It’s been a wonderful four-year journey, Brellies. But all good things must come to an end, and we’ll be tearfully saying goodbye to the Hargreeves family when the fourth and final season of The Umbrella Academy hits. And today we have the official date for the final chapter of the weirdest and most wonderful superhero series on Netflix!
Continue reading “The End is Near in the Final Season of ‘The Umbrella Academy’”
The new comic book series White Savior is an adventure story which parodies a certain kind of adventure story. Written by Eric Nguyen and Scott Burman, with art by Nguyen, the first and second issues of the limited series from Dark Horse are available now.
Continue reading “‘White Savior’ Comic Spoofs a Familiar Asian American Movie Problem”
In 2023, the world will meet Iyanu! Based on the acclaimed Dark Horse graphic novel, Iyanu: Child of Wonder, HBO Max is teaming with Lion Forge Animation to bring the world its first Nigerian/Yoruban inspired animated fantasy epic series. And The Nerds of Color was able to get an exclusive look with creators, David Steward II and Saxton Moore.
Continue reading “Uncovering the Secrets of Yorubaland with the Creators of ‘Iyanu’”
All good things must come to an end. And with the joyous news that The Umbrella Academy has been renewed for a fourth season, comes that sad news that this will be the final adventure for the Hargreeves children.
Continue reading “‘The Umbrella Academy’ is Back for One Final Season”
The Hargreeves are back! And this season of The Umbrella Academy, they have some pretty stiff competition in the form of The Sparrow Academy! You may remember at the end of Season 2, after saving the world from yet another apocalypse, the family and Number 5 teleported themselves back into the present. Only now, due to the changes they’ve made to history, it was a completely different present than the one they are used to. They created an alternate timeline! Let the expletives fly!
Continue reading “The Cast of ‘The Umbrella Academy’ Discuss Kugelblitzes and Season 3”
We are delighted to welcome Abubakr Ali on the podcast, who will be playing the titular role in Netflix’s Grendel, making him the FIRST Arab and Muslim actor to headline a comic adaptation in TV/Film! We discuss what got him into acting, his career so far, what his favorite superhero and other media are, and much more. Enjoy the conversation!
Continue reading “The Middle Geeks Interview: Abubakr Ali of Netflix’s ‘Grendel’”
Middle East and North African (MENA) and Muslim people have had scant options when it comes to the superhero genre or comic book adaptations generally. Arab and Persian people in particular have most often been vilified in popular media through the decades. But this is thankfully starting to change, such as with the Tarazi siblings on DC’s Legends of Tomorrow for Persian people, but perhaps now for Arab people with the news from Deadline that Netflix is developing a Grendel series, based on Matt Wagner’s comic series of the same name, and has cast The CW’s Katy Keene star and Abubakr Ali in the starring role!
Continue reading “Abubakr Ali Cast as Titular Anti-Hero for Netflix’s ‘Grendel’”
Despite my exhaustive efforts, The Umbrella Academy has not yet returned my calls, emails, tweets, OR messages to join them as a mediocre writer with the ability to comma splice my enemies to death. For what it’s worth, I don’t think they’ll need much help next season considering the four Emmy nods they just received for their immaculate work in season two.
Continue reading “Second Season of ‘The Umbrella Academy’ Snags Four Emmy Nominations”
Every single time there is a “best of” list of comics and graphic novels, it’s almost inevitable that most of these lists are going to look a little similar. You’re going to see Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns on there, Moore and Gibbons Watchmen; (very deserving of a spot in the top 20) Grant Morrison and Dave McKean’s Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth. In writing this, I reviewed fifteen lists and this plays out, with some new additions like Robert Kirkman’s Invincible and Brian K. Vaughan’s Ex Machina; and the more seemingly odder choices like, say, Brian Lee O’Malley’s Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. And at some point, we’re going to have to talk about why there are so many damn men dominating these lists.
