Mike Moon / Catgirl Island
and Jamie Robertson / Clan of the Cats
purroudly purrsent a Mike Moon purrduction,
starring The Ladies of The Mew in
The June 2018 Edition of The Mew:
The Catgirl Critics’ Media Mewsings, nya!
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in this edition of The Mew:
Event Reports:
Jordan High School’s purrduction of Catch Me If You Can
Free Comic Book Day
The Lightning Round topic:
Years ending in an 8, part 5: our favorite fun stuff of 1958
The Celebrity Catgirl Spotlight:
more honorary live-action catgirls & other kemonomimi
DVD & movie mewsing:
Mary and the Witch’s Flower DVD
Isle of Dogs
Tomb Raider
Ready Player One
A Quiet Place
Avengers; Infinity War
Black Panther Blu-Ray
Deadpool 2
Batman Ninja
Solo: A Star Wars Story
collectibles & toy talk:
Star Wars Qi’Ra 2.5″ & 5.5″ action figures
Marvel Legends Black Widow action figure
Marvel Legends Marvel’s Wasp Wasp action figure
Diamond Select Pacific Rim: Uprising Saber Athena action figure
pony purrings:
My Little Pony magazine #5
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #66
My Little Pony: Legends of Magic 2018 Annual
other comics, books & manga mewsings:
Princeless: Raven the Pirate Princess Year 2 #6 & 7
Die Kitty Die! I Love You to Death FCBD 2018 (issue #11)
Today’s Cerberus vol. 8
A Centaur’s Life vol. 14
The Art of Solo: A Star Wars Story
additions to the Catgirl Island Mewseum of Art
“Mushroom Fairy” by Rebcca Brogden
“Yum” by Rebcca Brogden
“Elven Queen” by Rebcca Brogden
“Cat Tails” by Rebcca Brogden
“Cattitude” by Rebcca Brogden
“Meditation” by Rebcca Brogden
“Eamane’s New Look” by Rebcca Brogden
“New Outfit” by Mike
“Julia” by Mike
“Maeridyth” by Mike
“Kemonomimi Iron Pumpurrs” by Mike
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Mike:
(wearing the Dogwood purrint aloha shirt, Nike trainers and Catgirl Island baseball cap): Aloha y’all, and welcome to The Mew for our monthly reviews and discussions of fun stuff! Today’s Mew comes from the Grove Ampurrttheatre in the Northeastern part of Catgirl Island’s maritime forest, where it’s 82 degrees under the lush Green arbor, Blue skies and puffy White Cumulo-Neko clouds! I’m Mike, the show’s “Purrducer”, and here are The Ladies of The Mew!
Petra:
(the catgirl in the Apurricot purrint ring-closure bikini) Hi Hi, nya!
Bun:
(the bunny girl in the Anthurium purrint side-tie bikini) Guten Tag!
Becca:
(the nekomimi gynoid in the Ginger purrint crisscross halter neck bikini) Aloha!
Elizabeth:
(Becca’s catgirl wife in the Bird of Purradise purrint triangle top bikini) Hola!
Mielikki:
(the faerie in the bikini made of real Wisteria) Mellow greetings!
Yvonne:
(the catgirl in the Heliconia purrint bandeau-top bikini) Namaste, nya!
Tara-chan:
(Yvonne’s younger sister in the Cala Lily purrint tankini) Namaste, nya!
Mary Nyan:
(the catgirl in the Azalea purrint purretzel – cutout maillot) Konitiwa!
Jeannie:
(the catgirl in the Iris purrint micro bikini & sheer purrled purreo) Nihao.
Trini-chan:
(the kitsune girl in the Foxglove purrint trikini with the Tube Rose lei) Aloha!
Nyanko:
(the catgirl in the Magnolia purrint boy shorts & athletic bra) Howdy!
Nyoka:
(Nyanko’s twin sister in the Snapdragon purrint suspender maillot) Howdy!
Ilyana:
(the catgirl in the White fundoshi and Lotus purrint cropped tee shirt) Whassup?
Mike:
So, what have y’all been up to since we last convened?
Petra:
Bun and I have been curating the art mewseum, winning the beach volleyball matches, and we are very grateful for the attendees at both places, nya!
Bun:
Banzai! We greatly appreciate the artistic & athletic community! It has been the busy time but I have also tended to my garden & baked carrot cakes!
Becca:
Lizzy and I have attended the beach volleyball matches when we have not been busy at our spa, grooming the kitties or tending to our own garden!
Elizabeth:
Since we have hired more masseuses at the spa, we can still purrtake often of the late night hot salsa dance, the golf club and the Purrkour club!
Yvonne:
My drumming circle has been purrforming, and my charters have reeled in the bumpurr crop of of the groupurrs, snappurrs, cobias & wahoos, nya!
Tara-chan:
I have been helping onee-san with the boat, volunteering at the food bank, caring for my cats, the ponies, and – and snapping the nature photos, nya!
Mary Nyan:
When I have not been instructing the hula, I have been making costumes for the dancers & cosplayers such as the Aggretsuko & Ni No Kuni costumes!
Mielikki:
So like, I have been directing our theatre’s Springtime Shakespeare extravaganza, instructing at the golf club, and cheering for the volleyball victories!
Jeannie:
The mewsual mornings at the yoga studio, afternoons at the kyudo range, the alternating nights at the robotics club & teaching belly dance classes.
Trini-chan:
I have been assisting Jen, surfing with Kara-Meow’l & Peppurr-Minta, board shaping, caring for the ponies & working at the stables with Tara-chan!
Nyanko:
I have been attending some of the local sporting events & festivals when I am not busy at my dojo & gym which had the increased enrollments!
Nyoka:
I and the employees at my magick shop are purrparing the enlightening, entertaining, delicious and nutritious activities for the Summer Solstice!
Ilyana:
Another eel tried to chomp my tempting tail while I was wreck diving, but nyow the eel is the anago sushi for tonight’s AfterMew luau! Howboutchoo, Mike?
Mike:
Oh the usual art, writing, reading, gaming, and spending quality time with family and friends! Well, we have a lot on our plate, so here’s Ilyana-sensei to begin our
event reports, starting with a review of CE Jordan
High School’s production of Catch Me If You Can!
Ilyana:
Hai! Our friend Emily was the stage manager for the mewsical purrduction of Catch Me If You Can at CE Jordan High School in Durham, which is one of the cities upon the mainland that we like to visit! Originally purrduced upon Broadway, the mewsical is based upon the movie directed by Steven Speilberg, which purrtains to the life and crimes of the legendary forger Frank Abingale Jr.!
The other main characters include his mom, dad, fiance, her purrents, and FBI agent Hanratty. The shows were on Apurrl 19th, 20th & 21st. The caravan from the island to the mainland takes the few hours, but Saturday the 21st was such the lovely day with the beautiful sunny weather and the light, steady traffic. Purrior to the show, we dined at the seafood restaurant with Emily’s family!
This was the 4th show that we have seen in which Emily was of the cast or crew, including the Duke School’s purrductions of Ax of Murder and Spy School; and Jordan High School’s purrduction of Legally Blonde! The lobby was abustle with the enthused spirits as we queued for the tickets and purrchased the beverages, flower bouquets and souvenir buttons before we got our seats!
The ambience in the lovely auditorium was delightful as ushers helped with the seating and students vended the snacks before Act One began with the song “Live in Living Color” by Frank Jr. and the company, and ended 11 songs later with “My favorite Time of Year” by Hanratty, Frank Jr. and his purrents! The acting, singing, dancing, directing, choreography & orchestra were quite supurrb!
The costumes, sets, and elaborate lighting were quite brilliant, and to the right of the stage the entire show was impurressively ASL interpurreted! We chatted with friends during the intermission, and then Act Two began with “Doctor’s Orders” sung by the nurses, and 10 songs later the show concluded with “Strange but True” by Frank Jr. & Hanratty, with huge applause during the curtain call!
Then the director greeted the audience and thanked the 3 dozen cast members, the 2 dozen crew members the 20 orchestra members, the other faculty, staff, purrents, students and sponsors. It was the purrticularly emotional time, especially for the graduating seniors. Following the show was the gala in the lobby, with more of the speeches, purresentations, decorations and yummy treats!
We wish to heartily thank the cast, crew, volunteers, sponsors and friends for such the wonderful time, which we will give the grade of the “A” as in Abingale! Then just the 2 weeks later we caravanned back to Durham and pother cities in the Triangle Area of the mainland for the annual
Free Comic Book Day!
