MONSTERS by Barry Windsor Smith is Coming!

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The cover above is to Barry Windsor Smith’s Monsters.  As many of our readers know, BWS is considered to be one of the greatest artistic geniuses to have ever worked in comics.  Smith’s last comic work was in 2005 and many thought he had retired.  Little did we know that he had been working on Monsters for 35 years.

35 years in the making, the most anticipated graphic novel in recent comics history! 

The year is 1964. Bobby Bailey doesn’t realize he is about to fulfill his tragic destiny when he walks into a US Army recruitment office to join up. Close-mouthed, damaged, innocent, trying to forget a past and looking for a future, it turns out that Bailey is the perfect candidate for a secret U.S. government experimental program, an unholy continuation of a genetics program that was discovered in Nazi Germany nearly 20 years earlier in the waning days of World War II. Bailey’s only ally and protector, Sergeant McFarland, intervenes, which sets off a chain of cascading events that spin out of everyone’s control. As the titular monsters of the title multiply, becoming real and metaphorical, literal and ironic, the story reaches its emotional and moral reckoning.

Monsters is the legendary project Barry Windsor-Smith has been working on for over 35 years. A 380-page tour de force of visual storytelling, Monsters’ narrative canvas is both vast and deep: part familial drama, part political thriller, part metaphysical journey, it is an intimate portrait of individuals struggling to reclaim their lives and an epic political odyssey across two generations of American history. Trauma, fate, conscience, and redemption are just a few of the themes that intersect in the most ambitious graphic novel of Windsor-Smith’s career.

Monsters is rendered in Windsor-Smith’s impeccable pen-and-ink technique, the visual storytelling with its sensitivity to gesture and composition is the most sophisticated of the artist’s career. There are passages of heartbreaking tenderness, of excruciating pain, and devastating violence. It is surely one of the most intense graphic novels ever drawn.

Black and white illustrations.

Monsters by Barry Windsor Smith will be released on January 19, 2021.  It is available for pre-order now.  Deal me in.

The All-Time Best Comedies

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Matthew Jackson at Mental Floss posted his choices for The 30 Best Comedy Movies of All Time.  I’m a big fan of lists, more for the discussion they create than any definitive ranking.  Jackson’s list is what resonates with him.  My list, or your list would be different.

I’ve seen 23 of Jackson’s 30 listed films.  My favorites from his top 30 are Dr. Strangelove, Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein.

Movies that didn’t make his list but would have made mine include…

  • Arsenic and Old Lace
  • Christmas Vacation
  • A Christmas Story
  • Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein
  • The Great Race

And that’s just off the top of my head.

“FBI/MLK” – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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We have the poster and trailer for FBI/MLK.  I like them both and look forward to seeing the film.

Director: Sam Pollard
Starring: Martin Luther King

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is remembered today as an American hero: a bridge-builder, a shrewd political tactician, and a moral leader. Yet throughout his history-altering political career, he was often treated by U.S. intelligence and law enforcement agencies like an enemy of the state. In this virtuosic documentary, award-winning editor and director Sam Pollard (Editor, 4 LITTLE GIRLS, MO’ BETTER BLUES; Director/Producer, EYEZ ON THE PRIZE, SAMMY DAVIS, JR.: I’VE GOTTA BE ME) lays out a detailed account of the FBI surveillance that dogged King’s activism throughout the ’50s and ’60s, fueled by the racist and red-baiting paranoia of J. Edgar Hoover. In crafting a rich archival tapestry, featuring some revelatory restored footage of King, Pollard urges us to remember that true American progress is always hard-won.

“Hunter Hunter” Poster and Trailer

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Here are the poster and trailer for Hunter Hunter.  I like both!

