#Harley Quinn 2024 Annual 1

[dispatchdcu]

Harley Quinn 2024 Annual #1 Preview

Harley Quinn 2024 Annual #1 Preview #harleyquinnannual #harleyquinn #batman #gotham #DCEU #dccomics #comics #comicbooks #news #dcu #dcuuniverse #art #info #NCBD #comicbooknews #previews #amazon

Harley Quinn 2024 Annual #1 Preview: Toot toot! Ladies and germs, don’t you just hate it when you bust your butt left and right with no reward? Whether you’re devoted to a life of heroism, villainy, or regular-person-ism—everyone needs a break. Which is where the HARLEY QUINN 2024 ANNUAL comes in! 40 pages of luxurious luxury cruise-based comedy guaranteed to leave you feeling rested, relaxed,…

[why-i-love-comics]

Zatanna in a FBI (Female Body Inspector) shirt

Harley Quinn Annual #1 - "Now You Sea Me, Now You… Die!" (2024) by Erica Henderson

[seilnakyle]

do you have any dickbabs reading recommendations (especially if they're babs focused)? I read batgirl year one and some nightwing too, but I would love to delve deeper into their relationship

thank you sm in advance 🙏

They just don’t do slow burn in comics like Dickbabs anymore ♥️

If you’re coming right off batgirl year one (masterpiece. Redefined my life. Forever altered my brain) I definitely recommend you read Nightwing Year one as well, (starts at issue #101 of Nightwing (1996)

In this list I have included everything I can, but If I missed anything significant please feel free to let me know!

Pre-Crisis:

Detective Comics (1937): #359

The Batman Family (1975): #1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20

POST CRISIS:

Robin Year One (2000): #4

Batgirl Year One (2003)

Nightwing Year One - Nightwing (1996): #101-106

Nightwing (1995): #2

Nightwing (1996): #0.5, 7, 14, 16-18, 19, 20, 24, 25, 37, 38-87, 88, 89, 100, 104, 109, 117, 153 (this isn’t EVERY issue Babs is in but all the important ones)

Batman Chronicles (1996): #9

Some of the best and most beautiful dickbabs moments come from birds of prey, and they give a great look into Babs’ side of things too! I recommend reading Bop and Nightwing alongside each other (If you can!) And I alos recommend you read some Batman arcs like Cataclysm, No Man’s Land and Bruce Wayne, Murderer? They show Dick and Babs working together and with the batfam. Fun Fact and slight spoiler for the ending of No Man’s Land, The ending scene where Dick and Helena randomly kiss was supposed to be between Dick and Babs, but someone messed up, and Rucka kinda just thought Dick was a horndog so no one fixed it 💔 there is still some good Dickbabs moments within that arc tho

Birds Of Prey (1999): #8, 19, 20, 23-61, 71, 76, 86

Robin (1993): #71

Gotham Knights: #17, 18, 26, 30, 32, 34, 35, 36, 42, 43

Harley Quinn (2000): #10-12

DC One Million (1998): #1 , 3

DC Universe Holiday Bash (1997): #2

Batman: Black Mirror (they aren’t together in this but it’s still important reading for their relationship imo and a fascinating/thrilling Dick!bats story with lots of Oracle besides)

Nightwing Annual 2 (for the conclusion of the proposal from Nightwing #117)

Li’l Gotham (2013): #1, 7, 10, 17

Convergence Nightwing/Oracle #1-2 (for the wedding. This is how pre-boot ended as far as I’m concerned)

New 52 Reboot:

Nightwing (2011): #4, Annual 1

Batgirl (2011): #3, 18, 21, 30, Annual 3, 45

Grayson (2014): #2, #12

REBIRTH:

Nightwing (2016) #1, 2, 3, 15, 44, 45, 46, 47, Annual 1

Batgirl (2016): #7, 10, 14, 15, 16, 17, 25

Dark Nights: Death Metal - the Last Stories of the DC Universe: #1

Batman (2016): #55

Batgirl (2016): #43, 50

Nightwing (2016): #50, 72, 73, 74, 75, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 100, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 111, 112, 113, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123 (ongoing)

