Hello everyone,
Who doesn’t love the anticipation of new releases and things that they plan on doing? Every month there seems to be something new and exciting ready to hit the market for our consumption.
Being ready to embrace them with open arms is all we can really do.
To showcase this, I’ll be sharing my top 3 (or up to 3) for each category of things that I look forward to this month right here, right now!
BOOK RELEASES.
There has always been a darkness to Ilmar, but never more so than now. The city chafes under the heavy hand of the Palleseen occupation, the choke-hold of its criminal underworld, the boot of its factory owners, the weight of its wretched poor and the burden of its ancient curse.
What will be the spark that lights the conflagration?
Despite the city’s refugees, wanderers, murderers, madmen, fanatics and thieves, the catalyst, as always, will be the Anchorwood – that dark grove of trees, that primeval remnant, that portal, when the moon is full, to strange and distant shores.
Ilmar, some say, is the worst place in the world and the gateway to a thousand worse places.
Ilmar,
City of Long Shadows.
City of Bad Decisions.
City of Last Chances.
My thoughts: This won’t be out as a physical copy until May 2023 but will surely get plenty to dive into in its digital format ASAP. I doubt it’ll be my next Tchaikovsky but I’m definitely intrigued that this is his return to epic and dark fantasy.
COMIC BOOK RELEASES.
A powerful psychic attack on Kitty Pryde from her old enemy Ogun brings the X-Treme team back together for a high-stakes mission…but what secret is Ogun hiding, and will even the combined might of Bishop, Sage, Gambit, Rogue, Rachel Summers, Storm, and Wolverine be enough to stop his insidious plan?
My thoughts: Legendary writer Chris Claremont returns to write more X-Men stuff? You got my attention.
Two dark heroes, cursed by tragedy, find their paths crossing again…but not by choice! What sinister foe is at work, pitting the Dark Knight against the Hellspawn? From the shadows of Gotham City to New York City, this epic event is the blockbuster you’ve been waiting almost two decades for!
My thoughts: McFarlane teams up with Capullo for a Batman vs. Spawn story? Coooount me in!
Joining the Justice League is a goal for any superhero, but what happens when a quest for membership takes a sinister turn? Join Starman, Metamorpho, and Warlord as they look to prove themselves worthy by summoning and defeating Darkseid in battle. Soon they’ll learn that calling upon a New God never ends well, and their world is headed for a crisis as a result! The journey to save the day will be a treacherous one filled with princesses, knights, and all kinds of monsters. Each person the heroes encounter plays a crucial role in this sprawling yet gripping narrative that is a little bit silly, a whole lot dark, and completely cool. Expect the unexpected with a supporting cast featuring Manhunter, Lady Cop, the Green Team, and the Creeper!
My thoughts: I’d honestly follow Tom King and Jorge Fornés anywhere, as long as they work on limited/maxi-series.
Director, screenwriter, one of the visionaries behind The Batman, and Project Power creator Mattson Tomlin teams up with iconic artist Lee Bermejo (Batman: Damned, Joker)!
Shawn Thacker is a trained assassin from the future who seeks revenge on the only other man with his affliction-each life they take forces them both to travel between vastly different past and future eras.
Spanning from 22nd century Tokyo to 1950s New Orleans to the Cretaceous Era and beyond, the two mortal rivals are locked in a battle of wills that spans millions of years, all to alter the course of history.
With each time period, artist Lee Bermejo adjusts his artististic style to pay homage to luminary comics artists and historical master painters, presented in a prestige, oversized format!
My thoughts: Another team-up that can take my money anytime. I’m especially a sucker for anything Bermejo draws. He can draw, I tell you.
TV SHOW RELEASES.
My thoughts: They might be stretching themselves thin with the Witcher franchise but I’m keeping this on my radar as I continue to work my way through the books.
MOVIE RELEASES.
My thoughts: It’s unfortunate that Will Smith’s last public disaster will stay with him for a while but his latest movie is again another contender for the Oscars and might just be worth checking out.
VIDEO GAME RELEASES.
My thoughts: This is definitely the game that I’m most intrigued about this month. Although I won’t get it on release unless critics vouch for its story-telling qualities, I do look forward to eventually picking this up.
My thoughts: The latest Need for Speed game gets a new artistic style and it gives it a nice little edge and arcade’y.
