After All That Merging, Warner Brothers Discovery Might Split Split Itself Up

Warner Brothers Discovery was formed when Warner Brothers bought up Discovery--obviously. The company has slashed and burned everything from a mostly complete, "Batgirl," movie to video-games, and so forth in an effort to save money and not run at a loss. A lot of the, "Thanks," for this goes to David Zaslav and the company still finds itself struggling. The latest idea? Split everything back up because why the Hell not?

As Mary Kate Carr over at the AV Club tells it, "WBD is apparently considering splitting itself up, so that the movie studio and streaming service (Max) would be one company and the linear networks (CNN, TBS, TNT, Discovery Channel, etc.) would be another." Warner Brothers Discovery was recently considering acquiring more stuff with Paramount but now the plan is to do the opposite, it appears. I really feel like WBD is at the point where they spin a wheel with random ideas and do whatever it says. Sometimes the wheel declares, "Shelve a movie," and other times it says, "Reboot the DC Universe." Now it says, "Maybe try splitting up stuff?" Between the aforementioned Paramount having woes (they ended up getting bought by Skydance) and Warner Brothers Discovery struggling, things are rough. Perhaps having a handful of merged megacorporations that try to run everything but fail miserably at it isn't a smart idea after all? Who would've thought an economic dystopia would be bad--besides everyone?

Comics of the Year Part 2--2021 in Review

Now for Part 2!

I now present the rest of my comics of the year from 2021! Again, in no specific order here they are...

The Other History of the DC Universe

Probably the best thing published by DC in years, "The Other History of the DC Universe," is an out-of-continuity take on various characters who are parts of underrepresented groups. John Ridley writes and Giuseppe Camuncoli provides some stellar art in this raw, deep, and emotional anthology of sorts with each character getting an issue.

Moon Knight

There have been some runs on Moon Knight I loved and runs that made me shake my head in disappointment. After reading the issues of, "Moon Knight," that we've gotten this year from Jed Mackay and Alessandro Cappuccio, I am happy to say this is the best damn Moon Knight material I've read since the Charlie Huston & David Finch stuff that got me into the character in the first place. From the debut issue to now, Mackay takes everything in Moon Knight's confusing continuity and lets it all count, acknowledging just how messy a character Moonie can be. He lets this somewhat convoluted background bring us superb stories about a man struggling to come to terms with his personal life, religious views, and how he can help others when he can barely help himself. Plus, there's a dab of humor too so that everything avoids being a bit too dreary. I hope Mackay and Cappuccio get to write Moon Knight for a long time.

Jinx Freeze

When I reviewed, "Jinx Freeze," I put in the title how it was the weirdest comic I'd read in a while. It still is probably the strangest thing I read in 2021, and that's a good thing. Lord Hurk gives us the story of a town dealing with a heist, but it is so much more than that. An assortment of odd characters in seemingly unrelated vignettes begin to tell one epic story, and Hurk illustrates it all in an astonishing grotesqueness that results in this being one of the most striking comics I read this year.

Dead Dog's Bite

Tyler Boss did everything for this surreal little comic. He wrote it, drew it, lettered it, colored it, Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if he was at the printing press stapling the thing together. Now, someone can do everything for a comic and it still could suck, but Tyler Boss is a damn fine creator. "Dead Dog's Bite," was impressing me before it even finished and upon the conclusion of this four-issue series, I knew it was a real treat. A little dark, quite funny, and with a mystery that actually pays off at the end in a satisfying manner, this is an example of how a labor of love can be a masterpiece.

Should I Try-Out This DC Universe Thing?

Okay then, I previously wrote about my confusion regarding exactly what this DC Universe app/service was. Now that it has been released and out for awhile I think I finally have a grasp on it. The thing essentially is a way to pay a monthly fee in order to gain access to a curated selection of all-you-can-read DC books (which side-steps Comixology and saves DC paying it, Apple, or Amazon--who owns Comixology--any fees) along with an assortment of DC films, television shows, and original content. It is a combination streaming-service, comic-app, and so forth. Am I right, I think I'm right? Anyways, I am thinking maybe I should try it out, as I am curious about if it is in fact a good service for watching/reading content, plus I've heard the exclusive-to-DC-Universe show, "Doom Patrol," is remarkably good. I mean, when I heard it had Matt Bomer and Brendan Fraser I was basically already all-in.

There is a free 7-day trial period, and those, "Doom Patrol," episodes are being released every Friday so I could watch at least two and get a feel for the show as well as exploring the app/service. I am a little annoyed there isn't an easy way to launch it on my PlayStation 4 and instead to get it on the television I'll need to use a work-around method like having it stream on the computer and be displayed on my T.V. via the Chromecast or such, but with my PC and our old iPad reading some comics shouldn't be hard. Yeah, I think I maybe will go ahead and try-out this DC Universe thing when I have some free time, even if I hate most aspects of it I still get a solid dose of Bomer and Fraser, after all, I love those actors.

So, What Exactly is This DC Streaming Service?

I have a legitimate question, I am not being sarcastic: What is this DC streaming-service I've heard a tiny bit about? I mean seriously, I am someone who writes about popular-culture a ton, reads a variety of comics, and tries to at least be aware of the newest trends in everything form technology to entertainment (like, I'm not going to use Twitter-alternative Mastodon unless I'm really bored one day, but I at least know what it is). That said, I have heard so little about this new DC streaming-service it is kind of shocking. What is its official name even? Oh, "DC Universe." That's a bit bland, but okay. I recall hearing something about how it will have original television shows such as a live-action, "Teen Titans," that will apparently feature Robin saying, "Fuck Batman," to be edgy, but that's about it for my knowledge of the service.

Seriously, I just Googled, "DC Universe streaming," to see if I could get a clearer idea and found this new article about what it will cost, but exactly what are we getting? I see something about television, movies, and comics. Does this mean we get access to a bunch of older DC titles? Newer ones, and if so how recent? When it comes to movies will we be able to stream newer stuff like, "Justice League," or is it just going to be Batman flicks where Micheal Keaton was in the cape? Then there are the television shows and my wondering if it is just original content on this streaming-service or will folk be able to see anything related to DC characters that has been broadcast--e.g. all those CW shows and such? It is odd I have all these questions and am struggling to find much in the way of answers.

Harley Quinn will be getting a show dedicated to her, apparently.
I have no clue if it will be live-action or animated.

DC's new streaming-service launches September 15th, that is less than half a month away and I still am quite foggy on the whole thing. I mean, if anyone from DC wants to give me a free 1-month trial subscription for the purposes of figuring everything out and offering my review of I won't turn that down, but until then I'm befuddled. I also continue to worry we are reaching a peak saturation point for streaming-services. It used to be we had Netflix and Hulu. Then Amazon Prime had shows, followed by all these other services bigger and smaller, now its getting to the point if you want to watch one show you need this service, for another show you need that service, and basically it is all fragmented and messy, the whole thing having a cable or satellite subscription theoretically helps us avoid.

Now people quit paying for television and end-up dropping more cash on all the various streaming-services. It is messy and probably headed toward an eventually reckoning/downsizing. For now though more and services are either announced or start-up what feels like every day. I just hope this DC Universe has enough to set it apart from everything else that it make enough bank to sustain whatever its unclear-to-me goals are.