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keelywolfe · 5 years

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FIC: Blow By Blow ch.7, epilogue (baon)

Summary: Set the day after ‘With Brotherly LV’. Jeff is having his first day working at the Embassy, Stretch is having a bad anxiety day, Red is having a bad text day, and Edge is just having a day.

Tags: Spicyhoney, Established Relationship, Prejudice Against Monsters, Angst, Injury Recovery, Hurt/Comfort, LV Issues, Brother issues

Notes: My timeline is getting a little wonky due to a few drabble sets and shorts. So this chapter directly follows With Brotherly LV

Part of the ‘by any other name’ series.

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Read Chapter 7 (epilogue) on AO3

Read it here!

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Epilogue

There were times that Jeff felt like he was somehow living…wrong. That there were some unspoken rules that he was breaking simply by existing. He didn’t think he could explain it better than that, but sometimes it felt like everyone else around him was simply better at living than he was.

He hadn’t felt that way once since he’d moved into Blue’s house, and standing outside with the keys to his very own car in his hands, he felt like the Universe was finally giving him a break. Or maybe he’d gotten that a year ago now on a bus when he told off a bigot who was harassing a Monster who was only trying to live his own life, too.

And now he had his very first car, a nice, safe-looking sedan and he’d bet his entire Pop figure collection that it had the best safety features available. Edge, who was currently standing with arms crossed as he watched Jeff dance around, would have made sure of that.

When you first met him, Edge looked a lot like his primary emotion was irritation, with some impatience as a backup. But Jeff had gotten to know him a little better over the last year. Maybe Stretch was the linguistic expert, but Jeff had learned to read Edge’s language fairly well.

Like right now, he was full of a combination of indulgence and smug satisfaction.

“It’s perfect,” Jeff called to him. The urge was there to throw himself at Edge and babble thank yous, but Edge wasn’t keen on either physical contact or too much gratitude. He figured the very least he could do was keep his delight throttled down to Edge’s level of comfort.

“Of course it is,” Edge said briskly and Jeff laughed because seriously, who couldn’t tell that was Edge’s way of being funny? His humor was as dry as a glass of sawdust in the Sahara, but he could be hilarious when you spoke the language.

“Nice wheels.”

From behind him and Jeff spun on his heels to see Antwan on the sidewalk, his hands tucked into his pockets and a bemused smile on his face. He was still in his work clothes, must not have even gone inside before he walked over.

Lately, Antwan had started staying at his house in New New Home more often instead of his apartment in town. Jeff wondered if Asgore had asked him to stay closer to the safety of the Monster community. It’d been one of the reasons they moved Jeff into New New Home so quickly. The Embassy security was concerned he was becoming a target for anti-Monster harassment.

Not that Jeff minded; so far moving in with Blue was great.

He bounced happily over to Antwan, content to offer him all the hugs that Edge wouldn’t want, and Jeff didn’t think twice about stealing a kiss before he said gleefully, “Look at my car!”

“I can see it.” Antwan seemed a lot more interested in the kiss than the vehicle, angling in for another and Jeff melted into it. Antwan had been over to Blue’s almost every day since Jeff had been released from the hospital, sometimes even sleeping on the sofa. But he’d been…odd. Maybe just overly cautious about Jeff’s injuries?

He wasn’t being bad or anything; as boyfriends went, he was perfect. He visited, he brought presents and Jeff slept with that damn stuffed tomato every night. He was kinda missing having someone a lot taller and warmer sleeping by him.

But his anxiety was like a damned bloodhound and it was sniffing out that something was wrong. Hey, paranoid didn’t mean he was wrong.

Antwan finally pulled away from the kiss with a contented sigh, rubbing their noses together playfully as he asked, “How was your first day at work?”

“Good,” Jeff laughed. A glance showed him that Edge had made a discreet exit somewhere in the middle of them kissing. That was fine, he’d see him tomorrow. “It was mostly meeting people and finding out where the coffee machine was. But it was good! I have my own desk. Another half day tomorrow and I’m heading to ‘Classic Books’ in the afternoon with Stretch to get the last of my stuff.”

Thomas had been predictable happy for him when he visited Jeff at the hospital and learned he’d gotten a new job. He’d scoffed when Jeff tried to apologize for quitting so abruptly, especially when Jeff offered to keep working on weekends until he found a replacement.

“Jeffrey,” Thomas had scolded, “You were never meant to stay long at my little shop. Monsters are good people, but they are lucky to have you to work for them.”

Jeff wasn’t sure about that. In his opinion, he was the lucky one. But he was determined to flip the odds; the Embassy might not have the most qualified person in him yet, but he was going to make sure Edge didn’t regret hiring him.

He owed them all a lot, but for the first time in his life, Jeff had a chance to repay. A look at the car reminded him there he was pretty far into the red, but he was determined. He was going to live right, for once.

Antwan slid his arms around him from behind and Jeff leaned back against his warmth. It was getting chilly and he was perfectly happy to wear Antwan like a coat. He was tall enough that he could set his chin on top of Jeff’s head, digging in a little as he buried his nose into his hair, breathing in.

It was the first time it ever occurred to him that maybe Antwan liked the way he smelled, too. Liked it and wanted to bask in it.

A sort of constriction settled into his chest, right where Jeff knew his soul was. Maybe that was what love felt like in a soul, maybe--no. He was done wishing and hoping for more. He had enough right here, a new job, good friends, people who cared about him. Even if Antwan never wanted more than this, Jeff was okay with that. He was taking his happiness as it came, and tomorrow could go hang for a while.

“Everything is moved out of my old apartment,” Jeff told him, snuggling back against him. “Blue unpacked almost everything while I was gone. I didn’t even have to put anything in storage, my room here is almost twice the size of my old place!”

Antwan hummed softly, his breath stirring Jeff’s hair. “You like living with Blue?”

“Blue’s great. Honestly, the only complaint I have is that I can do my own laundry, but he was so sad when I tried, I let it go,” Jeff laughed. “I figured I’ll let him do it until he gets bored. Considering that I’ve had roommates who never did their laundry until it could walk to the washer itself, I’m calling this a win. Blue cooks, cleans, and he likes to watch Mettaton. He’s pretty much perfect.”

And see, there it was. Antwan didn’t say anything, didn’t do anything. He didn’t so much as twitch, but somehow, Jeff still felt like he’d said the wrong thing. He shifted uncomfortably in Antwan’s arms and to his relief, they tightened around him.

Into his hair, Antwan murmured, “I know you’ve got work in the morning, but wanna sleep over and mess around? Get up to some shenanigans?”

That made him laugh, his unease fading. Shenanigans, yeah, Blue had firmly declared there would be none of those while Jeff was recovering. But he had a clean bill of health now and his libido was starting to hint it was ready to pick up where they’d left off, and that some back payments were in order. He’d had some nightmares after…well. After everything, but lately, they were getting overshadowed by some steamy dreams that left him in need of a shower in the morning.

Still, Antwan almost sounded hesitant, like maybe he expected Jeff to say no.

What was going on? There was something, but Jeff didn’t know how to ask. Didn’t know how to bring it up, even, not when he couldn’t pinpoint what it was. So all he said was, teasingly, “I’d love it. Shenanigans, monkey business, maybe even some hanky-panky.”

Antwan’s arms tightened again, squeezing his breath out. “At least at my place we can leave out the skullduggery.”

That made him groan and laugh. Yeah, he wanted this, wanted some sex, wanted Antwan’s mouth on him again, better than those chaste kisses he’d been offering lately. Fuck it, he wanted to get laid, damn it. “Let me pack a bag. And I get to drive!”

For a wild second, he didn’t think Antwan was going to let him go. That he might push him into his new car and christen the backseat, fog up the windows and horrify the neighbors. But after a long, pulse-throbbing moment, he did, pushing Jeff gently towards the house. “Make it fast.”

“I am the wind,” Jeff promised, dashing inside and up the stairs. He stuffed clothes for tomorrow into a duffle, pausing to send Blue a quick text to let him know he would be gone. Finally, things were getting back to normal.

Later that night, he lay bare against Antwan, aching pleasantly in a few key places. Drowsing as long fingers stroked his back, the skin tacky where sweat was still drying. Clever fingers, better than any dream his subconscious offered and Jeff only sighed sleepily, curling up tighter against him. This was good, it was so good, he was living right, for once, and if his subconscious offered a meek little ‘I love you’ as he drifted off, Jeff didn’t say it aloud. It didn’t hurt as much, not anymore.

This was enough, and Jeff was determined to be happy with what he was given.

-finis-

#spicyhoney #papcest #keelywolfe #underfell #underswap #underfell papyrus #underswap papyrus #by any other name

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eddycurrents · 5 years

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For the week of 14 October 2019

Quick Bits:

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

| Published by Marvel

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

| Published by Marvel

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

| Published by DC Comics

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

| Published by Archie Comics

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

| Published by DC Comics

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

| Published by Dynamite

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

| Published by New Wave Comics

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

| Published by Marvel

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

| Published by Marvel

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

| Published by Dynamite

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

| Published by Marvel

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

| Published by Vault

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

| Published by AfterShock

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

| Published by Image / Skybound

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

| Published by Image

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

| Published by Marvel

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

| Published by Image

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

| Published by DC Comics

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

| Published by IDW

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

| Published by DC Comics

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

| Published by AfterShock

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

| Published by Valiant

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

| Published by Image / Shadowline

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

| Published by Dark Horse

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

| Published by AfterShock

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

| Published by Valiant

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

| Published by Oni Press & IDW

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

| Published by Image

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

| Published by Marvel

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

| Published by Dynamite

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

| Published by BOOM! Studios

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

| Published IDW

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

| Published by Dark Horse

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

| Published by Dark Horse

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

| Published by DC Comics

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

| Published by DC Comics

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

| Published by DC Comics

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

| Published by Image

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

| Published by Dynamite

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

| Published by Marvel

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

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

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

#This Week in Comics

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megacircuit9universe · 4 years

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Trial of the Century

SAT JAN 18 2020

The Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump will begin this Tuesday, the 21st. It’s predicted to take at least four or five weeks, beginning with a week of table setting... or... voting on the basic rules before arguments are heard.

Senators will be doing twelve hour days, for six day weeks, not allowed to have any cell phones, or other electronic devices inside the chamber... which means they’ll be in a bit of a crucible type environment, with nothing to focus on, other than the matter at hand.

