#Chris Hedrick

[fantomcomics]

What’s Out This Week? 10/26

Then my teeth turned into fangs And my nails into claws And I nearly dropped the Torah When my hands turned into paws!

Black Paradox GN - Junji Ito

Four people intent on killing themselves meet through the suicide website Black Paradox: Maruso, a nurse who despairs about the future; Taburo, a man who is tortured by his doppelganger; Pii-tan, an engineer with his own robot clone; and Baracchi, a girl who agonizes about the birthmark on her face. They wander together in search of the perfect death, fatefully opening a door that leads them to a rather bizarre destiny...

The Return Of Chilling Adventures In Sorcery One Shot -  Eliot Rahal, Vincenzo Federici & Julius Ohta

Madam Satan escaped Hell a fugitive and hated woman by Satan and his thralls. She's now principal of Baxter high and Hell has come to Earth. With each classroom acting as a portal to the different circles in Hell, Madam Satan must recruit similar tortured souls if she has any chance of survival... all leading up to a Madam Satan and her army vs. Satan and his in this highly-anticipated follow-up to last year's hit Chilling Adventures in Sorcery!

Nightfall Double Feature #1 -  David Andry, Maan House, & Chris Shehan 

64 PAGE DOUBLE FEATURE! Grab your popcorn and clamber into your sleeping bag for two tales of terror from the creative teams of The Autumnal, The Plot, and Resonant! The CEMETERIANS After human bones begin growing inside inanimate objects all across the globe, a renegade scientist and brilliant theologian delve into the cemeteries where the bones originated, discovering an otherworldly force tired of being buried in darkness. DENIZEN A family's cross country roadtrip goes off the map and into the unforgiving wilds of Joshua Tree National Park, when mom and wife-to-be Helene succumbs to a malevolent force tucked inside an abandoned camping trailer.

Lovesick #1 (of 7) -  Luana Vecchio

The LOVESICK CLUB is an exclusive, subscribers-only site on the dark web that offers the best in erotic and ultra-violent entertainment. There, matriarch Domino and her fellow dominatrixes punish and torture none other than their own loyal subscribers, many of whom pay good money to meet their end by her hand in front of a large, anonymous audience.

But in the eyes of her rage-filled haters, Domino is the MOTHER DEMON, a deranged succubus who oppresses men by turning them into her slaves. For this crime against men, she must be hunted down and PUNISHED.

Dead Mall #1 (of 4) -  Adam Cesare & David Stoll

The Penn Mills Galleria is about to be demolished. Five teens sneak into the mall to take a last look around before it's gone. However, while Penn Mills has been closed for years, the mall is far from abandoned. A night of exploration becomes a shopping spree from hell. The teens must contend with the sprawling, transformative cosmic horror of Penn Mills or be trapped forever within the Dead Mall.

Caffeinated Hearts One-Shot -  Jonathan Hedrick & Stefano Cardoselli

Follow a beautifully tattooed barista named Amarella across four vignettes that are blended through this slice-of-life comic book set in a coffee shop with a cyberpunk backdrop. These robust tales will warm your heart like a fresh batch of java poured into your favorite morning mug. Step inside and enjoy!

Damn Them All #1 (of 6) -  Simon Spurrier & Charlie Adlard

Following the death of Ellie's uncle, an infamous magician and occult detective, the 72 devils of the Ars Goetia are mysteriously freed from their infernal realm. It's now up to Ellie to track down each of these exiled demons and damn them right back to Hell by any means necessary... holy water, conjuration, or just her trusty, rusty claw hammer.

Sara Lone #1 -  Erik Arnoux & David Morancho

A young woman with a rough past finds herself caught in a destructive spiral after the brutal murder of her father, the owner of a modest shrimp fishery. Leaving the hot nights of New Orleans, she returns to the countryside to take over the business on her own, despite the ambient hostility around her. She is arrested during her trip back home-a murder was committed in the strip club where she worked and everything seems to point to her. Pursued by Mafia killers, she passes from police handcuffs to the hands of the Secret Service. Just who is Joy Carruthers, stage name Sara Lone?

Whatcha snagging this week, Fantomites?

[sailor-romelle]

voltron staff do not deserve harassment and threats based on creative decisions whether you agree with them or not. if you harass the creators of a show you claim to enjoy in order to try and force canon, you’re not a fan, you’re a bully. fans can critique a show, recognize flaws, and have opinions on the show itself, but once that criticizism turns into harassment, you’re no longer a fan, you’re just a jerk.

[rabbittstewcomics]

Episode 287

May 2021 Solicits

Comics Reviews:

Young Hellboy 1 by Mike Mignola, Thomas Sniegoski, Craig Rousseau, Dave Stewart

Avatar: Toph Beifong's Metalbending Academy by Faith Erin Hicks, Peter Wartman, Adele Matera

Marvel Action: Origins 1 by Chris Eliopoulos, Lanna Souvanny

Aria: Heavenly Creatures by Brian Holguin, Jay Anacleto, Brian Haberlin, Drew Posada, Raymund Lee

Immortal Hulk: Flatline by Declan Shalvey

King in Black: Planet of the Symbiotes 2 by Marc Bernardin, Kyle Hotz, Rachelle Rosenberg, Geoffrey Thorne, Jan Bazaldua

X-Men Legends 1 by Fabian Nicieza, Brett Booth, Adelso Corona, Guru eFX

Snow Angels 1 by Jeff Lemire, Jock

GI Joe Castle Fall by Paul Allor, Chris Evenhuis, Brittany Peer

Black Cotton 1 by Patrick Foreman, Brian Hawkins, Marco Perugini

Black Friday 1 by Jon Clark, Travis Williamson

Mapmaker 1 by Francesca Carita, Ben Slabak

By the Horns 1 by Markisan Naso, Jason Muhr

White Ash Presents: Glarien 1 by Charlie Stickney, Conor Hughes, Romina Moranelli, Yishan Li, Fin Cramb

Recount 1 and 2 by Jonathan Hedrick, Gabriel Ibarra Nunez

Hollow Heart 1 by Paul Allor, Paul Tucker

Savage 1 by Max Bemis, Nathan Stockman, Triona Farrell

Shadow Doctor 1 by Peter Calloway, Georges Jeanty, Juancho!

Father of All Things by Sebastian Girner, Baldemar Rivas

Not Forgotten Anthology by Jeff Leeds, Omar Morales, Joel Cotejar, Marco Maccagni, Paula Goulart

Forever Home GN by Jenna Ayoub

Girl Haven OGN by Lilah Sturges, Meaghan Carter, Joamette Gil

Additional Reviews: WandaVision ep7, Drowned Earth, Class Action Park, Cecil Hotel documentary, Surviving Joe Exotic documentary

News: DC buy-out madness, War of the Bounty Hunters (Star Wars crossover), Superman '78 and Batman '89 comics announced, Infinity Train renewal, Wednesday Addams: Teen Detective from Tim Burton, Constantine reboot from HBO Max, Die ending with #20, Spawnverse expansion, Supergirl cast for Flash movie, Netflix Marvel shows back to Marvel Studios, ATLA reboot catastrophe, DC teases, Falcon/Winter Soldier casting rumors, Department of Truth optioned as TV series, Palmiotti/Conner take over Red Sonja

Trailers: Cruella, Mortal Kombat, Invincible

Comics Countdown:

Girl Haven by Lilah Sturges, Meaghan Carter, Joamette Gil

Barbalien: Red Planet 4 by Jeff Lemire, Tate Brombal, Gabriel Hernandez Walta, Jordie Bellaire

Snow Angels 1 by Jeff Lemire, Jock

Batman/Catwoman 3 by Tom King, Clay Mann, Tomeu Morey

Stillwater 6 by Chip Zdarsky, Ramon K Perez, Mike Spicer

Thor 12 by Donny Cates, Nic Klein, Matt Wilson

TMNT: The Last Ronin 2 by Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, Tom Waltz, Esau, Isaac Escorza, Ben Bishop, Samuel Plata, Luis Antonio Delgado

Haha 2 by W. Maxwell Prince, Zoe Thorogood, Chris O'Halloran

Once and Future 16 by Kieron Gillen, Dan Mora, Tamra Bonvillain

Stranger Things and Dungeons and Dragons 4 by Jody Houser, Jim Zub, Diego Galindo, Msassyk

Check out this episode!

