#read idw comics but i DO need 2 catch up

[absolutelynotsanebaby]

DIDN'T KNOW YOU WERE A FELLOW SONIC-ER HELLOOO

I LOVE SONIC LMAO i don’t post about it much but I’ve been into sonic for years :3 i have a sonic dedicated part of my shelf

More of my gijinkas :3 old art tho

[portableleo]

I loved ur City Fall Leo art very much (I love Foot Leo stuff so much. And Leo's IDW Foot design rocks very much), and I will probably buy the print of it. It is a very cool print!

I also loved ur art of Sophie's Foot Leo design, because I love aslo love that take on Foot Leo too, and it also looks great. The one in the actual comic rocks too, like I said, and Leo in black has always been cool to me. But that design rocked hard too. And Leo in white and/or red looks great too. And I now very much like Leo being fox and/or kitsune themed.

I am still very much hoping for Foot Leo in a cartoon and/or (animated) movie someday and done great. And hoping the design is like and/or inspired by the one in the IDW comics and/or the white and red, kitsune one Sophie made. If u ever did a print of that art and/or just one that had the white and red, Kitsune-themed Foot Leo look/design; I would also, probably buy that (too).

Ur Halloween art of the 2012 boys using the official costumes and/or looks for them (Leo as a mummy I think, Raph as a vampire I think, Donnie as Frankenstein/ Frankenstein's Monster I think, and Mikey as a werewolf I think) was great too!

I am sad I missed getting the TMNT (was it TMNT 2012 specifically, or just TMNT more generally? Either way, cool) charms this time, but for the sake of my wallet, it is probably for the better I get them when/if u decide to restock them, because I do still want to try to get them. They look very cool! I love how they look on both sides (i.e.; the fully-colored complete faces, and the other side that just has their whites ninja turtles eyes mainly. I like how Leo's side is more blue tinged too), and the expressions u gave! And the different head shapes. They just look cute.

Last of all, I have been enjoying ur TMNT: Labyrinth fic so far! And the art u do with it (the art is just nice, and the characters look cute and cool). I still need to catch up on it though. But so far, it is interesting. And I like the the more mythology stuff going on. And there being a "traitor" (but like, not really willingly) among them (lol). And the card/card symbol stuff and motifs going on. And the characterizations are really good so far. It is cool the fic is mainly more a TMNT 2003 and/or IDW one.

Alright, done (for) now, hopefully. Hahaha. 2/2.

thank you again! i hope you can snag the print once it becomes available -- i will be getting the prints made after the keychains are all shipped out!

and yeah, i love sophie's design for foot leo! i won't be using that design on anything i'll be selling, because that isn't an official design, just fanart that sophie had made, so it would be wrong for me to profit off of that. but we'll see if i ever design my own dark leo in the future (who knows)!

i hope you can snag a keychain when i get them restocked!

and lastly thank you for reading my fanfiction! i haven't updated it in awhile (the writing juices have been dormant) but i am working on it bit by bit! maybe with nanowrimo starting tomorrow, i'll be pumping more writing out, we'll see

thanks for the thoughtful asks you sent!

[true-blue-sonic]

Also, Knuckles outright calls Silver rude in Rivals 1:

Silver: He certainly knows how to run, I'll give him that... Hey, you there! Did you see that guy carrying something strange? Knuckles: Actually... He has this weird camera that changes things into cards... Wait a minute... Who are you? Silver: What'd you say!? How did he get a hold of it? Knuckles: You...! What are you mumbling about? Silver: Got no time to explain it to someone like you... See ya! Knuckles: "Someone like me?" Hey, I'm Knuckles! Haven't you heard of me? How rude! Asking questions without having the gall to introduce himself! Silver: Like I said before, I don't have time to deal with you right now. See ya! Knuckles: You little... Get back here!

And in Rivals 2, Silver tells Knuckles to shut up in Knuckles' storyline, to Rouge's displeasure:

Eggman Nega: Well, well. Looks like you acquired my Emerald Detector. Now, what else do you require? Knuckles: We still can't find the Master Emerald and I think you know where it is. Eggman Nega: Maybe I do and maybe I don't. Knuckles: Stop these games, Eggman! Silver: Shut up, Knuckles. I need to talk to him so just get out of here! Rouge: Hey, watch your mouth, kid! Don't take that tone with us! Eggman Nega: Silence! All of you! I'll give you all a REAL reason to be upset!

I stopped reading IDW after issue 64, in part because I was incredibly done by Silver's portrayal in the comics. On the one hand, there's just a problem of bad writing: things like the girls not picking up on Duo's "I couldn't save Silver and now he's dead :(" two seconds later "I was going to get help!!!!! D:", or the writers seemingly completely forgetting Whisper has a recorder in her mask that thus goes entirely unmentioned, which got kinda handwaved in a later issue. But an IC Silver would not have folded to Lanolin like he did: I would say Silver only cares for the authority of people who've proven to be on the same page as him, like Blaze or Espio. What has Lanolin done to prove that? She picks Duo's side immediately, and Silver just rolls with it without arguing with her about it and goes off to sulk instead of being proactive (I guess maybe as a callback to '06? Except in '06 Silver's entire worldview got rattled for a bit there by Amy, which issue 63 really did not achieve to that level). Silver's a proactive guy! He doesn't sit around waiting for troubles to come, he actively goes and does his best to solve them. And it's also just dumb things like issue 64 showing him all clumsily tripping or his quills poking out of the bush all obviously, or him (aka Meteor Smash guy) being unable to catch Duo in a one-meter fall. I agree with the fact that it's frustrating to see; it feels like Silver just does not get taken seriously.

And on that topic, a lot of Silver in the comics seems to be written to be very... cutesy, I think is a good way to describe it. Very uwu baby cinnamon roll, I've used as terms before too. Must protecc him, he's got no social skills because everyone in his future is dead and he was always alone and he's never been rude to anyone ever. Except the problem with Silver as a character is that he's not meant to be cutesy, I would argue, and the previous sentence is rife with misconceptions. He's got a deep-ass voice in Japanese and uses rude language and rude gestures up the wazoo, he's 100% down to murder someone to solve his problems and save the world, in the Rivals games he's got an insult or just general obstinateness ready for basically everyone, in the fourth and fifth line of his intro in '06 he mentions other people in Crisis City and both Rivals games show what a jerk he can be... That's really not uwu baby cinnamon roll material, in my opinion. What could arguably be cutesy is his naivety, but then indeed what Siggie describes: him not realising that not everybody shares the knowledge he has and sees things in the way he does. Not whatever IDW is pulling with him. But as for a solution, I don't know; if the writers think Silver is inherently meant to be a cutesy socially awkward li'l guy, I presume that's what they'll keep writing him as. To that end, I hope the Sonic Channel medias and the video games will keep providing a more in-character Silver!

What’s your thoughts on idw silver, I personally think he is ok but I feel like the idw comic didn’t really do very well with his character.

I can't say I like him... at all.

American Sonic media already has a history of needless and quite frankly terrible changes, whether made out of ignorance, xenophobia towards Sonic Team/SoJ, some vague, made-up sense of marketability, or all three. So, I'm already wary of media like that. They always change fundamental aspects of Sonic's appeal and are supremely unenjoyable to me as a result.

To stay on track here - why do I dislike IDW Silver? The main reason is that I think he's portrayed as way too polite and nice to people. He has no backbone. It's as if he was just based off of popular fanon or Archie comics, rather than the source material. I don't blame anyone for thinking Silver is some timid, polite sweetheart if fanon and IDW/Archie is all they have consumed, but I'm doing my best to dispel that notion for the sake of conquering misinformation. As a casual fan, it is understandable to have misconceptions, but I'm going to be much more harsh to official media.

I need to hammer home the fact that Silver is rude and often talks down to people. Sonic '06, Silver's debut game, showcases this very well. In an '06 cutscene, he talks down to Sonic after attacking him when his guard was down. The casual stride over to a wheezing, incapacitated Sonic kills me. The disrespect is fucking crazy.

In the level Flame Core, he acts haughty and superior about his abilities, even letting out a light chuckle at how pathetic the enemies are. And, a detail that is easy to miss, he doesn't even apologize for trying to kill Sonic.

That's not even mentioning the Rivals games being a wonderful source of Rude Silver™, where there are too many snide remarks to count.

IDW Silver is a telltale case of Silver's nuance being stripped so that he only represents one trait of his- that trait being "naivety." Silver's naivety is mentioned twice by Blaze in Sonic '06 because this is relevant to the story. Naivety is Silver's fatal flaw that leads to him being easily manipulated by Mephiles. However, his naivety isn't due to some innocent, childlike outlook on the world. Silver takes everyone at face value and always assumes people are telling the truth to him due to a lack of social skills. This is why, when Silver mentions something outlandish or unbelievable to people, he is confused why they don't believe him. This is shown in both Rivals 2 and the Sonic x Silver wallpaper cover story.