Batman (2016): #100, 104, 118, 126, 127, 128, 137, 141, 145, 146, 148, 149,

Batgirls (2021): #7, 8, 10, 12

The Flash (2016): #787

Future State: Nightwing (2021): #1, 2

Future State: The Next Batman (2021): #4

Superman: Son of Kal-El (2021): #13

Saved by the Belle Reve (2022): #1

Tales of the Titans (2023): #1

Titans: Beast World (2023): #2, 3, 4, 6

Titans (2023): #6, 7

Batman / Santa Clause: Silent Knight (2023): #1-4

How to lose a Guy Gardener in 10 days (2024): #1

Super-Pets Special: Bitedentity Crisis (2024): #1

ELSEWORLDS / BLACK LABEL

Thrillkiller (1997): #1-3

Young Justice (2011): #22, 23, 25

Earth 2: World’s End (2014): #1, 3, 4, 6, 9, 10

Earth 2 (2012): #29

Batman: White Knight (2017): #1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Batman: White Knight: Batman Day (2018): #1

Batman: Curse of the White Knight (2019): #4

Batman: Beyond The White Knight (2022): #1, 4, 6, 7, 8

The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries (2021): #4

Dc vs. Vampires (2021): #1, #2, #3, 4, 8, 12

Batman: The Long Halloween - The Last Halloween (2024): #1

Batman: Dark Age (2024): #4, 5, 6

The Boy Wonder (2024): #1

[pridequest64]

Anarky Reading Order

This is, based of my research the complete reading list in release order for all Anarly Comics as of October 1st 2024. Release dates were used when available but compromises were made with cover date when necessary. If you see anything that is wrong or needs new additions feel free to let me know!

(Comic Vine was a massive help in this Project!)

