I have been rejected by Nevermore Academy and hopefully so have you. Together we can watch WEDNESDAY on Netflix on November 23rd, 2022 and Forever more.
White Label Expo THC and CBD Expo
Pop-Culture Spectrum went to the White Label event at Jacob Javits on September 28th and was very happily surprised to discover it to be 90% growers, distributors and edible like companies. Flower, drinks, gummies, taffy, anything from CBD to THC-P and in between. Just stuff that’ll make you feel good and relaxed from a variety of places offering their own style and creation available to sold/bought as is or in some cases White Labeled to put your own name on an already made product. I greatly enjoyed this event, made a few contacts and walked away with samples, product and info that I found very helpful. I also filmed footage and turned it into a little video. Pay special attention to the ending for a list of vendors and their websites.
POPEYE Variations now on KickStarter
October 4, 2022 — Clover Press and Yoe! Books have teamed up to create Popeye Variations: Not Yer Pappy’s Comics an’ Art Book, a 10″ x 10″ hardcover book featuring over 100 illustrations from 75 underground and mainstream artists and cartoonists with their own takes on the spinach-munching, bully-punching Popeye the Sailor Man. The project includes pin-ups from contributors such as Adventure Time storyboard artist Derek Ballard; The New Yorker’s Roz Chast; The Book of Life director and acclaimed painter Jorge Guiterrez; legendary comic artist Kelley Jones and Sam & Max creator Steve Purcell; as well as comic strips by cartoonist Jeffrey Brown (Darth Vader and Son); Cat Farris (The Ghoul Next Door); Eisner Award-winning artist Dean Haspiel (The Red Hook); Eisner Award-winning artist Erica Henderson (The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl); National Book Award finalist Shin Ying Khor (The Legend of Auntie Po); Eisner Award-winning cartoonist Liniers; Roger Langridge (The Muppets); The Humans’ creator Tom Neely, R. Sikoryak (Masterpiece Comics); writer Jeff Parker (Blighter); Sarah Winifred Searle (The Greatest Thing); legendary writer Scott Shaw; Usagi Yojimbo creator Stan Sakai and many more. With over 100 pages of Popeye art and comic strips, including new art, new comic strips and art by Bud Sagendorf from the original 1940s & 1950s Popeye comic books, this is a must- have for any fan and collector of the pop icon Sailor Man. The campaign allows fans to secure early copies of Popeye Variations, plus exclusive collectibles featuring art from the book, via Kickstarter. Popeye Variations campaign is now live on Kickstarter.
Popeye, the iconic, spinach-eating sailorman, is owned by King Features, a unit of Hearst and home to some of the world’s most popular entertainment characters. In Popeye’s early days, E.C. Segar often shared artwork drawn by fans at the end of the Thimble Theater comic strip. He called this “Popeye’s Cartoon Club,” and it gave ordinary readers a chance to share the page with Popeye. In 2019, in honor of Popeye’s 90th birthday, King Features brought Popeye’s Cartoon Club back with a special twist, inviting cartoonists from around the world to contribute their own comic strip featuring Popeye and his friends, which was digitally published on ComicsKingdom.com. Contributors included Kate Ashwin; Samir Barrett; Isabella Bannerman; Sandra Bell-Lundy; Olive Rae Brinker; Box Brown; Lar DeSouza; Jim Engel; Ryan Estrada; Andrew Farago; Jay P. Fosgitt; Shaenon K. Garrity; Maddi Gonzalez; Alex Hallett; John Hambrock; Micheline Hess; Bill Holbrook; Susan Camilleri Konar; John Kovaleski; Carol Lay; Bones Leopard; Steve Lieber; Kel McDonald; Randy Milholland; Lonnie Milsap; Yesenia Moises; Shan Murphy; Maritsa Patrinos; Woodrow Phoenix; Rina Piccolo; Justin Pierce; Caro Ramsay; David Reddick; Jules Rivera; John Rose and Sarah Rose; Magnolia Porter Siddell; Jim Siergey; Bob Spang; Vannotes; Marloes De Vries; Jean Wei; Bianca Xunise; Reimena Yee; Savannah Zambrano and more. Now, Popeye Variations makes the work of these artists available for the first time in print!
