Saturday, May 29, 2021

The Beat

The Beat

The Beat

Danai Gurira’s Okoye is getting her own Disney+ series

Posted: 28 May 2021 02:45 PM PDT

There's no doubt that the Dora Milaje is one of the highlights of Wakanda. With the fantastic appearance of Ayo (Florence Kasumba) in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, hearing that more of these badass warriors will be on Disney+ is welcome news. The fact that the rumor is Okoye is even better.

Sources claim that Danai Gurira will be reprising her role in not only Ryan Coogler's upcoming Black Panther: Wakanda Forever but also in an original spin-off series for the streaming giant. While Disney has yet to comment on the news, The Hollywood Reporter dropped the reveal in the outlet's profile on her attorney Jamie Mandelbaum of Jackoway Austen Tyerman Wertheimer Mandelbaum Morris Bernstein Trattner & Klein. Gurira herself has also yet to comment about the show.

Okoye
Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong’o, Florence Kasumba in Black Panther

Coogler is also behind the new show. The filmmaker and his Proximity Media have signed a five-year exclusive TV deal with the studio. Details about what the show will focus on and where in the timeline it takes place remain a mystery.

Wakanda Forever is scheduled to hit theaters on July 8, 2022. Stay tuned for more updates on both the cinematic sequel to Black Panther as well as what's coming from Marvel's streaming show.

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Ross Richie moves to Chairman of the Board at Boom! Studios

Posted: 28 May 2021 02:15 PM PDT

ross-richie.jpeg

Start spreading the news – Boom! Studios founder and CEO Ross Richie has a new position at the company: Chairman of the Board.

Richie was appointed to the new position by the Boom board of directors following the departure of Scott Lenet, who had been Chair for a decade.

In this new role, Richie will continue to “provide vision and strategy for the company, targeting new business activities and arrangements to take the company to its next stage.”

Day to day running of Boom! will continue with its veteran management team: Stephen Christy (President, Development), Matt Gagnon (Editor-in-Chief), Joy Huffman (CFO), and Filip Sablik (President, Publishing & Marketing). They will all remain in their current roles.

"While it's difficult to shift away from being hands-on in the daily activity of the company, this new role will allow me to concentrate more deeply on trailblazing, which is my greatest passion," said Richie in a statement. "BOOM! Studios has tremendous momentum in every facet of our business, which coupled with my confidence in the strong team I've built to manage the daily operations of the company, means there's no better time for me to make this transition to create new opportunities. We’ve built the largest independently owned library of comics properties in America together, and the opportunities ahead are thrilling."

Lenet commented: "I'm very proud of Ross, having seen how he has built BOOM! from the ground up, recruited a world-class team, and created one of the most innovative and creator-friendly models in media. It's been an honor being Ross' partner in building the company, and I continue to expect great things from Ross and BOOM! as he grows into this next leadership role. It goes without saying that I look forward to continuing to work with him on the Board."

Richie founded Boom! 16 years ago and served as CEO for that period. His tenure saw the company survive many changes – making the switch from a business based on periodicals to one including graphic novels; negotiating headline-making licenses with companies from Disney to the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers and the WWE; acquiring Archaia; moving into film and TV with things like Two Guns and now Mech Cadets; and launching kids and YA comics at a time when they were still considered risky, including their signature title, Lumberjanes. In those 16 years Boom won "Publisher of the Year" from Diamond Comic Distributors 9 times, multiple Eisner and Harvey Awards, and recently published BRZRKR, which, thanks to a huge Kickstarter campaign, is the best-selling comic book in comic book shops of the past 29 years.

Richie  certainly has a lot to look back on with a lot of pride…and much more to do as the industry moves forward.

 

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Slew of game showcases kicks off summer of video game announcements

Posted: 28 May 2021 12:15 PM PDT

E3 is still weeks away, but Video Game Announcements Season™ kicked off in full force with over half a dozen video showcases. Here's a rundown of the games and software we revealed or detailed this past week.

Dragon Quest

Wednesday's Dragon Quest 35th Anniversary Special saw the announcement of Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate, the next mainline entry in the series. Square Enix also shared that a remake of Dragon Quest 3 is in development, using the "HD-2D" art style that originated in Octopath Traveler.

Game Builder Garage

On Thursday Morning Nintendo released an overview trailer for Game Builder Garage, which guides players on how to create their own games through simple lessons. Similar to Roblox, Game Builder Garage seems designed to inspire a whole new generation of video game developers. Nintendo’s latest experimental title comes out June 11.

Dying Light 2

The long-gestating sequel to 2015's Dying Light received an official gameplay trailer Thursday. The 7-minute video walks fans through the changes and updates developer Techland made to the survival action horror game. Dying Light 2 releases December 6.

Sonic, Sonic, and more Sonic

Celebrating the blue hedgehog's 30th Anniversary, the Sonic Central broadcast featured several video game reveals. The first was Sonic Colors Ultimate, a remaster of the 2010 Wii game with some cool bonuses like a new series of animated shorts. 

SEGA also unveiled Sonic Origins, a collection of classic 2D Sonic games, including the first re-release of Sonic and Knuckles in over a decade. The third entry in the series was trapped in limbo due to a legal dispute, but SEGA seems to have worked out the issue which may or may not have involved Michael Jackson, meaning fans can finally play the classicgame on modern hardware. 

The show ended with a tease of the next 3D Sonic title. The video didn't tell us much of anything, but rumor has it the game will be Sonic's first-ever open-world adventure

Horizon Forbidden West

Sony showed off gameplay from the upcoming PlayStation exclusive during its State of Play showcase. The sequel to Horizon Zero Dawn looks absolutely jaw-dropping, and the video showed off new tools and mechanics which will add a lot to the gameplay. Unfortunately, the lack of release date greatly increases the possibility that the game gets delayed into 2022.

