I Know I'm Late to Discuss this, but the First Issue of, "The Nice House on the Lake," is Amazing!

I am behind on reading my comics. I have a big ol' stack of them that I've lately been trying to make a dent in. I finally had a chance to read issue #1 of, "The Nice House on the Lake," and goddamn was that a crazy comic. It starts slowly, as all these people arrive at a beautiful house by a lake, then as the comic nears the end of its debut an utterly insane twist (which I won't ruin so that you too give this comic a chance) is revealed and now I've already been in the process of finding issues #2, #3, and #4 that are out because this book is wild. I should've expected a great comic as James Tynion IV is the writer and he's been on fire with some stellar books lately. Alvaro Martinez Bueno illustrates everything amazingly too. I am so delayed in being amazed by this comic compared to everyone else but this first issue of, "The Nice House on the Lake," helped remind me why I love comics and why I love horror too.

I've revealed as little as possible about the plot on purpose, but I will talk about how surprising it is this book is at DC under its Black Label as opposed to Image or BOOM! Studios where Tynion has his other works. As I understand it, this is a rare example of a new creator-owned book at DC. Long ago, in the early days of the Vertigo imprint (may it rest in peace) DC had that, but then Vertigo quit letting creators own their books and everyone went to Image whilst Vertigo withered away. Tynion has a hit book at three publishers right now, "Something is Killing the Children," is dominating the charts with BOOM!, "The Department of Truth," is a smash with Image, and now we've got, "The Nice House on the Lake," over at DC. Plus, he does self-published work with his Tiny Onion Studios and has a popular Substack. The man is on fire.

Anyways, I'm sorry I am so late to the party when it comes to singing the praises of, "The Nice House on the Lake." I'll be trying to get the issues that have come out so far post-haste so that I can immediately enjoy them!

5 out of 5 stars.

Television Tuesday: "Big Brother," 23--The Season so Far

I love the reality show, "Big Brother." It takes a group of strangers, throws them in a house, and makes them complete for powers and vote each other out week by week until two people are left and a number of the evicted houseguests pick the winner. I've written about basically every season of the show since I started watching it. "Big Brother," has its latest season airing right now with it down to the final six. Last year things were incredibly different as there was no live audience on eviction nights and it was all former players AKA, "All-stars." We still have the setup where evicted houseguests only chat with Julie Chen Moonves (she started verbally adding the Moonves to her name on the show as a subtle form of protest after her husband was fired from CBS for being a sexual predator, but I digress), but this season it is all new faces. 

CBS stated a bit ago it would try to have a lot more diversity on its reality shows and this season of, "Big Brother," did make good on that. It wasn't a bunch of white straight people. This season has multiple folks of different ethnicities, sexualities, and religions. This inadvertently led to the creation of one of the strongest and most successful alliances ever, The Cookout. The six black players in this season started talking on the first day in the, "Big Brother," house about how a black person has never won the show. They observed black players tend to go home early. They agreed to form an alliance they dubbed, "The Cookout," and would move in secret to evict everyone else until it was just the six. They had a person outside the alliance they worked with as a decoy and who they could always sit up against on eviction night if needed with them staying and their faux-partner going home. Few alliances last all the way to their set endpoint, but the Cookout actually just succeeded and the last six people in the house all are/were members of The Cookout. The internet has obviously had opinions on this.

Some people have complained The Cookout is racist. They say the whole point was the black people teamed up to get anyone who wasn't black out. White players who were evicted (such as Christian) have outright said they don't think it was racist and they respect the alliance working so hard and succeeding. Many people have bitched, "If there were an all-white alliance it would be an issue," while ignoring there have by sheer chance been a ton of alliances in the past on the show that were all-white seeing as how--as I mentioned--minority individuals often went home early in past seasons of Big Brother with very few individuals who weren't white winning. I don't think The Cookout is racist but I do think an alliance like this can never work again on, "Big Brother," as now future players will have The Cookout's historic steamrolling of other players in their books of, "Greatest alliances ever."

Now that we are down to the final six there is again a sense of danger in the house as The Cookout now are forced to turn upon each other and make new deals with one another. Even when The Cookout was succeeding at whittling down the house it was still fun to watch and impressive to witness this diverse group of individuals (yes, I said diverse because even if they are, "All black," they are all still very different people) unite and see a complex plan come to fruition. For my money, I think Xavier is going to get the $750,000 (they increased the prize this year). He's won a number of competitions (physical and mental), has kept the fact he's a skilled lawyer a secret, and he's hilarious in the diary room sessions so I also just want him to win because I like him a lot. With only six houseguests left, there won't be too much more time until a winner is crowned!

