Gotham S3 E5 Mad City:Anything for You

Penguin has won the position of mayor, The Mad Hatter has lost his sister, and old Barnes is infected by Alice’s blood all the while Penguin and Riddler now run the city. The episode begins with Penguin, Nygma, and Butch walking through the city. Penguin is doing all the good things a Mayor should do, clearly he isn’t hiding anything from the public. He has made a statue of his mother so he can take support from her. So beautiful that his love for his mother guides him.

Giving a speech next to his mother’s statue the Red Hood Gang attack. Fans of Batman should know these villains are synonymous with a certain green haired clown. They knock off the head of the statue of Penguin’s mother and flee the scene.

Valerie and Jim are talking, and she says she can’t come over tonight because she doesn’t want it to be a thing. Bullock and the cops have found the truck the Red Hood Gang left. The Riddler comes back to the GCPD to work once more to stop the Red Hood Gang, and no one is happy especially Barnes.

Penguin and his villainous constituents are having a meeting, with Babs too. It just so happens that Butch is the leader of the new Red Hood Gang, what is his end game.

Bruce wanting to help Selina heads out to find Ivy and goes to Jim for help. Jim asks Bruce how long they have been a thing and Bruce awkwardly rebuffs the notion. Nygma meets Lucius Fox

Bruce goes to the GCPD with Gordon and they find out about Ivy Pepper. Lee tells Jim that her fiance is the son of the former mob boss Falcone, of course Jim knows this information already. She soon finds Nygma and smacks him hard for Kristin, Nygma’s former lady love that he accidentally murdered last season.

The Red Hood Gang kills a priest telling everyone to blame it on Penguin. They go back to tell Butch the news, and he gives them suits to go to Penguin’s party. Right after Babs comes in with one of Butch’s grenades, they need to talk.

Jim tells Bruce to just tell Selina how he feels, because if he had done that he might be with Lee. Penguin is freaking out, thinking someone is testing him. Butch wants to be back in Penguin’s good graces, Babs says either he or Tabitha dies. Penguin calls Butch to tell him they found the Red Hoods, Butch goes to break up the gang and kills them in that moment. Penguin is overjoyed these weirdos are gone.

Butch is lauded as a hero and Nygma isn’t happy, so he heads to the crime scene. He finds the suits the Red Hoods would have worn. Barnes comes into talk to  Lee and praises her for slapping Nygma. He needs to know about Alice’s blood since it dropped into his eye. He really should tell someone that he may be infected.

Penguin’s victory party is in full swing. Bruce isn’t all too happy that his life is just soirees and shindigs now. Talking to Penguin briefly, Bruce sees Selina, and goes to make his move. Selina is about steal a woman’s wallet, when it turns out its Ivy who doesn’t disclose who she is.

Riddler wants to kill Penguin with Butch and run Gotham together. Butch says no, but Riddler shows him they have Tabitha, the woman Butch loves and Babs’ right hand woman. I wonder what Butch is going to do now.

Selina is watching grown up Ivy, when Bruce approaches her. He asks her to go someone private, obviously he is telling her his feelings. Butch is given a pep talk of sorts as Babs calls Penguin up to the stage. Riddler wishes him good luck, what a mischievous weirdo. Butch’s gun has only blanks and he is shot by Zsaz. Tabitha kills her captors and runs out of the kitchen.

Penguin is troubled by Butch’s betrayal. Butch gets up when Tabitha barges in and goes to kill Riddler. Knocking him unconscious Penguin falls to his knees to see if his friend is alright.

Bruce and Selina ae talking outside and he tells her he is looking for Ivy. He tells her he likes her and she rebuffs him because she knows they are so different. She kisses him but doesn’t say if she has feelings leaving him alone and confused. Jim breaks up Vicki’s little outing and tells her she is going to have to buy him dinner. Good work Jim, that’s how you win the ladies.

Penguin and Riddler are together, and Riddler tells him all about his plan to keep him a hero in the city’s eye. They hug, because that’s what best friends do. Tabitha goes to save Butch because she does care for him.