[roadtogalavant]

The Fast & Furious franchise is speeding to Netflix with the new original animated series Fast & Furious: Spy Racers, and Universal Pictures and DreamWorks Animation have released the first images and the cast of the new series that debuts December 26.

Keeping it in the Fast & Furious family, Spy Racers features Dominic Toretto’s (Vin Diesel) teenage cousin Tony Toretto (Tyler Posey), who is recruited by a government agency along with his friends to infiltrate an elite racing league serving as a front for a crime organization called SH1FT3R that is bent on world domination.

The series is executive produced by Diesel, Neal H. Moritz, Chris Morgan, Tim Hedrick and Bret Haaland, who also serve as showrunners. In addition to Posey, Spy Racers features the voices of Camille Ramsey (American Vandal) as SH1FT3R underground racer Layla Gray; Luke Youngblood (Harry Potter franchise) as 13-year-old tech genius Frostee Benson;

[natsspammityspamspamham]

Fire Emblem Three Houses (ENG vs JPN) - Opinion

This is just an opinion post for which I prefer. I have 650 hours and counting on the game, so I’ve had time to listen to a bit of both. These are the voices I prefer. I can’t say for sure which voice or dub is better. Overall, they’re both pretty solid. 

Byleth (Male): Yūsuke Kobayashi | Zach Aguilar I feel like Kobayashi’s voice fits better. I just didn’t like Zach’s interpretation for Byleth or Tanjiro. 

Byleth (Female) Shizuka Ito | Jeannie Tirado This one is more of a preference. 

Edelgard: Ai Kakuma | Tara Platt Again, I feel like this is more of a preference. I just feel like Tara Platt doesn’t sound like a teenager either. Ai Kakuma gives her more of a softer and more “girly” vibe if that makes sense?

Dimitri Kaito Ishikawa | Chris Hackney Chris is funny with Dimitri’s character. He goes from the whole “don’t eat the weeds” to the emotional scenes that are great, and as much as I really, really, really like Ishikawa’s dialogue as well, I didn’t get the nuance from the script of the Japanese version. 

Claude Toshiyuki Toyonaga | Joe Zieja This one is a tie. I couldn’t choose. I know everyone prefers Joe because he’s very involved with the fandom, but Toshi is really good too. If it makes sense, he gives Claude more of a romantic vibe? He seems a lot more flirtatious and suave in Japanese, but I will admit that there’s more nuance in the English script. Regardless, the confession scene feels way better in Japanese (Toshi does a lot of otome games so maybe it’s from that)

Hubert Katsuyuki Konishi | Robbie Daymond I don’t really like Hubert all that much, to begin with. Katsuyuki makes him sound less like a cartoon villain and more like an actual potential good guy to S-Support.

Dorothea Juri Nagatsuma | Allegra Clark When you have Dorothea and Mercedes on your team, you can only take so much “ara ara”. Allegra (not the allergy medication) also makes her sound a lot more natural. I personally didn’t notice the first time I played through that she was double-casted, but after a couple of times, I got tired of the whole “let’s hire one actor/actress to play more than one character!” 

Ferdinand Taito Ban | Billy Kametz Billy Kametz just won a Crunchyroll Award for his dubbing of Shield Hero, and I can definitely see that he’s really talented. He’s pretty prolific with his roles in other anime too like Cells at Work and Demon Slayer. Both of Ferdinand's voices are a good fit, but nothing beats the FE meme of “I am Ferdinand Von Aegir” 

Bernadetta Ayumi Tsuji | Erica Mendez I don’t really like either. You can open any dub out of a can, and Erica Mendez has a 50/50 shot of being there. Bernie’s JP voice is like a broken squeaky toy though, so Mendez just automatically wins. 

Caspar Satoru Murakami | Ben Diskin Besides double-casting (which I’m not a fan of), Ben just made Caspar sound like too much of a child even with the time skip. 

Petra Shizuka Ishigami | Faye Mata Petra’s English is probably a contributing factor. Localization does wonders.

Linhardt Shun Horie | Chris Patton You can also find Patton in a lot of other dubs. However, I just preferred Patton’s a bit more because it made him sound a bit more grown-up. Not to mention, some of his lines just fair better in English.

Dedue Hidenori Takahashi | Ben Lepley There’s such thing as making a voice a little too low, and after playing Crimson Flower, hearing the pain in Dedue’s voice after he loses his best friend is quite something.

Felix Yuichi Jose | Lucien Dodge Felix is a whiny brat, but I feel like Yuichi makes him feel like less of a whiny brat. 

Mercedes Yumiri Hanamori | Dorothy Elias-Fahn There was no competition. Yumiri’s voice is the absolute perfect fit for Mercedes. Elias-Fahn’s voice made her sound like a cartoon dinosaur.

Ashe Yūki Inoue | Shannon Mckain There’s a lot more character in Mckain’s voice. 

Annette Takako Tanaka | Abby Trott This is purely personal preference.

Sylvain Makoto Furukawa | Joe Brogie This one is a tie. I couldn’t choose. Joe Brogie does bring that “f-boi” vibe, but Sylvain’s confession scene in Japanese was really sweet while his English version was... passable. Furukawa’s got too much experience with those kinds of things. 

Ingrid Manaka Iwami | Brittany Cox She makes Ingrid sound so sweet, and her voice has so much more emotion and character compared to Cox’s version which sounds so flat at times. Also, her death line is infinitely better post-time skip in Japanese. 

Lorenz Hiroshi Watanabe | Ben Diskin Nobody likes Lorenz. 

Hilda Yūki Kuwahara | Salli Saffioti Again, there’s more nuance in the localized version. 

Raphael Takaki Otomari | Zachary Rice The amount of “himbo” energy stuffed into that dub is legendary. 

Lysithea Aoi Yūki | Janice Roman Roku Aoi Yuuki is a symbol in the seiyuu fandom because she does a lot of voices for little girls. 

Ignatz Shougo Yano | Christian La Monte They tried to do something with the JPN dub that didn’t quite work. They tried to make him sound much higher pre-time skip then made his voice hit puberty, and while I appreciate the authenticity and efforts put in, they couldn’t make it consistent so his voice was constantly going from high to low when exploring the monastery post-time skip. 

Marianne Sawako Hata | Xanthe Huynh I just prefer her more soft-toned voice. 

