Based on the Dark Horse comic, Syfy’s Resident Alien follows Harry, an alien played by Alan Tudyk that crash lands on Earth and passes himself off as a small-town human doctor. Arriving with a secret mission, Harry starts off living a simple life…but things get a bit rocky when he’s roped into solving a local murder and realizes he needs to assimilate into his new world. As he does so, he begins to wrestle with the moral dilemma of his mission and asking the big life questions like: “Are human beings worth saving?” and “Why do they fold their pizza before eating it?”
“On the Road Again” Episode 401 — Pictured: (l-r) Tim Rozan as Doc Holliday, Anna Quick as Young Willa — (Photo by: Michelle Faye/Wynonna Earp Productions, Inc./SYFY)
When season three of Wynonna Earp ended ,we saw Waverly, Doc and Wynonna going toe to toe with Bulshar, killing him, Waverly heading into the Garden and Doc headed in to save her. Wynonna vows to get them back and then drugs the rest of her team to protect them. Before the first commercial break, a lot happens and we find out where everyone is and how they’re doing and it isn’t all good.
Kate & Nicole Nicole wakes up trapped on a moving train moving far away from Purgatory. After a quick tarot card reading, Kate believes the best course of action is to risk herself and open the shock doors to give Nicole a chance to escape and save Waverly.
Mercedes, Nedly & Wynonna Wynonna is on a Waverly hunt and tries to fling herself into the garden and falls on her face. Nedly gets shot and they return back to the homestead where they find VALDEZ carved into the wall but, Jeremy and Nicole are missing. They hear a sound and after a thrown knife lands in the wall next to Wynonna’s head they find Mercedes grabbing a bite to eat in the kitchen, and she can throw knives now. The merry trio heads off to retrieve Doll’s files for some intel into where everyone went and trade the best quips along the way.
Waverly & Doc didn’t end up together after the season 3 finale but, Doc manages to find her, chained to a post and in pain. Doc uses his vampire strength to free her and after a heartfelt embrace they head off to find a way out by trying a whole lot of doors.
Jeremy: Was scooped up by black badge agents with laser sites and used his Hail Mary play to carve Valdez into the wall to help Wynonna find a way into the garden to save Doc and Waverly or maybe a hint to where they were taking him?
Wynonna explaining to Nedly where the rest of her team is and why they aren’t there to help her rescue Waverly
“I drugged them at the kitchen table” –Wynonna
“Well, that’s a felony” –Nedly
….and, nary a dialogue has summed up the awesomeness and allure of Wynonna Earp better.
Something New: Rachel, a teen looking for her mom who may or may not be a zombie… oh yeah, and there are ZOMBIES who might be standing in between Wynonna & Nicole reaching the door that leads to the garden and rescuing Waverly & Doc.
Episode MVP: Nicole! Sassy and plucky as ever, she also managed to keep it hella real when Wynonna’s genuinely happy to see you smile was met with a punch in the face because, Wynonna should know by now, you don’t drug your friends! She’s also so good at being level headed in stressful situations and under fire, has some of the best lines, injects logic into the ridiculousness of the crazy situations that come up and would do anything for the love of her life, Waverly, including jump off of a moving train and fight her way through heaven (or hell). How can you not stan such a complex written character?
Overall: I missed my weekly dose of wit, action, and hot mess action and this was the welcome back party that we hoped for. Sure the team is spread all over the place but, it’s a great reminder of why we love the show so much. Even though everyone is on their own adventure and dealing with their own perilous situations, they’re strong enough characters to make you hella invested in each and every one of them. Wynonna Earp is well written and the writers make sure that every scene is verbal perfection, the actors play their parts with such honesty and reverence to their characters that you forget that they aren’t real people. The whole team manages to create a world that is campy but, tugs at the heartstrings and makes you feel real feelings. The show keeps Wynonna, her struggles and triumphs, front and center while creating a space to fall in love and root for the rest of the ensemble in a way that gives everyone a favorite without taking away from the title character. While you may follow other character’s journeys and side quests the writers make sure to bring focus back to Wynonna without taking away from the other character’s lives allowing the viewer to get a full picture of the world as a whole. The only thing wrong with this season premiere was that it ended way too soon and the hour went by in a snap. It has been such a long hiatus but, the creators made sure that it was worth the wait by offering up a masterpiece with another cliffhanger that makes sure we will come back next week and revel in all of this amazing shows glory.
