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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. 02/21/26 @ 2:38 pm EST
You may have noticed that I’m not the biggest fan of ‘Industry Insiders’ who have paywalls set up to dole out rumors like… well, I couldn’t find a metaphor that wasn’t extremely insulting so we’ll just move on. Those ‘insiders’ need to have a ready supply of rumors to keep their subscribers coming back and since there is no accountability for erroneous rumors, one has to wonder if some of them are just made up out of thin air. James Gunn, co-head of DC Studios, has a times come out and addressed a batch of rumors that fans ask him about on social media. He did this again recently and here are some of the rumors he addressed along with his response. A report that the upcoming Man of Tomorrow has changed its title to Superman: Man of Tomorrow. Gunn has said before that this was more than a Superman movie and confirms the title has NOT changed by simply saying, “Nope.” Another report says that the film with begin filming in a few weeks, and while it will begin shortly, he says “by strict definition of Few, nope.” Reports say that he’s trying to rush through Matt Reeves’ The Batman Epic Crime Saga so he can then get to Brave and the Bold. That’s another ‘Nope’. Scoopers claim that Paradise Lost, the Wonder Woman prequel series was now dead or shelved. I know this will surprise you, but he said, “Nope”. And he did confirm one thing, that Superman does not believe in Santa Claus because, “He’s an adult.” Rumors can be fun to talk about and debate, but if they set unrealistic expectations that ruin the film for someone, then that’s a problem. And paying for rumors… that seems a bit crazy to me.  ... 02/21/26 @ 2:21 pm EST
Many MCU fans wonder why the events of Daredevil: Born Again won’t be even referenced in upcoming films like Spider-Man: Brand New Day. In Born Again, Wilson Fisk ( Vincent D’Onofrio) is the new Mayor of New York and has declared martial law along with creating a taskforce to hunt down vigilantes and you would think someone like Spider-Man ( Tom Holland) would be on his radar. But that’s not going to happen on the big screen, no Fisk in BND and SFX Magazine thought that would be a good thing to ask Born Again showrunner Dario Scardapane about. “I’d be into it, because I dig the comics! But no, that’s been kind of a fun and challenging thing. We know there’s a huge world out there of the MCU. This corner of it has crossovers. We’ve seen Daredevil in other shows, there are other characters that are going to be popping up in movies and stuff, and that all goes into the larger MCU of it all. The joke we make is, ‘Oh, those guys are uptown – we’re downtown!’ We kind of have a pocket that’s in this world of Hell’s Kitchen, in this world of New York. I always think that maybe these characters take a little vacation into the larger world but the story that we’re focusing on is really granular.” Let me translate that, “They can borrow our toys, but we can’t touch there’s.” A shame as we all want a real Daredevil/Spider-Man crossover.  02/14/26 @ 2:33 pm EST
“You have failed this beach!” Okay, there is probably no way Stephen Amell will say that line in the new Baywatch reboot, but I can’t be the only one who thought about it. Fox announced yesterday that the former Arrow, Heels and Suits LA star would be the lead in the networks bid to recapture the popularity of their lifeguard themed drama from the 90s. Amell will be playing the role of Hobie Buchannon, a role first introduced in the OG series. Hobie’s world turns upside down when Charlie, the daughter he didn’t know he had, shows up ready to put on the red bathing suit and follow in the family business. The show got a straight-to-series 12-episode order back in September, so the network is moving quickly. An interesting note is that Amell is the right age if the network wanted to bring back David Hasselhoff to reprise the role of Hobie’s father Mitch for an episode or two.  02/14/26 @ 2:12 pm EST
You may not have known this, but in 2021 a Zatanna movie was in the works. J.J. Abrams had given the project to Emerald Fennell to script as she was coming off 2020 directorial debut, A Promising Young Woman. So, what happened? According to Fennell, who recently joined the Happy Sad Confused podcast, what she had written was “probably too far away from the genre.” She was very honest about the work, saying: “I think it was demented because I was probably going through it at the time. And the thing is, I think what I can’t help but—and then, I’d just finished A Promising Young Woman, and there was this huge thing in this world I’d never operated in. And again, it was a kind of superhero movie, and I was like, ‘How do I make the version of a superhero movie that I would connect to emotionally?’ Which is sort of the woman in the middle of a nervous breakdown, so it’s a script reflective of a woman in the middle of a nervous breakdown. And in terms of what that means, I suppose it just meant that it was probably too far away from the genre.” For those of you who are not familiar with Zatanna, she was created by Gardner Fox and Murphy Anderson in the pages of November 1964’s Hawkman and has been a consistent magical character in the DC Universe ever since, regularly teaming up with Batman, John Constantine and was a member of the Justice League. Fennell went on to describe the script, “It was really dark. I haven’t read it for a really long time, because I found it really difficult. Because, also the thing is, I love JJ [Abrams] so much, and he took a chance offering me to do it, and I really wanted to deliver something amazing for them. And I always felt like I hadn’t quite maybe delivered the thing that they wanted. So, I haven’t read it since, and I wonder if I read it now, I’d be more generous toward myself. But I felt like, I wished I’d been able to deliver the thing they wanted. They were really lovely about it, it’s even just remembering. You’re making me remember scenes, I’m like, ‘Nobody would have made that.'” I have to admit I totally want to read that script now.  ... 02/07/26 @ 11:45 am EST
Don’t expect to see Vincent D’Onofrio show up in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. It seems the rights to the character still precludes him from appearing in a film unless Sony wants him to. Which, yes, Brand New Day is a Sony/Marvel production… but while visiting the Bingworthy podcast, the Kingpin actor responded to the question about the current mayor of the MCU NYC showing up by saying, “No. I think I’ll just wait until they have the rights to my character and they put me in one of those movies, and then I’ll figure it all out.” This makes sense that Marvel can’t just have the character show up in any random film, like The Thunderbolts, without Sony saying okay, but he is available for television appearances. Why Sony has chosen to not let the character show up in a Sony film though seems a little odd, unless the actor is using the rights issue as a cover to keep from telling us that Wilson Fisk will not be the mayor after the events of the upcoming Daredevil: Born Again season two, which is scheduled to release in March and complete well before Brand New Day hits theaters.  01/31/26 @ 2:22 pm EST
In 1989 writer/artist John Byrne was working on the West Coast Avengers title for Marvel and decided to have some fun. Since there was both an east and west coast version of the team, he decided to make a third one, in the middle of the country, and keeping with the body of water theme to the names… we got the Great Lakes Avengers. The team was made up of five founding members: Mr. Immortal, Flat Man, Big Bertha, Dinah Soar and Doorman and while the team has probably had more cease-and-desist lawsuits filed against them than real battles, they have been around for years now and have popped up a lot. The interesting thing though is that two of these members have now made appearances in the MCU. And not just blink-and-you-missed-it moments. Both Mr. Immortal and Doorman have had at least half, if not a full episode of a series dedicated to them. In She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, David Pasquesi plays Craig Hollis aka Mr. Immortal who has his immortal ability and uses it to get out a marriages, which he has a lot of. When pressured by his own attorneys, he leapt out of a high-rise window and plummeted to the street below, slamming into the roof of a car, only to pop right back up and walk away. It doesn’t end well for him though as he is forced to pay off all of his exes. Then we get to meet DeMarr Davis aka the Doorman in the new Wonder Man series. Byron Bowers plays the man with the ability to use his body as a door in and out of the dark dimension. While he is a mutant in the comics, in the MCU he gets his abilities by touching toxic waste from Roxxon, similar to how Cloak & Dagger got their powers. DeMarr becomes a cautionary tale about chasing fortune and fame in Hollywood that may have cost the life of beloved actor Josh Gad. It also made the industry enact a law banning superpowered people from working in show business. This is a major plot point in the series. With two of the five characters both located in Southern California, could we end up getting the rest of the team at some point and them relocating for a fresh start? Sounds like the perfect idea for one of those Marvel Spotlight one-hour specials.  ... 01/18/26 @ 2:23 pm EST
Fans are eager to see the upcoming Lanterns series on HBO and besides a still shot and a few seconds of footage, very little about the series is known at this point. We got our first comments about it from series star Kyle Chandler who will be playing one of the most well-known Green Lanterns, Hal Jordan. Chandler was being interviewed on the Today Show for his new film The RIP with Ben Affleck and Matt Damon. During the interview he was asked about Lanterns and said, “I’ve never had as much fun shooting something as I did that. The people from the top to the bottom. I can’t say enough about Chris Mundy, and the producers, the DC folks. It was an excellent experience. I expect the show to be as good as the experience I had. Aaron Pierre, who I worked with, he and I had a great time.” The series is slated to be released later this year and comes from Mundy, Damon Lindelof and Tom King. Joining Chandler and Pierre in the cast are Ulrich Thomsen as Sinestro, Nathan Fillion as Guy Gardner and then Kelly Macdonald, Garret Dillahunt, Jason Ritter, Poorna Jagannathan, and Paul Ben-Victor. There will be eight episodes and it is said to be mostly an Earth-based mystery set in the heartland of America with a True Detective vibe.  01/17/26 @ 12:41 pm EST
