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Special Live SquadCast: Women in Comics History – Part 3 – Shade: The Changing Girl Reunion

Special Live SquadCast: Women in Comics History – Part 3 – Shade: The Changing Girl Reunion

Posted on by Bob Harrison

Part 3: Shade: The Changing Girl Reunion

We held the third of our series of Live Broadcasts celebrating Women’s History Month last night on March 22nd. This week’s broadcast featured most of the creative team for one of the most undercelebrated comic series of the past decade. Shade: The Changing Girl and subsequently Shade: The Changing Woman was part of the initial offering from the DC Comics’ Young Animal imprint that was curated by creative whirlwind Gerard Way.

Shade ran for a total of eighteen issues plus some appearances in the Milk Wars crossover event. The writer/artist team was intact all the way through as well as the colorist, letterer, and main cover artist. The comic is a true evolution of what has come before with the character that was created by Steve Ditko in the seventies and revamped in the eighties by Peter Milligan and Chis Bachalo. It is a story about what it means to be a human.

We were able to bring four of those women together last night and talk to them about their remembrances of their time on the book as well as their careers in comics. The result was a truly joyful celebration of an excellent comic book. The admiration and respect for each other as well as what they produced came through in the interaction that these women had with each other.

Our Guests

Continue reading “Special Live SquadCast: Women in Comics History – Part 3 – Shade: The Changing Girl Reunion” →

Continued After the Next Page #022: Planning Panels and Conventioning in the Windy City and Ithaca

Continued After the Next Page #022: Planning Panels and Conventioning in the Windy City and Ithaca

Posted on by Bob Harrison

In the “before times”, people would come to the gathering place and wander the concourse taking in the sights purchasing shiny wares with no fear of deadly disease. That was three years ago. Are we back to that point? Probably not, and probably not for a while still, but we are getting closer.

Comic convention season is back in full force. That break in con scheduling that we normally have from before the December holidays until late February didn’t really happen this year. Most people seems to be willing to return to the circuit with little concern for the pandemic creating coronavirus. The best part of this is that my social media feeds are not filling up with tales of infections or even the dreaded con-crud.

All of this has me even more excited to begin my 2023 convention season in a couple of weeks. Your intrepid correspondent will be part of the press contingent at the Chicago Comic & Entertainment Expo, more commonly known by its geek friendly acronym C2E2. I will be walking the floors all three days talking to exhibitors and fans and checking out some of the interesting panel programming.

However, the most exciting panels, in my not so humble opinion, will take place on Sunday April 2, 2023. I will be hosting two panels a Reed event for the first time in my career, and I am beyond excited. Continue reading “Continued After the Next Page #022: Planning Panels and Conventioning in the Windy City and Ithaca” →

Spotlight SquadCast Interview with Russell Nohelty and Laurie Foster about Cthulhu Is Hard to Spell

Spotlight SquadCast Interview with Russell Nohelty and Laurie Foster about Cthulhu Is Hard to Spell

Posted on by Bob Harrison

Our latest SquadCast interview takes place with a pair of comic creators working to fund their latest project, and it is a great concept.

For several years now, writer and editor Russell Nohelty has been working on the multiple volumes of his anthology series Cthulhu Is Hard to Spell for a few years now, and as the project transitions to the next phase he has partnered with Laurie Foster and Unlikely Heroes Studios to repackage the books in an even more accessible format with added material.

The crowdfunding campaign for this special release is running on Backerkit until March 21st.

We spoke with both Russell and Laurie about the project, H.P. Lovecraft and the challenges that his legacy presents in the current social climate, and a whole bunch of other cool stuff.

Russell is an author with credits such as Ichabod Jones: Monster Hunter, The Godsverse Chronicles, and The Obsidian Spindle Saga, as well as being the editor for the Cthulhu is Hard to Spell anthology series. He has also contributed to a bunch of anthologies including:  Cthulhu Invades Oz, Monsters and Other Scary Shit, Parallel Worlds, The Edgar Allan Poe Chronicles to name a few.

