Intergalactic Comics: 10/23/16

Sunday, October 23, 2016

The Walking Dead #102 - Robert Kirkman & Charlie Adlard

Robert Kirkman & Charlie Adlard - The Walking Dead #102 artwork

The Walking Dead #102
Something to Fear Part Six
Robert Kirkman & Charlie Adlard
Genre: Graphic Novels
Price: $0.99
Publish Date: September 19, 2012
Publisher: Image Comics
Seller: Image Comics, Inc.

"SOMETHING TO FEAR" concludes! The survivors attempt to pick up the pieces after what they've just lived through.

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The Walking Dead Recap: Lots of Things Break In the Season 7 Premiere

SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for tonight’s Season Seven premiere of AMC’s “The Walking Dead.” Proceed at your own risk.

When asked about his character’s death in “The Talking Dead,” actor Michael Cudlitz said he knew it was coming. Some fans probably did, too. As anyone who’s up to date on the “Walking Dead” comic knows, Abraham’s on-page demise was given to Denise on the AMC series. If the show was following the book, he would have gotten shot through the eye with Dwight’s crossbow a few episodes ago. As such, according to Cudlitz, Abraham was “on borrowed time.” The same could be said of Glenn, whom the show tried to trick viewers into believing was dead back in “Thank You.”

When considering both of those things, their deaths at the hands (or bat) of Negan become somewhat frustrating. What was the point of assigning Abraham’s death to another character — a strong female queer character, no less — only to pick him off a few episodes later? Granted, his ending does work to smooth over the rift between Sasha and Rosita, but that doesn’t feel like a big enough payoff. And in Glenn’s case…well, we’ve expressed our frustration with how his arc over the past year has been handled on several occasions. While it’s doubtful the writers were intentionally trying to manipulate the audience, the constant toying around still compromises the emotional weight of his death.

Or maybe not, for the above grievances only start to hit after the episode ends. If we’re just talking about the effectiveness of the plot mechanics, the deaths more than hit home within the broadcasted hour. There’s the obvious gut-punch surprise of not killing one, but two major characters, and Glenn’s braining plays out as grotesquely as it does in the comic. It’s hard to get caught up in the narrative cheating when so much unease is on display. The brutal murders of Abraham and Glenn may not make last season’s trolling completely forgivable, but they at least start the current season off on a strong note.

And besides, the majority of “The Day Will Come When You Won’t Be” has as much (if not more) to do with Rick than either of Negan’s victims. That title could refer to the physical loss of two major characters, but it likely refers to the breaking of the show’s protagonist. Sensing that the elder Grimes wants swift revenge for what’s just happened, Negan hauls him into the RV and sends him through a zombie gauntlet. His mission? To retrieve the ax hanging from the belt of Negan’s former righthand man — the poor soul still hanging from the overpass.

In addition to being an effectively taut action sequence (the walkers look scarier than they have in a while when lunging out of the morning mist), it cements the dynamics of Rick and Negan’s soon-to-be complex relationship. These are men who are both tough leaders; men who have done many questionable things all in the name of helping their followers. Negan may be the more sadistic and psychotic of the two, but Jeffrey Dean Morgan’s been correct in pointing out several times that they share many of the same qualities. There’s both an admiration and an animosity towards Rick during their conversations.

That’s why he doesn’t outright kill him. He even helps Rick out with the ax retrieval by gunning down several of the zombies that are closing in. It’s clear he has far bigger things in mind for the head of the Ricktatorship. Once they return to the others, he orders him to hack off his son’s arm with the ax, or else everyone (including Carl) dies.

I’m sure I’m not the only viewer who thought Negan was actually going to make Rick go through with it, despite his aversion (for the most part) towards child abuse in the comic. And maybe he would have if he hadn’t sensed the fright and vulnerability in Rick’s voice. That’s a Rick we haven’t seen in quite some time now: the sniveling, pleading human being who’s been lurking under the hardened exterior. That’s exactly the look Negan wanted to see. It’s a commanding performance from Andrew Lincoln, who restores some of the desperate glassiness to Rick’s eyes as he thinks about all the harm he’s inadvertently caused to everyone.

And that’s what’s at the core of the premiere. As Rick’s party is abandoned in the gravel — left to bury their dead and tend to The Saviors’ orders from here on out — there’s a strong sense of figuring out how to pick up the pieces. How do they proceed when Rick’s reverted to such a fragile state? How will they satisfy the inevitable thirst for revenge from people like Maggie, who, even in her physically ill state, wants to hunt down The Saviors? Those questions, along with the seemingly impossible task to rebuild after the grueling ordeal, are all far more interesting than the mystery surrounding Negan’s victim(s). “The Walking Dead” may have committed the cardinal sin of trolling, but it’s exciting to see the series move past it into more emotionally complex territory.

