The First in Hobby Entertainment
Fun is What We Do
This month, Graphic Content has decided to counter-program against the torrent of feel-good holiday flicks and Oscar bait that are about to inundate the theatres of our fair city. Instead, we will be digging deep into nerd history and showing 1988's Akira (アキラ), the hyper-violent realization of Katsushiro Otomo’s epic manga of the same name, and the film that basically put anime on the map in North America. Here’s the information for the screening.
Neo-Tokyo, 2019: Two best friends, Kaneda (Mitsuo Iwata) and Tetsuo (Nozomu Sasaki) are the leaders of the Capsule motorcycle gang, battling for control over neon-soaked city streets with the rival Clown gang. When the pair come into contact with a decommissioned military experiment, Tetsuo is transformed into a powerful psychic who rivals the being named “Akira,” who leveled the city thirty years earlier. When the situation starts to get completely out of control, Kaneda is forced to join forces with an underground rebel movement in a desperate attempt to save his friend and the city.
Tuesday, December 20th at 9:15 PM at Metro Cinema at the Garneau Theatre. The movie is rated 18A and runs for 124 minutes. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for students/seniors. Metro Passes will be accepted. We will be screening the film on the new digital projector, so it should look amazing, just like V For Vendetta did. Box Office opens at 8:15, come early to check out the comics chosen to go along with the movie.
Hope to see you all there!
The film Akira touches on many different genres and themes throughout its running time. The biggest one, in our opinion, is the idea of rising from the ashes of a great calamity, in this case the destruction of Tokyo by Akira’s first appearance before the film begins. When choosing books to pair with this month’s screening, we here at Graphic Content decided to highlight other stories of the Apocalypse, not to mention what happens afterward.
Akira Volume One (originally published 1982-1990)
The print and screen versions of Akira are inextricably linked, which to us is one of the best parts of the whole experience. There are not many adapted comics, or for that matter, any adapted films where the same author is in complete control of both versions. Katsushiro Otomo’s Akira is one. The first trade paperback sets the scene for the epic 2000-page plus narrative by introducing readers to the lives of bosuzoku Shotaro Kaneda and Tetsuo Shima, as well as Kei and Ryu, two anti-government rebels. The print version is able to take its time, unlike the film, showing readers the political structures underlying Neo-Tokyo, as well as the backlashes against this “progress”. Originally serialized in Young Magazine, Akira is a must for lovers of cyberpunk, post-apocalypse and dramas involving young people riding around on sweet motorcycles.
20th Century Boys (originally published 1999-2006)
Another import from the land of manga, 20th Century Boys (originally serialized in Big Comic Spirits magazine) deals with a lot of the same issues as Akira, but in a manner occasionally better suited to the past than the near future. In the late 1960s, a group of young boys design a plan to take over the world as a sort of fun game, writing all of their notes down in a special book which is soon forgotten. Flash forward to New Year’s Eve 2000, when a strange society forms with the aim of using these childish plans to execute an all too adult reality. 20th Century Boys has it all: giant robots, gangsters, cults, prison breaks, friendship and a vision of the future executed with amazing clarity. It too has been adapted into film, spawning a trilogy of successful features (and potential future Graphic Content screenings…)
The Originals (originally published 2004)
The sole entry on this month’s reading list from the Western world, The Originals is an excellent example of how some concepts always remain timeless, no matter what. Lel and Bok are two wannabe-gangsters living in a future England scarred by a recent war. The group they aspire to join is called the Originals, the coolest gang in town, who rule the streets from atop their hover-scooters. Standing against the Originals are a group known as “The Dirt”, brutish bikers whose lack of style is an affront to the Originals modish attire and attitude. This impeccably drawn and written book, from the co-creator of the mega-popular Watchmen, updates the 1960s Quadrophenia-esque battles between England’s Mods and Rockers to a new futuristic milieu. Fans of Akira‘s clashes between Kaneda’s Capsule gang and the Clown gang will feel right at home here as everyone represents where they’ve come from, or at least where they want to be.
All these books will be on sale at before and after the screening, as well as at Warp One Comics and Games all month afterwards.
Two exciting events in November, and even more this December!
Graphic Content’s screening for the month of November will be the stark, brutal film realization of the classic comic series V For Vendetta. While it’s not exactly going to be shown on the day mentioned in the rhyme, we felt that the 2006 film was a good pick for this month. Here’s the information.
It is the near future in England, and the fascist “Norsefire” party has risen to power after a mysterious global cataclysm. A young woman, Evey (Natalie Portman) is saved from an assault by a mysterious Guy Fawkes-masked man who refers to himself only as “V” (Hugo Weaving). V goes on to mould Evey, and the country itself, in his image, as he reaches back to revolutionary ideas found in England’s past in an attempt to find a better future.
Graphic Content brings you a film based on the acclaimed comic series by Alan Moore and David Lloyd, and produced by the Wachowskis (The Matrix). In a time when global politics have become increasingly polarized and when citizens have flooded the streets of major metropolises in search of lasting change, Vendetta’s message concerning the dangers of unchecked governments and its meditations on the true meaning of power have become more vital than ever before.
