Marvel Is Hinting at a New, "Midnight," Universe Coming This Fall

Marvel is in the process of wrapping up their reboot of the Ultimate Universe (I'm still shocked they are actually ending it) and just started hinting at something called the, "Midnight Universe," with the tagline, "A terrifying new universe from Marvel Comics arrives this fall." Upon seeing this my first thought was Marvel is going to try and do something similar to DC's smash-hit Absolute Universe, with some kind of dark or scary twist...hence the spooky-ish time of Midnight? Well, Bleeding Cool has announced with a big All-Caps, "SCOOP," that the Midnight Universe is a mix of Marvel's answer to the Absolute Universe and will have a horror focus. Jonathan Hickman, Phillip Kennedy Johnson, and Benjamin Percy will all be working together for a radically reimagined alternate Marvel Universe that will have a focus on Blade, Ghost Rider, Darkhold, Dracula, Morbius, and the good ol' Werewolf By Night.

This announcement has me feeling both a bit cynical and excited. I am rolling my eyes a bit at the idea of Marvel so unabashedly going, "Let's do our own Absolute-type thing!" but hearing it has a horror bent perks my ears up as someone who enjoys sci-fi and horror comics, as well as superhero stories that twist the genre a bit into those styles. Will there be enough interest in a more horror-styled alternate universe for this line to succeed or will it fall flat on its face? Nobody can (for sure) know as very few predicted the Absolute line would be as popular as it has become--I will say I am eager to learn more because I'm always down for a solid Blade or Ghost Rider yarn. Marvel will officially be revealing more next week, so let's stay tuned for the (official) details that will be coming before too long.

Ted Turner Has Died

Ted Turner has passed. He was 87 and had been open about having a diagnosis of Lewy body dementia. The man who brought us the 24-hour news cycle, Turner was dedicated to conservation and philanthropy. He was also quite outspoken and rubbed a number of people the wrong way with his statements—and made it known he didn't care if feathers were ruffled! At one point, he was married to Jane Fonda--a talented actress known for her own controversies. 

Ted Turner did a lot of good compared to some billionaires who one could quite easily classify as, “Awful people.” I’m not saying Ted Turner was some kind of unicorn, “Wonderful billionaire,” but by many accounts, he was a good guy considering how he could have turned out. I always found Turner to be a fascinating individual whenever I read about his life or saw interviews with him. It seems many folks will miss him, so he must’ve done something right in his life. Turner is survived by his five children, 14 grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.

We Are Getting a New-ish, "Star Fox," Game After All

I wrote exactly a month ago how, "I'm Down for a (Good) New Star Fox Game," and Nintendo surprised everyone today with some news! Yep, we're getting, "Star Fox," for the Switch 2...albeit as a big remake of the beloved Nintendo 64 game. Due on June 25th, it looks pretty, will have online multiplayer, and has some folks excited and others saying it, "Looks fine." If we're being blunt, it does seem like Nintendo would rather infinitely remake Star Fox games than create a new one. I suppose some kind of, "New," Star Fox is better than none, hence, I do plan to check it out. They're remaking an awesome game, so it should at least be fun, after all!

The Past Keeps Fading Away--Newsarama is Done, Ask Jeeves Shut Down, and ComiXology is Good and Truly Dead

Things that were big on the internet years ago and managed to barely hold on for a while have all ceased to exist relatively close to each other, randomly. Newsarama was a hot spot for comic-book news and then, due to various sales and mergers, became a shadow of itself before being utterly gutted at the end of April and firing its last writer. ComiXology has been slowly being broken down into parts, and now its last employee has, "Exited the building." The once-popular search engine known as Ask Jeeves/Ask ceased operations on May 1st as well. Lots of stuff popular in the late 90's or early 2000's is gone, and these sites are just some examples of that. Time keeps marching on, I suppose.

A Free, "Dungeon Crawler Carl," Comic is Turning into a Hot Commodity

A small number of months ago, I learned about, "Dungeon Crawler Carl." It is a popular book series about a man who competes in fantasy dungeons for the approval of space aliens, although there is a lot more to it. I've heard it is great stuff, and I do want to pick up at least the first book to check out all the hype. It was recently announced that a television/streaming show is in the works (so it's been optioned), and for Free Comic Book Day, Vault happened to publish a, "Dungeon Crawler Carl," comic, "#0," issue. An issue that is now selling for $15 per copy--a freebie turned collectible, I suppose! That's interesting, but it gets really wild seeing how certain variants of the zero issue (that did cost a bit of money as opposed to being free) are going for way above cover price on secondary markets such as eBay. There seems to be a real hunger for, "Dungeon Crawler Carl," content, and I do wonder if these comics will still, "Pop," in the market in the future--perhaps if a possible show is a hit? All I can tell you is I knew of Carl and his dungeon crawling, but now I see just how hardcore his fans can be!

In Defiance of All Reality, GameStop Wants to Buy eBay

GameStop is a struggling retailer worth about 12 billion dollars. eBay is a massive e-commerce entity worth around $46 billion. GameStop has made moves as if it has the intent to try to purchase eBay despite the latter being worth almost 4 times more than the former. This would be like if a guy went and tried picking a fight with someone nearly 4 times their size/strength/etc. It is illogical and reeks of Gamestop either trying to boost its stock price (more on this shortly) through seemingly impossible "Plans," or perhaps, like the tiny man trying to get into fisticuffs with the bigger fellow, GameStop, somehow, thinks it has something up its sleeve? Another company/country/whatever willing to put up funds for such an absurd proposal? I don't really see any reality where this even happens. Other people and I also definitely don't see any reality where such an acquisition would end well. 