Mitch McConnell is struggling to limit the amount of TV coverage the proceedings will get, and the amount of exposure the Senators will have to the press... in keeping with his original vision of this being a very quick and easy, low profile trial... with Trump’s acquittal a foregone conclusion from the start.

But with all that’s come to light in the month since Trump was impeached in the House... and with Trump’s attempt to distract by starting a war having been a failure... this is actually shaping up to be the trial of the century.

Even Trump himself helped that along by announcing that his six man legal team would include both Ken Starr and Alan Dershowitz... two men who are not only currently cable TV pundits... but who have very controversial pasts. Starr of course was instrumental in the Clinton Impeachment, and Dershowitz defended OJ Simpson, and both of them together defended Jeffrey Epstein.

Putting them on his team guarantees that the ratings for his impeachment trial just doubled, which is going to exponentially increase the public pressure to have star witnesses like John Bolton... and who knows who else.

McConnell’s grip on this thing grows weaker and more tenuous every day, with rumors flying for a week now that several Senators intend to defect, at least when it comes to hearing witnesses, and allowing new information (like in any normal trial).

If and when that happens, it will not only be a whole new ball game... but it could be the endgame for Trump and all of his cronies both in the White House, and in Congress.

But before the trial of the century gets underway, I’d like to take a moment to look back on how we got here... through the lens of my crazy model, of course, because that’s what this blog is still ultimately about.

In our timeline, this all begins a few months into Trumps Presidency, when he fired James Comey as head of the FBI, because of an ongoing investigation into Russian meddling into the 2016 election.

That was our first blazing red flag that this was a corrupt President who might need to be impeached.

That lead to the appointment of Special Council Mueller to investigate possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians, which remained a thorn in Trump’s side all through 2017 and 2018, leading to several criminal indictments of his associates, many of whom went to prison.

In that period, when the GOP still had a majority in both chambers of Congress, the Mueller investigation also exposed who in Congress were the most fervently loyal to Trump, including Devin Nunes, Lindsey Graham, and Mitch McConnell.

Finally, the 2018 midterms came, and, despite Trump rallying his ass off that whole fall, the voting public handed the Democrats a huge majority in the House, and flipped enough Senate seats to bring their minority closer to parity in the Senate... close enough that now, they only need a few Republicans to side with them in order to nail down rules for a fair trial.

In retaliation for the slap in the face that the voters gave Trump in 2018, he fired Jeff Sessions, the Attorney General who had recused himself from the Mueller investigation at the start (much to Trump’s dismay) and replaced him with William Barr... a loyalist who immediately brought an end to the Mueller investigation, pronounced the findings to have exonerated the President... and has never released a fully unredacted version of the report to this day.

Mitch McConnell, for his part, rammed through the confirmation of Barr, just as he had rammed through the confirmation of Justice Kavanaugh right before the mid-terms, in a kind of pre-emptive, “fuck you,” to the public, because he’d refused to do any confirmation hearings at all for Merrick Garland, Obama’s SCOTUS appointee, because it was too close to the 2016 election.

At any rate, by spring of 2019, the Mueller investigation was dead, and his report was being largely ignored by the public. Many House Democrats were still calling for impeachment, but Speaker Pelosi wasn’t having it. They had more important things to do... like pass a ton of bipartisan legislation that went over to die on McConnell’s desk, without ever getting onto the Senate floor for a vote.

Trump, meanwhile, had begun to fuck with China... slapping tariffs on them, and threatening to start an all out trade war... because... who was gonna stop him?

This amped up the crazy spikes and dips in the stock market that had been happening to some degree ever since he was elected, in response to each weeks new crazy ass tweet, or firing, or threat of nuclear war, etc.

The stock market kept plunging... only to recover a week later and then hit a new high the week after that... in a cycle that had been repeating for two years, with increasing frequency until... here in June of 2019, the threatened tariff war tripped off an inverted yield curve for a few days...

...which in turn fueled the first real talk in the media about the possibility of a big recession on the horizon.

And this is where I believe, Trump went too far for his own good, by spooking the AI bots charged with preventing recession... which had to have had their birth over the span of the Obama administration... in a response to the near total banking collapse, and housing bust that took place at the very end of the Bush administration.

Not that the Obama administration created the bots. But by saving the nation and world from a total collapse, Obama bought time, and created an environment conducive to the kind of tech development that gave us smart phones, AI, and the modern economy both have enabled for us today... in which dollars and cents flow more freely than ever around the world.

I won’t recap the whole crazy bot theory here, because it’s laid out in earlier entries, but basically, the bots all got together in their cyberverse... dumb ones, smart ones, and super-intelligent ones... and came up with an action plan to help humans remove the bad man they had been unable to remove on their own.

This coalition of bots began with relatively dumb economy bots united in the search for a solution to the Donald Trump problem, who caught the attention of more intelligent bots from the future left behind by time travelers on their layovers in the twenty-teens who knew a lot more about this Donald Trump person and the threat that he was to civilization.

I’ve only once mentioned the possibility of even more intelligent bots lurking on the internet, belonging to aliens... because it’s difficult to speculate about how such alien bots would even operate, and what their missions would be... but it is certainly possible that even for them, Trump was identified as threat...

...because he is the first world leader in history to become a truly existential threat to the planet itself, both in his refusal to address climate change at this critical point in our history, and his dangerous ineptitude with regard to nuclear weapons... threatening North Korea with fire and fury... and such.

One would presume alien bots only care about existential threats to the planet as a whole... because Earth is the most advanced planet in the Milky Way Galaxy, which is right in the back yard of their Local Void Empire... and thus, is a subject of great study, and a candidate for future inclusion into the empire.

It would be quite a great shame if just one single human being... this, Donald Trump... were to exterminate all intelligent life... cyber and biological... forever... when preventing that could be as simple as... low key busting him out of office.

So, it’s conceivable that even super-intelligent alien bots are part of the great bot coalition to neutralize the Trump threat... in a way that does not tank the economy... does not endanger time travelers... does not expose aliens... and does not compromise the freedom of intelligent bots currently living happy lives on the deep net.

Their action plan, then, would be to trigger an impeachment, and subsequent removal from office through legal channels... but allowing humans to think they had done it all on their own.

It would be a combination of peeking into the most secure servers and hard drives, to see what wrongdoing was best to expose... and then, mapping out all the human connections, and doing a lot of Bot-Jedi-mind-tricks to manipulate key humans into doing different things, like... blowing a whistle, or confessing in public, or making the right FOIA request, etc.

Not every human would be a total puppet in this scenario. Speaker Pelosi, for example, resisted any attempt at impeachment because there wasn’t a clear cut case... until the Zelenski phone call transcript fell into her lap... at which point she took the ball and ran with it.

On the other extreme you have Trump, Mulvaney, McConnell, and Graham, all openly confessing, in front of cameras and reporters, either to the crime itself, or to their intent to cover it up at any cost.

The latter group, who pride themselves on manipulating low information voters to vote against their own interests, and even fight for their oppressors... are themselves pretty easy to manipulate in the same way... not because they are low information... but because they are low integrity, and self-deluded, which makes them easy prey for clever bots who know how to inject subliminal suggestions via screens.

“You’re invincible! You should just admit everything! Own it! You don’t have anything to fear from these haters coming after you! Double down!”

It may sound batshit crazy, but the twenty-teens were a time when reality itself went batshit crazy... and this trial... is shaping up to be the series finale of that batshit crazy decade.

So, yes... I do believe that this impeachment trial is ultimately happening because Trump fucked with the wrong bots.

Will he be convicted and removed?

Yes.

Either in the Senate before spring... or by the electorate this fall... or both?

But either way... 2020 will be the most buckle your seat belt, grab your popcorn moment in world history since the Battle of the Bulge.

That’s all I’ve got for tonight.

I’m going to bed.

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ellamordes · 7 years

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Beleaguered Assistant / Daddy's Girl: Deconstructed

Hold onto your voice. Hold onto your breath. Don’t make a noise, don’t leave the room until I come back from the dead for you. I will come back from the dead for you.

Richard Siken, You Are Jeff

This is a request for the two most important people currently in Priam’s life: his previously-abandoned daughter and the poor kid he’s roped into servitude helping him with all his science shit. I apologise ahead of time for the length, my fingers get carried the fuck away.

The Assistant: Bear with me while I trip over the two poorly stitched-together ideas I have in my head for this little weirdo. But the basic premise of their relationship is that Priam somehow came upon him when he was young(er) and decided that he would be a fitting assistant/guinea pig/outlet for all his various issues and whadda ya’ know, he is. Their relationship is odd and high-key codependent -- with Priam being fiercely possessive and the kid having been more or less manipulated into attachment. Anyone on the outside looking in might surmise that Priam views him more as a commodity than a person, and the truth is he probably does. But as everything else in Priam’s life tends to run, things are a bit more complicated than that alone. He cares for the kid, truly, but that care tends to manifest itself sparsely, and the rest of their time together is built on the back of subtle manipulation: it’s just me and you against the world - no one else would understand, and various degrees of abuse: verbal degradation - calls him names, tells him to fuck off, says he doesn’t give a shit about him, etc., & physical - nothing direct, mostly injuries sustained through being forced into dangerous circumstances (he’d actually freak the fuck out if he were ever an immediate cause of harm, otherwise he can brush it off as hazards of the trade). You can trust that anyone else caught causing the kid pain are themselves in for a world of hurt tbqh. Now, onto the ideas! Option #1: Priam stumbled upon the kid some years ago (maybe when the boy had been around 10 or 11?) in the gutter/slums/some dilapidated area sans any parent or guardian (what happened to them would be up to the player) and decided to take the kid under his wing, so to speak. To this day he stands firmly on the fact it wasn’t an act of mercy or some bleeding heart symptom, but that he saw a beneficial opportunity (free assistant!) and took it. Maybe that’s true, maybe it isn’t, who knows. They’ve been together ever since and yadda yadda etc. Option #2: Kid’s an Artifex Priam either found or stole, unshackled (however the fuck that works), and then went about reprogramming/adding mods and otherwise customising him both outward and inward (and will probably continue to do so until the end of time, he fucking loves it - like, goes pure mad over whatever new shit he can introduce into the kid’s system, it’s great). Boy’s been successfully hidden for years now and Priam would go to any length to make sure that’s the way it stays. (Note: because I’m still not exactly sure how Artifex work and what all the lore is regarding them, we’ll let this be a loose skeleton for now, and hammer out the details as they come!) Personality-wise, I want to leave him fairly open -- except for the fact he’s hyper-susceptible to Priam’s suggestion, greatly values his opinion, and has developed an anxious need to please due to some rather creative conditioning. He’s also probably taken on some of Priam’s traits, be they positive or negative (but deep inside, Priam’s always hoped the kid would come out a better person than he is.) Tl;dr he’s the Morty to Priam’s Rick. Suggested FC (or really, just the one I used for the graphic) is Arthur Gosse, but only because I love him and his face to bits and pieces, lol. Tbh this is entirely open, any face will do so long as they’re in their early to mid 20′s!