1. Detective Comics #608 November 1989

2. Detective Comics #609 December 1989

3. Detective Comics #620 August 1990

4. Batman #456 September 18th 1990

5. Detective Comics #627 March 1991

6. Batman Annual #15 April 18th 1991

7. Robin Annual #1 July 23rd 1992

8. Superman & Batman Magazine #1 Q3 1993

9. Batman: Shadow of the Bat #16

10. September 1993

11. Batman: Shadow of the Bat #17 September 1993

12. Batman: Shadow of the Bat #18 October 1993

13. Green Arrow #89 August 1994

14. Batman: Shadow of the Bat Annual #2 September 1994

15. The Batman Adventures #31 April 1995

16. Batman: Shadow of the Bat #40 May 16th 1995

17. The Batman Chronicles #1 May 30th 1995

18. The Batman Adventures #36 October 1st 1995

19. Batman: Shadow of the Bat #41 June 20th 1996

20. Batman: Shadow of the Bat #50 May 1st 1996

21. Batman: Shadow of the Bat #66 September 1st 1997

22. Batman: Shadow of the Bat #67 October 1st 1997

23. Batman: Shadow of the Bat #73 April 1998

24. DCU Heroes Secret Files February 1999

25. Anarky #1 May 1999

26. Anarky #2 June 1999

27. Anarky #3 July 1999

28. Anarky #4 August 1999

29. Anarky #5 September 1999

30. Anarky #6 October 1999

31. Anarky #7 November 1999

32. Anarky #8 December 1999

33. Sins of Youth: JLA, Jr. May 2000

34. Young Justice: Sins of Youth #1 May 2000

35. Young Justice: Sins of Youth #2 May 2000

36. Green Arrow #51 August 2005

37. Robin #181 December 17th 2008

38. Robin #182 January 21st 2009

39. Robin #183 April 1st 2009

40. Red Robin #3 August 12th 2009

41. Red Robin #13 June 3rd 2010

42. Red Robin #15 August 4th 2010

43. Red Robin #16 September 9th 2010

44. Red Robin #17 November 10th 2010

45. Red Robin #18 December 8th 2010

46. Red Robin #19 January 12th 2011

47. Red Robin #20 February 9th 2011

48. Red Robin #21 March 16th 2011

49. Red Robin #22 April 13th 2011

50. Red Robin #23 May 11th 2011

51. Red Robin #24 June 8th 2011

52. Beware the Batman #1 October 23rd 2013

53. Green Lantern Corps #25 November 13th 2013

54. Detective Comics #38 Janurary 7th 2015

55. Detective Comics #39 February 4th 2015

56. Detective Comics #40 March 4th 2015

57. Detective Comics: Endgame March 11th 2015

58. Detective Comics #957 May 24th 2017

59. Detective Comics #963 August 23rd 2017

60. Detective Comics #964 September 13th 2017

61. Detective Comics #966 October 11th 2017

62. Detective Comics #968 November 22nd 2017

63. Detective Comics #970 December 13th 2017

64. Detective Comics #971 December 27th 2017

65. Detective Comics #972 January 10th 2018

66. Detective Comics #973 January 24th 2018

67. Batman: Prelude to the Wedding: Red Hood vs. Anarky June 20th 2018

68. Harley Quinn #61 May 1st 2019

69. Harley Quinn #62 June 5th 2019

70. The Imfected: The Commissioner December 18th 2019

71. DC Nation Presents DC Future State November 24th 2020

72. Future State: The Next Batman #1 Janurary 5th 2021

73. I Am Batman #1 September 14th 2021

74. I Am Batman #2 October 12th 2021

75. Robins #4 February 15th 2022

76. Detective Comics #1054 February 22nd 2022

77. Batman: Urban Legends #22 December 20th 2022

[cybercitycomix]

Top New DC Comic Releases for the Week of May 1st, 2024.

Dc’s Spring Breakout #1,

Flash Annual 2024 #1,

Harley Quinn Annual 2024 #1,

Nightwing Annual 2024 #1 +

Superman: House of Brainiac Special #1.

[gorogues]

Spoilers for comics in March 2024!

These are from the official solicits for that month, which you can see in full at Adventures In Poor Taste.

There's not a lot of Rogues content this month, but a bit. Digger isn't mentioned in any of the Kill Arkham Asylum solicits, but he is on one cover.

SPEED FORCE #5 Written by JARRETT WILLIAMS Art by DANIELE DI NICUOLO Cover by SWEENEY BOO Variant cover by GEORGE KAMBADAIS $3.99 US | 32 pages | 5 of 6 | Variant $4.99 US (card stock) ON SALE 3/12/24 After teaming up with the rest of the Flash Family in Titans: Beast World Tour Central City, Avery and Wallace are more determined than ever to take down the mysterious forces behind the app that’s brainwashing not only the S.T.A.R. Labs scientists but now the youth of Keystone City. But before they can reach the Big Boss, they’ve got to face off with holographic versions of themselves!

SUICIDE SQUAD: KILL ARKHAM ASYLUM #2 Written by JOHN LAYMAN Art by JESUS HERVAS Cover by DAN PANOSIAN Variant cover by ARIEL OLIVETTI 1:25 variant cover by GABRIEL HARDMAN $4.99 US | 32 pages | 2 of 5 | Variant $5.99 US (card stock) ON SALE 3/5/24 Before the Suicide Squad sets their sights on the corrupted Justice League in the upcoming video game, they have to escape Arkham Asylum, and that’s going to require a lot more killin’ first. Good thing Deadshot is the world’s deadliest assassin. Or is that second-deadliest? Either way, he’s determined to survive the riot to end all riots, in order to live to die another day. But there’s a lot of guards standing between Deadshot and freedom. A lot of other inmates, too. Deadshot’s solution: kill ’em all! Presenting the riotous prequel to Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League! Each print issue includes a redeemable code for a bonus weapon doll digital token in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League inspired by the comic. Get the new Great White Shark weapon doll digital token with issue #2. Paying subscribers with a DC UNIVERSE INFINITE Annual or Ultra subscription (U.S. only) who read the digital issues of Suicide Squad: Kill Arkham Asylum will also receive these bonus digital codes.* *Terms Apply. See dc.com/suicide-squad-faq for details. DC UNIVERSE INFINITE is not intended for children.

Plus another Kill Arkham Asylum solicit and the Ape-Ril Special behind a cut for lenghth!