The Trailer for, "Hawkeye," Has Been Released and You Know I've Got Thoughts

I previously said how I was excited for the new, "Hawkeye," show because the supporting cast looked amazing--e.g. I was excited for everyone but Hawkeye himself (sorry, Jeremy Renner). I like Renner, he just has been kind of wasted as Hawkeye, and this trailer seems to indicate that yeah, Hailee Steinfeld is going to steal the show as her version of Hawkeye. That isn't surprising as Steinfeld is super-talented, but man, she really carries this trailer. Give it a watch below:

I was intrigued by this promo for the show as it starts off kind of dramatically, but then it develops a quirky tone a lot like the Matt Fraction and David Aja run--it even has the tracksuit mobsters from that arc. I really hope Fraction and Aja are getting some royalties for how much this show seems to be cribbing from them. We also get a blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance of Echo (Alaqua Cox) as well as Lucky the Pizza Dog. In addition, there is a snippet of a Steve Rogers-themed Broadway musical which sounds ingenious (and a bit like Marvel doing a self-own on their failed Spider-Man play). 

Everything looks promising with nothing screaming, "This is gonna suck!" as opposed to, "This will be a good time!" I had some trepidation about the show due to how Hawkeye in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has just been dull, but this trailer helped assuage some concerns. Now, I quite look forward to, "Hawkeye," debuting on Disney+ this November 24th.

"Star-Crossed," is Another Masterpiece of an Album From Kacey Musgraves

I was a massive fan of Kacey Musgrave's last LP, "Golden Hour," which I considered the best album of 2018. It had a very optimistic and fun vibe along with some serious introspection, and was just lovely. Now it is 2021 and Musgraves has gifted us, "Star-Crossed." A couple things should be addressed right away.

First, this isn't really much of a country album. This is not a bad thing or a criticism. I don't normally like country music much with Musgraves, Garth Brooks, and the (former Dixie) Chicks being a few exceptions. With this album Musgraves has moved even further into a bit of an alternative rock sphere mixed with other genres, incorporating bits of a variety of genres. Secondly, "Star-Crossed," brings a lot more of a melancholy vibe than her previous album, and with good reason. The album is arguably the result of a lot of soul-searching and tells the tale of Musgraves' marriage that recently ended in divorce. 

This sorta-theme leads to some of the best songs that are centered on a fraught and complex relationship--"Star-Crossed," and my favorite track, "Justified." A number of other songs touch upon struggles in love from, "Good Wife," to, "Breadwinner," and, "Easier Said," among some others. This LP is Musgraves diving deep and being open with us about all she uncovers as she digs within her emotions. "Star-Crossed," is a beautiful album and another example of just how amazingly talented Musgraves is.

5 out of 5 stars.

20 Years Ago Today

20 years ago today I was in a Junior High English class where we read popular short stories and discussed them. The class ended at 9AM and a teacher came into the room and told our teacher how something had happened at the World Trade Center. There had been a plane accident, or a bomb, or something. It had just happened but it seemed it was being addressed. 

We headed into our math class and were getting started with a lesson when it was announced that another plane had hit the other World Trade tower. Clearly, this was no accident and America was under attack. After that, we didn't really do any of our classes the rest of the day, instead, any televisions in the classrooms were broadcasting the news about what was happening as we all tried to make sense of it. The news came in about the Pentagon as well as a crash in Pennsylvania. I was just dumbstruck by it all and the true gravity of what had happened didn't really hit me until the next day as the deaths were continuously being tallied up and the faces of those killed or still missing filled our screens. It made me feel sick.

There was of course a surge in patriotism and unity, people these days still say they miss how wonderful it was on 9/12 that everyone came together. This of course is using rose-tinted glasses as plenty of people were not included in the loving embrace of nationalism, with Muslim individuals still facing persecution in the U.S. to this day. There was some sense of hope that we were going to go to Afghanistan and get revenge. Then for some reason, the war started to encompass Iraq for no (truthful) reason. 

Eventually, we killed the mastermind behind 9/11, Osama Bin Laden, but we still found ourselves wrapped up in Afghanistan until recently when we essentially abandoned it back to the Taliban, fleeing a country that any other government has consistently failed to adequately, "Help," such as previously in 1919 (the British gave up), 1989 (The Soviets gave up) and now in 2021 (we gave up). The failure in Afghanistan does not have a sole President to blame as much as those of us who hate Trump (or others who like to throw shade at Biden) would like. This mess encompasses Bush, Obama, Trump, and Biden, with everyone taking some blame, although I'd say Bush deserves most of the scorn for the attacks even happening and Obama gets out with the least of this stink upon him. We didn't know everything that would be to come 20 years ago today though. We were just hurting, so badly, as a Nation. In some ways, the surge of patriotism and jingoism wasn't a surprise even if some of it is incredibly cringe-inducing today.