Tuesday, November 22nd at 9:00 PM at Metro at the Garneau Theatre: The movie is rated 14A, and runs for 132 minutes. Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for students and seniors and $6 for children under the age of thirteen. Metro Passes will be accepted. We will be screening the film on the new digital projector, so it should look amazing. Box Office opens at 8:15, come early to check out the comics chosen to go along with the movie. RSVP on Facebook!
As a bit of a departure from Graphic Content’s usual modus operandi, we’ll be handing out coupons, which you can take down to Warp One Comics and Games and redeem for any single issue comic you’d like, be it an issue of superhero action or indie drama. We’ve also complied another book list of to go along with the film, you can check that out right here next week.
On Saturday the 26th, author Dave Gross will be in the store to read from his newest book, Master of Demons. This is the first time Warp One, in its current incarnation, has had an author in to do a reading and a signing, and we're excited and happy to have him here.
There will be cookies.
The event will be starting at six o'clock. We'll make sure all the Yu-Gi-Oh! kids go home before then.
Hope to see you at both of these awesome events!
Exciting news!
Warp One Comics and Games are holding no less than three fundraising events for the Child’s Play charity this year. We know that gamers are a giving lot, and we’re hoping to raise some funds for disadvantaged and sick kids in Alberta and around the world. This is an awesome charity, and we are really proud to be doing our part to help out this year.
On December 28th, 2011, we’re going to be playing first edition Dungeons & Dragons through one of the most horrifying dungeons ever committed to paper. Come kick in doors, beat up monsters, and take their stuff! Get horribly mangled by our vicious dungeon masters! Give money to get sick kids playing games!
That Friday, December 30th, 2011, we’re holding Warp’s first Anything Goes Magic: The Gathering event. We’re opening the flood gates on what you can play. Dust off that deck from 1995 and come down and play! You want to play with silver borders? Cool. Looking to play a game with that deck with the four Black Lotuses in it? Sweet, I’m looking forward to seeing it.
December 31st, 2011, we’re giving the Yu-Gi-Oh! kids a chance to outshine the whole lot with an Anything Goes Yu-Gi-Oh! event. Banned cards? What banned cards? I want to see three Crush Card Viruses in every deck. Throw in some Pots of Greed, a few Rescue Cats, and a play set of Shi-En, and let’s sling some cards!
Every dollar will be going to Child’s Play to help sick kids. The winners* and highest donators for each event will have their names engraved on a trophy that will live for the whole year in the Warp One games center. If you’re not interested in any of the games we’re playing, we invite you to make a donation anyway. However you decide to donate, you’ll be helping improve the lives of kids in hospitals all over the world. Sometimes, sitting down to play a video game is the only normal thing these kids get to do. Come out and make a difference.
*These are not competitive games, guys. If they were, we wouldn’t be playing such ridiculous formats. We wouldn’t be playing D&D at all. Do you know how hard it is to make D&D properly competitive? Ridiculous. The real winners here are the kids. But if you happen to be the last person standing, congrats, you get your name on a thing in the store.
Superman!
With only two weeks remaining, here’s the details for Graphic Content’s second screening, 1978′s Superman: The Movie!
One of the most well-regarded superhero films of all time, Superman (dir. Richard Donner) was a box-office smash when it rocketed to Earth in 1978. The last son of the dead planet Krypton, Kal-El (Christopher Reeve) is found as a baby by Jonathan and Martha Kent when his spaceship crashes just outside of Smallville, USA. Given the name “Clark” by his adopted parents, the boy grows up strong in the American heartland, developing amazing powers under the light of the yellow sun. One day, Clark finds a glowing crystal, and with it finds out about his alien heritage, the knowledge imparted to him by his birth father, Jor-El (Marlon Brando). The boy becomes a man, and moves to Metropolis to work for the Daily Planet newspaper, finding love in Lois Lane (Margot Kidder) and danger in the form of criminal genius Lex Luthor (Gene Hackman).
Superman is a classic tale of good vs. evil and the victory of true love against all obstacles. It is a triumph of the human spirit, as personified in a magical man from the stars. Come join us, and we’ll all believe a man can fly, again.
Thursday, October 18th at 6:45 PM at the Garneau Theatre: The movie is rated PG, and runs for 143 minutes. Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for students and seniors and $6 for children under the age of thirteen. Metro Passes will be accepted. As with Batman: The Movie, we are lucky to be screening an original 35 mm print of the film. Box Office Opens at 6:00.
Note that this timeslot, the third Tuesday night of the month, is to be Graphic Content’s permanent home at the Metro Cinema. Come on down and watch good triumph over evil as Superman turns back the clock on Lex Luthor’s evil schemes.On your way out of the theatre, don’t forget to grab a free Superman comic courtesy of Warp One Comics and Games! We’ve also complied another book list of to go along with the film that is forthcoming.
We’re still accepting entries for our Bat-villain contest, if you’re hankering for a signed copy of Grant Morrison’s Batman and Robin and a double guest pass to this screening of Superman!
RSVP on Facebook
Hope to see you all there!
