Groots, Marvels, and Absolute Units
Hello!
It’s been a while since we did a “news post” - let’s do this! Wow. That sounded so agressive. I just meant “Hey there, let’s catch about some stuff that isn’t ‘X-Men: War’ Posts” ;D
I hope you have all been having an okay summer. I loathe summer. Even though swimming pools are my favorite thing ever. I CONTAIN MULTITUDES, OKAY?
But seriously, summer is the worst. Once you’re out of school and it loses the “fun” aspect, for me it’s just a lot of being too hot and sweaty and not wanting to go anywhere because by the time you get there you will already be too hot and sweaty.
Fortunately I live in Portland Oregon, where most of the summer is still pretty reasonable. There’s only a couple months here (and not even the whole of those months) that is uncomfortably hot with sad dead crispy grass everwhere. But I’m here to say that I am officially ready for August to be over and so…we should just move on. Yes? Great. August is over. Onto September!
This Week
News
Sneak Peeks
Upcoming Releases
What I’m Doing
Cats!
Heyo! CAPTAIN MARVEL #40 is coming in hot this week! Make sure you get it as you know how shit goes sideways when you’re in the penultimate issue to an arc. ;D
Here’s the cover by Juan Frigeri so you know what to look for:
If this isn’t the most important comics-related news, I don’t know what is.
There’s also a preview for CAPTAIN MARVEL #40 at the link here.
And I did a fun little interview for a book blog.
A couple of sneak peeks from CAPTAIN MARVEL #40 - a gorgeous and evocative shot of Carol by Alvaro Lopez and Jordie Bellaire:
And a tempting shot of Enchantress by Juan Frigeri and Jordie Bellaire, also from CAPTAIN MARVEL #40:
Not one but TWO sneak peeks from the forthcoming IT’S JEFF series — both images by the incomparable GURIHIRU!:
Look at that perfect ROUND BOI. That ABSOLUTE UNIT. I love you so with your cute ass little foot in the air for your sassy ass walk. I’m sorry, it’s too much!
And here’s a sketch that I LOVE SO MUCH I’M CONSIDERING ANOTHER TATTOO:
What on earth can he be planning?! Might not be good, but it will STILL be adorable! ;D
This BLACK CLOAK sneak peek is a bit of a cheat, because Meredith posted it on her Twitter this past week, but I wanted to make sure you all saw it!
A gorgeous and super emotional shot from THE CULL #1 by Mattia De Iulis:
I cannot wait for you guys to meet Wade, Lux, Cleo, Kaite, and Will. These poor babes are GOING THROUGH IT.
Here’s how things are looking right now:
CAPTAIN MARVEL #40 - 8/17/22
IT’S JEFF - SEASON 2 - SEPTEMBER (MARVEL UNLIMITED ONLY)!
CAPTAIN MARVEL #41 - 9/14/22
BLACK CLOAK CHAPTER 6 - 9/27/22
CAPTAIN MARVEL #42 - 10/12/22
I’m still doing a lot of pitches. So I’m still sorta in hell.
But I did watch THE GRAY MAN and really enjoyed it. Full disclosure, I am EXTREMELY in the tank for Ryan Gosling, and despite the presence of some other very capable and talented and beautiful people (Ana de Armas, Chris Evans, Rege-Jean Page, Alfre Woodard, Dhanush, Jessica Henwick, etc.), to me it’s Gosling’s approach that really makes this special. I think without him it’s a very capable action movie that you will enjoy. With him, it’s special. He just brings something to it that is hard to put your finger on and yet improves every single moment he’s on screen. My only real complaint is that even though the action is VERY good, I think the Russo Brothers are EVEN BETTER at action than this — sometimes this feels like too many fast cuts and too dark scenes — and I wish the action scenes felt a bit more Gareth Evans. The Russo Brothers’ action set pieces are always very good and they lean more Evans than most of what I see out there in action these days, but I think something like this — especially with Chris Evans and Ryan Gosling anchoring it, totally have the chops to pull off that very demanding Gareth Evans style. That said, the action set piece that takes place in the cargo plane is fucking phenomenal. Truly one of my favorite action scenes of the year. And I also got exceptional joy out of Gosling’s escape scene AND the massive set piece that takes place in an open city square. It pushes believability in some places (mostly in how far the Chris Evans character is willing to go) but it’s an incredibly good time.
ETA: I forgot to call out something I really loved about the film — it let de Armas be an absolutely stunningly beautiful woman and also a super tough badass. She never felt sexually exploited within the film (right on down to some of the wonderfully unexpected clothing). She was never shoved into an ill-conceived romance plot with any of the other characters (and despite terrific chemistry with Gosling). It was just really refreshing to get to see the beautiful leading lady/co-star just get to be a badass in an action movie like all the dudes. Not a love interest. Not a damsel. Not a seductress. Not a backstabbing villain. It was VERY refreshing.
My honest to god real life biggest complaint about the film? These movie posters are weak. Your cast is THAT beautiful and cool and this is what you came up with? :(
Another thing I did between bouts of trying to finish endless tasks was watch all 5 of the 6-minute I AM GROOT shorts now available on Disney+.
So, before I even say anything, let’s address the elephant in the room… if I AM GROOT is successful it’s literally a perfect test case for IT’S JEFF. The shorts are short (6 minutes each) and they’re all quite simple with tons of charm, humor, and heart. The animation is spectacular, and the stories are quite fun. They are A LOT like the IT’S JEFF comics. I don’t mean they copy those beats, I just mean they’re structured similarly — and also they are mostly silent (yeah, Groot says I Am Groot a lot, but since those words aren’t translatable to us, it’s more for comedic effect mostly). Anyway, if Marvel kept with this short mostly silent model you could take any or all of the existing (or newly written!) IT’S JEFF comics and turn them into these. It was exciting to watch this, knowing that COULD be my boy one day. Gave me a million ideas. <3
So all of the shorts are pretty good, but strangely the weakest ones are the first and last — which is the opposite of how you’re supposed to do these things — start strong and end strong! Hide weaker pieces in the middle! — these are the things art school teaches you on day one!
But the three in the middle are real standouts through. I particularly liked THE LITTLE GUY and GROOT TAKES A BATH. Very fun stuff. If you like cartoons or Jeff, or have a kid in your life, watch these asap!
We actually had some friends over for lunch this past week (!!!) it’s been a looooong time! And our friend Erin Belisle that came over is a very talented photographer (portraits, architecture/design, landscapes, pets, she does it all!) including take some random snaps of my cats that are better than any photos I’ve taken of them in five years. If you are in the Portland area and need a great photographer (and excellent human being) consider her for your project!
Okay, my lambs. I gotta get back to work. How is it no matter how much I do there is always more? What is this, some kind of sick joke? Ahhhhhh.
Take care of yourselves. <3
~Kelly
I'm so excited for more "It's Jeff"! My 8 yo seriously was just asking if I had more of "that Jeff comic" on my phone. 😂 And she DID love "I Am Groot."
Oh my goodness Kate’s outfit in that panel is phenomenal from Guri! And who do I need to email for an It’s Jeff animated short? Gotta make that happen. It’s easy money, Mr. Mouse!