The Beat |
- A Year of Free Comics: REBIRTH offers a second chance at life
- Florida Supercon announces Sept. 10-12 dates in Miami
- INTERVIEW: Jessie Mei Li talks playing a mixed-race Alina in SHADOW AND BONE
- INTERVIEW: Pornsak Pichetshote & Alexandre Tefenkgi on THE GOOD ASIAN
- Sas Milledge’s MAMO explores small-town witchcraft this summer from BOOM! Studios
- Stephanie Phillips’s A MAN AMONG YE returns with new artist Josh George for a second arc this summer
| A Year of Free Comics: REBIRTH offers a second chance at life Posted: 12 Apr 2021 03:00 PM PDT We all have parts of our lives that we'd consider doing over. Whether you want to revisit high school (no thanks) or you'd avoid saying that horrible thing you said in that heated argument you had, the opportunity for a second chance is tempting. In Rebirth, turning back time and changing your past is actually a possibility but what do those changes do for the future? Created by Michi, the sci-fi webcomic centers on Noah, who wakes up and is given an opportunity to redo parts of his life, specifically with his wife and children. He goes back to the day before an eclipse sends the world into apocalyptic darkness that also alters humanity in devastating ways. It is apparent that there is tension between Noah and his wife as well as a strained relationship with one of his children, his son Neo, and from the hints rebirthed Noah drops, he wasn't that great of a person to anyone in his life. This incarnation, however, is making a concerted effort to be better and even offset the devastating effects of the impending end of the world. Alongside the complicated characters is the larger issue—Armageddon brought on by an eclipse. Not only does the event change some people into zombies, but evolution causes others to develop powers, making the comic a mixed bag of sci-fi and horror elements to create an interesting, layered concept. Rebirth updates on Wednesdays on Webtoons. Start reading the free series here.
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| Florida Supercon announces Sept. 10-12 dates in Miami Posted: 12 Apr 2021 10:30 AM PDT It looks like Florida Supercon may be the first major con to be held as an in person event, according to an announcement from ReedPOP. The show will be held September 10-12, 2021 at the Miami Beach Convention Center. Details on guests, badge sale dates, and more will be announced soon. While Florida has had looser rules about public events in general during the course of the pandemic, there will still be enhanced safety precautions, including mandatory temperature checks and mask wearing – and no, Darth Vader helmets don’t count. Social distancing of six feet will still be required, and shaking hands is not allowed.
Florida Supercon, which is normally held in July, had an anticipated attendance of 55,000 in 2016. Given the social distancing requirements, the capped attendance should be a lot less for the 2021 event. There have already been several “mini cons” held in Florida even during the pandemic, but this will be the largest one. ReedPOP, which acquired the event in 2019, has already announced plans for in person events at New York Comic Con, C2E2 and Emerald City Con. In the meantime, they have been expanding their virtual Metaverse events, including meet-ups, virtual book signings and more. We’ve all been wondering when live events will come back, and how we will feel about attending them. Florida Supercon may be the first test.
