Artificial. The googled definition defines it as something created by humans that is not natural. The secondary definition is listed as insincere or affected. It stands to reason that AI is then something that we created to be an affectation of unnatural insincerity. Read that again...and again. I’m not going to begin to launch into a diatribe against AI, positioning myself as some sort of Luddite pining for simpler times and organic means of production. Like any form of technology no matter where it's implemented, the Devil is in the way we use it not the fact that it’s there to be used in the first place. It is also the pattern of humanity to use something up until it loses its usefulness and is overtaken by something that improves its usefulness. So whether you agree or disagree, are excited or horrified by what AI will bring this planet, the fact of the matter is that it is here and it is going to get used until it can’t get used anymore. Where that takes us remains to be seen: Terminator Skynet World or an Idyllic Society where we are free to chase our passions and joys since computers are doing all of the menial work. I saw a video of a robot doing dishes. Dude. Seriously? Like, start there. Get those Dish Bots into every home and nobody will say no to AI robots. I literally do dishes all fucking day long. Please get Rosie from the Jetsons here stat and set me freeeeeeeee!
I live in LA. It’s a shit show. Curtains are being pulled back daily on the stages and foundation of the entertainment industry to reveal an inordinate amount of artifacts and useless relics of a bygone age. Poop parades are collecting in the street with former Entertainment Apparatchiks marching against the impending doom of AI grabbing their industry by the balls and strangling them in its clutches with a smile. All this generative AI video is signaling an end to Hollywood. It’s going to do to Film and TV what Pro Tools did to the Music Industry. Home Music Studio Software democratized Music Production so that anyone with a computer could make music. No more having to strip naked in front of Jimmy Iovine and swallow the combined genitalia of the Staff of Deathrow Records to get studio time and a distribution deal. Make it at home in your PJs. Record it at home. Blast it to the world.
You can now take a video of a toy car being pushed in various directions on the floor, again, that’s a toy car, upload that and then turn it into cinema, put it into any location you want and cut back and forth between any angle of POV that you want. I just saw a new AI Video Software release where you could take any object you want, say a beer can or a stuffed animal, and place that object in an actual movie clip and the actor in that movie clip will immediately interact with the object. Insane! So you could take a Batarang, go to Star Wars, but the Batarang in the area of the scene between Darth Vader and Obi Wan and through AI the actors will use the batarang; Obi Wan could take it and throw it at Darth and it would look seamless. You could probably get Darth to rip off his helmet and appear as the Joker if you want. Yeah, say goodbye to Hollywood, say goodbye my Baby. This is signaling the complete end of Gatekeepers which is great for creatives but an absolute disaster for audiences. There’s a gajillion songs on Spotify, try and figure which is good and which is real. The same will be said for Films and TV. If you thought it was tough rifling through content on the Streamers now? Just wait.
Which begs the question, how will this affect the Comic Book Industry? I don’t think it’s any secret that if the Big 2 could eliminate their print publishing and have nothing but digital comic books they would do it in a heartbeat. The subhumans that run the Big 2 don’t care about your hard copy media; they don’t want you to own anything. So being able to manipulate music and film whenever and however you want will soon be coming to comic books. We’ve already seen artists use AI Generated Images as cover art or have relied on AI to ‘help’ with their work. Who’s to say Writers aren’t already running all of their plot ideas through AI or Artists aren’t utilizing it in a myriad of ways to inform their work? The Big 2 don’t care about creating lasting iconic runs of your favorite characters, they only want stories and characters that will feed into their current IP, create new IP or create excitement for new Film or TV that incorporates that IP. Local Comic Book Shops are dying and the trajectory of their future does not look good. You cannot stop the onslaught of AI at this point you can only hope to reign it in or use it to your advantage.