Leonie Sakura Nogawa | Ratana I don’t like Leonie that much really. 

Jeralt Akio Ōtsuka | David Lodge I like both, but Lodge is a better fit for the narrator too. 

Rhea Kikuko Inoue | Cherami Leigh I really like Cherami as a voice actress, but this feels like a great miscast. Her singing voice for Rhea isn’t great either, and her screams felt subpar at best. Kikuko Inoue really gave her that “wise old lady” vibe. 

Sothis Tomoyo Kurosawa | Cassandra Lee Morris I don’t really like Sothis. I still say that they could’ve made a better character than that. Her child voice is offputting too. 

Manuela Sachiko Kojima | Veronica Taylor No preference here because I never cared for her or ever really put her in combat. 

Hanneman Kenji Hamada | W. T. Falke Hamada’s voice was a bit too deep. Besides that, the same as Manuela. 

Catherine Chie Matsuura | Laura Post No preference here. 

Alois Manabu Sakamaki | Dave B. Mitchell His character is based on puns, so of course, English dubbing will prevail here. 

Seteth Takehito Koyasu | Mark P. Whitten Mark dubbed some fan lines, and his voice is much more distinctive and isn’t associated with any big-time characters yet (cough Dio). 

Flayn Yuko Ono | Deva Marie Gregory Yuko Ono’s voice is way too high. It rivals Bernadetta.

Jeritza Atsushi Imaruoka | Patrick Seitz Patrick did a great job directing this dub, but Jeritza sounds like he’s constantly about to yawn in the English version. 

Shamir Yurina Watanabe | Allegra Clark Their voices are extremely similar in quality. I just have a bit of bias, and I don’t like double-casting. 

Cyril Kengo Kawanishi | Griffin Burns I don’t like Cyril. Yuri Junya Enoki | Alejandro Saab Junya provides a really good voice for Yuri. It makes him sound even more like his character if that’s even possible. Junya gave much more of that trickster “Claude” kind of vibe. It’s hard to decipher, but despite being kind of similar, Junya wins by a landslide despite Saab providing a stellar dub. 

Balthus Subaru Kimura | Aaron Hedrick I think it’s because of the localized script. His voice is also a perfect fit for the character. 

Constance Sarah Emi Bridcutt | Kirsten Day I can’t take all the “OHOHOHOHO” laughing all the time. 

Hapi Sachika Misawa | Christine Marie Cabanos Hapi’s localized script is really down-to-earth and adds to her character more. 

[themattress]

Battle of the Seasons

Voltron: Legendary Defender: Seasons 1-2 vs. Seasons 3-6 vs. Seasons 7-8

This show was a mess in terms of creative management. Seasons 1-2 were created as the first season, Seasons 3-6 as the second, and Seasons 7-8 as the third. Not only did Netflix do some weird shit with the numbering when they decided to distribute them, but the core staff in charge of the show kept on shedding members as it went on. Seasons 1-2 were run by producers Joaquim Dos Santos, Lauren Montgomery, Benjamin Kaltenecker, Ki Hyun Ryu, Chris Neuhahn, Jae-Myung Yoo, the Koplar brothers (Robert and Ted), and Randy Dormans, while the head writer was Tim Hedrick, with the secondary head writer being Joshua Hamilton and the tertiary head writer May Chan.  But in Seasons 3-6, the bottom half of those producers left, and May Chan was replaced by Mitch Iverson. Finally and perhaps worst of all, in Seasons 7-8, Tim Hedrick departed and his whole road map thrown away.

So, how did the seasons, as created, turn out? For simplicity’s purpose, I will now refer to Seasons 1-2 as Act 1, Seasons 3-6 as Act 2, and Seasons 7-8 as Act 3 going forward.

Act 1: Six young men from Earth (it seems; one of them is a girl in disguise) are transported to a distant world in space by a mysterious lion mech. There they meet Princess Allura of Altea and her assistant Coran, and learn that they are meant to be the Paladins of Voltron, pilots of the six lion mechs who can combine into the powerful Voltron, defender of the universe. Their mission is to liberate planets from the oppressive Galra Empire and defeat the evil Emperor Zarkon, all while undergoing character development and bonding as a family.

Act 2: Both sides of the conflict are struggling after the loss of Shiro and Zarkon respectively. Keith inherits Shiro’s lion, Lance gets Keith’s lion, and Allura gets Lance’s lion, all while Zarkon’s son Prince Lotor takes the Galran throne and begins working toward a diabolical scheme to harness the power of Voltron for himself. And when Shiro and Zarkon reappear, then things really get complicated, and the roller coaster ride of events begins in earnest.

Act 3: After being caught in a time warp and launched a few years into the future, the Paladins head back to Earth in order to reconstruct the Castle of Lions. Once they arrive and liberate it from Galran control, they and their new allies are faced with one final challenge: Honerva and her new breed of Robeasts that are working toward a terrifying objective.

I think that Act 1 is very strong, and it’s no wonder that it launched the show to success so quickly and created such a passionate fandom around it. All of the main heroes are likable and they all get their due in terms of character arcs, the villains are threatening, the worlds and creatures are imaginative, and the animation and music top-notch. Many of the episodes can seem stand-alone and even frivolous when taken on their own, but they all add up to a greater whole and ultimately conclude in an absolute blast of a finale. A majority of fans seem to share the consensus that Act 1 was the show at its best; that it never got better than this.

I........disagree.

Act 2, in my humble opinion, is where the show peaked in quality.  See, once half of the producers left, the other ones left seemed to want something else from the show than how it was before. However, Tim Hedrick was still the head writer and was still intent on following the road map he had created for the series when he first came on board. On top of that, executives higher up than the producers also wanted certain things to happen. Therefore, a compromise was made, and the result is the most interesting the show has ever been. 

Keith starts out as the new leader to replace Shiro but he does a lousy job at it, and when Shiro returns Keith steps down and outright leaves the Paladins to go on his own journey with the Blade of Marmora, and through this journey his character develops into the leader that he couldn’t while actually out in the field with the Paladins. Shiro begins suffering from several incidents that hint that something dark is going on with him, leading to the revelation that he’s actually a clone of the real Shiro, which leads to a dramatic, superbly-animated confrontation between him and Keith. Allura begins tapping into her innate powers and potential as a ruler and a hero, Lance begins to accept that maybe he just isn’t the guy Allura is looking for, Pidge reunites with her family, Hunk starts bringing people together through his sheer goodness, the Paladins get a whole coalition of allies to work with, Zarkon dies, Hagarr rediscovers her true identity as Honerva, and we get the best, most interesting villain in the entire series with Prince Lotor, a brilliant manipulator who deceives characters and viewers!

And Act 1′s already amazing finale gets blown out of the water by Act 2′s, with the dimension-jumping battle between Voltron and the Sincline Beast being something truly legendary.

But then we get Act 3, and....yeah. The funny thing is that I actually think that many of the episodes are still good...when taken on their own merits. But unlike Acts 1 and 2, they do not add together into an effective larger whole. The larger whole of Act 3 is an absolute dumpster fire, and the reason is because Tim Hedrick had departed and, by their own admission, Joaquim Dos Santos and Lauren Montgomery threw out his road map for Act 3 and remade it from the ground up to match what they wanted out of it...which wasn’t what many fans wanted because it doesn’t match up with what came before. The trajectory of most of the characters is a mess, with even the ones with potential being flubbed in execution (both Allura and Honerva come to mind), and HUGE wastes of obvious opportunities (you could’ve had Lotor back and torn between being a Quintessance-possesed monster man ala his father and being his old self who wants to help Allura and subvert his mother’s plans, but no, he’s just a corpse and an ambiguous one-episode ghost respectively?)  Hunk of all characters was the only one who came out looking more impressive than he did before rather than less.

