Rob Liefeld On Why Deadpool Is Not Deathstroke

With the surprise test footage of DC Comics character DeathStroke released on Ben Affleck’s Twitter account recently, Marvel and DC  fans have started going at each claiming that Deathstroke can not hold the audience Deadpool does.

The age old debate of Deadpool is just a rip-off Deathstroke has also been brought back up, with many fans pointing out the similarities. Deadpool co-creator Rob Liefeld recently spoke on Nerdy Pop‘s Youtube  Channel about five differences that don’t make Deathstroke and Deadpool the same character.

 

Marvel and DC have a long history of “Borrowing” ideas from each other. Green Arrow/Hawkeye, Batman/IronMan, and Namor/Aquaman just to name a few.

While it’s easy to point out similarities between the two aesthetically and their origin stories, it’s important to point out their age and personalities are completely different. Deathstroke is an excellent character in his own right, check him out in the DC animated movies and the Batman Arkham Video games. While he might not be a huge as Deadpool, he can certainly hold his own in any form of storytelling.

What are your thoughts on Deadpool and Deathstroke? Are they the same or different? Let me know in the comments section.

 

Weekly Bookette #10 Genre of the Month September 2016

With school starting up this month, we decided to go back to school with our latest genre of the month article!

Every school has a reading list all students must read throughout the year or during the summer break, and today at skatronixxx we will discuss our favorite school reading list titles!

Tite Kubo: The Storyteller From Hiroshima

Image taken from http://www.azquotes.com/quote/761506

Last August I was asked by phenomenal Stark Wyvern to write an article about Tite Kubo, the author of Bleach, as I had told him I would like to write a few pieces about the lives and characteristics of famous authors, cartoonists and mangakas, starting with Hayao Miyazaki, for Skatronixxx. He himself was writing an article devoted to Tite Kubo and Bleach, published here, as his own personal homage to Kubo and his 15 years of success with Bleach, his greatest and longest work, and which ended this year; although, as Stark states, leaving some doors open to the possibility of future sequels.

I was reading Stark’s tribute and I realised to what an extent this series (which include the manga and TV show, OVAs, films…) has accompanied him for 15 full years of his life no less! He says: “It was the anime that started my love for the world of Anime”, and “The characters are so vivid and life like”. He even mentions he cried when it was rumoured to end in 2011. I hadn’t had the chance to watch much Bleach on TV, and I hadn’t read the manga. But from Stark’s words of affection I understood there was something deep going on there, something that was way beyond the mere Shōnen  topics, the action, and the fights. He underlines that Bleach has managed to be highly successful even against mighty and apparently similar contemporary competitors, like Naruto or the more hilarious One Piece.

I watched a few films and realised Bleach was  (of course, in my personal opinion) somehow much more relatable than these other series, more serious and mature, and indeed there was something special there. Something I couldn’t really pinpoint but which I could sense as well, and which I found enthralling – and I don’t like Shōnen that much! So here’s my reflection, my own  contribution to the homage Stark already posted here, paying tribute to Kubo, to Stark, to every otaku that has ever felt this way while enjoying this great story.

The first enigma one encounters when meeting Bleach for the first time is its very title. Why Bleach, what kind of title is this? What do we use bleach for? One of the best substances to ward off infectious germs and viruses and sanitise our kitchens and bathrooms, bleach, mostly sodium hypochlorite or hydrogen peroxide, is present in most homes around the world. It is also broadly used for its whitening properties, to remove stains and decolorise clothes or even to lighten your hair. But one should not use bleach, or bleaching substances, in a casual manner, for it is also extremely caustic: use too much, leave it unattended, and water becomes undrinkable, the fabric of your clothes break or tear, your skin gets chemically burnt, and let’s not talk about the hair! In sum, bleach is a raw substance, used wisely it can do a lot of good to clean and purify, but spill a little bit more than advised, use a little bit too much… and it spoils everything.

So what might have led Noriaki Kubo, aka Tite Kubo, one of the most prolific and successful mangakas of this century, choose the word ‘bleach’ as the title of his most famous and successful work of 15 years? And in case one thinks it can be dismissed as just a trivial choice – just take a look at the comic’s logo.

