Tag Archives: comics

Jun 6 2026

Spider-Noir Shows How To Do The Multiverse

Spider-Noir is the latest superhero TV show now streaming on Prime Video and stars Nicolas Cage as a variant of Spider-Man set in New York City during the 1930s. This time, for legal reasons, his name is Ben Reilly and he is called The Spider instead. Noticeably older and gruffer than the traditional Spider-Man/Peter Parker, Reilly operates as a classic gumshoe private detective in a gritty New York oozing with corruption, crime and notorious gangsters. In other words, this is not your typical Spider-Man story and this is how the Multiverse should have been done by the studios.

When Spider-Noir begins, Ben Reilly operates out of his tiny office in Manhattan as a gumshoe for hire and still grieving over the death of his girlfriend Ruby five years ago, Ever since her death, Reilly retired from being the masked vigilante, The Spider, but all that changed when he is hired to track down a criminal named Addison, who turns out to have pyrokinetic powers. After Addison is killed, circumstances drag Reilly and his associates down a nefarious rabbit hole involving the city’s corrupt mayor (Michael Kostroff), the notorious mob boss, Silvermane (Brendan Gleeson), who runs the city’s underworld with a savage fist, and Cat Hardy (Li Jun Li), a conflicted nightclub singer he is hired to track but falls in love with. Silvermane has superpowered henchman in his employ, such as Flint Marko (Jack Huston), a Sandman variant, Lonnie Lincoln (Abraham Popoola), a more sympathetic version of Tombstone, and Dirk Leyden (Andrew Lewis Caldwell), a version of the obscure Spider-Man villain Megawatt, who all come into conflict with the Spider.

During his investigations, Reilly finds out that the villains are connected to his World War I past and how he got his spider powers. More importantly, Reilly is forced to come out of retirement as The Spider, which brings him to the attention of Silvermane, who wants to consolidate his grip of power in New York City.

As one can tell by the premise and seeing the show itself, Spider-Noir is an inspired homage to the classic 1930s crime films that were once so popular during the Golden Age of Film. The show can be watched either in garish color with popping bright hues or in noirish black and white, which feels more appropriate. The TV show captures many of the elements that made crime noir films so popular: the jaded detective; a dazzling but conflicted femme fatale; struggling people who talk with exaggerated New York accents and read script lines that would make Humphrey Bogart feel right at home; numerous Dutch angles; split focus shots, and scintillating photography that evokes stark existentialist German cinematography. There are so many ways this approach could have approached a satire, but thanks to the skills from everyone involved, Spider-Noir is a respectful tribute to those types of crime noir films. The actors have to be singled out for their innovative performances, especially Cage, who evokes a combination of Bogart and Jimmy Cagney while infusing his performance with the bouts of unpredictable insanity that made him so famous. The other actors turn in commendable work here as well, such as Li whose near-tragic Hardy captivates every scene she’s in and Gleeson, who projects a chilling presence.

The Multiverse is a great concept that allows for the exploration of many famous characters in different settings which provide captivating insights into what makes them work. The comic books from DC and Marvel have produced many memorable works based on variants of their renowned characters, but live-action attempts at exploring the Multiverse have had mixed results. For Marvel’s part, it seemed as if the studios were too afraid to go all out and give us wildly different versions of their characters. Why is that? Perhaps the studio heads fear that doing so will confuse audiences. But they underestimate them all the time. Other times, the efforts were laughably bad, such as Sony’s misguided films starring Spider-Man villains that were dead on arrival. We could have had more inspired Multiverse films and TV shows in the run up to Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars and even the beloved Spider-Verse films that took greater advantage of the Multiverse concept like Spider-Noir has done. The executive producers of Spider-Noir are Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, who also guided the Spider-Verse films and they should be the go-to guys for more Multiverse works if they ever happen.

Spider-Noir is more than an homage to crime noir films, it is also one of the best superhero TV shows ever done that focuses on character and exciting superheroics. Underneath his cynical exterior, Ben Reilly still has a good heart because he knows that having great power has great responsibility. Even though this setting is unbelievably different than the traditional one seen with Spider-Man lore, it still is a Spider-Man story and one that hints at how the character would be like if he were middle aged. This approach allows the character to be shown in a unique way while sticking to what makes Spider-Man so popular. By going all in with the Multiverse concept, this TV show is able to present a novel approach to the Spider-Man character and see how he would have turned out under a different setting. Spider-Noir, simply put, takes full advantage of the Multiverse concept and how it should be done.