The post The Walking Dead Recap: Lots of Things Break In the Season 7 Premiere appeared first on CBR.com.

Dan Caffrey
via Comic Book Resources

The Walking Dead Delivers Brutal Answer to Negan Cliffhanger

SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for tonight’s Season Seven premiere of AMC’s “The Walking Dead.” Proceed at your own risk.

Fans have been waiting on pins and needles since April to find out who Negan killed shortly after his intense introduction on “The Walking Dead.” Now, we have our answer — and none of our theories was right. That’s because Negan doesn’t kill one character, but two.

In the Season Seven premiere, he first bashes in the brains of Abraham with his barbed wire wrapped bat Lucille; it’s Abraham who the point-of-view shot belongs to in in the Season Six finale, “Last Day On Earth.”

Soon after, Daryl strikes Negan, prompting him to double down and claim a second victim: Glenn. His death is a good deal more grisly than Abraham’s, closely following how it was depicted in the comic book. The bat comes down, blood flows, an eye bulges out. Then Glenn — most likely brain-damaged — sputters and pleads before Negan strikes again. And again. And again.

So yeah, that’s that. For all of our issues with the Season Six cliffhanger, that’s one hell of a surprise, and one hell of a payoff. Stay tuned for our further thoughts later tonight in our full recap.

The post The Walking Dead Delivers Brutal Answer to Negan Cliffhanger appeared first on CBR.com.

Dan Caffrey
via Comic Book Resources

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The Walking Dead #155 - Robert Kirkman & Charlie Adlard

The Walking Dead #155
Robert Kirkman & Charlie Adlard
Genre: Graphic Novels
Price: $0.99
Publish Date: June 1, 2016
Publisher: Image Comics
Seller: Image Comics, Inc.

“THE TIP OF THE SPEAR”. Negan begins to formulate a plan with the whisperers. Operating through fear and admiration. 

get it now at https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/the-walking-dead-155/id1116249181?mt=11&uo=2&partnerId=11&at=1010ldoE

Was Gwen Stacy Awake When She Died?

In Abandoned an’ Forsaked, we examine comic book stories and ideas that were not only abandoned, but also had the stories/plots specifically “overturned” by a later writer (as if they were a legal precedent).

Today, reader Gerald M. wanted me to address a major retcon that popped up in a recent Marvel comic book, but the interesting thing is that the retcon is not as new as you might think. So let’s look into whether Gwen Stacy was awake when she died.

First off, here is the famous death of Gwen Stacy from “Amazing Spider-Man” #121 by Gerry Conway, Gil Kane, John Romita and John Tartaglione…

It sure SEEMS like she’s unconscious, right? In fact, that played a major role in Roy Thomas initially determining that her cause of death had to be her neck snapping, since if she was unconscious, she couldn’t very well die of shock — and everyone agreed that she was unconscious.

One of the first comics to go into a lot of detail about Gwen’s death was 1999’s “Webspinners: Tales of Spider-Man” #12 by Paul Jenkins, JG Jones and Jimmy Palmiotti, and in that look at her death, she’s more plainly unconscious…

webspinners12a

webspinners12b

webspinners12c

However, in a little-remembered retcon in “Amazing Spider-Man” #500 (by J.Michael Straczynski, John Romita Jr. and Scott Hanna), Spider-Man re-visits scenes from his past and in his trip to the Death of Gwen Stacy, she’s not just awake, she even shouts HELP!

asm500

In fact, I don’t believe that there has been an in-depth exploration of Gwen’s death SINCE that point (Paul Jenkins did another one in “Peter Parker: Spider-Man” #50, but that predated “Amazing Spider-Man” #500). Some quick cuts of it, but not as in-depth as “Amazing Spider-Man” #500. Therefore, when the back-up story in “The Clone Conspiracy” #1 came out the other week by Dan Slott, Ron Frenz, John Dell and Edgar Delgado, it wasn’t necessarily retconning all that much with its revelation that Gwen WAS awake when she died, so she died pissed off at Peter for betraying her…

clone1

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That’s some rough stuff. What’s fascinating to me is how much Slott’s new story fits in with the original. She really ISN’T clearly unconscious in “Amazing Spider-Man” #121. However, there was still at least ONE retcon involved in “Amazing Spider-Man” #500, so this still fits the bill as a spotlight on a notable retcon.

Thanks for the suggestion, Gerald! If anyone else has one for a future column, just drop me a line at brianc@cbr.com!

The post Was Gwen Stacy Awake When She Died? appeared first on CBR.com.

