It started as a little TV movie over half a decade ago. Several movies later and now THE GOOD WITCH is into it’s second season as a hit series. Catherine Bell shares a bit of the magic that helps her find such great roles to play. Plus he’s a businessman, reality TV star, morning DJ, stand up comic and the single father of five. Rickey Smiley talks about how he juggles it all.
Follow us here on Instagram or on Twitter here.
Followers of this column are about to do a double take. They will question my sanity, my constitution, and whether I’m now a pod-person. But, heed my words, for they are true.
I traveled a long and hard road from my suburban home 45 minutes north to a different suburb so that I could make a transaction I’d honestly figured I wouldn’t make for years to come. After giving up mainstream comics (and weekly comic purchases) for two years, I handed over three bucks and picked up DC Universe Rebirth.
And I loved it.
Stop laughing at me.
In all the lead up to the big epic oh my Rao event I may have said a few … ahem… embittered words over the whole announcement. And to be fair, a lot of my points will remain valid in spite of my newfound like of Geoff Johns’ epic apology for the New52. It’s still a return to event-driven sales spikes, resetting books once again to #1, and making all of comic book fandom play a rousing game of WTF when it comes to figuring out what actually happened in continuity and what didn’t. But it doesn’t serve me anymore to deal in the macro. Let me crack open the book and figure out how Johns served me a plate of raw crow and I lapped it up like… oh, whatever eats a crow quickly.
Geoff Johns made his career (in my humble opinion) on harnessing emotion and sewing it into the rich tapestry of DC’s long-standing continuity. As he elevated the JSA, the Flash, Green Lantern, and other then-off-in-the-margin players through the DCU, Johns maintained a through-line of optimism… until Flashpoint. As the start of the New52 directive, Johns helped usher in the new era of DC Continuity, one meant to gel better with various other media properties, update languishing characters, and scrubbing off the dirt of one or two many crises. But in doing so, the New52 embraced the dour side of the DCU. Suddenly everything seemingly needed to carry a hipster-sheen and a splash of fuck you to it.
Rebirth acknowledges this and takes a smart step back. We’re reintroduced to the lost Wally West, and are given him as the anchor to whatever this new future holds. Across four chapters and the epilogue Wally searches for a single soul who can actually remember him. As the speed force (a penciling, inking, and coloring nightmare of a deus ex machina if ever there was one) threatens to tear Wally apart and disperse him to the next would-be speedster, we relive his complicated backstory in between scenes and snippets in the current continuity. And as Johns has relished in it before, again everything feels earned, and intelligently aligned.
Wally feels as if the world has simply forgotten emotions, states of being, and relationships. His attempt at anchoring to Batman (the clear progeny of analysis and logic) fails. A trip to visit the once-wielder of the Thunderbolt is met with confusion and fear, proving that legacy is no tether either. We’re even goaded into believing in the power of love, only to see Linda Park rebuke a waning Wally. It’s almost gut wrenching. Wally West, once a ward, then the hero… finally gives abandons hope.
And then Wally heads home for a final goodbye with the man who’d started it all. Barry Allen.
What follows between the two of them is a scene so potent I can’t do it justice in description. Johns and his cadre of astounding artists produced tears in my eyes over the bond between fictional characters I don’t even care that much about. While I do love (and own) Johns’ entire run on The Flash I’ve never claimed more than a passing fondness for the scarlet speedster(s). But here, across 60 sum pages, I’m now looking for the local chapter of the Speed Force Anonymous.
Hello, my name is Marc Alan Fishman, and I think I love the Flash. All of them.
But, even moreso, I love hope. Optimism. Love. Friendship. Kindness. Heroism. Everything I’d stopped seeing two years ago when I gave up comics. Here in Rebirth, I got it all back in spades, and I’ll be damned if I didn’t begrudgingly call the shop after finishing it to subscribe to a few books a month. More on that in future columns. Rebirth as a single stand-alone issue suffers only from the fact that it is meant as a one-and-done precursor, spinning off into 20+ books in the included checklist. This is where my review ends and the snark reemerges. Left to his own devices and narrative, Geoff Johns weaved a wonderful – dare I say masterful – tale. But in the context of the epic event, we’re still crushed under the weight of publishing profit mandates. The end of the issue is well earned, but truly to be continued. And ain’t no way I’m continuing it to the tune of that many new books.
