Last Update: December 21, 2024
Santa is "canon" for DC and Marvel
Story at Polygon
AI Challenge #10 - Santa Elf Mercenary - Grok vs Chat GPT
Matthew Rosenberg and artist Stefano Landini did Punisher together, now they're doing Indy Comic We're Taking Everyone Down With Us, a six issue miniseries – MSN Hollywood Reporter
Why was the word "Legacy" dropped from the "Superman Legacy" film title? – Superherohype
"Top Ten" manga of 2024 – Gamesradar
The "50 best comics" of 2024 list – Comicsbeat
12th annual ‘Comic Book in a Day Challenge’ – MSN Wish-TV
Artists of all ages from all over the world are challenged to complete a comic book from scratch on the 12th annual Comic Book in a Day Challenge...."
Zoom International Competition | Jan. 17, 2025
Adult/Teen Division Competition | Jan. 18, 2025
Youth Division | Jan. 18, 2025
Award Ceremony | Jan. 22, 2025
AI Superhero Challenge Number 9
Grok vs ChatGTP with the prompt of "Santa inspired superhero figure"- click image to enlarge.
Shonen Jump and censorship – Comicbook
Rebooting the Valiant universe – Bleedingcool
How DC Comics has had a "comeback year" – MSN Hollywood Reporter
The death of comic books has been foretold for many years, but just like the superheros and villains it chronicles, the medium always returns, sometimes bolder than before..... no one had a bigger year, arguably, than DC, which launched several publishing initiatives, new product lines, and new distribution channels...."
The 24 weirdest, wildest entertainment happenings of 2024 – Hollywood Reporter
They list things like the ‘Wicked’ Press Tour, Nicole Kidman, Will Smith "is forgiven", E.T. goes to Washington, and "Joaquin Phoenix Had a Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad 2024" and this about George Clooney trying to persude people to vote for the Democratic Party...
Beyoncé, Will Ferrell, Richard Gere, Katy Perry, Dick Van Dyke — none of them were able to move the needle of public opinion enough to get Kamala Harris into the White House, not even Taylor Swift. In the end, America listened to Hulk Hogan..."
AI Superhero Challenge Number 8
Grok vs ChatGTP with the prompt of hero identity based on "rubber tires"- click image to enlarge.
Fundraiser for Matthew Clark, artist on Doom Patrol, Outsiders, Superman, Wonder Woman, Inhumans, Harbinger, Ghost Rider, Shaft, Threshold and Injustice, and is the co-creator of Felon, Life & Death In Paradise, and Pantheon – Bleedingcool
A GofundMe has been set up to help with the costs on his triple bypass surgery. He has been unable to work for months now.
Profile of Duke Russell and his autobiographical comic books, centered on living in Alaska – Something
The Pattinson Batman II starts production shooting in May of 2025 – Comicbookmovie
Hot Wheels Gal Gadot Wonder Woman Car from the Batman V Superman era
End of the year best-of list for December books – Comicsbeat
Why Archie Comics was the best comic book publisher of the 2010s – MSN CBR
In 2009, Jon Goldwater took over as CEO of Archie Comics. Goldwater said that because he was worried about the Archie Comics characters fading into obscurity, he called all the Archie Comics writers and artists into a room and told them that something had to be done to bring the publisher into the modern era. The rebranding of Archie Comics began in Sept. 2010 with Veronica #202, a comic book written and drawn by Dan Parent. Kevin Keller, Archie Comics’ first LGBTQ+ character, was introduced...."
The article explores all of the different promotions that Archie Comics did, including crossovers and specialty stories, but it leaves out one important thing: Archie Comics managed (and continues to manage) to stay in mainstream newsstand distribution, primarily in grocery and discount stores. You can still spot Archie Comics digests on the racks as you pass through the cashier lines. That is something higher-profile publishers like Marvel and DC have not been able to achieve.
"Tom King, a DC Comics Legend" has discovered what comic books lack versus TV and Movie versions – Screenrant MSN
The answer: ♪ ♫ ♬ ♩
AI Superhero Challenge Number 7
Grok vs ChatGTP with the prompt of Waffle-themed superhero with sidekick kitten - click image to enlarge.
Notice the Grok output has some trouble doing the legs.
Review of the comic collection from Image 1949 – The Comics Journal
The review praises but then says:
If Weaver the writer hides his lack of thought behind a succession of competently-unremarkable clues, Weaver the artist hides behind a sheen of Hollywood luster. Although aesthetically handsome, his style is both heavily preoccupied in a polish so deeply ingrained that it transcends the visual and becomes almost ideological. In Weaver's world, everything has to be clean, intact; where there is damage, it is heroic, a teleological suspension to guarantee strength even at a time of ostensible weakness. His coloring resembles that of colorists such as Paul Mounts or Justin Ponsor (the latter of whom colored much of Weaver's work for Marvel prior to Ponsor's passing in 2019). It is oppressively saturated and gradient-heavy, and never, ever shaded. It is a world comprised entirely of shiny surfaces, fundamentally incompatible with meaningful drama or stakes. Weaver tries to make up for this with his compositions, angles rapidly changing high and low, but the result is the exact opposite, a largely arbitrary freneticism that will break any rules of logic — the 180-degree rule is discarded with abandon depending entirely on who is the first to speak in a given panel — to evade, inelegantly as necessary, any accusations of repetitiveness..."
