Archive Page 2131

April 28, 2022

TV Channel CW "staying in the superhero business" with DC – MSN News

The CW chairman and CEO Mark Pedowitz reassured DC fans that the network plans to continue making superhero shows despite recent events.... Pedowitz went on to say he could offer no guidance on what the future of DC Entertainment will be amid rumors that top executives are looking to creatively overhaul the division in the wake of the WarnerMedia-Discovery merger. He did point out, though, that The CW’s DC shows have been shown to connect to the larger DC Universe in recent crossover events that featured Ezra Miller as The Flash from the DC films.

"Umbrella Academy" lawsuit is dismissed – though the article adds "for now" – Reuters

Kevin Atkinson failed to show that "Umbrella Academy" comic creator Gerard Way had access to his comics, U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder said, dismissing the case for the second time. He gave Atkinson one more chance to argue otherwise in an amended lawsuit against Way, Netflix, and Dark Horse Comics LLC."

She-Hulk "rage" trailer – HuffPost

Warner plans for DC "Wonder Twins" movie is now kaput – MSN News

Dark Knight Returns original cover art heads to auction

Story at MSN News - Collider

Heritage Auction page for the piece "Ink over graphite on Bristol board with airbrush color work, image size 12" x 18". Signed by both artists as "FM/LV" in the lower center. A few visible surface scuffs and finger bends; otherwise, in Excellent condition."

NFT platform launching from Todd McFarlane and Steve Aoki– Comic Book

Comic Artist María Barrera Castell has died – Downthetubes

Marvel losing the license to publish Conan?

Story at Bounding into Comics and at Bleeding Cool

Looks like the controlling company Tencent will be publishing Conan on their own.

More about that big rare issue auction at Goldin on May 21 [AP News]

The rare comic book items up for sale include:

• 1939 DC Detective Comics #27 - CGC rating 6.5 ( link and pictures )
• 1962 Marvel Amazing Fantasy #15 - CGC rating 8.0 ( link and pictures )
• 1939 DC Superman #1 - CGC rating 2.0 ( link and pictures )
• 1960 Original Cover artwork for DC Showcase #24 by Gil Kane - The tird Appearance of Green Lantern ( link and pictures )
• 1940 DC Batman #1 - CGC rating 4.0 ( link and pictures )
• 1963 Marvel X-Men #1 - CGC rating 8.5 ( link and pictures )
• 1942 DC Wonder Woman #1 - CGC rating 5.0 ( link and pictures )
• 1961 Original Page art and Splash page for D.C. Comics Green Lantern #6 by Gil Kane ( link and pictures )
• 1984 Mirage Studios Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TMNT #1 First Print Promotional Copy Signed by Pete Laird and Kevin Eastman - CGC rating 9.8 ( link and pictures )

“Don’t Be a Dope” Will Eisner’s World War II Posters

Soon after The Spirit began its run, Will Eisner was drafted into the Army during World War II. During his service, he created a series of illustrations to provide soldiers with helpful information about safety and preventive maintenance. Illustrating for Army publications and maintenance manuals, Eisner created the character “Joe Dope” who, through his misadventures, reminded soldiers of the importance of maintaining their equipment properly.

More at the National Archives Web Site

Nine key George Perez Titles

Story at IGN

Fast Review: Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness

At the end of the Mel Brooks' comedy Blazing Saddles, the cast is brawling in a cowboy saloon, and their fight crashes through a wall only to reveal an entirely different film is being made on the other side, a musical. The brawling soon envelopes the musical dancers, and then smashes through another wall into a third film. This is a bit of what Doctor Strange in the Mutliverse of Madness is like, a chase and a brawl that slips into and out of other "multiverse" worlds where sometimes there's another Doctor Strange to contend with, along with other versions of other familiar characters (and newly introduced character America Chavez, played by Xochitl Gomez).

There is some preliminary story before we're launched into a long-form chase movie that makes up the bulk of the 2 hour 6 minute running time, and a prior knowledge of the Disney TV Show Wandavision, along with the previous film Doctor Strange, helps a lot towards filling in why some characters are acting the way they do, doing the things we see, and trying to achieve whatever it is can be done within so many different shifting planes of existence. In this way the film is less a feature film than an episode in a series.

Part horror film, Director Sam Raimi adds a lot of jolt-style shocks if you're susceptible to his movie tricks, and Benedict Cumberbatch is back wearing the Doctor Strange cloak, trying to do what's right (under the circumstances) using all of his occult power, which we can see is CGI, but within the movie itself isn't explained.

Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff rips apart dimensions in her rush to calm down her anxiety about her "children," and this is the emotional center of the movie, not Cumberbatch's Doctor. Xochitl Gomez adds a lot of fresh and youthful vigor to what's happening. She has a quasi-Wonder Woman jean jacket on, wearing a kind of flamboyant USA flag style that is circa Lynda Carter Wonder Woman, something DC abandoned for a darker and more militant appearance for Diana Prince. Gomez makes it fresh and appealing, though, like all other characters that appear in Doctor Strange in the Mutliverse of Madness, this is an action film and not a character tale, so we don't really get to know anyone very well unless we already know them from the comic books or previous Disney films.