The horrible concept of Gamestop buying eBay hasn't stopped GameStop from claiming it has the wherewithal to offer, "eBay’s board...$125 a share, a massive premium over the stock’s recent average price of around $90 a share. According to Cohen, the deal will be half cash, half stock, with up to $20 billion in financing on the table from TD Securities. GameStop had $9.4 billion in cash and 'liquid investments,' as of January 31, 2026, which presumably includes the company’s large purchases of Bitcoin after closing more stores. And of course, as part of the deal, Cohen will become CEO of the new joint GameStop/eBay entity, paid only based on the future performance of its stock." GameStop has delusions of rivaling Amazon, but GameStop's stock took a hit today from how dumb this all is. eBay has confirmed they received the unsolicited offer in much the same way I would, "Confirm," getting a spam email. More on this madness as it develops.

Starting May 2026 Off With a ToyMan Show!

Today was the first Sunday of May, and it was extra special thanks to there being a ToyMan show! Upon my arrival early in the morning, I was pleased to see the show was chock-full of goodness as usual. If my posts about the ToyMan show were to ever only get one thing across, the fact that the show is stuffed to the gills with awesome items needs to be driven home! Toys, comics, diecast cars, trading cards, records, magazines, Funko Pops, and everything in between are always at ToyMan, and one can spend the whole show taking in the mix of cool accoutrements. 

A picture of right before the doors opened, and folks came onto the show floor!

I began my time at the show by saying hello to my great friends Spike of Lost in Space Toys and Collectibles, as well as Tim Metzger. I proceeded to have a chance to chat with Brian Lan and Shane Lodi about how they had been doing, and enjoyed seeing them. My delightful chum, Jack Thomas, of Fortress Comics, was present and had a huge assortment of intriguing comics as well. As I proceeded to walk around the show, I had the pleasure of seeing Cayden of Tri Fox Shoppe and bought a really cool Sonic-themed sticker from him! Check it out:

As I continued browsing around ToyMan, I interacted with my friend Jessica Mathews and was excited to hear about a new book she has coming out soon--I plan to buy a copy and will discuss it more in the future once it is released! The Tatertot crew was there with neat wares, and my friend Tom was selling cool shirts at the show, too, and I spotted celebrity guest Brad Kesten (known for a variety of voice-over work) meeting with fans and excitedly chatting with folks as well! It was a superb show, as always, and I eagerly look forward to the next Toyman on July 12th if I'm able to attend--that also happens to be Gibson's birthday, so we'll see how busy things are!

It's Free Comic Book Day/Comics Giveaway Day 2026!

Due to trademark disputes (which I've talked about before), today is both Free Comic Book Day as well as Comics Giveaway Day. What is the difference? There isn't one, honestly! Today is the first Saturday in May, and for many years that has been the time for publishers to release special free comic-books that are  used to promote a new series/event and are sent to participating comic shops. Stores give these away and often do their own sales and raffles too! I hope everyone has a great FCBD/CGD and picks up some cool stuff to read! Also, maybe consider buying a little something at whatever comic shop you visit to show the establishment some love as well. Have a great day, everybody!

Flashback Friday: Thinking About the Wild Colors of Heinz EZ Squirt

In the early 2000's, Heinz did a weird promotion to make ketchup more appealing to kids. Children and adults already generally love ketchup, so why mess with a good thing? Nobody knows what they were thinking, but the desire to make ketchup fun and colorful gave us Heinz EZ Squirt. If you've ever wished your ketchup could be an even brighter red or green, you're a little strange, but you were in luck. It gets weirder, however, with the blue and purple colors as well as the, "Mystery," option that might squirt out teal, pink, or orange.

Kids were (mostly) down with it (even though the novelty quickly wore off), parents were disgusted, and even advertising how it was fortified with healthy ingredients made it hard for some people to overlook the vibe off a dollop of blue paste-looking strangeness on a burger. Heinz EZ Squirt landed with a (colorful) splash, but quickly ran out of steam. It was discontinued in 2006 and remains a bizarre footnote in food history.

Hot Comics Revue 23: Just a Sweet, Sweet, "Lost Fantasy," Baby

When I first heard about and saw, "Lost Fantasy," in comic shops about a year ago, I have to admit it didn't grab my attention. I've enjoyed other things written by its author, Curt Pires, and the art by Luca Casalanguida looked good, but my response was, "Eh?" An action-adventure comic about secret magic, monsters, and a dude with a big sword...I shrugged. That was my mistake, however, as the buzz has continuously been positive for the series, a spin-off focused on the, "Fireborn," character has started, and issues are heating up for no other reason than it being a great read. There is no talk about it being optioned or anything, just lots of love for the series. 

Some of the covers have been popular thanks to an attractive female character from the series gracing them, but a lot of the biggest money-makers have been the debut issue and the fifth (where the aforementioned Fireborn first appears). The ninth issue came out on April 15th and they are all pretty sought-after. You don't often hear bout a book slowly heating up and eventually getting red hot for no reason other than being a stellar read, but I personally like it when that happens. Organic growth occurring for a series that is simply good is nice to witness, and now I want to find those early issues--or more likely, read the trade paperback collections to save my scratch!