Netflix’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros. has stirred plenty of speculation across Hollywood, but one message from the streamer’s leadership has been unusually clear: the theatrical experience isn’t going anywhere. In fact, if the sale closes, Netflix says it will strengthen Warner Bros.’ traditional theatrical model rather than shrink it. Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s co‑CEO, has repeatedly emphasized that Warner Bros. films will continue to enjoy a 45‑day exclusive theatrical window—a stance that directly counters fears that Netflix would rush major releases to streaming. Sarandos described Warner Bros.’ theatrical distribution as a “phenomenal” engine that generates billions in revenue, insisting Netflix has no intention of putting that at risk. This commitment marks a notable shift in tone for Netflix, which historically prioritized streaming-first strategies. But after reviewing Warner Bros.’ financials, Sarandos acknowledged that the economics of theatrical releases are stronger than Netflix had previously modeled. He framed the 45‑day window not as a compromise but as a competitive strategy: Netflix wants to “win opening weekend” and “win box office,” embracing the same metrics that drive traditional studios. Industry observers have taken notice. While some feared the acquisition would accelerate the decline of theatrical exclusivity, Netflix’s public stance suggests a more balanced future—one where streaming power and box office ambition coexist. For now, at least, moviegoers can expect Warner Bros. films to keep lighting up big screens for a full month and a half before landing on Netflix’s platform.  01/17/26 @ 12:20 pm EST
The DCU is expanding with the casting of one of the universe’s biggest bads… Darkseid. While this seems to go against something co-studio head James Gunn has said previously about staying away from the cosmic threat, but this casting isn’t for Man of Tomorrow, but rather the upcoming Mister. Miracle animated series and you can’t really tell the story of Scott Free with mentioning his adopted daddy. Writer Tom King was on the Word Balloon podcast when he talked about the series that he is showrunning and said that they had cast Darkseid and Orion along with Mr. Miracle and Big Barda. If you’re not familiar with these characters, they are all part of the Fourth World Saga created by comic legend Jack Kirby during his short stint with DC Comics. It tells the story of two warring factions, the New Gods and the planet Apokolips and a deal that was made in an attempt for peace. The leaders of the factions, High Father and Darkseid, would exchange children… this sent Scott Free to be raised on the oppressive planet while Orion was sent to the peaceful New Genesis. Scott would become and escape artist, finding a way off of Apokolips with the female warrior, Barda, and eventually come to Earth. Exactly what part of that history the series will focus on is unclear, but we do know that Darkseid and the others will be involved. Gunn also confirmed on social media that the series will be cannon to the DCU that includes the recent Superman movie, the Peacemaker series and the animated Creature Commandos. This means that whoever is voicing these characters in the series would also play them in live action in the future and King has said that the Mister Miracle series will have big ramifications on the DCU as a whole. No word on when the series will debut, but with the casting already made, we can expect an announcement in the near future.  ... 01/10/26 @ 11:52 am EST
Takashi Yamazaki’s follow-up to the 2023 Godzilla Minus One is set to hit North American theaters on November 6th, 2026, three days after its premier in Japan. The Academy Award winning film took in $11.4 million in the US on its opening weekend and $57 million total during its domestic box office run. Godzilla Minus Zero is the second film in the franchise from Gkids since taking Toho acquired the company in 2024. David Jesteadt, president of Gkids, said in a statement: “Gkids is proud to bring Godzilla Minus Zero to North American audiences, following the incredible global reception of Godzilla Minus One. This next chapter is sure to become another defining moment for the most colossal monster ever to dominate the screen. It is only fitting that this bold, new Godzilla event be experienced in its fullest theatrical glory, and we’re honored that Toho has entrusted us to carry this legacy forward.” 
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