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Details on the Final Fate of the Infinity Watch Releases
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Details on the Final Fate of the Infinity Watch Releases

New York, NY— June 17, 2024 — The most coveted artifacts in the known universe have resurfaced, and this time, they’re bonded to the very bodies and souls of Marvel’s up-and-coming heroes and villains. For the Mad Titan, that makes his hunt for them all the more sweet. Across nine annuals starting with June’s THANOS ANNUAL #1, witness the latest cosmos-shattering Infinity saga as celebrated icons and new fan favorites battle it out to contain—or control—the limitless power of the INFINITY STONES in the blockbuster summer event—INFINITY WATCH.

Acclaimed writer Derek Landy (Captain America/Iron Man) will spearhead the INFINITY WATCH crossover crossover. In addition to writing key chapters of the event, Landy will team up with artist Sara Pichelli on backup stories in each of the nine annuals that follow the creation and pursuit of the mysterious Death Stone-bearer who will be revealed in THANOS ANNUAL #1.

The saga will follow up on previous Infinity Stone stories with the return of recent bearers, including Star, Overtime, Prince of Power, Quantum, and Multitude, as well as introduce you to the new Mind Stone-Bearer, WORLDMIND, for the first time! As they deal with their god-like powers and mistrust from their peers, Thanos, fresh off his own dramatic transformation in Christopher Cantwell’s recent Thanos limited series, begins a bloody march to claim his dark destiny once more.

Today, fans can peek ahead at what’s to come in INFINITY WATCH parts seven through nine:

MOON KNIGHT ANNUAL #1
Written by DAN WATTERS & DEREK LANDY
Art by SARA PICHELLI & MORE

“INFINITY WATCH” PART SEVEN!

A strange sleepwalking plague has swept through the city, and it’s up to Moon Knight to solve the mystery! But when his investigation causes him to clash with one of the newest Infinity Stone Bearers in a previously-unseen adventure, it’ll be all Moon Knight can do to survive the skirmish—let alone try to keep the Mind Stone out of nefarious hands! Strap in, True Believers; things are about to get rocky!

SPIDER-BOY ANNUAL #1
Written by STEVE FOXE
Art by CARLOS NIETO

 “INFINITY WATCH” PART EIGHT!

Spider-Boy is juggling being Spider-Man’s sidekick, keeping his friends safe, and being just a regular kid. But nothing stops him from jumping in when trouble is brewing! This time, he’s joined by Multitude, who has the Soul Stone, and Prince of Power, who has the Power Stone (of course!), as they face off against a mysterious evil they vow to stop!

AVENGERS ANNUAL #1
Written by DEREK LANDY
Art by SALVADOR LARROCA

“INFINITY WATCH” FINALE!

The Infinity Stone bearers are all brought together for the first time! If you thought the stones were dangerous in Thanos’ hands, imagine if Star gets her way!

On crafting the latest Infinity Stones saga, Landy said, “When you write for Marvel, it’s all you can hope for to add your thread to the massive tapestry of stories that has been unfolding since 1961. To be asked to spearhead this next chapter is a prospect beyond my paltry imagination. I get to work on characters I’ve never written before — Thanos! Hulk! — and drag them into the story beside the new generation of heroes like Ms. Marvel and Spider-Boy. Thankfully, there is absolutely no pressure because comic fans are a notoriously easy-going bunch who are prepared to forgive if—oh dear God.”

Proxy Mom: My Experience with Portpartum Depression by Sophie Adriansen & Mathou
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Proxy Mom: My Experience with Portpartum Depression by Sophie Adriansen & Mathou

Babies are hard. I think everyone knows that intellectually, but maybe not emotionally. My own first child was a needy, demanding, unhappy baby – I don’t want to claim too much; this was a quarter-century ago, and I wasn’t the main caregiver, either – so I have some insight but nothing like expertise.

The mother in Proxy Mom: My Experience with Postpartum Depression  has a fairly typical, average baby: no more needy than most, no specific problems, nothing out of the ordinary. Just crying every hour or few hours, all day every day, needing something that’s often not clear. Just an ordinarily demanding, life-altering baby, on top of everything the pregnancy and birth already did to her body.

