, sword and sorcery heroine, Red Sonja.  Created by writer Roy Thomas and artist Barry Windsor-Smith, Red Sonja was loosely based on “Red Sonya of Rogatino,” a female character that appeared in the 1934 short story, “The Shadow of the Vulture,” written by Robert E. Howard (1906-1936), the creator of the character, Conan the Cimmerian.

Dynamite Entertainment is now the publisher of Red Sonja comic books, and it publishes a number of titles featuring alternate versions of the character.  The latest is Samurai Sonja, Volume 1.  It is written by Jordan Clark; drawn by Pasquale Qualano and Miriana Puglia; colored by Kike J. Diaz; and lettered by Jeff Eckleberry.  This series is set in feudal Japan and introduces a brand new Sonja, a samurai serving a sea goddess in order to slay an oni shogun – with her life and family name on the line.

Samurai Sonja, Volume 1 #3 opens in the Sengoku period of Japan.  Sonja's journey to the fortress where she will confront the demon lord, Shuten Doji, brings her to a vast bridge.  It is guarded by a terrible and humongous oni.  Now, Sonja must use the lessons of the sword that she has learned if she is to defeat this three-eyed oni giant.

THE LOWDOWN:   Since July 2021, the marketing department of Dynamite Entertainment has been providing me with PDF review copies of some of their titles.  One of them is Samurai Sonja, Volume 1 #3, one of many Red Sonja-related comic books that I have read.

Writer Jordan Clark is taking the time to write an epic comic book that not only respects the publishing history of Red Sonja the comic book character, but also explores the possibilities of a character that turns out to be filled to the brim with possibilities.  I imagine that Samurai Sonja is meant to be short-lived, but I think Clark could run this on as long as some classic manga series.  Samurai Sonja is another Red Sonja comic book winner.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Red Sonja will want to read Samurai Sonja, Volume 1.

A-

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


https://twitter.com/DynamiteComics
https://www.dynamite.com/htmlfiles/
https://www.facebook.com/DynamiteComics/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNOH4PEsl8dyZ2Tj7XUlY7w
https://www.linkedin.com/company/dynamite-entertainment


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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

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

Comics Review: "Nyx #9" is an Excellent Ninth Issue

NYX #9
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

STORY: Christos Gage
ART: Marc Borstel
COLORS: Jordi Escuin Llorach
LETTERS: Taylor Esposito
EDITOR: Matt Idelson
COVER: Giuseppe Matteoni
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (August 2022)

Rated T+

Nyx created by Tom Sniegoski and Ed McGuinness

“Teen Drama”

Nyx is a Vampirella comic book character.  She is the daughter of Chaos the Mad God and a human woman, making Nyx half-demon and half-human, but she needs to feed on human life force in order to live.  Nyx was created by writer Tom Sniegoski and artist Ed McGuinness and first appeared in Harris Comics' Vengeance of Vampirella #23 (cover dated: February 1996).  She is a longtime enemy and sometimes friend of Vampirella.

The character now has her own solo comic book series, entitled Nyx.  It is written by Christos Gage; drawn by Marc Borstel; colored by Jordi Escuin Llorach; and lettered by Taylor Esposito.  The series finds Nyx dealing with her emerging human side, although her demon side is still powerful and hungry for human life force.

As Nyx #9 (“Teen Drama”) opens, Chaos is teaching his daughter, Tunrida, the finer points of genocide.  But isn't it Nyx's job to raise her younger half-siblings?  Now, the poor girl is on the depraved path of death and conquest … and maybe suicide.

Returning Tunrida to her foster parents in Cleveland, circa 1995, Nyx must save her sibling from their twisted father.  Or will she lose another loved one to the Mad God Chaos?  Is Nyx, who was quite rotten, evil, and murderous herself, the right person to save Turnida?  Whatever happens concerning Tunrida, Nyx and her siblings and Chaos are on a collision course...

THE LOWDOWN:  Since July 2021, Dynamite Entertainment's marketing department has been providing me with PDF review copies of some of their titles.  One of them is Nyx #9, the ninth issue of the series that I have read.

I have been saying that Christos Gage is writing a wonderful comic book in Nyx and the title remains so.  The characters are always witty and nasty and stubborn, even when they seem doomed.  Gage uses the characters to bring energy to this title and also to give it a sense of comic timing.

Marc Borstel and colorist Jordi Escuin Llorach continue to do a good job creating this unique graphical storytelling.  They make this a comic book series you want to read, dear readers.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Vampirella comic books will want to try Nyx.

