Home Blog Page 336

Dave McKean Talks His New Comic Book ‘Raptor’

Jacob Airey
-
1
Dave McKean Talks His New Comic Book ‘Raptor’

Dark Horse Entertainment has picked up comic book writer and illustrator Dave McKean’s new  ‘Raptor: A Sokol Graphic Novel.’ It follows several fan-favorites including DC Comics ‘Black Orchid,’ as well as covers for ‘Hellraiser’ and ‘The Sandman,’ but also illustrating the Batman story ‘ Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth,’ who he worked with writer Grant Morrison.
According to the official synopsis, “Raptor flickers between two worlds and two conflicted souls: Sokol wanders a feudal fantastical landscape hunting monsters for those that can pay, and Arthur, a writer of supernatural tales in 19th Century Wales, mourning the passing of his young wife and dabbling in the supernatural in the vain hope of seeing her again. They both exist in the twilight between truth and lies, life and death, reality and the imagination.”
Dave McKean recently sat down with Comics Beat to discuss ‘Raptor,’ and his process in writing it.
“It had a circuitous beginning,” he said describing coming up with the concept. “I was asked to do a short story for an established character, I thought immediately of a longer story, but though it was suitable, actually it was too personal an idea to hand over to someone else’s world, so I spent a frantic week reworking it, developing my own lead character, and placing it in a world that I felt much more at home with.”
McKean continued, “I wanted to do something that was inspired by the contemporary nature and travel literature I’ve been reading, something that would express my love of the natural world, and something that would live in this realm between reality and the imagination. My character is trapped between those two worlds, the state of human and bird, or reality and fantasy, of civilised life and raw animal instinct. I have several other GN projects in pieces in my notebooks, whichever one crystalizes into a solid story and script first ends up being the next one on my drawing board.”
The ‘Black Dog’ illustrator discussed why it follows two different narratives.
“I like this conversation across the line of creator and creation, artwork and audience,” McKean explained. “I think it’s a world and character with which I could explore many ideas. I wanted to plant a few seeds of who he is, what he is, where he’s come from and where he’s going, but leave a lot unsaid so I can maybe fill in pieces of the puzzle in future stories.”
Raptor: A Sokol Graphic Novel will be in comic shops on July 7, 2021 and in bookstores on July 20, 2021.

Elijah Wood’s Ted Bundy Thriller Picked Up By RLJE Films

Jacob Airey
-
0
Elijah Wood’s Ted Bundy Thriller Picked Up By RLJE Films

Elijah Wood is starring and producing a new thriller featuring the serial killer Ted Bundy titled ‘No Man of God,’ which has recently been picked up by RLJE Films. Wood will play FBI agent Bill Hagmaier, who frequently interviewed Bundy, played by Luke Kirby, ahead of the serial killer’s execution.
Deadline reports that AMC Networks’ RLJE Films has received the North American rights to the movie which will base its story on the real transcripts and conversations between serial killer Bundy and Agent Hagmaier. It will premier at the Tribeca Film Festival premiere in June and will be released in theaters this August.
The thriller will be directed by Amber Sealey, as her fourth film following ‘A Plus D,’ ‘How to Cheat,’ and ‘No Light and No Land Anywhere.’
“The film is really comprised of a series of conversations and those conversations are lifted in part from real conversations and then recollections from Bill of these conversations,” Wood told EW in April. “As it pertains to things that we do with our company, I’m never reading material thinking of myself as an actor.”
He added, “I’m only ever thinking as a producer. It was a significant way through the process that I was like, I actually do want to do this. I love Bill and I love his journey in this relationship.”
“Bill Hagmaier is the man who’s credited with getting Ted Bundy to come clean about his crimes right before his execution,” Sealey added. “Even though Bill himself is a very religious, very good, very honorable person, he had to forge a friendship with Bundy, in a way, in order to get close enough to him in order for Bundy to feel safe enough to come clean. And he did.”
According to the official synopsis, “Set largely in a single interrogation room, the film is based on real life transcripts culled from conversations between FBI analyst Bill Hagmaier and serial killer Bundy that took place between 1984 and 1989. The film details the complicated relationship that formed between the two men during Bundy’s final years on death row.”

‘Resident Evil: Village’ Toned Down For Gamers?

Mike Phalin
-
0
‘Resident Evil: Village’ Toned Down For Gamers?

