This Jack in the Box Ad Really Mocks McDonald's With Glee

Jack in the Box has called out competitors such as McDonald's before in ads, tweets, and so forth. That said, this latest one is pretty clever. You can watch it here. As you see, Jack drops off some breakfast food at a mystery house and then throws an egg at the mailbox--a mailbox clearly labeled as, "R. McDonald." The well-known mascot at one point for McDonald's (I'm not sure how much he is used anymore) was the clown Ronald McDonald, so this ad is basically one mascot egging another's house. It's smart, kind of rude, and just simply funny. I always enjoy some friendly throwing of shade between these big fast-food companies, and this was a hoot to see on the television.

Diamond Comics is Having a Bad November

Diamond Comics used to be on top of the comic-book world. They basically had a monopoly on the distribution of comic-books/floppies themselves. Then, as I and others have chronicled, that iron fist crumbled into...iron ashes? I don't know, just roll it. Anyways, the pandemic hit, Diamond stopped distributing comics temporarily, DC used that as an excuse to launch their own distribution partners, then Marvel left Diamond for Penguin Random House, IDW plans to do the same, other publishers are working with Diamond still but also flirting with the other distribution options and--deep breath--it's a big ol' mess. Diamond has been struggling, and then things got worse this month.

Diamond kicked-off November by accidentally sending a retailer-exclusive cover of issue #2 of, "Primordial," to multiple comic shops. Considering, "Primordial," is an Image book and Image is the biggest publisher still with Diamond exclusively for their floppies, you'd think they wouldn't want to make them angry. That was bad, but then things got worse. Diamond's website a couple days ago quit working. Literally, it just didn't work/showed an error message. It turns out they were attacked by ransomware. In the month of Thanksgiving Diamond does not have much to be thankful for, clearly. Comic shipments will now be delayed as everything was shut down at Diamond for some time (thankfully, things seem to be up and running now). 

The thing that gets me about all this is why would someone target Diamond for a ransomware attack now while they're hurting? If you had the tech to do it why did you wait until 2021 as opposed to when they were on top of the market in 2019 or earlier? It's like bursting into one of the last remaining Kmarts and demanding everything in the register. You're going to get maybe three bucks and a half-eaten candy bar. I'm being a little dramatic as Diamond still makes plenty of money with their other divisions of toys/games/etc. but my point stands!

Wishing a Wonderful Birthday to Samii!

Today is my wife's birthday. I am honored she has chosen to spend her birthdays and all the other days in the year with me as her husband. Samii is a wonderful lady and she told me she had a good birthday, so I am happy I was able to contribute to it being a nice day for her. Happy birthday, my love!

This Variant Cover for, "Moon Knight," #7 is Astounding

Look at that cover right there above this text. That is a cool cover. It's stark, a little scary, and just wild. Rahzzah is the artist and they did a fantastic job. I really like how it is the Mr. Knight outfit but the shadow looks like the classic costume. I don't really have anything else to add, this cover just really struck me (others have remarked how cool it is too). I also am pleased the current run on, "Moon Knight," has been awesome thanks to writer Jed Mackay and artist Alessandro Cappuccio. We don't just get fantastic covers, the comic is stupendous as well. It's a good time to be a Moon Knight fan between this awesome-so-far run and the upcoming (and hopefully great) Disney+ show.

I Visited the Newly Opened Bug's Comics and Games!

In the past, a man named Larry AKA Bug had a comic shop. He closed it 20 years ago and became a college professor. However, recently he retired from that job and had the urge to reopen in a new location--but with the same name for his store, Bug's Comics and Games. Tim, who used to be an employee those 20 years ago, joined Larry as co-owner. They found a great spot for the store, acquired some comic and toy collections, got set up to sell new stuff, and that brings us to the present day. Cue the triumphant return of Bug's Comics and Games!

Larry (left) and Tim (right).

