The, "Kraven," Trailer Makes the Movie Seem Suitably Entertaining

A clip of the trailer for the upcoming, "Kraven," movie leaked online so Sony went ahead and released the full version. It looks like it might be fun as a high-budget take on an ultraviolent B-movie featuring a guy who fights mobsters with vaguely animal-related powers. When a movie featuring Spider-Man's villain Kraven was announced, I asked, "Why?" in a post. Then I was intrigued by the news that the movie would be rated R due to featuring Kraven being quite violent with the folks he fights. As Sony is making this flick instead of Disney (who really shy away from R-rated hero stuff besides the upcoming, "Deadpool 3," or such) it seems to be in the same Universe as their other sorta-related-to-Spidey fare such as, "Venom," and, "Morbius." This looks a lot more serious than either flick but still pretty fun if you want to watch Aaron Taylor-Johnson violently kill bad guys. He's getting a lot more use out of his muscles and acting talent here than when he briefly played Quicksilver in the MCU, that's for sure. Check out the trailer below and I'll share some more thoughts:

See? It looks like a good time with a silly plot and lots of action--multiple times dudes burst through windows, that's kinda cool! I don't know if this will manage to tie in at all with recent Spider-Man stuff but even if it doesn't I like seeing a take on the Rhino popping up too. Even if this version of Kraven is different from the one in the comics (this Kraven relates to animals in some odd fashion, the comic-book iteration just hunted them) it just seems fun and mostly serious but with a little wink as opposed to being outright telling constant jokes like some MCU properties. Oh, and Russell Crowe is in this too as the evil Dad. He's a pretty good, "Get," for such a random movie This could flop, hard, or turn out to be surprisingly popular in the same manner the, "Venom," flicks managed. I'm just hoping it is as entertaining as this preview hints it might be.

Happy Father's Day 2023!

It is Father's Day and I continue to be so happy to have my wonderful wife, Samii, and our child, Clarkson. I am also overjoyed that soon we will have a new baby in our lives too. Here he is making a stank face on an ultrasound:

It won't be too much longer until he's here with us too! Anyways, happy Father's Day to all you Dads and Father-figures!

They Still Publish an Encyclopedia in 2023; It Admittedly Looks Cool

Nowadays people generally find information online. Now, this information might be good and have tons of citations or it might be absolute crazy talk. Back in the day you could look at an Encyclopedia and know you were getting some solid information on a wide range of subjects. They quit publishing any of those though, right? Wrong!

Benj Edwards over at Ars Technica wrote an article about how, "I just bought the only physical encyclopedia still in print, and I regret nothing." He discusses how World Book, Inc. still puts out the, "World Book," encyclopedia and for $1,199 you can buy all 22 physical books. There is still a demand with school and public libraries being common clients along with a chunk of homeschooling families. There is a certain charm and pleasant trustworthiness to reading facts about a subject in an honest-to-goodness encyclopedia. It won't have someone come and rewrite everything the next day to fit their agenda before someone else takes it down and puts up their version of the truth. It is just 22 books loaded with facts on various subjects that you could cite for a research paper and know it is reputable. If you have the money to spare you could buy a copy right now, but if that price tag is too hefty you could always get an online subscription for the year at various prices. That, or call your library and see if they have a recent edition!

Reddit's CEO Seems to Want to Destroy Reddit

Reddit's CEO, Steve Huffman, had plans to make Reddit more profitable by charging third parties a ton more to access the app's functioning. The fees were absurd and some of these apps make Reddit accessible to people with disabilities so the community rebelled and certain pages on Reddit (big and small) went, "Dark." The pages couldn't be accessed after each community voted and moderators took the pages offline for 48 hours to send a message to Huffman. Huffman heard everyone loud and clear and now...wants to make it easier for people to vote out moderators. Wait, it seems like he took the wrong lesson from the blackout?

That's right, Huffman made it clear he doesn't give a damn about Reddit's community because, at the end of the day, he wants as much money as possible. Reddit's CEO seems to want to destroy Reddit. This arguably makes him a good capitalist but a bad person. In all seriousness, Huffman could probably raise fees a little and do okay or even work with third-party apps, but he's just going scorched-Earth and if any moderators on Reddit get in his way he's gonna give them the boot too. I get that Reddit wants to make money, but if you alienate the thing that makes you money (users) then you're going to end up cutting off your nose to spite your face, as the old saying goes. This is a balancing act and if Reddit wants to actually be profitable and possibly even go public as a stock then Huffman needs to balance the desire for cash money with the users' desire for a good experience with Reddit. That's what everyone else is saying, at least, whilst Huffman makes it clear with his wishy-washy damage control about Reddit blackouts that he's going to just barrel ahead. This probably won't end well.