We’ve been playing ‘Resident Evil: Village’ all weekend, and we’re just about at the end. It’s a challenging game, to be sure, but there are some major differences between this game and the one that preceded it.
Ethan Winters is still getting messed up to no end, but this time around, it feels like he has more breathing room between the beatings. This time around, there aren’t endless mold creatures. The hellish family isn’t always at your heels. This was a purposeful choice for a specific reason.
Axios interviewed the producer of ‘Resident Evil: Village,’ Tsuyoshi Kanda, and he detailed why the sequel isn’t nonstop scares. Kanda does acknowledge that the ceaseless tension of ‘Resident Evil: Bioharzard’ made it great. “That’s exactly what we were striving for, so it’s a huge compliment for us,” he said.
This unending fright fest was a problem for some players. Kanada went on to explain that some found ‘Biohazard’ “too scary.” So, to make the game a bit more accessible, changes had to be made to the 8th game. The producer expanded on the approach taken in ‘Village’, “… at the same time, it’s always our goal to create something that anybody can feel comfortable jumping in and playing, so we eased up on the tension curve relative to ‘Resident Evil 7: Biohazard,’ so that players aren’t in constant fear.”
Some of the feedback we received regarding [RE7] that it was too scary to play. In one regard, that’s exactly what we were striving for, so it’s a huge compliment for us. But at the same time, it’s always our goal to create something that anybody can feel comfortable jumping in and playing, so we eased up on the tension curve [in RE Village] relative to ‘Resident Evil 7: Biohazard,’ so that players aren’t in constant fear.
Check out the first 50 minutes of gameplay from our Twitch stream.

‘Resident Evil: Village’ is now available on XBOX, PS5, and PC.
What are your thoughts on ‘Bioharzard’? Too scary for some gamers? Was the neverending tension too much? Did you find ‘Village’ too tame? Let us know in the comments.
[Source:Axios]

David Tennant Joins The Cast Of ‘The Amazing Maurice’ Animated Film

Jacob Airey
-
0
David Tennant Joins The Cast Of ‘The Amazing Maurice’ Animated Film

‘Ducktales’ reboot and ‘Dr. Who’ alumni David Tennant is joining the growing cast of ‘The Amazing Maurice,’ an animated adaption of the late British novelist Terry Pratchett’s ‘The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents.’
Cinema Express reports that this will be the second adaption of a Terry Pratcher work that Tennant has appeared, the first being ‘The Good Omens,’ from Amazon Prime.
Sky Cinema is producing ‘The Amazing Maurice’ along with Ulysses Filmproduktion, Cantilever Media, Studio Rakete, Red Star Animation and Narrativia. It will make its way onto the NOW streaming service in 2022.
The plot follows “Maurice, a streetwise ginger cat who has the perfect money-making scam. He finds a kid who plays a pipe, and he also befriends his very own horde of strangely educated, talking rats – so Maurice can no longer think of them as ‘lunch’. When Maurice and the rodents reach the stricken town of Bad Blintz, they meet a bookworm, Malicia. Their little con soon goes down the drain as something very bad is waiting for them in the cellars.”
The movie will be directed by Toby Genkel and Florian Westermann with Emilia Clarke (‘Terminator: Genesys’), David Thewlis (‘Wonder Woman’), Himesh Patel (‘Yesterday’) as Keith, Gemma Arterton (‘The King’s Man’), Hugh Bonneville (‘Downton Abbey’), and Hugh Laurie (‘The Personal History of David Copperfield’) as the protagonist Maurice.


Director of Sky Cinema Sarah Wright said in a press release, “’The Amazing Maurice’ is a fantastic story from a legendary author, and I couldn’t think of a better tale to bring to life as an animated film for all the family. I’m excited to work with Ulysses Filmproduktion and Cantilever Media to bring this exclusive new movie to Sky Cinema audiences in 2022.”
‘The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents’ is a children’s fantasy novel written by Pratchett in 2001 by Doubleday as part as his popular ‘Discworld’ book series.
 

Power Con Exclusives: Castle Grayskull’s Robot and Pit Creatures!

Mike Phalin
-
0
Power Con Exclusives: Castle Grayskull’s Robot and Pit Creatures!

