An online specialty store offering rare and irreverent comics

The Denver Post (archive link) spoke with the owner of an online store called Wig Shop, that offers rare items, and is even working on an adaptation of a fantasy novel originally published in the early 20th century:

Through Wig Shop, Alford, 42, has created a hub for fans of irreverent comics, abstract art, rare books and other printed curiosities. Many Colorado customers — myself included — have met him in person tabling at zine fests and book fairs up and down the Front Range.

No two items among the 1,300 he has sold — he’s assigned a catalog number to each one — are the same. They are made by artists around the country and abroad, who Alford finds through visual platforms such as Instagram and often use online print-on-demand services to publish their work, he said.

“Stylistically, I lean a little more towards silly, fancy, fantasy kind of stuff than horror or violent or sex stuff,” he said. “Sometimes it’ll dip between the two.”

The artists Alford reaches out to are usually receptive when he asks to sell their books in limited quantities, he said. But he has also published his own pressings under the Wig Shop name.

He recently collaborated with a Denver-area artist for the first time for his illustrated pressing of “The Gods of Pegāna,” a fantasy novella by Lord Dunsany first published in 1905.

“[H.P.] Lovecraft’s monsters all kind of came out of this story, and nobody really knows this book,” he said. [...]

“I love this idea of pushing the comics fan toward more refined stuff, and pushing the refined fan more toward the lowbrow stuff,” Alford said of his desire to make the art book.

While encouraging fandom to read something "refined" may be a good idea, I think that's taking a risk if he's implying adventure fare is "lowbrow". But I'll give him credit, if anything, for favoring fancy fantasy more than violence-prone fare. And if he can produce comics, whether original or based on classic literature, that offers more positive themes, that's very good. We need much more optimist fare in an era where darkness and violence have sadly become an all-too familiar staple cliche.

Another felon arrested for trying to sell a stolen comic

Local12 reports another criminal was arrested for trying to sell off a stolen pamphlet - get this - from the Walking Dead series:

The sale of a rare, graded, first-edition “Walking Dead” comic book led to a man’s arrest.

According to WKMG, 63-year-old John Anthony Higgins was taken into custody after authorities said he tried to pawn the comic book the same day it was stolen from a business in Cape Canaveral, Florida.

The report states that the suspect was allegedly caught pawning the comic at a shop in Port Orange, Florida, for $2,000 on the same day it was stolen from Defender Comics.

Once again, this is why the speculator market for comics has got to cease. It's only turned the art form into a farce, and simultaneously resulted in corruption as there's crooked people trying to make a quick buck off of stolen goods in the process. We don't need that kind of mindlessness dominating the medium. Interesting how here, the stolen product in question was a very recent creation, making clear even brand new comics series can end up the subject of thefts for the sake of profiteering. Again, this is why the speculator market can't continue to be pandered to if it's going to result in problems like these.

Portland, Oregon's role in comicdom

The Portland Mercury wrote some history of the city's role serving as a headquarters for various artists and writers, which is now the subject of a documentary:

It may surprise you to learn that Portland, Oregon, a mid-sized America city known for its rain and its many river spanning bridges, is a global hotbed for the production of comic books. A new documentary for OPB’s Oregon Art Beat, Indie Comics City: How Portland Built Its Own Comics Universe, which premiered at the annual Rose City Comic Con, tells how it happened, a story about the place of Portland itself, and the decentralizing modes of cultural production everywhere.

The documentary, helmed by OPB’s multimedia arts and culture producer Steven Tonthat, delves deep into the beginnings of local comics history. For the first 50 or so years of its existence, the comics industry was located along with the rest of the publishing industry: New York City. The artists who made the cultural load-bearing works that we associate with them—Superman, Batman, Shazam, Mad magazine, the EC Stable of bad boy books—worked liked sheepdogs, fulfilling a demanding monthly release cycle while supplementing their income with illustration work for magazines, book covers, advertising and any other clientele who needed a decent cartoonist for whatever it was they were trying to sell. Some of these comics artists worked in offices in the city, others plied their trade in home studios and delivered their pencil roughs to the main office where it would get inked, colored, and printed onto millions of forty page books that were distributed to drug stores and other retailers across the country.

Unfortunately, as could surely be expected, the report gushes over woke propaganda, which saw early examples in Oregon too:

Before the 1980s, Portland was a tertiary space for indie comics creators and cartoonists. The important early editorial cartoonist Homer Davenport, paraplegic gagman John Callahan, Simpsons creator Matt Groening, alt-comic sage Lynda Barry, and Rupert Kinnard—a queer comics pioneer who is profiled at length in OPB’s Indie City—all called Portland home at some time or another. These artists sourced work from local alt-weeklies, gay magazines, and esoteric, high-art focused labels like Fantagraphics—operations where wide distribution or even color printing weren’t front of mind. This is not to underplay their importance: their work still courses through the city’s comic scene, especially in the more zine-adjacent corners. But it was different from the highly rigorous, highly-edited milieu of DC and Marvel, with its colorful pages and ubiquitous distribution.

And no doubt, some of those early wokesters made inroads into mainstream, ruining it in their own way. Interesting they bring up the Simpsons creator, because he's quite a leftist himself, and as of today, I'm disillusioned with the Simpsons as a TV cartoon series, mainly because it's been running far too long, for possibly 37 years now with no end in sight. How many live action series see that kind of bizarre privilege?

In 1986, Mike Richardson, a longtime writer for comics and television, founded Dark Horse Comics in Portland. Dark Horse split the difference between the big distribution superhero publishers and the indie-comic scenes. In the late ‘80s and the early ’90s, Dark Horse published two kinds of monthly comic books. The major moneymakers were books based on big licensed properties, like the pre-Disney Star Wars literary universe, the adventures of terrible lizard Godzilla, and the Alien movies. The company’s other offerings were more obscure: creator-owned properties like Frank Miller’s Sin City, Mike Mignola’s Hellboy, and Stan Sakai’s rabbit-man samurai epic Usagi Yojimbo. The company eventually became America’s third largest distributor of comic books.

I find it interesting that, at least back in the day, adaptations of movies and cartoons were relatively higher sellers than comics with original concepts and creations, while Miller, Mignola and Sakai's creations less known, at least according to this article. Does that suggest the would-be fame they saw since is exaggerated?

Many of the people I spoke with at Comic Con were worried about the future of comics in Portland, where the coast-wide affordability crisis has dug deep into the city’s reputation as a fun, cheap haven for artistic pros looking to pay rent.

That's certainly eyebrow raising if there's a financial problem on the west coast, though if the folks in question are far-left advocates, some might find it hard to feel sorry for them. Whether Portland continues to prove a profitable burg for comicdom remains to be seen in the future.

What's at this year's NYCC

Newsweek spoke with people working at this year's New York Comicon, who predictably fluff up the whole subject:

Over 20 years, D'Lando has watched superhero cinema rise, anime move into the mainstream, and once-dormant interests return with new force; through each cycle, he said, New York Comic Con has tried to remain “at the bleeding edge of pop culture,” serving as “a central nervous system for fandom” whose energy depends on thousands of people experiencing a moment together.

If anime became mainstream, it's only within the context that the comics mainstream's plummeted in quality. But it's sadly possible for anime to become PC, and for these conventions to enforce it that way. Also, have they noticed fewer superhero movies are finding success these days? And what if any particular old franchise becomes subject to PC as well? Does that not concern them if it happens?

Anime’s “exponential explosion” during the past five to seven years has brought brands including Bandai, Viz and Crunchyroll into prominent positions, while collectibles and trading cards have surged. “Comic books are back in a big way this year,” D'Lando said, citing DC Comics’ Absolute line, and he repeatedly returned to the medium in the convention’s name.

To claim comicdom is literally back, without even citing what mistakes were made in the past, only makes for more unintentional comedy. We're lectured the Absolute line is such an utterly big deal, but no questions are ever asked whether collectibles make a good example compared to talented storytelling. Even trading cards can be called into question. It can easily be argued that, if the interviewee's not interested in seeing the Spider-marriage restored, that can be quite telling. As a result, what's this about a comeback, again?

“Our Artist Alley is one of the best in the country,” he said. “We have over 500 of the biggest comic book artists in the world.” For D'Lando, the priority remains explicit: “It’s really important to me that we are still a comic convention.”

His own reading list makes the institutional argument personal. D'Lando cited James Tynion IV’s Tiny Onion operation and writer-artist Daniel Warren Johnson, whose rise he has followed from earlier convention appearances; when promising creators emerge, he said, experience often reveals where their work may lead.

I think the citation of Tynion says it all. These are the kind of "creators" we need to be told are on the favorites list of the organizers? Says everything you need to know about how "creative" they are too. Tynion's known foremost for emphasizing horror themes, and this is all they can tell us about? Even Johnson's a questionable choice, based on a Wonder Woman story he produced for DC. And there's another fishy item that turned up:

“People will fight for things and say, ‘Hey, this is a really important community piece for the show,’” he said, while other advocates may point to a publisher announcing a new book or a creator “that’s really burst onto the scene.” The rejected slate remains formidable: “The version of New York Comic Con that’s all the stuff that is on the cutting-room floor would be the second-best comic convention in the country.”

Those arguments can identify a community before its size becomes obvious. A staff member once championed HBO’s Our Flag Means Death, sensing its importance to a devoted and underserved audience; after ReedPop brought guests from the series, fans traveled from across the United States and abroad. “We were all just bowled over with the response,” D'Lando said. “I need to be at this event. I need to be with my community and with my tribe,” he recalled attendees saying.

