Entertainment Roundup for 2018

As I do every year, here is a list of the films, books, television and streamed shows, plays, live performance, etc., I took in for the year just ending. My usual caveat is that while I strive to be exhaustive, I am sure there are some items that slip through the cracks. (I just noticed I'm missing a lot of comics here for example).

Among my favorite films this year were Mission: Impossible 6, which surprisingly seems to get stronger with each entry, Avengers: Infinity War, and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-verse. In terms of television/streaming, the highlights for me were binge-watching the complete seven seasons of Call the Midwife, the second seasons of GLOW and Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and the third and final season of Love on Netflix. A delightful end-of-year discovery was the Derry Girls on Netflix. Other highlights included visiting the offices of DC Comics/Mad Magazine and seeing cartoonist Howard Chaykin speak live at the ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena.

Anyway, without any further ado:

Films:
Marie Antoinette - Netflix (1/1/2018)
The Polka King - Netflix (1/13/2018)
The Post (1/15/2018)
A Serious Man (2/10/2018)
Something About Mary (2/10/2018)
War Machine - Netflix (2/11/2018) - N
Carol - Netflix (2/11/2018)*
Black Panther (2/18/2018)
Isle of Dogs (3/07/2018)
King of Comedy (03/08/2018)
Game Over, Man - Netflix (04/08/2018)
The Clapper - Netflix (5/12/18)
Solo: A Star Wars Story (05/27/2018)
The Conspirator - Netflix (05/30/2018)
Avengers: Infinity War (4/29/2018)
Dead Again (7/16/2018)
A Very English Scandal - Amazon (7/2018)
Yellow Submarine (7/23/2018)
Larry Crowne - Netflix (7/27/18)
Mission: Impossible 6: Fallout (7/29/2018)
Up in the Air - Netflix (8/3/2018)
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society - Netflix (8/12/2018)
Like Father - Netflix (8/16/2018)
Death of Stalin - Amazon (9/1/2018)
Hysteria - Amazon (9/14/2018)
Disobedience – Amazon Prime (11/2018)
I’m Sorry, Season 1, Episode 1 – Netflix (11/4/2018)
Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Season 1 (11/4/2018)
They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead - Netflix (11/4/2018)
The Madness of King George – Amazon Prime (11/2018)
Monty Python’s Life of Brian (11/22/2018)
Creed - Amazon (12/2/2018)
Mary Poppins Returns (12/25/2018)
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse (12/24/2018)

Television/Series:
Derry Girls - Netflix (12/27/2018)
Jim Gaffigan: Noble Ape (12/19/2018)
The Kominsky Method: Season 1, Episode 1 - Netflix (11/29/2018)
Romanoffs - Season 1, Episode 1 – Amazon Prime (11/2018)
Call the Midwife (Seasons 1-7) - Netflix (10/82018)
Jack Ryan - Netflix (9/8/2018)
Kim's Convenience (Seasons 1-2) - Netflix (8/19/2018)
Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee: New 2018: - Netflix (7/24/18)
GLOW: Season 2 – Netflix (7/17/18)
6/29/18 The King's Speech
6/24/18 Bombshell: The Hedy Lamarr Story
Steve Martin and Martin Short: An Evening You Will Forget for the Rest of Your Life - Netflix (05/25/2018)
The Drifters - Amazon Prime (05/2018)
Family Tree - Amazon Prime (05/2018)
Mister Rogers & Me- Amazon Prime (04/2018)
American Playboy: The Hugh Hefner Story - Amazon Prime (04/2018)
One Night Stand 59: Flight of the Conchords (04/2018)
Love - Season 3 (03/30/2018)
My Next Guest Needs No Introduction With David Letterman: George Clooney - Netflix (3/1/18)
Jerry Seinfeld: I'm Telling You for the Last TimeThe Keepers - Netflix (2/26/18)
Eagle vs. Shark - Netflix (2/23/18)
The Toys that Made Us - Netflix (2/10/2018)
Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee - Netflix (1/2018)
Tenacious D - Amazon (HBO show) (1/2018)
Vicious - Amazon (1/2018)
Victoria: Season 2 (1/2018)
The L Word: Season 1 - Netflix (1/2018)
Jim Gaffigan - Cinco - Netflix (1/13/2018)

