Saturday, July 31, 2021

The Beat

The Beat


INTERVIEW: JUNGLE CRUISE cast spill on the punny, adventurous new flick from Disney

Posted: 30 Jul 2021 05:15 PM PDT

Based on the iconic ride developed in 1955 at Disneyland, Jungle Cruise takes the spirit of the slow and silly riverboat cruise and runs with it! Film cast Dwayne Johnson, Emily Blunt, Jack Whitehall, and Edgar Ramirez talked all about the film during the press conference for Jungle Cruise. They discussed casting for the film, their director Jaume Collet-Serra, adapting the film from the ride, and the various characters from this new action-adventure movie.

Casting the lead for the film was not hard, as Johnson admitted that he agreed to the part immediately. “The script was in a really good place, and I immediately just saw the potential of the opportunity,” he said, adding that he was excited to turn beloved and iconic Disney ride into a film. “There were a lot of elements that I felt comfortable with saying yes, I will come on board, I’ll partner with you guys, and we will develop this thing. And we got it to a really great place.”

Johnson explained that after finding the director, Jaume Collet-Serra, the next step was to find his co-star in Emily Blunt. Johnson recalled that Collet-Serra hand-delivered the script to Blunt with a long video message from Johnson, all in search of his female Indiana Jones, as he says it. After ghosting Johnson for a bit, Blunt finally joined the cast as Lily Houghton, and the chemistry was undeniable between the two stars. “We were pals for life immediately,” Blunt said. “I knew when we met. We had this rapport that, like, ping pong back and forth so quickly.”

Jungle Cruise Dwayne Johnson and Emily Blunt
Photo courtesy of Disney.

Johnson added, “You hope to get lucky with your cast, and you like to have some chemistry.” With Blunt, he said, the chemistry was natural. “Emily and I have been talking a lot about chemistry these past couple of weeks doing press, and a lot of times, you fake it, you know, ’cause you’re acting.”

The comedic chemistry was also off the charts with the combined humor of Johnson, Whitehall, and Blunt. With a script that allowed for improvisation, Whitehall praised the allowance for experimentation when it came to improv. “Some of the great moments that you see in the film are genuine moments that we sort of came up with in the moment, and Jaume was so good at encouraging that as well,” Whitehall said.

An Operatic Villain

For Ramirez, who played the Conquistador Aguirre, becoming the operatic villain of the film meant exploring some of the more fantastical elements of movie-making. “What I love about the Conquistadors, and Aguirre specifically, is that it really puts you in a journey into the past,” Ramirez said. “You have all these fantastical elements, and that’s what I go to the movies for. I want to be on a journey. I want to be disconnected from reality. And be able to dream of fantastical places and fantastical characters and creatures.”

Jungle Cruise Edgar Ramirez
Photo courtesy of Disney.

A lot of the work Ramirez had on-screen had to do with special effects due to the nature of his character (and without getting into too many spoilers). Johnson explained that the action choreography and stunts for those scenes were challenging, especially when it comes to their costuming.

Ramirez also had nothing but praise for his fellow castmates. “I mean, to be in a movie that is based on the most iconic attraction from the most iconic entertainment universe in history, such as Disney, it’s so special. And to be with these amazing people, it’s incredible. I love everything you did, and what you did is very difficult. That tone, to be witty and romantic and funny and snide, but cute at the same time. I mean, we as actors, we know that tone is very difficult to achieve, and you guys killed it.”

Developing the Character

Despite Jungle Cruise being a swashbuckling action film, there are still character beat moments, and one of them occurs between Johnson’s Frank and Whitehall’s McGregor, where McGregor reveals his past to Frank and the reason why he has stood so firmly beside his sister. Without spoilers, it is also a significant moment for McGregor’s character development.

Jungle Cruise Dwayne Johnson and Jack Whitehall
Photo courtesy of Disney.