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| INTERVIEW: Jessie Mei Li talks playing a mixed-race Alina in SHADOW AND BONE Posted: 12 Apr 2021 09:00 AM PDT We have eleven days until the official release of Shadow and Bone on Netflix. We spoke to series star Jessie Mei Li about her experience taking on the main character of the Grisha trilogy. Li plays Alina Starkov, a young soldier in the First Army of Ravka. She’s a cartographer and was raised in an orphanage alongside her childhood friend Mal (Archie Reynaux). When it is revealed that she is a Grisha and the fabled Sun Summoner and harnesses the potential to destroy the odious Shadow Fold that plagues the country, she is taken by General Kirigan (Ben Barnes) to train and become the savior of the country. But, along the way, there are some twists, some turns, and some surprises in store for her that will alter everything she knows to be true. She’ll meet friends and enemies along the way, and she’ll learn to harness her legendary power one way or another. Enter The GrishaverseFor Jessie Mei Li, entering the complicated world that is the Grishaverse came with an immersive experience. “I feel like the world that Leigh [Bardugo] created is so immersive and so exciting that you can just get super lost in it. The production value on this show and the amount of passion that went into it just made everything so believable. The amount of passion from the cast, everyone really loved their characters [and] really wanted this to feel super authentic so in lots of ways it felt really easy to slip into it.” “Having to keep everything in mind all the time can be quite tricky, but when everything is literally there for you and your character’s written so well. We owe so much to our writing team and to Leigh herself. I feel super lucky to have been able to bring her to life because I think she’s a great character.” Wit and HumorAll of the Grisha trilogy, which includes Shadow and Bone as its first novel, is written from a first-person point-of-view, through the eyes of Alina. For some actors, this meant approaching a character you only ever saw from another person’s point of view, but for Li, this meant taking on the privilege and the burden of being the eyes through which the reader learns about Ravka and the Grisha. “I think one of the things that I was worried about,” Li said in taking on the role of Alina, “was, you know, I spoke to Leigh via email before we met and I said, ‘Is there anything that’s really important to you for Alina.’ And she said, ‘Alina is very funny.’ And I said, ‘Yes, she is.’ Because she’s in the book, she’s so witty and we’re in her head so she has all these little sarcastic comments and things. But given the nature of the scripts that I’ve read and the fact that they brought to life some really intense traumatic events for Alina, I was worried about bringing this sense of humor to her, but also making her feel actually grounded in the story.”  “She was really experiencing these things so it was kind of like a fine line to walk between keeping her being funny and having a sense of humor, being able to laugh at the world and have a twinkle in her eye when appropriate, but not making her seem like she wasn’t taking it seriously. Again, so much of that was in the script, but I really hope that we toe the line enough so that we see her personality but we still feel what she goes through.” Scene PartnersOne of the people that Alina meets when she arrives at The Little Palace where Grisha are trained in the capital of Os Alta is Genya Safin. Played by Daisy Head in the series, Genya is a tailor, a branch of Grisha Corporalki who can alter the appearance of people. During the events of Shadow and Bone, she befriends Alina and acts as a bit of a mentor and ally to her as the newcomer in the group. We talked to Head about Genya’s relationship with Alina, and Head was happy to sing Li’s praises. “Honestly, it’s a testament to Jessie and how wonderful a scene partner she is. She’s just generous, giving, and so, so talented. I just had so much fun, and for me, I didn’t have to work hard to create the chemistry because it was there from the get-go. She’s such an infectious human being.”  She continued, “I think a mutual respect for each other, definitely shows on screen with our characters. No relationship in life with anyone is easy, and everyone has history. They definitely have a unique bond in the fact that they are both natural outsiders, so that was an instant connection for our characters.” Half Shu, Half RavkanAnd that outsider identity is elaborated on throughout the series. One of the major changes from the novel was Alina’s race. Originally Alina’s race was unspecified though largely believed to be Ravkan, however, in the development of the series, the show’s version of Alina became mixed-race. Alina became half-Ravkan and also half-Shu. Shu Han is the nation to the south of Ravka, separated by a large mountain range. The Shu people are based on Mongolia and China, with Ravka drawing inspiration from Russia. When talking to Bardugo, she admitted that at the time when she was writing Shadow and Bone, her influences were different from today. “I’ve been very candid about the fact that when I wrote Shadow and Bone, it was my first book. And I think I was unconsciously echoing a lot of the straight white fantasy that grown up on,” Bardugo said. “And when Eric [Heisserer] and I first sat down together, one of the first things we decided was that we wanted Alina to be half Shu. It made a lot of sense, and it felt very organic to the story.” “Alina comes from a border town. She comes from a disputed border between two conflicting nations. And though some people would probably have it otherwise, borders working rarely as walls, they are porous. People do business across them, they form partnerships and romances across them. Borders are the places where ordinary people try to live their lives while governments leave them caught in the crossfire. So for us, it was a very poignant and powerful way to highlight somebody who felt that she didn’t belong. Somebody who, ‘looked like the enemy,’ but was still being forced to fight for her country, and who could, in fact, prove to be the salvation of the country.”  