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Book-A-Day 2018 #308: The Complete Geisha by Andi Watson

Andi Watson, I think, started off expecting to tell stories of action and adventure in comics, with a fantastic flair, but kept finding those stories turning more personal and character-focused as he told them. (I could say “more mundane,” but that sounds like an insult. It isn’t: life itself is mundane. But it sounds that way.)

That happened on a large scale with his first major series, Skeleton Key , which I re-read earlier this year. And it happened on a smaller canvas with Geisha, the four-issue series that he created in between the main run of Skeleton Key and the four-part “Roots” coda in 1999.

The Complete Geisha  is the 2003 book that collects all of the Geisha work up to that point — I think there might be some later short stories, but this could be it. It collects the main four-part story from the fall of 1998, a one-shot follow-up from 2000, and a few short related stories.

There’s no geisha in the book — at least, not any obvious one. Jomi Sohodo is an android raised in a human family — this seems to be rare, if not unique — who wants to be an artist, even though it’s heavily hinted that her line was designed as sexbots. She doesn’t want to work in the family bodyguard business, as her three human brothers do, but it’s paying work, and she has a hard time selling her paintings, so she ends up, over the course of the original story, in the family business. And that leads to drama and complications, as the body she guards is a top model with an angry ex-manager/boyfriend and her new art patron is a nasty gangster.

I don’t know if Watson expected to tell a story of androids in human society, or if the sexbot thing was ever supposed to pay off. But Jomi is the only android we see, in a society that I think is supposed to be full of them, and he seems less interested in the running around and bodyguarding than he is with Jomi’s struggles to get into the art world and the compromises she has to do along the way.

The one-shot, two years later, is in Watson’s softer mature style — and I could mean both the art and the story. There’s more shading in the art, rounder edges , and very little “action” in the usual comics sense. And it’s about Jomi as a person, particularly her relationship with one brother starting a new band, rather than anything plottier.

So this is transitional Watson, starting from the story he thought he wanted to tell (or that he thought the market wanted, or someone told him to make for that market) towards more individual stories like Love Fights  or Little Star . Transitions are quirky, individual things, and Geisha shows some of that in its shape, but it’s still a good Watson comic about art and family and finding your place in the world.

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

National Graphic Novel Writing Month 2018

National Graphic Novel Writing Month Day 4: Don’t be a Player

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  • November 4, 2018

National Graphic Novel Writing Month 2018

Day 4 of #NaGraNoWriMo! Last time, I told you that a full script for comics can look very deceptively like somethings it should never be… and those are plays: both traditional stage plays and screenplays.

Why? Because they simply don’t describe the same things.

The single most important difference between a play script and a comic book script is that a comic story is made up of single frozen moments that express something, most often either an action or an emotion.

Plays don’t do that. Plays describe ongoing action and motion, and comics are not built to do that, as they’re made out of single images. You’re not writing in documentary, you’re writing in newspaper photographs.

Take one of the most famous photographs of all time:

You can’t tell if someone just put on his hat. You can’t even tell if someone is blinking. What you can tell is that each person is doing a specific action, some of which are in reaction to other actions.

That’s the best you can hope for– that each person in the shot gets an action, and that the image expresses something.

David Mack, author of the WWII dark fantasy thriller The Midnight Front, wrote about this for us previously:

When describing a scene in a film/TV script, one can describe continuous actions with great economy. For instance, a line of action in a screenplay might read, “Porter gets up from the table, picks up the phone, and uses it to smash in Resnick’s skull.” The reason this direction works in a screenplay is that it’s a blueprint for a motion picture—emphasis on motion. That one sentence might end up being depicted with a half-dozen different shots edited together in a film, but in the script, one needs to describe only the continuous series of actions.

Comic-book scripts are not blueprints of moving action but instructions from which an artist will render sequences of static images that imply movement by breaking down an action into decisive images across any number of panels.

What that means for the story you’re telling is the one thing you may have hoped you’d never have to deal with as a writer… math.

