Video game producer donates classic back issues to the Smithsonian

I previously wrote about what I thought was a questionable article by one of the founders of Riot Games, producer of League of Legends. Now, it looks like there is something good he's done that should serve as vital example in this day and age, as the Smithsonian magazine's announced Brandon Beck donated some classic back issues to the museum's archives:

Before Superman and Captain America became global symbols of heroism, joined cinematic universes and inspired Halloween costumes, they were just ink on cheap newsprint—bold, bright and bursting with possibility. Now, the comic book debuts of two of the world’s most iconic superheroes have found a permanent home at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.

In an extraordinary acquisition, gifted by Brandon Beck, co-founder of the video game developer Riot Games, the museum has added Action Comics No. 1 and Captain America Comics No. 1 to its collection. These comic books were the public’s introduction to characters whose influence today spans movies, television, toys and the imaginations of several generations.

This is what collectors doing it for the sake of the speculator market should really be doing: donating those brilliant treasures to museums, and thankfully, here we're seeing a far better example set. Predictably, however, this article can't evade certain political biases:

Superman first leapt onto the page in 1938’s Action Comics No. 1, widely considered the beginning of the superhero genre. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, Superman—a caped defender of humanity who came to Earth from the doomed planet Krypton—embodied Depression-era yearnings for justice. Nearly 90 years of storytelling were launched from that first issue.

Captain America arrived in December 1940, with the issue dated March 1941, as global conflict intensified. Created by writer Joe Simon and artist Jack Kirby, the star-spangled super soldier debuted with an unforgettable image: delivering a crushing right hook to Adolf Hitler’s jaw, before the United States officially entered World War II in December 1941. The cover was more than sensational art—it was a bold political statement. When a scrawny Brooklyn volunteer named Steve Rogers was transformed by science into a symbol of national resolve, comic books became a vehicle for wartime morale and democratic ideals.

In an era where such values as democracy and morale are being shredded, that's certainly saying something, isn't it? Interesting how they argue that Cap's Golden Age debut was a political statement, but today, when somebody wants to take on issues like Islamic terrorism, suddenly it's inappropriate, and not bold at all. And should it really be described as a political statement? Maybe that's running the gauntlet of hijacking somebody else's creation for their own propaganda goals, and not considering that issues like totalitarianism is a serious topic that transcends mere politics? As though they couldn't give more suggestions their own claim is political, a more recent form of propaganda comes up:

“We use objects from popular culture to reflect and learn about the past, and the comics provide incredible insight into the era from which they come, including the relationships between the books’ Jewish American creators and the beginning of the World War II era, fascination with technological and scientific advancements, and representations of sacrifice and heroism during challenging times,” says Jentsch.

Taken together, the comics reflect societal anxieties and aspirations alike—whether in Superman’s immigrant origins or in Captain America’s wartime ethos. “The pivotal creators of these comics—Jerry Siegel, Joe Shuster, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby—were all first-generation Jewish Americans, anxious to make their marks in a country that had welcomed their parents,” says Paul Levitz, president of DC Comics from 2002 to 2009 and writer of many comics, including Superman, via email. “As someone who had the pleasure of knowing them all, I can confidently say that this recognition of their work in the most significant comic book acquisition in decades, would have been a great affirmation of the groundbreaking genre that they created.”

Another article where they fall back on the angering cliche of describing the Man of Steel as an "immigrant" instead of an otherworldly refugee from a destroyed planet. Based on that, it's hard to believe the Smithsonian's really serious about respecting the goals of the Golden Age creators, let alone their ethnic heritage and backgrounds. Considering how disinterested leftist ideologues like the Smithsonian's are in learning and reflecting on the past, what's the use of their acquiring the classic oldies when they may not do justice for their history? And even now, Levitz may not be fully qualified to speak in their name, considering he sold out to Islamic propagandists nearly 2 decades ago, and even indicated he thought abortion was okay years later. As a result, Levitz for one isn't offering the best affirmation of the acquisition.

The timing is apt. In recent decades, superhero narratives have dominated box office returns and streaming platforms, generating expansive programming and reshaping Hollywood economics. Yet the origins of these billion-dollar franchises remain humble: Stapled pages sold for a dime at neighborhood newsstands. Today some of those rare pages are among the most valuable printed materials in existence. Four years ago, Captain America’s first adventure sold for more than $3 million at auction. Last year, a copy of Superman No. 1 was auctioned for more than $9 million. In January, a copy of Action Comics No. 1 sold privately for $15 million.

And it doesn't bother them that outside the donation of Beck's back issues to their archives, there's speculators out there who've sold these back issues round and round, yet never, not once, donated to museums, let alone bought themselves wall paintings of the same characters? What isn't discussed by extension is whether that suggests the speculators are actually ashamed of the products, their desire to own them notwithstanding.