“Yeah, I think it was a scene that we really wanted to get right,” said Whitehall. “I think what’s so great about this movie is that all of the characters feel so fleshed out, and all of them have interesting backstories and are fully realized. And, you know, in a lot of movies of this kind of genre sometimes, you’d have characters that are a little bit kinda two-dimensional. But I think it’s so great that we get to understand so much about each of these characters.”

The Adventure Genre

For many new audience members, Jungle Cruise revitalizes the action-adventure genre that has been in a lull for the past few years. “It has been immensely rewarding,” said Blunt. “We just needed to strike a chord that was really well-crafted and that we curated with so much love. And was made in the spirit of the films that we all grew up watching. I mainlined those movies into my veins. I just loved Indiana Jones, and Romancing the Stone, African Queen. Like, they are just joy bombs, and they’re nostalgic, and I think we just needed to pierce people’s hearts directly with the spirit of those films that we all loved as children.”

“It just took a lot of tempering and beautiful conducting from Jaume, who was just extraordinarily free-spirited with us in this massive spectacle of a movie. Such a world builder, which you need for those adventure movies. You need it.” Blunt added that when they first met Collet-Serra, they asked him what he felt the film was about, and his reply was, “It’s about love.”

“It was so perfect, ’cause you could’ve talked about all the action, the spectacle, and the myths and the legends and all that. But that’s when I knew in Jaume we had an innate romantic and a world builder, and that’s what you need for this type of movie,” praised Blunt.

Jungle Cruise
Photo courtesy of Disney.

Bringing the Ride to Life

Those familiar with the iconic Disney ride will see shades of the actual ride within the scope of the film, although Jungle Cruise quickly takes that and runs deep into the action-adventure genre. But, for Johnson, adapting the film came with a lot of nostalgia for the ride itself. “I had ridden the ride when I was a kid. Many moons later, I went to Disney World for the first time and rode the ride then as well. So, it had a nostalgic element to it when it was first presented to me. But also, you know, really the opportunity that we had that we could create something that was hopefully unique and special.”

He continued, “And when you think about it, these elements that we have here are, you know, you hope to get lucky in a career where you have an opportunity like this where you can make a movie that’s based off an iconic ride that’s beloved, as Edgar was saying, with the most trusted brand in the world when it comes to family and delivering entertainment for families. So there were a lot of those elements that really spoke to me and it started with the script, and it started with our director. As Emily was saying, he is a romantic. He is a worldbuilder.”

Johnson went on to praise Collet-Serra, who is also currently the director for Black Adam, which also stars Johnson as the titular character and is currently in post-production, “We feel like he’s Hollywood’s best-kept secret.”

Dwayne Johnson and Jaume Collet-Serra
Photo courtesy of Disney.

Comparing the ride with the film, Johnson said, “I think the movie is so much more than what I expected. The charm of the ride is the simplicity of it and the education of it as well. And the silliness of it. And the calmness of it too. You know, you go to the park and there’s so much to do in the Disney parks. Then you get on this ride and it’s almost like you can exhale and really just enjoy the simplicity of the ride. But our movie is anything but simple. You know, with all the elements that we have. So I think we delivered.”

Whitehall added, “I would say that’s the element to the Jungle Cruise ride that I like the most is that it doesn’t take itself too seriously, and I think that that is definitely something that we took over into the movie. And it has such ambition and scale, and it’s beautiful, and the sets are incredible, and the set pieces and the action. It’s got all of that. But at the heart of it, as well, it’s not a movie that takes itself too seriously. It has wit, it has humor. It’s got some of the best puns I’ve ever heard. It’s got Dwayne Johnson doing a standup comedy routine.”

Jungle Cruise is in theaters and on Disney+ with Premier Access now!

The post INTERVIEW: JUNGLE CRUISE cast spill on the punny, adventurous new flick from Disney appeared first on The Beat.