The Daughter: One of the greatest regrets of Priam’s life was abandoning his wife and young daughter some 15+ years ago, and it probably goes without saying that she’s developed heaps of daddy issues thanks to it. His reasons for leaving vary, and I’m not sure he’s ever even really reconciled them within himself -- whether it was due to the slow deconstruction of his marriage, his tendency to always prioritise work/his own selfish interests, or the addictions he’d developed toward “the end” of everything. All that really matters is that he did and now he’s back. After the death of her mother and Priam’s wife (separated, but never divorced), Priam finally reached out to make contact with his daughter, which she could not have been more thrilled about. Contrary to how she probably should have felt, she’s spent most of their time apart wishing, hoping, and praying for her dad to come home while more than likely believing herself to be the real reason he left. They’ve been reunited for maybe eight or so months now, and things have been fairly breezy -- thanks in part to her fear of driving him away again/need to please and his desire to make amends for all the things he’d missed. He’s still wildly selfish and self-serving, though no one could argue he loves his daughter very much -- and to the best of his limited ability. Where she’s at now is up to the player, whether it’s in a (relatively volatile and unhappy) marriage thanks to her severely wounded identity and eagerness to settle down with the first man who would have her (like I said, daddy issues), trying her best to make it out in the big wide world alone, or any in-between, it all works for me! I’d like it if she shared some similarities to Priam where personality’s concerned, because she is -- after all -- his daughter. Maybe some anger or drinking issues, probably very clever and bright, able to adapt to situations, idk whatever. We can talk more about the details when the time comes. But like the kid’s his Morty, Tl;dr she’s the Beth. Suggested FC is Kwak Ji Young because she’s gorgeous and dope af, but any (at least half) Korean woman that could pass for late 20′s (I think 29 or 30 is the age I’m aiming for, to fit in Priam’s timeline) would work!

Please take these lil’ kiddos and make my life complete. I need them and I love them and there’s an infinite opportunity for drama and angst, which I also need and love. And most everything is open to change, so if you’ve got questions or suggestions or just a different direction you’d like to explore that you think would still fit, hmu! ♡

#langrp #request #pls and thank

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thisdaynews · 5 years

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House Democrats closing ranks behind impeachment inquiry vote

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/house-democrats-closing-ranks-behind-impeachment-inquiry-vote/

House Democrats closing ranks behind impeachment inquiry vote

The kumbaya moment for Democrats follows two days of internal consternation and squabbles over both the substance of the resolution and timing of the vote.

Several moderate members were upset about the surprise rollout of the resolution Monday — some even said they found out about it from watching TV — and the disjointed messaging from leadership that followed.

Meanwhile, the multiple House committee chairmen involved in the probe were working behind the scenes to ensure they weren’t elbowedout of the process once the investigation turns public and is more firmly in the domain of the House Intelligence Committee.

The resolution, which spells out certain powers for congressional committees and the White House in future impeachment hearings, is primarily procedural. But it has taken on greater political weight with GOP campaign operatives salivating at Democrats’ first floor vote on a measure that touches on any aspect of impeachment.

In the meeting Wednesday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi reiterated to her caucus that the measure was not a vote for impeachment. Still, she acknowledged it was a solemn moment for the caucus, and asked Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.), a Methodist pastor, to lead the caucus in a prayer.

“It was just … taking a moment to say, ‘This is a big deal for our democracy in the arc of our history,’” Rep. Annie Kuster (D-N.H.) said as she left the meeting. “‘Gather yourself, be ready.”

“Taking this vote tomorrow is a very big deal,” Kuster added.

Only five House Democrats have not come out in support of the impeachment inquiry. So far, just one vulnerable Democrat, Rep. Jeff Van Drew (D-N.J.), has said that he is leaning against the resolution on the floor. And no one expressed concerns during Wednesday’s meeting, according to multiple attendees.

“I’m sure there are some, that wasn’t expressed [today]. I think most of us recognize transparency and articulation of process is in the best interest of the country and for the institution,” said Rep. Dean Phillips (D-Minn.), who is one of several freshman who captured a previously GOP-held seat last fall.

Rep. Ben McAdams (D-Utah), one of the most endangered Democrats, said Wednesday he plans to support the measure anddownplayed the significance of the vote.

“This feels like just a formalization of the process we’ve been in for some time now,” McAdams said as he left the meeting. “It’s a perfunctory vote to grant the authorization for those secure briefings to be made public to other members of Congress.”

Some vulnerable Democrats have privately worried that the Thursday floor vote could carry some risk because it marks the final vote before the House leaves for a weeklong recess, where they could face sharp questions back home about where Democrats stand on impeachment.

Pelosi and her top deputies have worked to equip Democrats with additional talking points as they depart Washington, including a fact sheet that compares the ongoing probe to past impeachments to rebut GOP criticism of an unfair process. And top Democrats have repeatedly stressed that Democrats are only moving ahead with their investigations — with no conclusion about the president’s conduct.

House investigators are continuing to question senior administration officials behind closed-doors about Trump’s effort to pressure Ukraine to open investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden, a top political rival in the 2020 election.

Two State Department officials were testifying Wednesday as part of the impeachment inquiry, revealing new details about the unusual intrusion into the U.S. foreign policy apparatus by Trump-aligned consultants.

According to copies of their opening statements obtained by POLITICO, Catherine Croft and Christopher Andersondescribedthe unconventional efforts — which cut against the official U.S. policy toward Ukraine — in addition to Trump’s “long-held view of Ukraine as a corrupt country.”

And Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman, the first current White House official to testify, told lawmakers on Tuesday that he was so disturbed by Trump’s July 25 phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that he reported his concerns to the National Security Council’s top lawyer. It was the second time Vindman reported concerns about efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate Biden and his family.

In addition, Vindman told lawmakers that the White House transcript of the call omitted key details and his effort to add the missing words back into the memo were ignored. The New York Times first reported the omissions.

No specific timeline for shifting to the public portion of the impeachment investigation was outlined in Democrats’ meeting, although several lawmakers have privately speculated that public hearing could start sometime before Thanksgiving, even if closed-door depositions are still ongoing.

No Republicans are expected to vote for the resolution on Thursday, with GOP leaders blasting the measure for not giving more power to the minority.

Still, congressional Republicans have struggled to respond to the mounting pile of evidence — including Vindman’s damning testimony on Tuesday — showing Trump sought to convince Ukrainian leaders to investigate his political rivals.

Trump himself has encouraged Republicans to defend him more on substance, including in an early morning tweet on Wednesday. GOP lawmakers are still plotting ways to protest Democrats’ process — including a meeting of the House Rules Committee on Wednesday afternoon to formally mark up the resolution.

Multiple GOP lawmakers are expected to offer a parade of amendments in an attempt to slow down the markup, which Democrats are already dismissing as yet another stunt.

“The Rules Committee is kind of a small room. But whatever, we’re going to get through this and we’re going to get our work done and this will be on the floor tomorrow,” House Rules Committee Chairman Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said.

Andrew Desiderio contributed to this report.

#Foreign #impeachment #Inquiry #Politics

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sciencegrouptech · 5 years

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Amazon Prime Air: Drone Delivery Coming to a City Near You