Now we have children learning about 9/11 in history classes as something that happened before they were born. It must be weird for them to hear about this major event that for them seems so distant yet for many of us feels so fresh in our minds--the only other comparison I can really make when it comes to a National tragedy is much older Americans who recall Pearl Harbor or when JFK was killed. I remember that day though, 20 years ago. I couldn't have predicted all it would have led to and 20 years out we sure do have a lot more clarity and understanding than we did before, for better or worse. I wish 9/11 hadn't happened, that it could have been stopped, and that our World could be a lot different (I would hope in a better way) than it is when it comes to the global politics of having a, "War on terror," or such. It all did happen though (despite what conspiracy theorists might tell you) and the best thing we can do on this day is look back and remember.

Influencers/Bloggers/etc. Always Need to Sign a Contract When Promoting a Product

If you have a blog (like me) or are a social media influencer (I'm not, but I know some people who are), you probably get solicited to promote a product or service sometimes. I've never been paid to promote a product, but if I were I'd obviously disclose it (I have signed contracts for my writing though, in case you wondered). One reason requests to promote a product or service have never gone anywhere is I am tentatively offered money but there is no contract or anything. Plus, usually whatever I'm asked to promote doesn't even make sense with my blog so why bother? For real though, if you don't sign an actual contract that you should probably have a lawyer check out too, you really shouldn't be cutting deals to talk about a product on your Instagram/Tiktok/blog/so forth. 

This article by Tanya Chen (and this one that the first link references also by Chen) tell the story of influencers struggling to get paid by Ooh! Companion, which is, "...an Australian-based sex toy company that was founded just a year ago, and much of its visibility and success has been thanks to its Instagram marketing." Basically, they sold influencers a line about female empowerment and shame-free sex toys, agreed to work together via DMs and handshake agreements instead of signing on a dotted line, and then it took months and threats of going public about being shortchanged for any influencers to get paid. Ooh! Companion wanted the clout of influencers recommending their toys without actually paying to get the promotion, and they surely aren't the only company to try that kind of trick.

As the tide turned against them they made their Instagram page private.

If you're going to publically promote a product and lend your fame/readership/whatever to an item you damn well better be sure you're going to get paid; the way to assure that is to have an ironclad contract that protects you if anything goes wrong and you have to sue. Now then, I would like to take this time to promote a new brand that reached out to me and promised a platter of lukewarm chicken wings would be mailed to my address if I talked them up--"Dog Whiskey." It's like regular whiskey, but for your dog so they can get drunk and throw up too! "Dog Whiskey: It'll Send Rover Right Over!"

Marvel is Launching a Line of Digital-Only Comics Titled, "Infinity Comics," and That's Interesting For a Few Reasons

Marvel Launches New Digital-Only Comics

Marvel has a digital comic service known as, "Marvel Unlimited," that you can subscribe to and read a ton of Marvel comics. Now, there is not anything that has come out in the last six months as Marvel doesn't want to cannibalize print sales or piss off comic shops too much. There have been occasional digital-only comics, but nothing like what Marvel just launched. Titled, "Infinity Comics," these are free if you have Marvel Unlimited. They are in continuity (whatever that means these days) and have some pretty well-known creators writing popular characters. This is intriguing for a few reasons.

Three Reasons Infinity Comics is Interesting

1. There is no extra fee for these digital-only comics and they will be plentiful. They are included with your Marvel Unlimited subscription and as I noted, feature some big creators (Jonathan Hickman, Declan Shalvey, Skottie Young, Dax Gordine, Alyssa Wong, Nathan Stockman, Kelly Thompson, Gerry Duggan, Lucas Werneck, and Jeffo, according to Marvel’s news release are kicking things off). There are already 27 comics as of today and plans for over 100 to exist before 2021 wraps. These things are not lame little bonus comics by creators you've never heard of about characters who are unknown. These have those names writing X-Men, Deadpool, Captain America, Shang-Chi, Black Widow, Venom, Carnage, and more. This has become a major selling point for Marvel Unlimited.

2. The comics are read in a vertical scroll form which is a lot more friendly to tablets and especially phones. Trying to take physical comics and make them, "Work," for a phone can be tricky when you've got a big double-page splash and are trying to put it all onto a phone's screen. By designing these explicitly for digital and having them be in a vertical scrolling format these comics are basically meant to be read on your phone with ease.

3. The elephant in the room here is Substack. A lot of comic creators are going to Substack as it is offering some appealing deals in the form of a ton of cash and creators maintaining control of their intellectual property. The thing is, Substack really wasn't created with comics in mind and has been a bit unwieldy to read comics within. It's just kind of comic pages awkwardly crammed into a newsletter. When these newsletters feature creators writing in-depth about their creative process it's cool (I subscribed to Jeff Lemire's Substack to test the whole thing out), but as soon as actual comics get posted it is a bit strange. Perhaps Marvel is trying to subtly show it can do online comics, "Right," with these Infinity Comics. Now, Marvel doesn't mention Substack at all in any of the promotional text about this, but its shadow looms large.