In 2012, IDW Publishing and Yoe! Books teamed up to re-present the classic Popeye comic book series that debuted in 1948 by Bud Sagendorf, the long-time assistant to creator E.C. Segar. Many of the variant covers of IDW’s comic book run are featured in this Popeye Variations art book, and several of the original variant cover comic books will be offered as special tiers on this campaign.
“We’re excited to publish this amazing collection of Popeye art, some seen in limited circles, but all deserving to be shared with Popeye fans around the world,” said publisher Hank Kanalz. “Craig Yoe and Robbie Robbins have curated and designed a beautiful hardcover that must not be missed.”
“This special book is packed with illustrated eye-candy that we know fans will adore,” said Christina Nix Lynch, licensing director at King Features. “But we are particularly thrilled that the prolific talent responsible for the Popeye’s Cartoon Club digital comics will have the opportunity to see their work live on through a new medium in this beautifully curated anthology.”
For updates, follow Clover Press on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook and Yoe! Books on Twitter and Facebook. Visit Kickstarter to find the title.
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TimeMelters and MORE in STEAM NEXT October 22
It’s coming this week, October 3rd- 10th. The Fall Steam Next Fest and they’ll be many many new demos, sales and maybe even games you had no idea about coming your way.
One demo you do NOT want to miss is TimeMelters. A third person action adventure played via mouse and keyboard (all the spell magic and aiming I don’t think would even work with a controller I feel or maybe that’ll come later). The graphics are a fun realistic yet cartoony style, the story not truly laid out but seemingly mythical ancient times, nothing super major, but it’s in the gameplay where things get different.
Via a mechanic of time shifts you essentially end up in a battle where you can use three versions of yourself. I am positive I have seen elements of this in other games. Clones who repeat your last actions or that you clone off of… but its one you rarely even use. In TimeMelters, if you don’t use the mechanic, along with teleportation, bring game objects to life to attack, or luring enemies to a specific space or holding them in place, you’re a goner. Even in STORY mode. I intentionally played Single player Story mode in this demo to get as much as I could experience and even then it was quite difficult. It could be cause I am a controller player unless doing a puzzle/adventure game or that the game has a lot of mechanics which take a learning curve and the demo tells you off the bat… no curve, this is a demo to show you everything so you know what this game is going to be. What the demo gives me even though I have not even beat it at press time is knowing this game is made for a player of my interests and maybe some of my readers too. The game even has a CO-OP mode which I don’t have much use for, but must make an intriguing which also involves strategy making it extra different and special.
In a totally other direction a new demo for McPixel 3 is out. You maybe played the demo before. Well, its updated. So check it again.
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A special advance look at Pop-Culture Spectrum’s NYCC interests!
It has been a long time since we’ve been to a convention at P-CS. Our last in person being at Twitchcon 2019 in San Diego. The world as it has been since 2019 put a damper on lots of plans. Three years later though we will be attending New York Comic Con on Thursday and Sunday. We are not official Press, so no advance press sessions, but that would not be our focus either way. Being away from a convention, especially a pop-culture convention of such ilk for so long has us clamoring for what conventions can be. Our experience at Meow Wolf’s Omega Mart had us wanting more of that. Seeing footage from San Diego Comic Con 2022 reminded us what can be done in spectacle in short time for temporary exhibits that are amazing enough to be permanent. NYCC 2022 will have plenty of that and here’s a look of that to START.
The CCG MARVEL SNAP booth is described as follows “an immersive booth that feels more like an action-packed movie set, with a battle-ravaged city “block” that plays like a realistic continuation of the game CG teaser trailer launched earlier this year. As fans line up to explore the space, learn about the game, and spot Easter Eggs from the Marvel Universe, they’ll eventually step inside the mysterious Marvel SNAP cube to engage in a fully sensory experience that can only be described as a phantasmagorical journey through the action of the game, surrounded by an infinity mirror of awesome.”
Cable network and IP owner Nickelodeon have always brought some AMAZING stuff to con, from a full on sewer exhibit for TMNT, or a Star Trek command deck in conjuction with Paramount. This year they’ll have a Bumblebee sculpture standing 16 feet tall to promote the newest Transformers project, a tower for the Monster High live action movie and two activations dedicated to Spongebob Squarepants.
Speaking of Paramount, they’ll have an immersive experience based on Teen Wolf: The Movie (based on the modern TV series, not the 80s comedy).
