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Snug Harbor Stories by Will Henry

Snug Harbor Stories by Will Henry

I used to read a lot of strip-comics collections: I assembled a full set of Doonesbury back in the day, kept up with Dilbert until the writing on the wall was too obvious to ignore [1], and had multiple books from probably a dozen other currently-running strips over the years. But, somehow, the past decade or so has made that seem old-fashioned. Maybe because of so many re-runs (Get Fuzzy, for example, which I still read in the paper but can never tell if it’s actually new, because it generally isn’t) and legacy strips (too many to mention, not that I ever cared for most of them in even their earlier forms), maybe because of just the weight of time.

Will Henry’s Wallace the Brave is probably the first newspaper strip where I’ve read two collections in…ten years? More or less? So I may end up grumping about some aspects of the strip, because what I apparently do best is grump, but let me underline that first: I like this a lot more than just about anything else I’ve seen in a newspaper for a bunch of years.

Snug Harbor Stories  is the second collection of the strip, after the self-titled first book . It was published in 2019, soon after the strip started running in newspapers. (If I’m reading the Wikipedia entry correctly, it had an extended try-out on GoComics starting in 2015, the first book hit in 2017, and it was actively syndicated into papers starting in 2018.)

And this is a strip comic, so this book is the same kind of thing as the first book, only more of it. I feel like the strip these days is really focused on the kids and from their point of view – so, for example, the teacher and parents are seen from a metaphorical kid-height rather than being viewpoints – but some of these earlier strips are more obviously coming from an adult perspective. I enjoyed that difference, but great strips develop focus and stick to it, so the overall change is both expected and admirable.

I also thought there were even more inventive layouts in this book than the first one, which could be Henry getting comfortable with what’s possible within the physical constraints of the strip. My mostly-uninformed idea would be that inventiveness is easier digitally – as when the strip was only on GoComics in the early days – than in print, but maybe newspapers are not quite as hidebound and backwards-thinking as I assume.

I still like Spud as a character a lot better than Wallace, though I don’t think I’m supposed to. Wallace can just be too much of a muchness, constructed to be the eternally wide-eyed optimist dreamer, like a Tom Sawyer with all cynicism and sneakiness surgically extracted. Spud is quirky and weird and particular, like normal people. But one of the things that makes a great comics strip is characters you argue about, even in your own head – strips are formed over time, through lots of moments and jokes and recurring ideas. So even my saying, “I like Wallace the Brave the strip better than I like Wallace the character” is a good sign for the strip as a whole.

Anyway, this is about a bunch of six-year-olds, and, like all comics, they’re smarter and more articulate and have more physical freedom of action than any six-year-olds have ever had in the real world. Calvin and Hobbes is the most obvious predecessor: the two strips have a similar sense of infinite possibility and joy in the outdoors and exploration. But Wallace is more about community and friendship – Wallace himself is central, but he’s not the whole strip. He’s the catalyst or the glue, but the strip is as much about his friends and family as about him specifically.

And Henry is an inventive, somewhat loose artist with great sound-effects, a willingness to draw weird stuff (people, places, layouts – all of it) and a complete and total lack of fussiness at all times. It’s a lovely, always organic-looking strip full of energy and life

I still think the best way to discover a strip is day-by-day rather than in clumps; the good ones stick in your mind even in small doses like that. But, when you’re ready for a larger dose, Snug Harbor Stories (and the book before and, so far, two books after) are there.

[1] From the evidence of my bookshelves, I think this was 15-20 years ago, which is even longer than I thought. I also should note that I wrote this post in early January, before the recent unpleasantness. But Dilbert‘s creator has been a wealth of unpleasantness for quite some time now.

Reposted from The Antick Musings of G.B.H. Hornswoggler, Gent.

Sunburn by Andi Watson and Simon Gane

Sunburn by Andi Watson and Simon Gane

Andi Watson is a criminally underrated maker of comics. He’s done great work for almost three decades now, but I never see him included on the list of greats. Maybe it’s because he never dabbled in the core Wednesday Crowd (is it still Wednesdays? I lose track, and the big day was Friday way back when I cared) comics – the closest he’s ever come is Love Fights , a relationship story set in a superhero universe.

I don’t know Simon Gane’s work as well, but what I’ve seen has been impressive – lush, illustrative pages with style and energy and a clear viewpoint. His Paris , with Watson, is particularly impressive.

So I don’t know how many people were eagerly awaiting their second collaboration, Sunburn , but I was definitely one of them. And the book does not disappoint.

It’s another historical, like Paris. To my eye, it’s set at the beginning of the ’60s, but it could be slightly earlier – there are mostly ’50s cars on the streets, but two-piece bathing suits are generally accepted. (The very first panel is a view of the main character’s room, with a lot of little signifiers – James Dean, some group with guitars I’m not 100% sure of, a record player – to help immerse the reader. Watson and Gane work a lot like that: unobtrusively but clearly showing rather than telling.)

