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RVA Comics X-Change: Issue 37

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Happiest of Tuesdays, comic fans! Welcome back to your bi-weekly stop for comics and pop culture news in the River City. Every issue we talk to industry experts and Richmond creatives who love comics and dig deep to find their recommendations on the next big read, with a little bit of news so we eat our vegetables, too. 

This week in news we enjoy a mini Post-Oscars theme as some of the best in comics from 2019 went for the gold Sunday night. Plus, Sam Raimi makes his big return to Marvel-Land, and Scarlet Witch and Vision take us down sitcom memory lane in the trailer for WandaVision. However, before we dive in, we have some new recommendations to investigate.

Art by Gianna Meola, via portfolios.sva.edu/giannameola

This week our recommendations come from indie artist Gianna Meola. Based in Brooklyn, Meola has been reading comics since she was young, but didn’t start drawing them until college when she was an illustration major. Professionally she focuses on young adult and children’s comics, but personally enjoys reading anything horror-focused. It’s good to stay balanced.

She makes her own self-published zines and comics, but this year she will be releasing a book with Graphic Universe. Without a doubt that will be on all of our future recommendation lists once it drops.

All Over Coffee, by Paul Madonna

“All Over Coffee is a collection of Paul Madonna’s comics from the San Francisco Chronicle,” said Meola. “They’re great, they blend sketches and comics/observations in a beautiful way.”

Mexican Horror Story, by Simone Rein

“Simone’s work is funny, and touching and beautiful,” said Meola.

Gleem, by Freddy Carrasco

“Incredible and inspirational ink work– a really great and interesting read,” said Meola.  

Nobody Like You + Unsolved Cases, by Carmen Pizarro

“Carmen’s work has incredible personality and is ridiculously cool,” said Meola.

Tekkon Kinkreet, by Taiyo Matsumoto

“Everyone knows this one but it’s one of my all time favorite comics,” said Meola. “The pacing and style are amazing.” 

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The Oscars have long been the Super Bowl of the film industry, and with a groundbreaking four wins that included Best Picture, Parasite made the ceremony a night to remember in its 92-year history as it became the first non-English language film to take home the highest honor.

While Parasite did its thing on stage, comic book fandoms celebrated in the corner as they quietly infiltrated the ceremony. Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker saw two nominations for best score, visual effects, and sound editing, and trailing behind was Avengers: Endgame best visual effects. 

However, Joker swept them both not only by receiving eleven nominations but bringing home awards for best musical score and best actor for Joaquin Phoenix, who gave a powerful acceptance speech. It’s almost like comic films hold merit and are seen as actual art forms after all. 

Oh, Spider fans, have you missed Sam Raimi? Niche horror fans in the Marvel universe are getting their forbidden wish in the form of Evil Dead/Army Of Darkness director Sam Raimi returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Raimi has been officially hired as the new director of the awaited Doctor Strange sequel, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. 

The Marvel universe hasn’t seen Raimi since his direction of the original Spider-Man film trilogy, then still owned by Sony Pictures, between 2002 and 2007. While the overall plot of the Strange sequel still has not been released, what is known so far is that it will be Marvel’s first dip into the water of horror. Who better to guide us on this new journey that the man who brought us Ash Williams of the legendary Evil Dead franchise?

Marvel also finally dropped the trailer for the heavily anticipated WandaVision series trailer during the Superbowl last week. While the 40-second trailer does not reveal much, it still gives us something to work with until a longer trailer is released.

Scarlet Witch Wanda Maximoff and android Avenger Vision, together at last, appear to be traveling through various eras of time, represented by homages to various sitcoms of times gone by.  There is a clear I Love Lucy reference in the beginning all the way down to what appears to be the typical 90s sitcom, which leaves the door open to a Full House bit. Between the shot of Wanda and Vision standing over two cradles (take note, Young Avengers fans), and the fact that Scarlet Witch actress Elizabeth Olsen is the sister of the famous Olsen Twins of Full House fame, it’s an easy door to walk through. There is even a reference to Wanda’s classic Scarlet Witch costume from the comics.

While a specific release date is still unknown, we do know that it will drop this year on Disney+’s streaming service. Personally, I’m just glad that Wanda just might finally get the happy ending she so deserves.

That wraps it up for us this week, comic fans. What kooky shenanigans and sitcoms should Wanda and Vision get into this year? 

Until next time.

RVA Comics X-Change: Issue 32

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Happiest of holidays, comic fans! Welcome back to your favorite bi-weekly comics exchange, where we talk about everything up-and-coming and buzzworthy in the land of comics and pop culture. As the sunsets get progressively earlier with the closing of the year, we’re the bat signal you need to keep you company in the land of nerdery.