 

The Incredibles 2 Releases Bonus Features

In case you missed it this summer, Disney Home Entertainment is releasing The Incredibles 2 on disc this Tuesday, giving you something to do after you vote. In anticipation of this release, the studio has begun sending out some of the bonus material to be found on the Blu-ray.

For starters there’s the Fashion of Edna Mode.  Edna “E” Mode (voice of Brad Bird) possesses impeccable design sense, a keen understanding of cutting-edge technology and an unmatched skillset. A creative visionary, she longs for the return of Supers so she can once again create functional yet cutting-edge supersuits.

Concept Art – Edna Mode Fashion Models – Concept art features design work by Deanna Marsigliese and Tony Fucile, highlighting Edna Mode’s fashion show and her rival supersuit designer, Galbaki, who craves fame and attention yet ultimately did not make the final cut of the film.

There’s also a deleted scene called Fashion Show that apparently never made it out of the animatic stage.

And we also have Designing Fabulous

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National Graphic Novel Writing Month 2018

National Graphic Novel Writing Month Day 3: Plot First vs. Full Script

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  • November 3, 2018

National Graphic Novel Writing Month 2018

Day 3 of #NaGraNoWriMo. Now that you’ve decided the format your graphic novel is going to take, you have to decide how you’re going to write it. For that, we have to discuss the two major schools of comics writing: Plot First vs. Full Script.

Plot First is occasionally known as “Marvel method” because Stan Lee used it a lot when he was creating the Marvel Universe and writing eight books a month in the 60s— he would pitch a plot to artists like Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, Don Heck, etc., discuss it with them and maybe type up a quick page or two for notes. Then the artist would pencil the story, after which Stan would script the captions and dialogue to fit the art. The advantage for the writer is knowing what the art looks like, and how much room there is for text, when scripting. The disadvantage(?) is that the writer loses control over pacing and composition of the art, and may get surprised when the art comes back and there’s this silvery surfer in the middle of the story, or some other addition or omission. We don’t recommend this method at all unless you have an existing relationship with the artist and editor and trust them.

It can also lead to a sort of laziness on behalf of the writer: Frank Miller’s recent one line in a plot that John Romita Jr. turned into TEN PAGES of artwork.

Full Script: writing a complete script with panel descriptions, based on which the artist then draws the story. Advantages: the writer has more control over layout and pacing, although an artist will still find ways to misinterpret your script. Disadvantages: it takes longer to write (and may not save the artist any time), and you may need to tweak your dialogue and captions to fit the art anyway.

Because we don’t want to slough too much of the writing onto the artist for our purposes, we’re going to discuss Full Script. There’s one other method, but we’re going to save that for a bit later in our discussion, because we’re going to use elements of it in writing our script.

So what does a full script for comics look like? Well, it can look very deceptively like something it should never be… which we’ll discuss tomorrow.

DreamWorks’ She-Ra and the Princesses of Power Moves Debut to Nov. 13

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  • November 2, 2018

With fan anticipation reaching a fever pitch, DreamWorks Animation Television is excited to announce that She-Ra and the Princesses of Power will now debut November 13th exclusively on Netflix. 

To celebrate the earlier release, DreamWorks has released a new trailer unveiling never-before-seen footage and a preview of the series theme song titled “Warriors.”

Inspired by the popular ‘80s animated series, DreamWorks She-Ra and the Princesses of Power tells the epic story of an orphan named Adora, who leaves behind her former life in the evil Horde when she discovers a magic sword that transforms her into the mythical warrior princess She-Ra. Along the way, she finds a new family in the Rebellion as she unites a group of magical princesses in the ultimate fight against evil.

 

Aimee Carrero (Elena of Avalor) stars as Adora/She-Ra, Karen Fukuhara (Suicide Squad) as Glimmer, AJ Michalka (The Goldbergs) as Catra, Marcus Scribner (black-ish) as Bow, Reshma Shetty (Royal Pains) as Angella, Lorraine Toussaint (Orange is the New Black) as Shadow Weaver, Keston John (The Good Place) as Hordak, Lauren Ash (Superstore) as Scorpia, Christine Woods (Hello Ladies) as Entrapta, Genesis Rodriguez (Time After Time) as Perfuma, Jordan Fisher (Grease Live!) as Seahawk, Vella Lovell (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend) as Mermista, Merit Leighton (Katie and Alexa) as Frosta, Sandra Oh (Killing Eve) as Castaspella, and Krystal Joy Brown (Motown: The Musical) as Netossa.