Image taken from http://bit.ly/2cwx2bb

Let’s look at him. Tite Kubo was born on the 26^th of June, 1977, in the Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. When learning about this author, I found this very significant for an artist or storyteller. Only 32 years after the atomic bombs were dropped during the Second World War, killing more than 140,000 of its 350,000 inhabitants, the future author was born in a city that had been badly brought to its knees yet was bravely flourishing again. As Bill Powell states at a 2005 report for Time titled “How Hiroshima Rose From The Ashes”, “A city wiped off the map had to be rebuilt in every sense – not just physically but emotionally and psychologically as well.”

The survivors’ initial reactions were extreme shock, a sense of having been dishonoured and desire for revenge – which is only logical. But necessity was first, and recovery was only possible taking a humble, peaceful stance, even if that meant clenching fists and teeth. Not doing that meant perpetuating the conflict. Self-control of raw instinctive emotions like rage and a desire for retaliation had to be toughly disciplined and brought under control, for the sake of survival. So that was the setting for the immediate past behind Tite Kubo, just a few years before he was born. The people in Hiroshima deserved to heal, to hope to thrive again, to move on, not more horror and conflict, and that’s what they strived to achieve. “Renewal and redemption, after all, are at the core of what Hiroshima, 60 years on, represents.” (Powell, 2005).

http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1087168,00.html

Tite Kubo, the son of a town council member in Hiroshima, already knew he wanted to become a mangaka while still in elementary school, although he only started taking his dreams more seriously after he turned 17 and was inspired by Saint Seiya, by Masami Kurumada. He is also a big fan of Akira Toriyama, known worldwide for his famous Dragon Ball series. Growing up in a city that now shines as a powerful and bright symbol of amazing progress and peace advocacy, he was inspired by these authors’ adventures that spoke of friendship, loyalty, strength and the eternal fight of good vs. evil. His very first work was Ultra Unholy Hearted Machine, written in 1996 for the Weekly Shōnen Jump and added later on to the second volume of Zombiepowder, his second work, left unfinished with 27 chapters.

The cover image for Ultra Unholy Hearted Machine depicted a man showing his bare back and three words roughly carved out of his skin: “LOVE EXPOSED DELETE”. This character, Bäinhardt Rosner, together with his partner Tinatina, are Deleters: they make people and buildings disappear. As for Zombiepowder, set in a futuristic, Western-style type of society in which one may encounter from semi-cyborgs to people with magical abilities, it narrates the story of three bounty hunters who are looking for twelve rings, the “Rings of the Dead”, that together can be used to produce the “Zombie Powder”, a kind of magical substance with such powerful healing properties that it can even revive the dead and grant immortality. Zombiepowder was published in the Weekly Shōnen Jump until its cancellation in the year 2000. Inside the varied yet similar topics that characterise the genre of Shōnen, these works that precede Bleach already portray some of the main great themes that will characterise Kubo’s great 15-year-old success as well: purification, decontamination, cleansing what is evil or harmful, deletion and rebirth leading to a new beginning, returning to the original state of purity… well, basically, bleaching.

And, curiously enough, taking into account its past and the history of its recovery, we can ascertain that these themes could very well define the gist, the essence that distinguishes the spirit of the new and cleansed Hiroshima, as well.

Bleach tells the story of Ichigo Kurosaki, a strawberry-blonde, hazel-eyed young man who lost his mother when he was nine because of his ability to see lost souls, or ‘Pluses’, and ‘Hollows’: lost souls who have corrupted to the point of becoming dangerous for both the spiritual and earthly beings. Although during his childhood Ichigo was a very cheerful kid, he became broody and brusque after the death of his mother, unable to overcome his feelings of guilt and to control his temper. Albeit kind-hearted and determined to protect his friends and family until his very last breath, he is frequently engaged in quarrels with thugs and troublemakers, who frequently tease him about the colour of his hair.

Then, at the age of 15 he becomes a substitute shinigami (God of Death). The shinigamis in Bleach are not akin to the grim, sarcastic monsters portrayed in other series like Death Note, written by Tsugumi Ohba and illustrated by Takeshi Obata: they are a sort of spiritual police corps that fight against evil to preserve the order both on Earth and in Soul Society – a Heaven-like realm populated by the people that have already transitioned to the spiritual plane. Shinigamis also rescue lost souls from Hollows and guide them safely to their due destination in the afterlife, be it the Soul Society or Hell depending on the number and gravity of sins they committed while still alive.