For the showrunner, Eric Heisserer, it was more about the story. “I would say from my end, the choice has stemmed from the fact that the thematic question for so many of our heroes, including Alina, is, where do I belong? So it made sense to play into the theme of our story by having her mixed race. Then that really deepened when my first hire for the show was Christina Strain, a mixed-Asian writer herself. She carried a lot of personal experiences that she had, to talk about that, speak to it, and embrace the idea that she could finally see somebody that represented her in some way or form in the show. And then it became my job to get out of her way.” Also, shout out to Strain, who wrote one of my favorite episodes of the season, Episode 7 “The Unsea”. For Li, playing Alina also meant being able to tap into her own personal experiences. Li, herself, is mixed-raced. “Growing up, as a mixed-race person, I rarely saw anyone who looked like me, let alone Asian people, generally. And if they were on screen they were always a fairly two-dimensional role, a lot of times, especially in western TV shows and films,” Li said. “So I was so thrilled that they made this decision, and yeah, I was able to bring my own experiences. I think, for lots of people [who are] mixed-race or first-generation immigrants, you spend so much of your life not feeling like you belong anywhere. I certainly grew up in a predominantly white area, and I was always ‘the Chinese one’ to my white friends, but to my Asian friends and family, I was very English and you never really feel like you belong anywhere. And that is essentially Alina’s problem where we meet her. She doesn’t know where she belongs. She doesn’t know how important she is. It really shapes who she is, [in] the same way it does for me. My race is a big part of my life, but it’s not everything that I am, and they’ve done such a good job of making Alina’s background important to her as a character and important to shaping who she is, but it’s not everything that she is.”  Li continued, “I think it’s really important that we have more representation on screen but also I think one thing that the show does is it highlights how ridiculous racism can be. We see Alina do these amazing things and then, in the next episode, she’s getting racially abused in the street. And, I think it really highlights to people how stupid that is to insult someone or verbally attack someone based on how they look. So, I think it’s a really important time for us all to see these things and I’m just super proud to represent our community on screen.” In a world like the world of the Grishaverse, prejudice and othering run rampant. Being a Grisha often means ostracization outside of Ravka (and even within Ravka), and in many ways, Alina’s identity as an outsider among Ravkans who view her as an ‘other’ allows her to understand the plight of Grisha without having been raised as one. It’s certainly an area rich for exploration and analysis, and it’s exciting to see such a talented actress brought to the spotlight as a result of this change. Jessie Mei Li quite easily has the best chemistry with the widest range of characters. It’s an absolute joy to see her on-screen as Alina. And, as a Chinese-American reporter, it’s exciting to see the show bring in more Asian actors into the Grishaverse! On that note, keep an eye on The Beat for more interviews as we’ll be dropping more articles this week and next week leading up to the release of Shadow and Bone! Season 1 of Shadow and Bone will premiere on Netflix on April 23rd, 2021. The post INTERVIEW: Jessie Mei Li talks playing a mixed-race Alina in SHADOW AND BONE appeared first on The Beat.  |
| INTERVIEW: Pornsak Pichetshote & Alexandre Tefenkgi on THE GOOD ASIAN Posted: 12 Apr 2021 08:00 AM PDT In The Good Asian #1 by Pornsak Pichetshote, Alexandre Tefenkgi, Lee Loughridge, and Jeff Powell, arriving May 5th, 2021 from Image Comics, readers will be introduced to Detective Edison Hark. FOC for this intriguing new series is TODAY, April 12th, 2021, so be sure and call your local comic shop NOW to reserve your copy!  The Beat asked writer Pichetshote and artist Tefenkgi all about the nonfiction and literary inspirations behind the Chinatown noir comic, what went into faithfully capturing 1936’s Chinatown in San Francisco on the page, and why it is essential to remember some of the frequently forgotten elements of Asian-American history.  