Rachel is sixteen, the only child of a suburban British couple. Her parents seem to be perfectly nice people, a little staid but loving and happy. She unexpectedly gets an invitation, from a business acquaintance of her father’s, to spend the summer in Greece – and that’s the story here, so she accepts.

Close readers will wonder at this to begin with: the connection is very thin, and the invitation is out of the blue: who is this couple, and why are they inviting a sixteen-year-old girl they really don’t know along on vacation with them? Sunburn will explain this all, eventually.

But Rachel does not question her good fortune. She arrives quickly in sunny Greece – exact island and location left unspecified; this is a story about people and maybe the contrast between England and Greece, not about a specific place or historical time – and settles in with Diane and Peter, who are more stylish and young-appearing and sophisticated than she expected. They are friendly, they treat her like their daughter – or maybe a younger sister – and they introduce her to the life of this island, giving her fancy clothes to wear to the regular cocktail parties of their (seemingly quite affluent) set.

Among those introductions – well, central to those introductions – is a young man named Benjamin, whom Diane not-all-that-subtly puts together with Rachel. Again, a perceptive reader will start to think something is going on, and will learn more later.

Sunburn is the story of that place, that summer, and those four characters: Rachel at the center, her relationships with especially Diane and Ben, and Peter in a more distant orbit. I won’t tell you what happens, or why Rachel was invited, but I will say this is a subtle story rather than a brash one, a story about people and relationships.

Watson and Gane tell that story quietly, through gesture and glances as much as anything else. The style is somewhat cinematic; Sunburn is the kind of graphic novel that could be adapted into film without too many changes. And they tell a deep, resonant, grounded story: I didn’t see this until the new year, but it was clearly one of the best books of ’22.

Reposted from The Antick Musings of G.B.H. Hornswoggler, Gent.

Phillip Kennedy Johnson & Nic Klein Take on the Hulk

Phillip Kennedy Johnson & Nic Klein Take on the Hulk

New York, NY— March 8, 2023 — The AGE OF MONSTERS has begun, and the only being who can stop a legion of the world’s most depraved creatures from overtaking the Marvel Universe is the INCREDIBLE HULK! Enter this horror-fueled new era of the strongest there is when writer Phillip Kennedy Johnson and artist Nic Klein relaunch INCREDIBLE HULK this June!

Known for his acclaimed horror storytelling in titles like Alien and Marvel Zombies: Resurrection, Johnson will take Bruce Banner to sinister new depths when a war of monsters erupts with Hulk at its center. And following his explosive run on Thor with Donny Cates, Nic Klein’s skill at capturing the Hulk’s fearsome rage and his panache for body horror will make this the most terrifying book on stands! The pair will also explore Bruce Banner’s psychological state, left in shambles at the end of his latest run with Bruce and the Hulk’s relationship more fractured than ever. Fans will experience a vicious hunt as Hulk is made prey by brand-new monster characters as well as classic favorites, all united in a fiendish new scheme… 

As an enraged Hulk tries to take control of Bruce Banner’s body permanently, a mysterious immortal turns every monster in the Marvel Universe against Banner in an attempt to free their creator, the primordial Mother of Horrors. With the help of an unlikely new friend, Banner and Hulk must try to stop the world from getting plunged into darkness!

“The significance that we’re finally bringing back the classic titleINCREDIBLE HULK is not lost on me. It’s a tremendous honor, and Nic and I have the clearest possible vision for what we want to do with this story,” Johnson explained. “Nic Klein is a genius, and working with him is pushing me to write a story worthy of his very best.”

“Phillip and I put a big serving of monsters, a bit of eldritch gods, a good dash of suspense, and some cool new characters into the cauldron,” Klein added. “We’re trying to serve up a Hulk the readers haven’t seen before. And if they like it half as much as I’m enjoying drawing it, they’re gonna love it.”

“The work that Al, Joe and the rest did with Immortal Hulk was so impactful and spoke so clearly to me personally, it was impossible to come up with an idea that wasn’t inspired by it,” Johnson continued. “We’re getting back to Stan Lee’s Frankenstein/Jekyll & Hyde inspirations for the character, and giving readers a proper monster book in the best, truest Hulk tradition. If you loved Immortal Hulk, if you love ghost stories, if you love Marvel monsters, if you loved old school ‘adventure of the month’ stories from books like Marvel Team-Up, and if you want the best, most timeless Hulk art you’ve ever seen, you DO NOT want to miss this return of INCREDIBLE HULK.” 

World Record Holders by Guy Delisle

World Record Holders by Guy Delisle

This is a flashback: you need to know that first.

