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Writer: Daniel Warren Johnson / Artist: Daniel Warren Johnson / Marvel Comics

If you’re here, you’re clearly about that Beta Ray Bill life. Before we begin, I need everyone to come to terms with all the emotions involved in stanning for the backup Quarterback. There will be strife. There will be hype. There will be suffering. But we all must hope, that in the end, Beta Ray Bill will have a chance to show exactly how worthy he is again.

Donny Cates has been doing the Lawds work on Thor for the last year and made quite a statement in the 5th issue where Thor served up Beta Ray Bill the beatdown of a lifetime (that makes this look like a slap on the wrist). Despite the loss, it really showcased the power he was capable of (with Stormbreaker) and shined a radiant light on the proud, honorable side of Beta Ray Bill. If only he got his own comic book, many thought!

Allow Me to Reintroduce Myself!

I didn’t have too many expectations going into Beta Ray Bill #1, but I loved the idea of Bill being Asgard’s “Master of War” and having to lead these people when it mattered most. Brought me back to the good ol’ Game of Thrones days of Grey Worm beating down slavers and freeing peoples all throughout Essos. Alas, Grey Worm and Bill are different people with different enemies and prep styles.

Deep inside Skuttlebutt, a fire burns inside Beta Ray Bill. The chants of “Rufio! Rufio! Rufio!” on the tube couldn’t take his mind off the loss of Stormbreaker and all the ramifications that come from its destruction. Unable to steal more time to dwell on shattered weapons, Asgard’s Master of War readies his men like Leonidas preparing his brave 300. Fin Fang Foom is knocking on Yggdrasil’s door and aint pullin his punches for anyone!

Bill Plans, Gods Laugh

The action in this book was graphic, gory and compelling. Foom make look a little doofy, but he’s got the bite to back up his bark. I didn’t mind Bill and Sif’s budding courtship in Thor, and then this book came along and managed to throw an inescapable wrench into the plans. Add it to the list.

Let’s get on thing straight; props to Daniel Warren Johnson for doing the writing and drawing on Beta Ray Bill #1, but there is certainly some room to grow. I don’t love the artwork, but there are plenty of dope, gritty panels to keep your eyes entertained. Oh, and horse face jokes? Please dial it down a few notches.

By the end of this first issue, Beta Ray Bill is knocked down, overshadowed, and emasculated in more ways than Marvel should allow in any one issue. On the bright side, it makes for one hell of a compelling comeback story.

7 Owed Drinks Out of 10

Reading Thor? Check out BNP’s other reviews here.

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Dominic, Jamal, Keith,  Britney are back to share their thoughts on the latest episode of Disney+’s The Falcon and The Winter Soldier, commiserate over Warner’s decision to cancel Ava DuVernay’s New Gods, and marvel over the boffo box office of Godzilla vs. Kong. https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/thenerdsofcolor/HNL210.mp3 All this and more on Hard NOC Life! Watch it on […]

Source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram / Getty

Crystal Mason, the Texas woman who was sentenced to five years in prison for voting as a convicted felon in the 2016 election, will behaving her case reviewed by the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the New York Times reported. If this review doesn’t work out in Mason’s favor she will be sent to prison and will have to appeal again on a federal level.

“This is very overwhelming, waking up every day knowing that prison is on the line, trying to maintain a smile on your face in front of your kids and you don’t know the outcome,” Mason told the Times about her situation. “Your future is in someone else’s hands because of a simple error.”

When she went to vote in the 2016 election, her name didn’t appear in the voting rolls at the Tarrant County polling location. Mason then innocently filled out a provisional ballot. Mason was on supervised release at the time after serving five years for tax fraud and wasn’t aware that she couldn’t vote. This led to her being charged and convicted of illegal voting, a second degree felony, in 2018. According to FOX 4, she was convicted based on an affidavit that she signed the day she casted her vote, which wasn’t counted. The affidavit stated that “if a felon, I have completed all my punishment including any term of incarceration, parole, supervision, period of probation, or I have been pardoned.” Mason, who said she didn’t read that part of the document, was on probation at the time.

“Crystal never wanted to be a voting rights advocate,” one of Mason’s lawyers Alison Grinter told the Times. “She didn’t want to be a political football here. She just wanted to be a mom and a grandmother and put her life on track, but she’s really taken it and run with it, and she refuses to be intimidated.”