My thoughts: A must for any Final Fantasy fan, especially those waiting for FF VII Part 2. Time to go through Crisis Core once more (originally released on PSP).
PERSONAL LIFE.
Working from home has me such a hermit on weekdays that the (additional) impending snow of December is now very much anticipated too. There’s something so relaxing and comforting to watch the white layer drop on my neighbourhood… However, you bet that I’ll hate the moment I have to go out for whatever reason. But only for a split second. Cause, who needs to be grumpy all the time when life has plenty of things to remind us of the bad stuff out there in the world. 😉
I do look forward to indulging so many things, especially during the Holidays, time that will surely be used to recharge properly before 2023. As for the random country of the month, we ended up getting Gabon. A lot will probably be centered around their wildlife and the nightmare the country has been going through politically for the past years but I’m excited to inform myself a bit more about what’s up out there. Here’s to an exciting month of December! 😀
Thank you all for checking out my monthly anticipation post!
Now tell me what you’re looking forward to this month! Any new releases? Anything exciting you plan on doing?
Yours truly,
Roars and Echoes 
So, Tchaikovsky. He’s done the Dark and Scary Wood in his Shadows of the Apt series. I suspect that means he’ll do it very well here. Best of luck with it!
I hope you enjoy the comics you mention, because for almost every single one I was thinking “nope, wouldn’t touch it”, hahahahaa 😀 And Wolverine’s arm? That thing is so huge it looks deformed!
I haven’t watched the original Avatar, so I have no skin in the game for A2. Personally, it gives me pause that it has taken 20 years for a sequel, but I’m pretty pessimistic about movies anyway 🙂
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Ahhh, that does sound promising then. I’ll have to keep an eye out for reviews of it as I surely won’t get around to it anytime soon.
Hahahaha I don’t know what to tell you about those comics. It does make me wonder what exactly would ever make you want to pick them up nowadays. 😀
Yep, it’s such a huge gamble. Apparently, James Cameron needs to make an insane box office record to even make the movie profitable and greenlight the rest of his long-term project. I am very curious to see if it’ll flop or not.
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I’m still at the point where I’ll try anything by Tchaikovsky. I’ve been very happy with all I’ve read, but it’s still very little and there’s so much more to try out. Not sure what my next read of his will be.
When I saw the X-Men cover I kinda cringed even though I used to love X-Men comics. But yet another number 1, restarting a series again, and again, and again??? But then I saw you mention Chris Claremont. He wrote some of my favorite stories when I was younger and actively collecting and reading. I’d be curious to see if he’s still got the magic touch or if I’d be better off just rereading my older comics. I hope you have a great month, Lashaan!
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I’m exactly like you when it comes to Tchaikovsky. I do want to try his long fantasy bug series or his Children of Time series but I don’t know when I’ll want to squeeze those into my reading schedule for now.
Hahahaha I totally understand. I almost skimmed over this latest comic thinking it was just Marvel, at it again, trying to find a way to reboot and try again with new and different ideas for the X-Men, until I saw Chris Claremont on it! I hope it works for the better. Hope December will be good for you too, Todd! 😀
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I can identify with the working from home and enjoying the snow while safely inside…which is all well and good until we have to venture out, eh? This winter, I will have the added luxury of my “first retirement” as I like to refer to it – no work means enjoying the snow a bit more. I am intrigued by the Batman Spawn issue. That looks like it should be a blast. I’ll be making sure to see Avatar in IMAX to take in Cameron’s film the way he’d hope everyone could see it…but you may recall my saying on my site I never “got” the wild popularity of the original film, but as a film lover I’ll certainly be there when this one opens. Babylon looks like a lot of fun, but I could equally see it going off the rails. Hoping for the best with that one. Emancipation looks like it will be a rough, yet important watch. I heard Will Smith on a podcast today talking about the making of the movie. I do love that image with the snow falling on the snowman and dog at the end of the post – adorable. Sounds like a fun month to close out the year, Lashaan. Enjoy!