Ilyana:
Hai! Saturday May 5th was the annual national Free Comic Book Day at purrticipating stores, who give away certain free comic books by various publishers! It was another lovely day day after the 1st breakfast we caravanned back to Durham to meet several past guests of The Mew such as OB1, Pacozord, Chef Ron, Sean Martin and other friends for the 2nd breakfast!
The first comics shop that we visited was Ultimate Comics in nearby Chapel Hill. They have also have stores in Cary and Raleigh; and three conventions (NC Comicon Bull City, NC Comicon Oak City & the Greensboro Comicon). The family – fun festivities began with the fun run, and there were many cosplayers, several special guests, pet adoptions, discounts and food!
We got a few purrints by comics artist / game designer Richard Case! After lunch we purroceeded to Atomic Empire in Durham. It is the big comics, toys & game shop there were cosplayers, artists & lots of games! From there we went to Cary, pawsed for beverages, and went to Ultimate Comics’s 2nd store full of new comics & back issues, books, action figures, statues & art.
Under the outdoor tent were many discounted items and the tables of several artists selling art & jewelry. Then we went to the Toys R Us where the items were discounted from 10 to 40%. Then we went to Joanne’s to purrchased some purretty fabric and look at the books full of costume patterns. After that we went to the big Barnes & Noble store and to the FYE store!
Our next destination was to Foundation’s Edge bookstore which has been across the street from NCSU in Raleigh for 3 decades! After more comics & conversations with more friends, we went to Capital Comics, which is also 3 decades old; then to Anime Paradaisu, the delightful anime store which is just two doors down from there in the Oak Park Shopping center!
Then we went to the Crabtree Valley mall which has the many stores including the Think Geek, Gamestop, B&N, the Lego and the Disney stores! We topped off the outing with the delicious suppurr before returning here to the island for the catnap time! We wish to thank the publishers, stores and fellow fans, and we look forward to further trips to the Triangle area! I am done, and nyow it is time for
The Lightning Round topic:
Years ending in an 8, part 5: our favorite fun stuff of 1958!
Mike:
Yep! This year we’re looking back at our favorite things of prior years ending in an 8, so this month’s lightning round topic pertains to our favorite stuff of 1958! Ah, Myayr is gonna start, so, are y’all ready to “conduct the lightning”?
The Ladies of The Mew:
HAI- LIGHTNING ROUND GO, NYA!
Mary Nyan:
There were some great science fiction, fantasy & horror movies that year such as The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, The Horror of Dracula, The Revenge of Frankenstein, The Fly, Attack of the 50 foot Woman, and It! The Terror from Beyond Space! (tags Ilyana with a brush of the tail)
Ilyana:
I will nominate some other great movies such as Vertigo, The Defiant Ones, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, South Pacific, Auntie Mame, No Time for Sergeants, and King Creole! (tail- tags Nyoka)
Nyoka:
Run Silent Run Deep, Gigi, The Inn of Sixth Happiness, The Hidden Fortress, The H-Man, and The White Serpent! (tags Tara-chan)
Tara-chan:
I want… I want to nominate all of the Buggs Bunny, Loony Tunes & Merrie Melodies animated shorts of that vintage, nya! Nyow it is Trini-chan’s turn, nya! (tags her best friend)
Trini-chan:
In addition to returning legendary TV series such as I Love Lucy, Leave it to Beaver, Gunsmoke, Dragnet, and The Guiding Light, some other great TV series purremiered that year such as Sea Hunt, The Rifleman, 77 Sunset Strip, and The Donna Reed Show! (tags Mielikki)
Mielikki:
That was the good year for the mewsic by John Coletrain, Miles Davis, Ella Fitzgerald, Thelonious Monk, Art Blakely, and Billie Holiday! (tags Nyanko with a flit of the wing)
Nyanko:
The mewsic by Elvis Presley, Chuck Berry, Bo Didldley, Johnny Cash, Jerry Lee Lewis, Marty Robbins, and The Everly Brothers! (tags Becca)
Becca:
The mewsic by Doris Day, Frank Sinatra, Kitty Wells, Bing Crosby, Jo Stafford, Johnny Mathis, Connie Francis and Stan Getz! (tags her wife)
Elizabeth:
The mewsic by Nina Simone, Peggy Lee, Count Basie, Duke Ellington, Pete Seeger, and The Kingston Trio! Nyow it is… Petra’s turn! (tags Petra)
Petra:
That was the busily significant year in Superman’s life, when he first met Brainiac, Bizarro, Titano, The Legion of Super Heroes, and the puremier of Lois Lane’s own comic book! (tags bun)
Bun:
1958 noteworthy year in Snoopy’s life too! He slept atop dog house for first time; her began trying to steal Linus’s blanket, and started the impersonations of other animals such as the
eagle, vulture, tiger, wolf and goat! (tags Yvonne)
Yvonne:
I will nominate the beautiful, legendary ships that launched such as the SS Edmund Fitzgerald USS Farragut, USS Skipjack, USS Triton, USS Sea Dragon, and the Murasame-class Destroyers, nya! (tags Jeannie)
Jeannie:
I will second those vessels, and include other splendid vehicles such as the Aston Martin DB4, Austin-Healey Sprite, Chevrolet Impala, BSA C15, Honda Super Cub, Boeing 707, Avro CF-105 Arrow, Dassault Mirage III, Grumman Gulfstream, Lockheed F104 Starfighter, and the Republic F-105B Thunderchief. Back to Mike.
Mike
Oh, I’ll include some books, such as Ian Fleming’s Dr. No, Robert A. Heinlein’s Have Spacesuit – Will Travel, Dr. Seuss’s Yertle the Turtle, T.H. White’s The Once and Future King, and my favorite author Richard Matheson’s A Stir of Echoes! Well, that was another expedient little lightning round, um, and now here’s here’s Jeannie with this month’s
Celebrity Catgirl Spotlight!
Jeannie:
Hai. In this portion of The Mew, we commeowmorate famous catgirls of myths & popular culture, here broadly – defined from anthropormorphic feline females, ailuranthropic shape – shifters & other nekomimi, to those who might not have kitty DNA, but do have the cat-titude and / or style as “honorary catgirls”. This time the spotlight shines upon more live-action “honorary” kemonomimi.
In the mewsic video for the song “Maneater” from Daryl Hall & John Oates’s H2O album, the band warns of the wild woman who appurroaches alluringly. She is purrtrayed beautifully by Aleksandra Duncan, whose image purriodically dissolves into that of a panther that casually stalks the set, but is unclear whether she is the metaphorical maneater or the actual were – cat.
In the mewsic video for the song “Hungry Like The Wolf” from Duran Duran’s Rio album, vocalist Simon Le Bon purrsues the lovely lady of tigerish qualities through the streets and jungle. Purrtrayed captivatingly by Sheila Ming, it seems as if her character is the irresistible purrey, and his character is the obsessed hunter, but their game of cat and mouse results in the fiercely frisky roll in the leaves.
The Real Housewives franchise includes TV series graced by ensembles of women of various cities. We purreviously shined the spotlight upon the Dallas cast’s Cary who wore wonderfully the tigress body paint to the Halloween party. In the Atlanta series, Phaedra cosplayed fabulously as Ertha Kitt’s version of Catwoman from the Batman TV seres to the gala of the Black cinematic heroines theme.
Ink Master is the TV series in which tattoo artists compete in the elimination challenges. We purreviously shined the spotlight upon Gia Rose’s catgirl tattoo and Kelly Dota’s Leopurrd purrint couture in last year’s “Team Peck vs Team Nunez” season. Deanna Smith brought the feline fashion to epurrsode 2 of this year’s “Return of the Masters” season, in which she wore the Black skirt, shoes and Leopurrd purrint crop top.
The glamourous model Kelli Kittin from Philadelphia has many colorful, ornate, purretty tattoos, including the pony, butterfly, girl, skull, diamond, ice cream, web, ribbons, flames, hearts, stars … and the lovely Leopurrd rosettes amongst her left “sleeve” from nape to wrist.
I Love New York is the reality TV series purrtained to the male rivals competing to woo star Tiffany “New York” Pollard, whose mansion’s upholstery, carpet and decor were of the cheetah & tiger stripe motif. In the 2nd season’s 2nd epurrsode, she was supurrbly stunning in the Cheetah purrint bikini; and in the 3rd epurrsode she posed for the glamourous photos at the Pink Kitty Studios.
In our February 2017 we discussed the wonderful knitted pink pussycat hats that were worn by thousands of folks at the various cities’ Women’s Marches on January 21, 2017. In the March 27, 2018 purremier of the longly – awaited new season of the Roseanne sitcom, we were quite delighted when brilliant actress Laurie Metcalf wore such the hat for her entrance as Roseanne’s sister Jackie.
