DC Comics New Releases from Lunar Distributors for May 25, 2021

DC COMICS:

Action Comics #1031 (Cover A Mikel Janin), $4.99
Action Comics #1031 (Cover B Julian Totino Tedesco Card Stock Variant), AR
Authority Volume 2 TP, $39.99
Batman Black And White #6 (Of 6)(Cover A John Romita Jr. & Klaus Janson), $5.99
Batman Black And White #6 (Of 6)(Cover B Jason Fabok), AR
Batman Black And White #6 (Of 6)(Cover C Yasmine Putri Mad Hatter Variant), AR
Batman Superman #18 (Cover A Ivan Reis), $3.99
Batman Superman #18 (Cover B Simone Bianchi Card Stock Variant), AR
Batman The Dark Knight Detective Volume 5 TP, $24.99
Detective Comics #1036 (Cover A Dan Mora), $4.99
Detective Comics #1036 (Cover B Lee Bermejo Card Stock Variant), AR
Flash Impulse Runs In The Family TP, $34.99
Harley Quinn #3 (Cover A Riley Rossmo), $3.99
Harley Quinn #3 (Cover B Derrick Chew Card Stock Variant), AR
Milestone Returns Infinite Edition #0 (One Shot)(Cover A Denys Cowan), $4.99
Milestone Returns Infinite Edition #0 (One Shot)(Cover C Blank Card Stock Variant), AR
Mister Miracle The Source Of Freedom #1 (Of 6)(Cover A Yanick Paquette), $3.99
Mister Miracle The Source Of Freedom #1 (Of 6)(Cover B Valentine De Landro Card Stock Variant), AR
Nightwing #79 (Bruno Redondo 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $3.99
Other History Of The DC Universe #4 (Of 5)(Cover A Giuseppe Camuncoli & Marco Mastrazzo), $6.99
Other History Of The DC Universe #4 (Of 5)(Cover B Jamal Campbell), AR
Robin #2 (Cover A Gleb Melnikov), $3.99
Robin #2 (Cover B Francis Manapul Card Stock Variant), AR
RWBY Justice League #2 (Of 7)(Cover A Mirka Andolfo), $3.99
RWBY Justice League #2 (Of 7)(Cover B Simone Di Meo Card Stock Variant), AR
Stargirl Spring Break Special #1 (One Shot)(Cover A Todd Nauck), $5.99
Stargirl Spring Break Special #1 (One Shot)(Cover B Mike McKone Card Stock Variant), AR
Strange Adventures #10 (Of 12)(Cover A Mitch Gerads), $4.99
Strange Adventures #10 (Of 12)(Cover B Evan Doc Shaner), AR
Superman By Peter J. Tomasi And Patrick Gleason Omnibus HC, $125.00
Superman Volume 4 Mythological TP, $19.99
Teen Titans Academy #3 (Cover A Rafa Sandoval), $3.99
Teen Titans Academy #3 (Cover B Philip Tan Card Stock Variant), AR

Disney Junior Announces "Rise Up, Sing Out," Focused on Race, Racism and Social Justice

Disney Junior Teams Up With Questlove and Black Thought From The Roots for New Animated Short Series 'Rise Up, Sing Out,' Focused on Race, Racism and Social Justice

-- Produced in Collaboration With Academy Award®-Winning Lion Forge Animation --

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As kids and parents continue to navigate and understand the current issues happening in our country and around the world, Disney Junior—home to the #1 preschool network—announced today the new animated short series "Rise Up, Sing Out." Presenting important concepts around race, racism and social justice for the youngest viewers, the series consists of music-based shorts that are designed to provide an inspiring and empowering message about noticing and celebrating differences and providing a framework for conversation. The shorts are slated to premiere later this year across all Disney Junior platforms.

The shorts will feature music by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson and Tariq "Black Thought" Trotter of the GRAMMY Award®-winning musical group The Roots, who are executive producing through their Two One Five Entertainment production company alongside Latoya Raveneau (Disney+'s highly anticipated "The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder"), who also serves as executive producer. The Conscious Kid, an organization dedicated to equity and promoting healthy racial identity development in youth, is consulting on the series and will develop a viewing companion guide for parents. "Rise Up, Sing Out" is produced in collaboration with Academy Award-winning animation studio Lion Forge Animation ("Hair Love") for Disney Junior.

