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Animated Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay hits Home April 10

BURBANK, CA (January 18, 2018) – Prepare to root for the bad guys when Amanda Waller sends her band of misfit DC Super-Villains on an all-new, action-packed secret mission in Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay, the next film in the popular, ongoing series of DC Universe Movies. Produced by Warner Bros. Animation and DC Entertainment, the feature-length animated film arrives from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment on Digital starting March 27, 2018, and on Ultra HD Blu-ray™ Combo Pack, Blu-ray™ Combo Pack and DVD April 10, 2018.

Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay is rated R for strong bloody violence throughout, sexual content, brief graphic nudity, and some drug material.

An original story, Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay will be available on Ultra HD Blu-ray™ Combo Pack ($39.99 SRP), Blu-ray™ Combo Pack ($24.98 SRP) and DVD ($19.98 SRP), as well as Digital ($19.99 HD, $14.99 SD). The Ultra HD Blu-ray™ Combo Pack features an Ultra HD Blu-ray™ disc in 4K with HDR and a Blu-ray™ disc featuring the film; the Blu-ray™ Combo Pack features the film in hi-definition; and the DVD features the movie in standard definition. The Ultra HD Blu-ray™ and Blu-ray Combo Pack™ include a digital version of the film.

Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay finds Amanda Waller’s top secret “Task Force X” – Deadshot, Bronze Tiger, Killer Frost, Captain Boomerang, Harley Quinn and Copperhead – on a mission to retrieve a mystical object so powerful that they’re willing to risk their own lives to steal it. But the Suicide Squad isn’t the only group of villains seeking to possess the object. The race is on for the golden prize … and, to stay alive, second place isn’t an option.

The all-star cast is led by Christian Slater (Mr. Robot, Archer, True Romance) in his DC Universe Movies debut as the voice of Deadshot, who heads “Task Force X” alongside Billy Brown (How To Get Away With Murder) as Bronze Tiger, Liam McIntyre (Spartacus: War of the Damned, The Flash) as Captain Boomerang, Kristin Bauer van Straten (True Blood, Once Upon a Time) as Killer Frost, Gideon Emery (Teen Wolf) as Copperhead, Tara Strong (Batman: The Killing Joke) as Harley Quinn and their “boss,” Vanessa Williams (Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives) as Amanda Waller. Villainous forces in the film include C. Thomas Howell (Outcast, The Outsiders, Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox) as Zoom, Dania Ramirez (Devious Maids, Heroes, Once Upon a Time) as Scandal Savage, James Urbaniak (Difficult People, The Venture Bros.) as Professor Pyg, Julie Nathanson (The Zeta Project, Beverly Hills 90210) as Silver Banshee and Jewelee, and Jim Pirri (Injustice 2) as Vandal Savage & Vertigo.

Other Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay voice cast members include Greg Grunberg (Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Heroes) as Steel Maxum, Dave Fennoy (Batman: Arkham Knight, Batman: The Telltale Series) as Blockbuster & Tobias Whale, Cissy Jones (Firewatch) as Knockout, Natalie Lander (The Middle, Justice League Action) as Darma, Trevor Devall (Johnny Test) as Punch, Dave Boat (Family Guy, The Good Dinosaur) as Harvey Dent/Two-Face, and Matthew Mercer (Critical Role, Batman: Bad Blood) as Savage Gunman.

Producer Sam Liu (Gotham by Gaslight, Teen Titans: The Judas Contract) also directs Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay from a script by co-producer Alan Burnett (Justice League vs. Teen Titans). Executive Producers are Sam Register and James Tucker (Batman vs. Two-Face, Justice League Dark).

“Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay is a definite thrill ride for fans, mixing non-stop action with plenty of humor – all while watching villains go head-to-head with villains,” said Mary Ellen Thomas, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Vice President, Family & Animation Marketing. “This film has an all-star cast, an extremely accomplished filmmaking team, and the perfect mix of excitement and fun. We’re proud to bring Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay to audiences this spring.”

Suicide Squad: Hell to Pay Enhanced Content

Ultra HD Blu-ray™ Combo Pack, Blu-ray™ Combo Pack and Digital

A Sneak Peek at the next DC Universe Movie, The Death of Superman: “The Death of Superman” – The Death of Superman is widely considered one of the most popular stories in the Superman canon and the DCU. This sneak peek at the exciting new film discusses the story and its place in pop culture.

