Support Your Local Comic Book Shop

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Tonight. Comic chapter comic book chapter, depending on you. Find out more run. That's a different multiverse. Tonight. And here's your host, Thomas Townley. Welcome everyone to episode 69 of Multiverse Tonight. I'm your host, Thomas Townley. Now uh it's it's it's very different these past two weeks, isn't it? Now if you've read the last episode, this will sound pretty much almost exactly the same, so go ahead, feel free to ski you know, skip ahead. Uh but for those of you who uh only listen to one episode or the other, um well, things are kinda different now. You know, it's two weeks two weeks uh after you know things were normal. Uh I'm doing okay, you know. Now uh coronavirus has not spread very far into Kansas. We only have a handful of cases, but it's sooner or later going to sweep sweep through here. Um right now there's just a lot of bear stores at uh your Walmart Walmart grocery stores. You know. So uh please uh do us a favor and go and help your small store owners wherever you can. Uh especially comic book stores right now. Uh they are having they're you know, they're having a delay of time. The uh city of Kingman uh city of uh Wichita, which is to the west to the west of me, it's the largest city around, has just gone under a mandatory uh gone under a uh stay-at-home order. So uh small so comic bookshops? Yeah. I doubt those are are considered essential. But uh you know, if if you can go to your comic book store, go there and and help them out, you know, buy something. Whatever you can. Uh instead of going out and buying massive amounts of toilet paper, honestly, to people. I I don't know if if if you and other countries have had this exact problem. You probably not. You ha you guys you guys got smart, you know, around the world and and got into bidets and and things like that. Marca got into toilet paper. Um, but uh we have had stores shelves wiped clean of any paper products. And this is not like something that we export or or or not not something that we import into the United States. All the paper products in the United States are made in the United States. It's not like we're going to run sudden you know, suddenly run out because we're not getting any from from overseas. I d don't get it. But, you know. It is what it is. It'll it'll calm down. Right now, we're just trying to, you know, ride this out. So uh let's uh try to try to be distracting a little bit and uh I'll give you a little bit new a little bit of news. Now uh before we get uh into the news proper here, let's uh take a moment for those of you who have not uh s not seen the uh PSA I ran in the last episode. Uh, you know, for those of you, hit your skip button a couple of times, get past it, but here you go. This will help this will help you out.

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COVID-19, better known as coronavirus, has spread throughout the world. Symptoms of this respiratory disease may include fever, cough, and shortness of breath. These symptoms may show up two to fourteen days after exposure. If you are experiencing these symptoms and have come into contact or are in an area with an ongoing outbreak, please call a hotline and or consult with a physician. Clean and disinfect high-touch surfaces. For more information, please visit cdc.gov forward slash covid 19. Thank you.

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I'd like to thank Blueberry for uh providing that PSA. Yeah. I wish I wish we had more entertaining PSAs. Yeah. Someone out there and ha someone out there, if if you you know a voiceover artist, you you you know don't have anything to do right now, put out some entertaining PSAs for podcasters. That would be a big help. Anyway, let's uh start with uh some DC comics news. Production on Wild Last Man might have stopped due to coronavirus. Kind of ironic considering it takes place after a male apocalypse happened on the earth. Coincidentally, the show has gained a cast member. According to deadline, Alek Fletcher has joined as York's best friend Sam. The character is described as, quote, Hero Brown's best friend and enabler. His background, he grew up in poverty with absent parents, has made him resourceful and resilient in the world where surviving men are greeted with suspicion, or worse. Street smart, but occasionally self-destructive, he is wry and funny with a big heart. Now the star, the show starring Barry Cogan, as uh York is due out later this year. We hope. Another production, closed due to COVID-19, is The Batman. Interestingly enough, uh originally it was going to continue filming, but with precautions. However, they halted it a few days ago as it was filming in London. However, there are a few tidbits to report on. Peter Sarsgaard, on the late show with Stephen Colbert, revealed that his character will be named Gil Colson and will be a shady pol Gotham politician. Aren't all Gotham politicians shady? And actor actor Jeffrey Wright, who is playing Jim Gordon in the movie, hinted at fans on Instagram that The Long Halloween is going to see some love in the movie. Posting a pick of the trade paperback edition of the miniseries with the words Another for the Culture. The Long Halloween was written and uh illustrated by the team of Jeff Loeb and Tim Sale, and takes a place during the beginning of Batman's career as he tries to solve the mystery of the holiday killer. May maybe uh we should all go back and read that. Kinda sounds i you know, it kinda sounds interesting. And it's not like we don't have uh a lot of time on our hands. But Will Smith has a guilty conscience. The actor speaking on his wife wife's red table talk on Facebook, feels that he feels Aquaman 2 is on the horizon, and in a now deleted tweet by Aquaman 2 writer David Leslie Johnson McGoldric tweeted in response to a fan question that uh might point us at Black Manta. In response to a question about what would be a good comic book movie to read while being locked down, David responded, quote, hmm, good question. We're not taking any one particular comic book story and adapting it. But if you want to know the vibe we're going for, pick up pretty much any Silver Age story featuring Black Manta, unquote. So, if the hint is strong, it looks like Black Manta will be striking back against Aquaman in the sequel. Aquaman 2 is due in theaters in December of 2022. Now, even with the coronavirus stopping or delaying productions, and right uh right now, uh DC's Black Adam is due to start filming this summer. Now my guess is that's kind of up in the air right now. It may or may not. Of course, that doesn't mean that Duane The Rock Johnson hasn't stopped training, as he posted in Instagram, quote, same game, different levels, same hell, different devils. Training for Black Adam where the devils may change, but hell still stays the same. Hashtag DC Universe, hashtag Black Adam, shooting begins this summer. At John at John Brat Brad and Cruz, unquote. With a foot picture of him sweaty and working out. You know what would be more interesting? If he said he was no longer working out. That that, my friends, would really be news. Black Adam is doing theaters of in December of 2021. Now, while you're self-quaranting yourself while you're quarantin yourself, uh read a comic. Batman number 96 introduces us to a new villain, Clown Hunter. James Tinian IV introduces the character introduced the character in his tiny onion newsletter, saying, quote, George and I just created a k new character called named Clown Hunter, who shows up in Batman number 96, part two of the Joker War. I am very, very, very excited about him and the absolutely brutal wrench he's going to throw into the mix of that story, unquote. Clown Hunter. I'm guessing he's not very fond of the Joker. Or circuses. You know, that might make a lot of us. Uh let's go on to the Marvel News. Now, let's start off with a couple quick hits here. Uh Productions have shut down on Loki and Shang-Chi due to the coronavirus, but we do have some news that's not COVID-19 related.