Power Con is happening for real this year, ya’ll. Real-life, in person, at a hotel. Classic convention stuff! What a relief after a year of virtual cons, thanks to COVID.
It’s just not the same unless your scouring aisles and aisles of merchandise IRL. Conventions are meant to be seen, heard, and smelled. Yes, the lovely smells.
2021’s Power Con is making sure you attend by offering up come awesome ‘Masters of the Universe: Origins’ exclusives. True, most of the figures are tough to find at stores as-is, but some of these figures may never see life on a shelf.
Superhero Hype drew our attention to the list of exclusives. They’re a mixture of retro classics and some long-awaited accessories.
First let’s look at the $60 Faker double pack. This one contains the evil Fake and Dupli-Cat. Faker looks to be the traditional re-paint of He-Man, but with a unique paint job on the eyes and a Havok Staff. Dupli-Cat is Battle Cat but with two new robotic front paws.

Mattel
The Evil Horde pack comes with Hordak in the Filmation royal blue and black color scheme. Also included are Grizzlor and two Horde troopers. Given that the ‘Origins’ figures are all about interchanging parts, Hordak’s new arm weapon should be interchangeable with others in the line. This four-pack will cost $150. That’s quite a premium, running at $37.50 per figure. Three of these figures are firsts for the ‘Origins’ line, however.
Mattel
Now, this is what many of us have been waiting for—the suit of armor, dungeon grate monsters, and spirit of Grayskull. The robot/suit of armor was originally a cardboard standup that came with the original Castle Grayskull in the ’80s. It eventually saw a toy release in the ‘Classics’ line. Now he’s to scale with the ‘Origins’ version of the playset.
The dungeon creature had been planned for release with the ‘Classics’ release of Castle Grayskull but was cost-prohibitive. Now we finally get it! Rather than relying on the old floor sticker, you can slot this new prop onto the playset!
The spirit of Grayskull isn’t the same character that we saw in the 200X series. This, according to SHH, is based on a panel of the mini-comics that used to come packaged with the original line of toys. I don’t recall this, but it’s welcome nonetheless.
Mattel
Power Con will take place on September 11th and 12th at the Anaheim Hilton. These toys must be pre-ordered, however. Orders have not opened yet, but keep your eye on Power Con’s official site for details within the next week.
[Source: Superhero Hype]

Blake Lively To Star In Netflix Film Adaption Of ‘Lady Killer’ Comic Book

Jacob Airey
-
0
Blake Lively To Star In Netflix Film Adaption Of ‘Lady Killer’ Comic Book

Blake Lively has been tapped to star in the Netflix film adaption of the Dark Horse Comic ‘Lady Killer’ as protagonist Josie Schulle.
“Lady Killer is coming to the silver screen,” Dark Horse comics said according to Bounding Into Comics. “Based on the comics by Joelle Jones, we’re excited to share the news: Netflix has set Blake Lively to star in and produce, and Oscar-winning writer Diablo Cody to adapt Lady Killer, from the Dark Horse comic series.”
Deadline reports that Dark Horse Entertainment and B For Effort will be making the live-action film with Lively, Mike Richardson, Kate Vorhoff, and Keith Goldberg producing.
According to its synopsis, ‘Lady Killer’ takes place in the 1950s and follows Josie Schuller “a picture-perfect homemaker, wife, and mother—but she’s also a ruthless, efficient killer! She’s balanced cheerful domestic bliss with coldly performed assassinations, but when Josie finds herself in the crosshairs, her American Dream life is in danger!”
‘Lady Killer’ creator Joelle Jones told Boing Boing in 2015 that she was inspired by “Mid-Century” advertising and Normal Rockwell paintings when she was illustrating the comic book.
“I think it’s the story telling aspect beyond how it looks artistically and the beautiful renderings. There’s a lot of storytelling behind images,” she said. “Rockwell, he left that in…There is an entire novel in one image. I’ve always loved that.”
Diablo Coby is known for screenwriting such films as the teen drama ‘Juno’ and the cult classic Megan Fox horror flick ‘Jennifer’s Body.’ She made her directorial debut with the 2013 comedy ‘Paradise.’
Lively has appeared in such films as ‘Green Lantern,’ ‘The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants’ duology, ‘The Rhythm Section,’ and the dark comedy ‘A Simple Favor’ opposite Anna Kendricks. She is perhaps best known for having a main role in the CW’s teen drama ‘Gossip Girl.’

