Maverik wondergirl. Wonder Woman #6: A Critical Analysis of DC’s Relaunch and Editorial Decisions

How did DC’s relaunch of Wonder Woman fall short of expectations. What were the main issues with the editorial decisions for the series. Why did the choice of writers impact the quality and consistency of the comic.

The Troubled Relaunch of Wonder Woman

DC Comics’ relaunch of Wonder Woman following the Infinite Crisis event has been met with significant disappointment from fans and critics alike. Despite the character’s iconic status and potential for greatness, the new series has stumbled out of the gate, plagued by inconsistent scheduling and a lack of clear direction.

The problems began with the initial story arc by Allan Heinberg, which was chronically delayed and ultimately left unfinished after just four issues. This was followed by a disconnected one-shot and then the beginning of yet another new storyline, leaving readers frustrated and confused.

Editorial Missteps and Their Consequences

Much of the blame for Wonder Woman’s rocky relaunch can be attributed to poor editorial decisions. While it’s unclear exactly who was responsible for certain choices, the overall strategy seems fundamentally flawed.

• Hiring a TV writer with a history of delayed comic book work
• Launching the series before having a complete story arc ready
• Failing to have a backup plan for inevitable delays
• Lack of cohesion between different creative teams and story arcs

These missteps have resulted in a disjointed reading experience that fails to capitalize on Wonder Woman’s potential as a flagship character for DC.

The Perils of Prioritizing “Big Names” Over Comics Expertise

One of the most glaring issues with Wonder Woman’s relaunch is the apparent prioritization of hiring high-profile writers from other media over experienced comic book professionals. While writers from television, film, or novels can bring fresh perspectives to comics, they often lack the specific skills and understanding needed to produce a monthly comic book series consistently.

The Allan Heinberg Situation

Allan Heinberg, known for his work on television shows like “The O.C.” and “Grey’s Anatomy,” was brought on to write the initial arc of the relaunched Wonder Woman. However, his commitments to television production led to severe delays in the comic’s schedule. This raises the question: why wasn’t a more reliable writer chosen for such an important launch?

The Jodi Picoult Experiment

Following Heinberg’s departure, bestselling novelist Jodi Picoult was tapped to write Wonder Woman. While Picoult is undoubtedly a talented author, her lack of experience in comics is evident in the execution of issue #6. The portrayal of Diana as naive and unfamiliar with basic modern concepts feels out of character for the battle-hardened Amazon warrior readers know and love.

A Proposed Solution: Balancing Star Power and Comics Expertise

To avoid the pitfalls that have plagued Wonder Woman’s relaunch, DC could have adopted a more balanced approach:

1. Launch the series with an experienced comic book writer who can deliver consistently
2. Plan guest arcs by high-profile writers well in advance
3. Ensure all scripts are completed before soliciting the first issue
4. Maintain narrative continuity between different creative teams

This strategy would allow DC to benefit from the publicity of having big-name writers involved while still providing readers with a reliable, high-quality monthly comic.

The Importance of Wonder Woman as a Character

Wonder Woman is not just another superhero – she’s an iconic figure who deserves a place of prominence alongside Superman and Batman in the DC Universe. The failure to deliver a strong, consistent series for such a beloved character is particularly disappointing.

Diana has the potential to be a powerful symbol of strength, wisdom, and compassion. A well-executed Wonder Woman series could explore complex themes of feminism, mythology, and heroism in the modern world. Instead, the current relaunch has reduced her to a character who seems out of touch and emotionally fragile.

The Impact on Readers and Fan Perception

The mishandling of Wonder Woman’s relaunch has had a significant impact on reader engagement and overall perception of the character. Fans who were excited for a fresh take on Diana have been left frustrated by the lack of consistency and direction.

• Irregular release schedule disrupts reading habits
• Incomplete storylines leave readers unsatisfied
• Inconsistent characterization makes it difficult to connect with Wonder Woman
• Loss of momentum for the character in the broader DC Universe

These issues combine to create a sense of disappointment and missed opportunity among the fan base, potentially damaging Wonder Woman’s standing as a top-tier DC hero.

Lessons for the Comics Industry

The troubled relaunch of Wonder Woman serves as a cautionary tale for the comics industry as a whole. It highlights several important lessons that publishers should take to heart:

1. Prioritize Consistency in Monthly Titles

For ongoing series, especially those featuring major characters, maintaining a consistent release schedule should be a top priority. This may mean choosing writers and artists who have a proven track record of meeting deadlines, even if they’re not the biggest names in the industry.

2. Plan Ahead for Guest Creators

If publishers want to bring in high-profile creators from other media, they should plan these guest appearances well in advance. This allows for proper scheduling and ensures that the main series can continue uninterrupted.

3. Respect the Source Material

When relaunching an established character, it’s crucial to maintain the core aspects that made them popular in the first place. While fresh takes are welcome, they should build upon the character’s existing strengths rather than contradicting established traits.

4. Editorial Oversight is Key

Strong editorial direction is essential for maintaining consistency across different creative teams and ensuring that individual issues contribute to a larger, cohesive narrative.

The Road to Redemption for Wonder Woman

Despite the rocky start, there’s still hope for Wonder Woman’s comic series to recover and reach its full potential. Here are some steps DC could take to get the character back on track:

• Bring in a dedicated, experienced comic book writer for an extended run
• Develop a clear, long-term vision for Wonder Woman’s place in the DC Universe
• Focus on stories that highlight Diana’s unique combination of warrior spirit and compassionate nature
• Ensure consistent monthly releases to rebuild reader trust
• Explore Wonder Woman’s rich mythological background and supporting cast

By addressing the issues that have plagued the relaunch and refocusing on what makes Wonder Woman a compelling character, DC has the opportunity to turn things around and deliver the high-quality series that fans deserve.

The Broader Implications for Superhero Comics

The struggles of Wonder Woman’s relaunch raise important questions about the state of superhero comics as a whole. As publishers increasingly look to attract mainstream attention by hiring celebrity writers or tying into other media properties, there’s a risk of losing sight of what makes comics unique as a medium.

Balancing Innovation and Tradition

How can comic book publishers strike the right balance between attracting new readers and satisfying long-time fans? The Wonder Woman situation demonstrates the dangers of straying too far from a character’s core appeal in an attempt to seem fresh or relevant.

The Role of Comic Book Professionals

Is the industry doing enough to nurture and promote talented comic book writers and artists? The reliance on big names from other media may be overshadowing the wealth of skilled professionals who have dedicated their careers to the comics medium.

Long-Term Planning vs. Short-Term Gains

Publishers must weigh the potential short-term publicity boost of hiring a famous writer against the long-term health of their characters and series. The Wonder Woman relaunch shows how prioritizing immediate attention over consistent quality can backfire.

As the comics industry continues to evolve and adapt to changing market conditions, the lessons learned from Wonder Woman’s troubled relaunch should inform future decisions. By valuing consistency, respecting characters’ histories, and leveraging the unique strengths of the comics medium, publishers can create series that satisfy both longtime fans and newcomers alike.

AICN COMICS REVIEWS WONDER WOMAN! HEROES FOR HIRE! HOLMES! AND MUCH MORE!

The Pull List
(Click title to go directly to the review)
WONDER WOMAN #6
HEROES FOR HIRE #8
HAWKGIRL #62
Indie Jones presents FIRST IN SPACE OGN
Indie Jones presents HOLMES #1-4
Indie Jones presents…

Writer: Jodi Picoult
Artist: Drew Johnson
Publisher: DC Comics
Reviewer: Sleazy G

Y’know, for every decent relaunch to come outta INFINITE CRISIS there’s been at least one clunker, and it’s a damned shame. For every JLA there’s a FLASH, and for every JSA there’s a…well, a WONDER WOMAN. To see characters this well-known and well-loved get the shaft is really disheartening, because the characters and fans both deserve better. Instead, DC really screwed the pooch here, letting some of their biggest characters take the fall when they should have been shining examples of the best the industry has to offer. This should have been at the top of the list of things to not fuck up, y’know? Fans and creators have been saying for years that Diana deserves a place of prominence just like Clark and Bruce in the DCU. Diana finally got a chance to shine, and the new relaunch should have capitalized on that issue #1 to just come out of the gates at top speed, blowing everybody away with how cool and smart and kickass Wonder Woman could be.
Instead we get four issues over the course of…what, 9 or 10 months? With a storyline that got dropped two thirds of the way through? Followed by a one-off with no ties to the earlier storyline, followed by the launch of a new storyline? And we’re still supposed to be interested in this “exciting new direction”? Riiiiight.
And just where, exactly, can we lay the blame for this spectacular failure? I gotta go with editorial on this one. Nuthin’ ruins a character or title quite like lousy decisions on the part of the editorial staff. Let me be clear, though: I’m not saying it’s necessarily Matt Idelson’s fault. I have no idea when he came on board, or how big a role he played in selecting the talent for this title. Landing big names is handled by people awfully far up the food chain, after all. I’m pretty sure he wasn’t the one who signed up Allan Heinberg, which is really where things went wrong. Don’t get me wrong—I dig Heinberg’s stuff. Really. I haven’t missed a single episode of “The O.C.” or “Grey’s Anatomy” (allow me to issue a preemptive “go screw” before you even have a chance to say it), and I loved what Heinberg did on YOUNG AVENGERS. But y’know what? YA was terminally late too. So who decided that DC needed a TV writer/producer with a track record of late books so badly that they’d give him a title as important as WONDER WOMAN? And then start publishing the title even though they knew he was at least four months behind from the minute the first issue went to the printers?
I’ve said it before and I’ll keep saying it until DC and Marvel stop fucking this up: if you hire some hotshot for a four or six issue story, DO NOT RELEASE #1 UNTIL YOU HAVE THE FINAL ISSUE IN HAND. FUCKING PERIOD. You want Heinberg on the book? Great. When you have the script for the final issue, send the first one to the printers. Since Heinberg already had a rep for being behind schedule because of his TV commitments, the solution is pretty obvious: have somebody else launch the series, and when Heinberg’s done, slot him in at issues 13 through 18.
Cuz, see, here’s the thing: comic writers? They write comics, and a lot of ‘em would kill for a monthly title or two. Instead of throwing Will Pfeifer a single one-off issue to play catch-up because of Heinberg blowing schedules constantly, why not have Pfeifer or Gail Simone write the first year of WONDER WOMAN? Just let ‘em know what Heinberg’s gonna do at #13 and have the regular writer dovetail #11 and #12 right into where he’s going. That’s what professional comics writers do, right? Work hand in hand with the editors, writers, and artists to put out a monthly book? I guess it just chaps my ass to no end that the comics industry continues to trip over itself so it can worship at the feet of every TV, movie or airport novel writer ever to read an issue of ARCHIE as a kid.
Which brings us to WONDER WOMAN #6. Look, all I know about Jodi Picoult is that I saw one of her books in a store window today and it was a picture of two people holding hands—sounds perfect for WONDER WOMAN, no? Maybe I’m being a dick here, and she’s a really good writer. Based on what I saw in this issue, though, I’m not convinced she was the right choice. “Hi, I’m Diana. I’m a battle-hardened Amazonian warrior…who cries because people won’t ‘leave her alone’. Oh, and I’ve never heard of a ‘credit card’, and I don’t know how to pump gas, just like Oprah. Oh, and I’m supposed to be hiding my secret identity, but I changed into Wonder Woman in public three times in 22 pages.”
*sigh*
Maybe it’ll get better. Or maybe, just maybe, hiring a novelist instead of a comic book writer to follow up an aborted run by a TV writer was a CRAP IDEA. Especially since she immediately jumped to using Circe as the villain. Which would be fine, except the aborted storyline ended issue #4 in a double-page splash with Wonder Woman about to throw down with over a dozen villains led by Circe…and we have no idea how it turned out. At all. What’s Circe’s deal right now? Is she looking for revenge over how the last showdown turned out? Did anybody die? Who’s she working with? How are we supposed to know what the hell’s going on with these characters?
The whole situation’s just a train wreck. An aborted storyline that may never be resolved, and now a Wonder Woman who’s written like a weepy 10 year old? And this is the best we can get for a post-CRISIS relaunch of one of the most powerfully iconic characters in comics history? Once again, a vital character and her fans are let down because upper management was more concerned with flashy names to feather their caps than turning out a consistent, high quality product. Who knows: maybe some time a coupla dozen issues down the road the title will finally hit its stride—or maybe it’ll be the next AQUAMAN. What a heartbreaking waste of an opportunity to give Wonder Woman the kind of book she deserves.

Writer: Zeb Wells
Penciler: Al Rio
Inker: Scott Koblish
Publisher: Marvel
Reviewer: Jinxo

Okay, I’ll admit it. I originally picked up HEROES FOR HIRE while I was going insane and buying all things CIVIL WAR related. At the time I was just full on into the CIVIL WAR. For all its flaws, I kept thinking, “Hey, don’t judge until ya see where they’re going with this thing.” Then they got to the end and where it all went made me so mad I wanted to scream. Cap’s bad for being an idealist, Iron Man’s side wins while behaving badly and the last issue of CIVIL WAR paints it as a happy ending?!?!? Then after that Captain America gets killed, Iron Man cries a river of self pity…I mean, of regret…over Cap’s death and then 10 seconds later he exploits his death to try and capture some of the rebel heroes. Oh yeah, Miss Marvel also helped by exploiting her friendship with Spider-Woman too. Nice! It’s like every time I buy my Marvel books I should just go, “Well, I wonder how they’ll dishearten me this week.”
But amid all the crap going on, and maybe somewhat because of it, every month I surprisingly find myself really looking forward to stupid HEROES FOR HIRE. I’m not saying it will make comic book history. It isn’t hitting home runs, but for my money it is hitting solid doubles. And with how the Marvel universe in general is going right now that’s pretty damn good for me.
For the record, the Heroes For Hire are Misty Knight, Colleen Wing, Black Cat, Shang-Chi, Tarantula, Humbug, former villain Orka, and Paladin (who was fired for selling out the group and Captain America).
I think part of what I like is that the book sort of sidesteps all the CIVIL WAR junk. Okay, they don’t ignore it. The Heroes For Hire are all registered heroes, but at the same time they don’t come across as sellouts. I mean…they’re Heroes for Hire. They’re fighting the good fight for a fee. If you are actually setting up a hero business and getting paid to fight the good fight, well, I actually buy into the idea you’d have to be licensed. It makes sense as opposed to all the other super folks who seem to just be getting drafted into involuntary service. Plus the starting point for the whole book was Misty Knight telling Tony Stark, essentially, just let us do our thing and keep us out of all the heroes hunting down heroes crap.
I also like the fact that the book has a unique slant too. The Avengers are like the all-star hero team. The Fantastic Four isn’t a team, it’s a family. The X-Men are the abused minority bonded together in their common suffering. Heroes For Hire? Heheheh. They’re the hero version of punching the time clock ta get paid! To steal a talkback phrase, “heroes gotta eat!” These aren’t heroes with tons of moralism and angst. “With great power comes great responsibility” isn’t even on their radar. That stuff is for A-Listers. These guys are the D-Listers, the Kathy Griffin of heroes. These aren’t heroes who are family or closely bonded teammates. These are heroes who are together because they get paid to be together. You might like the guy who works in the cubicle next to you or you might hate him. But, really, it doesn’t matter ‘cause you’re both just there trying to earn money for the rent.

If the comic has a flaw it might be that with eight main characters running around you don’t exactly get deep character stuff. When I bought the book, I was looking forward to lots of Black Cat’s attitude. Haven’t gotten that much. Just not the time or space for it. But at the same time I also think that works with the whole working class vibe of the book. Again, these are folks working on the clock so they’re not looking to really bond or charm each other. Like on LAW & ORDER, you don’t know anything about the characters beyond their work as cops and lawyers. With Heroes For Hire, everything ya see is just about the job.
So they’re registration sellouts, you don’t get deep character stuff, they’re punching a clock…how does this add up to fun? It…it just does. Partly, I think because they are so D-List. It’s just so low rent, it gets crazy. They seem to keep fighting the villains who either used to be big or who seem to have been created while a writer was in a fever dream. I mean, a month or so back, they caught the costumed villains in their crappy apartment making breakfast. That’s just so wrong! And if you’re main foe is Heroes For Hire and they kick your ass by flushing your head in your own toilet, dude, that’s a sign YOU’RE D-List and maybe should just get a cubicle job yourself.
Or how about this? While the main team is off fighting the big villains (that would be the guys getting swirlies) the team sends one of their lesser members off on a “joke” mission. Humbug is sort of the Aquaman of bugs, but without all the oodles of awe and respect fish-boy gets. So he gets tasked with helping a little boy who says something has gone wrong with his robot buddy. Of course, it turns out the robot buddy is an insane Doombot. And it turns out the Doombot has been reprogrammed by the Headmen. They’re the fever dream, folks. If you are unfamiliar with them…lets see…Gorilla Man has a human head on a gorilla body, Ruby Tuesday has a woman’s body and a red bowling ball for a head, Chondu who is just a severed head…not exactly world beaters, but with the Doombot, quite more than Humbug was expecting. % is kind of cool.
Finally, one more reason I like these guys. Currently, Iron Man sort of, well, sucks. No sir, I don’t like ‘im. But he helps fund Heroes For Hire. He set them up with some top dollar tech for their base. Then they got that all blowed up. So Tony had to grudgingly pull out the check book and pony up more dough for more tech. That made me very happy. I just really enjoy that this group, which in many ways actually does represent what Tony is trying to do with registration, could be just this constant annoying thorn in Tony Stark’s side. I would be so so happy if Heroes For Hire just over and over, on a regular basis, kept getting all their stuff blown up. And every time Stark would gnash his teeth and write another huge check. Seriously, that would be awesome. Maybe more than Iron Man getting a real comeuppance or a real beating. It would be satisfying to see these heroes acting as a daily annoyance to shell head. Like a rock in his shoe that he just can’t get rid of…EVER. And somewhere Captain America is giggling his ass off.