Prime Video is bringing what they are calling Forever Fab, a 3D print shop storefront inspired by the their upcoming series The Peripheral. The Peripheral is based upon a work of William Gibson, developed by Lisa Joy & Jonathan Nolan and originally adapted by novelist & Academy award nominated screenwriter Scott Smith.
As HBO Max’s DC TITANS enters season four the show expands with its own version of S.T.A.R. Labs and the streaming platform is bringing a version of the this set piece to the convention floor as an immersive experience.
The Batman family inspired Batwheels also gets a wild experience for kids and MAYBE adults, with a race track and photo opportunity.
Disney Parks is bringing something inspired by the queue area of Epcot’s Guardians of Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind ride known as the Wonders of Xandar Pavilion. I have no clue what they’ll have built it here, but I predict an outpost developed by Imagineers which may be unlike any experience ever at ANY convention.
Interactions and Activations aren’t the only we have here at Pop-Culture Spectrum though. Since amazing conventions like Book Expo and Book Con have ended with there being no outlook to them returning, publishing houses (most whom are based in NYC or the tri-state area) have turned to NYCC itself to create fan centric booths and exhibits.
In attendance at post date are Penguin Random House, Hachette, Disney Publishing, Abrams, Fierce Reads (for MacMillan), Quirk Books, and Simon & Schuster. Details of their giveaways, signings and/or swag have yet to be revealed.
The show floor features so much more than this though, comic book publishers, artisans, apparel companies, video games, toy brands, sculptures and exhibits, pop-up shops. One could never attend a panel, go to all FOUR days of Convention and still somehow miss at least one booth or experience. So take it all in, but also let yourself enjoy it… the time is short, but the memory is forever.
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BATMAN DAY 2022
As a kid I made myself (with parental assistance) a Batman ’66 costume for a contest at a convention. Unbeknownst to me the judge of the costume contest was Batman ’66 himself Adam West. Invariably I was awarded handsomely with a large comic book collection to this day I am unsure how we got home (I think we had a car). This is my best Batman story. Maybe my only Batman story. I have put on a Batman mask since, seen an onscreen Batman costume, played as Batman in video game, enjoyed the hell out of Batman inspired media and currently read all the Batman comics (Detective, Robin, Nightwing, Batgirl, etc., etc., etc.). We here at P-CS Love Batman!
TimeMelters is Launching Into Early Access on Steam, October 12th!
TimeMelters transports you to a mythical land filled with tactical challenges and terrific adventures!
Montreal, Canada – September 12th, 2022 – Featuring a multiplayer co-op and single-player campaign, and designed by the 3 person team at Autoexec Games, TimeMelters is a real-time tactical strategy-adventure launching onto Steam Early Access on October 12th!
After surviving the flames of condemnation, players will take control of Teagan, a witch who only recently discovered her vast new abilities, as she ventures across the Kingdom of Hogendale, cleansing the countryside of the evil that has consumed it and clearing her name. Take on missions alone or with a friend in online co-op through a full 20 mission campaign and an extra 40 challenge missions that can be unlocked as the player goes through the story.
Creation is stricken. Trees and beasts sicken, wither, and are reborn as shrieking, malevolent shades. The dead claw their way out of the poisoned earth to swarm mindlessly over the land. No living man or woman is safe from their dripping talons. King Ionracas, a man who has dreamt of everlasting peace for his home, has come to blame witches for this unnatural stream of torment and misery.
Rewind time to create Echoes and play alongside your past selves: raise the dead, make trees come alive to wallop foes, or activate Breaches to teleport around the map. Use strategy and wit to defeat your enemies and work with several versions of yourself, or friends in multiplayer missions!
Features:
- Tantalizing Tales: Experience Teagan’s story alone or share all the twists, turns, and what-the-bleep-just-happened moments in this time-traveling tale, with a friend in an online co-op mode!
- Hybrid Action-Strategy gameplay: Plan a strategy and execute it all in real time!
- Master unique Time Shift gameplay: rewind time and fight alongside yourself, not as an AI, but in a fully deterministic fashion. Plan out truly custom strategies and play to your own style!
- Skill Tree: Choose how your spells upgrade — yielding ever more powerful magic and intricate build choices!