This graphic novel is loosely a memoir – writer Sophie Adriansen and artist Mathou both lived through versions of this story, the same year, each having a first baby with a man who already had older children. And, from the story, I guess they both had problems attaching, with feeling “motherly,” at least at first – that’s a lot more common than people realize.

A baby is a wrinkled, red-faced, crying lump, capable only of wanting things. That’s not inherently lovable. It takes a lot of hormones hitting just the right way to forge that connection, and sometimes it takes quite a while – sometimes it fizzles at first.

Sometimes, like with Marietta in this story, it’s more overwhelming and painful than wonderful and special. And the realization that life is not going to be “like before, but with a baby” but instead “completely different, in ways you didn’t expect” is frightening and unnerving: there’s now this tiny person that is utterly dependent on you for everything, needy in a way no other human being has been for you before.

This is the story of about those first six months, the toughest time, for Marietta and her husband Chuck and baby Zoe. How she was overwhelmed by the pain at first, in the hospital, after a tough labor and pain during breastfeeding. How Chuck was the experienced one – but not the one whose body was battered by the birth, and not the one there all day every day with tiny needy Zoe. How she wanted that deep connection with her baby, but it wasn’t there at first – how she found it, how she got there in the end.

There are no huge problems. This is not the kind of memoir subtitled “how I got through This Horrible Thing and it made me a better person.” Birth is natural. Babies are natural. Crying babies and post-partum pain and being overwhelmed are entirely natural. It’s huge for the woman going through it. It feels too big too handle: being responsible, every second of every day, for another person, a person who can do nothing at all for herself.

But Marietta made it through. She didn’t get back “her old life, but with a baby” – she got back a new life, with a lot of the pieces of the old one, plus a baby, transforming everything else as a baby always does. Adriansen and Mathou have lived this, and they tell that story naturalistically and realistically, always through Marietta’s viewpoint, always focused on how she feels about herself and her baby.

They tell that story in a lovely, immediate way through cartooning. Mathou’s style is warm and inviting, big eyes and rounded bodies and slightly exaggerated expressions. Adriansen keeps the captions short and focused – this is the kind of book that could have a blizzard of expert opinions footnoted on every page, but she smartly knows they’re not needed. Marietta’s situation is natural: millions of women go through it every year, and need support and love and attention to get through it.

This US edition was translated and Americanized by Montana Kane from the original French, including, I assume, some facts and figures Adriansen includes along the way. I noticed the numbers were about the USA, but nothing else about the translation, which is the best reaction to a translation: if you don’t notice it, it’s done right.

This is the kind of book that says “you’re not alone” to a huge number of women struggling with what is usually the biggest, hardest, most exhaustingly wonderful thing that they’ve ever had to deal with. It says that clearly, lovingly, from the point of view of another woman who has been through it.

Reposted from The Antick Musings of G.B.H. Hornswoggler, Gent.

Classic A League of Their Own Makes 4K Return Sept. 3
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Classic A League of Their Own Makes 4K Return Sept. 3

SYNOPSIS
It’s a home run with this hilarious and beloved comedy starring Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, and Madonna. With baseball lineups and locker rooms left empty during World War II, the newly-founded All-American Girls Baseball League brought talented women to the big leagues and fans to the stands. The indomitable Dottie Hinson (Davis) finds herself leading a rag-tag group of players who end up winning over the heart of their has-been coach, Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks). Lori Petty, Rosie O’Donnell and Jon Lovitz round out the all-star roster. Based on the true story of the pioneering women who blazed the trail for generations of athletes.

DISC DETAILS AND BONUS MATERIALS
4K ULTRA HD DISC
• Feature presented in 4K resolution with Dolby Vision, restored from the original camera negative
• English Dolby Atmos + English 5.1 + English 2-Channel Surround
• Special Features:
o Domestic Theatrical Trailer
o 5 International Teasers & Trailers

BLU-RAY DISC™
• Feature presented in high definition, sourced from the 4K master
• English 5.1 + English 2-Channel Surround
• Special Features:
o Feature Commentary with Director Penny Marshall and Actresses Lori Petty, Tracy Reiner and Megan Cavanagh
o Nine Memorable Innings Documentary
o Deleted Scenes
o The Enduring Legacy of A League of Their Own
o 3 Episodes from the 1993 TV series A League of Their Own
o “This Used to Be My Playground” Music Video by Madonna