Joe D'Ambrosia, senior vice president, Original Programming and general manager, Disney Junior, said, "We recognize that many kids are experiencing a multitude of feelings around what's happening in our world today and know that many families are struggling with how to discuss sensitive issues around race. Our goal with these shorts is to open up the conversation and provide families with the tools and knowledge to address these important topics with their preschoolers in an age-appropriate manner through music and relatable kid experiences."

In a joint statement, Thompson and Trotter said, "It is an honor to work with the Disney Junior team to help create a series of shorts that will empower and uplift the future generations in the way we know best, through music. We hope these shorts will encourage the young audience to recognize and celebrate our differences as human beings while learning the tools to navigate real-world issues of racial injustice."

Follow on Instagram and Twitter for up-to-date news on #RiseUpSingOut

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

Review: "JUDAS AND THE BLACK MESSIAH" is Divine *

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 36 of 2021 (No. 1774) by Leroy Douresseaux

Judas and the Black Messiah (2021)
Running time:  125 minutes (2 hours, 5 minutes)
MPAA – R for violence and pervasive language
DIRECTOR:  Shaka King
WRITERS:  Will Berson and Shaka King; from a story by Will Berson & Shaka King and Kenny Lucas & Keith Lucas
PRODUCERS:  Ryan Coogler, Charles D. King, Shaka King, and Mark Isham
CINEMATOGRAPHER:  Sean Bobbitt (D.o.P.)
EDITOR:  Kristan Sprague
COMPOSER:  Craig Harris
Academy Award winner

DRAMA/HISTORICAL

Starring: Daniel Kaluuya, LaKeith Stanfield, Jesse Plemons, Dominique Fishback, Ashton Sanders, Algee Smith, Darrell Britt-Gibson, Lil Rel Howery, Dominique Thorne, Martin Sheen, Amari Cheatom, Ian Duff, Robert Longstreet, Nicholas Velez, and Terayle Hill

Judas and the Black Messiah is a 2021 drama, historical, and biopic from director Shaka King.  The film is a dramatization of the betrayal of Chicago Black Panther Party leader, Fred Hampton, by FBI informant, William O'Neal.  Judas and the Black Messiah was eligible for the 2020 / 93rd Academy Awards due to an eligibility window extension granted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Judas and the Black Messiah opens in 1968.  Nineteen-year-old petty criminal William “Bill” O'Neal (LaKeith Stanfield) is arrested in Chicago after attempting to steal a car while posing as a federal officer.  Bill is looking at hard time in prison, over six years, but he is approached by FBI Special Agent Roy Mitchell (Jesse Plemons) with a special offer.  Agent Mitchell can have O'Neal's charges dropped if he works undercover for the bureau.  Bill is assigned to infiltrate the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party (BPP) and to spy on its leader, Chairman Fred Hampton (Daniel Kaluuya).

Bill begins to grow close to Hampton, as the Chairman works to form alliances with rival street gangs, such as “The Crowns.”  Hampton extends the BPP's community outreach through the Panthers' “Free Breakfast for Children Program.”  By 1969, Hampton's persuasive oratory skills eventually help to form the multiracial “Rainbow Coalition,” which unites the Panthers with the “Young Lords,” a Puerto Rican militant group, and “The Young Patriots,” a militant group comprised of poor and displaced white people.  Still, Hampton even finds time to fall in love with party member, Deborah Johnson (Dominique Fishback).

Hampton's rise and success makes the FBI determined to stop him before he becomes what J. Edgar Hoover (Martin Sheen), Director of the FBI, calls a “Black Messiah.”  Meanwhile, a battle wages in Bill O'Neal's soul.  Will he help the FBI destroy Fred Hampton?

