Comic and Movie Bitrot for 14 February 2024 - Valentine's Day + Superb Owl & Fantastic Casting?
We Read The Comics and Movie News So You Don't Have To
Welcome back to a Valentine’s Day edition of Comic And Movie Bitrot. As a reminder, you can find much of this on Blogger. You can follow Zachary on Bluesky, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and his website. Love is in the air here at Comic and Movie Bitrot. I guess the big news this past week was Taylor Swift went to a football game, and some people watched. Oh, and her current boyfriend’s team won the game. Worse, as this was being written, a mass shooting happened at their victory parade in Kansas City. This is why we can’t have nice things. Also, the former POTUS requested the SCOTUS confirm that he is above the law. And he essentially told Russia it was OK to invade NATO countries. So, everything is going to shit. Maybe the comic books will be better? We’ve got seven titles reviewed this week. As always, titles are scored on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the best.
The Cull - Issue 5
Image Comics
Review by The Wife
The end? I certainly hope not. Kelly Thompson drafts wonderfully creative stories. Yet, she keeps on getting canceled. I find it extremely frustrating. So I really do hope this series continues. Cleo finally comes into her own...and shows survivors are stronger for what they go through. But it doesn't end there. There is a Twilight Zone twist at the end. Fantastic.
Score: 8 out of 10
The Sensational She-Hulk - Issue 5
Marvel Comics
Review by Zachary Hunchar
Most of this issue takes place in a nightclub, which is fun. She-Hulk is partying with Hellcat and Captain Marvel, and they end up fighting an invading horde of demons. The fighting is pretty dumb, but that’s not what this is about. It’s about who shows up to help them and boyfriends/ex-boyfriends in general. Somewhere in there, Carol invites Jen to rejoin the Avengers. Honestly, I thought she was already there. But, whatever. That’s not what this is really about. It is fun in a low-stakes sort of way. This new volume is a bit uneven but generally enjoyable. The art is decent. The covers are great.
Score: 7 out of 10
Fantastic Four - Issue 17
Marvel Comics
Review by Zachary Hunchar
Hot on the heels of the casting of the MCU movie (see below for more) comes an interesting issue of this series. I can’t say I enjoyed it when it started, but it is growing on me because of the little character moments. The villain, Rama-Tut, is fairly dull, and his plan isn’t great. And how they deal with it is magic-as-science, which I suppose is a thing. What I like about this series is that they go ALL-IN on the family and the science stuff. Particularly, Sue is a formidable scientist in her own right, and though overshadowed by Reed, she still is pretty awesome. There were two things she did/explained that added some great ideas. One was a forensics thing with her invisibility, which was fun. The other, though, tied the whole family thing together perfectly. It was about all of them learning braille because of Alicia and how she uses it to communicate with her shield. Inspired. The art is very good, and the cover is excellent.
Score: 8 out of 10
Dark Spaces: Dungeon - Issue 3
IDW Publishing
Review by Zachary Hunchar
This comic disturbs me. I don’t know why I keep reading it beyond my fascination with the writing. It’s well-written in a sense. There is a clear story and there are enough things about it that are unique that make it stand out. It’s just that I find the topic awful, and then writer Scott Snyder doubles down. I enjoy horror, but I am turned off by intentional cruelty by humans. So, that theme is omnipresent. On the other hand, I like horror, where the humans stand a chance against the villain, and they do here. There is some decent detective work, even if the characters are extremely flawed. Also, I wonder if the villain is actually the father who is working with the detective. Random thought. I don’t really care for the art, either, even though it does a decent job of telling the story. All of that being said, this is still a well-crafted book.
Score: 7 out of 10
The One Hand - Issue 1
Image Comics
Review by Zachary Hunchar
This is a very familiar story, just set in a time when I assumed humanity would no longer exist. Things aren’t all that different. Except that brothels are now staffed by robots. The story is about a copy the day he retires, getting pulled back into one of the big cases that he thought was closed. There is a motif to this story: hands. Fingerprints. Robot hands. It’s right there in the title. And the story is fine. There’s little to like about the protagonist, beyond he’s retiring from policing and he’s into robots. This book probably collects better than being read individually. The art is fine but it’s hard to tell what’s happening at points.