Guy Delisle’s comics career has been mostly circling the lands of memoir – a series of longer, more serious books about his travels, created when he was a working animator and/or lived in interesting places of the world (Shenzhen , Pyongyang , Burma Chronicles, Jerusalem ), and a series of shorter, funnier books about his “bad dad” parenting style (User’s Guide , Even More , Owner’s Manual , Handbook ). His most recent major book, Factory Summers , was also in that mode: a look back at the job he went back to, several years in a row, while he was in school.

The outlier is his book Hostage , which is non-fiction and the story of one person’s time in a particular place, but was about someone else, not Delisle himself.

But Delisle’s first couple of books [1]  were stranger, quirkier things: two collections of short wordless comics, full of transformations and uneasy connections, Aline and the Others and Albert and the Others. They were originally published in 1999 and 2001, with North American editions in 2006-7. Like a lot of creators, Delisle started with shorter comics and then turned to book-length stories.

And he was making comics before the Aline and Albert stories – there’s a French book, Réflexion, back in 1996, which I suspect was short comics. If I were a betting man – and I am very much not – I would say some of those stories are probably in this book.

Which finally brings me to World Record Holders , a collection of Delisle’s short, mostly earlier comics. It was translated by Helge Dascher and Rob Aspinall and published in 2022. It collects twenty-two stories, originally appearing in various places – mostly magazines and anthologies, I think, with a whole lot in Lapin, a couple from Deslie’s 2002 French collection Comment ne rien faire, a handful in Spoutnik, and a few other scattered publications – between 1995 and 2014. But the 2014 story is an outlier; other than that, the newest piece is from 2007, and about three-quarters were published by 2002.

These are very much stories by a young creator trying new and different things; the art is mostly similar to Delisle’s mature style, but “similar” covers a lot of ground, and the level of finish varies a lot here, along with other details of line width and shading and use of blacks. That’s a lot of fun to see, and the styles generally work well for the individual stories.

It opens and closes with two short autobio stories, from 2001 and ’02, of Delisle – in very much his modern style – confronting the blank page early in his cartooning career. They make strong bookends, and also help bring the reader into the odder, quirkier material in the middle: most of these comics are not about Delisle at all…in fact, I’d be hard-pressed to make any overall statements about this collection, to say what it’s “about” in any comprehensive way. 

There are stories that may have been experiments, or try-outs, or explorations. Shaggy dog stories, artistic exercises, a few pieces of short autobio. A whole lot of a variety, in art and tone and matter and style – but all Delisle, all pretty successful, all enjoyable to read. And, yes, there is a title story – it’s buried, almost exactly in the middle, so you’ll have to find it to learn what records Delisle is talking about.

[1] In English translation, at least – assuming that means something for wordless comics. I see from Wikipedia that Delisle did a number of books in French that have never been translated, and I’m particularly intrigued by the “Inspecteur Moroni” series.

Reposted from The Antick Musings of G.B.H. Hornswoggler, Gent.

CLassic Fleischer Superman Cartoons Remastered for Blu-Ray

CLassic Fleischer Superman Cartoons Remastered for Blu-Ray

BURBANK, CA (March 8, 2023) – Warner Bros. Discovery has meticulously remastered Max Fleischer’s treasured set of 17 animated Superman shorts from the original 35mm source elements. Max Fleischer’s Superman 1941-1943 will be available to purchase Digitally on HD and on Blu-ray May 16, 2023.

Superman made his comic book debut in 1938, appearing in Action Comics #1 (dated June 1938, but officially published on April 18, 1938), and the Man of Steel’s popularity grew with his subsequent radio program. Max Fleischer gave the world’s first Super Hero his initial animated spotlight, producing 17 theatrical animated shorts from September 1941 to July 1943 that further elevated the character’s profile, and added many significant aspects to his canon – including coining many of Superman’s patented catchphrases and attributes.

Warner Bros. Discovery’s advanced remastering process began with a 4K, 16-bit scan of Fleischer’s original 35mm successive exposure negative. Staying true to the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.37-to-1, the highest quality raw image was then scanned and then entered into the recombine process – utilizing special proprietary software to merge the successive exposure Technicolor negatives into a single RGB color image. The end result are pristine animated shorts that have been restored to the animators’ originally intended production quality.

Well known radio actors Clayton “Bud” Collyer and Joan Alexander reprised their famed The Adventures of Superman radio show roles for the Fleischer/Famous Studios animated shorts as Superman/ Clark Kent and Lois Lane, respectively. Jackson Beck provided the voice of Perry White and the show’s primary narrator. Additional voices, many of whom had participated in the Superman radio program, were provided by Jack Mercer, Grant Richards, Julian Noa, Lee Royce, Max Smith, Sam Parker and Carl Meyer.

Max Fleischer’s Superman 1941-1943 will be available on May 16, 2023 to purchase Digitally in HD from Amazon Prime Video, AppleTV, Google Play, Vudu and more, and on Blu-ray at major retailers both online and in-store.