The specialty covers for Godzilla vs. Fantastic Four – Gamesradar
Directors announced for the next Spiderverse movie – Superherohype
There's going to be a Clayface movie? – Bounding into Comics
G.I. Joe #1 advance orders topping 225,000 copies – Comicbook
Crowdfunding project list – Comicsbeat – includes the effort to get Heavy Metal back in print, among others.
Bob Layton gets banned on Facebook - but why? – Bleedingcool
Bob Layton is a veteran comic book creator, best known as the co-creator of Iron Man's Jim Rhodes – War Machine – at Marvel, Huntress at DC Comics, and the Valiant line, including X-O Manowar, Ninjak, Bloodshot and Archer & Armstrong. But he has come smack bang up against the opaque structures that are social media....
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Godzilla battles The Avengers, X-Men and Fantastic Four – Gamesradar
Titled Godzilla Vs Marvel, the series of one-shots will consist of six stories in which Godzilla will go up against the Marvel heroes ... each issue written and drawn by different creators. The event launches with Godzilla Vs. The Fantastic Four...."
Kraven the Hunter
"Ludicrous but entertaining" – UK The Times
Don’t believe the bad buzz; this comic book adaptation is a goofy delight. The story of a boarding school brat who’s transformed into a lethal, vaguely immortal superhero after being mauled by a lion ... is at times borderline idiotic. But it’s also a throwback to 1940s movie serials, the Sixties TV Batman and the Christopher Reeve Superman movies... they existed under the umbrella of camp and an awareness that this was not Chekhov. Until Christopher Nolan’s Batman and the Marvel Cinematic Universe gave us comic book heroes with Shakespearean depths. Thankfully, there’s not much Shakespearean depth to Kraven the Hunter (he’s a hunter — it’s in the name). The buff, bestial arse-kicker is played with a stoner’s easygoing detachment by Aaron Taylor-Johnson...."
"By-the-numbers action-adventure movie" – Washington Post
Gory and intense violence features guns, stabbing, slashing, gruesome traps, animal attacks, vehicle crashes, broken limbs, parental abuse, blood spurts and an arrow through someone’s eye..."
Kraven the Hunter getting some bad reviews but there's been worse reviews for Marvel Sony Movies – Insider – Not hard to guess who they're referring to.
James Gunn's Creature Commandos premiers on HBO Max
Some observations:
G.I. Robot talks in a phrase and grammar pattern just like Dobby the House Elf from the Harry Potter movies. "G.I. Robot would like to kill Nazis with you. Would you like to kill Nazis with G.I. Robot?" Voiced by Sean Gunn.
Nina Mazursky (the Gill Woman) reminds me of Abe Sapien in the Hellboy movie because of the water helmet. On the other hand the character is probably the most level-headed and consistently human of the group. Voiced by Zoe Chao.
The Bride (of Frankenstein) character has an English accent, which is a nice nod to the original actress to play the character (Elsa Lanchester). Otherwise the character is quite different (and considerably taller). Voiced by Indira Varma.
Eric Frankenstein is given good dialogue with Dr. Frankenstein in which they argue over whether to build, or not build, a mate for the creature. It is essentially a rehash of the situation from many previous works involving the characters over the decades (or centuries - the first published edition of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was in 1818!) but the good dialogue doesn't always last and gets, well, cartoon cliche´ but when it's good, it is good. Voiced by David Harbour.
Gunn's script writing is well done and provides an interesting parallel between The Bride and the Princess Ilana. Like Gunn's other projects there's a sad nihilism peaking from around the humor, but that also flips over into a sad humanity which keeps the stories (so far) from sinking into the morass of the usual cartoon writing.
The cartoon series is rated TV-MA and that rating is for real.
Some reviews:
Why Creature Commandos Is Not Safe for Kids – Yahoo Entertainment
"I greenlit my own show!" says James Gunn – IGN
"Creature Commandos is familiar but not awful" – MSN Indie Wire
"What makes it so weird?" – Washington Post
What makes it so weird? The series stars a Nazi-killing robot, an empathetic but feral weasel, a radioactive skeleton, a swamp creature, Frankenstein’s bride and, yes, even Frankenstein himself (the monster, not the doctor). If this sounds a little offbeat, that’s because it is..."
Covers of Origins of Marvel Comics 1974 and 2024 - click to enlarge
50 year anniversary of "Origins of Marvel Comics" – The Crimson
Origins of Marvel Comics" is in and of itself a cultural artifact. In the Hulk’s first appearance, his skin is recolored bright green, even though it began as gray. In Spider-Man’s first appearance, he has armpit-webbing and off-putting pupils. In Thor’s first appearance, his name is misspelled as "Thorr" in the final panel. These discrepancies only elevate the reading experience, and harken back to the days of Marvel’s famous No-Prize, rewarding fans who rectified editorial oversights..."
Amazon would be delighted to sell you a copy of the new hardback which has a new version of the original cover art painting.
Get into the Public Domain archives that are online at Graphic Chatter
Time to go to Disney World? Goofy 4 Mickey
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