C2E2 Report: DC Comics – Batman

Saturday was a big day for this year’s C2E2, with a lot of DC and Marvel’s biggest panels taking place. Besides entry in the morning, the longest line I saw all weekend was for this panel. Hundreds of fans filed through the doors of the convention’s largest panel space, and with good reason.

As things got started, John Cunningham, DC’s Marketing VP, introduced us to our panelists: James Tynion IV, former writer of Red Hood and the Outlaws and Talon and an architect of Batman: Eternal; Scott Snyder, writer for Batman, lead writer for Batman: Eternal, and all-around Batman superfan; Jason Fabok and Dustin Nguyen, the two artists for Batman: Eternal; Patrick Gleason and Peter Tomasi, the artist and writer, respectively, on Batman and _____; and Jim Chadwick, an editor with DC’s digital division who works on Batman ‘66, among others.

Cunningham started by reminding us that this year is the 75^th anniversary of Batman and promised a slew of celebration, most clearly embodied in a “Batman Day” sometime this July. He also mentioned the two animated shorts commissioned for the anniversary and, as a thank you, revealed that we’d be screening them before the panel began.

Unfortunately there was some technical trouble, kicking off a friendly rivalry between Cunningham and the people running the projector.

Unable to resolve the problem immediately, we turned to the comics.

The first book mentioned was Grayson, which received a warm reception, but just as quickly as it was brought up, Cunningham informed us that he couldn’t talk about it yet. Instead Scott Snyder took the opportunity to enlist the audience in a campaign to make sure that DC used the slogan that he and the other writers had come to love, “You think you know Nightwing, but you don’t know Dick.” It seemed to take off with the fans. DC had actually published the line in the Grayson #1 solicit a few days earlier, but after this panel I’m sure they were pleased that they went ahead with it.

Next on the docket was Batman and Scott Snyder’s “Zero Year” storyline, which has just entered its final phase, “Savage City”. Snyder, ever eager to share with the fans had thrown in a couple of extra slides into the presentation as a thank you. “You guys are our bosses,” he said, quoting a sentiment that drives he and Greg Capullo’s work on the title.

Green Hornet Vol. 2: Wearing O’ the Green (Hardcover)

Scripts by Kevin Smith, Breakdowns by Phil Hester, Art by Jonathan Lau, Colors by Ivan Nunes

Green Hornet Vol 1., Sins of the Father, left off with Brit deciding to take his father’s mantle. It was really only the halfway point for what Kevin Smith’s Green Hornet movie would have been. Wearing O’ the Green takes us to the end of that story. And if anything is clear after reading both volumes, it’s this: it’s a shame Kevin Smith never made his movie. Now, I didn’t mind the Seth Rogen/Michel Gondry collaboration. It certainly didn’t live up to its potential, but it was a fun and distracting film, and sometimes that’s all a film needs to be. But reading Smith’s vision for what Green Hornet could have been, it makes the shortcomings of the film we got just a little more apparent.

The bottom line is that Smith’s story is just better. The stakes are higher, the characters more developed and more interesting, and concept more fulfilling. Both version have Britt as a tabloid favorite Charlie-Sheen-but-younger kind of guy, but Smith’s Britt actually wants to take the mantle of the Green Hornet to continue his father’s work—Rogen’s does it as a way to forsake his father’s legacy (initially). Even the villain was much more appropriate. In a story about father/son legacies, the Rogen’s film lacked a villain to parallel this dynamic. Smith’s does not—the villains chosen are perfect foils to Britt and the Kato family. And speaking of Kato, Smith had a much bigger design. Kato is now much older, taking on the mentor role, while his daughter fulfills the badass chauffeur. Smith even brings in another Kato, who is a half-American stoner kind of guy who designs all of the Green Hornet’s weapons. The Kato of Rogen’s film did all three of these, and it was a bit too much at times. It still wasn’t clear at the end of the film why Kato needed Green Hornet, while without Kato, the Hornet would have been dead in seconds. Rogen’s Hornet never really seems to care about learning how to fight, yet Smith’s Hornet spends much of this second volume becoming the green hornet, learning hand-to-hand combat, and even experimenting with different looks (all of which go hilariously wrong). Gondry’s vision of Green Hornet may have been nice for a January movie (and for a January movie, it’s a goldmine), but reading Smith’s story and seeing what could have been done with Green Hornet? Oh…the missed opportunities.

