#Into the Dark Dimension by Stuart Moore

[quirkycatsfatstacks]

Review: Into the Dark Dimension by Stuart Moore

Into the Dark Dimension: A Marvel: Crisis Protocol NovelSeries: Marvel: Crisis ProtocolAuthor: Stuart MoorePublisher: AconyteReleased: May 2, 2023Received: NetGalley Goodreads | More Marvel Books Book Summary: Sometimes protecting the world doesn’t go quite as planned. Take the battle against Dormammu. In an ideal situation, he never would have gotten such a strong foothold on the planet. Yet…

[augustheart]

what is the wrong earth?

the wrong earth is an AHOY! comic created by tom peyer and jamal igle starting in 2019 with semi-regular installments since then. the plot follows dragonflyman, a parody of the campy silver age and adam west batman, and dragonfly, a riff on gritty overly dark modern batman, after they're transported to each other's worlds. stranded in a city that's almost--but not quite--the one they've always known, they have to find allies in order to survive. but what or who is behind the interdimensional mirrors that took them away from home? and what happens if one of them finds that the sidekick he lost on his home world is alive and well in another dimension?

is it good?

yeah, it's an absolute blast. even among ones that are well done, it's rare for parodies of past and present mediums of comics to feel friendly and not mean-spirited. this comic genuinely loves the ones that have come before it while still critiquing aspects of them like their obsession with edge, i don't want to spoil too much about the plot, because it's more complex than it seems especially in the followup series. but this is a comic primarily about putting someone in a Situation and seeing how they react to it, and it's always interesting.

what's the reading order for it?

main series:

The Wrong Earth

The Wrong Earth: Night & Day

The Wrong Earth: We Could Be Heroes

The Wrong Earth: Dead Ringers (publishing march of 2024)

specials you can read at any time after the first series:

Dragonfly & Dragonflyman (prequel!)

The Wrong Earth: Trapped on Teen Planet (written by gail simone)

The Wrong Earth: Fame and Fortune (written by mark russell)

The Wrong Earth: Purple (written by stuart moore)

The Wrong Earth: Confidence Men (written by mark waid (read dragonfly & dragonflyman before this one!))

The Wrong Earth: Meat (written by tom peyer (read dragonfly & dragonflyman before this one!))

cool! anything else i should know before i start?

there's some stuff in here that might be triggering to read including child abuse of every kind except sexual, antiblack racism, drug abuse, self harm, and suicide. it's not anything worse or more than what you might find in a lot of cape comics from any era, and by and large they're here in order to have effective commentary on things that often happen without incident or attention in those comics, but your mileage may vary. child abuse and suicide in particular are major themes in dragonfly & dragonflyman and the specials confidence men and meat.

in conclusion:

[paulsemel]

Not every novel about a Marvel character is based on the comics...directly. Here's the link to my exclusive interview with author Stuart Moore about "Into The Dark Dimension," his second novel based on the miniatures game "Marvel Crisis Protocol." 📖🦸

[eddycurrents]

For the week of 1 April 2019

Quick Bits:

Amazing Spider-Man #18.HU is Gibbon’s tale from Nick Spencer, Ken Lashley, Erick Arciniega, and Joe Caramagna. It’s a gut punch, a kick in the teeth, a few tosses against a tree, and then an attempt to turn you into a porcupine via arrows. While it does do a good job of telling Gibbon’s tale and attempting to make you care about him, it’s not a pleasant comic. It’s kicking the crap out of a z-list character to make you feel “the stakes” and this is really starting to feel cheap. Maiming and killing characters to up the gravity of a story, especially ones we’ve not see for some time, it’s not fun. It’s not shocking. And I’m tired of it. Which is somewhat sad, because this is some of the best art I’ve seen from Ken Lashley for a while. He seems to be channelling bits of Jack Kirby and Keith Giffen into his normal style and it looks really damn good.

