Comic Books, Magazines and Books from Diamond Distributors for August 30, 2023

COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS

JUL232103 2070 GN ADV HC $39.99

JUN231843 A BOOK TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH HC $75.00

JUN231769 ALCHEMYST SECRETS OF NICHOLAS FLAMEL GN $17.99

JUN231273 ANCIENT ENEMIES: THE FIRST RESPONDER #1 CVR A GUEVARA & PRAD $3.99

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JUN232421 DOES IT COUNT IF LOSE VIRGINITY TO ANDROID GN VOL 02 (MR) (C $14.99

JUN232422 DONT CALL IT MYSTERY OMNIBUS GN VOL 02 $24.99

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APR231358 ITS ONLY TEENAGE WASTELAND TP $19.99

JUL232046 JANUS SILANG AND THE CREATURE OF TABON GN $14.99

MAY231839 JOHNNY HAZARD DAILIES HC VOL 10 1959- 1961 $50.00

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APR231303 KARIBA GN $21.99

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JUN231800 MARVEL BLANK VAR HAESER SGN $99.99

JUN231844 MEMOIRS OF A MAN IN PAJAMAS TP $29.99

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APR231689 MY FRIEND TOBY HC $24.99

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MAY231545 PHAZER UNIVERSE #1 FULL COLOR SKETCH ED $150.00

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JUN231297 PLOT HOLES #1 (OF 5) CVR F BENGAL (MR) $3.99

JUN231298 PLOT HOLES #1 (OF 5) CVR G BLANK SKETCH VAR (MR) $4.99

JUN231299 PLOT HOLES #1 (OF 5) CVR H VIDEO GAME HOMAGE (MR) $3.99

JUN232002 PUNCH UP GN VOL 01 $15.99

JUN231816 RAMPAGING HULK #4 STARLIN PERSONAL COPY SGN STARLIN $199.99

MAR232253 REAL ACCOUNT GN 21 - 22 OMNIBUS (RES) (MR) $19.99

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JUN231516 REGULATORS #2 $3.99

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JAN232254 SAVING 80K GOLD IN ANOTHER WORLD GN VOL 02 $12.99

JUN232394 SHANGRI LA FRONTIER GN VOL 07 (RES) $12.99

MAY231368 SHELLEY FRANKENSTEIN TP BOOK 01 COWPIGGY $14.99

JAN232330 SINOALICE GN VOL 04 (MR) $14.99

JUL231770 SLEEP TERRORS GN $19.99

JUN231448 SONIC THE HEDGEHOG SCRAPNIK ISLAND TP $15.99

JUN231574 SPECTREMAN HEROES HC $39.99

APR231382 STAR WARS HIGH REPUBLIC ADVENTURES TP VOL 01 COMP PHASE $29.99

APR238125 STAR WARS HYPERSPACE STORIES #8 (OF 12) CVR A DUGGAN $3.99

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JUN231835 SUNSHINE PATRIOTS #2 (OF 2) (MR) $9.99

MAY232342 TALES OF WEDDING RINGS GN VOL 12 $15.00

JUN231718 TAROT WITCH OF THE BLACK ROSE #141 (MR) $3.99

JUN231522 THE GIMMICK #6 (OF 6) (MR) $3.99

MAY232054 THE PINK ELEPHANT #2 (OF 3) CVR A CHIN (MR) $3.99

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JUN232440 THIS IS SCREWED UP REINCARNATED AS GIRL GN VOL 08 $12.99

JUN231508 THREE ROCKS STORY OF ERNIE BUSHMILLER MAN WHO CREATED NANCY $24.99

JUN231476 TMNT SATURDAY MORNING ADV 2023 #4 CVR A LAWRENCE $3.99

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JUN231478 TMNT SATURDAY MORNING ADV 2023 #4 CVR C HYMEL $3.99