Judas and the Black Messiah may have received all its awards for the year 2020, but this powerful dramatization of a pivotal moment in the history of the Civil Rights movement is already one of 2021's best films.  What the writers of this film have created is a condemnation of racial injustice, mostly in the form of the local (Chicago Police Department), state, and federal law enforcement (FBI) and also in the form of the courts and prisons (especially Menard Correction Center, the prison where Hampton was incarcerated).

However, the writers also present, both in subtle ways and in obvious strokes, the racial injustice that comes from the economic deprivation and social inequality that ordinary black people suffer.  Director Shaka King shows it in the two worlds in which the traitorous Bill O'Neal travels.  The first is Agent Roy Mitchell's comfy home and the fancy restaurants where Mitchell meets Bill, and the second is the world of rundown buildings and impoverished neighborhoods where Bill is a thief, a Panther, and a two-faced, self-serving coon who has a prison sentence over his head, which leads him to be a traitor.

Bill O'Neal really isn't a “Judas” anymore than Fred Hampton is really a “messiah,” black or otherwise.  Yes, Shaka King does play some of this film, especially its last act like a mystery play or Biblical allegory, retelling and reshaping the story of the betrayal of Jesus Christ at the hands of Judas Iscariot.  O'Neal and Hampton seems like people swept up by the tide of events that was the postwar Civil Rights movement.  Their story is tragic, but Judas and the Black Messiah seems to ask us two questions:  What now? And where do we go from here?  The questions are not related to the late 1960s so much as they are being asked of us at the dawn of the third decade of the twenty-first century.

As Bill O'Neal, LaKeith Stanfield gives a layered and multifaceted performance.  Even when Stanfield plays Bill as angry or desperate, he creates multiple layers to that anger and desperation in each scene.  Before the credits, Judas and the Black Messiah presents some archival footage of the real William O'Neal, and seeing that made me believe that Stanfield made a Meryl Streep-like transformation in creating a fictional O'Neal that was, in some ways, very much like the real person.

I can see why Daniel Kaluuya won the “Best Supporting Actor” Oscar for his performance as Fred Hampton.  Kaluuya embodies the hope and the lost potential that people now look back and see in Fred Hampton.  In the last act, Kaluuya truly makes Hampton seem messianic.  And that is worth an entire shelf full of awards.  I would be remiss if I did not mention how deliciously and wickedly great Martin Sheen is as J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI, thirsting for Hampton's blood.

Judas and the Black Messiah continues the run of important African-American films confronting the legacy of racism in the United States, films like If Beale Street Could Talk and BlacKkKlansman, both from 2018.  It goes without saying that this is an important film for those interested in the history of the Civil Rights Movement.  Judas and the Black Messiah is for you, dear readers, if you want  to see American films that electrify the important chapters in the American story.

9 of 10
A+

Saturday, May 22, 2021


NOTES:
2021 Academy Awards, USA:  2 wins:  “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (Daniel Kaluuya) and “Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures-Original Song” (H.E.R.-music and lyric, Dernst Emile II-music, and Tiara Thomas-lyric for the song “Fight for You”); 4 nominations: “Best Motion Picture of the Year” (Shaka King, Charles D. King, and Ryan Coogler); “Best Original Screenplay” (Will Berson-screenplay by/story by, Shaka King-screenplay by/story by, Kenny Lucas-story by, and Keith Lucas-story by), “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role” (LaKeith Stanfield), and “Best Achievement in Cinematography” (Sean Bobbitt)

2021 Golden Globes, USA:  1 win: “Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Picture” (Daniel Kaluuya) and 1 nomination: “Best Original Song - Motion Picture” (Tiara Thomas-lyrics, H.E.R.-music/lyrics, and D'Mile-music for the song “Fight for You”)

2021 BAFTA Awards:  1 win: “Best Supporting Actor” (Daniel Kaluuya); 3 nominations:  “Best Supporting Actress” (Dominique Fishback), “Best Cinematography” (Sean Bobbitt), and “Best Casting” (Alexa L. Fogel)


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

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

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

Negromancer News Bits and Bites from May 16th to 22nd, 2021 - Update #16

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

You can support Leroy via Paypal or on Patreon:

ENTERTAINMENT AND CULTURE NEWS:

MOVIES - From Deadline:   Recent "Superman" actor, Henry Cavill, is in talks to play the lead in the Lionsgate's reboot of the 1986 film, "Highlander."  Chad Stahelski ("John Wick") is scheduled to direct.