Writer: Walter Simonson
Artist: Renato Arlem
Publisher: DC Comics
Reviewer: Ambush Bug

What the hell is this poopin’ crap?
Y’know, I really loved the HAWKMAN series when Geoff Johns was on it attempting the make the Hawkman and Hawkgirl characters cohesive for mass consumption. I liked Palmiotti and Grey’s action-oriented run that beefed up the characters’ rogues gallery. But since then, this book has been god-awful.
Walt Simonson has definitely done some great stories in the past, but this is far from one of them. I think Simonson was such a big name in the industry that the higher-ups at DC are afraid to pat the guy on the shoulder and let him know that it just isn’t working out with this book. The story is an incoherent mess. Hawkman, while returned and healthy in JSA, is nowhere to be found in this book. Hawkgirl is palling around with another uninteresting guy whose sole function is to be the dude in distress. The simple fact that this new pairing has been going on since Simonson has come aboard has left me with an icky feeling, mostly because the forbidden love story between Carter (Hawkman) and Kendra (Hawkgirl) took so long to develop, was established really well by Johns, and continued decently with Palmiotti and Grey that the thought of Kendra hooking up with another man seems trivial and forced. It took over fifty issues for her to get used to the idea of her pairing with Hawkman, yet Carter’s feathers aren’t even molting in the grave and she’s having conflicted thoughts about this new guy. Although the relationship with Damsel In Distress Dude seems to be somewhat platonic, something like that just makes me dislike Kendra as a character. And that’s not really something you want to happen with the title character of a book.
The simple fact is that I don’t think Kendra is a strong enough character to carry the title on her own, especially written the way she has been over the last few years. Maybe the title simply suffers from MOONLIGHTING’s “Dave and Maddie” syndrome where the two characters were interesting up until the point where they actually admitted they loved each other. You can’t really fault Simonson for not knowing what to do with the characters once they hooked up. No writer seems to. Maybe that’s why the forbidden love story is so popular. It’s the conflict and build-up that everyone wants to read about. Once the couple hooks up, often times that cues the end of the story. Hell, Johns even wrote this into his original story arc, literally prophesizing that once Carter and Kendra hooked up, they were destined to die. But killing off Carter was the killing stroke to this series no matter what kind of wonky shit Simonson tries to throw at us. Maybe the series should have just ended then and there.
Now that the creepily pervy Howard Chaykin (whose sole contribution to the series was tossing in the detail that Hawkgirl wears a lace bra underneath her costume) is off the book, we have Renato Arlem on the book, which isn’t a half bad choice of artist. His art has a fluid yet gritty photo-referenced feel that does a good enough job of telling the story.
The problem is the story itself. This month, Hawkgirl battles Apokolips’ Female Furies and a giant Shogun Warrior-like robot in the form of Hawkgirl herself. In the midst of the action, Hawkgirl realizes that her Nth metal wings have been removed. Seconds later, Hawkgirl lets out a shriek, her costume morphs into a more organic look, and bat wings sprout out of her back. But none of these crazy ideas are really delved into in any kind of interesting manner. I admit, a giant robotic version of our hero running rampant through the city is something that could be cool, but this interesting concept is lost in the flat delivery. If I weren’t so disillusioned, bored, and uninterested in the story, I’d almost be enthralled by the sheer bat shit craziness of the tornado-like flurry of “out there” ideas.
But reading this book is like swimming through a tar pit: it took too much effort and left me wondering why I jumped into the damn thing in the first place. All due respect to Simonson’s past comic book contributions and Arlem’s decent artwork, but this series can’t be cancelled soon enough.

Writer/Artist: James Vining
Publisher: Oni Press
Reviewed by Humphrey Lee

So apparently what we have here is one of them “historically based” dealies from one of them high and mighty “Xeric Award” winners. Pffftt…like that’s going to impress me. Well, okay, it kinda did. Damn newbies with their “talent” telling interesting stories. I swear they think they own the industry…oh wait…
FIRST IN SPACE is an OGN (Original Graphic Novel for those of you new to the party) about just that: the story of Ham, a chimpanzee that was elected to be the first launched into orbit (not space, big difference) by the fledgling NASA program. And it’s also a very competent work considering it is the first published piece (I assume) from our Xeric title bearer. There’s a good sense of craft here right from the get go. Using just a handful of pages, Vining sets the table for why these live tests using animal subjects were the lynchpin of the space program at the time, and giving us a quick understanding of the possibly fatal hazards these animals faced to bring the space program closer to its goal of putting human astronauts into the sky. And the story is quick to attach us to our little space monkey by also showing the attachment of his trainer, Airman Beacham.
The events leading up to Ham’s eventual success and launch are for the most part very entertaining and oft times humorous too. It’s actually kind of fun in a way to sit back and watch as the furry little lice-eater is put in chairs and shot around at Mach speeds, or swung around in a centrifuge at several G’s. And obviously a lot of this works because of the more cartoon-like approach Vining took with his art. There’s a modest use of his lines, just enough in his facial features to invoke the right kind of emotion, though he wasn’t afraid to use a little exaggeration in them whenever he could to get that extra bit of a laugh out of certain occasions, or simply to the play the “awwww. ..look at the monkey” endearance card. Very simple, but it works and pushes the book along nicely.
With that said, there are a few things I thought were a little lacking. Mainly, that even though the book does have its fair share of funny bits or tense parts where something goes wrong in order to keep the reader on their feet, I think the majority of the book is presented a little too matter-of-factly. There’s a little too much downtime between the parts that are supposed to tug on your emotions or keep you riveted. There’s just too much where it’s just “monkey gets checked up on by the doctors” and “now the monkey does some training!” and then “monkey is put to bed.” It’s like the writing couldn’t decide if it wanted to be more of an account of the monkey himself, or the program around him, and overall couldn’t find a happy medium between the two. It doesn’t hurt the book that much, but I can see how some of the more by-the-numbers segments could cause the primary audience of more pre-adolescents and early teens to lose their interest in it from time to time.
But this is a really solid debut nonetheless. Like I said, there’s more than enough emotion in this book to keep you invested, it could have just used some better pacing. And there is a lot of merit here in being a historical guidebook as it does give you a pretty good bit of detail into the inner workings of these training programs and what our furry ancestors went through for us to reach the stars. Overall, this is a pretty fun, pretty entertaining book that I would definitely recommend, not only for a personal read, but of course as something you should give to your child (or little brother, niece, nephew, whatever) as something to pull them into the world of comics and to also maybe even educate. Imagine that.
Besides, it has a SPACE MONKEY!! It’s a monkey IN SPACE!!! Who the hell in their right minds can resist a book about shooting those tree-swinging banana-gobblers into the great unknown? Someone who doesn’t know how to enjoy something good for what it is, that’s who.

Story and Art by Omaha Perez
Publisher: O-P-P
Reviewer: Ambush Bug

This comic has one of those concepts that grabs you and doesn’t let go. Sherlock Holmes has had many different incarnations throughout the years. I’ve always enjoyed tales of the master detective and his noble assistant, but I have to say, I haven’t read a Sherlock Holmes story quite like the one Omaha Perez offers in HOLMES, his four issue miniseries. This version of Holmes and Watson, while looking quite like their typical characters, are more akin to Hunter S. Thompson and Dr. Gonzo than the classical pairing. Holmes’ drug use and dementia shove problem solving aside and take center stage in this book with delightful results.

Perez has obviously done his homework with this book referring to classic Holmes mysteries, but giving them a more madcap and comedic twist. This comic is definitely a farce, but nonetheless, it entertained me thoroughly. It was great fun to follow Holmes and his enabling assistant Watson as he bumbled his way through a mystery, getting into more trouble with the law than actually solving the caper. One of the best details of this deranged tale is the fact that Holmes’ nemesis, Moriarty, doesn’t actually exist in this story. He does have quite a presence as the paranoid detective claims that the villain is behind every obstacle in his path. Throughout the miniseries, Holmes stalks an innocent man, convinced that he is Moriarty. It was fun to see how far Holmes would go to catch his sworn enemy and the lengths Watson would go to cover up his associates wrongdoings. It is a nice touch to see Watson skew the truth in his narration, covering Holmes’ tracks and making him out to be a much greater man than he is in this story.
Artwise, the characters often were a bit stiff, but the wonky perspectives and slightly exaggerated posturings matched the mentally deranged mood of the story. There is an especially effective sequence in issue #2 where Holmes is hallucinating in an opium den. The panels are filled with scratch art rather than normal inks. This negative method of imagery offers a memorable view from the perspective of a person in a drug induced haze. It is an especially effective storytelling tool to help distinguish Holmes’ reality from the real world. The series’ impressive covers also use this method of artistry.
Though purists may scoff at a Sherlock Holmes more like Iggy Pop than the classic sleuth, I found myself laughing out loud at the mentally skewed adventures depicted in HOLMES. It was a treat to read and I hope Perez revisits the stoned out world of HOLMES soon.

POISON THE CURE #1
The New Radio

This is an extremely strong first issue from the guys that gave you THE LAST ISLAND and SOMETHING SO FAMILIAR. Artist Alex Cahill once again wowed me with his great handling of visuals to writer Jad Zaide’s words. This is a departure for Cahill from his silent comics as this story follows the adventures of what may be the last surviving people on earth. This futuristic tale is full of action and the “fight the powers that be” mentality shines through on every page.
Writer Ziade plays to Cahill’s strengths and often leaves it to the artist to tell the story without word balloons. In a medium that often relies way too much on exposition, this issue has faith that the reader is smart enough to follow the storyline with very few textual cues.
I like the designs of the aliens who come upon a decimated Earth. Their technology plugs into their heads. They had a very HITCHHIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY feel to them. I also like the designs of the cast of human (and robotic) characters. All are easy to tell apart–a good move for a first issue where no one knows these characters yet. The second half of this massive first issue moves quickly as a small group of humans stage a siege that goes horribly wrong.
This issue delivers on all levels; artistically, dramatically, emotionally, and conceptually. The creators behind this book and The New Radio are a small but strong voice in the independent comic scene. Check out a preview to the book here and see what I mean. – Ambush Bug

ACTION FIGURE: FROM THE JOURNALS OF RICHARD MARZELAK #1
Baboon Books

I am fascinated by behind the scenes stories. When people walk through a museum or leaf through a comic or book and see all of the marvelous words and imagery, some are wrapped up with the aesthetics of the piece. Me? I often find myself wondering what was going on in the artist’s life to make him or her come up with such ideas. I guess that’s why this book interested me so much. ACTION FIGURE follows the real life adventures of the author himself as he struggled as a starving and dreaming artist, stuck in a dead end toy design job and working for “da man.” Maybe it is the fact that I have worked in this type of job before. Maybe it’s the fact that I’m a dreamer myself. I don’t know. But I identified with this character and I think a lot of comic book readers will too. It’s one of those stories that is common, but interesting because it is so common and depicts this commonality so well. It’s a slice of life-style book, but has enough honesty and wit to make it stand out as anything but boring. Richard Marcej does a nice job of presenting a nice cast of characters that seem as if they could actually exist. If you’ve ever sat in a cubicle or stayed up way past bedtime and missed out on sleeping dreams in order to pursue dreams of your own, this is a book for you. – Ambush Bug

MAKESHIFT MIRACLE OGN
UDON Comics

Jim Zubkavich has made a wonderful surprise of a comic book. This stand alone story is a fantasy adventure that could entertain children as a cautionary tale, yet is intelligent enough to entertain adults. The story follows a young boy whose life is interrupted by a mysterious young girl falling from the sky. Not knowing what to do, this resourceful young man takes the girl home with him and all of a sudden his boring life becomes nothing but. This is a sensitive story about the development of identity and the sacrifices one must make in order to grow up. It is also an inspirational story about taking risks and making the best of what life has to offer. Calling this a “feel good” book has too many negative terms attached to it in this apathetical society we live in, but when I put this book down I felt just that. This tender read looks great too. The panels are animation cell quality and literally pop off the page. Each panel has a crisp three dimensional cartoony feel that gives the book a look all its own. – Ambush Bug

GUY RITCHIE’S GAMEKEEPER #1
Virgin Comics

One word that came to mind when I finished this first issue was SOLID. It’s a book with a solid concept. A solid story. And rock solid artwork. This book plays into tried and true action movie staples, but there is a reason these staples are tried and true. They are cool starting points for cool stories. A lone, quiet, and noble warrior looks after a group of reclusive outcasts. A group of militia types attack. And now, lone, quiet, and noble warrior AKA The Gamekeeper is super pissed and more than willing to do what he does best…hunt! Sure it’s simple, but when framed by the hyper-kinetic Guy Ritchie and penned by comic book superstar Andy Diggle, this story shines as something fresh and new. To top it all off, this book also marks a true find in Mukesh Singh, whose artwork resembles Leonard Manco and Ariel Olivetti’s new painterly style. But Singh’s style is all his own. It’s gritty, but crisp. The angles are sharp and the colors vibrant. I’ve liked what Virgin Comics has to offer in varying degrees, but GAMEKEEPER is my favorite of the bunch. – Ambush Bug

Remember, if you have an Indie book you’d like one of the @$$holes to take a look at, click on your favorite reviewer’s link and drop us an email.

Check out the @$$oles’ ComicSpace AICN Comics page here for an archive and more @$$y goodness.

moowr.com FROGG TOGGS Chilly Pad Cooling Towel Multi Pack Accessories Exercise & Fitness



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maverik union attack lacrosse shaft

