"Fruiting Bodies," is some Great & Creepy Storytelling Loaded With Body Horror

"Fruiting Bodies," is the latest comic from Ashely Robin Franklin. I was a big fan of, "One Million Tiny Fires," with its eerie story and, "Fruiting Bodies," is even scarier and at times pretty grotesque with some impressive body horror. The comic follows Frances as hitches a ride to the Pacific Northwest with her brother, Charlie, and his best friend, Trent. Frances is on her way to live with a new girlfriend and the guys are eager for a trip. Then everyone gets lost in the woods and all kinds of creepy stuff happens. I don't want to spoil what the group encounters in the forest, but it definitely impacts the physiology of all who encounter it. 

Franklin illustrates all kinds of weird morphology expertly in the comic, making things delightfully gross and horrifying. As the comic proceeds the terror ratchets up and I was pleased with how spooky the whole comic was. Franklin excels are making scary comics--and comics in general. I loved, "Fruiting Bodies," and eagerly give it 5 out of 5 stars. It is in stores this week and I'd highly recommend giving it a read! You can ask your comic shop to get you a copy or buy it directly from the publisher, Silver Sprocket.

"Werewolf by Night," is My Favorite Marvel Production In Some Time!

It isn't quite a movie considering it clocks in at under an hour and it is a single episode as opposed to a streaming show. This makes it hard to say what exactly the new Disney+ addition, "Werewolf by Night," is besides calling it a, "Special." You know what? That works, as this was wonderfully special indeed. Brisk, action-packed, a little scary (but not too frightful), and with atmosphere and mood to spare, I loved, "Werewolf by Night." This has to be one of my favorite Marvel Cinematic Universe projects in quite some time.

The plot of the special is mostly straightforward. Ulysses Bloodstone has died and a bunch of monster hunters--including his estranged daughter--have shown up to fight for the rights to his bloodstone. The show is basically all black-and-white except the Bloodstone, which glows an equally impressive and imposing red. The hunters are mostly nameless tough guys/gals besides Elsa Bloodstone (Laura Donnelly) and Jack Russel (Gael García Bernal). Plus, Harriet Sansom Harris, is fantastic as Elsa's horribly twisted mother. The monster everyone ends up hunting has been hinted at by trailers so it isn't too big a spoiler to say it is the Man-Thing. As such a name would probably inspire a few giggles he is referred to as either just, "The Monster," or his name, Ted (he was Ted Sallis in the comics too before his change). We watch the hunters fighting, some awesome special effects occur, and we wrap up before even 60 minutes have passed in a nice succinct manner.

The general tone is a bit more serious than lots of other Marvel projects lately. There are some funny moments, but this special is more interested in knowing winks at classic horror movies than telling puns. I don't mind the quippy movies and shows in the MCU, but this cleverly worked just a little humor in at the right moments and balanced any levity expertly with action and horror. It was a treat. This is without a doubt one of the best things to come from the MCU in some time, with director and composer Michael Giacchino creating something quite amazing. More of this from Marvel, please.

Film Friday: "Community," is Getting a Movie!

I am a little embarrassed to admit that outside of an episode or two I never really watched, "Community." Recently, my wife and I started viewing it from the start and it is a fantastic show (I am aware the fourth season without Dan Harmon's involvement is the least-liked and will be ready for it). The fact the show is fresh in our minds made it humorous how a movie has actually been announced which will stream on Peacock. Six seasons and a movie actually came true! A chunk of the cast has been confirmed, some remain up in the air, and Chevy Chase will not be back, obviously. I am excited about the movie and hope to be ready for its planned release in 2023!

New York Comic-Con 2022 Begins Today

The New York Comic-Con starts today in New York City. It will have a bunch of guests, tons of creators, and looks like a fun time. I'm not going this year as life in Saint Louis has us far too busy for me to just dip out for half a week. I do hope to attend NYCC someday though. I have enough friends in New York thanks to having lived there for some years previously I probably could at least crash somewhere as opposed to having to get a hotel room, so that's theoretically a bonus. Anyways, the show kicks off tomorrow and will probably have some cool news coming out of it I'll discuss during or after the weekend.

"Mount Pleasant," is a Wild Comic-Zine by my Friend, Robin Bougie

I have written before about the talented Robin Bougie. For years he put out his zine about underground/weird movies, "Cinema Sewer." I was honored to actually contribute an article to the last issue. Now, he has been doing a zine about bizarre comics titled, "Gutter Hunter." I am unsure where he finds the time, but he just released a large magazine-sized comic with the publisher Spread Love Comix. Titled, "Mount Pleasant," the cover is edgy enough I cropped out basically everything besides the title to keep my blog safe for work. As for the actual contents of the comic, the illustrations and strips are wildly raunchy, silly, funny, and have a cute bit of winking self-aware charm. As long as you don't mind a lot of dirty-but-clever jokes about sex that are expertly drawn, you'll have a fantastic time reading, "Mount Pleasant."

Bougie's illustrative talents can result in everything from cartoony cats driving cars to hyper-detailed portraits of famous models such as Bettie Page. One page will have a silly robot with a surreal mechanical appendage and the next will have a written rumination on the concept of artists' exploring, "Problematic," concepts through their work...with some really explicit drawings noting how in a way, "Pornography is a funhouse mirror," of the urges lots of society attempts to repress. See? It's smart and uninhibited! In all seriousness though, if you enjoy great art and comics--plus you aren't offended if it is incredibly saucy--"Mount Plesant," is a great prestige-sized comic! Buy yourself a copy at this link.

