Archive Page 2111

November 16, 2021

New York Times reviews the new book AMERICAN COMICS A History By Jeremy Dauber

...Dauber, who teaches a course on graphic novels at Columbia University, has written a scholarly survey that is both opinionated and frequently funny. He starts things off with the 19th-century cartoonist Thomas Nast, who popularized Santa Claus and Uncle Sam on his way to deploying his “Tammany Tiger” to take down Boss Tweed’s political machine. From there Dauber traces the turn-of-the-century explosion of newspaper comics, the advent of comic books, underground comics, fan culture, and finally graphic novels and web comics.

American Comics: A History – AMAZON

New images of the Batmobile from the coming 2022 The Batman movie – Geek Tyrant

Halle Berry would like to direct a remake of her film Catwoman – NY Post

Gay Superman death threats apparently a hoax – Cosmic Book

Scout Comics growth means moving to bigger headquarters

The Fort Myers comic-book publisher expects to reach $1.7 million in revenue by the end of the year, says president and marketing/sales director James Haick. That's a dramatic leap from $765,000 last year and $375,000 in 2019.

Story at Yahoo-Fort Meyers Press

Also related The Scout Comics website

Massive comic collection of Ian Penman going to auction

The sale includes Marvel and DC publications dating back to the so-called ‘silver age’ of comics – a period which saw the debut of many of the most familiar characters.

Anderson and Garland’s comic specialist John Anderson is looking forward to the sale and predicting it will bring in more than £100,000: “It is the biggest collection I have handled to date and I have been selling comics for over 30 years,” he said."

Story at Sunderland Echo

Comicon Museum opens November 26 in San Diego

The soft opening of the museum will occur while Comic-Con Special Edition – the first in-person gathering for San Diego Comic-Con fans since July 2019..."

Story at Times of San Diego

Websie of the Comicon Museum

Amazon is buying MGM - another movie studio absorbed into a mammoth corporation – Bloomberg

The e-commerce giant is acquiring MGM in a deal that is expected to close some time next year. Amazon has not said whether it plans to keep the top executives at MGM, nor whether it will release its existing slate of projects in movie theaters. Facing this uncertainty... [MGM execs have] an incentive to release [their] movies in theaters while [they still have] the chance.

80 Years of Archie Comics – SYFY

Disney promos new series on Disney+ Day

1. Moon Knight
2. She-Hulk
3. Ms. Marvel
4. Hawkeye
5. X-Men 97
6. Marvel Zombies
7. Spider-Man: Freshman Year

Story at Deadline

"Henry Cavill wants to reassure fans that the Superman cape is still very much in his closet" – Batman News

Diamond is back online after ransomware attack - Diamond website

The ransomware attack on Diamond Distributors

The affected shipments currently include comics bound for drop points in Baltimore, Boston, and Dallas. The delays will also ensnare some comic book orders sent via UPS and to markets overseas.

Diamond Comic Distributors has yet to provide details about the attack, such as which ransomware strain was involved. On Sunday, it said only that "These attacks have, unfortunately, become increasingly pervasive in recent months, impacting organizations around the world."

Ransomware attacks can often arrive through malware-laced phishing emails or by exploiting vulnerabilities in online systems. The hackers will then seek to spread the ransomware infection to internal IT systems with the goal of encrypting as much information as possible. To free the computers, a victim will have to pay up, usually in Bitcoin.

Story at UK PC Mag

Kirby vs the MCU

"Jack Kirby Runs Into the MCU Buzzsaw ‘Eternals’ and the irony of watching fans trumpet their allegiance to a corporation over artists" – Bulwork

Since the first Eternals trailer dropped in May, rabid MCU fans have defended the movie from any and all criticism. I experienced this when I noted that the muted colors of the first trailer seemed to be missing the vibrancy of Jack Kirby’s original work: I was hounded for days by fanboys and girls, many of whom finally settled on the suggestion that Jack Kirby’s legendary art looked silly. Last month, one user on twitter simply posted some images from Kirby’s original run on The Eternals, in contrast to the new film. Marvel stans replied that King Kirby’s work was “hideous” and “dumb,” with one going as far as to say, “glad the movie dont look like this, [this] look like rainbow vomit omg.” (Sic, throughout.)

Setting aside the aesthetic critique—different strokes for different folks, and all that—there’s something deeply depressing about the whole spectacle that has nothing to do with art. Jack Kirby spent his life fighting corporate behemoths and championing the rights of creators, as individuals, a war he didn’t win until after his death. But time and again, the fans have made it abundantly clear they care more about corporations than creators."

Alternate versions of movies for alternative audiences

But the Ghostbusters blow-up suggests an experiment. Instead of gambling on one huge film, why not offer two somewhat smaller takes on the same theme simultaneously?"

Story at Deadline Hollywood

Diamond Distributors troubles continue:

Ransomware attack delaying some shipments

Story at Comicsbeat

Currently (Nov 9 2:13 PM) the Diamond website shows a 503 server error

Update: Nov 11, 2021 6:17 AM: Stilll showing a 503 server error

"The most meaningful DC Comics of all time" – Newsarama Games Radar

Counter opinion from CBB: Maybe two of the titles mentioned are in the top twenty.

"Marvel's laziest film to date"

"Gingercide is real"

"A sixth-graders attempt at The Watchmen"

Is this the future of comic books?

"Image Comics makes a big change that could make popular comics harder to find in print" – Games Radar

Paper shortages and rising costs may bring about the demise of pamphlet comic books, at least for the big league companies, sooner than expected. Whether these companies (or characters) can survive without active, living roots in paper-based comic books is another question altogether.

Eternals "opens with lowest US box office for a Marvel Studios movie in 6 years" – Yahoo News

Original page October 28, 2021