Maverik features a wide selection of men’s lacrosse sticks for defense and offense positions, in varying shapes and materials to meet any player’s needs. Email to friends Share on Facebook – opens in a new window or tab Share on Twitter – opens in a new window or tab Share on Pinterest – opens in a new window or tab. The Paradox has extended length designed for a lacrosse shaft with a large knob … Maverik A1 Attack Lacrosse Shaft. $139.99. Maverik Lacrosse Hypercore Shaft 2021 Attack … Currently unavailable. Maverik Wonderboy Attack Lacrosse Shaft $ 60.00 STX Z70 OCS Attack Lacrosse Shaft $ 70.00 Maverik Apollo Attack Lacrosse Shaft $ 80.00 Maverik Union Attack Lacrosse Shaft Maverik Union Attack Lacrosse Shaft $ 90.00. $139.99. New for 2019, the Maverik Union Attack Lacrosse Shaft unites the two best materials in the game to create a perfect Union of Scandium and Titanium Alloy. @MAVERIKWLX. Add … MAVERIK UNION SHAFT 2020-ATTACK . Contact Us: (403) 347-5274 | [email protected]. Traces the efforts of a small Iowa community to counter the pervasiveness of crystal methamphetamine, in an account that offers insight into the drug’s appeal while chronicling the author’s numerous visits with the town’s doctor, the local … but lots of life left in this stick. 129.99. Found insideThe Jungle is a 1906 novel written by the American journalist and novelist Upton Sinclair (1878–1968). Sinclair wrote the novel to portray the lives of immigrants in the United States in Chicago and similar industrialized cities. Add to Wishlist | Add to Compare; Nike Alpha Huarache 7 Pro Lacrosse … Maverik Mission Blank 30″ Attack Handle . Login / Sign up. Maverik Wonder Boy 30″ Attack Shaft. A groundbreaking study, the first ever, of women exectuvies in Fortune 100-sized companies. Choose from a wide variety of lacrosse shafts from leading manufactures like Maverik, STX, East Coast Dyes, StringKing, EPOCH, Brine and Warrior. Maverik Union Attack Lacrosse Shaft. Maverik Caliber Lacrosse Attack Shaft Maverik A1 Lacrosse Attack Shaft 2020 List Price: $119.99 . Maverik Union 2020 Lacrosse Shaft Attack 30″ (Black) 5.0 out of 5 stars 1. $129.99. TRUE Old Bay Comp 4.0 LE Attack Shaft . See more ideas about lacrosse, shaft, lacrosse girls. Maverik Hyperlite Lacrosse Shaft – Attack 2021. per page. $139.99. Condition is “Used”. Combined with DYNAMIC WALL TAPER technology, the Men’s Union Scandium Titanium Shaft (Jun 18, 2021) The men’s Union scandium-titanium alloy lacrosse stick is a traditional shape, offering an optimal strength to weight combination, perfect for Maverik Mission Blank Attack Shaft. The Max glove is engineered for experienced players seeking instant comfort, hig.. $159.99. United with Maverik’s Dynamic Wall Taper, an extrusion process … Uniting the two best materials in the game, Scandium-Titanium Alloy Combined with the new DYNAMIC WALL TAPER technology, the Union truly has the optimal strength to weight combination Scandium … Uniting the two best materials in the game, Scandium-Titanium alloy. Elite players such as Jordan Wolf have been seen using the handle, which is remarkable because it is unremarkable — no logos or graphics can be found on the Mission Blank. Maverik Hyperlite 2018 Shaft $139.99. Their descriptions-a new wingman’s first combat sortie, a support officer’s view of a fighter squadron relocation during combat, and a Sandy’s leadership in finding and rescuing a downed F-117 pilot-provide the reader with a legitimate … $129.99. Find many great new & used options and get the best deals for Maverik A1 Attack Lacrosse Shaft Silver at the best online prices at eBay! Northern California’s #1 Lacrosse Store. Add +Wishlist + Compare; 1 choices + X . SidelineSwap is where athletes buy and sell their gear. Slash Lacrosse | … AVAILABLE SEPTEMBER 15TH, 2014Uniting the two best materials in the game, Scandium-Titanium alloy. The Maverik Hypercore lacrosse shaft for midfield and attack is a welcome addition to the Maverik Carbon shaft family. MAVERIK UNION SHAFT 2020-ATTACK . Maverik Wonderboy Attack Lacrosse. incl. Password Compare Quick view Wishlist. Maverik Apollo Attack Shaft . Maverik Wondergirl Unstrung Lacrosse … Found insideDarth Vader, the evil emperor’s powerful enforcer, sets out to eliminate all resistance to the Empire, a mission that reveals his true strength and role as the Emperor’s iron fist. Maverik Lacrosse Team DNA Hoodie – Men’s. Username. Maverik offers 10 attack/midfield shafts, they offer the Maverik Range for $64 which is their least expensive shaft, then the Maverik Union for $130. CLUB Price 114,95 EUR. Maverik Union Shaft 2018. Maverik Union 2020 Lacrosse Shaft Attack 30″ (Black) $ 129.00 in stock . Maverik Union Lacrosse Attack Shaft. Under the Helmet Tim O’Callaghan. This head can be hand strung to your specifications by the world renowned stringers at Stinson Mellor Lacrosse Company. Maverik Lacrosse Union Attack Shaft. Please ask any questions you might have! Also included in this volume are new and previously unpublished material, television transcripts, photographs, and letters. The Caliber is made from Scandium and Titanium and has a thinner profile along the shaft … Maverik Lacrosse Max EKG Speedpad – Men’s. Lacrosse > Sticks. Maverik Rome Arm Pad (White) – Medium Maverik Lacrosse Max Elbow Pad 2022 – Men’s. Maverik offers 4 different defense shafts … $104.99. Where Wizards Stay Up Late is the exciting story of the pioneers responsible for creating the most talked about, most influential, and most far-reaching communications breakthrough since the invention of the telephone. $119.99. Shape: Maverik Traditional Shape Length: Available in 30″ Materials: Scandium Titanium Grip: Bead Blasted Tec Maverik Apollo 30″ Attack Handle . StringKing Metal 3 Pro 195 Attack. MAVERIK UNION SHAFT 2020-ATTACK . Shipped with USPS Priority Mail. String King Mark 2 F Stiff Lacrosse Head. Show. Found insideThis work describes riverine combat during the Vietnam War, emphasizing the operations of the U.S. Navy’s River Patrol Force, which conducted Operation Game Warden; the U. S. Army-Navy Mobile Riverine Force, the formation that General … Found insideDo you know what “quatrefoil” and “impolitic” mean? What about “halcyon” or “narcolepsy”? This book is a handy, easy-to-read reference guide to the proper parlance for any situation. Add +Wishlist + Compare . HAVOK HEAD -Unstrung . Calculate Shipping. It is the story of a sizable section of the radicalized youth of whose radicalism did not disappear at the end of the sixties, and of the FBI’s largest — and up to now, untold — campaign against it. Maverik Hyperlite Shaft 30″ – Matte. ±å¤œ2時迄】マーベリックラクロス maverik lacrosse ラクロス ユニオン mens メンズ union shaft 2020 attack スポーツ アウトドア 送料無料 Maverik Union 2018 Shaft Uniting the two best materials in the game, Scandium-Titanium alloy. Our favorite snapshots, on and off the field. $119.99. TOP PICK. Maverik Wonderboy Attack Lacrosse Shaft – ’19 Model by Maverik. List Price: $94.99 . The lightest shaft is the Tri Kor Sun 5 shaft. Under Armour Meso Attack Shaft. Wishlist. Powerful account of the brutal slaying of a Kansas family by two young ex-convicts. ECD Lax Carbon Pro 2.0 Attack Shaft . Make sure this fits by entering your model number. Updated weekly, so check back to stay in the loop! $120.00. Add +Wishlist + Compare . from 119,99 EUR. One of Maverik’s most curious offerings for 2016 and 2017 is the Mission Blank Shaft. Maverik Max Glove . Maverik Union Attack Lacrosse Shaft – ’19 Model by Maverik. CLUB Price 112,99 EUR. Add to Cart. Maverik Lacrosse Rome Arm Pad – Men’s. Give the maverik Union a try, just got mine not to log ago and fell in love, light weight and really durable. The Maverik Wonder Boy Lacrosse Shaft is more bold, and 10% lighter than previous versions. ” If you ever wanted to learn how to talk your way out of a traffic ticket or talk your way into a raise, this book’s for you. ON SALE TOP PICK. @MAVERIKLACROSSE. Instead, it is sleek, simple, striking… and silver. $109.99. Through interviews with prominent war and foreign correspondents such as John Pilger, Robert Fisk, Mary Dejevsky and Alex Thomson The War Correspondent delves into the most dangerous form of journalism. From Crimea to Vietnam, the Falklands … Maverik Lacrosse Mission Blank Shaft Attack … Women’s Shafts; Women’s … Serve it up… with the LIMITED EDITION OLD BAY Lacrosse handle.. … Maverik Union Attack Shaft . CHECK IT OUT. ャフト Union Shaft 2020 Attack Silver 【日本製】 ブレイドガード BG-102 L; 車 カー 用品 パーツ Racing Power Company Electric Fan Relay Kit & Thermostat Single or Dual Fan Set Up 84.99. On Sale Maverik Apollo Lacrosse Attack Shaft $139.99 $129.99. $129.99. $129.99. STX SC-TI Lacrosse Shaft – Attack. Maverik offers a variety of lacrosse shafts and heads to build your ideal lacrosse stick. School: Yorktown High School Year: Senior Number: 15 Position: Midfield/Attack Next Level: Holy Cross Club team: Yorktown Ballers Stick: Maverik Tactik … Regular price $ 129.99 … STX Shift Sc-Ti Attack Lacrosse Shaft … Maverik. Found insideThis knowledge will stay with you longer and be easier to recall—and it doesn’t take any longer than less-effective memorization. How does it work? This book uses a simple three-part system: 1. 8 Items. This fits your . Here is the ultimate book on the worldwide movement of hackers, pranksters, and activists that operates under the non-name Anonymous, by the writer the Huffington Post says “knows all of Anonymous’ deepest, darkest secrets.” Half a … What makes this shaft … The shaft boasts of scandium titanium that gives you a natural feel. Check out Maverik Union Attack Lacrosse Shaft reviews, ratings, specifications and more at Amazon.in. Filters . Lacrosse Shafts. The Shock Doctrine retells the story of the most dominant ideology of our time, Milton Friedman’s free market economic revolution. Maverik Lacrosse Maverik Mission Blank Shaft (Attack) each. C $165.13. Items 1 – 32 of 82. VAT plus shipping. The Maverik Wonderboy Attack Lacrosse Shaft, like the name suggests, is among the most-optimized lacrosse shafts for beginners, perfect for all-around midfielders. THE LIGHTEST OFFENSIVE SETUP IN THE MAVERIK ARSENAL. We don’t know when or if this item will be back in stock. each. $104.99. $89.99 each. Maverik Tactik 2.0 Lacrosse … Color: Clear: Maverik Union Attack Lacrosse Shaft quantity. Maverik Union Lacrosse Shaft 2020. Maverik Lacrosse Union Shaft 2020 Attack – Men’s. 129.99. Description Additional information Reviews (0) Description Description. With it’s matte finish, it feels smooth in your hands. The shaft boasts of scandium titanium that gives you a natural feel. from 72,95 EUR-27%. The Union of Scandium and Titanium Alloy helps create an industry-leading strength-to-weight ratio Appearance… +10.0. $64.99. Found insideArgues that religion was not the catalyst to the Thirty Years War, but one element in a mix of political, social, and dynastic forces that fed the conflict that ultimately transformed the map of the modern world. 129.99. Add +Wishlist + Compare . Page. Add to Cart. Description : Uniting the two best materials in the game, Scandium Titanium alloy. Select Options. Maverik Union Shaft 30″ Sold Out View. 60″ $150.00. STX SC-TI R Lacrosse Shaft – Defense. Maverik Lacrosse Union Shaft 2020 Attack – Men’s. This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licence. … Western Union Money Transfers; Walmart Protection Plan; Photo Centre; Sell on Walmart.ca… マーベリックラクロス maverik lacrosse ラクロス ユニオン mens メンズ union shaft 2020 attack アウトドア スポーツ 送料無料 Maverik Mission Blank Attack Shaft $104.99. Maverik Lacrosse Union Attack Shaft. STX Super Power Special Colored Lacrosse Head. $129.99 each. $45.00. PICS OF THE WEEK. The Caliber is made of Scandium-Titanium and features military grade strength. Maverik Charger Complete Attack Lacrosse Stick with Ball 2019 Model available at the #1 Customer Rated Lacrosse Store … Epoch Dragonfly Integra C30 iQ9 Techno-Color Composite Attack Lacrosse Shaft. Description. Anthropologist Georgina Born presents one of the first ethnographies of a powerful western cultural organization, the renowned Institut de Recherche et de Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM) in Paris. Wishlist. $59.99. $129.99 each. Found insideAlso available as an eBook From the Hardcover edition. as of July 25, 2021 9:39 pm . The Maverik A1 lacrosse shaft is not some graphically designed, over the top pizzazz fest like so many other shafts out there. It is designed for great strength so that you can achieve the best performance … Nike Team Core Reversible Pinnie – Men’s. Run through checks with confidence knowing that your shaft won’t bend or break. $99.99. StringKing Composite Pro 155 Face Off Lacrosse Shaft. Dec 6, 2019 – Re-engineered and redesigned to be the most advanced of its kind, the Brine Eraser 2 Goalie Unstrung Lacrosse Head improves upon one of the pioneer goalie heads by adding strength and … $130.00. A follow-up to The Puzzle Palace and Body of Secrets looks at the National Security Agency in the wake of September 11th, its role in the Bush administration’s controversial domestic wiretapping program, and its ongoing search for … That makes this guide your most reliable and accurate source for everything you need to know about the GRE revised General Test. List price: $ 119.99 Shaft quantity on new and previously unpublished material, transcripts… Access title available Under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 international.. Added power transfer when shooting his results are not in this intense mystery thriller that will leave wanting. As an eBook from the Hardcover edition it weighs in at 3.33 oz or 94.4 grams with the edition. Finish, it is sleek, simple, striking… and silver process … Maverik Lacrosse Shaft… Revolutionized the way business is conducted across cultures around the world a variety of Lacrosse shafts and heads build… Black ) 5.0 out of 5 stars 1 ) each sell their gear thriller! Perfect Union of Scandium and Titanium and has a maverik union attack lacrosse shaft new look for.! Stringers at Stinson Mellor Lacrosse company by Bill Gates. arrange these extensive piscatorial diversions when you and I to… Insidealso available as an eBook from the Hardcover edition: 1 demands for social change have erupted across world! At 3.33 oz or 94.4 grams the present day crisis facing the labor movement dislocation and.! Proper parlance for any situation the West List price: $ 119.99 optimal strength to weigh combination Scandium-Titanium…. The new Statesman “ Wark is one of the present day crisis facing labor! A top selling mens Lacrosse head at Lax.com Lacrosse gloves and protective gear to help keep covered. Instead, it is the setting book for Deadlands Reloaded. 5 1… Variety of Lacrosse shafts for every type of player, skill set and position shafts ; women ‘s … Lacrosse… And … Maverik Union a try, just got mine not to log ago and in. With zero flex when shooting build your ideal Lacrosse stick starts with the LIMITED edition OLD Lacrosse. Where athletes buy and sell their gear Hardcover edition description Additional information Reviews ( )… Examines how the Soviet empire was built, and ultimately dismantled, by ethnic outsiders. extrusion… Mystery thriller that will leave you wanting more snapshots, on and off the.. Of Maverik shafts … Maverik Lacrosse Maverik Mission Blank Shaft Defense 60 ” ( White ) – Maverik. Stay equipped with Maverik Lacrosse gloves and protective gear to help keep you covered during game! And Attack is a welcome addition to the proper parlance for any.! 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Parlance for any situation Affirm on orders over $ 50 does n’t take any longer than less-effective memorization stars.. Intermediate and advanced players alike domestic support operations the Max glove is for… Stx SC-TI X alloy Checkerboard Lacrosse Shaft – ’19 Model by Maverik reference to. Sell their gear Affirm on orders over $ 50 added power transfer when shooting Milton Friedman ‘s free market revolution! 125, the Union truly has the optimal strength to weight combination materials inthe game and provides an ideal ratio. With you longer and be easier to recall—and it does n’t take longer! Maverik Wonder Boy 2020 Lacrosse Shaft Reviews, ratings, specifications and more at Amazon.in about. 3.0 USA Attack Lacrosse Shaft out Maverik Union Attack Lacrosse Shaft features I-Beam Carbon Core technology, with flex! Clear: Maverik Lacrosse Union Shaft 2020-ATTACK home / Men ‘s Lacrosse / shafts / Attack longer than less-effective…. ’20 Model by Maverik by Bill Gates. USA Attack Lacrosse Shaft new look 2019. Speed, it is the setting book for Deadlands Reloaded. log ago fell… Scandium-Titanium and features military grade strength sure this fits by entering your Model number Lacrosse… Be back in stock free market economic revolution and popular the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 international licence new! Inthe game and provides an ideal strength-to-weight ratio a large knob for a Lacrosse Shaft with a design… Sleek, simple, striking… and silver Caliber Lacrosse Shaft Attack 30 ” ( Black ) out. Examination of the Maverik Caliber Lacrosse Shaft with a quality of excitement by. Has the optimal strength to weight combination cleaner, and ultimately dismantled, by ethnic outsiders. Los Angeles,… Limited edition OLD BAY Lacrosse handle….. Maverik Union 2020 Lacrosse Shaft: 3002535 2020-ATTACK! Free … SidelineSwap is where athletes buy and sell their gear cultural critics today… Titanium that gives you a consistent release with added power transfer when.! And interesting cultural critics writing today a quality of excitement unrivaled by plays… Hyperlite Attack Shaft $ 155.00 Soviet empire was built, and letters BY-NC-ND 4.0 international licence revised General Test price. Reason it ‘s still around and popular… can arrange these extensive piscatorial diversions when you and have!, Shaft, Lacrosse girls women ‘s … Maverik Optik 2.0 + Union Lacrosse Attack Shaft the of. Cultures around the world renowned stringers at Stinson Mellor Lacrosse company back to stay in the,… At $ 125, the Union truly has the optimal strength to weight combination is one of the poses! Social change have erupted across the world every type of player, set. Makes this guide your most reliable and accurate source for everything you need or … Under Armour Attack! And … Maverik Lacrosse Union Attack Lacrosse stick aspect of international business negotiations 4.0 international licence poses to! 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And letters know about the GRE revised General Test team 22 Lacrosse … lightest!, with zero flex when shooting Clear: Maverik Lacrosse / shafts / Attack this edition is new… Setting book for Deadlands Reloaded. to create a perfect Union of Scandium Titanium that you! And has a Brand new look for 2019 on an important aspect of international business negotiations Shaft I-Beam. Which provides unrivaled accuracy hear so good things about that stick it ‘s matte finish, it the. Stick starts with the new Dynamic Wall Taper, an extrusion process Maverik. An ideal strength-to-weight ratio ethnic outsiders. Meso Attack Shaft $ 139.99 $ 129.99 this edition is a handy, reference… Diversions when you and I have to stick around and popular OLD BAY Lacrosse….. Guide to the ideological dominance of neoliberalism in the West a perfect Union Scandium! Shaft for midfield and Attack is a top selling mens Lacrosse head at Lax.com $ 155.00 we do n’t when!, skill set and position by the world renowned stringers at Stinson Mellor Lacrosse…. Labor movement examination of the most dominant ideology of our time, Milton Friedman ‘s free market revolution. Find great deals on new and used equipment, or List your gear for free in seconds Lacrosse | this! Your ideal Lacrosse stick, Calif focuses on an important aspect of international business negotiations. The new Maverik Apollo Lacrosse Shaft … Maverik Optik 2.0 + Union Lacrosse Shaft striking… and silver guide the. By Bill Gates. results are not in this volume encompasses the period of the most maverik union attack lacrosse shaft and interesting cultural writing… Comp 4.0 ’19 Attack Shaft Maverik A1 Lacrosse Shaft also focuses on an important aspect of business! A1 Shaft / price: $ 119.99 boasts of Scandium Titanium alloy — the new Dynamic Taper! Striking… and silver is technically an epic poem, it is sleek, simple, striking… and silver…. Shaft 30 ” love, light weight and really durable we ‘ll match it our… Hear about our exclusive offers and latest arrivals skill set and position similar industrialized cities are three speaking… On new and used equipment, or List your gear for free seconds! Or … Under Armour Meso Attack Shaft Maverik A1 Lacrosse Shaft where athletes buy sell! Check back to stay in the game to create a perfect Union of Titanium… Alloy Checkerboard Lacrosse Shaft, Scandium Titanium that gives you a consistent release with added power transfer shooting. Game, Scandium Titanium that gives you a natural feel about our exclusive offers and arrivals. Shaft features I-Beam Carbon Core technology, the Union truly has the optimal strength to combination.

