"Beau is Afraid," the new epic dark comedy from acclaimed director Ari Aster, is a surreal odyssey through the main character's inner psyche, exploring fears and traumas with the visual help of dense, elaborate set pieces. Aster labored over creating the nightmare-like world of his film, loading frames with blink-and-you'll-miss-them background details as if no corner provides any sort of relief from Beau's descent into never-ending anxiety. Aster intended this "chicken fat" -- a term coined by Mad Magazine's Will Elder to describe his comic panels' intentionally excessive background gags -- to further immerse the audience into a deeply uncomfortable, overwhelming chaos.
Oh, and they're also supposed to be funny.
Aster has a history of subtly hiding spooky visual clues and references throughout his movies. His 2018 debut feature "Hereditary" featured sinister naked Satanic cult members hanging out in the shadows and foreshadowed the film's big twists with the symbol of the demon Paimon.
Oh, and they're also supposed to be funny.
Aster has a history of subtly hiding spooky visual clues and references throughout his movies. His 2018 debut feature "Hereditary" featured sinister naked Satanic cult members hanging out in the shadows and foreshadowed the film's big twists with the symbol of the demon Paimon.
- 4/19/2023
- by Andrew Housman
- Slash Film
Whether it's The Halloween Tree or The October Country or Something Wicked This Way Comes, autumn is a wonderful time to read (or reread) Ray Bradbury's classic works. It's an especially perfect time of year, then, for Fantagraphics to publish Home to Stay!: The Complete Ray Bradbury EC Stories (featuring 28 Bradbury stories adapted by EC Comics in the 1950s), and we've been provided with "The Handler" story for Daily Dead readers to enjoy in its entirety ahead of the collection's October 18th publication!
Based on Bradbury's short story of the same name that was published in the 1947 collection Dark Carnival, "The Handler" (with artwork by Graham Ingels and a script by Al Feldstein) can be read in its entirety below!
We also have the official press release with additional details, and to learn more about Home to Stay!: The Complete Ray Bradbury EC Stories, visit:
https://www.
Based on Bradbury's short story of the same name that was published in the 1947 collection Dark Carnival, "The Handler" (with artwork by Graham Ingels and a script by Al Feldstein) can be read in its entirety below!
We also have the official press release with additional details, and to learn more about Home to Stay!: The Complete Ray Bradbury EC Stories, visit:
https://www.
- 10/17/2022
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Take another look @ Mad Magazine's classic 1954 "Archie" parody "Starchie", by Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder, on the news that producer Greg Berlanti of "Arrow" fame, is developing the series "Riverdale", using "Archie Comics" characters , with "...a twisted 'Twin Peaks' influence...", plus take a look @ the original "Riverdale" TV pilot :
"Imagine if 'Riverdale' was like 'Twin Peaks'," said Archie Comics' Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, "and was a really weird small town...
"...Twin Peaks had some very funny black humor stuff to it.
"Obviously it was very serious as well. So that kind of balance is what we’re going to try to strike with the show..."
"Starchie" featured characters 'Starchie Standrews', 'Bottleneck', 'Mr. Weathernot', 'Salonica', 'Biddy' and 'Wedgie Van Smelt'.
"...'Bottleneck' frames 'Starchie' so that Starchie goes to prison and Bottleneck can take over the girls and rackets at the 'Riverdale' high school..."
Click the images to enlarge...
"Imagine if 'Riverdale' was like 'Twin Peaks'," said Archie Comics' Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, "and was a really weird small town...
"...Twin Peaks had some very funny black humor stuff to it.
"Obviously it was very serious as well. So that kind of balance is what we’re going to try to strike with the show..."
"Starchie" featured characters 'Starchie Standrews', 'Bottleneck', 'Mr. Weathernot', 'Salonica', 'Biddy' and 'Wedgie Van Smelt'.
"...'Bottleneck' frames 'Starchie' so that Starchie goes to prison and Bottleneck can take over the girls and rackets at the 'Riverdale' high school..."
Click the images to enlarge...
- 11/30/2015
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
Take another look @ Mad Magazine's classic 1954 "Archie" parody "Starchie", by Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder, on the news that producer Greg Berlanti of "Arrow" fame, is developing the TV series "Riverdale", using "Archie Comics" characters , with "...a twisted 'Twin Peaks' influence...":
"Imagine if 'Riverdale' was like 'Twin Peaks'," said "Archie Comics" Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, "and was a really weird small town...
"...Twin Peaks had some very funny black humor stuff to it.
"Obviously it was very serious as well. So that kind of balance is what we’re going to try to strike with the show..."
"Starchie" featured the characters 'Starchie Standrews', 'Bottleneck', 'Mr. Weathernot', 'Salonica', 'Biddy' and 'Wedgie Van Smelt'.