Outback Rogue: Captain Boomerang (Featurette) – Audiences get a deeper look at this unconventional, yet entertaining villain from Down Under and how he’s evolved from The Flash universe to the Suicide Squad.

Nice Shot, Floyd! The Greatest Marksman in the DCU (Featurette) – Floyd Lawton, AKA Deadshot, is one of the most popular antiheroes in the DC pantheon. An excellent marksman and assassin, he often brags that he never misses his shot. Take a closer look at this fascinating character.

The Power of Plot Devices, MacGuffins and Red Herrings (Featurette) – An insightful examination of the power of a good plot device and the important influence it has over story.

Suicide Squad: Hell To Pay Commentary – The creative filmmaking team of screenwriter/co-producer Alan Burnett and executive producer James Tucker share their thoughts and stories on the characters, themes and development of Suicide Squad: Hell To Pay.

DVD

A Sneak Peek at the next DC Universe Movie, The Death of Superman: “The Death of Superman” – The Death of Superman is widely considered one of the most popular stories in the Superman canon and the DCU. This sneak peek at the exciting new film discusses the story and its place in pop culture.

Book-A-Day 2018 #19: On the Ropes by James Vance and Dan E. Burns

“Aw, this is a sequel to somethin’!”
 – Crow T. Robot

I never read Kings in Disguise. On the Ropes is a sequel to Kings in Disguise. So anyone who is looking for a comparison to Kings in Disguise will be disappointed. Anyone wondering how many consecutive sentences I cram Kings in Disguise into, though, may be intrigued.

Kings in Disguise was a comics series by James Vance and Dan E. Burr, published by Kitchen Sink Press over several years in the mid-’80s and eventually collected into book form. Telling the story of plucky Depression orphan Fred Block, Kings in Disguise was critically lauded, winning both the Eisner and Harvey awards. Luckily, we’re not here to talk about Kings in Disguise. Because, as I said, I never read Kings in Disguise.

To repeat: On the Ropes is a sequel to Kings in Disguise, set about five years later. Since — and this will, I hope, be the last time I mention this — I never read Kings in Disguise, I’m not entirely certain which flashbacks in On the Ropes are to the earlier story and which are to things that happened after that story ended. I think Fred lost a leg in a freight-car-hopping accident after Kings in Disguise, but I could be wrong. Anyway, he’s now 17, and it’s 1937, and he’s working as the assistant to an escape artist in a WPA circus traveling the small cities of Illinois. [1]

Fred is also a labor organizer, or at least associated with a group of organizers trying to get together a major strike against steel mills across the Rust Belt (then still moderately shiny, at least for the bosses). In particular, he has a small but vital role in that organizing effort, which will cause him danger and distress.

His boss is Gordon Corey, who I’m afraid is that semi-cliche, the escape artist who yearns to die. Gordon also has secrets in his past, which would-be novelist Fred will ferret out as he tries to ingratiate himself with a female stringer who he thinks can help him with his writing and maybe make some introductions to help him get published.

The narrative also follows, in parallel, two very nasty men — one smaller, smarter, and fond of a knife, the other big and strong but not quite as stupid as you’d expect — who are employed by the usual shadowy rich people to do some union-busting, and who rack up a serious body count along the way. This element feels pretty melodramatic; they kill more people than is plausible for traveling freelancers — they need to be more solidly plugged into a specific power structure to have the cover-ups of multiple murders in multiple places be reasonable, even in a deeply corrupt time and place.

Again, I didn’t read Kings in Disguise; I can’t compare the two. This is a solidly lefty book about labor agitation in hard times, with a melodramatic plot and a certain stretching for meaning, which I didn’t find entirely convincing. My understanding is that it did not take twenty-five years to create — Kings in Disguise was published as a complete work in 1988 and On the Ropes came out as an original graphic novel in 2013 — but Burr’s art sometimes varies from page to page, making me wonder how long it did take. (He also sometimes draws different characters in slightly different styles in the same panel, which is mildly surprising — I couldn’t figure out if there was a specific artistic purpose there.)