CAST AND CREW
Directed By: Penny Marshall
Produced By: Robert Greenhut and Elliot Abbott
Screenplay By: Lowell Ganz & Babaloo Mandel
Based on a Story By: Kim Wilson & Kelly Candaele
Executive Producer: Penny Marshall
Cast: Tom Hanks, Geena Davis, Madonna, Lori Petty, Jon Lovitz, David Strathairn, Garry Marshall and Bill Pullman

SPECS
Run Time: Approx. 128 minutes
Rating: PG for language.
4K UHD Feature Picture: 2160p Ultra High Definition, 2.39:1
4K UHD Feature Audio: English Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 Compatible) | English 5.1 DTS-HD MA | English 2-Channel Surround DTS-HD MA

REVIEW: La Femme Nikita
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REVIEW: La Femme Nikita

Before Buffy, there was Nikita. French filmmaker Luc Besson’s fifth film caused an international stir as he provided the world with a female protagonist with a dark edge reflecting the times. His 1990 film, La Femme Nikita, proved such a smash that it was remade in America as Point of No Return and spawned a Canadian television series (1997-2001) and Nakita, the CW series (2010-2013).

Anne Parillaud’s depiction of a woman given a second chance was mesmerizing and unforgettable, giving the movie an enduring appeal. As part of Sony Home Entertainment’s 100th-anniversary celebration, the original film is now available in an upgraded 4k UHD steel book edition.

We watch the transformation of a juvenile delinquent, guilty of killing a police officer during a robbery, taken by a secret government organization that faked her death. For three years, she is weaned off her drug addiction and trained and transformed into Nikita, a deadly operative always on call to her handlers. There are several lovely set pieces that establish just how effective their training has been. And that might have been fine for an action film, but Besson, who also wrote the screenplay, added in a psychological element that gave us something different.

Nikita, who goes by the name Marie, tries to live a normal life, even falling for Marco (Jean-Hugues Anglade), a store clerk. As he grows curious about the lack of family and friends, she convinces her handler, Bob (Tchéky Karyo), to pose as an uncle. That holds him off for now.

Things build up as Bob summons her to assassinate a target when she and Marco are together. The tension is nicely built as they talk through the bathroom door, and she manages to complete her mission, although it makes her question her life.

Later, after a botched mission, the Centre sends Victor (Jean Reno) to clean the mess, and the two get tangled up for the remainder of the story. Their escapades make Nikita question her choices, setting up a satisfying conclusion that leaves Parillaud convinced there is no need for a sequel. Filmmakers around the world have tried their own hand at adapting this story, which speaks to the strength of Besson and Parillaud’s work.

Sony has upgraded the high-definition transfer so every frame sparkles with depth and clarity, making this disc the definitive video version of the film. The French DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 is excellent, although there is no Dolby Atmos option.

Surprisingly, the release is just the 4K disc, with no special features, no Blu-ray disc, or Digital HD code. In the steel case, the film sits alone, protected in its hard shell, somewhat like Nikita herself.

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Haunts 4K June 25
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Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire Haunts 4K June 25

SYNOPSIS
In Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire, the Spengler family returns to where it all started – the iconic New York City firehouse – to team up with the original Ghostbusters, who’ve developed a top-secret research lab. But when the discovery of an ancient artifact unleashes an evil force, Ghostbusters new and old must join forces to protect their home and save the world from a second Ice Age.