From what I know, the above HBO series set in the 18th century was LGBT themed, and even the pirate theme it builds on can be considered questionable. You could say the problem with the NYCC as it stands now is that it's hardly a kid-friendly venue, let alone family-friendly.

Of course, when the manager cites figures who dabble in the horror genre as the ideal examples, that's when it's clear something's wrong in any event. So even if they still emphasize comics more than movies and music, the problem is that they're not varying the diet, and not giving the consumer much to choose from. Why, who knows if conservative figures are even welcome as special guests? NYCC has only proven why conventions may not matter much anymore, and certainly not the majors. As a result, they're little better than the SDCC over in California.

Alternate world Batmans are a subject of this year's Batman Day

The Post-Journal gave a report about a specialty store in Chautauqua County that's contributing to Batman Day. At the beginning, they even describe it in a way I'm not sure was emphasized when the event began a dozen years ago:

Batman/Batgirl Day is an annual event that celebrates and promotes everything related to Batman, according to DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.

What version of Batgirl are they talking about, by the way? Somehow, I don't think they're talking about the women who wore the outfit, like Barbara Gordon or even Cassandra Cain, probably the only 2 characters written well enough within a certain timeframe to qualify as representing the costume. After the early 2000s, lest we forget, things went downhill, even for Cassie.

Steffens explained that the comic book world has seen a seismic shift with the release of the Absolute Batman and Batman of Two Worlds.

"When the comic book industry issues a second or third printing of a book or storyline, it indicates they believe they have a successful product--something that people want," he said. "This latest Batman line is currently in its 12th printing, and I can't keep it on the shelf."

Unfortunately, he continues the failure to cite any actual sales figures, and I've got a feeling that a lot of the additional printings spoken of are done more to mislead than confirm the series is actually selling. When no sales figures are given, it's an open signal there's something embarrassing they want to hide. And to think that so much paper could be wasted over efforts to pretend otherwise.

Steffens believes much of the excitement around the latest Batman offerings stems from a storyline that explores two alternate universes--where different versions of Batman encounter each other.

"One Batman is reminiscent of the Justice League version; Bruce Wayne is his alter ego. He's wealthy, self-funded, wears a cape, and exhibits some restraint. He lost both of his parents at a young age, which drives his mission," he explained. "In contrast, the Absolute version of Batman is much younger; his mother is still alive, and he is utterly ruthless. The 'Bat' symbol on his costume can be detached, and he uses it like an axe. In one comic book, he even nails Scarecrow, one of his enemies, to a cross. I would recommend this comic book for readers aged 16 and older – it’s just that violent.”

Even if this is to be expected in the Masked Manhunter's tales ever since Denny O'Neil restored the series in 1969 to what it began as 3 decades prior, to say we should buy it because of the violence is taking a sad risk of perpetuating a serious problem that wouldn't work well if they emphasized this with Superman either. Speaking of which:

"While I'm more of a Superman fan, this is still a lot of fun," said Steffens. "Batman has an interesting history and allure about him – fans go nuts for him, and we sell a lot of Batman-related merchandise."

At least the guy's willing to bring up the Man of Steel, who's been like a neglected stepchild for too long, as Batman was pushed over the edge of marketing for years now at Superman's expense. But if the craze over Batman is all due to the dark angle and not based on merit, that's insulting to the intellect, and compounds what's gone wrong for years.

Since the subject came up though, it's been reported by sources like Game Rant that the Absolute series would be going on hiatus after issue 25 for at least 2 months:

Following the scheduled release of issue 25 on October 28, 2026, Absolute Batman will officially be done for the rest of 2026, with no confirmed return in 2027 other than a TBP release collecting the most recent batch of issues. The story isn't over yet, as Beyond Ark M is still scheduled for a November 11, 2026 release and is deeply connected to Absolute Batman's mythology, but this is the first time the book is taking a major break.

Fortunately, Scott Snyder has already confirmed that Nick Dragotta will return for Absolute Batman 27, so if nothing else, there are still two more planned issues for the series. Realistically, though, the Absolute line has been a massive success for DC and there is no indication that Absolute Batman is winding down narratively. That hasn't stopped DC from killing great books with lots of potential early before, but hopefully they understand just how much good Absolute Batman has done for the comics industry.

The only truly troubling thing about Absolute Batman going on hiatus is the lack of information about its return. By all accounts, Scott Synder is hard at work on future issues, but too long a break could end up killing all the momentum built since October, 2024.

DC is Losing Their Best Ongoing

While it hopefully won't be long before Absolute Batman returns in 2027, the fact that DC's best ongoing series in a minute is silently and suddenly going on hiatus isn't a great sign – especially in a milestone issue like 25. It almost feels like DC is prepping the Absolute line for a premature end (the fact it's lasted this long is honestly a miracle from Darkseid). Fortunately, there's no indication that the likes of Absolute Superman or Absolute Wonder Woman are ending, so this could just be a way for the creative team to get a break.

What it can suggest is that this is meant to be a writer's vanity project, and they can take a break whenever they like, similar to how an indie creator could operate. Even so, this does suggest it's not doing as well as they want everyone to think, and naturally, they don't mention the political metaphors Absolute Batman builds on, something even the Absolute takes on Supes and WW could have as well. If that's why store owners are promoting the Batman version, there's a serious problem with politics driving their business practices that doesn't belong. And as for alternate world editions, are they implying the Absolute version meets other ones? We're way past the point that could work, and said political metaphors are another reason why it doesn't.

For National Comic Book Day, more news about speculators came up

Here's some recent UPI coverage of National Comic Book Day, which tells how, wouldn't you know it, there was quite a bit of auction-style news brought up as they discuss 5 times comicdom appeared in "odd news". First:

September 25 is National Comic Book Day, celebrating the heroes, villains and stories that have filled comic book pages for generations. UPI is marking the occasion with a look back at five times superheroes -- and their fans, collectibles and real-life counterparts -- made their way into Odd News.

You know, it's very ill-advised to make it sound like the villains are something to celebrate, yet that's what they're certainly risking here, and it's quite the dismay indeed. And then, there's the sugarcoating of speculation:

Also in July, the piece of comic book art that first introduced readers to the Marvel Comics hero Iron Man sold for a record-breaking $3,875,000.

Heritage Auctions announced the sale of the original Don Heck artwork from page 1 of Marvel's Tales of Suspense No. 39 from March 1963.

The final price set a new world record for the highest price paid for a piece of original comic art. The previous record of $3,360,000 was set by a piece of Mike Zeck art from 1984's Marvel Super-Heroes Secret Wars No. 8. The artwork, which depicts the first appearance of Spider-Man's black costume, was sold in January 2022.

Again, why must we hear about how much it sold, and not say, what the best stories throughout the ages are? And just a single page too. This is getting ridiculous, and no clue whether the audience for comicdom overall has grown as a result. Then comes the following about Wonder Woman:

A Georgia woman paid tribute to her favorite superhero by amassing the world's largest collection of Wonder Woman memorabilia: 1,581 items.

Guinness World Records announced in June that Cedartown resident Aleshia Wiley's collection of memorabilia, including comic books, Funko Pop figurines, action figures, specialty toys and branded merchandise, officially took the title.

Wiley said she likes that Wonder Woman stands for female empowerment.

"Wonder Woman is a beacon of hope for girls and women everywhere, and a reminder that we need to support one another more," she said. "She shows that true strength comes from within and together we have the strength of the Amazons. Over the years, her character has evolved alongside new generations, but one thing has always stayed the same: women can do anything, and together we are unstoppable!"

Now this beggars some challenging questions: does WW still stand for anything positive regarding women? It's been far from the case for years, and the stories haven't been entertaining in a quarter century, with Greg Rucka making it worse when he was writer for at least 3 years. Some recent problems and incidents explain why whatever "female empowerment" is supposed to mean now stand as a joke, and make clear women never really had the backing they needed. Certainly not from leftists. All that aside, can women in real life do virtually anything? Are they "unstoppable"? Sadly, reality says otherwise. And then, more items involving villainy come up on UPI's list:

Also in 2025, a 22-year-old comic book fan from Indiana earned a Guinness World Record for her collection of 2,318 items related to Batman villain the Joker.

Bloomington resident Megan Pierce said she started collecting in middle school, and soon she had amassed items ranging from action figures and comic books to Joker rollerblades, a skateboard and milk caps from 1966. [...]

She said her hobby has allowed her to make connections with Joker fandom figures including actor Mark Hamill, who voiced the character in several animated and video game projects, as well as other collectors.

They were manufacturing merchandise for the Clown Prince of Crime that far back as 60-plus years? Even if that was before the darker angle of Batman was restored in the comics proper, to emphasize a villain who was often written as a murderous man is disturbing. And what's so great about veteran actor Hamill anyway? It's long turned out he's one of the most disturbingly leftist activists around, and I don't want to admire somebody who seems to consider a villain the most ideal role to play. Certainly not a supervillain as nasty as the Joker's often been characterized. Why, even a villain with a seemingly honorable persona as Doctor Doom's been written with is a character to give pause about, mainly because even Doom's been written as a nasty monster too decades before.

If that's the kind of material UPI thinks is a big deal for NCBD, something is terribly wrong here alright.