FANDOM FLAMES: Simone Biles and acceptance

Posted: 30 Jul 2021 12:00 PM PDT

On Monday, July 26th, something happened that shocked the world — Simone Biles, darling of the gymnastics world and proclaimed "GOAT," pulled out of the women's gymnastics team finals at the Olympics after a vault which could have turned disastrous had she not been one of the best gymnasts in the world. A lot of people, notably "four-year fans," heard about her withdrawal after hours had passed. Biles cited mental health issues, and everybody's who decent is considering it a medical issue, too. Some "four-year fans," i.e. people who only tune into gymnastics when an Olympic medal is on the line, have decried Biles for giving up on her team.

I'll admit, I'm close to one of those "four-year fans," being unable to watch many of the tournaments leading up to the Olympics, due to the fact that when they do air, it's at weird times due to time zones. The announcers, at least on NBC, are also just dreadful. But still, I got up at 3:45 AM PST to watch the final, because I wanted to. It's not every Olympics the ROC (Russians, for the layman) outpace the Americans in the qualification round. And, monitoring social media — did you know gymnastics has quite the hardcore online fandom — I experienced the shock of Biles leaving with the rest of the viewers who, in America, had gotten up very early to watch the unthinkable happen.

So, the ROC women's team won the gold medal, and Simone Biles, placed in an impossible decision that day in Tokyo, quickly went from Internet darling to traitor in some's eyes; mostly right-wing media and conservative Twitter denizens, of course. Here are some points, which those critiquing Biles dare to ignore:

Biles has since also pulled out of the individual all-around event, which she was expected to win by a huge margin; whether or not she steps out of the individual apparatus events, where she qualified in all four (!) events, is still up in the air.

To be fair, not every gymnastics fan has yelled about Biles getting out of the competition before risking injury; most are quite sympathetic. That's not to mention the outpouring of support that Biles and the rest of her teammates have received from the gymnastics world, not just from fellow US competitions, but also from the ROC athletes and many others.

The response to Simone Biles's withdrawal, in many ways, represents that the culture wars still exist: more conservative commentators scream at her, while many others in the world sympathize with her. The withdrawal also demonstrates that some fandoms are getting better at accepting of disappointments better than others. That's a good thing; remember, we're the country that pressured Kerri Strug into vaulting once more on a bum leg for a chance at victory, causing her immense pain. We also house the gymnastics community that allowed the abuses of Dr. Larry Nassar to go unchecked…for years. Biles has even implied that the burden of the abuse she suffered is what's led to her withdrawals from the competition.

Vox published an eerily well-timed article on Saturday, July 24th, which argues that the abuses haven't stopped in the gymnastics community. Indeed, if it had been any other gymnast but the legendary Simone Biles, would they have been allowed to pull out of the competition? Maybe. Maybe not.

My well wishes go to Biles; if this is the end of her career, that's okay. Hopefully, it won't be, but she knows what's best for her. Hopefully, everyone can learn to be a little more accepting of mental health struggles moving forward.

The post FANDOM FLAMES: Simone Biles and acceptance appeared first on The Beat.

INTERVIEW: Phil Dunster talks Jamie Tartt’s comeback on TED LASSO

Posted: 30 Jul 2021 11:30 AM PDT

The Beat had the pleasure of chatting with the hilarious Phil Dunster about his character “Jamie Tartt” and his season 2 comeback on the Apple TV+ hit, Ted Lasso!

One of the best comedies out right now, season 2 of Ted Lasso is still coming in hot! Jamie has lost his way a bit and wants to come back home to AFC Richmond. Ted, initially thinks it’s a horrible idea, particularly for team morale, and especially since Jamie is known for being a team bully. Ted rethinks his decision after realizing Jamie’s talents may be exactly what they need to break their losing streak!  

Watch our sit-down with Phil Dunster about Jamie’s character growth in season 2!

New episodes of Ted Lasso air every Friday on Apple TV+!

The post INTERVIEW: Phil Dunster talks Jamie Tartt’s comeback on TED LASSO appeared first on The Beat.