Directed by: Shawn Linden
Starring: Camille Sullivan, Summer H. Howell, Devon Sawa & Nick Stahl

HUNTER HUNTER follows a family living in the remote wilderness earning a living as fur trappers. Joseph Mersault (Devon Sawa), his wife Anne (Camille Sullivan), and their daughter Renée (Summer H. Howell) struggle to make ends meet and think their traps are being hunted by the return of a rogue wolf. Determined to catch the predator in the act, Joseph leaves his family behind to track the wolf. Anne and Renée grow increasingly anxious during Joseph’s prolonged absence and struggle to survive without him. When they hear a strange noise outside their cabin, Anne hopes it is Joseph but instead finds a man named Lou (Nick Stahl), who has been severely injured and left for dead. The longer Lou stays and Joseph is away, the more paranoid Anne becomes, and the idea of a mysterious predator in the woods slowly becomes a threat much closer to home.

Catch & Release: A Murder Book Story by Ed Brisson & Lisandro Estherren

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If you’re into crime stories, then you might want to check out Catch & Release: A Murder Book Story by Ed Brisson & Lisandro Estherren. What’s it about, you ask? (And I’m glad you did.)  I’ll let Ed Brisson take it away…

CATCH & RELEASE: A MURDER BOOK STORY is about a thief who concocts a plan to sell a stolen car not once, but several times, by luring unsuspecting buyers to a remote location and robbing them at gunpoint. His plan hits a snag when he encounters a student, who needs a fresh set of wheels to travel to his new life out West. When things go south, they go south hard, and now our car thief stands on a precipice where he has to make a choice that will affect not only his life, but that of his co-conspirator and their two victims. The story is an examination of one man’s guilt and how far he’s willing to go to stay out of jail.

Below are a couple of pages from the story.  

Catch & Release: A Murder Book Story is running on Kickstarter. Click on the link for more info or to pre-order. If you want to get a copy, you have until December 16th to get your order in. I did and look forward to it!

Update: Interview with Ed Brisson (who) Makes Crime Pay With the Catch & Release: A Murder Book Story Kickstarter at CBR.com.

“Columbo: Prescription Murder” Trivia

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My wife and I are working our way through the Columbo series and really enjoying it. Columbo is experiencing a revival of sorts with the series running in several places and more social media posts about it.  I watched and enjoyed Columbo when it first aired, but it is all new to my wife.

Columbo first appeared in a tv movie in 1968.  It wasn’t until 3 years later that the series of Columbo tv movies started.  It then ran from 1971 – 1978; 1989 – 1995; 1997 – 1998, 2001; and 2003.

Getting back to the first Peter Falk Columbo: Prescription Murder, Me-TV takes a look at 7 Things You Never Noticed about the Columbo pilot, Prescription: Murder.  Here are my three favorite facts and thoughts about each…

  • Peter Falk does not appear until 30 minutes into the story.  (This is one of the things that made the Columbo series unique.  The star doesn’t appear until well into the movie and viewers know who the killer is.  What makes it fun is watching how Columbo figures it out. – Craig)
  • Lt. Columbo had more stylish footwear.  (At this point, Falk had not worked out all of Columbo’s unique traits – the crumpled, old raincoat, the scuffed shoes, his beat-up foreign car and more. – Craig)
  • This was not the first time Columbo had appeared on TV.  (Bert Freed first played Columbo in an episode of an anthology series.  Freed is probably best remembered from his role in Billy Jack or any of his dozens (and dozens) of guest appearances on popular tv shows from the 1950s through the 1980s.  – Craig)

The Best Boxing Movies of All-Time

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Christina Newland at Paste Magazine took on the monumental task of ranking The 50 Best Boxing Movies of All Time.  Her list is a pretty good one, including several lesser known films (and some silent movies).  Before you click over, here are her top five compared to mine (using just her list) and then some overall comments.

Newland

Zablo
1. Body and Soul (1947) 1. Rocky (1976)
2. Raging Bull (1980) 2. The Set-up (1949)
3. Rocky (1976) 3. Requiem for a Heavyweight (1962)
4. Fat City (1962) 4. Raging Bull (1980)
5. The Set-up (1949) 5. Rocky Balboa (2006)

Most folks know of my appreciation of the Rocky series so I thought it only right that my best boxing movies using Newland’s list, start and end with Rocky movies.

Looking at Newland’s top five – Usually the top spot in boxing movie lists is held by either Rocky or Raging Bull, so I give her props for picking Body and Soul.  That’s a good film, but it wouldn’t make my top five.