When I watched the movies and learned about the plot in Bleach, the way Kubo portrays the Hollows, the lost souls, and the selected people who are able to care about these harmful energies be it on Earth or in another dimension, it immediately reminded me of the Kannushi, the Shintō priests. The Kannushi are dressed in a similar way to Bleach’s main characters, although most of them are fully dressed in black while the Kannushi traditional dress is basically white. The functions of the Kannushi and Bleach’s characters is similar: mediating between human beings and gods and demons, holding purificatory rites, mediumship. Like in Bleach, where Rukia Kushiki and many other female characters are also powerful shinigamis as well, women can also be Shintō priestesses, called Miko, dressed in white and red. The Kannushi also have the authority to conduct weddings. We can say that they are basically Japanese shamans. In fact, the Hollow concept reminded me of the “mud shadows” Don Juan describes to his pupil Carlos Castaneda in his last work The Active Side of Infinity. In it, Don Juan teaches Castaneda about the supernatural shadows that purportedly surround us feed off our ‘good vibe’, consuming our spirit and filling our head with dire thoughts. Curiously enough, the only way to reject this kind of supernatural parasites is mind discipline – bringing your primary passions under control before they lead you to commit violent, destructive actions. It’s basically the same message as in meditation, and also in many other religious-spiritual practices.

But, significatively, and going through many shamanic stages of transformation, this is also the great lesson that Ichigo needs to learn all along the 15 years during which Kubo narrates this great story: moderation, self-control, power applied in its just measure. When your attitude is disciplined, the power of your presence, your actions render purification; when you lose your grip on yourself, somehow damage ensues.

It would seem as if Tite Kubo indulges in playing to resemble his main character as much as possible. His hair is not actually the typical pitch-black Japanese shade, looking a little bit like Ichigo’s in fact, even his haircut. With his expensive shades on and his classy, casual look, the now 39-year-old author looks strikingly young. He pays great attention to his characters’ attire, and even started a clothing line in 1998 based on his designs for Ichigo and his friends. He discreetely got married in 2012.

The Bleach squad is classy. Image taken from http://bit.ly/2bZDzc2

Trying to solve the enigma once and for all, Tite Kubo stated in several interviews that he meant to give this name to the manga, Bleach, precisely because it represents this sharp, caustic transition from darkness to purification and clarity, and that must be handled with care. Nevertheless, he has said too that Bleach is his favourite Nirvana album, and perhaps he was also influenced by this as well. His drawings feature expressive, jagged, broken lines, mostly in pure black and white, with little screentoning. He focuses on the characters, their wounds, their pain, their anguish, their struggle. Ichigo will endure several rites of passage after being initiated as a shinigami: he’ll acquire Hollow powers, even Hellish powers. It’s the shamanic equivalent of discovering and acknowledging your dark side.

The Hollows or evil spirits he encounters use his guilt, his sorrow for his mother’s death against him, and he needs to raise above his past to keep a clear mind and win the fight. The real achievement in Bleach, for Ichigo, will be to master this type of knowledge and discipline. Thus, he becomes able to take proper care about his family and friends, both on Earth and the Spiritual Realms. As a hero, what strikes most about Ichigo is that he loses very often in the battlefield, particularly when he gives in to his short temper, visceral nature and lack of self-control. But he recovers and rises again. That’s what makes Ichigo Kurosaki special as a character: he is not all-perfect, invincible: he may fall, and he may hurt and feel defeated and shamed, but he raises again, stronger than before, cleansed, transformed. Ready to fight anew.

A little bit perhaps like beautiful Hiroshima.

