MFR Newsletter 7/2/20 - It's already July? IT'S ONLY JULY?!
2020 is somehow both the fastest moving and the slowest moving year I've ever lived through.
Howdy comics fans, EIC Anthony here once again. Congratulations, we’ve made it through another month of 2020.
The Fourth of July is this weekend. I hope you all have a happy holiday, but please remember to be safe. We say that to each other every year in regards to fireworks and drinking, but this year “be safe” means so much more. This isn’t the year to go out to a crowded beach or a big party, but if you are out in public, please remember to wear a mask.
It’s supposed to rain here in Florida anyway, so I myself will be escaping our horrible reality by sitting on the couch and watching Jaws. Good ol’ Jaws, the story of a town facing a life-threatening crisis, and the corrupt political figure who downplays the danger because he’s more concerned with money and protecting his own image than he is with people’s lives. Ah yes, escapism at its finest.
I’m starting off this week’s newsletter with a review of THE GODDAMNED: THE VIRGIN BRIDES #1, so I figured it would be a good chance to tell a story.
A few years ago, my fiance Brooke and I were attending MegaCon in Orlando (remember comic conventions?). We were waiting in line to meet Jason Aaron and get some books signed, and the line was loooong. Brooke was bored, and she wanted to be able to talk with Jason when we got to the front of the line, so she decided to read one of my books while we waited. The book was THE GODDAMNED #1.
So we get to the front of the line, and Brooke tells Jason how much she loves the comic. And she really did; she wasn’t just blowing smoke.
Jason looks at Brooke, this beautiful young woman with an innocent twinkle in her eye, and he looks down at THE GODDAMNED, this brutal, bloody, blasphemous, biblical noir, and asks, “you liked this?”
And mind you, Jason was absolutely not being condescending or acting as a gatekeeper of any kind. He asked her with a genuine curiosity, like he just discovered a whole new section of his comic’s fanbase.
Brooke then goes on to chat with Jason for several minutes about just how much she liked the book.
The morals of the story are threefold:
Jason Aaron is a sweetheart.
Looks can be deceiving.
If you find a partner who will wait in line at a comic convention with you, even though they don’t have any books of their own to get signed, lock them down FAST.
Review: THE GODDAMNED: VIRGIN BRIDES #1 – You Can’t Trust A Matchmaker
“An unsettling and unrelenting first issue of this sequel series that is worthy of its predecessor.”
Review: MIDDLEWEST #17 – War At Raider Farms
MIDDLEWEST is one of the best series that Image is putting out right now. I’ve been reading it issue-to-issue since the start, and with the final issue hitting next month, I had to give it some love here. It’s a beautiful story with a ton of heart, and you can tell it’s a very personal project for both Skottie Young and Jorge Corona. There’s a ton in here about family, and legacy, and the things we inherit from our parents (both good and bad). I won’t lie, this series has really hit me in the gut in a very personal place.
The Building Blocks Of Story Telling In SLEEPING BEAUTIES
Darryll Robson is back again this week with another in-depth editorial, this time on SLEEPING BEAUTIES #1, IDW’s new adaptation of the novel Stephen King wrote alongside his son Owen.
Review: SHADOW SERVICE #1 – The Magic Noir Pivots Into A New Genre
I’ve said this before: if there is a new Vault #1 out, I will be reading it and pushing everyone else to read it as well. These guys have a near-perfect batting average. Always bet on Vault Comics.
Interview: NAILBITER: RETURNS With Joshua Williamson & Mike Henderson
MFR Publisher Matt Sardo recently interviewed Joshua Williamson and Mike Henderson about the return of NAILBITER and what it takes to make a horror sequel. I’ve met and interviewed Josh a few times myself, and I walk away from every interaction saying the same thing: “That is one of the nicest guys in all of comics.”
What I’m Currently Reading
This week, I put everything else aside and picked up the deluxe hardcover of BLACK BOLT by Saladin Ahmed, Christian Ward, and Clayton Cowles (with guest spots by Frazer Irving and Stephanie Hans). I was expecting a high-concept superhero story in the vein of THE VISION or MISTER MIRACLE and oh boy did I get it.
This maxi-series has one of the best openings to a superhero comic I’ve seen in a long time. Black Bolt wakes up in a prison, chained and muzzled, with no memory of how he got there. The narration drills right into your core and you’re immediately invested.
The story is an indictment of the American prison system, as well as a commentary on privilege, guilt, fatherhood, strength, and just humanity in general. Plus, it’s a Marvel superhero comic, so there’s plenty of “smash smash boom boom” drawn by the inimitable Christian Ward.
Ward’s art is trippy, and surreal, and absolutely gorgeous. The colors are out of this world, which is kind of something you want in a cosmic story. There are times throughout these 12 issues where Ward plays with the panels, breaking them or warping them in some way, that will make you think “wow, that is so simple and yet so effective and I never would have thought to do that.” I love superhero comics that break tradition and read more like an independent comic, and that is BLACK BOLT.
On the movie front, I started my Kurosawa trip with STRAY DOG on The Criterion Channel. A rookie cop has his gun stolen, and he works his ass off trying to get it back before it’s used to hurt people. But this isn’t your typical “cops and robbers” story. Kurosawa makes some really interesting connections between the cop and the thief who has the gun. And there’s a lot to be said about the stark differences between the views of the rookie and his older, jaded superiors. This movie’s from 1949, and Kurosawa was showing life in post-WWII Japan, but there’s still a lot in STRAY DOG that’s relevant to today. Highly recommend if you like crime movies.
TALES OF MFR • COMIC STRIP
I did not mention last week that Chapter 60 is actually the end of Book Three of TALES OF MFR. So if you haven’t checked out the webcomic yet, now is the perfect time to binge it before the start of Book Four!
Catch up on 60 pages of big, explosive sci-fi goodness here: TALES OF MFR
The war between monkeys and robots has raged on for eons; these are the stories that have survived. With art by Jamie Jones and the occasional words by Matt Sardo, Tales of MFR hits the web every Sunday.
For more reviews, interviews, and “Legends of the Longbox”, head over to the website to see what the team’s been working on this week:
That’s all for now. Remember: Darkseid is… but so are we.
(I was originally going to change out my sign-off every newsletter, but I really like what I’ve landed on, so I think I’ll stick with it for the time being.)
Until next week,
Anthony Composto
@The_Great_Ace
@monkeys_robots
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