The winner of this year's Fnac France Inter Comic Award is a story about an illustrator

Fnac Darty, a site run by the French books and music retail chain, announced their choice for this year's comics award under their sponsorship:

The graphic novel *Au-Dedans* (Editions 404) has just been named the winner of the 7th edition of the Fnac France Inter Comic Book Award. This debut graphic novel by Will McPhail, an illustrator for *The New Yorker*, is a refreshing and moving story centered on Nick, a withdrawn young city dweller who slowly begins to open up to the world.

Nick is an illustrator whose life oscillates between his personal projects and a day job at an advertising agency. He spends his time in cafés and craft beer bars, aware that something is missing from his life: other people and their inner worlds. Much more than a critique or a simplistic autobiographical account of a millennial’s life among other millennials, this slice of Nick’s life focuses on the divide that separates us all from one another.

It sounds like something even Japanese mangakas could explore, and just the kind of idea even USA creators should. Congratulations to the artist who conceived the tale.

NY creator develops comic based on experience with ADHD

WBNG-12 news talks about a creator from New York who produced a superhero tale building on his experiences with ADHD and bullying:

A Central New York comic book creator spent a decade developing a superhero series inspired by his own experiences with ADHD and bullying, and says the project is aimed at readers who have ever felt like they didn’t belong.

Tyler Raymond is the creator of The Different, a comic series he says is built around the idea that being different is something to embrace, not hide.

Story behind the series

Raymond says growing up with ADHD and being bullied in high school drove him to create something that could uplift others.

“School isn’t easy, especially when you’re different,” Raymond said. “So being the kid that talks too much, it was particularly hard to find friends. I wanted to make something that uplifted others and reinforce the idea that it’s okay being different. And we should all love ourselves for who we are and accepting our flaws because what other people might see as different, I see as something we should embrace and accept.”

The comic’s premise

The series follows five young heroes — Inferna, Celestial, IL GELO, The Stone Golem and Blueprint — who gain extraordinary powers from mysterious alien energy crystals buried beneath the Earth. The team protects Manhattan while navigating personal struggles and learning to function as a family.

Raymond says the central conflict goes beyond fighting villains. In the world of The Different, people fear the heroes trying to save them because of their powers.

“People treat people that have superpowers differently,” Raymond said. “So in Manhattan, when these heroes are saving people, they actually get negative responses, and these people fear them and treat them differently because they have superpowers. So I wanted to make a niche little parallel there. It’s a coming-of-age story; it’s about a group of strangers becoming family and working together to do good while also handling the adversity of being different.”

It's the kind of premise the X-Men for one was known for, but as anybody well-versed in recent history knows, Marvel's since gone downhill with comics like those years ago. So it's to be hoped this independent comic will prove a good successor for mainstream comics that lost their way. I just hope it doesn't build upon extreme left-wing ideologies, metaphorically or otherwise. That will only ruin it.

A clue how AI doesn't make the best source for recommendations

A writer at Tom's Guide says he asked ChatGPT to list some comics recommendations based on an analysis of his personality. The results are about what you could expect:

After ChatGPT dove into my biggest personality traits, it also pointed out that I value consistency, enjoy larger-than-life characters, am a truth-seeking individual, love character archetypes like “The Enlightened Warrior” and more. With a full read of who I am and what I’m into, the chatbot finally listed out an array of perfect comic book reading material split out across the roadmap I presented it with:

5 'start here' comics: Kingdom Come, Batman: Year One, Invincible, Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns.
5 Comics that challenge my worldview: Transmetropolitan, V for Vendetta, The Invisibles, Maus and DMC.
5 Comics that perfectly match your interests: Planetary, Batman: The Court of Owls, East of West, Saga and Black Science.
5 underrated gems: The Manhattan Projects, Tokyo Ghost, The Human Target, The Strange Talent of Luther Strode and Global Frequency.
5 comics that could become lifelong favorites: Planetary, Kingdom Come, Watchmen, Invincible and Batman: The Long Halloween.

And no Superman in sight. Come to think of it, no Robin or Huntress in sight either. Indeed, why don't the spinoffs from Batman's world count? And if larger than life matters, why not Colossal Boy from Legion of Superheroes and Nuklon from Infinity Inc, based on their enlarging powers? I also don't find the citation of Warren Ellis-penned GNs appealing either, nor the citation of V for Vendetta and Saga. Also note that Marvel seems to be out of these results, and that too is decidedly troubling.

So what's the use of AI if it's going to offer such predictable results? What's so wonderful about all this darkness in selection either? This is just miserable, and while DC/Marvel, lest we forget, collapsed years ago, that an AI program would be so obvious should make clear AI's not the best at everything when it can only recommend a majority of dark titles.

Comic cookbook about cocktails

The Des Moines Register wrote about author Sarah Becan, who's developed a GN about the origins of and recipes for cocktails, similar to one that was spoken about here earlier:

Becan has spent months researching not only the cocktail recipes themselves, but also their origins. In her illustrated graphic novel "Let's Make Cocktails!", she's collected dozens of standouts for everyone to enjoy. [...]

"Hands down, the best part of making these books is seeing when people make recipes from the book and show it to me, knowing that I was part of making that bowl of ramen possible or I was part of making that drink possible," Becan said.

Who is author Sarah Becan?

Becan began illustrating food because she was thinking about how food and self-worth tied together, she wrote on her website. She got her start creating an autobiographical webcomic titled "I Think You're Sauceome," and would draw meals she and her partner would have in restaurants around Chicago.

Becan said restaurants started noticing her drawings and approached her to make art for commercial work. That eventually led to Becan becoming the illustrator for "The Adventures of Fat Rice" in 2016.

From there, the publisher kept in touch with Becan, later asking her to create a full-length comic book for ramen recipes. That's how the "Let's Make" series was born, with spotlights on ramen, dumplings, bread and now cocktails.

Becan has been nominated twice for the Ignatz Award, a prestigious honor that recognizes outstanding comics and cartooning.

Again, I think the subject is a good one provided it's not alcoholic beverages they're promoting, and so long as it's fruit and vegetable-based, that's what'll make this latest comics cookbook a good one. The comics about ramen and bread are certainly bound to be good choices, and there's plenty of bread recipes I do like, such as onion, sourdough and French rolls.

Monaco's soccer youth federation celebrated 50 years with an interactive comic

AS Monaco announced an interactive comic to celebrate 50 years of its soccer academy training:

Have you ever dreamed of stepping into the shoes of a player joining AS Monaco's youth academy? Now you can, thanks to our interactive comic book created especially for the Academy's 50th anniversary. From a welcome by Sébastien Muet to the triumph on the pitch at the Stade Louis-II, including the moments of doubt, each page lets you discover all the stages experienced by a resident of La Diagonale.

