SFX July 2021

first contact

BONE OF CONTENTION Ilona Kosmowsky, email Re: the Shadow And Bone feature in SFX 339. In the beginning of the article you stated that the Grishaverse books from Leigh Bardugo comprise Shadow And Bone, Siege And Storm, Ruin And Rising and the Six Of Crows duology. This is not quite right. You forgot to mention the novels King Of Scars and Rule Of Wolves. They are essentially a sequel to the other books and take place after the civil war, when Nikolai (who was a small protagonist in the other books) is king. I am reading Rule Of Wolves at the moment and Alina and the Darkling have a small part in the book. SFX Thanks for the info, Ilona. In our defence it’s kinda hard to make out the shelves in the…

rants & raves

DARREN SCOTT EDITOR RAVES The Tomorrow War far surpassed my expectations. I enjoyed the various nods to genre greats, and it also properly pushed my jump scare buttons. I may have sworn at several points. An extended version of “Time And The Rani”? My time has truly come. Very excited for DC’s forthcoming Batman ‘89 and Superman ‘78 comics. Early looks at the new Netflix/Kevin Smith series Masters Of The Universe: Revelations are very encouraging. RANTS Finally caught up with Twin Peaks: The Return, and I’m still none the wiser. All my other rants this month are embargoed, which is probably for the best. IAN BERRIMAN DEPUTY EDITOR RAVES Excited that obscure surgical horror Corruption (starring Peter Cushing) is getting an extras-packed Blu-ray release (16 August). Pleased to see that Noughts + Crosses has belatedly snagged a second series. Bagpuss is now on…

captain’s log

Would you jump into the future to fight a war to save a world you might not live to see? Many might argue that we’re living in a society that wouldn’t even help this timeline, let alone another. But The Tomorrow War did give me a lot to think about – not least because it was a rare occasion where I was seeing something new (albeit with some familiar sci-fi and horror nods) that I genuinely felt could open up to future adventures and other strange new worlds. It was an unexpected moment of freshness after a lot of repetition. Don’t get me wrong, I love being spoilt for choice – even if it means we struggle to get a lot of that into a magazine every month – but,…

back to the office

Monsters At Work JUNE IS THE 20TH ANNIVERSARY of Monsters, Inc., Pixar’s second theatrical release. Wildly successful, the universe created by directors Pete Docter and David Silverman has never faded from the zeitgeist because of new stories, including prequel Monsters University, several animated shorts, videogames and even theme park rides. Now with the dawn of Disney+, there’s an original animated series too, Monsters At Work, which reunites the original characters of Mike (Billy Crystal), Sulley (John Goodman), and Celia Mae (Jennifer Tilly), with a new crew responsible for helping to retro-fit the scare floor into the laugh floor. Steering the series is veteran animation writer and executive producer Roberts “Bobs” Gannaway, who has previously adapted big Disney theatrical hits like 101 Dalmatians and Lilo & Stitch into successful animated TV series. “Monsters, Inc.…

news warp

➝ Sequel, bruv! John Boyega and Joe Cornish reuniting on Attack The Block 2. ➝ Henry Cavill in the frame for the Highlander reboot. ➝ Boyd Holbrook and Shaunette Renee Wilson joining Indiana Jones 5. ➝ Dwayne Johnson voicing Krypto in animated movie DC League Of Super-Pets. ➝ The Phantom Of The Opera in line for a modern-day remake set in the UK music scene. ➝ Promising Young Woman’s Emerald Fennell adapting Mark Millar’s Nemesis for Warner Bros. ➝ Hannah John-Kamen slicing up barbarians as the new Red Sonja. ➝ Angela Robinson helming remake of David Bowie ’80s vampire flick The Hunger. ➝ Garett Hedlund and Nathalie Emmanuel starring in Dracula-inspired thriller The Bride. ➝ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever targeting 8 July 2022 release. ➝ Tenet’s John David Washington boarding Gareth Edwards’ nearfuture tale True Love. It never dies, you…

break of spawn

DEBUTING IN MAY 1992, Spawn has become the longest running creator-owned comic book, amassing 319 issues over the past three decades. But while fellow Image founders like Rob Liefeld expanded their lines to include several interlinked series, Todd McFarlane’s demonic offspring has mostly stood alone. That’s now set to change with the launch of Spawn’s Universe, which begins later this month with a one-shot special scripted by McFarlane and featuring the art of Jimmy Cheung, Brett Booth, Stephen Segovia and Marcio Takara, on Spawn, Gunslinger Spawn, Medieval Spawn and She-Spawn respectively. “I should have done it years ago!” laughs McFarlane. “When we began Image in 1992, there was chatter about doing it anyway, but we never formalised anything and I ended up staying on my own book, as I didn’t have a…