Laurie is an editor, inker, publisher, cosplayer, and pretty much everything else that you can think of. She runs Unlikely Heroes Studios and if the day has a Y at the end, she is probably running a crowdfunding campaign somewhere.

This conversation focused on the campaign for the excellent Cthulhu Is Hard to Spell, but it also ventured into the realms of the horror genre in general, representation in publishing, and nerdy favorites.

We hope you enjoy the conversation:

What is Cthulhu is Hard to Spell?

Continue reading “Spotlight SquadCast Interview with Russell Nohelty and Laurie Foster about Cthulhu Is Hard to Spell” →

With Further Ado #238: Pippi to Ripley

With Further Ado #238: Pippi to Ripley

Posted on by Ed Catto

Katharine Kittredge is one of those people who inspires me. Wait, that’s not right, she’s one of those people who inspires everyone she meets. She’s smart, passionate and a fearless warrior. More than that, she’s quick with a smile and loves hockey. What’s not to like?

Her title is Professor, Literatures in English at Ithaca College and she is an expert at Eighteenth Century British Literature, Children’s Literature, Science Fiction and Gender Studies. She is also the editor of Lewd and Notorious: Female Transgression in the Eighteenth Century and the author of numerous articles on the work of Melesina Trench.

She paved the way for me teach the ITHACON course (more on the 2023 version of that soon) and now focuses her time on things like the Pippi to Ripley conference. Continue reading “With Further Ado #238: Pippi to Ripley” →

Brainiac On Banjo: Tiny Heroes Vs Tiny Minds

Brainiac On Banjo: Tiny Heroes Vs Tiny Minds

Posted on by Mike Gold

Now Fatherland, Fatherland, show us the sign your children have waited to see. The morning will come when the world is mine; tomorrow belongs to me. “Tomorrow Belongs To Me,” written by John Kander for the play “Cabaret.”

I loathe going to movies alone. If the flick is great, I wanna talk about it. If the flick sucks, I wanna commiserate with a friend. Most movies are somewhere in between, and if I picked the right companion the after-movie discussion can be better than the viewing experience itself. In seeing Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, I was joined by my dear friend Martha Thomases, of DC and Marvel fame. We’ve enjoyed some great movies together, although some would be defined by critics as shitty.

Is a movie shitty even if you had a good time? Well, perhaps by consensus, but that should not humble your experience retroactively. Portal-to-portal, going out to the movies these days is an expensive proposition: the old phrase “coming soon to a theater near you” is obsolete because the vast majority of humanity no longer lives near a movie theater (Martha is a lucky exception). So when you add up all of your expenses, assuming you are willing to pay the going theater rate for a quarter’s worth of pop corn, seeing any movie in the theater is likely to cost the better part of a mortgage payment. Of course, those few surviving movie palaces of yesteryear are now showing live theater and kinda-live concerts, so we’ve got to shoehorn ourselves into little boxes made of ticky-tacky and endure twenty minutes of commercials before we get to the trailers.

But it’s a choice we, as the paying audience, choose to make. Not so much the movie critics. They have to see damn near everything, and I sympathize. They’ve been subjected to so many flickering images it’s a wonder they’re not all epileptics. Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo: Tiny Heroes Vs Tiny Minds” →

So Long and Thanks for the Fish, Man #081: Tired of your Marvel Malaise

So Long and Thanks for the Fish, Man #081: Tired of your Marvel Malaise

Posted on by Marc Alan Fishman

The murmurs and mumbles of mediocrity started as early as Thor 2: The Dark World. They got louder with Black Widow. Louder still with Eternals. Then came the ire and fanboy rage over She-Hulk. And now it’s perhaps getting a bit too loud over Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. 

I’m sick of it.