The Orville Flies Homes Dec. 11

THE ORVILLE THE COMPLETE FIRST SEASON
From Emmy®* Award-winning executive producer and creator Seth MacFarlane (Family Guy, Ted, Cosmos: A SpaceTime Odyssey), The Orville is a live-action, one-hour space adventure series set 400 years in the future that follows The U.S.S. Orville, a mid-level exploratory spaceship. Its crew, both human and alien, face the wonders and dangers of outer space, while also dealing with the problems of everyday life. The ensemble series stars MacFarlane as the ship’s Captain, Ed Mercer, and Adrianne Palicki (Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Friday Night Lights) as his ex-wife, who’s assigned as his First Officer. Additional cast members include Penny Johnson Jerald (24, The Larry Sanders Show), Scott Grimes (American Dad!, Justified), Peter Macon (Shameless, Bosch), Halston Sage (Neighbors, Goosebumps), J Lee (American Dad!, The Cleveland Show), Mark Jackson (That Royal Today) and Chad L. Coleman (The Walking Dead, The Wire).

*2002, 2016, 2017: Outstanding Character Voice-Over Performance; Family Guy
2002: Outstanding Music and Lyrics; “Family Guy”

SPECIAL FEATURES

  • The Orville at PaleyFest 2018
  • Inside Look
  • Directed By
  • The First Six Missions
  • Designing the Future
  • The Orville Takes Flight
  • The Science of The Orville: Quantum Drive
  • The Science of The Orville: Alien Life
  • Crafting Aliens
  • A Better Tomorrow

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
Street Date:              December 11, 2018
Screen Format:        Widescreen 1.78:1
Audio:                       English Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles:                  English SDH, Spanish, French
Total Run Time:        Approx. 526 minutes
U.S. Rating:             TV-14

National Graphic Novel Writing Month 2018

What you MUST know before starting to write your graphic novel #nagranowrimo

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  • November 2, 2018

National Graphic Novel Writing Month 2018

It’s Day 2 of National Graphic Novel Writing Month– and we haven’t even started writing yet!

Good!

“Good?” I hear you cry. “How can that be good? I see all those novel writers who have started posting their word counts! Some of them are thousands of words ahead of us!”

Big deal. Writing a novel is easier. We have to know things first. Novel writers can just put one word after the other after the other, and keep going until they run out of steam or story. If it runs short, it’s a novella; if it runs long, it’s a trilogy. What if they had to write to an exact length?

I’m not just talking about the length of the novel. I mean writing to the exact length of each page– each page has a maximum 210 words, no more. And every scene has to end at the end of a page. And each chapter has to be exactly 22 pages long. And…

You get the idea. Even when a prose book is heavily reformatted, as with this new tiny book format, the text itself barely changes. With comics, that’s not going to be the case.

That’s why the most important thing to know before you start writing your graphic novel is the format– how your book will end up being initially published. Comics are a very regimented format— so much so that large comic book companies will produce art boards of a specific size for artists to use— and knowing those formats will inform how you create your work.

Take a look at these books.

Notice that every single one of these are a different page size than a “regular” comic book, and as a result, each one of them will have different storytelling challenges. Only so many words will fit on a page, only so many panels, only so much action and detail, and you’ll have to plan accordingly.

Length of the book matters too– is it 22 pages? 48? 120? 300? Are you reading it all at once, or is it spread out over months? Reintroducing your characters and setting in a monthly comic is one thing– it’s been a while between issues for your regular readers, and there’s a chance that this comic is the first issue a new reader may pick up, so it makes sense to introduce them. But if you read them in a collected omnibus format, being reminded every 22 pages or so that his claws cut through steel plate as easily as rice paper gets tired quick.

Similarly, if most people are going to be reading it in a collected format, you’ll have to accept that those 4-page digressions you put in the back of the monthly edition are going to be skipped over by a lot of people when they read it now.

