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§ Nice art: Mondo teamed with Comic-Con to , but those are long gone. People randomly were selected to buy them all the way back on June 29th.

But they will be selling an exclusive VARIANT poster at their booth (#435) at San Diego Comic-Con. If you need something magenta for your decor, you’re in luck! The image is by artist Matt Taylor.

§ I know it’s gauche to link to your own content, but I don’t think enough of you read the new retailing column by Brandon Schatz & Danica Leblanc , because., by god, they NAILED it:

Mounting evidence has shown them that the current single issue market is good for short term gain, with the odd product gaining traction for any solid length of time. Meanwhile, in the lucrative book market, you have folks like Dav Pilkey raking in cash and titles like Ms Marvel, Unbeatable Squirrel Girl and the DC Superhero Girls selling extremely well in shops and book fairs alike. And you have titles like New Frontier, Kingdom Come and All Star Superman providing a constant bit of cash flow, instead of disappearing into obscurity. They look at these books, at these data points, and they compare them to the data coming in from the direct market, where numbers are continuing to disappoint as volume and variants keep the plates spinning. Why not try and build some new structures with more sound building materials, drawing from the worlds of popular YA and well regarded current creators? Both of these moves are extremely smart, and are more forward looking than another Batman ongoing whose stories will be forgotten with the next sweeping event.


and

Reps from both Marvel and DC have confirmed this is why the news cycle is the way it is: someone looking for a few cheap clicks, who nabbed their books early at their drop point, is going to release the info and ruin things for everyone anyway – might as well get some value out of that spoiler if it is going to happen.


Anyway just go read it!

§ There was a lot of talk last month about the Comicpalooza show in Houston preventing diabetic exhibitors from bringing in their insulin and snacks to the show floor. Whut. Here’s a longer account of an incident, posted by diabetic vendor Jason Scholte that’s hard to believe:

[Saturday morning] is where everything went to crap. I arrived to the convention and entered through the loading doors. We were met with security and a bag check. Upon checking my bag and noticing my insulin pen needles I was told I could not bring those in. I informed the security that I was diabetic and showed my medical bracelet. The guard continued to say I could not bring my needles in. after an exchange of words I was told I could bring in two needles. My diabetes is diagnosed as brittle type 1. This means my diabetes is harder to control and I have a bag with my supplies ready to go. As the exchange continued I then asked them if they want to be responsible if I end up passed out because I do not have enough needles to take my insulin. Then I had to add, “What if I end up in the hospital or die because I can’t take my insulin?” They backed off but said that the other guards will not let me keep my bag.


WTF??? Scholte was not the only exhibitor this happened to, as mind boggling as it may seem. He did complain and got some apologies from show staff but this is disgraceful.

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§ There’s a new kid on the block and its a site called Popula, which is a general cultural type thing but with a comics section edited by Vanessa Davis and Trevor Alixopoulos. I think the site is still rolling out, because the URL hasn’t populated and you can’t actually fine the comics section, but it’s already got this spectacular Ron Rége comic, so give me more! The site is run by Civil, and will eventually be subscriber based.

§ On the other hand, The AV Club is for sale, along with Univision’s other websites like Gizmodo, Kotaku, etc etc.

Univision—which purchased a controlling stake in Onion Inc. back in January 2016—sent an all-staff email and issued a press release about the potential sale this afternoon, announcing that it was “initiating a process to explore the sale” of the Gizmodo Media Group and Onion Inc. sites, which include Gizmodo, Jezebel, Deadspin, Lifehacker, Splinter, The Root, Kotaku, Earther, and Jalopnik, plus The Onion, ClickHole, The Takeout, and the words that you’re reading on your screen right now. The news comes shortly after a number of consultant-dictated budget (and personnel)-reducing buyouts at the GMG sites, and reports from The Daily Beast that a similar process was happening at Onion Inc. Which is to say, potential digital media moguls: We’re lean, mean, and ready to knowingly skewer and analyze the pop culture landscape… for you.


User created content would solve everything, they said. Thanks, Facebook!

§ A tiny ray of hope in the battle against Nazis: >Matt Furie got a neo-nazi website to take down his Pepe the Frog art.

Cartoonist Matt Furie has racked up a significant win in his quest to take back one of his cartoon creations, Pepe the Frog, after the character became the defacto symbol for white supremacism during and after the 2016 American presidential elections. Furie has forced one of the most prominent neo-Nazi websites, The Daily Stormer, a publication that peddles in fictional, rightwing takes on the news, to remove all instances of Pepe the Frog from its site, a feat that is not as simple as it sounds.

§ Eric Reynolds recalls How I pissed off Steve Ditko, and it’s a gentle story. I’ve seen many people calling out the folks who sought out Ditko in his reclusive days but a) all the evidence I’ve seen presented suggests that Ditko enjoyed human contact, and meeting other people who read his non-Marvel comics and b) if Ditko had ever gotten on social media I suspect he’d be dragged all day every day.

§ Speaking of Ditko, here’s and Ditko’s very prolific 70s and 80s.