Far Cry 6

On Friday Ubisoft shared new footage from Far Cry 6 for the first time since the publisher delayed the game from its original release date, February 18. The full event included new details about the game’s pseudo-political narrative, which takes place in a fictional South American country awash in guerrilla warfare. Ubisoft announced that the game will release on October 7. Click above to watch an overview of Far Cry 6‘s gameplay.

Unreal Engine 5

This won't receive the same level of attention as the other presentations on the list, but Epic Games released a video that shows off its demo for Unreal Engine 5. Many of the most popular games in the industry run on Unreal Engine 4, so the demo is a peek into the future of video game development. The video is extremely technical, but worth at least skimming through to see the visual fidelity games will reach over the course of this generation.

This series of showcases was quite a way to end the week! The Beat will continue updating readers on future announcements and shakeups in the video game industry.

The post Slew of game showcases kicks off summer of video game announcements appeared first on The Beat.

SILBER LININGS: Steve Gerber’s HOWARD THE DUCK was trapped in a time it never made

Posted: 28 May 2021 12:00 PM PDT

The Beat's Gregory Paul Silber has been accused of having a bit of an… obsessive personality. Each week in Silber Linings, he takes a humorous look at the weirdest, funniest, and most obscure bits of comics and pop culture that he can't get out of his head.

When I moved back home after college, I was heartbroken to realize I had no choice but to stop buying comics. I’d spent $20 on comics each Wednesday with the money from my campus gig as a writing tutor, but flat broke with the hope of landing an entry-level job seeming increasingly impossible, I had to stop reading incredible comics that were coming out at the time like Pretty Deadly and G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona‘s Ms. Marvel. Luckily, some sympathetic family members bought me a Marvel Unlimited subscription for my birthday, and that’s how I discovered one of my favorite comics: the original run of Howard the Duck by Steve Gerber, Frank Brunner, Gene Colan, et al.

Here’s the thing about having a reading diet of like 90% Marvel Comics for a year: even if you love Marvel superheroes as much as I do, eventually, you get a little sick of them. Don’t get me wrong, I discovered some great comics during that time like Mark Waid and Mike Wieringo‘s Fantastic Four run and a whole lot of Jack Kirby goodness, but eventually, I got to a point where I was desperate to find something on the Marvel Unlimited app that wasn’t about punching (please don’t misunderstand: I love comics about punching).

Enter Howard the Duck, a comic that I vaguely remembered a high school buddy describing as “existential” and “really smart actually.” He wasn’t wrong. Make no mistake, Howard the Duck is a Marvel comic, right down to a Spider-Man appearance in the first issue of his eponymous series (Howard first appeared as a member of Man-Thing’s supporting cast in 1973’s Adventure into Fear #19 before the debut of his own title in 1976). But thematically and stylistically, it’s as far from what most mainstream comics were doing at the time as Earth is from Duckworld.

Let’s get this out of the way: chances are, if you’ve heard of Howard the Duck, it’s because of the infamous 1986 film starring Lea Thompson that’s widely considered one of the worst films ever made. I wouldn’t know. I never saw it, and since I love Gerber and company’s original comic too much to want to watch an adaptation by a producer/screenwriter who declared “It’s a film about a duck from outer space… It’s not supposed to be an existential experience” (yes it is!), I probably never will.*

(*Editor’s Note: Here we have Greg giving me assignment ideas unprompted. –JG)

Either way, if your only familiarity with Howard comes from a film where they gave ducks boobs for some reason, I urge you let go of that frame of reference for a comic that’s genuinely funny, brilliantly postmodern, and utterly transcendent.

Of course, as sublime as they are, those 27 issues of Howard the Duck penned by Steve Gerber, the bulk of which were penciled by Gene Colan, may not be the kind of thing that pleases stuffy intellectuals, even if only because it’s a Marvel comic book called Howard the Duck. It’s too aggressively bizarre, and with Gerber removed from the series prematurely due to his habitual deadline delinquency, it doesn’t really have an ending. Reading it today, it’s clear that Gerber wasn’t writing for ’70s college professors, but their smart stoner students.

That’s not to say by any means that you need to be high to enjoy Howard (I read every issue sober), but come on. Howard fights a supervillain with a bell on his head named “Dr. Bong.” Gerber knew who was reading these things.

Like almost all Marvel comics of the era, Gerber’s Howard the Duck has a loose narrative thru-line from issue to issue while remaining highly episodic. The overall plot concerns the oddball misadventures of a fast-talking, cigar-chomping duck from outer space “trapped in a world he never made” on Earth. Basically, it’s a fish-out-of-water story, with Howard making pointed observations about 1970s America while struggling to be taken seriously. With the exception of his friend, unrequited love interest, and frequent traveling companion Beverly Switzler, most people can’t look past Howard’s inexplicable existence enough to listen to him, no matter how articulate or urgent his words are. “But… you’re a duck” may as well be the series’ catchphrase.

I don’t throw around the phrase “ahead of its time,” but Howard the Duck is one of the few pieces of media for which I feel it’s appropriate. Granted, Howard is “of its time” in several ways, including the gag of Howard running for President to coincide with the real-life 1976 POTUS race. The trends and social mores that Gerber, Colan, and the rest of the creative team critique and poke fun at are often distinctly ’70s. It’s not the targets of Gerber’s social commentary that makes Howard the Duck read like a comic of the future, but the fact that satire this sharp and daring was in a 1970s Marvel comic at all.

In a lot of ways, Howard the Duck reads like the kind of 2010s superhero comics I fell in love with as a college student and struggling post-grad, comics that largely eschew the trappings of traditional superheroics in favor of genre-benders that play with readers’ expectations of what mainstream comics are capable of.