| Published by Marvel

Amber Blake #1 is another partnership with Glénat in France, this one a fairly moody crime story from Jade Lagardère, Butch Guice, Christa Miesner, and Robbie Robbins. It’s a fairly dark beginning, delving into sexual assault and human trafficking, but interesting. The art from Guice is incredible.

| Published by IDW

Avengers: No Road Home #8 breaks out some art from Carlo Barberi as we head towards the home stretch of this series. Very nice character moments for Hawkeye, Hercules, and Conan this issue, though the build up of seemingly insurmountable odds from Nyx is adding some incredible tension.

| Published by Marvel

Bronze Age Boogie #1 launches Ahoy’s second wave of series and it’s awesome. The lead story is a bizarre mix of Doom Patrol-esque superheroes, Planet of the Apes alternate realities, and a teenager from nearly 4000 years ago fighting in a world of wizards and zombies. It’s glorious madness from Stuart Moore, Alberto Ponticelli, Giulia Brusco, and Rob Steen with so many ideas you can barely keep up. Rounding out this issue is the usual prose pieces and a wonderful back-up comic of Major Ursa, an astronaut bear, from Tyrone Finch, Mauricet, Lee Loughridge, and Steen that elevates the entire package even further.

| Published by Ahoy

Champions #4 unleashes Kaldera on the team looking to get revenge on Sam, while Miles and Kamala have a confrontation about what happened in Dubai. Lots of wonderful emotion in this one, beautifully depicted by Steven Cummings and Marcio Menyz. Also, Kaldera wanting to eat everyone is just weird.

| Published by Marvel

Conan the Barbarian #5 is another great issue from Jason Aaron, Mahmud Asrar, Matthew Wilson, and Travis Lanham. This one taps into Conan’s life as a thief and a pirate while unleashing eldritch horrors from stealing the wrong idol. Great tentacle beasts and a wonderful feeling of dread throughout the story as Conan fights to survive adrift at sea.

| Published by Marvel

Dead Kings #4 gives us some more dark humour as Maria and Sasha get closer to launching the rescue attempt on the prison, while Gena plans a little revolt of his own. Great artwork from Matthew Dow Smith and Lauren Affe.

| Published by AfterShock

Deathstroke #42 continues the “Terminus Agenda” crossover with Teen Titans as Slade looses the bonds of his prison in Robin’s underground supervillain jail, then hangs about and seemingly attempts to needle Damian as their attempt to take down another villain goes awry. This story is odd, but entertaining. Christopher Priest, Carlo Pagulayan, Jason Paz, Norm Rapmund, Jeromy Cox, and Willie Schubert are doing something interesting here.

| Published by DC Comics

Die #5 gives us the conclusion to the first arc and it’s pretty dark. Kieron Gillen, Stephanie Hans, and Clayton Cowles make us question here whether or not our heroes actually are “good” as they systematically start to take apart some of Sol’s toys in order to try to get home. Also, there are some horrifying hints at worse things waiting.

| Published by Image

Giant Days #49 sees Esther go back home for Easter break to try to write her dissertation. And fight a vampire with the 11-year old sister of one of her friends. Wonderful bit of how time changes you from John Allison, Max Sarin, Whitney Cogar, and Jim Campbell.

| Published by Boom Entertainment / BOOM! Box

The Girl in the Bay #3 chronicles a bit of Hugh’s side of the story to his monstrous clay-like hallucination buddy, as Kathy continues to try to make sense of her double existence and the older version of her’s death. There’s definitely something else at play here as JM DeMatteis, Corin Howell, James Devlin, and Clem Robins keep building this mystery.

| Published by Dark Horse / Berger Books

The Green Lantern #6 is relatively muted compared to previous issues, but still has an incredible impact as Hal goes through seemingly the last of the Blackstars’ tests and is granted an audience with Mu, from Grant Morrison, Liam Sharp, Steve Oliff, and Steve Wands. Mu here definitely seems to be insane, which is chilling for someone trying to control everything. There are some very interesting twists throughout, including another form of sacrifice from Hal, leading him to a strange place and a very old character who should give a hint as to where they are now.