MAY231431 TMNT VS STREET FIGHTER #3 (OF 5) CVR A MEDEL $3.99

MAY231432 TMNT VS STREET FIGHTER #3 (OF 5) CVR B BROWN $3.99

MAY231433 TMNT VS STREET FIGHTER #3 (OF 5) CVR C REILLY $3.99

MAY231653 TOXX #1 CVR A BRIAN DEMAREST $4.99

MAY231654 TOXX #1 CVR B SKYLAR PATRIDGE $4.99

MAY231655 TOXX #1 CVR C ALESSANDRO (ALEX) AMORUSO $4.99

MAY231656 TOXX #1 CVR D JEZREEL ROJALES $4.99

MAY232344 TRINITY SEVEN 7 MAGICIANS GN VOL 28 (MR) $13.00

JUN231787 UNDER A BLOOD RED MOON #2 CVR A STANDARD ED (MR) $4.99

JUN229083 VALIANT MUST FALL VOL 02 $15.99

JUN232085 VANITY REMASTERED ED #1 (OF 9) $4.99

APR231767 WAR PARTY DYANIS WAR DIARY HC (MR) $34.99

JUL231535 WEAPON BROWN AFTERSHOCK LITTLE RED S&N ED (MR) $20.00

NOV221081 WHERE STARSHIPS GO TO DIE TP $17.99

JUN231830 WINTER EMBER #3 (OF 8) $3.99

MAY232310 WITCHES MARRIAGE GN VOL 01 $13.00

JUN232382 WORLDS END HAREM GN VOL 15 (MR) $13.99

MAGAZINES

JUN231758 COMIC SHOP NEWS (100CT BUNDLE) #1880 $PI

DEC221377 HORRORHOUND #98 $8.99

JUN231913 ILLUSTRATION MAGAZINE #84 $15.00

JUN231768 MONSTER BASH MAGAZINE #51 $8.99

JUL231723 NIB FUTURE $14.95

JUN231234 STAR WARS INSIDER #220 NEWSSTAND ED $9.99

JUN231235 STAR WARS INSIDER #220 PX ED $9.99

BOOKS

JUN231771 AVENGERS ASSEMBLED HC $30.00

JUL231612 DEEP RED VOL 4 #2 LTD HC (RES) (MR) $55.00

MAR239695 DISPLACEMENT PROSE NOVEL SC (MR) $12.99

MAY232269 ELDEN RING OFFICIAL ART BOOK HC VOL 01 (MR) $59.99

MAY232268 ELDEN RING OFFICIAL ART BOOK HC VOL 02 (MR) $59.99

JUN232042 EXQUISITE EXANDRIA CRITICAL ROLE COOKBOOK HC $29.99

JUN232480 FANTASY COSTUMES FOR MANGA ANIME & COSPLAY SC $18.99

JUL231915 FROM A CERTAIN POV RETURN OF JEDI HC $36.00

MAY232350 LIAR LIAR LIGHT NOVEL SC VOL 01 (MR) $15.00

APR232150 LOOKS ARE ALL YOU NEED NOVEL SC VOL 01 (NEW EDITION) $15.00

MAR231731 MOONSTONE DOUBLE SHOT GREEN HORNET DOMINO LADY PROSE SC $5.99

JUN231972 SPIDEY & HIS AMAZING FRIENDS ELECTROS GOTTA GLOW SC $5.99

JUN232044 STRANGER THINGS SEASON 4 OFFICIAL COLORING BOOK $18.99

MAY232349 YOUR FORMA LIGHT NOVEL SC VOL 04 (MR) $15.00

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DC Comics Shipping from Lunar Distributors for August 29, 2023

DC COMICS:

Absolute Superman For All Seasons HC, $100.00

Action Comics Presents Doomsday Special #1 (One Shot)(Cover A Bjorn Barends), $5.99

Action Comics Presents Doomsday Special #1 (One Shot)(Cover B Lucio Parrillo Card Stock Variant), $6.99

Action Comics Presents Doomsday Special #1 (One Shot)(Cover C Puppeteer Lee Card Stock Variant), $6.99

Action Comics Presents Doomsday Special #1 (One Shot)(Cover D Clayton Crain Card Stock Variant), AR

Action Comics Presents Doomsday Special #1 (One Shot)(Cover E Jon Bogdanove Card Stock Variant), AR

Action Comics Presents Doomsday Special #1 (One Shot)(Cover F Dan Jurgens Card Stock Variant), AR

Batgirl Volume 8 The Joker War TP (Rebirth), $16.99

Batman Catwoman The Gotham War Battle Lines #1 (One Shot)(Cover A Jorge Jimenez), $5.99