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Whew.

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With Damon Lindelof done with uh HBO's Watchmen, he's looking for other pastures. Perhaps he could lend his craft to the Marvel brand. Speaking with Phantom.com, Damon said, quote, I think that doing something in the Marvel Universe, anywhere in the Marvel Universe, would be really potentially exciting for me, especially as they start to get a little bit more experimental. Some of the things that I've seen for Wandavision, for example, just feel like, okay, now we're getting somewhere, particularly in a television space, unquote. Now he also told them that he wouldn't mind playing in the Star Wars sandbox either. And uh we of course covered that in the last uh sci-fi episode. Iron Man would have gotten strange if a scene had stayed into Infinity War. Kevin Smith on the Fat Man Beyond podcast confirmed that a scene with Doctor Strange in Iron Man's Armor was shot. Mr. Smith knows this because he's seen a photo of it shot by screenwriters Christopher Marcus and Steven McPhee. Quote, there's footage or a photo of Robert Danny Jr. wearing that cape wearing the cape that came out long before Infinity War came out. So we know they shot it. We know personally that they shot it because when the writers uh came and spoke to us at the house before they left, they were like, You want to see something? And they pulled out the phone and literally showed us, not just the drawing, because that's what's going on around the internet. Is there is there's a drawing and it looks badass. But they showed us bleep in Sherlock in the Iron Man bleep suit man. Like wearing the suit with Tony standing next to him wearing the cape, and we were like, what the bleep? And they were like, we can't say, never talk about it. Then it's out in the world, and I'm like, we saw that photo. It looked badass. Unquote. You know, that would be very interesting to see. I know that the art the artist rendering of it, you know, and I've seen that, but I would love to actually see it. Come on, give us something. Zendaya has been confirmed to return for the third MCU Spider-Man movie. The actor Tom Holland recently revealed in an interview with the E Philippine Daily Inquirer. The production is due to start in July in Atlanta. Here's a new book for you to pick up. Marvel has announced the new America Chavez Limited series. The series called America Chavez, made in the USA, will be written by Calinda Vasquez and will be drawn by Carlos Gomez. The series will showcase America's origins and powers and promises ripple effects for America and the world around her. Calinda, in a statement, said, quote, From the moment America Chavez was written was introduced into the Marvel Universe, I was a fan. It's such an honor to have the opportunity to tell an America story, and I couldn't be more excited to have been invited onto this project. Working with Sena Amnat and Elise Bissa and the rest of the editorial team at Marvel has been so fantastic, and I can't wait for the world to see the incredible artwork that Carlos Gomez has created for this book. In this series, America is going to be tested as she's never been tested before, and the challenges that she'll have to face will only force her to pull even more, even deeper from that well of strength and ferocity that we know lies within her. America Chavez, made in the USA, number one, comes into out the stores in June. Now let's go on to the geek news. Now we'll start the geek news with the reschedule shuffle. Many Comic Cons have either been forced to cancel or reschedule their shows because of the COVID-19 pandemic. One of the big ones has been the Emerald City Comic-Con, which was originally supposed to happen a few weeks ago, but was put on hold. Now it's been moved to August the 21st to the 23rd. Ticket exchanges for the new event are happening now. Now I supposed it was only just, you know, I w you know myself, I was supposed to be at Planet Comic-Con this past weekend, but it was also rescheduled and will know ha now happened in August as well, the 14th through the 16th. Now if you bought tickets, uh you already got an email, but if you didn't, uh just uh hit them up and uh see where it goes. Now a decision that hasn't been made yet is one that regards uh Comic Con International San Diego, and uh that decision will not be made until June, according to the San Diego Union Tribune. Now currently, the San Diego Convention Center has been temporarily turned into a homeless shelter during this uh COVID-19 outbreak. Now, currently the con is scheduled for July 23rd to the 26th. Now, WonderCon, its sister show in Anaheim was scheduled to take place next month. It's been delayed. So whether uh San Diego Comic Con actually happens is up in the air. You know, just kind of watch this space. Disney is releasing