On the Ropes is a solid, historically grounded graphic novel, shining a light on a piece of history a lot of people have forgotten now. (A lot of working people in this country, in particular, have forgotten how much blood people like them shed to get unions, as they run headlong away from them into the cold embrace of corporate generosity.) I don’t think it’s a masterpiece, but it’s worth reading for people interested in the period, the creators, or the subject. And, of course, for anyone looking for comics about actual people in real-world situations, of which there are always fewer than there should be.

[1] Note that this is the first sentence in this review not to mention Kings in Disguise. I could have kept it up, if I wanted. I’m not proud. Or tired.

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

Book-A-Day 2018 #18: Equinoxes by Pedrosa

The hardest thing, for me, is to write on a book about normal people’s normal lives — without the genre trappings of excitement and violence, without the framework of some standard plot, without being able to do the Hollywood high concept thing of matching a new work with X and Y from the past. When that book is in comics form, and a lot of the heavy lifting of emotion and connection and scene-setting and time passing is done through art, it’s even harder: I’m not artistically trained, and I don’t have a strong vocabulary to talk about those elements.

So, um, Equinoxes is a big, stunning book, sprawling across a whole year and a large chunk of France, with a large cast, not all of whose names we learn. It comes from Cyril Pedrosa, who in that European-comics style is usually credited with just his last name, and whose work I haven’t seen since the heartbreakingly wonderful Three Shadows in 2008.

Pedrosa organizes his book around the four seasons, starting in autumn — and, yes, he is eliding solstices into equinoxes to make the structure work, but let’s not be too much astronomical sticklers right now, OK? Each section begins with a wordless series of small panels about a Mowgli-like hunter-gatherer, somewhere at some time. (We will get other hints about him later.) Then the main action begins, set in France in what I think is the present day. (But everyone has flip phones, so maybe it’s supposed to be about ten years ago, sometime in the mid-aughts.)

There are two main clusters of characters, one centered on the middle-aged divorced orthodontist Vincent and his teenage daughter Pauline and the other on the aged ex-radical Louis. There’s also a photographer, not connected to either of those groups, who wanders through the action, another young woman, a little older than Pauline, trying to find her place in the world and work that will give her meaning. There are two kinds of text interruptions to the flow of comics — one is directly the thoughts of the photographer as she grapples with her life, and the other, I think, is her flow-of-consciousness impression of the person she’s just photographed. She adds another level of art to Equnoxes, which already is about, at heart, the big questions: what gives meaning to life, how should we live, how do we relate to each other, what brings people together and pulls them apart.

This is not a book of plot. It is a book of connections and daily life, of moments that feel small at the moment but maybe aren’t, of what to do with today and tomorrow and tomorrow, of the things that break into your life and shake it all up.

If I were French, I think I’d know where this takes place: it’s somewhere specific, I think, a small city on or near the coast. The places in it are real and solid, and we see a few of them repeatedly from different angles and in different seasons.

The people are equally real: Vincent is a bit of an asshole, but he knows it and fights against it. Louis is worn out from his life and detached from the things others think he should engage in. Pauline is quiet except when she explodes, hiding behind earbuds like so many other teenagers. And there are many more — some of whose names we figure out easily, some who appear once in one context and then loop back doing something else, some who only wander through once.

The cover is appropriate both thematically — two people, in a moment of conversation but entirely separate and not looking at each other — and as an important moment of the story. But I’m afraid it will look cold and distant, and this is not a chilly book. Equinoxes does require time and a willingness to let events flow, like an independent film, but it is lovely and true and has a deep wellspring of humanity in it.

I thought Three Shadows was a masterpiece; Equinoxes is as much of one — big and expansive and gorgeous. (Pedrosa is also doing a lot of things with his art — colors for the season and places and people — that I can point to but not explain in any depth.) I enthusiastically recommend it to anyone who cares about people and their lives…which I hope is all of us.

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

Fear the Walking Dead Season Three Shambles for Home in March

SANTA MONICA, CA (January 16, 2018) – Deception can be your deadliest enemy when Season 3 of Fear the Walking Dead – the companion series to the #1-rated cable series The Walking Dead – arrives on Blu-ray (plus Digital HD) and DVD March 13 from Lionsgate. As society collapses around them, the families must come together to survive the apocalypse and combat the deadly threats on all sides. Hailed as “the best full season so far” (Forbes), Fear the Walking Dead Season 3 stars Kim Dickens (Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children, Gone Girl), Cliff Curtis (Risen, The Dark Horse), Frank Dillane (“Sense8,” Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince), and Alycia Debnam-Carey (Friend Request).