This week, as we play catch up from the first break of the holiday season, we have some news to keep you up to date in movieland, and some recommendations to keep you company as you hide from your family in the bathroom during that obligatory Christmas party. Will Robert Pattinson be your new favorite Batman? How many Disney Princess comics does one adult woman need?

Grab your peppermint hot chocolate and that leftover sweet potato pie and get cozy, comic fans. We’re going to dive in and find out. 

Robert Pattinson
Robert Pattinson in Dior Homme Fall 2017 Menswear Collection. Photo by Maximilian Bühn, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia

Robert Pattinson is unfairly stuck with a pretty bad rap, when you think about it. Granted he chose to star in, and stay in, the Twilight franchise, but when you separate the actor from the awful writing, he’s actually pretty talented. However, after some recent comments regarding the iconic Batman, he just might be pushing the wedge further down, deeply dividing fans on his casting as the DC superhero.

“Batman’s not a superhero,” Pattinson told Today. “It doesn’t count. You need to have, like, magical powers to be a superhero.”

If we’re honest, I don’t disagree with him. Furthermore, I have always been in the camp of folks who see iconic richboy Bruce Wayne as the worst. He’s a bored rich kid with access to military grade weapons.

However, fans have already spoken loudly all over the internet about their both disdain for and confusion over Pattison’s casting. This will surely only continue to add to the fire in Wayne Manor.

Buckle up and grab your proton packs, fellow Ghostbusters. We just may finally have a title for the upcoming film.

The upcoming sequel directed by Jason Reitman has long been coded in production under the working title Ghostbusters 2020. However, according the the British Board of Film Classification (the British film ratings system), the title has been leaked as Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Other bits of information that we have thanks to this leak are that the trailer will be two minutes and twenty-eight seconds, and the release date will be October 7th, 2020.

Whether that release date is worldwide or for the UK specifically has yet to be seen. The sequel is set to take place decades after Ghostbusters II and follow the story of two ghostbusters walking through the legacy of the originals. OG Ghostbusters Bill Murray, Ernie Hudson, and Dan Akroyd are set to return, along with new additions to the franchise – Finn Wolfhard of Stranger Things fame, and Paul Rudd, noted immortal actor. 

Have you been in desperate need for some femme fronted comics in your life? Same here, and I have just the ones to sooth your stuffed soul.

Ghosted in LA #6, by Siobhan Keenan and Sina Grace

Dating is already difficult without your ex being thrown into the mix. Now take your ex and have them have a crush on your roommate – who happens to be a ghost. Of course. Daphne has just the answer to questions like this, or at least she is about to. 

Folklords #1, by Matt Smith and Matt Kindt

We daydream about Lord of the Rings and Doctor Who, but what if you lived in a world where your fantasies involved dreaming about the mundane world and capitalism?Ansel has this problem, and needs to find the Folklords to help explain his visions. The only problem? Seeking the Folklords is punishable by death. Awkward. 

Buffy the Vampire Slayer #10, by David Lopez, Jordie Bellaire, and Marc Aspinall

Ever since the television series ended sixteen years ago, it has been thriving in its comic-based third life (no, not second life — remember the original 1992 film the series is based on?) This week Buffy is in Hell, leading a new Slayer to answer the call – but who? Find out this week in the Buffyverse. 

Disney’s The Little Mermaid #2, by Cecil Casellucci

If you are looking for something new from this three-part series, I hate to break it to you, but this is not it. This series is mostly just a retelling of the popular animated film. However, what truly makes this series worth recommending is the artwork. The art remains true to the original Disney style, but with a beautiful Dark Horse bend. With Disney+’s release, what’s one more skip down memory lane? 

That will do it for us this week, comic book fans! As we wake up from our turkey coma, what have been your go-to comics this season? 

Until next time!

RVA Comics X-Change: Issue 17

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Happiest of Tuesdays, RVA comic fans! Welcome back to yet another week of comics, news, and pop culture in a one-stop shop that we call the RVA Mag Comics X-Change. April has been a pretty busy month, between various Marvel casting news (Stranger Things’ David Harbour is going to join the forthcoming Black Widow film? What?!), everyone and their brother’s mother gearing up for Marvel’s Wrestlemania at Caesar’s Palace known as Avengers: Endgame, and Hellboy starring Harbour finally released to…. Well, interesting reviews.

Yeah. Let’s go with interesting. Sure.