EPISODES (AND PREMIERE DATE):

  • Superman (Mad Scientist) – 9/26/1941
  • The Mechanical Monsters – 11/28/1941
  • Billion Dollar Limited – 1/9/1942
  • Arctic Giant – 2/27/1942
  • The Bulleteers – 3/27/1942
  • The Magnetic Telescope – 4/24/1942
  • Electric Earthquake – 5/15/1942
  • Volcano – 7/10/1942
  • Terror on the Midway – 8/28/1942
  • The Japoteurs – 9/18/1942
  • Showdown – 10/16/1942
  • The Eleventh Hour – 11/20/1942
  • Destruction, Inc. – 12/25/1942
  • The Mummy Strikes – 2/19/1943
  • Jungle Drums – 3/26/1943
  • Underground World – 6/18/1943
  • Secret Agent – 7/30/1943

SPECIAL FEATURES INCLUDE:

New Featurette – Superman: Speeding Toward Tomorrow – Superman’s exploits in the Fleischer series modernized the monomyth of the Greek godlike hero and expanded and romanticized the prevalent themes of sci-fi and fantasy. It was this combination of heartfelt storytelling, relatable heroes and amazing visuals that has endeared the Fleischer series to fans as one of the greatest superhero stories of all time. This featurette explores the visual storytelling as the lavish animation, with special attention paid to all the atomic age technology, pushes science fiction closer to becoming a powerful social and pop culture force.

Featurette – First Flight: The Fleischer Superman Series – The Origins and Influence of This Groundbreaking Cartoon Series – A gathering of contemporary animators, comic book & animation historians, and legendary Fleischer artists examine these beloved shorts, focusing on the animation and the breakthrough techniques that created it, as well as studying the title character’s place in history.

Featurette – The Man, the Myth, Superman: Exploring the Tradition of Superman Heroes on the Page and Screen – A fascinating study of Superman-esque characters throughout history – in ancient myth, literature and film – that bring forth imaginative, super-human qualities, captivating audiences and enduring the test of time.

Pricing and film information:

PRODUCT                                                     SRP

Digital HD Purchase                                       $14.99 USA and CANADA

Blu-ray                                                            $33.99 USA, 39.99 CANADA

Languages: English

Subtitles: English, French

Running Time: 145 minutes

REVIEW: The Adventures of Batman

REVIEW: The Adventures of Batman

Filmation caught lightning in a bottle. In 1965 or so, with no real money or track record, they bamboozled DC Comics into licensing Superman for animated fare. Just as the Man of Steel flew to his Broadway debut and Batmania was sweeping the country, they gave us Superman cartoons, followed by Aqualand and friends. Finally, in 1968, six months after the live-action series left ABC, CBS Saturday Morning welcomed The Batman/Superman Hour, mixing the 1966 super-doings with brand new 12-minute Bat-capades.

All 34 capers are now packaged in remastered form as The Adventures of Batman, a two-disc set from Warner Home Entertainment. At 10, I was delighted by these, even if some of the equipment and villains didn’t look quite on model, and even at that tender age, I recognized how many shots were reused to stretch the animation budget.

They played it straight and in animated form, worked without the camp element that propelled the live-action series to stratospheric heights. In a mere dozen minutes, we have a villain, conflict, death trap, battle, and quips between the Dynamic Duo. It was pleasing fare that went nicely with a bowl of cereal.

Olen Soule’s Batman was solid and serious with Casey Kasem’s Robin not sounding right. He just couldn’t vary his voice enough for the parts he played, which included Chief O’Hara. Ted Knight, the redoubtable narrator, does better with his Commissioner Gordon, Penguin, Riddler, Mr. Freeze, Scarecrow, and Mad Hatter.

Dennis Marks, Bill Keenan, and Oscar Bensol were all animation veterans, with Marks going back to the beginning a few years before. They were joined by DC writers Bob Haney and George Kashdan, who both cut their teeth on the earlier Aquaman stories. Interestingly, they use the villainous heavy-hitters and add in Scarecrow, who never made it to live-action. Conversely, none of the live-action original foes are seen here. Instead, we get Simon the Pieman as a repeat offender.

Looking at them now, though, you see they were not terribly well-thought-out, and certainly, the conflicts and fights were pedestrian without the outrageousness of the ABC incarnation. It didn’t closely resemble either the Adam West-led series or the Julie Schwartz-edited comic books, so doesn’t particularly work well. This set is for nostalgia only.

The 1080p high definition transfer is definitely superior to the 2014 DVD collection but it also makes the limited animation more glaring. Thank goodness things move quickly enough you don’t pay attention. The best looking Batman is the Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez style guide art that graces the box. The DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio mix is perfectly fine for what we’re dealing with.

The two-disc set presents zero extras nor is there a digital HD code.