Barnes is feeling the power of Alice’s blood and will certainly cause trouble for everyone soon enough. The Mad Hatter kills a woman he dresses up as Alice as he has fallen even more off the deep end, his next target, one James Gordon.

I really do love how this show is able to really show how these people lose their minds and become the villains they were meant to become. Every bit of story is meant to lead them down this dark path. I hope Jim knows what he is getting into when he “Follows the White Rabbit” in the next episode.

New Wizard of Oz Prequel in the Works – Possibly Starring Nathan Fillion

The wonderful Nathan Fillion could be starring as the Wizard of Oz in a new prequel movie. The movie, based on the 1991 book How The Wizard Came to Oz by Donald Abbot is reportedly in development by RAMstar Studios. The story, which is similar to the 2013 film Oz: The Great and Powerful starring James Franco, follows circus con man Oscar Diggs on his journey to become the man behind the curtain.

While it seems a little soon to essentially be remaking a film from three years ago, whoever complained about a Nathan Fillion vehicle? Also, Oscar Diggs has the opportunity to be very silly in the build up to being the ruler of the Emerald City, so we could potentially be in for a treat – as long as the project is approached with a brain, a bit of heart and some courage of course!

The story synopsis is as follows:

“Discover how everyone’s favorite humbug first found his way to Oz! When circus stuntman Oscar Diggs goes aloft in a balloon and is blown over the rainbow to the land of Oz at the time when both wicked witches are still alive and kicking, he’s in for the biggest challenge of his life! Through a delicious set of misunderstandings, the people of Oz mistake Oscar for a mighty wizard and Oscar, ever the showman, plays right along. Staying one jump ahead of the two wicked witches is no easy feat, but Oscar’s wit and bag of tricks help him carry the day!”

The movie is set to be directed by Cole S McKay, who has been no stranger to movie sets for over 30 years. He’s had some directing experience, however his most prolific work seems to be as a stunt coordinator. That suggests there could be some pretty daring action sequences alongside Fillion‘s signature charm.

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Watch Artist Jim Lee draw Wonder Woman in a timelapse video!

Below is a video of Jim Lee beautifully drawing Wonder Woman. He talks through out the time laps about him and his work, how it feels to draw her and what he is trying to portray. He states, “The most important thing when drawing a character, especially like Wonder Woman who is so iconic, so well known, is really capturing the emotional state of the character. Trying to represent visually the things that she stands for, power, equality, strength..” Which he does so masterfully in this video. He goes on to talk about how long it takes for him to draw these characters, and how it becomes like a signature after sometime.

 

You can watch this and other videos of his on Youtube, like him drawing the Joker as well. I hope you all enjoy this as much as I did. Though drawing was not my thing, I can see my daughter becoming like this amazing artist here. I can’t wait to show her this video. ^_^

 

 

Walking Dead Artist Will Replace Dave Gibbons As UK Comics Laureate

Charlie Adlard is the British comic book artist behind one of the most successful independent comic book franchises of all time The Walking Dead. He now has another accomplishment to add to his resume, as he was named the new Comics Laureate for the U.K. at an event held at the Lakes International Comic Art Festival in Kendal, Cumbria.

The Director of The Lakes International Comic Art Festival Julie Tait, described the importance of the position in an official press release: “The Comics Laureate isn’t just a title; we already have a programme of events taking shape that will ensure we reach out to new audiences and raise the profile and the understanding of the importance of comics for education, inspiration and literacy.”

When Adlard accepted the role, he said, “I’m delighted and deeply honoured to be appointed as the Comics Laureate. The power of comics to encourage learning and develop literacy shouldn’t be underestimated. Comics can connect with people who may never pick up a normal book and really help encourage a love of reading. I see this as a great opportunity to bring the wonder of comics to a wider audience.”

Using comics as an educational tool is critical. It helps kids who need visual and written instructions to learn and encourages reading.

Adlard will officially take over as the new Comic Laureate in  February 2017 replacing legendary comic book artist Dave Gibbons best known for his work on Watchmen, who has been the Comic Laureate since 2015.  