SILBER LININGS: Give PUNISHER: WAR ZONE the respect it deserves

Posted: 30 Jul 2021 11:00 AM 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.

Silber Linings has been going about six months, and in that half-a-year I’ve made several attempts to rehabilitate the reputations of misunderstood or outright reviled genre films. In some cases, they’re deeply flawed efforts in which I find redeeming qualities anyway. In others, they’re films I like a great deal, but understand where the displeasure towards them comes from. I have a different relationship with 2008’s Punisher: War Zone, starring Ray Stevenson and directed by Lexi Alexander from a script by Nick Santora, Art Marcum, and Matt Holloway. I sincerely don’t understand why this entertaining and well-crafted action romp received as much hate at the time of its release as it did.

I’ll get to the poor reviews in a moment, but first we have to acknowledge that, outside of critics, few people saw Punisher: War Zone in theaters in the first place. It was a veritable box office bomb, grossing just $10.1 million on a $35 million budget, and opening at just #8 – EIGHT! – at the box office. That’s a shockingly poor showing for a film bearing the Marvel brand, and it remains the lowest-grossing Marvel-produced film in history.

The blame for PWZ‘s commercial failure does not lay solely at the feet of critics. Mostly, I have to assume audiences just didn’t know what to make of it. Thomas Jane starred in 2004’s The Punisher just four years earlier in a film that was itself a reboot, as the first live-action take on the Marvel antihero was a 1989 film of the same name starring Dolph Lundgren as Frank Castle.

Of course, The Punisher predates all these films, created in 1974 by Gerry Conway, John Romita Sr., and Ross Andru within the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man. But feature films almost always enjoy more visibility in the eyes of the mainstream, and the fact remains that by the time Punisher: War Zone was released in 2008, Stevenson was the third Punisher actor in as many films, none of which are in the same continuity. And while Batman Begins successfully rebooted The Dark Knight’s film franchise in 2005, and the James Bond film Casino Royale solidified the concept of a franchise reboot as a viable Hollywood strategy the following year, it was still a rather novel idea by 2008. The four years that passed between 2004’s The Punisher and 2008’s Punisher: War Zone was a remarkably short time to restart the clock on the character’s cinematic continuity, even if the latter might work as a sequel to the former if you squint a little.

I have to imagine the piss-poor quality of that 2004 Punisher film hurt ticket sales as well. It’s not completely without redeeming values, namely a committed performance by Jane and a memorably intricate fistfight, but it’s a needlessly miserable, mean-spirited movie with little to say beyond “watching his whole family get gunned down sure would make a guy mad.” Director Jonathan Hensleigh crafted a display of pointless contempt for humanity, including its own audience. I understand it has its fans, and Jane even returned to the title role in 2012 for a short fan film called Dirty Laundry, but I have to imagine most audiences weren’t hungry for more four years after being as disgusted and insulted as I felt. I’m glad I saw War Zone first.

(I must also note that we got a fourth Punisher, albeit on television rather than film, with Jon Bernthal in 2016. True to the character’s roots as a Spider-Man villain, this version was first introduced in the second season of Netflix’s Daredevil as an antagonist to ol’ Hornhead before getting his own spinoff the next year).

So at least on paper in terms of concept, Punisher: War Zone is a confusing, unappealing movie. That likely explains why so few tickets were sold. But that doesn’t explain the poor reception among those who finally got their proverbial asses in the proverbial seats.

I can accept that Punisher: War Zone isn’t for everyone, in the same way that no movie is going to satisfy the tastes of all audiences. Not everybody likes action movies. But if you like action movies, I struggle to understand why you wouldn’t like PWZ.

I’m not saying it’s is a flawless film. There are a few characters and subplots I wish had been fleshed out more, and the perceived barrier to entry I discussed above can be genuinely disorienting. But goddamn, is it entertaining, not to mention smarter than it gets credit for. More on that later.