DISC DETAILS AND BONUS MATERIALS
4K UHD, BLU-RAY™ & DIGITAL EXTRAS

o Deleted & Extended Scenes
o Easter Eggs Unleashed
o Return to the Firehouse: Making Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
o Busted: Capturing the Ghosts of Frozen Empire
o Manifesting Garraka
o New York, New Gear
o Welcome to the Paranormal Discovery Center
o Knowing the Score
o Commentary with Director, Co-Writer Gil Kenan

DVD

o Return to the Firehouse: Making Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
o Busted: Capturing the Ghosts of Frozen Empire

2-MOVIE COLLECTION SPECIAL FEATURES
4K UHD, BLU-RAY™ & DIGITAL EXTRAS
GHOSTBUSTERS: FROZEN EMPIRE
o Deleted & Extended Scenes
o Easter Eggs Unleashed
o Return to the Firehouse: Making Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire
o Busted: Capturing the Ghosts of Frozen Empire
o Manifesting Garraka
o New York, New Gear
o Welcome to the Paranormal Discovery Center
o Knowing the Score
o Commentary with Director, Co-Writer Gil Kenan

GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE
o We Got One! Easter Eggs Revealed
o Ghostbusters: A Look Back
o Bringing Ecto-1 Back to Life
o The Gearhead’s Guide to Ghostbusters Gadgets
o Deleted Scene
o And more!

4K UHD, Blu-ray™ & DVD include a digital code for movie and bonus materials as listed above, redeemable via Movies Anywhere for a limited time. Movies Anywhere is open to U.S. residents age 13+. Visit MoviesAnywhere.com for terms and conditions.

CAST AND CREW
Directed by: Gil Kenan
Produced by: Ivan Reitman, Jason Reitman, Jason Blumenfeld
Written by: Gil Kenan & Jason Reitman
Executive Producers: Dan Aykroyd, Gil Kenan, JoAnn Perritano, Amie Karp, Erica Mills, Eric Reich
Based on the 1984 film Ghostbusters: An Ivan Reitman Film – Written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis
Cast: Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, Finn Wolfhard, McKenna Grace, Kumail Nanjiani, Patton Oswalt, Ernie Hudson, Annie Potts

SPECS
Run Time: 115 minutes
Rating: PG-13 for supernatural action/violence, language and suggestive references
4K UHD: 2160p Ultra High Definition / 2.39:1• Audio: English Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible), French (Doublé au Québec), Spanish 5.1 DTS-HD MA, English & French (Doublé au Québec) Audio Description Track 5.1 Dolby Digital • Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish • Color • Some of The Information Listed May Not Apply To Special Features or the Blu-ray disc ™
Blu-ray™: 1080p High Definition / 2.39:1 • Audio: English, French (Doublé au Québec), Spanish 5.1 DTS-HD MA, English & French (Doublé au Québec)- Audio Description Tracks 5.1 Dolby Digital • Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish • Mastered in High Definition • Color • Some of The Information Listed May Not Apply To Special Features or the DVD.
DVD: 2.39:1 Anamorphic Widescreen • Audio: English, French (Double au Quebec) 5.1 Dolby Digital, Spanish, English & French (Double au Quebec)- Audio Description Tracks Stereo • Subtitles: English, English SDH, French, Spanish • Color • Some of The Information Listed May Not Apply To Special Features.

Civil War arrives July 9 on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital
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Civil War arrives July 9 on 4K UHD, Blu-ray, DVD, and Digital

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION
Prepare for a harrowing adventure on July 9th as Civil War arrives on 4K UHD, Blu-ray™, DVD, and Digital from Lionsgate. The nonstop action focuses on a team of military-embedded war correspondents racing against time to reach the White House before it’s too late. Featuring an all-star cast including Academy Award® nominee Kirsten Dunst (2021, Best Supporting Actress, The Power of the Dog), Cailee Spaeny (Priscilla), Primetime Emmy Award® winner Nick Offerman (2023, Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series, The Last of Us), Jesse Plemons (Killers of the Flower Moon), Stephen McKinley Henderson (Dune), and Wagner Moura (Narcos). Civil War will be available for the suggested retail price of $42.99 on 4K UHD (+Blu-ray™ + Digital) and $39.99 on Blu-ray™ (+DVD + Digital).
 
OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS
From filmmaker Alex Garland comes a journey across a dystopian future America, following a team of military-embedded journalists as they race against time to reach DC before rebel factions descend upon the White House.
 