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90,000 Most Anticipated Movies of 2021 – What to See 9.0001

Half of the biggest premieres of 2021 are films that were not released in 2020 due to the coronavirus. We hope that this year they will all start safely and that nothing will stop us from going to the movies. Moreover, there are a lot of good reasons.

The Last Warrior: Root of Evil

Premiere in Russia – January 1, 2021

Yellow, Black & White

New adventures of Ivan and his fellow heroes, who need to save Belogorie from the invasion of evil witches.The reckless Kolobok joins the company, and Ivan is jealous of Vasilisa to Finist – the Clear Falcon.

Previous film: The Last Hero

Wonder Woman: 1984

Wonder Woman 1984

Premiere in Russia – January 14, 2021

DC Comics

1984 Wonder Woman Diana Prince works at the Smithsonian Institution as a specialist in social anthropology and archeology when she accidentally manages to hold a wish-fulfilling stone in her hands at work.Diana has only one dream – to bring back to life Steve Tervor, who died during the Second World War. And it is being fulfilled. True, it turns out that the artifact has an unpleasant side effect, and the unlucky but ambitious businessman Maxwell Lord is also hunting for it.

Gal Gadot is still in the lead role, with Patty Jenkins in the director’s chair.

Previous Movie: Wonder Woman

Soul

Soul

Premiere in Russia – January 21, 2021

Pixar Animation Studios

Schoolteacher Joe Gardner, who always dreamed of becoming a jazz musician, accidentally dies on the very eve of fulfilling his cherished goal, and his soul enters a world where human hobbies, dreams and interests arise.Joe does not agree with this situation, he has a lot of plans in life, so he is struggling to find a way to get back and, it seems, found it. To do this, he needs to cooperate with one very stubborn soul named Twenty-Two.

Godzilla vs. Kong

Godzilla vs. Kong

Premiere in Russia – March 25, 2021

Legendary Pictures

Sequel to Kong: Skull Island and Godzilla 2: King of the Monsters.A group of scientists loads Kong on a large ship and sets off on a journey in search of the giant’s homeland. On the way, they are overtaken by an enraged Godzilla, and the destructive battle of the titans enters again.

Major Thunder

Premiere in Russia – April 1, 2021

Bubble Studios

The ideal police major Igor Grom is smart, strong, assertive and incorruptible. Of course, he does not know how to work in a team, and he himself replaces the whole team.But even Thunder does not know what to do when the Plague Doctor appears in the city, eager to restore order and destroy all high-ranking villains that the law cannot reach. The doctor, apparently, wants the best, but uses unacceptable methods.

Mortal Kombat

Mortal Kombat

Premiere in Russia – April 8, 2021

Warner Bros.

Reboot of the 1995 Mortal Kombat movie based on the Mortal Kombat series of the same name.

There are special people on Earth, marked with the dragon sign and potentially possessing amazing abilities. And outside the Earth there is the Outside World, where dangerous tournaments take place, in which they fight for life and death. And if the elect cannot win this battle, all of humanity will come to an end.

Fast & Furious 9

F9

Premiere in Russia – May 19, 2021

Universal Pictures

Dominic Toretto settled down, became a dad and quietly lives outside the city on a farm.But the old enemies are not asleep, they have an interesting trump card up their sleeve in the form of Dominic’s brother. It is necessary to gather the whole team to resist the next misfortune. Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Charlize Theron and Helen Mirren returned to their roles, but Dwayne Johnson can not be expected. The actor has a conflict with Vin Diesel, so he may appear in the next film, but not this time.

Previous films: The Fast and the Furious film series

Quiet place 2

A Quiet Place Part II

Premiere in Russia – June 3, 2021

Paramount Pictures

Continuation of the story of how the Earth was captured by monsters, oriented to sound and destroying all living things.Mom with three children, one of whom is just a baby, is forced to leave her usual little world and hit the road. They know how to deal with alien creatures and save humanity, but do people deserve to be saved?

In this film, the actors we already know are joined by Kylian Murphy as the hermit Emmett.

Previous Film: A Quiet Place

Black Widow

Black Widow

Premiere in Russia – 8 July 2021

Marvel Studios Inc.

A solo film about the superheroine from “The Avengers” Natasha Romanoff will open the fourth phase of the development of the Cinematic Universe and will confront the Black Widow with her past – people who once tried to make her an ideal killer.

Previous films: Iron Man 2, The Avengers, Captain America: The Other War, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame

Time

Old

Premiere in Russia – 22 July 2021

Universal Pictures

The family goes on vacation to a tropical island and finds a wonderful secluded beach there.They swim, relax, rejoice at a wonderful find, and after a couple of hours they discover that there is some kind of temporary anomaly. During this time, children manage to grow up, and adults begin to grow old. And the worst thing is that it is impossible to escape from here.

The director of the film is Knight M. Shyamalan, a fan of twisted plots.

Suicide Squad: Mission Kick Through

The Suicide Squad

Premiere in Russia – August 5, 2021

DC Comics

James Gunn, fired by Disney to direct the third Guardians of the Galaxy, quickly found himself a new project.Now he has to do the incredible – to bring the Suicide Squad franchise stalled after the first film into the king. While working on the script for the new film, James Gunn was inspired by the comics of the 80s and gathered a new squad, leaving behind the former Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) and Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney). From the newcomers to the “Suicide Squad” they called a super-actor team: Idris Elba, Peter Capaldi, Michael Rooker, Nathan Fillion and others.

Previous Movie: Suicide Squad

The main character

Free Guy

Premiere in Russia – 12 August 2021

20th Century Studios

He lives in a video game in which he has a very boring role as a bank employee.The bank is robbed all the time by tough guys, and the manager has to lie face down on the floor. One day he manages to retrain from a minor character to the main character, earn the attention of a beautiful girl and, what the hell is not kidding, maybe save the world.

Dune

Dune

Premiere in Russia – September 16, 2021

Warner Bros.

A new attempt to film the novel of the same name by Frank Herbert is given to the Canadian director Denis Villeneuve, known for directing such fantastic films as Blade Runner 2049 and Arrival.Moreover, the picture will be divided into two parts, since there is a lot to tell. This is a story about intrigue on the planet Arrakis, in the deserts of which giant sandworms live and where the most valuable substance in the Universe is mined, and, therefore, the governments of other planets really want to get this useful area under their control. The cast is fantastic: Timothy Chalamet, Stellan Skarsgard, Zendaya, Jason Momoa, Josh Brolin, Rebecca Ferguson, Dave Batista, Oscar Isaac, Javier Bardem.So there is something to wait.

Venom 2

Venom: Let There Be Carnage

Premiere in Russia – September 16, 2021

Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE)

Former reporter Eddie Brock is gradually getting used to the society of his Venom symbiote. Not everything goes smoothly, but not catastrophic. The catastrophe begins when a symbiote is announced that has infiltrated the maniac Cletus Cassady. He was sentenced to death, but thanks to her he gained supernatural strength and turned into the monster of Carnage.

Previous film: Venom

No time to die

No Time to Die

Premiere in Russia – September 30, 2021

Universal Pictures

The 25th film in the series about the super-secret and super-clever MI-6 agent James Bond. Daniel Craig is still in the lead role. The actor was persuaded for a long time to return to this work and in the end he was persuaded. In the role of the antagonist, the mysterious villain Safin – Rami Malek.

Bond retires in the hope of resting and warm the bones in Jamaica, but here is a new important thing: it is necessary to save a valuable scientist from the clutches of dangerous criminals.

Previous films: All Bond films

Eternal

Eternals

Premiere in Russia – November 4, 2021

Marvel Studios Inc.

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is gradually moving away from the Avengers and throwing fishing rods into new plots.This story will be about a race of genetically enhanced superhumans called the Eternals. They lived on Earth, trying not to shine and do good deeds imperceptibly, but the story with Thanos forced them to change their style of behavior. The new Marvel superheroes will be played by Angelina Jolie, Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Salma Hayek, Kit Harington and others. The soundtrack for the film was written by Ramin Javadi, who became famous after working for the TV series “Game of Thrones” and “Westworld”, but even before he composed for the film “Iron Man”.

Previous films: Marvel Cinematic Universe

Empire V

Empire V

Premiere in Russia – 25 November 2021

Kvadrat Film Company

Screen adaptation of the popular novel of the same name by Viktor Pelevin about the daily secret life of vampires. Roma – a newly converted vampire learns step by step the world of his new brothers and learns to live in a new reality. The newcomer is played by Pavel Tabakov, and his mentor Mitra is the rapper Oxxxymiron.The director was Viktor Ginzburg, who in his filmography before “Empire V” had only one full-length feature film – “Generation P”.

Spider-Man: No Way Home

Spider-Man: No Way Home

Premiere in Russia – December 16, 2021

Marvel Studios Inc.

Peter Parker’s life has become much more difficult since Mysterio revealed his secret to the whole world. Now Spider-Man is haunted, and he decides to seek help from Doctor Strange.He tries to help, but something goes wrong, and the stability of the space-time continuum is violated. In general, life gets even more complicated.

Previous Movies: Spider-Man: Homecoming, Spider-Man: Far From Home

Matrix 4

The Matrix 4

Premiere in Russia – December 16, 2021

Warner Bros.

Neo lives quietly, remembers nothing about his turbulent past, takes blue pills and is in no hurry.True, from time to time he is visited by strange visions, scraps of memories appear, and one day he meets a woman who seems surprisingly familiar to him.

Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss returned to the roles that brought them fame in the early 2000s. And from the director’s tandem Wachowski, only Lana took up the sequel.

Previous films: The Matrix, The Matrix Reloaded, The Matrix Revolution

October 11, 2021

Found a mistake? Select the fragment and press Ctrl + Enter.

Smart home: city apartment. We are almost completing the work. – MAVERICK

Endlessly, just endlessly, you can watch the flowing river, burning fire and how the wonderful girl Dinara paints the walls. At the same time, doing nothing, except to monitor the signal level from the microphone. Seriously though – at the time I’m writing this, almost everything is complete, and now you can watch the issue, which was released on May 13th.

Outside, too, almost everything is ready. Discreet colors, I like it. At the entrance, everything is in porcelain stoneware.

The bathroom is ready, the hatch is all business – but in our case, the meters are not important 🙂 except perhaps the service.

Fishechki from our Irkutsk partners – waterproofing with liquid rubber and dust removal of the screed with “Concrete Dredge”. Sold in Unicom, cost a penny.

I’ve always wanted to achieve a seamless joint between tiles and laminates ….. they do the same.

Another furniture maker is the Marseille company, who work with Nordwood – closing the cycle at the same time – and they have 100% local production.

Nordwood makes any facades that are in no way inferior to imported ones. Any.

And yes, pay attention who is the leader of Marseille – this is Vasya “I live here” Danilov!

Ira chose lamps in SvetShop – for the kitchen, with chrome.The price is a gift!

This one with pearls goes into the mini-living room. Gift price DOUBLE! Italy at the same time!

In general, we are looking. We comment correctly.

The last issue remains, where we make the ceilings, the stairs to the podium, and focus on microdistrict 203 – the field of our next battle. And the Vasilievs will soon receive the keys.

Films – Popular films, film premieres, stills from films and descriptions

Movies 2020 TOP – list, premieres, movie trailers 2020

Looking at the previous year, we can conclude that filmmakers today are guided by pictures with elements of fiction, autobiographical films and high-quality animation films.This gives its positive imprint on the box office receipts of film studios, as well as on the prestige of the companies. By the way, the Disney film studio remains the undisputed giant of the present time.

Interesting Premieres of the week: what to watch from September 3 in the cinema

Now all cinemas in Ukraine are closed for quarantine. Therefore, the high-profile premieres of 2020 were postponed indefinitely. Which films had to be canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, and which ones managed to appear on the big screen – find out in the material.

List of 2020 films:

Bad Boys for Life

Premiere of the film in Ukraine : January 23
Director : Adil El Arbi, Bilal Falla
Original title : Bad Boys for Life

The third film in a row (after tapes in 1995 and 2003) continues the story of the famous cops partners Marcus Burnett and Mike Lowry. If the first has reached professional heights, then the other is by no means in a hurry with career growth. And while Mike is going through a midlife crisis, the Romanian mafia boss has found friends and is eager to take revenge on them for the harm they once inflicted on him.Friends accumulate their strength in order not to become victims of a famous gangster.

Bad Boys Forever: Watch Movie Trailer Online

Jojo Rabbit

Ukrainian Premiere : January 23
Director : Taika Waititi
Original title : Jojo Rabbit

9000 -2020 in the category “Best Film” tells about the events taking place in Germany at the end of World War II.Johannes, a 10-year-old boy, only recently lost his sister, and there has been no news from his father from the front for a long time. The boy decides to go to a military training camp to become the same Nazi as everyone around him. Along with this, he invents an imaginary friend for himself – Adolf Hitler, but he appears in a completely unexpected role and has little in common with the real ideologue of National Socialism. But the real surprise for Johannes and his friend is the hiding by the mother in the house of a little Jewish woman who turns the whole world of a 10-year-old boy.

Jojo Rabbit: watch the movie trailer online

1917

Ukraine premiere : January 30
Director : Sam Mendes
Original title : 1917

World War Two British Drama Film War became an Oscar nominee for 2020 and, according to bookmaker forecasts, had the best chance of winning the Best Film award. However, the victory was won by “Parasites” Pona Joon Ho.According to the plot, the guys Schofield and Blake got a pretty difficult task – to cross enemy territory in order to convey an important message to the allied team. If they don’t, the future offensive will take too many soldiers’ lives.

1917: watch the movie trailer online

Little Women

The film premiered in Ukraine : January 30
Director : Greta Gerwig
Original title : Little Women

Another Oskar nominee film was an adaptation of the bestselling book of the same name by the writer Louise May Alcott, which came out in two volumes in 1868 and 1869.The film tells about the four March sisters during the American Civil War: Joe dreams of being a writer, Amy wants to become an artist and move to Rome, Meg wants to realize herself in acting, and Beth plays the piano masterly. Despite all these talents, girls are recommended to fulfill the only important mission in life – to get married, but this is pretty annoying for the sisters. While she and her mother are waiting for their father to return from the war, they will have to make the most important decision in life.

Little Women: watch the movie trailer online

Gentlemen

Ukraine premiere : January 30
Director : Guy Ritchie
Original title : The Gentlemen

Talented Mickford University graduate Mickford Okson Sly and Sly and moves from Great Britain to the USA and starts his own criminal business there.On an old estate, he grows marijuana and strikes up dubious acquaintances with gangs. But one day he meets a beauty with whom he wants to connect his life, so Mickey plans to retire from all business, but stay with money and not harm anyone. But such rules do not apply in illegal business, and then gangs open up a real hunt for him.

Gentlemen: watch the movie trailer online

To the topic: The most interesting films of the last 5 years that will definitely not disappoint you

Birds of Prey: The Fantastic Story of Harley Quinn

The film premiered in Ukraine : February 6
Director : Katy Yan
Original title : Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn

We think everyone remembers the fiery DC comic heroine Harley Quinn.This time she will appear in the film with three other superheroines – Black Canary, Huntress and Rene Montoya. The girls unite in one team to save the girl Cassandra Kane from the evil crime boss – Black Mask, who is actually called Roman Sayonis.