Writer offering free CGC variants at next month's NYCC

In this fluff-coated Variety interview, a writer named Matt Dinniman, author of Dungeon Crawler Carl, is said to be offering free graded variant covers of his comic that's based on a novel:

Attention, Crawlers! Collectibles grading company CGC is teaming up with “Dungeon Crawler Carl” author Matt Dinniman for the release of a free exclusive variant cover of his comic book series at New York Comic Con next month.

From Oct. 8-11, CGC will offer a limited-edition “Dungeon Crawler Carl” #0 variant featuring newly commissioned artwork by “The Mask” and “Aliens” artist Doug Mahnke at its NYCC booth, where Dinniman and Mahnke are both set to make signing appearances.

Even if this is a free sample they're offering, what's troubling is that it appears to be "slabbed", and suggests they're experimenting with a new gimmick for catering to the speculator market, using something not unlike a freebie from FCBD events.

Adapted from Dinniman’s bestselling litRPG novel series of the same name and published as a webcomic and in print through Vault Comics, the “Dungeon Crawler Carl” comic book is a postapocalyptic story that follows the titular Carl and his ex-girlfriend’s cat, Princess Donut, as they’re thrust into a deadly game-show-style dungeon where survival depends on wit, grit and leveling up fast.

“Comics are still new to me, and it’s surreal to see all these awesome artists coming together to make badass art in the ‘DCC’ universe,” Dinniman said. “Doug’s cover stands out, and I’m forever grateful an artist like that wants to work on something I created.”

CGC and JSA return to NYCC this year as the convention’s official grading and authentication services. Per CGC, fans submitting eligible collectibles to CGC for grading at the brand’s NYCC booth (CGC Booth #2805, CGC Signature Series & JSA Booth #HB906) will be able to receive the exclusive “Carl” variant for free, limited to one per person while supplies last.

“We’re giving this variant away because we want the fans who’ve followed Dungeon Crawler Carl from the beginning to be the ones who get it first,” CGC’s vice president of comic book grading, Shawn Caffrey, said. “That’s always been the idea behind our program — put incredible art directly into collectors’ hands, free, and let them be part of the moment a series like this breaks wide open.”

But why a variant rather than the story itself? Something's very awry here, and while artwork obviously is a vital part of the process, that doesn't mean they should be turning it out at the expense of the story and entertainment value, and if they're giving away the variant issues in slabbing cases, that certainly makes the whole move look ridiculous. Also note how the author of the original novel, Dinniman, is just getting into the business, and it only suggests even more than he lacks confidence in actually selling the adaptation as much as the original formats. As a result, this news only insults the intellect, because it's not clear if merit is actually the name of the game here.

So of course, you have to wonder if some novelists really are getting into comicdom because they consider it a legitimate medium for their creations. Mr. Dinniman's not off to a good start in proving he sees it that way.

Variety also asked:

What was the process like working with Matt Dinniman on the art? Fans know these characters so well already that remaining text accurate while also having artistic license could be difficult.

Doug approached the cover with a real respect for Matt’s world — the characters, the tone and all of those details “Dungeon Crawler Carl” fans know so well. That gave him the foundation to bring his own distinctive artistic style to the cover while still making it feel unmistakably DCC. David Baron’s colors really bring the finished piece to life, and we think fans are going to love what they created together.

“Dungeon Crawler Carl” #0 has already been released, but this will be the first opportunity for fans to get a Doug Mahnke “DCC” variant. That makes being able to debut it at New York Comic Con especially exciting.

But it still sounds like a cross between speculator collecting and FCBD distribution, instead of asking the audience to buy the whole comic proper. I'm sorry, but they're still failing to convince they're doing this because they believe the medium's a worthy venture.

The business of Midnight Comics

The Atlanta Voice interviewed Lloyd and Natasha Jones, the owners of Midnight Comics, an African-American publisher:

The married couple in question, Lloyd and Natasha Jones, started Midnight Comics on August 5, 2020, and six years later, the brand is flourishing.

After dropping off the latest issues of “The Grey,” “Sol,” and “Tales From Midnight,” Natasha fiddled with a copy of “The Omnibus,” a massive tome of the writing pair’s works combined with the many illustrators they have hired to bring their words to life.

“This is everything we’ve written in the past 5 years,” said Llyod.

Asked what it means to own a Black comic book company with his wife, Lloyd said the art of bringing his and his wife’s thoughts to life is a “dream come true.”

“It’s personally a passion. We both love telling stories, and I have a lot of stories I want to get out,” Lloyd said. [...]

Natasha, the quieter of the pair, is a writer first and foremost. She said that she enjoys creating the characters of the Midnight Comics universe and watching them evolve as the illustrators take her notes and bring them to life on paper. [...]

No comic book character arc is complete without an origin story and a moment of clarity. For Midnight Comics, that moment came during Atlanta Comic Con 2021, a year after they began the business. Despite not being one of the household names, their table at Atlanta Comic Con was always busy. So much so that they ran out of comics.

“The way those books were flying off the shelves. We were like Ok this is the moment,” Lloyd said.

Asked what the most fun part of being business owners and artists has been, Natasha said, “For me, the creation of the characters, building their personalities has been the most fun part.”

And in addition to having a successful business, we have a woman who's evidently finding success too. They'd be wise not to lend their talents to Marvel and DC so long as the Big Two are still dominated by PC-advocates. If Midnight's got some good stories to offer packed with merit, I'll buy some of their books in paperback/hardcover, and for now, wish them good luck in continuing to build up their publisher.

Onetime DC employee who wrote a terrible Adam Strange tale turns up again

The Comics Journal interviewed Richard Bruning, one of DC's former managers (and husband of the onetime editor Karen Berger), who, while it goes curiously unmentioned, had a handful stories to his credits, including a repellent miniseries from 1990 starring Adam Strange, which saw humanoid co-star Alanna killed for the sake of it, though that story was reversed several years later. Though I couldn't seem to find any mention of Adam Strange here, the discussion does bring up the following, along with early efforts in digital artistry, and how Paul Levitz actually thought this guy was worth keeping for employment:

There had been a couple of novelty efforts at computer art in comics by that point. There was Shatter for First Comics, and then an Iron Man graphic novel [1988’s Crash] at Marvel…

Pepé Moreno approached us after Shatter came out, and we did Batman: Digital Justice. I got to work with him very closely on it, and I started learning a lot about how those tools could work. He and Mike Saenz [artist of Shatter and Crash] were pushing the boundaries of what these machines could handle. I don't even know how they pulled off what they did, and it was certainly crude in some ways, but it was a necessary step to get to a technological level that would give you art worth looking at. All those things convinced me that this was a real turning point in my industry publication and communication. I was getting very impatient with DC dragging its heels. I had become friends with another graphic designer, Dean Motter from Canada, and we had been talking about forming a business and opening up studios in Manhattan. He was moving down from Toronto and wanted to live in New York.

That was around 1990?

Yeah. I decided to go out on a limb and resign, and then set up a studio with Dean. Fortunately for me, Paul liked what I did, and he signed me up to an exclusive contract for the comic book business [at DC]. I couldn't work for any other publisher, but I got paid every month whether I worked or not, which was kind of cool, and it certainly helped financially in getting a business started.

You must have made a compelling pitch to him.

I didn't pitch it, he pitched it to me. I had a very successful run for those five years at DC, and I had become fairly high profile within the company, which was a very small company at that point. I think Paul saw something in me, and he didn't want Marvel to have it. Basically, he thought it was to his advantage as a businessman to keep me off the market for the competition. That was an incredible honor, and I left on good terms with him. He was happy just to have me still doing freelance work for DC, and not working for Marvel or anybody else.

What's curious about the mention of "freelance" work is that it sounds like Mr. Bruning's obscuring the time when he wrote the aforementioned Adam Strange miniseries, Man of Two Worlds, which was pretty shoddy, and while Alanna's fate was reversed later on, as noted, that doesn't change the fact that it was artistically an embarrassment. But that's exactly why it's a shame if Comics Journal's writer and Bruning himself deliberately obscured his writing portfolio and all but limited the discussion to the business side of things. That only suggests they don't have the courage to discuss what mistakes were made in writing, and possibly art, and how to improve upon said mistakes in the future.

As for computerized artwork, there may have been some achievements, including the aforementioned Iron Man special, but some of the more recent efforts from the past 20 years or so are utterly worthless, recalling an artist named Adi Granov who specialized in stuff like that for Marvel. Other artists like Greg Horn only seemed to do cover art, and while that alone might be okay, it hardly helps in the long run. Digital art may have some potential, but Marvel decidedly didn't make good use of it by the turn of the century. Now, here's where he first brings up how he had a role in getting rid of DC's symbol that was retained from 1977-2005, though recently was restored, certainly on the DC Finest archives. It was the Vertigo line where this first occurred:

Tell me about the process of developing the Vertigo design. Was the idea that you wanted to set this off as visually something distinct from the main DC branding?

Yes, that was one of the things we decided early on. We did not want the DC bullet on the Vertigo books.

You said that you always had problems with that bullet.

Paul thought that some identification to DC [was necessary]. I didn't integrate it into the Vertigo logo per se, on the covers and such, but there'd be a little “DC” in a different typeface just right above or right below the Vertigo logo on the covers. There was that presence or indicator that DC was part of it. We worked that out with Paul, and it worked out fine. It was just a matter of figuring out how to do a line of books that people know are from DC, that will appeal to people who don't read DC comics. How do we get them to want to try it out? Creating a specific identity was really important.