Todd McFarlane: Like Hell I Won’t celebrates McFarlane’s history breaking run on Spawn and is a look at his career. The documentary intersperses footage from conventions, testimonials, and McFarlane himself. He recounts his time in comics with a recurring theme of “drive”. The documentary is an interesting one that mostly props McFarlane up with little criticism. In that way, it feels a bit glossed over in history and is an incomplete picture of his actual career in comics, film, television, and toys. But, the documentary goes through some interesting history doing a fine job of catching up those that might not know it.
From McFarlane’s beginning to modern times, the documentary covers a career that’s been focused and full of drive. From his early comic career to his start at Marvel, we get to see how his early years was one of luck that opened opportunity. We get some strife as he admits that his time at Marvel was one of being pushed back on with his style but he also praises some people he was able to work with there and the opportunities he received. It’s a look at working within a corporate structure as an artist.
But, where things get interesting is when the documentary shifts away from Marvel. While the formation of Image goes quickly, the documentary focuses on the collapse of the comic industry and how McFarlane weathered the storm. We get to see the pillars by which he built his empire and his shift from comics to film, television, video games, and most importantly toys. Though that too is painted as nothing but success with little failure or issues.
Todd McFarlane: Like Hell I Won’t isn’t all roses. A few minutes of it towards the end are dedicated to lawsuits and bankruptcy though all of them are just touched upon with little detail. McFarlane attempts to wash over the time as if success begets lawsuits, and there’s nothing more than others seeing opportunity. It comes off as if he did nothing wrong and everyone else was the issue. The documentary though highlights the losses. The rocky history of Image isn’t mentioned and his Chapter 11 filing is briefly mentioned. Though there’s been success there were failures too that aren’t explored enough. And that makes sense based on Todd McFarlane: Like Hell I Won’t’s focus. The documentary is meant as a puff celebration of Spawn #300, not as a hard-hitting history.
The documentary is about McFarlane’s belief. It’s about the belief in himself and his vision of how things should go. And it’s clearly worked for him. Spawn is still going, well past issue #300, setting a record each month witch each new release. McFarlane Toys continues to inovate and maybe we’ll eventually see Spawn on film again some day. McFarlane has had a successful career and Todd McFarlane: Like Hell I Won’t is focused on that. It dances around his impact. It dances around the industry has changed yet he remains. There’s so much more that could have been explored and expanded upon to make this documentary interesting. But, the final product feels a bit like a late night informercial, an advertisement wrapped up as something else.
If you don’t know anything about Todd McFarlane, a super fan, or a fan of Spawn, then Todd McFarlane: Like Hell I Won’t might be interesting. It’s surface deep in details dancing around the depth and never exploring statements or giving any examples of impact. For those looking at an exploration of comic history, even McFarlane’s career, there’s so many other documentaries and books to spend your time with.
Todd McFarlane: Like Hell I Won’t debuts on SyFY on July 25 at 11pm ET.
It’s a new day of comics! Well, DC and digital comics at least. We’ll have a rundown of what you can get today as well as tomorrow later in the day. While you wait for that, here’s some comic news and reviews from around the web in our morning roundup.
Based on the comic series by Magdalene Visaggio and Jason Smith and published by Vault Comics, Vagrant Queen debuted on SyFy and now you can watch the entire first episode for free!
Former child queen Elida has been on the run since her mother was shot and killed by Commander Lazaro, the man responsible for bringing down their empire. A highly skilled fighter, Elida has been living in hiding and making ends meet as a scavenger while the unhinged Lazaro obsesses over tracking her down. When Elida’s old frenemy, Isaac, shows up with news about her past, it takes the help of the optimistic mechanic Amae, to escape Lazaro’s army in an adventure across a dangerous galaxy. To take Lazaro down, the team must break into the heavily guarded region of space where Elida once ruled, but an encounter with a group loyal to her former throne forces Elida to face her past as a child queen. Cannibalistic aliens, dangerous planets, shootouts, karaoke, and parking tickets complicate the journey further, and they don’t have long before the increasingly deranged Lazaro catches up to them.
Vagrant Queen is the latest comic series to be adapted for television or film. The television series is based on the comic from writer Magdalene Visaggio and artist Jason Smith. The comic series is published by Vault Comics.
