Last Update: May 8, 2025
Now this is not good news
"BCW Comic Book Bags And Boards Being Hit By 150% Tariffs"
Story at Bleedingcool
Rube Goldberg Silver Award 2025 nominees listed – Daily Cartoonist
Is Thunderbolts* a success? A flop? The experts disagree
It is being said that if you factor in inflation, Thunderbolts* is the worst opening for an MCU film, if you don't include the disastrous The Marvels record-setter. Thunderbolts* has an estimated cost of nearly $280 million, i.e., $180 million for producing it and then an estimated $100 million spent marketing. With those numbers hanging over its head, Thunderbolts* needs to "grow legs" as they say, and have a good second weekend, then carry on through subsequent weekends to earn the money back to pay for itself and to establish the bona fides for the "Marvel is back" declarations.
And, maybe it will do it. Even the negative reviews I've seen (haven't see the film yet, probably this weekend) has people trashing it the usual way its done anymore with super movies, but then even these naysayers are listing the things they like in the film, and some of those lists are pretty long.
There are plenty of Thunderbolts* is a "success story" stories already out there, but since we're early into the run (5 days!) that doesn't have any validity (yet).
Related: After 5 days, Thunderbolts at $165,545,849 worldwide - Box Office Mojo
The Clayface movie is getting a rewrite – Gamesradar - James Gunn is producing and its supposed to come out September 11, 2026.
The new Vision TV show will be the last Marvel series with major characters – Superherohype – Sounds like the new strategy is to require people buy the box office ticket to get to see top-tier Marvel heroes in new adventures and you won't be able to do this with a Disney+ subscription until later on after the theater run, then streaming sales and physical media.
The experiment in streaming (that appears to be coming to an end) is just like the experiment in VHS same-day sales that was attempted some 40 years ago when home-video was in its infancy. The idea was to get stuff out into theaters and then home video at the same time to make the huge advertising costs on a film to do double-duty by not only selling popcorn seats, but also use it to get home viewing sales (either through rental or direct to home). Instead, the result was that home video sales cannibalized the popcorn seat sales and traded the low-earning home video sales for the bigger-earning theater tickets. Streaming has tried a version of this and it has resulted the same way as it did then, circa 1983.
Headline: "France To Create Its Own Wonder Woman/Harley Quinn Graphic Novel" – Bleedingcool
This is crowd sourcing pushed to a whole other level! 68 million people teaming up to create a Wonder Woman/Harley graphic novel? That's incredible!
Wait, looks like France has designated just two people to perform the honors:
Wonder Woman & Harley Quinn: The Forbidden Gift is a new comic book/graphic novel that has been created and is published from French publisher Urban Comics. Written by Sylvain Runberg, and drawn and coloured by Miki Montlló.
Its a 120 page original to release in September, 2025.
"Marvel knows you're bored with superhero movies, hence the Thunderbolts*" – Business Insider
Marvel has been struggling with superhero fatigue
..."
But that prompts the question: what causes this mysterious "superhero fatigue"?
Related: Disney CEO Bob Iger says: Thunderbolts is our new strategy – Variety
Related: After 5 days, Thunderbolts at $165,545,849 worldwide - Box Office Mojo
"...the Thunderbolts' real name at the end of the movie, The New Avengers, brings back a sense of camaraderie that the MCU has been missing..." – Hollywood Reporter
Felicia Hardy is coming in a new series with a (cough) new attitude – Marvel.com
"...from Super-Thief to Super Hero..." - why are they giving away the surprise before the book hits in August?
Review of "Drawn to MoMA: Comics Inspired By Modern Art" – The Art Newspaper
The "mystery of Mad Peck" 1942–2025 – The Comics Journal
A mysterious figure on the fringe of the underground scene, Peck was the designer and a writer for his friend Les Daniels' groundbreaking book on comics history, Comix: A History of Comic Books in America (Bonanza Books/Crown, 1971), one of the very first books to seriously explore the comics medium. He also published several small booklets and novelty catalogs featuring his work through his Mad Peck Studios during that era and his strips appeared in important counterculture publications like the East Village Other and the Chicago Seed...."
Comix: A History of Comic Books in America was a book that wasn't soaked too deep in nostalgia like many of the books on comics, probably because part of the book was of such recent stuff (in 1971) that it was like a sampler of what was out there since so many of us getting comics then were confined to rather narrow supply sources.
Attack of the anti-fan – Comicsbeat
...social media is ruled by anti-fans who would rather talk about the stuff they hate than the stuff they love..."