| Published by DC Comics

Immortal Hulk #16 is another incredible issue from Al Ewing, Joe Bennett, Ruy José, Paul Mounts, and Cory Petit. This team really seems to be able to do no wrong and each subsequent issue is another masterpiece in horror, weaving together an impressive amount of Hulk history in a compelling and enticing way. Along with a very interesting development for Betty.

| Published by Marvel

Impossible Incorporated #5 concludes what has been an excellent all-ages series from JM DeMatteis, Max Cavallaro, and Gabrielle Gomez. This final issue leans heavy into quantum reality and divinity experiencing itself through permutation and self-reflection.

| Published by IDW

Justice League #21 is another interesting chapter in “The Sixth Dimension” from Scott Snyder, Jorge Jimenez, Alejandro Sánchez, and Tom Napolitano. This issue it become explicitly clear as to how it progresses the broader arc started in Metal as the stakes seem to be raised again. Stunning art from Jimenez and Sánchez.

| Published by DC Comics

Lodger #4 gets a little messy as the Laphams deliver the penultimate chapter of this series, inching closer to Ricky’s final confrontation with Dante. The disparate threads of the past, present, and Dante’s travelogues converge to a very strange perfect storm.

| Published by IDW / Black Crown

Marvel Team-Up #1 is an entertaining debut from Eve L. Ewing, Joey Vasquez, Felipe Sobreiro, and Clayton Cowles. This first issue teams up Spider-Man and Ms. Marvel presenting both sides to their day as they attend a speech from a noted ESU alumnus who has created a mind transfer device. Those things always go well. There’s some interesting contrast between wanting to be young again and wanting to be older faster.

| Published by Marvel

Oberon #3 continues to twist the tale as Oberon is confounded a bit by what Bonnie isn’t, from Ryan Parrott, Miloš Slavković, and Charles Pritchett. It seems as though nothing is as it seems in this story which leads to some intriguing surprises.

| Published by AfterShock

The Punisher #10 has some great incidental humour as Frank continues to cut a swath across a country of villains in “War in Bagalia”. Very entertaining work again from Matthew Rosenberg, Szymon Kudranski, Antonio Fabela, and Cory Petit.

| Published by Marvel

Red Sonja #3 is another excellent part of the story from Mark Russell, Mirko Colak, Bob Q, Dearbhla Kelly, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. This one hits hard on the value of mercenaries and what actually breeds loyalty.

| Published by Dynamite

Self/Made #5 takes off in yet another direction as Amala tracks down a scientist who has been searching for proof that ours is not the top level reality and is actually another simulation. It’s truly amazing as to how Mathew Groom, Eduardo Ferigato, Marcelo Costa, Mariana Calil, and Troy Peteri keep turning this story on a dime, with new revelations and new changes each issue without any of it feeling like a trick and delivering an engrossing narrative each time.

| Published by Image

Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider #7 focuses on some of the odd jobs that Gwen is getting through her website, pushes forward the problems she’s having with her headaches, and complicates her personal life a bit more. Seanan McGuire is very nicely developing Gwen’s character and relationships, all with some beautiful artwork from Takeshi Miyazawa and Ian Herring.

| Published by Marvel

Summit #14 concludes this arc with Val and co. attempting to rescue Fiona and JB from Agent Wald’s clutches. The team-up with Noble and further development of Jamila helps re-emphasize the broader shared universe of Catalyst Prime. Also, how far all of the astronauts involved in the Event have come. Gorgeous artwork from Marika Cresta and Bryan Valenza.

| Published by Lion Forge / Catalyst

War of the Realms #1 begins the culmination of almost seven years worth of storytelling as Malekith’s forces finally invade Earth. This is epic. Jason Aaron, Russel Dauterman, Matthew Wilson, and Joe Sabino deliver on the massive promise of this story with a brilliant, beautiful, and surprising opening chapter that levels a huge threat at the world.