Batman Catwoman The Gotham War Battle Lines #1 (One Shot)(Cover B Joe Quesada Card Stock Variant), $6.99

Batman Catwoman The Gotham War Battle Lines #1 (One Shot)(Cover C Kael Ngu Card Stock Variant), $6.99

Batman Catwoman The Gotham War Battle Lines #1 (One Shot)(Cover D Blank Card Stock Variant), $6.99

Batman Catwoman The Gotham War Battle Lines #1 (One Shot)(Cover E Jonboy Meyers Foil Variant), $7.99

Batman Catwoman The Gotham War Battle Lines #1 (One Shot)(Cover F Otto Schmidt Card Stock Variant), AR

Batman Catwoman The Gotham War Battle Lines #1 (One Shot)(Cover G Kael Ngu Card Stock Variant), AR

Batman Catwoman The Gotham War Battle Lines #1 (One Shot)(Cover H Joe Quesada Card Stock Variant), AR

Batman Knightwatch TP, $16.99

Catwoman Uncovered #1 (One Shot)(Cover A Jamie McKelvie), $5.99

Catwoman Uncovered #1 (One Shot)(Cover B Frank Cho), $5.99

Catwoman Uncovered #1 (One Shot)(Cover C Olivier Coipel), $5.99

Catwoman Uncovered #1 (One Shot)(Cover D Stanley Artgerm Lau Foil Variant), $7.99

Catwoman Uncovered #1 (One Shot)(Cover E Babs Tarr), AR

Catwoman Uncovered #1 (One Shot)(Cover F Jeff Dekal), AR

G’norts Illustrated Swimsuit Edition #1 (One Shot)(Cover A Vasco Georgiev), $5.99

G’norts Illustrated Swimsuit Edition #1 (One Shot)(Cover B J Scott Campbell Card Stock Variant), $6.99

G’norts Illustrated Swimsuit Edition #1 (One Shot)(Cover C Adam Hughes Card Stock Variant), $6.99

G’norts Illustrated Swimsuit Edition #1 (One Shot)(Cover D Pablo Villalobos Card Stock Variant), AR

Harley Quinn The Animated Series The Eat Bang Kill Tour TP, $19.99

Knight Terrors Night’s End #1 (One Shot)(Cover A Howard Porter), $5.99

Knight Terrors Night’s End #1 (One Shot)(Cover B Simone Di Meo Card Stock Variant), $6.99

Knight Terrors Night’s End #1 (One Shot)(Cover C Mico Suayan Card Stock Variant), $6.99

Knight Terrors Night’s End #1 (One Shot)(Cover D Howard Porter Darkest Hour Neon Ink Card Stock Variant), $7.99

Knight Terrors Night’s End #1 (One Shot)(Cover E Dan Mora Card Stock Variant), AR

Knight Terrors Night’s End #1 (One Shot)(Cover F Kendrick Kunkka Lim Card Stock Variant), AR

Knight Terrors Night’s End #1 (One Shot)(Cover G Mico Suayan Card Stock Variant), AR

Knight Terrors Night’s End #1 (One Shot)(Cover H Howard Porter), AR

Phantom Stranger Omnibus HC, $150.00

Sandman Universe Nightmare Country The Glass House #4 (Of 6)(Cover A Reiko Murakami), $3.99

Sandman Universe Nightmare Country The Glass House #4 (Of 6)(Cover B Matteo Scalera Card Stock Variant), $4.99

Sandman Universe Nightmare Country The Glass House #4 (Of 6)(Cover C Cathy Kwan Card Stock Variant), AR

Superboy The Man Of Tomorrow #5 (Of 6)(Cover A Jahnoy Lindsay), $3.99

Superboy The Man Of Tomorrow #5 (Of 6)(Cover B Adrian Gutierrez Card Stock Variant), $4.99

Superboy The Man Of Tomorrow #5 (Of 6)(Cover C Carlo Barberi Blue Beetle Movie Card Stock Variant), $4.99

Superboy The Man Of Tomorrow #5 (Of 6)(Cover D Scott Kolins Card Stock Variant), AR

Superman Red Son TP (2023 Edition), $19.99

Wonder Woman 1987 #1 (Facsimile Edition)(Cover A George Perez), $3.99

Wonder Woman 1987 #1 (Facsimile Edition)(Cover B Blank Variant), $4.99

Wonder Woman 1987 #1 (Facsimile Edition)(Cover C George Perez Foil Variant), $5.99

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Review: "TENET" May Have Been 2020's Best Film

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 39 of 2023 (No. 1928) by Leroy Douresseaux

Tenet (2020)

Running time:  150 minutes (2 hours, 30 minutes)

MPA – PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some suggestive references and brief strong language

WRITER/DIRECTOR:  Christopher Nolan

PRODUCERS:  Christopher Nolan and Emma Thomas

CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Hoyte Van Hoytema (D.o.P.)