That 2 of the most famous superheroes' premiere issues have been acquired by a museum is a positive example in itself, and Beck deserves credit for setting a good one. But beyond that, there's no telling if an institution that's been pretty left-leaning will do enough to convince they really support the messages Superman and Cap were built upon back in the day, or that they don't wish to exploit the material for the sake of leftist propaganda, as their description of Superman suggests. Do they even know Simon was conservative? Will they ever even put Simon's illustration of Cap smashing Osama bin Laden on display in their future exhibitions? If not, then this purchase amounts to little, and won't be respecting the visions of the original creators.

The role of Detroit, Michigan in comicdom

NPR-Michigan Public wrote about what role a city like Detroit played in producing comics, and tabletop games:

When people think of Detroit, they might think of the city’s reputation for auto manufacturing or Motown music—but what about comic books? Two recent exhibits at the Detroit Historical Museum showcase the city’s lesser-known influence in comic books and tabletop gaming.

Curated by Billy Wall-Winkel, “Heroes vs. Villains” explores Detroit’s comic book history, showcasing more than 60 comic artists with ties to Michigan. The exhibit features artists like Jerry Bails, known as the “father of comic book fandom,” and Shel Dorf, the founder of San Diego Comic-Con, among others. A companion exhibit, “Worlds of Palladium,” profiles Detroit-based publisher Palladium Books, a pioneer in the tabletop roleplaying game community.

“We had folks here in Detroit that were just absolutely obsessed with science fiction and fantasy,” Wall-Winkel said. “We had folks that wanted just to convince everyone else that comics [were] a legitimate art form.”

Trouble is, anybody who thinks they succeeded in convincing they are a valid art form failed, if we look at this from an artistic perspective, and how the mainstream was devastated by political correctness. The only thing the specialists convinced anybody about was that comics make a great wellspring for extended media potential like movies and TV programs. And for a while, yes, that was a success. But by the turn of the decade, the fortunes of Marvel's movieverse began to recede under the weight of wokeness,

The exhibit also features the work of Detroit comic artists who worked for Marvel and DC, including Jim Starlin, Rich Buckler, Keith Pollard, and many more. Wall-Winkel’s personal favorite is writer Dwayne McDuffie, who pioneered minority representation in superhero comics through Milestone Media.

Be that as it may about McDuffie, something that disappoints me is that he was still quite a leftist, from what I know. But, if it matters, it's admittedly disgusting how Dan DiDio fired McDuffie over an Orwellian Thoughtcrime after the latter indicated he wasn't happy writing Justice League in the mid-2000s, because of horrible editorial mandates forced upon him. The worst part is that DiDio all but got away with doing so, and who in the mainstream holds him accountable for disrespecting a POC today over a petty issue? Let's not forget Frank Miller inexplicably hired him as an editor for a self-titled imprint Miller launched a few years back, and if it was a flop, DiDio's involvement alone is arguably why.

As noted, the article also brings up tabletop games like Dungeons & Dragons, and how such concepts have overlapped with comicdom:

Palladium Books was founded in 1981 by Detroit artist Kevin Siembieda, a time when tabletop gaming surged in popularity. The publisher is most known for tabletop games like Rifts or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Other Strangeness, which was the first licensed product of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Tabletop games like Dungeons & Dragons allow players to act out fantasy adventures together, fighting monsters while playing as their own original characters. Dungeons & Dragons, in particular, has been having a mainstream moment after featuring heavily in the Netflix series “Stranger Things,” as well as the success of its own 2023 feature film. According to Wall-Winkel, fans of video games often turn to tabletop gaming as a more expansive way to explore fantasy and science fiction worlds.

Predictably, they won't get into how the franchise also encountered political correctness and was watered down in the past decade for the sake of leftist propaganda like "inclusivity", as though it were never there, and some of the silliest things about this direction are that they acted like the Drows, Orcs and goodness knows what other anthropomorphic villains in the franchise literally had to see positive depictions, as though they weren't there to begin with. D&D, for all we know, will probably be brought down hard in time by all this wokeism.

Without a doubt, Detroit's got plenty of interesting comics contributors abound who could make good subjects for this exhibition. But, if there's one whom I hope they haven't gone out of their way to highlight, it's Geoff Johns, whose writings in mainstream in the past quarter century were so inexcusably crude and insufferable, they'd make a very humiliating addition to the exhibition as a result. From what I can tell, Johns doesn't seem to be on the list, and if he's absent, that's fortunate. No need to sully the exhibition with the work of somebody as blatant as he proved to be in the long run.

That told, it's still a shame there's so much more an article like this could've brought up, and predictably, they wouldn't because it doesn't fit the superficial, PC narrative they follow.

