#supercharged geoff

[wheredidalltheusersgo]

Thought I should post this concept art of Geoff from an AU in case I never actually get around to finishing the designs for it

[seotrafficsupercharger]

Unlocking the Power of Geoff Lord: The Article Blaster

If you're immersed in the world of internet marketing and search engine optimization (SEO), you've likely come across the name Geoff Lord. He's not just any ordinary SEO expert; he is renowned as The Traffic Supercharger. With over three decades of experience under his belt, Geoff Lord has been instrumental in helping clients become internet marketing specialists, teaching them the art of ranking on Google and various other search engines. In this article, we'll delve deep into the world of Geoff Lord and explore his groundbreaking tool, The Article Blaster.

Who is Geoff Lord?

Geoff Lord's journey in the realm of SEO began early on when the internet was still in its infancy. His pioneering efforts in the field have made him a respected and highly competent figure. Geoff Lord is not just an SEO expert; he's a mentor and consultant who offers training and support to his followers and clients. Let's explore some key aspects of Geoff Lord's illustrious career and his contributions to the world of SEO.

Geoff Lord's Path to SEO Excellence

Geoff Lord's journey as an SEO expert began in an era when search engines were far less sophisticated than they are today. Over the years, he has witnessed the evolution of SEO and has actively contributed to its development. Here's a brief overview of his path to SEO excellence:

Early Beginnings: Geoff Lord started his career in the early days of the internet, experimenting with various strategies to increase website visibility.

SEO Pioneer: He quickly realized the potential of SEO in shaping online businesses and became one of the early pioneers of the field.

Innovative Strategies: Throughout his career, Geoff has developed innovative SEO strategies that have consistently delivered results for his clients.

Mentorship: Recognizing the need for proper SEO education, he began offering training and mentorship to aspiring internet marketers.

The Science of SEO by Geoff Lord

Geoff Lord is not just a practitioner of SEO; he is also a theorist who has contributed significantly to the development of SEO as a science. His deep understanding of search engine algorithms and ranking factors has allowed him to craft effective SEO strategies. Here are some key elements of the science of SEO as defined by Geoff Lord:

Keyword Research: Geoff emphasizes the importance of thorough keyword research to identify the most relevant and high-performing keywords for a given niche.

On-Page Optimization: He stresses the significance of on-page optimization, including optimizing meta tags, headings, and content structure.

Backlink Building: Geoff Lord understands the power of quality backlinks and has developed strategies for acquiring them organically.

Content Quality: According to Geoff, content is king, and creating high-quality, engaging content is paramount for SEO success.

The Article Blaster: Geoff Lord's Secret Weapon

One of Geoff Lord's most noteworthy contributions to the SEO world is The Article Blaster. This tool has been a game-changer for internet marketers and SEO specialists alike. Let's take a closer look at what makes The Article Blaster so powerful:

Automated Content Generation: The Article Blaster automates the process of content creation, allowing users to generate a vast amount of unique and SEO-friendly content in a short time.

Keyword Integration: It seamlessly integrates keywords and phrases into the generated content, optimizing it for search engine ranking.

Content Distribution: The tool also offers content distribution features, enabling users to publish their articles on various platforms and websites.

Time-Saving: The Article Blaster saves precious time for marketers, allowing them to focus on other critical aspects of their SEO campaigns.

Geoff Lord's Training and Support

Geoff Lord doesn't just stop at developing tools and strategies; he is also dedicated to helping others succeed in the world of SEO. His training and support services have empowered countless individuals and businesses. Here's what you can expect from Geoff Lord's training programs:

Comprehensive Education: Geoff's training programs cover a wide range of SEO topics, ensuring that participants gain a holistic understanding of the field.

Hands-On Guidance: Participants receive practical guidance and hands-on experience, making it easier to implement SEO strategies effectively.

Ongoing Support: Geoff Lord's commitment to his followers doesn't end with training. He provides ongoing support and updates to keep them at the forefront of SEO trends.

Proven Results: Many of Geoff's trainees have gone on to achieve remarkable success in their SEO endeavors, a testament to the effectiveness of his teachings.

Conclusion

Geoff Lord, The Traffic Supercharger, has left an indelible mark on the world of SEO. His pioneering efforts, deep understanding of SEO as a science, and the revolutionary tool, The Article Blaster, have transformed the way internet marketers approach SEO. With his training and support, he continues to shape the future of SEO and empower countless individuals and businesses to succeed in the digital landscape.

Whether you're a seasoned SEO expert or just starting your journey in internet marketing, Geoff Lord's insights and tools are invaluable resources to help you achieve your goals. So, embrace the wisdom of The Traffic Supercharger and unlock the full potential of your online presence.

Here are 10 frequently asked questions (FAQs) about Geoff Lord and The Article Blaster:

What is The Article Blaster by Geoff Lord? The Article Blaster is a powerful tool developed by Geoff Lord for automated content generation and distribution in the field of SEO and internet marketing.

Who is Geoff Lord, and why is he known as The Traffic Supercharger? Geoff Lord is a renowned SEO expert with over 30 years of experience. He earned the nickname "The Traffic Supercharger" due to his expertise in helping clients drive organic traffic to their websites.

How does The Article Blaster work? The Article Blaster automates content creation by generating unique and SEO-friendly articles. It also assists in keyword integration and content distribution.

Is The Article Blaster suitable for beginners in SEO? Yes, The Article Blaster can be used by both beginners and experienced SEO professionals. Geoff Lord provides training and support to ensure users can make the most of the tool.

Can The Article Blaster be used for any niche or industry? Yes, The Article Blaster is versatile and can be customized for various niches and industries. Users can input relevant keywords and topics to generate content specific to their needs.

Does Geoff Lord offer ongoing support for The Article Blaster users? Yes, Geoff Lord is committed to providing ongoing support and updates to users of The Article Blaster, ensuring they stay up-to-date with the latest SEO trends.

Is The Article Blaster suitable for large-scale content production? Absolutely. The Article Blaster is designed to handle large-scale content generation, making it ideal for businesses and agencies looking to produce a significant volume of content.

Does The Article Blaster ensure content quality and uniqueness? Yes, The Article Blaster focuses on generating unique and high-quality content by integrating keywords effectively. However, users should still review and edit the generated content to maintain quality standards.

Can The Article Blaster help with backlink building? While The Article Blaster primarily focuses on content generation, it can indirectly assist with backlink building by creating shareable content that may attract natural backlinks.

Where can I learn more about Geoff Lord and The Article Blaster? You can find more information about Geoff Lord and The Article Blaster on his official website and through his training programs and resources.

Follow Us: Blogger | Weebly | Twitter | Gravatar | Disqus | Google-Sites | Youtube | About.Me

[jdpink]

“Because the shoes are a new tool, the more we run in them, the better we adapt,” said Geoff Burns, a physiologist and biomechanics expert with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee.

Burns and other sports scientists have an abiding faith in what is known as the specificity principle: for a runner to compete at his or her best, they have to train in the same way they will race. That means running at their race pace, drinking the same fluids, consuming the same gels, and, perhaps most important, wearing the same shoes.

[mamawasatesttube]

@batgirlfriends said: you are being SO brave. go to class and then write the essay later king <3

I DID IT I WENT TO CLASS!!! i have another one in half an hour but in the meantime.

do you ever think about how stupid it is that geoff johns was like "this is a clone! he's 50% from two parents." geoff do you know what the word clone means? geoff i am going to manifest in your walls. that's not cloning that's just a regular baby grown in a weirdass test tube. geoff this is not rocket science (or i guess the genetics equivalent thereof? geoff this is not crispr cas9) i am going to gnaw through your doors geoff

now, granted, since the earlier comics themselves are full of contradictions as to whether or not kon does or doesn't have kryptonian dna vs whether he's a regular human with a kryptonian-imitation metagene... there's several ways to interpret him, certainly. i, personally, live in the camp of "he's like, 99.7% kryptonian, with a bit of human dna thrown in there bc they had problems and issues for w/e reason with full kryptonian dna". to me, this is the best bridge between all the various kon origin canons - he originally thought that bit of human came from paul westfield, then later found out it was actually lex luthor, so there can still be some crisis there, but he's MOSTLY kryptonian, as (sometimes) stated in sb94. i'd go find citations but i'm on a time crunch here.

(i know there are also parts in sb94 and also iirc reign of the supermen that state he's Just A Guy w a kryptonian-esque metagene, but at least to me that's unsatisfying bc like... i KNOW comic logic is bonkers, but cmon. he's weak to kryptonite. he gets supercharged by solar energy. if he didn't process sunlight the same way a kryptonian does, kryptonite should have no effect on him. and if the argument is that a metagene mimics the kryptonian condition to THAT EXTENT, it just... feels like. really. occam's razor baby, it's easier to simply say He Is At Least In Part Kryptonian.)

SO. THAT ALL BEING SAID. a) geoff stop being like "lex is his father" again do you even understand what cloning MEANS. b) geoff aside, it's absolutely so bizarre that there's a whole chunk of comics that call lex kon's father in any way WITHOUT doing the same for clark. it's been said before and i'm sure it'll be said again, but... seriously that's just wack i don't even need to get into it bc. hello.

but the point is, this all leads into the "what is kon to clark" debate, right? bc if genetically, he's like clark's twin but a bit to the left, maybe that's more "little brother" ish, etc etc. but on the other hand, given that the comic narrative does keep trying to push a parental role on kon's human dna donor (once that donor is retconned into being lex), it's Strange not to let clark into that role as well. and people can go back and forth on this until we're all blue in the face but i think it comes down to just...

there is no one cut and dry nuclear family role that fits the two of them. there just isn't. to insist kon is just 100% clark's son and point at the post-retcon comics as evidence is reductive; to insist kon is just 100% clark's little brother and point to the pre-retcon comics as evidence is also reductive. kon is somewhere in between. he's neither. he's both. there is just no equivalent nuclear family role that fits him and clark to a T.

which i know i've said before and i'm SURE i'll say again but sue me, this just lives in my mind rent free. mostly kryptonian kon who is an undefined family member to clark and who is NOT family to lex (oh god i can write a whole other essay about this) is the hill i will die on.