But you see, fellow readers of Rebirth, you are likely asking… what of the 500-pound blue, naked elephant in the room – well, actually, Mars.
I’m going to leave you here, and politely toss the gauntlet of coverage to my ComicMix cohort, the magnificent Mindy Newell. Until next time, I’m your humbled and humiliated comic reader once again.
HBO launched their version of drama within the music business with the hard charging Vinyl, set during the 1970s when music was raw and the types of music were splintering into smaller subsets every year. The series won acclaim and is coming out on Blu-ray June 7. HBO Entertainment has provided us with a copy to give away.
All you need to do is tell us what the 1970s music scene means to you. Tell us by 11:59 p.m., Monday June 6, 2016. Contest is open to United States and Canada readers only. The decision of ComicMix‘s judges will be final.
Vinyl, created by Golden Globe winner and Emmy® nominee Mick Jagger (Mr. Dynamite: The Rise of James Brown), Academy Award® winner and Emmy® winner Martin Scorsese (The Departed, Boardwalk Empire) and acclaimed author Rich Cohen and Academy Award® nominee and multiple Emmy® winner Terence Winter (Boardwalk Empire), is set to make its Home Entertainment debut on Digital HD on May 23, 2016 and on Blu-ray with Digital HD and DVD with Digital HD June 7, 2016. Regarded as âthe first new must-see series of 2016â (New York Magazine) and âcrazy brilliantâ (San Francisco Chronicle), the hit new drama series explores the drug- and sex-fueled music business of the 1970s New York at the dawn of punk, disco and hip-hop. Vinyl: The Complete First Season includes âMaking Vinyl: Recreating the 70sâ featurette and Inside the Episode briefs. Exclusive to DVD and Blu-ray are audio commentaries by Terence Winter, Bobby Cannavale, Olivia Wilde, and where available, the Digital HD will include âBehind the Grooveâ pieces.
Richie Finestra (Bobby Cannavale, two-time Emmy® winner, Boardwalk Empire), the founder and president of American Century Records, is trying to save his company and soul without destroying everyone in his path. With his passion for music and discovering talent gone by the wayside, and American Century on the precipice of being sold, he has a life-altering event that reignites his love of music, but severely damages his personal life. The drama features an amazing all-star cast including SAG Award nominee Olivia Wilde (Doll and Em), and multiple Emmy® winner Ray Romano (Everybody Loves Raymond). Scorsese, Jagger and Winter executive produce along with Victoria Pearman, Rick Yorn, Emma Tillinger Koskoff, John Melfi, Allen Coulter and George Mastras. Executive music producer, Mick Jagger. Winter serves as showrunner.
I’ve had computer issues for the last day and a half. Nothing major, but I needed a part, thought I ordered it from a place that would deliver in two hours, and, after my order was processed, I found out it would be two days, not two hours.
So this is late to my editor. And also, I thought I had a “Get Out of Writing My Column Free” card since I couldn’t use my computer, so I haven’t been thinking much about comics or pop culture. At least, not any more than normal.
So, here’s some thoughts at random.
Details about upcoming DLC for the already hotly awaited LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens will make fans of the franchise’s various animated series very happy. Lego announced that available DLC character packs will include characters from Star Wars: Rebels and Clone Wars, as well as characters from the upcoming series Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures, premiering June 20th on Disney XD.
The new Star Wars game takes a page from the LEGO Marvel’s Avengers game by offering a season pass packed tighter than a smuggler’s storage bay, offering extra levels for the main characters of the game, as well as sets of characters from other trilogies and the animated series.