SUICIDE SQUAD: KILL ARKHAM ASYLUM #3 Written by JOHN LAYMAN Art by JESUS HERVAS Cover by DAN PANOSIAN Variant covers by ARIEL OLIVETTI and STEPHANIE HANS $4.99 US | 32 pages | 3 of 5 | Variant $5.99 US (card stock) ON SALE 4/2/24 Wake up, brush teeth, get tortured by guards, get loose and get revenge. It’s just another day at Arkham Asylum for Harley Quinn, except all the cell doors just inexplicably unlocked and now everybody’s going nuts and killing each other. The lunatics are running the asylum today—which is just how Harley likes it! The bloody good time continues in this prequel to Rocksteady’s Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League! Each print issue includes a redeemable code for a bonus weapon doll digital token in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League inspired by the comic. Get the new Scarface weapon doll digital token with issue #3. Paying subscribers with a DC UNIVERSE INFINITE Annual or Ultra subscription (U.S. only) who read the digital issues of Suicide Squad: Kill Arkham Asylum will also receive these bonus digital codes.* *Terms Apply. See dc.com/suicide-squad-faq for details. DC UNIVERSE INFINITE is not intended for children.

For those who like Grodd and the other DC apes...

APE-RIL SPECIAL Written by JOHN LAYMAN, JOSHUA HALE FIALKOV, and GENE YANG Art by KARL MOSTERT, PHIL HESTER, and BERNARD CHANG Cover by DAN MORA Variant cover by BERNARD CHANG Banana Scent Variant cover by HAYDEN SHERMAN ($7.99 US) $5.99 US | 48 pages | Variant $6.99 US (card stock) ON SALE 3/19/24 CAUTION: An ape-surd amount of bad ape puns are incoming. Please be ape-vised. Gorilla Grodd’s recent incarcer-ape-tion in the pages of The Flash has left a void that Monsieur Mallah is more than happy to fill. Ape-sembling a group of the DCU’s most sinister simians, Mallah forms the Legion of D(oo-oo-ah-ah)m, with an eye toward world domin-ape-tion. But the world won’t be conquered that easily! Enter the all-ape JUNGLE L(ee-ee)gue. Can this team of hero-eek anthropoids be the salv-ape-tion we need, or will Mallah’s team of maniacal monkeys bring forth the ape-pocalypse? Get ready to go bananas as we honor DC’s storied history with mankind’s closest relatives in this ape-ic adventure! It’s gonna be orangu-tastic, so heat up a capuchin-o, prepare a batch of chocolate chimp cookies, and get ready to r(ee-ee)d the one comic b(oo-oo)k this year that’s guaranteed to make you go…APE!

[aboutzatanna]

Zatanna appeared in Harley Quinn Annual #1 (2024) written and drawn by Erica Henderson.

Link to Henderson's IG.

I read this around the time it was released and have been meaning to review it for a while now.

Over all I thought it was a fun, breezy read. No world ending stakes, just a fun story between two very dissimilar characters. The plot revolves around Zatanns being framed for a murder and having to work with Harley Quinn to solve it. Oh and Vandal Savage is also in it but I don't think it would be a spoiler to day he is *not* the killer of the red herring.

Zatanna didn't feel undermined or rendered powerless just to make Harley useful to the plot and its always refreshing to read a story where the Usual Suspects of Zatanna's story don't appear or are mentioned.

[comicbookclub]

DC Comics Preview: Harley Quinn 2024 Annual #1

Read a preview of Harley Quinn 2024 Annual #1 from DC Comics, written and drawn by Erica Henderson as Harley and Zatanna go on a cruise.

[kevinsreviewcatalogue]

Review: The People's Joker (2022)

Just because I left Fort Lauderdale, and with it Popcorn Frights, behind when I moved to Boston last year doesn't mean I have to give up on horror festivals. And just as I managed to sneak in a trip to the Telluride Horror Show amidst my adventures in Utah back in 2022, so too did I find that -- where else? -- Salem, Massachusetts hosted the annual Salem Horror Show in April and May. Tonight was the first night, and they screened one of the festival's token non-horror films in The People's Joker, a queer Batman spoof made without any official approval from DC Comics or Warner Bros. (They originally had a screening of Hocus Pocus planned with Kathy Najimy as a special guest, but Najimy had to cancel at the last minute.) How was it?