What Will the Future Hold?
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This, "Infinity Comics," is going to be interesting to watch and see how much success Marvel has with it.

"The Matrix Resurrections," Looks Like it Might Actually be Quite Cool

I adored the first, "Matrix," movie. Directed by Lana and Lilly Wachowski, it was a mind-bending experience full of philosophy, kung-fu, wild special effects, and it was just a delight. The two sequels were alright but admittedly let me way down compared to the first flick. Looking at everything now with some distance they hold up fine, but that first movie is still the best of the three by far. Now here we are almost two decades later and a new, "Matrix," movie is on the way. Titled, "The Matrix Resurrections," this one is directed solely by Lana with her as a writer of the script along with Aleksandar Hemon and author David Mitchell (of, "Cloud Atlas," fame, for better or worse). Here's the trailer:

The trailer actually looks pretty good and makes me wonder if this new entry could be a damn good flick. It looks like Neo (although now he doesn't even know he's Neo) is in our new modern era, possibly being monitored and kept relatively sedated (perhaps he didn't truly die at the end of the last flick and is trapped in a new Matrix). Keanu Reeves has had a career renaissance as of late and it's fun to see him return as Neo as you couldn't callback to a more classic role Reeves has played besides if you did another, "Bill and Ted," movie...which I recall now they actually did. Carrie-Ann Moss is back, Laurence Fishburne isn't but a man who looks and acts suspiciously like him is, and we get a healthy dose of Neal Patrick Harris in the preview, and I always enjoy some NPH in my flicks.

It isn't all moody talking and atmosphere, however, there is plenty of kicking, jumping, and slow-mo guns that are this franchise's hallmark. In some ways, "The Matrix," feels even more relevant with its concept of humanity becoming trapped in our own technology--a point that is driven home in a clip during the trailer where Reeve enters an elevator and everyone is obsessing over their phones and tablets. That may very well help, "The Matrix Ressurctions," be deliciously topical as well as packed full of exciting action scenes. Come December 22nd anyone who wants to go to a theater or watch it on HBO Max will be able to judge for themselves if this is all empty hype that is going to be more like the deflated sequels or a new entry that will hit as hard as the first movie. All I know is this preview got me a lot more intrigued than I had been.

Ordering a Comic From Asylum Press Was a Delight!

The refrain generally goes that if you order a comic directly from the publisher's website they won't pack it well and you'll be getting a damaged comic (no shade at Heavy Metal, but yeah). That said, I quite like the over-the-top vibe of the Warlash character's comics from indie publisher Asylum Press. Therefore, I took the risk of directly ordering the new comic, "Warlash: Cold Metal Mayhem," from them and was actually pleasantly surprised by what I received. In a very well-secured and sturdy cardboard mailer, I got that latest issue of Washlash's adventures, as well as another newer comic about him, "Warlash: Bioburden." Plus, there was a signed print by artist and founder of Asylum, Frank Forte! Check it out:

 I was just some random customer ordering a comic and they really treated me right! I mean, I only ordered one comic and got two plus a print, with everything packed spectacularly. In an era where people don't even do the bare minimum of packaging or customer service, this was a delightful treat to get. I want to thank Frank Forte and all the good folk at Asylum Press. They put out some cool comics and have some horror anthologies on the way that look snazzy, so maybe give their web-store your business if anything catches your eye.

"Alan Wake," is Being Remastered

I loved the video-game, "Alan Wake," back in the day. It featured a writer who was haunted by shadowy figures you could only combat by shining light upon them and then shooting at them...so it was a little cliche in combat, admittedly. The story, however, was just wild as you watched this writer fight off his nightmares as they came to life and he had to determine if he was crazy or really combatting strange shadowy creatures. It's by the same studio who made the (first two) Max Payne games I adored, Remedy, so that tells you a lot.

Anyways, I am taking this trip down memory lane because Remedy has signed a deal with Epic to distribute, "Alan Wake," with a remastered version that'll include two expansions, fancy new graphics, and a mode with a creators' commentary. It'll be on the latest versions of the Xbox, PlayStation, and run on PCs too. There is still no word if the kinda-sequel/kinda-short-spin-off game, "Alan Wake: American Nightmare," will be getting a remaster too. Folks have expressed an, "Alan Wake," remaster is exciting news and I agree. I don't play video-games nearly as much these days but if I ever get a PS5 or such I'll be sure to dive back into this game.