Listen, I’m a Godzilla guy, but slapping the King of the Monsters onto a random shirt and charging collector prices isn’t exactly a fashion revolution. That’s why the TIDES collaboration from TOHO International and Subtitle caught my eye. Somebody actually thought about the clothes.

Designer Liang Shi went with Japanese workwear, denim and the visual language of Godzilla’s atomic power instead of relying entirely on giant logos. The collection uses laser-treated imagery and details that reward a closer look. That’s the difference between wearing a piece inspired by something you love and walking around looking like a merchandise table.

Now, the prices are definitely in the premium lane. We’re talking $199 denim jackets, including a blue design featuring Matt Frank artwork, plus a $165 overshirt. Nobody should pretend this is bargain-bin gear. But I can at least appreciate a collaboration that tries to justify the price with design decisions rather than simply betting on fandom.

And the tiny Godzilla embroidered at 1:1954 scale on a hat? That’s the kind of nerdy detail I can respect. Somebody understood the assignment. The eight-piece collection debuted November 12, 2026, with details through Godzilla.com and Subtitle.

Would I buy every piece? Hell no. But I like seeing licensed fashion make an effort. Let the monsters stomp, just make sure the fit is right.

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WEPAAAA! Fam, Garth Ennis and John McCrea just took one of the slowest creatures on the planet and turned it into the kind of nightmare that makes you inspect your backyard with a damn flashlight. The Snail comes rolling through Image Comics’ Ninth Circle line with its tongue planted firmly in its cheek and something considerably nastier planted in somebody’s face. This is gross-out horror with a mean streak, an appetite for absurdity, and enough bodily fluids to make the cleanup crew demand hazard pay. Brooklyn taught me plenty, mi gente, but nobody warned me about THIS.

The opening throws us into a grimy confrontation and establishes the rules quickly: this creature isn’t some cute garden visitor, and its relationship with humanity is decidedly one-sided. Ennis knows how to get a reaction without spending six pages explaining the joke. The violence lands hard, the dialogue has that trademark foul-mouthed snap, and the book keeps moving. Then it widens its scope beyond one unfortunate encounter, bringing in the sort of ambitious, self-interested people who always think they can manage something monstrous. Fam, that’s usually when the bill comes due.

There’s a wonderfully nasty contrast between the snail’s biological simplicity and the complicated nonsense people build around it. Characters talk, scheme, posture, and try to impose their own agendas, while this revolting little force of nature keeps reminding everybody that flesh is fragile. The story jumps between intimate horror and larger public consequences, including the spectacle of people trying to explain away things that are plainly out of control. Ennis has always enjoyed skewering institutions and human vanity. Here he gets to do it with slime, teeth, and a truly disrespectful amount of gore.

Now let’s talk about John McCrea, because, coño, this man understands the assignment. His faces are all over the place in the best possible way: suspicious squints, panicked eyes, ugly sneers, and expressions that go from everyday irritation to full-blown existential terror in a heartbeat. McCrea gives the humans enough personality to make their reactions funny before making those same reactions horrifying. When the creature takes center stage, the anatomy turns repulsive and oddly fascinating. The shell, the feelers, the slick organic textures, the way it occupies a panel: you can practically hear somebody gagging from the next room.

The page design deserves love, too. McCrea can keep a conversation readable with straightforward panel-to-panel staging, then suddenly punch through that rhythm with a savage image that demands your attention. Big grotesque compositions interrupt the chatter at precisely the right moments. There’s also an effective sense of scale as the book moves from cramped interiors to larger, more chaotic spaces. The violence isn’t simply there to decorate the page. It punctuates the joke, escalates the danger, and makes every supposedly sensible response look a little more ridiculous.

Jack Davies’ colors are doing serious work in this madhouse. Muted interiors and recognizable urban environments give the early scenes a lived-in texture, while lurid pinks, angry reds, sickly flesh tones, and sudden splashes of brighter color announce when the situation has gone completely sideways. The palette lets McCrea’s heavy expressions and organic detail breathe without sanding off the ugliness. This book should feel sticky. Somehow, it does. That’s a compliment, Jack, even if it sounds like the worst endorsement ever printed on a comic.

Rob Steen’s lettering is another piece of the machinery that shouldn’t get lost in the slime. The conversations remain easy to follow, even when Ennis packs a panel with argumentative dialogue, and the changes in emphasis help distinguish human bluster from the more unsettling presence of the creature. The lettering and balloon placement support the comedic timing instead of fighting the artwork. That’s essential for a comic where a tiny shift between a punchline and a grisly reveal can make the difference between laughing and wincing.