EDITOR:  Jennifer Lame

COMPOSER:  Ludwig Goransson

Academy Award winner

SCI-FI/ACTION/SPY

Starring:  John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Dimple Kapadia, Himesh Patel, Denzil Smith, Yuri Kolokolnikov, Clémency Poséy, Fiona Dourif, Laurie Shepherd, Martin Donovan, and Kenneth Branagh and Michael Caine

Tenet is a 2020 science fiction, secret agent, and action-thriller film written and directed by Christopher Nolan.  The film, Nolan's eleventh as a director, is a co-production between the United Kingdom and the United States.  Tenet focuses on a CIA operative on a mission to save the world, armed with only one word, “Tenet.”

Tenet introduces a CIA operative known only as "The Protagonist" (John David Washington).  The Protagonist leads a covert CIA extraction during a staged terrorist siege at the National Opera House in Kyiv., Ukraine.  After he is injured and the mission goes badly, the Protagonist is recruited by a secretive organization known only by the word, “Tenet.”  He is told that with a gesture, Tenet can “open the right doors and the wrong doors.”

He is briefed about bullets with “inverted” entropy that move backwards through time.  It seems that the man who possesses the technology to invert entropy is a Russian oligarch named Andrei Sator (Kenneth Branagh).  The technology has been given to Sator from mysterious forces in the future, and those forces are also sending Sator the pieces of something called the “Algorithm,” which is a threat to the present world.

Suddenly, the Protagonist finds himself surrounded by a menagerie of people he cannot quite trust or really know.  That includes the Mumbai-based arms dealer, Priya Singh (Dimple Kapadia), and Sator's estranged and abused wife, Katherine “Kat” Barton (Elizabeth Debicki).  Another is Ives (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), a Tenet military commander.  Most mysterious of all is Neil (Robert Pattinson), who is supposed to be the Protagonist's “handler” from Tenet, and Neil seems to know the Protagonist in ways he does not know Neil.  Now, the Protagonist must uncover the secrets of inversion, the secrets of the Algorithm, and perhaps, even the secrets of himself.

Christopher Nolan gained many fans for his series of films starring DC Comics' Batman, known as “The Dark Knight Trilogy”: Batman Begins (2005), The Dark Knight (2008), and The Dark Knight Rises (2012).  However, Tenet is closer to Nolan's films such as Memento (2000), Insomnia (2002), The Prestige (2006), and Inception (2010), which, like Tenet, have some combination of complex plots and character time lines, ambiguous elements, and cleverly hidden details that are open to many theories and interpretations.

Tenet freely plays with the themes of free will and determinism.  Do people really have free will, or is it better that people think that they have free will?  In the end, I think the narrative ultimately decides that free will and determinism are compatible, which is one of many reasons that I love this film.  Many secret agent and spy films offer the illusion that the hero (or the protagonist) is in control.  From the first movie in Eon Productions' “James Bond film series, Dr No (1962), the hero, James Bond, seems to have a measure of control or at least force of will to save the day or often, the world.  One can say the same of Universal Pictures' “Jason Bourne” film series.  It starts with The Bourne Identity (2002), and Matt Damon's Jason Bourne seems to exert free will all the more with each film, although his fate was determined and settled before the narrative of the first film begins.  In Tenet, free will is a work in progress, exercised within the settled plots of determinism.

I love Tenet's cast.  Either The Protagonist was tailor-made for actor John David Washington, or he was the perfect casting.  I feel the same way about Robert Pattison's Neil, and Kenneth Branagh is such a fine actor that he can make any role seem like a real person.  Elizabeth Debicki, honestly, is Oscar-worthy as Kat Barton, and Dimple Kapadia adds a delightful flavor as Priya Singh.  Aaron Taylor-Johnson is all fire, menace, and masculinity as Ives.