This is an action movie, so let’s start by talking about the fantastic action scenes. One of the dirty little secrets of most other Marvel films, and most PG-13 action blockbusters in general for the past decade or so, is that the action tends to be pretty mediocre. They might have impressive special effects or fun set pieces, but the action itself – that is, filmmaking designed to viscerally excite viewers with a sense of impact and danger – doesn’t rate once you see a few good action films that aren’t driven by billion-dollar IPs, and realize what they’re capable of with smaller budgets and less recognizable actors.

Not so with Punisher War: Zone. Director Lexi Alexander is a former martial artist and stuntwoman, and her understanding of what makes fictionalized human violence exciting shines through the film’s tight fight choreography and deft balance of uncompromising ultraviolence with outright cartoonishness.

Punisher: War Zone isn’t “comic booky” in the sense that most people probably think of when they think of comics. It’s not particularly colorful (there’s some great lighting, though) and it’s certainly not for children. But it’s not afraid to have a sense of humor, in a way that condescends neither to the audience nor the material.

Take the opening scene, in which Frank crashes a Mafia hangout with his signature brand of punishment. Less than a minute into the killing spree he hangs upside-down on a chandelier, machine guns akimbo, and spins around as he showers the mobsters with bullets. It’s AWESOME. And hilarious.

And then there’s the best scene of the movie, a moment of such glorious, cackling tonal whiplash that it belongs in the Louvre: a group of bad guys practice their parkour, jumping from rooftops, when out of nowhere a rocket from The Punisher’s bazooka blows up a crook mid-flip. It needs to be seen to be believed.

And then there’s the giddy absurdity of the final line: “Oh God, now I’ve got brains spattered all over me!”

Punisher: War Zone is a movie that knows what it is: an action movie for people who like action movies. Browsing the reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, where it has a “rotten” score of 29% (the same as the 2004 predecessor, incidentally), I’m surprised by the vitriol. Nigel Floyd of Time Out called it “sadistic.” Andrew Pulver of The Guardian described it as “humourless” (excuse me?) and “disgusting.” Ty Burr of the Boston Globe even went so far as to call it “morally indefensible.”

I can understand how opinions like that could be formed, even if I wholeheartedly disagree. But is Punisher: War Zone any more sadistic or disgusting than the average R-rated action flick? I don’t think so, but apparently I’m in the minority.

I do want to acknowledge that The Punisher has always been a character I struggle with on ethical grounds, even if Punisher: War Zone is hardly the first time I’ve enjoyed a Punisher story. Being an antihero who used personal tragedy as an excuse to appoint himself one-man judge, jury, and executioner, stories in which Castle is the protagonist have a difficult balance to strike. It’s undeniably cathartic fun to watch Punisher mow down fictional characters who have it coming, but it’s also undeniable that a vigilante like The Punisher is a monster. He has a code, sure, but if a guy like the Punisher existed in real life, he wouldn’t be someone you’d want to root for. That’s why I often prefer Punisher in stories that present him as an outright villain, at least if they’re going to take him seriously.

And then there’s the pink elephant in the room: the Punisher, as a symbol, has been co-opted by white supremacists and other assorted brutes, including many police officers and “blue lives matter” enthusiasts in a time when more and more people are rightly demanding sweeping, long-overdue changes to law enforcement. This is well-trod ground by other critics and journalists so I won’t retread it here, but I encourage you to read the great work others have done covering this topic. Even Conway has weighed in.

Certainly, if you can’t enjoy War Zone, or any iteration of The Punisher, because the fascists and assholes have ruined him for you, I can’t blame you. But I can confidently say that PWZ is not at all a fascist film. Low bar, sure. But it’s also a heck of a lot smarter than you’ve probably been led to believe.