IDW seems to completely miss this nuance and conflates "naivety" with childlikeness and innocence. When you realize this, decisions put towards Silver's characterization in IDW makes a lot of sense - his hyperactive excitement and adulation over Whisper is a good example, but how he doesn't talk back to Sonic calling him "flatware" in Issue 8 particularly bothers me.

Realistically, Sonic would immediately get thrown into a wall if he said this to Silver.

Portrayals like IDW Silver are just so utterly confusing. How in the world does Silver get misconstrued this way, into something entirely opposite of what he is, in both fanon and official media? To be completely honest, it makes me frustrated. I want things to change and I feel like I have to speak up. I ended up writing an essay about Why Silver is Rude. I'm sorry anon.

[ask-hydachi-turnip-and-friends]

People I’d like to get to know better! 💛

1. alias / name: Lionel/Lyo

2. birthday: July 19th

3. zodiac sign: Cancer

4. height: 5′5″

5. hobbies: Video games, D&D, Pokemon

6. favorite color: Yellow

7. favorite book: I have type 2 ADHD V E R Y badly so I don’t really have a favorite book 😔

8. last song:  Isometric Air - Cyberpunk 2077

9. last film / show: Squid Game on netflix! It’s really good! Lots of blood though.

10. recent reads: Sonic IDW Comics. Trying to catch up with those!

11. inspiration: Depends what I need to look for. General inspiration? I get that from just the thought of me sitting around! I hate doing nothing and that helps motivate me! Otherwise, I get motivation from loooooots of songs and video games and movies. Too many to really choose from 😅

12. story behind url: My URL used to be ask-hydachi-turnip until I decided to add more muses to the blog! From there I added “and-friends” to the end of it.

13. fun fact about me: I used to be in a choir when I was in middle school! I was an alto when I was younger, but grew to a secondary baritone over time.

Tagged by: @muses-from-the-stars

Tagging: @bravoman @goldensimisage @canadianrainrp @mythologyvincent @ask-alphamon & anyone else who wants in on this!

[thanksjro]

The Mystery of the Transformer Decoys, Parts 1-3: A Whodunnit Adventure

This isn’t exclusively a Roberts’ publication. There were a lot of folks on this one, actually. Of course the first collaborative effort I cover here has five people on it for the writing alone, not to mention the art credits.

I’ll be going through everything, of course, because it wouldn’t make sense not to, and also because it’ll be interesting to look at how all these young writer’s styles are going to play together.

And you read that right, Pounce and Wingspan are in this. They were in Liars, A-to-D- Pounce was holding the Galvatron puppet- and Eugenesis as minor characters. I’m excited to get a little more of their characterization.

Now, without further ado, let’s get into The Mystery of the Transformer Decoys.

There he is, our main character- Nightbeat! Standing at over 90 feet tall and wearing the largest trenchcoat this side of Alpha Centauri, our boy’s well on his way to the robotic equivalent of lung cancer as he watches Sideswipe breakdance in an attempt to appease this god of detective prowess. Megatron might be looking to kill him, but’s he’s going to have to try a lot harder to bring this big guy down.

We get a little message from our ‘zine organizer and editor, Richard Ahern, on the nature of putting a thing like this together.

Good on you for sticking to it, Ahern.

Part 1 of our story is written by Martin McVay; we open on a scene in the Celestial Spires, where Nightbeat and a co-conspirator are dealing with the spoils of Nightbeat’s most recent case- twenty turbo-fox brains on a rope, glowing with residual Matrix energy. Someone paid Nightbeat to find these things. Right off the bat, we’re getting weird. I dig it.

As the co-conspirator checks the goods for any alarm systems or bombs, Nightbeat stares out the window and muses on the way life is at present, with the war looming in the skies of Cybertron, ever present. He notices a light on in the tower across the way- strange, given that it’s late as shit. Before he can investigate further, Getaway snaps him out of his concentration, having finished with the brain chips.

Yeah, Getaway. Relax, he isn’t a completely morally-bankrupt bastard in this- that’s strictly an IDW thing.

By the time, Nightbeat’s gone back to the window, the light is out.

Part 2, written by Ahern, takes place a few weeks after Part 1, with the high-ranking Autobot who employed Nightbeat breaking out the death threats if he doesn’t get those skulls he paid for. It turns out these skulls have a sort of power to them, the sort that makes one loathe to part with the things once they’re in their possession. Still, Nightbeat is nothing if not a professional, and finally makes his way over to Wingspan’s base of operations.

The exchange is made, and Wingspan invites Nightbeat to take in the view from the roof.  

As Nightbeat leaves, we get the perspective of an onlooker- Pounce- who takes in the scene with glee, having been the one to set up the whole “problem” Nightbeat had been hired to handle, at Wingspan’s behest. He’s less gleeful to find that the guy he hired to tail Nightbeat isn’t terribly good at his job, seeing as he can, well, see him. He may end up having to kill Nightbeat if if he doesn’t get his act together, but that’s life, I guess. He then pulls the skulls from a case and throws them around his neck like a macabre string of Mardi Gras beads.

It was at this point I stopped what I was doing and made a sandwich to make sure my blood sugar hadn’t suddenly dropped, because things got sort of confusing, narrative-wise, and I legitimately couldn’t tell if it was a writing issue or the fact that all I’d eaten in the last 24 hours was a single bowl of shrimp linguini.

Then I came back, tried again, and determined that it was a bit of both.

In the middle of this part, we get some classic magazine advertising action, which helps clear up a bit of the confusion.

There’s a full-page ad for Transformers Junk Files, another ‘zine, this one being a TMUK writing anthology.

On the other page we get a character synopsis for Pounce, Wingspan, and Circuit, who we haven’t met yet in this story. We’ll get to him in a bit.

Turns out Pounce and Wingspan are clone brothers.

Yep. Clone brothers.

(Their robot modes are pretty much identical.)

No, see, here’s the thing: these are actually established characters within the Transformers franchise. The only reason I didn’t catch it on my read-through of Eugenesis is because I was basing my interpretation of the characters on what was presented to me in Liars, A-to-D, where Pounce looks like this:

And there isn’t an ounce of kibble visible to tell me he turns into a friggin’ big cat. I just figured that Liars Pounce and puma Pounce were separate entities. It’s not like these guys are huge players in the cartoons or Marvel comics- they were in a single episode of the original 80’s show.

Regardless, it would seem that Wingspan is not who he presents himself to be to Nightbeat, and that the Decepticons just got their hands on something very mysterious and very powerful.

Part 3, written by Charles Ellis, follows Nightbeat as he muses on Wingspan’s threat.

Well, that’s… ominous.

Things are back to status quo for our good detective, until he’s brought on to solve a murder- excuse me, a cybercide. He arrives on the scene, and the scene is simply doused in mech-fluid.

No, mech-fluid is not at all similar to man-juice. It’s basically blood.

Nightbeat asks just who the hell got offed, and the current consensus seems to be that he was a member of the special branch of Security Forces- robots so deep undercover they practically don’t exist.

Nightbeat takes in the carnage, and quickly formulates a hypothesis based on the damage to the body, the destroyed computer, and the pain chips he’s found on the floor.

In a brief aside, Nightbeat laments on the fact that he has no alt-mode- they’re a distinctly war-centric thing in the Marvel continuity- as he drives down the road in an honest-to-god jalopy. Then he sees Megatron, and that kind of ruins his day.

The plot catches up to Circuit as Nightbeat confronts him, demanding answers, seeing as he’s working with just about every mob in Iacon.

Circuit is an Autobot known for trying to cut a deal with everyone he comes into contact with. Deals that solely benefit him. He doesn’t have an alt, but he does have a pretty sweet ride that turns into an exosuit when needed. If you read IDW’s Robots in Disguise, you’ll remember him as the reporter who shows up repeatedly in the story there.

With a little moolah flashed his way, Circuit lets slip that he heard about someone seeing “Meggy” at a place called Slammer’s. It’s all he’s got, but Nightbeat’s trying to stay optimistic and heads out to investigate.