Soccer's definitely a sports topic the USA comics medium could emphasize more often. Good for the academy they thought of this.

Britain now has a town dedicated to the art form

The BBC recently announced there's a township in England that's been named as a comics-themed town:

Barrow-in-Furness has been named the UK's first "comic book town" in a bid to get more people reading.

Along with a new comic book festival, educational projects in primary schools and community activities will come to the Cumbrian town this year as part of the initiative.

The Lakes International Comic Arts Foundation (LICAF), which leads the project, said its research showed children's writing and reading ability could increase considerably when comic books were used in the classroom.

LICAF's director Julie Tait said the campaign recognised "the power of comics to transform reading and creativity".

"Special educational needs children particularly benefit, comics switch on in their brains in different ways," she said.

Okay, congratulations on what they've achieved. But it's to be hoped whatever they offer in education will have real value, and won't be some woke monstrosity that comes off more as indoctrination than education. Otherwise, whatever point this news is supposedly trying to make will be meaningless.

Henry Brown's new GN, "Threat Quotient", which combines past inspirations with modern metaphors

A graphic novelist named Henry Brown's written on Hollywood in Toto about his new comic titled "Threat Quotient", and what his inspirations were for developing it. In the following paragraphs, he says:

In the midst of the Covidiocy lockdowns, that old comic book flame reignited. I still remembered most of the characters I conceived, and an idea for a sprawling superhero epic that I never began.

Over the years, when driving long distances or performing monotonous tasks, the old ideas bubbled up to the surface of my mind. In my daydreams I had revised scenes, plot elements and character concepts.

Not because I always believed I’d be able to use them, but because there’s a creative algorithm in the firmware of my brain I’ve never been able to turn off.

I got a fire lit under me in 2021 and first attempted to create a space opera comic. That’s a story unto itself I won’t unpack here. But despite how disgusted I was with the Big Two comic book companies and the disappointing cinematic adaptations of late, I still wanted to revisit the stories that had evolved through the years in my imagination.

Well if what he's saying is that he wanted to draw inspiration from them from a time when Marvel/DC still mattered, that's a great idea. And of course, it's a terrible shame it came to the situation where they went downhill into PC by the early 2000s, and what I think is particularly grating in hindsight is that people like Bill Jemas had to be the ones to save Marvel from bankruptcy. Some Marvel fans might agree it would've been far better if they'd folded than have to endure the humiliation Jemas and Joe Quesada put them through a quarter century ago, and similar points can be made about DC under Dan DiDio and Geoff Johns.

Anyway, what inspired Mr. Brown to develop this GN was the Korvac Saga:

As a boy, my intention was mostly just to concoct a tremendous super-slugfest. I had the last issue of the Korvac Saga in my collection and was impressed by the heroism of Earth’s (Marvel’s) mightiest heroes standing together against world-destroying power with a forlorn hope of survival…but fighting anyway because they saw it as the right thing to do. [...]

My experience and observations of the world around me filled in those blanks. What could inspire actual heroes to fight such a battle? That’s easy: freedom.

It rhymes with the scenario we are facing in Current Year America. There are people near the reins of power who think good governance is:

• Sending agents to murder a pet squirrel or investigate a garage pull-down cord
• Arresting citizens for sharing memes or for praying near an abortion clinic
• Chargd for holding church service or walking their dog outdoors during a universal lockdown for a flu bug with a 99 percent survival rate

The enemy is too cowardly to overtly fight to deprive us of our individual rights—they would take our freedoms through deception, subterfuge, psychological manipulation, lawfare and fraud. They’ll try to avoid an actual fight until we’re helpless to resist.

Patrick Henry’s axiom, “Give me liberty or give me death,” is more relevant than ever.

What if there was a subculture that agreed with Henry, but could not be made helpless? Who would force their would-be masters to fight it out? That is a hill good men would be willing to die on.

I transposed the old story idea from my childhood world into the reality of 2021-ish, then tweaked that to accommodate the existence of superheroes and clear plenty of wiggle-room for creative license. The plot involves an international conspiracy to establish Orwellian control over the citizens of every country; a super-powered (“ultrahuman”) team to enforce compliance; and a resistance movement with a team of ultrahuman dissidents that comes together to oppose them.

Yes, that sounds interesting. Like a metaphor for modern issues with Islamism/Communism. We definitely need more stories like that now, and who knows if a tale like the Korvac Saga would be published today if the editors and publishers thought it even remotely resembled issues they now consider anathema for observation? That's why it's now up to independent creators to prove they have the courage to confront serious topics, in contrast to the modern mainstream publishers who've ruined everything. Good luck to Mr. Brown with his new GN project.

A medical comic about health disorders

The Korea Times wrote about a free medical-themed comic focused on tic disorders:

Woongjin Foundation has published a medical comic book explaining tic disorders and will distribute it for free, the foundation said Thursday.

The 80-page illustrated guide, titled "Understanding Tic Disorders," is the latest in the foundation's ongoing series, "Rare and Incurable Diseases Explained in Comics," which it has produced in partnership with medical professionals since 2008. This edition marks the 30th installment of the series.

Tic disorders affect the neurological system responsible for movement and sensation, causing affected individuals to repeat specific muscle movements or sounds involuntarily. The condition is visible enough that those around a patient can typically notice it. More than 10 percent of elementary school students experience tics at some point, though most cases improve as children grow older.

[...] The foundation's chairman, Shin Hyun-woong, said in the book's foreword that he hopes the publication will give tic disorder patients and their families "new hope and courage," while also helping correct misconceptions about the condition that have spread online and other forms of media.

This is what's great about the comics medium, when it can be employed for explaining serious scientific issues, including health-based.

The reception of comics in India, and what they were used for

The Print covered a convention panel in Delhi about the history of Indian comics, and what their reception was like:

For Mahima, who runs the operations of the Mehrauli Community Library, comics are not just fun books or distractions, but a bridge to literacy.

“Comics meet children where they are in their language, their humour and their reality,” she said, speaking at the roundtable discussion titled ‘Comics as Witness’ on 14 March at the Foundation For Indian Contemporary Art Reading Room in Delhi. [...]

According to Mahima, comics are changing how people read. “Comics invite collaboration unlike picture books where one person reads to another,” she said, adding that comics build read-aloud and performance skills as well as teamwork.

She said kids are most drawn to comics that use their language. “Once a child finishes one, they immediately hunt for the next in the series, building a consistent reading habit.”

‘A precious commodity’

India has a rich tradition of comics that cover diverse topics like mythology, social satire, and superheroes. But from the mid-1990s, its craze has been declining, said graphic designer Orijit Sen, who has authored River of Stories, considered India’s first graphic novel published in 1994.