A

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


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Review: Viggo Mortensen is a Kingpin in Cronenberg's "CRIMES OF THE FUTURE"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 49 of 2022 (No. 1861) by Leroy Douresseaux

Crimes of the Future (2022)
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN:  Canada (with France, Greece, and UK); Language:  English
Running time:  107 minutes (1 hour, 47 minutes)
MPAA – R for strong disturbing violent content and grisly images, graphic nudity and some language
WRITER/DIRECTOR:  David Cronenberg
PRODUCERS:  Robert Lantos, Panos Papahadzis, and Steve Solomos
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Douglas Koch (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Christopher Donaldson
COMPOSER:  Howard Shore

SCI-FI

Starring:  Viggo Mortensen, Léa Seydoux, Don McKellar, Scott Speedman, Welket Bungué, Lihi Kornowski, Nadia Litz, Tanaya Beatty, Sotiris Siozos, and Kristen Stewart

Crimes of the Future is a 2022 Canadian science fiction film from writer-director David Cronenberg.  The film focuses on a performances artist who showcases the metamorphosis of his internal organs with the help of his partner who performs surgery on him during the performance.

Crimes of the Future opens sometime in the future when humanity has experienced a number of biological changes and evolutionary changes to human physiology.  The film introduces Saul Tenser (Viggo Mortensen) and Caprice (Lea Seydoux), a performance artist couple.  Saul's body is afflicted by “accelerated evolution syndrome,” which forces his body to constantly develop new vestigial organs.  Tenser is in constant pain, and he relies biomechanical devices in order to sleep and to eat.  Using a “Sark autopsy module,” Caprice performs surgery on Saul before an audience as an act of performance art, performances which have made the duo world renown.

Saul and Caprice's performances have started to draw official, governmental, and law enforcement interest.  They meet Wippet (Don McKellar) and Timlin (Kristen Stewart), the two bureaucrats in charge of the “National Organ Registry,” which catalogs and stores newly developed and evolved organs.

Not everyone is excited about “body-growth” and consider it a “body-crime.”  Cope (Welket Bungué), a detective with the “New Vice Unit,” a governmental police agency, wants Tenser to infiltrate the worlds of evolutionists, the people that want to accept and encourage “accelerated evolution syndrome.”  After he meets Lang Dotrice (Scott Speedman), a grieving father, Saul goes so deep into the world of this new human evolution that he might discover something about himself.

Some consider Crimes of the Future to be both a science fiction and horror film, but I consider it to be only a science fiction film.  However, I do recognize how much the film travels into the realms of the genre of “body horror.”  In that, Crimes of the Future does share many similarities with David Cronenberg's last science fiction-horror film, eXistenZ (1999).  Both are set in a world where biotechnology invents new machines that can directly interface with human bodies and control those bodies.  In both films, public performances of man-machine interfaces are both popular and controversial, and a diverse group of entities:  law enforcement, fetishists, secretive agencies, rebels, dissidents, and subcultures seek to control the future and future-tech.

In Crimes of the Future, Cronenberg presents a world in which the evolutionary change is spurred on by technology and other man-made efforts.  Once this new evolution starts, it is free to do as it pleases, outside the considerations of humanity.  As in many of his films, a lead character, group of characters, and/or society and the world at large struggle to adapt to that change.  To one extent or another, they are against it, afraid of it, and some ultimately, even if reluctantly, embrace that change.

Two things hold this film together, David Cronenberg's vision and his muse, actor Viggo Mortensen as Saul Tenser.  Cronenberg and his collaborators have created a world in which biotechnological and evolutionary changes take place in drab and rundown settings.  In Crimes of the Future, Cronenberg does not need flying cars and off-world colonies in order to communicate to his audience that the world and mankind are in a future undergoing radical transformation.  True to his ways, Cronenberg is both provocative and exploitative and visionary and elegant as he executes a story of a world in which evolution forces humanity to live in the world it made.

Crimes of the Future has a number of eccentric performances.  Lea Seydoux makes Caprice grow … and evolve, and Kristen Stewart is impish and mysterious as Timlin.  However, Viggo Mortensen is both the center of this film's narrative and the outer boundaries of its ideas and ambitions.  He holds it together both as one afflicted by evolution and as an explorer of the world of evolution and new humans.  Mortensen's gift is to make people buy into the idea that he is indeed the character he plays and that what he does as that character is authentic and not a contrivance of a really talented actor.

Once again, David Cronenberg offers a film that examines horrifying change, and he does it without nostalgia and sentiment, but with a superb score by the great Howard Shore.  Yeah, Cronenberg is a genius, and Crimes of the Future is his latest masterpiece.  The ending, which feels like a quick wrap-up, is the only reason I won't call this film perfect, but it would be a crime of the present for me to quibble about that.

9 of 10
A+
★★★★+ out of 4 stars

Thursday, August 25, 2022


The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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