| Published by Marvel

Young Justice #4 goes into some of the politics and problems that Amethyst was having on Gemworld prior to the disparate youth of Young Justice arriving to the realm. Some nice character moments here from Brian Michael Bendis and really wonderful art from Patrick Gleason, John Timms, Alejandro Sánchez, and Alex Sinclair.

| Published by DC Comics / Wonder Comics

Other Highlights: Betty & Veronica #4, Black Hammer ‘45 #2, Captain America #9, Curse Words: Spring Has Sprung Special, The Dreaming #8, Eclipse #14, Female Furies #3, Gasolina #17, Ghostbusters 35th Anniversary Special, GI Joe: A Real American Hero #260, Giantkillers, Hack/Slash vs. Chaos #4, Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Sirens #1, Lightstep #5, Magic: The Gathering - Chandra #2, Marvel Action: Black Panther #1, Mirror #10, Now #6, Night Moves #4, Paper Girls #27, Redlands #12, Section Zero #1, Six Million Dollar Man #2, Solo: A Star Wars Story #7, Star Wars #64, Vindication #3, The Witcher: Of Flesh & Flame #4, Ye

Recommended Collections: Animosity - Volume 4: Walled City, Paper Girls Deluxe Edition Hardcover - Volume 2, Stray Bullets: Sunshine & Roses - Volume 4, Transformers: Unicron, Unstoppable Wasp: GIRL Power, Witchblade - Volume 2

d. emerson eddy is one crow short a murder.

[newyorktheater]

Miranda in Mary Poppins Returns

Below is a list of movies opening from September to December, organized chronologically by release date.

Among the movies featuring theater veterans: Oscar Isaac  in “Operation Finale” (Sept 14) and “Life,Itself” (Sept. 21); Robert Redford and Sissy Spacek in “The Old Man and the Gun” (Sept. 28); Viola Davis in “Widows” (Nov. 16); Lucas Hedges in “Boy Erased” (Nov 2) and “Ben is Back” (Dec 2) with Julia Roberts; Hugh Jackman as Gary Hart in “The Front Runner” (Nov. 7); Lin-Manuel Miranda in “Mary Poppins Returns” (Dec. 19)

SEPTEMBER

“The Nun” (Sept. 7) — A gothic supernatural horror film and spinoff in “The Conjuring” franchise.

“Peppermint” (Sept. 7) – Jennifer Garner is going back to her action-packed roots as a widow-turned-assassin after the deaths of her husband and daughter

“The Predator (Sept. 14) — Shane Black’s fourth installment in “The Predator” films, with Boyd Holbrook, Trevante Rhodes and Jacob Tremblay.

“The Children Act” (Sept. 14) — Based on the 2014 book by Ian McEwan, the court drama deals with the ethical dilemma of keeping someone alive versus respecting one’s religion,stars Emma Thompson, Fionn Whitehead and Stanley Tucci.

“The Land of Steady Habits” (Sept. 14) — Ben Mendelsohn stars as a Connecticut divorcee in midlife crisis in Nicole Holofcener’s adaptation of Ted Thompson’s 2014 novel.

Operation Finale (Sept 14) – Oscar Isaac stars as Mossad agent Peter Malkin, who led a team of Israeli spies who tracked down and captured the notorious Adolf Eichmann (played here by Ben Kingsley) 15 years after World War II.

“White Boy Rick” (Sept. 14) — Yann Demange’s 1980s true-life tale about the youngest alleged FBI informant ever, with Matthew McConaughey.

“The House With a Clock in its Walls” (Sept. 21) — A fantasy of witches and warlocks, starring Jack Black and Cate Blanchett.

“Love, Gilda” (Sept. 21) – In her own words, comedienne Gilda Radner reflects on her life and career, weaving together her recently discovered audiotapes, and interviews with friends inspired by her.

