It’s been a somewhat muted week in terms of pop culture news, with just a handful of stories catching our eye. But, with the inaugural Comic Con Cape Town just over a month away, the announcements for that festival are gathering pace – including for an exciting “crafty” competition. Find out more in the Lifestyle section below.
P.S. Remember last week’s cryptic Snyderverse social posts from Zack Snyder? The reason has been revealed: A three-day SnyderCon event in California next month with fan-centred activities, panels and screenings of Man of Steel, Batman v Superman, and Zack Snyder’s Justice League. The event will be a fundraiser for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, as Snyder’s daughter Autumn committed suicide in May 2017.
Series
Netflix’s hope-filled post-apocalyptic tale (and DC Vertigo comic adaptation) Sweet Tooth now has a teaser trailer for its second season, which comes to the streamer in its entirety on 27 April. The action kicks off where Season 1 ended. Captured and imprisoned by the Last Men, deer boy Gus takes action to help his newfound hybrid friends escape before they’re experimented on as the cure to a world-ending plague.
Nostalgia is a powerful force. So, 90’s kids may be interested in Netflix’s Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always, a scripted hour-long special that celebrates the 30th Anniversary of the Power Rangers. The special features the return of Walter Emanuel Jones as Zack Taylor (the first Black Ranger), David Yost as Billy Cranston (the Blue Ranger), Steve Cardenas as Rocky DeSantos (the second Red Ranger), Karan Ashley as Aisha Campbell (the second Yellow Ranger), Johnny Yong Bosch as Adam Park (the second Black Ranger), and Catherine Sutherland as Kat Hillard (the second Pink Ranger).
Injecting some fresh blood into proceedings is Charlie Kersh as Minh, the daughter of Trini Kwan (the first Yellow Ranger), who must take her rightful place among the Rangers to face off against the team’s oldest archnemesis. You can probably guess who that is.
Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once & Always arrives on Netflix on 19 April.
Now for some other series-related news bites:
- Streaming services are dialling back on their spending, and it looks like the Indiana Jones spin-off series may be one of the cost-cutting casualties over at Disney+. Reportedly, all production focus in terms of LucasFilms franchises will be on Star Wars. Note: Treat this story as a big rumour.
- Hot off their Oscar win for Everthing Everywhere All at Once, writer-director team Daniels (AKA Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert ) will direct an episode of upcoming Star Wars series Skeleton Crew, which features a cast headed up by Jude Law. Skeleton Crew is a Goonies-esque coming-of-age adventure set in the Star Wars universe.
- Some recognisable names and faces are joining the second season of Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings series, The Rings of Power. Look out for Ciaran Hinds, Rory Kinnear, and Tanya Moodie in reoccuring roles. Out of interest, The Rings of Power S2 has seen its production shift from New Zealand to the UK.
- Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland has been cleared of domestic violence charges following a lack of evidence to proceed with the charges filed in January. Roiland released this statement on the matter on his social media account.
Lifestyle
The first ever Comic Con Cape Town, the coastal sibling to Comic Con Africa, is just over a month away. In addition to the expected pop culture attractions (celebrity guests, comic creators, cosplay, various panels and workshops, vendors and a vast artists’ alley), there’s also a special contest for sewing enthusiasts, which will take place on the con’s main stage on Thursday, 27 April.
During the Comic Con Cape Town Sew-a-Thon 2023, competitors will have 6 hours to compete a mystery challenge, with prizes going to the top 3 participants. First prize is R5,000 cash, a Brother P300BT Labelling machine with extra tapes, and multiple multi-day passes to Comic Con Africa 2023 (in Johannesburg later this year) and Comic Con Cape Town 2024.
Sew-A-Thon contestants will receive a briefing two weeks before the event, allowing them to prepare patterns and finish their mood board before the event. At CCCT, they’ll be challenged to bring the garment to life and model it, with judges assessing stitching quality, if the garment is executed using correct tension, finishing techniques and even machine settings.
Sewing enthusiasts can find all the Sew-a-Thon rules, and register, here. One thing to note is that there is a R150 entry fee.
Comic Con Cape Town 2023 is running for 4 days at the CTICC, from 27 – 30 April.
Gaming
We still don’t know when we’ll be able to play Hellblade sequel Senua’s Saga, which takes Pict warrior and title character Senua to Iceland to battle a new set of demons (personal and otherwise). However, developers Ninja Theory have just used GDC 2023 as an opportunity to showcase how they’re using Unreal Engine to push the boundaries of realtime facial animation in the highly anticipated sequel – which can be considered Xbox’s tentpole story-driven action adventure. As before, Melina Juergens plays Senua.
We can’t wait for this one, which will be coming to Xbox Series X|S and PC.
A few other pieces of gaming news:
- Having listened to fan complaints, Redfall developer Arkane is “working actively” to remove the game’s always-online requirement when playing in single-player mode. Solo or co-op play vampire-slaying shooter Redfall releases for next-gen Xbox consoles and PC on 2 May.
- Electronic Arts is delisting Battlefield 1943, and Battlefield: Bad Company 1 & 2. The games will be removed for purchase from digital storefronts on April 28, and online server support will end in December. Initially included on the removals list was single-player parkour actioner Mirror’s Edge, but EA seems to have backtracked on that initial announcement, which earned them criticism.
Comics & Books
Comics are a great way to introduce new readers to classic literature, and showcase these tales’ power in a whole new way. That’s certainly the mindset behind a new crowdfunding campaign for a graphic novel version of F. Scott Fitzerald’s The Great Gatsby. From Clover Press, writer Ted Adams (Diablo House, The Island of Dr. Moreau) and artist Jorge Coelho (Rocket Racoon, Time Before Time), the comic adaptation is both visually sumptuous and faithful to the original text.
The Great Gatsby: The Essential Graphic Novel is now funding on Kickstarter, with special campaign tiers including library and school donations, where your purchase includes a copy sent to under-resourced educational facilities and public libraries across the United States. Apart from that, you can pledge $20 to receive a digital PDF version of the graphic novel, while $25 nets you a copy of the physical hardcover edition.
Speaking of classic novels being given an illustrated treatment, you can also currently back PINOCCHIO: The Illuminated Edition on Kickstarter. The Beehive Books project brings together Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, award-winning colorist Dave Stewart, and novelist Lemony Snicket (A Series of Unfortunate Events) for an illustrated and annotated edition of Carlo Collodi’s PINOCCHIO. The book features 50+ illustrations by Mignola, and over 100 annotations from Snicket, which track the author’s response to the original text. A DRM-free digital edition ($25), and various premium physical hardcover options are available, starting at $100.