The article lists a lot of anecdotes of "toxic" clashes and the feelings of various famous (within comicdom) people, but it doesn't mention by name the 'anti-fans' they're talking about. It also doesn't bring up the other side of this equation, the "celebrity" attacks on fans which churns up a lot of news coverage but has no particular ability to boost sales (or gain new fans for the medium) and of course the obvious question is: how could it? Whether the customer is a slob or a gentleman-or-woman of fine means and taste, barking at them about their opinions and choices just isn't going to work out in a marketplace. This is true in all the other mediums of art, from music, to painting, sculpture, folk crafts, graphic design, etc. Only pleasing the customer works if you're selling a service. If you've ever had a bad experience at a restaurant or hotel, you know this: you (likely) don't go back.
Jenette Kahn to auction art collection May 15 – Bleedingcool
Jenette Kahn's collection includes furniture (such as this Catwoman Chaise obviously based on Michelle Pfeiffer's Catwoman from Batman Returns) and art (A Bob Kane Batman lithograph) and a whole lot more. Kahn was head honcho at DC Comics for 26 years, from 1976 to 2002.
Items are online for auction at Heritage Auctions. Probably there will be a dedicated page to the collection on May 8th when they publish the reserve prices on the items.
Wal-Mart superhero stuff - April 28, 2025
The "mysterious" status of the Diamond Distributors auction sale – The Comics Journal
A comic strip history starting with The Yellow Kid – South Florida Reporter - A nice outline of the highlights in a time line list
Thunderbolts* kicks off with strong $162 million worldwide haul over weekend – Hollywood Reporter
May 4th, 2025
Celebrities who want to make comic books – Uproxx
Frankel is a comics guy, through and through, who discovered that there’s an overlooked niche in the medium: comics by folks who may well be just as big fans of the hobby who have for years been hamstrung by low expectations from gatekeepers within the industry. ... The end result has been stories and books that feel more like cash grabs than actual comics from musicians who love comics. Josh’s plan is simple: Becoming a one-stop shop for those artists looking to put their ideas to a different kind of page, pairing them with writers and artists who can bring those ideas to life, and making the process pleasant for everybody involved...."
The 2025 Minicomic Awards – Comicsbeat
The Nib & Ink Fest is a month-long online comics fest hosted by the Cartoonist Cooperative. The judges for the 2025 Minicomic Awards were Barbara Benas, Ashanti Fortson, Gigi Murakami, Cam Marshall, Evan Dahm, Arpad Okay, and Madeline McGrane..."
At the Free Comic Book Day in London – Bleedingcool
Thunderbolts* has strong start – MSN Variety
Marvel's "Thunderbolts*" will easily top the weekend box office after cracking a $31.5 million gross across Friday and preview screenings from 4,330 theaters...The hope for Marvel is that "Thunderbolts*" may open smaller, but will hold much stronger."
"Promising" start to Thunderbolts* run – Hollywood Reporter MSN
The star-studded movie, led by Florence Pugh and Sebastian Stan, kicks off the summer box office in what's become a tradition for Kevin Feige‘s studio. The pic is winning over critics and audiences alike; as of Friday morning, Thunderbolts* boasted a 95 percent audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, one of the top four scores for a title in the Marvel Cinematic Universe..."
Movie Reviews Thunderbolts*
"Maybe... Thunderbolts* rescues Marvel from slump" – MSN Business Insider
'"Florence Pugh can't rescue this flop" – Mashable MSN
"Best Marvel in years" – Indie Wire
"‘Thunderbolts’ is Marvel, and Florence Pugh, in high gear"... "a return to form for Marvel" – AP News
One reason the Avengers movies and their spin-offs were successful — before they became hopelessly mired in their own mythos — was their willingness to not take themselves all that seriously. “Thunderbolts*” demonstrates both the strengths and weaknesses of that strategy as a movie that includes some genuine wit but also a tiresome amount of what has become the series’s signature in-jokey sarcasm...." – "Another Marvel widget" – Washington Post
Sounds awful, but no. The original formulaic Marvel screenplay was rewritten by Lee Sung Jin, creator of TV’s Beef, and then again by Joanna Calo, the co-showrunner of The Bear. Between them they’ve found the sweet spot that allows a powerhouse performer such as Pugh to hold a drama together with tear-jerking scenes of ache and regret while nonetheless adhering to the nominal structural demands of a superhero movie..." – "Thunderbolts* review — we needed this Marvel film with Florence Pugh" – UK The Times
Black Hammer One-Shot for Free Comic Book Day
Story at Forbes
Whether you’re a newcomer to the Black Hammer series or a longtime fan of the Eisner Award-winning title, you won’t want to miss acclaimed writer Jeff Lemire’s one-shot yarn featured in Dark Horse’s Free Comic Book Day issue (out this Saturday, May 3)..."
Butch Guice has died – Bleedingcool
Saturday is Free Comic Book Day 2025 – freecomicbookday
X-Men - Deadpool movie in the works from Ryan Reynolds – Comicsbeat
Almost $12 million box office for Thunderbolts* start on Thursday night – Deadline Hollywood
As noted in the article, that's a pretty good start. If Friday holds up then the whole weekend might be a (much needed) "win" for Disney.
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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