One of the ways was we did this was to use only painted covers. There were very few painted covers on regular comic books, partially because they are not economically feasible, and also because people wanted their line art to maintain [consistency] for the superhero titles. We were able to start commissioning painters to do covers, and that immediately gave the book a different feel and look. The editorial stuff was all Karen.

Oh, I remember some painted covers on books like Avengers and New Teen Titans, and I'll say that those examples were among the better of their kind, if only because they weren't forced, unlike the disgraced Neil Gaiman's Sandman series, which featured stunningly dull cover illustrations, whether painted or not. Why Bruning and company seemed to think it was such a big deal for an imprint that was allegedly aimed at adults I have no idea, because if they did it almost routinely and by editorial mandate, that risks insulting intellects. And speaking of Sandman, that's mentioned here:

It seems like that was pretty intrinsic to the Vertigo line from the beginning. There was this system, especially for some of the bigger titles like Sandman, where you would get collections coming out almost as soon as the story arcs concluded in the monthlies.

There was a lot of back and forth on that, because it wasn't the normal way that DC did things. They usually let time pass. It wasn't very important when you collected a certain volume of The Flash, but we could tell that we were picking up new readers all the time. We didn't want them to feel out of touch with what was going on in the books as book sales rose. We pushed very hard to get the books collected early. We would go to all the different comic dealer meetings and expos and talk to the retailers about this. The retailers were very explicit about the fact that if we give them volume one, and then three months later we give them volume two, and then volume three, they can push those books out the door all day long. That was the general consensus from the retailers. So we had a really strong ally in that, and it helped us firm that up as a publishing platform.

And a comic as overrated as Sandman truly was is exactly what they just had to collect instantly. All they did was hint they considered the superhero fare less valuable, compared to a comic that was more like a political lecture a number of times. But of course, they won't admit that, will they?

Most annoying of all is how the same publishers wouldn't consider the time may have come for making a shift to paperback/hardcover only, or even Graphic Novel format, if that sums it up better. Why waste so much money on two formats, rather than consider what could become more viable sales and business-wise?

Would you say that Paul was more reluctant to push for collected editions, while Jenette was more gung-ho in favor of it?

Yes. Jenette was by nature, a very gung-ho person. You could get around Paul by going to Jeanette, and then Jenette would convince Paul that it was a good idea, and he'd throw his hands up and go, “All right, whatever you want.” She was a wonderful agent of change. Without Jenette coming into the company when she did, I doubt DC would still be around. I mean, it almost folded in the late ‘70s. It was her enthusiasm and ability to take a risk – and Paul's ability to take a risk, too. He was not risk-averse. What you were trying to do just had better be nailed down. Don’t just wing it.

But, really, it was a good time. And the people there - Dick Giordano and everybody - were very supportive. Superhero editors were never very happy with Vertigo. Somehow they saw it as competition, or I think they saw it as thumbing our noses at the superhero books. That wasn't true. We were just doing our thing.

Oh, were they ever, if we take the Sandman as an example. It's one thing to write an adult comic, but another entirely to act like horror and dark, jarring violence are the only ways to do it. Even the heavier use of profanity in the Vertigo line is enough to raise questions. Now, here's more on what Bruning said about DC's most significant symbol:

You finally got to live out your dream of abandoning the bullet after all that time. And of course, it immediately ran into criticism from just about everywhere.

Yep. There is no pleasing people. I stand by my position that if you are stripping away the nostalgia that all of us, including myself, grew up with, the Bullet, structurally, doesn't work very well. There is too much negative space to it. Everything gets tiny if you start to reduce it. The little hair lines start to break up. It just becomes a little clump of things. And that's why on the design, I wanted a big clear “DC.” Whereas on the Bullet, the “DC” seems unimportant compared to the band with four white stars on it. I've worked with it physically more than most people have. I saw that early on that there were a lot of internal structural problems with the design itself, and I stand by that.

Well that's still nothing compared to the artistic mess DC became by that time, which Bruning and interviewer conveniently left out. But if the "DC Bullet" symbol matters, they were making peanuts out of an otherwise okay symbol for putting on the top corner of the comics, and considering Mr. Bruning otherwise didn't offer much positive by the mid-2000s, it's awfully hypocritical of him to make petty fusses about symbols when the company under DiDio plunged into repellent disasters. Years ago, I didn't even know they called it a "bullet"; I just thought it was a "diagonal" coin-like symbol. Since then, it's made a quiet comeback, now put to use on archives like the DC Finest series. So what's Bruning celebrating anyway?

It's striking to me that here we are in 2026, and yet after all this time, it feels like publishers have thrown up their hands at the idea of finding a new format that specifically works with digital readers and phones, and everything else. At the end of the day, comics still look like comics did 30 years ago.

Right? It's a unique format, and it is hard to get it to accommodate other means of presentation. People who buy comics are aware of a certain amount of a collectible nature in them. I think people wanted to be able to buy and hold the comics, and digital comics never gave them that. They didn't feel like they had anything. Comic book people have a physical collector sort of mentality. And I do, too. I love seeing the books lined up on my shelf. So yeah, that one hasn't been cracked yet.

Interesting they brought this up, because it's an important clue how digital comics on the web haven't caught on successfully, and certainly not the Big Two's. At the same time, they also hint at the misfortune of the speculator market, which largely ruined comicdom beginning in the early to mid-90s. And lest we forget, if they think anybody's going to care about digital when their stories are otherwise bad, they have to think again. When artwork becomes bad, and company wide crossovers keep getting churned out entirely unquestioned, that's why digital sales won't work. Next, wouldn't you know it, Mr. Bruning even lauds a man who turned out to be a bad omen, who ruined the storytelling, and whom Mr. Bruning apparently had a hand in approving for employment:

Around the same time that Zuda launched, Dan DiDio became executive editor at DC. I'm wondering how that played out in terms of your role.

I was one of the few people who interviewed Dan before he was hired. Paul wanted my take on him. Dan is another super smart guy, knows comics inside and out; he had even been doing a little writing, as well. He was pals with Jimmy Palmiotti, so he'd been given a few assignments here and there. Dan had big ambitions. I was very enthusiastic when he came on board, partially because the whole Mike/Denny/Archie thing hadn't worked. And then Archie tragically died from cancer. Denny was just – God love him, but he was kind of checked out. The burden was falling on Mike, but Mike had been carrying the ball for years by himself, and it's a hard job. Marvel couldn't keep anybody in place for a long time as editor-in-chief. There was turnover every year or two.

When you say that Denny was checked out, what do you mean?

I'm not trying to insult Denny. He was very nice man, but he just didn't seem like he was engaged in his work, shall we say. When I had a Batman project that I was working on, he felt a little too hands-off for me. At least, that’s how I view what an editor does, and he had his assistant doing most things. Again, I'm not trying to slag him, but just I think he was tired. He was tired of doing superhero comics.

As far as I'm concerned, Mr. Bruning is belittling O'Neil, though there's valid arguments to make that even O'Neil made serious mistakes. Also note how Bruning, by contrast, is more favorable to DiDio, and that's as telling as it's disgusting. If he's talking about Mike Carlin, it can be validly argued he was a failure, based on how he threw the late Len Strazewski under the bus, and I don't think Archie Goodwin, whom I assume he's alluding to, did a good job with them either, based on his being an editor of the pretentious James Robinson's Starman series. But to say DiDio was galaxies better than them, and knew comics inside-out, when he lacked a moral compass and relied heavily upon crossovers, that's insulting to the intellect.

The other big thing that was going on at that point was the merger of WildStorm into DC, which also brought Jim Lee into the company. How was that playing out?

That was funny. I hadn't been back long when Paul called me and said, “This is quiet. Don't tell anybody, but we're buying WildStorm, and I want you to help be the liaison to their offices to try to integrate them into ours.” We had never tried to do that before. Milestone was the closest thing where they had their own little editorial setup, but Jim had a very well-established shop that did everything. It was Jim that DC seemed to be buying. They were buying more Jim than they were buying WildStorm properties.

I went out to La Jolla every couple of months and just hung around there for three or four days, met with people, asked them if I could help them with anything, and if there was anything New York should be doing for them. We'd go over cover sketches, we'd go over marketing materials, just trying to point them in a direction, not tell them what they had to do.

A lot of good that did in the end. The Wildstorm universe didn't see much success when they bought it, or even tried to merge it into the DCU proper, and for something like 15 years now, it's largely vanished into the land of the forgotten. So what "success" is Mr. Bruning talking about even here?

If you look at the way DC looked when you came in ‘96 and the way it was when you left in 2010, do you think your time there was a success or a failure?

I'd like to think there were few failures. Something can be a success and be a commercial failure. If you achieve your creative goals, then it's a success. If people don't buy it, they're stupid. I was very fortunate there. I just felt like they gave me a lot of rope to hang myself, and I never hung myself, and they backed me. Even if I did something really stupid, they would say, don't do that again, and then let me move on. I'm eternally grateful to people like Jenette, and Paul, and Dick, but Paul probably the most of all. He was the one who brought me back for the 15-year tenure.

I think for me, the end really came when Warner Brothers decided these movies are really fucking big deals. The Batman trilogy was just setting the world on fire. That was the clarion call for corporate to come in from the West Coast and start telling us how the new place was going to be run.

He can say whatever he likes, but I think Mr. Bruning knows the failures were plenty when it comes to the comics themselves, and the company wide crossovers were also a standout example of that. And while the Christopher Nolan Batman trilogy may have been a success, there were other adaptations that were failures, like the Jonah Hex and Green Lantern movies, to name early examples in modern times.