Dark Horse's original founder no longer retains his position

The Oregonian reported that Mike Richardson, the founder of Dark Horse in the mid-1980s, and sold ownership 5 years ago, is no longer their CEO:

Publisher and Producer Mike Richardson is no longer serving as chief executive officer of Dark Horse Comics, the media enterprise he started from a single comic book store in Bend, Oregon.

Embracer, the Swedish video game holding corporation that acquired Dark Horse in 2022, has announced gaming executive Jay Komas as interim chief executive officer. Richardson had continued as chief executive officer following the acquisition.

Embracer declared the leadership transition in a statement that went out to business partners and creators according to Popverse, a pop culture news site.

“As part of our long-term strategy to better align Dark Horse within a more interconnected and forward-thinking group structure, we are enacting modifications to modernize the enterprise and enhance collaboration across publishing, gaming, film, merchandise, and other essential sectors,” Embracer stated in the announcement.

Well even before this, Dark Horse was already showing signs of deterioration in the past decade, from political correctness, and they once employed an editor named Scott Allie who was accused of sexual assault, but it took a while until they finally threw him out. And he was quite a wokester, based on what politics he emphasized, no doubt for virtue signaling to obscure his real characteristics. So Dark Horse isn't so clean, and lurching towards Orwellian tactics in writing/art does nothing to improve the situation. I think Richardson did build up an admirable business, but his failure to act against Allie back in the day dampens that impact.

He launched the publishing venture in 1986 with a focus on safeguarding creators’ rights. The move allowed him to secure some of the hottest comic book talent of that era. Dark Horse became home to creators including Frank Miller, who published “Sin City” and ”300," and Mike Mignola, who developed the Hellboy universe in the early ’90s.

The company also published licensed comics including “Alien” and “Predator,” even merging the two science fiction franchises into an “Alien vs. Predator” comic book series that eventually transitioned to the big screen in the early 2000s. [...]

Under Richardson, Dark Horse pioneered initiatives to adapt its comics for Hollywood while remaining involved as producers. Early films included “The Mask,” “Timecop,” “Dr. Giggles” and “Barb Wire.” “Hellboy” and “Sin City” both became successful movie franchises as well. Richardson most recently served as executive producer on “The Umbrella Academy,” Netflix’s adaptation of Gerard Way’s Dark Horse comic.

There are some gems that came from Dark Horse, I don't deny that. But I think a problem with a company employing the word "dark" in their name is that that's what they wound up emphasizing, if we go by what Frank Miller and Mike Mignola's GN series are about, along with the 2 aforementioned horror-themed movie franchises. But regarding creators' rights, did this ever extend to publishing agreements even with writers whose politics Richardson didn't agree with? If Richarson and company vehemently refused to publish, say, Mike Baron's Private American GN, then that's a very serious mistake right there, and exposes just the beginning of what's wrong with their MO. If Richardson and company were unwilling to show the courage to platform a product like that and prove they won't let "controversy" get in the way of something building on a right-wing angle, that only compounds what went wrong when they failed to fire Allie for his offensive behavior.

As for Hellboy and Sin City becoming "successful" film franchises, the former may have had 4 films, but the latter only 2, and the second was a failure. Also, IIRC, it was co-produced by the Weinstein Company, which collapsed out of business mighty fast after Harvey W's sexual abuse scandal came to light. And not all of DH's movie ventures were successful, recalling Barb Wire was a failure, its shoestring budget at the time notwithstanding.

And then Richardson goes so far as to sell off his company, suggesting it wasn't really the huge success they claim it to be. Why else sell it if it were?

There are decent items they've published, to be sure. They once, amazingly enough, reprinted Baron and Steve Rude's Nexus from 1981-97. But like many other publishers run by apparently left-leaning ideologues, they had some serious flaws that don't look likely to be smoothed over now that Richardson's on his way out. And who knows, maybe the time's come for some creators who've worked with them to move shop.

A biography of inker Vince Colletta

Apollo Magazine (archive link) spoke about a new biography for the late inker Vince Colletta:

The first comic strip with a recurring character appeared in 19th-century London: Ally Sloper’s Half Holiday (1884), a then-unusual combination of words and images. Yet while comic books were traditionally dismissed as a debased form of entertainment for American and Japanese adolescent boys (as well as the sources for a multi-billion-dollar film empire), a new book shows how they come with their own traditions and virtuosos. Drawn to Beauty: The Life and Art of Vince Colletta (Black Spring Press) explores the work of an illustrator best known for his work ‘inking’ Jack Kirby’s drawings in Marvel’s Thor and Fantastic Four comics. Colletta (1923–91) is regarded as one of the finest inkers – the artists who translate the sketches into the image that is printed on the page. He was renowned for his delicacy and for giving the final shape to some of Marvel’s most popular characters, before leaving to eventually become the art director of rival company DC. But it’s what he did in between the two roles that might have become most influential.