Matt Fraction, David Aja, Annie Wu, et al‘s Hawkeye, a comic about the titular Avenger fighting slumlords and the ennui of vaguely-30-something single life in Brooklyn, shares some Howard the Duck DNA in the way that it presents feeling like an outsider (Clint Barton being a relatively ordinary man among super-powered gods; Howard being an alien bipedal talking duck among humans) as an existential crisis.

This may seem like a tenuous connection, but I see some Gerber influence in those existentially disconcerting superhero comics with which Tom King made a name for himself a few years after Hawkeye, too. They’re not nearly as trippy as Howard the Duck, and King generally favors different themes and styles from Gerber, but I’m not sure King and Gabriel Hernandez Walta‘s The Vision could exist without Howard the Duck proving that there’s no reason why Marvel comics can’t lean on heavy philosophical conversations between a duck and a nude model or a robot and his robo-wife.

Of course, I would soon discover comics that shared some commonality with Gerber’s Howard the Duck that predated my falling head-over-heels in love with superhero comics in the early 2010s. One of my other all-time favorite comics, Grant Morrison and Chas Truog‘s 1988-1990 Animal Man, is a highly existential fourth-wall burster that ends with Morrison themself appearing on-page. That final issue consists entirely of an extended monologue by Morrison in which they wax philosophical about the nature of fiction and the responsibility of a writer to make their characters suffer for their readers.

It’s my favorite ending in all of comics, and it’s rightly considered a groundbreaking moment. But it also pairs nicely with Howard the Duck #16. As previously mentioned, Gerber was notoriously bad with deadlines. Finding himself under immense stress between falling behind on his work, moving from New York to Las Vegas, and writer’s block for Howard’s next adventure, he opted instead to write the issue as an illustrated prose essay. There are no panels or word balloons. Howard himself barely appears. To call it metafiction would be erroneous, because while it’s certainly meta, it’s not fiction. Instead, it’s a startlingly vulnerable, if self-indulgent (not necessarily a bad thing) exploration of Gerber’s insecurities.

Gerber was just 30 at the time, the same age I am now. And while our lives and careers are obviously different, I can re-open that issue today and feel as if I’m reading a message from a kindred spirit. I wish I could’ve had a conversation with him, but he died in 2008 at the age of 60.

I’ve mostly been talking about Steve Gerber here, and I don’t mean to discount the incredible artists who made that original run of Howard the Duck a stunning visual achievement as well as a literary one. A bevy of comic book greats contributed to these issues, including inkers like Klaus Janson and Steve Leialoha and colorists like Marie Severin and Tatjana Wood (as far as I’m concerned, Wood is the most underrated colorist in comics history).

And while he may not have joined the series until the fourth issue, Gene Colan anchoring the rest of the series with his moody lines and off-kilter compositions provides the comic’s definitive visual identity. There’s something ever-so-slightly sickly, even sinister, about Colan’s layouts throughout the book. It’s never outright unpleasant; don’t get me wrong, Colan was an incredible artist and you’d be hard-pressed to find a better looking comic from the same era. But Colan imbued every page with the subtle suggestion that something is wrong with the world he was presenting. Was that a comment on the fantastical version of Earth Howard occupies, or the real world that the comic directly satirizes?

Howard the Duck‘s artists deserve as much recognition as Gerber, but I’m a writer, so forgive me for relating most to its writerly achievements. Excuse my grandiosity, but what Steve Gerber achieved with Howard the Duck feels like a miracle. I could hardly imagine a Big 2 comic book writer getting away with what Gerber did today, let alone from 1976-1978 when mainstream comics were still regulated by the Comics Code Authority, and the medium as a whole was still many years away from being considered anything but the lowest of lowbrow art.

When I read Howard the Duck, I get the sense that Steve Gerber knew it would only be so long before his opportunity to write something so bold would be stripped away from him. Howard the Duck is a work of bravery and neurotic creativity, by a writer daring himself to break as many rules as possible before the inevitable yet altogether glorious burnout.

The post SILBER LININGS: Steve Gerber’s HOWARD THE DUCK was trapped in a time it never made appeared first on The Beat.

FANDOM FLAMES: Why women-centered media gets left behind

Posted: 28 May 2021 11:00 AM PDT

Here on Fandom Flames, we've talked about women-centered media and fandoms getting left behind before, but now, we're doing a deep dive. By "left behind," I mean, for the most part, being dismissed and ignored, if not receiving outright ridicule and ire. In the case of some men, a piece of media being about women and for women makes it irrelevant and even silly or fluffy, even though some of them are anything but. Fandom is often treated this way too, with many fandoms and fan activities being diminished by creators and others. A recent tweet from TV writer and producer Sherman Payne, for example:

Sherman Payne's railing against women-centered spaces in fandom

And while plenty of people pushed back on Payne's words, the point is that a lot of fandom, which is women-dominated in certain quarters, has trouble gaining any sort of traction as a "serious" group of people. This is despite fan campaigns arguably saving shows, merchandise bought by fans doing huge business for the larger media corporations, and fans boosting (or negating) reputations and audiences of various films, TV, and music on social media.

Still, women-centered media and fandoms have gotten decried and ridiculed for years: an old CNN blog post published only nine years ago cries about "booth babes." Another article, published in 2019, this time by a defender of women fans, particularly teens, shows that things haven't changed much in the interim. There's the legendary Sherlock fandom, which, with its mild conspiracy-theory vibe, was never taken seriously.

WandaVision got dismissed by some critics and some fans for being boring, or, "comfort TV": Darren Franich of Entertainment Weekly hurled that particular accusation. What, exactly, is "comfort TV"? And why isn't, say, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which suffered from similar pacing problems, considered the same thing? You know why, and I know why. WandaVision was centered around a woman and her problems, as well as the inherent problems in domesticity—women's issues, women's problems, women's show…comfort TV.

