Comic-Con International/San Diego Comic-Con 2023 Launches Tomorrow

Today is the, "Preview Night," but the show officially starts tomorrow for Comic-Con International AKA San Diego Comic-Con. This year is a bit different because with a massive dual-strike happening in Hollywood a lot of film and television stuff won't be there. Plenty of actual comic things will still be occurring and I imagine a chunk of interesting news will be announced by the various companies that are participating. I hope everyone who is at the show has a fun time and I'll post about anything particularly interesting/juicy that occurs.

Television Tuesday: "The Golden Bachelor," is Coming to Screens Soon

I've been honest about how at points in time I've loved watching, "The Bachelor/The Bachelorette," but have fallen off lately as the formula was getting repetitive and dull. Well, the long-in-development version featuring older folks, "The Golden Bachelor," finally has some updates and I might be tempted to check out this shift in the routine for something both at once fresh and (as I'm sure there will be many puns about) older. 71-year-old Gerry Turner is our Golden Bachelor and he's looking for love. He was married for 43 years but lost his wife in 2017 and is ready to find love again. He seems...like a legitimately good guy, which is weird as--usually--this franchise loves people who are a hot mess.

"The Golden Bachelor," will air this Fall, and one wonders if the women (assumably) being a bit older will result in more maturity and actual efforts to have a relationship with Gerry as opposed to just obsessing over, "Winning," him and then breaking-up a couple of months later (this show has a terrible relationship track record). I suppose I am curious enough to give this a chance in the Fall even if I'm mostly burnt-out on the regular franchise. Let's just hope everyone is, and say it with me now if you're a fan of the show, "There for the right reasons."

Jim Zub's Article About Avoiding Predatory Publishers Should be Required Reading

Jim Zub is a comic creator who has made some great books. He put a post up on his blog titled, "Predatory Publishing and You -- A Tragedy in the Making." It should be required reading for anyone who wants to work in comics. Zub breaks down how creators need to be careful what comic-book publishers they work with as they might be taken advantage of in various ways. Checks won't come when they are supposed to, the rights won't actually truly be as such where the creator owns them, and other terrible clauses or tricks. Zub writes about why it is important to have a lawyer look things over and lists ways to tell a publisher might be smart to avoid (they seem to come out of nowhere with unclear funding, they promise absurdly good page rates they'll never pay, and more). If you ever think you might want to work in the comic-book biz, read Jim Zub's post. It might save you a lot of headaches and heartaches.

The First Issue of, "Seventh Sister," Is Lovely and Fantastical

I had the opportunity to read a digital advance copy of, "Seventh Sister," #1. Written by friend of the blog, Simon Birks, the artwork and colors are by Majory Yokomizo. Rob Jones does the lettering. It's being published by Fox Red Comics, which is related to a publisher I greatly enjoy, Blue Fox Comics. Having finished the debut issue I really enjoyed it!

"Seventh Sister," focuses on a woman named Soraya who lives in a magical realm with her six other sisters. Her parents choose to sacrifice their least-liked daughter (Soraya) instead of themselves to a black hole so that everyone else can live for another thousand years. Soraya doesn't appreciate this and ends up fleeing to Earth--Scotland specifically. This first issue lays out the general plot, introduces a human who enjoys hunting ghosts (which Soraya is rumored to be by locals) named Jane, and makes it clear that Sorya is still in immense danger from the black hole and a chunk of her family.

Yokomizo's artwork is lush and beautiful. Her illustrations make each page a treat for a reader's eyes. You don't read, "Seventh Sister," so much as your optical nerves swim in the gorgeous artwork. Birks' writing is stellar too as usual, whether portraying the magical realms or when things are situated squarely upon Earth. I had a blast with the first issue of, "Seventh Sister," and you can read seven sample pages at this link to see why I dug it so much. I would encourage everyone to back its upcoming Kickstarter campaign--you can click this link to be notified of its launch!

5 out of 5 stars.

Now Almost ALL of Hollywood is on Strike

At the start of May, the Writer's Guild of America went on strike. This meant a whole lot of television shows/streaming shows and movies that were being written had the, "Pencils down," and stopped production. Stuff that was already written out could still be filmed as actors weren't on strike, however. That just changed too because the Screen Actors Guild--American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (which represents essentially all actors/actresses) had their union talks break down with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (studio execs and such). The writers and acting talent are now on strike, together. At this point, Hollywood is basically shut down as unless you're doing a reality television show you're screwed. I expect unless this all resolves quickly we're going to suddenly see a lot of foreign shows getting picked up along with a lot more reality programming, talent shows, and so forth. This is going to be messy.