(also, largely unrelated side note that has just been bugging me since i read tt03: that time kara's fighting titans of tomorrow kon and is like "you may be half kryptonian, but i'm the real thing!" or whatever that was. do you ever read something and go Wow! There Were Literally No Mixed People Involved In The Creation Of This 😬😬😬!!!! i have soooo many gripes w the tt03 interpretation of kon and his genetics but this is a HUGE ONE. any and all focus on his genes in this way automatically becomes allegorical for real life mixed ppl and its just. yikes, scoob! stop trying to do any sort of mixed kid narrative and meet me in the fucking pit geoff johns)

holding myself back from typing up a mini essay on kon and clark and paul westfield vs lex luthor. im waiting for my starbucks and im gonna be late to my chemistry class i can't do this right now but what if i did anyway--

[grigori77]

2020 in Movies - My Top 30 Fave Movies (Part 3)

10.  WOLFWALKERS – eleven years ago, Irish director Tomm Moore exploded onto the animated cinema scene with The Secret of Kells, a spellbinding feature debut which captivated audiences the world over and even garnered an Oscar nomination.  Admittedly I didn’t actually even know about it until I discovered his work through his astonishing follow-up, Song of the Sea (another Academy Award nominee), in 2015, so when I finally caught it I was already a fan of Moore’s work.  It’s been a similarly long wait for his third feature, but he’s genuinely pulled off a hat-trick, delivering a third flawless film in a row which OF COURSE means that his latest feature is, beyond a shadow of a doubt, my top animated feature of 2020.  I could even be tempted to say it’s his best work to date … this is an ASTONISHING film, a work of such breath-taking, spell-binding beauty that I spent its entire hour and three-quarters glued to the screen, simple mesmerised by the wonder and majesty of this latest iteration of the characteristically stylised “Cartoon Saloon” look.  It’s also liberally steeped in Moore’s trademark Celtic vibe and atmosphere, once again delving deep into his homeland’s rich and evocative cultural history and mythology while also bringing us something far more original and personal – this time the titular supernatural beings are magical near-human beings whose own subconscious can assume the form of very real wolves.  Set in a particularly dark time in Irish history – namely 1650, when Oliver Cromwell was Lord Protector – the story follows Robyn (Honor Kneafsey, probably best known for the Christmas Prince films), the impetuous and spirited young daughter of English hunter Bill Goodfellowe (Sean Bean), brought in by the Protectorate to rid the city of Kilkenny of the wolves plaguing the area.  One day fate intervenes and Robyn meets Mebh Og MacTire (The Girl at the End of the Garden‘s Eve Whittaker), a wild girl living in the woods, whose accidental bite gives her strange dreams in which she becomes a wolf – turns out Mebh is a wolfwalker, and now so is Robyn … every aspect of this film is an utter triumph for Moore and co, who have crafted a work of living, breathing cinematic art that’s easily the equal to (if not even better than) the best that Disney, Dreamworks or any of the other animation studios could create.  Then there’s the excellent voice cast – Bean brings fatherly warmth and compassion to the role that belies his character’s intimidating size, while Kneafsey and Whittaker make for a sweet and sassy pair as they bond in spite of powerful cultural differences, and the masterful Simon McBurney (Harry Potter, Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy) brings cool, understated menace to the role of Cromwell himself.  This is a film with plenty of emotional heft to go with its marvels, and once again displays the welcome dark side which added particular spice to Moore’s previous films, but ultimately this is still a gentle and heartfelt work of wonder that makes for equally suitable viewing for children as for those who are still kids at heart – ultimately, then, this is another triumph for one of the most singularly original filmmakers working in animation today, and if Wolfwalkers doesn’t make it third time lucky come Oscars-time then there’s no justice in the world …

9.  WONDER WOMAN 1984 – probably the biggest change for 2020 compared to pretty much all of the past decade is how different the fortunes of superhero cinema turned out to be.  A year earlier the Marvel Cinematic Universe had dominated all, but the DC Extended Universe still got a good hit in with big surprise hit Shazam!  Fast-forward to now and things are VERY different – DC suddenly came out in the lead, but only because Marvel’s intended heavy-hitters (two MCU movies, the first Venom sequel and potential hot-shit new franchise starter Morbius: the Living Vampire) found themselves continuously pushed back thanks to (back then) unforeseen circumstances which continue to shit all over our theatre-going slate for the immediate future.  In the end DC’s only SERIOUS competition turned out to be NETFLIX … never mind, at least we got ONE big established superhero blockbuster into the cinemas before the end of the year that the whole family could enjoy, and who better to headline it than DC’s “newest” big screen megastar, Diana Prince? Back in 2017 Monster’s Ball director Patty Jenkins’ monumental DCEU standalone spectacularly realigned the trajectory of a cinematic franchise that was visibly flagging, redesigning the template for the series’ future which has since led to some (mostly) consistently impressive subsequent offerings.  Needless to say it was a damn tough act to follow, but Jenkins and co-writers Geoff Johns (Arrow and The Flash) and David Callaham (The Expendables, Zombieland: Double Tap, future MCU entry Shang-Chi & the Legend of the Ten Rings) have risen to the challenge in fine style, delivering something which pretty much equals that spectacular franchise debut … as has Gal Gadot, who’s now OFFICIALLY made the role her own thanks to yet another showstopping and definitive performance as the unstoppable Amazonian goddess living amongst us.  She’s older and wiser than in the first film, but still hasn’t lost that forthright honesty and wonderfully pure heart we’ve come to love ever since her introduction in Zack Snyder’s troublesome but ultimately underrated Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice (yes, that’s right, I said it!), and Gadot’s clear, overwhelming commitment to the role continues to pay off magnificently as she once again proves that Diana is THE VERY BEST superhero in the DCEU cinematic pantheon.  Although it takes place several decades after its predecessor, WW84 is, obviously, still very much a period piece, Jenkins and co this time perfectly capturing the sheer opulent and over-the-top tastelessness of the 1980s in all its big-haired, bad-suited, oversized shoulder-padded glory while telling a story that encapsulates the greedy excessiveness of the Reagan era, perfectly embodied in the film’s nominal villain, Max Lord (The Mandalorian himself, Pedro Pascal), a wishy-washy wannabe oil tycoon conman who chances upon a supercharged wish-rock and unleashes a devastating supernatural “monkey’s paw” upon the world. To say any more would give away a whole raft of spectacular twists and turns that deserve to be enjoyed good and cold, although they did spoil one major surprise in the trailer when they teased the return of Diana’s first love, Steve Trevor (Chris Pine) … needless to say this is another big blockbuster bursting with big characters, big action and BIG IDEAS, just what we’ve come to expect after Wonder Woman’s first triumphant big screen adventure.  Interestingly, the film starts out feeling like it’s going to be a bubbly, light, frothy affair – after a particularly stunning all-action opening flashback to Diana’s childhood on Themyscira, the film proper kicks off with a bright and breezy atmosphere that feels a bit like the kind of Saturday morning cartoon action the consistently impressive set-pieces take such unfettered joy in parodying, but as the stakes are raised the tone grows darker and more emotionally potent, the storm clouds gathering for a spectacularly epic climax that, for once, doesn’t feel too overblown or weighed down by its visual effects, while the intelligent script has unfathomable hidden depths to it, making us think far more than these kinds of blockbusters usually do.  It’s really great to see Chris Pine return since he was one of the best things about the first movie, and his lovably childlike wide-eyed wonder at this brave new world perfectly echoes Diana’s own last time round; Kristen Wiig, meanwhile, is pretty phenomenal throughout as Dr Barbara Minerva, the initially geeky and timid nerd who discovers an impressive inner strength but ultimately turns into a superpowered apex predator as she becomes one of Wonder Woman’s most infamous foes, the Cheetah; Pascal, of course, is clearly having the time of his life hamming it up to the hilt as Lord, playing gloriously against his effortlessly cool, charismatic action hero image to deliver a compellingly troubling examination of the monstrous corrupting influence of absolute power.  Once again, though, the film truly belongs to Gadot – she looks amazing, acts her socks off magnificently, and totally rules the movie.  After this, a second sequel is a no-brainer, because Wonder Woman remains the one DC superhero who’s truly capable of bearing the weight of this particular cinematic franchise on her powerful shoulders – needless to say, it’s already been greenlit, and with both Jenkins and Gadot onboard, I’m happy to sign up for more too …