DISC ONE

My Crime Is Your Crime / A Bird Out of Hand

The Cool, Cruel Mr. Freeze / The Joke’s on Robin

How Many Herring in a Wheelbarrow? / In Again, Out Again Penguin

The Nine Lives of Batman / Long John Joker

Bubi, Bubi, Who’s Got the Ruby? / The 1001 Faces of the Riddler

The Big Birthday Caper / Two Penguins Too Many

Partners in Peril / The Underworld Underground Caper

Hizzoner the Joker / Freeze’s Frozen Vikings

The Crime Computer / The Great Scarecrow Scare

DISC TWO

A Game of Cat and Mouse / Beware of Living Dolls

Will the Real Robin Please Stand Up? / He Who Swipes the Ice, Goes to the Cooler

Simon the Pieman / A Mad, Mad Tea Party

From Catwoman with Love / Perilous Playthings

A Perfidious Pieman Is Simon / Cool, Cruel Christmas Caper

The Fiendishly Frigid Fraud / Enter the Judge

The Jigsaw Jeopardy / Wrath of the Riddler

It Takes Two to Make a Team / Opera Buffa

Marvel to Introduce 20th Century Studios Imprint Next Month

Marvel to Introduce 20th Century Studios Imprint Next Month

New York, NY— March 3, 2023 — Announced today with The Hollywood Reporter, Marvel Comics will be launching its first-ever 20th Century Studios comic book imprint this April!

The new imprint will kick off with PLANET OF THE APES #1, on sale April 5, shortly followed by Marvel’s upcoming ALIEN and PREDATOR comic book series. Fans will see the 20th Century Studios comic book imprint reflected on PLANET OF THE APES, ALIEN and PREDATOR covers beginning with PLANET OF THE APES #1, ALIEN #1, and PREDATOR #2 in April and moving forward.

“Ever since we announced our Alien and Predator comics, we hoped to create a special space within our comics line to go even bigger and bolder and keep building on the iconic moments from these properties that we all know and love. This 20th Century Studios comics imprint, in collaboration with our friends at 20th Century Studios, is the perfect way to do that,” said C.B. Cebulski, Editor-in-Chief, Marvel Comics. “Now that we’re bringing back Planet of the Apes again through classic comic book storytelling, we are absolutely thrilled to officially launch this imprint for the fans, and we’re all honored to expand upon it in the coming months.”

Marvel Comics’ new imprint will draw upon 20th Century Studios’ award-winning and pop culture-defining franchises that have reached millions of fans around the globe, including iconic franchises like Planet of the Apes, Predator, Alien, and more.

“We’ve had a blast working with C.B. and his team and, as lifetime Marvel comics fans, it’s an honor to be a part of such an enduring creative legacy,” said Steve Asbell, President, 20th Century Studios. “We think fans will love the fresh takes on these beloved, iconic movies.”

For over 80 years, Marvel and 20th Century Studios each have established a legacy of storytelling that has lasted for generations. The 20th Century Studios imprint from Marvel marks the next collaborative chapter to bring those stories to life – new and classic characters, worlds, universes, and more – all in the grand tradition of classic Marvel Comics.

Marvel began publishing its latest ALIEN comic book series in 2021 and its latest PREDATOR comic book series in 2022, both to critical acclaim.

In 1996, Marvel partnered with Paramount Pictures to label their licensed titles as Paramount Comics, starting with an adaptation of Mission: Impossible, followed by Star Trek titles. The imprint lasted about two years.

Star Trek: Lower Decks S3 Docks for Home Video in April

Star Trek: Lower Decks S3 Docks for Home Video in April

The U.S.S. Cerritos crew is back when STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS SEASON 3 arrives on DVD on April 25. Currently sitting at a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS SEASON 3 includes all 10 episodes from the latest season plus exclusive audio commentaries from cast and crew, a look behind the episodes, a Season 3 Lower Decktionary and an entertaining voyage into Deep Space Nine.
 
Created by Emmy® Award winner Mike McMahan, Season 3 of STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS challenges the U.S.S. Cerritos ensigns in (hilarious) ways they could never imagine, starting with a shocking resolution for Season 2’s epic cliffhanger finale. This 2-Disc collection includes every episode, along with over 45 minutes of special features. Also featuring guest appearances by Nana Visitor (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine) and Armin Shimerman (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine).
Special Features:      

Audio Commentary by Jonathan Frakes, Tawny Newsome and Mike McMahan (Ep. 301)
                                    Docking at Deep Space 9 (Ep. 306)
                                    Audio Commentary by Nana Visitor, Armin Shimerman, Tawny Newsome, Noël Wells, Jack                                       Quaid, Eugene Cordero and Mike McMahan (Ep. 306)
                                    Audio Commentary by Barry Kelly, Kether Donohue and Mike McMahan (Ep. 307)
                                    Audio Commentary by Tawny Newsome, Noël Wells, Jack Quaid, Jerry O’ Connell and Mike                                     McMahan (Ep. 308)
                                    Audio Commentary by Jack Quaid, Dawnn Lewis and Fred Tatasciore (Ep. 310)
                                    Lower Decktionary Season 3
 
STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS SEASON 3 will also be available on Blu-ray manufactured on demand and digital.*
*Special features available digitally with the purchase of the full season. 
 