If women aren't eye candy, or snarky and strong, they get pushed aside to "another" category of media. Or worse: if they aren't being violated or murdered, they get shuffled off. Happy endings or near-happy endings for women don't count. Look at the ending of Game of Thrones, which while nearly universally ridiculed, ended with the showrunners deciding they needed to make their leading heroine insane and not suited to power. Shows like Law & Order: Special Victims Unit are often dismissed by both feminists and sexists, for entirely different reasons. Still, they provide a weird sort of comfort to women, as this excellent article points out. They provide a world where women's trauma gets resolved. WandaVision kind of did, too.

In a world where fandom spaces can be a space of harassment, the gap between women-centered media and more male-centered media needs to be bridged. Whether through advertisers attempting more gender parity (like that's going to happen), or fandom and criticism just shaping up a little more, bit by bit, year by year, this subtle and insidious form of discrimination needs to stop. Or maybe, just maybe, we could just get more women-centered media in general to bridge the gap in representation. Nothing will be solved overnight, but if we're all made a little more aware of the problems we face, maybe we can work together to make things a little better bit by bit.

The post FANDOM FLAMES: Why women-centered media gets left behind appeared first on The Beat.

REVIEW: The Eyes Have It in WITCHBLOOD #3

Posted: 28 May 2021 10:45 AM PDT

witchbloodWitchblood #3

Created by: Matthew Erman and Lisa Sterle
Colored by: Gab Contreras
Lettered by: Andworld
Published by: Vault Comics

This review contains spoilers for Witchblood #1 and #2, both available now at your local comic shop. 

In the third issue of Witchblood by Matthew Erman, Lisa Sterle, Gab Contreras, and Andworld, the wheels are still turning, and the reader arrives in yet another new locale. The on-the-road issue-by-issue framework of Witchblood is beginning to become clearer, and you'd be a fool not to settle into Yonna's figurative sidecar for the ride.

witchblood

The Darkness in the Sheds of Town

In Witchblood #3, just as in the first two volumes, we are introduced to a new witch: Yoshi Von Teufel. However, rather than approach her from the perspective of the Hounds of Love or Yonna, in this issue, we see what the local witch looks like through the eyes of Atlacoya, who we first met back in issue one.

We quickly discover that, like Yonna, Atlacoya has allies of her own… and although we don't get to know them as well as we might like in this issue, it's becoming clear from the pattern of the series that their time in the spotlight will surely be arriving soon enough.

In a similar vein to the previous issue, which gave us a look into different types of magic from different spell casters, in this issue, we get more insight into the anti-magical techniques used by Atlacoya (hint: ever considered using a circulatory system as a method of spreading out a salt ward).

witch blood

More Magic from Yonna

The other highlight of this issue is the chance to see more of Yonna's distinctive magic, which we first glimpsed (in a somewhat different stage) in the debut issue. In this instance, we get to see what the process of concocting a spell looks like: it turns out it's more feeling than you'd expect (at least when it comes to Yonna's distinctive magical brand).

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Better still, the visual gag that is the fruit of her potion-crafting labors is too good to reveal, but rest assured that there's no way it won't elicit a reaction.

What's Around the Next Witchblood Bend?

witch bloodOf all the excellent pages in this issue, my favorite may have been Yonna's hand-drawn map of the United States. I screeched to a halt when I came to this page and drank in every detail. With forbidden spaces, hilarious notations, and a map key that defines important symbols (including the one that denotes where to find family, so as to avoid them).

This panel reveals the great potential of the series, and indeed, the notion of exploring every corner of this map in measured, issue-by-issue servings is tantalizing indeed.

Each issue of Witchblood so far has offered a distinctive, entertaining chapter in an increasingly interesting tale, and there's no reason at all to think the pace will slow down from here. With more unexpected characters and occurrences unseen but waiting just around the next narrative bend, you can bet your car, big iron, or witchy familiar that I'll be following this story until the wheels come off.

Witchblood #3 is available today at your local comics shop.

The post REVIEW: The Eyes Have It in WITCHBLOOD #3 appeared first on The Beat.

Ice Cream Alert: SCHOLASTIC teams up with SALT & STRAW!

Posted: 28 May 2021 10:15 AM PDT

Thanks to a collaboration between the Scholastic Corporation and Salt & Straw Ice Cream, this summer will be more delicious than ever thanks to two of our very favorite things: ice cream and reading! Salt & Straw today unveiled five limited time flavors, each of which is based on a classic Scholastic book – including flavors based on graphic novels from the Scholastic Graphix imprint!

The Rad Readers menu

Beginning today, Friday, May 28th, 2021, and through July 1st, 2021, Salt & Straw's Rad Readers menu will be available in the company's brick and mortar stores as well as for online order nationwide.

Tyler Malek, who co-founded Salt & Straw with cousin Kim Malek, worked closely with the creators behind the Scholastic books to formulate flavors inspired by the books.

Delicious Book-Based Flavors

Raina Telgemeier, The Beat's pick for the Comics Industry Person of the Decade in 2020, is having her 2010 graphic novel Smile honored thanks to a flavor called "Words & Pictures." She noted that the flavor was uniquely "comics":

We threw around many ideas for flavors based on braces and anxiety (running themes in my work), but at the end of the day, what I’m most passionate about is the magic of comics: how words and pictures combine to tell stories neither one can do alone. Words & Pictures is a true collaboration between me and a team of ice cream wizards! 

Plus, a flavor based on the excellent graphic novel Twins by Shannon Wright and Varian Johnson is also available: "A Matching Pear w/ Twinnamon Swirl." Is it too obvious to order a double scoop? I don't care, I'm doing it anyway!

Plus, the Amulet series by Kazu Kibuishi gets a flavor called "Fruit of the Gadoba Tree," featuring the titular and mysterious fruit!

