Last Update: June 26, 2025
Publishers teamup for Indie comics creators distribution – Publishers Weekly
Power Pulp, a new comics distribution collective with members based across the U.S., is billing itself as an innovative, author-led organization aiming to lower the barrier to entry to the comics market for indie creators..."
Power Pulp Comics Distribution – "We may look like a publisher, but we’re something else entirely—a collective force built to uplift original voices and bring boundary-pushing work to a wider audience."
John Malkovitch is in out of the Fantastic Four Movie – comicbookmovie
Fantastic Four and Superman shirts and outfits at Hot Topic, a Virginia Mall
The Copyright Wars
It's all free! – Courthouse News
The infringement case against Skynet AI turned out to be a "clear loser" (the judge's words) because of lack of adequate evidence to qualify the case to move it to a jury trial.
A federal judge granted partial summary judgment to Meta on Wednesday, despite claims from 13 award-winning and acclaimed authors who argued that the tech giant violated U.S. copyright law by using their works to train its flagship AI model Llama without their permission."
...As evidence of copyright infringement, the authors argued that the AI’s responses are sometimes verbatim excerpts from their books, which they claim amounts to Meta unlawfully benefiting from their works by failing to license them through their authors."
...However, the judge said his ruling wasn’t necessarily a huge win for Meta, nor a colossal setback for artists in their struggle against AI-generated content, because it only affects the rights of these thirteen authors — not the countless others whose works Meta used to train its models."
"Hostage comic books" at Diamond Distributors to get liquidated? – Bleedingcool
The New York Comicon has announced the guest line-up – New York Post MSN
The Fantastic Four: First Steps could change the MCU "forever" – MSN Total Film
"FF First Steps] arrival will ... signal the first step toward the presumed end and rebirth of the Multiverse in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, which draw on classic comic stories that remade aspects of Marvel Comics continuity. And with the close of the Multiverse Saga, I'm sincerely hoping that the Fantastic Four will be the vanguard of what comes next, with a renewed focus on characters, and creators with a unique vision being allowed to build an entire, captivating world around their story."
The article gives a nice long history of the FF and the importance of Marvel's first big superhero success in comics way off in the past transferring successfully to the big screen now (of course, right now, any kind of success is probably welcome over at Disney/Marvel).
The first teaser trailers for FF stirred up a lot of positive response, but subsequent marketing activity hasn't expanded on that, if anything, there's been some backtracking in reactions. It'll all be moot once the film hits theaters and the reviews, social media punditry and word-of-mouth takes over. But if James Gunn's Superman does well (it comes out first on July 11, FF on the 25th), the nice feeling from a successful superhero movie might leave a strong, happy wake for FF First Steps to surf on.
"Rebirth of the Multiverse" scares me, though, because the concept was gobbling up the superhero genre entirely while simultaneously profit-earning superhero films were becoming rare items at theaters over the past years. In fact, the core of 'power phantasy' superhero storytelling had shifted away from essentials into this sci-fi concept, and then getting larded over with 21st century soap opera melodrama. The combination was not only making for rather unintelligible stories but burying the genre under the emotional baggage of two other genres (the sentimentality of "romance" and the tangled up emotional bloviating of "family drama"). There's no reason a superhero saga can't include these other story modes, but its got to keep the dominate reason the story is being told front and center, otherwise we're getting a tale that looks like a superhero film but its actually something else entirely. The contamination of the superhero concept is pretty easy to spot once the heroes start turning out to be nincompoops and asses and the various characters gathered around them are preoccupied with non-superhero cause-and-effect issues, and the moral imperative of squashing the bad guys has faded.
Of course, lousy film-making doesn't help, and DC-Sony-Marvel films for awhile now have been trying hard to be completely in line with Martin Scorsese's accusations, and at the same time being examples of poor craftsmanship, especially in the storytelling department, all of these things creating a Perfect Storm of failure.
Diamond holding inventory "hostage" of Fantagraphics, Oni, Titan – Bleedingcool
Ryo Tatsuki's manga book "The Future I Saw" is being blamed for decline in tourism for Japan – Washington Post
How did this come about? Because:
In the original 1999 version, the book claimed that a "great disaster will occur in March 2011." That month happened to be when a deadly triple disaster struck Japan’s Tohoku region: a devastating earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown that triggered one of the biggest nuclear disasters in history...."
In an updated version of the Tatsuki story, "the real catastrophe" is predicted for July, 2025, and as a consequence, some manga-influenced tourists are writing off visiting Japan this summer.
Uh, what? Daredevil TV Show writers told not to look at the preceding Netflix series – MSN CBR
Apparently, the ban was temporary and had to do with constructing an original framework, and then the doors were opened to look back at the old show.
"The numbers are bullshit"
Snyderverse fans vs the Gunn Superman movie – Boundingintocomics
It's waaaar!