[eddycurrents]

For the week of 14 October 2019

Quick Bits:

Absolute Carnage #4 is pretty damn big as we head towards the conclusion. Donny Cates, Ryan Stegman, JP Mayer, Jay Leisten, Frank Martin, and Clayton Cowles set up near insurmountable odds for Eddie and Spider-Man to face, as Carnage inches closer to victory. It’s very daunting, especially as we potentially see hope fade as other dominoes fall into place. Though a shock revelation might lead to something good for the conclusion. The tension mounting and the continued blend of the rest of the tie-ins to the main story are very entertaining.

| Published by Marvel

Absolute Carnage: Avengers #1 gives us a lead-in to how the previously symbiote-afflicted heroes got to Venom in Absolute Carnage #3 in addition to a bit about beacons in New York and San Francisco calling all symbiotes to feed something. It’s more elaboration on some details between panels for the event, but it’s rather entertaining and covers an element that was otherwise glossed over in the main series. Great art from Alberto Alburquerque, Guiu Vilanova, and Rachelle Rosenberg.

| Published by Marvel

Aquaman #53 reveals more about Thomas Mauer and his history in the founding of Amnesty, complete with some really weird powers regarding manifesting beasties. Then, a reunion of Arthur and Mera is basically aborted as Black Manta attack. Kelly Sue DeConnick, Robson Rocha, Eduardo Pansica, Daniel Henriques, Julio Ferreira, Sunny Gho, and Clayton Cowles continue to deliver one of the best stories from DC.

| Published by DC Comics

Archie #708 sees everything start to come together as all of the disparate story threads begin to converge somehow with Fox Forest. Nick Spencer, Mariko Tamaki, Sandy Jarrell, Matt Herms, and Jack Morelli really build tension here, with a rather spooky feel for what’s going on.

| Published by Archie Comics

Batman #81 continues this next stage of Batman’s assault on the “City of Bane” as all of his “kids” work together to try to take down his father and he attempts to bring the fight to Bane himself. Tom King guides us through a narration essentially putting together some of the missing pieces in Gotham Girl’s story and further protections that he left in the city after Batman’s “breaking”.

| Published by DC Comics

Bettie Page Unbound #5 serves as a coda to the first arc, from David Avallone, Moy R, Ellie Wright, Sheelagh D, and Taylor Esposito. It gives a bit of perspective on Bettie’s trip through alternate realities, while dealing a bit more with the spies who’ve been chasing her.

| Published by Dynamite

The Black Ghost #2 is firing on all cylinders. The story that Alex Segura, Monica Gallagher, George Kambadais, Ellie Wright, and Taylor Esposito are telling here is incredibly compelling, going deep into Lara’s downward spiral following the death of the Black Ghost and all of the mounting problems in her life. There’s a very interesting theme of the intersection of solving a mystery and obsession, complete with the black hole of alcoholism, that just grabs you.

| Published by New Wave Comics

Black Panther and the Agents of Wakanda #2 concludes this opening arc from Jim Zub, Lan Medina, Craig Yeung, Marcio Menyz, and Joe Sabino. We get an interesting mix of Okoye and Janet facing their greatest fears, while elaborating further on the current state of the Sentry. I like this quick, two-part introductory arc structure, further giving this title the feel of a specialized group for certain threats.

| Published by Marvel

Captain Marvel #11 concludes the “Falling Star” arc, revealing more fallout from the first arc and the sheer damage that it’s done to Ripley after she fell into the Nuclear Man’s reality. Kelly Thompson, Carmen Carnero, Tamra Bonvillain, and Clayton Cowles develop a rather demented look on “heroism” here that is quite disturbing.

| Published by Marvel

Chastity #2 unveils more of the human trafficking operation that Chastity has found herself in. It’s not very pretty, but there are some nice funny moments to break up the dark subject matter. Leah Williams, David Maine, Bryan Valenza, and Carlos M. Mangual are telling an interesting story here.

| Published by Dynamite

Contagion #3 continues to escalate the terror of the fungus plaguing New York, and now possibly beyond. There are appearances here of some very interesting near forgotten characters that are nice to see. Great art from Mack Chater, Stephen Segovia, Veronica Gandini, and Andrew Crossley.

| Published by Marvel

Cult Classic: Creature Feature #1 is an interesting start to this second series. You don’t need to have read Return to Whisper before this, but I still highly recommend that series. Here Eliot Rahal, John Bivens, Jerrie, Monahan, and Taylor Esposito kick off a rather hectic beginning with alien creatures. The art from Bivens, Jerrie, and Monahan is wonderful.

| Published by Vault

Dark Red #7 continues to develop the current state of the vampires after taking out the Nazis who were trying to take over, while Chip works to get the little were back to her werepeople. Definitely an interesting society that Tim Seeley, Corin Howell, Mark Englert, and Carlos M. Mangual are creating here.

| Published by AfterShock

Excellence #6 concludes the first arc in rather spectacular fashion. Brandon Thomas, Khary Randolph, Emilio Lopez, and Deron Bennett have been doing some excellent character and world-building in this story and it really pays off here as we get a confrontation between Spencer and his dad, followed by one hell of a revelation that practically changes everything. Great stuff here.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Gideon Falls #17 begins “The Pentoculus” as things start to coalesce again into a sort of “normalcy” in both of our “main” Gideon Falls realities, even as something horrible takes hold of Sheriff Miller’s father. Jeff Lemire, Andrea Sorrentino, Dave Stewart, and Steve Wands establish even more horror here and the feeling that something more is very, very wrong.

| Published by Image

Guardians of the Galaxy #10 catches up with the new baby Magus as we find out that the new incarnation might be as dangerous and deadly as the earlier ones. Also, what Donny Cates is doing with Rocket just cuts to the core.

| Published by Marvel

Hit Girl: Season 2 #9 is the first part of “India” from Peter Milligan, Alison Sampson, Tríona Farrell, and Clem Robins. It sends Mindy off to the street of Mumbai where she’s trying to deal with a bizarre child trafficking/labour ring, and finding out that her actions may have caused more complications than good. There’s a very different feel to this new arc so far.

| Published by Image

Inferior 5 #2 sure is...something. I’m still not entirely sure of the experiments or the characters or the setting, but Jeff Lemire, Keith Giffen, Michelle Delecki, Hi-Fi, and Rob Leigh are doing something that might be interesting here when we see a broader picture. It’s very “huh?” issue to issue so far. The back-up featuring Peacemaker, though, continues to be very compelling. Especially as it reveals that he may well be completely insane.

| Published by DC Comics

The Island of Doctor Moreau #2 concludes this adaptation of the HG Wells story from Ted Adams, Gabriel Rodríguez, Nelson Dániel, and Robbie Robbins. Other than a few minor changes, it’s fairly faithful to the original. The story here is mostly told in double page spreads from Rodríguez and Dániel and they’re absolutely beautiful.

| Published by IDW

Justice League #34 reminds us that revenge isn’t necessarily the correct path to take all the time, or possibly any time, as the endgame plays out across the different timelines and the combined forces gather for one final push against Perpetua. Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV, Bruno Redondo, Howard Porter, Hi-Fi, and Tom Napolitano lay out a wonderful tale of the final battle and a stupid, selfish act that has possibly doomed everything.

| Published by DC Comics

Killer Groove #5 concludes what has been an excellent crime tale from Ollie Masters, Eoin Marron, Jordie Bellaire, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. There’s an incredible nihilism here that feeds into a very fitting end.

| Published by AfterShock

KI-6: Killers #4 gains a bit of a title change with the “KI-6″ bit in this penultimate issue of the series. Not really sure why, but it doesn’t ultimately make a difference for the story being told by B. Clay Moore, Fernando Dagnino, José Villarrubia, and Jeff Powell. We get a nice bit of the Jonin’s history before the two rival groups of former Ninjas show up.

| Published by Valiant

The Marked #1 begins a new series from the Sonata team of David Hine, Brian Haberlin, Geirrod Van Dyke, and Francis Takenaga. It blends magic and tattoos as we learn of the history of a group of magicians who have defended the world from evil through the eyes of their newest recruit Saskia. Beautiful art as usual from the Haberlin/Van Dyke team.

| Published by Image / Shadowline

The Mask: I Pledge Allegiance to the Mask #1 is kind of a strange return for the property, in a story from Christopher Cantwell, Patric Reynolds, Lee Loughridge, and Nate Piekos. It’s dark and deranged, which fits very well overall. While it does follow on from the previous stories, all that you really need to know to enjoy this story itself is revealed here. The political element adds an even greater feeling of being put off-balance.

| Published by Dark Horse

Midnight Vista #2 very nicely develops what Oliver remembers of his abduction and the fallout that has been happening in the ensuing years since he’s been missing. Eliot Rahal, Clara Meath, Mark Englert, and Taylor Esposito are doing some interesting things here, especially as other forces are trying to guide Oliver’s story.

| Published by AfterShock

Psi-Lords #5 elaborates a bit further on the societal structure of the Gyre and the various gangs on it, while we see one of the Starwatchers try to turn Steve. It’s interesting as we get a little bit that gives us more of an insight into the ties to the broader Valiant Universe here and some very nice character building. Renato Guedes art remains phenomenal.

| Published by Valiant

Rick and Morty vs. Dungeons & Dragons - Chapter II: Painscape #2 guides us through some of Rick’s history with D&D, creating some horrible characters that anyone who’s played the game will be familiar with, and an entertaining dungeon crawl. I’m still loving how perfectly Jim Zub, Troy Little, Leonardo Ito, and Crank! are integrating D&D into Rick and Morty.

| Published by Oni Press & IDW

Rumble #17 follows a similar format as last issue’s selection of three stories, only this time there are only two stories, with one split between two different creators. That two-part story is a wonderful crossover between Rumble and Head Lopper, with Andrew MacLean and James Harren handling the line art. It’s pretty great overall, with a natural melding of the two properties, and very nice to see Harren’s return. 