Kirby may be one famous figure who's never gotten enough wide recognition, but Colletta's another who could use some more too. So it's great to know he's also received a biography of his work, long after he passed away. And there's plenty more figures from better eras who could use some biographies too, and hopefully will see them in time.

Manga publisher hurts their reputation by employing a sex offender who wrote under a pen name

Anime Hunch reported on a case involving the manga publisher Shokagukan, who've caused a scandal by employing a convicted sex offender who'd written under a pen name, all this despite the severity of his crimes:

Shogakukan, the publisher of hit manga like Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End and Detective Conan, confirmed on Feb 27, 2026, that it has suspended distribution of Jojin Kamen after acknowledging that its original author, Kazuaki Kurita, who wrote the series under the pen name Hajime Ichiro, was convicted in 2020 under Japan’s child pornography law.

Despite that conviction, Kurita continued publishing on the company’s Manga ONE platform for nearly six years. He also published the series Daten Sakusen (Operation Fallen Angel) under the pen name Shoichi Yamamoto.

This came to light after the latest court ruling against the author on Feb 20, 2026, where he was asked to pay damages worth 11 million to the victim.

In a formal statement, Shogakukan admitted failures in its editorial decision-making and verification process that allowed the appointment to proceed.

The editorial department issued an apology to the victim, readers, the series’ illustrator and other creators for betraying their trust.

The announcement triggered significant backlash across social media platforms, with readers and fellow creators serializing on Manga ONE publicly questioning how a previously convicted offender had been permitted to continue publishing on the platform for years.

Criticism also intensified over the reported involvement of an editor in settlement discussions between Kurita and the victim in 2021, including participation in a messaging app group chat during negotiations over compensation and conditions.

Read more at the article, which tells how repellent the crime he committed was against the girl he attacked, and no sane person should have to read his mangas as a result, and definitely not spend money on them. Here's also what Anime Corner says:

Furthermore, it was revealed that an editor at Manga ONE mediated between the individual who was assaulted and Kurita in a LINE group chat while Daten Sakusen was still ongoing. This editor is believed to be Takuya Narita, who allegedly proposed getting a settlement agreement notarized that would compensate the individual with 1.5 million yen (~$9.6k) if they did not go public about the assault and withdrew their appeal against Kurita’s manga resuming.

The editor is believed to be Narita due to a purported post from the individual who was assaulted, as reported by Japanese outlet ITmedia, and Narita’s confirmed role as editor of both Daten Sakusen and Jojin Kamen, per official X posts. (However, manga can have multiple editors.) Kyodo (via Mainichi) and Sankei report on the Manga ONE editor’s suggestion to get a document with the above terms notarized, but do not name Narita. The distribution and serialization of Jojin Kamen has now been halted.

Obviously, it's shameful the publisher would cover up a crime involved, and why waste so many trees for the sake of a story concocted by a real life monster? It's unbelievable how many irresponsible and incompetent employees there are in the entertainment industry. Some may already have read about the sexual abuse indictment Hollywood actor/director Timothy Busfield is now facing, and it was reported that Warner Brothers did not lead a convincing investigation of their own into the matter, which gives reason to believe they too were trying to cover it all up. And to think that WB was trying to get themselves sold to Netflix, the company that broadcast a smutty arthouse film called "Cuties"! Now that it looks like they've been sold to Paramount/Skydance, we can only hope somebody will make a convincing effort to clean up their conduct.

And of course, even today in Japan, they too, lest we forget, still have a lot of improvements to make, including their vetting process, which could include making sure a company's contributors don't have a severe criminal record, and if they do, they must distance themselves from the offenders immediately, without hesitation. Shokagukan, for all we know, might end up facing financial damage from this scandal, yet another example of how sexual crimes still aren't opposed properly in the Japanese system.

A case made for why GNs can be great for reading instruction that's spoiled by mention of a propaganda item

Education Week's writing about why graphic novels can be good for reading instruction assignments. There are some interesting points made, but towards the end, the impact is seriously dampened by the mere mention of a propaganda item that distorted history for woke political brownie points:

If the goal is for them to be familiar with the story or examine themes, they can read the graphic novel version. Some Recommendations include Brave New World: A Graphic Novel by Fred Fordham, Anne Frank’s Diary: The Graphic Adaptation by David Polonsky and Ari Folman, Romeo and Juliet and The Odyssey by Gareth Hinds, George Orwell’s 1984 by Matyas Namai, and Bea Wolf by Zach Weinersmith.

Well gee, this certainly isn't doing any favors by citing leftist animator Folman's questionable GN about Anne Frank as though that's perfect for schools and education. What's the columnist thinking? I'm sorry, but that spoils this whole essay, when there's bound to be other, more historically accurate GNs about Frank and other WW2 Holocaust-related subjects around. Even if the subject is obviously adult to the point where parental guidance would be needed, that Folman's GN exploits the misfortune of a young girl for the sake of LGBT propaganda and other forced smut ruins everything.