STREAMING - From THR:   Tony Award winner Leslie Odom, Jr. has joined the cast of "Knives Out 2."

TELEVISION - From Deadline:   Alice Englert ("Ratched") and Nicholas Denton ("Glitch") have been cast as the notorious lovers "Merteuil" and "Valmont" in Starz’s original series, "Dangerous Liaisons," a reimagining of Pierre Choderlos de Laclos’ classic 18th century novel, from Lionsgate TV, Colin Callender’s Playground Entertainment and Tony Krantz’ Flame Ventures.

COVID-19 - From YahooEntertainment:   Oscar-nominated actress Salma Hayek has revealed her secret and near-fatal battle with COVID-19.

HEALTH - From YahooWashPost:   Nineteen percent of adults with high blood pressure take drugs that worsen the condition.

STREAMING - From Deadline:  Reports indicate that Amazon is in talks to buy movie studio, MGM.

MOVIES - From Deadline:   Writer-director Joe Cornish is reuniting with actor John Boyega for a sequel to their cult sci-fi film, "Attack the Block," the film that launched Boyega's career.  Cornish and Boyega are also among the four producers of "Attack the Block 2."

BOX OFFICE - From Variety:  The winner of the 5/14 to 5/16/2021 weekend box office is "Spiral: From the Bok of Saw" with an estimated take of 8.7 million dollars.

AT&T/DISCOVER - From YahooFinance:  AT&T admits it made a terrible mistake getting into media business with Discovery deal as it spins off WarnerMedia and merges it with Discovery.

From Variety:  WarnerMedia and Discover are officially merged, and Discovery Inc. President and CEO David Zaslav will lead the combined companies.

From Deadline:  AT&T, which owns WarnerMedia, is considering combining its media assets with Discovery.

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

BROADCAST TELEVISION - From Deadline:  The site presents a photo gallery of broadcast network TV series that were cancelled during the 2020-21 television season.

From Deadline:  CBS has cancelled its courtroom drama, "All Rise," after two seasons.

CABLE TELEVISION - From Variety:   CNN personality Don Lemon is getting a new show.  "CNN Tonight with Don Lemon" has been replaced with "Don Lemon Tonight."

MOVIES - From YahooTelegraph:  Irish actor Liam Cunningham talks about "Game of Thrones" and wealth and privilege and the working class.

OBITS:

From Deadline:    Comedian, writer, actor, and social critic, Paul Mooney, has died at the age of 79, May 19, 2021.  Mooney may be best known as Richard Pryor's writing partner, writing for and with the legendary Pryor.  Mooney was the head writer on Pryor's groundbreaking show, "The Richard Pryor Show," which ran for four episodes in September and October of 1977.  He co-wrote material for three of Pryor's comedy albums, including "Live on Sunset Strip" (1982).  Mooney is also well-known for his appearances on Comedy Central's late sketch comedy series, "Chappelle's Show."

From Deadline:  Actor, talk show host, comedian, and author, Charles Grodin, has died at the age of 86, Tuesday, May 18, 2021.  Grodin was best known as a supporting actor in many high profile comedies in the 1970s and 1980s, including "Heaven Can Wait" (1978), "Real Life" (1979), and "Seems Like Old Times" (1980).  He co-starred with Robert De Niro in the 1988 action-comedy "Midnight Run."  Grodin made numerous TV appearances, and in 1978, he won a Primetime Emmy Award for his work on "The Paul Simon Special."  Lesser known about Grodin is his work for fair sentencing for non-violent drug offenders.