I didn't live in Saint Louis yet when the first iteration of the store existed, but I was excited to visit it now, shortly after it opened in late October. Larry and Tim are great guys and the store is a treat. There is a lovely assortment of back issues and new stuff, there are toys and popular trading card games too. Whether you want to dig through dollar bins or examine the snazzy key books on the wall it is easy to spend some time checking out all the cool stuff.

Bug's Comics and Games can be found at 1664 Bryan Road in O'Fallon, Missouri (the zip code is 63368). In other words, it is just a bit outside of Saint Louis county so it wasn't too long a drive for me to visit. You can actually buy stuff from them online as well, so if you're not a local reader of my blog you're in luck should you want to purchase comics and have them shipped to you! The site can be found at this link. Give them a visit in-person or online!

Flashback/Film Friday: "Changing Lanes," Was a Great Movie

 

Roger Michell, best known for directing, "Notting Hill," created one of my favorite movies of all time, "Changing Lanes." Back in 2002 this movie about how a simple car accident can lead to all kinds of mayhem really astounded me. Featuring a young Ben Affleck and younger Samuel L. Jackson, it focused on a lawyer (Affleck) who gets in a fender bender with a man who used to get in all kinds of trouble who is trying to turn his life around (Jackson). The thing is, Affleck's lawyer has a lot of problematic history too and he and Jackson engage in a battle of wits in this movie that is about two men but also a metaphor for race and class. William Hurt has a small role in the film too as Jackson's AA sponsor and he's always a treat in whatever flick he pops up in.

I randomly thought of, "Changing Lanes," the other day when I was thinking about underrated movies. I Googled Roger Michell and discovered he actually died in September of this year. He has one more movie he directed, "The Duke," and it is due for release in 2022. Michel made great movies ("Enduring Love," is another good one that's really weird)and it is a bummer he's gone. I would recommend, "Changing Lanes," to anyone with a hankering for a good thriller that also offers some sharp commentary.

Bad Idea is Sending Readers Rocks. Literal Rocks

In my most recent capsule reviews, I discussed a comic published by Bad Idea and observed how, "...Bad Idea Comics puts out some good stuff and if they let their books speak for themselves without doing dumb P.R. stunts they'd still get plenty of ink written about them for their quality titles. That said, they keep doing weird stuff that overshadows how clever and fun some of their comics are." Well, little did the me of October know just how dumb the P.R. stunts would get.

Bad Idea did a promotion where you could mail in pins to get exclusive comics. These pins are given out to the first people to get the first issue of a new release at a comic store. The company warned there would be other redemption opportunities so folks would maybe want to save their pins. Bad Idea just revealed the latest thing you can redeem a pin for. It is a rock. A literal, unimpressive rock. They might write, "Bad Idea," on it, but that's it.

Unless this is all a trick and people who send in a pin get a rock and something really cool, I must say this is a dumb marketing stunt that serves as a large middle finger to fans of the brand. They say even bad press is good press, but come on, a rock?

That New, "Morbius," Trailer Dropped Yesterday. It Looks Decent

It feels like it has been forever since the last, "Morbius," trailer, and it has been because it was nearly two years ago the first teaser was released (truthfully, it was pre-pandemic I think). After numerous delays due to COVID-19, the movie is due in January of 2022--unless something else happens. Sony released a new trailer yesterday for the movie and it looks pretty alright. I know some folks despise Jared Leto for one reason or another (he does get way too method with some of his movies like that miserable take on the Joker in, "Suicide Squad," for example), but I'm okay with him. Here's the trailer:

The biggest takeaways are that this clearly involves some of Spidey's foes with Michael Keaton's Vulture being featured again, Venom being mentioned, and therefore Sony is indeed building its own little MCU-adjacent universe if not being directly in the MCU kinda-sorta. As more Spidey-related character movies come out and once the next Spider-Man flick is released in December this should all become a bit clearer. Continuity questions aside, this looks pretty fun. January tends to be cold, boring, and lacking in movies so this won't help with the cold aspect but might help make things less boring & lacking in entertaining flicks.