And it's very insulting how Mr. Bruning acts like they achieved artistic success in the past 3 decades, when early examples of destruction like the mishandling of Green Lantern can clarify otherwise. For the Flash, the plummeting down came when Geoff Johns became writer. And lest we forget the most repulsive example of the 2000s, Identity Crisis. Mr. Bruning's declaration the audience is "stupid" for not buying is also poor conduct, because you don't use insulting words to describe consumers who aren't interested in your output when it effectively becomes repellent. No doubt, he also has some responsibility for bringing in even more "woke" writers of the times, and artists. Based on that, he's another former employee of the majors who won't be missed, based on what pretentions he foisted upon the DCU, which includes his aforementioned Adam Strange miniseries, which he didn't even have the courage to discuss. That's very telling as to how much he merely whistles in the dark.

I think This Man, This Collection's take on Man of Two Worlds sums up pretty well why the story aged poorly:

In Bruning’s introduction to the collected edition of this story, he defends himself by stating his childhood love of the character, and that he was trying to apply the same approach to storytelling that that Alan Moore applied in Watchmen and Swamp Thing or that Frank Miller did with The Dark Knight Returns. But in his zeal to tell a more “mature” Adam Strange story, Bruning loses track of what made the character appealing in the first place. That opinion was clearly the one that prevailed, given what happened next. After this mini-series, Adam Strange dropped out of the DC Universe completely; his next appearance was a few years later in a supporting role in Green Lantern #75, when Kyle Rayner moved the floating city of Ranagar back to the planet. In 1998, in Mark Waid hit the reset button by bringing Alanna back to life in two-issue story in JLA. Aside from Adam’s daughter, everything of consequence from Adam Strange had been undone.

So he basically "cliched" the audience by applying more darkness than need be, and surely worse yet, making Adam far less heroic, if at all, and making Ranagar's council look repellent too. The part about the Zeta-beam being designed to teleport a guy to Rann for the purpose of serving as a breeding stud also conflicts with the original takes from the Silver Age. This posting misses, however, that there was a Hal Jordan-starring GL story written by the disgraced Gerard Jones printed in 1993, prior to the Rayner run, where Adam made an appearance, and that story stunk of fishy stuff too. And Bruning didn't even have the courage to discuss any of that in his Comics Journal interview. It's fortunate that dreadful story was jettisoned, but unfortunate the DCU had to collapse afterwards due to the machinations of an editor Bruning himself had a hand in appointing a quarter century ago. As a result, Adam Strange and company still suffered a terrible injustice, as did many other DCU cast members.

Batman's Knightfall becomes an animated cartoon

Inverse told some history of what may be one of the better offerings of the 1990s, the time when Batman's Knightfall event introduced Bane, the hefty villain whose main achievement at the time was breaking Batman's back. A story that's now subject of animated films. The writer spoke with the animation producers, but strangely enough, neither Bane's co-creators Chuck Dixon and Graham Nolan, nor any other connected writers and artists of the time are named for their jobs here. For now, let's take a look at the beginning paragraphs:

Without a doubt, the 1990s were a period of extreme transformation and experimentation for the comic book industry. And depending on who you ask, it wasn’t exactly a great one. The era was dominated by gimmicks like foil and glow-in-the-dark covers, murderous edgelord antiheroes with big guns, hundreds of pockets, and odd things strapped to their legs. This was also the era in which both DC and Marvel became increasingly aware of the spectator market of comic book purchases. DC’s 1992 stunt, The Death of Superman, was designed to sell a special edition comic book, just as much as it was designed to shake up internal narrative continuity. Similarly, in 1994, Hal Jordan went mad with grief after the destruction of his entire city and became the villain Parallax, slaughtering most of the Green Lantern Corps in the Emerald Twilight storyline.

And yet neither event was as daring and complex as the most iconic destruction of one hero from that decade: the breaking of the Bat in Knightfall, a trilogy of storylines that played out over the course of 1993 and 1994 and across no less than seven distinct DC titles. Now, 33 years after Knightfall began, and 14 years after the live-action film The Dark Knight Rises adapted aspects of the storyline, an animated DC film trilogy is faithfully bringing Knightfall to life.

If there's any problem with the 2nd paragraph, it's that it has the effect of making you wonder if the writer really does find what's told in the 1st reprehensible. And Emerald Twilight definitely was. Amazing they admit the Death and Return of Superman was a stunt, because not every mainstream news site's willing to clearly admit that. Also disturbing is that it served as a lead-in to Emerald Twilight, based on how the destruction of Coast City took place in a connecting tale.

It’s impossible to understate just how shocking Knightfall was at the time of release and also how much it permeates Batman media. It’s referenced in the Arkham games and, again, is the partial basis for 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises.

Krieg remembers working across the street from New York’s Forbidden Planet Comics, going in so broke that he’d “just read the comics from the stands.” Morales, somebody who “grew up with the story and was a fan as it was happening,” describes his reaction to joining the project as one of “amazement.” Knightfall was a turning point for the industry as much as it was a turning point for the character of Batman himself – it depicted a vision of the character on the verge of extreme burnout and exhaustion, working beyond his limits while ignoring the lingering trauma of Jason Todd’s murder and Superman’s death.

Neither of which examples are very good, because the former was a cheap way of jettisoning a character based on that he supposedly sent a rapist to his death for scaring an innocent woman into committing suicide. And the latter was just a cheap way of getting short range attention for the Man of Steel, in a year long storyline that later saw the Toyman murder Cat Grant's son. We certainly didn't need the latter example put into effect, mainly because it does leave a bad aftertaste.

If there was anything peculiar about the death of Jason Todd, it's that, if he was trying and failed to defuse a bomb left by the Joker, it didn't disintegrate Todd at all. His body, though badly scarred and dripping with blood, was still largely intact, considering that in reality, it could've been blown to smithereens if struck at close range by an explosion. Batman comics can be as surreal as their more science-fantasy emphasizing couterparts, but if "reality" is really a big deal to the higher echelons, they sure didn't follow through with it there. Though it's decidedly fortunate that, when Bane broke the Bat's back in 1993, it wasn't portrayed graphically. Today, in the Geoff Johns-influenced era, that could all turn out much differently. And back to the cartoon adaptations, there's a notable character who's also making an appearance in them:

Even with those concessions, Batman: Knightfall – Part 1 is still extremely accurate and retains a key part of the original storyline overlooked by most adaptations: Jean-Paul Valley, the replacement Batman who gets a high-tech Batsuit as an upgrade but degenerates into a savage, vicious killer in the mantle. The character debuted two years before Knightfall as an unassuming college graduate, unwittingly raised since birth by the mysterious Order of St. Dumas to become the assassin Azrael. While Bane is the villain with all the pop culture recognition, Azrael was always intended to be the storyline’s final antagonist, an ideological battle between Batman’s strict moral code and the amoral ruthlessness of the antiheroes like Spawn and Cable popular in the 90s – and the movie sets up that conflict firmly by making Jean-Paul the saga’s third main character.

Azrael is introduced in a brutal cold open where Batman catches him in the middle of murdering a gang of criminals and offers him psychological help when he realizes his troubles. According to Morales, that opening “gives you a sense of Azrael and how violent he can be, how he’s not Batman but a darker version that kills. Then it shows you Batman in his peak form before we start to take him down later. I thought it was valuable to establish that this is how good Batman is, and this is how good Azrael is.”

Wow, that's their whole idea of an achievement, huh? Interesting that Azrael's the character who kills more noticeably, and unlike Jason Todd, Valley wasn't bumped off like Todd was, though at the end of the solo series created for Azrael, Valley was put to an end, and his role was later filled by a character named Michael Lane in the mid-2000s. Some could probably wonder if the arguments against killing violent criminals symbolized with Azrael is what led to the leftist hostility against the Punisher years later, even as Wolverine continues to get a free pass on the same acts Frank Castle was depicted performing. It hasn't done mainstream superhero comics any good, of course, and we've seen the effect it's had on readership and sales since.

Much as I think Dixon and Nolan turned out a significant addition to Batman lore of the time, it doesn't sound from this interview like the cartoon producers are truly grateful to the aforementioned twosome, and at this point, what's the use of a cartoon adaptation anyway, in an era where the zygote was ruined by PC and bad management?

Why the late artist Darwyn Cooke took the job drawing Catwoman's 3rd volume

Since the subject of pretentious writer Ed Brubaker recently came up, I found this fluff-coated Popverse article from last May, telling why the late artist Darwyn Cooke accepted the assignment of drawing the Catwoman volume Brubaker wrote in the early 2000s:

Catwoman has nine lives, and one of her most notable lives was her 2001 revamp by Ed Brubaker and Darwyn Cooke. The character’s previous run had mostly portrayed her as a cunning thief in skimpy clothing, but Brubaker and Cooke gave her a new look, a new supporting cast, and a new mission as the protector of Gotham’s East End. According to Darwyn Cooke, who passed away in 2016, this was a dealbreaker for him.

“Going back to Catwoman, when I was asked if I wanted to get involved in that, I said, ‘On one condition. She has to be completely redesigned. And I have to know that the writer believes, as well as I know, that this is a book that should be aimed at women, not at teenage boys,’” Darwyn Cooke says during a panel at Toronto Fan Expo 2009.

“And I said if that’s the approach we’re going to take, then I’m happy to get involved, because this is a great character, and it gives us an opportunity to build her back up and redeem her as a person and get girls reading comics again and excited about a character that they can relate to. I’ve always felt that this is an important thing that any sort of creator should be trying to consider.”

