For a long time, I’ve been saying that a theater showing a comics-related movie ought to at least have a local comics shop selling titles with that character or those characters in it! After all, people who came to see a film with that person or persons is, at the very least, somewhat interested in them! Why not try to get them more about that comics-related person or team? Some shops did that for a while, but that practice faded away some years ago. Well, it’s coming back in a slightly different mode, at least for one movie!

I was going through some news releases, looking for a topic to write this column about, when I discovered a graphic novel that made me wish more of this kind of comic were being made today!

It’s called The Life of Frederick Douglass: A Graphic Narrative of a Slave’s Journey from Bondage to Freedom, and it will be released in January from Ten Speed Press.

It got me to thinking, More historical comics should be made today!

Since I actually had a little extra time this Labor Day holiday weekend, I was looking through some news releases when I came across one that caught my attention. It has to do with Valiant visiting retailers (what we call local comics shops), and they include con appearances. I really think this is something more companies should do more often. Let me explain why.

This past weekend, the Infinity Toy & Comics Show was held just outside Orlando, Florida. One of their guests was my friend and Indie comics creator Richard Rivera from Stabbity Bunny. Of course, I was there to help him out. It was a fun, albeit smaller con.

Following on the heels of the very successful celebration of Action Comics #1000, DC is planning to celebrate the Dark Knight’s 80th year with a year-long event including the release of Detective Comics #1000!

As a fan of Batman, I have to say that I’m really looking forward to it!

I agree with what the Impossible Man said at the top of a page at the end of the comic. The Fantastic Four as they currently are should have appeared in this debut issue.

As I’m writing this, I’ve just returned from another great Tampa Bay Comic Con! Lots of great guests, plenty of wonderful fans, terrific people selling genre-related products, and a pretty well- run con! I noticed plenty of long lines for artists, and it turned my thoughts to a certain hobby horse of mine – that writers should get more attention than they do!

Collecting comics went to an all-new level when it became possible to “slab” a comic, especially after it’s been autographed! (I use the term “slab” so I don’t focus on either of the big companies, CGC or CBCS.)

There are good and bad elements to getting a comic slabbed. Let me elaborate!

It’s hard to believe, but this year’s San Diego Comic Con has already concluded! It was a fun one, with lots and lots of news in the industry as well as related TV shows and movies. MajorSpoilers again led the pack with SDCC news and coverage!

Like last year, I’ll be attending the San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) with Stabbity Bunny and friends, and things will once again be somewhat different in 2018! It starts this Wednesday at 6 p.m. PT and goes until Sunday afternoon/evening.

Why do comics creators seem to dislike marriage so much?

As previously reported at MajorSpoilers.com, BOOM! Studios is beginning a Legacy Edition series, mostly featuring comics created by them that are based on TV series’. Can other Legacy Editions be far behind? Let me weigh in on this subject!

Something that’s been happening more and more in the comics industry is the effort to place comics in locations other than local comics shops. Recently, Toys R Us and GameStop have been working at it, but now there’s a new entry in this attempt. As reported here at MajorSpoilers.com, DC Comics will start selling $4.99 monthly 100-page monthly anthologies with one new tale and several reprints in an attempt to attract new customers! This will happen in 3,000 participating Walmarts. At the risk of repeating myself, all I can say is, go, Walmart, go!

This past weekend, I attended Heroescon in Charlotte, North Carolina, once again. This year my friend Richard Rivera of Stabbity Bunny fame and I shared a booth with Frankie’s Comics, a different kind of comics shop.