I had not seen a Christopher Nolan film since Inception, although I'd planned to see Tenet in a theater.  However, I was really wary of returning to movie theaters during the 2020 year of COVID-19 movie theater shutdowns, even after they reopened.  In a way, that worked out.  I got to savor Tenet on DVD as a way of prepping for eventually seeing his most recent film, Oppenheimer.

I like Tenet's trippy, surreal, time-shifting, inscrutable nature, and I like that Nolan is willing both to throw out a lot of ideas and to engage them.  For me, it is mysterious, a mystery worth losing myself in every chance I get.  As far as my opinion is concerned, Tenet is Christopher Nolan's best, most imaginative, and truly most inventive film.

10 of 10

Sunday, August 27, 2023

NOTES:

2021 Academy Awards, USA:   1 win: “Best Achievement in Visual Effects” (Andrew Jackson, David Lee, Andrew Lockley, and Scott R. Fisher); 1 nomination: “Best Achievement in Production Design”

{Nathan Crowley-production design and Kathy Lucas-set decoration)

2021 BAFTA Awards:  1 win: “Best Achievement in Special Visual Effects” (Scott R. Fisher, Andrew Jackson, and Andrew Lockley)

2021 Golden Globes, USA:  1 nomination: “Best Original Score - Motion Picture” (Ludwig Göransson)

2021 Black Reel Awards:  2 nominations: “Outstanding Cinematography” (Hoyte Van Hoytema) and 1 nomination: “Outstanding Production Design” (Nathan Crowley)

The text is copyright © 2023 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 20th to 26th, 2023 - Update #13

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

You can support Leroy via Paypal or on Patreon:

ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:

NETFLIX - From Variety:  Director Sammi Cohen talks about directing Adam Sandler's daughters in the Netflix teen movie, "You're So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah."

MOVIES - From Deadline:  Warner Bros. Pictures has moved it big event film, "Dune: Part Two," to 2024.  The sequel to the Oscar-winning "Dune: Part One" is now scheduled to hit theaters March 15, 2024.

STREAMING - From Deadline:  Paramount+'s steaming sequel "Frasier," the sequel to the long-running NBC sitcom, "Frasier" (1993-2004), will beginning streaming with two episodes on October 12, 2023. Afterwards, new episodes will arrive on Thursdays.  The first two episodes of the 10-episode series will also air on CBS on October 17th.

CELEBRITY - From Variety: Grammy-winning recording artist, Britney Spears, says news of her divorce from her husband of 14-months, Sam Asghari, is "nobody's business."  However, she did say that she couldn't take the pain anymore.

BOX OFFICE - From BoxOfficePro:  The winner of the 8/18 to 8/20/23 weekend box office is Warner Bros.'s "Blue Beetle" with an estimated take of 25.4 million dollars.

From Here:  A review of "Blue Beetle" by Leroy Douresseaux.

From Deadline:  At the specialty box office (art house), the 20th anniversary re-release of the South Korean film, "Oldboy," grosses 495,000 dollars on 250 screens. It may reach 1 million dollars before the end of its first week back in circulation.

From Here:  This is a nearly seventeen year-old review of "Oldboy" by Leroy Douresseaux.

AMAZON - From Variety:  Amazon has cancelled its series, "A League of Their Own," so it won't have a second and final season.

OBITS:

From Deadline:  American television writer, producer, and director, David Jacobs, has died at the age of 84, Sunday, August 20, 2023.  He was best known for creating the long-running CBS dramas, "Dallas" and its spin-off, "Knots Landing."  He left "Dallas" after its third season in order to focus on "Knots Landing" for the duration of its 14 season fun.  Jacobs received two Primetime Emmy Award nominations - one for his work on the ABC TV movies, "Homefront" (1991) and the subsequent "Homefront" TV series (ABC, 1991-93).

From THR:  American film and television actor, Ron Cephas Jones, has died at the age of 66, Saturday, August 19, 2023.  Jones was best known for his role as "Walter Hill" on the former NBC drama, "This Is Us."  As Walter Hill, Jones received four Primetime Emmy Award nominations.  He won twice in the category of "Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series" (2018, 2020). Jones also had roles in USA Network's "Mr. Robot," Netflix/Marvel's "Luke Cage," and Apple TV+'s "Truth Be Told," to name a few.