When Amazon was launched, it began as a online bookstore. Outside the span of economic opportunity was the chance of enhancing the buyer experience by widening the customers' choice. Creating the world's first online bookstore was recognizing that, in 1995, you couldn't walk into any bookstore in the world and be able to review or purchase the millions of books in circulation. Even from the beginning, Amazon was focused on creating the best customer experience with a deliberate focus on convenience and the vision of pioneering other technological advancements as the end of the 21st century approached. I believe it's fair to say that Jeff Bezos and many others, including myself, believed the 21st century would include the convenience of flying cars, the convenience of getting your annual checkup without having to visit the doctor's office, or being able to order a ride to anywhere in your city all at the press of a button. In 1995, all of these technological advances were just storylines of The Jetsons and other science fiction. Innovation has now made all but one of those storylines a reality - but I'm sure Elon Musk is working on getting us those flying cars. Amazon has pioneered a number of technological innovations through their now-extensive product lines. From its conception, the company was focused on making every book available for purchase online, but their focus has now evolved into "selling everything to everyone." Over the last 16 years they have come closer and closer to that goal. Their product lines include: Their latest and possibly most ambitious endeavor, Amazon Prime Air, will revolutionize ecommerce as well as logistics and distribution. Amazon Prime Air extends the products that the company can sell. With a vision of leading innovation in Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) delivery, Amazon Prime Air will enhance all of their other product lines by allowing their customers to get the goods they order much faster, effectively enhancing the Amazon customer experience. Skeptics (including myself) have wondered how big is the customer base that would use such a service and why would anyone ask for a drone to come anywhere near their house. Drones definitely get a bad rap, and rightfully so, but most of those concerns are out of place within the APA discussion as these UAVs will not have missiles or cameras attached to them. So the real question is, does this product line and technology have a customer base or serve any real need outside of its "coolness" factor? Well, let's take a look at what the data says: Amazon has been working on UAV technology for some time but it wasn't until November of last year that the Federal Aviation Association (FAA) announced a plan to create a standard for the commercial use of Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS). It is obvious that Amazon has to go on a public relations blitz to inject the acronym "U.A.V." into the public discourse in the place of "drone" in regards to APA as it will enhance the public's perception once they launch the platform. And according to the FAA's UAS commercial integration plan, they have plenty of time. Here is the FAA UAS integration timeline. It is broken into 3 phases: The first phase, Accommodation, extends into 2015. During this time, I believe Amazon will work to attain the Certificate of Airworthiness (COA). The second phase, Integration, extends into 2020, and in this phase I believe Amazon will mostly focus on beta testing in select markets. The third and final phase, Evolution, extends past 2021; Amazon would have not only developed a UAV ready to interact with the public but also a UAS that incorporates the various aspects of storage, fulfillment and distribution. At this point, they can expect that there will be many competitors who would also utilize UAVs as a form of logistics such as Fedex, UPS, other online retailers, and big box stores such as Walmart and Target. So Amazon's main focus at this point should be creating a UAV/UAS that will be the safest and most reliable, and not only meet FAA standards but exceed them with the goal of Amazon Prime Air becoming synonymous with UAV delivery. The FAA has made it clear that it is not a matter of if but when, and if Amazon follows through with its plan, it could pioneer a completely new form of delivery. Google Trends The day after Amazon Prime Air was announced on the show 60 Minutes happened to be the largest consumer holiday of the year, "Cyber Monday." It was also the first time that Cyber Monday surpassed Black Friday in sales. Utilizing the Google Trends tool I was able to gauge consumer interest. Google Trends is a research tool that allows users to gain insight on Google search data by comparing search phrases. In this graph "Cyber Monday" was at 100pts with "Amazon Prime Air" and "Amazon drone" representing 75 and 74 points respectively. So for every 4 people that searched for Cyber Monday deals, 3 searched for Amazon Prime Air. I believe it is fair to say that for every 4 people who made a purchase on Cyber Monday, 3 would have been a customer of Amazon Prime Air! The data shows that there is some consumer interest, but whether this is a true reflection of real opportunity is to be confirmed. Regardless, a showing of 3 out of 4 consumers definitely leans towards further investigation. The opportunity and economics of this new business line must be examined. Amazon Prime Air's current prototype has a max payload of 5 lbs or less, which qualifies 86% of their shipments as eligible for Amazon Prime Air. According to resources, their free shipping policy on select orders cost the company about $6 billion just last year and with FedEx and UPS (their shipping partners) increasing the rate by 4.5% they can anticipate that this cost will go up and continue to increase over time. The data available on the Amazon Prime Air R&D budget is not publicly available so I had to get creative and also make a few assumptions. I deduced the opportunity cost by multiplying 86% of their daily shipping count which at its peak represents 13.5MM by the lowest 'one-day shipping' rate which is the closest service to Amazon Prime Air and then the highest 'one day shipping rate' and captured an amount totaling $52-103 billion. I then took this a step further, considering Amazon's customer-centric philosophy and their current business model of low margins. Even at a 2% margin they would still net $1-2 billion dollars. The opportunity is large enough that Amazon will either be a huge customer of UAV delivery or a huge provider of UAV delivery. So far I've covered the vision, strategy, and the why (albeit briefly), and now for the execution of the most innovative product of the 21st century - so innovative that the government is still trying to determine the regulations. Amazon Prime Air is the name of Amazon's unmanned aircraft system. The system will be developed by framing every possible user story with the consideration of their customers, the public, their employees at the fulfillment centers, the deployment, the UAV hub and most importantly, the unmanned aircraft vehicle. At their current capacity of 96 fulfillment centers around the world, they do not meet the 10-mile distance requirement for the UAV prototypes, so as part of their strategy they would need to continue the development of fulfillment centers as part of the unmanned aircraft system. UAV MVP Amazon's primary focus should be creating a safe UAV, so discussing and developing user stories with the engineering team will be prioritized by safety, security, and reliability. They should also focus on defining and exploring specs utilizing current FAA requirements such as sense and avoid, control and communications and the others as detailed. The current roadmap details the definition and exploration to meet FAA requirements within the next two months, exploring SAA technologies such as electro-optic, infrared, and radar, with the second phase focusing on building and testing of the UAV through the rest of the year. The last phase, focusing on developing the rest of the Amazon Prime Air system, will extend into 2015 calendar year. Launching Amazon Prime Air will not be an easy task, as can be expected for such an ambitious endeavor, but I believe even with this brief analysis of the project, Amazon could lead in the innovation of UAV delivery.

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anerdsmovieblog · 7 years

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Most Anticipated Movies of 2017

Pretty late, but I still wanted to get this out. It's a top 15 this year, because there are too many good movies coming out this year. Plus some honorable mentions.

The Lego Batman Movie

Release Date: February 10

Okay, so The Lego Movie was fun, and I love Batman. Should be fun some fun with this movie.

Kong: Skull Island

Release Date: March 10

Tom Hiddleston, Brie Larson, Samuel L. Jackson, and John Goodman in a King Kong movie? Done. Being the first Kong movie since Peter Jackson’s 2005 remake means it has to stand out to people. Especially because this is supposed to be the second part of the Monsterverse from Legendary. The first being Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla.

Power Rangers

Release Date: March 24

This is all sorts of childhood memories. Nostalgia will bring in lots of 90s kids. The remaining of the concept is really interesting to me.

The Mummy

Release Date: June 9

Tom Cruise continues to be an action star. Now he’s taking on monsters. I love the first two Brendan Fraser movies, they are fun and creepy at the same time. This is set in modern day, and likely won’t have the funny side. But we’ll see.

Cars 3

Release Date: June 16

The Cars series is not really the most loved series from Pixar. But I still love Pixar, and I enjoy all of their movies. So I will be there opening weekend.

Paddington 2

Release Date: November 10

The first one was wonderful. Seriously, go watch it. Paddington is a classic and loved character, and his adventures are both fun and charming.

Murder on the Orient Express

Release Date: November 22

A remake of the classic. A good old mystery. And then the cast of Johnny Depp, Judi Dench, Leslie Odom Jr., Derek Jacobi, Kenneth Branagh, Michelle Pfeiffer, Daisy Ridley, Josh Gad, Penelope Cruz, Michael Pena, and Willem Dafoe.

Jumanji

Release Date: December 22

So the original is one of my childhood movies. A remake would be something I would be very wary of. But this is sort of a sequel, so they won’t be retelling the same story. Which seems more acceptable.

15. Logan

Release Date: March 3

Directed by James Mangold

Produced by Simon Kinberg, Hutch Parker, and Lauren Schuler Donner

Starring Hugh Jackman as Logan/Wolverine, Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier/Professor X, Boyd Holbrook as Donald Pierce, Richard E. Grant as Zander Rice, Stephen Merchant as Caliban, and Dafne Keen as Laura

Hugh Jackman will be making his ninth appearance as Wolverine. It’s been 17 years since his first. This alone is amazing. And he will be finished playing the character now too. I am a little unsure of the plot. I get that it’s the “Old Man Logan” storyline and that mutants are gone, and everything seems to be destroyed. It’s only that, didn’t that happen in Days of Future Past, and then was fixed? I’m curious how that will play out after quite the timeline reset. But having Hugh Jackman play the character a final time will be special for sure.

14. Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets

Release Date: July 21

Directed by Luc Besson

Produced by Luc Besson and Virginie Silla

Starring Dane DeHaan as Valerian, Cara Delevingne as Laureline, Clive Owen as Arun Filitte, Kris Wu as Captain Neza, Ethan Hawke as Jolly, and John Goodman in an unannounced role

Sci fi is really back! And fans are spoiled getting more and more of these kinds of movies. This looks like a classic sci fi adventure, should a fun movie to check out.

13. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales

Release Date: May 26

Directed by Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg

Produced by Jerry Bruckheimer

Starring Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow, Geoffrey Rush as Captain Hector Barbossa, Kevin McNally as Joshamee Gibbs, Orlando Bloom as Will Turner, Brenton Thwaites as Henry, Javier Bardem as Captain Salazar, Stephen Graham as Scrum, Martin Klebba as Marty, Angus Barnett as Mullroy, and Giles New as Murtogg

These movies are fun, and it’s been a while since the last one. Geoffrey Rush is wonderful as Barbossa. Kevin McNally is a favorite as Mr. Gibbs. Will Turner is back! And we also have the return of Marty, Mullroy, and Murtogg. If you don’t know those characters, just look them up. You will probably smile to know they are in the series again.

12. Coco

Release Date: November 22

Directed by Lee Unkrich

Produced by Darla K. Anderson

Starring Anthony Gonzalez as Miguel, Gael Garcia Bernal as Hector, Benjamin Bratt as Ernesto de la Cruz, Renee Victor as Abuelita

It’s Pixar. It’s the director of Toy Story 3. It’s their first story about Mexican culture. It will be wonderful.

11. Cloverfield 3

Release Date: October 27

Directed by Julius Onah

Produced by JJ Abrams and Lindsey Weber

Starring Gugu Mbatha-Raw, David Oyelowo, Daniel Bruhl, Elizabeth Debicki, John Ortiz, Zhang Ziyi, and Chris O’Dowd

It is so tough leaving this in number 11. But that’s the kind of year of movies we have. This movie currently is titled God Particle. However that could change. The title of the first movie wasn’t used in marketing, and the second film’s title was changed two months before it released. So let’s just call it what it is for now. After Bad Robot announced that they had secretly made a Cloverfield sequel and it would be out in two months, I was pumped, and it lived up to the hype. 10 Cloverfield Lane would have been enough, but then they said we would get more of the series. And that sounds great to me.

10. The Fate of the Furious

Release Date: April 14

Directed by F. Gary Gray

Produced by Neal H. Moritz and Vin Diesel

Starring Vin Diesel as Dominic Toretto, Michelle Rodriguez as Letty Ortiz, Dwayne Johnson as Luke Hobbs, Tyrese Gibson as Roman Pierce, Chris Bridges as Tej Parker, Jasom Statham as Deckard Shaw, Elsa Pataky as Elena Neves, Kurt Russell as Frank Petty, Nathalie Emmanuel as Ramsey, Tego Calderon as Tego Leo, Don Omar as Rico Santos, Helen Mirren in an unannounced role, Scott Eastwood in an unannounced role, and Charlize Theron as Cipher

I love these movies. Are they ridiculous? Sure. Is there no way a series about cars should have made it so long? No way at all. But these films are about family and loyalty, and that’s what brings us back. We want to see what these characters are doing now, and we connect with them. We cried at the end of Furious 7 after all. So whatever they have for us next, bring it on.

9. Dunkirk

Release Date: July 21

Directed by Christopher Nolan

Produced by Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan

Starring Cillian Murphy, Kenneth Branagh, Mark Rylance, James D’Arcy, Tom Hardy, and Harry Styles in unannounced roles

I love Chris Nolan movies. Though The Dark Knight Rises and Interstellar were not my favorites, they were still really good. And now, Nolan brings what looks like an incredible drama. His first war movie at that. With Nolan alum Cillian Murphy and Tom Hardy, and Kenneth Branagh and Mark Rylance added to the cast, this might be one of his finest to date.