Comics Review: RED ROOM #1 is an Incredible First Issue

RED ROOM #1
FANTAGRAPHICS BOOKS

CARTOONIST: Ed Piskor
ISBN: 13-615200815950; paperback 10 3/16 x 6 5/8
64pp, B&W with some color, $6.99 U.S. (May 2021)

Red Room is a new comic book series from cartoonist Ed Piskor.  Piskor is best known for Hip Hop Family Tree, a comic book that chronicles the early history of Hip-hop culture and has been published in graphic novel and serial comic book form.  Piskor also produced the highly unusual history of Marvel Comics' X-Men in X-Men Grand Design, a set of three two-issue miniseries:  X-Men: Grand Design (2018), X-Men: Grand Design – Second Genesis (2018), and X-Men: Grand Design – X-Tinction (2019).

Published by Fantagraphics Books, Red Room is a 12-issue series.  Described by the publisher as “a cyberpunk, outlaw, splatterpunk masterpiece,” Red Room focuses on a murderous, dark web subculture in which a secretive audience pays to view webcam murders with crypto-currency.

Red Room #1 opens in Steel Valley, specifically at the Steel Valley Municipal Courthouse.  There, we meet longtime courthouse clerk, Davis Fairfield, who is about to get some terrible news.  His wife, Delores, and one of his two daughters, Hayley, have been killed by a drunk driver.  Now, Davis and his daughter, Brianna, a high school senior on the verge of graduating, must soldier on.  Luckily, Brianna has her friend, Taylor (“Tay-Tay”), but what does dear old dad have?  Where does he go for fun?

Davis Fairfield goes to a “Red Room.”  Red Rooms are places on the Internet with encrypted I.P. addresses.  Each Red Room is a webcam stream where viewers can watch a “torture star” murder another human being in the most brutal, savage, vile, and stomach-turning ways.  With the help of untraceable crypto-currency, a subculture of criminals has emerged in which one side patronizes the webcam murders for entertainment and in which the other side gleefully kills to entertain in what seems like the evolution of the snuff films of folklore.

Soon, Davis will find himself caught up in the machinations of murder-torture-porn entrepreneur, Mistress Pentagram, who has bloody ambitions for her “Pentagram Pictures.”  Who are these murderers, with names like “Poker Face” and “Sarah Jane Payne?”  Who are these victims, who could be you?  Who can stop this?!

THE LOWDOWN:  Red Room #1 is a science fiction comic book, albeit a dark one.  It has elements of dystopian sci-fi, speculative fiction, and contemporary drama.  It would be easy to call this new series depraved, which it is not.

Red Room trades in the depravity of humanity.  For all that it may be science fiction, Red Room, even with its exaggeration and inventiveness, is quite plausible, for the most part.  Let's not kid ourselves.  We don't have to go too far into cable and satellite television or online to find people during horrible things to their spouses, children, family, friends, co-workers, and strangers.  Mass shootings have become so frequent in the United States that they hardly register anymore with some people.

Ed Piskor's inventive depictions of torture and murder almost have a Tex Avery or Looney Tunes-inspired madness to them.  I find that this keeps me from loosing myself in the murders and then, forgetting the narrative.  It would be a shame to forget the story, but I understand why the cartoonist would depict the violence the way he does.  Piskor's Red Room has more in common with classic Underground Comics than the fantasy and horror comic books published by the defunct DC Comics label, Vertigo, or even Image Comics and BOOM! Studios.  Some of those comic books are satirical, but they are meant for the “straights.”

Red Room is a rebel vision, and Piskor's satire is closer to R. Crumb's than to Kurt Vonnegut's.  Like Gilbert Hernandez, Piskor is liberated in the way he can be scatological.  Red Room trades in trash culture in the creation of a work that speculates on a possible future for and direction of a segment of mass culture and entertainment.

Actually, the best thing that I can say about Red Room #1 is that I find it so intriguing.  From the first page on, I found myself drawn into its world.  Every page made me want more, and I really wanted more by the time I reached the last page.  And, dear readers, I have to recommend any comic book that gives its readers a first issue of 64 pages, especially when those 64 pages are all-new, all-different, all-good, and all-unapologetic.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of Ed Piskor's work and of alternative comics as science fiction will want to read Red Room.

