Jarrod Jones

2 weeks ago | doomrocket.substack.com | Jarrod Jones

I've been aching to read an action-driven yarn for a hot minute, something with velocity, a comic where the pages damn near seem to turn themselves. I sift through solicitations every week, and much of what I find looks like a snooze. A hefty chunk of independent creators still seem hamstrung by theme — "grief" and "trauma" chief among them — rather than action, the thing characters do to make the story go. Pathos over propulsion.

3 weeks ago | doomrocket.substack.com | Jarrod Jones

Braving the gauntlet of tentpole events, off-the-radar releases, and a non-stop avalanche of movies, TV, comics, and other stuff that's bad for you is DoomRocket's HOT PRESS. This week: that Superman trailer, my final dispatch from this year’s Chicago Critics Film Festival, and some more Superman chatter because why not? DC Studios dropped the first official trailer for this summer’s Superman, finally, at last, oh boy, it’s real, etc.

3 weeks ago | doomrocket.substack.com | Jarrod Jones

Episode One & Two — “FreeCommerce” “Eye Contact”Spoilers ahead. Can robots yearn? They can if they're Murderbot (Alexander Skarsgård), the sardonic ex-security unit from Mining Station Aratake and the lead of the new Apple TV+ sci-fi series of the same name.

4 weeks ago | doomrocket.substack.com | Jarrod Jones

OBEXOBEX, a miraculous oddball directed, co-written by, and starring Baltimore-based filmmaker Albert Birney, takes the well-trod hero's journey and reboots it with the blocky veneer of Apple IIGS aesthetics and the playful inanity of point-and-click adventures. It's one of those esoteric DIY projects you will either connect with instantly or won't.

1 month ago | doomrocket.substack.com | Jarrod Jones

LURKERWhen rising pop star Oliver (Archie Madekwe) enters the hot streetwear shop where Matthew (Théodore Pellerin) works, bromance is in the air. Matthew cues up a song on his phone — Oliver's favorite, as it happens — prompting them to strike up a conversation. It would read as buddy kismet had we not just watched Matthew scan Oliver's socials to find just the tune to grab his attention. You get the sense Matthew doesn't listen to much music, but he clearly understands fame.