All of my top five are films I can watch and re-watch.  Outside of the Stallone films, I’ve probably watched The Set-Up the most.  It is such a great movie, if you haven’t seen it, I strongly recommend you give it a view.

MOON LAKE by Joe R. Lansdale is Coming!

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Any time a new Joe Lansdale novel is announced there is reason to celebrate.  So, depending on how you party, get ready!  

Moon Lake by Joe R. Lansdale will premiere on June 22, 2021.  I’m set to jump on board, but if you need a little more info…

Edgar award-winning author Joe Lansdale returns with a standalone novel following the gripping and unexpected tale of the lost town and dark secret that lie beneath the glittering waters of an East Texas lake.

Daniel Russell was only thirteen years old when his father tried to kill them both by driving their car into Moon Lake. Miraculously surviving the crash— and growing into adulthood— Daniel returns to the site of this traumatic incident in the hopes of recovering his father’s car and bones. As he attempts to finally put to rest the memories that have plagued him for years, he discovers something even more shocking among the wreckage that has ties to a twisted web of dark deeds, old grudges, and strange murders.  

As Daniel diligently follows where the mysterious trail of vengeance leads, he unveils the heroic revelation at its core.

Pre-orders are available now, if you’re so inclined.

“The Killing of Two Lovers” – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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Next up we have the poster and trailer for The Killing of Two Lovers.

After seeing the trailer, I am surprised by the poster.  The trailer has a gritty, crime drama feel and the poster doesn’t give that vibe at all.  I’m surprised also by how much I liked the trailer.  Reading the synopsis, this doesn’t seem to be my type of movie, but having seen the trailer, I now want to see The Killing of Two Lovers.

Starring: Chris Coy, Clayne Crawford, Arri Graham
Directed By: Robert Machoian
Synopsis: David desperately tries to keep his family of six together during a separation from his wife. They both agree to see other people but David struggles to grapple with his wife’s new relationship.

“Minor Premise” – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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The poster and trailer for Minor Premise are here.  I like the poster, but I wonder if it will make folks think it is more of a horror film than a psychological drama… or at least a different kind of horror film that it may turn out to be.

Attempting to surpass his father’s legacy, a reclusive neuroscientist becomes entangled in his own experiment, pitting ten fragments of his consciousness against each other.

“American Dream” – The Poster and Trailer are Here!

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I’m always game for a good crime story.  I’m hoping that American Dream will be just that.  I like the poster and the trailer looks good.

I especially like the start — if that’s what happen to a guy who owes $126.00, can you imagine what happens when you owe a whole lot more?  The problem I have with stories about guys who get in too deep to shylocks is, they knew what they were getting into when they got the cash advance.  It doesn’t make the interest or beatdowns (or worse) right, but as my man Rocky said, “If you wanna dance, ya gotta pay the band.  If you wanna borrow, ya gotta pay the man.”

Fingers crossed that American Dream is a good crime yarn.

Academy Award winning cinematographer Janusz Kaminski (Saving Private Ryan) directs this intense thriller about the brutal struggle for success. Desperate for cash, entrepreneurs Scott (Luke Bracey, Point Break [2015]) and Nicky (Michiel Huisman, Game of Thrones) turn to Russian mobster Yuri (Nick Stahl, Sin City). After they refuse the funding he offers, Yuri gets revenge by trying to take over their construction project. The partners are terrified until Nicky’s tough Russian girlfriend Ana decides to take action herself.

John Wick by Patrick Brown!

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The awesome John Wick art above is just a detail from a larger piece created by Patrick Brown who had this to say about the piece…

I’ve always wanted to do a John Wick piece, and Keanu is such a gem, it’s nice to finally finish a picture based on my fave movie franchise. Thanks to all my supporters over at my Patreon, who helped make this happen, I had so much fun with it.

If you’d like to get access to the high-res art, Photoshop docs, tutorials and more you can find it all on my Patreon. Link in bio: www.patreon.com/patrickbrown.  I’m doing a bunch over there and we have a great art community happening.

If you would like to see Patrick’s full John Wick piece plus his step-by-step process, then click here.  I strongly suggest you check out Patrick’s Instagram to see much more of his art!