I Hope You've Been Appreciating Teachers and Nurses This Week!

This has been Teacher and Nurse Appreciation Week. I am not sure why the weeks overlap, but they do. I appreciate teachers a lot. I mean, they helped me grow into the person I am, I married a teacher, and I've dabbled in teaching collegiate courses, myself (so I guess even I get a lil' appreciation). Nurses also deserve a ton of respect for all they do and all the B.S. and red tape they put up with. We developed some close friendships with some of the NICU nurses who cared for Clarkson, and it continues to amaze me how, "Normal," human beings do jobs with such stressful hours/work content/etc. I put, "Normal," in quotation marks because nurses and many teachers seem positively superhuman/superheroic. It is already Thursday, so if you haven't already told a teacher or nurse you appreciate them, please do so!

A Comic Starring Kool Keith Sounds Fun

As reported by my friend over at Comic Heating Up, Kool Keith has a graphic novel about him incoming from Z2 Comics. It features his myraid of personas and is titled, "KOOL KEITH: KROSSOVER INTO THE FLOWER KOSMIC." Keith has assumed multiple identities from Dr. Octagon, to Dr. Dooom, and Black Elvis, among others. They're all teaming up to take down, "GERBIK." Written by Seamus “Esoteric” Ryan of CZARFACE and illustrated by Sean Von Gorman, this looks like a wild ride of a comic.

I'm a big fan of Kool Keith, and I love comics, so this looks to be right up my alley. There is a, "Platinum," version with a record, a deluxe edition, and the standard hardcover as can be seen on Z2's website. I look forward to the official release in July of this year and truly hope Kool Keith or any other incarnation of him can save reality!

The Wildest Thing in the Latest (Surprise), "Grand Theft Auto VI," Trailer? A Non-Toxic Relationship

"Grand Theft Auto VI," was delayed. Rockstar (the developer) announced it, and not many folks were surprised but it did hurt the stock of Take-Two (the publisher). However, the surprise release of the second official trailer for the game got everyone excited and helped the stock bounce back. Everying in the trailer is apparently in-game (via a PlayStation 5) and a chunk of footage is from gameplay, with some from cinema scenes. We know the protagonists are named Jason and Lucia, and some people think they look a bit boring. That said, the craziest thing to me in the trailer was not any cool explosion or how impressively a piece of clothing shimmered (although there are plenty of things going, "Boom," and outfits that look shiny). No, the fact that Jason and Lucia seem happy shocked me and others.

A happy couple on a date...in, "GTA?"

In the, "Grand Theft Auto," Universe, all relationships seem horrible. Nobody is happy and people just want money, sex, fame, or a mix of the three. Jason and Lucia look like they may be criminals and toxic people, but their relationship actually seems... wholesome? It appears he is eager to greet her when she is released from jail. They make out and have sex (of course), but also just relax and cuddle. They hold hands and seem to legitimately care about each other as human beings. That's surprising for, "Grand Theft Auto."

Joyful cuddling? In, "GTA," of all places?

Rockstar's games set in the, "Red Dead Redemption," theme feature more nuanced relationships, but in, "GTA," a relationship that is, "Mature," usually just means cursing and bumping uglies. An, "Adult," relationship where people actually act like adults seems shocking and shows some growth in the franchise. I'm sure there will be plenty of silly jokes, lots of violence, and the occasional clever insight about the, "The American Dream," through the skewed view, "GTA," has always presented it. I'm just especially intrigued by the idea of two protagonists who support, love, and care about each other unconditionally. Come May 26th, 2026, we'll be able to learn a lot more about Jason and Lucia--then we can see if RockStar nails the subtleties of a grown-folk relationship or struggles with it.

A Ramble About the Console Wars at the News of How a, "Gears of War," Remaster is Coming to Xbox AND PlayStation 5

My birthday year starts with 19 instead of a 20, so I'm older and remember how things used to be quite different for better and worse. I grew up in the time of the console wars, where people were viciously loyal to one company and their games over another corporation. You were a Sega fan or a Nintendo fan, for example. You hated the other folks with a passion! Then, it was all about Sony, Nintendo, or Microsoft with GameCubes/Wii, PlayStation 2/3, Xbox generations, and so forth in the early 2000s. Somewhere along the way, the icy relations started to thaw (arguably, the end of Sega being in the console Market when they gave up on the Dreamcast is one big moment), and the console wars now seem relatively antiquated.