But it’s also easy to see why Smith might have felt in over his head when he was set to direct the film. This was quite a while ago, and though CGI and special effects were big, they were nowhere near the level they are today. And there is some massive action sequences in Wearing O’ the Green that would make even today’s directors nervous. Stealth jets, a car that erupts into a little helicopter, a dozen or so Kung Fu battles, and at the same time trying not to undercut the emotional beets of the story or cheapen the comedy? Yeah, it’s a lot to juggle. Writing an awesome script is one thing, but when it comes to bringing it to life, it’s important not to get in over your head, and that’s what Smith’s script did to him. It was too good for his own sake. A rather odd problem to be in.

But since it was adapted to a comic series instead, he had others to help him see this story come forth. Phil Hester helped change the screenplay into a comic script—which is a lot harder than it sounds, so he deserves a lot of praise for it, and Jonathan Lau provides art. Scratch that. Jonathan Lau delivers amazing art. I don’t remember the art in Vol. 1 being as good as it is in Vol. 2, but Lau really nails every panel. If only he could team up with Kevin Smith for the eventual sequel to Widening Gyre! Lau’s art plays very well with Smith’s story. Both can be very dynamic and yet very subtle. Sometimes at the same moment. Of course, Ivan Nunes colors don’t hurt either. Neither do the covers by Alex Ross. The cover to the hardcover set alone is fantastic.

Shadowland (HC) – Review

Written by Andy Diggle, Pencils by Billy Tan

Be Aware! Spoilers may lurk within!

Marvel wasted no time in getting this one on the shelves (in fact, they’re getting even more aggressive with releasing their hardcovers) and I’m kind of glad for that, as I was looking forward to reading this as one collected piece. Sure, I could just read all five issues back to back, but there is still a much different feel when it is in the collected form. I’m also a big Daredevil; I’ve read the entire second volume of Daredevil more than once (and even wrote a paper for grad school on the saga). Being that Shadowland really is the end to that long run started by Kevin Smith, amped up freakishly by Brian Michael Bendis, continued on through Ed Brubaker and finally resting with Andy Diggle, I had to get this collection. Yet I wasn’t always a Daredevil fan. I was reading and very much enjoying Diggle’s Thunderbolts when it was announced that he would be leaving that series to take on the Man Without Fear. That’s what made me decide to read Daredevil in the first place. And in a very short amount of time, I hunted down every trade that came before his run and read them…in four days. And then I read them again. And then, since they were so fresh in my mind, I wrote about them for class, producing one of the best papers in my academic career. Diggle’s run was shaping up nicely, his first arc splendid. I was convinced: any writer who touches this series produces gold (except for one whom Marvel actually decided to skip in the trades. So there are a few issues before Bendis’ run that they don’t want anyone to read—ever). And then Shadowland came out…

My belief sticks. Any writer who worked on the second volume of Daredevil produces amazing content. What hurts Shadowland is that Diggle never intended for it the story to be a big event, seen not only in how the Daredevil series flows into Shadowland (which is a bit choppy), but by the writer’s own words in the spotlight interview at the end of the trade. I actually enjoyed this event very much, but it is certainly not perfect. I don’t blame Diggle for any of those imperfections; I blame the editors. The guys who said “let’s make this into a superhero street brawl.” Nor do I blame Billy Tan. I blame the guys who said, “let’s change the tone of the entire Daredevil run by using an artist with a completely different style.”  Shadowland’s faults are very much at the hands of overambitious editors who promised the fans “no more events” but then realized “wait, events make money” and spawned as many “mini” events as possible. But despite all of that, Shadowland is still enjoyable.  And it’s the collection that shows this.

Batman: The Widening Gyre (Hardcover review)

Written by Kevin Smith, Pencils by Walter Flanagan, inks by Art Thibert

Kevin Smith wants you to believe that the best thing about The Widening Gyre is the twist ending. Granted—and I won’t spoil it for you—it is kind of an awesome ending. It’s all Smith really talks about in his afterward. How he and Flanagan waited two years for that twist to be revealed, and how proud he is that no one saw it coming (but really, how did that happen? It was remarkably obvious). Still, as proud as he is about the ending, it’s not what makes Widening Gyre as success. There’s a rule to these kinds of stories: without the twist, does the story hold up? Movies like Unbreakable works while, sticking with M. Knight, Signs does not. It’s also important that the twist at the ending adds to the story instead of simply becoming the story. In this case, Widening Gyre both succeeds and fails. The story before the twist is actually interesting enough to hold on its own, but the twist hijacks the story…maybe.