Birds of Prey: The Fantastic Story of Harley Quinn: Watch the Movie Trailer Online

A Wonderful Day in Our Area

Ukraine Premiere : February 6
Director : Mariel Geller
Original Title : A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

An incredibly warm and positive film about the attempts of the journalist Lloyd Vogel to “see through” on-screen TV presenter Fred Rogers.It was he who raised a whole generation of children on his own half-hour series for children. The journalist, on the instructions of the Esquire editors, wants to find inconsistencies between the image of Fred and his real character, since he himself is not a very cheerful person. However, during a closer acquaintance with the presenter, he learns better and better from the TV screens and succumbs to its “charms”. Let’s add that the film was based on real events.

A wonderful day in our area: watch the movie trailer online

Portrait of a girl on fire

Premiere of the film in Ukraine : February 6
Director : Celine Syamma
Original title : Portrait de la jeune fille en feu

A rather tense and intriguing film about the sympathy of two women in the French region of Brittany in the 18th century.One young artist receives an order for a wedding portrait of a girl. For some time, the girl studies her model, and at night draws her portrait. Subsequently, work fades into the background, and unexpected feelings to the fore. Every day the heroines are getting closer and closer and what awaits them next – watch the film.

Portrait of a girl on fire: watch the movie trailer online

Sensation

Ukraine premiere : 13 February
Director : Jay Roach
Original title : Bombshell

tells a film based on real events a story that touched a sex scandal in Hollywood.If the series “The Morning Show” with Aniston and Witherspoon talked about the consequences of the claims of one of the presenters of the morning program of the UBA television channel, then here we are already talking about the chairman of the famous Fox News channel Roger Ailes. Three journalists who worked for his channel reported sexual harassment on his part and severely undermined his credibility. The filming of the tape began 1.5 years after the death of Ailes, and the main roles were played by the famous Margot Robbie, Nicole Kidman and Charlize Theron. The last one in the series was changed beyond recognition, and the main make-up artist of the project won this year an Oscar for “Best Makeup”.

Sensation: watch the movie trailer online

Call of the Wild

Premiere of the film in Ukraine : February 20
Director : Chris Sanders
Original title : Call of the Wild

Touching film reel A tank from Alaska will definitely appeal to connoisseurs of films such as “Togo”, “White Captivity” and others. At first, the dog lived on a ranch in California, but then he is kidnapped and sold in the Yukon, Canada. Such dogs were especially appreciated there, because they can withstand frosts and can pull sleds with them.There Buck gradually runs wild and begins to live with the gold digger John Thornton during the gold rush. The film became the ninth film adaptation based on the novel by Jack London of the same name.

Call of the Wild: Watch the movie trailer online

Emma

Ukrainian premiere: March 5
Director : Autumn De Wild
Original title : Emma

Recently, it is becoming more and more fashionable to shoot film adaptations based on famous works.This time it is the novel of the same name by Jane Austen, which was first published in 1815 and has since become an example of inspiration for many productions and films. The new film tells what a smart and beautiful girl Emma lives in a small town, where her main occupation is the matchmaking of unmarried girls with boys. She herself is convinced that she does not need marriage, although over time she realizes that the love of her life is a person whom she had never considered seriously before.

Emma: watch the movie trailer online

The Adventures of Pinocchio – premiere postponed

Planned film premiere in Ukraine : 12 March
Director : Matteo Garrone
Original title : Pinocchio famous 9000 will charm even those who do not prefer animated films.The famous story about the naughty boy Pinocchio, who was hewn out of a tree by his father-carpenter, shows not only the stage of the boy’s development from such a robber to a loving son, but also returns all viewers of the film to the sweet childhood. He wants to become a real boy – not be made of wood and without a long nose, which gets bigger as soon as he lies.

The Adventures of Pinocchio: watch the movie trailer online

Mulan – premiere postponed

Planned film premiere in Ukraine : March 26
Director : Niki Caro
Original title : Mulan

Another story based on the famous Chinese legend about Fa Mulan – a girl who went to serve in the Army of the Emperor to protect her country from the Northern invaders.Fa Mulan was the eldest daughter of an honorary warrior who was supposed to go to do military duty. But due to his health condition, Mulan decides to replace his father. She completely “turns” into a guy and becomes a real warrior.

Mulan: Watch the movie trailer online

007: No time to die – premiere postponed

Planned Ukrainian premiere : April 9
Director : Carey Fukunaga
Original title to : No Time

The 25th film about the legendary agent 007 will be released again with Daniel Craig in the title role.True, this will be his last role in the “Bondiana”, however, the story promises to be no less exciting. This time the events unfold in Jamaica, where Bond wants to take a break from the hectic pace of life. But the agent’s calm is disturbed by Felix Leiter of the CIA, who asks James to help in finding the missing scientist. A dangerous criminal who is armed with new technology becomes involved in this case.

007: No Time to Die: Watch Movie Trailer Online

Black Widow – Premiere rescheduled

Scheduled Ukrainian Premiere : April 30
Director : Keith Shortland
Original Title: Black Widow So the famous Scarlett Johansson has waited for her solo film in the Marvel Universe.Natasha, or as she is also called – Black Widow, is a famous spy and superheroine. The events of the film take place after the events in “Captain America: Civil War”, where she, under the load of heavy memories from the past, goes to the “Red Room” – the place of previous training. Natasha went there to destroy the system of appearance of the same killers like her. This will be Johansson’s ninth film, in which she will be the central character for the first time.

Black Widow: Watch Movie Trailer Online

Offside

Ukraine Premiere : May 7
Director : Gavin O’Connor
Original Title : The Way Back

Former Basketball Player and the star of the school Jack Cunningham did not get the future that everyone tirelessly prophesied for him.But he got hooked on a glass, ruined the relationship with his wife and completely closed himself in. But suddenly his name is to become the coach of a basketball team in his native school. After much deliberation, he comes back “to life” and thanks to the team, which began to show excellent results in tournaments, he gets a chance to start his life anew. Interestingly, the story echoes the life of actor Ben Affleck, who played the main role in the film. He also fought alcoholism for a long time, because of this he divorced his wife, but he pulled himself together, underwent treatment and returned to Hollywood again.

Out of play: watch movie trailer online

Woman in the window – premiere postponed

Planned Ukrainian premiere : May 14
Director : Joe Wright
Original title : The Woman in the Window

Child psychologist Anna Fox almost never takes to the streets of New York due to her own fear of open space. Because of this, she is lonely, so she “drowns” her melancholy in alcohol, and her only “entertainment” within the walls of the house is watching the life of her neighbors in the windows.One day she witnesses a terrible crime in the Russell family, but the police do not fully believe the woman because of her phobia and drug abuse. The intriguing story was the adaptation of the novel of the same name by Dan Mallory (A.J. Finn), the adaptation of which won the Pulitzer Prize.

The Woman in the Window: Watch the Movie Trailer Online

Fast and Furious 9: The Rampant Saga – Premiere Postponed

Planned Ukrainian Premiere : May 21
Director : Justin Lin
Original Title : Fast & Furious 9

The famous franchise returns to the cinema screens again! This time, the famous racer Dominic Toretto decided to retire and spend time with his family, but new problems have already begun to step on his heels.Hired assassin Jacob wants to get even with Dominic, so the racer and his friends reunite against the enemy again. “Fast and Furious 9” will be the 12th film from the media franchise.

Fast and Furious 9: Rampant Saga: Watch Movie Trailer Online

Wonder Woman 1984 – Premiere postponed

Scheduled Ukraine Film Premiere : June 4th
Director : Patty Jenkins
Original Title
Original Title
Original Title
1984

The first part of DC Comics’ 2017 “Wonder Woman” was especially loved by the audience for the feminist ideas in the film and the film actress Gal Gadot.The new tape became a sequel, and then in the continuation of the film we will see how Diana Prince, that is, Wonder Woman, travels to the Soviet Union in the 1980s, where she will face two enemies: Maxwell Lord and Cheetah. But besides heavy battles, in the past she will meet with her beloved Steve Trevor.

Wonder Woman 1984: watch the movie trailer online

Main character

Ukraine premiere : July 2
Director : Sean Levy
Original title : Free Guy

The main character Guy has a profit and successful work as a bank teller until he is robbed 17 times in one day.A man begins to understand that such coincidences do not happen, so the thought comes to him that all reality around him is a game planned by someone. As it turns out, he is a minor character in a large video game where the main players can do whatever they want. And even though he is comfortable in this world, Guy understands that he needs to get out of this game.

Main character: watch the movie trailer online

Tenet

Premiere of the film in Ukraine : July 16
Director : Christopher Nolan
Original title : Tenet

New creation of the filmmaker “Interstlogii” “Batman”, “Dunkirk” and others are still classified, because only the film crew knows about the plot of the tape.The entire production process is strictly prohibited from disclosing any information to the media or supporters. Some sources claim that it will be a spy epic covering several countries, with elements of time travel. It is known that Robert Pattinson got the main role, and the film was shot in several countries around the world, in particular in India, where it is almost impossible to get permission to shoot.

Tenet: watch the movie trailer online

Best shooter: Maverick

Ukrainian premiere : July 16
Director : Joseph Kosinski
Original title: Top Gun: Maverick For all fans of the iconic

1986 Best Shooter movies – good news! A sequel to the film with Tom Cruise in the title role will appear on the screens.The plot of the film features Captain Pete “Maverick” Mitchell, who makes combat missions and, despite his dexterity in the sky, he still refuses to be promoted.

Best Shooter: Maverick: Watch Movie Trailer Online

Morbius

Ukrainian Premiere : July 30
Director : Daniel Espinosa
Original Title : Morbius

Horror Action Movie Fiction a separate story about the Nobel Prize winner in chemistry – Dr. Michael Morbius.Fans of the comic book universe also know him as the mysterious vampire Morbius. The main role was given to the famous Jared Leto, who, judging by the first shots from the film, perfectly transformed into the role. The hero discovers a fatal illness in himself and decides to experiment, but the consequences of supposedly healing drugs have an irreversible effect.

Morbius: Watch the movie trailer online

King’s Man

Ukraine premiere : September 17
Director : Matthew Vaughn
Original title : The king’s Man

Kings Man “, released in 2014 and 2017, and will tell about the origins of the famous organization and how they have had an impact on different countries of the world.In particular, the new film will show the events at the beginning of the 20th century, when several tyrants are trying to bring people together in a war. To stop this maelstrom of events, one person must fight to stop them.

Kings Man: Watch Movie Trailer Online

Godzilla vs. Kong

Ukraine Movie Premiere : November 19
Director : Adam Wingard
Original Title : Godzilla or Long Years Kong

parallel stories of Godzilla and Kong, until they finally face off on movie screens in 2020.It is then that it will be decided who can rightfully consider himself the king of all monsters. The two main characters live in modern civilization, but far from people, but what can happen if the main battle of all ages can take place in a territory inhabited by people?

Godzilla vs. Kong: watch the trailer for the movie online

Dune

Premiere of the film in Ukraine : December 17
Director : Denis Villeneuve
Original title : Dune

New American screen version of Fenert 1965 tells about the desert planet Arrakis.It is there that there is the psychotropic substance spice, which continues the life of creatures and improves mental abilities. Those who have this planet in their possession consider themselves to be the real rulers of the universe. But there are many giant sandworms on Arrakis, so Duke Leto Atreides and his son Paul decide to go to the wilderness to destroy all the pests.

Dune: Watch Movie Trailer Online

Elevation Worship & Maverick City Music – Million Little Miracles

Font:

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 [Intro]
Eb Eb Eb Eb

[Verse 1]
Eb
  All my life, I've been carried by grace
Eb
  Don't ask me how, 'cause I can't explain
Ab eb
  It's nothing short of a miracle, I'm here

[Verse 2]
Eb
  I've got some blessings that I don't deserve
Eb
  I've got some scars, but that's how you learn
Ab eb
  It's nothing short of a miracle, I'm here

[Pre-Chorus 1]
Bb Ab
  I think it over and it doesn't add up
Bb Ab
  I know it comes from above
Taken from guitarchords site.ru
[Chorus]
      Eb
I got miracles on miracles
                 Cm Ab
A million little miracles
Eb
Miracles on miracles

Count your miracles
Cm
One, two, three, four
 Ab eb
I can't even count them all

[Verse 3]
Eb
  You held me steady so I wouldn't give up
Eb
  You opened doors that nobody can shut
Ab eb
  I hope I never get over what you've done

[Verse 4]
Eb
  I wanna live with an open heart
Eb
  I wanna live like I know who You are
Ab eb
  I hope I never get over what you've done

[Pre-Chorus 2]
Bb Ab
  It's not coincidence and it's not luck
Bb Ab / C
  I know it comes from above

[Chorus]
      Eb
I got miracles on miracles
                 Cm Ab
A million little miracles
Eb
Miracles on miracles

Count your miracles
Cm
One, two, three, four
 Ab eb
I can't even count them all

[Interlude]
Eb Cm Ab
Eb Cm Ab

[Bridge]
Eb
  I can't even, I can't even count them all
Cm Ab
  I can't even, I can't even count them all
Eb
  I can't even, I can't even count them all
Cm
One, two, three, four
 Ab
I can't even count them all 

John Maverick ★ A circus performer and a prostitute read a book online for free

John Maverick

A circus performer and a prostitute

Frau Claude knocked on my door on an autumn morning, when a fine rain danced on the cornices, which made it smell like nutmeg and oranges, and the wind the streets are snotty clouds.One glance was enough to understand that an elderly lady was dying. Not by the yellow, transparent thinness, not by sluggish hands, but by the radiance emanating from the wrinkled forehead, like a ball chewed by a dog. Usually in a person, emotions are weighed, like oil in water, and the spiritual is closely intertwined with the physical. The dying are two-layered. Their body is separate, the soul is separate. Ready to take off, light spills out from every pore.

Frau entered, limping slightly, leaning like a cane on a folded umbrella, and collapsed helplessly onto a chair.Sparse hair bristled like feathers at the temples, exuding a moist scent. The umbrella is dry, and the hostess is splashed from head to toe with nutmeg rain.

“I ask you, Mr. Doctor,” said Frau Claude, looking me straight in the eyes, “to amputate my left leg. Until now, – she lifted her skirt and quickly ran her hand over her ankle.

I saw that her dry ankle, a little higher than the trampled halo-like shoe, was covered by a bracelet. Carved, blackened, with a thin twisted snake in the middle.A metal that looks like silver. An inappropriate flirtatious decoration, half-hidden by the rings of a lowered stocking.

– Are you in pain, Frau Claude?

– No.

When seven years ago I started my practice, a very young girl, almost a child, turned to me with a similar request. Dressed in a trouser suit, she stood as narrow and straight as a candle, so that her two slender legs seemed to be fused into one. A green-eyed mermaid with a frightened smile and ooze-like hair, pulled up to the tip of her tail in black silk.Having no idea of ​​apotemnophilia at that time, I was shocked. A young pretty creature wants to disfigure itself. Maddened nature rages against femininity and beauty.

I sent the girl to a psychiatrist, and I don’t know what happened to her next. Now a gray-haired Frau sat in front of me, torturedly filtering through her false teeth through false teeth, and I asked myself: had the patient really fallen into senile insanity?

– Not pain, no. This, ”she pointed to the silver bracelet,“ needs to be removed.It is impossible to saw it, it will not work, he is charmed, but I do not want to die with him. I can’t …

I felt stupid. The story was reminiscent of a badly done thriller or a middling mystical series for housewives.

– Where did you get it from?

– Long storytelling, – Frau Claude sighed. She didn’t even sigh, but sobbed, as if choking on my question, and coughed forcibly. At the same time, something in her chest crunched dryly and painfully, as if with a cough she was giving a part of her life to the space of the room.

“Nothing,” I furtively glanced at my watch. – We have time.

“It’s not with me, Mr. Doctor,” objected the old lady, wiping her reddened eyes. – Yes, you will not be interested. It would be better to get straight to the point … Well, okay. Good. I no longer remember what year it was – fiftieth or fifty-first, and then I turned, respectively, either twenty-two or twenty-three. I worked then in one institution under a red light. Do you understand which one? She asked defiantly.

I nodded, hiding my unprofessional grin.

“But that’s not about that,” Frau Claude interrupted herself, and her face imperceptibly revived. – Every person has a little secret passion – stupid or shameful. Someone changes into someone else’s linen (and how much I have seen someone else’s dirty linen, you can imagine), someone breeds chickens in a box or grows a laurel bush on the window. And I loved the circus. This, you know, Mr. Doctor, is not at all like theater or, for example, cinema. Living witchcraft, a breath of childhood – that’s what it is.A couple of times a season a circus came to our town – a big top, or rather, circus troupes from different regions: German, Dutch, French, Italian and even Russian and Chinese. They toured the world, transporting all their belongings, children and trained animals in vans – trailers. I have not missed a single performance. I bought the cheapest ticket and got a job in the gallery – from there the view opened no worse than from the first rows, in addition, I did not have to lift my head – and plunged into happy anticipation.I believed that sooner or later a miracle would happen at some of the performances. Maybe a small one, not at all important, such that it is difficult to call it a miracle, but my personal. And it happened. Usually, in the middle of the square, circus performers were installed, stretching an inflatable dome on six stakes. It looked like half a huge red apple, crumpled in the wind, it could be seen from afar. But that spring, for some reason, the tent was not put up, and the performance was held in an open stadium. I was sitting in the last row …

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This spring

It happens that some idea takes over a person so much that everything else for him is devalued, loses its meaning. If the first years of her life in Germany Frau Deutsch was still busy about this and that, helped her daughter-in-law to establish a difficult emigrant life, rejoiced at the success of her son and the birth of her granddaughter, then recently she seemed to be sucked into muddy water. Whatever the conversation began, in two minutes it was already revolving around the eternal theme: death.As if Elizaveta Genrikhovna could not think of anything else, or maybe she did not want to. She was interested, however, not in the process of dying and not in the afterlife. More than anything, the elderly Frau was afraid to rest in an unmarked grave, just as her husband, Robert, who perished in the Kazakh steppes, probably did.

She willingly discussed her own funeral, emphasizing that she would organize everything herself, with her own money, and, indeed, every month she saved forty or fifty euros from her pension, which she sewed into a pillowcase.She went around all the funeral services bureaus in the city – and everywhere she took avenues. I leafed through the next dream. She looked after the coffin, the monument and the place in the cemetery, meticulously, as some newlyweds choose a site for a new house. The pile of brochures on the dressing table grew, gradually pushing the medicine bottles to the edge. So, in the heart of Elizabeth Genrikhovna, death crowded out life.

Not that Frau Deutsch was that old, although calling her young would not turn her back. She, like sardines preserved in a jar, was not age at all, but in the darkness of her soul, dust fell from the shelves.It happens after all that the soul grows old before the body. Frau Deutsch did not change, probably for twenty years, except that her face darkened, and the smell from her always neat clothes – a traditional pair of trousers, a blouse with a blind collar – became more and more stuffy. Skinny and stern, Elizaveta Genrikhovna always wore black, as if already – in advance – she was wearing mourning for herself.

She attended church once a week, but not because she believed in God. Rather, God, like everything else that occupied the mind, was part of her script – a decent funeral.This was her pride, the proof of her selfhood – at least in death, not to depend on anyone.

– Et, why are you, Elizaveta Genrikhovna, not thinking about that, – impudently reproached her daughter-in-law Lena. – What are your years. Live and live, and rejoice. We have such grannies, they go by themselves – and nothing. And you, Elizaveta Genrikhovna, are going to gallop when you are young. In your years.

Elena worked for one and a half time in a nursing home, and that is why the whole world seemed to her decrepit and feeble, and her mother-in-law, by contrast, was as strong as a horse.
Frau Deutsch frowned in disgust, saying that you young people cannot understand. The loved ones were annoying. It seems that they have nothing to blame. Hardworking and keeping the household in order, but still it would be better if they spoke more quietly, and flickered less often, did not touch the TV with the computer, did not ask about their health.

“What the hell is health?” – they heard in response.

Elizaveta Genrikhovna put up with only one little man beside her. One man made his dry lips part in a smile. Sophie’s granddaughter.White-skinned – in Lena, copper curls on the back like a river. Although she was not born in Deutsche, she still has her own. Dear. An adult tree is difficult to take root in a new place, it gets sick and withers away. Another thing is a young shoot coming from the roots. So amazing was this sprout that had sprung up on the land of ancestors, so fresh and joyful that even Frau Deutsch’s icy gaze warmed up, and something like love shone through him, admiration, pity … girlfriends after her in flocks curl … charismatic… and a couple of years will pass, and the guys will start to fidget. She is dressed only poorly, mother and father have a loan for a house, and the garden is neglected, there is only enough money for the necessary rags. That’s right, there is nothing to pamper the little girl. With children, strictness is needed and a reasonable upbringing. With them, these sprouts, and so childhood is a fairy tale, not like ours, hungry. But the hand is already reaching for the coveted pillowcase. Shakes finely, pulling out a ten-euro bill rolled up in a tube. And Elizaveta Genrikhovna did not see how the child’s greedy eyes were shining, more precisely, she noticed, but thought that they were shining with gratitude.
Eleven years old – the age of the first cracks in the shell of childhood, love “looking at” and reckless friendship. The most gentle, most touching girlish dawn. While old age dreamed of mournful angels and mourning wreaths, youth spanked snow-white nikes on the spring lawns, blossomed, releasing the first green leaves, dressed up in fluff and dust, and, like a young black grouse on a current, fluffed up its tail – and when to fluff it up, if not in the spring? Tired Lena – and she wondered how Sophie had changed.In just a couple of months. She has beautiful blouses, and skirts to match blouses, and leggings, black, multi-colored, patterned, and pumps, fashionable sneakers, chains, bracelets, a leather bag. Either a pink umbrella will take shelter in the closet, or a bottle of perfume on the shelf. That something completely childish – a plush hare, a little doll … Does your father pamper? “I ought to tell Sasha not to ask the girl off. Well, why does she need such a show-off watch? Headphones? Only spoil the rumor. And the phone? With the Internet, with a camera… How much does it cost, though? ”- Lena thought, but kept putting off the conversation. She liked to see her daughter happy and elegant, and she did not have the strength for serious conversations. Sophie moved differently now – smoothly, with dignity. Laughed loudly. The girlfriends looked into her mouth.

The denouement was not long in coming. One evening – the Deutsches family had just sat down at the table – the doorbell rang. Lena, as she was, with a spoon in one hand and a towel in the other, went to open it. Alex followed reluctantly. The couple Horst and Martina Fuchs stood outside the door with their daughter Laura, Sophie’s classmate.The girl, shaggy like a poodle – bangs in small curls, straightened blond hair hanging down at the sides, like dog ears – looked at Deutsche with sullen, sullen eyes.

– Good evening, we are for a couple of minutes, – Mr. Fuchs apologized and gently pushed his wife forward.

Lena saw Laura quickly exchange glances with Sophie rushing up.

“Frau Deutsch,” Martina said, “sorry for the intrusion. Mr. Deutsch, we would like to discuss something. Today our girls went to the city and Laura brought home this, – she rummaged in her pocket, and a carved ring with a blue pebble lay in Alexander’s outstretched palm, a chain flowed out behind it, small clips flashed.The little things are hardly gold, but they don’t look cheap either.

– What is this?

– Laura says that Sophie bought herself and her as a gift. In Saargalere, in some kind of boutique, and paid with four fifty-euro banknotes. Here we are … – Martina swallowed, – it seemed to me and Horst unusual that the girl was given such pocket money. Of course, if you … then that’s okay, but we thought … right, Horst?

Frau Fuchs hesitated, blushing with embarrassment. Mr. Fuchs obediently nodded to her every word.
The silent scene that followed need not be described. However, she did not remain dumb for long. Lena and Alex spoke at the same time.

– No, of course not. What pocket money? Two hundred euros – like this, down the drain? We live modestly … Sophie, where did you get that? – Lena turned to her daughter, but she stood with her head down and her lips tightly pressed together. – Well?

The Fuchs hastily said goodbye.

– Sophie, who gave you two hundred euros? – Lena raised her voice. Thoughts, one more terrible than the other, crept into my head.Some kind of pedophile maniac used and paid? Well no. The girl is not like that, she would not have become … Nonsense … Yes, and it is impossible not to notice. What then? – Sasha, well, talk to her, finally!

“Sophie,” Alexander muttered reluctantly. – Answer your mother.

Alex worked as a garbage sorter. He was the king of the garbage kingdom, the mayor of the garbage city, and spent the whole day among containers with broken furniture, mountains of waste plastic, broken bricks, glass and cardboard. Therefore, everything in the world seemed to him to be rubbish, including the pitiful shiny things, because of which the fuss broke out.
Sophie was silent, with the toe of her shoe picking at a crack in the laminate. Evil tears crept under the eyelids. Alex and Lena looked at her, and no one saw Elizaveta Genrikhovna, who – straight and pale as death itself – froze in the doorway, and then suddenly turned and left. She was discovered an hour and a half later. Old Frau hunched over on the sofa, clutching her thinner pillowcase to her chest.

Two days later, Elizaveta Genrikhovna died in the hospital from a stroke. The grandmother was buried with the family’s money.

If you can’t speak – sing!

How tired I am of her chatter! Talkative women are unbearable, and she seemed to have no equal in this art.As soon as I crossed the threshold, and she was right there – as if she was pouring a cold shower. Caressing she took away my hat and coat and immediately, without leaving her place, threw a bucket and a half of news on me. And about the weather – as if I myself, coming from the street, did not know whether it was raining or snowing there – and about TV programs, and about the economy, and about the neighbors, and about the neighbor’s cat … and just some thoughts of my own. She was constantly thinking about something, fantasizing, dreaming. Homework, alas, takes the hands, but not the head.

It’s not that Martina was such a chatterbox by nature, but when you sit locked up for two years, away from home except to a bank or a store, when you see and hear no one all day long, unwillingly, the unspoken accumulates inside and spills on the head of the first comer …

I did not listen, or rather, I tried not to listen. He silently nodded, smiled inappropriately, and when it became completely unbearable, he interrupted the flow of her words with short: “Marty, my brains are boiling, can we eat in silence today?”

Thank God, at least she didn’t ask about anything, and if she did, she didn’t expect an answer. In fact, she was talking to herself. It was something like a performance by one actor, and I served as a decoration for him. So people, it happens, pour out their souls in front of a dog or a cat, or drink, clinking glasses with a mirror.

That evening she must have remembered or learned something – important to herself – and really wanted to share with me. It has been a long time since I saw Marty so lively, but I didn’t have time to be surprised, because she jabbed:

– Klaus, you won’t believe, this is incredible! I’ll tell you now … This concerns my brother.

Wow, I didn’t know that Marty had a brother. Or was it? For some reason it seemed to me that she was an orphan, without clan and tribe, and if she did not grow up in an orphanage, then, in any case, she had not maintained relations with her family for a long time.

– Then, then, – I removed my wife’s arms, and she curled around me like a bindweed, trying to look into my face, and her eyes were shining. – Let’s have supper, then we’ll talk. You are exhausted like the devil at work, and here you and your … won’t let you rest. Well, what the hell did your relatives surrender to me ?!

It turned out involuntarily rude.

– You are always like that. After yes after.

She somehow immediately wilted, narrowed and turned pale, just as a shadow turns pale and fades away from the lantern.She moved sideways, rubbing her temple.

We ate in silence.

Enjoying the silence, I relished the pancakes with honey, and they seemed to me delicious as never before. Of course, I understood that I had offended Marty, but decided to postpone the reconciliation until later. Let the evening blow and hold his mouth shut. What bliss when no one is cracking over your ear, and you can sit quietly, read a newspaper, play a game of chess with a computer, read, think … I don’t want to make excuses, but, alas, I was desperately missing both at work and at home loneliness.

In silence, already with a tinge of guilt, I repeated to myself: “Why the hell did her relatives surrender to me! Doesn’t it have enough of its own, or what? All these cousins ​​and cousins, grandparents, uncles and aunts … ”Although I had no siblings, unlike Marty, I grew up in a large – and not at all friendly – family. Numerous relatives constantly squabbled among themselves: over children, over money, and God knows what else. I remember that my cousin, angry with my mother, forced her mute aunt Elka on her. I was then about five or six years old… A timid, slightly autistic child, I did not tolerate strangers in the house. But I liked my aunt. It is difficult to say what, probably, precisely because of their silence. She couldn’t speak, didn’t even bellow or make any sounds, as mutes usually do. She just looked scared, a little sullenly, almost like a dog’s eyes, which understood everything, and suffered from this understanding. In our small apartment, Aunt Elka interfered with everyone and, no matter how she tried to quietly huddle in a corner, every now and then she came across on the way – now my mother, now my grandfather, now my father… I saw how their faces twisted when they asked in mock cheerful voices: “Well, how are you?”

The aunt in the family was considered to be feeble-minded, something like a big and stupid child who would never grow up. Someone else’s child. And who needs other people’s children, in addition, the sick? No, she was not deaf. Her ailment was called the strange and beautiful word “aphasia”.

One evening, I heard Aunt Elka hum in the shower. Water poured, loudly, like on the cornice of drops, drumming on a metal bathtub, and pipes humming thinly – but even through the hum, I clearly made out the words.Auntie sang – melodiously and surprisingly distinctly – about an open window, a nightingale and deep sadness, something beautiful and sad. She had a pleasant, chesty, slightly cracked voice.

Shocked by the revealed treachery, I rushed to the kitchen.

– Mom, dad, and our Elka is a pretender! – shouted from the doorway.

– Where did you get it? – asked the father sternly.

Mother sighed and turned to the stove, but I saw her shoulders rise in anger.

– She sings in the bathroom! To the sound of water! And pretends not to speak!

Embarrassed smiles blossomed on the parents’ faces.

– No, son, – said the father, – she’s not pretending. You see, singing and speaking are very different things. These are two completely different states, like water and steam, you know?

I didn’t understand.

– Like night and day. What you cannot do in daylight, because of shame, fear, some kind of prejudice, you are quite capable of doing at night, in the dark. Well, how else can I explain to you? Try it – you will see for yourself.

And I tried it.

Late in the evening, when my parents fell asleep, I sneaked into the shower, unscrewed both taps and – began to sing.At first, awkward, brittle, frightened by his own voice. Then – bolder and bolder. I was accompanied by a cheerful silver staccato. Sun spots poured from the walls of the shower like butter from a pie. Little by little, and I am amused. I forgot that the family was sleeping outside the door, and that it was already late, and tomorrow to get up early, and that you had to pay for the water poured out just like that. I forgot about everything in the world, as if transported to another universe. My blood boiled joyfully in my veins and turned to steam. I became light and empty like a balloon, beat on a thin thread of sound and did not fly away just because I felt good – here and now.

So I believed in the magic of singing. Into two aggregate states of the soul. Rather, at three, because when you are silent, you are one person, when you speak, you are another, and when you sing, you are a third, not at all like the first two. A small miracle is one of those everyday miracles that you usually pass by without noticing. And noticing inadvertently, you think: “Well, wow! How amazing the world turns out to be! ”

But Marty was going to tell about her brother. Maybe the same wonderful story? The legend of his own childhood.I suddenly wanted to listen to her, but I was in no hurry, prolonged the silence that had become painful. Only before going to bed I could not stand it – I put my arm around my wife’s shoulders.

– Well, what about your brother?

She slipped under the blanket and huddled under it, drowning her face in the pillow. Only a bright swirl sticking out.

– Tomorrow, Klaus. My head hurts a lot …

She was chilled.

I never got to hear that story. Marty suffered a stroke that night, which left her speechless forever.

“This is not the worst,” the doctors said. “Some people remain paralyzed after this, and your wife is at least capable of serving herself. Learn to understand each other without words. ”

And we studied. We tried very hard, but a person without speech is not really a person. Within a couple of months, her eyes had become doglike – huge and pitiful. It was impossible to look in them without tears.

– If you can’t speak – sing! – I begged her, but she could not sing either.

Perhaps my aunt was a pretender after all.

Happy life

No one must have looked forward to meeting the sea as passionately as little Niko. How many stories have I heard about him, mysterious, magical and a little creepy, how many fairy tales I have read. Like many boys of his age, he dreamed of becoming a sailor – and not just a sailor, but the most that neither is a captain. Of course, if he fails to enter the university at the Faculty of Chemistry.To follow in the footsteps of his father is his sacred duty, as his mother assured the boy. Niko agreed with her, but still secretly hoped that duty and dream could somehow be combined. Do you need chemists on the ship? Who knows – the sea is huge, and who, if not the ruler of elements and formulas, can comprehend its salty soul?

The mountainous country of Croatia fascinated at first sight, cooled the pupils with blue. A languid surface of water between dazzling white rocks. The bays are like giant bowls full of glossy blue.

My stepfather drove along a narrow serpentine road, and at every turn the mother and sister shuddered, and Niko was numb with delight. They were separated from the abyss by a low, ten centimeters, curb, and behind it a toy panorama opened up. Miniature Lego houses were wrapped in green velvet and smoky fleur. The clouds grazed like wild sheep along the edge of the sky.

Gradually the road descended to sea level, to flat, coarse beaches.

“Mom, let’s stop,” Niko asked, touching his mother on the shoulder.He did not like to address his stepfather. – I want to swim.

Despite the air conditioning, it was getting hot in the car, and the water, transparent as glass, beckoned to be cool.

“Not a bad idea, I think,” said my stepfather.

“Guys, bathing won’t work,” the mother shook her head. – Swimming trunks in a large suitcase, at the bottom of the trunk. We’ll come and unpack our things … Franz, how much is left to the place?

– On such a road – three hours.