And of course we have the ending, which is far from the worst ending I’ve ever seen, but also far from the best and is outright laughable compared to Act 1 and Act 2′s conclusions. The final battle against Honerva was weak and rushed, Allura’s sacrificial death came out of nowhere, and much of the “where are they now?” epilogue fell flat, especially the final shot they decided on which felt laughably desperate and pandering (who even was that guy!?)

So, when all is taken into consideration, it’s Act 2 (Seasons 3-6) that is the best, followed by Act 1 (Seasons 1-2) by an admirable margin, and then by Act 3 (Seasons 7-8) by a wide mile.

[geekcavepodcast]

“Fast & Furious: Spy Racers” Cast Announced

Universal Pictures, DreamWorks Animation, and Netflix have announced the cast of Fast & Furious: Spy Racers, an original animated series based on the Fast and the Furious franchise. Entertainment Weekly scored some first-look pics.

Fast & Furious: Spy Racers will follow new characters, some of whom are connected with the live-action characters. “Teenager Tony Toretto follows in the footsteps of his cousin Dom when he and his friends are recruited by a government agency to infiltrate an elite racing league serving as a front for a nefarious crime organization bent on world domination.” (Netflix)

The series stars Tyler Posey as Tony Toretto - spy racer and Dom’s younger cousin, Camille Ramsey as Layla Gray - an underground racer working for SH1FT3R, Luke Youngblood as Frostee Benson - 13-year old tech genius, Charlet Chung as Echo - spy and master artist, Jorge Diaz as Cisco Renaldo - strong man and sweetheart, and Manish Dayal as Shashi Dhar - leader of the criminal organization SH1FT3R. Additional voices include Similce Diesel, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Jimmy Tatro, Carlos Alazraqui, Eric Bauza, Grey Griffin, Kevin Michael Richardson, Fred Tatasciore, and Tru Valentino. Tim Hedrick and Bret Haaland will serve as showrunners and executive producers. Vin Diesel, Neal H. Moritz, and Chris Morgan as serve as executive producers.

Fast & Furious: Spy Racers is set to hit Netflix on December 26, 2019.

[ptw30]

Im probably overreading into this but I cant help but think dw is planning something. The holy trio of AJ Locasio, Josh Keaton and Kimberely Brooks keep going to cons. I feel like they are the pr face for voltron. You never see the other va's show up in this group. Before it used to be Jeremy and Bex alot.

Are you saying that in nine months, the Endgame stars won’t get together for yet another panel - where they are billed as the stars of the Avengers and not whatever Chris Evans is releasing this December? Doesn’t that happen all the time? 

(For everyone wondering - Kim, Josh, and AJ were confirmed for Dragon Con over Labor Day weekend.)

Kim, Josh, and AJ are DreamWorks go-to peeps for damage control. A week after the former EPs announced Shiro was not going to be in Black, this trio was on the Let’s Voltron podcast. They were also on the panels at SacAnime (back in January), and in between all the EP interviews, Josh and Kim were in Vancouver. They’ll also be in Calgary next weekend. 

Here’s the current marketing plan as we know it - 

April - FanExpo Calgary - Josh and Kim

June - Seasons 3-6 DVD release

“Over the summer” - the original announced release of a new volume of comics

August/September - Dragon Con

September - Cincinnati Comic Con with Josh Keaton 

Is this a marketing plan? Most likely - with continued exposure. So are you reading into it? No, I don’t think so. 

What’s all this for? Not sure. A sequel that was pulled after the backlash of Season 8? Season 8 - if it wasn’t rushed to drop before the end of 2018? Nothing and Josh, Kim, and AJ just have great agents? 

What I do know is - a new Fast & Furious movie is coming out in August. That means - F&F should drop around then, and Tim Hedrick is presenting F&F as one of DreamWorks’ premier shows at Annecy in June. (More here.) 

So if F&F drops in late summer, could a new Voltron show drop this fall? Yeah. 

But if I was looking to drop a Voltron show sometime later this year, say…around NYCC…I don’t know why DreamWorks wouldn’t showcase it as Annecy - unless they didn’t want the drama. 

(The special project shouldn’t be Voltron, as Rad Sechrist’s work doesn’t fit Voltron’s previous design.)

So…is something happening? IMHO - yes. What it is, is anyone’s guess at this time.  

[sol1056]

Did LM and JDS honestly think no one would ask why Shiro isn't a paladin anymore? Did they honestly think S3-6 proved Keith was a better leader than Shiro? Did they honestly think S3-6 proved Shiro shouldn't be a paladin? Did they honestly think people would drop the show if Shiro was still a main character by the series end? Or were they blinded by their pettiness.

Well, in order: 

1 yep, seems like it2 you mean for when he was actually around? guess so3 apparently being imprisoned/enslaved means you can’t be a hero4 dunno, but seems like they would in the audience’s shoes

Thing is, remember they were making these decisions before they could see the fallout. Viewer reactions have been pretty strong at times, though nothing comes anywhere near the pre-S7 hype. 

Easiest way to get context is a timeline, so here’s what I’ve pieced together based on episode credits and who’s joined or left the team, and when. 

[Also: yes, animation work is continuing on S8, it seems. See note at end.]

jan 2017 >>> S2 releasedRie Koga joins teamChris Palmer storyboards S7E3

feb 2017Chris Palmer leaves, freelances until joining HTTYD 3Michael Chang joins staff as directorSteven Ahn storyboards S7E2

note: it’s curious that the last credit for both Palmer and Ahn were storyboards, which neither had done previously for VLD. it’s also curious that neither left for a different position (either at DW or elsewhere), though Palmer was rehired at DW after a six-month gap of being unemployed. 

also, Rie Koga and Chris Palmer share directorial credit on S6E7, the only episode to have more than one director listed.

mar 2017Steven Ahn leaves, starts own company

june 2017earliest date for at least one Garrison cadet character design (based on Killmonger reference) 

note: first half of S7 storyboards were done in jan-mar (or earlier), but character designs weren’t completed until june. that means at the very least that storyboards for the second half of S7 didn’t start until last summer.  

With Koga and Chang joining Lee on the directorial team, that’s three directors. An episode takes roughly 4-6 weeks (with 4 being utterly insane but doable, and 6 necessary for complex episodes like fight scenes or crowd scenes), plus another week for post-production (foley, ADR, dubbing, subtitles, etc). A production season is 26 episodes, so each director finishes what they’re doing and picks up the next in the list, which means order isn’t as important. 

In S7, Lee did 5 episodes, while Koga and Chang did four each. That’s 5-6 months for the three of them + their animation teams to finish all 13 episodes. 

aug 2017>>> S3 released

oct 2017>>> S4 released

If some of S7 began (with completed storyboards) back around February-March, and the remainder done in June, all 26 episodes could’ve been done by December.  

jan 2018 *** new VP of Production joins DW

At this point, S4 had been released and the numbers weren’t good; viewer interest was falling off a cliff and the toys weren’t selling. With Keith basically absent most of S4, the EPs may’ve gambled on audience frustration as proof  fans didn’t want Shiro in the central position. In other words, that S4 justified their original request to remove Shiro from the picture. Bring Keith back, put him in Black, match the original, and that should appease the fans. 

According to the articles I could find about the new VP (an external hire), this one guy has final say on all television shows in production. He’s also of an age that he probably saw the original as a teenager, so he probably brought some nostalgia to his decision, as well. 

At this point — the start of this year — it’d be reasonable to expect S7 and S8 to be complete and ready for broadcast (barring any last-minute changes to S5 or S6). But look at the timeline of departures:

mar 2018 >>> S5 releasedstoryboarding team offboarded

note: if S7/S8 storyboards were complete in spring of the previous year, there’s no reason to keep storyboarders around. but at least some were released from their contracts in March, way after production should’ve been done.

apr 2018Hedrick departs for F&F project

jun 2018>>> S6 releasedHamilton promoted to story editor

note: four episodes have dual story editors: S7E4, and S7E7-E10. Hamilton had solo credit only for S7E11-S7E13. If we take the dual-credit episodes to indicate Hamilton revised, and the solo-credit to be brand-new, that means 7 episodes got reworked to some notable degree. 

With three directors, and allowing only 3 weeks (assuming some amount of reuse of first version), the redux S7 episodes could’ve been completed in roughly 3 months. That would put S7 in the can around June, when Hamilton was officially promoted. 

july 2018Rie Koga leaves team for Disney

note: the remaining two directors are still on the team, as is one staff writer and the story editor. Either the EPs have joined in the directing effort, all seasons are done, or the remaining work can be completed by two directors.  

As another anon said: 

So I am thinking back to the broken connection interview, and how LM asked JDS if they should answer. Almost in a we-realized-to-late-the-story-we-wanted-was-not-the-story-the-fans-wanted-and-now-we-are-stuck sorta way. If I was them, I would have come up with a different headcanon, or choose not to answer, or at least have the series finale rewritten or something.

If my guesses are anywhere right on the timeline, then sure, it’s possible. If they jumped on Keith’s absence as the reason S4 did so badly (and S5 did even worse), there’s probably been a lot of scrambling behind the scenes in the past few months. 

S6′s release could not have been a happy day, with the numbers spiking dramatically at Shiro’s return. That could be why they’ve spent so much time doing their best to push the narrative that Shiro is only a burden and should be gone from the story – because that’s where they’re headed, and if they can head fans off at the pass, perhaps the backlash wouldn’t be as bad.  

aug 2018>>> S7 released

….and cue backlash.

oh, and thanks to @bbtree for the tip: looks like production continues in some manner. That might be why we hadn’t gotten the exact release date for S8 yet, because work’s still being done. 

[mustlovelance]

i wanted to make a separate, more thorough post about it because my mind is still reeling.

back in july 2017, i was worried about shiro’s disappearance at the end of s2, so i tried to find interviews about it. 

what i found was this (19:10 from the 2017 NYCC panel, after they referenced sven’s “death” and allura’s role as blue paladin in the original series): 

fan: they’re at war, and i mean, you guys worked on avatar. so in that type of path, i think things aren’t going to go smoothly, and i’m just wondering if it’s going to be the same type of liberty as was in other series where we might see some change-ups in the line-up. 

tim hedrick: well, i for one was getting tired of working on series where everything was going bad for our characters, and i wanna do one where people are happy all the time. so, that’s what i’m promising in the future [is] smooooth sailing!

JDS: i think, that being said though, we had worked on those past shows that had very dramatic stakes, so expect that to carry through, along with the very happy episodes. 

from tim hedrick’s bio: Tim Hedrick was the lead writer as well as a story editor and voice director for Voltron: Legendary Defender. He had done previous work as a writer for animated series such as Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. Finishing his work on Voltron, Hedrick became one of the executive producers and showrunners on the Netflix Fast & Furious series along with Mitch Iverson as a writer, leaving Joshua Hamilton as Voltron's sole lead writer and story editor.  

he left halfway through season 7, while other crucial members of the creative team (including steven ahn and chris palmer, the main episode directors up until that point) left after season 6. the episodes that he wrote and was given main credit for include:

season 1 (5/11 episodes): 1x01 (rise of voltron), 1x02 (some assembly required), 1x04 (fall of the castle of lions), 1x06 (taking flight), 1x10 (collection and extraction)

writers for the entire season: tim hedrick, joshua hamilton, may chan

season 2 (3/13 episodes): 2x03 (shiro’s escape), 2x07 (space mall, another fave), 2x13 (blackout)

writers for the entire season: may chan, joshua hamilton, tim hedrick, lars kenseth (new), mark bemesderfer (new)

season 3 (3/7 episodes): 3x01 (changing of the guard), 3x04 (hole in the sky), 3x07 (the legend begins)

writers for the entire season: tim hedrick, may chan (last episode is 3x02), joshua hamilton, mitch iverson (new for main credit) 

season 4 (2/6 episodes): 4x03 (black site), 4x06 (a new defender) 

writers for the entire season: joshua hamilton, mitch iverson, tim hedrick, rocco pucillo (new)

season 5 (1/6 episodes): 5x06 (white lion)

writers for the entire season: eugene son (new), joshua hamilton, todd ludy (new), mitch iverson, mark bemesderfer, tim hedrick

season 6 (1/7 episodes): 6x07 (defender of all universes) 

writers for the entire season: mitch iverson, joshua hamilton, mark bemesfelder, JDS, tim hedrick

season 7 (2/13 episodes): 7x04 (the feud), 7x06 (the journey within) 

writers for the entire season: eugene lee (also director), joshua hamilton, mark bemesfelder, tim hedrick, mitch iverson, rocco pucillo

season 8 (0/13 episodes):

writers for the entire season: LM, JDS, mitch iverson, erik bogh (new), joshua hamilton, rocco pucillo

an awkward interview with LM and JDS featured them teasing him about not leaving sooner. (if anyone has the link, pls share! i can’t seem to find it anywhere.)

so, what do i make of all of this? 

tim hedrick promised us that it’d be “smooth sailing” because that’s what he intended. a lot of his episodes are the more light-hearted ones that were earlier in the series. season 8 featured things like body horror in the form of melting someone to death, major character death at the last minute, mass genocide, etc.

it’s a shame that he couldn’t fulfill his promise, but i don’t blame him. i’m guessing he left in part because he didn’t want to be associated with that kind of grimdark edgy writing (and, y’know, since he was offered a showrunner position elsewhere).

[coleinyourstockings]

JOMPBPC/BFTChallenge- September 30: Read in September/September Wrap-Up

Whelp- completed some books I didn’t plan on and didn’t get around to finishing/starting some I planned on.  That’s how it goes, I guess.   ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Still, had a great month and made some progress!

Books Read:

Sasuke’s Story: Sunrise by Shin Towada; Original Story by Masashi Kishimoto

Naruto vol. 2 by  Masashi Kishimoto

Gangsta Vol. 1 by Kohske

The You I’ve Never Known by Ellen Hopkins

The Sleeper and the Spindle by Neil Gaiman & Chris Riddell

My Hero Academia Vol. 1 by Kohei Horikoshi 

Shiro’s Story by Cala Spinner & Patrick Spaziante (I was checking out anything Voltron-related at the Library, so I didn’t realize this was a little kid’s book until I picked it up lol.  But, hey, one is never too old for a kid’s book.  ;)  Also, I like looking at the art.)