AVERY KAPLAN: What was the genesis of The Good Asian? PORNSAK PINCETSHOTE: THE GOOD ASIAN is Chinatown noir – a 1936 detective story featuring the first generation of Americans to grow up beneath an immigration ban of their own people – the Chinese. The Chinese Exclusion Act – an 1882 act which banned all Chinese laborers (and ending up affecting all Chinese immigrants) as well as the Immigration Act of 1924 which barred all Asians and Arabs from entering America was something I discovered late in life, and I couldn't believe I didn't know anything about it. That, coupled with my interest in the movies about the Asian crimesolvers of the 1930s – Charlie Chan, Mr. Moto, and Mr. Wong – led me to want to combine those two things, and tell a story about an Asian detective that acknowledged Asian-American history in all of its facets. ALEXANDRE TEFENKGI: I was put in contact with Pornsak through our mutual friend Cliff Chiang after the New-York Comicon. At that time, I was living in Vietnam and in the process of exploring my Asian heritage, trying to connect with this part of my identity. I talked about it in depth with Cliff, and it might have been part of the reasons why I had the chance to discover Pornsak's project. When I first read the script, I thought it was a great story. It covered a part of history that I didn't know about, but as a person born from an immigrant family, it resonated with me.  KAPLAN: Can you tell us a little bit about Edison Hark; perhaps both in relation to his forerunners as well as what makes him unique? PINCETSHOTE: Edison Hark is one of the first Asian-American detectives in America. He was very much inspired by the real-life inspiration of Charlie Chan – Chang Aparna – America's very first Asian-American detective. Unlike Chang Aparna, he's working a case outside of Hawaii, which Aparna never did. Unlike Charlie Chan who worked many cases outside of Hawaii, Hark's story acknowledges the anti-Asian reality of the 1930s.  KAPLAN: What was the process of capturing 1936 San Francisco like, both aesthetically and in terms of the historical realities? PINCETSHOTE: Tons and tons and tons of research. Because I wasn't just trying to capture 1936 San Francisco, I was trying to capture 1936 Chinatown in San Francisco, and there's a lot less written about that. So most of the work was taking a few source texts and Tetris-ing them together to paint a picture I felt I had a confidant grasp of the reality and truth of to set my story in it. TEFENKGI: On this project, I'm really lucky, because with each issue, I get a folder with the important documentation I need. I usually add my own Pinterest and Google research to that. I tried to give the architectural feel of the period my own spin. I like to simplify subjects and retain the essence of what defines an architecture or object. KAPLAN: Was it important to include nonfiction elements concerning Asian-American history in this detective story? PINCETSHOTE: Absolutely. I don't think the story works without it. The intention was to use a noir detective story to talk about what life was like during that time for the working-class Chinese of Chinatown. It's a way of examining our present through our past. That ambition collapses in on itself when I make up those aspects. On the other hand, there's not a lot you can find about the Chinese of that era, since it was leading up to World War 2 and the Chinese Exclusion Act's repeal; most of the material written about Chinese Exclusion Act-era Chinese deals with the beginning of that period. So what I had to do to get to that truth was cross-reference different texts, and when there were details that were missing – like how cops treated illegal Chinese immigrants or the search for illegal Chinese immigrants – I've looked to what's happening now, under the working theory that it hopefully wasn't worse than that, so the story is always rooted in the truth. For that reason, though, I'm pretty confident the story underestimates how bad anti-Chinese sentiments and actions were at the time, because there was no one around to record it. TEFENKGI: From my artistic point of view, being respectful enough of the time period is key for the believability. I'm not creating a new universe or birthing new designs. The point is to navigate the fine line between keeping your style and staying authentic. I'm trying to translate the era through my visual lens and come up with something narratively correct and engaging. I don't think there's a lot of fiction on my end except the hawk eye vision that Detective Hark is using throughout the story. KAPLAN: Was any specific detective genre story particularly inspirational for The Good Asian? PINCETSHOTE: I don't know if any one detective story was the flashpoint that led to The Good Asian. It was more an entire body of work that influenced its genesis. From The Maltese Falcon to Hammett's Continenal Op stories and novels – "Dead Yellow Letters" is definitely a stand-out there; Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe novels – my favorite being Farewell, My Lovely; Ross McDonald's Lew Archer books, Walter Mosely's Easy Rawlins novels, and of course, the original Charlie Chan books – The House without a Key and The Chinese Parrot. Like I mentioned earlier, THE GOOD ASIAN probably wouldn't exist in its current form if I hadn't been so intrigued by all the Asian crimesolver movies of the 1930s, from Charlie Chan to Mr. Moto to Mr. Wong, Detective. TEFENKGI: When I think detective, with my European mind, I always think of Blacksad by Juanjo Guarnido and Juan Diaz Canales. Twenty years ago, I was so blown away that it became one of my top references for the detective genre. There's also Monster and 20th Century Boys by Naoki Urazawa. How he deals with suspense and mysteries is masterful.