Kickstarter Spotlight: Monster Of The Week

Standard Cover for Issue #1

 

I try to do my best to release a variety of comic content here on Skatronixxx, and while a lot of it has been horror comics lately (it is that time of year) I can’t help it sometimes. Creators come to me and give me a copy of their comic, and it turns out to be a horror comic. I do my best to give them exposure or a review. Horror is not something I usually read a lot of, but now I do.

Monster Of The Week #1 shares some elements of the horror but is actually a giant monster adventure story. Each year, once a week, every week, for three months in the mid-west of the United States a GIANT MONSTER falls from the sky. The later in the week the monster arrives the bigger it is. A group of young kids are convinced this is their year for “glory” in defeating a monster themselves despite US military involvement in destroying the monsters.

Unlike a lot of Kickstarter Campaigns Moster Of The Week #1 is an already completed comic. The Campaign is mainly for printing cost. So you know if and when this Kickstarter is funded you will not have a long wait time to receive the physical copy of the comic (if that’s the reward you choose) which is great considering the long wait times many other Kickstarter have.

Having had the chance to read the completed issue I have to say its a cool concept for a comic. It leaves you wondering where these monsters come from and why they come once a year to the Midwestern United States and not any of the major cities.

Writer Ryan Little does a good job of setting up this interesting story with no filler dialogue that’s straight to the point. Ryan has described the comic as “A Giant Monster/ Kaiju book in the wonky tone of Adventure Time“, and I have to say that’s pretty accurate.

I’m a big fan of Adventure Time and speaking of which Artist Mike Vasquez has worked on Adventure Time. Mike has also worked for companies such as Topps and Upper Deck, as has colourist, Joe Hogan. 

The reward tiers are very reasonable for comic fans and a decent retailer incentive for shops looking for something new and a signing to help bring  in customers. If you got the cash and enjoy giant monster adventure comics consider supporting Monster Of The Week #1. 

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The campaign has currently raised $529 of it $1,500 goal with 19 days to go (Fri, Nov 4, 2016, 12:32 PM EDT is the deadline) .

Kickstarter Link

For updates follow writer Ryan Little on Twitter: @MrRyanComics

James Gunn Promises Strong Female Characters for Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2

In 2014, when Guardians of the Galaxy was released, it was noticeable that one of the five main characters was frequently omitted from the merchandise. Gamora. Zoe Saldana’s green-skinned, ass-kicking leading lady was often absent from the tshirts and toys marketed to fans of the film. In fact, delightful talking tree Groot was considered to be more relatable to the young boys being targeted by the advertisers than the human-shaped lady character. However, in the film itself, the female characters are fantastic. Nebula was a break-out success, and hopefully the crazy talented Karen Gillan will be featured more in vol 2. Gamora was portrayed as intelligent and independent. I don’t want to imply in any way that GotG is a feminist manifesto, but for context, I just want to set the first film perhaps has a worse reputation for its treatment of women than it deserves…

Writer/director/all-round dude James Gunn took to social media on Tuesday – not just because it was a day ending in a y, but because it was International Day of the Girl. He wrote an excellent, well thought out piece about his feelings about female representation in the media. “I’m sick of the stories where there are a bunch of fully realised male characters and one female character, whose primary characteristic is simply being ‘the girl’ or the personality-less object of some man’s affections.” Gunn wrote. “I can’t wait for you all to see Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2, with Gamora, Nebula, and Mantis in action, where we will not only pass the Bechdel test, but run over it and back up over it again and again in an eighteen-wheeler truck, and where their stories and the men’s stories don’t come at the expense of each other, but are interwoven in a way to strengthen and optimize all of them.”

