The Unholy Dragon

I'd hardly call it light competition. Us, Dumbo, Shazam, and Pet Semetary all dropped within a month of its release. Endgame has had slightly heavier competition, but CM held out at higher levels while competing with some of the same stuff and Endgame itself.

What's maybe a little wild is how short the legs on this is. Keep in mind, Captain Marvel? Still in theaters. Endgame's 8th week did about what CM's 10th did. Obviously there was a lot more front end to it but it definitely seems like a film that a lot of people made a point of seeing to wrap it up or just as a cultural thing and isn't getting the same kind of repeat love that a lot of others get. Which, I work at a comic store and given the majority of the response has been "Yeah, it was an adequate wrap up." so maybe it's not the biggest shock that it's not engendering as many repeats as some others do. Especially since one of the big things people talk about related to it is the time commitment.

Unpopular opinion, I know, but I liked Ghost Story just fine when I read it. I really need a reread of my own though so that whenever Peace Talks drops I'll be ready.

Honestly, depending on what they do after the RDC (if anything) it may become a curse. If they just do 13 and finish out the RDC? Great. If they do 26 again and finish the RDC then do OVA stuff? Cool. If they finish the RDC and then go into the next arc...oh god please no.

Sure and I get that but it's still a specialized project being made to get JJ's name on a thing. And, to his credit, JJ's kid seems pretty aware of his fortune for it. It's not really any different than Walt Flanagan getting to draw a highly promoted Batman book because he's buddies with Kevin Smith. Or CM Punk getting as much Marvel work because of his wrestling profile. Sometimes it just happens that way.

https://www.comicsbeat.com/dc-announces-massive-list-of-ya-middle-grade-graphic-novels-for-2020-2021/?fbclid=IwAR2p7B6lIAEHA3NUGV2NU47iT9AyAcrC27f_o4Y4B4O4ef05ccH5W3-wdV4 Speaking of the kids lines, DC announced a bunch more stuff for them. There's a lot of cool stuff here and honestly I'm more excited for stuff from these than anything from the big 2 main lines. But uh, Johnny Constantine, middle school character is...weird.

I've come to talk with you again...

The dopiest part of the DC rebranding is the abandoning of Ink and Zoom as brands inside six months when both have started with EXTREMELY strong sales reported, particularly in the book market which was the aim. Like yeah, let's take work from a newly established success and lump it in with the rest of the publishing line to get lost. Great plan.

Gail Simone framed it really well on Twitter. This series isn't taking away a spot from someone else. It's a book that was made for JJ's name and the novelty of having him write something (with his son tagging along). If JJ hadn't signed on, there would be no book so nothing is lost by having it exist.

So less than ten minutes later, it's become clear the big announcement is JJ Abrahms co-writing a Spider-man mini with his son with Sara Pichelli on art.

That's hilarious. Obviously it's a cool little project but no way a nostalgia one shot lives up to the hype they built. Also now I'm just imagining Larsen doing with it what he did with Savage Dragon and laughing.

I've been getting the issues but I'm behind in reading them.

When my points more than double but I got up a spot I know it's been a messy week.

Okay I've read the first issues of both and the upcoming Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen series are both REALLY good and honestly exactly what you'd expect given Rucka and Fraction respectively. The Jimmy book is like if you crossed the Nick Spencer Jimmy book from 2011 with Fraction's Hawkeye. It's a blast.

Lobdell has been hit or miss but honestly his most recent iteration of Red Hood has been quietly pretty darn good. Given that Brett Booth has wanted to draw a Wally series since the New 52 launched I'm happy for him too. Could end up pretty good, honestly though it heavily depends which Scott Lobdell shows up.

Which other movie was AB'ed? I know New Mutants but didn't catch the other.

I absolutely thought it would be that bad. Nice.

Heroes in Crisis is in that Identity Crisis and Killing Joke zone. I like the story well enough in isolation but the knock on effects of it existing are awful enough that it probably shouldn't. Would have made a great Black Label book, honestly. I think it's really funny that the same week King's run of Batman got cut short he let slip in an interview that Wally, Booster, and Harley's roles in HiC were editorially mandated. Not in a bridge burning way, just like "So these were the things I had to work with and I think I made it work." Throwing editorial under the bus in a professional way. Fantastic.

I figured. I was more riffing on the fact that even reading the thing with a solid knowledge of that period the actual mechanisms of the resurrection are weird as all hell and hard to actually understand due to messy delivery. Which is probably why every subsequent take bypasses it and just goes with the Lazarus Pit even though they aren't supposed to work that way. Sorry Natural, wasn't meaning it as a shot but text and tone sometimes don't blend.

I want to know in what universe "Superboy Prime punched the multiverse so hard that a universe where Jason Todd lived briefly overlapped with one where he died for just long enough to resurrect him in his grave, only for him to go braindead around the time Talia opted to dig him up and dip him in the Lazarus Pit." is predictable cause damn.

Forget All Star Superman, this is easily the best abbreviation for a Morrison series. What a gift.

Yeah. You gotta figure the sales would have to be 1.5x what they are now to break even, but I'd also wager the scheduling has been extra taxing on the whole office. They seem to be getting away from formal twice monthly books.

Honestly that's better than I expected. I find RT has a real anti-horror bias if it's not made into 'art' somehow (high concept, especially strong directing, etc.)

Henderson's style isn't something I generally enjoy myself, but her craft is clearly present throughout. Her anatomy and sense of motion and layout are strong, her style choices are consistent, and she delivers consistently stylized work over evidently strong fundamentals. She's clearly *good* even if it's not my thing and the way her art has gotten flack is something I can only attribute to sexism given how many comparably or more heavily stylized dudes get praise. By way of example, I honestly can't see the appeal of Peter Bagge's art whatsoever, but enough well informed folks stand by it so clearly there's something there I'm missing. Anyway, Henderson's art is not for me, but I see the appeal of it and the skill applied in it. Using it as a shorthand for bad work is kinda telling on yourself as either having a poor eye or sexist undertones, take your pick.

Relatedly, there was also a preview in black and white for #2. Still very good, though it does have some uncomfortable Frank Miller Islamophobia packed in so that's...a thing. For a three issue series, he uses a really smart point of focus to divide each period. I'm not going to say what it is because spoilers, but it's pretty clever.