CAST
Kirsten Dunst                                      The Virgin Suicides, Spider-Man, Melancholia
Cailee Spaeny                                    Priscilla, Bad Times at the El Royale, On the Basis of
                                                           Sex
Nick Offerman                                     TV’s The Last of Us, Devs, Parks and Recreation
Jesse Plemons                                   Killers of the Flower Moon, The Power of the Dog,
                                                            TV’s Breaking Bad
Stephen McKinley Henderson            Dune, Lady Bird, Fences
Wagner Moura                                     TV’s Narcos, Narcos: Mexico, Elite Squad

SPECIAL FEATURES

  • Torn Asunder: Waging Alex Garland’s Civil War Six-Part Documentary
  • Theatrical Trailer
  • Amazon Blu-Ray Exclusive: Director and Cast Q&A

PROGRAM INFORMATION
Year of Production: 2024
Title Copyright: Civil War © 2023 Miller Avenue Rights LLC; IPR.VC Fund II KY. All Rights Reserved. Artwork & Supplementary Materials ®, TM & © 2024 Lions Gate Entertainment Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Type: New Release
Rating: R
Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller
Closed-Captioned: N/A
Subtitles: Spanish, English SDH
Run Time: 109 minutes
4K Format: 2160p Ultra High Definition 16×9 (1.85:1) Presentation
4K Audio: English Dolby Atmos, English Descriptive Audio, Spanish Dolby Audio
BD Format: 1080p High Definition 16×9 (1.85:1) Presentation
BD Audio: English Dolby Atmos, English Descriptive Audio, Spanish 5.1 Dolby Audio

Relationships According to Savage Chickens by Doug Savage
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Relationships According to Savage Chickens by Doug Savage

It’s not quite tripping myself up, but…I sometimes specifically pick really short books to read so that I can have something to write about here the next day. (More often when I’m doing a Book-A-Day run, but at other times, too. Like right now.) But then I usually find that the really short books don’t provide a lot of material to write about, because – and here may be the point where I’m stating the blindingly obvious – they are really short.

Now, that could be a feature: if I’m just trying to get done quickly, I read a short book, I write “hey, this book is short and is a really obvious thing” and go on with my life. But I feel like I’m short-changing you, my faithful reader.

(I address you in my head like that, when I’m feeling puckish, as if there actually is anyone who goes out of their way to read this random book-blog with no real theme and possibly the worst circa-2010 Blogger layout imaginable, in this the year of our lord twenty twenty-four. We all have our crotchets.)

Anyway, here I am again. Relationships According to Savage Chickens  is a short collection of “Savage Chickens” strips by Doug Savage, one of a clump of themed books that came out around 2012 and only available digitally. (Well: now that I look more closely, this one and Zombies  came out in ’12, and there were three more last year. That’s a good sign for the health of the ongoing Savage Chickens project, which I like to see: it’s still a funny strip, and I like to see funny things stay successful.)

When I say “short,” I mean “fifty single-page cartoons.” That would be tiny for a book with a square binding, though about twice the side of a modern comic book – so I guess it all depends on perspective.

We start and end with “Romeo and Juliet” jokes. Savage is modern and at least mildly edgy; this isn’t glurge in any way. I still like his rounded line: his chickens are just funny, with their big round eyes, their little wattles, and the way they look just a bit too big and ungainly for any possible situation.

As always, tastes in humor will vary. I think Savage is funny, and I wish he had more books that were somewhat longer (so I didn’t feel awkward trying to write about them). I hope you will have a similarly positive reaction to his work.

Reposted from The Antick Musings of G.B.H. Hornswoggler, Gent.

REVIEW: Glory 4K
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REVIEW: Glory 4K

Few military regiments are better known than the 54th Massachusetts, thanks to Ed Zwick’s brilliant 1989 film Glory. Based on the letters of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw and the books Lay This Laurel (1973) by Lincoln Kirstein and One Gallant Rush (1965) by Peter Burchard, the screenwriter Kevin Jarre humanizes the black men who volunteered to fight for the union, most of whom died in battle.

When released, the movie was revelatory, catapulting Denzel Washington to the Hollywood A list with his Academy Award-winning performance as Private Silas Trip. He was surrounded by a strong supporting cast led by Andre Braugher and Morgan Freeman. As Shaw, Matthew Broderick completed his journey from heartthrob Ferris Bueller to an accomplished adult actor. His Shaw was courageous, bucking the hierarchy to get his men shoes and refusing his pay until the Army honored its promise of equal pay to the men. But we watched him struggle to connect with his soldiers whose experiences were entirely alien to him. They slowly formed a bond that was sealed with blood and honor.