Exhibitions/Plays/Live Performance:
Body Works Exhibit (1/14/2018)
Space Shuttle Endeavor (1/14/2018)
C3 Conference, Long Beach (1/16/2018)
Long Beach Comics Convention (1/17/2018)
Visit to DC Comics/Mad Magazine (6/2/2018)
2018 Emmy’s Costume Exhibit at FIDM Museum (9/9/2018)
The Ralph Report - The Improv (9/15/2018)
Howard Chaykin at ArtCenter College of Design (9/17/2018)
She Loves Me (9/30/2018)

Books:
Tarzan by Edgar Rice Burroughs (6/2018)
Tarzan Returns by Edgar Rice Burroughs (6/2018)
We Told you So: Comics as Art by Michael Dean and Tom Spurgeon (12/2018)

2018 Recap: A Look Back and Looking Ahead....

2018 was a banner year for WCG Comics—I was honored to be featured as a Special Guest at the San Diego Comic-Con in July, which included a scheduled Spotlight Panel on my work at the show! I was surprised and humbled by how well attended the panel was, which was great fun and, I hope, entertaining, thanks in large part to Barry Gregory, CEO of Ka-Blam Digital Printing, who at my invitation graciously joined me and moderated the panel. (Ka-Blam also has a webstore that sells print-on-demand and digital comics, IndyPlanet.)

And then, of course, to top it off, during the spotlight panel, I was shocked but honored to be presented with an Inkpot Award for Contributions to Comic Art! (Filmmaker Kevin Smith, actress Nichelle Nichols, and cartoonists Jason Lutes and Shannon Wheeler were also among this year’s recipients; many of my cartoonist idols, including Milton Caniff and Alex Toth, are among the illustrious list of past recipients, as are others like George Lucas and Steven Spielberg for their achievements in the broader popular arts.)

This past year, I also released issue 19 of Rob Hanes Adventures, featuring a story entitled, “Enemy of the State." In the story, in keeping with the often topical nature of the series, Justice International is nationalized by the Federal government as the new investigative arm of a new White House administration, in a story that reflects the country’s current turbulent political climate.

Expect issue 20 of the series to be released in 2019, continuing the above storyline with “Citizen Humbert." The landmark issue is expected to debut at next year's San Diego Comic-Con, scheduled July 18–21, 2019—and with that said, I'm pleased to confirm that I'll indeed have a booth at the show at my usual location. This year's Comic-Con promises to be memorable since it marks the event's 50th anniversary! More details to come as we get closer to the event.

Scroll down to see some photo highlights!

Social Media

This past year, I made it a goal to be more active and engaged on social media—it has been great fun interacting directly with friends, fans, fellow pros and others! If you're on any of the platforms below, feel free to follow (and I'll likely follow back!)

Twitter: @randywcgcomics
Facebook/personal page: https://www.facebook.com/randy.reynaldo
Facebook/company page: https://www.facebook.com/rhadventures/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/randywcg (though not quite so active here yet)

Consider the Gift of Comics for the Holidays!

As the holidays approach, consider sharing a Rob Hanes Adventures comic-book series collection as a holiday gift for a friend or loved one! Visit our online store for options!

Volumes 0, 1 and 2 are each separately available at a special holiday price of $10.99 (regularly $14.99), collecting the series through issue 8 of the series (volume 0 collects an earlier run of the series). You can also purchase the entire run of the series for as low as $49.99, encompassing two trade paperbacks and 19 full issues!

2018 truly was a banner year for WCG Comics—I was honored to be featured as a Special Guest at the San Diego Comic-Con in July and, to top it off, was surprised with an Inkpot Award for Contributions to Comic Art during my panel!

In addition, at the show, issue 19 of the series was released, featuring a story entitled, “Enemy of the State." In keeping with the often topical nature of the series, Justice International is nationalized by the Federal government as the new investigative arm of a new White House administration, in a story that reflects the country’s current turbulent political climate.

Milestone issue 20 of Rob Hanes Adventures continues the storyline with “Citizen Humbert” that will feature a shock ending, which is targeted for release at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con. As this suggests, I'm pleased to announce that I'll have a booth at the 2019 show, which promises to be memorable since it marks Comic-Con’s 50th anniversary! More details to come, of course, as we get closer to the event.

Once again, enjoy the happiest of holidays and warmest wishes for a memorable and exciting 2019!

REVIEWS: RIc Hochet

Note: this review contains a minor spoiler alert and is based on the Kindle digital edition of the graphic album.