Is every beat subtle? Please. This is Garth Ennis writing a horror comic called The Snail, not somebody whispering poetry into a seashell. The grotesquerie is deliberately excessive, and a few stretches of exposition slow the mayhem while the larger machinery of the plot gets arranged. Readers who want restrained psychological dread might bounce off the outrageous tone. Still, the escalation has purpose. What begins as a bizarre creature feature becomes a more expansive satire about appetite, power, spectacle, and humanity’s spectacular talent for making a bad situation worse.

By the final pages, the comic has committed to its own ridiculous nightmare without apologizing for a damn thing. I respect that. Ennis and McCrea have the kind of creative chemistry that allows a story to be disgusting, funny, and genuinely energetic at the same time. The Snail isn’t trying to be respectable horror. It’s trying to crawl under your skin, crack a nasty joke, and leave a trail across your favorite shirt. Mission accomplished, mi gente.

Crusaders Score:
4/5

Garth Ennis (writer)
John McCrea (artist)
Jack Davies (colorist)
Rob Steen (letterer)
Joe Pruett (editor)
Published by Image Comics / Ninth Circle.

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Ten years of demons, dark magic, and supernatural trouble deserve more than a quiet anniversary, Crusaders. Codex Comics is taking the celebration straight to Kickstarter with Lili the Demoness #9: Black Miracles part 4, giving returning readers another chapter of Lili’s journey and newcomers a chance to catch up on the chaos that got her here.

The new issue continues the series’ run of dangerous encounters, demonic threats, and unexpected turns. Codex describes issue #9 as opening the door to the next and final chapter of Lili’s story. That makes this campaign both a 10-year milestone and a moment for readers who have followed the character across the eight previously published issues to see where that long road is heading.

And the anniversary invitation comes with a practical way into the series. All eight earlier issues are being offered as campaign add-ons, so readers can fill gaps in their collections or build a run alongside the new installment. The available options include a 3-D lenticular variant and holofoils, putting a little extra shine on all that darkness.

There are also two separate cross-promotional rewards to keep straight. Backers who pledge to both Lili the Demoness #9 and Purity Vol. 1 receive a free art print featuring Lili and Purity together. Backers who support both Lili and Devilicous receive a free decal depicting those two characters. Check the campaign’s pledge and add-on details when choosing your rewards so you are backing the combination you actually want.

Codex Comics works across superhero, horror, fantasy, and supernatural stories, building its original characters through independent publishing and crowdfunding. This anniversary campaign puts one of those longstanding creations front and center, with new pages for the readers already invested and earlier chapters available for anyone stepping into Lili’s world for the first time.

The Lili the Demoness #9 Kickstarter runs through December 1, 2026, at 9 p.m. CST. Visit the campaign for the issue, back issues, and reward details, and head to Codex Comics for more from the publisher. A decade in, Lili is still bringing trouble to the page, and this time the celebration comes with demons attached.

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Some movie moments never stop being shelf material. Michael Jordan taking flight in that Tune Squad uniform is one of them, and Funko is bringing the Space Jam memory back with a new POP! Movies: Space Jam – Michael Jordan collectible. For the collectors who grew up with the film, this one is reaching right into the ’90s memory bank.

The vinyl figure puts Jordan in his iconic Tune Squad uniform, posed in mid-air as he prepares for the game-winning shot. Funko’s choice is all about that instantly recognizable movie moment, making the basketball star’s animated-world adventure the focus of the display.

The figure measures approximately 4.6 inches and carries a $14.99 retail price. It is available now at Funko.com and select retailers, giving movie fans, basketball collectors, and POP! collectors another way to bring the original film into their lineup.

The appeal here is straightforward: the Tune Squad uniform, the airborne pose, and Jordan at the center of the action. If Space Jam still holds a spot in your movie rotation, this release takes that nostalgia and gives it a place on the shelf. Check Funko and participating retailers for current availability.

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Kirkman opens at the Nemesis and wastes precious little time establishing that the Decepticons have a very different situation on their hands. Meanwhile, Wheeljack heads back to the Cybertron shard, and Carly and Spike get a brief chance to talk outside the Ark before the day goes sideways. The issue moves quickly between those threads, giving us an ominous discovery, a useful new development for Carly and a clash that practically comes through the staples. It is a busy chapter, but the separate locations are clear and the scenes feed into the danger rather than sitting around waiting for their turn.