8.  LOVE & MONSTERS – with the cinemas continuing their frustrating habit of opening for a little while and then closing while the pandemic ebbed and flowed in the months after the summer season, it was starting to look like there might not have been ANY big budget blockbusters to enjoy before year’s end as heavyweights like Black Widow, No Time To Die and Dune pulled back to potentially more certain release slots into 2021 (with only WW84 remaining stubbornly in place for Christmas).  Then Paramount decided to throw us a bone, opting to release this post-apocalyptic horror comedy on-demand in October instead, thus giving me the perfect little present to tie me over during the darkening days of autumn. The end result was a stone-cold gem that came out of nowhere to completely blow critics away, a spectacular sleeper hit that ultimately proved one of the year’s biggest and most brilliant surprises.  Director Michael Matthews may only have had South African indie thriller Five Fingers for Marseilles under his belt prior to this, but he proves he’s definitely a solid talent to watch in the future, crafting a fun and effective thrill-ride that, like all the best horror comedies, is consistently as funny as it is scary, sharing much of the same DNA as this particular mash-up genre’s classics like Tremors and Zombieland and standing up impressively well to such comparisons.  The story, penned by rising star Brian Duffield (who has TWO other entries on this list, Underwater and Spontaneous) and Matthew Robinson (The Invention of Lying, Dora & the Lost City of Gold), is also pretty ingenious and surprisingly original – a meteorite strike has unleashed weird mutagenic pathogens that warp various creepy crawly critters into gigantic monstrosities that have slaughter most of the world’s human population, leaving only a beleaguered, dwindling few to eke out a precarious living in underground colonies. Living in one such makeshift community is Joel Dawson (The Maze Runner’s Dylan O’Brien), a smart and likeable geek who really isn’t very adventurous, is extremely awkward and uncoordinated, and has a problem with freezing if threatened … which makes it all the more inexplicable when he decides, entirely against the advice of everyone he knows, to venture onto the surface so he can make the incredibly dangerous week-long trek to the neighbouring colony where his girlfriend Aimee (Iron Fist’s Jessica Henwick) has ended up.  Joel is, without a doubt, the best role that O’Brien has EVER had, a total dork who’s completely unsuited to this kind of adventure and, in the real world, sure to be eaten alive in the first five minutes, but he’s also such a fantastically believable, fallible everyman that every one of us desperate, pathetic omega-males and females can instantly put ourselves in his place, making it elementarily easy to root for him.  He’s also hilariously funny, his winningly self-deprecating sass and pitch perfect talent for physical comedy making it all the more rewarding watching each gloriously anarchic life-and-death encounter mould him into the year’s most unlikely action hero.  Henwick, meanwhile, once again impresses in a well-written role where she’s able to make a big impression despite her decidedly short screen time, as do the legendary Michael Rooker and brilliant newcomer Ariana Greenblatt as Clyde and Minnow, the adorably jaded, seen-it-all-before pair of “professional survivors” Joel meets en-route, who teach him to survive on the surface.  The action is fast, frenetic and potently visceral, the impressively realistic digital creature effects bringing a motley crew of bloodthirsty beasties to suitably blood-curdling life for the film’s consistently terrifying set-pieces, while the world-building is intricately thought-out and skilfully executed.  Altogether, this was an absolute joy from start to finish, and a film I enthusiastically endorsed to everyone I knew was looking for something fun to enjoy during the frustrating lockdown nights-in.  One of the cinematic year’s best kept secrets then, and a compelling sign of things to come for its up-and-coming director.

7.  PARASITE – I’ve been a fan of master Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho ever since I stumbled across his deeply weird but also thoroughly brilliant breakthrough feature The Host, and it’s a love that’s deepened since thanks to truly magnificent sci-fi actioner Snowpiercer, so I was looking forward to his latest feature as much as any movie geek, but even I wasn’t prepared for just what a runaway juggernaut of a hit this one turned out to be, from the insane box office to all that award-season glory (especially that undeniable clean-sweep at the Oscars). I’ll just come out and say it, this film deserves it all.  It’s EASILY Bong’s best film to date (which is really saying something), a masterful social satire and jet black comedy that raises some genuinely intriguing questions before delivering deeply troubling answers.  Straddling the ever-widening gulf between a disaffected idle rich upper class and impoverished, struggling lower class in modern-day Seoul, it tells the story of the Kim family – father Ki-taek (Bong’s good luck charm, Song Kang-ho), mother Chung-sook (Jang Hye-jin), son Ki-woo (Train to Busan’s Choi Woo-shik) and daughter Ki-jung (The Silenced’s Park So-dam) – a poor family living in a run-down basement apartment who live hand-to-mouth in minimum wage jobs and can barely rub two pennies together, until they’re presented with an intriguing opportunity.  Through happy chance, Ki-woon is hired as an English tutor for Park Da-hye (Jung Ji-so), the daughter of a wealthy family, which offers him the chance to recommend Ki-jung as an art tutor to the Parks’ troubled young son, Da-song (Jung Hyeon-jun). Soon the rest of the Kims are getting in on the act, the kids contriving opportunities for their father to replace Mr Park’s chauffeur and their mother to oust the family’s long-serving housekeeper, Gook Moon-gwang (Lee Jung-eun), and before long their situation has improved dramatically.  But as they two families become more deeply entwined, cracks begin to show in their supposed blissful harmony as the natural prejudices of their respective classes start to take hold, and as events spiral out of control a terrible confrontation looms on the horizon.  This is social commentary at its most scathing, Bong drawing on personal experiences from his youth to inform the razor-sharp script (co-written by his production assistant Han Jin-won), while he weaves a palpable atmosphere of knife-edged tension throughout to add spice to the perfectly observed dark humour of the situation, all the while throwing intriguing twists and turns at us before suddenly dropping such a massive jaw-dropper of a gear-change that the film completely turns on its head to stunning effect.  The cast are all thoroughly astounding, Song once again dominating the film with a turn at once sloppy and dishevelled but also poignant and heartfelt, while there are particularly noteworthy turns from Lee Sun-kyun as the Parks’ self-absorbed patriarch Dong-ik and Choi Yeo-jeong (The Concubine) as his flighty, easily-led wife Choi Yeon-gyo, as well as a fantastically weird appearance in the latter half from Park Myung-hoon.  This is heady stuff, dangerously seductive even as it becomes increasingly uncomfortable viewing, so that even as the screws tighten and everything goes to hell it’s simply impossible to look away.  Bong Joon-ho really has surpassed himself this time, delivering an existential mind-scrambler that lingers long after the credits have rolled and might even have you questioning your place in society once you’ve thought about it some. It deserves every single award and every ounce of praise it’s been lavished with, and looks set to go down as one of the true cinematic greats of this new decade.  Trust me, if this was a purely critical best-of list it’d be RIGHT AT THE TOP …

6.  THE OLD GUARD – Netflix’ undisputable TOP OFFERING of the summer came damn close to bagging the whole season, and I can’t help thinking that even if some of the stiffer competition had still been present it may well have still finished this high. Gina Prince-Blythewood (Love & Basketball, the Secret Life of Bees) directs comics legend Greg Rucka’s adaptation of his own popular series with uncanny skill and laser-focused visual flair considering there’s nothing on her previous CV to suggest she’d be THIS good at mounting a stomping great ultraviolent action thriller, ushering in a thoroughly engrossing tale of four ancient, invulnerable immortal warriors – Andy AKA Andromache of Scythia (Charlize Theron), Booker AKA Sebastian de Livre (Matthias Schoenaerts), Joe AKA Yusuf Al-Kaysani (Wolf’s Marwan Kenzari) and Nicky AKA Niccolo di Ginova (Trust’s Luca Marinelli) – who’ve been around forever, hiring out their services as mercenaries for righteous causes while jealously guarding their identities for fear of horrific experimentation and exploitation should their true natures ever be discovered.  Their anonymity is threatened, however, when they’re uncovered by former CIA operative James Copley (Chiwetel Ejiofor), who’s working for the decidedly dodgy pharmaceutical conglomerate run by sociopathic billionaire Steven Merrick (Harry Melling, formerly Dudley in the Harry Potter movies), who want to capture these immortals so they can patent whatever it is that makes them keep on ticking … just as a fifth immortal, US Marine Nile Freeman (If Beale Street Could Talk’s KiKi Layne), awakens after being “killed” on deployment in Afghanistan.  The supporting players are excellent, particularly Ejiofor, smart and driven but ultimately principled and deeply conflicted about what he’s doing, even if he does have the best of intentions, and Melling, the kind of loathsome, reptilian scumbag you just love to hate, but the film REALLY DOES belong to the Old Guard themselves – Schoenaerts is a master brooder, spot-on casting as the group’s relative newcomer, only immortal since the Napoleonic Wars but clearly one seriously old soul who’s already VERY tired of the lifestyle, while Joe and Nicky (who met on opposing sides of the Crusades) are simply ADORABLE, an unapologetically matter-of-fact gay couple who are sweet, sassy and incredibly kind, the absolute emotional heart of the film; it’s the ladies, however, that are most memorable here.  Layne is exceptional, investing Nile with a steely intensity that puts her in good stead as her new existence threatens to overwhelm her and MORE THAN qualified to bust heads alongside her elders … but it’s ancient Greek warrior Andy who steals the film, Theron building on the astounding work she did in Atomic Blonde to prove, once and for all, that there’s no woman on Earth who looks better kicking arse than her (as Booker puts it, “that woman has forgotten more ways to kill than entire armies will ever learn”); in her hands, Andy truly is a goddess of death, tough as tungsten alloy and unflappable even in the face of hell itself, but underneath it all she hides a heart as big as any of her friends’.  They’re an impossibly lovable bunch and you feel you could follow them on another TEN adventures like this one, which is just as well, because Prince-Blythewood and Rucka certainly put them through their paces here – the drama is high (but frequently laced with a gentle, knowing sense of humour, particularly whenever Joe and Nicky are onscreen), as are the stakes, and the frequent action sequences are top-notch, executed with rare skill and bone-crunching zest, but also ALWAYS in service to the story.  Altogether this is an astounding film, a genuine victory for its makers and, it seems, for Netflix themselves – it’s become one of the platform’s biggest hits to date, earning well-deserved critical acclaim and great respect and genuine geek love from the fanbase at large.  After this, a sequel is not only inevitable, it’s ESSENTIAL …