The People's Joker (2022)

Not rated

<Originally posted at https://kevinsreviewcatalogue.blogspot.com/2024/04/salem-horror-fest-week-1-day-1-peoples.html>

Score: 4 out of 5

The People's Joker exists in a place very similar to that enjoyed by Escape from Tomorrow. In both cases, you have independent filmmakers making unlicensed, unauthorized use of American pop iconography, Disney in the case of Escape from Tomorrow and DC Comics in the case of this film, as a way of satirizing and critiquing it with a particular focus on its corporate ownership and its role in the modern economy. Unlike Disney, which permitted the release of Escape from Tomorrow, DC Comics and Warner Bros. actively tried to clamp down on this film, which was ultimately saved by fair use laws protecting parodies like this. And of the two, I'd argue that this film pulls off what it was trying to do a lot better. While both films are elevated by a particular psychedelic edge and punk-rock attitude, Escape from Tomorrow was too incoherent to really stick the landing or even really convey what it was trying to say, while The People's Joker manages to successfully pull off being not only a dark parody of Batman in which the Joker is the hero, but also a hilarious comedy in its own right, a queer coming-out story, a satire of the entertainment industry (especially stand-up and sketch comedy), and a film that manages to get its message across loud and clear. For obvious reasons, I don't expect this to be more than a cult classic, but it's one I enjoyed and do not regret watching.

In this take on Batman's most iconic villain, one that's most obviously based on the movie Joker but draws on many versions of the character (as well as elements of Harley Quinn), the Joker is now a trans woman who leaves her disapproving mother in Smallville, Kansas for Gotham City in the hopes of becoming a comedian like her idol, UCB Live star Ra's al Ghul. There, upon being exposed to the gatekeeping and hypocrisy of the world of mainstream standup comedy, which here serves largely to prop up a corporate-run dystopia even as it still claims the legacy of those who once spoke truth to power, she starts her own underground "anti-comedy" troupe in an abandoned carnival that comes to be comprised of many of Batman's traditional baddies from the comics. (Her trademark gag is inviting people onstage to tell the world their saddest experiences and then huffing Smilex and laughing her ass off at their misery, because after all, this is still the Joker we're talking about.) This eventually puts her on a collision course with Batman himself, who's depicted as not only the jackbooted thug that more cynical deconstructions of superhero comics have framed him as, but also a perverted closet case on top of it. (Let's just say, this film gets a lot of mileage out of all those jokes you've heard about his relationship with his sidekick Robin.)

The film ain't exactly subtle in what it's saying. UCB Live is a clear-cut parody of Saturday Night Live, right down to the fact that Lorne Michaels is a character in the film, and moreover, its initialism is lifted straight from the famed Chicago comedy troupe the Upright Citizens Brigade that played such a major role in the development of standup and sketch comedy in the '90s and '00s, including producing multiple SNL stars. And while the film never names him so directly, you also get the sense that its writer, director, and star Vera Drew really isn't a fan of Joe Rogan or the standup circle he's built around himself, either. The Joker's introduction to UCB Live's casting has her body being scanned and her being deemed a potential comedy superstar because she has a small penis and is therefore mistaken for the kind of insecure man who the industry is built upon. Her comic idol Ra's starred in a Borat-like film whose main joke was making fun of foreigners. The whole reason Batman, an avatar of the elite if ever there was one (being the CEO of Wayne Enterprises and all), comes after her is because she directly criticizes and threatens the ruling class in a way that the corporate, sanitized world of UCB Live merely pretends to. Drew is somebody who clearly has experience with comedy and the people who inhabit it, and is very much writing that experience into the meat of the story, a metaphorical representation of an entertainment industry that, in her view, only cloaks itself in populism and progressive language enough that it can fend off criticism without actually making any meaningful changes.

Much of this is told through a mix of a riotous and raunchy comedy and the Joker's romance with her fellow comic Jason Todd, aka "Mr. J", a trans man who's envisioned here as a mix of Robin and the edgelord Jared Leto version of the Joker from the DC Extended Universe. The gags came flying at a mile a minute, and often had me busting my gut in laughter. The whole cast is game for the material, with Drew making the Joker a compelling anti-hero not just as a comic presence but also as somebody whose journey from a Midwestern girl-trapped-in-a-boy's-body to a flamboyant Clown Princess of Crime was one that I found myself genuinely invested in. Kane Distler as Mr. J was also an interesting presence, somebody whose relationship with the Joker starts promisingly only for him to turn emotionally abusive and self-centered (complete with a "gaslighting" pun that had me cracking up), indicating that, when he transitioned, he wound up embracing the most noxious forms of hypermasculinity. And as for the style of the film, Drew goes for an exaggerated feel that combines live-action filmmaking, highly stylized CGI, what appears to be a mannequin representing Poison Ivy, and very crude animation both 2D and 3D to create a feeling that reminded me of watching Adult Swim or surfing Newgrounds back in the 2000s. There clearly wasn't much of a budget here, so Drew instead leaned on creativity, both her own and the dozens of artists worldwide who each contributed to the film. It was as unique a film to watch as it was an entertaining comedy, one that demonstrated a lot of talent and commitment on the part of everybody involved.