This week I reached out to local Richmond based musician and improvisor Josh Wright. When Josh isn’t busy bouncing around town making up comedy or playing some sweet indie tunes to listen to in the background while I read the latest issue of Snotgirl, he is a pretty big comics mega-fan. I knew if anyone was going to have some need-to-know picks for this week, he’d have us handled.

Oh, and after Josh’s picks, I am going to make an argument for Hellboy. Well, I’m going to try, at least.

Anyway, on with the comics!

Heartthrob by Christopher Sebela, Robert Wilson IV, and Nick Filardi

“I’ve really enjoyed [Sebela’s] work on Dead Letters [featuring art by Richmond local Chris Visions], and Crowded,” said Wright. “If you like crime/heists, romance, and meeting your own heart transplant donor, then this book is for you. Christopher Sebela always brings interesting concepts to his books, but never forgets to make his characters interesting and relatable.”

Black Hammer by Jeff Lemire and Dean Omstron

“If you love superhero books and are looking for something outside of the ‘big two,’ you should check this out,” said Wright. “Lemire and Omstron are able to craft a story that feels familiar, but covers a lot of new ground, while harking back to classic archetypes.”

Daredevil by Chip Zdarsky, Marco Checchetto, and Sunny Gho

“There are only three issues out right now [of the current run] and I feel like it’s easy for new readers to jump in,” said Wright. “Chip Zdarsky’s love for the character really shows throughout the book. I’m not reading that many Marvel books, but this is one I had to add to my pull list.”

Monstress by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda

“Monstress is an amazing book that I’m sure not enough people are reading,” said Wright. “If you are a fan of fantasy books with a dark edge, then you will love this book. The art is beautiful and the world building is amazing. Get ready for lots of magic, demons and revenge! There are currently three volumes, and you can pick up the first volume for only $9.99.”

Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles by Mark Russell and Mike Feehan

“Exit Stage Left imagines Snagglepuss as a gay southern playwright during the age of McCarthyism,” said Wright. “This story hit me hard and is a great exploration of what it was like to be a gay person (cougar?) in the entertainment industry during the 1950s.”

One day when I’m retired and living on a yacht and drinking iced vanilla lattes from a copper mug, I am going to write a book called So Here’s the Issue with Hellboy. If you paid any attention to numbers and reviews over the weekend, then you probably noticed that the latest installment in the Hellboy franchise followed the established pattern of having not-so-hot critical reviews. Unfortunately, not all of these bad reviews were necessarily even just critics “not getting it,” as often happens with third party or indie comic titles when they are translated to film or other media.

A solid 15% rating on Rotten Tomatoes is not even remotely just a case of critics chiming in. Oi.

Now, before I defend it, I want to start off by saying that this is by no means my favorite film that I have ever seen in my life. At the same time, I do think that, for what it is, it is getting an excessive amount of flack. Exactly two things got me and kept my interest in this film: aesthetics, and character development.

This film heavily focuses on its characters and trying to develop them, almost to its detriment. Even though I know the story of Hellboy and his origins inside and out by now (and who doesn’t love a good blowin’-up-some-Nazis plot line?), I was still intrigued by the way director Neil Marshall chose to go about it, focusing so much on both introducing us to Hellboy and the people in his life, and trying to dig deep into the entire mythology of the Hellboy universe.

The only downside was that it felt like Marshall got too deep into playing with the characters. It seems that, by the time he realized that he should maybe focus on story arcs and keep the film a little more on pace, we were already an hour and fifteen minutes into a two-hour film. Don’t get me wrong — as a writer there are few things that I love more than good character development. But there is also this beautiful thing called balance.

These early decisions created a disconnect. When the film finally got into the story, it felt very rushed in some ways, but repetitive in others. When the Blood Queen (played by Milla Jovovich) had to remind me for the twelfth time that she will have her revenge, I had to restrain myself from telling her to take a pill made of chill and let me enjoy the damn film. We will get there, I get it, calm down.

The film’s aesthetics were another point in its favor. While the original Ron Perlman imagining was superior in story development, David Harbour’s absolutely kills it in visuals and overall aesthetic. This is how Hellboy and his world are supposed to look. I really want someone to make a solid argument against this. David Harbour dressed as a demon while riding a dragon and wielding Excalibur to head-slamming punk music? Yes, dammit.

The only thing that would have made it better would have been if he flew out to the entirety of Meatloaf’s Bat Out of Hell record, but I guess we can’t have everything we want in life.

Could Hellboy have been better? Of course — absolutely. If the overall story development had been better, more balanced with everything else, and honestly, if so much wasn’t crammed into one film, I think it would have been the Glenn Danzig daydream of a comic film that it so desperately aspired to be.

Enjoy that metaphor on the house. Until next time, comic fans!