| Published by Image

Savage Sword of Conan #10 begins a new arc from Roy Thomas, Alan Davis, Cam Smith, Chris Sotomayor, and Travis Lanham. It’s wonderful to see a new Roy Thomas story and the art from Davis, Smith, and Sotomayor is great. The story itself is interesting, drawing from some traditional Conan elements of a tavern fight and being hired as a bodyguard.

| Published by Marvel

Savage Tales: Red Sonja Halloween Special is essential if you’re reading the ongoing Red Sonja series. It works well on its own as well, but for readers of the series it builds on Sonja’s trip to the tower of sorcerers in her youth and gives some great insight into her past. Wonderful work here overall from Mark Russell, Jacob Edgar, Dearbhla Kelly, and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou.

| Published by Dynamite

Something is Killing the Children #2 is even better than the first issue, fleshing out our monster hunter a bit and causing all sorts of complications for her. There are some great characterizations here, nicely capturing some of the reactions from people experiencing the tragedy of a lost or murdered family member. James Tynion IV, Werther Dell’Edera, Miquel Muerto, and AndWorld Design are doing something great here.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

Star Wars Adventures: Return to Vader’s Castle #3 gives us a central story of Ventress hunting a quarry, illustrated by Nick Brokenshire. I’m still very much enjoying how Cavan Scott is using the central tale and its context to elaborate on what he, Francesco Francavilla, and AndWorld Design are doing with the framing story.

| Published IDW

Steeple #2 features all of the charm and humour of Giant Days, but then adds some rather over-the-top supernatural elements that just manages to elevate that charm and humour further. John Allison, Sarah Stern, and Jim Campbell are delivering a rather wholesome look at monster hunting and finding common ground with your local hooligans and Satanists.

| Published by Dark Horse

Strayed #3 advances towards oblivion, as Lou finds the flower-maker and the Premier enacts another piece of his plan for total control. Carlos Giffoni, Juan Doe, and Matt Krotzer continue to tell the heartbreaking tale of this brave little kitty being used and abused by his humans. It’s really sad as to how monstrous humanity is.

| Published by Dark Horse

Superman Smashes the Klan #1 is really damn good. Inspired by the radio serial of the same name, Gene Luen Yang, Gurihiru, and Janice Chiang present a wonderfully nuanced tale of the struggle that a young Chinese family have moving to Metropolis and the overt and casual racism that greets them. The characterizations of the family are impeccable, giving us what feels like very real people, and it makes the story even more heartbreaking when you see what’s happening to them. Especially through the gorgeous art from the Gurihiru pair.

| Published by DC Comics

Tales from the Dark Multiverse - Batman: Knightfall #1 is the first of these one-shots examining some of the most popular events of the DC Universe as they played out in dark reflection. Your enjoyment of this will definitely be predicated on how much you enjoy the grim and gritty Batmen who went wrong during Metal. As a story, though, Scott Snyder, Kyle Higgins, Javier Fernandez, Alex Guimarães, and Clayton Cowles give us an interesting one, with some nice twists, and a suitably bleak Gotham. The art from Fernandez and Guimarães is really good.

| Published by DC Comics

Teen Titans #35 gives us new perspective on the traitor to the team, with Adam Glass, Bernard Chang, Marcelo Maiolo, and Rob Leigh building up sympathy for their decisions, even if they are somewhat demented. It also continues to point that what Damian has been doing is rather villainous. The shades of grey are fairly interesting.

| Published by DC Comics

Trees: Three Fates #2 delves a bit more into the mystery of the dead man and also a great depiction in the past of the romance blossoming between Klara and Sasha. Warren Ellis, Jason Howard, Dee Cunniffe, and Fonografiks are building a very compelling story here, complete with some interesting big ideas to make you wonder about Sasha.

| Published by Image

Vampirella #4 is still rather odd, told in a rather disjointed way that’s pretty much Priest’s style to its natural extreme. Weird stuff with the nuns and all sorts of temptation. The art from Ergün Gündüz remains a huge draw for this story.

| Published by Dynamite

X-Men #1 begins the first wave of the “Dawn of X” titles in this next stage of the brave new world the X-Men have found themselves in, from Jonathan Hickman, Leinil Francis Yu, Garry Alanguilan, Sunny Gho, and Clayton Cowles. It’s much more “normal” compared to the HOXPOX event, operating more standard hero/villain conflict and setting up the continued threat of Orchis, but there are still moments to bask in the new with Magneto and the potentially unsettling as we see Corsair react to all of his family together and the strangeness of Krakoa. This feels like a way to make more traditional X-elements work within this new framework, giving us a great start.

| Published by Marvel

Other Highlights: Absolute Carnage: Scream #3, Absolute Carnage vs. Deadpool #3, Aero #4, Analog #9, Ask for Mercy - Season 2 #3, Captain America #15, Crazy #1, The Crow/Hack/Slash #4, Dead Beats, Death-Defying Devil #3, Firefly #10, History of the Marvel Universe #4, Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - Alliance #2, Lucifer #13, Marvel Action: Black Panther #4, Once & Future #3, The Realm #15, Sparrows Roar, Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen #4, Titans: Burning Rage #3, Wonder Woman: Come Back to Me #4

Recommended Collections: Bad Luck Chuck - Volume 1, Black Hammer: Streets of Spiral, Calamity Kate - Volume 1, Coda - Volume 3, Critical Role: Vox Machina - Origins - Volume 1, Gideon Falls - Volume 3: Stations of the Cross, Goddess Mode, Gogor, Justice League Dark - Volume 2: Lords of Order, The Life & Death of Toyo Harada, Ms. Marvel - Volume 1, Planet of the Nerds - Volume 1, Robots & Princesses - Volume 1, Runaways - Volume 4: But You Can’t Hide, Spider-Man: City at War, Star Wars: Tie Fighter

d. emerson eddy still thinks that Pumpkin Spice was the most underutilized of the Spice Girls.

[identity-stunt]

Meet the Creators of IDENTITY STUNT Part II

Juancho Velez

Color Artist - Volume 1, Issues #2-#4

Born and raised in Bogota, Colombia, Juancho Velez always knew he wanted to be part of the comic book industry, which led him to The Kubert school. During his three years studying cartooning and graphic design, he was naturally exposed to comic book coloring. Due to the fact that being a colorist was also a way to make it to the “big league” publishers, along with professional and artist growth, he decided to pursue his career as a Colorist. It's now been over six years of great learning -- and published color work -- with clients such as: Aspen Comics, Darby Pop, IDW, Chapter House, 7G Lab Colombia, Zenescope, and DC Comics...and hopefully many more!

Follow Juancho on social media:

deviantART |

Tim Brown

Color Artist - Volume 1, Issues #1-#2

Tim Brown was born in back in '95, and is new to the comic scene. Growing up as a kid, he loved drawing, and comics. When he was 17, he jumped into comic coloring, and very quickly decided to focus on that. Over the last few years, he's been studying and teaching himself to look at the world around him, and portray that in comics. Catch his work on KISS vs The Army of Darkness from Dynamite Entertainment! Tim currently resides in a small town in British Columbia, just left of nowhere. When he's not practicing his art, he's enjoys playing pool, video games and writing this terribly short bio.

Follow Tim on social media:

Twitter | Tumblr | Facebook | deviantART

Patrik Mock

Color Art - Volume 2

Patrik Mock is a freelance graphic designer living in Berlin with his dachshund hybrid Mamush.

He started coloring comics with Nightingale and the Finchfor Dub Comics in 2015, followed by 2 issues of Worst Day Ever from Luke Stone Studios. For Markosia, he's colored issues of No Romance, Alpha Gods, and Hero 9-to-5. He's currently working on the next issues of your favorite comic, Identity Stunt!!

Right now, he is probably walking the dog.

You can check out more of Patrik's color art at: https://patrikmock.wixsite.com/mocks-color

A.J. Scherkenbach

Letterer - Volume 1, Issues #2-#4

A.J. Scherkenbach is a letterer, graphic designer, writer and filmmaker. Born and raised in San Diego, California, A.J. joined the Army as an Infantry Soldier, traveled the world, lived the adventure and retired 20 years later. He went straight to school, Platt College of San Diego, after and earned his AA in Graphic Design and BA in Video Media. He wrote and lettered Sweet Lullaby and he letters Slate & Ashe.

A.J. now resides back in San Diego but travels to Los Angeles often to either work on films as a writer, director, producer and occasionally actor. In his free time he reads, watches to many movies and TV, and spends as much time with his family and friends. One day he plans on being successful.

Follow A.J. on social media:

Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

Michael Hoffert

Letterer - Volume 2

In Michael's own words:

"I've always wanted to make comic books, but went to school for technical theatre and designs instead. Once I graduated, as a way to make money, I got a job as a mail carrier for the USPS.