What works before the twist is seeing a very seamless Bruce Wayne/Batman life. He’s approaching, as Smith calls it “crisis of infinite midlife” and wondering if he could really be Batman forever…and if this new hero, Baphomet can be his replacement. He’s falling in love with Silver St. Cloud…and out of love with Catwoman. It’s the greatest threat to Batman—Bruce Wayne finding happiness. And it’s an interesting character study. At first he’s more focused as Batman, but the more the story progresses, he finds himself more in tune with Bruce Wayne, maybe for the first time since he put on the mask. He even finds himself surprised at how okay he is with just being Bruce Wayne. Smith is great at setting up that pendulum with his characters as they go through identity crises. However, he’s not without faults. First of all is the title. I’m sorry, maybe I’ve just been in too many creative writing classes with too many jackasses who thought they were clever when they nailed that awesome title for their freakishly brilliant work of literary genius. Here’re two facts: the title was always either Signifying Nothing (thank god Faulkner already jumped the bandwagon with Sound and Fury) or, you guessed it, The Widening Gyre. The other fact…all of those stories sucked. So I was wary on the story from the beginning because of the clichéd title. And he loves his ending a bit too much. Okay, maybe I shouldn’t have read the afterward he wrote, but by the end of it I just wanted him to stop smiling in the mirror and telling himself how clever he was. Like I said, if you read Cacophony, the reveal was all too simple. What was surprising was the scale of the reveal. As far as if it works as an ending…no. It doesn’t. Because it’s not the ending; it’s only part two of a trilogy and we have to wait for the next installment to see how the story comes together (note—it better not be “Batman must kill XXXXX”),

Green Hornet – Movie Review

By: Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg (writers), Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Christoph Waltz, Cameron Diaz (starring), Michel Gondry (director)

The Story: With too much money and time on his hands, and not enough thrills, millionaire Britt Reid enlists the help of martial artist/genius/tech wiz/coffee maker Kato to take down LA’s biggest criminals under the guise of the Green Hornet.

SPOILER ALERT

The Review: From the beginning, it’s clear that Green Hornet is a mixed bag.  Story-wise, it adapts some of the elements of Kevin Smith’s comic miniseries by setting the period in the present and as the basis for Britt Reid’s character.  But the rest of the movie seems to be largely Rogen’s creation, resulting in the movie being deluged with the in-your-face kind of humor that Rogen and his “Frat Pack” contemporaries.  As a result, Green Hornet really ends up a comedy film with masked vigilantes, rather than the other way around.

The action sequences are pretty glorious.  Most of it involves the heroes’ favorite transport, the imaginatively armed Black Beauty, which should receive its own credit for all the screen time it gets.  The impeccable Kato serves up nearly all the coolest bits—so much so, that by the end of the movie, you’re left wondering what the point of even including Britt Reid was all about.  He literally ends up doing nothing in the movie.  Even at the final showdown between the wannabe heroes and villains, Reid screws up the biggest task he takes on.  Sure, the villains get their comeuppance in the end, but justice doesn’t really get served.  I suppose that’s material for the sequel to tackle.

Green Hornet Vol 1: Sins of the Father (Hardcover)

Scripts by Kevin Smith; Breakdowns by Phil Hester;  art by Jonathan Lau, colors by Ivan Nunes; and covers by Alex Ross.

Once upon a time, Kevin Smith was going to make a Green Hornet movie. That’s right. The man who brought you Cop Out and Jersey Girl was going to bring new life to a classic character. But that never happened. He wrote the script and, according to his introduction, freaked the frig out and didn’t think he had the chops to direct it. Ages went by and the script hibernated until it became useless and forgotten and Michael Gondry and Seth Rogen went on to make their own Green Hornet that looks like it might be fun, but let’s not get our hopes up. So what was to become of Kevin Smith’s script? Well, here it is. Converted into comics and now being released by Dynamite.