I personally see Local Comic Shops being a new type of Build-A-Bear Workshops except for comic books. I think at some point you’ll be able to walk into a Comic Book Shop and have yourself inserted into any comic book you want and then have that comic book 3D Printed out for you while you wait. This is just like how Netflix will be allowing you to take pictures of yourself and insert it into a TV Show or Movie while you watch yourself interact with the story. I think you’ll be able to write your own prompts and parameters including the artistic style you want and get that comic right then and there, boom. I think printed media will be like Vinyl, either sold as back issue relics for high prices or only having specialized versions available for sale. I think you’ll soon be able to interact with all the Big 2 (and eventually other Publishers) story lines by changing arcs, character motivations and endings to your liking. Don’t like how they ended a Bat Book? Change it. Think their Mega Event sucks? Make your own. I think variant covers will expand to 50 or more for each issue. I also think you’ll be able to see upcoming story lines that are coming out, tell the Big 2 how you want them to go and it will release it right to you. If you want you can get a dozen or a hundred of different story lines popped right onto your digital lap or actual lap.
For example: Batman goes to Mars with Superman and fights an intergalactic space base that is conspiring to attack the Earth. That would be the premise. You’ll then be able to say, “Have John Hickman write it and have Jack Kirby draw it” and then you’ll get that comic delivered to you digitally or, for an extra fee, you’ll get a hard copy. You’ll be able to create your own premises, whatever you want with their licensed characters, and tell AI to draw it and write it in your preferred style. You’ll then be able to get it animated, turned into a Movie and you’ll then be able to put yourself in that movie either to watch on your own or to experience in a VR setting. Think all of this is crazy? That’s just the start. So tell me why do we need new Writers and Artists when we can have the greatest ever creating for us at the touch of a button on a screen?
I don’t think you’ll be able to stop any of this from happening. Inevitably, it will get to a point where consumers will want actual comic books again, will want humans to create their comics for them, their music, their films, their TV. But the shiny new AI Toy will have to be exhausted first; it’s just the way it goes. I feel like the great tragedy of AI from an Artist's perspective is that from this point forward people will always wonder how much of AI was used to create your work or not. The only form of entertainment that will be untouched, to a degree, will be live entertainment. AI can write the best Stand-Up Act in the world for you but 99% of people are still gonna suck at it. Stand-Up. The final frontier: Where sucking is still all on you.
As for comics, I don’t know about you, but I see my pull list dwindling and dwindling. I see more facsimile issues being pumped out. I see more interest and chatter about variant covers than I do story lines. I think there will be gems along the way but we’re in for a bumpy ride the next chunk of years as this artistic transition works itself out.
But as of today, I can still complain about and wax poetic about actual comic books held by my actual fingers and that’s what I’m about to do baby!
Another absolutely wonderful 2 issue interlude by Thompson & Co. on what is fast becoming the best Dubz book in over a decade. After the epic conclusion to the initial six issue arc this quick detour back to Hades reveals more of the Abz Dubz childhood with Circe. Thompson swiftly ratchets up the stakes in a victory or death battle before the King and Queen of the Underworld which all makes for a satisfying two issue GFE type weekend with Dubz. Mattia de lulis's work truly takes your breath away in these two issues with the last panels giving you all the feels that you can ask for. Where King may be faltering a bit Thompson seems to get better and better with a Dubz that really embraces the Greek Deities and the Amazons more rather than the goofball DC Rogue Gallery which tends to bend its way towards pure silliness. Abs Dubz has rocketed past Abs Batz on her Pegasus as the Absolute best Abs title out there. New arc incoming, cannot fcking wait 9.2