And the flavors based on prose books sound amazing, as well. R.L. Stine's seminal Goosebumps series gets a gooey, fruity flavor called "Monster Blood is Back" (PROTIP: do not give this flavor to your pet, Cuddles the Hamster), while the Geronimo Stilton series by Elisabetta Dami will be commemorated with "The Frosted Forzen Feast," promising a "marve-mousely magnificent" ice cream.

Available through Salt & Straw

If you'd like to learn all the details about the five Scholastic Salt & Straw flavors, including allergen information, you can do so beneath this article.

Is there a Salt & Straw brick and mortar store near you, and if so, will you be heading out to get some ice cream to compliment your reading this summer? Which one of these irresistible flavors do you hope to sample first? Is there any chance we'll get an Animorphs flavor next summer? Let The Beat know what you think, either here in the comments or over on social media @comicsbeat!

Goosebumps: Monster Blood is Back! (Author: R.L. Stine)

We consider ourselves pretty fearless kitchen explorers. For this flavor, we pulled all sorts of ingredients from our pantry, a little of this, some of that. Laying it all out on the table, we noticed something peculiar. Amongst our ingredients, we found a mysterious blue can. "What could be in there?" we wondered. Inside was a bright green goo, shimmering in the light. Looking at it, we decided to go where no chef has gone before. No joke. Streaks of citrusy, shiny green goo suspend hunks of deep red strawberry bark. Each bite will hit you with a surprising POP as it explodes in your mouth. Warning: If you hear strange gurgling noises coming from your pint… RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!

Contains Milk, Soy

Geronimo Stilton & The Frosted Frozen Feast (Author: Elisabetta Dami)

Dear ole' Gerrykins…I mean, Geronimo. Sit back and take it cheesy while we treat you to the most marve- mousely magnificent ice cream you could ever imagine. Salted caramel takes on an even saltier side when paired with parmesan-steeped cream, made rich with mascarpone cheesecake and crumbles of buttery cracker crust for one fabumouse flavor. For the love of cheese, this one is so GOUDA, even your neighborhood cat will love it!

Contains Milk, Wheat, Soy

Smile: Words & Pictures (Author: Raina Telgemeier)

Ever wondered what your very own graphic novel would look like… or even taste like? Inspired by the sketch table of Raina Telgemeier, author of intensely relatable graphic novels Smile and Guts, we gathered everything to craft your own story—paper, pencil, and eraser—before reimagining them into ice cream. Yellow and pink almond-infused sponge cake and stracciatella "pencil shavings" are strewn about our favorite sketchpad, trusty vanilla ice cream. For all of our budding illustrator and storyteller friends out there, we say, 'Draw your spoons and scoop your own flavor story!'

Contains Milk, Wheat, Eggs, Tree Nuts (almonds)

Amulet: Fruit of the Gadoba Tree (Author: Kazu Kibuishi)
Perched high upon a perilous mountaintop reside the last of the Gadoba trees. The fruit of this tree is powerful: one in every 100 can save your life, while the other 99 will take it away. We plucked some ourselves for its magical elixir. Ever shrouded in mystery, this flavor's quest begins with capturing the otherworldly flavors of cacao nibs by steeping them in sweet cream, then culminates with dollops of our kitchen's real-life concoction of the mysterious, juicy "Gadoba" fruit.
Contains Milk, Tree Nuts (Lychees)

Twins: Pear w/ Twinnamon Swirl (Author: Varian Johnson and Shannon Wright)

Twins means best friends forever, right? Just how the inseparable bond between twins Maureen and Francine Carter is tested when they enter middle school, we paired up a dynamic combination of two decidedly unique flavors, interweaving the nuances of individuality and sisterly love. In our own tale of the twins, we weave whips of our housemade cinnamon-laced cream cheese throughout a sweet and fragrant pear ice cream.

Contains Milk

 

The post Ice Cream Alert: SCHOLASTIC teams up with SALT & STRAW! appeared first on The Beat.

Comics Crowdfunding Round-Up: MECHATON, MY CAT THE ORACLE, and 3 more campaigns we love

Posted: 28 May 2021 10:00 AM PDT

Welcome to The Beat's crowdfunding round-up: a collection of some of our favorite campaigns from the week including one-shots, on-goings, anthologies and everything in-between. This week we're checking out the community-oriented mecha series, MechaTon, the sphinx slice-of-life series, My Cat the Oracle, and more.

Let's get started!

MechaTon, Issue #1

mechaton

Creators: Wells Thompson (writer), Dalton Shannon (writer), Fernando Pinto (artist), Mayday Trippe (colorist), Nathan Kempf (letterer)
Goal: $6,000
End date: June 19, 2021
Goodies: Grab the digital version for $6, get the print version for $14, or check out higher tiers for signed covers, lentil soup, and more.

A rule-of-cool comic about robot mechs punching mutated insects, fighting for your community, and flying by the seat of your pants.

What if you had a weapon that could turn anything it punched – even a hotdog stand – into a monster-fighting mecha? If you're the characters of MechaTon, you would use this power to protect your community from corporations, the military, and even space fascists. This campaign kicks off the first issue of MechaTon, a fully-colored, 28-page debut packed with action, laughs, and robots. 

Become a backer here.

BUMP – A Horror Anthology

bump

Creators: Joseph S. Farrar (writer), Joel Saavedra, Gica Tam, James Killian, Elizabeth Malette, J. Schiek, Rebecca Ollerton, Barry Renshaw (artists), Haley Rose-Lyon (letterer)
Goal: $1,311
End date: June 23, 2021
Goodies: Grab a digital issue for $5, get a physical version for $8, or check out higher tiers for variants, a hardcover copy, and more.

A single issue comic book anthology, featuring 7 different horror stories illustrated by 7 different artists.

Bump is an upcoming horror anthology written by Joseph S. Farrar with black-and-white artwork from a variety of artists and styles. While all stories will be appropriately creepy, each one pulls from its own influences, so each 3-page story is unique, with tones ranging from depressing to adorable to terrifying. Check out the campaign page for a preview of each of the seven stories, and look for Bump to arrive this December.   