- Challenge Mode: Test your brain power with 40 mind-bending, 4D thinking challenges!
- Enjoy the original Soundtrack: A sumptuous and all-encompassing soundtrack filled with epic moments (and a few earworms)!
Stay tuned for more TimeMelters when the demo becomes available during Steam Next Fest on October 3rd. The demo version features a quick tutorial followed by 3 short co-op missions for players who want to share their timey-wimey adventures with a friend and 12 unique single-player challenges that will prepare you for the early access launch on Steam.
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‘DARK RIDE’ TRAILER: ADMIT ONE TO DEVIL LAND, THE SCARIEST PLACE ON EARTH
“Williamson and Bressan have crafted some truly horrifying attractions, and you’re going to want to get a seat right up front” – James Tynion IV (Something is Killing the Children, Batman)
“Equal parts unnerving horror story and hilarious satire, Dark Ride is brilliant, beautiful, and horrifying reflection of modern day pop culture. Like the theme park it’s set in, it creeps me out and I never want to leave.” – Matthew Rosenberg (What’s The Furthest Place From Here?, DC vs Vampires)
LOS ANGELES 09/08/2022 — Murder, mayhem, and sinister family secrets—sounds like a scream. Today Skybound debuted a brand-new trailer for Dark Ride, the buzzed about new horror comic book series from Birthright creators Joshua Williamson (Batman, Dark Crisis) and Andrei Bressan (Justice League Incarnate).
The epic new trailer grants a sneak peek into Devil Land, the premier horror-themed amusement park for only the bravest boils, ghouls, and gremlins. Its founder, Arthur Dante, guarantees Devil Land is a SCREAM of delight. Enthusiastic employees like Owen Seasons and the loving Dante family wish all patrons a horrifically good time. With Dark Ride, Williamson and Bressan reunite for an all-new 12 issue series about the secrets behind Arthur Dante’s creation and how far his family will go to embrace their demons. Welcome to the Scariest Place on Earth.
The trailer can be viewed right here.
Dark Ride debuts with an impressive variant cover lineup that will continue through the series’ first arc. In addition to the main cover by Bressan and series colorist Adriano Lucas, Dark Ride’s Cover B variant spotlights park mascot Danny D. Evil, with issue #1 cover by Martín Morazzo (Ice Cream Man) and Adriano Lucas, while Cover C showcases Devil Land’s resident femme fatale and horror aficionado, Halloween, with the first four issues’ cover art by Sweeney Boo (Over My Dead Body).
Additionally, superstar creator Tony Fleecs (Stray Dogs, Star Wars Adventures) is art directing a classic homage poster variant program. The 1:25 incentives will span the Cover D slot of Dark Ride’s first four issues, bringing on a new guest artist for each cover. Fleecs’ Stray Dogs co-creator Trish Forstner is the artist at the helm for issue #1, with the Dark Ride world’s rendition of The Little Demon. Lastly, Dark Ride #1 will also offer a blank sketch cover.
Dark Ride #1 will be available at comic book shops and digital platforms including Amazon Kindle, Apple Books, comiXology, and Google Play on Wednesday, October 5, 2022.
The full list of covers for the debut issue is below:
- Dark Ride #1 CVR A by Bressan & Lucas (Diamond Code MAY228047)
- Dark Ride #1 CVR B (Danny D. Evil Mascot Variant) by Morazzo & Lucas (MAY228048)
- Dark Ride #1 CVR C (Halloween Character Spotlight Variant) by Boo (AUG220022)
- Dark Ride #1 CVR D 1:25 INCV (Classic Homage Poster Cover) by Forstner & Fleecs (AUG22023)
- Dark Ride #1 CVR E Blank Sketch Cover (JUL228078)
Official Dark Ride #1 Synopsis:
Devil Land has been the world’s premiere horror-themed amusement park for over 50 years, home to the scariest ride ever created – The Devil’s Due. But when lifelong fan Owen Seasons begins his first day on the job, he will discover the true horrors happening behind the scenes, the truth about the park’s reclusive creator Arthur Dante and that the job of his dreams might just be a living nightmare.
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Wayward Strand launches Sept. 15th
The inaugural title from Australian indie studio, Ghost Pattern, Wayward Strand will be landing on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One X, and Windows on Sept. 15th!