The Season Pass features three brand new Level Packs that extend the LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens adventure with exciting new content not seen in the movie. Each add-on pack will allow players to experience key events from the film in different ways, including Poe Dameron’s journey back to the Resistance base after crash landing on Jakku, the assault on Maz Kanata’s castle through the eyes of Kylo Ren and the collapse of Starkiller Base from the perspective of two Resistance pilots. The Season Pass will also include five (5) Character Packs featuring well-known Star Wars heroes, villains and Droids.
The LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens Season Pass will be available for $9.99 on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and Steam (Windows PC). Players can also purchase each DLC Pack individually for $2.99 each. As an added bonus, Season Pass holders will gain exclusive access to The Jedi Character Pack, which will be available at launch on June 28, 2016.
The level packs are:
Poe’s Quest for Survival Level Pack
First Order Siege of Takodana Level Pack
Escape from Starkiller Base Level Pack
The season pass will also feature five character packs:
The Jedi Character Pack – Season Pass Exclusive / Available June 28, 2016
The Prequel Trilogy Character Pack
The Freemaker Adventures Character Pack
Star Wars: Rebels Character Pack
The Clone Wars Character Pack
In addition, people who buy the Deluxe edition of the game will receive early access to a sixth character featuring characters from The Empire Strikes Back, better known as “that really old movie on the snow planetwith the walking thingies” by a young super-hero from Queens (who, coincidentally, also got his own free DLC pack for Marvel’s Avengers this week).
LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be released on June 28, 2016. For the timing and release of all other DLC content, keep an eye on the LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and YouTube channels for details.
BURBANK, CA (May 25, 2016) – Just in time for the second season, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment brings you the “hottest” new series with the release of Lucifer: The Complete First Season 
on Blu-rayTM & DVD on August 23, 2016. Lucifer delivers over 8 million Total Viewers weekly, and is the #3 scripted series on FOX with Households and Total Viewers*. Fans will feel the burn as they binge on all 13 devilishly delightful episodes from the first season, and indulge in the gripping extras including the 2015 Comic-Con panel, featurettes, character profiles, deleted scenes and a gag reel.
*Source: Nielsen National TV View L+7 US AA%; excluding repeats, specials, sports, movies, and <5 TCs; Season To-Date = 9/21/15-3/20/16
Lucifer: The Complete First Season, on DVD from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment, will be available at all major retailers, and is priced to own at $39.99 SRP. Lucifer: The Complete First Season comes to Blu-rayTM courtesy of Warner Archive, and will include all bonus features on the DVD. The Blu-ray releases will also be available starting August 23, 2016 at Amazon.com and all online retailers.
Based on the character from DC Entertainment’s Vertigo comic, Lucifer is bored and unhappy as the Lord of Hell, and has resigned his throne and retired to the City of Angels where he is indulging in a few of his favorite things — wine, women and song. When a beautiful pop star is brutally murdered before his eyes, he feels something awaken deep within him – for the first time in roughly 10 billion years. Is he actually capable of feelings for a human being? The very thought disturbs him — as well as his best friend and confidante, Mazikeen (aka Maze), a fierce demon in the form of a beautiful young woman. The murder attracts the attention of LAPD homicide detective Chloe Decker, who finds herself both repulsed and fascinated by Lucifer. As they work together to solve the murder, Lucifer is struck by Chloe’s inherent goodness. Used to dealing with the absolute worst of humanity, he begins to wonder if there’s hope yet. Maybe everyone’s got a chance for redemption. Even the Devil.
The series stars Tom Ellis (Rush, Merlin), Lauren German (Chicago Fire), DB Woodside (Suits, 24), Lesley-Ann Brandt (The Librarians), Kevin Alejandro (Southland, True Blood), Scarlett Estevez (Daddy’s Home), Kevin Rankin (Dallas Buyers Club) and Rachael Harris (The Hangover). Based upon the characters created by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth and Mike Dringenberg for Vertigo from DC Entertainment, Lucifer is produced by Jerry Bruckheimer Television in association with Warner Bros. Television. Tom Kapinos (Californication) developed the series and serves as executive consultant. Returning for a second season on FOX, the series is executive produced by Jerry Bruckheimer (CSI franchise, Pirates of the Caribbean films), Jonathan Littman (The Amazing Race, CSI franchise), Joe Henderson (White Collar, Almost Human), Ildy Modrovich (CSI: Miami, Californication) and Len Wiseman (Underworld films).