Art by Steve Dillon

As I watched Punisher: War Zone with The Beat‘s Avery Kaplan and her spouse Rebecca Kaplan, Rebecca observed that it’s filmed like a war movie. In the comics, Frank’s characterization is deeply rooted in his traumatic experiences as a Vietnam War veteran. While Ray Stevenson looks like he walked right out of a Steve Dillon drawing, this is a more contemporary Punisher, so his war was in the Middle East. Perhaps informed by Lexi Alexander’s Palestinian heritage, PWZ makes a few subtle, but effective nods to the “War On Terror” that add crucial thematic context for viewers paying attention.

There are a few blunt references to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and an anti-Arab slur is deployed more than once. There seems to be an implication that in post-9/11 New York City, the specter of overseas terrorism was used as such a boogeyman by people in power that the lily-white threats on our own turf were ignored: including The Punisher himself, whom Alexander and company never quite let off the hook for losing sight of his own humanity in favor of his quixotic path of vengeance.

But that’s not to say Punisher: War Zone isn’t sympathetic to Frank where it counts. Between the literal war he fought as an American soldier and his mental anguish following the murder of his family, Frank is portrayed as a man cursed to remain in a physical and emotional war zone until the day he dies. There are darkly comedic moments of Frank struggling to show any kind of joy or affection, and neither Stevenson nor Alexander ever let us forget how tragic that is.

It helps too that Frank’s world feels so lived-in. We don’t learn many concrete details about Punisher’s sidekick Micro (Wayne Knight, best known as Seinfeld‘s Newman) in this film, such as how he met Frank or why he decided to join him on such a perilous life mission. But when Micro sacrifices himself in the film’s climax, the weight of his loss is immediately felt. These are two men who deeply respected each other and were committed to have each other’s backs until the bitter end.

One of the reasons the Kaplans wanted to watch this with me is because, in the wake of Black Widow‘s release, director Cate Shortland has been erroneously applauded by some as the first woman to direct a Marvel film (which isn’t even technically true if you’re talking about the Marvel Cinematic Universe alone, because 2019’s Captain Marvel was co-directed by Anna Boden with Ryan Fleck). No disrespect to Shortland, but it’s a real shame that others are erasing Alexander’s contributions when she already broke that proverbial glass ceiling a decade and a half ago. I wonder how much that has to do with the kind of films women are expected to direct.

After all, the Punisher himself is a man, and there are scant few female characters throughout the film. Punisher: War Zone is the furthest thing dudebros would imagine from a “chick flick,” even if there’s a sense in which that’s quite literally what it is. There is some compelling commentary on masculinity if you’re looking for it though: consider, for example, the contrast between Frank’s inability to express himself emotionally with the affectionate relationship supervillain Jigsaw (Dominic West) enjoys with his psychopathic brother, “Looney Bin Jim” (Doug Hutchison).

I could go on, but I’m realizing this has gone on way longer than I planned. Look, you might have a hard time believing me, but Punisher: War Zone is a straight up good movie. Whether you’re viewing it from an anti-war perspective, a feminist lens, or you just want a boisterous, brutal action romp, there’s a lot to appreciate. It’s streaming now on HBO Max. Watch it and thank me later. (You can subscribe to HBO Max at this link. Note this is an affiliate link and The Beat may receive a small commission if you subscribe).

The post SILBER LININGS: Give PUNISHER: WAR ZONE the respect it deserves appeared first on The Beat.

Comics Crowdfunding Round-Up: SIGNALS, JACK ASTRO and 3 more campaigns we love

Posted: 30 Jul 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 action/mystery, Signals, the sci-fi comedy, Jack Astro, and more.

Let's get started!


SIGNALS: The Complete Series

signals

Creators: Deandra Tan (creator)
Goal: $8,500
End date: August 26, 2021
Goodies: Get the digital version for $16, get the print edition for $30, or check out higher tiers for back issues, art prints, stickers, and more.

Join Mel Song, amateur telepathic detective, as she searches for a missing woman in the heart of New York City in Signals.