A

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


Buy and/or subscribe to Red Room here.

https://twitter.com/EdPiskor
https://twitter.com/cartoonkayfabe
https://www.youtube.com/c/cartoonistkayfabe
https://www.instagram.com/ed_piskor/
https://linktr.ee/edpiskor

https://www.fantagraphics.com/
https://twitter.com/fantagraphics
https://www.instagram.com/fantagraphics/
https://www.facebook.com/fantagraphics/
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtLxEaspctVar287DtdsMww


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

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

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

Review: "PAUL MOONEY: Know Your History - Jesus is Black and So is Cleopatra"

TRASH IN MY EYE No. 59 (of 2007) by Leroy Douresseaux

Paul Mooney: Know Your History – Jesus is Black and so is Cleopatra (2007) – video
Running time:  83 minutes (1 hour, 23 minutes)
DIRECTOR:  Bart Phillips
WRITER:  Paul Mooney
PRODUCERS:  Shane Mooney and Malik Levy, Adrian Z. Sosebee, and Shawn Ullman
EDITOR:  Donnie Leapheart

CONCERT - Comedy

Starring:  Paul Mooney

Paul Mooney (August 4, 1941 – May 19, 2021) was an African-American comedian, writer, social critic, and actor.  Mooney was best known for his association with legendary comedian Richard Pryor, writing for and with Pryor.  Later, Mooney gained fame for his appearances on comedian Dave Chappelle's television sketch comedy series, “Chappelle's Show.”

Mooney was a comedian who seemingly loved controversy.  After all, he was also the creator of the character, “Homey the Clown,” for the early 1990’s TV sketch comedy series, “In Living Color.”  Mooney returned to the small screen with the DVD release of his stand-up comedy film, Paul Mooney: Know Your History – Jesus is Black and So is Cleopatra.  Mooney took center stage at Hollywood’s Laugh Factory for a stand-up comedy performance, which was recorded and became this film.

In Paul Mooney: Know Your History – Jesus is Black and So is Cleopatra, Mooney delivered his incendiary brand of comedy.  From the opening moments, he charged into his fiery subjects, which usually included racism, white people, racial tension, and, in this performance, the finer points of Black History.  He talked about divas, living in White America, President George W. Bush, Scientology, and various social and political topics.

Know Your History is edgier, darker, and perhaps a bit more mean-spirited than a previous Mooney DVD release, Paul Mooney: Analyzing White America (2004).  I am sure Analyzing White America was once known as Paul Mooney Live, and it was much funnier than Know Your History...  Still, in this second film, Mooney discussed racism and racial issues in America like no one else, and did so with the passion and honesty that most mainstream American political and social commentators could never match.  For all his bluntness, Know Your History... still had me doubled over with laughter.  Know Your History... is funny, but white people, the politically correct, and the sensitive are warned.  Professor Mooney’s history lesson might burn your mind to a crisp.

The stand-up is interspersed with some documentary footage and also testimonials from a number of celebrities including David Alan Grier, Lori Petty, and Sandra Bernhard, whom Mooney once mentored.  In light of his recent passing (as of this writing), I recommend that you seek out Paul Mooney: Know Your History – Jesus is Black and So is Cleopatra, dear readers.  If you don't know him, Mooney, as sharp social critic, is worth discovering, and if you only know his TV work, here a chance to discover Mooney at his best.

7 of 10
A-

Saturday, March 31, 2007 / Revised Wednesday, May 19, 2021


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

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

Comics Review: GREY: CHAPTER 5

GREY. CHAPTER 5
THE GREY ROOM

STORY: Kris Hornett
ART: Ardee Arollado
SPECIAL PROJECTS ART: Kenet Guevarra
EDITOR: Lisa Taylor
COVER: Nicholas Sen
36pp, B&W, $10.00 U.S. (print), $5.99 U.S. (March 2021)

Age Rating: 15+ Only

Chapter 5: Living Portraits

Grey is an independent comic book series from writer Kris Hornett and artist Ardee Arollado.  Published by The Grey Room, Grey is a hybrid, a combination of an American comic book format and Japanese manga.  Grey is similar to what was once called “OEL manga” or “original English language” manga.  These were American graphic novels in which the storytelling borrowed or mimicked the aesthetics and sensibilities of Japanese manga (comics).