Howard’s art makes the first impression and keeps swinging. Megatronus Rex has a broad, top-heavy silhouette, deep shadows and an enormous blade that makes the other robots look underdressed for the occasion. Howard shoots him from below, plants those massive feet and lets the surrounding wreckage sell his size. You can almost hear the floor complaining. His mechanical bodies have enough recognizable parts to stay readable, while the scratchy rendering and rough edges give everything a battered, used-up feeling. These machines have been through some business. Nobody here looks fresh out of the blister pack.

The transformations are a particular treat. Howard breaks the motion into small, successive panels, then pays it off with a large image of the completed form. That rhythm gives the change a physical process: parts shift, shapes reorganize, and suddenly there is a whole new problem standing in front of you. The battle pages use diagonal movement, big foreshortened fists and flying debris to drag your eye across the action. A punch can fill most of a page and still leave room below for the reaction that tells you how badly it landed. WEPA, let the big ugly hit breathe.

The fight also has character underneath all that flying scrap. Megatronus Rex enjoys himself, which makes him nastier than a villain who simply stands there announcing how powerful he is. He corrects his name, taunts Optimus about his diminished title and treats the whole encounter like an opportunity to show off. Kirkman gives him the arrogance of a man who bought a new suit and immediately started disrespecting everybody at the function. Optimus refuses to fold, but the artwork keeps reminding us that courage does not magically close a size advantage. His determination is easy to admire because this looks like a terrible matchup.

Soundwave adds another flavor of trouble. His loyalty stays clipped and purposeful, even as Megatronus tries to tell him he could be something more. That little exchange puts a thought in the air without stopping the battle to unpack an entire relationship. Shredhead, meanwhile, gets an earlier conversation about cooperation and the difficulty of living with the fragments of a fallen clan inside one spark. There is vulnerability in that admission. Kirkman lets the team respond with concern and a little humor, so the scene feels like people checking on one of their own. The subsequent violence has more weight because we just spent time with them being a team.

Carly’s moment works for similar reasons. She worries about her robot friends, Spike struggles to find something helpful to say, and neither kid sounds like they arrived with a perfectly rehearsed speech. Arcee’s delivery of Wheeljack’s exo-suit brings a welcome burst of excitement. Carly gets something she can actually use, and Howard changes her posture and expression enough that you can see her energy return. Spike’s reaction adds a good little laugh. Those few panels make the humans feel involved in this world without pretending they can casually stroll through a Cybertronian battlefield in sneakers.

Wheeljack’s detour supplies the creepy stuff. Howard surrounds him with dark, vertical machinery and open space, making his initial delight at having uninterrupted work time pretty funny. Then he notices what has changed, and that pleasure disappears fast. His eyes and body language carry the switch before the dialogue finishes explaining it. The scene is brief, but it leaves a worry hanging over the bigger spectacle. Kirkman knows a smaller discovery can make the giant battle feel worse when you suspect the two problems belong in the same nightmare.

Spicer’s colors give each location a distinct temperature. The shard is chilly blue and violet, the quieter outdoor conversation has earthy browns and patches of green, and the Ark glows with heated orange before the battle blows it wide open. Against all that dust and fire, the Autobots’ reds, blues and pinks stay easy to pick out. Megatronus carries dark teal, black and purple through the wreckage like a bruise somebody taught to walk. Bright yellow impacts and muzzle flashes hit hard because the surrounding shadows have actual depth. This is loud color with control, fam.

Wooton’s lettering is right there throwing elbows with the art. The angular robot balloons help distinguish those voices from the humans, and the sound effects make transformation and impact feel like separate kinds of noise. They stretch through the available space without forcing you to guess which punch happened first. Howard can crowd a frame with weapons, limbs and rubble, so that clear reading path earns its keep. The smaller dialogue exchanges remain comfortably legible even when everybody around them is getting launched into next week.

My main gripe is how quickly the back half turns into another escalation. The exo-suit and Wheeljack material are interesting enough that I wanted a little more time with them before the fighting takes over. A few villain boasts repeat the same basic threat, too. The cliffhanger absolutely has spectacle, but it also leaves this installment feeling like the first vicious round of a larger beating. Readers coming in cold will have questions about the changed team and current identities; the immediate danger is clear, while the relationships reward having followed the run.

Howard and Spicer make the brutality look tremendous, Wooton gives it volume, and Kirkman slips concern, insecurity and some mean villain humor between the blows. This is a muscular chapter with a couple of promising side threads that deserve room next issue. Megatronus Rex talks like he owns the building and fights like he plans to demolish it anyway. Somebody better check the Autobots’ insurance, mi gente, because that deductible is about to get disrespectful.