Interview with Peter Kuper – The Comics Journal
Turkish cartoonist Zehra Omeroglu facing three year prison sentence for cartoon – Daily Cartoonist
The chaos in the comic shops – Bleedingcool
Chris Nolan's Odyssey adventure film getting an R-Rating?
Story at Comicbookmovie
What movies in the 21st century have sold 300 million+ tickets? Well, there's Avengers: Endgame with $1.2 billion+ in boxoffice with 351.5 million tickets – Far Out Magazine
"Hollywood come-back story" - theaters are in rebound since April – CNN MSN
CNN argues that the good earnings on Minecraft, Sinners, Lilo & Stitch indicate a positive trend, and they throw in other titles (including Thunderbolts) that are helping build momentum.
Apparently a bad script for the Sgt Rock movie got the project cancelled – Boundingintocomics
Shakeup in the business – Bleedingcool
Marvel, Dark Horse, IDW, Boom and other comic book publishers are exclusive at Penguin Random House for the USA direct market. But Lunar Distribution only has DC Comics and Image Comics as big-name publisher exclusives. If DC is no longer exclusive, will Image join DC at Universal in the US as well?...
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With Diamond Distributors collapse all the big pieces of the comic book industry continue to reposition.
Here comes a new comic book digital platform - and its carrying titles from the heavy weight companies – Forbes
Neon Ichiban, a new digital comics marketplace with an elite pedigree from publisher DSTLRY, will launch with new and backlist material from Marvel Entertainment, DC Comics, Dark Horse Comics, Kodansha, Oni Press, Vault Comics and DSTLRY’s own titles, according to the company’s announcement today...."
Neon Ichiban Waitlist – its ntnoto off the ground yet but you can join the waitlist.
Is Damson idris the next Black Panther for Marvel's movies? – Instagram
Welsh actor Tom Rhys Harries is the star for DC’s Clayface movie – Comicsbeat – the film is due in theaters September 2026
Fantastic Four "merch reveal" – Facebook
Lots of stuff blandished with the Fantastic Four movie color palette and logo - for example the Blue Milk of TruMoo
No tomorrow for Supergirl movie, that is, now its just Supergirl and not "Woman of Tomorrow" – MSN Tech Radar
James Gunn interview at Rolling Stone – paywalled.
IDW Comics sticking around but there's quite a financial tangle in the background – Bleedingcool
The collector popcorn buckets for forthcoming Superman movie – Superherohype
The Sikh Captain America – MSN Associated Press
He suited up as Captain Sikh America in Manhattan for the first time in summer 2013 — one year after a self-proclaimed white supremacist opened fire inside a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin, killing six and injuring four others...."
Thunderbolts* still in theaters but limping to $378,846,193 worldwide – The-Numbers
Racer X (from Speed Racer) comic coming – Comicsbeat
Mad Cave Studios and Tatsunoko Production are doing an eight-issue limited series about Speed Racer's mysterious brother.
Frank Miller does a variant cover for Detective Comics #1100 – Bleedingcool
It looks like it is in his DK2 style.
Marvel's 616 Day event on June 16 – Screenrant
Gianfranco Manfredi has died – The Comics Journal
Creator and writer of Magico Vento is Manfredi’s most famous work, blending western, horror, and supernatural elements. He wrote the main 130‑issue series (1997–2010) and later revived it in new miniseries (Il ritorno in 2019, Guerre Apache in 2023)
He is also known for Gordon Link (1991–1993), Bonelli: Volto Nascosto (2007–08), Shanghai Devil (2011–13), Adam Wild (2014–16), Coney Island (2015), and Cani Sciolti (2018–19).
His work resume is much longer and is considered a highly important figure in the "golden age of Italian comics."
Rare: An original fine print of the original 1977 Star Wars screened at BFI festival with Kathleeen Kennedy in attendance – Superherohype
The print’s discovery came as a surprise, and quickly led to a stir amongst fans online. George Lucas infamously did not like the very first print of Star Wars (which would later be renamed to Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope), and would tinker with it in the years after its release. Specifically, Lucas added the now infamous opening crawl, and changed the scene in the Mos Eisley cantina, making it so that bounty hunter Greedo shoots at Han Solo first, rather than vice versa...."
Comic Book Brain wishes there was a 4K blu ray release of the original untouched 1977 Star Wars.
The muddy slog through Diamond DIstributors current situation – Comicsbeat
Interview with Kate Beaton – The Comics Journal
In this excerpt, the two talk about Beaton's webcomic, which often poked fun at historical figures, learning how to adapt to an internet audience and where Beaton is going to go from here...."
Okay, this probably isn't the new Bat Logo
Here comes a new Batman logo – Bleedingcool
"DC Has Changed Batman’s Logo Again Because the First 1 Million Times Weren’t Enough" – Fandomwire
Black Panther game build is cancelled – Boundingintocomics
Get into the Public Domain archives that are online at Graphic Chatter
Time to go to Disney World? Goofy 4 Mickey
Classic Film, reviews and more Cinemagraphe
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