Brian Cronin
via Comic Book Resources

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The Tea Party Begins in Latest Gotham Promo

Jim Gordon likely wishes he’d never been invited to this tea party in a new promo for Monday’s episode of “Gotham.”

In the tense teaser for “Follow the White Rabbit,” we see Dumfree Tweed and Deever Tweed abduct Valerie Vale at gunpoint, presumably to attend the Mad Hatter’s “party” alongside Lee Thompkins. Judging from Jervis Tetsch’s greeting — “Welcome to our tea party, James; we’ve been expecting you” — the table has been set to force Gordon to make an impossible choice.

More interesting, perhaps, is the Mad Hatter’s taunt, “Deep down, you always knew the truth: You’re a villain!” It undoubtedly plays into one of the major themes of “Gotham’s” third-season storyline, “Mad City”: the “long, long” fall of Jim Gordon.

Mad Hatter sets his eyes on his next victims, forcing Jim Gordon to make some tough decisions. Meanwhile, Penguin and Nygma’s relationship evolves, and a familiar face comes back into Nygma’s life in the all-new “Mad City: Follow the White Rabbit” episode of “Gotham.”

Airing Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Fox, “Gotham” stars David Mazouz as Ben McKenzie as Jim Gordon, Donal Logue as Harvey Bullock, Sean Pertwee as Alfred Pennyworth, Robin Lord Taylor as Oswald Cobblepot, Cory Michael Smith as Edward Nygma, David Mazouz as Bruce Wayne, Camren Bicondova as Selina Kyle, Jada Pinkett Smith as Fish Mooney, Morena Baccarin as Leslie Thompkins, Jamie Chung as Valerie Vale and Benedict Samuel as the Mad Hatter.

The post The Tea Party Begins in Latest Gotham Promo appeared first on CBR.com.

Kevin Melrose
via Comic Book Resources

Lynda Carter Takes Charge in New Supergirl Clip

Lynda Carter debuts as President Olivia Marsdin in this sneak peek at Monday’s episode of “Supergirl.”

In the scene, the president tours the DEO, discussing with Hank Henshaw her new vision for the agency in the aftermath of her Alien Amnesty Act. It’s a vision the Martian Manhunter doesn’t exactly share. “There are aliens out there, killers who wouldn’t understand the very concept of the rights you’re offering,” he says, “evil creatures who could take advantage of your good will.”

Carter, who’s beloved for her role as Wonder Woman in the 1970s television series, revealed she modeled Marsdin on Hillary Clinton, whom she’s known since 1983.

“I know who she is because I’ve seen her in all kinds of situations – I spent quite a bit of time with her during the whole impeachment and [saw] how she handled herself with grace,” Carter told USA Today. “When she’s working, she’s got her first-class brain going, and the difference between her and most other politicians is it’s not just her own voice she likes, she listens. That’s what I tried to convey in what an effective president would be: warm and passionate.”

Unfortunately for fans of Carter, she’s so far only been cast on Monday’s episode, “Welcome to Earth,” which features an attack against her character as the debate over alien vs. human rights heats up in National City. Supergirl and the DEO are assigned to protect the president and find the culprit, whom Kara fears may be the recently escaped Mon-El.

Airing Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW, “Supergirl” stars Melissa Benoist, Mehcad Brooks, David Harewood, Chyler Leigh and Jeremy Jordan. In addition to Carter, “Welcome to Earth” also features guest stars Sharon Leal, Floriana Lima and Chris Wood.

The post Lynda Carter Takes Charge in New Supergirl Clip appeared first on CBR.com.

Kevin Melrose
via Comic Book Resources

Dad Turns Son’s Wheelchair Into Ghostbusters Ecto-1 For Halloween

Last Halloween, Jeremy Miller took on the forces of the Galactic Empire in the incredible “Star Wars” snowspeeder costume his father created for his wheelchair. This year … well, let’s just say the 9-year-old won’t be afraid of no ghosts as he goes trick-or-treating.

After putting this year’s costume up for a vote by friends, Jeremy’s dad Ryan Scott Miller actually topped the snowspeeder by transforming his son’s wheelchair into the Ecto-1 from “Ghostbusters.”

Using Funko’s Pop! vinyl Ecto-1 as a model, Miller built an impressive replica of the iconic vehicle, complete with working headlights, tail lights and siren. The rack includes yellow and green canisters, a ladder, a siren light, and two speakers — one for the Ghostbusters siren and the other for the theme music.

“I think we nailed it!” Miller wrote. Indeed they did. He’s shared plenty of photos of the Ecto-1, so you can check out the details.

The Ecto-1 is only the latest in a line of amazing costumes created by Miller for Jeremy’s wheelchair, including a pirate ship, the Batmobile, Captain America’s motorcycle and, of course, the aforementioned “Star Wars” snowspeeder.