Bear in mind that there are also technical and practical limitations to what you can actually print. If you decide that your graphic novel is going to be, say, 8″ by 9″, you’re going to be hard pressed to find a printer that can produce your books in that size and it’s likely to cost more. And while we’re talking about price, remember that every page you add is going to cost more to print, and unlike prose books you can’t use a smaller typeface to make it fit in fewer pages. In addition, your printer may be able to offer you a discount if your page count is a multiple of 16 or 32…

So that’s your first challenge: what do you think your graphic novel is going to look like? What’s your format?

The House With a Clock in its Walls Disc Releases Dec. 18

Universal City, California, October 30, 2018 – Enjoy the delightfully thrilling tale of a mysterious house where things, including the inhabitants, are not what they seem to be. The House With a Clock in its Walls arrives on Digital and via the digital movie app MOVIES ANYWHERE on November 27, 2018, as well as on 4K Ultra HD, Blu-rayTM, DVD and On Demand on December 18, 2018. Based on the classic children’s book and praised as “creaky, freaky haunted-mansion fun” (LA Times), The House With a Clock in its Walls features over 60 minutes of bonus content including an alternate beginning and ending, stunning featurettes, deleted scenes, a hilarious gag reel, and feature commentary. Enchanting from start to finish, it’s the perfect adventure for families during the holidays.

Full of wonder and adventure, The House With a Clock in its Walls mesmerizes audiences of all ages and keeps the magic alive when stars Jack Black (Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, Kung Fu Panda), Cate Blanchett (Ocean’s 8, Thor: Ragnarok) and Owen Vaccaro (Daddy’s Home, Mother’s Day) arrive as Uncle Jonathan, Mrs. Zimmerman and Lewis Barnavelt. In the most unexpected places, fantastical events, miraculous twists and suspense filled moments ensue in this “zany kids adventure” (The Hollywood Reporter) that soon captivates adults as well. In the tradition of Amblin classics, master frightener and director Eli Roth’s The House With a Clock in its Walls is a family-friendly fantasy film that “stands alongside the ‘just for kids’ classics of the 1980’s and 1990’s” (Forbes).

In The House With a Clock in its Walls directed by Eli Roth (The Green Inferno, Cabin Fever), Lewis Barnavelt (Vaccaro) goes to live with his Uncle Jonathan (Black) in a creaky and creepy mansion with an eerie tick-tocking heart. But when Lewis soon finds out he’s in the presence of magic practiced by his uncle and neighbor Mrs. Zimmerman (Blanchett), his new town’s dreary aura boosts to life in an exciting and dangerous way. Based on the beloved children’s classic book written by John Bellairs and illustrated by Edward Gorey, The House With a Clock in its Walls is written by Eric Kripke (creator of TV’s “Supernatural”) and co-stars Kyle MacLachlan (“Twin Peaks,” Inside Out), Colleen Camp (Clue), Renée Elise Goldsberry (“One Life to Live”), and Sunny Suljic (Mid90s, The Killing of a Sacred Deer). It is produced by Mythology Entertainment’s Brad Fischer (Shutter Island) and James Vanderbilt (Zodiac), as well as Kripke.

BONUS FEATURES EXCLUSIVE TO BLU-RAYTM, DVD & DIGITAL:

