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07/18/15 @ 1:07 pm EST
This is a Writer’s Commentary for Reanimator #4 by Keith Davidsen. Here he focuses on the first seven pages of the issue that wraps up the miniseries based on the work of H.P. Lovecraft and features the classic character Dr. Herbert West.  PAGE 1: SUSAN’S VOICE Whenever narration appears throughout the REANIMATOR series, it’s always from the point of view of Susan Greene, the young assistant working for Herbert West. It’s an intentional nod to the original source material, H.P. Lovecraft’s “Herbert West – Reanimator,” which is told from the point of view of an unnamed male assistant.Originally, I thought about having Herbert West be the narrator, to really get inside the head of this cold, calculating man… but part of the fun of this series, I think, comes from the fact that no one really knows what the Reanimator’s ends are until the third and fourth issues. If you get inside his head too early, you lose the big reveal that he’s been manipulating everything from Day One.PAGE 1: BONE DADDYSamedi, the Voodoo-practicing hitman who serves as Dice’s lieutenant, is based on Baron Samedi, the skull-faced Loa (spirit) of Haitian Vodou – or, more accurately, the popular perception of the traditional figure.What would eventually become the REANIMATOR series originally began as a brainstorming session at the Dynamite home office. The staff had wanted to get a weekly event series off the ground, and I’d recommended that we’d do a horror-themed crossover in the month of February, coinciding with Mardi Gras. The pitch involved one-shots dedicated to Vampirella, Reanimator, Evil Ernie, and Eva: Daughter of the Dragon, with each of them fighting a different New Orleans-based villain. The supernatural Baron Samedi was going to be one of the key villains, and as the project changed and became more focused as the REANIMATOR series, he changed from Loa himself to a fearsome individual assuming his namesake.Samedi appears for the first time in REANIMATOR #4 wearing the face (and body) paint that’s so closely tied to the traditional Baron Samedi look. He’d had a moment of inspiration in issue #3, when Samedi came across paint at Big Will’s convenience store. War paint is cool, y’know? PAGE 1: ELDRITCH KREWE VS. GRIS-GRIS BOYZ I’ve always loved stories where the protagonist is targeted by several different parties, and the climactic battle involves those various parties showing up in the same place and going to war. Intentionally or accidentally, when the protagonist pits his enemies against each other, it’s fun to watch.The Eldritch Krewe is a criminal organization whose name combines something very Lovecraftian with something very Louisianan. “Eldritch” is perhaps one of Lovecraft’s favorite words, referenced so frequently in his stories that it’s either irritating or charming, depending on your appreciation of his work. It simply means “spooky” or “weird”. Meanwhile, a “Krewe” is an organization dedicated to creating a parade, which ties back into my original Mardi Gras-themed crossover pitch.I wanted a drug war to feature in the REANIMATOR series, so I needed to create two sides that were visually and philosophically different. While the Eldrith Krewe was elitist and tied to the Cthulhu cult, the Gris-Gris Boyz were more street-level, with Haitain ties. “Gris-Gris” is a reference to the type of charms or amulets used in traditions of Vodou and African religion. I wanted this gang to feel more like those that currently operate in the United States, so giving it a name like “posse” or “familia” seemed right. I settled on “Boyz” despite how it made me think of very dated 1990s hip hop.    PAGES 2-4: KING OF THE ZOMBIES Herbert West’s original intent – as conceived of by H.P. Lovecraft – was never to create zombies. He wants to restore the dead to perfect life, to undo the very act of death. Let’s say you’re fine one day, but you die the next. In his perfect vision of the world, the Reanimator would then injects you with his solution, and by Day Four, you’d be fine again. Shambling corpses were the by-products of his failed experiments. In the original “Herbert West – Reanimator”, he eventually starts performing rather unnecessary experiments. As Lovecraft put it, “his once normal scientific zeal for prolonging life had subtly degenerated into a mere morbid and ghoulish curiosity and secret sense of charnel picturesqueness. His interest became a hellish and perverse addiction to the repellently and fiendishly abnormal; he gloated calmly over artificial monstrosities.”Because we’re making comics, I wanted Herbert West, the Man of Science (if not Reason), to have several moments as an unexpected Man of Action. With a shotgun in his hand, facing down the Krewe lackies who’d dared to enter his laboratory… it’s a very “hero” thing to do. However, while he did on occasion shoot people in this series, I did try more often than not to create alternatives to direct violence. He’s a puppet master, so it’s fitting that he “cuts the strings” on his zombie hordes, letting them drop on his enemies, rather than shooting the enemies himself.  