5.  MANK – it’s always nice when David Fincher, one of my TOP FIVE ALL TIME FAVOURITE DIRECTORS, drops a new movie, because it can be GUARANTEED to place good and high in my rundown for that year.  The man is a frickin’ GENIUS, a true master of the craft, genuinely one of the auteur’s auteurs.  I’ve NEVER seen him deliver a bad film – even a misfiring Fincher (see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button or Alien 3) is still capable of creating GREAT CINEMA.  How? Why?  It’s because he genuinely LOVES the art form, it’s been his obsession all his life, and he’s spent every day of it becoming the best possible filmmaker he can be.  Who better to tell the story of the creation of one of the ULTIMATE cinematic masterpieces, then?  Benjamin Ross’ acclaimed biopic RKO 281 covered similar ground, presenting a compelling look into the making Citizen Kane, the timeless masterpiece of Hollywood’s ULTIMATE auteur, Orson Welles, but Fincher’s film is more interested in the original inspiration for the story, how it was written and, most importantly, the man who wrote it – Herman J. Mankiewicz, known to his friends as Mank. One of my favourite actors of all time, Gary Oldman, delivers yet another of his career best performances in the lead role, once a man of vision and incredible storytelling skill whose talents have largely been squandered through professional difficulties and personal vices, a burned out one-time great fallen on hard times whom Welles picks up out of the trash, dusts off and offers a chance to create something truly great again.  The only catch?  The subject of their film (albeit dressed up in the guise of fictional newspaper magnate Charles Foster Kane) is to be real-life publisher, politico and tycoon William Randolph Hurst (Charles Dance), once Mank’s friend and patron before they had a very public and messy falling out which partly led to his current circumstances.  As he toils away in seclusion on what is destined to become his true masterwork, flashbacks reveal to us the fascinating, moving and ultimately tragic tale of his rise and fall from grace in the movie business, set against the backdrop of one of the most tumultuous periods in American history.  Shooting a script that his own journalist and screenwriter father, Jack, crafted and then failed to bring to the screen himself before his death in 2003, Fincher has been working for almost a quarter century to make this film, and all that passion and drive is writ large on the screen – this is a glorious film ABOUT film, the art of it, the creation of it, and all the dirty little secrets of what the industry itself has always really been like, especially in that most glamorous and illusory of times.  The fact that Fincher shot in black and white and intentionally made it look like it was made in the early 1940s (the “golden age of the Silver Screen”, if you will) may seem like a gimmick, but instead it’s a very shrewd choice that expertly captures the gloss and moodiness of the age, almost looking like a contemporary companion piece to Kane itself, and it’s the perfect way to frame all the sharp-witted observation, subtly subversive character development and murky behind-the-scenes machinations that tell the story.  Oldman is in every way the star here, holding the screen with all the consummate skill and flair we’ve come to expect from him, but there’s no denying the uniformly excellent supporting cast are equal to the task here – Dance is at his regal, charismatic best as Hearst, while Amanda Seyfried is icily classy on the surface but mischievous and lovably grounded underneath as Hearst’s mistress, Marion Davies, who formed the basis for Kane’s most controversial character, Arliss Howard (Full Metal Jacket, The Lost World: Jurassic Park, Moneyball) brings nuance and complexity to the role of MGM founder Louis B. Mayer, Tom Pelphrey (Banshee, Ozark) is understated but compelling as Mank’s younger screenwriter brother Joseph, and Lily Collins and Tuppence Middleton exude class and long-suffering stubbornness as the two main women in Mank’s life (his secretary and platonic muse, Rita Alexander, and his wife, Sara), while The Musketeers’ Tom Burke’s periodic but potent appearances as Orson Welles help to drive the story in the “present”.  Another Netflix release which I was (thankfully) able to catch on the big screen during one of the brief lulls between British lockdowns, this was a decidedly meta cinematic experience that perfectly encapsulated not only what is truly required for the creation of a screen epic, but also the latest pinnacle in the career of one of the greatest filmmakers working in the business today, powerful, stirring, intriguing and surprising in equal measure. Certainly it’s one of the most important films ABOUT so far film this century, but is it as good as Citizen Kane?  Boy, that’s a tough one …

4.  ENOLA HOLMES – ultimately, my top film for the autumn/winter movie season was also the film which finally topped my Netflix Original features list, as well as beating all other streaming offerings for the entire year (which is saying something, as you should know by now).  Had things been different, this would have been one of Warner Bros’ BIGGEST releases for the year in the cinema, of that I have no doubt, a surprise sleeper hit which would have taken the world by storm – as it is it’s STILL become a sensation, albeit in a much more mid-pandemic, lockdown home-viewing kind of way.  Before you start crying oh God no, not another Sherlock Holmes adaptation, this is a very different beast from either the Guy Ritchie take or the modernized BBC show, instead side-lining the great literary sleuth in favour of a delicious new AU version, based on The Case of the Missing Marquess, the first novel in the Enola Holmes Mysteries literary series from American YA author Nancy Springer.  Positing that Sherlock Holmes (Henry Cavill) and his elder brother Mycroft (Sam Claflin) had an equally ingenious and precocious baby sister, the film introduces us to Enola (Stranger Things’ Millie Bobby Brown), who’s been raised at home by their strong-willed mother Eudoria (Helena Bonham Carter) to be just as intelligent, well-read and intellectually skilled as her far more advantageously masculine elder siblings.  Then, on the morning of her sixteenth birthday, Enola awakens to find her mother has vanished, putting her in a pretty pickle since this leaves her a ward of Mycroft, a self-absorbed social peacock who finds her to be wilfully free-spirited and completely ill equipped to face the world, concluding that the only solution is sending her to boarding school where she’ll learn to become a proper lady.  Needless to say she’s horrified by the prospect, deciding to run away and search for her mother instead … this is about as perfect a family adventure film as you could wish for, following a vital, capable and compelling teen detective-in-the-making as she embarks on her very first investigation, as well as winding up tangled in a second to boot involving a young runaway noble, Viscount Tewkesbury, the Marquess of Basilwether (Medici’s Louis Partridge), and the film is a breezy, swift-paced and rewardingly entertaining romp that feels like a welcome breath of fresh air for a literary property which, beloved as it may be, has been adapted to death over the years.  Enola Holmes a brilliant young hero who’s perfectly crafted to carry the franchise forward in fresh new directions, and Brown brings her to life with effervescent charm, boisterous energy and mischievous irreverence that are entirely irresistible; Cavill and Claflin, meanwhile, are perfectly cast as the two very different brothers – this Sherlock is much less louche and world-weary than most previous versions, still razor sharp and intellectually restless but with a comfortable ease and a youthful spring in his step that perfectly suits the actor, while Mycroft is as superior and arrogant as ever, a preening arse we derive huge enjoyment watching Enola consistently get the best of; Bonham Carter doesn’t get a lot of screen-time but as we’d expect she does a lot with what she has to make the practical, eccentric and unapologetically modern Eudoria thoroughly memorable, while Partridge is carefree and likeable as the naïve but irresistible Tewkesbury, and there are strong supporting turns from Frances de la Tour as his stately grandmother, the Dowager, Susie Wokoma (Crazyhead, Truth Seekers) as Emily, a feisty suffragette who runs a jujitsu studio, Burn Gorman as dastardly thug-for-hire Linthorn, and Four Lions’ Adeel Akhtar as a particularly scuzzy Inspector Lestrade.  Seasoned TV director Harry Bradbeer (Fleabag, Killing Eve) makes his feature debut with an impressive splash, unfolding the action at a brisk pace while keeping the narrative firmly focused on an intricate mystery plot that throws in plenty of ingenious twists and turns before a suitably atmospheric climax and pleasing denouement which nonetheless artfully sets up more to come in the future, while screenwriter Jack Thorne (His Dark Materials, The Scouting Book for Boys, Wonder) delivers strong character work and liberally peppers the dialogue with a veritable cavalcade of witty zingers.  Boisterous, compelling, amusing, affecting and exciting in equal measure, this is a spirited and appealing slice of cinematic escapism that flatters its viewers and never talks down to them, a perfect little period adventure for a cosy Sunday afternoon.  Obviously there’s plenty of potential for more, and with further books to adapt there’s more than enough material for a pile of sequels – Neflix would be barmy indeed to turn their nose up at this opportunity …

3.  1917 – it’s a rare thing for a film to leave me truly shell-shocked by its sheer awesomeness, for me to walk out of a cinema in a genuine daze, unable to talk or even really think about much of anything for a few hours because I’m simply marvelling at what I’ve just witnessed.  Needless to say, when I do find a film like that (Fight Club, Inception, Mad Max: Fury Road) it usually earns a place very close to my heart indeed.  The latest tour-de-force from Sam Mendes is one of those films – an epic World War I thriller that plays out ENTIRELY in one shot, which doesn’t simply feel like a glorified gimmick or stunt but instead is a genuine MASTERPIECE of film, a mesmerising journey of emotion and imagination in a shockingly real environment that’s impossible to tear your eyes away from.  Sure, Mendes has impressed us before – his first film, American Beauty, is a GREAT movie, one of the most impressive feature debuts of the 2000s, while Skyfall is, in my opinion, quite simply THE BEST BOND FILM EVER MADE – but this is in a whole other league.  It’s an astounding achievement, made all the more impressive when you realise that there’s very little trickery at play here, no clever digital magic (just some augmentation here and there), it’s all real locations and sets, filmed in long, elaborately choreographed takes blended together with clever edits to make it as seamless as possible – it’s not the first film to try to do this (remember Birdman? Bushwick?), but I’ve never seen it done better, or with greater skill. But it’s not just a clever cinematic exercise, there’s a genuine story here, told with guts and urgency, and populated by real flesh and blood characters – the heart of the film is True History of the Kelly Gang’s George MacKay and Dean Chapman (probably best known as Tommen Baratheon in Game of Thrones) as Lance Corporals Will Schofield and Tom Blake, the two young tommies sent out across enemy territory on a desperate mission to stop a British regiment from rushing headlong into a German trap (Tom himself has a personal stake in this because his brother is an officer in the attack).  They’re a likeable pair, very human and relatable throughout, brave and true but never so overtly heroic that they stretch credibility, so when tragedy strikes along the way it’s particularly devastating; both deliver exceptional performances that effortlessly carry us through the film, and they’re given sterling support from a selection of top-drawer British talent, from Sherlock stars Andrew Scott and Benedict Cumberbatch to Mark Strong and Colin Firth, each delivering magnificently in small but potent cameos.  That said, the cinematography and art department are the BIGGEST stars here, masterful veteran DOP Roger Deakins (The Shawshank Redemption, Blade Runner 2049 and pretty much the Coen Brothers’ entire back catalogue among MANY others) making every frame sing with beauty, horror, tension or tragedy as the need arises, and the environments are SO REAL it feels less like production design than that someone simply sent the cast and crew back in time to film in the real Northern France circa 1917 – from a nightmarish trek across No Man’s Land to a desperate chase through a ruined French village lit only by dancing flare-light in the darkness before dawn, every scene is utterly immersive and simply STUNNING.  I don’t think it’s possible for Mendes to make a film better than this, but I sure hope he gives it a go all the same.  Either way, this was the most incredible, exhausting, truly AWESOME experience I had at the cinema all year – it’s a film that DESERVES to be seen on the big screen, and I feel truly sorry for those who missed the chance …