"...'Bottleneck' frames 'Starchie' so that Starchie goes to prison and Bottleneck can take over the girls and rackets at the 'Riverdale' high school..."
Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek the original "Riverdale" TV Pilot,...
"Imagine if 'Riverdale' was like 'Twin Peaks'," said "Archie Comics" Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, "and was a really weird small town...
"...Twin Peaks had some very funny black humor stuff to it.
"Obviously it was very serious as well. So that kind of balance is what we’re going to try to strike with the show..."
"Starchie" featured the characters 'Starchie Standrews', 'Bottleneck', 'Mr. Weathernot', 'Salonica', 'Biddy' and 'Wedgie Van Smelt'.
"...'Bottleneck' frames 'Starchie' so that Starchie goes to prison and Bottleneck can take over the girls and rackets at the 'Riverdale' high school..."
Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek the original "Riverdale" TV Pilot,...
- 8/4/2015
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
Sneak Peek Mad Magazine's classic 1954 "Archie" parody "Starchie", by Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder, on the news that producer Greg Berlanti of "Arrow" fame, will develop the series "Riverdale", using "Archie Comics" characters , with "...a twisted 'Twin Peaks' influence...", plus take a look @ the original "Riverdale" TV pilot :
"Imagine if 'Riverdale' was like 'Twin Peaks'," said Aguirre-Sacasa, "and was a really weird small town...
"...Twin Peaks had some very funny black humor stuff to it.
"Obviously it was very serious as well. So that kind of balance is what we’re going to try to strike with the show..."
"Starchie" featured the characters 'Starchie Standrews', 'Bottleneck', 'Mr. Weathernot', 'Salonica', 'Biddy' and 'Wedgie Van Smelt'.
"...'Bottleneck' frames 'Starchie' so that Starchie goes to prison and Bottleneck can take over the girls and rackets at the 'Riverdale' high school..."
Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek...
"Imagine if 'Riverdale' was like 'Twin Peaks'," said Aguirre-Sacasa, "and was a really weird small town...
"...Twin Peaks had some very funny black humor stuff to it.
"Obviously it was very serious as well. So that kind of balance is what we’re going to try to strike with the show..."
"Starchie" featured the characters 'Starchie Standrews', 'Bottleneck', 'Mr. Weathernot', 'Salonica', 'Biddy' and 'Wedgie Van Smelt'.
"...'Bottleneck' frames 'Starchie' so that Starchie goes to prison and Bottleneck can take over the girls and rackets at the 'Riverdale' high school..."
Click the images to enlarge and Sneak Peek...
- 10/25/2014
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
In trying to scare up some laughs for its annual Halloween episode, The Simpsons also got deadly serious: They recruited big-screen writer-director Guillermo Del Toro. Known for crafting surreal worlds of fantasy and horror (Pan’s Labyrinth, The Devil’s Backbone) as well as action (Pacific Rim), Del Toro turned Springfield into his own wicked playground with a 2-minute-45-second couch gag/ opening-titles extravaganza to kick off Oct. 6′s “Treehouse of Horror Xxiv.” It’s a dense, elaborate, clever, creepy, impressive creation — and it requires several viewings to process all of the action. (See for yourself below.)
Initially offered the...
Initially offered the...
- 10/3/2013
- by Dan Snierson
- EW - Inside TV
Mad: Artist's Edition has been unveiled by Idw Publishing. The collection will compile classic illustrations from Mad artists including Basil Wolverton, Harvey Kurtzman, Will Elder and Wally Wood. "You can't understate the importance of Harvey Kurtzman and Mad comics to American culture," editor Scott Dunbier told Cbr. "If you go back and look at how many people were influenced by Mad - as both a comic, and later as a magazine, it's sort of staggering." He (more)...
- 7/14/2012
- by By Mark Langshaw
- Digital Spy
According to biographer / publisher Russ Cochran, legendary illustrator and comics artist Frank Frazetta passed away this morning.
Perhaps best known for his illustrations on the covers of the 1970s Conan paperbacks for Lancer Books and the 1960s Warren Magazines (Creepy, Eerie, Vampirella, Blazing Combat), Frazetta worked closely with EC artists Al Williamson and Angelo Torres as well as on various solo efforts for that and other publishers. He worked on The Shining Knight for DC Comics and the oft-reprinted jungle feature Thun'da created by Gardner Fox.
Frazetta spent years as Al Capp's assistant – often, ghost – on the newspaper strip Lil Abner at the height of its popularity, where he first visualized the astonishingly sexy character Moonbeam McSwine. He went on to draw his own short-lived newspaper comic strip, Johnny Comet, and served as an assistant to Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder on Playboy's Little Annie Fanny. Kurtzman once referred to...