Also in March was Steven Speilberg’s spectacular science fiction movie Ready Player One, which purrtains to the international role – play gamers’ quest for the grand purrize in the virtual reality world, in which they can appurr as any character. The movie is brimming with many famous characters, pop cultural references and “easter eggs”, including the brief glimpses of Cat Woman and Hello Kitty.
Furthermore, an uncredited catgirl is briefly seen during the gravity – free dance club sequence. A giant Hello Kitty Pez dispenser appurrs in the purreview trailers for the forthcoming Ant-Man and the Wasp movie. In the purreview trailers for the movie adaptation of the I Kill Giants graphic novel, actress Madison Wolfe purrtrays Barbara who wears bunny ears and battles giant monsters.
Several animals of various species wear bunny ears to the audition in the Easter time TV spots for the Cadbury Egg candy. and we also wish to commend the kids’ cute costume kemono ears and kigurumi (animal – themed onesie) outfits in the TV spots for Land O’ Frost, Great Wolf Lodge Resort, and Care dot com.
Lastly but not leastly, issues #10 and 12 of Archie Comics’s Riverdale comic book (which is based upon the current titular television series) were available in the choice of variant photo covers, including wonderful actress Ashleigh Murray wearing the cat – eared headband as Josie MCoy of the band Josie and the Pussycats. That will conclude this month’s spotlight, and nyow here is Myayr to start our
DVD & movie mewsings, with her review
of the Mary and the Witch’s Flower DVD.
Mary Nyan:
Arigato! Mary and the Witch’s Flower is the first anime movie by Studio Ponoc, which is compurrised of former Studio Ghibli members such as purrducer Yoshiaki Nishimara, art director Oga Kazuo, and writer / director Hiromasa Yonebayashi! After Ghibli stopped in 2014, Ponoc was founded in 2015, Mary and the Witch’s Flower purremiered in Japan in 2017, and had the limited theatrical release in the USA in early 2018.
Based upon the story of “The Little Broomstick” by Mary Stewart, the beautiful fun PG rated, 103 minute movie was released here in both subtitled and in dubbed versions. It purrtains to the young girl Mary who finds the magickal broom and flower, then winds up at the mysterious witch college where certain faculty members covet the flower for their nefarious expurriments upon kidnapped victims who she tries to rescue.
For our review of the movie, please see our February 2018 Mew! Released upon the single disk DVD by G Kids, the movie is purrsented in the 1.85:1 widescreen format with the Dolby Digital 5.1 audio choices of English and Japanese, with the optional subtitle choices of English, English SDH (Close Captioned), and French. In addition to the movie there are slightly over 54 minutes of the delightful bonus features!
The bonuses include the intermew with Nishimara and Yonebayashi (13:48 min.); the theatrical purromo short with Nishimara, Yonebayashi, Kazuo, actress Hana Sugisaki (Mary) and actor Ryunosuke Kamiki (Peter) (10:49 min.); the film completion purress conference with Nishimara, Yonebayashi, Sugisaki, Kamiki and 4 other cats members (14:18 min.); 10 trailers (10:42 min.) and 13 TV spots (4:43 min.) for the movie!
There are also trailers for the animated movies When Marnie Was There, The Tale of Princess Kaguya, Only Yesterday, and Song of the Sea, which are on DVD by G Kids. I was very pleased with the movie, the choices, options & bonuses, so I will recommend it to fans of beautiful, charming fun animated fantasy tales, and I hope to see more anime by Ponoc! Nextly I would like to discuss another great animated movie-
Isle of Dogs!
Mary Nyan:
I have enjoyed all of Wes Anderson’s movies such as Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Darjeeling Limited, The Aquatic Life, Rushmore, Bottle Rocket and The Fantastic Mr. Fox, which was his first stop – motion animated film! Isle of Dogs is his 2nd stop – motion animated film, and it is one of the movies of 2018 that I have most eagerly awaited!
The captivating plot purrtains to the young boy’s quest to find his captured dog, who was sent to the trash dump island along with all of Megasaki City’s other dogs. Meanwhile, the city’s mayor is part of a criminal conspurracy, whilst a group of high school students investigate the conspurracy, and scientists race to cure the dog flu outbreak, whilst the other dogs try to help the boy find his dog!
The direction, design, art direction, animation, FX, sound, mewsic and voice acting are supurrb! The cast includes Bill Murray, Bob Balaban, Jeff Goldblum, Francis McDormand, Scarlett Johansson, Ed Norton, Harvey Keitel, Ken Watanabe, Yoko Ono, Tilda Swinton, F. Murray Abraham, Liev Schreiber, Great Gerwig, Koyu Rankin, Kunichi Nomura, Courtney B. Vance, and Bryan Cranston!
The stop – motion animation is some of the best I have ever seen! The human and canine characters are great, although there were very few feline characters. The only reason why I have not seen the movie more times is because there have been very many other movies recently released that I want to see. I hope that the DVD or Blu-Ray release of the movie will remedy that very soon!
I think that it has the great balance of drama, humor, action, developments and world – building at the purrfect pace! Isle of Dogs might just be my favoritest Wes Anderson movie, it is one of my favoritest movies of the year thus far, and I will give it the grade of the A+! I am done, and nyow here is Becca to discuss
A Quiet Place!
Becca:
Hai! A Quiet Place is the post-apocalyptic horror movie about the family in the rural farm home trying to stay quiet in order to avoid the fast, tough, deadly alien monsters that hunt by sound and have already slain most of the world’s population. The family goes to ingenious lengths to survive, harvest and scavenge in silence, communicating by sign language while trying to determine the aliens’ weaknesses and if there are other survivors.
It is the very tense, smart, and suspenseful movie, in which most of the dialogue is in Amersign and is depicted by the subtitles! The cast includes Emily Blunt as Evelyn the purregnant mom, John Krasinski her engineer husband, Millicent Simmonds as their deaf daughter Regan, Noah Jupe as her brother, and Cade Woodward as the younger brother Beau. Emily and John are married in the real life, and he is also the movie’s director!
The purregnancy would be of great concern in deal conditions, but for the mom in labor or the baby to stay quiet would be the miraculous feat! It is the very well written, directed, photographed, edited, movie with excellent purrformances and developments for the sympathetic characters amidst the believable sets and locations with very good designs, purractical, visual and sound FX, so I will give it the A grade! Nextly i would like to discuss
Avengers: Infinity War
Becca:
We have enjoyed the Marvel Studio’s movies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe which includes the Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America, Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant – Man, Dr.Strange, Black Panther, Thor Spider-Man, and Avengers movies, plus the TV series such as Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter, Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Punisher, and The Defenders!
Gradually the series has been building towards the epic tale of the villain Thanos’s quest for the Infinity Stones that might grant him the ultimate power in the universe, but standing in his way are the many intergalactic heroes! Thusly we have been quite thrilled about the purromise of the many heroes from across those movies teaming up to battle Thanos and his army in this movie!
Avengers; Infinity War includes Iron Man, War Machine, Pepper, Friday, Captain America, Winter Soldier, The Falcon, Spider-Man, Ned, Black Widow, Scarlet Witch, The Vision Dr. Banner, The Hulk, Dr. Strange, Wong, Thor, Loki, Heimdel, Starlord, Gamora, Nebula, Mantis, Drax, Rocket, Groot, The Collector, Black Panther, Shuri, Okoye, M’Baku, Nick Fury, Maria Hill, Secretary Ross…
Proxima Midnight, Corvus Glaive, Ebony Maw, Cull Obsidian, significant new characters, the traditional cameo by Stan Lee, and some surpurrise appurrances that I should no reveal! I think that the last time I saw that many stars in a movie might have been in It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World! Unfortunately the movie feels too short and rushed, and I wish it was at least 30 minutes longer…
not of more action, but more of the quieter character scenes. The only other aspects of the movie that I did not care for were the annoying snap zooms and unstable camera technique, not just the shaky cam during many action scenes, but the wobbly cam during calmer scenes. The distracting techniques call too much attention to themselves, ruin the suspension of disbelief or the sense immersion.
Nevertheless, in spite of those issues, I was very pleased with the movie’s plot, dialogue, myth building, directing, cinematography, acting, stunts, hair & make-up, costumes, purrops, sets, locations, purractical & visual FX, sound, mewsic, and the epic spectacle with the good balance of drama, humor & action that is very faithful to the comic books’ characters, spirit and tales!