Several years ago I finally got one of my short comic book stories drawn, but I didn't have anybody to letter it. Instead of trying to find someone, or have it be done with sub-par lettering, I decided to teach myself lettering. I used several tutorial videos and websites that offer the rules and design tips for comic book lettering and found that I was actually pretty good at it.

I then got recommended for a job lettering an online comic by a friend, which I promptly took and used those pages to hone my craft even farther. Since then I have lettered over 100 pages in various styles, learning something new with each project.

My goal is to use this skill to letter independent comics for people, and earn enough money so that I can get back to getting my own comics made."

Follow Michael on social media:

Twitter | Instagram | Facebook

Jeff Kline

Script Editor - Volume 1

For nearly two decades, Jeff Kline has been one of the fortunate few “genre nerds” able to move freely between prime-time and daytime television, motion pictures and the Web, and the East and West Coasts.

As both Writer and Showrunner, Kline has been responsible for more than 40 animated and live-action series and pilots. Currently, he is an Executive Producer and co-developer of TRANSFORMERS: ROBOTS IN DISGUISE, a follow up to his previous project, the multiple Daytime Emmy® Award-winning CG series TRANSFORMERS: PRIME.

Over the past few years, Kline also co-developed and Executive Produced both TRANSFORMERS: RESCUE BOTS and G.I. JOE: RENEGADES for Hasbro Studios and The Hub as part of an exclusive multi-year pact.

Previously, Kline has been Showrunner on a slew of fan-fave animated series including JACKIE CHAN ADVENTURES (Kids WB), MEN IN BLACK: THE ANIMATED SERIES (Kids WB), ROUGHNECKS: THE STARSHIP TROOPERS CHRONICLES (Syndicated), BIG GUY AND RUSTY THE BOY ROBOT (Fox Kids), and GODZILLA: THE SERIES (Fox Kids).

Paul Baumeister

Script Editor - Volume 2

From ThePullbox.com: "What can be said about Paul that hasn’t been said? Well, he’s not a fan of the “introduce yourself” bio page, but he is a team player who actually kinda likes talking about himself in the third person. Paul has been reading comics of all kinds since he was old enough to do so without drooling all over the pages. He’s been through all of the mainstream, has had a few favorites, and has developed a huge appreciation of the indies. Don’t bother asking about a “Top 10” because it’s never going to be the same list twice. Writing for thePullbox for the last couple years has been a blast, and has served as a great outlet for Paul’s incessant need to talk about the comics he really likes"...including Identity Stunt! Follow Paul on social media:

Twitter  |  Instagram

Renae Geerlings

Managing Editor - Volume 1

After getting a degree in theatre and moving to Los Angeles, Renae Geerlings was hired by David Wohl at Top Cow Productions as a lowly editorial assistant in 1997.  In 2006, after almost 10 years of climbing the ranks, she ended her tenure there as Editor in Chief. She has continued to freelance as a comic book editor/consultant with many companies including Darby Pop Publishing, Spark Unlimited, IP Factory, and Radical Publishing.

Follow Renae on social media: Twitter   |   Instagram

Sam Moyerman

Story and Script Assist - Volume 1

Sam Moyerman is a longtime comic book fan and reader who has long been involved as a critic and editorialist, first for Broken Frontier and then for Mightyville, for over a decade.  He has been involved as a writer and editor for Cave Drawing Ink, penning a story in their Rise of the Outlanders Anthology book and also as an editor for future anthologies and as an assistant editor for the successfully Kickstartered Grave Soldiers.  In his spare time he is also an award winning international volleyball coach, which also isn’t even his real job.  He lives in Ardmore, PA with his wife Elizabeth and their menagerie of animals.

Follow Sam on social media: Twitter |  Tumblr  | Instagram

👊🏼

#ABeatdownIsComing

[marvelandponder]

I’m a Little Upset They Made Me Excited for Something Called Hascon

But, they did, and over the past two days (and counting! expect an IDW comic panel on Sunday!), they’ve released some spoilers and news that’s pretty damn cool.

No real movie news aside from Hype! It’s coming in 4 weeks! because they didn’t want to reveal too many spoilers for that (although I’m still waiting for Hasbro to step up its marketing game with this one), but aside from that, let’s see what news we got for MLP this weekend [if you want Movie insight, I actually recommend picking up the art book. I just got mine in the mail and WOW is the concept art ever pretty]! This is your spoiler warning if you don’t like that sort of thing.

UPDATED: TONS OF STUFF! Movie Screenshots, more season 8 news, IDW comics, and more!

MLP: The Movie!

Not much in the way of spoilers (you can read the novelization or the art book for those, I guess was their thinking), but have three stills!

Equestria Girls

New outfits, designed by an actual red carpet stylist, Carol Lam, for both the new doll line and the characters in canon

New Youtube series officially announced, and it’s Choose Your Own Adventure style! Expected in November

Shorts to continue, and one has even been teased

Another one was a “2 minute short about Sunset Shimmer drawing a comic and them animating it... based around [the] girls catching a jewel thief.”

School play is a concept that’s coming up. Whether in short form, 22 minute special form, or perhaps even movie (although please note there has been no explicit mention of an EG5, so lovers of the movies will have to be patient)

“When asked if there is a Sunset Shimmer doppleganger rolling around, one of the panelists noted that her pet theory is that it was always Sunset's fate to travel to humanland, and there isn't an original Sunset in the world. They are leaving this open in canon though.”

No plans for Discord in EQG at the moment, but who knows?

Find EQD’s report on that here.

Okay, so first off? Loving the new outfits. With any other teenager characters, it would be ridiculous that they’re so well dressed and styled (I noticed Sunset’s hair is juuust slightly different, can’t see the others well enough to tell), but for these girls, it makes sense, since they’re all friends with Rarity.

So, yes, Hasbro. I’ll buy your crazy marketing tactics for now, because cute outfits.

As to the Choose Your Own Adventure series, I think that’ll be interesting, but not quite as cool to me as stuff like the shorts, specials, and movies. Just a matter of personal taste, but the world-building going on in the Overpowered short, for instance, is only really cool if it has a lasting effect on the characters and their world (the report said something about a coal miners daughter wanting to disco, and while that sounds possibly cute, it’s not exactly my cup of tea).

But it’ll be fun to try, no doubt! And definitely cool for younger fans!

The post wasn’t super clear on whether the Choose Your Own Adventure stuff was the only EQG content coming to Youtube (we have been teased about a series, similar to the Hana Zuki show Hasbro has on there already), but until we hear otherwise, assume it’s just the CYOA series.

And a school play theme really does sound like it could be used for a movie or a special, if they wanted to keep doing long-form stories, so that’s what I’m hoping for, personally.

Oh and we still don’t know what these are from/for:

A currently unreleased summertime short, most likely a music video.

A Netflix listing we found out about back in August. This might be the place they feature the specials and shorts, but who knows?

Season 7 News

Clips were shown for next week’s episode, It Isn’t the Mane Thing About You (which might end up being a Pinkie and Rarity episode) and Marks and Recreation 

It Isn’t the Mane Thing About (better clip than the first that was released)

Marks and Recreation (featuring the last song of the season)

Find EQD’s report on that here.

In addition, have some stills from a promo yet to be released on the rest of the season!

Likely from Secrets and Pies

Likely from A Health of Information

Likely from A Health of Information

(Not shown: Applejack falling into the party cave) Likely from Secrets and Pies

From It Isn’t the Mane Thing About You

From Once Upon a Zepplin

Likely from A Health of Information

Likely from A Health of Information (mask modelled after Mage Meadowbrook, so this will undoubtedly feature her story in a similar fashion to Daring Done, possibly told by Twilight, from the earlier screenshot)

From Once Upon a Zepplin

From It Isn’t the Mane Thing About You

Additionally, I’ll point out what we know for the season 7 finale: that there’s a tie into the Legends of Magic comics, and it’s called Shadow Play parts 1&2. Whether “shadow” refers to the character Shadowlock from the main comic series or King Sombra or something else entirely, we’ll have to wait and see!

Okay, so the most exciting thing for me is that Vincent Tong, voice of Flash Sentry and Feather Bangs, gets to sing again! As a villain this time! I could make a joke about him embracing the role the fandom has given him this season (Feather Bangs, the waifu stealer, and now Rumble, the antagonist).

Oh and for those who don’t remember, Rumble is Thunderlane’s little brother, who appears in Hurricane Fluttershy. It’s been a while, but he looked cute there.

I wonder if Starlight will have any role in this episode...

The addition of the Cake twins is to Mane Thing also adds hype for me. I’m still on the fence with the episode concept, mostly because I need to see how they’re going to run with it (could be uncomfortable to watch Rares lose her mane if done wrong), but the Cake twins were extremely endearing in Baby Cakes, and it would be nice to see more interaction between them and Pinkie Pie.

This season has been spectacular so far, so I’m glad not too much was spoiled (or you know, leaked...) so we get to enjoy it in full!

Season 8 News

Seaponies confirmed for season 8, the Movie will tie into the show

An animatic was released as well:

Find EQD’s report here.