“Comics were a precious commodity when we were brought up. However, it was not a respectable thing,” he added.

That's possibly similar to the reception in the USA, which extended to animation, and led to the latter being all but ghettoized until the mid-90s as just a "children's medium". Even today, depending what's involved, the perception hasn't changed much. It's just that now, comics and animation are viewed by leftists in the west as an ideal way to indoctrinate children with political propaganda, or certainly were in the past decade. Speaking of which:

“Translation is one thing to reach different communities,” said Mahanta. She highlighted feminist collaborations for making comics and how the medium can help visualise oral histories. [...]

Sabhaney said that since 1990, comic reading has decreased but more people are now reading graphic novels. “Creators have a set of stories that they want to tell. Comics are created for particular issues such as documenting protest,” she said.

If this were the USA, seeing them talk about feminism would be more concerning. I think even the late cartoonist Will Eisner once wrote he found feminism troubling, based on how it did more harm than good to women's status in the west. And what protests are we talking about? There are obviously legitimate concerns in India that require protest, and we can only hope this alludes the right kind of topics. I think an interesting point to glean from this article is that comics came to serve as political platforms based on how they were considered an underutilized medium. But of course, that shouldn't get in the way of building science-fiction and fantasy stories as well to go alongside such products.

When an audience member asked about comics moving online, Sablania said, “The dynamic of comics is changing. The creator wants to reach as many people”.

You just have to hope it's for the right reasons, no matter the country. So if comicdom's making a comeback in India, let's hope it gets somewhere on the right foot.

A case made for why GNs can be great for reading instruction that's spoiled by mention of a propaganda item

Education Week's writing about why graphic novels can be good for reading instruction assignments. There are some interesting points made, but towards the end, the impact is seriously dampened by the mere mention of a propaganda item that distorted history for woke political brownie points:

If the goal is for them to be familiar with the story or examine themes, they can read the graphic novel version. Some Recommendations include Brave New World: A Graphic Novel by Fred Fordham, Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation by David Polonsky and Ari Folman, Romeo and Juliet and The Odyssey by Gareth Hinds, George Orwell’s 1984 by Matyas Namai, and Bea Wolf by Zach Weinersmith.

Well gee, this certainly isn't doing any favors by citing leftist animator Folman's questionable GN about Anne Frank as though that's perfect for schools and education. What's the columnist thinking? I'm sorry, but that spoils this whole essay, when there's bound to be other, more historically accurate GNs about Frank and other WW2 Holocaust-related subjects around. Even if the subject is obviously adult to the point where parental guidance would be needed, that Folman's GN exploits the misfortune of a young girl for the sake of LGBT propaganda and other forced smut ruins everything.

One of the worst problems with mainstream news writers like the one who wrote the essay for Education Week is that they always go almost entirely with the easiest of choices and examples, and never do deeper research to see if there's anything more challenging that could be brought up instead. Anybody who's not willing to sit back and determine if a comic like Folman's really makes the best recommendation for educational purposes has no business being in the school management system.

Of course comic readers can read more than just comics

A writer at the Blackshear Times spoke about a political argument he had with some online contact, who seemed to believe comic readers limit themselves almost entirely to that very medium, and have no interest in anything else:

You see, my worthy opponent informed me I live in “comic book fantasyland.” In a subsequent response they indicated I should stick to comics, because I “can’t understand political narrative.”

I can only guess they connected me with comics due to my profile pic, which features the heroes of a publication a friend and I successfully funded on Kickstarter last October. A brief online search of my name might also connect me with a handful of comic related websites and publications. Maybe they have even read my occasional columns about the comic book medium right here in this paper.

They probably thought they had scored some searing takedown, based upon a quick, surface level assessment of my online persona.

You see, the implication is that if you love comics you’re stupid. And if you aren’t stupid, then you are somehow immature or developmentally stunted.

It’s an old insult, as weak and tired as every other lame jab thrown at readers of every stripe no matter their preferred publication (books, newspapers, comics, etc.), most often by insecure people afraid someone knows more about something than they do.

They have good reason to worry too, because comic books lead to actual books. Now, my accuser probably hasn’t bothered with books in years, but when I look at my bookshelves I’m pretty content with what I see. There are plenty of titles which are close kin to comics; Conan, Tarzan, King Arthur and others, but there is also a lot of history, science, philosophy and biographies.

I myself have some Dungeons & Dragons/Dragonlance novels around the house written by Margeret Weis and Tracy Hickman, from a time when PC wasn't being forced upon the franchise like it's been today. And I've also got books about real life subjects at home too, including a book or two by UK writer Melanie Phillips, and also the late Barry Rubin. (Update: my household's also got a book about French poetry by Kenneth Canfield, if poetry matters.) I've also read Harry Potter books by J.K. Rowling, and I've even recently gotten hold of a book by James Kakalios titled The Physics of Super-Heroes, to see what he has to say about the differences between fiction and real life when it comes to sci-fi writing in comicdom. And that just shows how, whether before or after, of course there are comics readers who do take interest in plain-text books. Why, even books with illustrations obviously count to boot, and I read some of Beatrix Potter's children's books like Peter Rabbit and Jemima Puddle-Duck in my youth too, along with Dr. Seuss. If those aren't stupid, why do some anonymous creeps think comics are? Do they also think the same about animation, even Japanese?

Another sad thing about people who put down comic books, which has plagued the medium's reputation for decades on end, is that they couldn't possibly care less if Superman and Green Lantern had remained in the grave after the 1990's Doomsday battle and Emerald Twilight, or if Identity Crisis had remained a full-fledged status quo, or that the Avengers storyline making Hank Pym look like an abuser remained stuck for a long time, that Scarlet Witch was made to look horrific as a result of Disassembled, or that Spider-Man and Mary Jane Watson remain kept apart for nearly 2 decades now. Such people, without a doubt, have no appreciation for even the informative subjects that were examined in comicdom over past decades, like how drug abuse and racism are bad, and there were a few storylines that made points why sexual violence is wrong too. Could we perhaps guess why?

In the end though, some of these anonymous posters are people who're just looking for cheap, petty excuses to tell somebody else, "I don't like you", and that's very sad, because it does virtually nothing to improve a bad, divisive situation, and refuses to recognize that being a comics reader doesn't automatically prove you're "uneducated". Those who read comics are more than perfectly capable of reading plain-text books as well, including many tackling serious subject matters that comics are just as valid a medium to explore them in as well.

Czech comic wins this year's Muriel award

Radio Prague International interviewed Pavel Korinek, head of Czechia's comics academy, about a recent story called Oskar Ed by Branko Jelinek, which won the year's Muriel award:

For those who haven’t seen the book, who exactly is Oskar Ed? Is he a fictional character or something more personal?

"Oskar Ed is a fictional character who is in many ways typical of Branko Jelinek’s work. He is a recurring figure, though not in the sense of sequels or traditional series volumes. Rather, Jelinek works with Oskar Ed almost like an actor, a character he places at the centre of different graphic novels."

"In this book, Oskar Ed is a nearly middle-aged man struggling with family issues and dissatisfaction at work, a corporate job that doesn’t truly fulfil him. He is no longer a young man. He is haunted by his insecurities and by his rather precarious personal situation." [...]

And finally, is there a chance that Oskar Ed will reach English-speaking readers? Do you think it could eventually be translated into English?

"Hopefully, yes. Previous books featuring Oskar Ed have already been published abroad — in France and in Poland, for example. The second book was translated into several other languages as well."

"I know there have been attempts to publish Oskar Ed in English. At one point, the well-known alternative comics publisher Fantagraphics in Seattle was considering it."

"I hope that the four Muriel Awards won by the latest Oskar Ed graphic novel will serve as another reminder that something truly exciting is happening in Czech comics, and that English-speaking readers may soon have the chance to encounter Oskar Ed in translation."

I do think drama-based comics like these are what parents should encourage their children to read, certainly far more than action-adventure comics in mainstream today, and it's about time families did give comics like these a go if they really want their children to have something sophisticated to challenge their reading skills. So when will that happen? Exactly why I hope some publisher in the USA takes up the challenge of translating it into English, and also remains faithful to the comic's Czech cultural background.

An illustrated history of cocktails

The Santa Rosa Press-Democrat (archive link) interviewed David Wondrich, a historian from New York who's turned his research on cocktails into a graphic novel with an artist named Dean Kotz:

New York-based cocktail historian David Wondrich had most recently finished editing an 860-plus-page compendium of knowledge about cocktail history when the opportunity arose to share cocktail history through a different medium: as a graphic nonfiction book.

The author took on the challenge, teaming up with illustrator Dean Kotz to take readers on a journey around the world, following the world’s drinking preferences from Colonial-era punches to Prohibition, from the rise of the 1930s tiki trend to the modern-day craft cocktail movement and beyond — plus much more along the way, including an array of cocktail recipes. We recently caught up with Wondrich to learn more.

Responses have been edited for length and clarity.

Q: What inspired you to tell the history of cocktails through a comic book?

A: I had thought about doing a cocktail-themed comic book for quite a long time. I was talking to Ten Speed Press a couple years back, and they mentioned their comic book history series and asked if I would be interested in doing that. I said yes.

Q: You cover so much history in the book. How did you go about curating that history and figuring out which stories to include?

A: I was very familiar with the history because I’ve been writing cocktail history for 25 years. For my last book before this one, I was the editor-in-chief and principal writer of the “Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails,” a huge reference book that includes histories and biographies of famous bartenders, as well as other related information. So a lot of the information was pretty fresh in my mind. That said, I always research my books anew and see what else I can find and what other connections I can make. There were some periods in some places that were completely new to me, and that was fun. I tried to tell as many stories as I possibly could. I’ve written at length, for instance, about the history of African American bartenders, which was really deeply buried. I also did a lot of research on Asian and Pacific Islander bartenders in America.

Q: What was it like translating that history into comic book form? How did that process work with the illustrator?

A: It was really hard. I did this not because it was easy, but because I thought it would be easy. But it turned out to be really difficult. My editor insisted that this should be a real history with documentation, so I couldn’t skip over bits or dramatize stuff too much. I had to make sure that it gave you a good, solid, accurate history, while at the same time trying to make it as lively as possible. [...]

Q: What are you hoping people take away from the book?

A: I’m hoping they get a sense of the people involved. These drinks are things that were made by people, for people. I’m hoping they can see themselves in the book and find what really resonates with them in the tradition of mixing drinks. My main hope is that people find it interesting, that it gives them stuff to talk about, and that they can understand where their favorite drinks came from.

The only problem I have with this is that it also appears to be about the history of how alcohol's made, since there are cocktails made with liquor, and I don't consider it healthy to drink liquor. Fruit cocktails are decidedly far better so long as they're not made with liquor/alcohol. I'm sure the history of cocktails is one worth telling, but does that mean it's healthy to drink? Not really, unless maybe it's wine-based. So congratulations to the guy for producing this GN, but I don't think drinking alcohol should be encouraged, even through comic panels. What would be far better is if there's comics teaching why alcohol, even cocktail-based, isn't a good example, and there are some out there, no doubt, taking an objective view of liquor and alcohol. I just wish Wondrich and Kotz's comic did so too, but somehow, I doubt it.

A science comic about horses

Horse Sport wrote about a new comic discussing how horses think, and how their owners relate to them:

Scientists, and an increasing number of horse owners, know more than ever about how the mind of a horse works, how to motivate them in training, what they feel, and how to ensure their well-being. However, up-to-date scientific knowledge is not always easily accessible to the horse-owning public who do not read scientific publications or books.

A new approach to science communication has arrived thanks to a Finnish science communication company, Arador Innovations, who authored the non-fiction graphic novel Hevosen mieli. Tiedettä sarjakuvana (The Mind of a Horse. Science Meets Comics) as a new method for public communication of equitation science with the aim of a substantial, positive impact on equine welfare.

Designed for both teenage readers and adults, the book was discussed at the 2025 International Society for Equitation Science conference, as it is believed to be the first non-fiction graphic novel or book-length comic published on the cognition, ethology, or welfare science of any species of animal in Europe. [...]

Well it's certainly a great idea, and let's hope there'll be more like it in the future.

The history of a now 50-year-old specialty store in Santa Cruz

Good Times wrote a whole article about Atlantis Fantasyworld, one of the oldest USA specialty stores, located in Santa Cruz, whose owner Joe Ferrara once knew comics writer Mike Friedrich, and they discussed, in example, how the store's been able to last as long as it has for nearly 5 decades:

Approaching its 50th anniversary, I sat down with owner Joe Ferrara to chronicle how a personal collection grew into a half-century institution—and to understand the quieter values that allowed it to outlast earthquakes, recessions, and the digital revolution while so many brick-and-mortar stores disappeared.

Founded in 1976, Atlantis is stocked with comics, graphic novels, toys, magazines, art books, and collectibles. Its longevity isn’t nostalgia alone.

It’s consistency, care, and an unshakable belief that stories matter.

In that case, I hope he focuses more attention on independent/creator owned products, because after the way DC/Marvel went since the turn of the century with divisive politics and woke directions, it'd be better to lavish some more focus on creator-owned stories and judge which are the best ones for promotion.