Sins of the Father picks up the Green Hornet 20 years after he’s retired. His son is a tabloid whore and he is one of the most powerful people in century city… Until he gets murdered. Now the son must take up his father’s mantle. Um… Isn’t that what the new movie’s about? Nevermind, that’s another post for another time. It’s a fun story, and Smith’s natural ability to sell a character really shines through. It’s a shame this was never turned into a film because I’m sure the new Kato would have been really hot in the Chauffer outfit.

Kato Origins #2 – Review

By: Jai Nitz (writer), Colton Worley (pencils and inks), Romulo Fajardo Jr. (colorist)

The Story: Way of the Ninja, Part Two: A Korean grocer has been murdered. Kato, our favorite Japanese ninja sidekick, recognizes signs of ninja involvement that can only imply that he is a target too. The problem in tracking down people people with ninja training is that they don’t leave tracks, or if they do, they lay them right through rival gangs….

What’s Good: Nitz has a solid grip of his character, how he perceives the hostile world he’s immersed in, and the sort of deadly playfulness he needs to survive. Nitz has Kato take two philosophies of conflict (one by Doc Holliday, the other by Sun Tzu) to be the thematic frames of this book. How Kato compares each philosophy, while he is implementing one that is a mix of both, is really cool, and gives depth and resonance to this gritty, brutal world. At the same time, Nitz cleverly applies sun Tzu’s work to what it’s like to be Asian in racist America of the 1940s. This gives the readers a different lens through which to look at the persecuted and how they might deal with an ignorant, hostile world. Nitz does this all with crisp dialogue, sardonic monologue boxes and appropriate reliance on Colton Worley.

Batman: Widening Gyre #2 – Review

By Kevin Smith (Writer), Walter Flanagan (Art), Art Thibert (Inks), and Art Lyon (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: I found the first issue of Widening Gyre to be decent enough to give the Kevin Smith series at least one more look. I’ve got my expectations set a bit lower than they were when I went into reviewing Cacophony, so I wouldn’t be totally shocked if I wind up being pleasantly surprised by Smith’s latest.

The Story: Batman gets another assist from the goat-faced vigilante during the rescue of a child. Afterwards, Bruce gets an unexpected visit from a beautiful lady that he has a history with. Unfortunately, he may not be able to make it to their second date…

What’s Good And What’s Not So Good: Two issues in and the best thing that Widening Gyre has going for it is the goat-faced guy. He’s designed well (artistically) and the way he’s used throughout the second issue of the series is effective enough to keep me interested in reading. Unfortunately though, the goat guy (I believe Kevin Smith’s planning on calling him Baphomet) is the only thing about the story that’s hooking me in so far. A trend seems to be developing where bad guys pop into the story in a random way, with no lead in and for no purpose other than to have an action beat/appearance by the goat person. Maybe the appearance by Silver St. Cloud is supposed to be big, but I wouldn’t know since, admittedly, I’m reading Gyre as a casual Batman fan.

Lackluster plot aside, Smith’s writing is quite sharp. His use of dry humor and pop culture references add a lot of personality to his story and the characters part of it. The downside to Smith’s style is that it feels as though Bruce Wayne’s tone swings wildly back and forth. I realize he’s a moody guy, but the shift from funny and casual to serious and remorseful is pretty jarring.

After reading two issues of Gyre, I can safely say that Walter Flanagan’s artwork for Gyre is quite a bit better than it was for Cacophony. The set pieces feel bigger (the opening scene of Widening Gyre #2 is particularly stylish and well executed), the character work is far more consistent, and the action flows in a more natural way. A few panels in Gyre #2 are a bit rough though. Robin’s pose early on is a bit disturbing, Silver St. Cloud’s face has a weird shape at times, and Bruce Wayne’s “surprised” facial expression looks almost creepy. Also, I have to mention that Flanagan’s got a bit of a problem keeping bodies looking consistent. That said, I have to give Flanagan credit for the way he tries to construct scenes as cinematically as possible. That could very easily be the reason why things occasionally look a bit off.

Conclusion: Batman: Widening Gyre #2 is solid enough, but the story definitely needs to pick up a bit before I can fully commit to the entire series.