The film was a major critical success. As part of Sony Home Entertainment’s centennial celebration, Glory is being released this week in a 4K Steelbook, complete with Blu-ray and Digital HD code. It’s largely the same pressing as the 2019 Ultra High Definition released but boasts superb Dolby Vision color grading. The haze of the battlefield, the campfire scenes, and the dress parade all shine in this transfer with excellent clarity. The Dolby Vision color grading is just stunning to watch on your home screen.

The Dolby Atmos soundtrack is carried over and sounds just fine, with dialogue, sound effects, and James Horner’s somber score well presented.

This new edition offers the same UHD Special Features and the Blu-ray is exactly as the 2009 previous edition. The UHD offers up Picture in Picture Video Commentary (1080p, 2:02:14) from Zwick, Broderick, and Freeman.

The Blu-ray offers Audio Commentary: Director Edward Zwick, Virtual Civil War Battlefield, The Voices of Glory, The True Story Continues, Original Theatrical Making-Of Featurette, and Deleted Scenes With optional director’s commentary.

Disquiet by Noah Van Sciver
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Disquiet by Noah Van Sciver

There are times when I don’t have much to say here. I read a book, I mostly liked it, I’ve already read a number of things by the same creator, I don’t have anything particularly new or specific to say this time.

And that sounds so horribly minimizing, doesn’t it?

But “this is good stuff, in line with the same person’s previous good stuff” is actually very positive. (Right? I think so, anyway.)

So, with that caveat: I just read Noah Van Sciver’s 2016 collection of comics short stories, Disquiet . It’s a general, miscellaneous collection – everything I’ve seen from him previously has been more focused, from the graphic novels Fante Bukowski  and Saint Cole  to the self-explanatorily themed As a Cartoonist  collection.

But this one is just some stories and art Van Sciver did, over about the previous five years, collected between two covers and assembled into a plausible order. They have different tones and styles and concerns – some modern-day, some historical, one more folkloric – and they’re separated by individual pieces of Van Sciver art, so they each sit separately, like objects on a shelf. I like that in a collection, frankly – with prose, it tends to be a thing of making sure there are blank left-hand pages where appropriate, and maybe icons or dingbats or similar decorative elements, but comics-makers are more likely to just have more art, that they did, which can help to divide stories from each other.

I guess I might as well take the stories one at a time:

“Dive Into that Black River” is a nearly wordless, two-page spread, more of a poster than a narrative comic. It’s the opposite of “hang in there, baby!” if you think of it as a poster.

“The Lizard Laughed” is the story of one day in the life of Harvey, a middle-aged man in New Mexico, whose estranged son Nathan comes to visit. They’re meeting for the first time in close to twenty years, since Harvey ran out on the family when the boy was nine. They go on a hike; the two have little in common, as you’d expect. It doesn’t end the way Nathan expected, which is good for Harvey. Harvey didn’t have any real expectations; he may be too self-centered for that anyway.

“it’s over” is a two-pager in a straightforward confessional/realistic mode, in which a young man reconnects with an old girlfriend for a one-day fling on his thirtieth birthday – which also turns out to be a major (fictional) world-historical event.

“The Death of Elijah Lovejoy” combines a two-page text introduction to the overall life of that 1830s abolitionist with a comics retelling of the mob that attacked his printing press, burning it down and killing him. (This might be the most Van Sciverian comic here, to my eye, all sweaty/bloody men fighting for their rigid views in the19th century.)

“The Cow’s Head’ is some kind of fable, I think – a young woman (who has the same name as Van Sciver’s then-girlfriend, who also wrote the book’s introduction – possibly coincidence but I doubt it) is driven out of their rural hovel by her cruel stepmother, finds shelter, and is polite to a flying, talking head of a cow. (As you do, in fables.) This, as also happens in fables, leads to better things for her, though not for her sad-sack father.

“Down in a Hole” is a weird one, in which a former TV kid-show clown goes spelunking and is captured by the secret subterranean race of mole people. Both of those random elements are equally important, and then there’s a twist ending. There’s a lot going on here, and I bet there’s some subtext or purpose I just didn’t get.

