Variety Highlighted Clarkson on Their Site!

When Clarkson got his Novachat device AKA his talker, our insurance only covered so much. However, the nonprofit known as Variety was available to help cover the remaining costs. Variety has a bunch of awesome programs that benefit those with disabilities. We filled out a survey saying how we appreciated Variety's assistance and they enjoyed hearing how Clarkson's Novachat had been helpful! They asked if he could be highlighted on their blog and we said that sounded great! They just put up the post discussing Clarkson and how useful his Novachat has been on their site today. Thanks again to Variety for being a stellar organization! I would encourage anyone who has a child with disabilities to look into the local organizations they may have in their region, there are always so many resources people don't realize can be utilized!

Multiversity Comics is Sadly Shutting Down; it is a Bit of a Trend

Multiversity Comics is one of those comic and culture sites I've enjoyed reading for years. It is actually a bit older than my own site, having started in May 2009 (The Newest Rant as we know it didn't exist until December 2010). Sadly, however, Multiversity Comics is shutting down this month, meaning it went 15 years and then wrapped. The official post announcing the closure gives a variety of reasons from a decline in staff, to financial concerns, to just everyone involved frankly being exhausted. My blog costs me about ten bucks a year to keep running and is mostly held together through outdated code I barely understand, metaphorical elbow grease, and my sheer determination to keep sharing my random opinions online. That said, if it were really expensive to run a site and the passion just wasn't there, I'd totally understand someone closing the, "Show," down.

I'm a one-man production besides a few guest posts over the years, so the only, "Staff," I have to worry about is myself. Picturing having employees sounds like a bunch of variables to wrangle so these bigger sites folding makes sense if it gets untenable--that doesn't make such an occurrence any less sad, however. It isn't lost on me the internet is a lot different in 2024 than when I started this site at the end of 2010. We've seen a lot of comic/television/movie/book/culture sites disappear with the rise of YouTube, social media, and podcasts becoming a huge thing too. I love all of those formats, but I also just really enjoy reading a site. Personal blogs have mostly faded away, replaced with TikTok channels or such. I'm here though, and I'll keep plugging away as long as it's fun and--honestly--doesn't cost me much or makes me a couple bucks if anybody besides MyComicShop ever wants to throw a little ad/affiliate link up on the site. As of now, I'm still enjoying blogging just as much as ever, so I don't anticipate running out of viewpoints to share anytime soon. I mean, the World seems to be getting even crazier every year, so there is usually something to have a hot take on, for better or worse! I'll miss Multiversity Comics and nothing can replace them, I just hope those of us who are still plugging away can live up to the legacy of their site and all the others we've seen end operations over the years.

"Get Fury," #1 Kicks Off a Grisly and Riveting Tale

Garth Ennis wants to write war comics. The man seems like he'd rather tell a story about WWII or Vietnam than write anything about superheroes (unless he's having fun mocking them like in, "The Boys," or such). Marvel doesn't really do war comics, but it seems as long as Garth Ennis is willing to work Frank Castle (pre-Punisher) or Nick Fury into a book Marvel will let him do his thing. Hence, we get a rare Marvel MAX book, the R-rated line that seems to have stopped existing compared to when it put out a lot of comics except for when Garth Ennis wants to write a war comic and is willing to have Nick or Frank involved. I don't mind that at all, however, because Garth Ennis is a stellar writer and the artists he collaborates with are always top-notch as well. This leads us to the latest Ennis tale, "Get Fury," with the amazing Jacen Burrows supplying beautifully hideous artwork.

"Get Fury," seems to take place in the mini thematic Universe Ennis created that involves his MAX run on, "Punisher," as well as, "Punisher: Born," "Fury: My War Gone By," and that utterly insane, "Barracuda," mini-series to name some books in World he crafted. I say that as some characters pop-up and while we open in the present day with an old foe discussing Fury and Castle, we then pop back in time to Vietnam as Frank finds himself assigned a unique and off-the-books mission. A plane Nick Fury was on has crashed and he knows a ton of intel that Vietnamese soldiers could try and torture out of him. Rescuing him seems to be impossible so the U.S. has decided he needs to be taken out by a soldier skilled enough to take the shot and keep it quiet he did so. Enter into the scene Frank Castle as a man tasked with a very questionable job.