The inaugural title from Australian indie studio, Ghost Pattern, Wayward Strand will be landing on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One X, and Windows on Sept. 15th!
The curious piece, inspired by interactive theatre, centers on 14-year-old Casey, intrepid teenage journalist, as she embarks on her first trip to the flying ship-turned-hospital above a small Australian town in the summer of 1978. There, she has limited time to help the staff, get to know the patients and investigate the mysteries of the ship itself, as multiple storylines play out in real time.
Once aboard the ship, prepare to meet a sizeable cast of characters who go about their lives guided by their own desires, schedules and will, sometimes talking with Casey, and sometimes with each other. Players can choose who Casey will interact with, or not, having her engage directly or eavesdrop on the unsuspecting workers or patients aboard. With over 20,000 lines of recorded voiceover dialogue—rivalling even some of the biggest AAA games on the market—there are a plethora of interesting conversations to be had (or overheard).
Players can follow their curiosity at any given moment. While a single playthrough is a complete experience of one version of the story, the developers note that it can take at least a dozen playthroughs to begin to see the full picture. Wayward Strand covers many complex topics, according to creators, including empathy, intergenerational relationships, care and neglect, as well as exploring the day-to-day lives of older people and care workers.
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Lerner’s Graphic Universe Imprint To Publish UNRETOUCHABLE, Sofia Szamosi’s Graphic Novel Debut
A Bold New Voice Tackles Social Media and Image Manipulation
(September 7, 2022) This September Graphic Universe, an imprint of Lerner Publishing Group, will publish Sofia Szamosi’s graphic novel debut titled UNRETOUCHABLE. Equally timely and thoughtful, Szamosi’s debut provides an unforgettable take on social media and our image-conscious society with an art style that recalls Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis.
In UNRETOUCHABLE, Olive is spending the summer before art school at a coveted internship, helping one of the fashion industry’s elite digital-imaging specialists. After a glamorous New York photoshoot, she learns that taking pictures is only the first step. She discovers the “violent verbs” (cut, crop, slice, lasso) of image retouching software and the secrets behind “virtual models.” Soon Olive is fixating on her own appearance and pondering the ethics of her work behind the scenes. As college gets closer, she’ll try to get out of her own head, attempt to quit the Internet, and finally embrace image-making on her own terms. UNRETOUCHABLE is a window into the little-known, hugely influential world of photo retouching and a tribute to self-acceptance.
“Unretouchable dives headlong into the complications of being a person in a world of nonstop images. Sofia’s a constantly adventurous cartoonist, and she’s created a story about the challenge of being authentically yourself—without ever losing her sense of humor,” said Lerner Books Graphic Universe Editorial Director Greg Hunter.
“Having been a young woman facing these very real issues, I am excited to offer a new angle on the many anxieties young women face in our hyper-image focused world,” said cartoonist Sofia Szamosi.
Here’s what people are saying about UNRETOUCHABLE:
“Soulful, playful, and full of heart, Unretouchable is a timeless coming-of-age story set against the backdrop of our modern, digital world. Sofia Szamosi has illustrated a narrative that is so visceral (and so relatable) that it invites a deeper understanding of readers’ realities―past, present, and future.” ―Aliza Kelly, author, Starring You: A Guided Journey Through Astrology and This Is Your Destiny: Using Astrology to Manifest Your Best Life
“Written with empathy, wisdom and humor, Unretouchable makes us feel heard and understood. I couldn’t put it down!” ―Sadie Radinsky, author, Whole Girl: Live Vibrantly, Love Your Entire Self, and Make Friends with Food
“Sofia has a magical eye and voice. Her ability to take something classic and turn it on its head is something I had never seen before her work.” ―Emily Meade, actor, Dead Ringers, The Leftovers, and The Deuce
“This tale pairs bold black-and-white art with text sharing Olive’s deeply
introspective musings…An appealing look at important issues.”
―Kirkus Reviews
Sofia Szamosi’s bold graphic novel debut tackles serious topics with a winning combination of curiosity, sensitivity, and wit through its lively, appealing black-and-white illustration and relatable main character. UNRETOUCHABLE ushers in a charming creative voice to the world of comics. Graphic Universe will publish Sofia Szamosi’s Unretouchable on September 13, 2022.