SHE RETURNS! 

I find it super interesting that Chrysalis is outright ignoring Starlight Glimmer while gathering DNA, given that she swore revenge against her. A large number of fans are speculating that this will be some sort of voodoo plot, where Chrysalis literally turns Starlight’s friends against her, like Starlight did to her.

Not only that, but if you look in the background of that animatic, you’ll find the mane 7 are in a suspiciously new building...

Some have speculated it’s Twilight’s new castle (meaning the crystal castle will get destroyed at the end of season 7, which is alarming because it’s connected to the Tree of Harmony). I feel like it might be more of an addition to her castle, either a school of Twilight’s own (hence, calling the rest of the girls Twilight’s “teachers”) or a house of diplomacy of some kind, like a U.N. building for the different nations that Twilight and company have been befriending (dragons, changelings, griffons, yaks---heck, even Sunset Shimmer could be considered a diplomat from Equestria to the humans).

It’s still a mystery...

Also, sea ponies! And they’re adorable! They translate to show style really well, actually! And it only makes you wonder just how many other things will carry over from the movie....

New info!

Look for a Cheese Sandwhich cameo

G. M. Berrow wrote a Season 8 episode she is super passionate about and her favorite episode overall. Maybe more book tie-ins like in "Daring Done".

Josh Haber's favorite pony is The Great and Probably Going To Be In Season 8 Trixie!

Derpy won't get a featured episode like Episode 100, but she will be around, likely more than season 7.

There will be two-parters, and that's plural, so it sounds like we return to the opening and closing episodes being epic two-parters. So expect You-Know-You that we saw in that animatic to be in one of these!

Things we already know about season 8 that you may have forgotten:

26 episodes confirmed

Orchestra music from the movie to be used in some of the season’s songs, which are all finalized by now

As well, there will be twice as many songs are there are in season 7, since Daniel Ingram’s time won’t be split up between the show and the movie

Discord confirmed

Josh Haber returning as story-editor

Mike Vogel returning finally after working on the movie

IDW Comics

This year’s holiday special!

For those of you who have listened to the Christmas album, that’ll look somewhat familiar...

MLP:FIM #60 Sara Richard cover!

MLP: FIM #61 Cover revealed! A collection of foreign dignitaries, from dragons, to deers, to cats/abyssnians, to gryphons! 

“The story is going to be a "united nations" type gathering where all the various creatures throughout the planet convene to discuss the future of the planet. So think a Meeting of the United Nations but with Dragons, Buffalo, Hippogriffs, Anthro Cats, and a pony who controls the sun with a mere thought. Oh but there is a discovery made at the conference that could lead to trouble for our little ponies! A problem that might end up costing Equestria ownership of Canterlot!”

Legends of Magic #9! Seems to be a continuation of Flash Magnus’s previous issue, if the cover is to be believed.

Aaaand a page from Legends of Magic #6! Yes, that’s right, zombie ponies drawn by Andy Price. If 28 Pranks Later wasn’t grim enough for you, surely the master of expressions will deliver!

Find EQD’s report right here!

Year of the Pony

[theartofdeefish]

So, the first time I got one of the IDW Publishing #Ghostbusters comics was the #GhostbustersGetReal trade, collecting the story of the comic Ghostbusters (Which is essentially the original film continuity) crossing over with the animated #TheRealGhostbusters reality. Twas a GREAT read. Now, there are 9 existing volumes of comic continuity for me to catch up on, BUT I just grabbed the 1st issue of the new #Ghostbusters101 by the same creative team of Erik Burnham and Dan Schoening that has been comic Ghostbusters for #IDW for years now perfectly. Now, this new issues needs to catch readers up with those 9 plus volumes of adventures while still bringing the 2016 Ghostbusters into the series and the do so with incredible ease while still making a great, fun comic. Which is why I'm writing this post. I've been reading comics my while life and I love 'em. But the mentality of Marvel and DC upper management has been, for years now, that continuity is an impenetrable quagmire to be disregarded and destroyed in order to attract new readers. And I have ALWAYS disagreed with that mentality. When I started reading comics, my first Spider-Man comic was an amazing Spider-Man issue somewhere in the 200's. There was already 2 DECADES of continuity. But I never felt lost or confused because the writers back then wrote each issue like it was someone's first. The books were all ABOUT their continuity and the made me excited to learn more. VERY few comics are written like this these days. #Ghostbusters from @idwpublishing is totally one of these comics. If all you had ever seen were the first two films, Erik Burnham catches you up SO naturally and engagingly that now I can't wait to get all the other trades I've missed. This is how ongoing comics should always be handled. If you like ANY version of the Ghostbusters, read this comic. You will be happy.

[cooltmoney95]

Or, here's an idea: How about ya'll take a moment to stop sucking the manga industry's dick and actually go read western comics and graphic novels not made by DC or Marvel!?

Seriously, this whole "We don't hate diverse characters. But-" bullshit ya'll keep trying to push on the world is getting old and tired. And anyone who unironically thinks this is a good take needs to get out of the rock they've been living in since the early to mid 2010's!

Ya'll will complain up and down about being labeled as bigots for not liking poorly written diverse stories and characters. and yet when either of the big 2 (Or just any company in any form of entertainment.) either releases a new character that isn't cis, straight, white, and/or male, (Or if they change a character in a particular way.) or a story that focuses on themes of diversity, ya'll will bash and nitpick said diverse story and character to hell and back like it's the antichrist (Ex: Calling a diverse work "preachy".). Even when said diversity is barebones at best! (Turning Red anyone?)! If you don't like what Marvel or DC is putting out, go support some other comic companies & creators who catch your interest! There are a thousand upon thousands of creators (comic or otherwise.) who are actually doing the work to make good diversity ( I can pick out examples from IDW & Boom Comics alone!). Yet you guys never bother to give these folks a chance! You're all so busy bitching about what big name companies like Marvel & DC are doing that you forget that they're not the only creators in the Western comic and graphic novel market (They may be the most popular. But they aren't the only ones out here.).

Basically, don't like people associating ya'll with bigots for not liking diverse comics or diverse media in general? Then either let your actions match your words and go support diverse media you think is good/media you enjoy or just STFU about it altogether!

true wisdom

[journeyintowriting]

Review: TV Show: Wynonna Earp

A young woman returns home to a little town called Purgatory to face her family’s curse while fighting demons with her gun Peacemaker. 

I’m not a fan of westerns, but I’m a fan of IDW comics (I know people who work for them and it’s just down the freeway from me) and female-led shows. I had just finished watching Supernatural, so I thought it was going to be similar but with women and a lot better written.

Wrong.

While in the same vein, it is unfortunately badly written. I haven’t read the comics, since westerns aren’t my thing, but I really hope the comics are better. There are love triangle everywhere, the characters aren’t likeable, it has nothing to do with the mythology of the old west except the look and Doc Holiday (I live here and half of my family are cowboys), too many save the damsel moments, the lesbian relationship is just kind of there but lacks the seriousness it needs, it’s often predictable, the antagonists aren’t threatening enough, and of course we have the savior complex. Well, I have a lot of those complaints about Supernatural, but I like the characters better, our leads get into some real serious trouble, and even though their mythology is horrible wrong (mythologist here) they at least try.

The characters are spotty. Wynonna is the only likable character in my opinion. She’s tough but not in a cold way. She keeps an arms length, but warms up in a natural way that’s more human than many tough heroines in film and tv today. Doc Holiday is supposed to be her mentor, but besides being charming and the scene with him trying to figure out the car was funny he doesn’t have a consistent reason to be there. Little sister is super annoying, and her actress likes to shout everything while trying to be the brainiac. She also doesn’t serve a major purpose except playing the damsel most of the time for Wyonna, Doc, or her girlfriend to save most of the time. Or whine. Or be too peppy. Bobo is the worst name for an antagonist and demon ever. That’s a clown name. He’s also not that threatening. Except for looking like Ragnar from Vikings, his inconsistent character goal is a bit distracting. Oh and the agent who’s supposed to be helping Wynonna. I’m not quite sure what his purpose is except for diversity sake (oh no. Give him importance not a quota!) and he also has a secret that they’re nowhere near getting close to explaining except it looks like Captain America serum to prevent him from Hulking out now and again.

The overall arc is Wynonna getting revenge on the reverents who turned her life upside down and took her older sister (who was supposed to be the one who inherited the gun but there’s something off about her which is catching my interest), but I’m only halfway through the season and she has almost met those goals. Where are we going with this? Also, we only have one type of antagonist: evil biker redneck. Oh, and demons with a random shapeshifter. There are so many western creatures out there to pull from and that’s what we get. And this is a perfect opportunity to get Native American involvement to not only get their culture and stories told correctly, but give them the positive exposure they need.

