Today is New Comic Book Day. I’m always up for celebrating that. Here in the United States, though, it’s also Inauguration Day. It’s not a regular holiday. It hardly qualifies as a holiday. We only have it every four or eight years. It’s only purpose is to celebrate the swearing in of a new President and ushering in the peaceful transfer of power.
That’s how it usually happens. Most of the time, it’s just a formality and it’s hardly a never a major controversy. This time is different. I never thought I would say this, but I genuinely miss the good old days and it’s not like those days were that long ago.
Now, I don’t want to get political, especially on New Comic Book Day. There’s a time and place to talk about that sort of thing and in any other year, I might not even mention it. Like I said, though, these are not normal times.
We just had an attempted insurrection. We have a large segment of the population who genuinely believe they are patriots, despite checking every box for fascism. If this were a comic book, they wouldn’t be heroes. They’d be Hydra minions, at best. I’ve read enough comics in my life to see the signs.
With Inauguration Day, it’s a time of transition. We can finally move forward with a new President and a new agenda, but make no mistake. The story isn’t over. Like in comics, the villains are never truly defeated. If anything, the villains start to think they’re the heroes and fight harder. That’s why we have to keep fighting.
I’ll try to avoid politics as much as I can today. For that reason, a stack of new comics has never been more critical. I encourage all my fellow comic fans to maximize their potential on what is sure to be a long, stressful day. To assist, here’s my pull list and pick of the week. Enjoy and God Bless America!
Marvel Studios, the alpha and omega of superhero movies, is going to produce “Deadpool 3” and it will be R-Rated, just like its predecessors. I think I speak for all fans who saw the first two Deadpool movies multiple times when I say we’re both excited and relieved.
That said, this wasn’t exactly a long shot. Marvel Studios making “Deadpool 3” was very likely to begin with. The first two movies made a combined $1.5 billion on a total budget of $268 million. That’s a damn good return on investment and after 2020, Disney needs that badly. That may mean doing some R-Rated things that Disney isn’t used to, but when they’re badly in need of cash, they won’t dare change the winning formula.
Even if it was inevitable, it’s still always comforting to get confirmation. We can finally stop speculating. Marvel Studios’ big boss, Kevin Feige, confirmed it with his own words.
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has said that the next Deadpool movie will be R-rated, and be part of the MCU – with Ryan Reynolds working on a script right now.Speaking to Collider during a WandaVision press event, Feige went into a little more detail about the project:
“It will be rated R and we are working on a script right now, and Ryan [Reynolds is] overseeing a script right now… It will not be [filming] this year. Ryan is a very busy, very successful actor. We’ve got a number of things we’ve already announced that we now have to make, but it’s exciting for it to have begun. Again, a very different type of character in the MCU, and Ryan is a force of nature, which is just awesome to see him bring that character to life.”
This is all great news for me. I love every word of this. I’m already very excited to see the X-Men join the Marvel Cinematic Universe at some point. The prospect of seeing Deadpool in the same world that Kevin Feige so masterfully created over the course of a decade is just too awesome for words.
Rest assured, I’ll be first in line to see “Deadpool 3” in its R-Rated glory. I sincerely hope it includes plenty of quirky references about the MCU, other Marvel characters, and the kind of crude humor that makes Deadpool and actor Ryan Reynolds so inherently lovable.
As excited as I am, I do have some burning questions that I’d like to put out there. I imagine my fellow Deadpool fans are asking these questions as well. Most of them boil down to this.
What does an R-Rated Deadpool movie produced by Disney even look like?
It’s not an unreasonable question. Let’s not forget that the first two Deadpool movies contained content that never would’ve been authorized by Disney.
There were multiple F-Bombs and plenty of poop jokes.
There was gratuitous, blood-soaked violence that involved guns, katanas, and even a Zamboni.
There were multiple scenes that involved raucous sex, including one that involved Ryan Reynolds getting fucked with a strap-on.
This is all par for the course with Deadpool. What we saw in the movies is not that different from what regularly happens in the comics. This is stuff that does not at all jive with Disney’s family friendly, princess loving image. The Marvel movies in the MCU are great, but they have strict PG-13 lines that they’ve never dared cross.
So, how are they going to make that work? That’s not a rhetorical question. Seriously, how are they going to pull it off?