Yes, there are differences between a PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. There especially are differences between those and the Nintendo Switch. Still, you can play certain games with people on other consoles or a PC--that would be unheard of some time ago! Xbox is even letting some of their console exclusives go over to others, with the latest example being a, "Gears of War," remaster coming to both Xbox and the PS5. For years, the, "Gears of War," franchise has been synonymous with Xbox almost as much as Halo--how long until a, "Halo," game arrives on the PS5 or Sony maybe decides to share some love towards Microsoft with a, "Last of Us," adaptation or such? Right now things are more in the direction of Xbox stuff on PlayStation, but we will see.

Banjo Kazooie is owned by Microsoft, but they'll let them appear in a, "Super Smash Brothers," game on the Switch, and Nintendo lets Switch players enjoying, "Minecraft," spend time with Xbox fans of the game. Sony has zero issues with their, "Fortnite," players seeing those on other consoles as well. All of these companies are in competition, yes, but they seem to want to collaborate a bit if it provides benefits (AKA money) for them because the players are pleased. This is a good thing, undoubtedly, it just felt a bit odd when Sonic and Mario started hanging out and it only gets stranger seeing all these other companies so eager to share when I recall how the idea of Sony, Xbox, and Nintendo getting along like this seemed absurd two or so decades ago. It used to be, "[Sega] Genesis Does What Nintendon't," or, ""Do Not Underestimate The Power of PlayStation." Now it's more like, "Hey, let's all play together!" I like it, the tonal shift just is fascinating to someone who remembers the old days.

Celebrating Cinco De Mayo in 2025 if You're in the United States/"This is America," Indeed

Today is Cinco De Mayo. Officially, this day celebrates the Mexican army's victory over French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862. However, it has morphed over the years into a general celebration of Mexican culture that Mexico's northern neighbor (the United States) has fashioned into something more corporate and made relatively generic. I'm sorry if that sounds cynical, but in 2025 it almost seems ironic for the U.S. to celebrate Cinco De Mayo the way we are treating Mexican, Latino, or any immigrants, frankly.

Seriously, on this very day, the Trump administration said it will pay undocumented migrants $1,000 and purchase their plane ticket if they voluntarily leave. First of all, nobody should accept that offer as I'm pretty sure the chances you're going to ever get that one grand are quite slim. This administration has been horrific in terms of human rights abuses towards anyone who isn't a citizen (and even people who are and desperately work to prove it before being, "Deported," even though they're citizens). This administration is pushing for it to be allowed where ICE can go into your house without a warrant to, "Look," for migrants. Oddly, people who cling closely to the Second Amendment and loudly yell about their rights to fight against Governmental invasions into their privacy are weirdly silent at the idea of the Government bursting into their home without any due process (almost as if their talk of fighting tyranny was always empty hot air). 

Cinco De Mayo is a Mexican holiday that has been co-opted by the United States, and it is funny that for a holiday situated in Mexico, I keep thinking of the Donald Glover/Childish Gambino song, "This is America." Anytime things seem to get worse in our nation, that song pops into my head, and it has been playing on repeat for the last 100-ish days since Donald Trump took office. Happy Cinco De Mayo to everyone celebrating in Mexico. If you're celebrating in the United States of America, there is a whole lot of irony to process as well.

The May 2025 ToyMan Show Made sure the, "Fourth," Was With Us!

I missed the last ToyMan show due to various obligations, but I was able to attend today and had a fantastic time! A number of vendors had special sales on, "Star Wars," items to tie in with today being May 4th--an unofficial-to-now-relatively-official, "Star Wars," Day. I spotted a lot of cool toys from the franchise with notable sales, and one table had half-off all, "Stars Wars," comics too. Besides that, there was the usual gigantic assortment of goodies for sale. I saw a ton of die-cast cars, Funko Pops, trading cards, comics, assorted vintage toys, new toys, and had so much fun exploring all the neat items. I started the show off chatting with Tim Metzger at his table and checking out the stuff John Chaffee of Bigfoot Comics and Collectibles had brought. I purchased some fun comics from him, which you can see pictured right below:

My friend Spike Forester of Lost in Space Toys and Collectibles was present with awesome wares, and Tom Milster had a bunch of neat stuff for sale as well nearby. Brian Lan had his table and was kind enough to give me a copy of an interesting movie titled, "The Courageous Heart of Irena Sendler," which features the talented Anna Paquin, and I look forward to watching it! Tatertots Comics and Collectibles had some neat toys for sale. I proceeded upstairs, where I ran into my friend Jessica Mathews, who had a fun new book, "Roar Some More," that I bought, and Lindsay Hornsby, who was selling a fun Princess Pups comic I purchased to read with my kiddos. Here is a picture of both cool books:

Having this ToyMan show overlap with, "Star Wars," Day was a really fun addition to the usual great time I have visiting the show. There is always something that is bound to appeal to your fandom/collecting niche, so if you're able to attend the next ToyMan on July 13th, I suggest you make sure and go!