 

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Sources:

https://skatronixxx.com/2016/08/22/bleach-has-ended-after-15-years-of-publication-tite-kubo-i-salute-you/

http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/contributor/tite-kubo

https://prezi.com/qoh7s1qb1pf7/tite-kubo/

https://short-biography.com/tite-kubo.htm

http://bleach.wikia.com/wiki/Tite_Kubo

http://www.japandreamtours.com/culture/shinto/kannushi.html

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/japan/11784827/70-years-after-the-atomic-bombs-Hiroshima-and-Nagasaki-then-and-now.html

http://content.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,1087168,00.html

Book Review: “The Night Gwen Stacy Died” by Sarah Bruni

A girl from a nowhere town in Iowa, desperate to get out, meets a man who goes by the comic book alias of Peter Parker. Crafting herself as Gwen Stacy, Spider-Man’s first love, the two run away together, and try to discover who they are under the masks.

As a huge comic fan, lover of Spider-Man and someone who was devastated by the loss of Gwen Stacy, this book instantly grabbed me. And I was in for a pleasant surprise, because this book contains a tonne of steady comic book references, especially and unsurprisingly to the issue where Gwen Stacy met her unfortunate end.

Fret not if you’re not interested in comics or don’t know much regarding Spider-Man or Gwen Stacy – the book itself provides plenty of background context, as Shiela herself is new to the comic work aswell. However, before starting, I would google what Gwen Stacy and Peter Parker look like in the comics.

The artwork and layout of the book is fantastic and imaginative. There’s symbols at the beginning of each chapter to indicate who’s perspective it’ll be told from, which are very cute and relevant, that’re drawn in sketch-like ways. There’s also the fact that the opening pages of the book scrawl the title across a 2-page spread, in Comic Sans – not looking dissimilar to the opening pages of a comic book.

Their story itself something right out of a comic, both the narrative and characters are acutely aware of it the entire time. As long as you can somewhat suspend your knowledge of reality, it makes for an exciting read!

If you’re also a comic fan with knowledge of the actual Spider-Man issue The Night Gwen Stacy Died, you’ll love how this book explores that story from an outside perspective, and how it handles and manages that particular character arc. The narrative of this book displays how deeply unfair and devastating it was that Spider-Man had everything which should have kept Gwen alive, but she still died anyway. The book did an amazing job of portraying the fans pain, and I think even non-comic fans will be touched and shocked at this particular arc.

The romance aspect of this book is scary at times – Gwen is 17 from some small town who goes along with this mysterious stranger who is nearly 30 and uses a comic book alias – she knows literally nothing about him. The control always seems to switch but realistically, the minor cannot be in control at any stage of this relationship. There’s a heavy feeling that they do love each other – but could it be because they’re falling for the story they’re chasing?

Sheila hasn’t had love before or adventure before, but craves it. “Peter Parker” however seems to know she’ll go along with it, and then he becomes bound to her because she’s following his narrative down to the tiniest details, and he’s now clinging to her. Its actually incredibly creepy and tense at times to watch these two together, because you get lost in their narrative that it’s Gwen Stacy and Peter Parker – but then the book reminds you that it’s a seventeen year old girl and a fully grown adult man with some serious issues together – a very dangerous combination.

The Night Gwen Stacy Died is not a frilly summer read, but it’s not the darkest book in the world either. It’s a fantastic one sitting book perfect for fans of both YA and comic books, and is a twisted take on Spider-Man’s most controversial and heartbreaking story in history

The Night Gwen Stacy Died by Sarah Bruni is an intelligent, cinematic and deeply self aware Young Adult novel with unpredictable turns under the title of comic book histories most recognisable stories.

 

We Review Monty The Dinosaur #1

Variant Cover By Eryk Donovan

 

What would it be like if you were the last talking dinosaur on earth? Would you enjoy the solitude or would you try to fit in with humans desperately? Monty The Dinosaur tackles these questions and more in it’s first all ages issue.

Monty has been in a cave and lonely for a long time. Wanting to make friends, Monty has his doubts about humans not running away at the sight of him. He eventually decides he’s determined to make friends despite his appearance and sets out to do so the best a dinosaur can do to be accepted.

Writer Bob Frantz created a funny 4th wall breaking story that is a joy to read. Many comic book readers now have children of their own (myself included), So even if your child isn’t quite old enough to read or understand a story yet it’s worth picking up for the future. It is rare to find good all ages books these days, and It’s great to see a comic that doesn’t treat kids like they’re dumb.