According to January 2025 retailer reports, there are between 2,000 and 3,000 specialty comic shops in North America. Even broader business directories count fewer than 4,000 stores nationwide—a figure that includes “hybrids” that act primarily as game centers or tournament venues rather than dedicated comic bookstores. No other California shop matches Atlantis’s nearly 50 years under the same ownership—a true survivor in a landscape where many independents have closed.

To be sure, that's because they relied far too heavily on modern DC/Marvel output, though that's obviously not the only reason any stores could've gone out of business. There's also, as I'm well aware, problems with rent prices going up. Of course, regarding the comics themselves, when divisive politics are shoved into the pages as viciously as they were since the turn of the century, that too is dispiriting.

Ferrara’s love of comics was born from a childhood obsession that initially worried his mother.

“I loved comics as a kid,” he recalls. “My mom complained to the nuns, ‘He only wants to read comics.’ And God bless them, the nuns of the ’50s didn’t say no. They said, ‘Mrs. Ferrara, he’s reading.’”

What could have been brushed aside became literacy, curiosity, and eventually a life’s work. Comics weren’t a phase. They were a language.

That's certainly amazing the Catholic representatives he studied under recognized the medium in itself is valid. It's just the content and suitability level at a young age that's in question. Of course, today that might've changed in ways that aren't for the better, sadly, and in the past decade, it was certainly evident some of the worst forms of censorship were being promoted by leftists who didn't uphold the values of their predecessors.

Ferrara’s passion for comics was reignited in college by his roommate Mike Friedrich, who went on to write for Marvel and DC on titles such as Spider-Man and Batman. By the time Ferrara moved to Santa Cruz in 1976, he’d amassed more than 6,000 comics.

The turning point came during a dinner at his mother’s house.

“My mom, between bites, says, ‘He’ll probably open his own store,’” Ferrara remembers. “Bang. That did it. That was like a tuning fork. My body just started vibrating.”

And it's great he wanted to work as a salesman for the medium. Of course, while I appreciate that he'd owned plenty of back issues at the time, I'd be even happier if he agreed the medium's got to make the shift to formats like paperback/hardcover, because pamphlets have long become too expensive in over 20 years, and the way DC/Marvel rely so heavily upon crossovers has worsened the situation, regardless of whether you have to read all connecting issues to understand the whole. Somebody's got to make clear within sales management itself that this cannot go on, no matter how "clever" they might claim it all is.

Atlantis holds a unique place in Santa Cruz film history as the comic store featured in The Lost Boys. The original location at 707 Pacific Ave. was transformed by director Joel Schumacher’s crew to create the illusion that the shop sat on the Boardwalk. They built a wall in the gutter, placed Laughing Sal in front of it, and shot at an angle that hid the actual street—even removing a tree from the beach in post-production.

Seriously, considering Schumacher was such a wokester in his own way, one who brought the live action Batman films of the times down to shoddy levels, that's why I'm really not impressed to know this. And it's just as troubling to know the following:

The Lost Boys connection runs deeper than souvenirs. DC Comics published a six-issue sequel series, written by Tim Seeley, based on what was supposed to be the next film. Ferrara invited Seeley to the store’s 40th anniversary, where he signed the first two issues. When Seeley went home and finished writing the series, he included a tribute: in the final issue, the vampires kill Joe Ferrara.

“I’m dead in the comics,” Ferrara grins. When Atlantis sells out of those issues, they’re gone—the series is out of print.

In that case, is this miniseries really some massive success? Obviously not, and if I were in Ferrara's position, I'd be repelled that they put me in a horror-thriller setting that awful. That aside, Schumacher was such an overrated director in his time, and his take on any kind of comics, Batman or anything else, did no favors for the medium.

While the global comic book market continues to expand into a multi-billion dollar industry driven by manga and digital access, brick-and-mortar specialty shops like Atlantis navigate distinct pressures. Many diversify with events and tournaments to thrive, but Atlantis has stayed true to its roots as a story-centered bookstore. Its genre-racking and welcoming vibe proves that heartfelt, innovative retail can remain a cultural anchor amid broader industry evolution.

This may be a cliche, but if manga's the big deal, are USA comics by contrast such a success if manga's surpassed them in popularity? That said, it is impressive the specialty store's stuck by its core mission, and not tried to water down the whole purpose they got into the business for. They also bring up a former publisher who proved a letdown in the long run:

Ferrara’s longevity has earned him deep respect across the industry. Paul Levitz, who spent 47 years at DC Comics and served as its president from 2002 to 2009, calls Ferrara a pioneer. Levitz played a central role in shaping modern comics publishing, helping hire influential creators like Alan Moore and building the Direct Market system that made independent comic bookshops financially viable in the first place.

“Joe Ferrara has been a stellar example of the independent comic shop owner almost from the beginning of comic shops in America,” Levitz says. “He’s led the recognition of successful shops, and been a gentle godfather to the growth of our industry.”

And Levitz became a huge disappointment over time, to the point where I seriously doubt he ever got into the business because he cared about the creations he got assignments to write.

Industry admiration has also taken formal shape. Atlantis Fantasyworld won the Eisner Award for Best Comic Shop in 1996, one of the highest honors in comics retail. The award was created by Will Eisner, widely regarded as the father of the graphic novel, to encourage professionalism and elevate standards across the industry.

“His intention was that comic book retailers would become more professional,” Ferrara says. “Not just being like, you know, indoor flea market guys.”

Well I'm not sure if all became as professional as Eisner must've hoped, nor did standards improve, based on where they've gotten to now. At this point, it's much more likely they could turn against him for publishing his last GN, The Plot. And the Eisner awards, IIRC, even ended up going to comics that didn't deserve it, like Identity Crisis, and there were other troubling choices made by the panel of judges for the ceremony. That the Eisner awards went down in quality is, predictably, not dwelled upon here. The writer even made the mistake of referencing a now disgraced author who did no favors for the medium in the long run:

Beyond comics, Ferrara’s long-standing advocacy for prostate cancer awareness earned him the Bob Clampett Humanitarian Award, which honors individuals who have contributed to the comics community and public good beyond business success. Past recipients include science-fiction author Robert Heinlein, writer Neil Gaiman, and Jeannie Schulz, who has overseen and protected the legacy of her late husband, Peanuts creator Charles M. Schulz.

Did they have to put somebody whose reputation and career have since plummeted due to the sexual assault allegations against him into this article? I do wonder if Ferrara's store and other business associates ever had figures like Mike Baron and Chuck Dixon as recipients? If not, that's decidedly a flaw.