CRUSADERS SCORE: 
4.5/5

Writer: Robert Kirkman
Artist: Jason Howard
Colorist: Mike Spicer
Letterer: Rus Wooton
Cover A: Jason Howard
Editor: Ben Abernathy
Publication Design: Andres Juarez
Production: Abigail Lee
Publisher: Skybound / Image Comics

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“The happiest town in Italy” sounds like a place to book a vacation. In The Holy Boy, it sounds like a reason to start asking questions. Director Paolo Strippoli’s Italian folk-horror film arrives on Shudder Friday, November 27, 2026, bringing a village’s promise of relief into a much more disturbing light.

Strippoli, whose work includes A Classic Horror Story and the upcoming The Spiral, directs a screenplay written with Jacopo Del Giudice and Milo Tissone. Michele Riondino and Giulio Feltri lead the film, which runs 125 minutes and is presented in Italian. The setup promises a community whose apparent peace comes at a terrible cost, with Sergio’s arrival threatening the arrangement.

Riondino plays Sergio, a teacher carrying a painful past who is transferred to the secluded village of Remis. The town has a reputation for happiness, but its residents share a secret behind that cheerful surface. Every week they gather to embrace Matteo, an introverted 15-year-old played by Feltri, whose hugs can take away pain and sorrow.

A town leaning on a child to carry its suffering is already an unsettling idea. Sergio’s discovery that the devotion surrounding Matteo is far from benevolent turns it into something more dangerous. When he tries to rescue the boy known as the Angel of Remis, the community responds with vengeance, putting the promise of shared happiness up against what the village is willing to do to preserve it.

The film comes to streaming after winning the Audience Award and New Wave Best Director at Fantastic Fest, along with Official Selections at the Venice Film Festival and BFI London Film Festival. The press materials include praise from Variety’s Jessica Kiang, Dread Central’s Chad Collins, and RogerEbert.com’s Peter Sobczynski, with their responses emphasizing the film’s grief, unease, and examination of the cost of passing personal suffering onto another person.

“A clever, creepy Italian chiller. Under cover of an enjoyably eerie horror movie, director Paolo Strippoli investigates the dangers of displaced grief.. Maintaining its moral ambivalence even as it ramps up to a spectacular finale.” – Jessica Kiang, Variety

“A holy experience in folk horror worth canonizing. Director Paolo Strippoli’s immensely unsettling Italian chiller The Holy Boy reaches straight through the chest to grab hold of your heart and squeeze it dry.” – Chad Collins, Dread Central

“An intriguing chiller that is more interested in trying to disturb viewers than in simply grossing them out. A precise and cutting examination of the perils of trying to offload one’s own personal pain onto someone else.” – Peter Sobczynski, RogerEbert.com

Before the Shudder debut, the announced screening schedule includes Friday, November 20, at 9 p.m. at Soho House and Ludlow House in New York, Soho House West Hollywood in Los Angeles, and Soho House in Chicago. A Sunday, November 22, at 7 p.m. screening is set for The Twisted Spine in Brooklyn. On Monday, November 23, at 9 p.m., screenings are planned at Soho House in Austin and Nashville. Attendance and RSVP arrangements should be confirmed with the organizers.

The cast also includes Paolo Pierobon, Romana Maggiora Vergano, Sergio Romano, Anna Bellato, Sandra Toffolatti, and Roberto Citran. Producers are Domenico Procacci, Laura Paolucci, Ines Vasilevic, and Stefano Sardo, with executive producers Ivan Fiorini and Attilio Moro and co-producers Jožko Rutar and Miha Černec.

Behind the camera, Cristiano Di Nicola serves as cinematographer, Federico Palmerini edits, and Federico Bisozzi and Davide Tomat provide the music. The film’s Italian title is La valle dei sorrisi.

Born in Corato, Bari, in 1993, Strippoli earned a Performing Arts and Sciences degree from La Sapienza University before graduating in Film Directing from Rome’s Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia. In 2019 he won the Franco Solinas Award for Best Screenplay for L’angelo infelice, written with Del Giudice and Tissone. He co-directed Netflix’s A Classic Horror Story with Roberto De Feo in 2020, winning Best Director at the 67th Taormina Film Fest. His 2022 psychological horror feature Piove competed at Sitges, Austin Fantastic Fest, and Alice Nella Città. The Holy Boy and The Spiral, also known as L’estranea, are his third and fourth films. 

The Holy Boy begins streaming on Shudder November 27. For horror fans drawn to a community hiding something rotten under a comforting ritual, this is one to put on the calendar. Remis has found a way to live without pain, and Matteo is the one paying for it.

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