PAGE 5: CTHULHU REX Croceus Rex, the drug-addicted elitist who runs the Eldritch Krewe, appears in all his mutated glory on this page. “Croceus” means “yellow” or “gold”, and “Rex” is Latin for “king”. While Lovecraft had been a fan of Robert W. Chambers’ “The King in Yellow” and referenced it throughout the Cthulhu mythos, I wish I could say that this Lovecraft fact informed the naming of this villain, but the name came from a completely different line of thought. The traditional colors of Mardi Gras are purple, gold, and green – which represent justice, power, and faith. Croceus Rex cares nothing for justice, and while he is a devotee of Cthulhu, his faith is really more about positioning himself for the acquisition of power than anything else.Over the course of the series, Croceus Rex has increasingly used Herbert West’s Eunique drug, which the Reanimator warned would have negative side effects. Overindulgence had made Rex “psychically hypersensitive”, a phrase coined by Lovecraft in his classic tale, “The Call of Cthulhu”, and therefore the villain was susceptible to the dream-like influence of the Elder God. In issue #3, Rex then acquired and injected a sample of West’s blood… and ever since, his body had mutated into more and more of an abomination. It’s important to note that the upper and lower halves of his metamorphic body have very different physical attributes. His torso, arms, and head are covered in writhing tentacles, while his legs are tumorous. There’s a very distinct reason for that, revealed a little later in the issue. PAGE 6: THE AGONY FONT It’s a subtle change, but when Croceus Rex says, “This… is… agony”, there’s a font switch for that last word. Throughout the remainder of the issue, all of his dialogue reflects the new font, a visual cue to the character’s continuing physical changes. He’s still transforming into something inhuman, inside and out. PAGE 7: SUSAN GREENE, REANIMATOR Susan Greene wears a practically identical outfit to Herbert West in this issue, assuming his trademark lab coat and satchel. As revealed in the third issue, everything that has happened in this series has been carefully orchestrated by the Reanimator to groom Susan into his perfect assistant. She’s his experiment. It’s important that here, in the final issue, we can see that his experiment has been largely successful, and that visually she’s become much more like him.Susan still needs to cross certain moral boundaries, however. When she confronts Dice, the gangster who murdered her fiancé, she says, “I came out here to see you dead.” That’s a pretty clear indication that she’s willing to cast ethics aside. However, she’s driven by a need for justice or revenge, where West could kill coldly as a means to an end (which, in his case, is to further his scientific pursuits, as anyone who dies here becomes a body to perform experiments on). Still, forsaking the moral path is a slippery slope… one which West hopes to exploit. 11/16/25 @ 12:48 pm EST
While most of the focus over at Marvel Studios is currently on the pair of upcoming Avengers films, Ryan Coogler is ready to return to Wakanda for a third Black Panther film. We’d heard of the possibility of the film originally from Denzel Washington who, while speaking of his potential retirement, mentioned the film as one of his future projects and then when Nate Moore left Marvel last year, he said he would be back producing the third Black Panther film. Now, Coogler himself said while on stage talking about his film Sinners, that Black Panther 3 would be his next movie. The series kicked off with Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa, king of the African Nation of Wakanda and while he reprised the role in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, he sadly passed away shortly after. The sequel dealt with the characters death and passed the mantle on to his sister Shuri played by Letitia Wright who is expected to reprise the role in the upcoming Avenger films, but with talks of a potential soft reboot of the MCU, it’s unclear who will be wearing the mask for the third film.  11/16/25 @ 12:31 pm EST
The most recent news on the DCU has to do with Jimmy Olsen. Variety is reporting that Skyler Gisondo will reprise his role from Superman in a true-crime docuseries style show that focuses on villains in the universe starting with the Flash rogue, Gorilla Grodd. Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault are set to write and showrun with James Gunn and Peter Safran joining them as executive producers. The show is planned for HBO Max and will be a mockumentary style similar to Yacenda and Perrault’s previous series like American Vandal and Players. In the original report, Variety claimed the series would be called DC Crime, something Gunn took to social media to debunk, saying there had never been any project in production called DC Crime, he then added that his saying that doesn’t mean that the rest of the report is false. This sounds like a pretty good confirmation to me.  11/15/25 @ 12:49 pm EST