On Twitter last year, someone from France who was new to my work asked if I had ever heard of the French comic-book series, Ric Hochet, created by artist Tibet (a pseudonym for French cartoonist Gilbert Gascard) and writer André-Paul Duchâtexau, as my work reminded him of that series, which focused on the adventures of an investigative reporter for a French newspaper.

I was able to say I was vaguely aware of it, but the query led me to look up editions translated into English. Though the series was created in 1955—with 78 graphic albums published to date—no English editions were available except for one: Ric Hochet, Volume 1: R.I.P., Ric!, an English language edition released just a few months prior in June 2017 (the original French edition appeared in 2015). However, the album seems to be part of a re-booted new series by another cartoonist, Zidrou, following in the footsteps of the original creators. (A postscript at the back of the edition notes, “The story and all the joy we felt in creating it are dedicated to Tibet.”)

While of course it’s hard to tell if the story is representative of the series or a sort of post-modern take on the original since I have not seen earlier stories, it was a great read—a sophisticated adventure/mystery that felt very classic, tying in with the series’ past continuity and building on its supporting cast of characters, including villains.

Excerpt from Ric Hochet, Volume I: R.I.P., Ric! (2017)

Minor spoiler alert ahead: In fact, in retrospect, the only somewhat interesting choice of first story in this re-boot is the fact that the lead character, Ric Hochet, doesn’t actually appear much—the story, instead, focuses on the inner journey of a villain called “The Chameleon” from a past adventure (“The Chameleon’s Shadow”) who, using plastic surgery and his gift for impersonation, assumes Ric’s identity and life as part of an elaborate scheme of revenge and to destroy the reporter’s life and reputation. (I call this a “minor” spoiler alert since the conceit is revealed pretty much in the opening pages.) So the majority of the story is, in fact, told from the Chameleon’s point of view which, of course, cleverly reveals (and upends) aspects of Ric’s personality and history. We learn, for example, that Ric is a “boy scout,” so the Chameleon uses his charms to gain personal benefits and advantages Ric never did, at one point seducing the daughter of an old friend.

Again, without being completely familiar with the series, it’s difficult to know whether this approach is some clever meta-commentary about the author’s own attempt to capture the tone and feel of the original series. But aside from this conceit, the story seems respectful of the source material and told in a straightforward, unironic fashion. Regardless of whether or not this is reading too much into the story, “R.I.P., Ric!” is a fun and compelling read. I hope to see more of the original series or new stories available in the future.

Note: Since originally writing this review last year, I have since learned that two more new English-translated adventures from the series have dropped at Amazon.

Below: Additional samples of the series past and present.

New release, April 2018

An Evening with Howard Chaykin

I’ve blogged here before about one of my favorite cartoonists, Howard Chaykin. On September 19, I had the opportunity to see him speak at a class on comics that was open to the public at the Art Center College of Design, a lovely campus nestled in an upscale residential area in Pasadena, CA, next to the Rose Bowl. Chaykin spoke at length about his career and the craft of creating comics.

Known for speaking his mind, Chaykin did not disappoint—but he was also charming, blunt and straightforward about the realities of working professionally in the creative arts/entertainment/comics field, which no doubt was of interest to the students in attendance. (About half the audience were students, the rest fans (and friends) of Chaykin like myself.)

Chaykin is a unique presence in comics because, as he points out, he falls in a gray area of the market that is not mainstream superhero comics per se but not truly alternative either—a trait I feel my work shares as well. He also often likes to claim that he’s never considered himself as naturally talented or technically gifted as many of his peers—as such, to compensate, and the fact that he has to compete against people much younger than himself (during the talk, he often humorously pointed to the students in the audience when making this point), he said he works his ass off and also periodically reinvents himself every few years so as to avoid being typecast or stale.

As a result, Chaykin has enjoyed a diverse, steady career and living—47 years, including a 15-year detour into television, which he said provided him with the financial safety net to work in comics. He mentioned that he was happy with where he was at this stage in his career because he gets to work on his own projects that have meaning for him.

While the event focused initially on some of his more iconic work, such as American Flagg!, Chaykin made clear that he was equally proud of his current work; the presentation did eventually turn into an overview of his career from Star Wars (work he doesn’t feel highly about, noting that it was released just a little before the royalty system at Marvel Comics was established, which he estimates could have netted $3–4 million) to Flagg, Time Squared (which he referred to as his favorite, most personal work), Black Kiss, to his more current work, including Divided States of Hysteria and Hey, Kids! Comics!