The Bottom Line

There's no way in hell that The People's Joker is ever getting a wide release, but if it plays near you, I highly recommend seeking it out, as a twisted, countercultural sendup of everything from superheroes to mainstream comedy to who gets to call themselves "the counterculture".

[milfzatannaz]

Reading solicits and... Zatanna is going to be in the Harley Quinn annual... we got a bunstantine in her last appearance and I am praying hoping we will get the man himself here. Please. For the starving johnzees... our biannual crumbs are due...

being a johnzee is so funny in retrospect bc once a year we get (1) suggestive panel and 5 of us start screaming and crying and making edits. I’m looking forward to our first crumb in 2024 hopefully. maybe we’ll even get two panels. that would be a dream

[remainseatedatalltimes]

Game, Set, Match to 2024.

As the curtain closes on 2024, it’s time to look back at some of the highlights of the cinematic year that was. This is normally the time that I would recommend you go make yourself a drink, find a comfy couch, and settle in for another walk down cinema lane, but with only one real standout film this year, this recap probably won’t be a long one.  Although, with a Disney film towards the bottom of the list, there’s a fair chance I may have a bit to say about that.  You’ve been warned…

However, let’s start off with the positives.  For the first time in 3 years, one film transcended from the mass of good and great films to take a 4.5 star rating out of 5. 

That standout: the Luca Guadagnino directed fast paced, seductive, and exhilarating tennis spectacular, Challengers.  There are many great sports centric films out there, but few that take the essence of the sport to create storylines and visuals that recreate that sports frenetic energy.  Challengers did just that. For 2 hours, I was engrossed in the brilliant Zendaya, Josh O’Conner, and Mike Faist as they served aces in the ultimate game of cutthroat doubles.  There were so many scenes in this movie that shouldn’t have worked, but they did.  And even when the movie felt like it was teetering towards the absurd, the ball would land just inside the baseline and deliver another knockout point.  Game, Set and Match,  this was easily the best film of the year, and so it pains me that there isn’t more Oscar buzz for it.  Because this is exactly the type of film that should be nominated as both a movie critic darling, and a general public favourite.  

Sitting just behind Challengers, with a 4-star rating, were a record 14 films, showing just how great - albeit not stellar - 2024’s cinema really was.  So whilst I don’t have time to go through all 14, some of my personal favourites included last year’s Oscar nominated The Holdovers, and the second journey into Riley’s mind, Inside Out 2 (which lost a solid half point because of a significant plot hole created by the new emotions never having being seen in Riley’s parents minds in the first film). Other highlights for me included the utterly terrifying, Civil War, the delightful twist on a coming of age film, My Old Ass, and the brilliantly original and compelling, All Of Us Strangers. 

But there was one more film that could have come close to taking out the no. 1 film of the year, and possibly of all time, but unfortunately fell short due to the execution not quite matching the concept.  If you read these reviews annually, then you probably know by now that musicals and Disney films do have a tendency to sit higher on my list than they likely would on other reviewers lists.  So when I heard that Joker: Folie à Deux was going to be a musical, I was both terrified and thrillified (IYKYK).  

Joker: Folie à Deux had all the ingredients of a masterpiece.  And it was so very, very close to being one.  I loved the colour palette, thought the storyline and spin on the Joker/Harley Quinn dynamic was brilliant, that the acting was on point, and the ending was a stroke of narrative genius.  But where the movie lost itself, is that it failed to truly understand what a musical really is.  A musical uses music to tell the story.  The music in this film did no such thing, and simply elongated the film to be a solid 45 minutes longer than it needed to be (a common trait of 2024 cinema as also evidenced by Wicked: Part 1 and Dune: Part II).  In doing so, it also made critics of musicals hate them even more (even though they were watching a bad example of one).  Still, the markings of brilliance were there, and this film absolutely did not deserve the scolding that it got (which I suspect mostly stemmed from audiences resenting the fact that it was a musical).  But I stand by the fact that this film's concept was the right course of action, and that it could have become a modern classic if it had nailed the genre it was trying to deliver.  In the immortal lyrics of one musical that nailed it’s genre, Enchanted, it was “so close, but still so far”.