  • Warlocks and Witches – Go behind the scenes with the enchanting cast of The House with a Clock in Its Walls
    • Finding Lewis – A look at the casting of Owen Vaccaro
    • Jack’s Magical Journey – A look at the unique dynamism and magic that Jack Black brings to the character of Jonathan Barnavelt
    • The Great Cate – The cast discuss Cate Blanchett’s wonderful performance as Florence Zimmerman
    • The Terrifying Isaac Izard – Watch Kyle MacLachlan’s creepy evolution from living icon to undead-warlock
  • Movie Magic
    • The Ultimate Haunted House – Join filmmakers for a guided tour through the incredible house at the center of the film
    • Automatons Attack – A behind-the-scenes look at the mechanical horrors involved in this chilling sequence
    • Pumpkin Puke – Behind the scenes with the cast and an army of spooky, snarling, vomiting pumpkins
    • Moving Pieces – Filmmakers and cast discuss the amazing clock room set
    • Baby Jack – A behind-the-scenes look at the creepy Baby Jack sequence
  • Tick Tock: Bringing the Book to Life – Filmmakers discuss how they adapted the book for the big screen
  • Eli Roth: Director’s Journals – Director Eli Roth takes viewers behind the scenes
    • Candler Mansion
    • Newnan, GA
    • The Chair
    • Comrade Ivan
    • New Zebedee Elementary
    • Wrap Day
  • Owen Goes Behind the Scenes – Armed with his own camera, Owen guides viewers on his own journey behind-the-scenes of the movie
    • Around the Set
    • Behind the Camera
    • The Big Interview
    • Downtime on Set
  • Theme Song Challenge – Eli Roth and the cast are challenged to come up with a theme song for the film
  • Do You Know Jack Black? – The cast compete with each other to see who knows Jack Black the best
  • Abracadabra! – Eli Roth performs a magic trick for Owen Vaccaro
  • Jack Black’s Greatest Fear – Eli Roth and Owen Vaccaro play a prank on Jack Black
  • The Mighty Wurlitzer – Composer Nathan Barr discusses how he created the film’s unique and distinct score

BONUS FEATURES ON 4K ULTRA HD, BLU-RAYTM DVD & DIGITAL:

  • Alternate Opening and Ending with Commentary by Director Eli Roth and Actor Jack Black available
    • Alternate Opening
    • Alternate Ending
  • Deleted Scenes with Commentary by Director Eli Roth and Actor Jack Black available
    • More Books, Please
    • A Horrible Practical Joke
    • Tarby Ditches Lewis
    • Eat Up
    • Play for Him
    • Get Out of the Way
    • Time Is of the Essence
    • The Clock That Never Breaks
    • 12 Minutes to Go
  • Gag Reel
  • Feature Commentary with Director Eli Roth and Actor Jack Black

The film will be available on 4K Ultra HD in a combo pack which includes 4K Ultra HD Blu-rayTM, Blu-rayTM and Digital. The 4K Ultra HD disc will include the same bonus features as the Blu-rayTM version, all in stunning 4K resolution.

  • 4K Ultra HD is the ultimate movie watching experience. 4K Ultra HD features the combination of 4K resolution for four times sharper picture than HD, the color brilliance of High Dynamic Range (HDR) with immersive audio delivering a multidimensional sound experience.
  • Blu-rayTM unleashes the power of your HDTV and is the best way to watch movies at home, featuring 6X the picture resolution of DVD, exclusive extras and theater-quality surround sound.
  • Digital lets fans watch movies anywhere on their favorite devices. Users can instantly stream or download.
  • MOVIES ANYWHERE is the digital app that simplifies and enhances the digital movie collection and viewing experience by allowing consumers to access their favorite digital movies in one place when purchased or redeemed through participating digital retailers. Consumers can also redeem digital copy codes found in eligible Blu-rayTM and DVD disc packages from participating studios and stream or download them through Movies Anywhere. MOVIES ANYWHERE is only available in the United States. For more information, visit https://moviesanywhere.com.

FILMMAKERS:
Cast: Jack Black, Cate Blanchett, Owen Vaccaro, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Sunny Suljic, Kyle MacLachlan
Visual Effects Supervisor: Louis Morin
Music By: Nathan Barr
Costume Designer: Marlene Stewart
Edited By: Fred Raskin ACE
Production Designer: Jon Hutman
Director of Photography: Roger Stoffers ASC, NSC
Executive Producers: William Sherak, Tracey Nyberg, Laeta Kalogridis, Mark McNair
Produced By: Bradley J. Fischer p.g.a., James Vanderbilt p.g.a., Eric Kripke p.g.a.
Based on the Novel By: John Bellairs
Screenplay By: Eric Kripke
Directed By: Eli Roth