Grade: C

-Kyle Posluszny

Batman: Widening Gyre #1

By Kevin Smith (writer), Walt Flanagan (penciller), Art Thibert (inker), Art Lyon (colorist)

The Story: Some years ago, Batman and Robin (Dick Grayson) captured Baron Blitzkrieg and Atomic Skull. Flash to the present, where Dick Grayson, now Nightwing, has brought Batman to help him out in a bout, since one of the criminals he has been tracking has now gotten the Baron Blitzkrieg armor. There is more on Dick’s mind than nostalgia, when he shows Batman a body in the morgue that could only have been killed by Poison Ivy, who is still in Arkham Asylum. The Dark Knight goes off to find Arkham completely overgrown, as he penetrates it to puzzle out this mystery.

What’s Good: The cover by Bill Sienkiewicz was great, as it really drove me to buy this book.

What’s Not So Good: I had a bit of a hard time with this review, because I love Kevin Smith’s movies so much. His movies are original, manic, unexpected, irreverent and hypnotic. Unfortunately, this book was none of those things.

Right out of the gate, the art put me off. Some artists are so realistic that you can feel the texture and mood of what they draw. Other artists abandon realism for style, and weave compelling images that fascinate. The art in The Widening Gyre achieves neither realism nor style. It tells the story competently, but there is little to leave the reader breathless and swept up in the pictures. The figures, expressions, textures, and even light and shadows, have a plastic feel. The art made me much less receptive to Smith’s story.

As for the story itself, it never took off. I had major problems from the get-go with Smith’s long set-up scenes. We open on some adventure in the past when Dick Grayson was twelve years old. In the present, Nightwing gets Batman’s detective curiosity going, but then disappears. Batman didn’t need Nightwing to show him a body. Anyone could have done that and Batman would have been off to Arkham. Therefore, what was the use of that set-up?

The set-up is tied factually and mechanically to the story in the present, but thematically, there’s no apparent linkage for all the nostalgia. My hope is that Smith added the set-up scene with Nightwing not to fill the third of the book, but for a thematic purpose that will reward the patient reader later in this mini-series.

Nor did the set-up sequence crank up the tension for the reader. Quite the opposite. Both Bruce and Dick spent the flashback and the present fight ridiculing and belittling the villains. There was little sense of anything being at stake, or that this was more than a routine workout for the once and future dynamic duo. The old rule for comics is that the stature of the hero is proportional to the danger and menace of the villain. These foes are not people who raise the stature of Batman and Nightwing.

And the tension did not really pick up once Batman got in Arkham. Every villain he found was tied up, except for Killer Croc and a surprise villain. Ivy herself wasn’t really threatening, unless she has some death by coitus thing going on. The battles at the end don’t manage to pull the tension into positive digits.

Long story short, Smith and Flanagan never made me care about Batman. Not only that, I found it hard to get invested in a Bruce Wayne Batman story when I know he is “dead.” I’m actually quite happy and intrigued by his replacement.

Conclusion: A sub-standard bat-offering. Take your bat-money elsewhere. I will be back for Smith’s next movie. I won’t be back for Widening Gyre #2.

Rating: C-

DS Arsenault

Batman: Cacophony #2 (of 3) – Review

By Kevin Smith (Writer), Walter Flanagan (Pencils), Sandra Hope (Inks), and Guy Major (Colors)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: I am definitely what you would call a Kevin Smith fan. In fact, just last night I spent a healthy chunk of the evening re-watching the hilarious Evening with Kevin Smith DVD (if you haven’t seen it, you must). I’m fully aware of how entertaining the man can be. That said, the first chapter of his Batman story left me a bit disappointed. It was entertaining enough and Onomatopoeia’s appearance was downright awesome, but for whatever reason, I expected something more… satisfying, I guess. Maybe things will pick up in the second chapter.

The Story: The war between Joker and Maxie Zeus heats up (literally) when Joker sets Zeus’ club ablaze in retaliation for the manufacturing and distribution of the drug known as “chuckles.” Batman shows up among all the chaos to rescue whoever he can and bring down the Joker, but an appearance by Onomatopoeia throws a wrench into the hero’s plans. The aftermath of all the action leaves Batman contemplating the connection between Joker and the mysterious Onomatopoeia, as well as how he can deal with the delusional Maxie Zeus and his popular drug.

