Nights of the Living Dead: An Anthology
Paperback | Digital Book | Audio CD
Edited by Jonathan Maberry & George A. Romero
St. Martin’s Griffin
Release Date: July 11th, 2017

In 1968, a horror movie from director George A. Romero came out called Night of the Living Dead. Nearly 50 years later, zombie horror is “alive” and well, with hit shows like The Walking Dead and Fear the Walking Dead based on Robert Kirkman’s comic book series. Over the past decade, we’ve seen a renaissance of zombie fiction in all forms of entertainment, from comics to novels like World War Z (Max Brooks) and Pride & Prejudice & Zombies (Seth Grahame-Smith) to TV and film. Zombie even manage to cross over into other genres. The TV series iZombie takes the flesh eaters into the world of police forensics and the underground “brain trade.” Movies like Warm Bodies (2013) showed zombies can be romantic and of course Shaun of the Dead (2004) proved they can be the butt of jokes.

Though, there was a time when zombies were not the “it” thing in horror, but back in 1989, an undead anthology called Book of the Dead (edited by John Skipp & Craig Spector) made zombie literature cool again. Nights of the Living Dead is a collection of original zombie short stories all based in the world Romero built. What’s really interesting is reading the introductions by Romero himself and co-editor, author, and unabashed Romero fanboy, Jonathan Maberry.

The Girl With All The Gifts
Blu-ray
Director: Colm McCarthy
Screenwriter: Mike Carey
Based on the book by Mike (M.R.) Carey
Cast: Glenn Close, Gemma Arterton, Dominique Tipper, Paddy Considine, Anamaria Marinca, Fisayo Akinade, Anthony Welsh, Sennia Nanua
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Rated R | 111 Minutes
Blu-ray Release Date: April 25th, 2017

Zombies are one of the defining characters in horror, alongside vampires, werewolves, and Frankenstein monsters. In the post-The Walking Dead world, writers and filmmakers have tried with various levels of success to create something new and original from a sub genre that can often produce B-level dreck. My favorite film of 2016 was South Korean zombie flick Train to Busan. Just when I thought I had seen it all from zombies, I watched The Girl With All the Gifts, just released in a Blu-ray/DVD combo pack. The film is written by Mike (M.R.) Carey who also penned the novel in 2014.

Spoilers below.

Darkness Visible #1
Written by Mike Carey and Arvind Ethan David
Art by Brendan Cahill
Colors by Joana Lafuente
Letters by Shawn Lee
IDW Publishing
Release Date: February 22, 2017
Cover Price: $3.99

Wouldn’t it be great if you could literally see the evil in the world? What if the evil that was in mankind was there by their choice? Maybe they made a bargain of sorts? Well, Darkness Visible #1, from writers Mike Carey (Unwritten, Lucifer, Girl with All the Gifts) and Arvind Ethan David (Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency), explores something quite similar to that concept. For you see, the evil does walk among us! In many cases, they are us.

Looks like the Devil has moved to the City of Angels.

FOX has just released the first trailer for Lucifer, their new television series premiering in 2016. The show, which is based on the character created by Neil Gaiman in his Sandman comic book series, features Lucifer, the Devil himself, who’s become bored with lording over Hell, so he heads to Earth to Los Angeles to have some fun.

Watch the first 3-minute trailer here below, along with an inside look at the new FOX series.

A deal has been reached between Fox and Warner Bros. TV for a pilot order for a Lucifer television series after a lengthy negotiation that had resulted in a put-pilot order back in September.

Fox has ordered the pilot, which will be directed by Len Wiseman, who will also executive produce, according to THR, which added that Jerry Bruckheimer has come on as executive producer along with members from his Jerry Bruckheimer Television team.

Each and every week, I, “I work for Sphinx now” Henchman21, and “Sphinx!” Empress Eve read a lot of comics. Seriously you guys, a lot of comics. Maybe too many comics. I mean, it is possible… theoretically. Naturally, we look forward to some more than others. I mean, who doesn’t? So, let’s take a look into the depths of our pull lists, grab some comics, and we’ll let YOU know what the top books to look forward to are for the week of June 5, 2013. Single issues and trades, they’re all here.