When Chaykin also touched on the subject of comics craft and storytelling, he was very thoughtful and insightful. He talked about his love of graphic design and patterns (which is indeed one of his great distinctive strengths), noting at one point how small panels often served as an exclamation point to stop the reader in their tracks. He also spoke about some of the innovations he introduced to the “language” of comics, which he believes he hasn’t always been given full credit for, which I believe is an accurate assessment. While I don’t entirely agree with his assertion that most comics readers are unaware of his work, Chaykin in many ways is indeed a classic “artist’s artists” who has influenced many of the cartoonists who have followed.

His talk was followed by an extensive Q&A. Afterwards, I had him kindly sign a Flagg trade paperback collection I had brought along for that purpose. I reminded him that I had recently done a Rob Hanes Adventures cover that was inspired by the first issue of Flagg (which he saw on Facebook) and we had been introduced years ago by a mutual friend—he was kind to say he did remember me. When I said I was sure everyone knew the inspiration for my cover, he responded with a sardonic chuckle, "Were you listening to my talk?", referring to the lack of awareness most mainstream comics fans have for his work.

Below are additional photos from the event.

A Visit to the Wende Museum of the Cold War

This is being posted a bit late since the exhibitions discussed below are now ended, but the museum is of course still worth a visit — visit their website for information about their current shows.

I finally got around to visiting the new Wende Museum of the Cold War, now located in a beautifully refurbished facility in Culver City, California that was formerly a National Guard Armory.

As the museum’s name implies, the Wende’s mission is to “preserve Cold War art, culture, and history from the Soviet Bloc countries, inspire a broad understanding of the period, and explore its enduring legacy.” It's a collections-based research and education institute.

The exhibition I saw that concluded in late August was titled, “Promote, Tolerate, Ban: Art and Culture in Cold War Hungary.” Hungary, it turns out, was a slight outlier as a Soviet satellite. While the 1956 Revolution temporarily gave hope for some freedom, the Soviets quickly moved back in, resulting in many deaths and executions on both sides during this explosive period. Nevertheless, the Revolution led to the installation of a new Soviet-approved leadership that allowed a measure of “freedom” for people (at least relative to other Soviet satellites) so long as there was a tacit acceptance of Soviet authority. More freedoms came in 1968 when free-market elements were introduced into the economy. The exhibition explores how these limits were often pushed and tested by art, artists and the people. It was particularly fascinating to see how 1960s designs made their way East and how their innovative work sometimes were adapted in the West (the Rubik’s Cube was invented in Hungary in the ‘70s).

An accompanying, smaller exhibition running concurrently is “Socialist Flower Power: Soviet Hippie Culture,” tracing how hippie culture, with its origins in the U.S., and particularly Haight-Ashbury in San Francisco, spread to Europe, the Eastern Bloc and the Soviet Union. The most amusing anecdote in that section is the fact that at first the controlled Soviet press loved giving hippie culture plenty of coverage because it underscored how youth in the West were rising up against the establishment and, no doubt, to underscore the excesses of the bourgeois—at least until they discovered their own youth had become entranced by and embraced the lifestyle too!

The Museum includes additional areas for scholarly research and their permanent collection, such as Cold War artifacts like spying equipment, Communist dinnerware, busts of Stalin and Lenin, books, toys, etc. There is a garden in back, that was still under construction when I visited, where reportedly some sections of the Berlin Wall will be sited (at the moment, I am aware some already exist by the L.A. County Museum of Art, some of which I believe are being moved to the Wende.)

It’s a beautiful space and if you’re in the area, visit! Note that public visiting hours are limited and while there is no entrance fee, donations are welcome. Visit the Museum’s website for details.

Click here to see the full photogallery.

2018 Emmys Costume Exhibit

Every year the Fashion Institute of Merchandising and Design (FIMD) in downtown L.A. holds an exhibition of Emmy nominated costumes (they also do a separate exhibition for Academy Award nominated costumes).

My wife and I visit the exhibitions nearly every year and this past weekend saw costumes from Black Lightning, Star Trek Discovery, GLOW, Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Crown, Orville, Games of Thrones, Westworld, and more! Thru Oct. 6 -- fidmmuseum.org.

See my photogallery for all the photos!

Black Lightning

GLOW

GLOW

GLOW

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

The Crown

The Crown

Star Trek: Discovery

Star Trek: Discovery

Westworld

The Orville

The Orville

The Orville

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel