Music

We knew that no other Defenders series would quite match Luke Cage for soundtrack, but Iron Fist at least looks to be in good hands for its March premiere. Emmy-winning Vikings composer Trevor Morris will helm the first season of Marvel’s final Defender, according to reports.

Marvel has been steadily building up the hype for Doctor Strange, which is due out in theaters in only a few short weeks. Today, they released the end credits track off of the movie’s score, composed by Hollywood’s own musical magician Michael Giacchino (Ratatouille, Jurassic World, Star Trek Beyond), and it’s. so. good.

Gord Downie, lead singer of the legendary Canadian band the Tragically Hip, is teaming up with comics writer/artist Jeff Lemire, of Sweet Tooth, Extraordinary X-Men, and much more besides, for a comic that will accompany Downie's next solo album. Secret Path tells the true, tragic story of Chanie Wenjack, an indigenous 12-year-old boy who died in 1966 while attempting to walk home to his family from the residential school he had been forcibly removed to.

Excited as we are for Marvel’s Netflix Luke Cage, perhaps even more anticipated is that of the show’s curated soundtrack from Ali Shaheed Muhammad and Adrian Younge of A Tribe Called Quest. Now, a new featurette takes us inside the beats and beat downs from each episode with some special guests.

Movie fans will recognize Ninja and Yolandi Visser — collectively known as the group Die Antwoord — as the human stars of Chappie, Neill Blomkamp’s RoboCop/Short Circuit hybrid about a dystopian future where a police robot gains sentience and starts talking like Sharlto Copley. According to Die Antwoord, though, movie fans should also recognize them as the people who inspired the look of Suicide Squad, currently the biggest movie in America, shattering box office records left and right, even though they didn’t get any kind of credit or compensation.

By now, you’ve probably decided to go in one of two different directions. Either you are steadfastly refusing to watch any additional Suicide Squad footage — having made your mind up ages ago to see the film and hoping not to ruin major moments in the film any more than you already have — or you’ve decided, screw it, and are gorging yourself on the many, many photos and character clips that Warner Bros. has prepared for us. If you’re part of the first group, then I’m sorry to say that the best Suicide Squad video just dropped and you’re probably not going to get to see it.

Thrash metal legends Slayer have always been a band with a strong sense of narrative and storytelling, and their music is as evocative as any movie, TV show or graphic novel. Later this year, the band is making the official crossover into the realm of comis with a brand-new three issue miniseries from Dark Horse influenced by their most recent album.

If you haven't heard of Scottish synthpop band CHRVCHES, you've been missing out on not only some of the best tunes of the past few years, but some of the best music videos too. Their newest video for their song "Bury It" --- from the album Every Open Eye --- has a cool connection to comic books as it was directed by Young Avengers and The Wicked + The Divine artist Jamie McKelvie.

Cartoon Network's Over The Garden Wall raised the bar and set a new standard of what can be achieved in children's animation with its thoughtfully endearing and endlessly charming story about two brothers lost a magical land filled with monsters talking birds and pumpkin men. One of the best things about Over The Garden Wall was its soundtrack and score which captured the mood of the story perfectly and provided original numbers such as "Potatoes & Molasses" which remain some of the most memorable sequences from the series. Fans wondering if an official release would eventually come can now wait no longer as Mondo will be releasing a special edition of the soundtrack on vinyl, debuting later this month at San Diego Comic Con.

I love music, and I often find myself thinking about how it relates to comics; which characters would listen to which artists, and so forth. But what's the best way to get around the medium's limitations when it comes to stories about music and musicians? It's a question that's especially relevant to some of my favorite recent titles. The classic way to visualize music in comics is just to put the lyrics in a word balloon with some musical notes scattered around to convey singing. I’m going to be honest; I hate this approach, and in this day and age, I’m sure I’m not the only one. I find it impossible to read the lyrics as a song instead of a tuneless poem. There are better ways, as seen in books like Jem And The Holograms and Black Canary.