‘Cars’ Actor John Ratzenberger Blasts How Hollywood Depicts Skilled Workers

Jacob Airey
-
0
‘Cars’ Actor John Ratzenberger Blasts How Hollywood Depicts Skilled Workers

‘Cheers’ star John Ratzenberger has warmed audience hearts with his numerous roles in Disney and Pixar films including P.T. Flea from ‘A Bug’s Life,’ Mack from the ‘Cars’ trilogy, and Hamm from the ‘Toy Story’ franchise.
Ahead of his reprisal role as the Abominable Snowman in the upcoming ‘Monsters Inc.’ spin-off Disney Plus show ‘Monsters at Work,’ Ratzenberger criticized how Hollywood portrays skilled workers and tradespeople in an interview with the FOX Business news program ‘Varney & Co.’
“Time and again, you see movies and Hollywood shows with skilled tradespeople as being idiots or being lesser than everybody else,” he told host Stuart Varney. “And why would a young person seeing that… want to do that?”
He added that tradespeople could “anywhere in the world and get a job the next day.” He continued, “So if you’re an electrician, a bricklayer, if you could bake a cake, you’ve got a skill that you own.”
Citing his own past working as a carpenter before breaking into stardom, he explained, “When I was growing up, we had shop classes and I got a taste of carpentry and I gravitated towards it, and low and behold, that’s how I made a living between acting jobs.”
‘The Village Barbershop’ actor added, “We didn’t give them a taste of what it’s like working with your hands.”
Ratzenberger told Varney that Hollywood should portray skilled workers in a more positive light and that schools should offer more courses to teach those skills to help with infrastructure jobs.
“You can throw all the money you want at the infrastructure, but nobody’s showing up to weld the bridges or pound nails because we canceled shop classes 30, 40 years ago.” Ratzenberger continued, saying that “we never gave young people a taste of what it would be like to work in those jobs.”

Are You Ready For The Expensive 26″ Kong Bust From Godzilla Vs. Kong?

Mike Phalin
-
0
Are You Ready For The Expensive 26″ Kong Bust From Godzilla Vs. Kong?

Sometimes ya have to peruse the “Really Cool Expensive Stuff” section of Entertainment Earth. It’s cool to see what premium items are out there for various geek IPs.
Sometimes it’s giant swords. Sometimes it’s lifesize statues of Henry Cavill. Sometime’s it’s a massive hairy bust of King Kong!
Based on Kong’s appearance in this year’s ‘Godzilla Vs. Kong’, this version of the Skull Island protector was Created by Prime 1 studios. The bust comes in at 26″ and features some incredible detail. Hand punched hair and a deeply detailed base!
Man! If only ‘Godzilla Vs. Kong’ got this much attention to detail in the plot department.

Prime 1 Studio
Prime 1 Studio
Prime 1 Studio
Prime 1 Studio
Prime 1 Studio
Prime 1 Studio
Prime 1 Studio
Prime 1 Studio
This item will set you back $3889.99, but don’t worry; you’ll have a few years to pay it off. Kong won’t be released until July 2023. Up to drop a bunch of nickles? Click here to pre-order.
Here are all the details straight from Prime 1 Studio:

Prime 1 Studio is incredibly proud to present the next salvo in the epic war between Titans: Kong from Godzilla vs Kong! With our 26-inch tall Kong Bust, we have proportionately scaled Kong down to the size of a human person, but his striking features and raw, savage power remain FULL-SIZED! Every wrinkle and pore in his battle-worn face has been carefully sculpted to show his decades of combat with the horrid creatures of Skull Island. Prime 1 Studio has painstakingly recreated Kong’s scarred chest, menacing teeth, and threatening expression.
Kong has been equipped with specially manufactured glass eyes to reflect the complex personality and decades of experience they contain within. And most of all, to preserve the realistic nature of his thick coat, Prime 1 Studio craftsmen have meticulously hand-punched each of his hair strands, one by one, into his silicone and polystone understructure, making this fantastic bust a true labor of love. From the front, Kong’s bust sits above an Iwi Village fortification on a Skull Island-themed base, his home for decades.
From the back, another Kong sits victoriously on his Hollow Earth throne, surrounded by naturally painted stalactites, stalagmites, and the ruins of this long extinct kingdom. Intricately painted and clutching his main primary defense against Godzilla’s Atomic Breath, Kong surveys his future home with his ancient Battle Axe. And, for a brief moment, all is right with the world. Then, all hell breaks loose with a deafening challenge from his Alpha rival! Choose your fighter by ordering this incredible bust today!

Do you think this Kong bust is worth almost $4k? What other classic monsters should get this hyper-detailed statue treatment? Let us know in the comments.

Native American Captain America Met with Both Praise and Backlash on Twitter

Thom 'Kneon' Pratt
-
0
Native American Captain America Met with Both Praise and Backlash on Twitter

Marvel Comics has announced yet another version of Captain America, and this time Cap is a Native American.