Specifications:           Widescreen Format
                                    English 5.1 Dolby Digital
                                    English SDH Subtitles
 
U.S. Rating:               Not Rated
 
Canadian Rating:     PG
 
Run Time:                 4:17:54    257:54:00

Storm Reid’s Missing Finds a Home in March

Storm Reid’s Missing Finds a Home in March

SYNOPSIS

From the minds behind Searching comes Missing, a thrilling roller-coaster mystery that makes you wonder how well you know those closest to you. When her mother (Nia Long) disappears while on vacation in Colombia with her new boyfriend, June’s (Storm Reid) search for answers is hindered by international red tape. Stuck thousands of miles away in Los Angeles, June creatively uses all the latest technology at her fingertips to try and find her before it’s too late. But as she digs deeper, her digital sleuthing raises more questions than answers…and when June unravels secrets about her mom, she discovers that she never really knew her at all.

BONUS MATERIALS 
BLU-RAY™ AND DIGITAL

  • Deleted Scenes
  • Hunting for the MISSING Easter Eggs
  • Behind-The-Scenes Featurettes:
    • Storm Reid and the Challenge of MISSING
    • Misdirects, Online Crimes and the Social Media Mystery
    • The Screens that Rule Our Lives
  • Filmmaker Commentary

DVD

  • Behind-The-Scenes Featurettes:
    • Storm Reid and the Challenge of MISSING
    • Misdirects, Online Crimes and the Social Media Mystery
    • The Screens that Rule Our Lives
  • Filmmaker Commentary

Blu-ray™ and DVD include a digital code for movie and bonus materials as listed above, redeemable via Movies Anywhere for a limited time. Movies Anywhere is open to U.S. residents age 13+. Visit MoviesAnywhere.com for terms and conditions.

CAST AND CREW

Directed By: Will Merrick and Nick Johnson
Screenplay By: Nick Johnson & Will Merrick
Produced By: Natalie Qasabian, Sev Ohanian, Aneesh Chaganty
Executive Producers: Timur BekmambetovAdam Sidman, Jo Henriquez         
Cast: Storm Reid, Nia Long, Joaquim De Almeida, Ken Leung, Amy Landecker, Daniel Henney

SPECS

Runtime: Approx. 110 minutes 
Rating: PG-13: Some Strong Violence, Language, Teen Drinking and Thematic Material.
Blu-ray™: Feature: 1080p High Definition / 1.78:1 • Audio: English 5.1 DTS-HD MA, French (Doublé au Québec), Spanish, English & French (Doublé au Québec) – Audio Description Tracks 5.1 Dolby Digital • Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish • Color • Mastered in High Definition.
DVD: Feature: 1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen • Audio: English, French (Doublé au Québec), Spanish 5.1 Dolby Digital, English & French (Doublé au Québec) • Audio Description Tracks Stereo • Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish • Color • Some of the information in the above listing may not apply to Special Features.

Warner will Release 5 Superman Film 4K Steelbook Set

Warner will Release 5 Superman Film 4K Steelbook Set

Burbank, Calif., March 1, 2023 – As part of the year-long centennial celebration for the 100th anniversary of Warner Bros. Studio, five films featuring the iconic DC Super Hero Superman – Superman: The Movie, Superman II, Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut, Superman III, and Superman IV – will be available for purchase in a five-film collection on 4K Ultra HD Disc and Digital on April 18.

Based on the DC character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the Superman films star Christopher Reeve as the legendary “Man of Steel.”

On April 18, the Superman 1978 – 1987 5-Film Collection will be available to purchase on Ultra HD Blu-ray™ Disc from online and in-store at major retailers and available for purchase Digitally from Amazon Prime Video, AppleTV, Google Play, Vudu, and more.

The Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Packs will include an Ultra HD Blu-ray disc with the feature films in 4K with HDR, a Blu-ray disc with the feature films and special features in HD, and a Digital version of each film.

Ultra HD Blu-ray showcases 4K resolution with High Dynamic Range (HDR) and a wider color spectrum, offering consumers brighter, deeper, more lifelike colors for a home entertainment viewing experience like never before.

For the complete 4K Ultra HD experience with HDR, a 4K Ultra HD TV with HDR, an Ultra HD Blu-ray player and a high-speed HDMI (category 2) cable are required.