It’s adorable, but it still leaves the question unanswered. We probably won’t know for sure until more details come out, which could take years. In the meantime, I’ll continue to wait and agonize over this issue. If nothing else, I take comfort in the knowledge that Disney badly needs another billion-dollar blockbuster and if that means dropping some F-Bombs, I think they’re willing to pay that price.
We all have our things that put us in this special zen-like state. One of my old college friends got into that state by listening to heavy metal music at nearly full volume. I don’t know why that relaxed him as much as it did, but it worked. I’m not sure how good it was for his ears, but I don’t aruge with results.
For me, comics are that special thing that puts me in that special state of serenity. I download all my new books onto my iPad. I put my feet up and then I proceed to partake in the weekly joy that is New Comic Book Day. I challenge anyone to find someone as content and focused.
It’s a great feeling. No matter how my week is going, reading new comics puts me in that special state where everything seems balanced. It’s my shortcut to inner peace and contentment within a world that has been increasingly stressful over the past year.
Since that world doesn’t seem to want to settle, my weekly trips to comic book Zen will be all the more important. Even in the middle of winter, it’s easy to find something from the vast library that is Comixology that will warm your body and soul. This week is no exception.
Here is my pull list and pick for the week. Enjoy!
It’s the first week of 2021 and while things are still awful, they haven’t gotten considerably worse just yet. By 2020 standards, that counts as progress. That’s just how low the bar is these days. I hope it raises at some point, but I’m not getting my hopes up just yet.
In the meantime, I won’t let that stop me from enjoying the first New Comic Book Day of the year. In my experience, comic companies often use that first Wednesday to set the tone for the kind of year they’re going to have. That usually involves setting up or furthering stories that began late in the previous year and launching new titles to help set up events in the new year.
In addition, these efforts also mean I tend to spend a lot more than average on the first week of the year. That usually works out because I use the money I got from generous relatives over Christmas. So the first New Comic Book Day of a new year are usually very special for me and this year promises to be no exception.
New characters are being introduced.
New titles are launching from top tier talent.
New storylines are set to pick up.
These are exciting times for the world of comics. The world is still a mess and I’m still frustrated by it to no end. Even so, an extra large pile of new comics helps make it more awesome and that’s exactly what we need right now. As such, here’s my pull list and pick for the first of many New Comic Book Days in 2021. Enjoy!
It’s the last New Comic Book Day on the last week of the year and I think I speak for many, comic lovers and non-comic lovers alike, when I say fuck 2020. Fuck this god-awful year. It cannot end fast enough.
I apologize. I just needed to get that out of my system. Thank you for bearing with me.
I know that’s a popular sentiment. I think everybody is ready to close the page on this shitty year and embrace 2021 in ways we usually reserve for puppies, kittens, and a cold beer on a hot summer day. However, we still have a few days left so there’s still time for an asteroid to hit.
For comic lovers, this year has been plenty challenging. At one point, the global pandemic that has dominated this year effectively brought the entire comic book world to a halt. It was a painful, heart-breaking time. I still remember it and the agony that came with it.
The industry has since adapted. It still has a long way to go and will likely face more upheavals in 2021. However, the bar for improvement is so low at this point that I’ll be content if it just means I can attend a comic convention at some point.
Normally, the last New Comic Book Day of the year is a time of bittersweet reflection. This year, which has been like no other, carries a very different feeling. Whatever that feeling entails, let’s try to enjoy it as best we can. Better days are coming. I believe that and I’m willing to work towards it.
In the meantime, here is my pull list and pick for the week. Enjoy!
I know Christmas is still two days away, but when it’s New Comic Book Day, the feeling is pretty much the same. I wake up early in the morning, excited as a kid in a candy store, and open my iPad to see a stack of new digital comics waiting for me. The joy I feel is not that different from the joy I feel on Christmas morning.
It’s just one of the many benefits to being a lover of comics. Every week, Wednesday is basically a holiday. New books come out. New joy is felt and shared. Thanks to digital comics like Comixology, they’re already there for you the second you wake up and you don’t even have to wear an ugly sweater.
What’s not to love? I enjoy this day knowing full well that it’s likely a significant chunk of my presents on Christmas will include comics. My family knows me all too well. They know that they can spend twenty bucks on a graphic novel and I’ll be as happy as kid who just got his first Nintendo system.
It’s a simple joy that comes every week. On weeks like this, just a few days before Christmas, that joy only compounds. Between this, Christmas, and an abundance of eggnog, my holiday spirit has never been stronger. Here’s my pull list and pick for this glorious holiday week.