I know I should give the entire season a chance before giving a review, but I can’t. If the writing and acting don’t get better by the halfway point, it’s probably not going to change. There are parts that I do enjoy about this show, don’t worry. I like Wynonna. She’s troubled and a little prickly but she’s not doing it to be a tough bitch. She naturally shows her softer sides and her humorous sides without collapsing into a puddle. I like how the gun glows symbols when she’s facing a reverent. Very much like Ghostrider. I like how Doc has this immortal guide because I’m working on a character similar to him. I like how Doc and the agent interact in that ‘I’ll tolerate you’ way. I enjoy the sisters acting like sisters and all the female characters working together instead of being pitted against each other.

I hope the rest of the season does an upturn for female action lead sake. We still need that representation. So until then:

2 out of 5

[therapyincomics]

  All-New Guardians Of The Galaxy #1 Incentive Aaron Kuder Variant

Cavewoman Destination Jungle #1 Variant Dean Yeagle

Empowered And The Soldier Of Love #3 Karla Diaz

Green Arrow Vol 7 #22 Regular Juan Ferreyra

Helena Crash #3 Variant Chris Visions Subscription

Jean Grey #1 Incentive Dave Cockrum Remastered Variant

Jessica Jones #8 Variant Marco Checchetto

Stained #1 Regular Steve Morris

X-Men Gold #3 Regular Ardian Syaf

Youngblood Vol 5 #1 Variant Rob Liefeld

Here are my top 10 eye catching comic book cover choices for this week.  Who’s excited for Guardians of the Galaxy 2?!?!  I AM!  Gonna spend the cash for the 3D version of the movie this weekend with the wife.  Should be a fun date night.  As for covers this week, not so fun, what’s up with the Indie comics and nude covers, been quite a few past couple of weeks.  However I did break down and selected a non-nude but risque photo one I found rather funny and the artwork was well drawn.   That being Cavewoman Destination Jungle #1 variant by Dean Yeagle.  A favorite artist of mine Juan Ferreyra has a regular cover out for Green Arrow Vol 7 #22.  I discovered his artwork back in 2015 when he was working on the Colder series released by Dark Horse Comics.  That is another series you all should read up on, fabulous story and off the hook art that really brings the story alive.  However, the one that takes the cake this week is a remastered cover Jean Grey #1 Incentive Dave Cockrum Remastered Variant that is currently priced up on Midtown Comics website for over 1K.  So if your comic book collection is in need of a 1K cover then please don’t hesitate and go jump on over to Midtown before it’s too late.  If you feel the need to share your thoughts concerning my choices please do and I hope to see you back here next week for another edition of the top 10!

Top 10 List (Alphabetical Order…)

All-New Guardians Of The Galaxy #1 Incentive Aaron Kuder Variant

Cavewoman Destination Jungle #1 Variant Dean Yeagle

Empowered And The Soldier Of Love #3 Karla Diaz

Green Arrow Vol 7 #22 Regular Juan Ferreyra

Helena Crash #3 Variant Chris Visions Subscription

Jean Grey #1 Incentive Dave Cockrum Remastered Variant

Jessica Jones #8 Variant Marco Checchetto

Stained #1 Regular Steve Morris

X-Men Gold #3 Regular Ardian Syaf

Youngblood Vol 5 #1 Variant Rob Liefeld

Image Source: Midtown Comics

#Comic Book Update - Weekly Top 10 Covers 5.3.2017 #Comics #Comicbooks #Art #Marvel #DC #IDW #DarkHorseComics #Valiant #ImageComics #Top10 Here are my top 10 eye catching comic book cover choices for this week.  Who's excited for…

[mx-hedgehog]

If it’s the games you might want to start with Sonic Adventure and Sonic Adventure 2 just to get a feel for all the characters that are mainly used in Modern. (I both do and don’t recommend Sonic 06. It’s just a good exam of GameDev Crunch and how you shouldn’t rush something that’s needs time) if you want to try classic you can try Sonic Mania first since it’s more widely available and is a good homage to the original games.

For the shows I can’t really recommend SatAM but it’s highly regarded as a great show. My first show was Sonic Underground and it was vastly different from the plot of any of the games or other shows. SonicX is a meme but that’s the next one I watched and I’m still fond of it. If you have the chance watch the Japanese original dub and the English dub. They both have their marets. And Boom isn’t very long but is a pretty fresh take on some of the characters while introducing new ones.

The Comics have a long history, so it would be hard to read all the original stuff from the ArchieComics run but IDW is a current run of a new universe. So it might be a good place to start availability wise.

Joining a server for beginning fans might be a good start to all of that tho. And if you want to catch up on any of the older stuff or are courious about any specific characters I find YouTube a good place to find profile Vids.

It’s will be almost impossible to find anyone with an unbiased opinion (I certainly have my own) but it’s a fun place to be when you avoid fandom drama, just like any other fandom.

How do I get into sonic???

Is there like a certain order that I should follow to understand like the plot? Also is it a thing where the games are separate from the like tv shows and stuff??

[eddycurrents]

For the week of 9 July 2018

Quick Bits:

Aliens: Dust to Dust #2 continues the plight of a group of settlers on LV-871 as they try to flee an attack by xenomorphs. There’s more gorgeous artwork from Gabriel Hardman and Rain Beredo, very impressive storytelling through the action.

| Published by Dark Horse

Amazing Spider-Man #1 isn’t a bad start to the post-Dan Slott era, with Nick Spencer, Ryan Ottley, Cliff Rathburn, and Laura Martin setting up a new/old status quo for Peter. At times it does seem like the story veers towards unnecessarily being cruel to set him up, pushing him down further and further, but we’ll see where it goes. The art from Ottley, Rathburn, and Martin is wonderful. The narration in the epilogue (with art from Humberto Ramos, Victor Olazaba, and Edgar Delgado) from the villain in the main story, though, is damn good. The sequence itself is an amazing hook and gives me hope for wonderful things to come.

| Published by Marvel

Betrothed #5 is a brutal end to this series. Sean Lewis and Steve Uy give Tamara and Kieron a bloody coming of age, with a somewhat unexpected conclusion to their confrontation with their rivals. There are some interesting hints at more to come that has me hoping that we’ll see more of this story in the future.

| Published by AfterShock

Black Science #37 serves as kind of the connecting tissue for this arc, ostensibly bringing “our” Grant and Sara to the central hub with their alternate universe daughter, trying to solve the problem of the destruction of the Eververse. This is an important turning point in the story, as Rick Remender, Matteo Scalera, and Moreno Dinisio push us headlong towards this series’ conclusion. Again, the art from Scalera and Dinisio is just stunning.

| Published by Image / Giant Generator

Bloodshot Salvation #11 continues to bring this story back around full circle to the beginning, merging the timelines. It’s interesting to see this wholly play out, adding some wrinkles, and giving us some really nice art from Doug Braithwaite and Jordie Bellaire. I’m anxious to see how this ends.

| Published by Valiant

Champions #22 is kind of a second “fresh start” as this issue deals with the fallout from the various events around the Marvel universe and the kids’ solo books. Jim Zub is balancing all of the different moving pieces out of his control very well, making change and transition almost an essential theme to the title, which in itself makes a fair amount of sense with the kids growing up. Although I miss Sean Izaakse, I really love how Kevin Libranda (with colours from Marcio Menyz) presents Snowguard here. The wolf is adorable.

| Published by Marvel

Coda #3 has a really interesting rumination on the nature of good and evil from Si Spurrier as the underlying narration this issue. Raising the oft pondered question of what it means to do the wrong thing for the right reasons and what it means to be “good”.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

The Crow: Memento Mori #4 brings the series to a close. The continuing story from Roberto Recchioni, Werther Dell’Edera, and Giovanna Niro winds up much, much darker than just the religious intolerance presented in the first three issues.

| Published by IDW

Daredevil #605 brings to an end the “Mayor Murdock” story-arc that has featured some wonderful art from Mike Henderson and Matt Milla. Henderson is an incredible artist and his style has so perfectly meshed with Daredevil, the street level heroes, and the terror of the Beast and the Hand brought to New York City.

| Published by Marvel

The Dead Hand #4 throws a big monkey wrench into the works of the hidden Russian city in the form of a rebellious teenager. It’s interesting how Kyle Higgins and Stephen Mooney turn this thriller on a dime into incorporating elements of family drama.

| Published by Image

Die!Die!Die! #1 was a surprise, being announced and then released the same week. It was a pleasant surprise, though, because this first issue is pretty awesome. Robert Kirkman, Scott Gimple, Chris Burnham, and Nathan Fairbairn deliver an over-the-top action comic that reminds me a lot of the more humorous output of Garth Ennis.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Domino #4 is another winner, diving deep into Domino’s connection to her current arch-nemesis, with all of the humour and action that this series has shown us so far. Gail Simone, David Baldeón, and Jesus Aburtov have easily made this series a must read.

| Published by Marvel

Elsewhere #8 brings the series to a conclusion, tying up the one major loose plot thread in the process. This has been a fun adventure series from Jay Faerber, Sumeyye Kesgin, and Ron Riley and this issue captures the indomitable spirit exhibited by Amelia Earhart and DB Cooper throughout this story.