Jacen Burrows has been around for some time illustrating a wide range of comics, and he excels at war comics and violent art, as his earlier years at Avatar Press show up to his newer stuff that is a bit more refined but still reflects the raw talent Burrows had long ago and has sharpened up to today. Whether it is a quiet but tense moment of soldiers threatening to get into a firefight with a comrade due to a policy about exterminating dogs in the base camp or an incredibly bloody moment at the end of the first issue where some of Fury's fellow soldiers meet a violent end, Burrows draws it all with skill.

Much of, "Get Fury," #1 is spent setting up the general plot of Frank Castle being assigned to go kill Nick Fury in the interest of National security. As this seems to be in the continuity of Ennis' other tales I doubt Castle will actually kill Fury as opposed to ending up helping save him. Regardless of what happens in the story, it will be exciting to witness thanks to Ennis and Burrows both firing on all their writing and artistic cylinders.

5 out of 5 Stars.

JK Rowling Has Made Being Transphobic Her Entire Personality and It's Dull to Witness

I often see online, and unfortunately, in everyday life people who are transphobic. I also witness folks who would not consider themselves transphobic but express concerns about gender in sports and such (I have stated I don't mind Trans athletes at all, but have seen others approach the argument at least in good faith). That said, even people who sometimes ponder trans issues or might even be transphobic don't only focus on that. I've seen big ol' transphobes have at least a handful of other hobbies and not have their entire personality be obsessing over transgender concerns. I mean, even transgender individuals worry about other things than being trans, believe it or not! They're just like cisgender folks in that they sometimes consider what they need at the grocery store, or if they remembered to turn the living room light off before they left the house to run errands (I'm being a little sarcastic here, but you see my point). All of this said, why does J.K. Rowling seem to talk about nothing lately besides her transphobia?

In a time that seems long ago, J.K. Rowling was actually best known for writing some decently entertaining books about a boy wizard named Harry Potter. The, "Harry Potter," books were not the best literature around, but they were fine and I enjoyed the first four before seeing how massive the fifth book was as a high schooler and deciding, "Nah, I don't like these books that much to read all that." Those books were then made into movies that I would argue are better than they should be thanks to an insanely talented cast. At some point, however, weird little things happened hinting at Rowling possibly not being a fan of transgender people. Random tweets getting liked by her before being unliked and attributed to accidentally clicking them. Around 2020--amid the pandemic when there was nothing better for a lot of us to do than be online--Rowling made it apparent she was quite opposed to transgender folks with a variety of internet comments that only kept snowballing into an avalanche of TERF behavior.

When you're so transphobic it is a bit much for the other transphobes.

So, Rowling said some shitty things about trans people on occasion and as I wrote about this back in 2020, it becomes a question of separating the author from their art. The problem, however, seems to be that Rowling would rather everyone know her feelings on transgender people constantly, to the point she is more known now as a person who says hateful things online and occasionally writes a book than she is as an author who sometimes says sketchy things--the, "Author," aspect of Rowling has turned into more of an afterthought with her focus seeming to almost entirely be on ranting and raving about trans people to the point even Elon Musk (himself no ally to LGBTQ people) pretty much asked her to tone it down a notch.

The confusing thing here is that Rowling is the creator is one of the most popular brands around and the mind behind the World of, "Harry Potter," so why not just make some more books with zero trans characters if you really are that upset by trans people? You are the sole authority on the Wizarding World you created and could write more books set in that World--and people would buy them whether they like your opinions on trans folks or not because you've got a lot of diehard fans despite everything!

What Rowling used to be known best for.

Seriously, write some more books about your magical World that lack any notable people of color or any gender diversity if that is what you want to do--you own the rights and can have it reflect your views for better or worse, J.K. Rowling, why are you wasting time tweeting hateful thoughts on trans folk? Just make your happy little wizard world a safe space for yourself and let those who want to dip their toes into it do so and others avoid it due to not liking your views. That way we don't have to see your nonsense on Twitter and you can make your perfect little world of cisgender and mostly white wizards! You've got a whole magical Universe you can expand upon, so why not do that? Are you just out of ideas to the point all you can find the energy to do is say hateful things on Twitter and redo the Harry Potter franchise as a television series as opposed to movies that were made so recently that the whole thing seems like an empty cash-grab?