2.  BIRDS OF PREY & THE FANTABULOUS EMANCIPATION OF ONE HARLEY QUINN – the only reason 1917 isn’t at number two is because Warner Bros.’ cinematic DC Extended Universe project FINALLY got round to bringing my favourite DC Comics title to the big screen.  It was been the biggest pleasure of my cinematic year getting to see my top DC superheroines brought to life on the big screen, and it was done in high style, in my opinion THE BEST of the DCEU films to date (yup, I loved it EVEN MORE than the Wonder Woman movies).  It was also great seeing Harley Quinn return after her show-stealing turn in David Ayer’s clunky but ultimately still hugely enjoyable Suicide Squad, better still that they got her SPOT ON this time – this is the Harley I’ve always loved in the comics, unpredictable, irreverent and entirely without regard for what anyone else thinks of her, as well as one talented psychiatrist.  Margot Robbie once more excels in the role she was basically BORN to play, clearly relishing the chance to finally do Harley TRUE justice, and she’s a total riot from start to finish, infectiously lovable no matter what crazy, sometimes downright REPRIHENSIBLE antics she gets up to.  Needless to say she’s the nominal star here, her latest ill-advised adventure driving the story – finally done with the Joker and itching to make her emancipation official, Harley publicly announces their breakup by blowing up Ace Chemicals (their love spot, basically), inadvertently painting a target on her back in the process since she’s no longer under the assumed protection of Gotham’s feared Clown Prince of Crime – but that doesn’t mean she eclipses the other main players the movie’s REALLY supposed to be about.  Each member of the Birds of Prey is beautifully written and brought to vivid, arse-kicking life by what had to be 2020’s most exciting cast – Helena Bertinelli, the Huntress, is the perfect character for Mary Elizabeth Winstead to finally pay off on that action hero potential she showed in Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World, but this is a MUCH more enjoyable role outside of the fight choreography because while Helena may be a world-class dark avenger, socially she’s a total dork, which just makes her thoroughly adorable; Rosie Perez is similarly perfect casting as Renee Montoya, the uncompromising pint-sized Gotham PD detective who kicks against the corrupt system no matter what kind of trouble it gets her into, and just gets angrier all the time, paradoxically making us like her even more; and then there’s the film’s major controversy, at least as far as the fans are concerned, namely one Cassandra Cain.  Sure, this take is VERY different from the comics’ version (a nearly mute master assassin who went on to become the second woman to wear the mask of Batgirl before assuming her own crime-fighting mantle as Black Bat and now Orphan), but personally I like to think this is simply Cass at THE VERY START of her origin story, leaving plenty of time for her to discover her warrior origins when the DCEU finally gets around to introducing her mum, Lady Shiva (personally I want Michelle Yeoh to play her, but that’s just me) – anyways, here she’s a skilled child pickpocket whose latest theft inadvertently sets off the larger central plot, and newcomer Ella Jay Basco brings a fantastic pre-teen irreverence and spiky charm to the role, beautifully playing against Robbie’s mercurial energy.  My favourite here BY FAR, however, is Dinah Lance, aka the Black Canary (not only my favourite Bird of Prey but my very favourite DC superheroine PERIOD), the choice of up-and-comer Jurnee Smollet-Bell (Friday Night Lights, Underground) proving to be the film’s most inspired casting – a club singer with the metahuman ability to emit piercing supersonic screams, she’s also a ferocious martial artist (in the comics she’s one of the very best fighters IN THE WORLD), as well as a wonderfully pure soul you just can’t help loving, and it made me SO UNBELIEVABLY HAPPY that they got my Canary EXACTLY RIGHT.  Altogether they’re a fantastic bunch of badass ladies, basically my perfect superhero team, and the way they’re all brought together (along with Harley, of course) is beautifully thought out and perfectly executed … they’ve also got one hell of a threat to overcome, namely Gotham crime boss Roman Sionis, the Black Mask, one of the Joker’s chief rivals – Ewan McGregor brings his A-game in a frustratingly rare villainous turn (my number one bad guy for the movie year), a monstrously narcissistic, woman-hating control freak with a penchant for peeling off the faces of those who displease him, sharing some exquisitely creepy chemistry with Chris Messina (The Mindy Project) as Sionis’ nihilistic lieutenant Victor Zsasz.  This is about as good as superhero cinema gets, a perfect example of the sheer brilliance you get when you switch up the formula to create something new, an ultra-violent, unapologetically R-rated middle finger to the classic tropes, a fantastic black comedy thrill ride that’s got to be the most full-on feminist blockbuster ever made – it’s helmed by a woman (Dead Pigs director Cathy Yan), written by a woman (Bumblebee’s Christina Hodson), produced by more women and ABOUT a bunch of badass women magnificently triumphing over toxic masculinity in all its forms.  It’s also simply BRILLIANT – the cast are all clearly having a blast, the action sequences are first rate (the spectacular GCPD evidence room fight in which Harley gets to REALLY cut loose is the undisputable highlight), it has a gleefully anarchic sense of humour and is simply BURSTING with phenomenal homages, references and in-jokes for the fans (Bruce the hyena! Stuffed beaver! Roller derby!).  It’s also got a killer soundtrack, populated almost exclusively by numbers from female artists.  Altogether, then, this is the VERY BEST the DCEU has to offer to date, and VERY NEARLY my absolute FAVOURITE film of 2020.  Give it all the love you can, it sure as hell deserves it.

1.  TENET – granted, the streaming platforms (particularly Netflix and Amazon) certainly saved our cinematic summer, but I’m still IMMEASURABLY glad that my ultimate top-spot winner FOR THE WHOLE YEAR was one I got to experience on THE BIG SCREEN. You gotta hand it to Christopher Nolan, he sure hung in there, stubbornly determined that his latest cinematic masterpiece WOULD be released in cinemas in the summer (albeit ultimately landing JUST inside the line in the final week of August and ultimately taking the bite at the box office because of the still shaky atmosphere), and it was worth all the fuss because, for me, this was THE PERFECT MOVIE for me to get return to cinemas with.  I mean, okay, in the end it WASN’T the FIRST new movie I saw after the first reopening, that honour went to Unhinged, but THIS was my first real Saturday night-out big screen EXPERIENCE since March.  Needless to say, Nolan didn’t disappoint this time any more than he has on any of his consistently spectacular previous releases, delivering another twisted, mind-boggling headfuck of a full-blooded experiential sensory overload that comes perilously close to toppling his long-standing auteur-peak, Inception (itself second only by fractions to The Dark Knight as far as I’m concerned). To say much at all about the plot would give away major spoilers – personally I’d recommend just going in as cold as possible, indeed you really should just stop reading this right now and just GO SEE IT.  Still with us?  Okay … the VERY abridged version is that it’s about a secret war being waged between the present and the future by people capable of “inverting” time in substances, objects, people, whatever, into which the Protagonist (BlacKkKlansman’s John David Washington), an unnamed CIA agent, has been dispatched in order to prevent a potential coming apocalypse. Washington is once again on top form, crafting a robust and compelling morally complex heroic lead who’s just as comfortable negotiating the minefields of black market intrigue as he is breaking into places or dispatching heavies, Kenneth Branagh delivers one of his most interesting and memorable performances in years as brutal Russian oligarch Andrei Sator, a genuinely nasty piece of work who was ALMOST the year’s very best screen villain, Elizabeth Debicki (The Night Manager, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Widows) brings strength, poise and wounded integrity to the role of Sator’s estranged wife, Kat, and Aaron Taylor-Johnson gets to use his own accent for once as tough-as-nails British Intelligence officer Ives, while there are brief but consistently notable supporting turns and cameos from Martin Donovan, Yesterday’s Himesh Patel, Dirk Gently’s Fiona Dourif and, of course, Nolan’s good luck charm, Michael Caine.  The cast’s biggest surprise, however, is Robert Pattinson, truly a revelation in what has to be, HANDS DOWN, his best role to date, Neil, the Protagonist’s mysterious handler – he’s by turns cheeky, slick, duplicitous and thoroughly badass, delivering an enjoyably multi-layered, chameleonic performance which proves what I’ve long maintained, that the former Twilight star is actually a fucking amazing actor, and on the basis of this, even if that amazing new teaser trailer wasn’t making the rounds, I think the debate about whether or not he’s the right choice for the new Batman is now academic.  As we’ve come to expect from Nolan, this is a TRUE tour-de-force experience, a visual triumph and an endlessly engrossing head-scratcher, Nolan’s screenplay bringing in seriously big ideas and throwing us some major narrative knots and loopholes, constantly wrong-footing the viewer while also setting up truly revelatory payoffs from seemingly low-key, unimportant beginnings – this is a film you need to be awake and attentive for or you could miss something pretty vital. The action sequences are, as ever, second to none, some of the year’s very best set-pieces coming thick and fast and executed with some of the most accomplished skill in the business, while Nolan-regular cinematographer Hoyte van Hoytema (Interstellar and Dunkirk, as well as the heady likes of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, SPECTRE and Ad Astra) once again shows he’s one of the best camera-wizards in the business today by delivering some absolutely mesmerising visuals.  Notably, Nolan’s other regular collaborator, composer Hans Zimmer, is absent here (although he had good reason, since he was working on his dream project at the time, the fast-approaching screen adaptation of Dune), but Ludwig Göransson (best known for his collaborations with Ryan Coogler Fruitvale Station, Creed and Black Panther, as well as career-best work on The Mandalorian) is a fine replacement, crafting an intriguingly internalised, post-modern musical landscape that thrums and pulses in time with the story and emotions of the characters rather than the action itself. Interestingly it’s on the subject of sound that some of the film’s rare detractions have been levelled, and I can see some of the points – the soundtrack mix is an all-encompassing thing, and there are times when the dialogue can be overwhelmed, but in Nolan’s defence this film is a heady, immersive experience, something you really need to concentrate on, so these potential flaws are easily forgiven.  As a work of filmmaking art, this is another flawless wonder from one of the true masters of the craft working in cinema today, but it’s art with palpable substance, a rewarding whole that proved truly unbeatable in 2020 …

[gorogues]

Spoilers for comics in June!

You can see the solicits in full at Newsarama.