“Life, Itself” (Sept. 21) — This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman’s love story starring Oscar Isaac and Olivia Wilde, a couple whose life decisions are chronicled by the way the world changes around them every time they reach a new milestone in their relationship. Also starring Annette Bening, Samuel L. Jackson, Mandy Patinkin and Olivia Cooke.

“The Sisters Brothers” (Sept. 21) — Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly play brother assassins in Jacques Audiard’s Western.

“Fahrenheit 11/9” (Sept. 21) – Michael Moore is now taking on President Donald Trump in this not-quite-a sequel to the 2004 documentary on the George W. Bush administration.

“Night School” (Sept. 28) — Kevin Hart plays the student and Tiffany Haddish the teacher in this GED comedy.

“Smallfoot” (Sept. 28) — An inverted animated fable where a Yeti is convinced that humans exist. Among the stars Channing Tatum James Corden, and Lebron James

“The Old Man and the Gun” (Sept. 28) — Robert Redford stars as an aged bank robber in David Lowery’s based-on-a-true-story heist movie. With Sissy Spacek.

ALSO PLAYING:

“A Simple Favor” (Sept. 14), “Lizzie” (Sept. 14), “Colette” (Sept. 21),  “Quincy” (Sept. 21), “Hold the Dark”( Sept. 28)

OCTOBER

“Venom” (Oct. 5) — Tom Hardy stars in Marvel’s Spider-Man spinoff.

“Private Life” (Oct. 5) — Paul Giamatti and Kathryn Hahn play a New York couple navigating assisted reproduction in Tamara Jenkins’ semi-autobiographical tale.

“A Star Is Born” (Oct. 5) — Bradley Cooper’s directorial debut is a remake of the 1937 film, starring himself and Lady Gaga.

“Bad Times at the El Royale” (Oct. 12) — Seven strangers meet at Lake Tahoe motel in Drew Goddard’s thriller.

“First Man” (Oct. 12) — Damien Chazelle (La-La Land) dramatizes Neil Armstrong’s mission to the moon, starring Ryan Gosling.

“Beautiful Boy” (Oct. 12) — Steve Carell and Timothee Chalamet play father and son in this adaption of David and Nic Sheff’s memoirs about addiction.

“Halloween” (Oct. 19) — Michael Meyers the character and Jamie Curtis the actress return in David Gordon Green’s installment in the long-running horror franchise.

“The Hate U Give” (Oct. 19) — A young woman struggles for justice after her childhood friend is shot by police.

“Can You Forgive Me” (Oct. 19) — Marielle Heller directs Melissa McCarthy in this story about a struggling writer who resorts to forging famous letters.

ALSO PLAYING

“The Happy Prince” (Oct. 5), “22 July” (Oct. 10), “Goosebumps 2” (Oct. 12), “The Oath” (Oct. 12), “The Kindergarten Teacher” (Oct. 12), “Serenity” (Oct. 19), “What They Had” (Oct. 19), “Johnny English Strikes Again” (Oct. 26), “Hunter Killer” (Oct. 26), “Overlord” (Oct. 26), “Suspiria” (Oct. 26)

NOVEMBER

“Boy Erased” (Nov. 2) – Joel Edgerton’s adaptation of Garrard Conley’s acclaimed memoir stars Lucas Hedges as the son of a Baptist preacher who, after being outed to his parents, is pressured into gay conversion therapy.

“Nobody’s Fool” (Nov. 2) — Tiffany Haddish and Tika Sumpter play sisters in Tyler Perry’s comedy.

“Bohemian Rhapsody” (Nov. 2) — A biopic of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, from director Bryan Singer, starring Rami Malek (Mr. Robot)

“The Nutcracker and the Four Realms” (Nov. 2) — Disney’s lavish live-action fantasy is inspired by E.T.A. Hoffmann’s original story.

“The Front Runner” (Nov. 7) — Jason Reitman’s film is about Gary Hart’s scandal-plagued 1988 presidential campaign, with Hugh Jackman.

“Dr. Seuss’ The Grinch” (Nov. 9) — An animated remake of the holiday classic, with Benedict Cumberbatch voicing the Whoville killjoy.