Inspired by how breast cancer awareness made pink a universal symbol of solidarity, Ferrara worked to bring the same visibility to prostate cancer through the color blue. He convinced Marvel to create special blue-themed variant covers for awareness campaigns—an industry first that amplified life-saving messages nationwide. IDW Publishing followed suit, running ads inside their comics. This pioneering advocacy solidified blue as the cause’s symbol within the medium. At Comic-Con, Bob Clampett’s daughter Ruth presented Ferrara with the award that bears her father’s name.

While the subject of cancer is a valid concern, what good does it do to promote awareness through variant covers, which has made a joke out of the mainstream in particular, since it only obscured how the stories became monumentally awful? Anybody who's going to push variant covers at the expense of the interiors is undermining the belief in need for merit.

The staff reflects the shop’s ethos: everyone belongs here. Atlantis has always been a place where all are welcome—no gatekeeping, no judgment, just a shared love of stories.

“If you hire the right people, you don’t have to worry,” Joe says. “They care.”

Well I sure hope they don't take a naive view of certain ideologies, including how communism's made such a troubling presence in USA society these days. I think it's great Ferrara's been able to keep the store running as successfully as he has for 50 years, but when the talk of variant covers comes up, that can be a telling clue something's wrong with the approach, and when they don't discuss any seriously challenging issues involved, that only dampens the impact of the article, along with what the store's meant to be about. Retail specialists need to consider that if they want anything to improve, they certainly can't overlook what went wrong with the mainstream.

Dilbert cartoonist in sad health situation

The New York Post says Dilbert cartoonist Scott Adams' situation with prostate cancer is getting worse:

Cartoonist Scott Adams is sharing a harrowing health update.

The 68-year-old, who created the comic strip “Dilbert,” revealed that his prostate cancer prognosis is not a positive one.

“I talked to my radiologist yesterday and it’s all bad news — the odds of me recovering are essentially zero,” he said during his podcast “Real Coffee with Scott Adams” on Thursday. “I’ll give you any updates if that changes, but it won’t.”

I'm sorry to hear that. It's certainly a sad day for the cartooning industry as much as Adams himself.

New GN studies evolution of archaeology and USA academia over the past 5 decades

The Times of Israel interviewed a UC San Diego professor, Thomas Levy, who published a GN autobiography titled The Boomer Archaeologist, about how archaeological and academia studies have evolved over 50 years, and today, it's regrettably collapsing:

When the Yom Kippur War broke out in Israel on October 6, 1973, American citizen Thomas Levy was in Athens studying Greek after working at a dig in a small prehistoric site in the north of the country.

Twenty years old at the time, he made his way to Israel to help out and spent two months milking cows at Kibbutz Eilot in the Arava Valley before flying back to Arizona, where he was attending college.

Today a prominent archaeologist, Levy tells the story in his newly released autobiography, “The Boomer Archaeologist – A Graphic Memoir of Tribes, Identity and the Holy Land,” illustrated by Levy’s niece Lily Almeida. The memoir was designed by Bhaveshkumar Suru and published by British academic publisher Equinox.

The book covers Levy’s life journey from Southern California, where he was born to Jewish parents whose families had fled Europe at the end of the 19th century, to Israel and back. It distills his own version of the American dream, archaeological work on four continents — including some revolutionary discoveries from the time of King David — and how, at the age of 72, he likes to joke that there only two things he knows how to do in life, archaeology and milking cows.

“This book is my story, a personal kind of coming-of-age story, but it’s also a story about how the field of archaeology has changed from the old days of doing surveys with paper maps and a compass, to this amazing world of cyber-archeology today,” Levy recently told The Times of Israel, meeting at a cafe in Jerusalem.

“At the same time, it’s also the story of how the American academia has changed over the years,” he added.

And how exactly? Here's the explanation, which he discussed in his GN:

At the same time, the atmosphere at UC San Diego, as at many other American universities, began to change dramatically.

“I was very privileged to get a job at one of the best research universities in the United States, and I kind of trace the degradation of that sort of elite,” he told The Times of Israel. “It used to be based on merit, and then it changed to a system that focuses on racial identity politics, and it’s really not healthy for research.”

In the book, he recalled that in 2010, he was working with a group of five students to examine artifacts from Jordan. After Levy praised their work as “the best of our meritocracy,” one of the students responded that “meritocracy is racism.”

Levy explained that in recent years it’s become increasingly difficult, to the point of being impossible, to work with students and prepare them for excellence in the field.

“I find that a lot of American graduate students today are not as invested in the adventure and excitement of archaeology,” he said. “The old way of being a graduate student was like a mentor-mentee relationship with the professor. Now, people count the hours; everything is monitored. It’s not fun anymore.”

What's particularly troubling is that the student undoubtably took the ethnic studies professor's claim entirely at face value. But at least Levy's bringing up an issue that's been harming academia for a long time now, and in illustrated format, creatively enough. Ironically, if the student alluded to in the GN buys all the aforementioned ethnic studies professor says, then in a way, it's like a mentor-mentee relation, but in a dark, distorted reflection type of way, as it amounts more to indoctrination. Perhaps academics like Levy might want to draw a whole comic about stuff like that?

And if today's USA students don't care for archaeology, it's a component of a college mentality that doesn't care about history in general, and that too is not a good omen. It's something in serious and vital need of change, and improvement. And we can only hope comics-style books are a good way to tackle the subject.

A businessman in Nebraska wants to auction a Spider-Man collection to fund the hungry, and what a Fantagraphics store is like

KMYA-NBC reports there's a businessman in Nebraska who wants to auction his collection of Spider-Man issues to feed the hungry around the world. However, he does have fishy positions when it comes to comics he's produced himself:

A CEO from Omaha, Nebraska is ready to auction off a "Spider-Man" comic book collection worth hundreds of thousands of dollars to help educate people on how to feed the hungry around the world.

An NBC affiliate in Omaha first met Nate Blum, who is the CEO of Sorghum United Foundation, back in 2017. He was being fitted for an artificial eye, and he donated his glaucoma-damaged one to science, for medical research and education.

"I've always hoped that my experiences could somehow help educate," Blum expressed.

Eight years later, Blum continues to educate through comic books he's written, creating his own super heroes.

"It's a worldwide adventure. I say it's like Indiana Jones meet Captain Planet," Blum shared.

These books target young children around the world, focusing on very serious issues.

"We don't sugarcoat things...We talk about climate change in this book, and we talk about the fact that people don't have enough to eat in this book. In this book, we talk about how farmers can't grow a grain if they don't have a market to sell it," Blum explained.

The part about climate change is what's annoying here. That's been a rather petty issue for some time among leftists, and if that's what Mr. Blum believes is such a big deal, then he isn't being very creative, even with seemingly family-friendly subjects. As for the part about hunger, well let's hope he doesn't follow a leftist playbook on that subject, because areas run by Islamic jihadists are not those deserving of monetary relief so long as they follow the Religion of Peace. Either way, when climate change is what he believes a big deal, why say he doesn't sugarcoat things?