KAPLAN: Could you speak to the potential of the Asian-American noir genre? PINCETSHOTE: There's a lot of POC noir out there – Mosley and Gary Phillips immediately spring to mind – and there are a lot of Asian detective novels out there – Henry Chang's Chinatown Beat novels come to mind as well as Leonard Chang's Allen Choice mysteries. The figure of someone standing on the fringes of society trying to do the right thing resonates so strongly to the experience of people of color, the genre seems ripe for all kinds of immigrant noir. What excites me about the possibility of Asian-American noir – or Chinatown noir as we're calling it –is using the tropes of that genre to explore Asian-American identity, which in itself is kind of a mystery because in relation to other works, there isn't as much dedicated to it. KAPLAN: As noted in the afterword of The Good Asian #1, the first Asian-American police officer in mainland American was sworn in in 1957. Was there a reason you chose to make Hark a police detective rather than, for example, a private investigator? PINCETSHOTE: Probably because my interest in this started with Charlie Chan et al, and looking at what it would take for him to really exist, I discovered how Chan was inspired by real-life Chinese-American cop Chang Aparna from Hawaii. And when I read how he used to go undercover into Chinese opium and gambling dens and root out the troublemakers, I became fascinated about how the first Chinese-American cop was actually used against his fellow Chinese. From there, the book's themes and how it talks about the Asian-American experience today instantly rolled out.
KAPLAN: One technique that I noticed being utilized in The Good Asian #1 was different shaped word balloons to indicate when various languages are being spoken. I was wondering if you could tell us some about the process of developing this alternative to the "asterisks translation note" (with which many comics readers are likely familiar)? PINCETSHOTE: Hark's world is a bilingual world, so I knew I needed an easy way to visually signal to the reader when he's speaking one language over another. We could have used <brackets> every time which has also become a popular comics convention, but one of the things I and my letterer Jeff Powell have in common is trying to communicate the most through the least amount of copy (On the comics page at least. In real life, I can't shut up. Ask my editor.). The idea of doing it through just balloon choice was Jeff's, which I think is inspired. And actually, it's really subtle, but the font is slightly different as well to match it a little better to those rectangular balloons. KAPLAN: Was there any element of the story that presented you with a particular challenge, either in terms of narrative or visual development? PINCETSHOTE: The book is really inspired by pulp detective novels – Sam Spade, The Continental Op, Philip Marlowe, Lew Archer, Easy Rawlins – as opposed to film noir movies. And when you read those books, you quickly realize that prose really is the best medium for these kinds of stories. So many of them live in that space of a detective going up and talking to different people or describing his perspective on a scene or the 10-page chapter at the end of exposition revealing the answer to the mystery. So part of the challenge – but also part of the fun – of doing it as a comic is how to keep faithful to the spirit of the original books but make it work for our medium. TEFENKGI: My last series was a science fiction comic that took place in a far future on an estranged planet. I could literally invent and design anything in this world that was disconnected from our present reality. Here, with THE GOOD ASIAN, it's the complete opposite: everything has to be accurate enough to the time period. I have also had to adapt my style to explore the crime noir genre. I wanted to keep the feel and atmosphere of the detective books and give my own spin on it. On the pages, I went back and forth between grey tones shadows and pure black treatment. The process is always evolving.