The post was well received by the majority of fans, some commenting how much they enjoyed his writing of other female characters, such as Ellen Page’s role in Super. Other fans didn’t seem so keen, raising a ‘what about the boys?’ argument, which Gunn hit back at. Of course, there were a few comments from people asking about when the trailer is coming out (yawn!) which Gunn didn’t dignify with a response. I’m sure someone directed them to the pinned post at the top of his Facebook page…

Read his Facebook essay in all its beautiful glory here:

https://www.facebook.com/plugins/post.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2Fjgunn%2Fposts%2F10153673616446157&width=500

Guardians of the Galaxy vol 2 starring Zoe Saldana, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Chris Pratt, Vin Diesel, Dave Bautista, Bradley Cooper and Kurt Russell, and will be released on 28^th April 2017 in the UK (5^th May in the USA)

Follow me on Twitter @pixiewose

Scarlett Johansson talks about what she would like in Black Widow movie

Though its not for sure that this will happen, the starlet Scarlett has recently revealed her ideas about what she would like to see should there be a Black Widow movie.

 

“I would like for it to happen under the right circumstances. I think there’s a lot of opportunity to mine the story line. She’s got a really rich origins story. There’s a lot of places you can go- you can bring it back to Russia, you could explore the widow program. There’s all kinds of stuff that you could do with it. You could really uncover the identity of who this person is, where she comes from and where she’s part of.”

 

She has a point, there is so much that could be done with a film like Widows. Though I don’t know how well I could handle the scenes that may take place should they do the back-story of her, like when she was in the Widow Program, but the movie could be pretty fantastic for sure. And honestly, they should do a movie on her; she has been with the team since Iron Man 2 when she made her debut. It’s only fair, I feel, that they give her more back-story in her own movie.

“I think if the fans wanted it enough, then it would probably become a reality. I talked to them (Marvel) about it often. It would have to fit in the idea of where they want to go. I’m invested in that character. Marvel is greatly invested in that character. If I did it, I’d have to do it while I still actually wanted to wear a skin-tight catsuit. I don’t know how much longer that’s going to be.”

 There is another reason why we got to get this movie moving… That outfit she wears is amazing, and girl I feel ya. Keeping a body like that to wear something so tight takes a lot of hard work and dedication for sure. And lets face it, that’s not a life style that we want to live 24-7 just for one outfit. I myself work out every day at 4 am, which is tough at times, but I can’t imagine what she has to do for that kind of body.

Well there you have it, the thoughts of the beautiful Scarlett Johansson on her Black Widow movie, should it come to pass. ^_^

 

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers meets The Justice League

Said to be released this January 2017, DC entertainment and BOOM are deciding to join forces to bring us 6 comics of the Justice League and Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers team up.

It’s been revealed that this whole mash up starts when the Rangers teleporter wacks out after their center is breached, and sends the black ranger, Zack, into the DC world. The super-humans in the strange land freak him out, but the other Rangers are not far behind to rescue their friend.

These comics were inspired by release of the two major films this 2017 of both the Justice League and Power Rangers Movie. Artistry buy Stephen Buyrne (Green Arrow) and written by Tom Taylor. Curious as to see how this team up will play out, though the Justice League is pretty open to just about anything or anyone, Batman though, may not be to eager to trust (as usual) and may give the Rangers a hard time. ^_^

Is Batman/TMNT cross over in the works?

Well it wouldn’t be the first time the Dark Knight and the pizza loving reptiles have worked together. Not a pairing though I am sure most of us could imagine working well together. I mean Batman barley works with his own Justice League team, but a group of fun loving teenage turtles?

As I said this is not the first time this pairing has happened, or the second for that matter. Both pairings though have been in the comic book world. The original crossover was published in December 2015-May 2016 with a total of 6 issues, with writer James Tynion and artist Freddie Williams. The next comic adventure is supposed to come out this November 2016, and follow in the ways of the Nickelodeons Batman: The Animated Series and Nickelodeons CG-animated TMNT cartoon. The comic will be named Batman/TMNT Adventures, written by Matthew K. Manning and drawn by Jon Sommariva.

But the newest idea for the compilation is for a movie, an animated movie done by Warner Bros. Apparently at the newest animated showing this past week, movie goers were handed a survey on what they would like to see next in the way of possible upcoming releases and how likely they would see them. The list included:

-Batman/TMNT crossover

-A Wonder Woman ’77 movie

-Swamp-Thing

 If you ask me they all sound awesome and I would definitely see each of them. I imagine the Batman/TMNT crossover to be pretty funny, I mean interaction between Mickey and Batman. Enough said… ^_^

Reborn #1 Review

Variant Cover By Frank Cho

 

Reborn #1 is a comic I have been eagerly waiting for since it’s announcement last October. At the time there was zero information on the what the comic would be about heck, there wasn’t even a title if I remember correctly. So what could have me excited for a comic for over a year with virtually no information in the beginning?