I’m sensing a pattern here…Two Issue Interludes! Dubz main title rocks a 2 Ish Tangent of Dubz taking Bats to Olympus to help solve the murder of a God that’s being blamed on Dubz Momz with a time limit imposed by Zeus himself, yes please. The concept sparkles: take the Greatest Detective and Darkest Knight and have him help the Amazonian Princess solve a murder in the land of the Greek Gods; simplicity, it works! King may have had Bats deliver the line of the year. While laid up in bed after being hit by a bolt of lightning and being tended to by Dubz, he responds to Dubz asking him if he’d be offended by a question of hers by saying ‘I let Dick choose his own outfit. Who knew he’d go full circus’ Hahahahahha, amazing! Guillem March joins in the murder theme and absolutely kills the art in these two installments. Is this a new power couple, King and March? King March! March of the King! We can only dream. I could’ve read a year of this story line but perhaps this little morsel is enough, perhaps more would’ve spoiled it. I won’t be continuing in this title as it transitions to the wonky Mouse Man story line; probably forced on King by Iger the King Mouse himself. I’m gonna let the delectable taste of these two issues linger on my comic palate for a while and not ruin them with senseless DC Drivel but oh what a taste it was. 9.9
Abs Bats and his gi-normous 'Yo Bro Let's Lift' thighs rolls along and guess what? It’s another 2 issue interlude! And it’s great! I think we’ve found the sweet spot of DC, just write 2 issue arcs and enough with the drawn out plots and mega events. Drop a deuce then let it loose! This is by far the creepiest Mr Freeze you’ll ever see. It also fits in perfectly with Synder’s psychosis about lanky creepy ghoulish figures as villains which he’s been featuring in his stories for years. I’ve written about this ad nauseum how Snyder consistently has the same ’type’ of horrific look that he tasks his artists to draw going all the way back to Wytches and more recently Night of the Ghoul. I wonder if he had a crush on a tall lanky somebody who broke his wee widdle heart when he was young or perhaps he truly was hunted down by one of these ghastly figures in the woods at Summer Camp. Whatever it is, it’s this time around that it actually feels sinister and grounded in reality. Kudos to Marcos Martin on his phenomenal art work. I’d be remiss if I didn’t bring up the fact that the Abs Bats still looks ridiculous. I mean, c’mon look at this guy. This is Batman? This is not Batman. This is a Hit Man chasing down Marshall Cuso on 'Intended Side Effects’ (amazing show on Max highly recommend it) This is a lifting Bro at the gym. This a bouncer at a K-Town Ramen spot that recently had a shooting. This is the guy your goth artsy Wiccan chick that you were dating goes out with next just to give you the middle finger. Ridiculous. [insert pic]That said. Yo Bro, this shit was tight. 8.8
Jeff Lemire is the King of ‘What the Fuck is Going on Here’ books. I don’t know how he does it, psychedelics, wacky relatives with wild hippie stories, personal contact with extra-terrestrials; but he does it. Every Lemire book grabs you with a ‘What the fuck is going on here’ premise and doesn’t let you go. Even issues may bog down in exposition or backstories that draw out a bit too long at the expense of a driving narrative, it doesn’t matter. Because you’ll still be hooked on the ‘WTFIGOH’ premise and it’ll all but force you too keep snatching up comics until you find out. Sometimes the payoff is unbelievable, sometimes it’s a letdown; kinda like dating. I think Lemire may be an amazing online dating guru if he put his mind to it. I bet he could write the best dating profiles for dudes, in fact he should just hire himself out to do all the profile writing and messaging for guys, he’d make a killing. No way any girl is ghosting a Lemire dating profile or ignoring cryptic ‘Who the Fuck is this Guy’ messages that drive them to have to meet you to find out. You’re welcome Jeff, do mine for free and I’ll forgo the 10% I could charge you on all your money that you’d make from this side hustle. Seems like this 'Upside Down World/Ley Line/Weird Alien Close Encounter 3rd Kind Beings and a Semi-Truck' book is about to wrap up. I don't think you'll ever be able to accuse Lemire of ever using AI, he's just naturally able to pull completely random elements from the ether and mush them together. Good ol' ChatGPmire. 8.1
Conan is back baby! Not that it truly ever went away. I mean, Titan Comics brought it back stronger than it’s been in decades since Dark Horse had it and then, I dunno, a bit of a lull. They seemed to water it down with other Robert E Howard characters in that wacky crossover tale that they had which felt forced. Then they had a terrible guest artist for two ishes that made Conan and Belit like they were extras in a Disney flick. Then a Zula story which was pretty good but not holy guacamole good and now, this. This feels like the triumphant Conan vibe that started this whole new Titan run that had me dub it the best comic of 2023. [artist] is absolutely murdering the panels with a nod to De La Torre who brought the ruckus to begin and a distinct style of his own. Zub is penning a captivating tale with none other than the sinister Thoth Amon, it’s shaping up to be epic and man, we can use some epic in year of don’t pick. 8.5