A new Star Trek film is in the works and Paramount is tapping the team of Jonathan Goldstein and John Frances Daley to write, produce and direct. This news comes shortly after David Ellison, founder of Skydance who recently purchased the studio, told investors that the next Star Trek film would not be a sequel to the Chris Pine/ Zachary Quinto lead series of films. While this hasn’t been 100% confirmed, word is that the new film will be focused on new characters and not directly tied to any previous film or television series. Goldstein and Daley have a good track record when it comes to revitalizing franchises having written Spider-Man: Homecoming for Marvel Studios and wrote and directed Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves which was very well received by fans and critics.  11/15/25 @ 12:32 pm EST
With The Fantastic Four: First Steps having moved to Disney+, the Pedro Pascal and Vanessa Kirby lead team is now first in fans minds. But one person still thinks about the First Family of Marvel presented a decade ago and what went wrong. Miles Teller, who played Reed Richards in Josh Trank’s 2015 version of the property, still thinks about the project and how he believes the problems all came down to one person. Teller was on Sirius XM’s Radio Andy show said, “You saw the movie, right? Your eyes were working during that time? I think it’s unfortunate because so many people worked so hard on that movie. And, honestly, maybe there was one really important person who kind of f***ed it all up.” While Teller didn’t say who that was, he was referring to the person who made the final cut on the film, which was not director Trank. Teller said that he wanted a superhero film on his resume to help show him as a serious leading man, but after seeing the final cut recalled, “I remember talking to one of the studio heads, and I was like, ‘I think we’re in trouble.'” The 2015 version made $167 million worldwide compared to this year’s version which made $521 million. He stopped short of calling for a director’s cut of the film.  11/09/25 @ 2:03 pm EST
The Creeper is a unique character from DC Comics, first introduced in "Showcase #73" in 1968. Created by Steve Ditko, The Creeper’s real name is Jack Ryder, a former television talk show host and investigative journalist in Gotham City. After being attacked during an undercover operation at a costume party, Ryder is injected with a serum by Dr. Yatz and gains superhuman abilities, including enhanced strength, agility, rapid healing, and a pain tolerance bordering on the supernatural. The serum, combined with a bizarre costume, transforms him into The Creeper, a vigilante known for his wild laughter, erratic behavior, and flamboyant appearance—a shock of green hair, yellow skin, and a red mane-like cape. The Creeper remains largely untouched by mainstream media, providing an opportunity to introduce audiences to a fresh face and break away from more established archetypes. His blend of horror, humor, and psychological complexity could create a film that stands out from traditional superhero fare. The Creeper’s unsettling persona and visual style lend themselves well to a film that could blend genres—horror, black comedy, and superhero action. His maniacal laugh and unpredictable methods could inject dark humor and psychological thrills, appealing to fans of films like "Joker" and "Deadpool" while carving out a distinctive identity in the DCU. Jack Ryder’s journey from cynical journalist to bizarre vigilante offers rich storytelling potential. Exploring themes of identity, sanity, and the nature of heroism, a Creeper film could delve into Ryder’s internal struggles and the impact of his dual life, making for a character-driven narrative that resonates with audiences seeking depth and complexity. And with being set in Gotham City, The Creeper’s adventures naturally intersect with the city’s gritty underworld, providing opportunities for noir-style detective storytelling. His background in journalism and investigation can be leveraged to create suspenseful plots involving corruption, criminal conspiracies, and moral ambiguity—making him an ideal protagonist for a film that explores the darker aspects of the DC Universe. The Creeper stands as one of DC Comics’ most unconventional and intriguing characters. His untapped potential, distinctive personality, and ability to straddle multiple genres make him a perfect candidate to lead a film in the new DCU.  ... 11/09/25 @ 1:37 pm EST
Predator: Badlands is doing very well, thanks for asking. The latest film in the long-running franchise set a few high franchise marks including domestic opening with $40M, best worldwide opening with $80M and best Cinemascore with an A-. The film also sits a the top of this week’s box office beating out the 2nd place film, Regretting You, by $32.9M… though that film is in its 3rd week. Other new films opening this week, Sarah’s Oil and Nuremberg, opened in 4th and 5th with just over $4M each. Badlands is the third Predator project for director Dan Trachtenberg, the first Prey showed how he could handle the franchise but then he wanted to follow it up with an animated film, Killer of Killers and then for the first time Badlands make the Predator the protagonist. 