onward early to digital. With the virus closing down movie theaters, the company will now make the Pixar movie with the talents of Tom Holland and Chris Pratt available to buy digitally now, and it will uh debut on Disney Plus on April the 3rd in the US. It's not the only movie to hurry up amid this crisis. Paramount will put Sonic the Hedgehog up for purchase on March 31st, months ahead of the physical release on May 19th. Vin Diesel's Bloodshot will come out on March 24th along with the Invisible Man, Emma, The Hunt, and Trolls World Tour. It's even been rumored that Wonder Woman 1984 might get the quickie digital release, but that rumor's kind of been shot down, so hold on. GameStop has decided in the wake of the pandemic to shutter its physical locations and switch to processing only digital orders. Physical stores will be offered will be offering a curbside pickup service or other e-commerce deliveries. GameStop will pay employees for the eliminate hours for the next two weeks based on the previous 10 weeks average hours. Now, more to pile on, and I kind of alluded to this at the beginning of the show. Diamond Comics Distributors, which if you don't know, is the company that distributes new comics to retailers across the United States and uh other places, has shut down. The company released a statement that said, quote, as everyone knows, the world faces ever-increasing challenges related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Its effects on the comics and collectibles and tabletop gaming industries have been felt far and wide. We are hearing from thousands of retailers that they can no longer service their customers as they have had in the past, many of them forced to close by government action or resort to in-person or curbside delivery. Even those still open are seeing reduced foot traffic in many cases. A situation that seems likely to worsen over with time. Our publishing partners are also faced with numerous issues in their supply chain, working with creators, printers, and increasing uncertainty when it comes to the production and delivery of products for us to distribute. Our freight networks are feeling the strain, and we are already experiencing delays while our distribution centers in New York, California, and Pennsylvania were all closed late last week. Our own home office in Maryland instituted a work from home policy, and experts say that we can expect further closures. Therefore, my only logical conclusion is to cease the distribution of new weekly products until there is a great greater clarity on the progress made towards stemming the spread of this disease. Now let's put succinctly, the company will not be sending any pro new product with a sale sale date of April for the foreseeable future until uh such time as this crisis passes. So here's what I need you to do. Support your local comic book shop. Uh pick up back issues if and and if you're feeling generous, hand them fifty dollars to pay off someone else's back back order. Or ask for fifty dollars in future credit. Uh buy some Funko Pops, games, anything else they have. You know, keep these stores in business. It's all up to you. These these stores live on very thin profit margins. And you know, this if if this goes on as long as they say it's going to go on, this could completely wipe out comic book stores. They could they could go the way of record stores. Yeah, even though I know yeah, records are now back in back in vogue, but I don't think comic books will see the same thing. Anyway, uh just go, you know, keep these stores in business. It's d all up to you. Now that will bring us to the end of the comic book news. Uh be sure to check us out on social media. We're at Twitter at multiverse tom. We're also on Facebook and Instagram as well. And if you'd uh like to uh contribute some money to our cause, please visit mtpodcast.com to go to our coffee, our Patreon, and now glow.fm as well. And just go to or just go to multiverse tonight and hit that support me link that's at the top of the page, and be sure to visit multiverse tonight.com and check out the affiliate marketplace links, the link to our Tea Public store, and uh show notes and so much more. And if you're a subscriber, be sure to share us with your friends, and if you're brand new to the show, please be sure to subscribe and you know leave me with some feedback. You know you wanna, and uh let me know how we're doing. Now special thanks to Shane Ivers for our intro music and Lobo Loco for our outro theme music. Thanks uh for watching the comic book edition of Multiverse Tonight. We'll be back in just two weeks with the sci-fi edition. Now please exit the universe in orderly fashion and get out, you know, and uh shop at a comic book store. Good night. Multiverse tonight is a production of Half Big Genre Productions Copyright twenty twenty call rights reserved.