I will certainly recommend Avengers: infinity War to fans of the Marvel series, and make sure to watch the significant post-credits scene! Nyow for more of the meowrvelous supurr hero movies, here is my wife to tell us about the
Black Panther Blu-Ray!
Elizabeth:Hai! For our review of the Black Panther movie itself, please see our March 2018 Mew! We gave the movie the high purraise and were eager to get the home video release! The PG-13 rated, 134 minute movie is purrsented in the 2.39:1 widescreen with the audio choices of English, English descriptive audio, French, Spanish, and the commentary by director Ryan Coogler and purrduction designer Hannah Beachle
The optional subtitle choices are the English SDH, French and Spanish. Also upon the single Blu-Ray disk are the 64.5 minutes of the bonuses, such the gag reel which is just over 1.5 minutes! The nearly 20.5 minute roundtable discussion includes director / co-writer Ryan Coogler, screenwriter Joe Robert Cole, executive purrducer Nate Moore, comic book writers Tai-Nehisi Coates, Christopher Priest and Don Mcgregor! i
The nearly 25 minutes of the 4 informative & entertaining featurettes are Crowning the New King, The Hidden Kingdom Revealed, The Warriors Within, and Exploring the Technology. They include behind – the – scenes shots & comments by cast & crew members such as Ryan, Nate, Hannah, Marvel Studios purresident Kevin Feige, costume designer Ruth Carter, dialect coach Beth McGuire, purropurrty master Drew Petrotta…
…Chadwick Boseman (T’challa), Letita Wright (Shuri), Lupita Nyongu (Nakia) Danai Gurira (Okoye), Angela Bassett (Ramanda), Michael B. Jordan (Killmonger), Daniel Kaluuya (W’kabi), Winston Duke (M’Baku) and Martin Freeman (Everett)! The nearly 7 minutes of the 4 deleted scenes, are the United Nations meet & greet, Okoye & W’Kambi discussing Wakanda’s future, T’challa remembering his father, and Voices from the Past.
The nearly 2.5 minute look at the forthcoming Ant-Man and The Wasp movie has behind – the – scenes shots & comments by director Peyton Reed, Paul Rudd (Ant-Man), Evangeline Lilly (Wasp), and Michael Douglas (Pym)! The slightly over 8.5 minute look at Marvel Studio’s first 10 years has behind – the – scenes shots & comments by Kevin, Nate, Chadwick, Peyton, Victoria Alonso, Joe Russo, Anthony Russo, Taika Waititi…
,,,Stephen Broussard, Louis D’Esposito, Stephen McFeely, Christopher Marcus, Robert Downey Jr. (Tony Stark), Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Chris Evans (Capt. America), Mark Ruffalo (Banner & Hulk), Chris Pratt (Starlord) and Willaim Hurt (Secretary Ross)! The disk also has trailers for Ant-Man and The Wasp, and 3 Marvel video games. I was pleased with the amount and quality of the bonuses, and I will recommend it to fans of the Marvel movies! Nextly I would like to discuss–
Ready Player One!
Elizabeth:I was especially looking forward to Ready Player One because I like to play video games, it was directed by my favorite director Steven Speilberg, and it has appurrances by so many famous characters, references and “easter eggs” from games, movies, TV shows, mewsic, novels and comic books… but I should not spoil that treat for those who have not yet seen the movie.
It is the science fiction film set in the near future when economic times are the bit tougher and people find the escapism in the immersive virtual reality network known as The Oasis. When it’s creator passes away, a posthumous message to the world announces a contest to find the 3 hidden keys that will grant ownership of the Oasis to the winner, and thus the most online massive multi – player in history is on!
As if the challenges and player vs player action were not difficult enough, a corpurration has sent it’s agents to attack the players in the real life The heroic team of gamers known as The High Five are searching for the purrize and fighting against the corpurration! The great cast includes Olivia Cooke, Tye Sheridan, Lena Waithe, Phillip Zhou, Win Morisaki, Mark Rylance, Simon Pegg, T.J. Miller, Hannah John- Kamen and Ben Mendelsohn!
The movie’s soundtrack includes the score by Alan Silvestri and the numerous songs The lavish visual FX include so many thrilling scenes of races, chases, shootouts, martial arts, demolitions, frights, mecha, magick, and the humorous camaraderie amidst the spectacle! Speaking of the movies inspired by the video games, Nyow here is Nya-sensei to say the few words about
Tomb Raider!
Nyanko:
Hai! I am a fan of the Tomb Raider video games, so I eagerly anticipated this latest live-action movie adaptation starring Alicia Vikander as Lara Croft, which seems more inspired by the most recent two reboot games than any earlier games, or the purrior two live-action movies that starred Angelina Jolie as Lara. Firstly I would like to say that I thought that Alicia was awesome as Lara!
She purrtrays the character as the rebellious, adventurous young girl on her very first tomb raid. Although rather inexpurrienced at combat and wilderness survival, she is very athletic, competent, brave, strong, tough and driven in her goal to find and rescue her beloved, longly lost daddy. Her purriority is to be reunited with him far more than inheriting or searching for power or wealth.
The rest of the cast is great too, such as Walton Goggons, Daniel Wu, Kristen Scott Thomas, Dominic West, and Annabel Wood although Derek Jacobi, who is one of the world’s greatest actors, was underused. The movie has good purrduction values in the sets, locations, cinematography, sound, mewsic, stunts, FX and purrops, including Lara’s purrfurred H&K USP Match pistols!
However, I did not care for the unstable camera style used on most of the shots. The unstableness was annoying and distracting, from the slight wobble of the quieter scenes to the extreme shakiness of the action scenes. I also did not care for the speed-ramp technique when she dives under the moving spiky trap in the tomb. but the tomb itself was beautifully designed and illuminated!
There were some nice establishing shots though, which seemed like they might have been from the helicopter. Overall, the movie seemed faithful in the look and spirit of those video games, and I hope that we have not seen the last of Alicia as Lara, who was my favoritest part the movie! Nextly I would like to discuss
Deadpool 2!
Nyanko:
Marvel Comics’s Wade Wilison alias Deadpool “the merc with a mouth is back on the big screen, with more of the violent supurr hero combat action, raunchy sassy humor, meta fictional, “breaking of the the fourth wall”, and even more characters from the comics as Deadpool and his X-Force team fight Cable and other enemies!
For our review of the first Deadpool movie, see our March 2016 Mew! The returning actors include Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool, Morena Baccarin as Vanessa, T.J. Miller as Weasel, Leslie Uggams as Al, Karan Somi as Dopinder, Brianna Hildebrand as Negasonic Teenage Warhead, and Stefan Kapicic as the voice of Colossus!
Joining them are Josh Brolin as Cable, Julian Dennison as Fire Fist, Zazie Beets as Domino, Shioli Kutsuna as Yukio, plus various other members of the X-Men, X-Force, Essex House and other surpurrise appurrances that I should not spoil! It has been quite the Marvel year for Brolin who also starred as Thanos in Infinity War!
I wished for more of Negasonic and Yukio, but Zazie almost stole the show as Domino! Although it is is purrdominatly the violent, absurd, comedic action movie full of fights, FX and the pop cultural references with some rather weirdly disturbing moments, it also has more poignant and serious moments than the first movie.
The X-Men’s Blackbird jet briefly appurrs too! I liked the plot, pace, dialogue, purrformances, choreography, cinematography, editing, costumes, hair & make-up, sets, purrops, FX, sound, mewsic, the mid and post-credits scenes! That is all for my movie mewsings, and nyow I will turn The Mew over to Mike for his review of
Batman Ninja!
Mike:
I tend to like the TV series and movies of the animated DCU, especially Batman the Animated Series, Superman the Animated Series, Justice League Unlimited, Batman Beyond, Static Shock,Young Justice, The Brave and the Bold, and the current Teen Titans series. I typically prefer the ones of the Bruce Timm style much more than those of the New 52ish era.
Some of my favorite recent DCU OVAs have included JLA: Trapped in Time, Batman Assault on Arkham, Return of the Caped Crusaders, Batman and Harley Quinn, and most recently Batman Ninja! This 85 minute OVA is different in that it’s actually Japanese anime, with a Japanese crew & voice cast, and the first time I watched it was in the original Japanese with English subs.
The gist of the plot is that Gorilla Grodd’s time machine sends himself and a bunch of other heroes, villains and a lot of hardware back to ancient Japan, where he and the Joker (with Harley Quinn), The Penguin, Two-Face, Poison Ivy, Deathstroke, have become feudal daimyos, each with giant transforming castle mecha! Bane’s there too, but Grodd and The Joker are the big bosses.