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Hope you make the most of your first-retirement snow! That is something I’ll surely cherish whenever I get to that point in my life. Yep, having read some Spawn, I can definitely imagine them having fun with both characters in this team-up/rivalry. I thought the same with Avatar and it’s what we plan to do on premiere night! We’ll probably also rewatch the first one in the coming days just to be sure we’re properly caught up on the world and the story! I do hope Babylon has a solid story to go with the insane cast. I’ll definitely try and watch Emancipation despite whatever social media drama Will Smith’s involvement could create. It really does look like a promising and moving tale. Hope you have a fabulous month of December too, Bruce! Take care! 😀
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Hmm, I would like to have old characters in the Witcher but I’ll see if I like this season or not. I hope you have a great month and joyful holidays.
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I do hope it’s still something good too. Have an awesome month of December, Yesha!
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How exciting that you’ve got snow to look forward to Lashaan! It’ll probably be another wet Christmas herein Jersey or maybe sunny but very unlikely to be snowy. Gabon sounds really interesting look forward to hearing all about it. Have a wonderful December! 😀
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Oh nooo, that sounds so sad as someone who has always had long and harsh winters hahah I do hope you at least get some snow, just to appreciate it a little!! Have an awesome month of December too, Nicki!
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I’m really looking forward to Batman / Spawn, love both of those characters. Been playing NFS Unbound as well, its great fun, and I really like the new art style.
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I really hope he has a good idea for Batman/Spawn though. It could either be really bad/forgettable or a lot of fun hahah Ohhhh sweet! That gives me hope. I’m thinking of trying it out at some point. Maybe when there’s a price drop on it hahah
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I have become convinced that Adrian Tchaikowsky found a magic tool that stretches days beyond the usual 24 hours, because otherwise I don’t know how he can churn up so many books in so short a time! I have the ARC for his Children of Memory (thanks to the wonderful people at Orbit) waiting for me to finish my current book, and now I learn there’s a new – and very intriguing! – novel over the horizon already…. 🙂
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Him and Brandon Sanderson really are crazy when it comes to writing. I don’t know how they do it… I hope you have a blast with Children of Memory! I still need to read the first one hahah
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I hadn’t heard of The Whale before, but wow! That (barely a) trailer hooked me. And Sadie Sink! I need to watch it😁 Have a fantastic month Lashaan!
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Glad to put it on your radar, Tammy! Hope you have an awesome month of December as well. 😀
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Oooo I didn’t know there would be a Crisis Core Reunion!! This would certainky bring back a lot if nice memories 😍 I also heard about the new Avatar and I’m quite curious to check it out too! Hope you have a lovely and snowy December!
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That’s pretty much what your sister said too hahaha I hope you get around to doing as many things as you can in December, Juliette! 😀
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I love snow, but we rarely get any where I live. Do you normally have snow around Christmas / New Year? Gabon sounds like an exotic place, hope you will enjoy learning more about it. I wonder if you can find any Gabonese food in your neighbourhood…
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Yep, snow on the 25th is almost mandatory for us, otherwise, it just feels like everyone is depressed hahah It’s actually not going to be easy to find Gabonese food but there are a couple of West-African restaurants that might have some dishes from Gabon. Otherwise, we’ll just to have to see what we can make ourselves or content ourselves with learning about the cuisine for this month hahah
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I love a white Christmas! Look forward to hear more about Gabon 🙂
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I’d love to know what you think of Avatar, to see if it’s worth seeing, because I really don’t think another one was needed.
And ditto on being a hermit. I have to remind myself to leave the apartment and go interact with folks IRL.
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I’m curious too. Cameron has such a huge ego as a director and I can see him getting way ahead of himself with this latest project. I do hope it’ll have the success he hopes it does just to see his whole idea come true.
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I already have a date planned with my son to go watch Avatar!
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Yahoo! Hope we both enjoy it when we get around to it. 😀 Remember to go to the washroom right before the movie, it’s a long one! 😛
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Oooh, definitely adding City of Last Chances to my TBR List! 😀
I hope you have a great December. I think I’m most excited this month for getting ready for the New Year. I always love a fresh start. I think it helps that my birthday is also in January, so the beginning of the year is always a new calendar year obviously, but also a new year older/wiser at the same time. 🙂 Maybe it’s just because I like making to-do lists so much and the new year is like a holiday centered around epic to-do lists. lol
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Hahaha I totally understand! It’s sort of instinctual and inevitable to see the New Year as an opportunity to start again and do things better than ever before hahah I hope December will turn out to be a fantastic month for you too! 😀
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