11/08/25 @ 4:21 pm EST
Recent reports about problems on the set of Stranger Things may not have been what they seemed. There were stories being published that Millie Bobby Brown had filed a report against co-star David Habour, accusing the older actor of bullying. But the validity of those reports are now in question as both Brown and Harbour joined their Stranger Things cast members at the red=carpet premiere of the show’s fifth and final season. Brown and Harbour were seen joking together and even hugging. Brown has also spoke of Habour to Extra, saying: “It’s been amazing. We’re so lucky to have each other. The show means so much to the both of us, and to everyone here. This has been the last 10 years of our lives.” Brown stars as the psych-powered Eleven and Harbour plays Sherriff Jim Hopper who ends up adopting her. The fifth and final season will release on Netflix in three sets with Volume 1 on November 26 (four episodes), Volume 2 on Christmas (three episodes), and The Finale on New Year’s Eve.  11/01/25 @ 2:53 pm EST
There is a major movie franchise out there that is not going by its original name and it’s thanks to the star. When screenwriter Derek Kolstad finished what would become is most popular film, he was inspired by revenge-thrillers with one-word titles like Payback and Shooter. He dubbed his film, Scorn. The problem came when the star of the film went out and talked about it, he always referred to it by the lead character’s name rather than the title. After a while, the studio realized that their star, Keanu Reeves, had done millions of dollars worth of brand recognition for the name John Wick… they decided to go with it and renamed the film. Why Reeves did this is unknown, but Kolstad has since admitted that John Wick is a better franchise name, saying, “I can’t imagine it being Scorn now.” Was this an intentional thing on Reeves’ part or just a happy coincidence? We may never know.  11/01/25 @ 2:38 pm EST
If you check the major Hollywood sites like Deadline and Variety, they’ll tell you that October 2025 has been the lowest box office take in almost 30 years. It sits currently at $440 million with a few days left to add. In 1998 the box office did $455 million, which this month should just creep past. By comparison October 2018 did $832 million with just three films: Venom, A Star is Born and Halloween, taking in $481 million. But last year, October only took in $478 million showing the decreasing trend. Adding to the decline is the fact that no major releases were scheduled for this weekend because of the Halloween holiday. And what was put into theaters the whole month really didn’t get people’s attention. Tron: Ares was the highest profile film and that hasn’t even broken $70 million in its four weeks in theaters. When you look at numbers like that, it’s hard not to think about what might have been. There was a big budget film slated for release this month, a film that got delayed and delayed and hasn’t even started filming. A film that finally has a finished script and is set to release in October of 2027… that of course is Matt Reeves’ The Batman Part 2. One of the most anticipated films currently in production, the sequel to the 2022 hit, bolstered also by the fan favorite HBO series The Penguin, would easily match and likely succeed the success of the first film. The Batman opened on March 4, 2022 and ended that month with $338 million domestically. It was originally scheduled to be released October 3rd, looking at that release date, this year there really wasn’t any big film put in its place. The film would’ve done better than the first and that amount would’ve driven 2025 towards the top of the list, maybe even surpassing 2018. Ah, what could’ve been.  ... 10/26/25 @ 12:25 pm EST
DC Studios has potentially taken a significant step by filing for a trademark for a film titled "Salvation Run." A move that isn’t too surprising since the Salvation planet and the idea of using it as a prison for meta humans was introduced in the season finale of Peacemaker season 2. But the filing does indicate just how big this idea could be for the DCU. "Salvation Run" is a storyline from DC Comics that originally ran in the late 2000s. The story centers on the mass exile of some of DC's most notorious villains to a hostile alien world, forcing them to band together for survival. It was a concept originally pitched to DC by Game of Thrones writer George R.R. Martin. The trademark filing by DC Studios suggests that the company is considering developing "Salvation Run" into a feature film. While trademark filings do not guarantee that a film will be produced, they often indicate serious intent or early-stage development. The filing protects the title and concept, ensuring that DC Studios retains exclusive rights as plans evolve. Should "Salvation Run" move forward, it could introduce a fresh dynamic to DC's film slate. Instead of focusing on heroes, this story would shine a spotlight on villains, possibly expanding character development and offering audiences new perspectives on well-known antagonists. It also opens opportunities for ensemble casting, complex storytelling, and connections to other DC properties.  |