To all my fellow comic fans and even those with a mere passing interest, I wish you a very Merry Christmas. Let New Comic Book Day make it that much more merry.
It’s almost over, people. We’re almost out of 2020 and the end of this global pandemic that has hurt so many is finally in sight. For that reason, it’s okay to start looking forward to 2021. As long as this year doesn’t bring us a new pandemic or an alien invasion, it should be better by default.
We should all be excited at the prospect of the world getting back to some sense of pre-pandemic normalcy. It’ll never be the same, but it’ll be nice to sit in a movie theater or go to a restaurant without having to wear a mask. The world will recover and many are looking to ride onto that wave of recovery.
Chief among them is our Disney overlords. It’s no secret that the pandemic has hit Disney harder than most. Once the envy of the entertainment world, this pandemic hit it with a gut punch that would down the Hulk.
However, those predicting the fall of Disney are exceedingly premature. This is a company that has navigated dark times before. They have too many resources and incentives to just give in, even in the face of a once-in-a-century pandemic.
They’re already making the effort. A while back, Disney had their big Investors Day presentation in which they pitched their future plans to investors and the public. Among those plans were a host of movies and TV shows from.
It was ambitious, even by Disney’s lofty standards. I even dared to let myself get excited again. There was so much to take in, but for the best possible reasons. It made surviving 2020 that much more paramount.
Of the many announcements made during the call, a few stuck out to me. Here are just a few of the shows and movies that have invigorated my spirit once more. For that, I thank our Disney overlords.
If this had been the only thing Disney announced, I would’ve been excited. Kamala Khan is exactly what Marvel Studios, their Disney overlords, and the world needs right now. We already got confirmation of the casting of Iman Vellani for the titular role. This time, we also got a teaser trailer for what we can expect from her and from this show.
I’m not going to lie. I watched this trailer at least 10 times and I couldn’t stop smiling.
This is a character who endeared herself in the comics with just one issue. This is also someone who channels the same spirit of the fans who love all things Marvel. She’s young and idealistic. She sees superheroes through the same lens as us, the fans. Now, we get to see her navigate the MCU in a world where the Avengers assembled, saved the day, and Tony Stark made the ultimate sacrifice.
There’s so much to explore and so much to embrace. I think this show will do for Marvel Studios what “The Mandalorian” did for Star Wars. After a year like 2020, we need that.
Star Wars: Ahsoka
This shouldn’t surprise anyone, either. I’ve made my love for Ahsoka Tano known before. She’s also a fan favorite among legions of Star Wars fans and for good reason. Her story is so vast and dramatic. She started as the brash, immature Padawan of a pre-Darth Vader Anakin Skywalker. She then became a key player in the secret war against the Empire.
Even though she has never appeared in any Star Wars movies, she has still found a way to endear herself to so many, myself included. That’s an accomplishment worthy of her own show and the timing couldn’t be better.
Most recently, she made her live-action debut in Season 2 of “The Mandalorian.” Played by Rosario Dawson, she’s made her presence known in the emerging Star Wars canon that’s unfolding on Disney Plus. This show will give her a chance to shine like never before.
She’s no longer someone’s Padawan.
She’s no longer some shadowy agent for the Rebellion.
She’s just Ahsoka being Ahsoka. Sign me up!
Fantastic Four (By Marvel Studios)
When it comes to movies from Marvel Studios, I’m in the same boat as most lifelong Marvel fans. No matter what they put out, I’ll likely be first in line to see it, whether it opens out in theaters or debuts on streaming. While we don’t know what the movie theater scene will be like in 2021, we can be certain that studios will keep making movies and those movies will find an audience.
Now, I’m tempted to recount all the ways the Fantastic Four have been butchered by previous movies. Believe me, I could spend hours talking about how 2015’s “Fant4stic” was botched at every turn. However, I prefer to look to the future rather than the past.
Finally, Marvel’s first family will be in the hands of Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige. They’ve shown time and again that they know what they’re doing. They love these characters every bit as much as the fans. They will do them justice.
With John Watts from “Spider-Man: Homecoming” set to direct, the stage is set for the Fantastic Four to arrive in the MCU. It took a long time and a huge media acquisition, but the wait is almost over. Fantastic things are worth waiting for and I hope this is one of them.
I’ve mentioned this series before and I stand by my excitement. I believe this show is more critical to the continued success of Marvel Studios than “WandaVision” or even some of its movies.