One of the worst problems with mainstream news writers like the one who wrote the essay for Education Week is that they always go almost entirely with the easiest of choices and examples, and never do deeper research to see if there's anything more challenging that could be brought up instead. Anybody who's not willing to sit back and determine if a comic like Folman's really makes the best recommendation for educational purposes has no business being in the school management system.

Jack Kirbys visions were allegedly an inspiration for Riot Games' League of Legends characters

A guest writer at the Washington Post, who co-created League of Legends and co-founded its studio, Riot Games, brought up the history of the late, great Jack Kirby, now on exhibit at the Smithsonian, apparently for telling everybody how his work inspired their video game creations, and making a case against artificial intelligence:

The man behind this image is Jack Kirby, a Jewish comic artist who emerged from New York’s Lower East Side in the 1930s to become one of America’s most prolific and imaginative creators.

Since Kirby died in 1994, the worlds he envisioned have continued to grow in popularity, accounting for many of the biggest box-office hits in the 21st century. Kirby pioneered the visual language of modern superheroes — from Captain America to the Incredible Hulk to Black Panther — and revolutionized world-building itself. Today, any creator designing characters or imagining universes is likely building in part on Kirby’s vision.

There's something rather hypocritical for a newspaper that's hostile to Israel, the land of Kirby's ancestry, to be bringing up his ethnic background if they don't genuinely respect it. Chances are they don't have respect for Iranian dissidents either. That aside, it's supremely silly how the writer claims Kirby's worlds have skyrocketed in popularity when sales today make clear it's anything but that, and the Eternals film was a box office dud. Based on this, I hesitate to think what could become if the New Gods and even the Demon, some of Kirby's creations for DC, were adapted to live action.

Yet, unlike George Lucas, Walt Disney or even Stan Lee (his longtime collaborator at Marvel), Kirby’s name remained largely unknown outside comic fandom. Few among the tens of millions who watched “Deadpool & Wolverine” in 2024 knew that the X-Men universe was co-conceived decades earlier by this young artist.

Kirby may be finally getting his due.

“Jack Kirby: Heroes and Humanity,” the first major exhibition of his work, just wrapped up its run at Los Angeles’ Skirball Cultural Center. A documentary, “Kirbyvision,” is underway. New York City last summer named a Lower East Side street corner after its native son, and several of his comics have joined the permanent collections at the Smithsonian Institution and the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

His life story feels especially instructive now. As creative fields examine the disruptive potential of artificial intelligence, Kirby’s art exemplifies the unmatched power of human imagination.

That's the guy's reason for bringing him up? Because if he's not interested in researching and telling everybody how Marvel under Joe Quesada destroyed all of Captain America's potential beginning in 2002, along with what made other creations of Kirby's work, then what good does it do to make points about how AI is no substitute for human-illustrated art? I'm sorry, but this is all cheap stuff, that once again misses a chance to inform everyone what went wrong in the past quarter century.

At Riot Games, we originally built video games to deliver bombastic fantasies that embody specific archetypes or play experiences. Over time, we faced the challenge of retroactively weaving these diverse creations into a single, coherent world, worthy of storytelling.

It’s no small task to make a sad mummy, a star-forging dragon and a pyromantic schoolgirl feel as though they belong in the same universe. Comics have long solved a similar puzzle, uniting a Norse god, a billionaire inventor and even a talking raccoon and sentient tree into a believable ensemble. In that sense, our process drew from Kirby’s legacy: build boldly, then discover the connective tissue, the humanity and purpose that binds characters into something greater than the sum of their parts.

Kirby and his collaborators pushed us to treat narrative not as an accessory but as a responsibility, convincing us that the rudimentary characters in our early game could inhabit a universe rich enough to connect people across cultures and generations while asking timeless human questions.

Oh, another discussion of responsibility, without harkening back to where none was on display in the early 2000s, all shortly after September 11, 2001, when Quesada - and Bill Jemas - not only put Captain America in the Marvel Knights imprint, they even put him in a Blame America scenario. That was unacceptable, went against what Kirby stood for, and now, a quarter century later, all some technologist wants to talk about is how Kirby served as inspiration for video game designs. Sure, it can be great to draw inspiration from Kirby's visions, but if they really respect him, they wouldn't ignore just how bad use of Kirby's creations back in the comics became after the turn of the century until now. IIRC, the Knights imprint wasn't as monumentally successful as some apologists might make it out to be, recalling Cap's run under that imprint lasted possibly less than 2 years, and then the imprint label was dropped, but the damage had been done, and now it's gotten to the point where race-swapping propaganda has all but forced Steve Rogers out of the role. And that story where Cap was written saying "hail Hydra" is another repulsive moment in terrible comics history now soiling Kirby's creation.

