SPENCER - Let’s get the bad news out of the way,
From marvel.com, “Earlier this month, celebrated comic book artist and inker Dan Green passed away. With a career spanning more than four decades, Green's work brought some of the Marvel Universe's most beloved characters and stories to life for generations of fans to enjoy.”
Some of those works included Avengers, Amazing Spider-Man, Dr. Strange, Iron Fist and Captain Marvel.
Also, from hollywoodreporter.com, “Arleen Sorkin, Original Voice of Harley Quinn and ‘Days of Our Lives’ Actress, Dies at 67”
“‘Mark Hamill, who often recorded his lines as the Joker opposite Sorkin, also remembered her in a tribute, writing: “Devastated to learn we’ve lost the brilliant Arleen Sorkin. Not just a wonderful talent, but a truly wonderful person. I’m grateful not only to have worked with her, but to have been her friend. Sending my heartfelt condolences to her family & loved ones.’”
“Harley Quinn was intended to be a one-episode character when she debuted on Batman: The Animated Series in the 1992 episode “Joker’s Favor,” which introduced her as a henchwoman to Hamill’s Joker.”
“Paul Dini, Harley Quinn co-creator and Batman writer, was a college friend of Sorkin’s and said he was inspired to cast her after being home sick one day and catching her on an episode of Days of Our Lives, in which she played a harlequin in a dream sequence.”
“‘I thought about a character kind of like her persona at the time, which was the snappy, wisecracking blonde,” Dini told THR in 2016.’” —>https://www.marvel.com/articles/comics/remembering-dan-green-1952-2023 —>https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/arleen-sorkin-dead-days-of-our-lives-harley-quinn-voice-1235575529/
COLLIN - from marvel.com
“This December, get caught in the twisted web of Earth-65’s Gwen Stacy in an all-new SPIDER-GWEN limited series! Announced last month at San Diego Comic-Con, the newly titled SPIDER-GWEN: SMASH will be written by Melissa Flores (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, WOMEN OF MARVEL) and drawn by Enid Balám (KATE BISHOP: HAWKEYE).”
“One of the Spider-Verse’s biggest stars, Gwen Stacy—the Super Hero known as Ghost-Spider—will return to her native dimension for an action-packed music tour gone wrong! On the road, Gwen and fans alike will meet awesome new Earth-65 versions of popular heroes including music legends Dazzler and Lila Cheney, encounter deadly new villains, and more!”
“The Mary Janes are off on a four-city tour as the opening act to one of Earth-65’s biggest rock bands! Gwen has promised the band that this big break will be all about the music. No web-slinging, just drums. But when a mysterious assassin targets the headliner, Gwen begins to wonder how she got this gig in the first place.”
"’I am having the time of my life writing this limited series!’ Flores shared. ‘Getting to explore Gwen Stacy's musical side as she goes on tour with the Mary Janes in her home dimension is a[n] utter delight. Not only will the limits of Spider-Gwen's aka Ghost-Spider's powers be tested against some unexpected new enemies, but so will her relationships. There isn't an escape portal to another world when things get uncomfortable inside a tour bus!’" —>https://www.marvel.com/articles/comics/spider-gwen-smash-series-melissa-flores-enid-balam
JACOB - from cbr.com:
David Pepose Puts Marvel’s Criminals in a New Punisher's Crosshairs
“This fall, that war is back on as a former S.H.I.E.L.D black-ops agent takes up Castle's mantle and embarks on his own crusade of vengeance. His name is Joe Garrison, and readers will meet him in the pages of November's Punisher #1 by writer David Pepose and artist Dave Wachter. CBR spoke with Pepose about creating the new Punisher, the ways he's similar to and different from Castle, the people he's hunting, and the ones that are hot on his heels.”
“Punisher #1 is due out on Nov. 8.”