In my day (shh, Mike Gold. Shh.) comic book movies were — at best — loud, kitschy affairs. For every Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or ’89 Batman… we also got Howard the Duck, Superman III and IV, and Captain America. In the 90’s, Batman plummeted in quality, and was met by early CGI nightmares like Spawn, or obnoxious barely-based-on-their-source popcorn flicks like Judge Dredd or Tank Girl. And while these films were watchable… they were hardly of a caliber that one could present opposite more lucrative blockbuster sci-fi and action romps.

And then came Marvel.

It started unassumingly with Blade. Unlike so many neon-lit counterparts released prior… Blade felt like a horror action-movie. It was clearly inspired by the comic book origins and broad strokes of the character, but made smart choices in costuming, sets, and the watered-down plot. It wasn’t hokey. It was a blueprint.

1998’s Blade begat Bryan Singer’s X-Men. Similar to the vampire hunter… these were well-dressed (“what, you’d prefer yellow spandex?”) superheroes with well-thought-out effect work that made their mutant abilities feel believable. Combine this with the gravitas and star power of Sir Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellan, and slowly but surely, the zeitgeist was changing. 

Take a side-step from the mainstream, and you could see Hollywood begin to lean into the pulp and paper world. Ghost World, From Hell, Road to Perdition, and my personal favorite American Splendor showcased that comics beyond the punchy kind would also be applicable to mainstream (if a bit arty) America. But I digress.  Continue reading “So Long and Thanks for the Fish, Man #081: Tired of your Marvel Malaise” →

With Further Ado #238: Red, White, and Nostalgic

With Further Ado #238: Red, White, and Nostalgic

Posted on by Ed Catto

When Jack Kirby returned to Marvel Comics in the mid-70s, it was a big deal. Marvel Comics told me, and my friends, it was a big deal, and our local comic shop owner, Kim Draheim, told us too.

And it’s almost pop-culture heresy to write this, but at that time – we just didn’t get Kirby.

• Black Panther, with the Golden Frog and all that, was a nutty book and nothing like the Don McGregor Panther series we had so thoroughly enjoyed.

• The Eternals was kind of fun, but it seemed so set apart from the rest of the Marvel Universe. And when one hero finally showed up, the Hulk, it was a just robot. What a rip-off!

• Devil Dinosaur and Moonboy kind of turned into a punchline in our comic shop too.

• Most disappointing was Captain America. For years were riding along with Steve Englehart, exploring big ideas about patriotism and forgotten corners of the Marvel Universe. Sal Buscema’s Sharon Carter was the very best super-hero girlfriend at that time, and we grew to love her too. And the Nomad saga, despite swapping artists at the end, was the first (and still the best) of many super-hero identity fake outs.

At first, when Kirby burst back onto the Marvel scene, especially with the Madbomb issues in Captain America, we were intrigued. It made sense that Jack Kirby should get another crack at the character he co-created (with Joe Simon) all those years ago.

But oh, so quickly, we lost interest. Why did Cap all of a sudden talk like my grandfather? Who was this new female lead, revolutionary Donna Maria Puentes, anyway? Where was Sharon? And although I’ve come to really enjoy it, Kirby’s bombastic art – at that time – just wasn’t doing it for me. My friends and I weren’t mature enough to get it. “Why couldn’t he draw more like Neal Adams?”, we wondered. Continue reading “With Further Ado #238: Red, White, and Nostalgic” →

Brainiac On Banjo: Are YOU… Verified?

Brainiac On Banjo: Are YOU… Verified?

Posted on by Mike Gold

Trumpets and violins I can hear in the distance, I think they’re calling our names. Maybe now you can’t hear them, but you will. — Jimi Hendrix, Are You Experienced?

I suspect you’ve heard of Meta, but if you haven’t, it has nothing to do with DC superheroes. Less than nothing, when you think about it. “Meta” is the incredibly stupid and highly misleading name that Facebook and Instagram owner “Mort” Zuckerberg gave to his company in late 2021.