Since the somewhat forgettable “Incredible Hulk” movie with Edward Norton, the jolly green rage giant has been relegated to a supporting character in pretty much every subsequent story. When he’s not teaming up with Thor or providing muscle for the Avengers, he’s basically just there.
In the comics, Hulk has his own world of sorts and She-Hulk has always been a big part of that. I believe this show can start building that world and with Tatiana Maslany in the starring role, I think this show could be special.
Plus, it’s a show with a beautiful woman smashing things. How can I not be excited about that?
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
This announcement was an unexpected treat. Among many other Star Wars announcement, this one stood out to me almost as much as the Ahsoka show. Those who didn’t own a Nintendo 64 in the late 90s and early 2000s may not understand, but trust me. Those who did were very intrigued.
There was a time when Star Wars: Rogue Squadron was the pinnacle of Star Wars gaming. This video game essentially ditched the light sabre duels in favor of X-Wings, Y-Wings, and plenty of other exotic spaceships. It involved plenty of space battles, secret missions, and blowing stuff up on alien planets.
Good times, indeed.
Now, we find out Disney is making it into a movie. On top of that, they tapped Patty Jenkins, the woman who brought “Wonder Woman” to the big screen, to do it. I love everything about this. The same woman who tapped Wonder Woman’s wonder is now in charge of a fleet of X-wings. What’s not to love?
Besides, we’ve already had plenty of Star Wars content involving light sabers. Why not focus on elaborate space battles? I know my excitement for all this still assumes that 2021 will be less chaotic and more functional than 2020. At this point, assumptions like that are risky. However, I’m choosing to embrace hope and optimism once more. This past year has left my spirit broken, but I’m ready to start putting the pieces back together. These movies and shows can only help in that process.
As a lifelong comic book fan, I like to think I’m easy to shop for on the holidays. Pretty much everyone in my family is aware of just how much I love comics. I also make it a point to send them lists of books I want, where to get them, and which are the least expensive.
They appreciate that a great deal. It also helps that most of the books I ask for are rarely more than twenty bucks. Those on a budget, along with those who are just cheapskates in general, love that my needs are so simple.
It makes the holidays that much more enjoyable. I’m just a simple man with simple tastes. I don’t need big, fancy gifts anymore. I can buy my own game consoles and gadgets. Just get me a stack of comics to read on Wednesday mornings with my coffee and I’m a happy guy.
New Comic Book Day around the holidays only makes me happier. It means I can both enjoy new comics and read them under the light of a Christmas tree. It’s as joyous a feeling as anything that doesn’t involve eggnog, candy canes, and gingerbread cookies. I encourage everyone to enjoy it.
With Christmas less than two weeks away, this is as good a time as any to supplement your comic reading with some festive tidings. To help, here’s my pull list and pick for the week. Enjoy!
The following is a video from my YouTube channel, Jack’s World. Once again, my good friend and fellow YouTuber, DC-MarvelGirl 1997, has kindly offered to read an excerpt from my X-Men Supreme fan fiction series. This time, she’s bringing life to Rogue, specifically her entry into X-Men Volume 1: Supreme Reflections.
I can’t thank her enough for doing this and bringing life to an old piece I wrote. I genuinely think she nailed Rogue’s sweet southern accent. Enjoy!
We all have our own unique rituals for enjoying a particular experience that we’ve come to love. One of my siblings had this weird thing where he could only watch “The Sopranos” in the basement, with all the lights off, while sitting on a bean bag chair.
I don’t get it, either. It annoyed the hell out of me most of the time. Then again, who am I to judge? I’m the same when it comes to reading comics, especially in December.
I love reading comics on New Comic Book Day at every point in the year, but that doesn’t stop me from using the holidays to enhance the experience. For me, that involves turning on my Christmas lights, starting a fire in my gas fireplace, brewing a cup of coffee, and laying back in my recliner with an iPad full of new comics.
It’s basically comic book and holiday nirvana. There are no words to describe the joy, comfort, and relaxation I feel when I’m in that state. It’s one of my favorite parts of the week. It’s also one of my favorite experiences, in general.
For all my fellow comic fans out there, I’m sure you have a New Comic Book Day ritual of your own. During the holidays, you may even mix it up a bit. I encourage everyone to embrace that. When you can combine comics with the holidays, then joy of every kind will surely follow.
With that in mind, here is my pull list and pick of the week. Enjoy!
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