The Art of Jean Franco is great. To me, It’s like a cross between newspaper comic strip and children’s book style art. Great panel flow and the colours are on point, happy to see it’s not blindingly bright like some all age stories. I showed my one-year-old a page and he smiled and wanted to take it from my computer screen so I can vouch for the arts appeal to children.

 

If you or your child is a hardcore dinosaur fan, this is a must purchase. Regardless of your age or degree of liking dinosaurs, this is a fun comic, and in a world where comics can be too serious at times this is a nice breather. I look forward to the rest of this series.

10/10

 

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Wether you’re a long time reader of Action Lab Entertainment Comics or new to them they have recently changed their rating system for their comics.

NEW RATING SYSTEM:
E: Appropriate for everyone
A: Appropriate for ages 9 and up
T: For readers ages 12 and up
T+: For older teen readers and adults
M: Mature readers 18+

As always you can purchase Monty The Dinosaur at your local comic shop (provided your store ordered the title. This is why pre-orders are necessary for comics!)

You can also purchase a digital copy from Comixology

For more information check out www.actionlabcomics.com

Follow on Twitter: @ActionLab

 

 

Book Review: ‘Rat Queens: Volume Three – Demons” by Kurtis J. Wiebe

“Rat Queens” is the fantasy graphic novel focusing on four misfit friends as they travel on various quests to help – and often end up hurting. Usually themselves.

This volume covers issues #11 – #15, and primarily focus on Hannah’s past, and the dark secrets she’s been hiding from her friends.

Rat Queens is a damn near faultless series. Filled with hilarious comedy, brutal honesty when it comes to the things women really worry about (sex and beard growth) and yet always deeply passionate and touching. The driving loyalty and love between the four female protagonists, and the comics ability to switch seamlessly from gore, to humour, to emotional turmoil and back again make this series so incredible special.

While the past two volumes have been full of epic battles, and the Queens finding their path, this volume feels like it’s picking up the pace and has thrown the Rat Queens through a loop. This volume also primarily focuses on issues of trust – the girls have always seemed like a family, always determined to protect each other to the best if their abilities. However, what families don’t keep secrets from time to time?

The volume also introduces us to a brief side character who I absolutely have to mention – Daniel, the polite, candy-collecting ice dragon. He was such a lovely surprise, and I’m desperate for him to make a comeback. For some reason, I vividly imagined him being voiced by Idris Elba.

The artwork in these volumes has always been visually wonderful. The colours, alongside the sharp, bold lines, make for a beautiful read. Tess Fowler and Tamra Bonvillain make an incredible team, bringing the Rat Queens and their adventures to the pages of the graphic novel.

Overall, this is my favourite volume of Rat Queens so far. Visually epic, side splittingly funny and then bone achingly emotional, it pushes the story along and throws the women into an entirely new chapter of their story.

Marvel Developing ‘New Warriors’ Comedy Series Focused On…Squirrel Girl?

That’s right folks, it seems like Marvel’s looking to add to its dominance of everything by introducing another TV show to the mix.

As initially reported by TV Line, Marvel and ABC Studios are currently developing the show, with it “being shopped around to cable and streaming outlets”. Of course nothing has been officially confirmed by Marvel at this point, however given we know they’ve had several projects in the pipeline for a while now, coupled with the recent surge in interest regarding the character of Squirrel Girl, the reports seem highly likely.

Now the New Warriors themselves have always been a more obscure group of characters. Consisting mainly of teenage and young adult heroes; serving as a younger counterpart to the Avengers, the group haven’t had much success in comic book form. Indeed, the most notable appearance for the group was when they sparked Marvel’s Civil War event, an action that killed most of them off in the process.

Given their rocky history, it seems Marvel is looking to put the emphasis on a central character within the team, and in another outlandish move they’ve chosen this character to be Squirrel Girl. As obscure as the character sounds, high profile name Anna Kendrick (Pitch Perfect) has shown interest in playing the character. Speaking to Net-A-Porter she said:

“My brother sent me a Squirrel Girl comic because he thinks I should. I don’t know what Squirrel Girl does other than be half squirrel, but I could be half squirrel!”

Even ‘Captain America: Civil War’ directors Joe and Anthony Russo said this would be brilliant casting, but given Kendrick has mainly stuck to big screen appearances so far, it’s unclear whether she’d make the transition to TV.