THE FLASH #757 written by JOSHUA WILLIAMSON art by HOWARD PORTER cover by RAFA SANDOVAL and JORDI TARRAGONA variant cover by INHYUK LEE Wonder Woman 1984 variant cover by NICOLA SCOTT “Legion of Zoom” part one! As the Flash’s greatest enemies—Gorilla Grodd, the Turtle, Trickster, and Captain Cold—attack Central City at the same time, the Fastest Man Alive finds he’s not fast enough to stop them all or save everyone in danger! ON SALE 06.10.20 $3.99 US | 32 PAGES FC | DC This issue will ship with three covers. Please see the order form for details.

Interesting to see James in the category of “greatest enemy”.  So what gets them all to attack at the same time?  Did Eobard (or whoever, but based on the title it’s likely him) convince them all to attack, or are they being controlled somehow?

I’m glad Len’s back to his old costume here.

THE FLASH #758 written by JOSHUA WILLIAMSON art and cover by RAFA SANDOVAL and JORDI TARRAGONA variant cover by INHYUK LEE “Legion of Zoom” part two! Central City is reeling from the recent attack, and Barry Allen lies broken and helpless! To uncover his foes’ next target, the Flash must solve a mystery from his past…but before he can, he’s attacked by the corrupted Tornado Twins—his children from the future! ON SALE 06.24.20 $3.99 US | 32 PAGES FC | DC This issue will ship with two covers. Please see the order form for details.

So it’s official: “Legion of Zoom” is a better name than Zoom Corps.

THE FLASH #750 DELUXE EDITION HC written by JOSHUA WILLIAMSON, GEOFF JOHNS, FRANCIS MANAPUL, MARV WOLFMAN, SCOTT LOBDELL, and others art by RAFA SANDOVAL, SCOTT KOLINS, BRETT BOOTH, STEPHEN SEGOVIA, DAVID MARQUEZ, BRYAN HITCH, FRANCIS MANAPUL, RILEY ROSSMO, and others cover by HOWARD PORTER The landmark 750th issue of The Flash is now in a deluxe edition hardcover, with tales by an all-star lineup of writers and artists! As “The Flash Age” begins, a supercharged Speed Force wreaks havoc on Barry Allen’s life. Plus, the epilogue to Flash Forward finds Wally West adjusting to his newfound powers, and much more! ON SALE 07.01.20 $17.99 US | 7.0625” x 10.875” 112 PAGES | FC ISBN: 978-1-77950-507-1

I wonder if the Deluxe Edition will have an new cover.

And these are more Wal-Mart comics (not canon, but fun):

THE FLASH GIANT #5 Cover by CULLY HAMNER Written by GAIL SIMONE Art by CLAYTON HENRY The Flash races against the Reverse Flash in the hopes of freeing the future Central City from Eobard Thawne’s grasp! At every turn, Eobard is right on Barry’s heels. Can the Scarlet Speedster evade the Reverse Flash’s pursuit and save the future? Written by DAVE WIELGOSZ Art by DAVID LAFUENTE It’s Flash Day in Central City, and the parade is in full swing, but one person isn’t thrilled: Barry Allen. Hating the attention, Barry just wants the day to be over, but that might come sooner than expected when Tar Pit shows up! Plus these reprint tales: • “Gorilla Warfare Part Five,” The Flash #17 (2013) • “The Death and Life of Oliver Queen Part Four” from Green Arrow #4 (2016) • “Secrets Part One,” from Blue Beetle #5 (2006) ON SALE 06.10.20 | $4.99 US | FC | 96 PAGES | DC

THE FLASH: UNITED THEY FALL TP written by GAIL SIMONE art and cover by CLAYTON HENRY Barry Allen and Iris West take a vacation, but their relaxation is cut short when their cruise ship is attacked by King Shark! Can the Fastest Man Alive save a sinking ship when there’s no land in sight—or will he be fish food? This and more in stories featuring the Flash taking on his greatest rogues, including Captain Cold, Mirror Master, Heat Wave, Captain Boomerang, and Weather Wizard! Collects stories from The Flash Giant #1-7 (first wave) and The Flash Giant #1-5 (second wave). ON SALE 07.15.20 $17.99 US | 184 PAGES FC | ISBN: 978-1-77950-260-5

[biggoonie]

THE FLASH #750

“THE FLASH AGE” BEGINS! written by JOSHUA WILLIAMSON, GEOFF JOHNS, MICHAEL MORECI, MARV WOLFMAN, FRANCIS MANAPUL, and others art by RAFA SANDOVAL, JORDI TARRAGONA, SCOTT KOLINS, STEPHEN SEGOVIA, DAVID MARQUEZ, BRYAN HITCH, FRANCIS MANAPUL, RILEY ROSSMO, and others cover by HOWARD PORTER 1940s variant cover by NICOLA SCOTT 1950s variant cover by GARY FRANK 1960s variant cover by NICK DERINGTON 1970s variant cover by JOSÉ LUIS GARCÍA-LÓPEZ 1980s variant cover by GABRIELE DELL’OTTO 1990s variant cover by FRANCESCO MATTINA 2000s variant cover by JIM LEE and SCOTT WILLIAMS 2010s variant cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL blank variant cover available Beginning: “The Flash Age”! The story we’ve been building toward since issue #50 comes to a head! While a supercharged Speed Force wreaks havoc on Barry Allen’s life, a new threat appears on the horizon in the form of the deadly Paradox. Destined to destroy the Flash’s legacy, Paradox sends his herald, Godspeed, to trap the Flash family! Plus, in this special anniversary issue: tales from across the generations of super-speedsters by an all-star lineup of writers and artists! PRESTIGE FORMAT ON SALE 02.26.20 $7.99 US | 80 PAGES FC | DC This issue will ship with ten covers. Please see the order form for details.

[dccomicsnews]

Review: THE FLASH #750

  [Editor’s Note: This review may contain spoilers]

Writers: Joshua Williamson, Geoff Johns, Francis Manapul, Brian Buccellato, Marv Wolfman, Scott Lobdell

Artists: Rafa Sandoval, Stephen Segovia, Scott Kolins, Francis Manapul, Riley Rossmo, David Marquez, Brett Booth, Norm Rapmund

Colours: Arif Prianto, Michael Atiyeh, Ivan Plascencia, Alejandro Sanchez, Luis Guerrero

Letters: Steve Wands, Rob Leigh, Joshua Reed, Deron Bennett, ALW’s Troy Peteri

  Reviewed By: Derek McNeil

  Summary

The Flash #750: Beginning: “The Flash Age”! The story we’ve been building toward since issue #50 comes to a head! While a supercharged Speed Force wreaks havoc on Barry Allen’s life, a new threat appears on the horizon in the form of the deadly Paradox. Destined to destroy the Flash’s legacy, Paradox sends his herald, Godspeed, to trap the Flash family! Plus, in this special anniversary issue: tales from across the generations of super-speedsters by an all-star lineup of writers and artists!

  Positives

In honour of the 80th Anniversary of the title, DC has reverted back to legacy numbering. Thus, The Flash #750 hits the stands this week instead of the expected 89th issue of the series. “Legacy numbering” means that if the title kept the same incremental numbering through every relaunch of the title, then the number would have naturally progressed to issue #750 with this very issue.

This covers the tenures of DC’s primary three Flashes, Jay Garrick, Barry Allen, and Wally West, and appropriately, all three are well represented in the six stories included. As the current star of the title, Barry merits three stories, while Jay and Wally each get a single, yet important story each.

This first, and main, story is the first chapter of regular series writer Josh Williamson’s “The Flash Age”. I really liked this story, as it mostly gives a break and allows us to catch up with the current status of Barry’s world and the people in it, before pushing into the next big conflict. This makes the story a nice jumping-on point for new readers as well as providing a neat wrap up of the previous story arc.

Most importantly, it shows that Barry and Iris are back together and that their relationship is as strong as ever. In fact, things seemed to be going so well, that when Iris said, “I have something to talk to you about. A surprise”, I was expecting that she might propose to Barry.

Positives Cont.

Unfortunately, this is where the impending conflict cut into the story. Godspeed interrupts this moment, taking Barry to face Paradox. Paradox then gives Barry a choice between giving up being the Flash or fighting for his life against Godspeed. This is where the story leaves off, giving us a rather effective cliffhanger to bring readers back for the rest of “The Flash Age”.

I also love that this story includes several instances of Central City’s citizens showing their gratitude to the Flash for saving their lives or helping them in other ways. It’s a nice touch for an anniversary story. Plus, it provides a nice counterpoint to Paradox’s claims that Barry has been endangering everybody by the effect his powers have had on reality itself. Hopefully, this will help Barry realize that the good he has done outweighs any damage he has caused.

In the second story, Geoff Johns bring us an interesting little tale featuring Captain Cold, set during Wally’s tenure as the DCU’s primary Flash. In this story, we see that what Wally assumes that Cold goes on a rampage for the sole purpose of infuriating Wally.

However, the story shows us that the “rampage” came about unintentionally. Cold merely stumbled into the midst of an armed robbery when shopping at his local corner store. Through a series of misunderstandings, he finds himself in the middle of a confrontation with the Keystone City Police. While this doesn’t excuse Cold for his crimes, this does show how easy it is for events to quickly get out of control for a villain in the DCU.

Positives Cont.

The next story, by Francis Manapul and Brian Buccellato features Barry examining the question of whether the Flash has to be Barry Allen. He does this by using a previously unseen power to send his consciousness through other timelines where somebody else became the Flash instead of him. In each timeline, he finds that someone admirably fills the role of the Flash. He arrives at the moral of the  “Even if it doesn’t have to be me… I”m glad that it is”

However, I have to wonder why the examples of Wally and Jay aren’t enough evidence that that someone else could serve as the Flash other than Barry. I would have thought either would be proof enough to settle the question.

Marv Wolfman, the man wrote the story of Barry’s death in Crisis On Infinite Earths, returns to the character to tell of an interesting encounter between Barry and the Mirror Master. The interesting conceit of this story is that the Mirror Master’s mirrors in the story enact various transformations upon the Flash’s body. These transformations allow artist Riley Rossmo to revisit some of the bizarre transformations over the years, such as the time Abra-Kadabra turned Barry into a walking wooden puppet.