Continue reading “In Praise of ‘ElfQuest’”
SYFY’s comedy-drama series Resident Alien has been a hit with fans of the graphic novel, and newcomers to the series as well, sitting pretty on Rotten Tomatoes at 93% as of writing this. Corey Reynolds (Selma, Straight Outta Compton), who plays Sheriff Mike Thompson in the series, said that the personalities of fellow castmates Alan Tudyk (Devil May Care and Raya and the Last Dragon) and Sara Tomko (3022 and Sneaky Pete), and series creator Chris Sheridan (Family Guy), are what most likely led to its positive reception.
Continue reading “NOC Interview: ‘Selma’ Star Corey Reynolds Talks SYFY’s ‘Resident Alien’ and More”
Daniel Dae Kim has been a busy man.
Since 2004, Kim has been a fixed entity on our television screens through ABC’s mystery series LOST and CBS’s Hawaii Five-0. Since leaving Five-0, Kim has been working nonstop on acting and being an executive producer.
Continue reading “Daniel Dae Kim on ‘Hellboy,’ Asian Superheroes, and Rom-Coms”
Just in time for the release of DC Comics’ New Super-Man #2, check out our conversation with Gene Luen Yang, recorded live from the floor of San Diego Comic-Con 2016!
Continue reading “Hard NOC Live from SDCC 2016: Gene Luen Yang”
Today, August 1, is the final order cut-off date for comic shops to order Kingsway West, the new creator-owned series by Greg Pak and Mirko Colak. The Dark Horse book officially hits stores on August 24, but the more retailers order the book, the better chances you’ll be able to secure your own copy — and ensure more books like this get made.
Continue reading “Today is the Last Day to Pre-Order Greg Pak’s Kingsway West #1″
I can only talk about the second volume of Concrete Park, “R–E-S-P-E-C-T,” in relation to music. I wanted to use other graphic novels or films as benchmarks, but I’d be talking more about the evolution to make the book, the shift in materials and not the meta-shift I want to capture here. While I enjoy what GeekCulture has to offer, it doesn’t transform me the way that music does. There has yet to be a geek-influenced film, comic, graphic novel, or anything else that has affected me the way Bad Brain’s 1983 life defining album Rock For Light did.
Well, that is until now.
Continue reading “Concrete Park Vol. 2: R-E-S-P-E-C-T: Another Huge Endorsement”
I had the pleasure of meeting two-thirds of the Concrete Park creative team at the Black Comix Arts Festival (BCAF) in January 2015. Not only were Tony Puryear (ill on the keyboard and with the pen) and Erika Alexander (Hollywood demigoddess) beautiful and amazing beyond all possible measure, their property was absolutely insane. There are very few things I want to teach in my classes, but Concrete Park Vol.1 You Send Me is a book I am rearranging my fall syllabus to include. It was my favorite thing (and I bought a whole lot of stuff) I picked up at BCAF. Did I mention that their property is off-the-rails crazy?
Continue reading “Concrete Park Vol.1: You Send Me — A Huge Endorsement”
If I had only one sentence with which to review Toshiro, a new original graphic novel from Dark Horse hitting store shelves this Wednesday, it would be this: Buy it the day it drops. If I had another: Wait in line if you must.
This isn’t hyperbole. Toshiro — written by Jai Nitz with art by Janusz Pawlak — is the reason I read comics.
Originally posted at BadAzz MoFo
I’m starting to feel like I’m going crazy — as if there is something seriously wrong with me — when the sad truth of the matter is that it is not me at all. It is you. And by “you” I don’t necessarily mean you, the person reading this, but I do mean someone other than myself — the crazy person running around pointing out the truth that You (though not necessarily you) don’t want to face. And the truth that I’m talking about is the simple fact that for all the complaining about the lack of diversity in comics — specifically as it relates to black creators — You don’t really want diversity. Instead, You want to sit around, writing blog posts and articles and leaving comments here and there about how few black creators are working in comics, and how You are so righteously indignant to the plight of struggling black creators who aren’t being given a chance to work for major corporations like Marvel (owned by Disney) and DC (owned by Warner Brothers).