DVD SPECIAL FEATURES
13 ONE-HOUR EPISODES
DIGITAL HD
Lucifer: The Complete First Season is also currently available to own on Digital HD. Digital HD allows consumers to instantly stream and download all episodes to watch anywhere and anytime on their favorite devices. Digital HD is available from various digital retailers including Amazon Video, CinemaNow, iTunes, PlayStation, Vudu, Xbox and others.
DVD BASICS
Street Date: August 23, 2016
Price: $39.99 SRP
Presented in 16×9 widescreen format
Running Time: Feature: Approx 560 min
Enhanced Content: Approx 30 min
3 DVD-9s
Audio – English (5.1)
Subtitles – Eng SDH and French
May’s Loot Crate theme is POWER! And so we power up this month’s unboxing with not one, but two Loot Crate openings. We open both the Loot Crate and the Level Up boxes (well, actually Level Up comes in a bag, but still!) and then battle it out with a lemon fight to see who gets the most coveted goods.
And because it is a total power move to share, we’re giving away some of the items from both this months’ Loot Crate & Level Up!
So, watch for free stuff or to hear Anya’s rant on Ender’s Game or Maddy’s feelings about robots or just to see what’s inside.
It’s emerging from the darkness…the ghastly, horrible, revolting…Copyright Monster!
Okay, that’s enough of that. Now: Springboard for a 22 page Superhero Story!
Birdman is in torment. For over 75 years he’s been fighting crime, swinging from rooftops, crashing through windows, escaping from death traps. He has vanquished foe after foe: the list is long and formidable – Prankster, Macaroni, Captain Conundrum … Demonface! And countless others. Time after time he has delivered them to the authorities, and time after time he has seen them escape to resume their careers of evil. It is enough to frustrate a saint.
Demonface is worst of all. He considers his mission to be saving the Earth by eliminating its human population, which, he feels, is destroying the environment. Five years ago, Birdman sent Demonface to prison only to see the villain released for lack of evidence. Lack of evidence? Come on! Demonface, who could be a charmer when it suited him, continued his scientific wickedness by night while beginning to dabble in politics by day. He was – let’s be fair and give credit where due – a terrific politician and, lo and behold, he won a candidacy for President of the United States.
Today is election day, and Demonface is considered a shoo-in. To celebrate his victory, as soon as his victory is official, Demonface will push a button and activate the culmination of his genius, a device that will open a portal to another dimension through which humans can travel to a lush, green planet, very sparsely populated by cuddly little humanoids that resemble Hobbits and love company. This migration will be voluntary, but there should be no shortage of volunteers because, let’s face it, Earth has become pretty crummy.
Birdman has had plenty of opportunities to kill Demonface but has always settled for a stern admonition and, when appropriate, a lusty right cross to the mandible. Birdman has never killed anyone. It is his basic commandment: never kill anyone – no matter what. No killing. Now, today, election day, would be a good day for the dealing of justice in the form of a little long overdue homicide.
Demonface won’t be alone; no doubt there will be a few red-eyed volunteers armed with nothing more formidable than cardboard coffee cups at the villain’s combination campaign headquarters/laboratory, but none of the huge – huge! – minions bearing massive armament that used to be part of the gestalt. So eliminating Demonface should be a walk in the park. Of course, there is that little matter of Demonface being about to save humanity but, darn it, he broke the law! Again and again! He is a criminal and he must pay for his crimes. No love taps to the jaw Not now. Enough sissy liberal nonsense!
The election results are in. Demonface by a landslide. His finger hovers above the button that will save everyone, savoring the moment, Suddenly, the skylight above him shatters and a masked figure plummets toward him…
BURBANK, CA (May 24, 2016)Â â Building on the momentum of its wildly successful first season, Gotham turned up the heat with a villain-centric second season that has elevated the series to No. 2 among Fox shows*. Fans have the chance to prepare for this fallâs suspenseful third season with the August 16, 2016 release of Gotham: The Complete Second Season on Blu-rayTM including Digital HD and DVD from Warner Bros. Home Entertainment (WBHE).