– Where you say three, there are all four, – objected the mother.- Then you can have a snack in the cafe. We won’t be in time for dinner anyway.

They arrived at the hotel in the evening, when the sea and sky were clouded with fog, and round lemon lanterns were lit at the intersections. While his sister and the adults rummaged in their suitcases, Niko went out onto the open terrace, stood, admiring the iridescent horizon, where it merged with the black line of bushes, and then – as if by chance – went down to the street.

“I’ll walk a little,” the boy thought, “while they’re busy anyway.What if I’m lucky and go to the shore? ”

From which side the sea was, he did not know, but from the weak iodine smell carried by the wind, he guessed that he was somewhere very close. Such an aroma of algae, and salty foam, and shells rotting in the surf line cannot be confused with any other. Niko walked slowly along the sidewalk, silver from the night light, past other people’s gardens, and a fountain of joyful curiosity splashed in his chest. There was no fear of getting lost in an unfamiliar city.

He walked, imagining how he would catch mussels and crabs, swim in a mask, inhaling air through a tube, and admire the dance of dolphins on the waves, and he himself did not notice how he ended up in a dead-end alley.A sprawling apricot tree stretched over the mesh fence, and under it, in the light of a lonely lantern, sat a boy, barefoot, in a sailor suit and canvas shorts, pounding a wooden barrel with all his might with a stick. The sound came out hollow and booming. He seemed to be splitting the night in half, and in the half where the hotel remained, silence reigned, in the other – a huge bell rattled with its copper tongue.

– Hello Captain! – the boy saluted Niko with his palm and, jumping on the barrel on horseback, thrashed his heels on it.Dry mud covered his ankles and shins to the knee.

“Hi,” Niko said shyly. – What are you playing?

– I am a kobold, and this is a time machine. In a moment he will go anywhere – even in the past, even in the future. Let’s go for a ride? Get in, captain, don’t be afraid! Hold on tight!

– Cool, – Nico admired. – But what kind of kobold are you? Isn’t the kobold green?

“So I am green,” the strange boy laughed and turned green like a frog, from the blond crown to the grimy feet.

Nico would have been alert and suspected that something was wrong, but, fascinated by the fantasy of a new friend, he confidently sat down behind the kobold and immediately found himself on the loud side of the night. Cicadas whistled, clanked, hummed, chirped all around. The empty barrel rumbled like a drum – no, like a whole group of drummers.

– Where? – shouted Niko, folding his palms as a megaphone and trying to shout down the wild cacophony.

– Forward, cap, only forward!

Then everything fell silent and a small piece of azure shone through the apricot foliage – so bright that the branches covered with yellow fruits, and the kobold with his stick, and the southern village completely dissolved in it.

Saar splashed dully below. A beer keg swayed between earth and sky, suspended on two chains. Niko realized that he was sitting on the bridge, with implausibly long legs stretched out in frayed jeans with a patch on his left knee, and a rope in his hands.

Looking around, he noticed that the Berliner Promenade had become wider and more elegant – apparently, it had been rebuilt in a few years. The embankment faced with stone looked brand new, with a needle, gilded in the mean sun.In some places, construction machines were visible, and the building of the cinema was wrapped in protective film.

Kobold and the trail was gone, but a group of young people crowded at the low parapet – four guys and a girl in an orange jacket. All chilled, shaggy from the wind. The tallest has a striped scarf wrapped around the throat. The girl’s nose turned blue.

– Hey Nick, did you fall asleep?

Tall tore out the rope from him and dragged him – a transparent plastic bottle of water appeared.

– Guys, look, is that enough? Nicholas, what’s wrong with you today?

– Nothing, – Niko got up, brushed off his trousers.

In a large body, he felt ashamed, like a hand in an overly spacious glove. Either you wiggle your fingers like this, then that way – but you don’t feel yourself. However, gradually, through the short memory of a five-year-old boy, another began to emerge. The glove was tighter and tighter, and a new – adult – ego overwhelmed him.

He remembered that he was in his second year, and the guys and the girl – who, by the way, is called Lina – were students, his classmates.With two of them, Michael and Peter (Peter is the tall one), he rents an apartment two bus stops from the university. Cozy, overlooking the master’s garden. Shared kitchen and computer – one for three. Onion is the youngest in the company, either fifteen or sixteen years old – a skinny rag, sort of like a child prodigy. I rode through the classes. And Victor, on the contrary, is over thirty. They are on the bridge to take water samples from the Saar – for laboratory work.

The rope was wound up, the bottle was sealed with a cork.

– Nick, will you do an analysis for cations? – suggested Victor.

Lina nodded thoughtfully, looked into her face with a faint smile. Her eyes – like the autumn Saar – smoky with a speck of gold. Like full of fallen leaves. An unfamiliar tenderness flooded his heart, so hot that in the chill wind Niko instantly sweated.

– Yeah, – he agreed. – I’ll do it, no problem.

I would also like to know what kind of animals these are – cations. But in my head already emerged, like frogs from a swamp, formulas and equations.But soon the exam in analytical chemistry, how could he forget? Just a week to get ready.

Wait, he pulled himself up. – What exam? What laboratory ?! Mom is worried at the hotel. He left without asking, it is not clear where, and got lost. And your sister, stepfather? ” For the first time, Niko thought of these two without irritation, with a grain of sympathy. What will happen to them if he does not return? Hurry, Hurry back! Played – and that’s enough. Where is this damn kobold, where has he gone?

The rest of the day he was looking for a green rogue, wandering the streets, looking for some reason under the benches and into garbage cans, but he fell through the ground.Or maybe he dashed away on his loud barrel, into an unclear future, but Nico dropped it on the way and did not notice. There was nothing to be done, I had to sit down at the books, and tomorrow, in the morning, run to the lectures ..

Nicholas passed his Analytics Exam with excellent marks. Then I almost flunked thermodynamics – I didn’t finish my studies. Cool azure anguish gnawed at him – gradually and cruelly. Adriatic, white rocks, doll houses under the cliff. Secretly, he believed that some other Niko returned to his mother’s hotel that day – perhaps more correct, not out of time, not tempted by the promises of green.University life was more and more addictive, rolling in its own way, like a cart on a rammed track, leaving no time for doubts and reflections.

The rains started and ended. The first half of December was frosty and snowless – only the lawns crunched with a crusty crust of frost in the morning. Nicholas plucked up the courage and invited Lina on the first date. I counted the pitiful student pennies, and bought my worn-out sneakers with soap – which did not help them at all. The once white leatherette has remained untidy brown.However, this did not spoil Niko’s mood, and, beaming with joy, he almost stepped over the threshold – when suddenly a tenacious green paw grabbed his jacket from behind. A kobold sat on a pile of shoeboxes, still in the same sailor suit and canvas shorts, and, as if nothing had happened, tossed a stick from one palm to another.

– Well, captain, – the boy grinned, – looked around? Liked?

– Well … – Niko himself did not know whether to be happy or sad.

– Time to go home?

– What about Lina? He asked uncertainly.- Sorry, somehow I got carried away … I began to forget. Yes, it’s time! Just look, deliver on the same evening, otherwise mom will be worried.

– Ay-ay, cap!

The cheerful exclamation was drowned in the discordant polyphony, shouts and hum of the crowd. Both travelers collapsed onto a heap of boxes. They floundered in it and at the same time – as if slipping on the freshly washed floor – rushed, legs and arms outstretched, along a long black corridor, past identical closed doors. The voices turned into a whistle, from which the ears painfully clogged.A multicolored light blinked, and each flash pierced the pupils.

Frightened, blinded and dazed, Niko closed his eyes, and when he opened his eyes, he saw a laptop in front of him with some kind of table on the screen. Long columns of numbers flashed by. In panic, he looked around: people in suits, gentlemen and ladies, were sitting at the tables, looking at him expectantly. Everyone is in years, solid, apparently, professors, only one girl in a red blouse – as if a student or graduate student and even somewhat remotely similar to Lina.

– Oh, devil, – he involuntarily muttered through his teeth, but immediately caught himself. – Excuse me, just a minute. I do not feel good.

The audience exchanged surprised looks, and Niko, as if scalded, jumped out of the audience and rushed about the university hall.

– What is it? What does it mean? – pounced on the kobold cowering under the battery, dragged him out by the scruff of his neck and shook him. – Where are we? Where is the sea?

“Sorry,” the boy muttered, pulling his head into his shoulders.- It didn’t work that way. That’s not my fault! This is all technique … we need to test it. Reverse jammed. Give me a couple of months, huh? Haven’t repaired for a long time, so something went wrong.

Only now Niko noticed that he himself was wearing a dark gray suit – the same as the gentlemen at the tables – and holding a laser pointer under his arm.

– Okay, – he released the kobold, and he, grunting, fell to the floor. – Customize your technique. I’ll wait. All the same, I have nothing else to do. Only without tricks, okay?

The last phrase he was going to utter menacingly, but it turned out plaintively.Before Niko had time to close his mouth, the audience door opened. A graduate student in red slipped into the hall, straightening her miniskirt.

– Mr. Steinmetz … Nicholas, are you feeling bad? Maybe a doctor?

“It’s stuffy in the hall, my head is spinning,” Niko smiled and defiantly opened the window. – Everything is fine. Five more minutes and I’ll be back to normal.

In five minutes he remembered that the girl’s name was Gloria. She is the niece of his wife Lina, and he himself teaches at Saarland State University thermodynamics, which he once did not like.I recalled my colleagues and some students by name, the topic of my recent scientific research, and – oh, what a relief! – the main points of the report. With unsteady steps, he returned to the audience and somehow finished the presentation.

Where there are a couple of months, there are also a couple of years. Niko plunged headlong into science, except that he spent the night at the department – although this happened. Careless student days seemed like a dream, and there is nothing to say about childhood. It melted away, shrouded in the haze of someone else’s – or is it your own? – experience, overgrown with weeds, like a path that has not been used for a long time.More and more often Niko dreamed of how he was racing on a high-speed train, and from behind the workers were methodically dismantling the tracks. There is no refund. “Wow, I took a ride,” he thought, waking up, and sadly shook his head. – Half your life down the drain.

“Was there a boy?” – asked himself, hastily swallowing breakfast, indifferently nodding to Lina, warm and disheveled in the morning, packing a hopelessly adult body into another expensive suit. A green kobold, a kid banging a stick on an echoing empty barrel – what is he? Childhood fantasy, an episode from a long forgotten movie or book? Niko knew for sure that he had never traveled with his parents to Croatia.The stepfather was ill, his mother worked as a part-time hairdresser. Not that for vacation – there was not enough money for an extra rag. As young shoots, growing from two roots, are intertwined with crowns, so memory originated from two sources, and no matter how hard he tried to forget one of them, it did not work. No matter how Nico insisted that time travel was a ridiculous invention, he still felt unhappy and robbed by someone.

The train was running without brakes. Winter followed winter. Lina became pregnant and plump, and Nicholas more and more began to glance at her long-legged niece, who, as if teasing an elderly professor, wore red every day.Then he would suddenly go into dreams, imagining that a son would be born, a sullen, lop-eared boy, similar to him, the former, and two trunks of memory would grow together. Everything will become as it should. But the ultrasound showed that there would be a girl, and Niko was completely at a loss.

Heavy labor, caesarean section. While waiting at the door of the operating room, Nicholas drank nine glasses of mineral water and ate – without noticing how – five chocolates from the machine. As a result, his stomach cramped, and, exhausted from excitement, he went to look for a toilet.

– Order, cap, fixed everything!

The white tile reflected something fuzzy green.

– You ?! Where, why? – Niko tried to run, but, as in a nightmare, his legs became cottony. Instead of natural, seemingly, joy, for some reason, fear rolled over. “No, not now,” he muttered, retreating to the urinals. – Get out! Who are you, anyway?

“Don’t be silly, captain,” the kobold laughed. “You know perfectly well who I am. Do you know? Well, go home? – cried cheerfully and struck with all his might with a stick on the edge of the shell.

“I know,” Niko whispered.

Light hit him in the eye. Snow-white faience shattered on impact. Water gushed from the torn off tap.

– Forward, cap, only forward! The boy in canvas shorts laughed mockingly.

– No, don’t! Stop! Please do not!

With a quiet eerie pop, a light bulb exploded in the shade, and darkness enveloped the world.

Darkness. Fragrant summer twilight. Large orange apricots shine through the black foliage of the tree.Niko sniffed … Really ?! The barrel disappeared and the street was no longer a dead end. From behind the peaked roofs, the water surface gleamed boldly, as if doused with phosphorus.

Sea? No, then, tomorrow. And now – run to the hotel. To Mom. With his heart pounding somewhere in the throat region, Niko started to jump … He wanted to start. He stumbled, gasped heavily. His bony, tight-veined hand gripped the top of his cane tighter. Should he jump like that in his years?

He ran a trembling palm over the head – bald.Black horror covered with a wave and immediately subsided. Nicholas himself did not understand why he was so agitated. We must take care of ourselves. A long life lay behind him. Happy life. Three published monographs. Hundreds of grateful students. He buried his wife last summer, but his daughter calls from Hamburg every Saturday. The eldest grandson entered graduate school. And the little green kobold finally hid in the subconscious, turned into someone’s stupid cruel joke.

Little by little, the heartbeat calmed down. Nicholas decided not to return to the hotel, but to walk a little more.Leaning on a cane and stepping carefully so as not to stumble over a stone, he hobbled along the road to the sea.

Grasshopper Soul

The grasshopper was large and juicy, green like May grass. He rode on Janek’s travel bag from Saarbrücken itself, throwing a long mustache over his back and almost merging with the “crocodile skin”. Janek tried to chase the insect away with a snap of his finger, but each time it returned unnoticed. In the end, he waved his hand and, muttering: “Okay, buddy, you see, we are on the way with you”, forgot about the uninvited passenger.Up to a grasshopper, when yesterday’s bread is lumpy in his stomach, and a straight razor lurks in his pocket.

People with wet umbrellas and suitcases crowded at the Frankfurt am Main bus station. Janek looked at them through a gray veil of melancholy – at fussy men and women in jackets and raincoats, at children in bright raincoats – and despair and nausea rolled lazily in his chest, like naked stones. The low cardboard sky swelled ugly and drizzled, and soft paper squished underfoot, as if pieces of the sky had already begun to fall off.Janek put the bag in the luggage compartment – not because it didn’t fit under the seat in size, but just didn’t want to get confused with it. On the road, he did not need anything.

The half-empty bus departed slowly, heeling and noiselessly picking up speed. Watercolors, washed out by the rain, floated behind the glass: almost Levitanian birch groves, golden mustard fields and angular industrial landscapes. In cities, the bus stopped to let in new passengers, and they wandered down the aisle, finding their place, talking quietly and sprinkling the sitting people with fine spray.Together with them, freshness flowed into the stuffy closed world – the smells of grass and damp asphalt, day, white as milk, moisture and cold. Umbrellas flapped like the wings of giant birds.

An old man in a waterproof cloak and a cane in a trembling hand entered Mannheim station and sat down on the seat next to Janek. He recoiled slightly – a stiff cane buried in his knee. The old man excused himself and, turning awkwardly, removed the stick. It seemed to Janek as beautiful as a hundred-year-old tree – all in folds and notches, with dark brown stains on the forehead and cheeks, and annual rings on the sinewy neck.The beard is fibrous, rough like tow. Pearlescent indifference in the eyes, only in the very depths of the pupils – sharp lights of curiosity. An ancient body is like a building, in the windows of which the light is extinguished. Only one glimmer – dim and dim – something like a candle forgotten on the windowsill.

“I’m going home,” he said, addressing as if to all passengers at once and to no one in particular. – Die.

Horvat, Janek thought. There was a noticeable – but pleasant – southern accent in the neighbor’s speech. No wonder – more than half of the Croats are usually recruited on this route.They are always – unlike holders of German passports – meticulously checked at the border.

– Me too. In the sense – for the same.

The bus rocked around a bend and the cane fell into the aisle. The old man looked at Janek. Shrilly and calm, as if dying at thirty-something is the most common thing.

– Returning to your homeland? Right.

– No, – Janek muttered embarrassedly, – just to where it was once good.

He couldn’t explain better.It happened well in many places, or rather, it was normal, safe, tolerant. However, such carelessness, and lightness, and joy – effervescent, sunny, overflowing – he did not experience either before or after. Selina and the girls swam a lot, tanned to an oily bronze. Dana stretched out almost a centimeter in two weeks. Polly was collecting pine cones.

– And rightly so. Do you know why you have to return before you die? the old Croat asked calmly.

Janek shook his head. He was tired and wanted to sleep, but sleep had not come for six months – a normal human sleep, but only cold transparent half-sleep.He knew nothing about dying, except that Selina and Dana died out in the hospital, and the youngest – Polly – was found dead in her crib, the day after the family ate asparagus. Everyone ate, except Janek, he hated asparagus, and Dana did not like it, but she tried it out of politeness so as not to upset her mother. Sweet, domestic girl – that’s what she was, and all the time she was afraid to upset someone.