When Fear the Walking Dead returns for Season 3, our families are brought together in the vibrant and violent ecotone of the U.S.-Mexico border. With international lines done away with following the world’s end, our characters must attempt to rebuild not only society, but their families as well.

The home entertainment release of Fear the Walking Dead Season 3 features audio commentaries as well as deleted and extended scenes. “Fear the Walking Dead” Season 3 will be available on Blu-ray (plus Digital HD) and DVD for the suggested retail price of $44.99 and $39.98, respectively.

BLU-RAY / DVD SPECIAL FEATURES

  • Audio Commentaries
  • Deleted & Extended Scenes

PROGRAM INFORMATION

Year of Production: 2017
Title Copyright: Fear the Walking Dead© 2017 AMC Film Holdings LLC. Artwork and Supplementary Materials are TM, ® and © 2017 AMC Network Entertainment LLC. All Rights Reserved. Package Design © 2018 Lions Gate Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Type: TV on DVD
Rating: TV-MA
Genre: Drama, Horror
Closed-Captioned: English SDH
Subtitles: Spanish
Feature Run Time: 711 minutes
BD Format: 1080P 23.98 High Definition 16×9 Widescreen 1.78:1 Presentation
DVD Format: 16×9 Widescreen 1.78:1 Presentation
BD Audio: English 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio, French 2.0 Dolby Surround
DVD Audio: English 5.1 Dolby Digital Audio, French 2.0 Dolby Surround

Kitty Pryde and Colossus getting married in X-Men Gold #30

  • News
  • January 18, 2018

It’s been over thirty years in the making, but it looks like it’s finally going to happen– Kitty Pryde and Peter Rasputin are finally getting married in X-Men Gold #30.

All we can say is this:

The important question, of course: will it be a Jewish wedding?

Bilal: A New Breed of Hero Trailer Explores Heroism

Bilal: A New Breed of Hero Trailer Explores Heroism

Synopsis: 1,400 years ago, Bilal, a seven-year-old boy, with a dream of becoming a great warrior, is abducted into slavery with his sister and taken to a land far away from his home and thrown into a world where corruption and injustice rule all. Throughout his life he undergoes many hardships, through which he discovers an inner strength he did not realize he possessed. Through these experiences, Bilal comes to realize that if he is brave enough to raise his voice and choose his own path – everything becomes possible. It is through his courage, that he frees himself and ultimately his community; it is through the power of his voice and faith that his lifelong dream of freedom comes true. Bilal grows into a man who will inspire the world.

Bilal: A New Breed Of Hero – Main Trailer

BILAL: A NEW BREED OF HERO

Power Of One

The story “Bilal: A New Breed Of Hero” is inspired by the true events of the African slave Bilal ibn Rabah, a man whose story is similar to that of Martin Luther King Jr., who believed in the unity of mankind and equality of all people. Bilal used his gifted voice to speak out against injustices and took a stand for freedom despite the risks to his own life. Bilal, Martin Luther King Jr., and many others seeking equality throughout history inspire us all to find our inner power and take a stand for what we believe is right. They remind us of  “The Power of One” – the belief that one courageous person can make a difference in this world.  A reminder that if each and every person embraces their own inner power it can be manifested as a force for good.

Power of Voice. Power of Change. Power of Faith. Power of Freedom.

Power of Voice

The story of Bilal shows us the importance of having the courage to step up within our communities as teachers and leaders. It inspires us to use our voice to guide others especially the voiceless. We too are called to use our voice to teach, help, and guide those around us.

Power of Change

The story of Bilal inspires us to continue to seek greater understanding and knowledge of the world around us. Knowledge and the freedom it brings has more power to change the world than any chain or sword ever could. Bilal sought the power to change his own circumstances through knowledge and training. We must also be open and willing to accept new ways of thinking if we hope to change the world for the better.

Power of Faith

The story of Bilal teaches us to believe that the ability to overcome great obstacles exists within each of us. Whether you believe in a higher power, or the strength of the human spirit, we all rely on our internal beliefs to push us through difficulties in our own lives. When you allow your belief to lift the heavy stones that have been placed upon you just as Bilal did, you find that the limits you previously put upon yourself no longer exist.