I have a wide array of friends. Some are cisgender, some are trans, and some are nonbinary/genderqueer. Some of my cisgender friends have opinions on transgender issues I disagree with and we talk about it sometimes--but here's the thing--that isn't the only thing we talk about! There are things we agree on as well as stuff we don't agree on and we cover a lot of subjects as most human beings do in conversations. My trans friends and I talk about things other than how they are trans as well because they are multifaceted people who are trans, yes, but also have other things they consider in everyday life. J.K. Rowling seems to only want to talk about trans people and seems to have such a poor understanding of trans folk that she believes they spend 100% of their time focused on how they are trans. No, Joanne, the only person who has made trans issues their entire personality is yourself. You need a new subject to harp on because at this point your metaphorical fingers must be bleeding from plucking that metaphorical instrument non-stop these last four or so years. Play a new song, Rowling, this one got old quite a while ago.

Oh Yeah, "Starfield," is Still Kind of a Thing

An expansion pack of sorts is on the way for, "Starfield." Yes, remember? The game that was in development for nearly a decade that was supposed to launch the next huge franchise for Bethesda like their Elder Scrolls series or the Fallout games (which they took over with upon the third title in that series)? Fallout is actually having quite a moment thanks to the television show and supposedly a new Elder Scrolls-related series is in the works. Meanwhile, "Starfield," is just kind of there after tons of build-up/hype and landing with a bit of a thud all things considered.

This isn't to say Bethesda should necessarily totally abandon, "Starfield," and just focus on Fallout games or Elder Scrolls-related stuff even if that's been suggested by some. I think the sad truth of the matter is that, "Starfield," is a well-designed and decent game that unfortunately just takes place in a really boring World/Universe compared to such properties as Fallout and Elder Scrolls titles. It's a relatively drab space game that failed to wow me in the same way as other Bethesda games. You can have an extremely competently designed game with lots of great mechanics, but if I don't want to explore that game's World or enjoy the story, what is the point? From what I played of, "Starfield," it was just fine, and I need more than fine these days if I'm going to sink any significant time into a game with a busy life. It is nice that, "Starfield," is getting an expansion that might improve the map or add a little space dune buggy, but do enough people even care anymore? I guess that's up to Bethesda.

Kicking Off The First Weekend of May With a Toyman Show!

I always love going to the ToyMan show. The sheer amount of stuff on offer always amazes me. Vintage toys, new toys, comics, Legos, Funko Pops, Hot Wheels, bead creations, vinyl, VHS, creators with their books or original art, and the list just goes on! They cram more cool things into the Machinists Hall for ToyMan than you'd think is possible. For this first weekend of May, there was a ToyMan show and I was only able to be there for a bit due to some other obligations, but while I was there I had a ton of fun as I always do!

I started the show off by visiting with my good friend Jack Thomas of Fortress Comics. The incredibly old comics he always has on offer never fail to astound me. If you need something Golden Age in your collection the odds are good that Jack can find it. I then saw another awesome fellow, Spike Forester of Lost in Space Toys and Collectibles, and admired his assortment of toys and comics. I had a chance to talk with Tim Metzger about life lately as well, and admired some awesome wares that my chum Marcus Mosley had brought. Bruce Reynolds had some stellar newer and old books too, and the fellows from Tatertots Comic and Collectibles were showcasing some awesome wares! Vince/VK Toys had some cool comics and I managed to get a great vintage issue of, "G.I. Joe." Check it out:

As I continued exploring the show I chatted with my insightful buddy Brian Lan about Superman comics he would recommend I continue reading (having read some good ones recently). In the upstairs area, I saw the great people from Heroes for Kids as well as my awesome author friends, Jessica Mathews, Debbie Manbe Kupfer, and Lindsay Hornsby. They all were showcasing their superb works! I continued to browse all the awesome wares for sale until I had to get going. Every ToyMan Show has so much to browse you definitely need to try and get there early to get all your potential shopping done, however!

With another stellar ToyMan finished I am pleased to have attended and look forward to the next show on July 14th. I hope to see you, my dear reader, there as well if you'd be able to go to the next show. You're bound to find something in your realm of interests whenever you go to a ToyMan show!

It's Free Comic Book Day and, "Star Wars," Day

Today is a double-whammy of fun because it is both Free Comic Book Day and due to it being May 4th is, "Star Wars," day. FCBD always falls on the first Saturday of May and the reason we celebrate the war in the stars on May 4th is a bit of a pun--"May the force be with you/may the fourth be with you." It was an unofficial thing for quite some time but like any popular thing fans come up with it has been co-opted by corporations and is now a way to hype stuff and sell products (not to say it lacks fun still, however).