WRITERS/ACTORS STRIKE:

From THR:  As talks with the Writers Guild of America stall, the studio trade association, AMPTP, has retained D.C.-based firm, The Levinson Group, to pursue a fresh messaging strategy.

From Deadline:  Regarding the Hollywood writers strike, the AMPTP (representing the studios) released the details of a proposed labor agreement that it made to the WGA (the Writers Guild) on August 11th.

From Deadline:  A pair of former production assistants-turned-assistant directors have created a nonprofit in hopes of providing financial aid to PAs (production assistants) who’ve been put out of work due to the strike.

From Deadline:  Writers Guild (WGA) and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) will resume strike talks today, Fri., Aug. 11th.

From Deadline:  Meeting for the first time in more than three months, the Writers Guild and the AMPTP on Friday failed to reach an agreement to resume contract negotiations. The Writers Strike will go on indefinitely.

From Deadline:  Hollywood’s superstars are answering the call from the SAG-AFTRA Foundation, donating $1 million or more each to help their fellow performers during the ongoing actors and writers strikes.  Among the big donors are Leonardo DiCaprio, Meryl Streep, Oprah Winfrey, and Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively.

From Deadline:  If you are interested, here is a list of the film and TV productions SAG-AFTRA has granted waivers to continue filming.

From Variety:  International superstar, Dwayne Johnson, makes a seven-figure contribution to the "SAG-AFTRA Foundation Relief Fund." Foundation president, actor Courtney B. Vance, says the amount will remain confidential.

From Variety:  Why haven't A-list stars joined the SAG-AFTRA picket line?, asks "Variety."

From Deadline:  Author George R.R. Martin, whose works were the basis for HBO's "Game of Thrones," says the strikes will be long and bitter.

From THR:  Production works at Warner Bros. Animation (66) and at Cartoon Network (22) have gone public with their attempt to unionize via The Animation Guild.

From Variety:  Halted film productions due to the writers and actors strikes are costing each Hollywood studio at least 600,000 dollars per week.

From Variety:  Said at a strike meeting: “Without a transformative change in SAG-AFTRA’s current contract with the AMPTP, the acting profession will no longer be an option for future generations of performers, and actors already working in the industry will need to pursue other careers in order to survive.”

From Deadline:  If you are a "social media influencer" who is NOT  a member of SAG-AFTRA, you can be barred from future membership for promoting a film or television series during the actors' strike.

From Variety:  The SAG/AFTRA strike begins in New York and Los Angeles.  Hollywood actors began striking today, Fri., July 14th.

From Deadline:  The site has the video of the powerful strike speech given by SAG-AFTRA president, Fran Drescher, the actress best known for CBS' former sitcom, "The Nanny."

From Deadline:  Concerning the Hollywood writers strike (via the WGA), the Hollywood Studios (as represented by the AMPTP) is to let the writers go broke before resuming talks deep into the Fall.

From Deadline: SAG-AFTRA is already preparing strike picket signs in case the actors' strike begins next week.

From Deadline:  WGA is picketing the New York City filming location of the 12th series of FX's "American Horror Story" (entitled "Delicate") after series co-creator Ryan Murphy threaten litigation against an east coast strike captain.

From THR:  TV super-producer, Ryan Murphy, in a letter from his attorney to the leadership of the Writers Guild of America, threatened litigation against Warren Leight, an East Coast strike captain and Strike Rules Compliance Committee member who has subsequently forfeited those positions.

From Deadline:  The Hollywood studios via the AMPTP has given Canadian actors a new contract, including a 5 percent raise.

From Deadline:  Writers Strike puts the spotlight back on the challenge from writers for animation productions to be covered by the WGA.

From THR:  Studios won't give writers better pay, and now, are laying off janitors.

From Deadline:  The Directors Guild of America (DGA) has reached a tentative new three-year deal with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP). So what does the Writers Guild (WGA), currently on strike and negotiating with the AMPTP, think of that deal.

From Deadline:  Netflix shareholders declined to support the 2023 pay packages of top executives during a non-binding vote at the company’s annual shareholder meeting on Thursday.  The vote won't prevent these execs from getting their loot (an total of $166 million), but this is a rare public rebuke.  The Writers Guild of America (WGA) has urged shareholders to vote "No" because the pay was "inappropriate" at this time.