After 3 years, Signals is bringing its online run to an end – and beginning its two-volume print run. The series combines mystery, comedy, romance and action in a story described as Nancy Drew meets John Wick. It follows Mel, a telepathic rookie detective, who stumbles upon the sinister underbelly of New York's criminal world. Across 450+ pages, she'll unravel the mystery and the realization that she isn't the only mind-reader in New York.

Become a backer here.

Jack Astro, Comedy Sci-Fi Comic Book

jack astro

Creators: Doug Wilson (creator)
Goal: $696
End date: August 25, 2021
Goodies: The PDF is $14, the physical version is $28, and higher tiers include art cards, A5 sketches, and more.

A 164-page, softcover, full colour comic book.

When a Singularity Drive experiment goes wrong, test pilot Jack is duplicated and his clone sent into multiple galaxies across the universe. Jack Astro picks up as he's setting out to reassemble the lost pieces before the drive re-activates to send him home. Check out a preview on the campaign page, or read the 164-page comic here.

Become a backer here.

Shady Lane Blues: A new comic by Kris Morron & Jake Kelly

shady lane blues

Creators: Kris "skinnyk" Morron (creator/writer), Jake Kelly (artist), Rob Jones (letterer),
Goal: $3,400
End date: August 20, 2021
Goodies: Get the digital edition for $5, get the physical version for $10, and check out higher tiers for additional copies, and more comics. 

An uplifting story about the power music has to inspire.

Film noir and music combine for an inspiring short story about the life-changing power of music in Shady Lanes Blues. The story and art take nods from blues and the 1960s, following Screamin' Washington Monroe, a washed=up and all but forgotten blues legend in his struggle to find inspiration. For more, head over to the campaign page for a preview and thoughts on themes.

Become a backer here.

England Made Me

england made me

Creators: David Metcalfe (creator)
Goal: $974
End date: September 3, 2021
Goodies: The digital version is $5, the print version is $12, and backers can also pick up Metcalfe's Being a Girl, prints, and more.

A comic about growing up in the 70s and 80s in Northern England. Love,loss,friendship and finding out who you are.

From the creator of Being a Girl comes England Made Me, a full color 40-page comic about growing up in England during the 70s and 80s; the grey northern region marred by unemployment and "football hooliganism." It's told from the perspective of Scam McNeill, a boy thrown into a strange England town after his family left Ireland.

Become a backer here.

The Out Side – real life trans & nonbinary comics anthology

the out side

Creators: The Kao (project captain), Min Christensen (consultant/illustrator), David Daneman (designer) and additional creators
Goal: $15,950
End date: August 12, 2021
Goodies: Get the e-book for $10, the physical version is $20, and higher tiers include prints, digital portraits, and more.

Journeys to truth and self-acceptance from 16 comic artists. Foreword by Julia Kaye.

The Out Side is bringing together sixteen artists to share and celebrate stories about trans and nonbinary identities, each with their own diverse viewpoints and styles. It's an anthology centered around self and societal acceptance, with a focus on providing representation for young queer folks looking to see themselves in comics.

Become a backer here.


Here are some already funded projects:

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

The post Comics Crowdfunding Round-Up: SIGNALS, JACK ASTRO and 3 more campaigns we love appeared first on The Beat.

EXCLUSIVE: Read a full story from FIRST DEGREE: A CRIME ANTHOLOGY

Posted: 30 Jul 2021 07:00 AM PDT

Next week sees the release of First Degree: A Crime Anthology, a new collection of crime stories from Humanoids. The graphic novel includes an array of stories by creators who have been recognized by the POLAR Festival of Cognac, France, as well as previously-published stories from the Humanoids catalog of crime tales. Today The Beat is pleased to present an exclusive excerpt of a full story from the anthology, “Marcel,” from writer Nicolas Pothier and artist Yannick Corboz.

Cover art by David Aja

Here’s how Humanoids describes First Degree:

A woman lures her husband and his secret lover to an abandoned house. Something sinister is happening inside the convent. A chef commits the perfect murder. In this anthology, a collective of almost thirty authors from all over the globe propose a collection of short crime noir stories that celebrates the genre as well as boldly leading it into the future.