Happy Free Comic Book Day 2025!

Today is the first Saturday in May, resulting in how it is Free Comic Book Day! This is a wonderful occasion where publishers release special comics (usually they kick off an event or promote an upcoming series) and stores give them away. If you go to a comic shop for FCBD be sure to say, "Thank you," and possibly buy something if you don't usually shop there because it does cost the stores a bit of money to receive these comics. With everything going on at Diamond Comic Distributors (who own the rights to the name/some general concepts of Free Comic Book Day), it is unclear what the future holds for this event. That said, let's not worry too much about any potential future Free Comic Book Days and focus on having a great time right now. Here is a list of what shops may have on offer. Now, get some comics!

Film Friday: Giving Props to Movie Trailers That Don't Reveal Everything

I don't mind spoilers. If you tell me how a book/show/movie or such ends, I'm cool with it. That said, I appreciate when movie trailers leave a little mystery, and if I want to be spoiled, I need to seek it out. Sometimes an ad for a movie seems to reveal basically everything there is to know, with little left to our imagination. When a trailer actually reveals very little, it makes me take notice. For example, the movie, "Longlegs," didn't even reveal the titular serial killer in any ads--that's pretty wild--instead, it focused on world-building with little websites and creepy ads. The movie, "Weapons," is coming soon and doing the same thing.

"Weapons," gives us a hook and little else. The poster and trailer lay it out clearly. Every child in one teacher's class woke up in the middle of the night, ran off, and were never seen again. It's a scary concept and raises a lot of questions--questions the trailer refuses to answer any of! Give the poster a look here:

Speaking of not showing everything in a trailer, I was impressed that, "Fantastic Four: First Steps," did not reveal Galactus at all in the teaser trailer and only showed a hint here and there of him in the official trailer. There have been leaks that indicate what he'll look like (similar to the original comic form), but people have to go looking for such things. Piquing my interest in a movie by having me wonder what happens sometimes is a better way to make me interested than just laying everything out. Plus, then the people who do hate spoilers for stuff are pleased too! Everyone wins!

"Grand Theft Auto VI," Delayed to May 2026

More gaming-related news today after my morning post about Polygon. "Grand Theft Auto VI," was theoretically coming this Fall. However, it has now been officially declared by the developer (Rockstar) that its real debut has been pushed back. We're gonna be waiting a year now. Yep, "GTAVI," is coming in May 2026, for real this time. Maybe.

There are winners and losers with such an announcement. Investors in the game's publisher (Take-Two) are pissed and fans have mixed opinions. Other game companies may be breathing a sigh of relief knowing their titles are free and clear for release in 2025.  I am not shocked or upset because I want a quality product as opposed to something horrifically broken at launch. I also want the people working on the game to avoid, "Crunch," or the term for when a game is nearing completion and the staff has to work arduous and draining hours. If an extra six months helps ensure a great game and a less-exhausted development team, so be it. I mean, there are plenty of other games coming out in 2025, so we aren't short on options. Plus, I know what is going to be on my birthday wishlist for May of 2026 now, so that's good.

Polygon Sold to Valnet--This Doesn't Bode Well

Polygon has been sold to Valent--as reported with concern by many gaming sites, except, funny enough, Polygon itself. Polygon has been around since 2012, doing fantastic journalism on video-game and pop culture.  Valnet runs a bunch of, "Content aggregators," which is a nice way of saying clickbait slop such as Screen Rant, Game Rant, Comic Book Resources and the like. You know when you see an article with an attention-grabbing headline like, "Fans distraught this beloved show is canceled after one season," and then you have to scroll through half the article to actually find out what the show in question is? Yeah, those kinds of sites. These are the sites where half the articles read as if written by AI, and the other half seem like they were scribbled out by a caffeine-addled third-grader desperate to complete an assignment before it's due in 15 minutes. 

Polygon made articles, and these sites make content--there is a big difference. At least, there was. Now, Polygon has been hit with mass layoffs, and everyone seems unhappy with how this all went down, except Valnet, which now has another site it can utilize to put out garbage pieces. I mean, maybe Polygon will survive as we know it in some fashion and not become a shadow of its former self (much like Comic Book Resources did). That said, there are occasions where looking on the bright side is foolish because sometimes optimism spells disaster. This may be one of those times.