#failla

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Helena Hind and Jane Lee at MMFA:

Fox News figures resorted to pearl-clutching and wild analogies after the Zoom fundraiser “White Dudes for Harris” went viral. The fundraiser — which ended up raising over $4 million for Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign — sparked an uproar at the pro-Trump network, with personalities reacting to the event’s success by comparing it to “racial segregation,” making allegations of “mommy issues,” and saying it could lead to “white guys for… Nazism.”

Cry harder, Fox “News”!

[spawn-universe]

Spawn #360

Cover A by Carlo Barberi

Cover B by Marco Failla

Cover C by Brett Booth

Cover D by Brett Booth (Virgin)

[nando161mando]

‏30Juli 1906 Italian anti-fascist and anarchist Alfonso Failla was born in Sicily. From age 19 he took part in armed resistance to fascism, and he remained active until the end of his life in 1986

30 ژوئیه 1906 آلفونسو فایلا، ضد فاشیست و آنارشیست ایتالیایی در سیسیل متولد شد. از 19 سالگی در مقاومت مسلحانه در برابر فاشیسم شرکت کرد و تا پایان عمر در سال 1986 فعال بود.

[illyanarasputinfan]

Marco Failla

[samasmith23]

The best G. Willow Wilson Ms. Marvel scene

Easily my personal favorite scene from the entirety of G. Willow Wilson’s original run on Ms. Marvel was during the phenomenal Mecca arc wherein HYDRA seizes control of Jersey City’s mayor’s office to begin enacting discriminatory policies against Inhumans & Mutants (which heavily mirror the real-life Islamophobic presidential policies of Donald Trump...), and Kamala discovers that underneath the mask of one of the HYDRA regime’s lead enforcers, Discord, is the face of her old classmate Josh Richardson.

This revelation heavily affects Kamala on an emotional level as it forces her to come to terms with the fact that the things people might perceive to be familiar or safe are not always what they seem to be. She learns how specific circumstances can reveal that individuals who once appeared to be rational and reasonable on the surface may actually believe in ideologies that are controversial or dangerous. Therefore, Kamala is forced to ponder whether or not bigoted & fascistic ideologies have always existed within the hearts of people like Discord and if they're truly representative of who they are, which in turn causes her to doubt both her own place in the world and her mission as a superhero. While Kamala is inflicted with feelings of self-doubt in light of these revelations, she understands that she still has a moral obligation as Ms. Marvel to protect the people of her city. She realizes that the so-called “silent majority's” animosity towards her & super-powered peoples does not give them the right to place their own grievances above the law, and that there are still people who believe and are depending on her. And because Josh revealed his true self underneath the mask of Discord, Ms. Marvel responds in kind by taking off her own mask to reveal the face of his former friend Kamala Khan, and all of the pain and suffering that his actions have inflicted upon herself and others like her…

But while Kamala does convey feelings of sadness and remorse towards Josh, she simultaneously understands that she cannot excuse his actions since he's still an individual who wrongfully succumbed to the temptations of far-right extremism and fascism. Essentially, even though Kamala desperately wants to believe that Josh is an inherently better person underneath, she recognizes that he was the one who ultimately made the choice to join HYDRA and help them oppress superhuman minorities. Therefore, Kamala acknowledges that Discord is still her enemy regardless of his reasons or whatever sympathy she might feel.

Kamala decision to NOT condone or excuse Discord’s actions reflects an astonishing level of maturity on her part, and is further indicative of her overall character arc in Mecca. In large measure, Kamala’s character arc is the reason why the storyline is titled “Mecca” in the first place. Although she does not go on a physical pilgrimage to the actual Holy Islamic city, she does experience a spiritual pilgrimage as the HYDRA takeover of Jersey City forces her to realize that not everything is what it seems, that some evils cannot be fought, and that although she’ll endure hardship and failure in her mission she must stay true to herself and others even if there are some people who will never agree with her actions or who she is. It's these revelations that further develop Kamala into "the most human superhero of them all" in my opinion, as it's not just her kindness and willingness to do good that makes her a hero, but also her ability to continue to do good even when confronted with external and internal doubt. And since the entire story takes place over the two-day period of Eid al-Adha, the holiday in which millions of Muslims embark on the pilgrimage to Mecca, Kamala’s psychological journey of self-discovery resonates with the reader on a much deeper level.

And that is why this scene remains my personal favorite Ms. Marvel moment in the entirety of Kamala’s comic book history!

From Ms. Marvel (2015) #21 & #22 by G. Willow Wilson & Marco Failla.

[burningfudge]

Captain Marvel (2016) #6

[keycomicbooks]

Marvel Rising #0 (2018) Helen Chen Cover & Marco Failla Pencils, Devin Grayson Story, 1st SQUIRREL GIRL meets MS. MARVEL, Ember Quade / Emulator (First appearance)

#MarvelRising #0 (2018) #HelenChen Cover & Marco Failla Pencils, Devin Grayson Story, 1st #SQUIRRELGIRL meets #MSMARVEL, #EmberQuade / #Emulator (First appearance) This April SQUIRREL GIRL meets MS. MARVEL - for the very first time! SAVE ON SHIPPING COST - NOW AVAILABLE FOR LOCAL PICK UP IN DELTONA, FLORIDA https://www.rarecomicbooks.fashionablewebs.com/Marvel%20Rising.html#1  #RareComicBooks #KeyComicBooks #MarvelComics #MCU #MarvelUniverse #ComicBooks #NerdyGifts #KeyIssue

[wonderwomanart]

Wonder Woman by Marco Failla

[nineplanetslegion]

Timberwolf by Marco Failla

Marco was doing some killer monster designs so I asked for the Joe Phillips design of Timberwolf.

