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05/09/16 @ 11:45 pm EST
A Writers’ Commentary: Ben Acker and Heath Corson talk Kings Quest #1, on sale now from Dynamite. Cover is by Marc Laming and Lara Margarida. Interiors by Dan McDaid and Omi Remalante. PAGE ONE:  BEN ACKER: Let me start by saying that I love this book. I love the story and I love the characters, but the thing I want to talk about here that I love above and beyond all that is I love collaboration. In this book, I get to work with three people with whom I’ve been dying to work for as long as I’ve known them. Page one, you got an artist named Bob Q, who at the time of this writing isn’t credited, but I hope he will be by the time you’re reading this. Bob Q has a unique style that is clean and cool and just dynamic. He’s doing flashbacks that set the scene along the way in this series and, in issue 3, you’ll see way more of him. I’ve always loved the personality of his art. I’m sure you’ll see more of him, but you’re on the ground floor with the great Bob Q, here!Dan McDaid is a genius. Every page, every panel, he knocks me out. We’ll get to him, as we’re talking about Page 1. But Dan is a guy I’ve known a little longer than Bob Q. I think we’ve come very close to working together a few times over the years, and when he was available and down to do this book, I couldn’t have been happer.Omi Remalante is not someone I’ve had to wait to work with. I’ve done a few books with Omi and he is consistently wonderful, as you’ll see. He kills it on colors and always has.Heath Corson has been a great friend of mine for years and years. We’ve never collaborated a lick and it was a little daunting, what with him being a powerhouse writer in his own right. Let me tell you that the process of collaborating with him was a joy. His sense of story and character and action and plotting – everything – he’s just great at the stuff of writing. I could go on and on. Heath is just as good at the stuff of collaboration. Egoless and inspiring. You don’t know how it’s going to be to do work with your friend, but you hope it’s just like this. And now I’ll let him tell about the book. Hit it Heath! HEATH CORSON: First of all, everything Ben just said and then some. We have had just a blast working together and the fact that ON TOP OF THAT we get to work with all these amazing artists, is just cream in our collective coffee. Now… To the book:Since the “Quest” aspect of King’s Quest is returning to space to get Dale Arden, who was left behind, we really needed to start out with a unique, grounded perspective on who Dale is and why she’s special. With that in mind, the most interesting POV was Jen’s. So we start with an intimate recollection between Jen and Dale. Which also serves to ease us into Jen’s VO that narrates this issue and throws us headfirst into the… PAGE TWO & THREE: DOUBLE PAGE SPREAD!  HEATH: Boom. Here’s our entire cast bracing for impact. I was particularly proud of Zarkov’s line here.BEN: When I read Zarkov’s line, I cheered. Good stuff, Heath!HEATH: Thanks buddy. Also, I love Phantom Jen’s design in the purple hoodie. Man, I want that hoodie. BEN: This is a good spread. You get all the characters and their POVs and relationships and roles in the group starting to come out. And this layout is all McDaid. PAGE FOUR: HEATH: Yeah, we hit the ground running… Or crashing as the case might be. But it let’s us dive right into playing with the character dynamics, which is my personal favorite part of writing ensemble stories like this. BEN: You nail it here, Heath. I love this dialogue, of which yours is the lion’s share. PAGE FIVE: HEATH: Here we see how great Flash’s reflexes are… And how itchy his zap gun trigger finger is. The man loves to vaporize space creatures. This monkey is no exception. BEN: I love that Lothar Phantom in panel 1. Make yourself at home, Phantom. This is the first time I noticed Zarkov’s flask. So good. And those monsters in the last panel. This commentary is just gonna be me chanting McDaid! McDaid! Over and over. Like I do in the emails I send him whenever I get new pages. I’d call, but he lives overseas. PAGE SIX & SEVEN: HEATH: Dan McDaid, folks. Drink that in. BEN: McDaid! McDaid! HEATH: I love these pages. These are the pages as a writer you hope you get back when you pass the storytelling off to your artist by saying stuff like: “A bunch of hideous monsters jump out here. Everyone freaks.” Plus, I LOVE Valiant’s expression here and how chuffed he is to chop things in half. BEN: I love Zarkov’s Jack Bennyish take on what’s going on. And how many trunks does that elephant monster