It’s been a couple of huge weeks, and we’re catching up from some time off last week with an extra-sized list this week. There are two books you need to buy this week, which I will list below. Sure, I suppose you can buy other books, but these are pretty much required reading for any comic book fan. We can’t just ignore the other books out this week, so we’ve got a fine collection of titles for you, including a couple of new series from last week and my favorite series. So let’s not waste a second more because it’s time once again for The GoD List!

The Unwritten #17
Written By: Mike Carey & Peter Gross
Art By: Peter Gross & Ryan Kelly
Cover Art: Yuko Shimizu
Price: $3.99
Publisher: Vertigo Comics
Release date: September 15, 2010

Lizzie Hexam gets a choice of many different lives in The Unwritten #17 from Vertigo Comics. In the latest issue of The Unwritten, readers get an interesting journey through the life of one of the book’s supporting characters: Lizzie Hexam. The issue itself is not a standard 22-page issue, instead, readers get a chance to choose their own adventure. The issue is mapped out like a standard comic until a choice must be made to lead Lizzie’s life in one direction or another. The multiple choices make for an interesting read for fans of the series.

The Unwritten #17 itself was a very interesting read. Most comics are a quick read while this issue of The Unwritten was a pretty fulfilling read. The reader has multiple choices for the direction in which Lizzie life will lead. Certain choices lead Lizzie into a life of incarceration while others lead Lizzie down the right path of the series plotlines.

YOU SHOULD BE READING…

The Unwritten
Written by Mike Carey
Art by Peter Gross
Cover by Yuko Shimizu
DC/Vertigo Comics

In The Unwritten, Mike Carey weaves a fantastic narrative in which Tom Taylor finds his life unraveling one strand at a time when fans of his father’s book series believe him to be the novel’s protagonist come to life.

The premise is brilliant and to put it in our reality’s terms, “What if J.K Rowling had a son named Harold Potter and fans around the world thought the Harry Potter series was real and based on the actual adventures of the real life Harold Potter?” I guess you can say it’s like when kids go to Disneyland and get Donald Duck’s autograph thinking this guy in a duck costume is the same cartoon they marvel at in their home.

DC’s Vertigo website has the the first issue as a FREE download [downloadable PDF – 22MB] and you can also purchase the series’ first five issues collected in one volume — Unwritten Vol. 1: Tommy Taylor and the Bogus Identity — for $9.99. Check it out for yourself and watch Tom Taylor become Unwritten.

X-Men: Manifest Destiny
Written by Jason Aaron, Mike Carey, Frank Tieri
Drawn by Michael Ryan, Stephen Segovia, Takeshi Miyazawa
Marvel Comics
Release date: May 13, 2009

Having been decimated, become an endangered species, and developed a Messiah Complex, it is safe to say that the X-Men have had a rough couple of years. The years have not been kind to the merry mutants as their population dwindled and the hatred toward them increase twice fold. In their latest storyline, Manifest Destiny, with their home in ruins and with no allies to be found, the X-Men have decided to abandon their home in Westchester and set up shop in mutant friendly San Francisco. It is there with Warren Worthington’s (aka Angel) money, they set up a new facility to house any mutant in need of shelter, sort of like a new age Xavier Academy.

The storyline is actually pretty entertaining but too bad it is not in this hardcover. X-Men: Manifest Destiny hardcover does not collect the main story but rather the back stories and various mini-series that spun off from the storyline itself. One of the mini-series that it collects are Wolverine: Manifest Destiny, where fists fly and kung fu chops are thrown as Wolvie must confront his past in the heart of San Francisco’s Chinatown. In Nightcrawler: Manifest Destiny, our favorite elf heads off to a museum dedicated to him and the monster that lurks the area. Other back up stories revolving around Iceman, Mystique, and Boom-Boom that were presented as back up stories are also published in this book.