[graphicpolicy]

Todd McFarlane returns to writing duties on Spawn #360

Todd McFarlane returns to writing duties on Spawn #360 #comics #comicbooks #spawn

Spawn #360 will see the return of Todd McFarlane to writing duties on the iconic series and reunite him with artist Brett Booth.This highly anticipated issue launches readers into a bold new chapter of the Spawn Universe as Spawn’s powers are restored, the Dead Zones are thrown open, and new threats emerge. In Spawn #360, Bludd has triumphed, Spawn has been defeated, and the Vampire Kingdom has…

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Ryan Adamczeski at The Advocate:

Jesse Watters supports using firearms for self defense, but he thinks LGBTQ+ people who do it are "nuts." The Fox News host recently mocked LGBTQ+ people for buying guns as a safety precaution ahead of Donald Trump's second term, claiming that they have no reason to be fearful — in spite of skyrocketing hate crime rates and legislation stripping away queer rights, including the right to equal protection under the law.

"Donald Trump promised to be a fair president to all Americans and to protect them whether they like it or not. But the liberal fringe is convinced that Trump is out to get them," Watters said Monday. "So now hard left, gay activists are strapping up and embracing the amendment liberals love to hate, the Second." "They're joining groups like the 'Socialist Rifle Association' and the 'Pink Pistols,' which have seen a surge of membership. Why? Many think that a gun is only thing standing in the way between them and concentration camps," he continued. Watters then referenced an article from The Philadelphia Inquirer which interviewed several new LGBTQ+ gun owners, who cited fear of hate crimes and terror attacks as their motivation. One respondent said: “We’re not looking to arm up and storm the Capitol. We just don’t want to be put in concentration camps.”

Boo-frickin’-hoo, Jesse Watters! Crying over LGBTQ+ people-- who are highly Democratic-- buying guns to protect themselves from violent right-wing anti-LGBTQ+ zealots? Really?! Yet it’s A-OK for you to champion gun purchases if the buyers are likely to be Republicans?!

See Also:

MMFA: Jesse Watters attacks LGBT Americans for purchasing guns

From the 01.07.2025 edition of FNC's Jesse Watters Primetime:

[spawn-universe]

Deadly Tales Of The Gunslinger Spawn #3

Cover A by Marcial Toledano Vargas

Cover B by Marco Failla

[matchalovertrait]

Never forget Mr. Failla :)

[derring-do]

Opera Streams: Early-Mid December 2024

4th: Janáček’s The Excursions of Mr. Brouček from National Theatre Brno. Featuring Nicky Spence, Doubravka Novotná, and Daniel Matoušek. Free!

6th: Mozart’s The Magic Flute from Teatro Comunale Ferrara. Featuring Younggi Do, Yulia Merkudinova, and Gianluca Failla. Free!

7th: Verdi’s La Forza del Destino (alt link) from La Scala. Featuring Anna Netrebko, Ludovic Tézier, and Brian Jagde. Subscription.

8th: Mozart’s Così Fan Tutte from Malmö Opera. Featuring Matilda Sterby, Annie Fredriksson, David Risberg, and Caspar Singh. Rental.

13th: Sungjae's 264, That One Star from Daegu Opera House. Featuring Rho Seonghoon, Je Sangchul, and Lee Chungman. World premiere production! Free!

13th: Karlsson’s Fanny and Alexander (alt link) from La Monnaie/De Munt. Featuring Anne Sofie von Otter, Thomas Hampson, and Sasha Cooke. World premiere production! Subscription.

14th: Reid's The Shell Trial from Dutch National Opera. Featuring Lauren Michelle, Claire Barnett-Jones, and Anthony León. Free!

[samasmith23]

Ms. Marvel’s “Mecca” arc: Aamir’s speech and the radicalization of Discord

One of the strongest scenes from the Mecca arc of G. Willow Wilson’s run on Ms. Marvel is the scene where Kamala’s older brother Aamir is apprehended & interrogated by HYDRA agents (who just seized control of Jersey City’s mayor’s office) while delivering food to his neighbors for Eid al-Adha. Although he was targeted as an “unregistered superhuman,” Aamir immediately assumes that he was arrested due to his traditional Islamic appearance and attire. In addition to drawing overt real-life parallels between HYDRA and the Islamophobic policies of the Trump administration here (said-agents threaten to have Aamir's U.S. citizenship revoked since their policies classify undisclosed super powers as a form of immigration fraud), Wilson also uses this scene to have Aamir give an eloquent speech about the causes of domestic terrorism. Aamir states that the individuals most likely to succumb to extremism are those who don’t understand their faith, feel alienated and ostracized by society and/or their peers, or have pre-existing vices plaguing their lives like domestic abuse or drugs. And according to Aamir, it’s those factors which make those individuals “vulnerable to whatever vulture is circling overhead, selling death and despair as a way through the gates of paradise.”

Aamir’s speech is brilliantly executed! Not only is it disturbingly accurate to the causes of real-life extremism, but Wilson also cleverly integrates it into the context of the overall narrative and its main antagonist. When Aamir states that people “get radicalized when they think the only way they can have a starring role in their lives is by playing the villain,” the panels zoom-in and focus on the face of the masked supervillain Discord as he’s watching the interrogation.

This is such phenomenal visual storytelling and utilization of sequential art on both Wilson and artist Marco Failla’s part!

The deliberate focus on Discord during the conclusion of Aamir’s speech directly infers to the reader that although Aamir is specifically referring to domestic Islamic terrorists his words can also easily apply to white nationalist terrorists like Discord, who is not only later revealed to be Kamala’s former classmate Josh Richardson, but is a fascist vigilante taking his anger out on society by illegally arresting and deporting super-powered people. Once he’s later unmasked, Josh is revealed to have felt alienated and ostracized and that a “vulture” in the form of his accomplice Lockdown (aka, Becky St. Jude) took advantage of his negative emotions. Acting like the “junior fascist” that Kamala’s best friend Bruno previously described her as in the Civil War II tie-ins, Becky was able to radicalize Discord into becoming a super villain since he felt that he lacked a purpose in life. And as Aamir stated in his speech, “the most dangerous thing of all [is] when you don’t have a story to tell about who you are and what your purpose is.”

In that sense, Discord may very well be the most multilayered and realistic antagonist for Ms. Marvel that Wilson has crafted to date as his character truly demonstrates how ideas of extremism and fascism can easily corrupt individuals who lack purpose. In essence, the insight that Wilson provides for through Aamir’s speech and Discord’s radicalization into fascist extremism that makes Mecca one of the most well-written & socially relevant story arcs in the entirety of G. Willow Wilson & Sana Amanat’s original run on Ms. Marvel (as well as my personal favorite)!

From Ms. Marvel (2015) #20-21 by G. Willow Wilson & Marco Failla.

[popentertainment-moviereviews]

CONCLAVE (2024)

Starring Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Sergio Castellitto, Isabella Rossellini, Lucian Msamati, Carlos Diehz, Brían F. O'Byrne, Merab Ninidze, Thomas Loibl, Jacek Koman, Rony Kramer, Valerio Da Silva, Joseph Mydell, Vincenzo Failla, Garrick Hagon, Merab Ninidze, Madhav Sharma, Loris Loddi, Roberto Citran, Antonio Toma and Balkissa Maiga.

Screenplay by Peter Straughan.

Directed by Edward Berger.

Distributed by Focus Features. 110 minutes. Rated PG.

Who would have imagined that one of the most intriguing and suspenseful films of this year would be about a bunch of cardinals sequestered in the Vatican to vote on a new Pope? In fact, intriguing and suspenseful is not giving Conclave its full due. This is simply one of the best films of the year. Don’t be surprised to see it on a bunch of best films of the year lists and also for it to get a whole bunch of award nominations.

It's that good. Who would have guessed?

Again, it was about a bunch of cardinals in the Vatican. Blessed are the believers, indeed.

Conclave is based on the novel by Robert Harris and shows us – very forcefully and at the same time very subtly – that some very devout and proper people can still have some skeletons in their closets. In fact, pretty much everyone here, and they are mostly good and spiritual followers of Christ, has some serious secrets which they are not willing to allow to see the light of day.

Many of the deadly sins – lust, greed, pride, envy and wrath – all show up at different points in the story. (Gluttony and sloth don’t seem to be on the menu but give it time.) The final twist – which I will certainly not spoil – is not even on that deadly sins scale and may even go too far afield dramatically for a chunk of the film’s potential audience. Yet somehow it does make a certain strange sense for the story.

Even arguably the most devout person of all – Cardinal Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) – the man in charge of making sure the conclave runs smoothly and essentially the moral center of the story (assuming you don’t count the dead Pope) makes some dubious moves and forms some sketchy alliances. And yet you can tell he is doing these things for the right reasons.

Or is he?

The choosing of the Pope itself turns out to be oddly like an extremely solemn reality show. Cardinals take the lead in the votes, make alliances with (and against) each other, sabotage each other’s campaigns and as their secrets meet the light of day, they are basically voted off the island.

There is much more subterfuge and backstabbing than you would expect from such a serious pursuit, but that just points out the humanity of the process.

The acting here is unfailingly spectacular, particularly Fiennes, Stanley Tucci as a moderate cardinal and particularly Isabella Rossellini as a quiet but steely head nun, who is mostly ignored by the men, until she finally has to take some moral stands to keep the process going fairly. Seriously, Rossellini should definitely be in line for a Best Supporting Actress nominee.

Like I said earlier, don’t be surprised if that is only one of many Oscar nominations.

Jay S. Jacobs

Copyright ©2024 PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: October 23, 2024.