It’s good to have nine lives, and it’s even better if one of them is penciled by Darwyn Cooke.

I think a challenging query to be raised here is - what's so wrong with writing a story appealing to teen boys? Or, who says the same approach won't appeal to teen girls as well? In hindsight, I'm really not impressed with Cooke as an artist, and IIRC, at the time this took place, DC made efforts to do away with the blue shadings from previous designs for Batman's costume, and make entirely black. Catwoman's costume underwent a similar change, of course. But was her previous outfit really skimpy? I think during the 80s, Selina Kyle had one with cleavage, but I don't recall if what she wore in the 90s drawn by Jim Balent had, so this is another unshockingly sloppy take on history.

That said, did women really flock en masse to Brubaker and Cooke's take on the Feline Fatale? Perhaps the following I found on CBR's forums from 2016 can give a clue:

I did some research on Catwoman's sales from 1994 to 2016 on comichron.com and diamondcomics.com. I've been wondering why Catwoman sales have been so low, especially why they plummeted a few issues ago since they've been the best issues I've read in many years. Now it is assumed the comic is cancelled because it was not mentioned as being included during the Rebirth event.

Catwoman vol 2 (1993-2001) maintained much, much better sales than vol 3 or vol 4. In fact, the final issue of vol 2 in 2001 (the worst selling of the series) sold almost as many copies as vol 3 issue 25 (by Brubaker) in 2003, about 26,000 copies. The 90's Catwoman never ranked below 100 in the monthly Top 100 Comics chart. It only dropped below a rank of 75 around the Fall of 2000. It almost always sold as many issues as Robin, Supergirl, Birds of Pray, often outselling them and usually outsold Wonder Woman consistently.

Volume 3, which ran from 2001-2008, did not sell near as well. Its sales dropped from 49,000 copies of issue #1 to 26,500 copies of issue #12 in only a year. It consistently ranked well under 75 on the Top 100 chart, oftentimes dropping below 100. Its final issue only sold 15,000 copies.

Volume 4, the New 52, sold a little better than vol 3. Issue #1 sold 53,670 copies, but issue #20 was down to 26,900 copies, ranking 85th on the chart and was then one of the 3 worst selling DC titles. Sales from that point on were consistent until issue 42 only sold 22,000 copies. Then issue 47, Frank Tieri's first issue, plummeted to only 15,000 copies, ranking 166 on The Top 200 chart for December 2015.

These sales figures make it pretty obvious that the stories told and the artwork used used in Vol 2 in the 90's was significantly* more desirable than that of Vol 3 & 4.

I believe there were a few problems with Vol 3 from the beginning of it. First, I believe the new costume was simply unattractive. Darwyn Cooke said he wanted to tone down Catwoman's sexiness and make her look more practical and utilitarian. And he gave her bug-eye goggles. Catwoman became the opposite of sexy and I think that was a bad idea.

Next I think focusing on Catwoman in the role of a vigilante sworn to protect Gotham's seedy East End, where she has a controversial history of working as dominatrix, probably wasn't ideal for most comic readers. I think it was too dark and controversial for general audiences to get into. This was not the Catwoman that the public was used to seeing, and not what they wanted for her comic. She has always been glamorous and sensuous. She was fun because she was naughty, but still helped people often. This new Catwoman was a complete opposite, so people didn't buy it.

Vol 4, the New 52, had prettier artwork but the same bug-eye goggles, Emma Peele outfit, and bulky boots. She was a theif again but she was younger and dumber. And she was having sex with Batman while the two of them kept their masks on in the first issue. Yeah because when you wear a mask over the top half of your face, the person you are frequently screwing will never find out your true identity. This is just bad writing, which simply got worse over the next few years and the sales kept dropping.*

It's tragic that the past few issues have such low sales, and that Catwoman won't be included in DC's Rebirth. Frank Tieri's issues have been recieving great reviews, especially issue #50.

But I hope that DC has big plans for Catwoman to make her more attractive, more exciting, and more successful.

Thoughts??

Unfortunately, as the wokeness of the past decade made clear, there was no reason for optimism, and besides, Identity Crisis also led to ruination. IIRC, there was a story with Catwoman shortly afterwards where a retcon took place claiming she'd been influenced by Zatanna, quite possibly at Batman's request, to reform Selina. In other words, according to that tale, Selina did not reform of her own accord and thinking, which makes a mockery and insult to the older works of better writers.

Cooke's claims also ring hollow when you consider that at least a few women actually worked on the Feline Fatale years earlier. For example, Mindy Newell, and then Jo Duffy, who wrote the first 14 issues of the 90s series. So Cooke and Brubaker were insulting a woman who had no issue with depicting Selina Kyle as sexy. A most disgraceful distortion Cooke pulled there, and if memory serves, Brubaker not only implausibly revived Holly Robinson, a character originally seen in Frank Miller's Year One tale from 1987, Brubaker even turned her into a lesbian for the sake of it.

Now I'll give Cooke this: he did the right thing to say he didn't want to see the kind of one-sided sexual violence seen in Identity Crisis become normalized as offensive, sensationalistic plot devices. But if he once said he didn't want to see once heterosexual characters be turned LGBT overnight, he contradicted that, in a manner of speaking, by working with a writer as overrated and exploitive as Brubaker, who did something like that, certainly in Gotham Central with Greg Rucka, where they changed the Renee Montoya character to lesbian. Cooke also continued to work with DC even after Identity Crisis came out, and it can be validly argued that in doing so, Cooke wasn't following through on his arguments convincingly. Besides, he also once led a chummy connection with the disgraced Gerard Jones, and that too doesn't reflect well on Cooke in hindsight.

Cooke may have made a few valid statements, but he was apparently an early example of a wokester, and one can only wonder what he thought of his take on Catwoman selling considerably lower than the volume drawn by Balent, and first written by Duffy. Cooke not only insulted the aforementioned two, he also insulted plenty of other, more talented artists who came before Balent, like those who drew Catwoman in the 1970s. Having artists like Cooke on the job is sadly not better at all.

And as for the mention of Frank Tieri, wasn't he the writer who derailed Wolverine in the last 2 years of the 1988-2003 series? One more reason why I'd rather not buy his take on Catwoman either.

Johnny Cash's evangelical comic from the Bronze Age

Relevant magazine wrote about a Christian-themed comic produced by singer Johnny Cash in 1976, illustrated by Al Hartley, who'd worked for Archie for 3 decades or so:

In 1976, at the height of his fame, Cash handed his life story to a 32-page evangelical comic book. It was called ‘Hello, I’m Johnny Cash,’ it cost less than fifty cents, and it was drawn by a man who spent three decades drawing Archie.

Z2 Comics is reissuing it for its 50th anniversary, on September 23.

The original came from Spire Christian Comics, an imprint of the religious publisher Fleming H. Revell, which spent the ’70s turning testimonies into newsprint — ‘The Cross and the Switchblade,’ ‘God’s Smuggler,’ ‘The Hiding Place.’ The script was by Billy Zeoli, an evangelical film producer who ran Gospel Films and sent Gerald Ford a weekly devotional the entire time Ford was in the White House. [...]

The book does not sand the story down. There’s a panel of Cash backstage surrounded by women, thinking “IT’S GONNA BE TOUGH LIVIN’ A CHRISTIAN LIFE IN THIS BUSINESS!!!” There’s the word DECEPTION in red across a spilled pill bottle. There’s a phone call where June Carter tells him she has thrown his pills away and he asks what he’s supposed to do now, and she tells him to read the Gideon Bible in his room, and he asks her to read hers to him instead. Philippians 4:13 runs across a close-up of his eyes. He takes more pills on the next page anyway, and there’s a police car.

The last page has him in a boat with June and their son, holding up a fish, over Proverbs 22:6. [...]

The reissue runs $9.99, limited to 1,000 copies, with new covers by Chip Kidd and Tim Bradstreet and an essay by comics writer Alex Segura. [...]

That they're charging even close to 10 dollars for this is the only problem here, because if this isn't something book length, why force anybody to pay even that much for a story that's just 32 pages? That's decidedly unfair to anybody who thinks this makes a worthy read. Stories like this, biographical or otherwise, are unlikely to be published today by the majors, based on all the PC that's brought down entertainment and morale, and charging $10 for something short is no improvement.

Rolling Stone has a surprising thing to tell about Cash's history though:

Johnny Cash was a lot of things — devout Christian, country superstar, anti-Vietnam activist, variety show host. But folks might not remember him as the writer and star of his own comic book, Hello, I’m Johnny Cash. Now, that little-known comic is getting a 50th-anniversary rerelease from Z2 Comics, set to come out on Wednesday, Sept. 23, which is Local Comic Store Day.

Wow, depending how you view this, it's rather surprising a guy who's said to be pious would oppose a war against communism at the time. If he didn't denounce the Viet Cong, that's honestly a problem, because we shouldn't devalue the lives of innocent foreigners, and it was the failure to destroy the commie HQ in northern Vietnam that made the war a big loss, and one that leftists exploited for destroying morale ever further.

I think Judeo-Christian-themed comics like these, along with biographical ones, can have potential, but that doesn't mean we should approve of people taking lenient views on how to deal with barbarism that grows overseas. That's also what led to tragedies like September 11, 2001, and importing bad ideologies like Islam to the USA only made the situation worse. I'm sure Cash was a talented musician in his time. But it's a shame he had to be the kind of guy who may have catered to the wrong crowd regarding how to wage a war against tyrants. That didn't improve the situation in the long run at all.