Next, regular writer Joshua Williamson gives us a story of Jay Garrick, set in the title’s inaugural year, 1940. The story centres around an encounter between Jay and the Thinker. However, the most intriguing bit of the story is when a mysterious figure, presumably the Reverse Flash, whispers in Jay’s ear, “They’ll forget you Jay Garrick. I’ve seen your future…”.

Positives Cont.

This seems to be setting up a future storyline involving Jay and the Reverse Flash, which is further borne out by the blurb at the story’s end. This blurb promises, “To be continued in The Flash in 2020″. Unfortunately, this seems to imply that we won’t see the followup immediately, but it is coming relatively shortly.

Also, I noticed that the image on that page also shows Wally and Bart. I hope this means that we will be seeing a full reunion of the Flash Family when this story continues.

Finally, the entire creative team for the Flash Forward miniseries returns to provide an epilogue to that miniseries. Writer Scott Lobdell  continues where that story left off, creating a bridge between it and the upcoming Generation Zero: Gods Among Us and subsequent Generation One to Five specials.

While little is known about this upcoming event, it has been speculated that it will involve a major shift in DCU continuity. That speculation seems to be borne out in this story, where Wally, now wielding the power and knowledge of the Mobius Chair, exams the current state of the DC Universe’s continuity.

It has been my theory for a while now that the time itself is unravelling in the DC Universe, and this story confirms that. Wally looks through his own personal timeline and sees that multiple contradictory events seem to concurrently exist in the current continuity. The original Silver Age origin of the Teen Titans happened as Wally remembers it, but the New 52 Teen Titans also exist as the first group to call themselves by that name.

#gallery-0-4 { margin: auto; } #gallery-0-4 .gallery-item { float: left; margin-top: 10px; text-align: center; width: 33%; } #gallery-0-4 img { border: 2px solid #cfcfcf; } #gallery-0-4 .gallery-caption { margin-left: 0; } /* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes/media.php */

The Flash #750 1940s Cover

The Flash #750 1950s Cover

The Flash #750 1960s Cover

The Flash #750 1970s Cover

The Flash #750 1980s Cover

The Flash #750 1990s Cover

The Flash #750 2000s Cover

The Flash #750 2010s Cover

Positives Cont.

I must also interject that it’s great to see that Wally remembers the original Teen Titans costumes, and not the New 52/Rebirth re-imagined versions of the original outfit – even down to Robin’s short pants.

Wally confronts Tempus Fuginaut about the state of the DCU, stating, “Everything. Time. Space. Reality. It’s all broken. It all risks collapse”. And if there is any doubt about the severity of the situation in the reader’s mind, the story itself drop many significant keywords that indicate big reality-changing events in DC history: “Crisis”, “Flashpoint”, “Doomsday”, “Rebirth”, and others.

Truly, the DCU is reaching an important turning point. But there we are given ample reason not to dread this. When Fuginaut asks if Wally is up to the task of repairing this damage, Wally West, the DCU’s symbol of hope and rebirth replies, “My name is Wally West. I’m the Fastest Man Alive. I sit on the Mobius Chair. The power of a God races through me. So yeah. I got this”.

This speech gave me chills and reassures me that whatever the Generation special lead to, it bodes well for the future of the DCU.

Besides the amazing lineup of artists in each of the stories, there are also fine selection of pinups, as well as the multitude of gorgeous variant covers. I love the look of the decade covers. Especially, with the care taken to match the title logo and DC symbol for each time period. DC does pull out the stops to make sure these anniversary events look truly amazing.

    Negatives

However, there is a nasty side to all these variant covers. This is a book with a $7.99 cover price. But with ten different covers (including the blank cover), that’s almost 80 bucks. Now I didn’t mind this when Action Comics and Detective Comics reached issue #1000. That’s a once in a lifetime milestone. Now DC is doing the same for Wonder Woman and The Flash reaching #750, which is a bit much, but okay. But DC has announced similar 80th Anniversary events for Robin, Catwoman, The Joker, and Green Lantern. That’s one or two of these expensive specials a month. Such a cash grab is excusable when it is once in a blue moon, but DC is venturing into the realm of highway robbery. Please, DC! Have mercy on my bank account!

  Verdict

  Review: The Flash #750 Review: THE FLASH #750 Writers: Joshua Williamson, Geoff Johns, Francis Manapul, Brian Buccellato…

[scienceninjaturtle]

THE FLASH #750

“THE FLASH AGE” BEGINS!

written by JOSHUA WILLIAMSON, GEOFF JOHNS, MICHAEL MORECI, MARV WOLFMAN, FRANCIS MANAPUL, and others

art by RAFA SANDOVAL, JORDI TARRAGONA, SCOTT KOLINS, STEPHEN SEGOVIA, DAVID MARQUEZ, BRYAN HITCH, FRANCIS MANAPUL, RILEY ROSSMO, and others

cover by HOWARD PORTER

1940s variant cover by NICOLA SCOTT

1950s variant cover by GARY FRANK

1960s variant cover by NICK DERINGTON

1970s variant cover by JOSÉ LUIS GARCÍA-LÓPEZ

1980s variant cover by GABRIELE DELL’OTTO

1990s variant cover by FRANCESCO MATTINA

2000s variant cover by JIM LEE and SCOTT WILLIAMS

2010s variant cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL

blank variant cover available

Beginning: “The Flash Age”! The story we’ve been building toward since issue #50 comes to a head! While a supercharged Speed Force wreaks havoc on Barry Allen’s life, a new threat appears on the horizon in the form of the deadly Paradox. Destined to destroy the Flash’s legacy, Paradox sends his herald, Godspeed, to trap the Flash family! Plus, in this special anniversary issue: tales from across the generations of super-speedsters by an all-star lineup of writers and artists!

PRESTIGE FORMAT

ON SALE 02.26.20

$7.99 US | 80 PAGES

FC | DC

[graphicpolicy]

Preview: The Flash #750

The Flash #750 preview. While a supercharged Speed Force wreaks havoc on Barry Allen's life, a new threat appears on the horizon in the form of the deadly Paradox. #comics #comicbooks

The Flash #750

Francis Manapul, Geoff Johns, Michael Moreci, Marv Wolfman, Various Others, Joshua Williamson (A) Rafa Sandoval, Jordi Tarragona, Scott Kolins, Stephen Segovia, David Marquez, Bryan Hitch, Francis Manapul, Riley Rossmo, Various Others (CA) Howard Porter In Shops: Mar 04, 2020 SRP: $7.99

Beginning: “The Flash Age”! The story we’ve been building toward since issue #50 comes to a…

[geekcavepodcast]

The Flash to Celebrate 750 Issues in February 2020

On February 26, 2020, DC will celebrate The Flash’s 750th issue with an 80-page prestige format book with a cover by Howard Porter. 

The Flash #750 will include works from writers Josh Williamson, Geoff Johns, Marv Wolfman, Francis Manapul, Rafa Sandoval, Jordi Tarragona, Stephen Segovia, David Marquez, Bryan Hitch, Riley Rossmo, Scott Kolins and Michael Moreci as well as a host of artists. Variant covers for each decade of The Flash include a 1940s variant by Nicola Scott, a 1950s variant by Gary Frank, a 1960s variant by Nick Derington, a 1970s variant by José Luis García-López, a 1980s variant by Gabriele Dell’Otto, a 1990s variant by Francesco Mattina, a 2000s variant by Jim Lee and Scott Williams, and a 2010s variant by Francis Manapul.

Writer Josh Williamson and artists Rafa Sandoval and Jordi Tarragona will also debut a new story arc “The Flash Age” in The Flash #750. The Speed Force is supercharged and Barry Allen’s life is being torn apart when a new threat appears...Paradox. “Destined to destroy the Flash’s legacy, Paradox sends his herald, Godspeed, to trap the Flash family!” (DC Comics)

(Image via DC Comics)

[jellypandah]

Haven’t been on in awhile :’) Did an expression meme on the AH amino using this template by Rosswelm, and I’m still taking requests! (also,,, I’m still working on the supercharged au! I’ve got this one ask that’s been sitting in my inbox for a long time, and I feel really bad, but I wanted to draw a mini comic for it, hence why it’s taking so long uwu)

[metalsongoftheday]

Monday, April 30: Agent Steel, “Back to Reign”

Although it was released by Combat Records in 1985, Skeptics Apocalypse was only tangentially a thrash album, actually sounding more like a supercharged version of very early Queensrÿche.  But if anything, a faster, heavier and more intense take on “Queen of the Reich” was an enticing proposition, both then and now, and Agent Steel certainly delivered on that with Skeptics Apocalypse and the rest of their ‘80s discography.  “Back to Reign” closed the record and put a capper on a supra-metallic debut that became a minor ‘80s metal classic.  John Cyriis wailed like a hungrier and more frenzied Geoff Tate, quickly ascending the ranks among great underground metal vocalists, while Juan Garcia and Kurt Colfelt riffed and shredded in prime Smith/Murray (or DeGarmo/Wilton, if we want to stick with the Queensrÿche references) fashion.  But as was the case with a lot of great mid ‘80s metal, drums were a big part of the story, and Chuck Profus was a monster.  “Back to Reign” was one of those great barnburners that was so metal, it was almost laughable: the tune screeched, hollered, slammed and pounded with unrelenting force and an overpowering will to destroy, and it was those very qualities that made Agent Steel one of those almost-weres that curious metalheads still rediscover every so often.

[suzanneshannon]

Using Jetpack to Accelerate WordPress Development

(This is a sponsored post.)

[Geoff:] I've built a fair number of WordPress sites in my day. It's been my go-to since the 2.x-ish days because it works for any site, big or small. That's the sort of solution and flexibility you like to have as a freelancer.

Boy, I wish I had Jetpack available in those early days.

Like WordPress itself, Jetpack is a good solution for many, many of the types of things clients are looking for from a WordPress site. I used to spend hours researching the right plugin for a specific feature, whether that was for comment filtering, asset caching, beefier search functionality, creating custom post types on the fly... you name it. All of that — and a heckuva lot more — is included in Jetpack right out of the box.