Starring Adriyan Rae in the lead role of Elida, Tim Rozon as Isaac, and Paul du Toit as the menacing Commander Lazaro, the series follows Elida. Elida is an orphaned queen turned scavenger who keeps one step ahead of the Republic government attempting to kill her.
The first notable thing of the series is the visuals which feel like a cross between The Fifth Element, Doctor Who, and Red Dwarf all in a slight dayglo coloring. The visuals are both high quality and low quality at the same time. While some characters like the Republic soldiers look great, some aliens look like bad cosplay.
The longer the show went on the more the visuals grew on me, even with flaws. There’s a vision for the show and it’s consistent and is cohesive. Still, it’s an interesting mix since some things are so good and others are so bad. For every one thing that works, there’s another that doesn’t. That aspect seems to pass that along to the cast too.
Rae, Rozon, and du Toit all seem to be having fun in their roles at times going over the top and overall just having fun. Rae as Elida has a charm about her that is inviting and brings the entertaining aspect to this entertainment. Du Toit especially chews up the scenery with an over the top performance which has a fun villainous wink to it, especially compared to Rae and Rozon’s delivery.
The show has the “Syfy aesthetic,” a certain quality and style that seems to be consistent of shows on the channel. Things are both good and bad, interesting and not so much. It’s fascinating how consistent show are. And that consistency brings with a certain amount of cheese but that cheese is also fun.
Vagrant Queen does a solid job of setting things up and by the halfway mark, you have a good idea of where it’s going. The show is excellent in jumping between the past and present introducing us to Elida. Even with its predictable twist, the first episode is enjoyable and characters have their charm.
Vagrant Queen knows what it is. It wears its style on its sleeve. There’s good and bad about it and the result is good popcorn television. Even when parts are bad, there’s still something fun about it. Think the Enterprise being hit and crew knocked around for quality. There’s a cheese factor but velvety goodness.
I have no idea how well the show sticks to the comic source material but the first episode makes me want to find out. It’s Friday fun television that delivers some sci-fi escape.
With civilization at stake, it’s this queen, this deadbeat and this mechanic against a whole damn galaxy. Vagrant Queen premieres Friday, March 27 at 10/9c only on SyFy.
The television series is based on the comic from writer Magdalene Visaggio and artist Jason Smith. The comic series is published by Vault Comics.
The show is being produced by Blue Ice Pictures. It features an all-female team of writers and directors with Jem Garrard as creator and showrunner.
Adriyan Rae has been cast in the lead role of Elida, Tim Rozon as Isaac, and Paul du Toit as the menacing Commander Lazaro.
An official synopsis for the show has been released:
Vagrant Queen follows Elida from child queen to orphaned outcast, as she scavenges the treacherous corners of the galaxy, always one step ahead of the Republic government out to extinguish her bloodline. When her old friend Isaac shows up claiming her mother Xevelyn is still alive, they head off with their new ally, Amae, to stage a rescue that will take her back into the perilous heart of her former kingdom and up against a deadly foe from her childhood, Commander Lazaro.
Based on the comic series published by Dark Horse, ResidentAlien stars Alan Tudyk. The series follows a small-town doctor who’s actually from outer space. The comic was created by Peter Hogan and Steve Parkhouse.
Yippee-ki-yay Vagrant Queen is coming to SYFY in 2020!
The television series is based on the comic from writer Magdalene Visaggio and artist Jason Smith. The comic series is published by Vault Comics. The show will premiere on Syfy in 2020 with as 10-episode one-hour series.
The show is being produced by Blue Ice Pictures. It features an all-female team of writers and directors with Jem Garrard as creator and showrunner.
Adriyan Rae has been cast in the lead role of Elida, Tim Rozon as Isaac, and Paul du Toit as the menacing Commander Lazaro.
An official synopsis for the show has been released:
Vagrant Queen follows Elida from child queen to orphaned outcast, as she scavenges the treacherous corners of the galaxy, always one step ahead of the Republic government out to extinguish her bloodline. When her old friend Isaac shows up claiming her mother Xevelyn is still alive, they head off with their new ally, Amae, to stage a rescue that will take her back into the perilous heart of her former kingdom and up against a deadly foe from her childhood, Commander Lazaro.
Executive producing the television series are Lance Samuels and Daniel Iron as well as F.J. DeSanto and Damian Wassel of Vault Comics. Mika Collins and Mariko Tamaki are on board as writers. Confirmed directors so far include Garrard and Danishka Esterhazy.