have? McDaid! McDaid! Gubba gubba gubba gubba! PAGE EIGHT:  HEATH: How cowboy cool is Mandrake here? Throwing doves at monsters without breaking a sweat. And doing it in formal-wear. Mandrake might be my favorite to write. Lothar, on the other hand, takes no chances and just opens fire. Which is the other side of the badass coin. BEN: These colors are amazing! Remalante! Remalante! Remalante! HEATH: Yes, yes! Let’s tip our collective tops hats to Omi Remalante, our genius colorist. More of him coming in hot. PAGE NINE: BEN: There’s a thing in commentary tracks where the commenters are just relating the experience of watching the movie or reading the book, not because we’re taken with what we’ve created, but because creation like this is a collaboration and we’re so enjoying the work of our collaborators. It makes for solid work, but sometimes a commentary that just feels like narrating what you’re seeing. Sorry, not sorry. HEATH: Hahaha. It’s true. You realize that in comics we’re all fans as well as creators.Uh-oh. Shambling, scream-y mound has a secret, you guys. Wait for it… PAGE TEN: HEATH: Yup. It’s JUNGLE JIM! I found his dialogue really fun but deceptively challenging to write. I think Ben had to confer with actual Brits to get some of the phrasing correct. Right, Ben? BEN: Credit to Humphrey Ker, a decidedly English name for a decidedly English person giving me the Englishisms. Also credit to the “How British Am I?” sketch by the brilliant comedy group Superego. Once Humphrey pitched “dashed,” all I could think of was Superego’s Matt Gourley voicing Jungle Jim. And I love the “Ming’s forces” turn in here, so I hope it was Heath that wrote it, or else I’m just patting myself on the back. You know it’s a good collaboration when you’re not sure who wrote what.HEATH: I always assume if it is funny or clever, it was Ben. You should too. PAGE ELEVEN: HEATH: Ming’s forces, on the other hand, were really fun to write with their terrible corporate-slash-military-slash-Kafkaesque circular reasoning. And, peep those awesome spaceships! McDaid bringing it. Hard. Again, can we also just call out the COLORS here by Remalante? The jungle, the creatures, the spaceships and our heroes. All fantastic vibrant colors reminiscent of the pulp origins of these heroes. Makes it all sing.  BEN: You’re not wrong, Heath. You’re right. And look: “Gordon’s alive!” Remember that line? We’re just fans of this stuff. PAGE TWELVE: HEATH: Yeah, this would scare ME if I was a Ming flunky. It’s also a nice reminder how crazy powerful Jim is. Beast mode, indeed. BEN: More of Humphrey’s help here. I love beast mode that sounds like Downton Abbey. PAGE THIRTEEN: HEATH: It was right around finding the line “Be merciless for Ming” that it really sunk in that I was writing Flash freakin’ Gordon and these HUGE iconic characters that I grew up with. So cool.BEN: And look at those guys. These designs – the monsters and the soldiers – they’re so killer. And they only exist for a few panels. That’s crazy! So fully realized. McDaid! McDaid! PAGE FOURTEEN: HEATH: This Mandrake page is my favorite of the issue. Ben and I talked a lot about playing with his sense of theatricality and performance. Between the astounding art and the dialogue I felt like we all really did justice to Mandrake on this page. PS: THIS is the McDaid page I desperately want in my office… You know, just in case he’s reading this.BEN: Ha! Next issue’s Mandrake page is my favorite of that issue and is the one I want in my office. I told McDaid already. And to the point of the theatricality of Mandrake, I really love that he’s an old school stage magician at his core. It sets him apart from your Doctor Strange and Doctor Fate. Mandrake is not a doctor. He’s a smoke and mirrors guy and look – the illusions he’s casting are smoke! PAGE FIFTEEN: HEATH: Flash is a helluva action hero. He’s a real “shoot first, ask questions never” kind of guy. It was important to show that and McDaid really captures his physicality here. BEN: Yeah, usually we make it fun that he’s so gung ho. Like “maybe relax, Flash and ask a question or two before you charge in.” But here, when it’s clear, when it’s as black and white as Flash sees it anyway, you get to spend the bulk of a page having him say a cool thing and kick a bad guy off his rocket. PAGE SIXTEEN:  HEATH: I like this Jen/Lothar beat here. We talked a lot about their mentor/mentee dynamic and how it’s on Lothar to get Jen to step up. I like that Jen is out of her league and really sharply feels that deep into this adventure. But she IS supposed to be the Phantom and that’s a honest struggle