Here's what I'm talking about. A friend of mine runs a pop-up gallery here locally. She displays paintings, photographs, sculptures... basically anything super artsy from super talented locals. That includes events, socials, performances and screenings. The wild thing is that it "pops" up in different spots, based on what she's showing and what public space is available. So, you get how a website would be helpful for visitors to keep tabs on what's coming up and where things are going to take place, not to mention getting a recap on past events.

We've all made sites for friends, right? It's the kind of thing you do for free on the side. That makes it something you want to do well, but not necessarily spend a ton of time making. That's where Jetpack really helped me out in this case.

If Jetpack is new to you, it's a WordPress plugin that, as part of what it does, is bring features from WordPress.com and makes them available on your self-hosted WordPress sites.

For example, my friend really needed to showcase work. This is less of a content site and more of a visual experience, so media plays a big role. Photos, video, audio. You get it. Good thing Jetpack has a "Portfolio" custom post type at the ready.

That's a perfect start for showing things off, but my friend also needed a carousel to allow visitors to browse photos from events and artist works. This would've been something I probably would have turned to the WordPress plugin directory for in the past, or perhaps some (back then) jQuery plugin, but thankfully Jetpack had my back there, too.

While we're on the topic of media, we know that heavy image files are a recipe for slow sites. There's a ton of WordPress plugins that can help with caching, gzipping, and even lazy loading, but all that's already in Jetpack. Why go reinvent the wheel, especially on what's supposed to be a pretty quick build?

I think you catch my drift. The fact is that Jetpack is an effective way to supercharge a self-hosted WordPress site, connecting it to many of the same powerful services that you'd otherwise need to go to WordPress.com — or gobs of third-party plugins — to get. Plus, it's built by Automattic, so you know it integrates seamlessly with WordPress. No better confidence than going with something the primary maintainers of WordPress are willing to slap their name on!

Sure, we've only looked at a very simple example of how powerful Jetpack is for a small site. But don't be fooled: Jetpack is capable of handling the needs of large-scale sites as well. In fact, we love Jetpack here at CSS-Tricks because it powers so much of what you see on the site, from social sign-in and automated sharing, to downtime monitoring and site search. It's robust, dependable, and just gosh darn delightful to use.

And, hey, there's a free tier you can start using right away and it includes a generous number of features that help with security, performance, analytics, and theming... and it only goes up from there. 🚀

Get Jetpack

Direct Link to Article — Permalink

The post Using Jetpack to Accelerate WordPress Development appeared first on CSS-Tricks.

Using Jetpack to Accelerate WordPress Development published first on https://deskbysnafu.tumblr.com/

[siliconwebx]

Using Jetpack to Accelerate WordPress Development

(This is a sponsored post.)

[Geoff:] I've built a fair number of WordPress sites in my day. It's been my go-to since the 2.x-ish days because it works for any site, big or small. That's the sort of solution and flexibility you like to have as a freelancer.

Boy, I wish I had Jetpack available in those early days.

Like WordPress itself, Jetpack is a good solution for many, many of the types of things clients are looking for from a WordPress site. I used to spend hours researching the right plugin for a specific feature, whether that was for comment filtering, asset caching, beefier search functionality, creating custom post types on the fly... you name it. All of that — and a heckuva lot more — is included in Jetpack right out of the box.

Here's what I'm talking about. A friend of mine runs a pop-up gallery here locally. She displays paintings, photographs, sculptures... basically anything super artsy from super talented locals. That includes events, socials, performances and screenings. The wild thing is that it "pops" up in different spots, based on what she's showing and what public space is available. So, you get how a website would be helpful for visitors to keep tabs on what's coming up and where things are going to take place, not to mention getting a recap on past events.

We've all made sites for friends, right? It's the kind of thing you do for free on the side. That makes it something you want to do well, but not necessarily spend a ton of time making. That's where Jetpack really helped me out in this case.

If Jetpack is new to you, it's a WordPress plugin that, as part of what it does, is bring features from WordPress.com and makes them available on your self-hosted WordPress sites.

For example, my friend really needed to showcase work. This is less of a content site and more of a visual experience, so media plays a big role. Photos, video, audio. You get it. Good thing Jetpack has a "Portfolio" custom post type at the ready.

That's a perfect start for showing things off, but my friend also needed a carousel to allow visitors to browse photos from events and artist works. This would've been something I probably would have turned to the WordPress plugin directory for in the past, or perhaps some (back then) jQuery plugin, but thankfully Jetpack had my back there, too.

While we're on the topic of media, we know that heavy image files are a recipe for slow sites. There's a ton of WordPress plugins that can help with caching, gzipping, and even lazy loading, but all that's already in Jetpack. Why go reinvent the wheel, especially on what's supposed to be a pretty quick build?

I think you catch my drift. The fact is that Jetpack is an effective way to supercharge a self-hosted WordPress site, connecting it to many of the same powerful services that you'd otherwise need to go to WordPress.com — or gobs of third-party plugins — to get. Plus, it's built by Automattic, so you know it integrates seamlessly with WordPress. No better confidence than going with something the primary maintainers of WordPress are willing to slap their name on!

Sure, we've only looked at a very simple example of how powerful Jetpack is for a small site. But don't be fooled: Jetpack is capable of handling the needs of large-scale sites as well. In fact, we love Jetpack here at CSS-Tricks because it powers so much of what you see on the site, from social sign-in and automated sharing, to downtime monitoring and site search. It's robust, dependable, and just gosh darn delightful to use.

And, hey, there's a free tier you can start using right away and it includes a generous number of features that help with security, performance, analytics, and theming... and it only goes up from there. 🚀

Get Jetpack

Direct Link to Article — Permalink

The post Using Jetpack to Accelerate WordPress Development appeared first on CSS-Tricks.

😉SiliconWebX | 🌐CSS-Tricks

[gorogues]

Spoilers for February 2020 comics!

These are some of the solicitations from that month, which you can see in full here.

DC CRIMES OF PASSION #1 written by James Tynion IV, Steve Orlando, SINA GRACE, Jay Baruchel, Stephanie Phillips, and others art by Greg Smallwood, Riley Rossmo, AndiE Tong, Mike Norton, Anthony Spay, and others cover by YASMINE PUTRI Passion. Betrayal. Murder. When you’re a private investigator, these are things you experience daily. But when you add capes to the mix—like Batman, Catwoman, and Harley Quinn? Things get even messier. The name’s Slam Bradley, and I’m telling you that this year’s Valentine’s Day special has more intrigue than you can shake a stick at. Ten tales of love—the kind of love that can push people over the edge. Don’t miss it...or I’ll make you pay. ONE-SHOT PRESTIGE FORMAT ON SALE 02.05.20 $9.99 US | 80 PAGES FC | DC

Apparently there will be a Piper story in this special by James Tynion IV!

SUPERMAN: VILLAINS #1 written by BRIAN MICHAEL BENDIS, MATT FRACTION, GREG RUCKA, and JODY HOUSER art by BRYAN HITCH, STEVE LIEBER, MIKE PERKINS, and EDUARDO PANSICA cover by BRYAN HITCH The Man of Steel’s greatest villains react to the biggest news to ever rock the DC Universe. Lex Luthor, Mongul, Toyman, The Joker, and more of the world’s greatest villains must come to grips with how the world changes now that the truth has been revealed by Superman. Some of comics’ most unique and creative voices unite to tell a story that changes all the rules. ONE SHOT ON SALE 02.12.20 $5.99 US | 48 PAGES FC | DC

Featuring more Smugobard.  It’s not clear if he’s alive again or just happens to be on the cover to represent classic Flash villains.

DCEASED: UNKILLABLES #1 written by Tom Taylor art by Karl Mostert and Trevor Scott cover by Howard Porter card stock variant cover by Francesco Mattina The blockbuster DC series returns to answer this question: What did the villains do when the heroes failed and the world ended? Spinning out of the dramatic events of 2019’s smash hit, writer Tom Taylor returns to this dark world with a street-level tale of death, heroism and redemption. Led by Red Hood and Deathstroke, DC’s hardest villains and antiheroes fight with no mercy to save the only commodity left on a dying planet of the undead—life! 3 ISSUES: ON SALE FEBRUARY – APRIL 2020 $4.99 US (CARD STOCK VARIANT COVERS $5.99) 48 PAGES EACH

DCeased stuff isn’t in continuity, obviously, but this could be interesting.

The next solicit is for the Flash’s big anniversary, and I’m sure at least one of those variant covers will have some Rogues.  Definitely can’t wait to see what the artists come up with for each decade!

THE FLASH #750 “THE FLASH AGE” BEGINS! written by JOSHUA WILLIAMSON, GEOFF JOHNS, MICHAEL MORECI, MARV WOLFMAN, FRANCIS MANAPUL, and others art by RAFA SANDOVAL, JORDI TARRAGONA, SCOTT KOLINS, STEPHEN SEGOVIA, DAVID MARQUEZ, BRYAN HITCH, FRANCIS MANAPUL, RILEY ROSSMO, and others cover by HOWARD PORTER 1940s variant cover by NICOLA SCOTT 1950s variant cover by GARY FRANK 1960s variant cover by NICK DERINGTON 1970s variant cover by JOSÉ LUIS GARCÍA-LÓPEZ 1980s variant cover by GABRIELE DELL’OTTO 1990s variant cover by FRANCESCO MATTINA 2000s variant cover by JIM LEE and SCOTT WILLIAMS 2010s variant cover by FRANCIS MANAPUL blank variant cover available Beginning: “The Flash Age”! The story we’ve been building toward since issue #50 comes to a head! While a supercharged Speed Force wreaks havoc on Barry Allen’s life, a new threat appears on the horizon in the form of the deadly Paradox. Destined to destroy the Flash’s legacy, Paradox sends his herald, Godspeed, to trap the Flash family! Plus, in this special anniversary issue: tales from across the generations of super-speedsters by an all-star lineup of writers and artists! PRESTIGE FORMAT ON SALE 02.26.20 $7.99 US | 80 PAGES FC | DC