Rock Salt Stone by Rosamond S. King

The Blade of Marmora by Cala Spinner & Patrick Spaziante 

Space Mall by Natalie Shaw  

My Hero Academia Vol. 2 by Kohei Horikoshi 

My Hero Academia Vol. 3 by Kohei Horikoshi 

Voltron: Legendary Defender, Vol. 1 by Tim Hedrick, Mitch Iverson, & Digital Art Chefs

My Hero Academia Vol. 4 by Kohei Horikoshi

My Hero Academia Vol. 5 by Kohei Horikoshi 

Voltron: Legendary Defender, Vol. 2: Pilgrimage by  Tim Hedrick, Mitch Iverson, Jung Gwan Yoo, Rubine, Jin-in Choi, Puste, & Benito Lobel.

Outcast, Vol. 6: Invasion by Robert Kirkman & Paul Azaceta

[daily-snitch]

The Daily Snitch – Friday, September 7, 2018

Joanne K. Rowling – Life and Books: • J.K. Rowling updates her official site with news on Fantastic Beasts 3 screenplay, writing Strike and more. • The Hogwarts Professor wrote Two Weeks ’til Lethal White Publication: How Is Rowling’s Latest Novel Selling?. • New 'Beedle the Bard' illustrator Chris Riddell to appear at the Shakespeare Globe. (October 2, when the new edition is released) Harry Potter – Actors and Movies: • Tom Felton (Draco Malfoy) and Natalia Tena (Tonks) on New York ComicCon Panel about new sci-fi series Origins. • Katie Leung (Cho Chang) speaks out on Asian representation in media. • Emma Watson (Hermione Granger) and Our Shared Shelf author Rupi Kaur talk poetry, process and permission to use the 'F' word. • "Sorcerer's Stone" robe worn by Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter), which was owned by Robin Williams, to be auctioned at Sotheby's. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child: • 100,000 tickets for Broadway production of HP and the Cursed Child will release September 27 for performances through June 9, 2019. Communities: The following fests are currently posting: hp_drizzle, hp_podfic_fest, pod_together (all fandoms) • hoggywartyxmas (aka Mad-Eye Moody) announced the this year's Twelve Days of Hogwarts Christmas Party timeline. • smutty_claus: Sign-ups end today!!!! • hd_fan_fair welcomes the new Harry/Draco Fan Fair mod sassy_cissa! • hd_owlpost apologised for delay and announced that assignments are being sent out soon. (tonight!) Masterlists and Weekly Round-ups: • rarepair_shorts posted the Final Masterlist of the Summer Wishlist Event. • bbtp_challenge posted the 2018 Bring Back the Porn Challenge Masterlist. (all fandoms, 7 Harry Potter entries) Editor's Choice Rec: • [podfic] Dragon Heartstrings by JET_Playin, read by timothysboxers (Harry/Draco | NC-17 | 2:33:15 hours) Summary: Draco has seen the strings for almost as long as he can remember, but they don't mean anything. Anything at all... Fandom Recs: • melodyssister recced a Harry Potter, Minerva McGonagall, Severus Snape gen fic (G; WIP). Discussions: • Emily Hedrick wrote Why I believe the Harry Potter books are America's greatest reads. (MuggleNet) Essay/Meta: • Gavia Baker-Whitelaw (@hellotailor) wrote Is Butterbeer Alcoholic? (The Daily Dot) • Quantum Harry wrote the Essay: Quidditch Interruptus. • The Hogwarts Professor wrote Box 2703: a pointer to alchemy in 'Crime of Grindelwald' plot? General Fandom News: • New York Comic Con Panel: Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. (October 4) • pod_together has started posting: Day 1 Reveal | Day 2 Reveal. (all fandoms) • LEGO Harry Potter Collection coming to Nintendo Switch and XBox One. • Wizarding Wednesday Giveaway returns ahead of the release of FB: The Crimes of Grindelwald. (UK residents only) • Harry Potter Hogwarts Mystery game launches Year 5 debuts – new characters, classes and adventures. Searches: • bottom_draco posted a search for fic with Harry as a cliché anime pervert. (Drarry only, bottom!Draco only) Please send your fandom news to the Daily Snitch. Our tumblr hashtag is # dailysnitch. We check the hashtag for each edition; please tag tumblr posts you want us to see and/or include in the Daily Snitch.

[aion-rsa]

How Fast and Furious Went Full Mad Max

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J

The Fast & Furious films love their over the top action. In the trailer for F9 alone we’ve got a “magnet plane” catching a car, a Jeep driving along a collapsing bridge, a car somehow catching a steel cable and using it launch itself across a gorge, and a car with a rocket engine strapped to it.

Spy Racers, the animated spin-off to Fast & Furious, is no exception to this. The show has often delved into its own over-the-top action and in the show’s third season, available now on Netflix, the show takes this action to another level. In in the fourth episode, ‘The Hunt’ the entire story is just one long action filled car chase. Not only that, it’s an action scene that’s a clear Mad Max send up.

The team is on the trail of the big bad of the season, Cleve, but are stuck crossing a huge desert with a caravan of henchmen on their trail. Throughout the episode they have to follow a series of water explosions without losing any speed in their buggies all while trying to not get killed by sand boarders, people with electric batons, grenades, and a guy with a robo arm that shoots lasers. 

The Mad Max: Fury Road influence is obvious and the episode proudly wears that on its sleeve, the whole adventure having a delightfully manic energy. However, crafting an entire episode that’s just an extended action sequence isn’t easy. Executive producer Tim Hedrick explains that the first problem they had to overcome was simply the location of the season, the Sahara Desert. They worried that with the limited number of sets they were given (and the fact the whole season is set in the desert) it’d look the Spy Racers team were driving past the same dune every day. “It’s going to be like Yogi Bear just going past the same door,” Hedrick remembers worrying. Solving that problem fell to CG supervisor Chris Browne and Hedrick praises his technique of getting around it. “He built this 3D world that really made it possible for us to make it like we’re in the Sahara Desert. He did a fantastic job.”

The next problem to overcome was that manic energy alone couldn’t carry an episode that’s all action. They had to make sure it was clear what the Spy Racers team was trying to achieve the whole story or otherwise it’d turn into a mess.

“The team (has to say things) like, “we have to follow the water trail” and then every so often you check back in what with that and it’s like, “it’s over there. We have to go through them” (or) “it’s over there, we have to go around them!” Otherwise it just devolves into a bunch of people driving around in the desert with no point.” Once they had that clear objective in place the team behind the scenes could go wild “You can just spend days and days coming up with bits,” Hedrick lays out, “like, “oh, what if he jumps off and does this sand surfing,” or, “What if Rafaela hits the car and it tumbles over and takes out her own guys?” I mean, it’s just coming up with gags like that. That’s really fun.”

cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "106e33c0-3911-473c-b599-b1426db57530", }).render("0270c398a82f44f49c23c16122516796"); });

‘The Hunt’ is easily Fast & Furious Spy Racers’ most ambitious episode yet and pulls off its tough mission remarkably. The teams solutions to the problems they faced, make everything clear and visually interesting, sounds simple. It’s that kind of ground work however that helped them craft an episode long action scene that easily stands up to some of the best action sequences in the films. And that’s saying something when in The Fate of the Furious The Rock catches a missile.