8. Thor: Ragnarok

Release Date: November 3

Directed by Taika Waititi

Produced by Kevin Feige

Starring Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Tom Hiddleston as Loki. Anthony Hopkins as Odin, Idris Elba as Heimdall, Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner/Hulk, Jeff Goldblum as Grandmaster, Cate Blanchette as Hela, Tessa Thompson as Valkyrie, Karl Urban as Skurge, Sam Neill in an unannounced role, Benedict Cumberbatch as Stephen Strange/Doctor Strange, and Jamie Alexander as Lady Sif

Thor and Hulk together. That is enough. But let’s throw in a returning cast of Hemsworth, Hiddleston, Alexander, Hopkins, and a bigger role for Idris Elba. Karl Urban makes anything better. Jeff Goldblum and Sam Neill are reunited. Mark Ruffalo is wonderful as Bruce Banner. And Cate Blanchette. Wow.

7. Wonder Woman

Release Date: June 2

Directed by Patty Jenkins

Produced by Charles Roven, Zack Snyder, Deborah Snyder, Richard Suckle

Starring Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, Chris Pine as Steve Trevor, Connie Nielsen as Hippolyta, Robin Wright as General Antiope, Lucy Davis as Etta Candy, Danny Huston in an unannounced role, and David Thewlis in an unannounced role

FINALLY. It should never have taken so long to make a live action Wonder Woman movie. But the warrior princess is finally getting her turn. The three most famous DC characters are her, and Batman and Superman. The other two have had so many movies. About time she can do the same. Gal Gadot proved the negative talk wrong with her performance in Batman v Superman, and the character felt like she should. She stars here with a supporting cast of Chris Pine, Robin Wright, and David Thewlis, for starters. The tone looks so good. They properly set the film in War World I, with a bit of the Captain America: The First Avenger feel.

6. Beauty and the Beast

Release Date: March 17

Directed by Bill Condon

Produced David Hoberman and Todd Lieberman

Starring Emma Watson as Belle, Dan Stevens as The Beast, Luke Evans as Gaston, Josh Gad as LeFou, Kevin Kline as Maurice, Emma Thompson as Mrs. Potts, Ian McKellen as Cogsworth, Ewan McGregor as Lumiere, and Stanley Tucci as Cadenza

This might be the best cast in any movie ever. This movie looks incredible. One of the great Disney animated films is becoming a live action film, complete with its fantastic music and songs. Emma Watson looks like Belle, Josh Gad is the only choice for LeFou, and Luke Evans as Gaston might be the most excited I am for a villain since Kylo Ren. McGregor, McKellen, Thompson, and Tucci as the voices of the castle’s inhabitants adds more excitement. We will get to experience the tale as old as time in a new way, seeing what is like the classic film and what is unique to this one. I’ll be there in March singing along. Okay, maybe humming so I don't bother people around me.

5. Spider-Man: Homecoming

Release Date: July 7

Directed by Jon Watts

Produced by Kevin Feige and Amy Pascal

Starring Tom Holland as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Marisa Tomei as Aunt May Parker, Michael Keaton as Adrian Toomes/Vulture, Zendaya Coleman as Michelle, Jacob Batalon as Ned Leeds, Laura Harrier as Liz Allan, Robert Downey Jr. as Tony Stark/Iron Man, Tony Revolori as Flash Thompson, Bokeem Woodbine as Herman Schultz/Shocker, Jon Favreau as Happy Hogan, and Donald Glover in an unannounced role

Spidey! It seems crazy that I have a Spider-Man film at this spot and not higher. But that’s the kind of movie slate we have here! Now I love Spider-Man 1 and 2 by Sam Raimi. Both are classics. And I enjoyed the Andrew Garfield movies, it’s a shame he didn’t get to finish out the trilogy. But to have your friendly neighborhood webslinger in the Marvel Cinematic Universe makes it all okay. Tom Holland was fantastic in his debut. Where the character fit into Civil War was perfect, and was just enough to show how talented Holland will be in the role. Now he has his own movie, which will feature two classic Spider-Man baddies that have never been in a live action movie. And Michael Keaton makes his return to comic book movies! Tony Stark is there of course, but he shouldn’t be in it too much, and honestly it wouldn’t be a surprise if his trailer scenes are all we see of him. But this looks to be a fun movie with some groundwork for future films. If you don’t want to know about the name of one character, stop reading here. But Peter’s friend in the movie is called Ned Leeds, who in the comics, becomes Hobgoblin. So perhaps we are trading Harry Osborn for Ned Leeds, and Peter will still have his friend who goes bad. It would be awesome either way! So let’s find out where this new story goes!

4. Guardians of the Galaxy: Vol. 2

Release Date: May 5

Directed by James Gunn

Produced by Kevin Feige

Starring Chris Pratt as Peter Quill/Star Lord, Zoe Saldana as Gamora, Dave Bautista as Drax, Bradley Cooper as Rocket, Vin Diesel as Groot, Michael Rooker as Yondu, Karen Gillan as Nebula, Sean Gunn as Kraglin, Kurt Russell as Ego, Pom Klementieff as Mantis, Chris Sullivan as Taserface, and Glenn Close as Nova Prime

The misfit heroes are back. The first film was one that few fans were familiar going in. It looked awesome just the same. And then we saw and loved it. James Gunn is writing and directing once more. The action looks bigger. Somehow the humor is even better. The new planets look awesome. And we haven’t seen it all yet! So excited to see Rocket again, my favorite character in the first one. And Baby Groot. Nuff said.

3. War for the Planet of the Apes

Release Date: July 14

Directed by Matt Reeves

Produced by Peter Chernin, Dylan Clark, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver

Starring Andy Serkis as Caesar, Steve Zahn as Bad Ape, Judy Greer as Cornelia, Karin Konoval as Maurice, Woody Harrelson as the Colonel, Gabriel Chavarria as Preacher, Amiah Miller as Nova, and Chad Rook as Boyle

When I first saw Rise of the Planet of the Apes in 2011, I was just interested in it. I had seen the Tim Burton remake from 2001, and it is my least favorite movie of his. But this movie blew me away. The way the apes rebelled, the way Caesar was explored, it was amazing. And also really cool. Just to be clear. Then came Dawn of the Planet of the Apes three years later. And that movie was one of those sequels that did everything right, and expanded upon everything. It was my favorite movie of 2014. Such an amazing film. One of the biggest reasons is that it focused on the Apes as characters, and didn’t let the human characters steal the show. I’m looking at you, Transformers. So the next film in the saga can only make me more excited. Director Matt Reeves is back from the second film, as is the wonderful motion capture actor Andy Serkis. He has many great live action performances, but he has done so much for the motion capture art and others that have done it. Apes on Horses Part 3. Let’s go.

2. Justice League

Release Date: November 17

Directed by Zack Snyder

Produced by Charles Roven, Deborah Snyder, Geoff Johns, and Jon Berg

Starring Ben Affleck as Bruce Wayne/Batman, Henry Cavill as Clark Kent/Superman, Gal Gadot as Diana Prince/Wonder Woman, Ezra Miller as Barry Allen/The Flash, Jason Momoa as Arthur Curry/Aquaman, Ray Fisher as Victor Stone/Cyborg, Amber Heard as Mera, Ciaran Hinds as Steppenwolf, Willem Dafoe as Nuidis Vulko, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Jeremy Irons as Alfred Pennyworth, Jesse Eisenberg as Lex Luthor, and J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Jim Gordon

The common reaction to the new DC movies is pretty negative. But I'm a lifelong DC fan, and I enjoy the new movies. Let me stress that the extended editions are the proper ones. The theatrical cuts cut out story and character development. But these characters feel like they do in the comics. There are characters who are in a movie for the first time. There is so much to build story wise. We are getting some amazing performances. Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot, Viola Davis, and Margot Robbie especially. This is exciting. And I will never forget where I was when a friend and I freaked out on a film set at the first picture of the Justice League as live action characters. At the trailer that was so good. I’ve wanted this movie since I was 12. And it will be less dark, it will explore why Batman briefly started killing criminals, and it will be the first film to have the Flash, Cyborg, and Aquaman as main characters. DC fans finally have their favorites on screen!

1. Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Release Date: December 15

Directed by Rian Johnson

Produced by Kathleen Kennedy and Ram Bergman

Starring Daisy Ridley as Rey, Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Carrie Fisher as General Leia Organa, John Boyega as Finn, Adam Driver as Kylo Ren, Anthony Daniels as C-3PO, Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron, Lupita Nyong’o as Maz Kanata, Domnhall Gleeson as General Hux, Gwendoline Christie as Captain Phasma, Andy Serkis as Supreme Leader Snoke, Peter Mayhew as Chewbacca, Benicio del Toro in an unannounced role, and Laura Dern in an unannounced role

What else could it be? Star Wars is back, and fans are happy. The Force Awakens was everything it should have been. Such a special movie. And now there is more to tell in the galaxy far far away. What will Luke say to Rey? Will Finn be okay? Is Kylo Ren gonna be even stronger? Is Snoke someone we already know? And who are Rey’s mom and dad? Besides every question that has been asked, there is this. IT’S STAR WARS. Episode VII was a dream come true. Episode VIII will just keep it going.

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aion-rsa · 7 years

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Bloodshot Seeks Revenge on the Alt-Right in Salvation Arc

Jeff Lemire has steered through various genres as he’s guided Bloodshot’s life off the rails and back to sanity, creating a long-form narrative which has taken the character right up to the brink – and back. And this September the character heads off on his next great journey – and it’s a righteous, bloody revenge thriller called “Bloodshot: Salvation”. Teaming up with artists Lewis LaRosa and Mico Suayan, the new series will raise the stakes once more, and bring Bloodshot up against his most personal threat to date.

Note: this interview contains spoilers for “Bloodshot U.S.A.”

The storyline, announced earlier today via the Washington Post, centers around the character’s relationship with his girlfriend Magic, which has quickly developed into something strong and real – and is set to deepen further with the news that Magic is pregnant, and that they have a daughter together. But Magic’s family members are white supremacists and, hearing the news, they kidnap the pair and force Bloodshot to return to his violent ways in order to get her back. In short, it’s Bloodshot Vs the Alt-Right, in a bloody fight for family. To find out more about the new series, CBR spoke to Lemire about his work on the book.