I'd encourage you to go to your local comic shop and get some special free comics (maybe buy something too so as to show some support) and then commemorate, "Star Wars," day however you like for that holiday. Just don't party too hard because tomorrow is yet another notable occasion--Cinco De Mayo! Yes, it is quite a busy weekend!

Funko Friday: Is it Wrong to Think, "Funko Fusion," Looks Kind of Fun?

This September will see the release of, "Funko Fusion." It looks to be a good deal like various Lego-themed games where you go into a popular IP, smack enemies around, solve a puzzle or two, and have a generally entertaining time. I really liked, "Lego Dimensions," and how it let various franchises, "Interact," in cute ways. I was iffy on how people had to keep buying various figures to use in the game, but the concept was neat in my opinion. Hence, here comes, "Funko Fusion," where a wide range of IP will interact in Funko form as you play varying levels. 

When the game was officially announced I wondered if it could work and as the actual release date nears I am legitimately curious. I know some might be critical of the idea of smashing together everything from ,"The Thing," to, "Jurassic World," to, "Umbrella Academy," "Jaws," and even, "M3gan," but it could make for some clever little moments! I've seen some critical views of this endeavor, but I want to play the game and give it the benefit of the doubt before I poo-poo the whole thing. I mean, years ago people maybe wondered if a Lego-themed version of, "Star Wars," would work--or superheroes--and those games were (generally) a blast! If I can enjoy a mash-up of, "Back to the Future," "Voltron," and, "Knight Rider," all in one game, why not give it a shot? We'll see in September whether its a fun mish-mash or just a sludgy mess, I suppose!

More, "Widow," Kickstarter Goodness Has Launched!

My friends of the blog (and friends in general) Mike Wolfer and Natalie Jane have launched the latest Kickstarter for more, "Widow," comics! Titled, "Widow Unleashed," this campaign will fund the ninth and tenth issues coming out. Mike is the writer/artist and Natalie is the letterer of these new comics remastering and representing classic horror-filled, "Widow," stories as we eventually move towards new, "Widow," content! Backers can easily get physical or digital copies of previous issues--so don't feel like it is too late to jump on the, "Widow," bandwagon by any means! 

I already have backed the latest campaign for, "Widow Unleashed," and would obviously encourage everyone else to do the same thing as Mike is a talented storyteller and Natalie is a fantastic letterer. "Widow Unleashed," has been a wild ride of a comic and I imagine it'll only get crazier as the series continues!

Cannabis to be Reclassified by the DEA

Cannabis AKA Marijuana AKA Pot and countless other nicknames has been in a legal gray area for some years. Classified as a Schedule 1 Drug for decades, that means it has no medical benefit in the eyes of the law and is at the same level of danger as stuff like Heroin. That's at the Federal level, but a number of States have taken steps to allow medicinal and recreational use of Cannabis to the point where more than half the states in America allow some form of cannabis to be smoked/vaped/ingested. There is ample evidence Cannabis has medical uses and is a lot less dangerous than other Schedule I drugs (or even Schedule II stuff that can be prescribed but is heavily controlled such as Oxycodone, Ritalin, and so forth). Hence, in a move a long time coming the DEA (with approval from the Biden administration) is looking to reclassify Cannabis as a Schedule III substance, easing a multitude of restrictions regarding the substance and helping make the aforementioned muddy legal rules a lot more clear.

This wouldn't especially impact states with cannabis but would help make the way we tax it and handle the finances of the substance a lot more streamlined. It would also assist with legal matters as Cannabis right now is something that the police wouldn't blink twice at if they saw it in your home in some states but could arrest you and get you serious jail time in others. Making Cannabis a Schedule III drug won't fix everything--it will still be illegal in States that forbid it (with less severe consequences) but more research will be possible and doctors will be able to discuss more openly with patients about Cannabis too without technically violating any laws. Considering how laws regarding Cannabis unfairly often target and impact those who are less wealthy or a person of color this is a step towards more social justice as well. It isn't decriminalization and it won't free people unfairly spending long sentences in prison for marijuana of all things, but it is a step in the right direction.