“The Girl in the Spider’s Web” (Nov. 9) — A reboot of the Lisbeth Salander thriller, from the fourth book in the series, with Claire Foy taking over for Rooney Mara.

“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald” (Nov. 16) — The second installment in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter prequels, with Johnny Depp as Gellert Grindelwald.

“Widows” (Nov. 16) — Steve McQueen’s “12 Years a Slave” follow-up is heist movie, where the job in question is carried out by the widows of four slain thieves, led by Viola Davis.

“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” (Nov. 16) — Joel and Ethan Coen’s six-part Western anthology film for Netflix.

“Creed II” (Nov. 21) — Michael B. Jordan returns as the young Adonis Creed to fight the son of Ivan Drago.

“Green Book” (Nov. 21) — Peter Farrelly’s road movie is about a Jamaican-American classical pianist (Mahershala Ali) touring the Deep South with his white driver (Viggo Mortensen).

“Ralph Breaks the Internet” (Nov. 21) — More destruction, this time by way of a wi-fi router, in this “Wreck-It Ralph” sequel.

“Robin Hood” (Nov. 21) — Taron Egerton plays Robin Hood and Jamie Foxx is Little John in the latest version of the Nottingham legend.

“The Favourite” (Nov. 23) — Yorgos Lanthimos’ drama is about two cousins (Emma Stone, Rachel Weisz) courting the favor of Queen Anne in 18th century England.

“If Beale Street Could Talk” (Nov. 30) — Barry Jenkins (Moonlight)  adapts James Baldwin’s classic novel about love and injustice in early 1970s Harlem. Z 19-year-old pregnant woman (Kiki Layne) who is fighting for the freedom of her imprisoned fiancé (Stephen James). The cast also includes Regina King, Dave Franco and Diego Luna.

ALSO PLAYING:

“The Other Side of the Wind” (Nov. 2), “Outlaw King” (Nov. 9), “At Eternity’s Gate” (Nov. 16), “Instant Family (Nov. 16), “Second Act” (Nov. 21), “Shoplifters” (Nov. 23)

DECEMBER

“Mary Queen of Scots” (Dec. 7) — Saoirse Ronan stars as the Scottish monarch Mary Stuart and Margot Robbie as her half-sister Queen Elizabeth I, whom Mary was accused to attempting to assassinate.

“Ben Is Back” (Dec. 7) — A long lost son (Lucas Hedges) returns home to his mother (Julia Roberts).

“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” (Dec. 14) — Parallel dimension Spider-Men collide in an animated alternate reality.

“Mary Poppins Returns” (Dec. 19) — Rob Marshall’s sequel to the 1964 original stars Emily Blunt as the magical nanny, and Lin-Manuel Miranda.

“Aquaman” (Dec. 21) — Jason Momoa’s undersea ruler gets his first solo movie.

“Bumblebee” (Dec. 21) — The “Transformers” spinoff is a prequel to 2007′s “Transformers” centered on the small, yellow Autobot.

“Welcome to Marwen” (Dec. 21) — Robert Zemeckis’ fantasy stars Steve Carell as an assault victim who builds a miniature World War II village in his yard.

“Holmes & Watson” (Dec. 21) — A comic twist on Arthur Conan Doyle’s detectives, starring Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly.

“On the Basis of Sex” (Dec. 28) — Felicity Jones stars as a young Ruth Bader Ginsburg.

“Roma” (Dec., undated) — Alfonso Cuaron’s semi-autobiographical black-and-white tale of a young domestic worker in the middle-class neighborhood of Mexico City’s Roma, set in the 1970s.

ALSO PLAYING

“Under the Silver Lake” (Dec. 7), “Mortal Engines” (Dec. 14), “Cold War” (Dec. 21), “Alita: Battle Angel” (Dec. 21)

___

Dates are subject to change.

Fall 2018 Movie Preview Below is a list of movies opening from September to December, organized chronologically by release date.