Continue reading “Does Anyone REALLY Care About Diversity in Comics?”
The other day, one of our favorite websites, Bleeding Cool, posted a column by Devon Sanders bemoaning the lack of black writers in comics — or more precisely at the Big Two (i.e., DC and Marvel) as well as the mid-major publishers like Dark Horse and Boom. Since its publication, the article has been making its way around the comics blogosphere and message boards sparking some much-needed conversation about the lack of diversity in comics.
The question posed is focused primarily on the lack of black comics writers, and not artists such as Shawn Martinbrough, Jamal Igle, Kyle Baker, or Rob Guillory whose mainstream comics work have all developed quite a following. In the article, Sanders says:
This is the writer’s name, the one you see above everyone else’s and when you count black writers actively working for Marvel, DC, Image, Dark Horse, etc. it comes down to less than the number of digits on Nightcrawler’s hand.
Now while the thesis of the article is the lack of black writers at the big publishers, the column’s title posited the question “Where are the New Black Comics Writers?” The answer to that particular question would be to look beyond the Big Two. Just ask our own Brandon Easton who recently received an Eisner nom for his work on the spectacular Watson and Holmes.
How do the best comedians and cartoonists do what they do? Check out our new twice-weekly collaboration with Natalie Kim to find out!
Today Natalie had the privilege to sit and draw with renowned Scottish cartoonist Simon Fraser. They talk about how Simon learned to draw so well and about why you should not read his upcoming project Grindhouse, a collaboration with writer Alex de Campi coming from Dark Horse.
Check out the episode after the jump!
Continue reading “It’s a Draw with Natalie Kim and Simon Fraser”
It seems like every day I read something, somewhere, about the lack of diversity in comics (not to mention various other pop culture mediums). Sometimes these pieces focus on gender, other times on people of color, and sometimes both. At the recent Image Expo, sixteen comic creators took the stage, with only two being women, and none being of color, and in the aftermath we are once again having this conversation. (Read about it here on Bleeding Cool.) To be absolutely clear, this lack of representation in the creative forces that produce comics is problematic. There needs to be greater diversity on many levels when it comes to comics, both on the creative side, and within the stories that are being produced. But that is only one problem, and not the problem I want to address.
Continue reading “The Lack of Diversity in Comics: What’re You Doing About It?”
The penultimate issue of Justin Aclin and Nicolas Selma’s Dark Horse mini-series S.H.O.O.T. First is in comic shops across the country today. If you haven’t already, we suggest you stop by your local shop and pick up issues #1 and #2 because this is one of the best books on the racks today. Justin has been a great friend to the Nerds of Color during our short existence. Check out Keith’s thoughts on the first issue in the series and after the jump, watch the special episode of Hard NOC Life in which Keith and Justin have a one-on-one conversation about … Continue reading Wednesday Comics Flashback: S.H.O.O.T. First
Justin Aclin (@justinaclin), the writer and creator of Dark Horse Comics’ S.H.O.O.T. First, joins Keith (@the_real_chow) for a special one-on-one interview to talk about one of the most fun, provocative, and diverse comics on the stands today.
Continue reading “S.H.O.O.T. First, Ask Justin Aclin Questions”
No not the influential punk band from the 80s — or even the Frank Ocean song, for that matter. Instead, the next big thing from Dark Horse Comics is a book about a covert team of agents that battle the seemingly supernatural forces bent on destroying our world. All the team has to cancel the apocalypse are weapons fueled only by their non-belief. That’s right, in S.H.O.O.T. First, a team of super atheists battle angels and demons. Think Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. but with Bill Maher as Coulson and Richard Dawkins as Fury.
It’s also my favorite comic book on the stands right now.
Continue reading “Dark Horse’s S.H.O.O.T. First Takes On Bad Religion”