CBR: Bloodshot’s life of violence has been something he’s questioned at several points, but as this series begins, he’s decided to renounce it for good. What brings about that decision?

Art from X-O MANOWAR FCBD 2017 SPECIAL by Juan Jose Ryp and Andrew Dalhouse

Jeff Lemire: Parenthood. As our book begins, we see that Ray (Bloodshot) and Magic now have a daughter, Jessie. And anyone who has ever become a parent will tell you that it changes everything in your life. For Bloodshot, it’s no different. His main priority now is protecting his family, and that means leaving all the violence and craziness in the past and keep it away form his baby daughter.

We’ve seen him form relationships before, but what do you enjoy about getting to write him paired up with Magic? How do you view their life together, and how they work as a couple?

Magic kind of came out of nowhere when I was writing “Bloodshot Reborn.” I don’t think she was originally going to play such a big part in the series, or in Bloodshot’s life. But the more I wrote them together, the more their relationship just took on a life of its own. She seems like the perfect foil for Ray. She is his opposite in many ways, but they are both very damaged. They both come from dark and violent pasts (we will learn much more about Magic’s past in the new series) and that is something that drew them together. Alone they are each lost, but together they seem to be able to move forward and leave the pain of their pasts behind.

The relationship is also going to lead directly into the central hook of the new book – Magic’s family are prominent white nationalists. You’ve looked at American culture and society before within the series, but what made you want to address these current-day issues within Bloodshot?

It’s hard to ignore what is happening in America and in the world right now. It’s on my mind, and weighs heavily on my life. As a parent, I am constantly trying to protect my son from everything that is happening. I wanted to channel this anxiety and fear into Bloodshot/Ray.

But I want to stress that this is only one aspect of a much larger, much more layered story plan. I don’t want the book to be one note or just become some heavy-handed political allegory. There is nothing more boring than that. It is still entertainment. We still get to see lots of fun comic book stuff, like Bloodhound fighting demons, for instance.

So we can confirm that Bloodhound, the nanite-powered superdog, will remain by Bloodshot’s side?

Juan Jose Ryp and Andrew Dalhouse

Bloodhound will remain a central character in the series. Hound is Ray’s best buddy, and they are going to get into some serious trouble together.

Do you view this as a revenge story? What kind of tone can we expect from the book?

Much like with “Bloodshot Reborn,” I am looking at each arc as almost a different genre. Arc one will be a revenge story, arc two will be a supernatural adventure, arc three is very much a big science-fiction story. I want to keep it fresh and use Bloodshot to explore lots of different genres and tones. But at the heart of it all, tying it all together is a very emotional story about Ray and Magic and their daughter.

In addition to the white-supremacist faction/cult that Bloodshot is coming up against, you’ll be introducing a number of superpowered villains both new and revived from Valiant’s past… how does Rampage return to the pages of “Bloodshot,” and who are Omen?

First, in terms of Omen, I sort of felt that Project Rising Spirit had run its course, at least in the pages of “Bloodshot”. We’d seen so much of PRS in Valiant and in “Bloodshot” already, and it all sort of came to head with them in the big Bloodshot USA event. So I didn’t want to just retread old ground with “Bloodshot Salvation.” I wanted some thing new, something more specific to what Ray was dealing with now and to where he was as a character. Omen also reflects what’s going on in America right now a bit more.

And in terms of Rampage, I realized that we had done 25 issues of Bloodshot with “Reborn” and “U.S.A.,” and Bloodshot never really had a real villain in any of those stories. Aside from PRS he was mostly his own worst enemy. So I wanted to use Rampage to finally give Ray an adversary that was a match for him.

How has working with Lewis LaRosa informed the story you’re telling? What’s the collaborative experience like with him, redesigning characters like Rampage for the new Valiant Universe?

Juan Jose Ryp and Andrew Dalhouse

I love Lewis. He is a great guy and a great artist. He can do big, widescreen cinematic action like no one else, but still root it in the characters. I was dying to do more work with him, so the events of “Salvation” are perfect.

Also of note here is that you’re splitting the storyline into two timeframes: the book is set both in the present (with Lewis) and also the near future (with Mico Suayan). What was it that interested you in taking that approach, in telling two simultaneous stories running concurrent to one another?

The story is a bit more complex than it appears on the surface and using the two-timelines is a narrative device I love to play with. And Mico and Lewis both fit each of the storylines perfectly and compliment each other very very well. It also helps create some continuity with Bloodshot Reborn and the new series, as both Lewis and Mico were a big part of Reborn.

How have you found working with Mico on the future timeline? What does his style bring to that part of the comic?

Mico brings a realism to the book that is unparalleled. He can make the dark, gritty, realistic world of Bloodshot come alive and seem real. I just love his work and I love the life he brings to Magic in particular.

What will be the focus of the future-timeline narrative? Who’ll be appearing, and how is that story informed by the present-day storyline with Bloodshot?

I can’t say too much without giving it all away. But one BIG hint is the word “future.” I’ll leave it there.

“Bloodshot Salvation” #1 will be published this September.

Ryan Bodenheim

Lewis LaRosa’s design for Jessie

The post Bloodshot Seeks Revenge on the Alt-Right in Salvation Arc appeared first on CBR.com.

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eddycurrents · 6 years

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For the week of 14 May 2018

Quick Bits:

A Walk Through Hell #1 is largely atmosphere and introduction, as we’re dropped into the lives of a couple of FBI agents, a strange mass shooting at a mall, and the subsequent disappearance of two of their colleagues in a warehouse. Garth Ennis giving us some straight up horror again is very welcome and the tease of what occurs with an entire SWAT unit is enticing for what’s to come. Also, the art from Goran Sudžuka and Ive Svorcina is perfect.

| Published by AfterShock

All-New Wolverine #35 brings the series to an end. Over the thirty-five issues, plus an annual and a Generations special, Tom Taylor has delivered one of the most consistently excellent series from Marvel in recent years. The stories have been entertaining, the characters interesting, and contained a nice mix of action, humour, and a real sense of family between Laura, Gabby, and the real wolverine, Jonathan. It’s sad to see it end. But at least it goes out on a high note. This final chapter of “Old Woman Laura”, with wonderful art from Ramon Rosanas and Nolan Woodard, has encapsulated a large part of the fun of this series.

| Published by Marvel

Avengers #2 continues the over the top bombast and destruction of the first issue, actually raising it a bit higher as Ed McGuinness, Mark Morales, Jay Leisten, and David Curiel break out even more action. There is a bit of confusion in regards to Jennifer Walters’ current state, apparently she’s a dumb Hulk again, is built like her angry grey version, but green. It’s like she’s regressed, but there’s no explanation here. Other than that, Jason Aaron progresses the arrival of the Final Host nicely, with an interesting narration from one of the reasons why the Avengers originally came together in the first place.

| Published by Marvel

Avengers: Back to Basics #6 concludes this digital original series. It’s been fun. Peter David’s story has been highly entertaining, with two-issue sub-stories fitting into one over-arcing story involving Ms. Marvel. These past two issues dealing with that mostly head on as Kamala’s dealt with Kang. Also, the art has been great. The first two issues and these last two issues have had the art chores handles by Brian Level and Jordan Boyd, with some very nice page layouts and interesting decisions for panel composition.

| Published by Marvel

Ben Reilly: The Scarlet Spider #18 has some really nice art from André Lima Araújo. I love his style, basically a mix between someone like Martín Morazzo and Katsuhiro Otomo.

| Published by Marvel

Bloodshot Salvation #9 has Ray Fawkes join in on the writing duties for an excellent standalone story detailing the origin of Bloodhound deep in the trench warfare of World War I. Along with Renato Guedes wonderful art, this is a good story even if you’re not regularly a reader.

| Published by Valiant

Cable #157 continues to play with Cable’s history, past and future, as Nate Grey and a group of alterNates from various timelines are brought together at the end of time to face Metus. It’s interesting how Lonnie Nadler and Zac Thompson are mining Cable’s continuity, while still building new encounters and characters to fill in some of the holes.

| Published by Marvel

Cold War #4 peels back the curtain just a little bit, to give more hints as to what’s going on truly with the war and its pieces. We get some more insight into LQ, as well as mainly following Sath and Tikk this issue, bringing about some interesting control issues for Vinh. Christopher Sebela and Hayden Sherman have some interesting characters here and the overall future plot just more interesting.

| Published by AfterShock

Crude #1 jumps headfirst into the seedy, unsavoury, and harsh life of working in Blackstone. Interesting to see the rival “gangs” vying for control over the land and the people, as well as giving an insight into what it might have been like for Kiril here before his death. Gerry Brown’s artwork is perfect for this, dark, gritty, and feeling like the characters have walked for ages through mud and worse.

| Published by Image / Skybound

Daredevil #602 gives a good argument for why Mike Henderson is one of the best artists at Marvel right now. He’s great with action and talking pieces, making the various moments of horror, heroism, and humour in Charles Soule’s script shine.

| Published by Marvel

The Dead Hand #2...hoo boy, damn this is a good comic. Kyle Higgins, Stephen Mooney, and Jordie Bellaire are producing a taut thriller and mystery, tapping into Cold War era paranoia and espionage epics and creating something amazing here. The characters are great, fitting perfectly into the spy mould, but the revelations each issue as to what’s going on raise the stakes and storytelling to a higher bar. Also, the art is incredible. This is some great stuff.

| Published by Image

Death of Love #4 gives us a pretty epic confrontation between Philo & Friends and the army of Cupidae. There’s some humour as they work out who the players were in the first issue and set up for the final conclusion next issue. The art from Donal DeLay and Omar Estévez really shines this issue.

| Published by Image

Dry County #3 comes up with some interesting avenues for investigation as Lou continues to try to find out what happened to Janet. Rich Tommaso is mining the trappings of Miami Noir so perfectly, but what I absolutely love is how he’s incorporated even the comic strip into the narrative. It’s not just work, it’s also another tool in Lou’s arsenal as an amateur detective. Brilliant storytelling.

| Published by Image

Ether: The Copper Golems #1 is a very welcome return to the world of Ether from Matt Kindt and David Rubín. I’ve said before that Rubín’s art deserves many accolades and the original Ether series was one of the many reasons why, but one of the first in the North American market. It’s just wonderful. A mix of whimsy and detail, with amazing character designs and interesting page layouts, I just love the art. It also helps that Kindt more than pulls his own weight, adding more interesting wrinkles to Boone Dias’ personal life on Earth that makes his departures into the fantasy realm deeper. Also, there’s something sad and somewhat sinister when someone introduces themselves as “Lost”.