Mason requested a new trial in 2018 but her request was denied by the same judge who sentenced her, Judge Ruben Gonzalez. Mason has been able to remain free on bond due to her pending appeal.

It’s a big year for fans of Japanese fantasy/action TV. Not only is 2021 the 55th anniversary of the Ultra series, it’s the 50th anniversary of Kamen Rider. While both shows started making their way to North American audiences in a big way over the past 18 months, Ultraman has had the bigger deluge of content. But that’s about to change! During a special Kamen Rider 50th anniversary panel, Shout! Factory’s tokusatsu arm, TokuSHOUTsu, announced that two more Rider series will make their way to streaming this year. And one of them will even get a physical media release.

The news comes about a year after TokuSHOUTsu debuted the original 1971 Kamen Rider series, and later the 2000 reboot Kamen Rider Kuuga, on Shout Factory TV and its various channels on streaming. Now joining those is the 2002-2003 series Kamen Rider Ryuki and the 2019-2020 series Kamen Rider Zero-One. Shout! also announced exclusive physical media rights to Zero-One. This will make it the first KR series to receive an official Blu-ray release in North America. It’ll also only be the second series to come to official North American physical media of any sort; in 2001, there was an official DVD release of the 1973 series Kamen Rider V3. Good series, but quite a random one-off.

Shout! Factory/Toei Company

“We’ve seen a tremendous reaction to the Kamen Rider shows on Shout! Factory TV, so we’re delighted to partner with Toei to build the North American fanbase. And with Zero-One, we’ll now have the premiere series for each of the three eras of the franchise,” said Shout’s Jordan Fields. Indeed, this will mean the first Showa, Heisei, and Reiwa series will now be available to view in the U.S.

“I am so happy to hear that Zero-One will be on Shout! Factory TV,” said Takahito Omori, producer of Kamen Rider Zero-One. “Zero-One is the reflection of our future, of conflicts between humans and artificial intelligence, and a story not only about Kamen Rider, but about human beings. I hope fans enjoy watching the show and thinking about technology and ourselves.”

Shout! Factory / Toei Company

Ryuki is an interesting but exciting addition to the streaming service. The third Heisei-era season, it focused on the idea of 13 Riders being forced to battle until only one survived. Our hero is new to this world but becomes the titular Ryuki in line with his destiny. This series was eventually adapted into the surprisingly faithful American series, Masked Rider Dragon Knight in 2009.

No word on exactly when the series will join Shout Factory TV, nor when the Zero-One Blu-ray should come out, but it’s truly an exciting time for North American fans of Kamen Rider. In addition to TokuSHOUTsu’s two full series, the Toei Company, the studio that produces Kamen Rider, has been celebrating the 50th anniversary with weekly uploads of the first two episodes of each of the series. To date they’ve posted episodes from nine of the 31 seasons and three movies.

Read the official synopses of Ryuki and Zero-One below.

KAMEN RIDER ZERO-ONE SYNOPSIS

HUMAGEAR (humanoid Robots), created by HIDEN INTELIGENCE, the leading company for AI, serves for humanity’s convenient life.

A cyber-terrorist called Metsu-bou-jin-rai Net has secretly had a conspiracy for their final purpose, ‘human extinction’, although the human society aims for the coexistence between human and HUMAGEAR.

Aruto Hiden has taken over a CEO’s post at HIDEN INTELIGENCE, because his grandfather, Korenosuke Hiden, suddenly passed away, and along with the CEO’s post, he also takes over the responsibility for Kamen Rider Zero-One by using his company’s technology.

Aruto tries to keep the peaceful world between human and HUMAGEAR with Izu, his HUMAGEAR secretary, while A.I.M.S., a military squad against HUMAGEAR, chases the terrorist.

 

KAMEN RIDER RYUKI SYNOPSIS

“Mirror World” exists symmetrically beyond an invisible mirror in space, and an exact copy of our human world, where only monsters can dwell. Evil monsters frequently cross the mirror and attack our world.

Only Kamen Riders who make a contract with a specific monster and obtain special power from the monster can enter “Mirror World” and fight against evil monsters with the help of “Advent Card.”

Shinji Kido, a journalist, contacts with Dragon, and becomes Kamen Rider Ryuki. He fights a fierce battle with evil monsters.

Many Kamen Riders appear one after another, and fight to satisfy their own aims. However, only one Kamen Rider can outlive others. Thus, it is their fate to keep fighting to the last man.

Kyle Anderson is the Senior Editor for Nerdist. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!

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