Meta is an evil corporation. They follow you wherever you go on line. When you use their stuff, they record where you are, who you are, where you go, what you like, who you like, what you buy, when you’re not home, when you are home, your credit card numbers, your phone numbers and your email addresses and those of your friends. If you masturbate, they know which is your favored hand and if you do not, they’ve got pills and ointments to sell you. I do not know if they have recorded the date and time of your last bowel movement, but I have asked. These bastards have more on each of us than the FBI ever had on John Gotti.

Now Zuck has figured out a way to screw us out of another $150 or so a year, thrusting his grimy waxed paw so deep into our pockets he now has an imprint of our car keys. It is quite impressive that he has chosen to follow the lead of the biggest, most obnoxious and cheesiest hustler who does not yet hold elective office. Then again, who among us would be surprised to discover Elon Musk and George Santos are, were, or soon will be the same person? Continue reading “Brainiac On Banjo: Are YOU… Verified?” →

Spotlight SquadCast Interview with Cartoonist Leeanne Krecic

Spotlight SquadCast Interview with Cartoonist Leeanne Krecic

Posted on by Bob Harrison

We were very excited to talk to our latest guest. Cartoonist Leeanne Krecic, creator of the worldwide hit webcomic series Let’s Play, sat down for a discussion about her comic making craft and what she is currently working on.

Let’s Play, a romance webcomic that has 4.8 million subscribers and over half a billion views on Webtoon, is Leeanne’s most well-known work. It is a super engaging story with wonderful, and relatable characters.

Leeanne has just launched a Kickstarter to make a video game based on the characters from Let’s Play called Everdate. It funded in less than three hours and is barging through stretch goals. We talked about the game and what backers can expect from the results of the campaign.

As is typical with most comic creators, Leeanne’s journey to comic success is unique and interesting. We talked about her journey and the challenges that she overcame.

We are really happy that we had the opportunity to talk to Leeanne about her comic, life, and the game.

We hope you enjoy the SquadCast below, and don’t forget to check out the campaign information for Everdate – Let’s Play: The Dating Game.

Everdate – Let’s Play: The Dating Game
Coming soon from Mongie Studios!

Campaign Link: http://kck.st/3RZ6QW8

Ending: Thu, March 16 2023 3:00 PM EDT

PCS Notes: This game looks amazing for both fans of the comic and newcomers. We highly encourage you to check out the campaign site. There are lots of animations and a couple of videos to give you even more about what to expect from this project.  Continue reading “Spotlight SquadCast Interview with Cartoonist Leeanne Krecic” →

Super Bowl LVII Movie Trailer Recap Featuring The Flash, Guardians, and More

Super Bowl LVII Movie Trailer Recap Featuring The Flash, Guardians, and More

Posted on by Bob Harrison

As one of the biggest entertainment machines in the US goes into it’s off season, we are left with a few very interesting film trailers to ponder and salivate over as necessary. We collected the most important trailers from Super Bowl LVII here. In terms of quantity, there have been other Super Bowls with more trailers and of more massive import. Overall, the quality we got here was pretty good.

Before we get into the trailers, I had one note about the commercial advertisement aspect of this Super Bowl. There is a concept that was utilized by a few advertisers in which the commercial acted as a teaser/redirect to the internet. Several commercials asked me to take my phone and scan a QR code, ostensibly from the TV,  so that I would get more information on the website for the product. Some of the trailers were also taglined with “Watch the FULL TRAILER on the Internet now.” It is definitely a shift in entertainment consumption. In the past advertisers and television executives wanted the viewers to sit on their hands and keep their eyes glued to the tube.

Now that we are done with noticing the evolution of media consumption toward a more interactive model, let’s take a look at the trailers. We are focusiong on the movies that are fit into our wheelhouse here at PCS, and have listed them by release date:

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
In theaters March 31, 2023

PCS Notes: This movie looks fun, but I am totally stoked about the Owlbear and the Gelatinous Cube.  Continue reading “Super Bowl LVII Movie Trailer Recap Featuring The Flash, Guardians, and More” →