“Untitled” is told in small-format pages – maybe it was a minicomic? – and focuses on a young woman, visiting her parents for Christmas. She lives nearby – close enough to bicycle – but rarely visits. It’s a slice-of-life mood piece, so I won’t try to explain the moods.

“Dress Up” is the doubly-narrated story of a good Samaritan/vigilante who foiled a robbery, as told by him to a young female reporter a little later, after the initial media furor has quieted a bit.

“When You Disappear” tells the story of a prison break, two men fleeing to New Jersey, there talking and separating. It’s based on a dream, but is less “dream-logic-y” than that might imply.

“Punks Vs. Lizards” is a pulpy post-apocalyptic story about, yes, punks who battle giant  intelligent lizards that have apparently conquered the world. Our Hero defeats one particularly powerful lizard at great cost.

And last is “Nightshift,” in which yet another young woman tells how she worked at a bakery overnights for a while, saving up money to get out of this unnamed town.

I found all of the stories interesting, and many of them compelling. They were aiming to do different things, and all were good at what they aimed to do (assuming I was correct). This is a probably a better introduction to Van Sciver than the two or three books of his I actually read first, if anyone thinks his work sounds interesting.

Reposted from The Antick Musings of G.B.H. Hornswoggler, Gent.

Avengers Assemble With Cap Leading a New Team
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Avengers Assemble With Cap Leading a New Team

New York, NY— June 5, 2024 — Return to Avengers Mansion this September in AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!

From the pages of Jed MacKay’s hit run on Avengers, this new spinoff series will be written by Scarlet Witch scribe Steve Orlando and drawn by an epic lineup of comic powerhouses like Cory Smith (Wolverine, Ghost Rider), Scot Eaton (Cable), Marcelo Ferreira (Moon Knight: City of the Dead), Valentina Pinti (Immortal Thor, Blade), and more.

Inspired by the team he pulled together during Blood Hunt, AVENGERS ASSEMBLE sees Captain America take on a new initiative—recruiting new and classic Avengers for an all-new squad! Cap’s team will operate out of Avengers Mansion and tackle one crisis after another on globetrotting superhero missions! Expanding the scope of current Avengers storytelling, AVENGERS ASSEMBLE will offer readers a modern take on classic Avengers adventure and drama. With a new threat to every issue, these fast-paced stories will be jam-packed with action intermixed with exciting team bonding, thoughtful character development, and interpersonal stakes!

As vampires attack the Marvel Universe, a ragtag group of volunteer Avengers set out to change the tide of battle. And in the aftermath, Captain America will form the Avengers Emergency Response Squad! Steve’s handpicked team of veterans and newcomers live and train in Avengers Mansion, and when Captain America sounds the mission horn, whoever’s on base has seconds to pack up and deploy.

Reporting for duty are Captain America (Steve Rogers), Wasp, Hawkeye (Clint Barton), Hercules, She-Hulk, Photon, Night-Thrasher, Lightning, Wonder Man, Shang-Chi, and Lightspeed (Julie Power).

When the Red Skull’s daughter discovers a dangerous artifact, Cap, Wasp, Photon, and Shang-Chi set out to stop her – while Hawkeye hosts a poker game for the late arrivals. Will the AVENG.E.R.S. pass their first real test? Find out in the debut issue!

“This is a great time to assemble!” Orlando shared. “AVENGERS ASSEMBLE is bringing a murderer’s row of classic Avengers back to the Mansion, and classic comics storytelling is coming with it! A team of icons and new recruits alike, but heavy on the icons! And in every issue, a barnburner of an entire story packed into twenty pages! West Coast Avengers was the first comic book I ever bought, full stop. So, to be part of a return to form, heavy on personality and rich in action, is more than exciting–it’s an honor! The Avengers Emergency Response Squad is always on duty starting this summer!”

And did someone say…jackets? The team’s trademark ‘90s leather jackets are back and more in style than ever! Check them out now in Cory Smith’s special Jacket Variant Cover, along with Francis Leinil Yu’s main cover and variant covers by Emilio Laiso and Betsy Cola.

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