I also think it's laughable if the guy sees Capt. Planet as a great cartoon, because it really wasn't. It was just more environmental propaganda mishmash from its time, and don't see much point in adapting it comics, as it was of recent.

Also of interest, the Seattle Times wrote about a store that appears to be affiliated with Fantagraphics working in the Georgetown area, which also deals in collectibles:

Larry Reid, the manager of Fantagraphics Bookstore & Gallery in Georgetown, has “nothing but fondness” for Seattle’s many comic book shops. After all, the bookstore that Reid manages is owned by Fantagraphics, the Seattle-based publisher of some of the most critically acclaimed American comics to be published in the last half-century, including “Love and Rockets” and “Eightball.” You can find Fantagraphics titles on the shelves of every comic book shop in town.

But Reid claims there’s a big difference between a comic book store and a bookstore that focuses on comics as an art form. He’s devoted much of his life to the latter pursuit. Reid opened his first art gallery in Pioneer Square in 1978, and he almost immediately gravitated toward the burgeoning new generation of young cartoonists.

“I’ve always been interested in the intersection between fine art and pop culture,” Reid says, and he found that comics often “had a more immediate impact on culture than fine art.”

Pacific Northwest cartoonists like Lynda Barry and Matt Groening caught Reid’s attention, and he developed relationships with nationally celebrated cartoonists, including Gary Panter and Art Spiegelman. His idea of what an art gallery could be was evolving as well, and Reid started experimenting with hosting musical performances, video installations and readings.

I guess it's no surprise they'd align themselves with notable leftists like Spiegelman, and Groening, the latter who's creator of the Simpsons, which has had its share of leftist allusions. In the long run, what good has their influence been? Not much, if at all.

The amazing thing about comic books — and their more respectable siblings, graphic novels — is the way that they seamlessly blend high and low art. Until Spiegelman’s “Maus” was published, for instance, no one suspected it would be possible to produce a bracing and deeply moving account of the Holocaust using a cast of anthropomorphized mice and cats. More than any other medium, comics can evolve to encompass just about any idea imaginable. [...]

“There’s a local artist that I’m particularly fond of,” Reid says, pulling out an edition of Gina Siciliano’s “I Know What I Am: The Life and Times of Artemisia Gentileschi.” The book “tells the story of an overlooked high Renaissance master. Being a woman in Italy at the time, she was marginalized and sexually assaulted, and then she herself was put on trial for sexual assault.” Siciliano’s biography tells Gentileschi’s story and reclaims her art for modern audiences, finding some sort of justice for a woman who was largely forgotten by art historians.

Regrettably, it's unlikely they'd ever say soemthing similar about the subject of the war against Islamic terrorism, and in all the years since 911, comics that dealt honestly with the issues involved were minimal, if at all. And on the subject of the Italian artist, would they ever argue in favor of producing GNs about the terrible experiences of Betty Mahmoody in Iran during the mid-1980s, and her effort to make sure her daughter wouldn't remain prisoner of her abusive father there at the time? Sadly, that too is highly unlikely, and a terrible shame. So what's the use of talking about comics as an "art form" if and when nobody's willing to make use of it for serious topics as well, which can also be an art form in a way? If Fantagraphics turns out to be unwilling to take up truly challenging subjects, then they haven't accomplished much of anything either.

New Supergirl film in preparation follows predictable playbook of grittiness

Variety interviewed several film writers, including Ana Noguiera, who's penned the screenplay for WB's new take on the Maid of Might, and predictably, not only does this version take the Tom King route, as was to be guessed earlier, one could also say it puts the late Otto Binder and Al Plastino's original Silver Age premise on trial:

“Everyone read it as a genre script,” she says. “So I started getting called in to pitch on world-building fantasy and futuristic sci-fi.” One such meeting was with executives at DC Studios, who handed her a collection of comic books written by Tom King about Superman’s cousin, Kara Zor-El — better known as Supergirl.

While Nogueira doesn’t regularly read comic books, she is a big fan of superhero movies — but Supergirl hadn’t ever quite made sense to her. “She watched Krypton completely be destroyed,” Nogueira says. “I was always like, ‘I can’t get my head around the version of the character that is so sunny.’” King’s “rougher and grittier and edgier and funnier” approach, by contrast, leaned into Kara’s past. “When I read it, I was like, ‘There she is,’” she says.

I can't understand why she sees King's approach as "funny", since it's dampened by the emphasis on "rougher", "grittier", and "edgier". Also, if that's how she views the original premise for Supergirl, you could say the same thing about Spider-Man's premise, in which his uncle Ben Parker was murdered by a burglar, yet did Peter Parker let that totally dictate and dominate his entire emotional state going forward? In better days, Stan Lee and successors gave Spidey and his cast a sense of humor that helped tremendously, and if they'd followed the playbook Batman writers have particularly stuck with since Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns, it would've been dreadful. I also hesitate to think what Noguiera would say about Starfire's premise as first seen in New Teen Titans, since Koriand'r was established as a victim of intergalactic slavery, sexual or otherwise, and as written by Marv Wolfman/George Perez, she didn't let it block out the ability to find happiness either.

The screenwriter also seems to ignore that in later stories during the Silver/Bronze Age (Action Comics 309), Supergirl and Superman discovered that her parents had survived any Kryptonite danger that prompted them to send her to earth from their breakaway colony of Argo, and her mom and dad, Alura and Zor-El, went to live in the bottle world of Kandor. Depending on one's perspective, that Kara's parents could've survived at the time could help alleviate any trauma she could've gotten from loss of family earlier. Not to mention that, by science-fiction terms, with Superman and Supergirl's ability to read books almost as fast as the Flash, Kara could read tons of books on psychology and figure out how to overcome trauma in seconds flat. But Ms. Noguiera apparently can't use her imagination.

What's also grating about this interview is that the same Hollywooders who believe sadness and trauma must be the answer to everything likely wouldn't consider what the victims of September 11, 2001 in New York, October 7, 2023 in Israel or even the Bataclan massacre in 2015 think, regardless of how they've led their lives since. That's one more reason why it's best to avoid whatever story planning they're brewing up. It's a real shame the Maid of Might's fared easily worse on the live action screen than the Man of Steel has, but regrettably, the seeds for destruction of all these Golden/Silver/Bronze Age jewels were surely in the works for much longer than thought, and now, it's impossible to look forward to what's being produced now.

Los Angeles comicon produces an AI-generated take on Stan Lee

Almost 7 years after Marvel's most famous writer/editor/publisher passed on, the Los Angeles Times reports the local comicon's developed an AI program with Stan Lee's image that's supposed to be able to answer any questions asked of it regarding entertainment:

Artificial intelligence and its invasiveness in our everyday lives might be endlessly discussed among academics, government officials and social media provocateurs, but Los Angeles Comic Con has injected a dose of gamma radiation and showmanship into that debate.