Creative people are told AI will replace them. But AI has no lived experience. It can mimic and remix the raw material of human creativity, drawing on patterns it did not originate. That’s why its work, however dazzling, reflects the archive it was trained on rather than a life it has lived. It cannot create from personal memory, conviction or emotional truth, the forces that Kirby transformed into art. In the AI age, his legacy reminds us that while technology may assist the creative process, the most enduring universes are born not of algorithms alone but of human imagination, alive with the sparks that only come when people create together.

Yes, but this doesn't excuse how abysmal artistic merit's become in over 2 decades, and there's decidedly no excuses for a computer game producer obscuring that either. And if human imagination's going to be corrupted, can you expect AI to improve upon that?

I also looked at the reader comments, and for example, we have:

It’s hard to read any article about Jack Kirby that doesn’t reference how ill-treated and under-appreciated he was. He was constantly shuffling from company to company, most of which exploited his talent and failed to enable him fully. What we got was spectacular, but there was so much more that just wasn’t supported.

Yet none of that is as troubling as how Marvel took his and Joe Simon's creation, Capt. America, and exploited Steve Rogers for the sake of apologia for Islamic terrorism and Blame America propaganda. Speaking of Simon, he later reportedly drew a picture of Cap socking Osama bin Laden, and that's all buried today, 15 years after his own passing. Why, even Simon's hardly known outside comic circles by today's standards. Maybe even Will Eisner's in the same situation. Yet none of that matters to the Riot Games manager? For shame.

Another comment made a good point, but simultaneously risked contradicting it:

I watched a video essay recently talking about how Japanese Manga has surpassed American comics in most ways, because American comics are mostly locked in and unchanging. Spiderman can go on new adventures, his villains can come and go or rotate, but his story can never end. Popular characters can be killed off, but will be brought back, reducing any impact on the readers.

It had some good points, even if it ignored that popular and long running Manga titles do the same things at times, but they do tend to be the vision of the creator and last only as long as they are willing to work on them.

One of the strengths of American comics, I think, is that a new writer/artist can take an existing character and re-imagine them. The X-Men weren't as popular as they would become until Chris Claremont's epic run with them, for example.

Kirby is a titan and probably more impactful than Stan was.

Just what definition of "reimagining" would that be? Because there's only so many politicized "reimaginings" going on today at the expense of classic creations, whether it's race/sex-swapping or forcing LGBT and Islamic propaganda down the readers' throats, and the aforementioned Iceman stands out as a X-Men cast member who was a big victim of such propaganda. As for the point that manga can also emphasize resurrections, a point that should be made is that the problem with mainstream USA comics either killing off characters or resurrecting them is that they're not doing it organically or altruistically, but for the sake of publicity, and even worse is when a character who's on the good side is forcibly turned into a monster, as seen with 2 women in both Identity Crisis and Avengers: Disassembled, Jean Loring and Scarlet Witch. Must I point out the latter is a Kirby creation? One more reason why the alarmingly forced approach to her in WandaVision and Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is sickening. So we have all these situations that cropped up since the 90s where heroic characters are killed/villified in contempt of the original visions, while only villains are allowed to be resurrected, or worse, somehow become heroes instead. That may not be so common now, but the damaging impact of such tactics is still proving hard to shake off.

All that aside, this does make a vital point that, if mangakas can write about resurrections, then it's not inherently wrong for USA comics to do the same, provided the goodies and their civilian co-stars are allowed the same privileges as villains could disturbingly get.

Here's one more reader comment:

I wrote about how Hitler did not start the hate against you know how but this is 2,000 years old but the media like WAPO want to pretend that Hitler started all this giving cover to religion to continue to preach their hate & WAPO censored it - let's see if this revised version makes it in

I assume this alludes to Islamic antisemitism, and it's already old news neither Marvel nor DC want to seriously tackle the issue, recalling how the former even went so far as to preach for the sake of the Religion of Peace with a race-swapped Ms. Marvel who's a Muslim, and the latter did the same with a Muslim Green Lantern, in a storyline that was also built on making "infidels" look bad. And all this at the expense of the Jewish community that created the comics now exploited for the sake of woke propaganda. Well if the Wash. Post censored any statement on that, go figure, they're still as repellent in their leftist politics as before.

With that told, much as I'd like to credit some video game producers for drawing inspiration from famous artists, their failure to defend classic creations from abuse spoils everything. Nor do they make a case for artistic merit, and why it's bad to resort to publicity stunts as Marvel/DC have been doing for quite some time. If how modern comics are written/illustrated doesn't matter, it's pointless to claim they're fans of Kirby, one of the best artists who brought about what they claim to be inspired by.