for her to take on that mantle… Especially in the face of Lothar being as good a Phantom as there’s ever been. BEN: Yeah, there’s something really interesting to me about the nature of Lothar’s relationship with the mantle of the Phantom. I hope we remember to get into it in one of these issues. PAGE SEVENTEEN: HEATH: This page layout is just such wild fun. BEN: McDaid! McDaid! HEATH: You get this great heightened sense of flow and movement in Valiant. We see that the guy is an unstoppable freight train of violence. BEN: And also Simon Bowland, the letterer, is just as much the boss of how your eye takes in this page. Bowland is a real pro, consistently just great. Bowland! Bowland! HEATH: No kidding! Kudos to Bowland. Especially since in the first lettering pass, I’m pretty sure we accidently reversed all the dialogue from the bottom to the top. Which would have made everyone’s eyes cross. PAGE EIGHTEEN: HEATH: Jim realizing Valiant is still telling off the baddies makes me laugh a lot. That was a Ben joke that showed up in the second lettering pass. It took me by surprise when I read it and I totally laughed out loud. BEN: Thanks, Heath. You wrote Valiant’s pure joy here and I love it. I regret that we didn’t find a moment for Jungle Jim and Zarkov to share a drink. Maybe next issue!PAGE NINETEEN:BEN: I love how McDaid draws Barin. His little mustache! HEATH: Prince Barin. Finally! We’ve only been looking for him this entire issue. But he’s got pretty bad news… BEN: You bet he does. It’s been two years, not the two hours it felt like it took. This is one of the most important details of the book and Mandrake is about to explain it, and Flash gives him “Who cares why!” I love that. That’s so Flash. PAGE TWENTY: HEATH: HOLY CRAP! Dale is… Empress?! Does that mean she’s married to Ming? What the-?! I love this twist. And it only gets worse, you guys. Much MUCH worse. BEN: Stay tuned. 11/16/25 @ 12:48 pm EST
While most of the focus over at Marvel Studios is currently on the pair of upcoming Avengers films, Ryan Coogler is ready to return to Wakanda for a third Black Panther film. We’d heard of the possibility of the film originally from Denzel Washington who, while speaking of his potential retirement, mentioned the film as one of his future projects and then when Nate Moore left Marvel last year, he said he would be back producing the third Black Panther film. Now, Coogler himself said while on stage talking about his film Sinners, that Black Panther 3 would be his next movie. The series kicked off with Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa, king of the African Nation of Wakanda and while he reprised the role in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, he sadly passed away shortly after. The sequel dealt with the characters death and passed the mantle on to his sister Shuri played by Letitia Wright who is expected to reprise the role in the upcoming Avenger films, but with talks of a potential soft reboot of the MCU, it’s unclear who will be wearing the mask for the third film.  11/16/25 @ 12:31 pm EST
The most recent news on the DCU has to do with Jimmy Olsen. Variety is reporting that Skyler Gisondo will reprise his role from Superman in a true-crime docuseries style show that focuses on villains in the universe starting with the Flash rogue, Gorilla Grodd. Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault are set to write and showrun with James Gunn and Peter Safran joining them as executive producers. The show is planned for HBO Max and will be a mockumentary style similar to Yacenda and Perrault’s previous series like American Vandal and Players. In the original report, Variety claimed the series would be called DC Crime, something Gunn took to social media to debunk, saying there had never been any project in production called DC Crime, he then added that his saying that doesn’t mean that the rest of the report is false. This sounds like a pretty good confirmation to me.  11/15/25 @ 12:49 pm EST
A new Star Trek film is in the works and Paramount is tapping the team of Jonathan Goldstein and John Frances Daley to write, produce and direct. This news comes shortly after David Ellison, founder of Skydance who recently purchased the studio, told investors that the next Star Trek film would not be a sequel to the Chris Pine/ Zachary Quinto lead series of films. While this hasn’t been 100% confirmed, word is that the new film will be focused on new characters and not directly tied to any previous film or television series. Goldstein and Daley have a good track record when it comes to revitalizing franchises having written Spider-Man: Homecoming for Marvel Studios and wrote and directed Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves which was very well received by fans and critics.  11/15/25 @ 12:32 pm EST
