Staff Picks of the Week — September 1st, 2017

Happy Friday! Can you believe it’s September already? We packed August with as much fresh content as we possibly could and brought on a ton of new contributors! Now it’s time for the best part of the week: Staff Picks! We asked staff writers and editors to tell us about something that brought them joy this week. Before we dive into their recommendations, let’s do a quick recap!

News: Following (yet another) Hollywood whitewashing controversy, actor Ed Skrein stepped down from Hellboy. And in the wake of devastation in Texas from Hurricane Harvey, Games Done Quick is hosting a benefit event for victims this weekend. 

Podcasts: Listen to episode two of This Page Is Under Construction, our favorite web-based nostalgia podcast. Then be sure to check out the latest episode of The Comics Agenda, which includes an interview with Jim Zub! 

Comics: We want to review more indie, self-published, and web comics! If you’re a creator, email us and we’ll do our best to get a review up on the site! This week, Anelise (our new comics editor! Ahh!) reviewed History & Exploitation of the Pug. Mike told us all about Aceblade and Face Down in the Mud. Josh reviewed the second issue of Faith and Future Force while Stephanie Cooke and Greg each tackled a different Supergirl comic. Greg also reviewed Crosswind #3, and Nico dove into Uncanny Avengers #26 as a new reader of the series. John gave us his thoughts on Darkseid Special #1 and Stephanie Pouliotte continued reviewing Black Magick, now in its seventh issue.

Books: Want to dive into modern witchcraft? Samantha thinks you should start with Basic Witches. She also reviewed a kids’ adaptation of Shakespearean plays, in stores today. Kim also gave us her thoughts on Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. Did you catch the latest Rogues Portal Book Club chat? We talked about Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and Christoph followed up with his thoughts on the book and movie. Plus, Amelia began an in-depth analysis of every Goosebumps book. Get spooked!

TV & Movies: If you’re planning to rent Baywatch this weekend, read Stephanie’s thoughts on it first. Perhaps dive into the original Planet of the Apes instead? Or catch up on Will before Monday’s season finale. You could also spend your weekend gabbing about Shadowhunters with Shanicka and Samantha. They’d love that.

Video Games: Ryan gave us his first impressions of the Destiny 2 PC beta. Samantha told us why she’s addicted to the mobile Disney Tsum Tsum game. Toronto-based punk band PUP also released their new music video for “Old Wounds”… which is literally a video game. Amazing. And if that isn’t enough, Gamescom 2017 gave us a bunch of awesome trailers. 

Other Stuff: Want to know which Disney prince stole Heather’s heart? Read about her first crush. 

Now let’s see those September 1st Staff Picks! 

Cameron‘s Pick of the Week: My pick for this week is a two-fer. This week Marvel put out two books featuring my favorite former Young Avengers: America Chavez, in the newest issue of her ongoing series America; and Kate Bishop in the Generations: Hawkeye and Hawkeye one-shot. Since its debut issue, America has been all sorts of fun, featuring the reality-hopping, butt-kicking mistress of sass as she attempts to lead both the Ultimates team and her own life as a new college student. Break-out writer Gabby Rivera has been killing it on this book and this issue (co-written by Kelly Thompson, with art by Ramon Villalobos) looks to be no exception. The Jen Bartel cover is worth the price alone.

And speaking of Kelly Thompson, the writer of the current Hawkeye ongoing reunites (sorta) the original Team Hawkeye. As the latest one-shot to build up to the upcoming Marvel Legacy event, Kate teams up with a younger, less experienced Clint Barton, for Battle Royale-style hijinks involving the world’s best sharpshooters. Expect plenty of snark, goofy purple costumes, and a whole lot of Kate saving Clint’s butt, courtesy of Thompson and penciler Stefano Raffaele.

Josh‘s Pick of the Week: This week I’ve been keeping myself busy with Captain Canuck Vol. 2: The Gauntlet. I’ve been rereading the series to refresh my memory before I start the latest issue of Canuck, which came out a few weeks ago. A lot has happened over 12 issues. Having a couple months between issues didn’t help matters any.

Leonard Kirk’s art is a lot of fun; not just the fights, but also just seeing all the gold monsters that swarm the books. Monsters are fun. One thing I really like about this volume is the introduction of Mark Shainblum’s Northguard and PACT agency, which kickstarted the larger Chapterverse. After this I need to read the new Northguard series and Agents of PACT, which is an all female cast of super spies.

Rhian‘s Pick of the Week: My pick of the week is the upcoming Guillermo del Toro film The Shape of Water, which I honestly cannot wait to see. It premiered in competition at the Venice Film Festival and stars a strong and stellar cast which includes Sally Hawkins, Michael Shannon, Octavia Spencer and Michael Stuhlbarg. The action takes place in the 1960s and centres around our main heroine Elisa. She lives alone in an apartment above a crumbling repertory cinema in downtown Baltimore. At night she works as a charlady at the pointedly named Occam Aerospace Research Centre, where the strange goings-on defy a neatly razored explanation.

The Shape of Water has been to compared to such films as Creature From the Black Lagoon by Douglas Kirk and Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Mermaid, which excites me more! The film reportedly boasts many hidden surprises and has been said to ‘send tingles through every part of you that other films don’t reach.’ Also, the creature looks sick! It’s looks terrifying and cool all in one!

I love Guillermo del Toro films. (Mama is one of my absolute favourite mini shorts.) I cannot wait to see what The Shape of Water has in store for us! What’s your favourite del Toro film? Write it in the comments below!

Shanicka‘s Pick of the Week: This week I’ve been cramming in episodes of Greek starting from season one. I originally started it back in 2009 during my first semester of college, but I never finished it. (It ended its run in 2011). I always get a pang of nostalgia and a weird longing for college at the end of August. I didn’t particularly enjoy college nor did I consider it the “best years of my life.” Nevertheless, at the beginning of each new school year, I always miss my time as a student just a little bit. Re-watching Greek is a way for me to quell these feelings. Of course, my own collegiate years featured a lot less frat parties and sorority sister drama….

It’s also amazing to go back and discover all of the Greek cameos I missed the first time around. (Dave Franco, Plain White T’s, and Candice Accola? I see y’all.) I thought that watching this show seven years laters, as a college grad, might make me feel differently about the characters. Butttt, it’s pretty safe to say that present-day me is just as smitten with Cappie as 19-year-old me was. Some parts of me remain extremely consistent and I am more than okay with that that. Kappa Tau for life!

Terry‘s Pick of the Week: My pick this week is Koyama Press’ entire fall line-up! I was lucky enough to be able to blaze through these six amazing books earlier than anticipated. By far my favourite is I’m Not Here by prairies-based Canadian artist GG, whose atmospheric, cinematic look at a young Chinese-Canadian woman’s relationship with herself and her family left me feeling light-headed for the rest of the day.

A close second for me was Sophia Foster-Dimino’s amusing little book, Sex Fantasy. Her whimsical and simple linework compliments the humour found within, but also creates a stark contrast when coupled with more serious subjects. Quick to read and beautiful to look at, as usual, Koyama’s publications leave a lasting impact.

Want to tell us what you’re loving this week? Sound off in the comments or let us know on Twitter and Facebook! Your responses might be featured on our social networks! Have a great weekend, everyone!