What’s Good: While some of the problems I had with the first issue remain, the second chapter of Cacophony is a definite improvement. Most importantly, the story develops at a much more solid pace. And while it isn’t the deepest tale ever told, it scores points for successfully toeing the line between aspects that are dark and weighty and those that are more lighthearted and fun. Also, there is more Onomatopoeia, which is always a good thing.

As for the art, I have to mention how Walter Flanagan and his team put together a few  impressive looking scenes. In particular, there is one shot of Onomatopoeia that I consider to be poster worthy. It’s that cool looking.

What’s Not So Good: Like I said, some of the problems I had with the first issue remain in Cacophony #2. While Joker is a bit more enjoyable this time around, there are still aspects of his portrayal that don’t quite sit right with me. Sometimes it’s the visual style and sometimes it’s the dialogue, though oddly enough, rarely both at once.

Conclusion: While it has a few kinks, Batman: Cacophony is definitely proving to be a fun series to follow, especially for a casual fan like me.  If the final issue shows as much improvement as the second one did, Cacophony might even wind up being somewhat memorable.

Grade: B

-Kyle Posluszny

Batman: Cacophony #1 (of 3) – Review

By Kevin Smith (Writer), Walter Flanagan (Pencils), Sandra Hope (Inker), and Guy Major (Colorist)

Some Thoughts Before The Review: I am not much of a DC reader, but as long as it’s not heavily steeped in continuity, I will pick up the occasional Batman story from time to time. I decided to get the first issue of this particular story after reading a recent interview Kevin Smith did in Wizard. The story he has planned sounds quite interesting and Smith swears that Cacophony will get completed on a decent schedule (unlike some of his past work).

The Story: Deadshot breaks into Arkham Asylum in order to assassinate the Joker. But he soon finds that another, Onomatopoeia, is after the same target for a different reason. A fight ensues and soon Joker is free from Arkham, looking for revenge on the person responsible for using his Joker venom for profit. Meanwhile, Batman has his hands full dealing with the lunatic, Zsasz.

What’s Good: The story is off to a nice, intriguing start and I’m definitely glad I decided to give Cacophony a shot. The artwork by Walter Flanagan is lively and the writing by Kevin Smith is (mostly) humorous and entertaining. Also, I have to mention how awesome I think Onomatopoeia is. He’s a character that really puts the medium to great use.

What’s Not So Good: My biggest complaint is that I am really not a fan of the way Joker is portrayed in this story. He comes across as (and looks) a bit too wacky for my tastes. While the dark edge necessary to make Joker work is there, something just feels a bit off. And considering he takes up a decent portion of the book’s pages, it lessened my overall enjoyment of the story a bit.

Conclusion: More Onomatopoeia and less Joker would have earned this book a higher score. That said, I liked what I read (and saw) and am interested in seeing where the story goes from here. Also, I’m pretty sure that this story will be best suited for casual readers as opposed to hardcore fans… but I could be wrong.

Grade: C+

-Kyle Posluszny

Comic-Con 2008: Complete Progamming schedule

The full programming schedule is available now. I noticed a high increment in game related panels compared to previous years. Many people will not like this as it doesn’t have any relation from the comics.

Friday is Star Wars day. Artists scheduled for panels include Paul Dini, Geoff Johns, Mark Waid, Robert Kirkman, Eric Larsen, Jim Butcher, Kevin Smith, Frank Miller and Brad Meltzer among others.

Media & games related panels include Watchmen, Stargate, Prince of Persia, Star Wars, Spaced, Resident Evil: Degeneration, Ghostbusters, The Wolfman, American Dad, The Spirit, World of Warcraft, The Venture Brothers, 24, Robot Chicken, Mystery Science Theater 3000, Next Avengers: Heroes of Tomorrow, Eureka and Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along among a lot more of other panels.

A highly recommended panel is the Kevin Smith one. I don’t even like his movies, but his panels are hilarious.

Check the full list for Friday here.

For Saturday there is lots of panels to pick from: Ralph Bakshi, Joe Hill, Ben Templesmith, Steve Niles, David Mack, Dean Koontz, J. Michael Straczynski and media events for Futurama, The Simpson, Heroes, Dollhouse, Terminator Salvation, Battlestar Galactica, Pushing Daisies, Gears of War 2, Fable 2, Fringe and Starship Troopers 3.

The full list of panels for Saturday is here.