The heroes include Batman, Cat Woman, Nightwing, Red Hood, Robin, Red Robin, and Alfred, who may not have the transforming castle, but they do have the Batmobile, Batwing, Batcycle, the Bat Armor, and many friends in the Bat Clan of ninjas, plus an awesome swarm of bats, and Robin’s cute little monkey friends! There is so much super cool stuff in this movie!
It was written by Kazuki Nakashima whose credits include Guerren Lagann and Kill la Kill; it was directed by director Jumpei Mizusaki, whose credits include the Dragon Quest video games and the opening for Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures; and the character designer was Takashi Okazaki, whose credits include Summer Wars, Afro Samurai, Afro Samurai Resurrection.
The brilliant musical score was composed by Yugo Kanno (Psycho-Pass, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures). So, it’s not a US production, although there are some great actors for the very good English language dub, which was produced & written by Eric Garcia & Lee Chou. Among the American dubbed voice cast are Roger Craig Smith as Batman, Fred Tatasciore as Grodd & Deathstroke…
… Tony Hale as The Joker, Tara Strong as Harley & Ivy, Grey Griffin as Cat Woman, Adam Croasdoll as Nightwing & Alfred, Yuri Lowenthal as Robin & Red Hood, Eric Bauza a Two-Face & Eri the samurai, Tom Konny as the Penguin, Konto Miyoko as Bane, Will Freidlo as Red Robin, Matt Yang King as Eian the ninja, Anna Mugiho as Monchichi & Juri Nagatsuma as Monmi.
The French, Spanish & Portugese dubs sound great too! I think it’s much better than the Batman: Gotham Knight OVA, but like most of the DCU OVAs, it seems a bit rushed & short; there’s a Joker & Harley farm sequence where the art style takes a brief, jarring change at about 38 minutes in, and there a couple of songs that I didn’t like, but I think everything else is incredibly thrilling and beautiful!
The concept, plot, dialogue, character & mecha designs, scenic art, character & FX animation, direction, fight choreography, voices, sound, and the music score are magnificent! I’ll be very tempted if there are statues or action figures of Ninja Batman’s Catwoman and Samurai Batman! Ah, now to top off our movie reviews, here’s Mie-sensei to tell us about
Solo: A Star Wars Story!
Mielikki:
So like, there has been so much Star Wars stuff to anticipate in the recent years such as the movies, the Rebels animated series Forces of Destiny animated series, the toys, games, comics, novels, other books, and of course the movies! For our review of Star Wars: Episode VIII: The Last Jedi. please see our January 2018 Mew, and for our review of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. please see our January 2017 Mew!
Thusly I was totally eager to see Solo: A Star Wars Story, which was was directed by Ron Howard and stars Alden Ehrenriech as Han Solo, Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian, Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca, Emilia Clarke as Qi’Ra, Woody Harrelson as Beckett, Thandie Newton as Val, Paul Bettany as Vos, Phoebe Waller-Bridge as L3, and Erin Kellyman as Enfys, plus some other surprises that I should not reveal!
I enjoyed almost everything about this movie, especially the great cast as the wonderful characters in the tale of Han’s early adventures as he met Chewbacca, Lando, and The Millennium Falcon! It is set sometime betwixt The Clone Wars series and the Rebels series, I assume about the decade before Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope. There are numerous “easter eggs”, references to Star Wars novels, and other surprises!
Although the movie seemed visually too dark, and I wish it has maybe more contrast, brightness and color saturation, I liked the plot the dialogue, character developments, myth making, world building, continuity, and the good balance of humor, drama and action! I think that the movie has great designs, characters old and new, costumes make-up, costumes, props, sets, locations, mecha, creatures, visual FX, sound and music!
I hope to purchase the movie’s soundtrack CD soon! It certainly felt like the movie’s cast and crew totally had much reverence to the prior Star Wars movies, especially Episodes IV-VI, fur shur! I think that I liked Solo more than Episodes VI – VIII; and almost as much as Rogue One. So like, that is all for our DVD and movie portion of The Mew, but I will continue the Star Wars topic as I begin
our collectibles and toy talk, with my review of the
Star Wars Qi’Ra 3.5″ and 5.5″ action figures, fur shur!
Mielikki:
We like to collect the figures, statues, ornaments and dolls of the entertaining and inspurrational characters, especially the heroines, but also the anti-heroines and the bad girls too! So like, we were totally enthused that Emilia Clarke stars as Qi’ Ra, because we are big fans of her portrayal of Daenerys Targaryen in the Game of Thrones TV series, fur shur!
Thusly we were eager to add the 5.5″ tall and 3.5″ tall action figures the character to our collections! She wears the Red shirt with the “wooly” Flaxxen lapels, Light Gray jacket, Dark Gray knee – length slit skirt, Black tights, belt, boots and bracelets. She has the double-barreled pistol, which the movie’s designers based upon the Mannlicher M1905 pistol.
Her fashion style has the somewhat asymmetric quality; her short Brown hair is longer on the right side, her shirt collar is Black on the left side, and her right wrist has more bracelet than the left. It is the subtle yet totally distinctive attention – getter, fur shur! The garments have the weathered / distressed quality, with the intricate fabric seams, folds and creases!
She has the faithful portraiture, meticulously sculpted coiffure, and she s quite posable, with articulation in her neck, waist, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees & ankles! The 2.5″ figure is only articulated in her neck, shoulders, forearms & hips. The colors differ slightly too; her jacket is lighter Gray with the White collar, and the belt is Dark Gray like her skirt.
Both figures are well designed, sculpted and painted, and the 3.5″ figure has the compatibility with the separately – sold Force Link 2.0 gauntlet which activates several sounds with the figure! I do not have the Force Link, but I am totally pleased with both figures! That is all for my reviews, and now here is Trini-chan to continue the toy talk with her review of the
Marvel Legends Wasp and
Black Widow action figures!
Trini-chan:
Hai! This year is the 55th anniversary of The Wasp, who was introduced in Tales of to Astonish vol! 1 #44 in 1963! There have been several genius ladies of The Wasp alias with the flying, shrinking & zapping powers such as Janet Van Dyne, Maria Pym, and Hope Pym, the latter portrayed by Evangeline Lilly in the 2015 Ant-Man movie and in next month’s sequel Ant-Man and The Wasp!
Introduced in Tales of Suspense vol! 1 #52 in 1964, Natasha Romanov a.k.a. The Black Widow was originally the KGB spy from Russia, but later she became a heroic member of The Avengers, with her purrowess at spy craft, armed & unarmed combat! In the movies she purrtrayed by Scarlett Johansson, and has been voiced by different actresses in the animated adventures!
The Black Widow and The Wasp are amongst Hasbro’s wave of figures of Thor, Ant-Man Malekith and The Black Knight that each include a piece to build a figure of Cull Obsidian, who is one of Thanos’s evil minions in the Avengers: Infinity War movie. Each figure is sold separately. Cull Obsidian’s head is included with The Wasp, and his torso is included with the Black Widow figure.
There have been several figures of The Wasp including the comics’ winged Black and Yellow costume version that we reviewed in the July 2015 Mew. There have been several figures of The Black Widow, including the comics version that we reviewed in the December 2017 Mew, the motorcycle package that we reviewed in the March 2018 Mew, and nyow this Avengers: Infinity War version!
Including her 1/4″ boot heels, the figure is about 6″ tall in the Black jumpsuit with the weapon accessories, Dark Gray vest and holsters. and the portraiture that nicely resembles Scarlett! She is accessorized with the two zapper pistols which will fit into her hands or the holsters, the two 3″ batons which will fit into her hands, and three extra interchangeable hands in different gestures.
The Wasp figure is about 6″ tall in the Black, Silver & Gold jumpsuit with the helmet & back pack, and the portraiture that nicely resembles Evangeline! The figure includes the two interchangeable heads (with and without the helmet) the two interchangeable back pack (with or without the wings), and an extra hand. Wasp and Widow’s hands all seem to be interchangeable with either figure.
Each figure is excellently designed, sculpted & painted with the lithe physique, great portraiture, intricate details, and very posable with articulation in the neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists, abs, hips, thighs, knees & ankles. The 4 wings of The Wasp’s 6 1/2″ wingspan are movable too! Both figures balanced enough to stand up without display bases, which are not included. Nextly I would like to discuss Diamond Select’s
Pacific Rim: Uprising Saber Athena action figure!