"Widow Unleashed," Has a Kickstarter Campaign for Issues 3 and 4

In March of this year, I discussed how friend of the blog, Mike Wolfer, was running a Kickstarter remastering his, "Widow," comics. The first two issues were funded and fulfilled (I loved when mine arrived in the mail) so now he has recently launched a campaign for, "Widow: Unleashed," #3 and #4! If you missed the first campaign you can still grab those issues as a bonus add-on and get the latest colorized, retooled, and otherwise awesome issues of Widow! It's already fully funded as all us fans jumped really quickly at the opportunity to get some more Widow!

I love the mix of horror and sexiness within Widow comics and, "Widow Unleashed," has delivered that wonderfully thanks to Wolfer and his letterer, Natalie Jane. I can't wait to see the success of this Kickstarter and get even more great issues added to my collection! You can find the campaign here and support it too--I'd recommend doing so!

Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel is Already Coming Back as a Mutant

Marvel revealed back in Mid-May that none other than Kamala Kahn, Ms. Marvel, was going to be killed. She died in a random issue of, "Amazing Spider-Man," and the comic where everyone mourns her literally just came out. I would've predicted we were going to hear news of her coming back before the year was over, but the fictional body wasn't even cold before Marvel revealed, "Ms. Marvel: The New Mutant." Pretty much everyone--myself included in the article discussing her death--was thinking she'd somehow be revealed to be a mutant as the Disney+ show hinted at that instead of using her Inhuman origin from the comics (the less we talk about the Inhumans show, the better).

I'm perfectly happy to have Kamala back as a mutant, but I am annoyed by how big a deal Marvel made out of her death and acted like it was shocking and gonna last somehow when she was dead about as long as it takes me to run to Target for some groceries and back home--without even stopping at the gas station for some lottery tickets. Killing Kamala was already a bad look, bringing her back so fast cheapens the death, and this whole roundabout exercise to say, "She's a mutant," just felt messy. At least the creative team is interesting with the comic being co-written by Sabir Pirzada (a creator on the, "Ms. Marvel," show Disney+ had) and Iman Vellani, the actress who actually plays Kamala. Carlos Gomez and Adam Gorham shall be the artists with Sara Pichelli on covers. Oh, and Jamie McKevlie has done a new costume for her (he did that years ago too). Give it a look:

Clearly, there are a lot of folks who will work hard on this comic. I imagine it will be a fun read too, I just have such a sour taste in my mouth regarding how we got to this point and it reduces my excitement a bit. Hopefully the comic will be so great it makes up for all the annoyances that occurred before its launch. Kamala Khan with the X-Men does at least sound pretty entertaining.

Black Panther is Getting a Video-Game

I was excited to read the news that a new game studio owned by EA, Cliffhanger Games, is working on a superhero game featuring Black Panther! Not much is known--the game doesn't even have an official title yet, but the studio is led by Kevin Stephens who used to be the head of Monolith Productions; that is the studio that created the, "Lord of the Rings," games with the Nemesis system, "Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor," and, "Shadow of War." A big ol' game that lets you explore Wakanda and such sounds cool and I look forward to learning more as an actual title/gameplay information/release date is revealed.

Welcome our New Baby, Gibson!

Very early this morning my wife gave birth to our newest baby boy, Gibson! It was a somewhat-scheduled induction (we started a couple days earlier than expected) and after 36 weeks of growing in Samii, he's here! We are excited to take him home before too long and Clarkson will (hopefully) be excited to be in charge of big brother duties--like hugs and kisses! We thank everyone for their support and kind words throughout our pregnancy and can't believe Gibson is now chilling with us outside of the womb. Wild times!

Television Tuesday: That, "Twisted Metal," Show Looks Legit Fun

Peacock has been having some quality programming this year. I loved, "Paul T. Goldman," and, "Based on a True Story." Now in July, we've got the new season of, "Love Island," about to start, and later in the month the debut of, "Twisted Metal." A video-game tie-in to a series that basically had no plot and just featured cars with guns blowing up, the show looks legit fun. For such a random program it has a really good cast (Anthony Mackie, Neve Cambell, Thomas Haden Church, and more) and the newest trailer makes it seem incredibly wacky. I'm here for it and plan to tune in.