From Deadline:  Warner Bros Discovery chief David Zaslav gave the commencement address at Boston University. There he was met with jeers and also chants of "pay your writers" from picketers and from some in the audience.

From Deadline:   President Joe Biden speaks on the Writers Guild of America strike.

From Deadline:  Retaliation! The studios have starting informing writer-producers who have "overall" and "first-look" deals that such deals are being suspended.

From Deadline:  Retaliation!  Prolific HBO creator, David Simon, who is best known for "The Wire," is one of the many writers who have had their overall deals suspended the studios due to the WGA strike.  Simon has been with HBO for 25 years.

From Deadline:  The Writers Guild of America (WGA) is on strike.

From Deadline:  Disney, HBO/HBO Max, and CBS have sent letters to showrunners (the TV equivalent of film directors) instructing them to return to work, inspite of the writer's strike.

From Deadline:  The WGA's chief negotiator, Ellen Stutzman, talks about the state of the writers' strike, including the lack of engagement on the part of the strike's other party, AMPTP.

From Deadline:  What went wrong between the WGA and AMPTP? What could they not agree on that led to a strike?

From Deadline:  The site explains the WGA strike: the issues, the stakes, movies and TV shows affected, and how long it might last.

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Comics Review: "THE RIBBON QUEEN #2" Takes No Prisoners

THE RIBBON QUEEN #2 (OF 8)

AWA STUDIOS

STORY: Garth Ennis

PENCILS: Jacen Burrows

INKS: Guillermo Ortego

COLORS: Dan Brown

LETTERS: Rob Steen

COVER: Declan Shalvey

VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Tony Harris; Chris Ferguson and Jacen Burrows; Declan Shalvey

32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (August 2023)

Rated: “Mature”

Chapter 2: “Something Impossible”

The Ribbon Queen is a new eight-issue miniseries from AWA Studios.  The series focuses on an ancient and terrible force that is loose in the modern world.  It is written by Garth Ennis; drawn by Jacen Burrows (pencils) and Guillermo Ortego (inks); colored by Dan Brown; and lettered by Rob Steen.

The Ribbon Queen introduces NYPD Detective Amy Sun and her current problem.  Three years ago, a young woman named Bella Rhineback was rescued from a serial killer by a police tactical unit.  Now she’s dead, and Amy has a bad feeling that the SWAT team leader, Keith Connolly, is responsible.  Now, as she investigates her own department, she discovers something old and awakened.  And it will confront everything she believes.

As The Ribbon Queen #2 (“Something Impossible”) opens, Detective Sun has just seen her “suspect,” Keith Connolly, unraveled into a bloody mess.  That's not the only complication as weirdness is going on, as something that should not just disappear … just up and disappeared.

Supernatural forces are at work, but Sun still believes that there is real-world corruption at her NYPD precinct.  Now, some of Connolly's colleague/thugs want answers and/or payback, and she still can't get answers about the supernatural stuff.

THE LOWDOWN:  AWA Studios marketing recently began providing me with PDF review copies of their comic book publications.  The Ribbon Queen #2 is the latest.

I've been dreading reading the PDF of The Ribbon Queen #2 that AWA Studios' marketing department sent me, but not because I thought it would be a bad read.  I've been dreading the contents.  The Ribbon Queen is the kind of imaginative and bone-chilling, blood-curdling horror that Stephen King and Clive Barker used to produce.  I wasn't sure that I was ready, but I was forced to bring my comic book review pimp game up a few levels. But seriously...

Writer Garth Ennis has essentially taken the police procedural and dressed it with some folk horror entrails.  The Ribbon Queen is crime fiction married to dark fantasy and bloody horror in way that mixes realism and surrealism.  So really the reader has to rely on the protagonist, who isn't so sure of a lot of things herself.

Jacen Burrows has been drawing disquieting comic book art for quite a while.  I felt icky reading some of his run on Marvel Comics' Moon Knight.  In The Ribbon Queen, Burrows is wrapping the narrative in insanity with inker Guillermo Ortego aiding and abetting.  Dan Brown's colors emphasize the quiet, determined relentlessness of the edgy supernatural darkness, and I chuckle at how letterer Rob Steen makes this all seem like normal storytelling.