It Still Astounds Me When People Blame Affirmative Action For Why They Didn't Get Into a College

If you want to get into a certain college, it can be really hard. Even with good grades, extracurriculars, and so forth you maybe will struggle to get in. Some things can help, such as private schools--especially Ivy League institutions--with legacy admissions (a practice that sucks). One thing that is always odd to see blamed would be Affirmative Action. Randall Barnes at HBCU Pulse has a fascinating article showing just how small of a number of Black individuals are at certain prestigious universities and how if Affirmative Action actually were a problem then they'd make up more than the smallest demographic. 

Still, I see certain people bemoaning online or even when I'm around certain individual in person how it is apparently just so hard for a white man to get into an Ivy League school now and, "If only we could claim we were a minority." When I've heard some people say this in my company I've observed that I imagine most folks would gladly trade getting the slightest extra consideration via Affirmative Action in exchange for not facing systemic racism in our nation. Usually those people I say this to then get offended I called them out, but I generally am the king of not giving a fuck about pointing out conservative hypocrisy. 

Seriously though, it may be a struggle to get admitted to your preferred college. Don't blame other people just because you didn't make the cut, however. I was rejected at certain colleges and I didn't go and blame a Black person because I'm not an ignorant asshole. I just considered the places that did want me and look where I am now, writing smack on the internet--your dreams really can come true kids! For real though, sometimes we get rejected in life when it comes to school, a job, romance, or whatever. We live and learn from our failings without throwing shade at someone else. Now we wait to see what the Supreme Court will rule with recent challenges.

Skybound to Publish Transformers and G.I. Joe Comics Within a Shared Universe Introduced in the, "Void Rivals," Comic

 6/15/23 Update: It was announced today that Larry Hama will indeed be launching, "G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero," at Skybound with the numbering starting at issue #301, in some ways picking up right where he left off. That's really cool!

Okay, bear with me here. Image Comics has it where creators own the rights to their own comics and they don't do licensed stuff per se. That said, there are imprints within Image that have done licensed works (for example, Top Cow, I believe). Skybound is an Image imprint Robert Kirkman owns. Kirkman is known for, "The Walking Dead," and, "Invincible," which he owns with his co-creators. In interesting news, however, a new comic titled, "Void Rivals," which had its first issue come out today has introduced a new Universe--the Energon Universe--which features original characters Kirkman and artist Lorenzo De Felici have made along with licensed properties from Hasbro. Namely, Transformers and G.I. Joe. 

IDW lost the license to both of those properties and I'd heard of Skybound as being a possible home as well as Marvel, and so forth. It seems Skybound, "Secured the bag," however, as the end of the first issue of, 'Void Rivals," reveals that, "Void Rivals," will continue as a series and there will be G.I. Joe and Transformers-centric comics. This will all take place within the new, "Energon Universe." Image kinda sorta now has some big-name licensed properties thanks to Skybound. We live in interesting times.

I've read some G.I. Joe comics in the past and dabbled in Transformers ones as well. I'm intrigued by this shared Universe and hearing that Daniel Warren Johnson will be writing and drawing a new, "Transformers," series definitely gets my attention as he's a talented fellow. I am bummed that longtime G.I. Joe talent Larry Hama (he did a bunch of work on the series at Marvel and IDW) appears to not be involved to any degree, but one can hope that will change! In the meantime, it will be interesting to witness if this new Energon Universe works out with its mix of new and old. Kirkman seems confident about it, and the man has engineered some massive hits, so we shall see!

"Avengers Inc." Sounds Like a Snazzy New Series

We already had, "Batman Incorporated," over at DC some years ago, so why not let Marvel give us, "Avengers Inc." now? In all seriousness, however, it sounds like a cool comic. Written by Al Ewing (who barely ever makes a weak comic) and illustrated by Leonard Kirk (also fantastic), this new series will follow Janet Van Dyne (the Wasp) and Victor Shade (a former alias of The Vision) as they solve mysteries like classic gumshoes, beginning with the deaths of certain supervillains.