TECHNICAL INFORMATION 4K ULTRA HD:
Street Date: December 18, 2018
Selection Number: 61201229 (US) / 61201252 (CDN)
Layers: BD-66
Aspect Ratio: Widescreen 16:9 2.39:1
Rating: PG for thematic elements including sorcery, some action, scary images, rude humor and language.
Video: 2160p UHD / HDR 10
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish and French Subtitles
Languages/Sound: English Dolby Atmos and Dolby Digital 2.0, Spanish and French DTS-HD High Resolution Audio 7.1
Run Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

DOLBY ATMOS® SOUNDTRACK
The House With a Clock in its Walls Blu-ray™ and 4K Ultra HD will feature a Dolby Atmos® soundtrack remixed specifically for the home theater environment to place and move audio anywhere in the room, including overhead. To experience Dolby Atmos at home, a Dolby Atmos enabled AV receiver and additional speakers are required, or a Dolby Atmos enabled sound bar.

TECHNICAL INFORMATION BLU-RAYTM:

Street Date: December 18, 2018
Selection Number: 61198236 (US) / 61199978 (CDN)
Layers:  BD-50
Aspect Ratio: Widescreen 16:9 2.39:1
Rating: PG for thematic elements including sorcery, some action, scary images, rude humor and language.
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish and French Subtitles
Languages/Sound: English Dolby Atmos and Dolby Digital 2.0, Spanish and French DTS-HD High Resolution Audio 7.1
Run Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

TECHNICAL INFORMATION DVD:
Street Date: December 18, 2018
Selection Number: 61198234 (US) / 61199979 (CDN)
Layers: DVD 9
Aspect Ratio: Anamorphic Widescreen 16:9 2.39:1
Rating: PG for thematic elements including sorcery, some action, scary images, rude humor and language.
Subtitles: English SDH, Spanish and French Subtitles
Languages/Sound: English Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital 2.0, Spanish and French Dolby Digital 5.1
Run Time: 1 hour 45 minutes

Book-A-Day 2018 #305: Mage: The Hero Discovered (2 vols) by Matt Wagner

I’m pretty sure this has been published in one volume, at least once. But the current edition is two volumes, and that’s what I read. (Long before that, it was published as fifteen comic book issues, and I had those as well, before my 2011 flood. But all things must pass.)

“This” is the first volume of Matt Wagner’s epic transmuting-his-life-into-heroic-adventure trilogy Mage. Mage: The Hero Discovered was one of Wagner’s first major comics projects in the 1980s and was followed by The Hero Defined at the end of the ’90s and, eventually, by The Hero Denied, planned to wrap up by the end of this year.

Since that third volume is about to finish up, and I expect to read it, I thought I might as well go back for the first two: when a creator takes 15-20 years between installments, you can do him the favor of reminding yourself of the old pieces before coming to the new ones. So I re-read Hero Discovered this month (Volume One , Volume Two ), plan to hit Hero Defined next month, which should get me ready for the first Hero Denied collection…which I see was published a few days ago. (I doubt I’ll be able to hold off until the second half of Denied is published as a book in February, but I did skip buying all of the floppies, so maybe I will. As I get older, the appeal of story-pieces has gone down precipitously.)

Very early in the life of this blog, I had a breathless review of Defined , which I’m linking here for completeness’s sake — I really hope you don’t go back and read those burblings, which I am now embarrassed by. Otherwise, I’ve mentioned it, but not gotten into any depth.

It starts with overwriting two guys meeting on a city street — one may be drunk, and pretends to be happy, and one may be a bum, or pretends to be one. (Their dialogue is wince-inducing: if you decide to read Mage, you need to remember that it was nearly the first thing Wagner did in comics, and that he got better quickly — though ponderous unbelievable dialogue is an occasional hazard throughout the Mage stories.)

The not-drunk guy is Kevin Matchstick, who is so sad because he’s all alone. The not-bum calls himself Mirth, and he’s the mage of the title — there will be a different one for each series. Right after their conversation, Kevin sees a man attacking an actual bum in an alley, and surprises himself by running to intervene. He’s even more surprised to find the assailant is a hairless pale-skinned humanoid with sharp points on his elbows and that Kevin suddenly has super-strength and speed. The bum dies; the humanoid gets away.