5 out of 5 stars.

"Old Dog," #1 Scratches the Sci-Fi and Spycraft Itch Nicely

Declan Shalvey has written and illustrated many quality comics, with his latest release, "Old Dog," (published by Image) featuring him both as the writer and artist. This benefits the comic greatly as the debut issue of this combination sci-fi and espionage comic (Image calls it, "Spy-Fi,") is a treat. The comic follows a longtime CIA operative named Jack Lynch who horrifically failed a mission in the past (little is revealed but a lot of people apparently died) and now is mainly stuck at a desk job. However, after a strange encounter with some top-secret enemy tech, our protagonist finds himself biologically changed in a variety of ways that make him a prime candidate for getting back in the field with a new mysterious Governmental division.

Shalvey's art is unquestionably on point here, with the aged Jack Lynch's wrinkles each looking like they could tell a detailed story. The comic has a number of action-packed moments and they feel intense and adrenaline-filled thanks to Shalvey's masterful illustrations. Shalvey's writing is superb too, making us genuinely care a bit about Lynch and wonder what exactly happened to him years ago to make him so miserable. A little last-minute twist revelation of the nature of another character in the comic makes me wonder if this comic will be focusing on the dynamic of an "Old dog," with a younger partner as well in future issues. It's a great debut issue and I look forward to more!

5 out of 5 stars.

Yeah, I Bought the Adult Happy Meal

Do you know those new McDonald's Adult Happy Meals? You should as I wrote about them back on Thursday of last week. Well, today was their first day on sale and therefore I felt it was my obligation to buy one so I could write about it. That, and I was hungry. Having purchased what is officially known as the Cactus Plant Flea Market Meal I will say it provided what I expected--a large Happy Meal.

The box for these Adult Happy Meals is easily double the size of your usually kid-sized meal. You get 10 nuggets or a Big Mac, some fries, and a toy all packed in there, and your drink on the side. I got a Grimace toy and he was ugly but in-person is a bit more charming than pictures of these toys would suggest. If we're being totally honest these are little more than Value Meals with some fancy packaging and a toy. You know what, though? That's alright! It adds a little fun to your grown-up meal and that is a good thing.

The Full, "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," Trailer Has Been Released!

"Black Panther: Wakanda Forever," is the upcoming sequel to the stellar, "Black Panther." There have been some promotional images and even a teaser trailer, but now a full trailer has been dropped online for us all to enjoy. the movie will be released on a rapidly-approaching November 11th and the trailer features some cool moments ranging from more glimpses of Riri Williams/Ironheart to Namor flying about with his little wing-feet. Plus, in one quite spoiler-styled moment (you've been warned) we see Shuri seeming to don some Black Panther armor and taking up the Kingdom's mantle. Give the trailer a viewing below if you haven't seen it already:

I'm quite excited for, "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever." If it can be as good as the first movie or even better we as an audience will be in for a stellar time.

The October 2022 ToyMan Show Was Loaded With Good Stuff!

Before this most recent ToyMan show, it was advertised there would be some new vendors and vendors who were newer to the show. I met some folks who I hadn't seen before (and bought some new cool goodies) so that was indeed true and made for quite a fun time meeting new people and seeing old friends! When I walked into the show I first saw my good buddy Spike of Lost in Space Toys and Collectibles. I also saw the always friendly Tom from Alliance Comics, Toys, & Games. I proceeded further onto the show floor (which was stuffed as always with awesome things to peruse) and saw Vince of VK Toys at his table. He had a bunch of great comics and toys. I met the good folks behind Back in Time Comics & Toys who had a great copy of, "New Avengers," #40, the 2nd printing which features the Skrull Queen Veranke's first appearance (and cover appearance). Give it a look:

Then I went over and chatted with my awesome friend John Chaffee of Bigfoot Comics and Collectibles. I also saw my good chum Tim Metzger selling comics. I made the acquaintance of the owners from Retro Resale and enjoyed looking through all the great comics they had brought to the show. In the upstairs area, I saw the talented Lindsay Hornsby of Mega Giganto--she always has the most fun comics/stickers/pins/so forth! I met author Jacqueline James and checked out her books as well. Back downstairs, I saw Toys of Our Youth and then Konnor Tate and Co. of Tatertot Comics and Collectibles had a table set up and I got a stellar deal on the first appearance of Madame Web and the first appearance of Damian as Batman. Observe:

This ToyMan show was a fantastic way to kick off my favorite month of the year, October. The sheer amount of toys, Funko products, die-cast cars, magazines, comics, and other neat stuff was astounding as it is anytime I come to show! I would undoubtedly recommend coming to the next ToyMan show on November 13th, with all the details available via the show's website digital flyer.

"Skull & Bones," Delayed Yet Once More

Back in a year we'd all rather forget--2020--I noted that the video-game, "Skull & Bones," sounded like it was in development Hell. After reading about basically everything in the game being changed repeatedly I wondered if the thing would ever be released. Well, a release date of November 2022 was rapidly approaching, but now the game has been pushed back for the fifth time to March 2023. You would think at this point the damn thing would just be canceled, but perhaps so much money has been pumped into it that something has to be released. I just feel bad for the development team at Ubisoft that I imagine has repeatedly started from scratch and has what sounds like a huge (and once more delayed) mess to show for it.