Fast & Furious Spy Racers: Sahara is now available to watch on Netflix.

The post How Fast and Furious Went Full Mad Max appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/2WP3tp6

[techcrunchappcom]

New Post has been published on https://techcrunchapp.com/what-are-the-latest-updates-on-ski-team-usa-this-month/

What are the latest updates on Ski Team USA this month

The U.S. Free-form Ski Team comprises of aerials and magnates skiers, and each control is on snow in Scandinavia preparing for their FIS World Cup openers, booked for Dec. 4-five in Ruka, Finland. This season will seem unmistakable from what each individual is utilized to, so competitors and a gathering of laborers are focused on what they can oversee and what’s correct now at the timetable.

Accomplishments of freestyle team Daily news sports updates is that The Freestyle Team had accomplishment last season with thirteen World Cup platform, and our competitors are chosen to develop off of that, expressed U.S. Ski and Snowboard Freestyle Director Jeremy Forster. Regardless of a sudden stop to the 2019-20 seasons and a troublesome spring, those gatherings have kept up a great standpoint and for all intents and purposes took gain of the instruction to be needed to them this midyear.” Athletes named to the aerials team envelop Megan Nick, who finished the season positioned fourth inside side the worldwide after livelihoods second area World Cup results; 2017 worldwide victor and 3-time Olympian Ashley Caldwell, who finished last season beat U.S. countrywide hero; and Winter Vinecki, who finished the last season positioned 10th inside side the worldwide. Madison Vermette will commence her fifth season with the team.

As indicated by the everyday news sports refreshes, Megan Smallhouse and Kaila Kuhn will each return for or her second season and recently named tenderfoot part Dani Loeb appears to be ahead to her first prepare as a U.S. Ski Team part — and the essential ever from the realm of Alabama. Chris Lillis, the highest level American person in the sixth locale, returns for his seventh season with the team. He procured platform last season, which remembers a success for Kazakhstan.

According to current sports trends he is joined through method of methods for Justin Schoenefeld, who finished the American dry spell on aerials wins a last season and changed into positioned 10th inside side the worldwide. Eric Loughran, 2020 U.S. countrywide boss, is again for his sixth season, and Quinn Dehlinger returns for his second season. The group at the rear of this team returns for what will be their second season together. Aerials Head Coach Vladimir “Vlad” Lebedev is joined through method of methods for World Cup mentors Eric Bergoust and J.C. Andre, Athletic Development Coach Houston Deck, and real specialist Peter Toohey. Competitors named to the magnate’s group incorporate what the U.S. Ski Team claims are the deepest subject of lady tycoon snowboarding abilities inside side the worldwide alluded to as the #PowHERHouse, which is among the current games patterns.

Latest updates on the performing athletes

Daily news sports trends says 2018 Olympian Jaelin Kauf drives the gathering, joined through method of means by Hannah Soar, who had a breakout last season, and 2018 Olympian Tess Johnson. The women are stirred to have Avital Carroll again from hurt for her 1/3 season. Olivia Giaccio returns for her fifth season. Kai Owens returns for her second season, as does Sabrina Cass. New people and sisters Madison and Kasey Hogg keep awake for their first season with the team. Morgan Schild, Nessa Dziemian, and Kenzie Radway are totally named to the current year’s list also.

On the men’s side,time Olympian Brad Wilson returns for his 10th season. He is joined through method of methods for Jesse Andringa, who’s again from hurt; Alex Lewis and Nick Page, who each return for their second seasons; and new part Landon Wendler. The day by day news sports patterns delivered that this season marks Joel Hedrick’s sixth with the team. Casey Andringa is referred to as this season too, despite the fact that will now not, at this point be contending a result of mischief. Tycoons Head Coach Matt Gnoza drives the knock gathering and is joined through method of means by World Cup mentors Riley Campbell and Joe Discoe, Athletic Development Coach Josh Bullock, and substantial advisor Chuck Williams.

[xtruss]

U.S. Politics | Reuters Investigates

Why Republican Voters Say There’s ‘No Way in Hell’ Trump Lost

— By Brad Brooks, Nathan Layne, Tim Reid | Reuters | November 20, 2020

SUNDOWN, Texas (Reuters) — Brett Fryar is a middle-class Republican. A 50-year-old chiropractor in this west Texas town, he owns a small business. He has two undergraduate degrees and a master’s degree, in organic chemistry. He attends Southcrest Baptist Church in nearby Lubbock.

The U.S. Capitol building is visible as thousands of people participate in rallies in support of U.S. President Trump in Washington, U.S., November 14, 2020. Reuters/Leah Millis/File Photo

Fryar didn’t much like Donald Trump at first, during the U.S. president’s 2016 campaign. He voted for Texas Senator Ted Cruz in the Republican primaries.

Now, Fryar says he would go to war for Trump. He has joined the newly formed South Plains Patriots, a group of a few hundred members that includes a “reactionary” force of about three dozen - including Fryar and his son, Caleb - who conduct firearms training.

Nothing will convince Fryar and many others here in Sundown - including the town’s mayor, another Patriots member - that Democrat Joe Biden won the Nov. 3 presidential election fairly. They believe Trump’s stream of election-fraud allegations and say they’re preparing for the possibility of a “civil war” with the American political left.

“If President Trump comes out and says: ‘Guys, I have irrefutable proof of fraud, the courts won’t listen, and I’m now calling on Americans to take up arms,’ we would go,” said Fryar, wearing a button-down shirt, pressed slacks and a paisley tie during a recent interview at his office.

The unshakable trust in Trump in this town of about 1,400 residents reflects a national phenomenon among many Republicans, despite the absence of evidence in a barrage of post-election lawsuits by the president and his allies. About half of Republicans polled by Reuters/Ipsos said Trump “rightfully won” the election but had it stolen from him in systemic fraud favoring Biden, according to a survey conducted between Nov. 13 and 17. Just 29% of Republicans said Biden rightfully won. Other polls since the election have reported that an even higher proportion - up to 80% - of Republicans trust Trump’s baseless fraud narrative.

Trump’s legal onslaught has so far flopped, with judges quickly dismissing many cases and his lawyers dropping or withdrawing from others. None of the cases contain allegations - much less evidence - that are likely to invalidate enough votes to overturn the election, election experts say.

And yet the election-theft claims are proving politically potent. All but a handful of Republican lawmakers have backed Trump’s fraud claims or stayed silent, effectively freezing the transition of power as the president refuses to concede. Trump has succeeded in sowing further public distrust in the media, which typically calls elections, and undermined citizens’ faith in the state and local election officials who underpin American democracy.

In Reuters interviews with 50 Trump voters, all said they believed the election was rigged or in some way illegitimate. Of those, 20 said they would consider accepting Biden as their president, but only in light of proof that the election was conducted fairly. Most repeated debunked conspiracy theories espoused by Trump, Republican officials and conservative media claiming that millions of votes were dishonestly switched to Biden in key states by biased poll workers and hacked voting machines.