KAPLAN: Have there been any comics, books, or any other media that has been especially inspiring to you lately? PINCETSHOTE: I cannot go through an interview without extolling the virtues of Dave Lapham's Stray Bullets. He's just such a genius, and every issue feels like he's pulling off a narrative magic trick. TEFENKGI: I read books about storyboarding and movies. Like the Master Shots volumes. I'm trying to translate that knowledge into the pages. Movie storyboards and comics pages have a lot in common. KAPLAN: Is there anything else that you'd like me to be sure and include? PINCETSHOTE: It's not lost on me that this book is coming out during a time when anti-Asian crime rates are skyrocketing here in America, whether it's elderly Asians being assaulted in broad daylight or the Atlanta shootings. The inspiration for this book was to acknowledge and showcase some of the Asian-American history we've allowed ourselves to forget, some of which provides context to some of the stuff happening today. But one of the things that's becoming really clear as I was writing this book and watching the news is that we still don't really talk about working-class Asians in this country and that really needs to change. If anyone's interested in learning more about what's happening today, consider going over to stopaapihate.org or nextshark.com for more info, or denote to AAJC (Asian Americans Advancing Justice). TEFENKGI: This question has been perfectly answered by Pornsak. I second him. The Good Asian #1 will be available on May 5th, 2021, but FOC is April 12th, 2021, so call your LCS right now to order your copy. The post INTERVIEW: Pornsak Pichetshote & Alexandre Tefenkgi on THE GOOD ASIAN appeared first on The Beat.  |
| Sas Milledge’s MAMO explores small-town witchcraft this summer from BOOM! Studios Posted: 12 Apr 2021 07:00 AM PDT BOOM! Studios is adding another magical series to its BOOM! Box imprint. The publisher today has announced Mamo, a new five-issue series written and illustrated by Sas Milledge. The series, the first both written and illustrated by Milledge, follows a young witch who encounters unexpected challenges upon her return to her hometown.
Here’s how BOOM! describes Mamo:
Mamo is the latest work from cartoonist Milledge for BOOM! Studios. She has previously illustrated an issue of Buffy, The Vampire Slayer, as well as a 2017 special for Jim Henson’s Labyrinth. Milledge also illustrated the middle-grade book The Lost Carnival: A Dick Grayson Graphic Novel for DC Comics.
In a statement accompanying the announcement of Mamo, Milledge expressed her excitement at bringing the series to readers:
BOOM! Studios Associate Editor Sophie Philips-Roberts also expressed enthusiasm for Milledge’s work on Mamo:
The five-issue Mamo joins a diverse BOOM! Box lineup that also includes fellow witchcraft-themed series The Last Witch, supernatural adventure series Specter Inspectors, and magical girl/superhero series Save Yourself!, among many others. Check out a few pages of interior artwork from Mamo #1, as well as variant covers for the issue by Trung Lê Nguyễn and Veronica Fish, below. The first issue of the five-issue miniseries arrives in stores in July 2021.
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| Stephanie Phillips’s A MAN AMONG YE returns with new artist Josh George for a second arc this summer Posted: 12 Apr 2021 06:15 AM PDT A Man Among Ye begins its second story arc in summer 2021 from Top Cow/Image. What this means: female freebooters are back on the agenda! Changes are afoot though, as writer Stephanie Phillips will team up with new interior artist Josh George for the returning series. George replaces original series artist Craig Cermak.
The publisher’s synopsising bit:
The comic will come with three covers: a main cover by George, a variant by previous interior artist Cermak, and another variant. by Abigail Larson. Series writer Stephanie Phillips had this to say about rounding up the new iteration of her creative crew,
New artist George has a handful of comics credits to his name, including work on Zenoscope's Grimm Tales of Terror and some shorts for longstanding British anthology title 2000AD. On joining the series, George said:
The previous four issue storyline of A Man Among Ye wrapped up in January. A collection of those issues was released in February, and the full first issue of the series is available to read for free on Image’s website. Check out the variants by Larson and Cermak below. Anne Bonny and her all-women crew will set sail for more high seas action with A Man Among Ye #5, on sale July 14.
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