Michigan specialty store worries about tariffs for Canadian-printed items

Fox47-New10 tells of a specialty store in Lansing, MI whose manager is worried about a subject previously spoken about by NPR for an Ohio shop:

Flowers said they are concerned the U.S.-Canada trade war will drive up the price of comic books. Almost all of the comic books are printed and imported from Canada.

“The idea of comics increasing in price to me is just... would be ridiculous,” Flowers said.

Comic books are not currently included in Canada’s tariffs. Marcus Embry, manager at Summit Comics and Games in Lansing, said he knows that could change at any time.

“In the meantime, we’re just keeping our fingers crossed, hoping we’ll be able to continue providing that service for our guests without, you know, without having to up the price on them,” Embry said.

Embry said Summit’s comic distributor has not yet increased the price for Canadian-made books. He said the trade war is one of several factors he is watching that could affect prices.

“There are so many elements out there that affects, you know, how things have to be priced that this is kind of just another one of those. It’s certainly something to keep an eye on,” Embry said.

Embry said Summit is committed to keeping its books as affordable as possible for customers so more people can enjoy their stories.

Once again, I just don't understand why these same merchants don't argue whether trying to get comics printed and delivered cheaper in the USA proper is something the publishers could work upon. Not a word to that effect. And that's a problem. If we keep relying on "foreign" services, it's always bound to get out of hand at some point anyhow. One more reason it's disappointing any complaints about the costs of printing and distribution in the USA do not show up in these discussions. Why won't specialty store managers ever raise the issues? It's completely valid, and if they want to, they can argue in favor of getting domestic printers to start offering less expensive alternatives. The time has come, and I hope some store proprietors will begin to talk about it.

Film director defends comic adaptations

Variety reports film director Chloe Zhao, who worked on the unsuccessful Eternals movie, and is insisting on defending them as a form of entertainment:

When Chloé Zhao was growing up, she dreamed not of directing movies but becoming a manga artist.

“But I wasn’t very good at drawing. I wasn’t up to standard,” she said with a laugh during a wide-ranging masterclass presented by Cartier on Friday afternoon at the Venice Film Festival. “I wanted to tell stories. I didn’t think cinema was an option for me.”

Of course, Zhao found her way into film and directed acclaimed movies such as 2020’s Oscar-winning “Nomadland” and 2025’s Shakespearean drama “Hamnet.” She was eventually able to meld her passions with 2021’s Marvel adaptation “Eternals,” which starred Gemma Chan, Richard Madden, Kumail Nanjiani, Brian Tyree Henry, Barry Keoghan, Salma Hayek and Angelina Jolie and revolved around an immortal alien race sent to protect Earth from evil beings.

“I loved doing it,” she said of directing the movie. “For any of you who love anime, I know you know this was a girl’s dream come true. Comic books are the western equivalent of [manga]. They are very different, but I live in the west, and that’s what I had access to.”

Although superhero movies have waned in popularity since the pandemic — even “Eternals” fell short of box office expectations with $400 million globally against a $200 million-plus budget — Zhao sees the value in all forms of entertainment. That’s unlike, say, Martin Scorsese, who has infamously likened Marvel movies to “theme parks.”

“I do feel it’s important to not write off stories because we don’t consider them high art,” she said. “The purpose of storytelling for me, humbly, is to create containers for people … to try to process what they need to process. Archetypes are such a great way to do it — and we see them in myths — is because it’s something we all share.”

The problem is that political correctness has long taken over - even the Eternals movie had its own share of that - and it's drained the adaptations of whatever potential they had. If Zhao's creative license was restricted, that also says something about the film she directed, which was one of the first serious failures for modern comic adaptations to screen.

And since manga came up, it's vital to recall there've been at least a few Hollywood adaptations that were failures too, like the Saint Seiya film. That one, IIRC, wasn't even released with much fanfare. Some mangakas are also against following certain "western" principles. For all we know, the least successful adaptations of manga could've precipitated the failure of USA comics movies. Another problem is that the adaptations only seem to build on action and comedy themes, not unlike how animation is marketed in the west. If Hollywood's not willing to try out projects based on comics and manga emphasizing drama and romance, it just illustrates the failure of the western film industry to expand beyond certain themes and be more creative, not to mention give the audience something that could be more challenging.

So what's the use of defending comics-based live action films if they're going to remain so PC, and not expand to more challenging themes? There's whole shiploads of independent comics out there too that could serve as a wellspring, and they eschew all that for the sake of adapting mainstream comics that've been throughly ruined over the past quarter century. Indeed, what good does it do to watch live action adaptations when the original comics are being destroyed? If the original comics are turned stale, it just makes a mockery out of the idea to adapt them in the first place.

A former director of Marvel films tarnished her entries by celebrating murder

Warner Todd Huston at Breitbart reports a filmmaker named Lexi Alexander, who has some comics-related filmings to her credits, wrote obscene social media posts celebrating the murder of a deputy bank manager in NYC's Times Square:

Lexi Alexander, director of the 2008 Marvel film Punisher: War Zone, is taking heat for celebrating the stabbing murder of a Bank of America employee with an X post featuring Luigi Mangione’s face superimposed on a drawing of Batman’s bat signal.

Bank officer Erin Piacenti was fatally stabbed in Times Square, New York, shortly after celebrating her second wedding anniversary — and the day of her murder was her first day back to work from maternity leave. Piacenti, 32, was walking near West 42 Street and Seventh Avenue when 49-year-old Pamela Cisneros of Queens stabbed the young mother and another person in unprovoked attacks. Cisneros was later shot and killed by police after she threatened them with her two butcher knives.

After the murder, Alexander, who calls herself a “Palestinian filmmaker” (born in Germany to a Palestinian mother and father), jumped to her X account and posted a drawing of Batman looking up at the bat signal, but in the lighted image in the sky, there is instead an image of Luigi Mangione’s face. Mangione is now on trial for the 2024 assassination of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. [...]

Palestinian American film maker celebrates the murder of a random white lady who worked in middle management at Bank of America.

32,000 likes pic.twitter.com/f7e4wxd54b

— Drew Pavlou 🇦🇺🇺🇸🇺🇦🇹🇼 (@DrewPavlou) September 1, 2026

Her X post is still on her timeline, but it has been restricted from being embedded.

In a followup post, she accused everyone who criticized her post of being a “Hasbara bot,” meaning someone working for Israeli propaganda operations. [...]

After Punisher: War Zone bombed at the box office (a $10 million gross to its $35 million budget), Alexander has mostly directed episodes of TV shows such as Supergirl, S.W.A.T., and How to Get Away with Murder.

Well just look at that. More comics creations have been tarnished and desecrated through poor employment choices. As if it weren't bad enough the Supergirl TV show from the past decade was clogged with far-leftism. This is whom the studios that own Marvel and DC are hiring? What this makes clear is that Tinseltown is in serious need of reform, which they're tragically unlikely to work on. It's also got to be telling this repulsive "filmmaker" also worked on a TV show with a title that itself makes light of a serious issue. Alexander's career as a film and TV director will hopefully be over after this horrific case, which strongly hints she's as anti-American as she's anti-Israel. And no doubt, she also hates the Jewish creators and publishers of the comics the films and TV shows she worked on adapted.

Gal Gadot on being dropped from WW movies

The Times of Israel told about actress Gal Gadot's exit from playing the role of Wonder Woman on the silver screen:

Gal Gadot revealed in an interview aired Monday that she was cut from the next Wonder Woman film, although the project was already in development.

Gadot told the “Happy Sad Confused” podcast that she was slated to star in a third installment in the franchise, under director Patty Jenkins, but the project changed when new management took over at DC Studios.

CEO James Gunn took over the ailing studio in 2022, and at first assured Gadot that she would star in the next Wonder Woman film.

“No, they told me the opposite,” said Gadot on the podcast when asked about the circumstances surrounding the cancellation. “They were like, ‘We’re going to develop it with you [Wonder Woman 3], but I saw the way everybody else was handled, right?”

Considering how everything collapsed artistically with the 2nd movie, what exactly are we missing? Some could also argue that, with Gadot now reaching her 40s, she may be past her prime for a character who's meant to look early to mid-20s.

Based on the woke politics that clogged the 2nd film, what's the loss? There've been at least 3 adaptations of comics owned by DC so far that were screwed up - WW, Shazam and Aquaman, to which we could add this year's Supergirl film as the sequel to Gunn's Superman - where the 2nd entry wound up a serious dud, and there have been other examples that were even worse, like Dwayne Johnson's Black Adam film and the Birds of Prey film, that got nowhere. So what have they truly got to show for it in the end? Also noted is that:

According to media reports, Ana Nogueira, who wrote the upcoming “Supergirl” script, is penning the script for the new film. A new director hasn’t yet been named.

Gunn’s own position as CEO is reportedly in question as DC Studios is part of Warner Bros. Discovery, the media company being acquired in the $110 billion merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery that is expected to close in late 2026.

If he leaves, he won't be missed. The Lanterns series he's producing is already woke, and if the same screenwriter who penned the Supergirl movie is assigned, we can't expect them to draw from worthy material for a story on the silver screen. And even the Superman film from the past year had some very distasteful metaphors shoehorned in, one more reason why it doesn't seem to be spoken about much now, any more than countless other films from the past decade that weren't worth the hype and dollars spent to make them. Oh, and the Peacemaker TV program also reeks of revulsion. So what are we missing?