Become a backer here.                                 

My Cat the Oracle! A Mythical Cat Comic

my cat the oracle

Creators: Sam Taylor (author)
Goal: $778
End date: June 24, 2021
Goodies: The digital version is $8, the physical version is $12, and prints are available with higher tiers.

A comic anthology following the Sphinx, wise oracle of the Temple on the Sea!

From the creator of Debtquest, comes a new slice-of-life anthology taking a closer look at the daily life of a wise sphinx and the temple priest she lives with. She challenges heroic champions with riddles and belly rubs, interprets visions (once coaxed with treats), and chases various pests. My Cat the Oracle is a 44-page full-color comedic anthology, and is available as a high quality A5 staplebound comic, or as a PDF.

Become a backer here.

HAUNTING/Like Father, Like Daughter Crossover #1

haunting like father like daughter

Creators: Phil Falco (writer), Kat Calamia (writer), Rafi de Sousa (artist), Fabi Marques (colorist), Brant Fowler (letter)
Goal: $10,000
End date: June 24, 2021
Goodies: Get the digital version for $5, get the physical version for $10, or check out higher tiers for indie comic bundles, back issues, and more.

ZOMBIES, GHOSTS, and POWERS! Superheroes meet the Supernatural in this 44-page epic CROSSOVER!

Indie comics collide in the Haunting/Like Father, Like Daughter Crossover, a collaboration that's accessible for anyone, not just longtime fans of either series. It kicks off as Casey's Halloween dance is suddenly overrun with ghosts and zombies – and luckily Bram is there to help. This 44-page full color comic is a bit of high school drama, spooky vibes, and superhero action, and there's also a 7-page preview over on the campaign page.

Become a backer here. 

Bad Medicine: A Horror Anthology Comic

bad medicine

Creators: Christopher Twin (author)
Goal: $4,537
End date: June 25, 2021
Goodies: Grab the digital version for $9, get the physical version for $17, or check out higher tiers for commissions.

A horror anthology with stories inspired by Cree folklore and contemporary Native issues/events. 

Not enough horror for you? Not to worry, Christopher Twin is prepping a 100-page anthology inspired by Cree folklore, and Native issues. Across three stories, readers will bump into ghosts and mystical creatures in their intersection with reality, all framed with characters passing stories around a campfire. For a preview of Twin's artwork, head over to the campaign page.

Become a backer here.

Here are a few funded projects we love:

And don't forget to check out last week's projects:

The post Comics Crowdfunding Round-Up: MECHATON, MY CAT THE ORACLE, and 3 more campaigns we love appeared first on The Beat.

EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW: Thor & Loki Team-Up in JIM HENSON’S THE STORYTELLER: TRICKSTERS #4

Posted: 28 May 2021 09:30 AM PDT

Tricksters, your time has arrived! In the fourth issue of Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Tricksters by Robin Kaplan (The City on The Other Side) and A.L. Kaplan (Full-Spectrum Therapy), with letters by Jim Campbell, the Norse trickster god Loki teams up with the Norse god of thunder, Thor… but in order to retrieve his hammer, Thor will have utilize his brains rather than his brawn! The issue will be available at your local comic shop on Wednesday, June 16th, 2021, but you can get your first look at this issue today, right here at The Beat.

Tricksters
Main cover art by Peach Momoko.

Tricksters #4

This is the fourth entry in the Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Tricksters anthology series, which has featured a different creative team for each issue.

The series is based on the Emmy Award-winning television series from Jim Henson Studios.

Tricksters
Variant cover by Dani Pendergast.

In the first issue, by Jade Zhang and Jonathan Rivera, readers enjoyed a tale of Anasi, the most legendary trickster of all.

In the second issue, by Erin Kubo and Jordan Ifueko, an innocent girl came face to face with Eshu, god of mischief…. but was she really so innocent?

And in the third issue, by Amal El-Mohtar and Isa Hanssen, Reynard the Fox took part in a scheme with some terrible consequences.

A HC Collection

If you’d rather read all four tales in a single volume, a hardcover collection of Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Tricksters, collecting all four issues, has also been announced. The collection will be available at your local comic book shop beginning November 24th, 2021.

Will you be heading to your LCS to pick up Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Tricksters when it arrives on June 16th? Let The Beat know what you’re thinking in the comment section, or over on social media @comicsbeat!

tricksters tricksters

Your First Look at JIM HENSON'S THE STORYTELLER: TRICKSTERS #4 from BOOM! Studios

Discover Robin and A.L. Kaplan's Mischievous Loki and Thor Team-up in June 2021 

LOS ANGELES, CA (May 28, 2021) – BOOM! Studios revealed today the first look of JIM HENSON'S THE STORYTELLER: TRICKSTERS #4, the final issue of the new comic book series based on the Emmy Award-winning classic television show, Jim Henson's The Storyteller, presenting several extraordinary folk tales of legendary tricksters from the four corners of the world. Real-life siblings Robin Kaplan (The City on The Other Side) and A.L. Kaplan (Full-Spectrum Therapy) present the next standalone chapter of the Jim Henson-inspired epic limited series, available in June 2021.

Can the Norse trickster god, Loki, get the legendary god of thunder, Thor, to embrace his feminine side? When Thor's hammer ends up in the possession of the King of the Giants, only his clever brother will be able to aid him in retrieving it, but only if Thor can use his brains rather than his brawn.

JIM HENSON'S THE STORYTELLER: TRICKSTERS #4 will feature main cover art by artist Peach Momoko (Power Rangers) and variant cover art by artist Dani Pendergast (NPR).

