arts / 10

Comic Corner: Good guys turned bad

» Injustice: Gods Among Us Vol. l' review

Brittney MacDonald
Life & Style Editor
Mlifeandstyle
@theotherpress.ca

 

a

OOO

wasn't expecting much from

Injustice: Gods Among Us,
mostly due to the game—
which, although good, is little
more than a Mortal Kombat

I was pleasantly surprised with
this one. Injustice has action,
tragedy, romance—everything
you could ever want from a
totally addicting comic series.
Written by Tom Taylor,
Injustice is set before the
events of the game, so it acts

: asa prequel to that dystopian
: future. After being tricked into
: killing the one thing he loved
: most, Lois Lane, Superman

: is now out for blood! Vowing

: to never allow such a thing

: to happen again, Superman

: decides to take totalitarian

: rule of the city and impose a

: fierce concept of justice. The

: one thing that stands in his

: way: Batman! Each side forms
: unlikely allies with heroes and
: villains alike as they fight fora

clone. Well, I’m happy to report future neither is sure of.

I really liked the narrative

: in this volume. To me,

: Superman is usually sucha

: “perfect” character that I have
: trouble relating to him. In

: this narrative, though, he has
: faults, he goes through a mental :
: breakdown, and he makes :

: awful decisions, so I like hima
: lot more. Weirdly enough, he
: makes a pretty amazing villain.

The art, done by illustrator

: Jheremy Raapack, is awesome.
: There area couple of issues

: with anatomy here and there—
: for example they took the

: cartoon element a little too

: far in the facial expressions—
: but overall I think it’s quite

: marvellous. The colours are

: bright, despite the overall

: dark tone of the book, kept

: vibrant through use of colour

: opposition and cell shading.

I really enjoyed my first

: foray into this series, and will

: probably continue on with

: it. 1recommend it to any DC

: Comics fans out there who want

to see their favourites in a new

: and exciting way.

theotherpress.ca

 

Py] ss” ‘Si Ps

Cover art by Tony Avina via Comic Vine

 

The unannounced album

» How Drake and other musicians are embracing nonexistent release dates

Shane Madill
The Silhouette

he title of Drake's If Youre

Reading This It’s Too Late is
poetic.

Though it was an
unannounced mixtape (as
stated in the handwritten
credits), it qualified as an
album in his contract with
Cash Money Records due to
its appearance on iTunes. He

with the label and released
himself from its financial
control. This has allowed Views
From the 6, the official album
that fans anticipated Drake
would release this year, to now
be completed under his own
label, with Cash Money unable
to do anything about him
leaving.

The speculation is that
this could be personal. Label
partner and long-time friend
Lil Wayne continues to be
engaged with Cash Money
co-founder Bryan “Birdman”
Williams in a public feud that
includes a $51-million lawsuit.
This is related to a lack of
compensation for previous

release Tha Carter V. A sudden
release was the best way to
prevent resistance to Drake’s
efforts to leave. The ransom art
style of the album cover and
credits could be a reference to
Lil Wayne stating that he felt
like a “prisoner” on the label.
No one related to Cash Money
Records studio is mentioned in
the mixtape’s credits. Releasing

: it for free on Drake’s OVO label :
: Soundcloud for a period of time :
: is also telling of its intent.

: the mixtape still debuted at

: number one on the Billboard

: 200 chart by selling 535,000

: units in three days. This is

: in spite of it being a mixtape

: instead of an album, only

: being available digitally, being
: available for free for a period

: of time, and without notice or
: direct marketing.

entire albums or mixtapes

: without notice can be traced

: to when Death Grips released
: No Love Deep Web back in :
: October 2012. A website was set :
: up to which their Twitter and

: Soundcloud linked. It was also

: distributed through BitTorrent.
: Coincidentally parallel to Cash

albums and the label's refusal to :
: Carter V, the album was in

: protest of the unwillingness

: of their label, Epic Records, to
: release the No Love Deep Web
: for another year.

release, Government Plates on
: November 13, 2013, did not have :
: any clear reasoning behind its
: motive. Beyoncé released her
: eponymous album a month

While this mixtape in

: particular is an engaging case
: study individually, the act of

: suddenly releasing an album

: with minimal anticipation has
: become increasingly popular

: throughout the industry.

: Drake’s instance appears to

: be far more politically and

: personally focussed than the
fulfilled his four-album contract :

norm. It is worth noting that

This trend of releasing

Money’s situation with Tha

The group’s next sudden

: later with a nearly identical :
plan of no prior announcement :
: or promotion, and with videos
: for every track.

Variations of this have

: been done since, particularly

: within the last few months for:
: various reasons. D’Angelo’s first:
: album in 14 years was released,
: with three days between the

: announcement of a release

: date and it coming out. Thom

: Yorke’s Tomorrow's Modern

: Boxes and Ratking’s 700 Fill

: were also surprise releases

: through BitTorrent. Skrillex

: and Diplo Present Jack U was

: released and performed in the
: middle of their continuous

: 24-hour online DJ set. Kanye :
: West has already stated that his :

: album for 2015, So Help Me God, :

: will have a surprise release date. :

: NPR’s “First Listen” series,

: allow artists to gain publicity
: while embracing the effects

: of potential leaks by allowing

Artists are willing to

embrace this mainly to prevent
: leaks. In Drake's case, letting

: others know about the mixtape :
: would have ruined any personal : access to the music in advance

: intention with its release, and

most likely would have been

met with resistance from Cash
: Money. In more conventional
: cases, this is a topic of piracy

: and money.

The typical announced

album has to adjust after the
: fact either by ignoring them,
: releasing the album early, or
: through album streams. Bjérk’s :
: 2015 album Vulnicura was an
; extreme example of this in

: that the album was officially

released two months earlier

than scheduled in response
: to an early leak. Early album
: streams, most popular on

: of release. None of these
: options are optimal.

This also prevents

: marketing fatigue. Views From
: the 6 had been speculated

: about fora long time, but the

: addition of If You're Reading

: This It’s Too Late’s surprise

: factor aided in its release.

: The difficulty of maintaining
anticipation and marketing for
: an album over the course of

: months cannot be understated.
: It is even harder to embrace

: with the threat of leaks ruining
: it. Different sites, media

: sources, and fans will provide

: the publicity for an artist

Cover of ‘If You're Reading This It’s Too Late’

: anyway for a surprise drop.

While If You're Reading

: This It’s Too Late is not an

: original way to release an

: album anymore, it provides

: evidence for and represents

: how effective surprise releasing
: analbumis. Artists are unlikely
: to beas personally motivated

: as Drake's situation with Cash
Money Records. That does not
? mean a lack of personal beef

: will prevent this newer form of
: album release from continuing
to gain traction and becoming

; more popular in all genres of

: music. This method makes

: sense both in artist-related

: preferences and in financial

: terms for the label. Drake's If

: You're Reading This It’s Too Late
: is only a small piece of a much

: larger industry change.