Power of Freedom

The story of Bilal reminds us that there is nothing more powerful than the human spirit and that we all have the same basic natural rights that can never be taken or given away. It teaches us to embrace our inner strength and cast off the chains within ourselves. To embrace freedom is to live without fear of the chains others may try to place around you.

Bilal: A New Breed Of Hero stars Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Suicide Squad, Thor: The Darkworld, Lost) as the voice of adult Bilal; Jacob Latimore (Detroit, Collateral Beauty, The Maze Runner) as the voice of teenage Bilal; China Anne McClain (Descendants 2, Descendants: Wicked World, A.N.T. Farm) as Bilal’s teenage sister Ghufaira; Cynthia Kaye McWilliams (Bosch, Nashville) as Bilal’s mother, Hamama; Michael Gross (Tremors, ER, The Young and the Restless, Family Ties) as Okba the cowardly slave trader; and Ian McShane (American Gods, John Wick: 2, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Deadwood) as the voice of Umayya, Bilal’s evil master.

Mind-bending Legion Season 1 Arrives March 27

Based on the based on the Marvel Comics by Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz and featuring a powerful, all-star cast — including DAN STEVENS, AUBREY PLAZA, JEAN SMART and RACHEL KELLER — Legion follows the story of David Haller (STEVENS), a troubled young man who may be more than human. Diagnosed as schizophrenic as a child, David has been in and out of mental hospitals for years. Institutionalized once again, David spends his time with his chatterbox friend Lenny (PLAZA), a fellow patient whose life-long drug and alcohol addiction has done nothing to quell her boundless optimism that her luck is about to change.  But a startling encounter with a new patient (KELLER) forces David to confront the shocking possibility that the voices he hears and the visions he sees may actually be real. A haunted man, David escapes from the hospital and with the help of a nurturing but demanding therapist (SMART) and her team of specialists’ unconventional methods, David embarks on an extraordinary journey of self-discovery that leads to a new world of possibilities…and a new level of unexpected danger.

There will be a limited edition Blu-ray/DVD combo that will include an exclusive copy of The World’s Angriest Boy in the World book.

BLU-RAYTM AND DVD BONUS FEATURES INCLUDE:

  • Deleted Scenes
  • Fractured Reality: A Different Kind of Hero
  • Featurettes
    • Uncanny Romance
    • Production Design
    • Powers
    • Make-Up (Making the Devil with the Yellow Eyes)
    • Visual Effects
    • Costume Design
    • Locations

Legion SEASON 1 BLU-RAYTM
Street Date:                 March 27, 2018
Screen Format:           1.78:1
Audio:                          English DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0, French DTS 51
Subtitles:                     English SDH, French, Spanish
Total Run Time:           409 minutes

Legion SEASON 1 DVD
Street Date:                 March 27, 2018
Screen Format:           1.78:1
Audio:                          English Dolby Digital 5.1, Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0
Subtitles:                     English SDH, French, Spanish
Total Run Time:           409 minutes

REVIEW: Blade Runner 2049

Sequels are always an iffy proposition. There was a time that a hot film spawned an almost mirror-image sequel as a fast cash grab. After it was clear that was not what audiences wanted, sequels grew smarter and more sophisticated. In many cases, though, the first question asked is, “Does this really merit a sequel?” Sometimes, the creators have more they want to say or, after time has passed, feel there is something new to explore.

Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner took Philip K. Dick’s prose work and envisioned a near future that was a darker reflection of 1982. We had gobs of atmosphere, some very restrained and impactful performances, and were left to wonder.  While talk of a sequel has bopped up every few years, everyone held out until now. Director Denis Villeneuve’s sequel, Blade Runner 2049, recruited many of the original cast and crew to take use a bit further into the future to see what has changed.

Judging from the box office, apparently the audience, which was wowed in 1982, has changed and shrugged at the sequel. That’s a shame, because the movie, out now on home video from Warner Home Entertainment, is well worth a look. Yes, it pales in comparison to the impact the original had, but so much has changed in filmmaking and society that it should be expected. A meditation on humanity and the decline of Western civilization is always a welcome subject, but this story left too many gaps, too much unexplained so ultimately proved a disappointing experience.

