Did You Hear? is a weekly examination of headlines in the entertainment industry and a take on what they could mean for the future of the industry and (often), the little geeky bubble that we occupy!
DC and Marvel Comics Announce New Villains This Week
It’s been a busy week for the baddies in the big two comic book universe! Gotham City is amidst a Gotham War over at DC Comics and Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham is one of the most highly anticipated releases coming up for the BatFamily. Series creator Rafael Grampá is serving double duty on Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham and this week DC Comics readers were introduced to an all new villain: Crytoon.
In the proud tradition of contemporary Batman villains Crytoon is a serial killer with dark roots beginning in the realm of reality with a dark exterior spiraling out in the cartoonish and comic book-y (that’s not an insult, by the by, “Batman” is one of the sillier ideas on this planet and I love it!).
Creator Grampá told Popverse earlier this week about the personal roots he shares with Crytoon:
“I was very afraid of that when I was a kid. That figure, that white face crying black tears, when she turned off the lights, I saw that and I was terrified with that image.”
When explaining the difference between Crytoon and the Joker – similar at first blush – Grampá expounded:
“One of the things I wanted for this character was a character who cries in advance of committing something terrible, that was the pitch. His universe, about him mimicking old cartoons, came later. This whole concept, I just understood I needed to change the name of the character because Pierrot wasn’t fitting and, for me, I thought people would connect Pierrot with Harley Quinn and the Joker and I wanted to avoid that comparison.”
Coming on the heels of the introduction of Punchline and her similarities to Harley Quinn explaining the difference as he sees them as a creator is something I appreciate from Grampá. Given the saturation of The Joker across DC Comics throughout the 21st Century I certainly hope, as a Batman reader, Cartoon’s uniqueness comes to the forefront in Batman: Gargoyle of Gotham.
Alrighty, Marvel Comics hasn’t exactly introduced a new villain as much as they’ve introduced a character named “Hellverine” in the pages of Ghost Rider/Wolverine: Weapons of Vengeance Omega #1.
Yes, Hellverine is exactly what he sounds like: a mixture between Wolverine and Ghost Rider developed by Weapon X and brought to life through the power of dark magic.
Ghost Rider and Wolverine are both character who occupy my least favourite position in comic book morality – anti-hero – being possessed of morally grey compasses. Neither Weapon X nor Dark Magic within the Marvel Comics Universe can – and often should – be viewed as evil. Whether or not Hellverine, like Logan, will over come his villain nature or whether he’ll turn out a little more like Crytoon and root himself firmly in the villain camp.
JImmy Fallon Accused of Toxic Workplace on The Tonight Show
(I want to open this story with a CW for abuse and suicidal ideation.) 
In a bombshell piece of reporting from Rolling Stone yesterday The Tonight Show and it’s current host, Jimmy Fallon, fell under similar accusations to fellow talk show host Ellen DeGeneres.
TL;DR there were apparently, per Rolling Stone:
“Good Jimmy days”
… counterposed against,
“Bad Jimmy days”
Accusations come from 2 people currently employed by The Tonight Show and 14 former employees with no additional information about when they ended their tenure. This culminates in a total of 16 employees who corroborate each other’s stories suffering at the hands of Jimmy Fallon.
I’d also like to bring up a known fact Rolling Stone also chose to highlight about this situation:
nine showrunners in the past nine years
The changing of leadership annually in both scripted fiction and non-fiction is often a red flag for an disproportionately bad work culture.
Perhaps the most damning piece of reporting Rolling Stone wrote about The Tonight Show and Jimmy Fallon is that from the 16 people who stepped forward:
Seven former employees say their mental health was impacted — and add it was commonplace to hear people joking about “wanting to kill themselves.
There has yet to be any response from either Fallon or The Tonight Show, but as I sit here writing about it I can only imagine the flurry of lawyers and public relations experts who must be furiously meeting via Zoom today debating whether or not a carefully crafted statement need be issued before or after the weekend.
Amidst the ongoing SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes the revelation of toxic work culture only more firmly illustrates the need for entertainment guilds and unions to stand strong. Protections should not only be in place, but upheld whether the work is struck or in active guild production. Unfortunately it often takes a moment of upheaval such as this – and the volume of unemployment which has followed in its wake – for employees to feel comfortable coming forward and making their suffering known.