All that aside, as I once said before, I don't think Gadot has much of a film legacy, and if she's worked on TV, probably not much of one there either. So it's not like, in the end, her role as WW was something to celebrate.

Jewish entrepreneurs of the past helped build up toy merchandise as much as comics

The Jewish Telegraphic Agency wrote about how Jewish industrialists played as much a part in building up the toy industry as the comics industry:

But even if my family didn’t spend Saturdays in shul, kids’ television immersed me in an unspoken Jewish culture, as Michael Kimmel explains in his new book “Playmakers: The Jewish Entrepreneurs Who Created the Toy Industry in America.”

It’s a study of the mostly first-generation American Jews who led the toy industry in the 20th century, as well as the Jewish child psychologists, children’s book authors and comic book creators who, he asserts convincingly, invented the American idea of childhood.

“They created the childhood that they themselves never had,” Kimmel told me in a recent public conversation, part of “250 Years of American Jewish Life in America,” an online project of the Weitzman National Museum of American Jewish History and 70 Faces Media, JTA’s parent company.

The founders of iconic brands such as Ideal, Mattel, Marx, Hasbro, Kenner, Wham-O and Madame Alexander dolls shared roots in Yiddish-speaking Europe, and childhoods as the sons and daughters of immigrants.

“They were born in poverty on the Lower East Side, and you have all these stories of the scraps that they picked up off the street that they made into things,” said Kimmel. “They had these ideas that children were basically curious and creative, and that they should be nurtured.”

And commodified. Shut out of establishment industries and professions, Jewish entrepreneurs thrived in niches of their own making, capitalizing on and helping propel the consumer culture that exploded after World War I. German Jews ran some of the largest department stores, including Macy’s, Abraham & Straus and Gimbels, and Eastern European newcomers became the manufacturers, distributors and sales force that stocked their shelves with dolls, games, and gadgets.

The list of classic toys and Jews who developed them is almost comically long: Barbie (Ruth Handler), Lionel trains (Lionel Cowan), Mr. Potato Head (George Lerner), Yakity-Yak chattering teeth (Eddy Goldfarb), the pogo stick (George Hansburg), the Hula Hoop (Arthur Melin and Richard Knerr), G.I. Joe (Larry Reiner) and Play-Doh and the Easy-Bake Oven (the Steiner brothers: Albert, Philip and Joseph).

Since they cite Barbie toys, it's a shame a certain filmmaker named Greta Gerwig chose to humiliate them for the sake of a woke agenda attacking the "patriarchy". And it's also a shame the GI Joe toys have similarly suffered in live action filmmaking. I sadly suspect the history book in focus doesn't dwell on any of that, even though that could also provide something to learn from. The comics industry's also cited here, along with children's books, but there's one name in the latter part that's decidedly an embarrassment to include:

The Jewish entrepreneurs not only benefited from such views of childhood, but understood how to turn them into a business model. They were also pushed toward these new industries by a less uplifting force: antisemitism.

Kimmel said that many comic-book artists originally wanted to work in advertising, but advertising agencies in the 1930s and ’40s were notoriously hostile to Jews. Like toymaking, comic books became a Jewish industry. Underpaid Jewish artists and writers — including Jack Kirby, Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, Will Eisner, Stan Lee and Lily Renée — dreamed up Superman, Betty Boop, the Spirit, Green Lantern, Aquaman, Spider-Man and The Thing, among dozens of others, often giving these superheroes and comic characters coded or actual Jewish backstories.

The same pattern appears in children’s literature. Kimmel counts 42 titles on the New York Public Library’s list of the 100 most important children’s books of the 20th century that were written by first-generation Jews, including Sydney Taylor, Maurice Sendak, Jack Ezra Keats, Jules Feiffer, Esphyr Slobodkina and Norman Juster.

While it's great the writer reminds us about the comics side of the Jewish industrialists, it's a shame he had to bring up a figure like Sendak, whose children's books, IMO, were tasteless, and worse was his politics. The article even cites the Fat Albert cartoon based on the disgraced Bill Cosby's comedy sketches, and even Lil' Abner cartoonist Al Capp, who regrettably turned out to be a pervert, and I honestly don't think it's such a good idea to provide such figures with citation, even if it doesn't make sense to erase them from history altogether. It only undermines the impact of the article, and if the book by Kimmel brings them up, that can be problematic. At least Capp is long gone, which makes it easier to read his work for anybody who cares.

Kimmel's book also makes space for a certain children's TV program on PBS:

Kimmel ends his book with “Sesame Street,” which he sees as a kind of culmination. The groundbreaking children’s show was developed by Joan Ganz Cooney, whose father was Jewish, with the assistance of Gerald Lesser, a developmental psychologist born to Jewish immigrant parents. The show was in some ways an antidote to the world of Saturday morning cartoons. It prepared pre-schoolers for success in kindergarten with the addictive, engaging style of commercial television. And instead of advertisements for toys, its “commercials” offered lessons in letters, shapes, counting, social skills and concepts such as “near” and “far.”

There was a time when Sesame Street, famous as it is for its use of the Muppets, was a great item for children to view and learn from. But that too has been largely ruined in the past decade by wokeness, which would make it another Jewish creation along with mainstream comics that's been destroyed for the sake of leftist agendas. And nobody in the modern Jewish-American community seems to have any issue with the creations of their past brethren being appropriated for the sake of repugnant political agendas and other ideologies.

Kimmel's book may be quite interesting from a historical perspective, but I have a sad feeling it may not build on objectivity from a modern one. And that's decidedly a problem. How are we to fix modern errors if nobody's willing to acknowledge what went wrong since the turn of the century, and nobody in the Jewish community cares what happened?

NPR wants to blame tariffs for hindering specialty store in Ohio

NPR wrote about Alter Ego Comics in Lima, Ohio that's reportedly had problems with tariffs the Trump administration set in place for Canada, as a result of all the trouble the latter's government caused:

But these days, the reality of tariffs has encroached into that escape that Bowker seeks to offer.

"It's become a challenge to try and remain stoic and focus on the four walls of my shop when it seems like the world is on fire," he says.

For nearly a year and a half, small business owners like Bowker have dealt with both the financial cost and uncertainty caused by tariffs.

And now, Bowker is also dealing with how to seek tariff refunds after some of the import taxes he paid were struck down by the Supreme Court earlier this year – and facing the prospect that an escalating trade war with Canada could soon drag him into another tariff storm.

"It unfortunately could be a major issue to an industry that has really been firing on almost all cylinders for the last couple of years," Bowker said.

It's an illustration of how tariff walls around countries continue to put pressure on main street American businesses more than a year after President Trump first unveiled them in a White House ceremony.

Has the comics medium really been on "all cylinders" in the past few years? Not via the majors, that's for sure. And if regular bookstores know how to handle these things, I don't understand how managers of specialty stores don't. Also, look what the store in focus is relying upon:

For Bowker, those initial "Liberation Day" tariffs meant paying more for the action figures that drive about 70% of his revenue. Think highly detailed foot-tall statues of Wolverine or Spider-Man made in China. At one point, Chinese goods were tariffed at 145%, though they've since fluctuated lower.

Since "Liberation Day," Bowker has paid his supplier more than $16,000 in tariffs. For a while he passed some of that along to his customers as a 3% tariff fee. Recently though, Bowker decided to get rid of the fee and just eat that extra cost himself because it was costing him business.

"The reality is our action figure business was down 50% last year," Bowker said. "And I have a feeling a lot of that had to do with tariffs."

Tariffs or none, I find it annoying how statues are emphasized here, when the story merit of the original comics are what should matter. Yet it's excruciatingly obvious NPR has no interest in such challenging issues. Wow, this is what the specialty store's business depends upon by and large? That's got to be telling, right down to how the action figures and statues are made in a communist-run country.

Today there are still other tariffs raising the cost of his action figures. And there's another possible tariff threat down the line – the growing trade war between the U.S. and Canada. Comics – including the ones Bowker sells – are primarily imported from Canada.

They are not included in this round of tariffs, but that could change if the trade war keeps escalating.

But nobody argues that perhaps comics should see more printing in the USA proper, huh? Canada isn't doing a favor by refusing to cooperate with Trump on business and trade issues, and he's encouraging Canadian businesses to move their operations to the USA. Maybe that's just what they should do, if Trump's willing to offer special benefits and bonuses. But that's not a concern to NPR, in all their biases.

At least Bowker is seeing a break from the tariff storm. Despite all these headwinds, Bowker says business this year is up. There's a comic book renaissance right now boosting his sales, driven by popular titles like Absolute Batman.

But while many customers are still buying, others are tightening their budget because of rising prices, caused in part by tariffs.

And no discussion of the $5-plus cover prices for the now outmoded pamphlets, right? I wonder how that doesn't matter or concern? It looks like NPR exploited this whole topic just for the sake of a pathetic attack on Trump's tax policies, and naturally, they have no interest in how DC's Absolute line builds on some bad political metaphors as well. So of course, one can only wonder if NPR gave a citation to Absolute Batman based on its political components. Here, they had a chance to shed some light on various independent titles, and what makes them click or not, and instead, we have to hear cliche upon cliche about Absolute Batman, and action figures that're no replacement for the actual comics themselves. This whole report is therefore a joke, and asks no questions helpful to USA business at all. It definitely doesn't offer any valid alternatives for comics.