And Kevin goes back to his apartment, confused, to find Mirth, who starts the official Hero’s Journey by explaining (well, a little) who he and Kevin are. Mirth is the World-Mage, opposed to the evil Umbra Sprite and his sons, the Grackleflints (the humanoids), who do the usual evil thing of corruption and destruction. Kevin has another fight with three (of five) of the Grackleflints in a subway car before he gets the next round of explanations from Mirth.

I’ll be blunt here, though Kevin doesn’t find this out for a long time: he’s The Eternal Champion King Arthur kind-of King Arthur, in that he’s the latest incarnation of a mythic hero and was once little Wart. He will gather allies — a teenage girl with a bat and a dead public defender — and, together, they will help him battle the Umbra Sprite and all of the supernatural creatures that the Sprite can summon and throw at him. The Sprite is searching for the Fisher King — another reincarnation, though not a hero — and if his Grackleflints can kill the Fisher King, it will bring a new era of death and destruction to earth.

And that’s the story of Discovered: this is explicitly a Hero’s Journey book, so Kevin learns bits and pieces of the setup over about four hundred pages, punctuated with fights against dragons and giants and redcaps and other mythical beasties, and occasionally broken up by attempts to actually figure out what the forces of evil are doing, where they’re headquartered, and how to stop them.

Before the end, there are major sacrifices so the Hero can stand alone, quite a lot of epic fight scenes, and a surprisingly nuanced view of the relationships among the forces of evil. Wagner started this series a little shakily, but it had great bones right from the beginning, and both his drawing and writing skills got stronger very quickly. It’s unfortunate that the two very worst pages in the whole Mage saga are the first two, but at least you can know that going in.

Somewhere along the line, the original 1980s-era coloring disappeared and was replaced by a more modern treatment by Jeromy Cox and James Rochelle — I think this is from the Defined era, but don’t quote me. I should also note that Wagner is inked by Sam Kieth, starting with the sixth (of fifteen) chapters, and that lines up with one of several leaps forward in the strength of the art. (So it’s not all Wagner, as the cover makes it seem — very few comics are that much of an auteur medium; there’s always some collaboration going on.)

Mage is a strong urban fantasy story in comics form, clearly in a mythic vein but with a lot of individual touches. It’s classy enough to have titles from Hamlet (and never say so, or explain them), and street enough to be about the reincarnation of King Arthur beating up monsters to save the world. And, if you’ve been waiting for the whole Mage saga to be done, you are nearly in luck.

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

The Predator & Predator 4 Movie Collection Coming for Christmas

LOS ANGELES, CA – The hunt for the perfect holiday gift is over. The universe’s greatest hunter returns in The Predator on Digital and Movies Anywhere November 27 and 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray™ and DVD December 18. Fans can bring home a special edition Predator 4-Movie Collection, which includes Predator, Predator 2, Predators and The Predator on 4K Ultra HD™ and Blu-ray.

The hunt has evolved – and so has the explosive action – in the next chapter of the Predator series, from director Shane Black (Iron Man 3). Now, the most lethal hunters in the universe are stronger, smarter and deadlier than ever before….and only a ragtag crew of ex-soldiers and an evolutionary biology professor can prevent the end of the human race.

With the special edition Predator 4-Movie Collection, fans can experience four times the terror with a killer collection of action-packed Predator movies, plus four collector cards of the original film poster re-issue with some of the franchises most iconic quotes on the back. In Predator, Arnold Schwarzenegger wages an all-out war against an extraterrestrial that hunts humans for sport. Then in Predator 2, Danny Glover battles the fearsome creature in the urban jungle of Los Angeles. In Predators Adrien Brody leads a group of elite warriors on an alien planet targeted by a new Predator breed. Finally, in The Predator, Boyd Holbrook discovers that the most lethal hunters in the universe are stronger, smarter and deadlier than ever.