Along with the previously-presented short stories, First Degree also includes a brand-new story from writer David F. Walker, artist Michael Lark, colorist Dave Stewart, and letterer Simon Bowland, all under a new cover by artist David Aja. The full list of contributing creators is below:

David F. Walker, Michael Lark, Dave Stewart, Simon Bowland, Sydney Duncan, J.P. Mavinga, Tom Napolitano, Thierry Lamy, Pierre Taranzano, Brrémaud & Jean-Yves Segura, Oliver Jolivet, Carole Porche, Jean-David Morvan, Borris, Philippe Hauret, Séra, Jean-François Miniac, Alain Paillou, Catherine Moreau, Rémy Roubakha, André Le Bras, Éric Liberge, Didier Daeninckx, Mako, Raule, David Charrier, Luc Brahy, Éric Le Pape, Sébastien Corbet, David Morancho, Moutch, Facundo Percio, Jeanne Puchol, Algésiras, Servain, Nicolas Pothier, Yannick Corboz, Jim MacDonald, d-pi, Dan Curtis Johnson, Mark Vigouroux, Fred Le Berre, and Corentin.

The anthology features a diverse assortment of entries that range from straightforward crime to genre-bending stories with elements of fantasy, science fiction, and slice of life tales, and Pothier and Corboz’s four-page story is a fine example of what to expect when reading the book. Read the exclusive excerpt from First Degree: A Crime Anthology below. The 148-page hardcover graphic novel arrives in bookstores on Tuesday, August 3rd, and in comic shops the following Wednesday, August 4th.

The post EXCLUSIVE: Read a full story from FIRST DEGREE: A CRIME ANTHOLOGY appeared first on The Beat.

TRAILER DEBUT: NIGHT FISHER gets a hardcover release!

Posted: 30 Jul 2021 06:00 AM PDT

In 2006, Night Fisher by R. Kikuo Johnson was initially released to great acclaim, garnering a Harvey Award for Best New Talent and taking home the Russ Manning Newcomer Award at the 2006 Eisners.

Now, the graphic novel's fifteenth anniversary is being commemorated with a hardcover release from Fantagraphics, and The Beat is pleased to exclusively debut the trailer for the release:

The comic will be one of two graphic novels from Johnson that will be arriving from Fantagraphics this autumn, with the other being No One Else, to be published on November 9th, 2021.

Night Fisher

Night Fisher follows two high school students, Loren and Shane, who live on the island of Maui. When the pair gets involved in a petty crime, their friendship may not survive the ordeal. Here's the official synopsis:

First-rate prep school, SUV, and a dream house in the heights — an island paradise was handed to Loren Foster when he moved to Hawaii with his father six years ago. Now, with the end of high school just around the corner, his best friend, Shane, has grown distant. Rumors abound. Loren suspects that Shane has left him behind for a new group of friends. Their friendship is put to the test when they get mixed up in a petty crime. Johnson has a naturalistic ease in exploring these relationships, which sets this drama apart. This graphic novel debut is at once an unsentimental portrait of that most awkward period between adolescence and young adulthood and that rarest of things — a mature depiction of immature lives. His lush-yet-unsentimental-depiction of Maui creates an immersive, visceral sense of place.

Arriving in October 2021

If you’re interested in the hardcover release of Night Fisher, note that the first 100 preorders through the official Fantagraphics webstore will include a signed bookplate (PROTIP: it’s always a good idea to check out the Fanta webstore; they frequently include limited-edition freebies with direct orders).

Did you read Night Fisher when it was originally released in 2006? Will you be picking up the hardcover edition of Night Fisher when it arrives at your local bookstore on October 5th, 2021?

The Beat wants to hear from you! Let us know what you're thinking, either here in the comment section or over on social media @comicsbeat!

The post TRAILER DEBUT: NIGHT FISHER gets a hardcover release! appeared first on The Beat.

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