The Empty Shock Value of Johnny Ryan's Latest, "Porn Basket," Comic--A Review

"Porn Basket," is the title of Johnny Ryan's latest work. Released by Fantagraphics Underground (FU) imprint of Fantagraphics, it was limited to just 1,200 or so copies, and the store I ordered it from somehow managed to get a copy for me despite allocations due to a lot more folks than Fantagraphics anticipated wanting this. I've been a minor fan of Ryan's work for years. Sometimes he does something really clever and over-the-top in his works and other times it comes off as desperate to be edgy at the expense of some imaginary person clutching their pearls from offended sensibilities at Ryan's creations. "Porn Basket," is a sketchbook of sorts as opposed to actual comic strips. Everything just takes up a page or a two-page spread. The book also features Ryan, "Going there," as much as he can.

Ryan wants to offend everyone. Liberals, conservatives, white, black, gay, straight, Christian, Muslim, Jewish--anybody you can think of. If this means drawing a satanic symbol on a copy of, "Anne Frank's Diary," while it gets pooped on by Yoda, he'll do it. Well-known meme Pepe the Frog with an erection that looks like a World Trade tower being flown into? Ryan won't shy away from it. Abortion jokes? George Zimmerman as a surreal heroic figure punching youth of color? Ample Nazi symbols just for shucks? Ryan won't hesitate to show them. He's so busy often drawing really offensive stuff it loses any meaning. It's trying to be the wildest and disgusting thing possible but it's little more than empty shock value. Also, he really makes fun of Nickelodeon a lot, making me wonder what his beef is with that channel. Here is maybe the one safe-for-work strip he does at their expense (others are quite bloody or raunchy):

Ryan's going, "What horrible things can I put pen to paper for?" in this sketchbook and that's about it. There is no deeper meaning beyond, "Look at me making fun of Trump/Seth Rogen/Ruth Bader Ginsburg/Leonard Cohen/etc. or, "I have bugs shooting out the orifices of an infant while the parent screams in disgust, aren't I stinker?" Ryan is so busy attempting to disgust us the whole thing is just numbing in its inane grotesque presentation. You're just bored at a certain point, saying, "Oh, this time Ryan combined a 9/11 and bestiality joke by having a first responder at the WTC getting oral sex from an American Eagle. Whatever."

The thing about all this is Ryan really can draw when he wants to. He can make things look realistic, cartoony, or just generally impressive. When he takes a moment to just illustrate a cool castle or show his chops it is a treat. Ryan is a skilled illustrator and when he takes a break from trying to be nasty (or even when he's being nasty) his stuff is usually gorgeous. Look at this amazing sketch of Marvel's Man-Thing for example:

Hence, within, "Porn Basket," we get all style (good drawing) and no substance beyond, "This is some nasty shit!" Ryan excels at drawing things like Trump being surprised at Hillary Clinton forcing him to give her a handjob with a secret penis or portraying a seal with a massive vulva that men can't resist masturbating themselves over, but other than being drawn with skill there just isn't much to this sketchbook. If you want to be able to repeatedly say while stifling a yawn, "Yeah, that's offensive," every time you turn a page in, "Porn Basket," you can try to find a copy in stores or via the internet. You honestly aren't missing much if you skip out on this though. It's for Johnny Ryan completionists only.

2 out of 5 stars.

Image Comics Workers Unionize

In what I believe is a first for the field of comics, the workers of Image have unionized. The freelancers who submit comics they publish are not part of the union as freelancers interestingly cannot unionize in most situations. Known as the Comic Book Workers United, it will work to negotiate on behalf of Image's full-time employees for fair treatment, wages, and basically do what unions are designed to do (I'm pro-union, in case anyone wondered). This could herald some big changes in the field of comics and how those involved are treated. We shall see.