Considering that the multiverse is a sort of sloppy conglomeration of worlds that vary from one another by just degrees in places, or completely in others (for example a paint-world where everything is apparently, well, paint) and that Director Raimi keeps it pretty coherent for us to travel through is an awful lot like being strapped to a little cart hurtling through a Disney theme park ride, and this is a testament to his narrative powers that we get to more or less understand what's happening despite this bizarre story construction. Aside from that, this movie isn't really a movie, and seems to have the trappings that mark films that are made by committee decision, like Disney's recent Cruella, (a film that had significantly more actor's work in it that does Doctor Strange II which is trapped in the same avalanche of special-effects that wrecked Disney's Maleficent Mistress of Evil movie, though Doc Strange 2 doesn't go as deep into the vortex of CGI).

Auction on Detective #27 could fetch millions – MSN News

This is the book that started it all, though. And, as you might expect, it’s likely to pull in the big Bat Bucks. Heritage Auctions sold a 7.0-grade copy of the book for $1.5 million in 2020—the highest price ever realized for any Batman comic book. The auction house also sold an 8.0-grade copy for $1.1 million in 2010. This example, meanwhile, is sitting at $950,000 at the time of this writing, with 12 days left on the sale.

More on recent Comic Book mega-prices

Doc Strange and Multibucks of Gladness

Somehow Boxofficemojo has the world wide total for the start of Doc Strange II's run at exactly $450,000,000.

What does the $187 million debut for Doctor Strange II mean for summer ticket sales? – Yahoo News

Big start for Doctor Strange II – Variety

Doc Strange Reviews

"Reasonably entertaining" movie – Times Standard

"Its rip-roaring opening owes more to “Star Wars” or “Raiders of the Lost Ark” than any Marvel jam" – Indystar

"Weirder, scarier, messier" sequel – Republican American

"Rave Reviews" for Elizabeth Olsen in the Multiverse of Madness – The Blast

Sam Raimi gives Marvel a "fresh scary vision" – ABC News

"Doctor Strange II is testing the "limits of fans and the MCU" – Digital Journal

George Perez has died – WLRN – Gizmodo – MSN News – Deadline

The news broke on Saturday afternoon from a message on his Facebook page, where it was said he passed on May 6 “peacefully at home with his wife [Carol] of 490 months and family by his side.” In December, Pérez revealed his diagnosis with stage 3 cancer, an announcement that led to the comics industry rallying behind the creator and talking about their experiences with him and his work. More recently, multiple DC Comics artists came together to celebrate the comics titan in a legendary piece of artwork featuring an assortment of characters he illustrated for the publisher over the years. This two-page spread will be published in every issue releasing in the month of June, in honor of his birthday on June 9. Both DC and Marvel have each published their own tweets celebrating Pérez, calling him a pivotal piece of their respective histories.

Comic book stores restock and rebuild – Publishers Weekly

Per our respondents, 2021 brought the return of a (relative) status quo, and for some locations record numbers, as customers eagerly shopped in person upon being welcomed back inside physical stores. The category drivers ranged from the predictable—manga and middle grade/YA graphic novels—to an unexpected surge in single-issue sales. But the global supply chain delays resulted in the most popular manga titles often being nearly impossible to restock, putting a ceiling on what was otherwise a monster year for that sector.

While the impact on manga sales was particularly notable, publishers of all varieties of comics faced unexpected shortages and delays. Even packaging elements for single issues of serialized comics, such as bags and boards—designed for floppy comics to protect each in a slipcase supported by a cardboard insert—were in short supply.

Batman vs. Spider-Man

Detective Comics #27 being auctioned at Goldin Auctions

Copy of Amazing Fantasy #15, 1962 - CGC 8.0, Off-White to White Pages at Goldin Auctions

...overseas, “Doctor Strange 2” debuts day-and-date in most countries (excluding China, Russia and Ukraine), where it’s targeting $125 million to $140 million. Based on those estimates, “Doctor Strange” could clear an impressive $285 million to $340 million in global ticket sales through Sunday. Like its Marvel brethren, “Doctor Strange 2” cost $200 million to produce, not including hefty marketing fees.

It's back

Free Comic Book Day has returned to its proper place in the comics universe — on the first Saturday in May — when superhero worshippers will be swooping into their nearest comic shops to catch up with the goings-on in Gotham City, Riverdale, the Marvel galaxies and other mythic worlds.

Story at Hartford Courant

Original Spiderman movie is twenty years ago – "Spider-Man' at 20: How Marvel's first mega-hit helped New Yorkers heal after 9/11"

Story at MSN News

Yahoo News can tell you why Batman doesn't disguise his voice in the new Matt Reeves film

NFT from Rob Liefeld of BloodStrike #1 Remastered – Yahoo News

Batgirl not getting a season 4 - cancelled at TV Line

Original page June 20, 2022