Now that we’ve covered the upper echelons, let’s look at the other end of the spectrum.  

After a couple of surprisingly great films, the Godzilla saga returned with its latest outing, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, delivering its worst film by, well, a Godzilla sized margain.  The Venom saga also concluded with one of its better outings in the series. But as I still cannot forgive Sony for absolutely ruining one of the best Marvel villains, the maximum star rating I can ever give this film is 2 stars (and a solid ½ star of that is elevated purely for Juno Temple being in it).  

Tied for my 3rd least favourite films of the year were two very different films.  The first was one that’s causing quite the headlines off camera.  But my dislike of It Ends With Us has nothing to do with the awful off camera acts.  My dislike stemmed from the sheer absurdity of everything about this film. Perhaps the “fairytale” nature of the movie is intentional to really demonstrate the dichotomy against the film’s core message.  But if that was the case, then it was lost on me.  I felt everything about the film, from the ludicrous flower store setting, to the ridiculous meet-cute of Lily’s new employee (and within 5 minutes, best friend), completely overshadowed everything this film was trying to convey.  I’m sure a lot of this is actually a problem with the source material novel, but as I can only review the movie, then this is a brush that the film remains over varnished with.  Much like the ridiculous flower store.

But it was my other least favourite film that I’m sure many of my annual readers (all half a dozen of you), are probably most keen to hear me critique.  That film:  the utterly unnecessary prequel,  Mufasa: The Lion King.  

Why did Disney feel the need to make a prequel to The Lion King?  Money of course!  But why that film needed to be a prequel, and more importantly, why it needed to be a prequel of the already harshly critiqued “live-action” movie and not a traditional animated film, is beyond me.  Moana, Encanto and Frozen all continue to demonstrate that Disney’s true heart and soul lies in animation, and that animated films can deliver BIG box office figures. So if this film had been an animated movie, I can 100% guarantee this would have instantly seen it jump up a full star rating in and of itself, simply by removing the weird, clinical, hyper real “live action” characters.

But that was only the start of this film's woes.  Let me put this as simply as I can:  No film should EVER be based on characters re-telling a story.  A movie IS a story, so having Timon, Pumba and Rafiki essentially recount the story of Mufasa is just a gimmick to be able to promote the original characters and actors being in it.  It added nothing, and demonstrated further why this movie was unnecessary, and should have been an original sequel, not a prequel.  

Secondly, this was almost an accountant level by the numbers attempt to recreate the magic of the original film.  Even to the point where the musical numbers almost paralleled, in order, a similar song to the original film.  For example, I Always Wanted A Brother fell in exactly the same sequence that I Just Can’t Wait To Be King fell.  Similarly, Hakuna Matata was replaced with We Go Together, Can You Feel The Love Tonight was replaced by Tell Me It’s You.  And the greatest travesty of them all, Be Prepared was replaced with one of the worst songs I’ve ever heard in a Disney musical (sorry Lin-Manuel Miranda), Bye Bye.  How anyone could let the villain sing a song that features the lyric “I’ll make you go bye-bye”, I have no idea.  If I hadn’t been so shocked by the afwfulness, I might have found it funny.  But certainly never imposing like the BRILLIANT Be Prepared offered.

Ultimately, this movie is so pointless it actually went so far as to weaken the message and storytelling of the original, not by diminishing the gravitas of Mufasa, but by minimising the efficacy and reasoning of why Scar is the villain in the original.  I do however want to point out that Barry Jenkins' direction of this film was beautiful, and there were some amazing shots.  But that did little to justify the lazy money grab that this film was set up to be. 

I warned you.

So there we have it.  Another year, another opinionative rant.  See you next year.  Same time.  Same place.