It sounds like an interesting hook and if we get a cool detective story set within the Marvel Universe that sounds like it will be a treat to read. Plus, as I said, it's got Ewing and Kirk, so we know it's gonna be of high quality! The first issue is due in September so it won't be too long a wait!

The First Issue of, "Rebel Grrrls," is Wildly Fun

Recently I got an email from Danny Harrell. He is the writer and colorist of the comic, "Rebel Grrrls," and he reached out to me about if I wanted to review that comic by himself and artist Robert Ahmad. I said sure and was provided a digital copy to read. Due to be released on July 26th and being published by Keenspot, "Rebel Grrrls," follows a band of three teenagers whose music has power--they can summon ghosts and even potentially resurrect the dead. 

The problem with this incredible gift is it hasn't really been utilized much. They have crappy equipment and trying to promote themselves has mostly fallen flat. Oh, and a Devil in disguise keeps trying to convince them to sign a record deal for wider exposure (he's actually been tasked by Lucifer to summon enough undead the living can be overthrown) but they told him to get lost. As you can tell from this description, the comic has a bit of a comedic undertone, but it isn't overly silly as the girls do face a lot of obstacles in their desire for success, and playing at county fairs is not much fun when a crowd is calling you names or demanding you take your tops off.

I enjoyed the mixture of silly and serious in this first issue Harrell's writing provided and Ahmad's artwork did a great job showcasing everyday life with bits of the supernatural (ghosts and other outlandish elements) sprinkled in. He really draws the girls rocking out so well you can almost hear your own version of whatever you might think they'd be playing. It's a fun debut and worth asking your comic shop to order you a copy of for a highly enjoyable read. I want to thank Danny Harrell for reaching out to tell me about his and Robert Ahmad's comic and look forward to more issues of rocking, rolling, and putting the literal Devil in what has been at times referred to as the Devil's music.

5 out of 5 Stars.

#ComicsBrokeMe is Trending on Twitter and Shines a Depressing Light on the Industry

For the past couple of days the topic, "#comicsbrokeme," has been trending on Twitter. It has featured many creators of comics or folks otherwise involved in the business discussing just how incredibly rough and soul-crushing it can be. Should you despise Twitter (I don't blame you), the website Bleedingcool did post a bunch of content in an article discussing the trending statement. We as comic-book fans really don't appreciate the people who actually make our comics enough. We often give far too much credit to the corporations that could care less about quality tales/artwork and just want to cash a big check while simultaneously writing the smallest one possible to those doing the actual work. 

I will forever sing the praises of organizations such as The Hero Initiative, which assists comic creators in need. The idea there are people who created million (or even billion) dollar properties who can't afford groceries or rent is disgusting, but welcome to America, home of the most messed-up health care system and general views on humanity you'll find in the World. As long as things don't get better it seems the comic industry will constantly chew people up and spit them out. It sucks.

Xbox Has Big Plans, Here's Hoping They Work Out

Today, Microsoft showed off a lot of new Xbox (and PC) games at their big ol' Summer Showcase. A lot more details were revealed about, "Starfield," as well in a follow-up segment and reactions have ranged from optimistic to less-than-excited for it. A new, "Fable," game was confirmed with Richard Ayoade as a character and it does actually look a bit quirky and funny (I recently posted my concerns about the franchise continuing, but maybe I was wrong). A new open-world game titled, "Star Wars: Outlaws," had an all-CG teaser so who knows how the game will be but that caught my eye. Developer Obsidian showed off,"Avowed," and acknowledged it looked a lot like, 'Skryim," while assuring us it is different. I thought, "Still Wakes the Deep," sounded interesting as a horror game on an oil rig, too. 

I haven't even named all the stuff discussed, just what looked cool to me. That said, many would agree the Xbox Series X/S has had a rough go of things lately and is clearly hoping the Fall of 2023 and much of 2024 are going to bring in those games that really draw people to the consoles and the Game Pass. I personally find the Game Pass snazzy but I'm aware more and more people think it needs to step things up to really dominate the market as Netflix (or whatever streamer you like) of games. There is clearly a plan, we just need to see if it works out.