Mar 22 2025

Independent Comics Are The Way Forward

The two big comic book companies, DC Comics and Marvel Comics, rule the comic book market and have done so for decades. But their reign right now is largely due to inertia and for decades comic book fans complained about the Big Two and the saturation of the market with superhero comics. It seemed as if it would be that way for a long time…and it still is at this point. However, this status quo is overdue for a shakeup and it is probably going on right now with independent comics.

To the outside world, what captures the headlines are the latest (non) developments with superheroes, like someone dying and coming back to boost sales, a newly relaunched title with a brand-new number one just to flood markets with variant covers, and so on. Also, back issue sales are still dominated by older superhero titles and will continue to do so. But what has captured fans’ attention has been the proliferation of independent comics from various publishers that for the most part don’t feature superheroes but cover a wide range of subjects. From straight horror to sci-fi to fantasy to crime dramas, there are actually a wide selection of comic books in your local comic shops (LCS) or available digitally. Many non-fans and casual fans are understandably surprised at the many choices available of comics to read and enjoy.

Right now the hot comic is Mark Spear’s Monsters, a beautifully drawn comic put out by Keenspot that features many classic monsters in painted art that evokes Alex Ross but with Spears’ own unique style. Other popular comics include Feral, Geiger, Monstress, A Vicious Circle, Invincible, Conan the Barbarian, Saga, Eight Billion Genies, The Infernals, Something is Killing the Children, Local Man, Transformers and G.I. Joe. None of these titles are superhero-based, except for Invincible, Local Man, and maybe Geiger. The latter is more of a post-apocalyptic tale of a radioactive loner/warrior, while Local Man is a fresh grounded take on Image Comics’ superheroes. Yes, Transformers, Conan the Barbarian, and G.I Joe are based on popular IP, but they are not based on superheroes.

What’s an even more interesting development is that movie and TV studios are turning more and more to comic books not based on superheroes to adapt as they see the potential in the stories. There have been successful film and TV adaptations of non-superhero comics like The Walking Dead, Road to Perdition, 300 and Sin City, but be prepared for an onslaught of even more adaptations. Right now, there are efforts to adapt Eight Billion Genies and Something is Killing the Children, which at the very least would make great animated films.

Of course, not every independent comic is a winner, not all the concepts pan out or their stories peter out after a few issues, but there are many more titles to choose from and more will come. Right now, Image is arguably the leader when it comes to non-superhero comics, with other publishers rising such as Dynamite Entertainment, Dark Horse Comics, Boom! Studios and IDW Publishing. Originally, Image began with superhero comics that to be honest were sup par and most of them are no longer around. But Image took a chance with writers and artists who were able to present their own unique visions and stories and it paid off well for the publisher and comic book fans.

Sure, the LCS and online catalogs are flooded with superhero titles from DC and Marvel, but more and more, a shopper will see that there is much more product in the comic book medium to choose from. Even if at some point in the future, Marvel or DC falter, which won’t happen for a long time, other publishers will take over and dominate the market with either their own superheroes or better yet, other genres. The groundwork is already in place and eventually the independent comics will overtake the superhero genre. Independent comic books today offer something for every taste, which is a sign of a healthy medium that will be with us for a good while.

Dec 31 2024

Top Ten Films & TV Shows Of 2024

2024, as with previous years, provided some wonderful and imaginative sci-fi, fantasy and horror films and TV shows, which were quite memorable. Here are the best films and TV shows that came out in 2024, many of which took everyone by surprise. Feel free to comment with your own choices.

Films

10. Sonic the Hedgehog 3

The third film in the Sonic film franchise fully embraces its video game lore with its colorful characters and their engaging backstories. As usual, Jim Carrey stole the film with his performance, as wells as Keanu Reeves who voiced the fan-favorite Shadow.

9. Late Night With the Devil

David Dastmalchian shined in this found footage horror film that took the guise of recordings from a broadcast of a 1970s late-night talk show. The film was genuinely creepy and disturbing as the show’s host, Jack Delroy (Dastmalchian), cameto grips with the realization that the occult-themed episode of his show had unpleasant connections to his own life.

8. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga

George Miller directed one of his finest films ever with an intense origin story about the breakout character from Mad Max: Fury Road. Anya Taylor-Joy was simply perfect as the younger version of Furiosa, who navigates her way through a brutal post-apocalyptic world overrun by vicious gangs and extreme car chases throughout barren deserts. It’s a Mad Max world at its best.