Score: 6 out of 10
Captain America - Issue 6
Marvel Comics
Review by Zachary Hunchar
Though still enjoyable, I think this first arc lost a bit of steam by the end. And mostly, it was because… well, it’s hard to explain. 1930s Steve still has the more compelling story, even if it sort of feels like they’ve made him a superhero then. The interweaving of historical stuff is quite enjoyable, but it is jarring to see some of the things he did. Like, for as sickly as he's supposed to be, he gets in a lot of trouble. It’s perfect for the character, but it seems like a stretch. Yes, I know, this is superheroes and supernatural stuff, but it feels a bit off. The modern stuff is fine, even if the resolution felt rushed and the build-up was sudden. Regardless, Steve’s characterization is fantastic, and I believe he would try to do this when he was a kid. I just doubt his level of success. The commentary on modern intolerance is spot on. And this book looks fantastic.
Score: 8 out of 10
Ultimate Black Panther - Issue 1
Marvel Comics
Review by Zachary Hunchar
There’s a little recap in the book about what happened. I read the Hickman mini-series setting this up but I’ll confess I’m a little unclear how we got to this point. Some of it is explained in Ultimate Spider-Man, but there are some here that helped out. Otherwise, it was fine. There are lots of familiar faces in roles that are different but the story made sense. The biggest question is: what is the point of all of this? This feels like a strange experiment by The Maker, but is this a temporary event, or is the 1610 coming back? And does it even matter if it isn’t Brian Michael Bendis on Spider-Man? The art and cover are solid.
Score: 7.5 out of 10
In the big comic book movie news, Marvel Films confirmed the casting of the upcoming Fantastic Four film. I say confirmed, as the rumors had been out there for a while. Other information had been dropped at the MCU at the same time. From The Hollywood Reporter:
The superhero quartet — the first characters created for Marvel Comics by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby — will be played by Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards (aka Mr. Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm (aka the Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm (aka the Human Torch) and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm (aka the Thing).
As part of the casting announcement, Disney has swapped the release dates of “The Fantastic Four” (now set for July 25, 2025) and “Thunderbolts” (now set for May 2, 2025). Those are two of four Marvel tentpoles currently set to open in 2025, along with “Captain America: Brave New World” in February and “Blade” in November. Four Marvel films are also scheduled for 2026, including “Avengers: The Kang Dynasty.” That’s a ramp up from 2024: Marvel only has “Deadpool & Wolverine” for theaters, on July 26.
There was even a cute Valentine's Card sort of image they put out.
The story, really, is the casting. The choices swerve from interesting to spot-on to alright. The one I like most is Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm. Quinn has mad charisma, even if he’s as chiseled as Chris Evans or Michael B. Jordan. It’s a cool choice for someone who is more charming than beefy. And Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm is fun as The Thing is one of the three highest-profile Jews in the Marvel Universe, and Moss-Bachrach is Jewish. So, mazel tov!
Vanessa Kirby is all right for Sue Storm. I‘m assuming they’re going to be leaning into the big science of things, so it’s not just invisibility and forcefields but being smart. Which gets us to Pedro Pascal. He’s probably the best actor to play Reed Richards (all offense to Miles Teller) and one of the best Latinos in the MCU, which includes Oscar Issacs and Salma Hayek. I’m sure some will be put off by him being Latino, but who gives a shit about them?
This film can’t come soon enough for Marvel Films. Several factors contribute to their current malaise. A prominent one is their giant Avengers-sized hole. Sure, many are still around, but nothing has been the same since Endgame. But at the same time, what can compete with Thanos and the Infinity Saga? That was much of the first three phases. The Fantastic Four should fill in some of that space.
Also, losing Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr. was hard for the MCU, but I think nothing crippled it like losing Chadwick Boseman. It seemed like he was going to be the center of the MCU (along with Spider-Man, who they can borrow), and his sudden passing seemed to create a cascading effect. I think Pascal will slide into that space and create a new anchor.
I hope.