In Search for that MPLS Sound…

After reading this graphic novel, however, I have to revisit Purple Rain. Both works examine how tough it is to become respected in the music industry. The fictional characters introduced in this book felt very real.

MPLS Sound - Softcover TradeBy Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Life Drawn Publishing

Available to order on Amazon USA

Spoiler Alert

Some graphic novels can benefit from having that MPLS Sound if pressing those cheap plastic vinyl records is possible. This book could have been brought up a notch had it included a soundtrack too, as an insert or digital code, so readers can benefit from listening to the music that defined that Minneapolis style.

In this book’s case by Joseph P. Illidge & Hannibal Tabu, it’s about why Starchild aka Theresa Booker became a musician. she fell in love with the music that not only Jimi Hendrix made famous but also Prince. It’s also an indirect look at who the musician Prince is and what he represents. Not everyone knows his origin story, and Theresa’s tale is supposed to represent his struggles as a musician. After reading this illustrated work, however, I have to revisit Purple Rain. Both works examine how tough it is to become respected in the music industry. The fictional characters introduced in this book felt very real.

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Godzilla and Kong in Print; The Clash of the Prequels

If I had to choose between which of the two books as the clear winner, my money is on Kong this time. Sorry, Godzilla.

gvk-godzilla-dominion-9781681160788_lg
Available to order on Amazon USA

Legendary Comics
Release Date:
April 6, 2021

Godzilla vs Kong is a tale of two titans that one movie cannot fulfill alone. The previous films show how terrifying they are separate, and these beasts will clash. It’s been foretold! We’ve seen this in King of the Monsters, in a very short act where Dr. Ishirō Serizawa and his pilot found an Atlantean-like ruin depicting a time where the titans ran amok, and the humans back then disappeared. 

The graphic novels Godzilla: Dominion and Kingdom Kong add a layer of lore. Both of the works serve as a prequel to the showdown coming to select cinemas and HBO Max. It’s amazing that Godzilla faced many creatures in the past, but yet they don’t hold a candle to the mightiest ape. 

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Freiheit! The White Rose Remembered! A Graphic Novel Review

As historians all know, the Gestapo caught and executed Sophie Scholl, her brother Hans, Christoph Probst, Alexander Schmorell and Willi Graf because they spoke out. This graphic novel remembers them as heroes and gives us a reproduction of those letters that were distributed so we can understand what their goals were. 

Image result for Freiheit!: The White Rose
Available to order on Amazon USA

PLOUGH PUBLISHING HOUSE
Released February 16, 2021

Resistance is not futile, and a group of students in Germany do not believe the Reich is right. They formed the White Rose, a group of non-violent intellectuals, to change public opinion about who is best to govern this country. Their goal was to say we don’t have to follow the status quo, and the leaflets they handed out quoted many historical figures, whether they be philosophers or writers, to present how to move forward.

By using the words of the past, these young adults hoped to spur a better future for Germany.

Anyone who’s studied German History knows their fate, and this work by Andrea Grosso Ciponte shows the origin of how this opposition started. I’m blown away by the artwork because the presentation is like watching a piece of old cinema. It truly puts readers into this old world, the problems these kids faced (it was black and white), and the terror which wasn’t of their design!

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Lotsa Products Coming for Godzilla vs Kong, Leading Up to & After!

Godzilla vs Kong - GodzillaKaiju-Pow! The slow and steady rollout of Playmates line of Godzilla vs Kong toys have wave two set for Spring 2021 (according to Twitter) and as for whether I spotted them sitting on shelves too early is debatable.

Trolls on online forums will be just that, ruining my excitement of a late self discovery. I’ve seen the earlier wave of releases and they’re not as cool, When local governments say stay at home as much as possible, any find I make at a big box store for toys and household supply restocking is not meant to time with the release schedule of products for my hobbies.

With the movie finally headed to theatres and online in March, the products now available in stores are always exciting to examine. I missed my opportunities to purchase the light up Identity Discs from TRON Legacy. they were gone, faster than I thought, but this time I’m on the ball.

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The “SCOOP” Isn’t Just With UFOs When Sophie Cooper is Involved…

The Everglades holds more than one mystery and with Richard Ashley Hamilton’s graphic novel series, SCOOP, the plan is to see who can find how it all connects!

Scoop, Vol. 1Insight Editions

Book One is now available and Book Two is scheduled for release Feb 23, 2021 (Available to preorder on Amazon USA)

Sophie Cooper is the next Nancy Drew! Or should that be Lois Lane? Whichever comparison is best, her adventures in SCOOP puts her into dangers that no average television reporter or news journalist would dare face! She hasn’t even earned her wings yet; as an intern, nobody considered that sending her to the archive room to do mundane tasks would lead her to encounters with the paranormal.

This graphic novel series by Richard A. Hamilton also includes aliens and other weirdness. There’s no definitive genre it fits under, as this writer is best known for his fantasy works for DreamWorks/Dark Horse Comics. He authored many supporting novellas for the How to Train Your Dragon and Trollhunters world. I was hooked years ago, as his prose is easy to follow.

This talent also loves his UFO lore, and it shows in this original work. He takes readers to the Florida Everglades and delves into the mysteries hidden there. She is a lot more motivated than anyone else at WMIA 7, a Miami television news station. She will pursue leads to which others won’t, and a lot of the cases she’s on points to a firm connected to all the strangeness going on in Miami.

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Dracula’s Legendary Comics Life is Classic

Most readers know the origins and this adaptation offers enough material to recount that history, say the blood is life and make the vampire omnipresent. To have snippets of Stoker’s novel in this book in the dialogue and narrative is simply tops.

Bela Lugosi to Star in 'Bram Stoker's DRACULA' Graphic Novel from Legendary Comics – Jimmy Star's World
Available to pre-order on Amazon USADracula

By Ed Sum
|(The Vintage Tempest)

Release Date: Nov 3, 2020

By Hunter’s Moon, ask any cineaste who the best actor was to play Dracula, it’s reasonably safe to say Bela Lugosi tops the list. He’s appeared in the classic film that started it all and also the horror-comedy Abbott and Costello Meets Frankenstein that cemented his status. To this day, I still get goosebumps. I remember my babysitter letting me watch that film and his entrance. As a seven-year-old, I ran screaming from his home back to mine! Somehow, all that helped kindle my interest in the supernatural and horror. Learning how genre movies were made decades ago helped lessen the scars.

Legendary Comics graphic novel release of Bram Stoker’s Dracula (starring Bela Lugosi) shows Halloween won’t be over. He’s on the prowl, and this publication faithfully adapts the seminal book, brings some of that cinematic prowess from Francis Ford Coppola‘s adaptation, and bridges all those letters, journals and recordings into a solid tale where you don’t notice it’s being told from multiple perspectives. Robert Napton made the transitions between these products unnoticeable.

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