Ultra HD Blu-ray Elements
Superman: The Movie Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack contains the following previously released special features on Blu-ray Disc:
Commentary by Ilya Salkind and Pierre Spangler
The Making of Superman – vintage featurette
Superman and the Mole-Men – vintage featurette
Super-Rabbit – 1943 WB cartoon
Snafuperman – 1944 WB cartoon
Stupor Duck – 1956 WB cartoon
TV Spot
Teaser Trailer
Theatrical Trailer

Superman II Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack contains the following previously released special features on Blu-ray Disc:
Commentary by Ilya Salkind and Pierre Spengler
The Making of Superman II – 1980 TV Special
Superman’s Soufflé – Deleted scene
Fleischer Studios’ Superman vintage cartoons
First Flight
The Mechanical Monster
Billion Dollar Limited
The Arctic Giant
The Bulleteers
The Magnetic Telescope
Electric Earthquake
Volcano
Terror on the Midway
Theatrical trailer

Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack contains the following previously released special features on Blu-ray Disc:
Commentary by Richard Donner and Tom Mankiewicz
Introduction by Richard Donner – featurette
Superman II: Restoring the Vision – featurette
Deleted scenes
Lex and Ms. Teschmacher head north
Lex and Ms. Teschmacher head south
The villains enter the fortress
He’s all yours, boys
Clarke and Jimmy
Lex’s gateway
Famous Studios vintage cartoons
Japoteurs
Showdown
Eleventh Hour
Destruction, Inc.
The Mummy Strikes
Jungle Drums
The Underground World
Secret Agent

Superman III Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack contains the following previously released special features on Blu-ray Disc:
Commentary by Ilya Salkind and Pierre Spengler
The Making of Superman III – 1983 TV special
Deleted scenes
Save my baby
To the rescue
Making up
Going to see the boss
Hatching the plan
The con
Rooftop ski
Boss wants this to go
Superman honored
Gus’ speech
Hanging up on Brad
Theatrical trailer

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace Ultra HD Blu-ray Combo Pack contains the following previously released special features on Blu-ray Disc:
Commentary by Mark Rosenthal
Superman 50th anniversary special – 1988 TV special
Deleted scenes
Clark’s morning
Jeremy’s letter
Superman’s visit
Nuclear Man’s prototype
Metropolis after hours
Lex ponders
Flying sequence (extended scene)
Battle in Smallville
Battle in the U.S.S.R.
Nuclear arms race
Superman’s sickness
Red alert
By my side
Lark and Lacy say goodbye
No borders
Theatrical trailer

About the Films:

Superman: The Movie
Academy Award winners Marlon Brando and Gene Hackman head an all-star cast in the fantastic, action-packed film that made Christopher Reeve an international star playing the greatest superhero of all time. From the doomed planet of Krypton, two parents launch a spaceship carrying their infant son to earth. Here he grows up to become Clark Kent, mild-mannered reporter for the Metropolis Daily Planet. But with powers and abilities far beyond those of ordinary men, he battles for truth and justice as Superman.

An Alexander Salkind presentation and directed by Richard Donner (The Goonies, Lethal Weapon, The Lost Boys), the film stars Academy Award winner Marlon Brando (On the Waterfront, The Godfather) as Jor-El, Academy Award winner Gene Hackman (The French Connection, Unforgiven) as Lex Luthor, Margot Kidder as Lois Lane, and Christopher Reeve as Clark Kent/Superman.

Based on the DC character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, Superman was produced by Pierre Spengler from a story by Mario Puzo and a screenplay by Puzo, David Newman, Leslie Newman, and Robert Benton. Ilya Salkind served as executive producer. The film also features Ned Beatty as Otis, Jackie Cooper as Perry White, Glen Ford as Jonathan Kent, Margot Kidder as Lois Lane, Valerie Perrine as Eve Teschmacher, and Terrance Stamp as General Zod.

Superman was nominated for three Academy Awards, including Best Film Editing, Best Music (Original Score) and Best Sound. The film also received a Special Achievement Academy Award for Visual Effects. In 2017, Superman was inducted into the Library of Congress National Film Registry.

SYNOPSIS
Superman II (Theatrical Version)
Unwittingly released from Phantom Zone imprisonment, three superpowered Planet Krypton criminals Terence Stamp, Sarah Douglas and Jack O’Halloran) plan to enslave Earth – just when Superman (Christopher Reeve) decides to show a more romantic side to Lois Lane (Margot Kidder). Gene Hackman also returns as Lex Luthor in this sequel that features a top supporting cast, witty Richard Lester direction, and visuals that astound and delight.

Directed by Richard Lester (A Hard Day’s Night, The Three Musketeers), the film stars Academy Award winner Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor, Margot Kidder as Lois Lane, and Christopher Reeve as Clark Kent/Superman.
Based on the DC character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the film was produced by Pierre Spengler from a story by Mario Puzo and a screenplay by Puzo, David Newman, and Leslie Newman. Alexander Salkind and Ilya Salkind served as executive producer. The film also features Ned Beatty as Otis, Jackie Cooper as Perry White, Sarah Douglas as Ursa, Jack O’Halloran as Non, Valerie Perrine as Eve Teschmacher, Susannah York as Lara, and Terrence Stamp as General Zod.

Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
Director Richard Donner began shooting Superman II while concurrently filming Superman: The Movie, though the theatrical version of the film was ultimately directed by Richard Lester. In 2006, Donner’s original unique vision was released for the first time. Jor-El (Marlon Brando in footage cut from the theatrical version) appears in key scenes that amplify Superman lore and deepen the relationship between father and son. Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) plots more schemes to unmask Clark Kent as Superman (Christopher Reeve). With so many changes, large and small, including a different beginning and resolution, this version is an eye-opening alternate experience.

Directed by Richard Donner, the film stars Academy Award winner Marlon Brando as Jor-El, Academy Award winner Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor, Margot Kidder as Lois Lane, and Christopher Reeve as Clark Kent/Superman.
Based on the DC character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the film was produced by Pierre Spengler and Michael Tau from a story by Mario Puzo and a screenplay by Puzo, David Newman, and Leslie Newman. Ilya Salkind served as executive producer. The film also features Ned Beatty as Otis, Jackie Cooper as Perry White, Sarah Douglas as Ursa, Jack O’Halloran as Non, Valerie Perrine as Eve Teschmacher, Susannah York as Lara, and Terrence Stamp as General Zod.

Superman III
Meet Gus Gorman (Richard Pryor), a naive computer-programming natural. For him, a keyboard is a weapon – and, as a result, Superman faces the microelectronic menace of his life. Christopher Reeve reprises his signature role, deepening his character’s human side as Clark Kent sees Lana Lang (Annette O’Toole) at a Smallville High class reunion. And when the Man of Steel becomes his own worst enemy after exposure to Kryptonite, Reeve pulls off both roles with dazzling skill. Relive Superman III with all its heart, heroism and high-flying humor.

Directed by Richard Lester, the film stars Christopher Reeve as Clark Kent/Superman and Margot Kidder as Lois Lane.
Based on the DC character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the film was produced by Pierre Spengler from a screenplay by David Newman and Leslie Newman. Alexander Salkind and Ilya Salkind served as executive producer. The film also features Richard Pryor as Gus Gorman, Jackie White as Perry White, Marc McClure as Jimmy Olsen, Annette O’Toole as Lana Lang, and Robert Vaughn as Ross Webster.

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
Christopher Reeve not only dons the title hero’s cape for the fourth time but also helped develop the movie’s provocative theme: nuclear disarmament. To make the world safe for nuclear arms merchants, Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman) creates a new being to challenge the Man of Steel: the radiation-charged Nuclear Man (Mark Pillow). The two foes clash in an explosive extravaganza that sees Superman save the Statue of Liberty, plug the volcanic eruption of Mount Etna and rebuild the demolished Great Wall of China.

Directed by Sydney J. Furie (The Ipcress File, Iron Eagle), the film stars Academy Award winner Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor, Margot Kidder as Lois Lane, and Christopher Reeve as Clark Kent/Superman.

Based on the DC character created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the film was produced by Yoram Globus and Menahem Golan from a story by Christopher Reeve & Lawrence Konner and Mark Rosenthal and a screenplay by Konner & Rosenthal. The film also features Jackie Cooper as Perry White, Marc McClure as Jimmy Olsen, Jon Cryer as Lenny, Sam Wanamaker as David Warfield, Mark Pillow as Nuclear Man, and Mariel Hemingway as Lacy Warfield.

BASICS

PRODUCT ERP
Superman 1978 – 1987 5-Film Collection $99.99
4K Ultra HD Combo Pack

Superman: The Movie
Ultra HD Blu-ray Languages: English, Spanish, French
Ultra HD Blu-ray Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
Run Time: 143 minutes
Rating: Not Rated
Physical Street Date: 4/18
Digital Street Date: 4/18

Superman II
Ultra HD Blu-ray Languages: English, Spanish, French
Ultra HD Blu-ray Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
Run Time: 127 minutes
Rating: PG
Physical Street Date: 4/18
Digital Street Date: 4/18

Superman II: The Richard Donner Cut
Ultra HD Blu-ray Languages: English, Spanish, French
Ultra HD Blu-ray Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
Run Time: 116 minutes
Rating: PG For sequences of action violence, some language, and brief mild sensuality
Physical Street Date: 4/18
Digital Street Date: 4/18

Superman III
Ultra HD Blu-ray Languages: English, Spanish, French
Ultra HD Blu-ray Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
Run Time: 125 minutes
Rating: PG
Physical Street Date: 4/18
Digital Street Date: 4/18

Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
Ultra HD Blu-ray Languages: English, Spanish, French
Ultra HD Blu-ray Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish, French
Run Time: 90 minutes
Rating: PG
Physical Street Date: 4/18
Digital Street Date: 4/18