With The Fantastic Four: First Steps having moved to Disney+, the Pedro Pascal and Vanessa Kirby lead team is now first in fans minds. But one person still thinks about the First Family of Marvel presented a decade ago and what went wrong. Miles Teller, who played Reed Richards in Josh Trank’s 2015 version of the property, still thinks about the project and how he believes the problems all came down to one person. Teller was on Sirius XM’s Radio Andy show said, “You saw the movie, right? Your eyes were working during that time? I think it’s unfortunate because so many people worked so hard on that movie. And, honestly, maybe there was one really important person who kind of f***ed it all up.” While Teller didn’t say who that was, he was referring to the person who made the final cut on the film, which was not director Trank. Teller said that he wanted a superhero film on his resume to help show him as a serious leading man, but after seeing the final cut recalled, “I remember talking to one of the studio heads, and I was like, ‘I think we’re in trouble.'” The 2015 version made $167 million worldwide compared to this year’s version which made $521 million. He stopped short of calling for a director’s cut of the film.  11/09/25 @ 2:03 pm EST
The Creeper is a unique character from DC Comics, first introduced in "Showcase #73" in 1968. Created by Steve Ditko, The Creeper’s real name is Jack Ryder, a former television talk show host and investigative journalist in Gotham City. After being attacked during an undercover operation at a costume party, Ryder is injected with a serum by Dr. Yatz and gains superhuman abilities, including enhanced strength, agility, rapid healing, and a pain tolerance bordering on the supernatural. The serum, combined with a bizarre costume, transforms him into The Creeper, a vigilante known for his wild laughter, erratic behavior, and flamboyant appearance—a shock of green hair, yellow skin, and a red mane-like cape. The Creeper remains largely untouched by mainstream media, providing an opportunity to introduce audiences to a fresh face and break away from more established archetypes. His blend of horror, humor, and psychological complexity could create a film that stands out from traditional superhero fare. The Creeper’s unsettling persona and visual style lend themselves well to a film that could blend genres—horror, black comedy, and superhero action. His maniacal laugh and unpredictable methods could inject dark humor and psychological thrills, appealing to fans of films like "Joker" and "Deadpool" while carving out a distinctive identity in the DCU. Jack Ryder’s journey from cynical journalist to bizarre vigilante offers rich storytelling potential. Exploring themes of identity, sanity, and the nature of heroism, a Creeper film could delve into Ryder’s internal struggles and the impact of his dual life, making for a character-driven narrative that resonates with audiences seeking depth and complexity. And with being set in Gotham City, The Creeper’s adventures naturally intersect with the city’s gritty underworld, providing opportunities for noir-style detective storytelling. His background in journalism and investigation can be leveraged to create suspenseful plots involving corruption, criminal conspiracies, and moral ambiguity—making him an ideal protagonist for a film that explores the darker aspects of the DC Universe. The Creeper stands as one of DC Comics’ most unconventional and intriguing characters. His untapped potential, distinctive personality, and ability to straddle multiple genres make him a perfect candidate to lead a film in the new DCU.  ... 11/09/25 @ 1:37 pm EST
Predator: Badlands is doing very well, thanks for asking. The latest film in the long-running franchise set a few high franchise marks including domestic opening with $40M, best worldwide opening with $80M and best Cinemascore with an A-. The film also sits a the top of this week’s box office beating out the 2nd place film, Regretting You, by $32.9M… though that film is in its 3rd week. Other new films opening this week, Sarah’s Oil and Nuremberg, opened in 4th and 5th with just over $4M each. Badlands is the third Predator project for director Dan Trachtenberg, the first Prey showed how he could handle the franchise but then he wanted to follow it up with an animated film, Killer of Killers and then for the first time Badlands make the Predator the protagonist. 