Screenwriter Hampton Fancher picks up thirty years later and Tyrell Corporation’s Nexus 8 is the cutting edge Replicant model, complete with an average human lifespan and finely tuned memories. We learn that Replicants have been invaluable in colonizing near-space, letting humanity escape the world they ruined. After a technology disaster in 2022 destroyed most of the world’s digital data, Los Angeles and other major cities are largely abandoned, sprawling slums.

No one machine is perfect and the imperfect 8’s get hunted down by blade runners and that’s where we meet “K” (Ryan Gosling), following commands from Lt. Joshi (Robin Wright). When he finishes his work, he returns to his tiny apartment and charming AI companion Joi (Ana de Armas). They have such an intimate connection that she later arranges to hire a hooker, Mariette (Mackenzie Davis), and seemingly merges with her to pleasure K in one of the film’s most visually compelling scenes.

His most recent case, dispatching an 8 (David Bautista in a small but fine part), sends him on a case that eventually leads him to Las Vegas, where Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford), has been living in solitude. Visionary industrialist Niander Wallace (Jared Leto), who took over Tyrell, is blind and wants any hint of competition wiped out, issuing orders through his replicant assistant Luv (Sylvia Hoeks), contrasting with the K/Joi team.

There’s a hunt for K and Deckard, the revelation of an underground movement (isn’t there always?), and things blow up real well here and there.

Visual futurist Syd Mead nicely extrapolates his future over three decades and you can’t question that the money went into the production. It’s rich and textured, the effects strong, and Dennis Gassner’s production design superb. But the overall effect leaves one cold, and the story’s flaws leaves too many unanswered questions to be truly successful. It certainly leaves you thinking, which is a cut above much of the genre fare we were offered in 2017.

The disc does a strong job transferring the film to 1080p, AVC-encoded Blu-ray at the standard 2.40:1 width, with nary a hint of the material shot at 1.90:1 for IMAX. If anything, the Dolby Atmos soundtrack is better so you won’t miss a beat from the Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch score.

The film comes with complete with assortment of interesting special features. None are spectacular but given the look and feel of the future, makes for good watching. Perhaps the best is Designing the World of Blade Runner 2049 (21:55). There is also To Be Human: Casting Blade Runner 2049 (17:15); Prologues — 2022: Black Out (15:45), anime directed by Shinichiro Watanabe, 2036: Nexus Dawn (6:31), directed by Luke Scott, and 2048: Nowhere to Run (5:49), directed by Scott; Blade Runner 101 (11:22) — Blade Runners, The Replicant Revolution, The Rise of Wallace Corp., Welcome to 2049, Jois, and Within the Skies: Spinners, Pilotfish and Barracudas.

Book-A-Day 2018 #12: Satania by Vehlmann and Kerascoet

“There’s a world going on underground,” a great man once growl-sang, and Satania just is the book to explore that hidden underground world.

One might think the naked redhead at the center of the cover is Satania, but no — she’s Charlie (short for Charlotte), the teenage force behind an underground expedition to find her missing brother. Also in the group is the requisite old, crusty guide, Father Monsore, who was on the ill-fated prior expedition where Charlie’s brother Christopher disappeared. There are several others — the party starts out with about six people– but those are the ones to be concerned with.

Christopher had a crackpot theory that Neanderthals moved underground and therefore mutated into demon-looking humanoids who are the source of all worldwide stories of hell and its inhabitants. But these evolved Neanderthals are actually highly civilized, sexually free, and possessed of uniquely high technology that he will discover and share with the world. Now, Christopher deduced all of this — he has no evidence of any kind — and it seems that his book expounding his stupid theory was roundly panned out in the world. So, in a huff, he planned the expedition to prove his theories, heading into this cave somewhere in Europe to film the people he already knows everything about.

I think the reader is supposed to take Christopher’s theories seriously. But this, frankly, is impossible for anyone with a lick of sense and scientific knowledge — if he was right about anything, it could only be by pure happenstance. Luckily, it’s not necessary to believe in those nutty theories to enjoy Satania; he does not turn out to be entirely correct, though he did correctly guess that there’s much more going on in this massive subterranean cave system than surface-dwellers suspect.

So: Charlie, and Chistopher’s collaborator, and some other people somehow related to the crazy theory, are looking for him, in the cave system where a flash flood separated Christopher from the rest of his party months ago. And do they encounter their own flash flood practically as soon as the book begins?