*Source: Nielsen National TV View L+7 Men 12-17 US AA%; excluding repeats, specials, sports, and <2 TCs; Season To-Date = 9/21/15-2/7/16
The WBHE release of the Gotham: The Complete Second Season Blu-ray including Digital HD ($54.97 SRP) and DVD ($49.99 SRP) includes all 22 episodes of the seriesâ thrilling second, as well as fascinating featurettes, Gothamâs 2015 Comic-Con panel, deleted scenes and a gag reel. Gotham: The Complete Second Season is also available to own on Digital HD via purchase from digital retailers.
Darkness saturates Gotham in its triumphant second season as the cityâs villains continue to rise from the shadows, each more ambitious and depraved than the last. As Penguin continues to solidify his control over Gothamâs underworld, the battle for power in the city has become a game of interesting alliances on both sides of the law â with detectives Jim Gordon and Harvey Bullock at the forefront of the fight against crime in the dangerously corrupt city. Season Two witnesses Gordonâs moral compass wavering as he confronts Gotham Cityâs most notorious criminals while simultaneously attempting to gain the trust of young Bruce Wayne, a boy now clearly on the path toward the man he is destined to be. And all the while, Gotham follows the intriguing origin stories and evolution of some of the cityâs most infamous personalities, including Edward Nygma/The Riddler, Selina Kyle/Catwoman, Hugo Strange and Mr. Freeze.
âWe are thrilled to release Gotham: The Complete Second Season on Blu-ray and DVD so fans can catch up and relive the exciting and unexpected twists ahead of the highly-anticipated third season,â said Rosemary Markson, WBHE Senior Vice President, Television Marketing. âThe Blu-ray release offers Gotham fans the ultimate viewing experience with superior picture, optimal sound quality and an array of special bonus content, making this release a must-own DC title.â
Gotham: The Complete Second Season features a star-studded cast including Ben McKenzie (Southland, The O.C.) as Jim Gordon, Donal Logue (Vikings, Sons of Anarchy) as Detective Harvey Bullock, David Mazouz (Touch) as the young Bruce Wayne, Morena Baccarin (Homeland, Firefly) as Dr. Leslie Thompkins, Sean Pertwee (Elementary, Event Horizon) as Alfred Pennyworth, Robin Lord Taylor (The Walking Dead, Another Earth) as Oswald Cobblepot/Penguin, Erin Richards (Open Grave, Breaking In) as Barbara Kean, Camren Bicondova as Selina Kyle, Cory Michael Smith (Carol) as Edward Nygma, James Frain (True Blood, Orphan Black) as Theo Galavan, Jessica Lucas (Gracepoint, Pompeii) as Tabitha Galavan, Chris Chalk (The Newsroom, Homeland) as Lucius Fox, Drew Powell (The Mentalist, Ray Donovan) as Butch Gilzean, Nicholas DâAgosto (Election, Heroes) as ADA Harvey Dent, and Michael Chiklis (The Shield, The Commish) as Captain Nathaniel Barnes. The series also features guest stars Jada Pinkett Smith (HawthoRNe, The Matrix films) as Fish Mooney, Nathan Darrow (House of Cards) as Victor Fries/Mr. Freeze, BD Wong (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Oz) as Professor Hugo Strange, Cameron Monaghan (Shameless, The Giver) as Jerome Valeska, Natalie Alyn Lind (The Goldbergs) as Silver St. Cloud, Richard Kind (Inside Out, Mad About You) as Mayor Aubrey James, Paul Reubens (Pee Wee Herman films, Batman Returns) as Elijah Van Dahl, Melinda Clarke (The O.C.) as Grace Van Dahl, Michelle Veintimlla (The Good Wife) as Bridgit Pike/aka Firefly, and Carol Kane (Young Frankenstein) as Gertrud Kapelput. Based on the characters from DC Comics, Gotham is executive produced by Bruno Heller (The Mentalist, Rome), Danny Cannon (Nikita, CSI series) and John Stephens (Gossip Girl) and produced by Warner Bros. Television.
