😏 i can be so insincere

While I'm excited for a lot of what we have in store this week, there are two things that are much more important than anything else.

First up is Alfonso Cuarón returning to television with the mini-series Disclaimer, as he writes and directs all seven episodes. It's an adaptation of the novel from Renee Knight (which I haven't read) and I honestly know nothing about what the show is actually about. And I don't care. Cuarón doesn't miss. Period. Plus it stars Cate Blanchett.

Then over in the world of comics, Scott Snyder and Nick Dragotta are here to reinvent Batman with Absolute Batman as DC creates their own version of Marvel's Ultimate Universe. I can't remember when I was this excited for a new comic. Maybe Snyder and Capullo's Batman in the New 52, or Brian K. Vaughn returning to comics with Fiona Staples for Saga? The other two Absolute books they've previewed look fun too, but I'm not as excited for those as I am Batman. Although, Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman doing Absolute Wonder Woman is pretty cool looking.

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📺 New Shows

🏀 Starting Five S1 (Netflix) — 9 Oct

The NBA gets the Drive to Survive treatment from Netflix with this docuseries going behind the scenes of the 2023/24 season as they follow LeBron James, Jimmy Butler, Anthony Edwards, Domantas Sabonis, and newly minted NBA champion, Jayson Tatum.

🍵 Teacup S1 (Peacock) — 10 Oct

A new horror tv show coming to Peacock from creator and showrunner Ian McCulloch along with James Wan (Saw, Insidious, The Conjuring, Aquaman, Furious 7) as an Executive Producer. Plus it stars Yvonne Strahovski from Chuck—hopefully she isn't as nuts as Zachary Levi.

🧗‍♀️ Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft S1 (Netflix) — 10 Oct

It's been awhile since we've featured some animation, but once again Netflix is here to turn an existing property into an animated show.

🫛 Sweetpea S1 (Starz) — 10 Oct

This, I believe, is a British production, airing on Sky in the UK, and starring Ella Purnell (Yellowjackets, Fallout) who I had no idea was British.

*️⃣ Disclaimer S1 (Apple) — 11 Oct

And I've already touched on the Cuarón/Blanchett mini-series above. Just watch it. Does it really matter what it's about when you have those two steering the ship.

🍎 English Teacher (FX)

I skipped over this when it debuted, but the wife and I have gone back to check it out and it's fun. It straddles the middle ground between an ABC sitcom like Abbot Elementary and more raunchy FX/Hulu auteur driven comedies, falling more on the sitcom side though. Although, I had to ask my wife, "kids in school aren't really like this are they?" to which she responded, "I think so..."

Monday

• English Teacher (FX) 1:7

Wednesday

• Bad Monkey (Apple) 1:10
• Only Murder in the Building (Hulu) 4:7
• Slow Horses (Apple) 4:6
• Agatha: House of Harkness (Disney) 1:5
• Starting Five (Netflix) S1

Thursday

• The Rings of Power (Amazon) 2:9
• Teacup (Peacock) 1:1-2
• Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft (Netflix) S1
• Sweetpea (Sky) 1:1

Friday

• Rick and Morty: The Anime (Adult Swim) 1:9
• Pachinko (Apple) 2:8
• The Old Man (Hulu) 2:6
• Disclaimer (Apple) 1:1-2

Sunday

• Last Week Tonight (HBO) 11:26
• From (MGM) 3:4
• The Penguin (HBO) 1:4
• Uzumaki (Adult Swim) 1:3
• The Franchise (HBO) 1:2

💽 Release of the Week

🔉 The New Sound by Geordie Greep

black midi front-man returns to the scene with his first solo album since the band dissolved. It obviously has a lot of similarities to black midi, but I think Greep does a good job at simplifying things a bit from the "math rock" of black midi. It's an easier (and more enjoyable) listen, but still keeps that fun "crank wave" sound similar to Squid or Black Country, New Road.

🎼 More Good Stuff

• Cutouts by The Smile
• "NO TITLE AS OF 13 FEBRUARY 2024 28,340 DEAD" by Godspeed You! Black Emperor
• The Hard Quartet by The Hard Quartet
• For Cryin' Out Loud! by FINNEAS
• Suburbia Calling by RAT BOY

🦸 No. 1's

🦇 Absolute Batman (DC)

One of the biggest comic releases in a very, very long time—maybe ever? Scott Snyder returns to Bruce Wayne along with Nick Dragotta to launch DC's version of the Ultimate Universe, the Absolute Universe.

🤖 The Terminator (Dynamite)

Declan Shalvey continues his run of launching IP books as a writer with Dynamite following his excellent Thundercats book. Given the animated Terminator show on Netflix and then James Cameron talking about the next evolution of Terminator, there are a lot of cool things in the air lately.

☢️ The Toxic Avenger (Ahoy)

I honestly know nothing about The Toxic Avenger, but I'm still holding out hope for the Peter Dinklage movie to eventually get some sort of release. I also know nothing about the creative team so feel free to ignore everything I've said. Ever.

🤖 Sentinels (Marvel)

Lastly, a new take on Sentinels in the world of X-Men from Alex Paknadel (All Against All, Carnage) with artist Justin Mason (Spider-Punk). These Sentinels are apparently tasked with keeping the fragile peace between humans and mutants rather than eliminating mutants.

📝 Other Notable Releases

• Minor Arcana (Boom) #2
  • I'm assuming I convinced you to pick up #1 last month and you're already planning to buy the second issue here from writer/artist Jeff Lemire, right?
• Public Domain (Image) #9
• Transformers (Skybound) #13
• Space Ghost (Dynamite) #6
• Scarlett (Skybound) #5
• Precious Metal (Image) #5
• Plastic: Death & Dolls (Image) #5
• Life (DSTLRY) #2
• Geiger (Image) #7

• The Ultimates (Marvel) #5
• Batman and Robin (DC) #14
• Fantastic Four (Marvel) #26
• X-Force (Marvel) #4
• Exceptional X-Men (Marvel) #2

🎥 New Movies

🕴️ The Apprentice

This film has been talked about a bunch already. I'm not really in any rush to see Trump portrayed on the big screen, even if it puts the idiot on display, but I still appreciate a lot of the chances Sebastian Stan has been taking lately. Both he and Jeremy Strong look great in this.

👩 Woman of the Hour

Anna Kendrick makes her directorial debut as she stars in this Netflix 70's crime drama along with Tony Hale and Pete Holmes. Limited release in theaters this week followed by a release on the streamer October 18th.

⏱️ We Live in Time

From A24, Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield star in this dramatic romance.

🎎 Piece by Piece

And finally, the Pharrell Williams biopic told through LEGO and starring Pharrell as his LEGO self. Feels a bit self-indulgent, but the cast is packed with some of the biggest names in hip-hop.

Congrats! You made it to the end. Truly a great accomplishment that few have done before you. Enjoy it—bask in the glory—you've earned it.

Be kind and stay sane,

—kevin humdrum

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