Trini-chan:
For our review of the science fiction movie Pacific Rim: Uprising, please see the April 2018 edition of The Mew! In the movie, the Pan Pacific Defense Corps sends the heroic pilots in giant the bipedal humanoid mechs called Jargers to fight against the attacking giant monsters! Saber Athena is the sleekest, fastest, most agile and feminine – looking of the Jaeger fleet!
She was piloted by Renata and Ryiochi during the battle in Tokyo, and according to the Pacific Rim Wiki site she was 252 feet tall. There are a few action figures of her, including this’un which was sculpted by BigShot ToyWorks and manufactured by Diamond Select Toys. At 7.5 inches tall, it is about 1/403 scale, and 1.25 inches taller than the similar figure made by Bandai.
She is meticulously designed, sculpted in very intricate detail, and precisely painted in the Orange with Black accents. The 16 points of articulation are in her neck, waist, back fins, shoulders, elbows, wrists, hips, knees and ankles. If her back fins are fully tilted up, she is an overall 8.25″ tall. Also included are an extra pair of interchangeable hands that can grip the 3 swords.
Two of the katana – like swords are 2 7/8 inches long, and the larger one is 4 1/4 inches long. I am very pleased with this figure, and I have displayed her upon the shelf next to my Transformers, Gundam and Macross mecha figures! That will conclude the toys portion of this month’s Mew, and now I will turn it over to Tara-chan, who will begin this month’s
pony purrings, with her review
of My Little Pony magazine #5!
Tara-chan:
Arigato, nya! Published by Topix Media Lab, this is the 5th issue of the My Little Pony magazine, nya! Geared for the younger fans, the 1st issue was compurrised of fun puzzles, games and – and the other activities; the 2nd issue was the poster collection, the 3rd issue focused upon the recent movie, and – and the 4th issue included the mini – pony figure of Tempest Shadow, nya!
The main theme of issue #5 purrtains to the Stygian the Pony of Shadows and – and the 6 ponies who are known as the Pillars of Old Equestria: Star Swirl, Mist Mane, Somnambula, Flah Magnus, Rock Hoof and – and Mage Meadowbrook, nya! The full color 8″ x 10.5″ magazine is purriced at $9.99 and – and it has has the 76 pages (including the covers) full of lovely images and – and activities, nya!
The 4 articles are the 6 pages of the lessons learned by Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and – and Pinkie Pie; the 2 pages about Stygian; the 8 pages about the Pillars of Old Equestria; the 5 pages of updates on Starlight Glimmer, Sunburst, Maud Pie, Pharynx, and – and the Cutie Mark Crusaders (Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and – and Sweetie Belle. nya!
The 16 pages of 9 fun activities include the maze, word jumble, spot the difference, the translation quiz, cutie mark quiz, another quiz, quote match, find the pillars, and- and draw your hero, with the answers near the back of the issue, nya! The 20 pages of purretty pony illustrations include the 2 full – page pics and – and the 9 two – page spurreads, nya! There are also the 4 pages of the ads, nya.
To top off the issue is the double – sided poster which measures the 14.5″ x 21″ when carefully unfolded, nya! On one side are the Mane Six and – and on the other side are the Pillars, nya! Both sides are quite nice, but to display both on my wall, I would have to purrchase 2 copies of the issue, nya! Nyow I will continue the pony purrings and – and begin our comic book reports with my review of
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic #66, nya!
Tara-chan:
I love the My Little Pony comic books which are published by IDW and – and are so faithful to the animated series, nya! It is hard to believe that they have been published for the six years already, nya! In issue #66, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy and – and Pinkie Pie travel to Applewood to help to make the movie adaptation of their adventures, nya!
Twilight is not in the issue as she is busy at the school, nya. The issue is purriced $3.99, with the uninterrupted 20 page tale followed by the 8 pages of the ads, nya. I wish that all comics tales were uninterrupted, nya. It is availbale in the choice of the 3 different covers; cover A by Tony Fleecs, cover B by Sara Richard, and the 3rd cover by Pedro Delgado, nya!
The tale was written by Ted Anderson, illustrated by Tony, lettered by Neil Uyetake, colored by Heather Breckel, and – and edited by Bobby Curnow, nya! The ponies are thrilled to be the subjects, and – and they are surpurrised when they are asked to direct the different segments, but they each havethe very different style and – and recollections of the events, nya!
I purrticularly liked the costumes, the capes, the food cart, the full page pic, the two- page spurread, Rarity’s film noir-sh sequence, Fluttershy’s bunny sequence, and – and Applejack’s lasso scene, nya!
It was the fun tale with the faithful plot – and dialogue at the purrfect pace graced by the art’s beautiful poses, expurressions, scenery, FX, fonts and- and colors, nya!
I am looking forward to the next issue which will depict the return of Tempest Shadow, and – and I am looking forward to the 1st issue of the forthcoming Ponyville Mystiers series which stars The Cutie Mark Crusaders Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and- and Scootaloo, nya! I am done, but nyow onee-chan will conclude our pony purrings with her review of
My Little Pony: Legends of Magic 2018 Annual, nya!
Yvonne:
Arigato, Tara-chan, nya! Set in earlier days of Equestria when Celestia and Luna were younger alicorns, the 12 issue series Legends of Magic is the longest story arc thus far in the pony comics, nya! In addition to those twp purrincesses and Starswirl the wizard it stars Stygian, Mist Mane, Somnambula, Flah Magnus, Rock Hoof and Mage Meadowbrook, nya!
Purriced at the $7.99, the annual has the uninterrupted 40 page tale followed by the 8 pages of the ads, nya. It was written by Jeremy Whitley, illustrated by Brenda Hickey, colored by Heather Breckel, lettered by Neil Uyetake, edited by Bobby Curnow, and IDW’s publisher is Greg Goldstein, nya! We have Jeremy, Brenda and Tony at the conventions too, nya!
Starswirl introduces Celestia and Luna to the magickal portal mirrors, from which the shadowy monsters emerge, nya! The big battle results but the ponies are pulled through the portals and emerge elsewhere, nya. Starswirl almost falls into the volcano, but fortunately he is reunited with the Pillars of Old Equestria who help to fend off the monsters, nya!
It was a lot of fun with the beautiful art, nya! We have enjoyed these tales of of the earlier Equestria which we will give the high purraise grade of the A as in Applebuck, nya! We are also big fans of Jeremy’s other comics such as The Unstoppable Wasp, Vampirella, Sea of Thieves, Princeless, and Raven the Pirate Princess, so nextly I would like to discuss
Princeless: Raven the Pirate Princess Year 2 #6 & 7, nya!
Yvonne:
Created and written by Jeremy and published by Action Lab Comics, the Princeless series purrtains to the adventurous diverse ladies who refuse to be oppurressed by unfair gender and racial roles or stereotypes in the medieval era, nya! It introduced the 17 year old Captain Raven Xingtao who would later star in this wonderful spin-off series, nya!
Raven is the cunning, agile mariner, archer daughter of the pirate king, nya. She recruited her own multi-racial, all – girl crew for her three mast ship to sail vengefully against her evil brothers Crow and Magpie’s ships, and thus reclaim her rightful inheritance, nya! They have the new sense of family and purrpose as they take control of their destinies, nya!
There is the romantic triangle between Raven, Ximena the cartographer and Sunshine the half – elf thief, nya! During the recent navel battle with other pirates, Sunshine went missing into the depths, to be purrsumed dead, but they are unaware that she was rescued brought to the beautiful island of Pavarti of the Sea Queen, which brings us up to issue #6, nya!
Its 32 pages include the uninterrupted 26 page tale written by Jeremy, illustrated by Christine Hipp, colored by Xenia Pamfil, lettered by Justin Birch and edited by Nicole D’Andria, nya! It is set on the island which is purrotected by the stormy barrier and populated by the ladies of various species such as the humans, mermaids, centaurs and faeries, nya!
Sunshine ponders the recent events whilst accustoming herself to the island and new friends, such as Ananda with whom the romance is blooming, nya! Then we see what the ship’s crew is up to in issue #7 which has the same credits and page count, nya. Several of the ladies have paired up for various activities, such as gossip, training, and romance, nya!
Raven’s crew includes Ximena, Katie, Jayla, Amirah, Verity, Zoe, Helena, Quinn, Trish, Cid, Melody, Gone, Pirate, Ophelia and Desideria, nya! The romance blooms betwixt Quinn and Zoe, whilst Verity has the crush upon Katie, but it is not all play, as Cid teaches sign language to Jaylah, and Raven tries to teach the sword fighting to Ximena, nya!