Many voters interviewed by Reuters said they formed their opinions by watching emergent right-wing media outlets such as Newsmax and One American News Network that have amplified Trump’s fraud claims. Some have boycotted Fox News out of anger that the network called Biden the election winner and that some of its news anchors - in contrast to its opinion show stars - have been skeptical of Trump’s fraud allegations.

“I just sent Fox News an email,” Fryar said, telling the network: “You’re the only news I’ve watched for the last six years, but I will not watch you anymore.”

The widespread rejection of the election result among Republicans reflects a new and dangerous dynamic in American politics: the normalization of false and increasingly extreme conspiracy theories among tens of millions of mainstream voters, according to government scholars, analysts and some lawmakers on both sides of the political divide. The trend has deeply troubling long-term implications for American political and civic institutions, said Paul Light, a veteran political scientist at New York University (NYU).

“This is dystopian,” Light said. “America could fracture.”

Adam Kinzinger, a Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives, is among the few party members to publicly recognize Biden’s victory. He called his Republican colleagues’ reluctance to reject Trump’s conspiracies a failure of political courage that threatens to undermine American democracy for years. If citizens lose faith in election integrity, that could lead to “really bad things,” including violence and social unrest, he said in an interview.

David Gergen - an adviser to four previous U.S. presidents, two Democrats and two Republicans - said Trump is trying to “kneecap” the Biden administration before it takes power, noting this is the first time a sitting American president has tried to overthrow an election result.

It may not be the last time. Many Republicans see attacks on election integrity as a winning issue for future campaigns - including the next presidential race, according to one Republican operative close to the Trump campaign. The party, the person said, is setting up a push for “far more stringent oversight on voting procedures in 2024,” when the party’s nominee will likely be Trump or his anointed successor.

Brett Fryar poses outside of his office in Sundown, Texas, U.S., November 12, 2020. Reuters/Brad Brooks

Other Republicans urged patience and faith in the government. Charlie Black, a veteran Republican strategist, does not believe Republican lawmakers will continue backing Trump’s fraud claims after Biden is inaugurated. They will need White House cooperation on basic government functions, such as appropriations and defense bills, he said.

“People will come to see we still have a functioning government,” Black said, and Republicans will become “resigned to Biden, and see it’s not the end of the world.”

The Biden campaign declined to comment for this story. Boris Epshteyn, a strategic advisor to the Trump campaign, said: “The President and his campaign are confident that when every legal vote is counted, and every illegal vote is not, it will be determined that President Trump has won re-election to a second term.”

‘THERE’S JUST NO WAY’

Media outlets declared Biden the election winner on Nov. 7. As calls were finalized in battleground states, Biden’s lead in the Electoral College that decides the presidency widened to 306 to 232. (For a graphic explaining the electoral college, see: tmsnrt.rs/38VTUvK )

Many Republican voters scoff at those results, convinced Trump was cheated. Raymond Fontaine, a hardware store owner in Oakville, Connecticut, said Biden’s vote total - the highest of any presidential candidate in history - makes no sense because the 78-year-old Democrat made relatively few campaign appearances and seemed to be in mental decline.

“You are going to tell me 77 million Americans voted for him? There is just no way,” said Fontaine, 50.

The latest popular vote total for Biden has grown to about 79 million, compared to some 73 million for Trump.

Like many Trump supporters interviewed by Reuters, Fontaine was deeply suspicious of computerized voting machines. Trump and his allies have alleged, without producing evidence, a grand conspiracy to manipulate votes through the software used in many battleground states.

In Grant County, West Virginia - a mountainous region where more than 88% of voters backed the president - trust in Trump runs deep. Janet Hedrick, co-owner of the Smoke Hole Caverns log cabin resort in the small town of Cabins, said she would never accept Biden as a legitimate president.

“There’s millions and millions of Trump votes that were just thrown out,” said Hedrick, 70, a retired teacher and librarian. “That computer was throwing them out.”

At the Sunset Restaurant in Moorefield, West Virginia - a diner featuring omelettes, hotcakes and waitresses who remember your order - a mention of the election sparked a spirited discussion at one table. Gene See, a retired highway construction inspector, and Bob Hyson, a semi-retired insurance sales manager, said Trump had been cheated, that Biden had dementia and that Democrats planned all along to quickly replace Biden with his more liberal running mate for vice president, Kamala Harris.

“I think if they ever get to the bottom of it, they will find massive fraud,” said another of the diners, Larry Kessel, a 67-year-old farmer.

Kessel’s wife, Jane, patted him on the arm, trying to calm him, as he grew agitated while railing against anti-Trump media bias.

Trump’s rage against the media has lately included rants against Fox News. He has pushed his supporters towards more right-wing outlets such as Newsmax and One America News Network, which have championed the president’s fraud claims.

Rory Wells, 51, a New Jersey lawyer who attended a pro-Trump “stop the steal” election protest in Trenton last week, said he now watches Newsmax because Fox isn’t sufficiently conservative.

“I like that I get to hear from Rudy Giuliani and others who are not immediately discounted as being crazy,” he said of Trump’s lead election lawyer.

Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy said the network’s viewership has exploded since the election, with nearly 3 million viewers nightly via cable television and streaming video devices.

Ruddy said Newsmax isn’t saying that Biden stole the election - but they’re also not calling him the winner given that Trump has valid legal claims. “The same media who said Biden would win in a landslide now want to not have recounts,” he said in a phone interview.

Charles Herring, president of One America News Network, said in a statement that his network has seen three weeks of record ratings, as “frustrated Fox News viewers” have tuned in.

‘NO WAY IN HELL’

Some Trump supporters said they would accept Biden as the winner if that is the final, official result. Janel Henritz, 36, echoed some others in saying that she believed the election included fraud, but perhaps not enough to change the outcome. Henritz, who works alongside her mother Janet Hedrick at their log cabin resort in West Virginia, said she would accept the outcome if Biden remains the winner after recounts and court challenges.

“Then he won fair and square,” she said.

In Sundown, Texas, Mayor Jonathan Strickland said there’s “no way in hell” Biden won fairly. The only way he’ll believe it, he said, is if Trump himself says so.

“Trump is the only one we’ve been able to trust for the last four years,” said Strickland, an oilfield production engineer. “As far as the civil war goes, I don’t think it’s off the table.”

If it comes to a fight, Caleb Fryar is ready. But the 26-year-old son of Brett Fryar, the chiropractor, said he hoped Trump’s fraud allegations would instead spark a massive mobilization of Republican voters in future elections.

Asked whether Trump might be duping his followers, he said it’s hard to fathom.

“If I’m being manipulated by Trump ... then he is the greatest con man that ever lived in America,” Caleb Fryar said. “I think he’s the greatest patriot that ever lived.”

(This story corrects to delete reference in first paragraph to Brett Fryar teaching Sunday school and bible studies at Southcrest Baptist Church. He taught those classes at another church.)

— Reporting by Brad Brooks in Texas, Nathan Layne in West Virginia and Tim Reid in California; editing by Brian Thevenot

[bandara2222]

Fast & Furious Spy Racers is an American animated web television series that premiered on Netflix in December 26, 2019, based on the film series of the same name by Gary Scott Thompson. The series is produced executively by Tim Hedrick, Bret Haaland, Vin Diesel, Neal Moritz, and Chris Morgan. Hedrick and Haaland also serve as the show's showrunners. Fast & Furious Spy Racers, Animation, Tv Series, Netflix, Season 01,