JIM HENSON'S THE STORYTELLER: TRICKSTERS is the latest release from BOOM! Studios' ambitious Archaia imprint, home to graphic novels such as Bolivar by Sean Rubin; Mouse Guard by David Petersen; Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut, Ryan North, and Albert Monteys; The Sacrifice of Darkness by Roxane Gay, Tracy Lynne-Oliver, and Rebecca Kirby; Big Black: Stand at Attica by Frank "Big Black" Smith, Jared Reinmuth, and Améziane, We Served the People by Emei Burell, and licensed series including Lev Grossman's The Magicians by Lilah Sturges and Pius Bak, as well as Jim Henson's The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance and Jim Henson's Labyrinth: Coronation.

Print copies of JIM HENSON'S THE STORYTELLER: TRICKSTERS #4 will be available for sale on June 16, 2021 at local comic book shops (use comicshoplocator.com to find the nearest one) or at the BOOM! Studios webstore. Digital copies can be purchased from content providers, including comiXology, iBooks, Google Play, and Kindle. Readers can purchase JIM HENSON'S THE STORYTELLER: TRICKSTERS HC, collecting the complete four-issue series, at local comic book shops on November 24, 2021 and bookstores everywhere on November 20, 2021.

For more on JIM HENSON'S THE STORYTELLER and more from Archaia, please visit www.boom-studios.com and follow @boomstudios on Twitter.

ABOUT THE JIM HENSON COMPANY

The Jim Henson Company has remained a leader in family entertainment for over 60 years and is recognized as an innovator in puppetry, animatronics, and digital animation. Best known as creators of the world-famous Muppets, Henson has received over 50 Emmy Awards and nine Grammy Awards. The Company is currently in production on Harriet the Spy and a reboot of Fraggle Rock, both for Apple TV+, and Guillermo Del Toro's Pinocchio for Netflix. Henson's most recent television credits include Duff's Happy Fun Bake Time for discover+, Earth to Ned for Disney+, Fraggle Rock: Rock On! for Apple TV+, and the Emmy-winning Netflix Original series The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. Other credits include the Emmy®-nominated productions Dinosaur Train (PBS), Sid the Science Kid (PBS), Splash and Bubbles (PBS), and Julie's Greenroom (Netflix), as well as Word Party (Netflix), Dot. (Universal Kids /Hulu), and Doozers (Hulu/Universal Kids). Previous productions include Fraggle Rock, The Storyteller, and the sci-fi series Farscape for TV, and the feature films The Star (Sony Pictures Animation), Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (Disney), as well as The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, MirrorMask, and Jim Henson's Turkey Hollow.

With additional locations in New York and London, The Jim Henson Company is headquartered in Los Angeles on the historic Charlie Chaplin lot, complete with soundstage and post-production facilities. The Company is home to Jim Henson's Creature Shop™, a pre-eminent character-building and visual effects group with international film, television, theme park and advertising clients, as well as Henson Recording Studios, one of the music industry's top recording facilities known for its world-class blend of state-of-the-art and vintage equipment.

 

 

The post EXCLUSIVE PREVIEW: Thor & Loki Team-Up in JIM HENSON'S THE STORYTELLER: TRICKSTERS #4 appeared first on The Beat.

Preview: BITE SIZED ARCHIE gets syndicated PLUS a digital collection!

Posted: 28 May 2021 08:30 AM PDT

Just last week, The Beat featured the first ever Archie Comics webcomic, Bite Sized Archie by Ron Cacace and Vincent Lovallo, in our ongoing A Year of Free Comics feature. Today, it was revealed that the adorable series will be syndicated on Tinyview… plus, a collection of the first sixteen strips (including bonus features) will be released on ComiXology next Wednesday, June 2nd, 2021!

Tinyview

Bite Sized Archie will continue to be published on the Archie Comics social media pages on Friday, but Tinyview users will get a sneak peek at the new strip each week on Thursday nights. Bite Sized Archie will be the first comic from a major American comic publisher to be featured on Tinyview.

Readers will be able to access Bite Sized Archie on Tinyview through the platform, which is available for the web, Android, and iOS.

Bite Sized Archie Vol. 1

In addition to weekly updates on Tinyview, Bite Sized Archie will also receive a collection on ComiXology on Wednesday, June 2nd, 2021. Collecting strips #1 – 16, as well as some extremely enticing behind-the-scenes insights, this collection will be available for $2.99, or for free for ComiXology Unlimited subscribers (and said Unlimited subscribers also have access to plenty of other Archie comics, which they can peruse while waiting for Bite Sized Archie Vol. 2).

Goodbye, Archie’s Weird Mysteries! Hello, Archie’s Weird Textual Insights!

Just the two BTS pages we get to see here are enticing, revealing awesome Chilling Adventures in Sorcery Easter Eggs and giving you some insight into the genesis of this adorable incarnation of America's favorite teenage.

You can get a look at some more preview pages for Bize Sized Archie below this article. Will you be checking out the collection when it arrives next week? Have you downloaded the Tinyview app in preparation for the release of the next Bite Sized Archie strip? Let The Beat know, either here in the comment section or over on social media @comicsbeat!

The post Preview: BITE SIZED ARCHIE gets syndicated PLUS a digital collection! appeared first on The Beat.

The Never-Ending Battle: SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL #19

Posted: 28 May 2021 08:00 AM PDT

DOOMSDAY IS HERE in Superman: The Man of Steel #19!

Superman: The Man of Steel #19

Triangle Number: 1993 – 1

Writer: Louise Simonson
Penciler: Jon Bogdanove
Inker: Dennis Janke
Colorist: Glenn Whitmore
Letterer: Bill Oakley

There are very few faults I find in the "Death of Superman" story. One is the aforementioned weirdness with the timeline. Another is how the blood looks in issues illustrated by Bogdanove and Janke. Something with how the blood is illustrated in this issue and on the original trade paperback cover makes it appear pure black, with no red at all. It's unsettling and not in a good way, breaking any sense of realism that you can still maintain in a story with a god-like superhero slugging it out with an unstoppable bony monstrosity. Again, it's a minor quibble, but it's still something that distracts from a nearly perfect story.