11/08/25 @ 4:21 pm EST
Recent reports about problems on the set of Stranger Things may not have been what they seemed. There were stories being published that Millie Bobby Brown had filed a report against co-star David Habour, accusing the older actor of bullying. But the validity of those reports are now in question as both Brown and Harbour joined their Stranger Things cast members at the red=carpet premiere of the show’s fifth and final season. Brown and Harbour were seen joking together and even hugging. Brown has also spoke of Habour to Extra, saying: “It’s been amazing. We’re so lucky to have each other. The show means so much to the both of us, and to everyone here. This has been the last 10 years of our lives.” Brown stars as the psych-powered Eleven and Harbour plays Sherriff Jim Hopper who ends up adopting her. The fifth and final season will release on Netflix in three sets with Volume 1 on November 26 (four episodes), Volume 2 on Christmas (three episodes), and The Finale on New Year’s Eve.  11/01/25 @ 2:53 pm EST
There is a major movie franchise out there that is not going by its original name and it’s thanks to the star. When screenwriter Derek Kolstad finished what would become is most popular film, he was inspired by revenge-thrillers with one-word titles like Payback and Shooter. He dubbed his film, Scorn. The problem came when the star of the film went out and talked about it, he always referred to it by the lead character’s name rather than the title. After a while, the studio realized that their star, Keanu Reeves, had done millions of dollars worth of brand recognition for the name John Wick… they decided to go with it and renamed the film. Why Reeves did this is unknown, but Kolstad has since admitted that John Wick is a better franchise name, saying, “I can’t imagine it being Scorn now.” Was this an intentional thing on Reeves’ part or just a happy coincidence? We may never know.  11/01/25 @ 2:38 pm EST
If you check the major Hollywood sites like Deadline and Variety, they’ll tell you that October 2025 has been the lowest box office take in almost 30 years. It sits currently at $440 million with a few days left to add. In 1998 the box office did $455 million, which this month should just creep past. By comparison October 2018 did $832 million with just three films: Venom, A Star is Born and Halloween, taking in $481 million. But last year, October only took in $478 million showing the decreasing trend. Adding to the decline is the fact that no major releases were scheduled for this weekend because of the Halloween holiday. And what was put into theaters the whole month really didn’t get people’s attention. Tron: Ares was the highest profile film and that hasn’t even broken $70 million in its four weeks in theaters. When you look at numbers like that, it’s hard not to think about what might have been. There was a big budget film slated for release this month, a film that got delayed and delayed and hasn’t even started filming. A film that finally has a finished script and is set to release in October of 2027… that of course is Matt Reeves’ The Batman Part 2. One of the most anticipated films currently in production, the sequel to the 2022 hit, bolstered also by the fan favorite HBO series The Penguin, would easily match and likely succeed the success of the first film. The Batman opened on March 4, 2022 and ended that month with $338 million domestically. It was originally scheduled to be released October 3rd, looking at that release date, this year there really wasn’t any big film put in its place. The film would’ve done better than the first and that amount would’ve driven 2025 towards the top of the list, maybe even surpassing 2018. Ah, what could’ve been.  ... 10/26/25 @ 12:25 pm EST
DC Studios has potentially taken a significant step by filing for a trademark for a film titled "Salvation Run." A move that isn’t too surprising since the Salvation planet and the idea of using it as a prison for meta humans was introduced in the season finale of Peacemaker season 2. But the filing does indicate just how big this idea could be for the DCU. "Salvation Run" is a storyline from DC Comics that originally ran in the late 2000s. The story centers on the mass exile of some of DC's most notorious villains to a hostile alien world, forcing them to band together for survival. It was a concept originally pitched to DC by Game of Thrones writer George R.R. Martin. The trademark filing by DC Studios suggests that the company is considering developing "Salvation Run" into a feature film. While trademark filings do not guarantee that a film will be produced, they often indicate serious intent or early-stage development. The filing protects the title and concept, ensuring that DC Studios retains exclusive rights as plans evolve. Should "Salvation Run" move forward, it could introduce a fresh dynamic to DC's film slate. Instead of focusing on heroes, this story would shine a spotlight on villains, possibly expanding character development and offering audiences new perspectives on well-known antagonists. It also opens opportunities for ensemble casting, complex storytelling, and connections to other DC properties.  |