SPENCER - from comicbook.com: Blade Co-Creator Marv Wolfman Returns to Marvel for Vampire Slayer's 50th Anniversary
“What if Marv Wolfman returned to Marvel Comics to turn Blade the Vampire Slayer into a blood-thirsty vampire? 50 years after Wolfman and artist Gene Colan created the half-human/half-vampire "Daywalker" in 1973's Tomb of Dracula #10, the legendary writer will ask the question: "What if..." the Lord of the Vampires sunk his teeth into Eric Brooks, cursing him with eternal bloodlust? In celebration of Blade's milestone anniversary, Wolfman and artist David Cutler (X-Men & Moon Girl #1, The Darkhold: Black Bolt #1) are teaming for the one-shot What If...? Dark: Tomb of Dracula #1 this November.”
"’In 1972, I was a fledgling comics writer who mostly wrote short 2 to 8 page 'monster' stories when Editor Roy Thomas asked if I'd like to write Tomb of Dracula, my very first series for Marvel, and the book that would jumpstart my career,’ Wolfman said in a statement about the horror comic that pit the Prince of Darkness against vampire hunters and supernatural threats alike. ‘So it is a real thrill now that 50-plus years later Marvel asked me to once again dive into that pool with this very special What If...? story, and to bring back that great cast of characters that artist Gene Colan and I created so many years ago. Thank you, Marvel, for giving me the chance to play with old friends one last time.’" —>https://comicbook.com/comics/news/blade-creator-marv-wolfman-marvel-comics-what-if-dark-tomb-of-dracula/
COLLIN - from polygon: WandaVision, Mandalorian, and Loki are finally getting flashy Blu-ray releases
“All four of the seasons will get 4K UHD and Blu-ray releases and come in special collector’s edition steelbooks. Here are the release dates for all four:
Loki season 1: Sept. 26 (available for pre-order now at Amazon for $54.99)
WandaVision The Complete Series: Nov. 28 (available to pre-order at Best Buy for $45.99, the 4K Blu-ray steelbook is out of stock currently)
The Mandalorian season 1 and season 2: Dec. 12 (available to pre-order here for season 1 and here for season 2 for $54.99 each)”
JACOB - Screenrant’s website is awful. It is covered in clickbait like a wild animal is covered in ticks. They had this to report: Marvel’s Universe-Exploding New Series G.O.D.S. Is Its Cosmic House of X
“Marvel has released a number of new teasers for G.O.D.S., the new comic series co-created by Jonathan Hickman, the original architect of its most recent X-Men status quo. While G.O.D.S. remains somewhat shrouded in mystery, the ambition is obvious, with a slew of new characters, designs, and ideas. In a comics landscape where familiarity often triumphs, this series promises to shake things up and change the very structure of the Marvel Universe.”
“Written by Jonathan Hickman and illustrated by Valerio Schiti, Marvel is clearly hoping that G.O.D.S. replicates the success of Hickman’s previous epic, his X-Men dual-miniseries House of X/Powers of X, which was revolutionary not just in plot but in how it facilitated week-to-week fan discussion. Teased at San Diego Comic-Con 2022 before being formally announced in March 2023, G.O.D.S. is, along with HoX/PoX, one of two stories Hickman pitched to Marvel when he returned after a hiatus following 2015’s seminal Secret Wars. Marvel explains G.O.D.S' core concept:
‘The highly anticipated saga will bring to light an eons-old conflict between THE-POWERS-THAT-BE and THE-NATURAL-ORDER-OF-THINGS, two opposite factions that serve the familiar omnipotent forces of the Marvel Universe such as Eternity, Infinity, and the Living Tribunal.’”
“G.O.D.S. #1 releases from Marvel Comics on October 4th.” —>https://screenrant.com/marvel-universe-new-series-gods-hickman-house-x/
SPENCER - from variety
Walt Disney Pictures VFX Workers Move to Unionize
“Visual effects crews at Walt Disney Studios have taken a significant step to unionize after filing with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) for an election to unionize.”
“A supermajority (over 80%) of the 18 in-house VFX crew members at Walt Disney Pictures signed authorization cards signaling their desire to unionize.”
“The historical move is the second time in history that VFX professionals have joined together to demand the same protections and rights as their colleagues. Earlier this month, VFX crews at Marvel Studios voted to unionize beginning Aug. 21. Ballots are due on Sept. 11, and the vote count will take place on Sept. 12.”