Jeff Lemire turns out another horror-thriller, and a deconstruction of a DC superhero

Comic Book Club Live's announced Canadian writer Lemire is foisting yet another horror tale upon comicdom, as if we never have enough of such an overrated genre as it is:

The news was announced via Lemire’s blog, where he broke down the deal further noting that it’ll kick off with a three volume supernatural detective series with artist Teddy Kristiansen titled Mr. Oblivion.

Per Lemire, “Mr. Oblivion follows Marty McCabe, who was once the world’s greatest occult detective, Mr. Oblivion, but now, twenty-years later, sells real estate in the suburbs and struggles with middle-age, marriage, and a teenaged daughter. But, when the demons of his past return (literally), Marty must once again put on the fabled Merlin Mask to save his family, even if it eats his soul alive.”

No wonder this writer's one of plenty modern ones who've never impressed me. And if you want to know what Lemire's preparing for mainstream, he even announced 2 months ago he's writing a new take on Firestorm:

The series will launch in April and it’s been a real labour of love for the whole creative team. My editors Andrew Marino and Marquis Draper are two of the biggest Firestorm fans in the world and when I told them I also loved the character we knew we were going to swing for the fences with this one. The original Firestorm series told the story of Ronnie Raymond, a college student who was fused with his eccentric professor, Martin Stein, in a nuclear accident. Together they merged into the flame-headed hero, Firestorm. Our book will be both a deconstruction of the character and a love letter to his past.

If you’ve never read a Firestorm comic before, I’ve written the first issue as if it were the pilot episode of a new series, so it’s totally new reader friendly. And if you are an old school Firestorm fan (they exist, I swear!) the book is loaded with Easter eggs and nods to the past too.

Forget it, when somebody says they're deconstructing, that's pretty telling, because deconstruction became the norm in the past quarter century, and that's why calling this a "love letter" is no more convincing than to say Identity Crisis was one, recalling Brad Meltzer and possibly other DC staff called that repellent 2004 miniseries a "love letter" to the Silver/Bronze Age years ago.

If Lemire's new Firestorm series stars Ronnie Raymond though, that's pretty amazing they're willing to use the original star, considering that in 2004, they tried to race-swap Ronnie with a Black character named Jason Rusch, in an early example of social justice diversity pandering. And it ultimately led nowhere. Even today, they may have only partially jettisoned emphasis on the SJW-themed character, and this may also be the case when it comes to their race-swapping of the Atom and Blue Beetle. But, that only proves they're still making a joke of themselves, as is Marvel with some of their own diversity-pandering creations. And when they do that, it only robs said creations of agency, because they weren't created as their own protagonists, nor were they developed organically as successors for what was originally a role starring a white protagonist.

Lemire's one of quite a few writers working for DC/Marvel today who can't be taken seriously.

Would actor Daniel Radcliffe really make a suitable star for a Wolverine movie?

ComicBook interviewed UK actor Daniel Radcliffe, known today for playing Harry Potter in 8 movies, and he mentioned a rumor that sprouted on the web about whether he'd play Wolverine:

Audiences were clamoring for you to pick up the mantle of Wolverine. Even for a split second, was that ever a consideration?

It was not. It was never real. It was a very flattering internet rumor. I was very happy about it, but it was never suggested in any kind of way by anybody with any power to make that happen. And, honestly, you would be stupid not to consider something like that, but if they do other Wolverines, being the person who follows Hugh Jackman is not on my bucket list for anything. For any role of his, particularly the role he has made the most iconic of his career, I am happy not to be doing that and let him keep doing it.

Are you a superhero guy? Would you consider joining the MCU or DCU?

I am so out of the loop. I feel like I don’t know what cycle we are on of the Marvel movies, and I have some catching up to do if I ever end up on one of them. But, yes, I am certainly not averse to it. I would never rule anything like that out. But, also, I am not necessarily clamoring to be in it or seeking that. I am lucky that I can judge any job by the quality of the script. So, if a script came in that was exciting, different, weird, and cool, then I’d be up for it no matter what it was.

He's out of the loop in more ways than one. Let's consider Radcliffe threw Potter author J.K Rowling under the bus after she objected to men identifying as transsexual entering women's bathrooms, and, like countless left-wing newspapers, obscured that she was a sexual assault victim herself, refusing to recognize that she has moral authority to speak on these issues. Based on that, I don't think Radcliffe would've made such a great actor for playing Logan, because he's hardly deserving of the role after betraying the novelist who created the books that led to his now famous role in film. In fact, look who's talking about judging by the merit of a script - the same man who won't judge by the merit of Rowling's statements, let alone serious real life science.

As a result, it's decidedly good if Radcliffe's not being considered for a role in Marvel movies, let alone DC movies. Besides, chances are he wouldn't care how woke they became, based partly on what politics he goes by, and as a result, what good does it do to say he can judge by script merit?