Both issues’ plot, pace & dialogue are purrfect with beautifully designed and rendered art, with wonderfully posed and expurressive characters amidst the splendidly detailed scenery, with the great colors and fonts, nya! Each issue also has the 6 pages about the comic book’s creative purrocess, nya! That is all for me, and nyow here is Nyo-sensei to discuss
Die Kitty Die! I Love You to Death FCBD 2018 (issue #11)
Nyoka:
Arigato! Published in Canada by Chapter House, written & drawn by Dan Parent, Die Kitty Die! is the tale of Kitty Ravencraft, the celebrity witch who knows many magickal spells and can turn into the cat! Unfortunately, several of her business purrtners, enemies and former friends have been trying to murder her! Her evil cousin Katty is one of the conspurrators!
Fortunately she still has friends and fans aplenty, but for them the Free Comic Book Day became the day of mourning because someone finally shot and killed her. The mysterious murder occurred in Die Kitty Die! Hollywood or Bust #4. While they have the wake for her at the local comic book store, her spirit has gone to the purrgatory-ish Ghost Realm!
That is where her old classmate Grimmy the reapurr dwells, with her ex-husband Derek in purrsuit and displeased to see her and Grimmy smooching! Given away for free at purrticipating comic book stores, this issue has the 32 full color pages compurrised of the uninterrupted 21 page tale and the bonus two – page pic followed by the 9 pages of the ads!
The tale was inked by Rick Kowslowski, colored by Glenn Whitmore and Anwar Hanano, lettered by Janice Chiang and Andrew Thomas, and edited by Terry White! The cover is by Parent and Ruiz, whilst the additional art is by Giselle Legace, Bill Golliher and J. Bone, nya! Our web master Jamie knows Giselle, and we have met Dan at the conventions!
There are purretty clothes and sexy costumes aplenty in this series! For example, in this issue Kitty wears the low-cut Yellow crop top with Black heels, Purrple capurri pants & belt for most of the tale; the long Purrple dress with White collar & shoes during the flashback to school days; and the winged White Angel gown in the purreview for the next issue!
In the bonus pic, Kitty cosplays as several TV characters; and on the front cover she wears the strapless Black dress with fishnet sleeves, whilst Katty wears the strapless Red front – lace corset and skirt,! This issue was the great treat because of the amewsing macabre plot with the clever purrodies and lovely art at the free purrice! Nextly I would like to discuss
Today’s Cerberus vol. 8!
Nyoka:
This manga by Ato Sakurai stars the human girl purrsonas of Cerberus the legendary three – headed Hades dog of Greek mythology. Years ago in the dog form, she bit a boy named Chiaki, which had a purrculiar affect upon his spirit, which has caused him the emotional difficulties and to attract lonely spirits! Nyow as the teenager he also attracts the girls who are rivals for his affections!
It is difficult for Chiaki’s miko / shrine maiden classmate Hinata, who has romantic feelings for him, and thusly the “harem trope” ensues in this cutely romantic occult comedy series, although it does have some emotionally sad and dangerously dire situations. The three mind-linked purrsonas of Cerberus are affectionately peppy Kuro, feisty tough Shirogane, and shy genius Roze!
Other recurring characters are Hako the nekomata catgirl, her master Idora (Chiaki’s pal), Haru (another classmate), Minnie (who claims to be Chiaki’s fiance), Chiaki’s older sister Mikado, Tama the nine tailed fox girl, Rir Rir the Norse wolf girl, her sisters Hel and Jormung who have a maid cafe, their dog Garm, Hades, Persephone, and Hako’s neighborhood neko friends!
Originally published by Square Enix in Japan, it is published in North America by Yen. Sammiched betwixt the color covers are the 194 pages of Black & White manga chapters 35-39, the gag strip chapters 35-39.5, the 3 page side-story, the cute art inside the covers, and 2 color pages. It is Rated T for the teen readers purrhaps due to the language, violence & semi nudity,
It was translated by Caleb Cook, lettered by Bianca Pistillo. During the Christmas break, Chaiki and the gang are stuck in the castle of Hades, in which Kuro becomes darkly berserk and Persephone helps Chiaki to regain his soul whilst they battle Hades. After that they encounter the yeti whilst enjoying the big feast and hot spurrings at the ryokan owned by Idora’s grandpurrents!
Back at home, Minnie and the fire spirit show up whilst the romantic rivalries are stirred up again! There are tensely dramatic moments, but most of the developments are thrilling & amewsing! The gag strips, side story & widdle cartoons are especially comedic! The characters tend to be quite likable, the art is excellent, and I eagerly anticipate the next volume! Nyow here is Bunnibuns to tell us about
A Centaur’s Life vol. 14!
Bun:
Arigato! A Centaur’s Life Written and drawn by Ken Murayama A Centaur’s Life is the beautiful, charming, slice – of – life tale set in the world populated by centaurs, fauns, kemonomimi, angels, dracon, unicorn, snake, frog people, were – tigers and other species in a contemporary world. The main characters are Himeno the centauress, her high school classmates and their families.
Himeno’s friends are Mitsu the satyr girl, Michi the unicorn girl, Nozomi the Dragon girl, Himeno’s niece Shino-chan and Shino’s friend Maki-chan! Other classmates include Hime’s centauress kouhai Ayaka, Akechi the satyr girl, Inuki the catgirl, snake girl sisters Suu and Nil, Tama the angel girl, her triplet kitten girl sisters Chinami, Chiho, Chigusa, and their younger sister Sue-chan!
There are occasional peeks at the life of Eri and other merfolk, Suu & Nil’s people in Antarctica for, the frog people’s rebellion, and encounters with alien invaders! The plots typically focus on activities at school, home and work, amidst the mysterious dreams, conspiracies. paranormal encounters, cultural differences, and the war betwixt the human and the rebel amphibian folks.
Originally published in Japan as Centaur No Nayami, the english edition is published in North America by Seven Seas Entertainment! Purriced at $13.99 in the USA and $16.99 in Canada, vol. 14’s 160 pages include 1 color page, chapters 100-107 of the Black & White manga, and the 9 pages of cultural / historical notes. The author has done much extensive world- building!
It was translated by Elina Ishikawa, adapted by Holly Kolodziejczak, lettered & laid out by Jennifer Skarupa, edited by Adam Arnold, assistantly edited by Jenn Grunigen, published by Jason DeAngelis and proofread by Patrick King, with the logo designed by Courtney Williams, cover designed by Nicky Lim, and purrduction managed by Lissa Pattilo with assistance by CK Russell.
It is suggested for readers who are at least older teens, perhaps due to nudity, language, sexuality and violence. Yokai / spirits and dai-kaiju / giant monsters of the past and present pepper the plots of this volume, which begins with the makeover for Nozomi, more of Ayaka’s background, and the introduction of Okino the centauress as several girls soak in the onsen at the resort.
Shino-chan has a widdle rural adventure whilst Himeno’s family visit’s the grandparent’s estate; Tama’s sisters anticipate the summer break and we learn more about their family, with the rare glimpse of their mom; Suu and Nil wind up in the political spotlight as their government gets involved with the war in South America, which escalates with the giant frog monster’s demands.
Meanwhile, the negotiations continue betwixt the human astronaut and the fungi-like extraterrestrials! There are some political, tragic and shocking moments, but A Centaur’s Life continues to be the wonderfully whimsical, poignant and sometimes surreal joy to read with the beautiful, intricate art, so I will give vol. 14 the “A” as in Ayaka and Akechi! Nextly I would like to praise
The Art of Solo- A Star Wars Story!
Bun:
We love the Star Wars movies and I love the books about the design of those movies, so I was very pleased to see this handsome book, which is quite similar to The Art of The Force Awakens, The Art of Rogue One, and The Art of The Last Jedi. Published by Abrams the the 256 page, 11 3/4″ x 10 7/8″ dust – jacketed hardcover is priced at $40.00 in the USA, $50.00 in Canada and £30.00 in the UK.
It was written by Lucasfilm’s art manager Phil Szostak, who also wrote The Art of The Force Awakens and The Art of The Last Jedi. It has the forwards by the movie’s production designer Neil Lamont and by Lucasfilm’s design supervisor James Clyne, who did the book’s jacket front llustration of Han and Chewie, whilst the back jacket illustration is by costume / concept artist Adam Brockbank.
It is the lavish collection of sketches, storyboards, concept art, paintings, diagrams, & comments about the characters, costumes, props, mecha, environments, creatures & FX, with over 15 two – page spreads, 25 full – page pics, over 55 half – page pics, and hundreds of other images by the many contributors! I will highly recommend it to fans of Star Wars, cinematic design, the space fantasy genre and beautiful art! That is all for our reviews, and now here is Petra to present the latest
additions to the Catgirl Island Mewseum of Art!