7. Alien: Romulus

The Alien franchise rightfully returned to its horror roots with this entry that takes place in a claustrophobic space station swarming with alien xenomorphs hunting down the main characters. Even though a lot of the material was familiar and had callbacks to the other films, Alien: Romulus was fresh and inventive with its back-to-basics approach.

6. Nosferatu

The latest remake of the classic German silent horror film version of Dracula was genuinely creepy and disturbing. Director Robert Eggers has emerged as a true master of film horror with his version of Nosferatu that fully utilized disturbing sounds, eerie shadows, dark cinematography and an overall unsettling atmosphere that will keep you up at night.

5. Civil War

This is one of the most disturbing recent films to be released due to its subject matter of a near-future civil war in the United States and its ramifications. While the choice not to explain what caused the war and its apolitical stance may not satisfy everyone, this approach allowed director Alex Garland to focus on the cruelty and insanity of war and its impact on modern-day society. The film was also a powerful and cringe-inducing war film that ramped up intensely in the final act with a distressing, yet pulse-pounding battle in Washington, D.C.

4. A Quiet Place: Day One

The third film in the A Quiet Place franchise, was a prequel that chronicled the early days of the alien invasion that devastated the Earth and brought it to a silent standstill. The film had the smarts to introduce new characters and a new setting which was a terrifying location for the invasion: a noisy New York City that could not help but attract the deadly alien creatures that murder anyone making sounds. Lupita Nyong’o and Joseph Quinn were outstanding as two misfit survivors trying to reach the home of Nyong’o’s character while avoiding the aliens. Their personal stories were the heart of the film and set the template for future installments.

3. Deadpool & Wolverine

The fourth-wall-breaking Merc with a Mouth (Ryan Reynolds) teamed up with everyone’s favorite X-Man (Hugh Jackman) in a violent and humorous road/buddy trip throughout the multiverse. As the sole film release from Marvel Studios’ Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) for the year, Deadpool & Wolverine had a lot riding on it given the fact that recent MCU films have struggled. Fortunately, the film delivered a funny and entertaining romp that both serviced the grand MCU plotline about the multiverse and was a love letter to the now-defunct Marvel films from 20th Century Fox.

2. The Wild Robot

Arguably DreamWorks Animation’s greatest film, The Wild Robot is a heartwarming and beautifully animated adaptation of Peter Brown’s novel about a service robot in the future that was stranded on an island populated by animals that distrusted her. Over time, she gained their trust as she adopted and raised a young goose and befriended many of the animals. At the same time, the robot began to develop sentience and emotional attachments to her companions, especially her adopted child, who she must raise and protect.

The Wild Robot was surprisingly engaging with its themes of parenthood, friendship, environmentalism, and empathy. It is too bad that this will be DreamWorks Animation final in-house film since the company has proven it can deliver genuine animated classics as it did with The Wild Robot.

1. Dune, Part Two

Director Denis Villeneuve concluded his grand adaptation of Frank Herbert’s classic sci-fi epic novel about political and religious machinations and war in the distant future. Dune, Part Two actually adapted the second half of the novel and it was a wise decision to split the novel into two films since it allowed Villeneuve the time to fully explore the intricacies of the distinct human cultures across the universe.

While the film was wide-sweeping and bursting with glorious production values and effects, at its core, Dune, Part Two, focused on the burden of its main protagonist, Paul Atreides, who unwillingly became the messianic leader who leads the inhabitants of the desert world called Dune in a holy war. Any viewer could empathize with Paul’s struggle as he faced his destiny despite his doubts about his actions as he sought vengeance for his father’s death and freedom for his adopted people.

Dune, Part Two is a true cinematic epic that demonstrates once and for all, the validity of a solid sci-fi story being successfully adapted into a cinematic masterpiece. The film also establishes that Villeneuve is a true master of sci-fi films who has the bold vision needed to undertake such an adaptation.

Noteworthy Mentions:

Abigail; Beetlejuice Beetlejuice; Elevation; Flow; Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire; Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire; IF; Inside Out 2; Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes; The Substance; Transformers One; Venom: The Last Dance

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Oct 18 2024

The Not-So-Radical Superhero Reboots In Comics

An increasingly popular sub-genre in comic books these days are reboots or reimaginings of famous superheroes and supervillains. We’ve seen this earlier in the year with the relaunch of Marvel Comics’ Ultimate Comics line, with Ultimate Spider-Man being the most popular and successful series in that line. The comic book reimagines Peter Parker/Spider-Man as much older than his counterpart in the regular comics, and is married with children, and only recently became Spider-Man.