Stan Lee has entered the chat.

L.A. Comic Con is introducing its Stan Lee Experience, a 1,500-square-foot booth in Aisle 200 that features an AI-powered holographic image of the late comic book legend that interacts with attendees. Curious fans can ask questions of “Stan Lee” and probe dozens of years’ worth of comic book and comic book-related data that’s been fed into the AI, which has been drawn from footage, conversations and even Stan Lee’s Soapbox — where Lee would expand on happenings of the day or riff on comic book goings-on in the back pages of Marvel comics from 1967 through 1980.

[...] The hologram, at least the one on the show floor, is not really a hologram. With a box built by Proto Inc., the company that also launched an interactive mirror from “The Conjuring,” and Hyperreal, a company whose chief executive Remington Scott helped bring Gollum and Smeagol to life for Peter Jackson’s “The Lord of the Rings” movies and creates realistic avatars, it is an interactive Stan Lee image that processes questions and formulates responses.

“Hologram is a technology that’s different than this. This is more of an avatar presence, or a telepresence, if you will. Unlike ChatGPT, this is not a web crawler. This is a large language model which has got guardrails on it,” says George Johnson, a member of the Hyperreal technical team.

“It’s specifically Stan’s words. Red carpet interviews, everything he wrote, like Stan’s Soapbox, but with guardrails. Meaning, if you ask him sports questions or politics questions, he’s not going to answer those. But the Stan Lee Universe is feeding us more and more stuff that we can add to the model.”

Even if they're avoiding injection of divisive politics into the program, that doesn't make this a legitimate project in every way. Considering how Stan was exploited by almost every cynical profiteer possible in the last years of his life, and they're still doing it in some ways long after, that's why this is little more than another attempt to milk Lee's legacy dry in ways that don't help it long after he's gone. Mainly because:

The Stan Lee Experience costs $15 plus service fees with tickets available for purchase via the L.A. Comic Con website. The pop culture gathering runs through Sunday at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Well, this is telling. We're supposed to pay for a conversation with an image that's based on Lee, but not the real thing? Sorry, but that's still exploiting his image for money, and little else. Whatever he thought of life, love and comicdom in his time that historians know about, it should be written about in history books, not injected so ridiculously into a machine that's not the real deal. And where were these folks when Lee's whole enterprise was being taken apart by awful successors like Joe Quesada and Bill Jemas for starters? I'm sorry, but this is no improvement.

Here's what Ars Technica has to say about the reactions, and the lack of free use for the program, which could be more costly than what the LA Times says:

Late last week, The Hollywood Reporter ran a story about an "AI Stan Lee hologram" that would be appearing at the LA Comic Con this weekend. Nearly seven years after the famous Marvel Comics creator’s death at the age of 95, fans will be able to pay $15 to $20 this weekend to chat with a life-sized, AI-powered avatar of Lee in an enclosed booth at the show.

The instant response from many fans and media outlets to the idea was not kind, to say the least. A writer for TheGamer called the very idea "demonic" and said we need to "kill it with fire before it’s too late." The AV Club urged its readers not to pay to see "the anguished digital ghost of a beloved comic book creator, repurposed as a trap for chumps!" Reactions on a popular Reddit thread ranged from calling it "incredibly disrespectful" and "in bad taste" to "ghoulish" and "so fucked up," with very little that was more receptive to the concept.

While some of the news sites cited aren't particularly appealing, the sentiment regarding Lee in itself is valid. Again, this is all stuff that should be reserved for history books and documentaries, not some superfluous technology that's just exploitation. And does the program actually avoid politics?

While a moderator at the convention will be on hand to repeat fan questions into a microphone (to avoid ambient crowd noise from the showfloor), DeMoulin said there won’t be any human filtering on what fans are allowed to ask the Lee avatar in the 15- to 20-minute group Q&A sessions. Instead, DeMoulin said the team has set up a system of "content governors" so that, for instance, "if you ask Stan what he thought of the last presidential election he's gonna say 'That's not what we're here to talk about. We're here to talk about the Marvel universe.'"

For topics that are Marvel-related, though, the AI avatar won’t shy away from controversy, DeMoulin said. If you ask the avatar about Jack Kirby, for instance, DeMoulin said it will address the "honest disagreements about characters or storylines, which are gonna happen in any creative enterprise," while also saying that "‘I have nothing but respect for him,’ which is I think largely what Stan would have said if he was asked that question."

[...] Throughout our talk, DeMoulin repeatedly stressed that their AI hologram wasn’t intended to serve as a replacement for the living version of Lee. "We want to make sure that people understand that we are not trying to bring Stan back from the dead," he said. "We're not trying to say that this is Stan, and we're not trying to put words in his mouth, and this avatar is not gonna start doing commercials to advertise other people's products."

But what if they do put words in his mouth? Of course, I do recall Stan was a product of his time who wouldn't criticize Marvel management under any circumstances, so I realize the program likely wouldn't offer any objective views of successive writers/artists/editors who since brought down Marvel to the bottom. (Though it's a real shame Lee wouldn't defend Frank Miller's Holy Terror GN years ago, and told the MSM just what they'd want to hear. That Miller's since capitulated doesn't change all that.) But, what if you asked the program if it believes a sex-positive viewpoint is better than a negative one? Would it all be set up to side with negativity? Would it even side with Joe Quesada on the issue of Mary Jane Watson and also Captain America? Seriously, it wouldn't be shocking if it were a biased program.

If there's any creator I found commenting on the LA comicon's project, it's Jim Zub:

This is not a celebration of the man or his work, it's souless and ghoulish in a way that's hard to comprehend. https://t.co/BPw3TVzzk2

— Jim Zub 🎲 (@JimZub) September 29, 2025

While I do think it's ill-advised to exploit Lee's image for something like this, the alleged refrain from politics notwithstanding, it could also be argued only so many Marvel stories since the early 2000s are soulless and ghoulish too. And Zub did little to improve upon that when he worked for them, because of course, he was working under the horrible mandates set up by Axel Alonso, who was EIC around the time Zub wrote Thunderbolts, and even under C.B. Cebulski, it wasn't much better. If Zub were assigned to Spider-Man, could we be surprised if he followed said mandates restricting use of Mary Jane Watson either?

All that aside, this whole issue of Lee being turned into an AI image that requires money to interact with is only perpetuates a very sad picture of how Lee was taken advantage of in the last years of his life by people who had no respect for him or his creations, and nobody should have to pay for something that could possibly turn up for use on home computers later anyway.