Reader, of course they do.

They do not die in the flood, but their scrambles and running and propulsion by water leaves them somewhere they’ve never been before, with no way back. They set out to explore, in hopes of getting back to the surface. They have limited supplies and light, but, as with any self-respecting tale of underground worlds, they soon find edible and luminescent growing things to keep them going. (From that point on, everything is illuminated, and finding food not a serious issue.)

They find a lot more than that, of course: dangers aplenty, strange landscapes both made by sentients and shaped by nature, strange and dangerous creatures, allies and enemies, deadly heat and chilling cold. Satania turns out to be huge, and full of horror and wonders.

It does not, though, correspond closely to anyone’s image of Hell, even though several members of this party really really want it to, and this leads to certain unpleasant disagreements within the party. This is a story of hardships and stunning vistas, of a series of strange revelations, each stranger and more revelatory than the last. (But, to be clear: this is not a fantasy. They are not in Hell and everything they see should be roughly acceptable to physics, biology, and chemistry as we know them.)

Satania is a gorgeous book, as you might expect from the wife-and-husband art team credited as Kerascoet. The colors are exquisite, giving color to emotions and places, and the book contains a succession of amazing images, culminating in a fantastic double-page spread near the end. Even if this book hadn’t been translated from the French, I think it still would be worth “reading,” just for their work.

But it was translated (by Joe Johnson) from a script by Fabien Vehlmann, here just credited by his last name. He previously worked with Kerascoet on the stunning Beautiful Darkness , and I also really liked his script for the chilly SF graphic novel Last Days of an Immortal . So Satania is just a little disappointing: Christopher is a crank, and his crankishness sets in motion the whole plot, and there’s no way around that. The story is also more episodic — bad things happen, they flee, and have a moment of peace until the next episode starts — than the stronger Vehlmann books I’ve seen.

Not being as good as something amazing wonderful is not that much of a criticism, though: Vehlman has excellent dialogue here, making his very different people all come alive, and he particularly has a way with mania…perhaps he does realize what a crank Christopher is. Satania is an interesting, gorgeous, twisty journey through a vividly imagined world, by a set of world-class talents.

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

REVIEW: Scooby-Doo! and Batman: The Brave and the Bold

REVIEW: Scooby-Doo! and Batman: The Brave and the Bold

I wish I had a grandchild to enjoy Scooby-Doo! and Batman: The Brave and the Bold with since I am far from the target audience. I was outgrowing Saturday morning TV when Scooby and the gang debuted and never warmed up to them. Over time, the troublesome teens have encountered countless pop culture celebrities in their storied career but this, their fourth meeting with the Caped Crusader, is a record.

It makes perfect sense that the 1960s homage version of Batman (Diedrich Bader) is used here since it is stylistically appropriate for this sort of crossover. Paul Giacoppo acquits himself well with a breezy script that uses touchstone elements from both series so fans are satisfied. Comics aficionados will appreciate the use of the New Look era Mystery Analysts of Gotham, even though the novelists have been replaced by the more colorful Martian Manhunter (Nicholas Guest), Detective Chimp (Kevin Michael Richardson), the Black Canary (Grey Griffin), the Question (Jeffrey Coombs), and Plastic Man (Tom Kenny). It’s funny to see Aquaman (John DiMaggio) trying to be a member while the Scooby (Frank Welker) and the gang are tested for admittance.

Since these sorts of mashups require a major threat, it seemed right that Batman’s rogues cause the trouble so of course we get to see Catwoman (Nika Futterman), Riddler (John Michael Higgins), Penguin (Tom Kenny), Clayface (Kevin Michael Richardson), Harley Quinn, and Poison Ivy (both by Tara Strong).

There’s action, humorous hijinks, Scooby snacks, familiar catch phrases, and more all nicely handled by director Jake Castorena, who graduates from numerous art director assignments (Batman: The Killing Joke, Justice League: Gods & Monsters, etc.) to his third directorial job, following directing episodes of Justice League Action and Batman Unlimited.

The 75 minutes definitely feels padded but that’s to be expected given the limited range of the Scooby half of the match. Thankfully, the disc is rounded out with two classic episode from the New Scooby-Doo Movies:  “The Dynamic Scooby-Doo Affair” and “The Caped Crusader Caper”.

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