The Predator Digital, 4K Ultra HD™, Blu-ray™ & DVD SPECIAL FEATURES

  • Deleted Scenes
  • A Touch of Black
  • Predator Evolution
  • The Takedown Team
  • Predator Catch-Up
  • Gallery

The Predator 4K Ultra HD™ Disc Specification
Street Date:                December 18, 2018
Prebook Date:            October 30, 2018
Screen Format:          Widescreen 16:9 (2.39:1)
Audio:                         English Dolby Atmos / English AD DD 5.1 / Spanish DD 5.1 /
French DTS 5.1
Subtitles:                    English SDH / Spanish / French
Total Run Time:          Approximately 107 minutes
U.S. Rating:                R
Closed Captioned:      No

The Predator Blu-ray™ Disc Specification
Street Date:                December 18, 2018
Prebook Date:            October 30, 2018
Screen Format:          Widescreen 16:9 (2.39:1)
Audio:                         English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, English Descriptive Audio 5.1,
Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1
Subtitles:                    English SDH, Spanish, French
Total Run Time:          Approximately 107 minutes
U.S. Rating:                R
Closed Captioned:      No

The Predator DVD Disc Specification
Street Date:               December 18, 2018
Prebook Date:           October 30, 2018
Screen Format:         Widescreen 16:9 (2.39:1)
Audio:                        English Dolby Digital 5.1, English Descriptive Audio 5.1,
Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0, French Dolby Digital 2.0
Subtitles:                   English SDH, Spanish, French
Total Run Time:         Approximately 107 minutes
U.S. Rating:              R
Closed Captioned:    Yes

PREDATOR 4 Movie Collection 4K Ultra HD™ & Blu-ray™ 8-Disc Specifications:
Street Date:              December 18, 2018
Screen Format:         4K UHD™:
                                 Predator & Predator 2: Widescreen 1.85:1
                                 Predators: Widescreen 2.40:1
                                The Predator: Widescreen 2.39:1

Blu-ray™:
                                 Predator & Predator 2: Widescreen 1.85:1
                                 Predators: Widescreen 2.35:1
                                The Predator: Widescreen 2.39:1

Audio:                       4K UHD™:
Predator: English DTS-HD, Master Audio 5.1, English DTS Master
Audio 4.0, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, French DTS 5.1
                                 Predator 2: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Spanish Dolby
Digital 5.1, French DTS 5.1
                                 Predators: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English Descriptive
Audio 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, French DTS 5.1
                                The Predator: English Dolby Atmos, English Descriptive Audio 5.1,
Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1

Blu-ray™:
                                 Predator: English DTS-HD Master, Audio 5.1, English Dolby
Surround 4.0, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, French DTS 5.1
                                 Predator 2: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English Dolby
Surround, Spanish Stereo, French Dolby Digital 5.1
                                 Predators: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital
5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1
                                The Predator: English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, English Descriptive
Audio 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1

Subtitles:                  4K UHD™ & Blu-Ray™:
                                 Predator: English SDH, Spanish, French
                                 Predator 2: English SDH, Spanish
                                 Predators: English SDH, Spanish
                                The Predator: English SDH, Spanish, French

Total Run Time:        429 Minutes
U.S. Rating:              R
Closed Captioned:    No

PREDATOR 4 Movie Collection Blu-ray™ 4-Disc Specifications:
Street Date:               December 18, 2018
Screen Format:         Predator & Predator 2: Widescreen 1.85:1
                                  Predators: Widescreen 2.35:1
                                 The Predator: Widescreen 2.39:1
Audio:                       Predator: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English Dolby
Surround 4.0, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, French DTS 5.1
                                 Predator 2: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, English Dolby
Surround, Spanish Stereo, French Dolby Digital 5.1
                                 Predators: English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital
5.1, French Dolby Digital 5.1
                                 The Predator: English DTS-HD Master Audio 7.1, English
Descriptive Audio 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 5.1, French Dolby
Digital 5.1

Subtitles:                  Predator: English SDH, Spanish, French
                                 Predator 2: English SDH, Spanish
                                 Predators: English SDH, Spanish
                                The Predator: English SDH, Spanish, French

Total Run Time:        429 Minutes
U.S. Rating:              R
Closed Captioned:    No

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