“VFX workers have remained non-union since the field was pioneered during production of the first “Star Wars” films in the 1970s and ’80s As part of the move, unionizing workers are demanding fair compensation for all hours worked, adequate health care, retirement benefits, and more generally, the same rights and protections afforded to their unionized coworkers who are already represented by IATSE.”
“These demands echo the increasingly prevalent calls for improvements across [the] VFX Industry and are corroborated with the sentiment uncovered by IATSE’s 2022 VFX Worker Rate and Conditions Survey, which was published in March.” —>https://variety.com/2023/artisans/news/walt-disney-pictures-vfx-workers-union-1235706136/
COLLIN - These last three are from comicbook.com: Exclusive - DC Reveals Sequels to Batman '89 and Superman '78
“DC will continue to explore two of its most popular iterations of Batman and Superman, and we've got your exclusive first look at both projects! Today DC announced sequels to Batman '89 and Superman '78, which will be titled Batman '89: Echoes #1 and Superman '78: The Metal Curtain #1. Batman '89: Echoes reunites Batman '89 screenwriter Sam Hamm with artist Joe Quinones, while Superman '78: The Metal Curtain brings back writer Robert Venditti and new series artist Gavin Guidry.”
“Echoes picks up after Harvey Dent's war against Gotham, and Batman has completely disappeared. That causes the citizens of Gotham to take on the crime of the city themselves, and as the injured start to stack up, everyone is wondering what happened to the Dark Knight. Over in The Metal Curtain, Superman is settling into his life on Earth, but what he doesn't know is that a piece of his home might [have] landed somewhere else on Earth.”
BATMAN '89: ECHOES #1 on sale 11/28/23
SUPERMAN '78: THE METAL CURTAIN #1 ON SALE 11/7/23
JACOB -
DC Previews New The Penguin Series, and the Batman Villain May Be Kicking the Bucket
“Batman's old foe the Penguin is getting a new DC comic book series, and the preview for it sets some pretty high stakes!”
“As you can see below, the preview for Tom King's Penguin #1 takes a familiar approach to one of King's sordid character drama's: by teasing us with a scene of our principal in dire straits, before jumping back in time to explain how we got there. In this case, the dire straits are Batman and Penguin gravely injured and trapped inside the Batmobile, which is quickly sinking into Gotham River; the time jump backward is significant – one year earlier, when Oswald was hiding out in Metropolis, after faking his death to frame Batman (which sparked the drastic twists and turns of Chip Zdarsky's Batman arcs, "Failsafe" and "The Bat-Man of Gotham"). Penguin got plastic surgery and was seen running a flower shop in Gotham, before having to relocate to Metropolis, while Catwoman was tasked with tracking down his next of kin.”
“King and co. have teased that the Penguin comic series will see Oswald going up against his bastard twins, Addison and Aiden Cobblepot, who showed up in the Catwoman backup story for Batman #126, to claim their father's holdings during his will reading. It's been made clear that the next generation of Cobblepots will be taking organized crime in Gotham to the next level – enough so that the US intelligence community feels the need to get involved and send in Penguin as their Trojan Horse. But the Cobblepot kids don't seem like they're going to be looking for a happy family reunion…”
The Penguin #1 on sale August 22, 2023
SPENCER -
DC Announces New Speed Force Series Starring The Flash Family
“A few members of the Flash family are about to get spotlighted in the Dawn of DC initiative. On Thursday, DC exclusively announced (via ComicsBeat) plans to publish[ed] Speed Force, a new miniseries that will center on Wallace "Ace" West / Kid Flash, and Avery Ho / The Flash of China. The series is written by Jarrett Williams (Rick and Morty, Super Pro K.O.!) and illustrated by Daniele Di Nicuolo (Power Rangers, Superman: Son of Kal-El).”
“Speed Force #1 will be released on November 14 with a main cover by Di Nicuolo, it will have variant artwork by Leirix (open-to-order), and Mike Deodato Jr. (1:25 incentive).”
“Speed Force follows Wallace West and Avery Ho: the young speedsters have been Teen Titans, Justice Leaguers, and above all, members of the Flash Family. As they become aware of mysterious changes happening to the Speed Force, they race to Keystone City, where they encounter old friends, new threats, and a chance to forge their own paths.”