BLU-RAY & DVD SPECIAL FEATURESÂ
22 One-Hour EpisodesÂ
DIGITAL HD
The second season of Gotham is also currently available to own on Digital HD. Digital HD allows consumers to instantly stream and download all episodes to watch anywhere and anytime on their favorite devices. Digital HD is available from various digital retailers including Amazon Video, CinemaNow, iTunes, PlayStation, Vudu, Xbox and others. A Digital HD copy is also included with the purchase of specially marked Blu-ray discs for redemption and cloud storage through participating UltraViolet retail services including CinemaNow, Vudu and Flixster Video.
BASICSÂ
Street Date:Â August 16, 2016
Running Time: Feature:Â 968 min
Enhanced Content:Â Approx. 93 min.
Price: $49.99 SRP
DVD Standard Features
6 DVD-9s
Language: English (5.1)
Subtitles:Â English SDH, Latin Spanish, French
Presented in 16×9 Widescreen Format
Blu-ray Features
Price: $54.97
4-Disc Elite (4 BD-50s)
DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 â English, Castilian Spanish 2.0
Subtitles: ESDH, Latin Spanish, French
Presented in 16×9 widescreen format
When they announced the new DC Comics logo not too long ago, I wasn’t a fan. However, I was content to sit back and let others write about it. Our own fearless editor Mike Gold wrote a fantastic piece about the new logo. You should read it. And then it was time to move on, to reading Rebirth, the new DC reboot which will be available by the time you are reading this. (Yes, your reading list grew quite a bit in a few minutes.)
I was all ready to move on, until Jim Lee decided he needed to explain the logo. Not the reason for the change, just explain the actual logo to fans.
On Instagram, Jim Lee revealed that “The nooks and angles are meant to evoke the Superman ‘S’, the Wonder Woman ‘WW’ emblem and the Bat logo.”
The problem with Lee’s response is that he had to explain the logo at all. A logo should be the most basic explanation of your brand. It should instantly trigger your brain cells to remember all you know about a company. Having hidden and inconsistent meanings that get replaced every few years is a horrible message to fans.
First off, yes, Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman are DC’s biggest assets but their logos aren’t clearly impacted here at all. A small curve of a letter doesn’t trigger the Man of Steel or Amazons in my mind, especially when they are mashed up like this. It looks messy rather than thought out.
That’s not to say that this doesn’t make me think comics. Let’s be real, when people talk about the city of Washington D.C., I think comics. The brand name is ingrained in me but I’m not representative of the general public. Constantly changing a logo makes that memory retention just a little harder. It also signals that they are changing their branding. Again. And again. And again.
If you change the logo every time you reboot the comic universe, then we are looking at two logos within a decade. The last logo couldn’t outlast Obama in the White House! We’ve had fewer U.S. Presidents than DC logos in the past few years. Think about that.
And if you are thinking “it’s just a logo change!” right now, you’re wrong. It’s a symbol of the inner turmoil brewing at DC. The great logos of commercialism don’t change that often. The Nike swoosh is older than me. I’ve built an association with the brand so everytime I look at it, I think Nike. Right now, when I look at the new logo, all I remember is the disorder of DC. That is what DC Comics has connected with this logo.
Regularly changing and rebooting your branding shows your fans that you are not confident in your product. Why should fans commit to you when you can’t commit to yourself? If the need to reboot and wipe the slate clean is so strong, then maybe the editorial leadership needs to be wiped away too. DC needs to find their confidence again. Until then, changing a logo isn’t going to fix anything.
Columns / Glenn Hauman / News
Stephen Colbert, we have your writer for “The Chronicles of Amber”!
January 20, 2023
The Law Is A Ass #460: Those “For Life” Sentences Are Nonsense
February 24, 2022