DC Comics has also jumped into reboot game (though they pioneered this back in the 1950s) with their Absolute line of comics that began this week with the release of Absolute Batman. In this series, Bruce Wayne/Batman is not a mega-rich playboy whose parents are dead. Instead he is an ordinary, lower-class citizen of Gotham, who happens to be the Dark Knight Detective. The Absolute line will continue shortly with the release of Absolute Wonder Woman and Absolute Superman, which will present radical interpretations of the iconic superheroes. Or are they?

These comics have caught on and become very popular thanks to inspired writing and artwork, but the heroes in the comics are essentially the same. Despite being older and married, Peter Parker is still a wisecracking superhero who looks and acts the same way as he does in the regular comics. The same goes for Batman. Sure there are some changes to the costume (with Batman’s bat-themed chest symbol doubling for a huge axe), but he is still a brooding vigilanted patroling the crime-infested streets of Gotham. Again, these are well done comics, but maybe the comic book companies could have gone further and given us radically different takes of these characters. In fact, it’s been done before.

As mentioned before, DC Comics debuted a completely new version of their Golden Age hero, the Flash, in Showcase #4 in 1956, which actually launched the Silver Age of Comics. Originally, the Flash was Jay Garrick, a college student who accidently inhaled these special vapors that gave him his superspeed powers. His costume was fairly simple, with the only distinguishing feature being his steel helmet with wings. When the superhero was reintroduced in Showcase #4, he was reborn as Barry Allen, a police forensic scientist who was struck by lighting and doused with chemicals that gave him his powers. His scarlet costume was a stark contrast to the original Flash, by the way.

Following the success with the new Flash, DC gave readers new, distinctive reinterprations of their older, less popular heroes like Green Lantern, who now boasted a space-themed background, whereas the original Green Lantern had a mystical background. The comic book company went on to reinvent some of the Golden Age supervillains that plagued their most popular superheroes.

The last time DC presented radically different versions of their characters was in the 1990s and early 2000s with their limited imprint of Tangent Comics. Characters were wildly different from the traditional counterparts. For instance, the Flash was now a teenage girl with light-based powers, and the Joker was a female anti-hero who fought crime in the city of New Atlantis.

In 2001 and 2002, DC hired Marvel guru Stan Lee to reinterpret their famous characters. This led to several one-shots called Just Imagine… where Batman was a Black crimefighter whose real name was Wayne Williams and Wonder Woman gained her magical powers from an artifact.

While there is the potential for these radical reimagings to succeed as seen with the Barry Allen version of the Flash, there is also the possibility that the new versions fail to capture reader’s imaginations. The Tangent imprint, while very well done, did not take off in the long run and are largely forgotten to this day, though the comics are worth checking out. This is probably the main reason why the current reimagings of popular superheroes play it safe. Aside from some minor updates and tweaks, Peter Parker and Bruce Wayne are still the characters we know and love. But the comic book companies should be more willing to push the envelope and go for broke.

This has worked in the past, as with the Flash and even with the Miles Morales version of Spider-Man. Perhaps the Ultimate Comics imprint that Marvel first introduced in the early 2000s might have endured to this day if, for example, they had started off with Spider-Man being Miles Morales or have a completely different line up for the Ultimates (the Ultimate Comics version of the Avengers who were essentially the same superheroes in the regular comics).

One character that organically developed into a wildly different version than his regular counterpart was the Ultimate Comcis version of Reed Richards. In the Ultimate Fantastic Four comics the only noticeable difference with the team was that they were much younger than the traditional Fantastic Four. Yes, there were other differences such as the origin of their powers and group dynamics but none of it was out of the ordinary. However, over time, Reed Richards was radicalized and became the villain called the Maker, who continues to pop up. Actually, the Maker is responsible for the new Ultimate Comics line, since he time traveled to the past and prevented the creations of the Marvel superheroes, which is why heroes like Spider-Man got a late start in their careers.

It remains to be seen how long the new interpretations will last or maintain their quality, but comic book companies should not hesitate to allow their creators the freedom to let their imaginations run wild and present readers with radical and unique reinterpretations of their beloved heroes and villains.