A Plea to Save Comics

Tonight! Batwoman jumps ship, Sony makes a Jackpot? And some thoughts on comic distribution, all that and more on this edition of multiverse tonight.

Welcome to episode 79 of Multiverse Tonight.

So I’ve been having a thought. The problem with comics today is that they’re hard to find, unless you happen to have a comic book shop. You know what comic book publishers really need to do? 

Let me tell you a story. When I was a kid back in the 80’s you could buy comics in grocery stores. There wasn’t a huge selection, but there were a few titles. I was interested in Star Trek comics and that’s where I first found them. Now think about that. Comics. Available. Not in a niche store in a strip mall somewhere. No, where everyone could find them and get their hands on them. Since then, you can’t find comics in anyplace but comic book stores for the most part. Yes, I know, there are some at Walmart, but that’s just back issues mainly. There are some specially produced comics there, but what I’m getting at is that comics need to be more widely available, get these comics into grocery stores, convenience stores and other retailers and while we’re at it, the comics at Walmart need to be in a more convenient place, get read of the tabloids and put the comics there, or with the magazines in electronics. So hey, DC, Marvel, Image and other publishers, let’s look to the past to save this industry.  Now let’s get on with the news. 

DC 

The CW’s Batwoman series is now short one Batwoman as actress Ruby Rose abruptly has left the series after just one season in the role. The show, which had been renewed for a second season, is expected to return next January, but will now have to recast the title role. Ruby Rose in a statement said quote “I have made the very difficult decision to not return to Batwoman next season,” “This was not a decision I made lightly as I have the utmost respect for the cast, crew and everyone involved with the show in both Vancouver and in Los Angeles.”

“I am beyond appreciative to Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter and Caroline Dries for not only giving me this incredible opportunity, but for welcoming me into the DC universe they have so beautifully created,”. “Thank you Peter Roth and Mark Pedowitz and the teams at Warner Bros. and The CW who put so much into the show and always believed in me. Thank you to everyone who made season one a success – I am truly grateful.” unquote Deadline reports that she was not happy during the filming of the first season and her behaviour on set made everyone else miserable too. So it sounds like this might have been the best for all involved.

The other big DC news of the past couple of weeks was the announcement that not only does the Zack Snyder version of Justice League exist, but it will be released on HBO Max. The new version is getting the full backing of Warner Bros pictures and they are providing Zack and his wife with the resources to properly get it done. There are various reports saying that to complete such a task might cost between 20 and 30 million dollars and might require the actors to return for some Additional dialogue recording, but nothing has been released about that. Roger Greenblatt, chairman of Warner Media Entertainment and Direct to Consumer said in a statement quote "Since I got here 14 months ago, the chant to #ReleaseTheSnyderCut has been a daily drumbeat in our offices and inboxes,``''At the end of the day, it really is all about them and we are beyond excited to be able to release Zack’s ultimate vision for this film in 2021. This could never have happened if it weren’t for the hard work and combined efforts of the teams at HBO Max and Warner Bros. Pictures." unquote

 Kevin Reilly, Chief Content Officer at HBO Max, President, TNT, TBS and truTV

Added quote ."When Zack and Debbie shared the extraordinary vision of where Zack wanted to take Justice League, my team and our counterparts at Warner Bros. took it as a mission to solve the many issues that stood in the way,""Thanks to the partnership at Warner Bros. and the relentless pursuit of the entire WarnerMax team we are able to deliver this incredibly exciting moment for Zack, the fans and HBO Max."

So there you have it, you just have to wait till next year and we can see if it was all worth it. Could be great, could be garbage, who knows.

So now that we have the Snyder cut, is there a special cut of Suicide Squd….say an Ayers Cut?  Short answer is yes. For the long answer we go to Director David Ayers twitter which reads quote "Of course it exists. And it is almost complete except for some visual effects." unquote  Should such a cut ever see the light of day, Ayer has confirmed that there are hours of footage of Leto as Joker and a larger role for Harly Quinn, lus a stronger connection to Justice League. So does anyone want to see it?

Lucifer’s Season six has retained the services of it’s  star Tom Ellis. Now there is nothing left but to start writing and get rolling….

Lucifer is cancelled, not the series, the comic.March’s Lucifer issue eighteen will be the final issue, but don’t fear issues nineteen to twenty four will be released as a graphic novel, no date has been set for the graphic novel.

DC Comics has also announced that Catwoman will be getting a new creative team starting with September’s issue twenty five. The new team will be writer Ram V and artist Fernando Blanco. V previously guested on Catwoman fourteen and fifteen. We will get to see a preview of their style in the Catwoman 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular which will be released this week.

The Hollywood reporter notes that Bane masks have apparently become a hot commodity amid the pandemic, with the requirements that people wear masks, Plastic adult bane masks are sold out at a number of costume sites, although they’re not really approved for wear during a pandemic. However if you want a Bane mask that you can use, etsy makers have been producing cloth versions, with most going for around twenty dollars. 

Marvel

Marvel’s Iron MAn Virtual reality Demo from developer Camouflaj is now available. The full game won’t be released until July 3rd, but you can get the demo now from the Playstation Network. Available in the demo is the "Malibu" tutorial mission,Interactive Stark Jet cinematic starring Tony, Friday & Pepper Potts,"Out of the Blue" Stark Jet gameplay mission,Flight Challenge optional mission and the Advanced Combat Challenge optional mission. In addition to the demo Sony announced a new Playstation VR bundle with the Iron Man game on Blu Ray disc, a Playstation vr headset, playstation camera, two playstation move controllers and a PS VR Demo Disc available for preorder for $349.99.

Sony Pictures has hired writer Marc Guggenheim to write the script for a movie based on the crime fighting character Jackpot. Yep Jackpot that...that...who the hell is Jackpot? She apparently is a character in the orbit of Spider-man and according to the Deadline article quote 

Jackpot is a superheroine with exceptional strength, and her history in the comics is a complicated one. First incarnation was Sara Ehret, a scientist, who, while pregnant, is doing gene therapy research and is exposed to “Lot 777,” a virus that rewrote the DNA in her cells. Her baby is born healthy but she realizes in addition to being a new mom she has superhuman strength after she is forced to save her family. Eventually, she tired of the crime fighting burden and hands the suit to Alana Jobson, an ambitious pal who takes over the character but must ingest a Mutant Growth Hormone to live up to Jackpot’s superhuman abilities. Long story short, she is killed when teaming with Spider-Man to track down the villain Menace and is killed in action. A guilt-ridden Ehret returns to the job, keeping her identity secret as she raises a family while fighting crime. Unquote And now Sony wants to make her into a movie. So here’s the question folks, will you want to see this movie? Who should play Jackpot? 

Marvel is rereleasing Avengers and Iron Man 3 into theaters….but not here. Sorry. The two MCU movies are being released into theaters in Hong Kong in order to entice people back to the theaters. The movies will be in theaters there from now until June tenth. The Hollywood Reporter believes that more Marvel movies could be rereleased in coming months. Would it be a good idea for Disney to do the same for theaters in the United States and Europe?

X-Men Star Nicholas Hoult wants another turn to play Beast if X-Men is rebooted for the MCU. He told Variety quote "That was a fun evolution and that's something that I'm always looking for is how a character changes. And I think there's a lot more to explore with that character,""So I'd be interested to know where they see it going next." unquote It’s unknown when such a reboot will occur.

Geek

Boom! Studios has announced a new Mega Man comic book series called Mega Man Fully Charged, based on the animated series of the same name. The six issue series is in partnership with WildBrain Ltd and Dentsu Entertainment USA and will be written by Mega Man tv writers AJ Marchisello and Marcus Rinehart and will be drawn by Stefano Simeone. Here’s how Boom Studios describes the series. Quote "After Mega Man’s father Dr. Light is kidnapped, a shocking truth rocks Mega Man’s world as it seems the Robot Masters know more about his secret history than he does. But as Dr. Wily’s machinations trigger Mega Man’s forgotten memories of the brutal human/robot war, our hero is left to question just who he is and if he can trust anything or anyone – including the man he calls father." unquote

Master of the universe revelation showrunner Kevin Smith in an interview with IMDB has confirmed that the show is a sequel to the original 80’s animated series. Saying quote "It's not like every other thing you knew about the characters is BS or whatever. We honor what went before. Our first episode is designed to feel like the next episode if they kept going in the classic run." unquote There is still no release date.

Deadpool creator and Image Comics co-founder Rob Liefeld has never been short of words and now he has a new podcast in which he talks about comics. The podcast is called Robservations with Rob Liefeld and is available where you get podcasts.

The Sonic the Hedgehog Movie went from being a joke when the first trailer was released to being a pretty well recieved movie. So much so that The Hollywood Reporter confirms that Paramount has greenlit the sequel with Jeff Fowler returning to direct and Pat Casey and Josh Miller returning to write.

And that brings us to the end of the comic book news. *Show Ender*

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Thanks for watching the comic book edition of Multiverse Tonight,  we will be back in two weeks with the scifi edition. Now please exit the universe in an orderly fashion. Good Night!  Multiverse Tonight is a production of Half-Baked Genre Productions. Copyright 2020  All Rights Reserved.