If this rumour turns out to be true, then the series will join a whole heap of Marvel TV shows in the works, including ‘Cloak and Dagger’, ‘The Runaways’, ‘The Defenders’ and ‘The Punisher’. It’s an exciting time indeed to be a Marvel fan.

SPOILER FREE REVIEW || The Remnant Chronicles Booktube Tour

As many of you lovely people saw, I did a lookbook for The Remnant Chronicles! I also wanted to share my thoughts on the series with all of you!

I kept it spoiler free so everyone can watch!

Happy Reading,

ALY

Book Review: ‘The Accident Season’ By Moïra Fowley-Doyle

At the same time every year, for as long as Cara can remember, there has been the accident season. A month of constant injuries and tragedies grips her family and no one knows why.

Until Cara starts seeing a mysterious girl in the backdrop of all her photographs – and then she starts to look deeper into the accident season.

The Accident Season is the ideal read for anyone who’s looking for a gritty read with strange visuals, a dark tale and a hint of the supernatural. It’s also a fairly quick read, so ideal if you’ve got a long rainy day off. (I would recommend a rainy day as the book is set in Ireland in October)

The setting for the book is completely ideal for this type of story. Set in Ireland, which is rife with tales of folklore and fairies, in the dark grim weather of October where Halloween is just around the corner, it’s absolutely ideal for the supernatural occurrences happening in the book.

The visuals in this book are also very nicely done – it’s very vivid, descriptive and makes use of colour a lot, mostly reds and greys. Everything about the book is consistently eerie, and everything feels off and uncomfortable all the time, including the characters.

The ghostly-supernatural element is genuinely quiet scary in this book as well. The constant knowledge of s figure that’s in every single one of Cara’s photographs, even ones from her childhood, is enough to freak anyone out – combined with the progression of the story and the constant oppression the accident season causes, this book leaves you on edge at all times, wondering what is going to happen next.

One thing I will say it that the narrative can get a bit muddled and confusing, and I found myself re-reading lines to make a bit more sense of them or try and unravel the metaphors. While this was fine for me, others may find this daunting or not to their taste.

The Accident Season is a tragic supernatural novel. With creepy, goosebumps inducing visuals, the families sense of anxiety and hopelessness, combined with the shocking reveal of what the accident season is, it’s a book that will give you chills and sit with you for some time on your rainy evening reading.

Book Review: “Monstress: Volume One – Awakening” by Marjorie M. Liu and Sana Takeda

Combining Eastern and Western styles of art and storytelling, Monstress: Volume One – Awakening is the introductory volume of the Monstress series, a tale of humans vs. hybrids in an epic and twisted war, and how a young woman named Maika has ended up as a demon-possessed war criminal. As the tale carries on though, it is brought into question whether the demon possesses Maika, or if she possesses the demon. And with war all around them, it’s impossible to know who to trust or who might be waiting to strike you down.

Monstress is an absolute work of art in every way possible, from the writing to the exceptional artwork. Artwork like the work displayed in this graphic novel is something I have never seen before – the closest I’ve seen are manga and manga covers. It’s so unique to Western comic book artwork, and Takeda’s illustrations lend themselves so beautifully to the story that it’s impossible not to love.

With just the stunning art and colour alone, also comes a plethora of imaginative and wonderful creatures. The giant demons that are created out of the soils of the dead, the unicorns that the soldiers ride into battle, and the Arcana that Maika meet on her journey are so wonderfully unique and awe-inspiring.

The story itself is also completely amazing. There are so many twists, and there’s s lot of information to process in one volume, but Liu lays out the text and pacing so perfectly that whilst everything moved fast, you are able to keep up. Witnessing Maika interact with the demon inside of her, the horrors and propaganda of the war, and even the intermissions from Tam-Tam are all so wonderfully woven together to craft one of the most explicit and imaginative stories that graphic novel readers will ever get the chance to pick up.

Monstress: Volume One – Awakening is one of the most ingeniously crafted, unique and gorgeous graphic novels on the market right now. With a brutally honest storyline and the incredible visuals to go alongside it, Monstress makes for a story you’ll never regret picking up, and nothing like you’ve ever seen before.