| Published by Image

Exiles #5 is gloriously insane as the first arc comes to a close. Saladin Ahmed, Javier Rodríguez, and Álvaro López have been outdoing themselves with each subsequent issue. The art alone is worth your attention, with some very inventive layouts and storytelling techniques, but the characters, dialogue, and plot are equally enthralling.

| Published by Marvel

Farmhand #1 is a new series from Chew’s Rob Guillory. It’s odd, blending family drama with weird science and body horror. It’s incredibly different and the idea of the body farms is very compelling. Also great, and at times horrifying, art from Guillory, with colours from Taylor Wells.

| Published by Image

Hunt for Wolverine: Adamantium Agenda #3 has some really nice art from RB Silva, Adriano di Benedetto, and Guru-eFX. Silva’s designs for alternate Iron Man armours this issue are particularly impressive.

| Published by Marvel

Isola #4 reveals how the Queen became a cat, maybe, because it’s told in a somewhat hallucinatory fever dream of Rook, possibly remembering what happened or possibly just having a bad dream. I love how Brenden Fletcher, Karl Kerschl, and Msassyk are telling this story, as a somewhat ephemeral fable.

| Published by Image

The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Tempest #1 begins the end for the League, with Alan Moore, Kevin O’Neill, Ben Dimagmaliw, and Todd Klein displaying all of the inventiveness and depth of storytelling that series has delivered without fail since its inception. The interplay between formats of newspaper comics, epistolary adventure novels, comic books, and more make this as much a delight of form as it is of story.

| Published by Top Shelf & Knockabout

Nancy Drew #2 kind of subverts the mystery with personal drama, only to set up another mystery. It’s an interesting approach, but it’s leading to some very interesting characters. The art from Jenn St.-Onge and Triona Farrell is wonderful.

| Published by Dynamite

New Mutants: Dead Souls #5 is another great issue, with the team trying to find something in Doctor Strange’s Sanctum Sanctorum. The page layouts from Adam Gorham this issue particularly stand out.

| Published by Marvel

Oblivion Song #5 makes a revelation that we’ve kind of been expecting for a few issues now, but is still interesting to see how it plays out. There are a few major events that definitely change how this series will operate, bringing truth to what Robert Kirkman wrote in the first issue of how this series wouldn’t remain static around a singular status quo. It’s really nice to see that kind of organic change in a story. It also helps that the art from Lorenzo De Felici and Annalisa Leoni is gorgeous.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Old Man Logan #43 is a thing of beauty, featuring Juan Ferreyra’s first Marvel work. His style is perfect for Logan and meshes well with the darker aspects of Ed Brisson’s writing.

| Published by Marvel

Optimus Prime #20 clues us in a bit on what’s been going on with Bumblebee as he and Optimus catch-up...somewhere. John Barber is playing with a lot, trying to keep all of the plates spinning as he weaves together years of Transformers stories here and it’s impressive.

| Published by IDW

Outpost Zero #1 focuses on a group of teens coming of age in a station on what looks like a frozen wasteland of a planet, possibly the last of humanity, since they don’t know if any other generational seed ships made it to any of their destinations either. While this is decidedly sci-fi, Sean McKeever leans in to his writing strengths, delivering some nuanced and developed interpersonal drama that is as compelling as the broader survival plot. I also love the aesthetic and style that Alexandre Tefenkgi and Jean-Francois Beaulieu bring to the art. It reminds me a bit of Takeshi Miyazawa’s work on Mech Cadet Yu and it works really well to blend teen drama and sci-fi.

| Published by Image / Skybound

The Punisher #227 reinforces my belief that Matthew Rosenberg should be writing a Black Widow & friends or SHIELD title. His characterizations and voices for Bucky and Natasha are so spot on, while providing some much needed humorous asides.

| Published by Marvel

Quicksilver: No Surrender #3 is a stunning meditation on Pietro’s relationship and history with his sister. Gorgeous art on the flashbacks from Paul Renaud. I also have to mention again on the main present sequences that Rico Renzi’s use of colour adds so much to the storytelling.

| Published by Marvel

Relay #1 is probably a bit stranger than the Free Comic Book Day zero issue, as Zac Thompson expands the story to the multiple worlds affected and changed by the Relay. It’s an odd mix of philosophy, theology, and police procedural and I’m still not quite sure what to make of it. It has some gorgeous art, though, from Andy Clark, José Villarrubia, and Dan Brown.

| Published by AfterShock

RuinWorld #1 is a fun all-ages fantasy by Derek Laufman, featuring some anthropomorphic animals getting into misadventures. It’s funny how just about every character is different degrees of inept and everything seems to be going wrong. I really like Laufman’s art style.

| Published by Boom Entertainment / kaboom!

She Could Fly #1 is incredibly strange. Starting with the normal, Martín Morazzo and Miroslav Mrva’s art is fabulous. I absolutely love Morazzo’s style, a mix of Frank Quitely and Marcos Martin, and he always makes the books he works on look visually interesting. And it really fits weird and strange stories, like this one. Christopher Cantwell, Morazzo, and Mrva are presenting the mental illness of our main protagonist, Luna, in a matter of fact way, without any visual clues (beyond Clem Robins’ change in font style for an intrusive, abusive inner voice at times) that this isn’t happening. That’s not a problem at all, in itself, but it also seems that this is taking place in an almost magical realist world, where absurd impossible things are possible. Like the fact that she could fly. That unreality of the world itself is what makes this strange, as though we as readers ourselves can’t trust the narrative. Because it might just be something made up in somebody’s head. I like this.

| Published by Dark Horse / Berger Books

Star Wars: Darth Vader #18 is an interesting single issue story pitting Tarkin against Vader. It’s a bit odd, but Charles Soule, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Daniele Orlandini, and David Curiel turn in a very compelling story of the hunt.

| Published by Marvel

Transformers: Lost Light #20 features the confrontation that we’ve been waiting for for a very long time, Rodimus and Getaway. After all that we’ve seen in this series, it underlines just how insane and depraved Getaway truly is.

| Published by IDW

Transformers: Unicron #1 is a very dark comic. Like with the Free Comic Book Day issue, the Cybertronians have almost completely lost, people are giving in to despair, Unicron has eaten most of the colonies, including planets like ROM’s homeworld that they didn’t even know were colonies, and the outlook for the universe is looking very grim. Still, there’s five more issues, and I want to see how John Barber, Alex Milne, and Sebastian Cheng end this.

| Published by IDW

X-23 #1 is a great beginning for Mariko Tamaki with Laura and Gabby. While it’s more immediately tied to the rest of the X-Men than much of All-New Wolverine, it captures the fun and humour of that title, while also presenting a new and deeply disturbing element that you really need to see. It’s nice to see Juann Cabal and Nolan Woodard continue with the characters. Cabal’s art was great on the “Orphans of X” arc and it looks like he’s pulled out all of the stops here. Some phenomenal panel transitions and visual gags.

| Published by Marvel

Xena: Warrior Princess #6 kicks off a new arc with Erica Schultz taking over as writer. It’s good, with Vicente Cifuentes providing a nice visual consistency, while the story takes on another dimension. Like the first arc, this is still rooted in Xena coming to terms with her past as she learns to work with Gabrielle, but we get an added external narrative here with the element of the oracles.

| Published by Dynamite

X-Men Blue #31 feels like the beginning of Cullen Bunn’s X-Men endgame that really started with his work on Magneto years ago, that everything has been building to this. It’s interesting to see the series from this perspective, with Magneto almost as an outside unstoppable force, and it adds a huge gravity to the story. Great art from Jorge Molina and Matt Milla.

| Published by Marvel

Other Highlights: Accell #12, Amazing Spider-Man: Renew Your Vows #21, Archie #32, Astonisher #9, Deadpool: Assassin #3, Dejah Thoris #6, DuckTales #10, GI Joe: A Real American Hero #253, Mech Cadet Yu #10, Monstress #18, Ms. Marvel #32, Port of Earth #7, Red Sonja #18, Resident Alien: An Alien in New York #4, Rick Veitch’s The One #6, Run Wild, Sheena: Queen of the Jungle #10, Star Wars: Thrawn #6, TMNT: Urban Legends #3, Tomb Raider: Inferno #2, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #34, Wasted Space #3, World of Tanks: Citadel #3

Recommended Collections: All-New Wolverine - Volume 6: Old Woman Laura, Despicable Deadpool - Volume 3: The Marvel Universe Kills Deadpool, Go Go Power Rangers - Volume 1, Made Men - Volume 1: Getting the Gang Back Together, Old Man Logan - Volume 7: Scarlet Samurai, Star Wars: Doctor Aphra - Volume 3: Remastered, TMNT Universe - Volume 4: Home

d. emerson eddy sometimes likes to make himself believe that planet Earth turns slowly. But he’d definitely rather be asleep.