Perhaps best known for his illustrations on the covers of the 1970s Conan paperbacks for Lancer Books and the 1960s Warren Magazines (Creepy, Eerie, Vampirella, Blazing Combat), Frazetta worked closely with EC artists Al Williamson and Angelo Torres as well as on various solo efforts for that and other publishers. He worked on The Shining Knight for DC Comics and the oft-reprinted jungle feature Thun'da created by Gardner Fox.
Frazetta spent years as Al Capp's assistant – often, ghost – on the newspaper strip Lil Abner at the height of its popularity, where he first visualized the astonishingly sexy character Moonbeam McSwine. He went on to draw his own short-lived newspaper comic strip, Johnny Comet, and served as an assistant to Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder on Playboy's Little Annie Fanny. Kurtzman once referred to...
- 5/10/2010
- by Mike Gold
- Comicmix.com
The 18th Annual Toronto Jewish Film Festival, running April 18-25 will feature the 'sidebar series', "People Of The Comic Book: The Creators Of Superheroes, Graphic Novels & Toons", based on the premise that North American Jews were the creative force behind the Us comic book industry.
Comic book titles include "Superman" (Siegel and Shuster), "Captain America (Simon and Kirby), "Batman (Bob Kane), "Lil' Abner" (Al Capp), "The Spirit" (Will Eisner), "Mad Magazine" (Harvey Kurtzman, Will Elder), "Daredevil" (Gene Colan), "Green Lantern" (Gil Kane), "Sgt. Rock" (Joe Kubert), "Spider-Man, "Iron Man", "The Hulk" (Stan Lee) and a whole lot more.
The program will feature panels with special guests including Harvey Pekar, author of "American Splendor" and a work-in-progress screening of the upcoming Will Elder doc, "The Mad Playboy Of Art".
This year's Festival will screen films from 18 countries, including the North American premiere of the restored 1948 doc "Nuremberg: Its Lesson For Today...
Comic book titles include "Superman" (Siegel and Shuster), "Captain America (Simon and Kirby), "Batman (Bob Kane), "Lil' Abner" (Al Capp), "The Spirit" (Will Eisner), "Mad Magazine" (Harvey Kurtzman, Will Elder), "Daredevil" (Gene Colan), "Green Lantern" (Gil Kane), "Sgt. Rock" (Joe Kubert), "Spider-Man, "Iron Man", "The Hulk" (Stan Lee) and a whole lot more.
The program will feature panels with special guests including Harvey Pekar, author of "American Splendor" and a work-in-progress screening of the upcoming Will Elder doc, "The Mad Playboy Of Art".
This year's Festival will screen films from 18 countries, including the North American premiere of the restored 1948 doc "Nuremberg: Its Lesson For Today...
- 3/25/2010
- by Michael Stevens
- SneakPeek
The 18th Annual Toronto Jewish Film Festival, April 18-25 will feature a 'sidebar series', titled People Of The Comic Book: The Creators Of Superheroes, Graphic Novels & Toons, based on the premise that North American Jews were the creative force behind the Us comic book industry. Comic book titles include "Superman" (Siegel and Shuster), "Captain America (Simon and Kirby), "Batman (Bob Kane), "Lil'Abner" (Al Capp), "The Spirit" (Will Eisner), "Mad Magazine" (Harvey Kurtzman, Will Elder), "Daredevil" (Gene Colan), "Green Lantern" (Gil Kane), "Sgt. Rock" (Joe Kubert), "Spider-Man", "Iron Man", "The Hulk" (Stan Lee) and a whole lot more. The program will feature panels with special guests including Harvey Pekar, author of "American Splendor" and a work-in-progress screening of the upcoming Will Elder doc, The Mad Playboy Of Art. This year's Festival will screen films from 18 countries, including the North American premiere of the restored 1948 doc Nuremberg: Its Lesson For Today, originally...
- 3/24/2010
- HollywoodNorthReport.com
Why hasn't Marge Simpson done a Playboy fold-out? Easy: from the tip of her toes to the top of her head, she's just too tall.
But at least the fabled "Magazine For Men" is doing a pictorial on the teevee queen. And it's a cover story, to boot. She's legal, having had three children and a show that's run for two decades.
Hopefully, this will lead to a continuing presence for the blue haired actress in the struggling magazine. It's been quite a while since Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder's Little Annie Fanny had any real exposure; perhaps Marge can fill the gap.
Although, personally, I'm holding out for Turanga Leela. There's something about that eye...
But at least the fabled "Magazine For Men" is doing a pictorial on the teevee queen. And it's a cover story, to boot. She's legal, having had three children and a show that's run for two decades.
Hopefully, this will lead to a continuing presence for the blue haired actress in the struggling magazine. It's been quite a while since Harvey Kurtzman and Will Elder's Little Annie Fanny had any real exposure; perhaps Marge can fill the gap.
Although, personally, I'm holding out for Turanga Leela. There's something about that eye...
- 10/11/2009
- by Mike Gold
- Comicmix.com
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