It's been over a decade, and Marvel still sticks with the Iceman-as-gay storyline

Comic Book Club Live posted a preview for yet another story starring Iceman of the X-Men subtitled Omega, and there's a sad clue that what was forced upon Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's creation Bobby Drake in the past decade by the terrible Brian Bendis still remains "canon" even now, much like the repellent Gerard Jones' out-of-the-blue retcon to Roy Thomas and Jerry Ordway's creation of Obsidian in the pages of Justice League during the mid-90s:

THE INDOMITABLE ICEMAN! Bobby Drake is ready to reach his true Omega potential! From coming out to helping terraform the entire planet of Mars, Bobby’s had a big year and it’s only up from here! You don’t want to miss this beloved four-part infinity comic, now for the first time in print!

Some could say things like this don't just simply happen, they're made to happen. Especially when nobody calls for a clear-cut boycott of Marvel/DC if that's what it takes to make clear these retcons are unacceptable. With an advertising blurb like that, it's all you need to know C.B. Cebulski's not willing to move away from Bendis' desecration of Lee/Kirby's creations, and serious Marvel/DC fans would do well to stay far away from whatever they have in store with this new Iceman miniseries.

Thief who stole old back issues from Florida university gets jailed

The Tallahassee Democrat announced a man who'd stolen comic back issues from the Florida State University 6 years ago will be imprisoned for his crime:

A comic book bandit, accused of stealing and selling thousands of rare comics from Florida State University six years ago, was declared guilty by a judge Feb. 26 and sentenced to prison.

Todd Peak, 43, will serve a year and a half in prison, followed by 10 years on probation, after taking a plea deal that spared him a possible 30-year sentence, according to court records.

He also must pay back nearly $70,000 in restitution to FSU, among others. [...]

Peak, a former security guard at FSU's library, was arrested in 2020 on grand theft and related charges after more than 5,000 comics disappeared from a collection in FSU’s Special Collections & Archives in Strozier Library.

He purloined from a rare collection predominantly from the 1950s through the 1970s. Publications include those by Marvel Comics, DC Comics, underground publishers, foreign language titles and pulp magazines.

Police said Peak trafficked the comics in online forums and in the backroom of a Crawfordville comics shop where he sold the stolen items.

During the investigation, a small sample of 38 comics were found in the library, but thousands were still missing.

WCTV also notes:

Library staff first discovered the theft in February 2021. The Ervin Collection contains more than 4,000 comic books from various publishers spanning from the 1950s through the 1970s. FSU notified the public about the theft in September 2021. That’s when a comic book dealer came forward and raised suspicions about Peak, according to arrest records.

Peak was one of only four people at Strozier with a key to the library’s Special Collections area, which is in the sub-basement of the building behind a padlocked fence.

I think this is another reason why back issues should probably be kept more at museums than libraries, though as I fully realize, even museums are not completely safe from theft, and note that the felon betrayed the trust given to him with the keys to the library storage. This makes another case where somebody should be ashamed of only seeing dollar signs in old back issues, but not the value of reading. Let's hope this Peak takes the time to think over his offenses while behind bars.

A reader of the LA Times make a peculiar comparison of social media to comics

A letter writer to the Los Angeles Times answered a topic about why children shouldn't have access to social media,

Guest contributor Jessica L. Schleider makes a convincing argument that blaming social media for children’s problems is an oversimplification of the issue (“If social platforms are harmful, don’t just ban kids. Regulate the harms,” Feb. 25).

This isn’t the first time popular media has been illogically blamed. In 1954, psychiatrist Frederic Wertham published “Seduction of the Innocent,” a book claiming comic books led to juvenile delinquency. Part of his reasoning? He’d seen boys in reform school reading comic books, a classic example of putting the cart before the horse.

The psychiatric community was largely not impressed with such a simplistic explanation and regarded Wertham as a crank. Marvel Comics editor Stan Lee recounted that Wertham “said things that impressed the public, and it was like shouting fire in a theater, but there was little scientific validity to it. And yet because he had the name ‘doctor,’ people took what he said seriously, and it started a whole crusade against comics.”

I think this is a very absurdly naive comparison and perspective, since social media isn't just one company or publication like some comics publishers, and there have been children over past years who were influenced by the Islamic State via social media. When any kind of modern medium is exploited for pushing evil ideologies far more than comics of the past century ever did, how can you make an argument that social media has no downside?

Furthermore, social media's done little to improve the dire state of comicdom in modern times artistically, and practically made things worse, because of all the cancel culture that sprang up in the past decade, and even today, it's not like it's entirely improved. One more reason it may be best not to allow underage children to use social media, because what if they end up becoming part of the problem? There've been pollings indicating that many USA residents favor barring children from social media until they're 16, and they certainly should be taught good manners in addition before they can go online and make use of them. Otherwise, they wouldn't make good comic readers any more than good social media posters.