About three years ago or so my brother-in-law Sheldon and I were geeking out over comics as we tend to do when we get together. One particular night we got talking about our dream collaborations in comics. I can’t recall what we came up with, but at the time my brother-in-law was reading one of Mark Millar‘s graphic novels, and I was deep into Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo‘s Batman run. Once we had talked about the books they were both working on we figured they would be the best creators to work on a comic together. We then started thinking how crazy good that comic would be but thought it would never happen cause at the time Greg was on contract with DC, and  Mark was doing his own thing and was super busy.

Needless to say when at the time when Reborn had been announced (with no title), I freaked out in the best way possible when Mark Millar announced he was doing a comic with Greg Capullo and immediately bombarded my brother-in-law with texts of excitement. I could not believe our dream collaboration was happening.

In my opinion, Mark Millar is one of the best comic book writers in the industry and Greg Capullo is certainly one of the best artists today and has been for the past couple decades. All it took was two names to get me excited for a comic. My interest and excitement have only grown with the more information that has been gradually released the past several months. Now that I have my copy in hand and have read issue one, does it live up to the hype that not only the industry has given it but my personal hype as well?

Variant Cover By Todd McFarlane

Reborn asks the age old question where do we go when we die. Marks theory or at least his interesting idea is that when you die you are reborn as a younger version of yourself and thrust into a battle between good and evil. All of the people you one knew good and bad are there in this sci-fi fantasy world.

This is a different comic for Mark compared to his recent releases, while death is certainly not a new topic for him the question of the afterlife seems to be. He once again sets up a world and story you want to know more about with a great flow using a more traditional approach starting off with action then explaining then action etc.

Greg Capullo‘s art is perfect. This should come as a shock to no one. The man did over 80 issues of Spawn and earlier this year finished five consecutive years of drawing Batman (doing interiors and covers). Reborn is Greg’s best work to date. It is amazing how much better his art is when he is given more time than the strong demands of the big two’s deadlines.

I promised Jonathan Glapion (one of the best inkers in the industry today) on Twitter that I would credit and mention him in my review (he liked my tweet so I know he saw it ). He was frustrated with not always being credited as part of the art team on Reborn on articles and company sites, which is understandable. Creating comics is a team effort. Inking is not simply tracing over the pencil lines, it’s about adding depth shading contrast and so much more. Here’s an example from Greg and Jonathan’s work on Batman.

From Batman #8 (New 52) Pencils by Greg Capullo (left) Inks by Jonathan Glapion (right)

As you can see inking is a huge part of the art process and requires a lot of skill. Without inking, it would make FCO Plascencia colouring job a lot more difficult. FCO’s colours are excellent as usual with a great combination of vintage looking colours to soft and neutral to bright and vibrant which are all balanced according to the tone and needs of each panel.

Jonathan Glapion and FCO Plascencia make Greg’s great pencils look fantastic; this team has been making comics together for quite some time, and it makes sense for them to collaborate on such an ambitious book like Reborn. There is a page where the panels are planned out as a chandelier with art and it looks amazing something I have never seen before in comics.

Millar has said Reborn will be three six-issue series, which is much longer the most of his recent series and that there will be a novel adaptation released roughly six months from now. It’s safe to say this will be quite the adventure for us readers. As per usual with a new Millar comic, it is usually in the process or the rights have been already bought by Hollywood for an adaptation of some sort, Reborn is no different. Details cannot be released just yet.

This is an all-star team of talented creators coming together and making one of the best comics if not the best comic of the year. This is as I said before is a dream collaboration I thought would never be possible. Buy Reborn and quick. Reborn #1 has already gone to a second printing, and this is the lauch day!

10/10 

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