BW’s Saturday Article Link> Shonen Jump Editor Understands Storytelling

“Dang it, Gohan! This isn’t the Fourth Of July. Or America. Or a version of Earth where either matters!”

Western creators seem to be about their egos and “subverting expectations” as if it’s some big storytelling tool. They ignore that while it can work, subverting the desires of the audience is not in your best interest. An editor at Japan’s famous anthology manga/comic magazine Shonen Jump seems to understand that, as he detailed in a recent Q&A session. If you want to know what US comics can learn from manga, start with the editor’s statements listed in this article.

Paramount To Take Over Warner Brothers: What Does The Future Hold NOW?

Well, this is news we didn’t expect last night.

A little bit before going to bed I caught an emergency video from Cord Cutters News on YouTube stating that Netflix had dropped out of the bidding war they started by pursing Warner Brothers in the first place. If they hadn’t, David Zaslav would still be working to make Warner Brothers Discovery into a major entertainment company. I heard someone say they legally had no choice but to at least entertain the offer even though until then I didn’t even hear he wanted to sell. I could have heard or remembered that wrong, but it seems like a dumb law if that’s the case. Whatever said case is, this gives Skydance Media, who just recently purchased Paramount, an open run to buy the company themselves. They’re also responsible for the bidding war as Skydance owner David Ellison kept pushing until they made an offer that was good big for Netflix to pass up, Ted Sarantos (Netflix CEO) claiming WB was “a nice-to-have, not a must-have”. Of course, I had concerns when it came to Netflix taking over Warner Brothers, but not the same ones Hollywood had outside of Sarantos’ stated dislike of the theater system in favor of streaming.

Note that as I write this in the afternoon I have not gone over all the various responses online, just a few news reports to get into some kind of loop when it comes to what’s going on. I’ll adjust this afterwards if I need to before it posts or make updates after, but this is my immediate thoughts. There’s still a lot we don’t know because the new party is just getting started and we were just getting used to the old one. I’m delaying the current Friday night article series, CBS Transformers (which surprisingly has connections to this discussion given Paramount owns CBS and is still involved with some Transformers media), to go over the same and new concerns should all the legal hurdles be jumped.

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“Yesterday’s” Comic> Amazing Mystery Funnies #18

What could I possibly add to this?

Amazing Mystery Funnies #18

Centaur Publishing (March, 1940)

We begin March of 1940, and the return of our favorite fairground phantom on vacation (but still fighting crime) and the crimefighting centaur. Plus all of those other guys, but I know what I’m here for. Not sure what else to add, so let’s begin.

[Read along with me here]

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BW’s Daily Video> How The Super Powers Team Saved Batman: The Animated Series

Catch more from Serum Lake on YouTube and “The Fear” on my Saturday Night Showcase (if it’s still up)

“The Fear” is one of my favorite Batman stories period. I grew up with Superfriends/Super Powers Team so my perspective is different from the hosts, but I like the idea that Bruce had to overcome his “demons” in Crime Alley, and I like the idea that “Batman” is an outlet for Bruce more than the brooding loner of Burton and more recent interpretations. Super Powers Team did take a few more risks compared to most Saturday morning shows. (See also The Death Of Superman.) West proved he could play a more dramatic Batman, though why he took over and Soule moved to Professor Stein I couldn’t tell you. Filmation took more risks in syndication, and early Fox Kids also took more risks, at least during their weekday lineup, so WB Animation could actually have guns that sound like guns on BTAS and an episode where Gordon was in a coma after being shot. Meanwhile the X-Men couldn’t keep a character dead because SatAM despite being on the same network.

Five Favorite Comic Crossovers

 

Yesterday I was talking about how I didn’t understand the need to keep adding MASK to the Transformers universe, as what I like about both franchises don’t mesh well for me, and MASK kind of gets weakened if they’re ripping off Cybertronian tech in the same universe. In truth, what makes a good crossover is subjective. My friend really liked the Voltron/Robotech crossover while I thought it was unnecessary and were two completely different forms of science fiction. The Sonic/DC comics crossover sounds interesting to me, as does Godzilla in the DC universe (part of what’s becoming a trend of shoving Godzilla everywhere, like his recent return to the Marvel Universe…can’t wait for the inevitable Smurfs crossover), but Sonic versus Godzilla simply because IDW has both licenses is not something I need in my life. And yet it’s coming.

WordPress lets me promote on Tumblr still because they own Tumblr (and I still want them and X-Twitter to get along again so I don’t have to keep manually promoting the latest BW and Clutter Reports article over there), and somebody accused me of being “so freaking whiny about everything”. Apparently he/she/whoknowsontheinternetin2026 hasn’t read the reviews of stuff I like, but it gave me a topic that I can do quickly because all the snow this week has been a time suck. Otherwise this would have made for a good buffer article.

So, since the internet loves a list and I need something quick and easy, here are five comic book crossovers that I honestly enjoy. These are crossovers I felt really went together, gave me a great story, and I wouldn’t mind a sequel. A couple of them actually have sequels. These are not ranked by anything. They’re five random crossovers that very much enjoyed and recommend to fans of both properties.

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“Yesterday’s” Comic> Michael Turner’s Fathom V2 #0

The 90s called. They want their shoulder pads back.

Michael Turner’s Fathom volume 2 #0

Aspen Comics (digital copy: February, 2011)

WRITER: J.T. Krul

PENCILER: Koi Turnbull

INKER: Jason Gorder

COLORIST: Christina Strain

LETTERING: Dreamer Design

DIGITAL EDITORS: Frank Mastromauro & Vince Hernandez

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BW’s Daily Video> The Seven Sins Of Millennial Writing

Catch more from Greg Owen on YouTube