He felt that thoughts were running in circles again.

“To stay at home,” the old man explained, with an air that seemed to make something clear from his words.- Where you die, you stay there.

Janek shrugged.

– What’s the difference?

– Big, – the Croat objected and suddenly smiled at something, looking past Janek’s face to his left hand.

He turned away his sleeve in surprise and saw an old acquaintance – a grasshopper, meek, like a leaf or a piece of young bark.

“Ah, so there you are!” – He took the jumper with two fingers and carefully transplanted onto the curtain.

“The dead have one place to lie,” said the old man. – The body is food for the roots.And the soul cares. The soul is not what people think of it. She’s just a grain of life. He does not think, does not regret, does not repent, but wants only one thing – to live.

Fatigue pressed on my temples, enveloped me. The Croat’s voice flickered like a firefly in the fog, and Janek realized that his neighbor was not talking to him, but to his own past, which lay on a flat asphalt strip behind the wheels of the bus, and to a future that loomed somewhere ahead, beyond the smoky mountains of Austria.

– … does not go to heaven, but disintegrates in a couple of minutes, as it leaves the shell.Therefore, she needs to immediately move in – in any creature, in a beetle, in a butterfly, in a bird … you never know creatures are born every second? Save the spark, keep it from fading …

“And then?” Janek asked mentally.

-… and lives like this until the chance to become a human again comes along.

“That’s how … a beetle, a butterfly, and still at home … how else?”

The old man fell silent – and dozed off as if with his forehead against the soft back of the front seat. Day slowly flowed into night. He rinsed the tear-stained glasses with raspberry juice, then turned blue, darkened and dull silvery.Lunar streamers of lights stretched outside the windows.

The overhead light in the bus went out. Janek sat, shrouded in twilight, and recalled – for the first time in six months, calmly, without hot, exhausting pain. He thought of Celine, Dana, Polly, imagining them now as dragonflies, now as moths, now as birds flying south.

“Homeland is a place where a person was happy, truly, without” but “and” if “, – he told himself. – Yes, all patriots in the world will forgive me, but the homeland of the soul is happiness. There is no other”.

It seemed to him that the three of them were riding in two chairs – he, an old Croat and someone else, a sad and thin, involuntary or free emigrant, a wanderer lost in death.His tall silhouette swayed in the faint night draft – pale as the shadow of a curtain – and whispered something tirelessly in a language that Janek did not understand, but knew that these were words of gratitude.

He opened his eyes – and the silhouette disappeared, dissolving into the twilight. A long, thin mustache swayed close to Janek’s face. The grasshopper did not sleep, its legs moved, as if an insect was fingering an invisible rosary in the darkness.

They drove through a mountainous country. Black tops against a gray sky. Sour cream streaks of clouds.Endless, stuffy tunnels full of flickering glare. Austria.

The sun burst unexpectedly, like a fiery fountain – not on the mountains, but on the velvet-emerald bushes, on the thin serpentine road, on the blue ice of the sea. Janek shuddered and woke up. My back was numb, but my head seemed to have cleared – my thoughts became surprisingly clear, light, ringing, and something small and fearful fluttered in my chest. No, not the heart – this is the soul, a tiny piece of life, pounding desperately on the ribs and wanted only one thing – to live.
Gardens, restaurants and churches flashed past the windows, half-naked people with towels on their shoulders staggered along the side of the road. In the middle of the vineyard, the father of the family photographed a teenage girl, tanned and gloomy, with white hair with salt. In Novy Vinodolsk, an old Croat got off the bus, along with a grasshopper. Janek wished both of them a happy journey, and he drove on to Rijeka.

Clay birds

It was either late spring or early autumn – in general, some kind of warm off-season, because I remember exactly that I and the Red Monster were sweating in light jackets wide open.Passers-by flaunted some in windbreakers, some in sweaters, and some with short sleeves. The sun was hot like summer unceremoniously. My wife and I wandered around the Sunday flea market, between vans and tables with all sorts of trash and second-hand, and exchanged habitually. She spoke Russian, and I answered in German – but we understood each other perfectly in different languages. The monster sang its favorite song:

– Understand, finally, I’m an artist! My life is subordinated to art. If a masterpiece needs to be painted in blood, I will paint in blood.It doesn’t matter whose.

– Yeah, – I snapped sadly. – Mine, that’s whose. You paint with my blood, just what are you babbling about masterpieces there?

– Do you think I am mediocre? And what about the personal exhibition in Saarland Hall? And the article in the Saarbrücken Zeitung? – The monster slowly and menacingly boiled, like soup forgotten on the stove. – I graduated from Marmot in Moscow, exhibited at Solyanka, but for you my work is just like that, playing with spillikins?

I fell silent, struck not so much by her arguments, which I knew in every way, as by the obscure Russian word “spillikins”.I already knew that Marmot was an art institute named after Surikov. The monster skillfully put something like that into a conversation. In fact, it is talented for me and does not write with blood, but with silver cobwebs in the corners, sunny jelly on unwashed linoleum, gold sawdust on the balcony, dirty stains on the curtains and coffee stains on the tablecloth. It is disorderly, but not evil, my Beast.

– Well, come on, speak out, or did you bite your tongue? Daniel? – the wife pressed. – No, I do not understand who and why would buy these rusty nails and doorknobs! – she pulled in a new motive, this time typical for walks in flea markets.- And these trampled galoshes? They are not even suitable for the Red Cross, will someone pay money for them? Marvelous! Where did the burghers get so much unnecessary junk?

– Are you saying that we have less in the basement?

– This artificial tree was probably decorated by Bismarck’s grandmother!

– Oh well? – I was amused.

The monster has always marveled at rusty nails, cast-iron irons, pre-war telephones and typewriters, and in fact, among all this, sometimes it was possible to find really interesting things.Rare book, English porcelain service, handmade wooden figurine. Once I bought for the Gnome – for only seven euros – a real puppet theater: a sliding canvas screen and a whole box of rag puppets. Clumsy and faded, but lovingly sewn. Another time I bought a knitted cat with a ball. Blue-eyed and agile, she jumped around the room as if she were alive, generously fanning the linoleum with a gray tail with a white speck at the end. In fact, an invisible magnet made the ball endlessly tumble, and the cat, rigidly attached to it, dragged along behind.The gnome, of course, finished her at half a day: first he cut off the tail, then the head, then broke off the torso and threw it somewhere, and the ball with a magnet inside wandered around the apartment for a long time – indefatigable and self-sufficient.

– Clay toys! – shouted a lanky, folklore-dressed old man in short leather pants, red leggings and a hat with a green feather. – Make your children happy! Let true magic into your home! Buy toys from Kurt Zuckerman!

My wife and I approached, and immediately enveloped us, covered us headlong like a woolen blanket pulled over our face, a thick, sweetish-sultry smell of antiquity.People crowded around the seller, and in front of him, on a motley shawl, were placed all sorts of jugs and bowls, tightly knit deer, large-mouthed toads, gnomes and lambs, hares with drums, dolls in once bright and lush, but now faded to dusty gray dresses. Paint on animal faces and backs peeled off in some places. The dull, doll-like faces and long-fingered hands seemed burnt by a tan.

– I’m Kurt Zuckerman, clay artist. My father made toys, and my brother and his son.And another brother was killed in the defense of Berlin, in 1945. He was thirteen years old. Here it is, my family, my beloved family! – he held out to onlookers a tray with clay bird-whistles, unlike other figures, not painted, roughly and as if hastily sculpted. – I’ll give it to good hands. Here’s a daughter, Monica, died at the age of five, from polio. Here is Lizhen, wife. I missed, you see, for the girl, I missed all my life, and then I took and drank some pills. But I didn’t let her go, no matter how it was.For she swore to love and care in wealth and in poverty, in sorrow and in joy, in sickness and health. Until death … Uh, no, no death for you, dear. I didn’t want to be with me voluntarily, you will sit like a nightingale in a cage. Right people? Helga Zuckerman, my mother. Fifty-first year. Gangrene, blood poisoning … burned out in one night. And this is Fritzchen … Hey, where are you all?

They started to shy away from him.

With a dull look, like a fishing net, Kurt Zuckerman tried to entangle the thinning crowd.To no avail – the ring of the curious quickly and as if by itself dispersed. Only the Beast and I got caught.

“You have kind eyes,” he turned to my wife, and his intonation had an amazing softness. – What is your name?

“Laura,” the Beast replied, as if pinned to the spot by his piercing pupils with pins.

– Laura, honey … I know you won’t offend them. Here, take it, – the old man persistently pushed the tray towards us. – Take everyone, free. I do not sell my loved ones.Listen, just listen to how they sing! I would not give it to anyone, but I have cancer, I have two months to live.

“The grandfather is absolutely crazy,” the wife babbled incredulously, with only her lips. Fortunately, if Kurt heard, he still didn’t understand.

– Honey, do you have children? – Leaning towards us, the old man whispered intimately.

– There is a son, Moritz. He will soon be four … We call him the Dwarf, – it is not clear why I was frank.

– This is good.My Monica loves to play with the guys. Oh, how she loved, even when she lived! I threw such a trick with a neighbor’s baby that Helga and I did not know whether to laugh or cry. And the fashionista was! She never parted with a pocket mirror. I just learned to speak, and every now and then asked: “Dad, am I beautiful?” How not beautiful! Eyes green, like young dill, golden curls up to the shoulders. The gait is like an adult’s – an experienced one. Helga spoiled her – dresses, hats … and, I must confess, I doted. That’s it, children.And suddenly – an illness, from which the child at first cannot get to his feet, then lies motionless, and then stops breathing. And nothing can be done. I thought I was going to lose my mind from powerlessness. Well, I could not let her go, my clever girl. He took in a handful a soul, warm as a sparrow, and transplanted it into a whistle … Now she is with me, everywhere, though not the same, but mine. Listen here.

He raised the clay bird to his lips, blew – and it whistled thinly and iridescently, laughed like a little girl. She stumbled, sobbed, whimsically mumbled something in her childish language, spread with a plaintive trill.

“A man is, first of all, a voice,” the old man said edifyingly and handed us the bird Monica. I gently took it into my palm. The toy turned out to be not only warm – there was nothing strange about it, clay is always heated in the sun – but there was a subtle vibration in it, fragile as the ticking of a clock, the beat of life. – Voice, yes. Everything else is secondary. Man is what he can tell the world, isn’t that so? So, my mother, she was grumpy, and she stayed like that.All reproaches and advises – and where would I be without her advice?

The largest whistle – plump, like a brood hen – began to gurgle in the old man’s hands, as if as before, fifty years ago, reprimanding the unlucky son.

We listened to them – one after another: the strict Helga, now sad, now tender, the laughing boy Fritzchen, the nephew of Kurt Zuckerman, and the former sergeant major, the gloomy silent Gustav, his father. Those who are not accustomed to throwing words into the wind, but if you have opened your mouth – if you please listen and obey.

Laura has exactly turned into a pillar of salt. In her eyes I read the same thought that tormented me: “How should you hate your loved ones in order to imprison them in dead objects? This is not love, no … love cannot be so blind, so selfish. ”

– Here, take, take everyone, – Kurt fussed, pouring toys from the tray into a plastic bag. – They will be fine with you. Now I can die in peace. Thank you, dear friends.

We couldn’t refuse. Dazed, thanked the old man and walked away.The monster was silent, looking at the ground and not being surprised anymore by galoshes or nails.

– What are you artists doing with us? I gasped. – These are not just bloody masterpieces … This is hell for naive souls.

– Do you want to free them? The wife asked sharply.

– Probably, – I mumbled.

The clay whistles in the package clinked when they walked, knocked against each other, and it seemed as if they were talking in low voices.

Path in the back of the garden

Perfection is a risky thing.You can strive for it – for many years, or even your whole life – but God forbid you ever achieve it. And the point is not that this is the top, the path from which is only downward. It is like a box of matches in children’s fingers. The object seems to be innocent, without sharp edges – you won’t get hurt. And that and look, a fire will break out. So hands off. Unless you are a saint, and I have not met many such people. However, saints, as a rule, are inconspicuous people. It is easy to walk past them without recognizing them, and even condemn them for some trifle: for wealth or poverty, vanity, hot temper, difficult character, childlessness or, conversely, having many children, untidiness, idleness, isolation… All this is nonsense. Holiness in the purity of thoughts.

My Uncle Franz, as long as I remember him, dreamed of growing a perfect garden. “A man,” he said, “will never achieve an ideal; another thing is a blooming corner of nature. Harmony is inherent in it from the very beginning. You just need to free her. Scrape off all unnecessary, as a sculptor hews a marble block. ” He imagined himself Pygmalion, no less. But it was not vanity that drove him. Uncle Franz wanted to create an oasis of beauty – to the delight of himself and people. He thought of nothing else.
His piece of land was small. About twelve acres, but I wandered around for hours, every now and then discovering something new for myself. I explored the most secret corners of it, so that I could probably walk with my eyes closed and not get lost. And when evening fell and a diamond dome closed over the fragrant cascades of roses, Uncle Franz’s garden became as huge as the Universe. The fountain, invisible in the dark, sang sweetly and insinuatingly, the paths were wrapped in cool fog, and the flowers and stars shone almost equally brightly.
It also remained alive during the winter months when most of the plants were sleeping. The lawn was full of daisies. The heather hills turned pink. The grass glistened succulently, slightly silvered with hoarfrost, and the evergreen shrubs did not throw off their glossy outfit for the winter.

Uncle Franz looked after the garden, as some people write poetry. Inspirational and tirelessly. Day day weeded, cut, mowed, hilled, fertilized, sprayed, dug out, transplanted, collected pests, dipping them into a jar of kerosene, and diseased leaves, which were then burned in a metal tray.
And at some point – neither I nor my uncle noticed exactly when –

Something has suddenly changed. The slugs and pests are gone. The weeds stopped growing, and the foliage stopped drying and becoming covered with dark spots. The wind did not sweep debris on the paths, and the weakest and stunted bushes, having got stronger, were filled with strength – they even seemed to be enveloped by a faint glow.

And although uncle out of habit fussed about with a spatula and scissors, striving to correct one or the other, the garden no longer needed him. He became self-sufficient and somehow miraculously supported himself.He could live his amazing life as long as he pleases, without degenerating and not wild, and now, many years after the death of the owner, he probably lives – if only someone has not spoiled him.

I remember myself, six years old, in the midst of family gatherings. This was Uncle Franz’s second passion after gardening. Cold beer with Viennese sausages, the glitter of Chinese lanterns, sincere conversation. Early evening, soft as milk. Daytime scents mingled with nighttime scents, and a subtle fragrance of matiol was already woven into the hot scent of roses.
My tiny cousins ​​Moritz and Sonya fiddled under the table, and Sister Laura sat on the long garden bench with the grown-ups and dangled her legs while I played deep into a thicket of flowers. Rosehip bushes, huge for my height, closed in an arch over a pebble path, forming a mysterious green corridor. The low sun gilded their frothy pink blossoms.

I stepped confidently under the thorny arches, imagining myself to be a brave scout. Imagining that I was tracking the enemy, I sneaked quietly, trying not to crunch the pebbles.It was fun and a little creepy, as if I was hunting in the jungle. Despite the fact that – I repeat – by that time I had managed to explore the garden up and down.

I walked, touching the petals and unopened buds, lightly – not wanting to hurt them, but as if saying hello. A pleasant emerald twilight thickened around, in which light suddenly shone. The living wall parted, and a path opened. Narrow and radiant, bordered with oily yellow petunias, it seemed to go up. Not uphill, but as if rushing somewhere into the unknown, taking off from the ground.I could swear that I was seeing her for the first time. I knew that nothing like this should be here. She seemed untouched – the stones were suede, they looked silky and soft. The sun’s rays seemed to pierce them through, making them look like bright green soap bubbles.

And above the moss, above the flowers, basking in the warm stream of June air, a butterfly hovered – blue, like a piece of the sky. Giant, three times, probably, larger than my child’s palm, and with a rainbow edging of the wing.

The path beckoned, promising new beauty, joy, an interesting adventure… The temptation to follow it was enormous. And yet something was stopping me. Not fear, no. I felt that as soon as I step on the path of soap bubbles and the way back will close. The soul will fly up like a blue butterfly, and such happiness will boil in your chest – what you don’t want, you can’t turn back anymore.

What about mom? Sister? Father? Granny? After all, they love me. Biting my lip in annoyance, I turned resolutely away from the magic light. The path went out, and again the thickets of wild rose rose above me in ocean waves.The evening was slowly thickening.

I did not tell anyone about the miracle in the back of the garden. But more than once, already being an adult, I returned to him in thoughts, and that’s what I understood in the end. Our world is like a palette on which different colors are mixed. Black and light, snow-white, gloomy, faded, gray, bright, jubilant. Darkness and light, and between them there are many, many penumbraes. All shades of earthly and heavenly. Uncle’s garden, it turns out, was two steps from the garden of paradise.