Joe Gomez of the Kickapoo Tribe joins several other previously announced iterations of the hero planned for an comics event called The United States of Captain America, which celebrates the 80th Anniversary of Captain America.

Created by Lipan Apache writer Darcie Little Badger and Qalipu Mi’kmaq First Nation artist David Cutler, Joe Gomez’s Captain America will first appear in The United States of Captain America #3.

Here’s how Joe Gomez is described by writer Darcie Little Badger via Marvel.com …

“See, Joe Gomez is a construction worker, a builder in a world plagued by destruction. Every time a spaceship crashes into a bridge or a supervillain transforms a whole city block into rubble, people like Joe make things whole again. Work like that may seem thankless, but Joe genuinely enjoys helping his community survive and thrive.

That’s why he won’t charge elders for home repair services (the Joe Gomez senior discount is 100%). That’s also why he’s willing to risk his life to save others. I know lots of people like Joe–many of them my Indigenous relatives–so it was wonderful to help develop a character with his values, strength, and extreme crane-operating skills.”

Despite being created by Native American comics creators, the reaction on social media has been mixed. Some feel the look is “stereotypical” while others questioned why a Native American would dress themselves in the flag of a country that pushed them out of their land.

Ouch.

The announcement tweet from the official Captain America Twitter account didn’t go as well as Marvel had probably hoped.

Here are some more of Twitter’s reactions…

Website Heroic Hollywood posted a tweet with the new design, and nearly all of the comments were negative.

Others pointed out a similarity to the character of American Eagle from the 1980s, who had his costume redesigned to be less stereotypical.

Still, others are much more enthusiastic about the new iteration of Cap.

About that last part…. yeah. The Kickapoo people didn’t take kindly to their land being taken by Americans. So there’s that.

What are your thoughts on Joe Gomez’s Captain America? Leave a comment below!

 

Director Bao Tran Discusses His Martial Arts Comedy ‘The Paper Tigers’

Jacob Airey
-
0
Director Bao Tran Discusses His Martial Arts Comedy ‘The Paper Tigers’

‘The Paper Tiger’ is described as a “feel-good” Martial Arts comedy by its highly successful Kickstarter campaign. The plot follows three friends living in Seattle who also happen to be out-of-practice Martial Artists. They are called back to action in a fight for justice, though their opponents are in better shape than they are.
“It was a lot of fun, a lot of hot baths and epson salt and ice bags,” joked director Bao Tran in an interview with Komo News.
“The challenges of having a genuine story with cast full of POC (people of color), I think that was a very difficult thing for a Hollywood studio to wrap their head around, because they don’t have movies with POC leads that point to successes,” Tran opined. “There is a bit of systemic issue going around, and that’s why we kept hitting our heads against the wall and trying to get the movie made.”
Tran explained that he was inspired to film in Seattle as a homage to action star Bruce Lee.
“Seattle, spiritually is always where I wanted to make it, because Bruce Lee landed here, opened a school, went to the UW,” he said. “And the community showed up, we shot all over the city and the ID, and bakeries and restaurants would give us snacks everyday. I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Tran used Kickstarter to get the initial funding of the movie. The success of the campaign also helped to bring in private investors to help make the action-comedy. As a result, ‘The Paper Tigers’ will open for a limited theatrical run as well as appearing on digital platforms on May 7th.
The official synopsis says,
“As teenagers, kung fu aficionados Danny (Alain Uy), Hing (Ron Yuan), and Jim (Mykel Shannon Jenkins) were inseparable, but drifted apart after graduation due to a mysterious fallout at an overseas tournament. Fast forward 25 years, and each has grown into a washed-up middle-aged man seemingly one kick away from pulling a hamstring—and not at all preoccupied with thoughts of martial arts or childhood best friends. But when their old master is murdered, the trio will reunite after decades of silence, soon learning that avenging their sifu will require conquering old grudges (and a dangerous hitman still armed with ample knee cartilage) if they are to honorably defend his legacy.”
Check out the trailer below:

1...335336337...354Page 336 of 354
Clownfish TVAction FiguresToysAnime NewsRetroMoviesVideo GamesComic Books

Copyright © WebReef Media, a subsidiary of Clownfish Studios LLC.

Close Subscribe Card
Clownfish TV

Clownfish TV

6,719 Videos

Subscribe 621.0K