[laresearchette]

Saturday, December 14, 2024 Canadian TV Listings (Times Eastern)

WHERE CAN I FIND THOSE PREMIERES?: THE SANTA CLASS (W Network) 8:00pm

WHAT IS NOT PREMIERING IN CANADA TONIGHT? 92ND ANNUAL HOLLYWOOD CHRISTMAS PARADE (CW Feed) THE HOLIDAY JUNKIE (Premiering on December 18 on Lifetime Canada at 7:00pm)

NEW TO AMAZON PRIME CANADA/CBC GEM/CRAVE TV/DISNEY + STAR/NETFLIX CANADA:

AMAZON PRIME CANADA BLUE CHECKS AT RWE

CRAVE TV OGGY & THE COCKROACHES (Season 6)

NETFLIX CANADA LES INVINCIBLES (Seasons 1-3)

NHL HOCKEY (SN) 1:00pm: Chicago vs. Devils (SN) 4:00pm: Knights vs. Oilers (CBC/SNOntario/SNPacific) 7:00pm: Leafs vs. Red Wings (SN1) 7:00pm: Penguins vs. Sens (CityTV/SNEast/SNWest) 7:00pm: Habs vs. Jets (CBC/SN) 10:00pm: Bruins vs. Canucks (SN1/SNWest) 10:00pm: Panthers vs. Flames

NBA BASKETBALL (SN360) 4:30pm: NBA Cup: Semi-Final: Heat vs. Bucks (TSN3/TSN4) 8:30pm: NBA Cup: Semi-Final: Rockets vs. Thunder

2024 PARA HOCKEY CUP (TSN4/TSN5) 6:00pm: Gold Medal Game: Teams TBA

B&B MERRY (CTV) 7:00pm: Graham Cooper invites renowned travel blogger Tracey Wise on a Christmas getaway in exchange for her review of his family's small bed & breakfast, Silver Peak. Unfortunately, the humble B&B is facing tough competition from an upscale hotel resort.

YOU BETTER WATCH OUT (Lifetime Canada) 8:00pm: A woman stumbles into the middle of a kidnapping while stranded at a small-town airport on Christmas Eve.

A CHRISTMAS BLESSING (CTV Life) 8:00pm: A TV chef is divinely inspired to take over her late aunt's charity with help from a new friend and handsome neighbor.

THE JINGLE BELL JUBILEE (Super Channel Heart & Home) 8:00pm: A city manager recruits the help of a childhood friend to save his town's Christmas charity event, while she attempts to set him up with her close friend.

A NOT SO ROYAL CHRISTMAS (CTV) 9:00pm: A tabloid journalist tries to land an interview with a reclusive count during the holidays. In response, the royal family asks a groundskeeper to pose as the count since the real one fled years ago.

JOKER: FOLIE À DEUX (Crave) 9:00pm: Struggling with his dual identity, failed comedian Arthur Fleck meets the love of his life, Harley Quinn, while incarcerated at Arkham State Hospital.

A ROYAL DATE FOR CHRISTMAS (CTV Life) 10:00pm: A professor of military history teams with an antique store owner to help track down the original owner of a historic World War II uniform and the love letters in its pockets.

CLOSE TO YOU (Crave) 11:20pm: A trans man (Elliot Page) revisits his hometown, facing family tensions. He reconnects with an old flame, rediscovering himself. His journey leads to self-acceptance and newfound strength.

DIE HARD WITH A VENGEANCE (CTV) 12:30am: Suspended from the police force, John McClane (Bruce Willis) enlists a Harlem shopkeeper (Samuel L. Jackson) to help stop a terrorist bomber (Jeremy Irons).

[why-i-love-comics]

Harley Quinn Annual #1 - "Now You Sea Me, Now You… Die!" (2024)

by Erica Henderson

[comicbookclublive]

DC Comics Preview: Harley Quinn 2024 Annual #1

Read a preview of Harley Quinn 2024 Annual #1 from DC Comics, written and drawn by Erica Henderson as Harley and Zatanna go on a cruise.

[why-i-love-comics]

Harley Quinn Annual #1 - "Now You Sea Me, Now You… Die!" (2024)

by Erica Henderson

[why-i-love-comics]

Harley Quinn Annual #1 - "Now You Sea Me, Now You… Die!" (2024)

by Erica Henderson