The Ribbon Queen is … like WOW!  Don't deny yourself this most excellent comic book, dear readers.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Garth Ennis and (ought-to-be) fans of Jacen Burrows will want to read The Ribbon Queen.

A+

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

THE RIBBON QUEEN PAGE: https://awastudios.net/series/ribbon-queen/

AWA Website: https://awastudios.net/

AWA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/awastudiosofficial/

AWA Twitter: https://twitter.com/AWA_Studios

AWA Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/awastudiosofficial

The text is copyright © 2023 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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

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Comics Review: "BIG GAME #2" - Nemesis Drops a Double-Nickel Game

BIG GAME #2 (OF 5)

IMAGE COMICS/Netflix

STORY: Mark Millar

ART: Pepe Larraz

COLORS: Giovanna Niro

LETTERS: Clem Robins

EDITOR: Sarah Unwin

COVER: Pepe Larraz with Giovanna Niro

VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Leinil Yu with Sunny Gho; Pepe Larraz

28pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (August 2023)

Rated M / Mature

Big Game is a new five-issue comic book event miniseries from writer Mark Millar and artist Pepe Larraz.  Big Game is a crossover event series that pulls together all the franchises that are part of Millar's company/imprint, “Millarworld.”  That includes Kick-Ass, Kingsman, Nemesis, and The Magic Order, to name a few.  Colorist Giovanna Niro and letterer Clem Robins complete the series' creative team.

Big Game is a sequel to the first Millarworld comic book miniseries, Wanted (2003-04).  The stars of that series, The Fraternity, the super-villains that secretly rule the world, defeated their superhero adversaries in 1986.  Now, this entity is concerned about the reemergence of superheroes, so it unleashes it new superhero killer, Nemesis (from Nemesis: Reloaded), on a hero assassination spree.

As Big Game #2 opens, Edison Crane (Prodigy) and Bobbie Griffin meet the Chrononauts, Corbin Quinn and Danny Reilly.  Crane, the world's smartest man, wants the duo to take him and Griffin back in time to 1986 for proof of that what Griffin says is true.  Superheroes did exist in the past.

Meanwhile, Doctor Choon-He Chung (The Ambassadors) and her international rescue squad, The Ambassadors, search for a missing Ambassador.  Plus, two early Millarworld favorites are forced together on new comics day.

THE LOWDOWN:  I have been receiving PDF review copies of Netflix/Millarworld's comic book titles since late 2021.  Big Game #2 is the latest.

Some of Millarworld's most popular comic book franchises and series have been adapted into Hollywood feature films.  They are Wanted (2008), Kick-Ass (2010), Kick-Ass 2 (2013), Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014), Kingsman: The Golden Circle (2017), and The King's Man (2021).  These movies are so disparate that you, dear readers, would be surprised to know that their source material originates from a shared universe.

As a longtime Millarworld fan, it is both terrifying and thrilling to read Big Game, especially because Nemesis is on the prowl and is killing some of my favorite Millarworld good guys and anti-heroes.  Writer Mark Millar is having himself quite a bit of fun by tearing things apart, but the smart Millarworld readers (Is there any other kind?) know that Mark has shocks and surprises in store for us.  Plus, :nothing is really what it appears at first” is a truism in every one of Millar's comic book series.

Pepe Larraz's art is similar to the work of Bryan Hitch, a specialist in event comic books, and Larraz's storytelling style certainly suggests that this is truly a BIG event.  He is also good at creating an air of menace, suggested in the faces of the characters and in the overall narrative.  Giovanna Niro's colors serve this “dark universe” quite well, and Clem Robins' lettering is uniquely fashioned to amplify the soundtrack of Millar's scripts.

Big Game #1 had me curious to see what was next.  After reading that first issue, I almost guaranteed that the second issue of Big Game would blow the doorway to your imagination off its hinges, dear readers.  My hinges gave out.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Mark Millar and especially of his Millarworld titles will want to read Big Game.

A+

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

https://www.mrmarkmillar.com/

https://twitter.com/ImageComics

https://twitter.com/mrmarkmillar

https://twitter.com/netflix

https://twitter.com/themagicorder

http://www.millarworld.tv/

www.imagecomics.com

The text is copyright © 2023 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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