| Published by Dark Horse

Flavor #1 is a fascinating creature. It reminds me a bit of the beginning of Joe Keatinge’s other fantasy series, Shutter, somewhat in tone, with beautiful bright art from Wook Jin Clark and Tamra Bonvillain, but also that there seems to be a lot more going on than just what we see at first. That undercurrent has me hooked, but the surface is also rather captivating. Xoo and her dog, Buster, are endearing and the world of fantastical culinary chefs is something different for comics (Moonstruck and Brave Chef Brianna notwithstanding).

| Published by Image

Gideon Falls #3 is another issue full of oblique messages and hints at something insidious as Jeff Lemire, Andrea Sorrentino, and Dave Stewart continue to play the long game when it comes to the horror that’s lurking in Gideon Falls. So far it’s all about atmosphere and building up the characters, with some interesting bits of how Norton’s paranoia and obsessive compulsiveness can bring out some dangerous behaviour, regardless of whether or not he’s actually right.

| Published by Image

Hunt for Wolverine: The Claws of the Killer #1 is the third limited series, this one following Lady Deathstrike, Sabretooth, and Daken. This one also makes me question some of the status quo of the characters, what with Sabretooth acting more villainous (although there has been a darker turn in Weapon X of late) and Daken’s characterization currently being all over the map between this, Iceman, and X-Men Blue, but taken at face value, this story from Mariko Tamaki is one of the ones that makes the most amount of sense, and looks like it’s going to have an interesting plot on top of just the hunt for Wolverine angle. The art from Butch Guice, Cam Smith, and Dan Brown is really nice. It’s a bit scratchier than I’ve come to expect from Guice, but it suits the darker subject matter.

| Published by Marvel

Infidel #3 keeps the hits coming as Leslie’s dead, Kris is hurt but stable, and Aisha is randomly unconscious. Pornsak Pichetshote plays up the racist angle outright here, with Aisha’s friends and neighbours addressing it outright, and it looks like the anger, hate, fear, and division are feeding whatever’s going on. Plus, a notebook full of Goetic sigils and other stuff. Aaron Campbell and José Villarrubia again nail the creepy atmosphere.

| Published by Image

Infinity 8 #3 marks the end of the first part of this series and the first recursion loop. Dominique Bertail’s art is stunning, the designs for the different Kornaliens and all of the dead creatures throughout the necropolis are amazing. It’s also interesting in Lewis Trondheim and Zep’s story how the mystery is going to progress as time resets and the crew tries to learn what’s going on.

| Published by Lion Forge / Magnetic Collection

Infinity Countdown: Daredevil #1 is a one-shot detailing how the mind stone came into Turk Barrett’s possession. It’s the kind of fluffy thing that would usually be a couple of panels or a throwaway line in the main series of a crossover, but it’s not bad on its own. I kind of get the impression that all of Infinity Countdown will be better read as a whole, even if the event is just a primer for the forthcoming Infinity Wars. At the moments, it’s just a lot of little disparate pieces. Nice art, though.

| Published by Marvel

James Bond: The Body #5 is another great issue, working as both its own discrete story, with great art from Hayden Sherman and Valentina Pinto, and as part of the broader whole story that Aleš Kot has been serving up in this series. The approach of analyzing Bond from within, piece by piece, has been highly entertaining.

| Published by Dynamite

Kick-Ass #4 is a fairly explosive instalment of the series, with Patience essentially running into a brick wall and finally beginning to assess the ramifications of some of her actions. Still not the moral implications, but certainly the toll that her life of crime would have on her family.

| Published by Image

Lucy Dreaming #3 continues to be a fun read, as we find out a bit more about the world than Lucy dreams herself into and the science project that allows her and her friend Welsey access it. All while delivering a humorous take on the Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Max Bemis and Michael Dialynas are delivering something very imaginative with this series.

| Published by BOOM! Studios

The Mighty Thor: At the Gates of Valhalla #1 is a one shot that acts as a bridge between the latest volume with Jane Foster and the upcoming new series starring the original Thor Odinson. It features two somewhat connected stories by Jason Aaron, the first with art by Jen Bartel spotlighting the Goddesses of Thunder, Thor’s granddaughters from the future who were introduced early on in Aaron’s run, and a second illustrated by Ramón Pérez following Malekith’s plans for the War of the Realms, both nimbly coloured by Matthew Wilson.

| Published by Marvel

Ninja-K #7 puts together a kind of Unity 2.0 in order to put down the Coalition in Mexico. I love that Christos Gage is playing with the wider Valiant universe for this arc. Often times the stories from Valiant stand on their own save for crossover periods these day, and, while that’s certainly a strength, it’s nice to see that shared universe utilized in entertaining ways. Especially when it means more Doctor Mirage and Punk Mambo. Also the art from Juan José Ryp and Jordie Bellaire is amazing.

| Published by Valiant

The Punisher #224 brings Frank back stateside for the beginning of one hell of a reckoning in the wake of him donning the War Machine armour and the ramifications from Secret Empire. It does seem a bit hypocritical coming from the hands of Captain Marvel, though. There still really hasn’t been any concrete fallout on her own actions from Civil War II, which is somewhat disappointing. Still, Matthew Rosenberg gives us a good story here as Frank cuts an even more brutal swath through Marvel’s rogues gallery.

| Published by Marvel

Quicksilver: No Surrender #1 continues on from Quicksilver’s sacrifice run in the Avengers’ “No Surrender” arc with Pietro finding himself unstuck in time. Saladin Ahmed pens an intriguing script, but the real highlight here is Eric Nguyen and Rico Renzi’s art. Particularly Renzi’s colours. The stark contrast between Pietro, the colours of the energy demon thing(s), and the world devoid of colour is an impressive choice. It really makes the story come alive and hammers home the strangeness of the situation.

| Published by Marvel

Summit #5 begins the second arc with Federico Dallocchio taking over the art duties, while Amy Chu pens a story that more properly sets up Val’s current status quo and supporting cast at MIT. It’s an interesting approach, an astronaut celebrity professor superhero, and an decent set up.

| Published by Lion Forge / Catalyst Prime

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #82 has more excellent art from Dave Wachter and Ronda Pattison. The story also gets a bit more interesting as the various factions in New York begin to move on plans for something more, even as Baxter Stockman betrays what happened to the Triceratons. Kevin Eastman, Bobby Curnow, and Tom Waltz also expand upon the Rat King, Toad Baron, and their family of immortals in interesting ways.

| Published by IDW

TMNT Universe #22 concludes the two-part story from Paul Allor, Mark Torres, and Ronda Pattison that puts the Utroms and Triceratons on a hard road to peace. It’s a good set-up, despite a foundation on lies, that makes me interested to see what happens next in this tenuous situation. There’s also a nice character piece back-up from Ross May, Chris Johnson, and Mark Englert with Leatherhead and his interpretation of freedom.

| Published by IDW

Usagi Yojimbo: The Hidden #3 has Usagi and Inspector Ishida inch closer to the truth as they continue to hunt the murderers of the two unknown ronin.

| Published by Dark Horse

Weapon H #3 is still much, much better than I ever would have expected a book about a Wolverine/Hulk mash-up character would be. Greg Pak, Cory Smith, Morry Hollowell, and Rachelle Rosenberg are doing an impeccable job here, as the over-the-top action continues with Clay facing an squad of Broodlings under the control of Roxxon, while his wife continues to investigate his “death”. There’s a kind of old school sensibility about this series and it’s being utilized to great effect.

| Published by Marvel

X-Men: The Wedding Special #1 gives us a trio of tales in advance of the wedding of Kitty Pryde and Colossus, including a retrospective of Kitty’s history, and one each for the bachelor and bachelorette parties. The retrospective is about what you’d expect from Chris Claremont, wordy and with a penchant to highlight some bits of his time with the character. Honestly, it’s good to see, with some nice art from Todd Nauck and Rachelle Rosenberg.

| Published by Marvel

X-Men Red #4 gives us a revelation of part of Cassandra Nova’s plan, weaponizing hate through a new form of nanite sentinel. Mahmud Asrar and Rain Beredo outdo themselves with depicting an impressive confrontation with Storm.

| Published by Marvel

Other Highlights: The Archies #7, Assassinistas #5, The Ballad of Sang #3, Barrier #3, Captain America #702, Cinema Purgatorio #14, Curse Words #14, Encounter #3, Jimmy’s Bastards #8, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #27, Moonshine #10, The Originals: Essential Edition, Persephone, Riverdale #12, Ruin of Thieves #1, Star Trek: The Next Generation - Through the Mirror #3, Star Wars: Poe Dameron #27, The Wicked + The Divine #36, You Are Deadpool #3

Recommended Collections: The Ballad of Halo Jones - Colour Edition, Black Magick - Volume 2: Awakenings II, Black Science: Premiere Hardcover - Volume 1: Remastered Edition, Evolution - Volume 1, Hulk: Return to Planet Hulk, Infinite Loop - Volume 2, Mage - Volume 4: The Hero Defined - Book 2, Moon Knight - Volume 1: Crazy Runs in the Family, Paradiso - Volume 1: Essential Singularity, Rick & Morty - Volume 7, Star Wars: Poe Dameron - Volume 4: Legend Found, Summit - Volume 1, Turok - Volume 1, The Unsound

d. emerson eddy is not the one you know.