Grey is set in the realm of Ketiyama (apparently an archipelago) and takes place some time after an event known as “the Sonoma Incident.”  This outbreak of the lethal “Moon Virus” on Nacirema, one of Ketiyama's islands, led to chaos, destruction, and division.  As a sign of good faith and as a last attempt to restore order, the ruling Board of Officials allowed the people to elect a team of highly trained tactical agents, known as “the Bureau,” to serve and protect them.  Within the Bureau is an elite unit known as “Nimbus.”  The members of this team of five agents are sworn to maintain moral balance and to enforce the law.  These agents are also able to manipulate their “prana” (“life energy”).

The agents of Nimbus are Samara Asuhara, Kouken Masimuto, Shuyin Hagamuri, Manu Yagyu, and Kale Schaefer.  Belisia Asuhara, Samara's sister, is their handler and the creator of Nimbus.

Grey Chapter 5 opens in the home of Asuna and Yuta Yagyu – recently murdered.  It is, however, an unusual death, as they have been posed in a process involving prana.  Now, they are “living portraits,” and it is up to Saya Yagyu – the Shriker of Malta – to discover who killed members of her family.  Meanwhile, the killer has absconded with her niece, Asuka, Asuna and Yuta's daughter.

The agents of Nimbus have joined her in the investigation, and Samara has seen “living portraits” in her past.  In fact, Samara knows who the killer is, and she and Shuyin prepare to lead the mission to bring in the killer.  Not everyone is happy with that plan, though.

THE LOWDOWN:  The Grey Room is about to release the first trade paperback collection of Grey, entitled Grey: Volume 1.  This TPB will reprint Grey Chapters 1 to 5, as well as, Chapter 3.5: Astrid and Chapter 4.5: The Right Thing, both “special release chapters.”  I think this collection will be the best way to read the series, as it will reinforce to readers how conceptually well-developed Grey is.

As I have previously written, when readers start from the beginning, they discover that the world in which Grey is set has a complex history.  Readers get to watch the authors build a world in front of them and also to experience some other elements of the series, such as its engaging mysteries and sense of discovery.

The one thing I do want to emphasize, which Grey Chapter 5 also emphasizes, is the strength of the characters in this series.  First, each character is independent in the sense that he or she has his or her own motivations, desires, and goals.  Hornett presents characters that are not beholding to other characters for their worth.  Certainly, one character can affect another via the action, but it is good that supporting characters and cameo players don't feel like mere window dressing in the dramas of Grey's most important characters.

The best example of that takes place in the second half of Chapter 5, which I want to be careful not to spoil.  Hornett has the Nimbus characters and investigators confront one another about various issues regarding the murder investigations.  Hornett does not depict any characters as “backing down,” which makes them all appear important.  Readers are welcomed to pick a favorite character or even assume a character is the lead, but like Japanese manga, this American manga respects the idea of an ensemble cast with many quality characters.

Ardee Arollado's art, which gets more powerful with each chapter, conveys this in the way he composes the characters.  Sometimes, his art and storytelling seem like impartial observers, presenting the drama in large-size panels, capturing a stage in which each character has the power to affect the drama.

So after praising the characters, I have to heartily recommend Grey to you, dear readers.  And with this new trade paperback, you can still get in on Grey's intriguing ground floor.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of manga-inspired comic books and of good science fiction comic books will want to read Grey.

[This comic book includes three pages of additional informative text pieces.]

A

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


Grey #5 and all issues of the series can be read at comiXology.  Readers can also purchase all issues of the series and the new first trade collection, Grey: Volume 1 here or at https://thegreyroom.org/.

https://thegreyroom.org/
https://www.instagram.com/thegreyroom_/
Kris Hornett: https://twitter.com/Hornett_
Lisa Taylor: https://twitter.com/Persuasion513
https://www.instagram.com/kero.beroz/?hl=en


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

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