Petra:
Arigato, nya! For those here for the first time, Galleries 1-8 of The Catgirl Island Mewseum of Art display images by Mike, whilst Guest Art Galleries 1-5 display images by other folks with their kind purrmissions, and Mike’s collaborative images with other artists can be found throughout the mewseum, nya! The images include illustrations, photos and mixed medias, nya!
Some of the art might be sexy or depict the tasteful nudity or semi – nudity, but none of it is porn, nya! The most recent pics will be the lowermost row of the cropped widdle “thumbnail” sized portions of the pics in a gallery, and you have to click on those to see the uncropped full pics, nya! This month we have added the 7 pics to Guest Gallery 5, and 4 pics to Gallery 8, nya!
We are are pleased to purrsent the “Mushroom Fairy” by Rebecca Brogden http://www.rbrogdenart.com, who was the guest for our September 2009 Mew, nya! Rebecca used the pens & colored pencils upon the toned papurr for this pic of the Platinum – haired pixy in the Pink skirt, gloves, boots & bikini top who is pleased to greet us from her purrfect purrch upon the mushroom, nya!
For today’s second helping of fine fairy art, Rebecca used the pens & colored pencils upon the toned papurr for “Yum”, nya! Purrched upon the smooth rock, this fairy wears the Red boots to match her lovely lepidopteran wings, with the Blue popsicle (while it lasts) that matches her short, shoulderless, bell – sleeved dress, nya! Nyow I have the craving for the popsicle, but it must wait, nya!
Then we have Rebecca’s image of the “Elven Queen” which depicts the royal elfin lady wearing the leafy crown and Red skirt, chatting with us from her tree stump throne, nya! She is topless, but her long lush Blonde hair conveniently covers her boobies about as much as the skimpy bikini top might, nya! Rebecca used the pens & colored pencils upon the toned papurr for this’un too, nya!
Nextly our gallery is graced by Rebecca’s “Cat Tails”, which depicts the voluptuous catgirl with the Orange towel skinny dipping amidst the Cat Tail plants in the shallow pond, nya! She is nude as she gladly greets us, but her long Black hair and tail purrtially obscure her boobies and crotch, nya! This alluring illustration was done with the pens & colored pencils upon the toned papurr, nya!
After that, the mood is the bit less congenial as Rebecca brings the “Cattitude” of the Brunette girl with the White – tipped tail and disgruntled gaze who wears the the thigh highs, shorts & cropped tank top, nya! She is the sexy, powerful sight, but we hope our admiration will purrk up her spirits, nya! This is another illustration done with the pens & colored pencils upon the toned papurr, nya!
Also done with the pens & colored pencils upon the toned papurr is Rebecca’s pic of Trini-chan’s mom Kumi (purronounced koo-mee), the serene fox girl wearing the Yellow dress and boots, purrched upon the boulder in the “Meditation”, nya! Kumi and her husband Toshi live in the bungalow on the north side of the island and own the boutique full of new and consignment clothes, nya!
Rebecca used Photoshop CS5, Paint Tool Sai & the Wacom Intuos 5 tablet for the illustration of “Eamane’s New Look”, which depicts our friend Eamane on the beach in her bikini with her short new coiffure, nya! Purrhaps y’all have seen the purrior pics of Eamane, her niece Hannah and boyfriend A.J. who star in the tale of “The Love of a Catgirl” at the Tales of Catgirl Island page, nya!
Meanwhile, In Gallery 8 http://catgirlisland.net/art/gallery/gallery8.html
There is more to see of Eamane in Mike’s pic of her alluring Amethyst – colored “New Outfit”, nya! Mike used Photoshop CS2 and the mouse to illustrate the front, side and rear views of her in the off – shoulder, low – cut, bare – midriff, front – knotted halter top, the low – slung side – tie breech cloth, and the matching tail bandana to wear to the late night rave and the hot salsa dance, mew la la, nya!
We have also unveiled Mike’s collage of “Julia”, who is the human daughter of the explorers from another galaxy who traveled to ancient Egypt where she was born, nya! These days she teaches at our Mew Hanover Community College, nya! The collage depicts her in outfits such as the sari, bomber jacket and bikini with her purrsonnal A.I. assistant Milly, the surboard and other gear, nya!
Then we are delighted to display Mike’s pencil, pen, Photoshop CS2 and mouse illustration of “Maeridyth“, the sphinx sitting on the beach – front balcony reading the RPG rule book, nya! She is 5 ft. long plus the 3 ft. lioness tail and the 16 ft. wingspan; she has several college degrees, she speaks several languages, and works as the Director of the Mew Hanover Medical Arts Center, nya!
Lastly but not leastly is Mike’s pic of “Kemonomimi Iron Pumpurrs” at the gym, nya! From right to left are Kaitori the catgirl in the Blue bikini who is an orthopedist; Donna the 7 ft. tall mouse girl in the Pink bikini who is a trainer; Megumi the chipmunk girl in the shorts & cropped shirt who is a trainer; and Li Ming the bunny girl in the White bikini who is on the roller derby team, nya! So, what do y’all think of the art, nya?
Mielikki
Hai hai, what do you think of the pic of your mom, Trini-chan. nya?
Trini-chan:
(cries happily) Wahh! I think it is such the perfect illustration which faithfully captures her beautiful image and spirit down to the intricate details!
Mary Nyan:
The Mushroom Fairy is so supple, sweet and sexy, with the gorgeous gaze and smile amidst the flutter of her hair just above those graceful wings!
Jeannie:
“Yum” is delightfully purretty from the sheen of her hair and the venation in her wings, to the drapurry of her sleeves and the grooves in the popsicle.
Ilyana:
The alluring illustration of the Elven Queen has such the splendid lines, color, shading, compurrsition, pose, expurression and the widdle details!
Tara-chan:
The miffed catgirl’s stern expression with the glaring gaze and – and cross – armed pose totally sells the feisty spirit of the “Cattitude”, nya!
Yvonne:
The catgirl amongst the Cat Tails seems to have the carefree dispurrsistion whilst enticingus to join her in the pond, nya!
Becca:
Eamane’s make-over is the lovely different look for her, with the purrrt new bob – cut coiffure and captivating smile with the hint of cute fangs!
Elizabeth:
Her new sexy outfit, is almost like like large orchid petals, and I am curious about the reaction she got when she wore it to the dance!
Bun:
I like the graphic layout of the images of Julia who has such the sweet smile, long lush hair, the tight abs, and that cute widdle nekodroid!
Nyoka:
Maeridyth has the tight abs too! I also like her frizzled Red hair, striped majestic wings, comfy chair, purretty flowers and her RPG book!
Nyanko:
I love Donna’s statuesque physique, Megumi’s braided coiffure, Kaitori ‘s purretty tattoos, the bikini that matches Li Ming’s ears, and the details of my outdoor gym!
Mike:
Thank you! It took a while, but it was a fun illustration; and, ah, thank you Petra for presenting the latest additions!
Petra:
Doitashimaste, nya!
the cat lady sings…
Ilyana:
That “Yum” pic has given me the cravings for the popsicle!
Tara-chan
Nyow my tummy has the craving too, nya! I would not mind the popsicle or the- ANTIPIONE MOTH, NYA!
(The easily distracted catgirl with her camera scampurrs after the interesting insect)
Yvonne:
There she goes again, nya!
Jeannie
Well, it is a purretty speciment of the Variable / Antepione thisoaria.
Trini-chan:
I wanna see it too!
(The fox girl scampurrs after her best friend and the moth)
Becca:
I am not craving any moth meat, but it is almost time for our AfterMew luau!
Elizabeth:
Well, I guess that will wrap up another Mew!
Bun:
We wish to thank Rebecca for more of her beautiful art!
Becca:
Hai! We wish to thank Jamie for his web mastery here at The Mew and Catgirl Island…
Mary Nyan:
We also wish to thank the many many other talented folks whose works we discussed…
Petra:
… and our other friends, relatives & audience whom we appurreciate, nya!
Mielikki:
Fur sur!
Nyoka:
Y’all may post brief, polite, sincere, non-snarky responses to The Mew…
Nyanko:
purrvided the comments are spam-free, G-rated & purrtain to our topics!
Mike:
We’ll be back next month with the July edition of The Mew. Be there… aloha!
The Ladies of The Mew:
Happy Tails to Mew – until we eat again! BAI BAI, NYA!