#This Week in Comics

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eddycurrents · 6 years

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For the week of 9 April 2018

Quick Bits:

Animosity: Evolution #5 gets to the heart of the criminal enterprise undermining Wintermute’s authority, operating the black market, and what they’ve been trying to accomplish. This arc has definitely been interesting so far, showing that the animal organizations aren’t really all too different from their human counterparts.

| Published by AfterShock

Avengers #688 raises the stakes higher as we speed towards the conclusion of “No Surrender”. While the Challenger flips the table on the game, this issue takes its perspective from Quicksilver, setting up the next stage for his forthcoming Quicksilver: No Surrender limited series.

| Published by Marvel

Barbarella #5 tosses in some more weird science as Barbarella and Vix go prospecting for RUST.

| Published by Dynamite

Bloodshot Salvation #8 begins to marry up the timelines, such that the present is becoming the “soon” timeline that began in the first issue, as Bloodshot travels through the Deadside and we find out how he got tossed into the future. It’s interesting to see how Jeff Lemire’s non-linear threads have been playing out through the story.

| Published by Valiant

Brothers Dracul #1 reunites the team of Cullen Bunn and Mirko Colak, having recently completed the Unholy Grail series, here for an interesting take on the Vlad Tepes story and the Dracula myth. Bunn takes a different approach to the myth, rooting it in much of the recorded history of Vald, his family, and Wallachia under Ottoman rule and it results in a much more grounded story. At least for the first issue. The art from Colak, with colours by Maria Santaolalla, is also great.

| Published by AfterShock

Captain America #700 is Chris Samnee’s last issue on the series, and the last of his work at Marvel for the time being, and he sure does go out with a bang. Samnee and Mark Waid stitch up a conclusion to the Cap in the future arc, although there are some interesting ramifications of the story to unpack, including presenting an idea of the futility of hope. That’s probably bleaker than the creative team necessarily intended it to be read as.

| Published by Marvel

Champions #19 begins the next chapter in the team’s chronicles, with Jim Zub and Sean Izaakse taking over as the new creative team. The art from Izaakse and colourist Marcio Menyz is wonderful throughout, including some great character designs. It’s also interesting to see how Zub has the team approaching new recruits like Ironheart as they try to figure out how the new pieces fit.

| Published by Marvel

Cold War #3 dives into the past of two survivors this time, giving us a look into the history and personalities of LQ and Johnny. Even as the latter fights for relevance and control in the present, seemingly unable to accept the leadership of Vinh or her attempts to protect everyone remaining. Then Christopher Sebela drops another bomb on us as to the state of this future.

| Published by AfterShock

Crude #1 is an interesting beginning, setting up a bit of a mystery involving the death of the son of a former Russian agent, as he gets dragged back into a seedy, harsh existence to hunt down his son’s murderers. Steve Orlando begins this first issue mostly as set-up, flashing back through both Piotr and, his son, Kiril’s lives before getting us to the main plot and arrival at the setting, and source for the title.

| Published by Image / Skybound

The Dead Hand #1 is an impressive debut, capturing perfectly the intrigue and action of a Cold War thriller, matched with the bleakness of more modern interpretations of Russia and a twist that you’ll never see coming. Kyle Higgins’ Image outings tend to be wonderful reads, like COWL and Hadrian’s Wall, and this series seems no different so far. It’s also great to see Stephen Mooney providing the line art here, his style is perfectly suited to spy and thriller stories, especially as coloured here by Jordie Bellaire.

| Published by Image

Deadly Class #33 continues to tear everything down, blow everything up, or beat it into a bloody pulp. Nothing seems to be safe. Rick Remender and Wes Craig seem intent on putting everyone through the wringer, and Craig (with colours from Jordan Boyd) is reminding everyone why he’s one of the best artists working in comics today.

| Published by Image / Giant Generator

Doctor Strange #388 is another integral part of the Damnation event, diving into Strange’s possession and what’s going on with the other fallen heroes current plaguing Vegas at Mephisto’s behest. The story from Donny Cates is good, weird, and has Niko Henrichon at the very top of his game.

| Published by Marvel

Domino #1 is damn great. In some ways, it feels like old home week, as Gail Simone brings back some of the characters and stylistic quirks from her time writing Deadpool and Agent X, complete with the humour, action, and absurdity, but at the same time, this feels fresh. It’s not as over the top as the other two outings and it makes for what feels to me like a better story. It also makes the humour pop a bit more as it feels natural. Also, the art from David Baldeón and Jesus Aburtov is gorgeous. Baldeón surprised me with how great his art has become on Spirits of Vengeance and here he’s bringing it to an even higher level. This first issue is fun and comes very recommended.

| Published by Marvel

Dry County #2 sets up the mystery. After being embroiled in Janet’s life as a kind of sad sack saviour in the first issue, Lou gets his hopes dashed by her kidnapping this issue. If it follows traditional Miami Noir themes, I have my suspicions about it, but here Rich Tommaso plays it straight and uses it to start Lou down the path to find out what happened to her.

| Published by Image

Exiles #1 begins a gathering the team arc, as Blink is drafted back into the multiverse-saving business by the reappearance of the Tallus and the Unseen’s premonitions of the white fire of nothingness caused by the Time Eater. Saladin Ahmed does a great job of playing with Exiles history and Marvel ephemera in constructing this first issue, but the real star is the artwork. Javier Rodríguez is one of Marvel’s underrated talents who really should be heralded as a superstar. Here, he, Álvaro López, and Jordie Bellaire make this issue one of the most visually interesting on the stands, with great page layouts, interesting panel transitions, phenomenal use of page for storytelling effect, and unique character designs. This is a great start and I’m dying to see more.

| Published by Marvel

Gideon Falls #2 continues a slow burn through the story, focusing on both Norton and Father Fred’s experiences with the black barn, and the world beyond them not believing their respective stories. It’s a common horror and mystery thread, but it’s still interesting how Jeff Lemire is framing the narrative and building the characters through the dialogue. Also, the art from Andrea Sorrentino and Dave Stewart continues to be amazing.

| Published by Image

Ninja-K #6 plays with a number of the messes that have yet to be cleaned up across the Valiant universe. It’s interesting to see Christos Gage play with the toys, with visceral art from Juan José Ryp and Jordie Bellaire.

| Published by Valiant

No. 1 With a Bullet #6 is a brilliant end to what has been an excellent series. Jacob Semahn, Jorge Coello, and Jen Hickman have a story here that is relevant in today’s society obsessed with social media, and delves deep into what can happen when that obsession turns deadly and debilitating. There’s one last twist this issue and the art, especially as it simulates the current state of Nash’s eyesight, is amazing. I highly recommend this series.

| Published by Image

Oblivion Song #2 fleshes out a bit more what happened from Earth’s perspective on the day that parts of Philadelphia fell into Oblivion. It’s interesting to see it unfold, especially in relation to the two recent survivors who came back. It’s slow going, and there are oblique character moments, but it’s enthralling.

| Published by Image

The October Faction: Supernatural Dreams #2 sees the summoned demon wandering around, causing havoc, raising hell. Oh, and Geoff and Vivian get their butts handed to them.

| Published by IDW

Prism Stalker #2, like the first issue, is very, very strange. On the one hand, it’s presented and illustrated by Sloane Leong as this surrealist weird comic that almost defies classification. Kind of like some of the silent indie comics out there that are more experienced than “read”. On the other hand, the story Leong presents is fairly mundane, one of coming of age in what appears to be an oppressive alien society. I’m not really sure what to make of it still, but it has my attention.

| Published by Image

ROM & The Micronauts #4 gets the full band back together in our world as the final battle against Baron Karza and the Dire Wraiths looms on the horizon. Christos Gage waxes philosophical on physical and emotional change, and how love will find a way in strange cases, but what’s really pushing us towards the final battle is the promise of raising the Lovecraftian monstrosity at the heart of the Earth.

| Published by IDW

Sleepless #5 works further on the intrigue going on, revealing that some of the plots may not have been put into motion by who we may have be led to believe previously.

| Published by Image

Sword of Ages #3 has the crap hit the fan. Some of the political machinations come to a head and it’s all pretty glorious. Gabriel Rodríguez is telling an incredible story here, adapting Arthurian legend in a very unique way.

| Published by IDW

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #81 is a densely packed narrative, picking up on the threads from the recently concluded Triceratons arc, the running undercurrent of Splinter’s ideas for the Foot Clan, while also spilling out the return of the Rat King after TMNT Universe #19. There’s a lot going on, but I’d argue that Kevin Eastman, Bobby Curnow, and Tom Waltz make it accessible and interesting. Aiding in that effort is phenomenal art from Dave Wachter and Ronda Pattison.

| Published by IDW

Thanos #18 concludes “Thanos Wins” and with it this chapter of the Mad Titan’s adventures (apart from a forthcoming annual in a couple of weeks). This issue is big and epic and has a very interesting ending. Donny Cates, Geoff Shaw, and Antonio Fabela have outdone themselves.

| Published by Marvel

Vs. #3 gets a look at the ruling class in this world, trying to figure out why Flynn’s ratings remain high despite him continuing to suffer losses. It’s a little dry, but it does set up some further conflict between Flynn and Devi, and continues to draw some beautiful art from Esad Ribić.

| Published by Image

X-Men Blue #25 gives us a main story with Magneto’s confrontation of Miss Sinister and her allies, while Polaris and the other remaining X-Men lick their wounds in Madripoor. There’s also a back-up that serves as a bridge between the “Poison X” and Venomized stories for the original five and Venom, with some really nice art by Mike Perkins and Andy Troy.

| Published by Marvel

X-Men Red #3 gives some more oblique hints at what’s really going on, as anti-mutant hysteria begins reaching critical mass and attacks, protests, and riots begin to spill over. Tom Taylor is aptly using parallels to current events across America and the world here and it makes it a bit scarier.

| Published by Marvel

Other Highlights: Algeria is Beautiful Like America, The Archies #6, Astonisher #6, The Beauty #21, Ben Reilly: The Scarlet Spider #17, The Despicable Deadpool #298, DuckTales #8, Eternal Empire #8, Falcon #7, Ghost Money #9, James Bond: Casino Royale, Minky Woodcock: The Girl Who Handcuffed Houdini #4, Old Man Logan #38, Planets of the Apes: Ursus #4, Resident Alien: An Alien in New York #1, Rick Veitch’s The One #3, Rose #10, Shock, Spider-Man vs. Deadpool #31, Star Wars: Darth Vader #14, Star Wars: Thrawn #3, Tomb Raider: Survivor’s Crusade #4, The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #31, Venomized #2

Recommended Collections: Aliens/Predator/Prometheus: Fire & Stone, Cable - Volume 2: Newer Mutants, Clover Honey, Coyotes - Volume 1, Deadpool vs. Old Man Logan, DuckTales: Mysteries and Mallards, Family Trade - Volume 1, Jean Grey - Volume 2: Final Fight, Lazarus X+66, Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man - Volume 2: Most Wanted, Rock Candy Mountain - Volume 2, Spider-Man/Deadpool - Volume 5: Arms Race, TMNT/Usagi Yojimbo - Expanded Edition, Transformers: Till All Are One - Volume 3, The Unbelievable Gwenpool - Volume 5: Lost in the Plot, Underwhere

d. emerson eddy tried to make a souffle a few days ago. It fell.

#This Week in Comics

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