Let's perform sacrilege: I'll take this version of any of these three songs over the original Beatles version any day of the week.
Watch:
Holy shit, I got chills on that final image. Chills - and I have no attachment or experience with the Jane Foster Thor storyline from the books. Trust in Taika.
NCBD:
Small haul this week.
If that isn't the most Metal cover since Daniel Warren Johnson's Beta Ray Bill series last year, I don't know what is.
This cover has me extremely excited to see where Donny Cates is taking this book.
Speaking of books I need to re-read and catch up on, The Nice House on the Lake is long overdue for me to reconnect. I keep toying with the idea of just waiting until the entire thing is out, but I'm kind of chomping at the bit to see where the story has gone in the last two issues since it returned after hiatus, and also to re-read those first six books and see what I missed.
I finally read last month's We Live: Age of the Palladions White #1 and Black #1. I dig it, might be bowing out, but I dig. I think the thing that endeared the first volume of this one to me was how it began as kind of a Girl with all the Gifts apocalyptic story and then, in the last pages of the final issue, became something totally different. Now that the new paradigm has been established, I'm not as interested as I was before. I'll always be thankful I stuck with that first series, though, just to see the transformation.
Playlist:
Various Artists - Nativity in Black: A Tribute to Black Sabbath
Black Sabbath - Technical Ecstasy
Sepultura - Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos (single)
Black Sabbath - Master of Reality
Perturbator - Lustful Sacraments
Perturbator - Dangerous Days
Sepultura - Chaos A.D.
Alice in Chains - Sap EP
Sepultura - Quadra
Card:
I've already been feeling as though there's a shake-up on the horizon. This makes me think it's sooner rather than later.
If you listened to Bret Easton Ellis' The Shards, you know that it ended this week. And if you listened to that ending, you'll know why I posted this song.
*The counterargument says Bret is referencing Blondie's "Dreaming", but I feel that one mindful comparison between these songs makes it pretty clear that he's referring to this one).
NCBD:
ASM #73: One left after this. I have NO idea what the hell is about to happen, but I sure as hell am enjoying the build-up.
Deadly Class #48: Each of the last two issues literally dropped my jaw at one point, so we'll see. My guess is the series will end at 50 and Rick Remender is just being very protective of that fact. There's also a part of me that thinks this might be the end. We'll see. The book definitely feels as though it's winding down, and with it being the last of the original Giant Generator books Remender launched back in 2014 (I think) when he announced his departure from Marvel and sole focus on creator-owned stuff, it definitely feels like we're in the home stretch.
Defenders #2: The first issue was pretty cool, and Javier Rodriguez's art very much reminded me of J.H. Williams III's art on Alan Moore Promethea, which is a HUGE compliment and HUGE pull for me on this one. Rodriguez creates a very interesting and unique visual world, and I can't wait to see more of it.
The Last Ronin #4: At this point, I'm definitely needing a reread of the entire series just to get the proper context for this new issue. I'll end up reading it anyway (I won't be that ill-prepared, as Last Ronin is, at its heart, a classic story archetype, which is why it's so damn fulfilling to begin with), and save the reread for after the next (final) issue hits.
The Me You Love in the Dark #2: I really loved the set up in issue one, so let's see where this one goes. Rooted in what feels like classic Haunted House tropes, I'm pretty sure this will do anything but hit the standard marks.
MOTU: Revelation #3: Super tight story so far, a perfect accent to that Netflix series, which I find it hysterical to watch all the MEN cry about its storyline following... gasp! - a girl! Gimmie a break. One of the best things about the new show is I only had to hear "By the Power of Grayskull!" Once. Well, twice, but if you watched it, you know what I mean.
The Nice House on the Lake #4: No idea where this one is going, but I'm really enjoying how it appears to be taking its time, developing the situation through the development of the characters
Star Wars: War of the Bounty Hunters #4: This one's been so-so story-wise, but it makes up for that by being the first comic I've read featuring the one group of SW characters I never get tired of: The Bounty Hunters! (obviously)
This one's been in my head since I broke out Ice-T's sophomore record Power a few days ago. Interesting how something that, technologically speaking, sounds so archaic, could be so catchy. Is there hope for those old-school 80s sounds yet? You know, the ones that came preloaded on consumer-grade Casio keyboards by the time we hit the mid-90s? The Night Court bass, Pan Pipes and the like? Maybe. I believe that's what a contingent of artists that hovered around the moniker Hypnogogic Pop attempted in the 00s, but in many cases, that attempt failed. IMO. Hearing this track now though, perhaps the time is ripe for someone new to come along and reclaim some of these weird 80s textures.
Watch:
Having read the two comic series as they came out, the first in 2014, the second a year or two ago, I enjoyed Cullen Bunn's The Empty Man, so when I saw there was a movie, I became both excited and hesitant. Then I saw Lustmord did the OST, and I knew I had to watch it.
I dug this one. The ending fell a bit flat for me, but overall, Director David Prior really conveys a heavy sense of forbidding that was a blast to experience. There's a great sense of dread - made palpable at times by Lustmord's brand of creepy cosmic textures. The funny thing is, in watching this, I don't believe it felt so much like an adaptation of the material from the comic, as much as it did the comic if it had been a novel by Laird Barron.
Playlist:
Christopher Young and Lustmord - The Empty Man
High On Fire - Blessed Black Wings
John Carpenter and Alan Howarth - Halloween III: Season of the Witch OST
ILSA - Preyer
Roy Ayers - Ubiquity
Card:
I'll be paying special attention to Big Ideas today.