Once more as the issue opens, readers can see that the stakes have been raised again. Where the last issue had been three panels, now a week before Superman #75, only two panels remain per page. This again drastically ups the sense of urgency and the frenetic pace at which the story is speeding to its conclusion. Also upping the tension in Man of Steel #19 is that, for the first time, we are shown Doomsday killing a man on panel. Clearly, people have died in his rampage, but they've all died off-page, whereas on the opening page of this issue Doomsday immediately snaps a construction worker's neck in the second panel.

As the conflict escalates upon reaching Metropolis, Bogdanove is the perfect artist to take advantage of the minimalized panel structure. His figures are so large and dynamic that the action just feels more bombastic and fills the space well. As at the end of the last issue, this issue begins with narration from Lois Lane as she reports on the greatest struggle her fiancée has ever faced. Jimmy likewise laments that his luck has truly changed from the last year, because he's on the hottest streak of his career, not knowing yet what a monkey's paw statement that was about to become.

As the Kents watch their son battle on a live broadcast half a country away, Superman is starting to show some signs that he's being worn down. His cape is once more in tatters, and like last seen in "The Blaze Satanus War," Superman's bleeding in a rare occurrence.

Crashing back to Earth, Doomsday finds himself in the tunnels of the underworlders, right where they are holding the captive Warworlders. In a sequence that truly illustrates the pure chaotic nature of his destructive impulses, he shatters the walls of their prison freeing them, before turning on them and swinging a bony fist through the air to pulp their heads like they were watermelons at a Gallagher show. Once more, in fun with sound effects, Oakley delivers three absolutely sickening "ZPLATT!" effects, each clouded with a spray of blood.

Now that Doomsday is in Metropolis, Lex presses the situation to his advantage, by subtly implying that Superman might be more of a burden to Metropolis than a gift, and claiming that this monster must have a grudge against him. But the downside to the fiend being in Metropolis is that he no longer has an excuse to keep Supergirl from joining the fight.

She arrives just as a battered and bruised Superman takes a protuberance to the gut, gashing a deep bleeding wound in his side as he falls back to the street. It's with Supergirl's joining the battle that Bogdanove crafts one of my favorite panels in the entire saga as Doomsday makes quicker work of Supergirl than he did Blue Beetle. A single blow to her head and the protoplasmic goo that she's made of just splatters with a disgusting flesh-toned "BLASH."

Even struggling with injuries and an out-of-control rampaging monster running through Metropolis, Superman takes a moment to ensure that Myra, Keith, and the other orphans are kept safe from explosions. At the same time, the SCU turns its sights on Doomsday in a hopeless endeavor to slow him down. But once again, Superman digs deep and continues the fight, knowing he's the only one that stands between the creature and the total destruction of his city. The last page of the issue has an internal monologue of Superman swearing he'll stop the monster even if it kills him, his own blood splattered across his face.

Miss any previous entries in The Never-Ending Battle? The early entries can be found at Comfort Food Comics, while more recent ones can be found here at The Beat.

The post The Never-Ending Battle: SUPERMAN: THE MAN OF STEEL #19 appeared first on The Beat.

Ablaze Publishing spotlights three new titles open for solicitations starting in August

Posted: 28 May 2021 07:45 AM PDT

Ablaze Publishing announced three new titles that will debut or are open to advance solicitations starting in August 2021. Two will feature Maria Llovet (Faithless), while the third comes from the award-winning French duo of Hubert and Zanzim.

Kicking off August 4 is the first issue of Porcelain, Llovet's psychological thriller. The series debut will include five special variant covers by artists Sabine Rich, Caspar Wijngaard, Yishan Li, and Tyler Boss.

Ablaze Pushing Porcelain cover
Cover art courtesy of Ablaze Publilshing.

Porcelain is featured on the June cover of Previews. Here is a brief synopsis of the series:

Beryl's life in the desert is relatively simple, living with her aunt and her cat…until the day she finds and enters the Dollhouse. Stuck inside an ever-changing mystery house that hunts children and turns them into dolls, Beryl goes on a psychedelic journey where she must face the notion of her own limitations and move past them…before she becomes the building's newest prey.

The first of the two titles open to advanced solicitations starting in August is a five-issue hardcover compilation of Llovet's Eros/Psyche. The collection currently has an anticipated release date of September 29, 2021. A description of the series follows:

Eros Psyche HC Ablaze Publishing Solicitations Starting in August
Cover art courtesy of Ablaze Publishing.

The Rose female boarding school is paradise for young girls…but only if you follow the rules. Because, if you disobey them, you can end up expelled, or even worse, dead. Sara and Silje are two students learning the rules of the school, which includes classes by day…and the casting of curses and spells by night. A love develops between the two, which is tender, but threatens to break under the weight of the dark society within The Rose.

The final advanced solicitation for August is A Man's Skin, an award-winning bestselling fairy tale set in Renaissance Italy. The story questions our relationship to gender and sexuality by mixing morality and humor. 

Cover art courtesy of Ablaze Publishing.

Bianca is a young lady from a good family and is of marriage age. Her parents find her a fiancé to their liking, and the wedding looks set to go smoothly even though Bianca cannot hide her disappointment at having to marry a man she knows nothing about. But before the marriage, she learns the secret held and bequeathed by the women of her family for generations: a "man's skin." By donning it, Bianca becomes "Lorenzo" and enjoys all the attributes of a young man of stunning beauty. She can now visit the world of men incognito and get to know her fiancé in his natural environment.

The three titles will be available in print and digitally.

The post Ablaze Publishing spotlights three new titles open for solicitations starting in August appeared first on The Beat.
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