Netflix has definitely smeared my emotional connection towards two comic book properties which used to be a source of nothing but happy fuzzy memories; memories that would induce me to actually purchase new content should said content be on the horizon for comic book shops. Those titles are: Sandman and the Umbrella Academy. The Sandman series on Netflix (in my opinion) will go down as the absolute worst TV adaptation in the history of comic book adaptations. It was an absolute disaster on so many levels that ruined my enjoyment of what may very well be one of the most important comic books in the entire medium. That show was pure trash, not a single moment satisfied the curiosity of ‘ooh what will this be in live action’. A distant second was the Umbrella Academy series. It wasn’t nearly as atrocious but it was cringe enough to make me pull a major smh and place my head in my hands in disgust. Despite that, I was genuinely looking forward to a new Way, Ba & Moon book! My goodness I love Ba & Moon. Why aren’t they putting out multiple books every month, why aren’t they helming major comic book events? The first page was an absolute homerun. The text But then…ehhh. Mnyeh. I mean, seriously, mnyeh. It’s a bit of a tired and lazy concept, ‘oh there are actual better and more powerful dupes of our heroes and now they’re here to wipe them out. How will our heroes defeat the better and updated versions of themselves?’. Sounds like the workforce in most companies when looking at AI taking them over: you won’t! Did you see that the staff at the candy crush app are now being laid off after creating the AI that is now in essence taking their jobs? I guess it’s a cathartic experience to see heroes you care so much about actually overcome better versions of themselves but as most stuff that has found it’s way to revived sequels or new stories that will add to the ongoing onslaught of ‘Make another one’ that Hollywood is addicted to; it’s okay. Issue #2 has already been pushed back a month and I’m pushing that issue out of all but non-existent pull. Why? It’s painful to experience a mediocre version of greatness. I don’t want to see newer and improved versions of my favorite characters beating the snot out of the old ones. This isn’t erasing the Netflix yuck. I’ll go back and re-read some of my Umbrella-ellla ella ellla hey hey hey books and save myself the moment after the 6th issue of this mini-series where I’ll close the last page and go ‘Ehh, that was alright’. 4.5
Gargoyle Bat Comic say what now? Where you been bro? Dude, how long has it been since - when was the last fucking issue of this thing, over a year ago? You expect me to remember what the fuck is going on in a Batman comic book from 2023? Dude, I’ve read enough Bat Comic Solicits to make up a 12 issue maxi-series throughout 2026 you think I reserved space for 3+ issue limited Bat Comic that started in what feels like a hundred years ago? This is like Psychotic LA Actress Chick, who has a tat of demon on her neck that looks like it’s eating her chin, who ghosted you forever and a day ago and then she unexpectedly texts you a ‘Hey’ a year later. You’re like ‘Huh? What does she want? I am not driving to Mexico to pick her and her druggie boyfriend up…again! I scoured boxes for Issue 1, which I didn’t find, Luckily I still had the 2nd issue on my rack. Ohh yeah it’s the crying dark Matrix coat dude and some creepy Church dudes possibly murdering Arkham dudes and, oy, I don’t care anymore. Something happened to this writer between issue two and this one, he totally lost his mind. The level of violence is through the roof in this ish to the point where a dozen heads are being decapitated and some psycho toddler is impaling people. Either he watched way too many horror flix or is butt hurt about a relationship or both. It turned into a scribble gobbledygook fest in the same way that the Monstress comic did. Somebody put this dude in touch Marjorie Liu and get them to a folding chair in the basement of a church with a cup of watered down coffee so they can work through their feelings rather than ruining our comic books. 1.0
That's all I got! I still haven't gotten through Heavy Metal #1. It's been sitting near my La-Z-Boy for months. I started it. It sucks. I've got like 150 pages left. I wanted to love it. Now it's a paperweight except the only thing it's holding down is my floor. Which, living in LA ya never know, might be the difference between a Quake Shake moving the building off of it's foundation or keeping it stable; it is quite heavy.
Not gonna lie, or as the kids say 'NGL' I am super stoked about the Fraction "Bats" book. Dammit. It's like they were saving this super weapon or crashed the 'break glass when necessary because your whole comic book line all but sucks except for a couple of Abs Books' cabinet. Uggh. Please be amazing. Like, jeez, just give me a wallop of a Bat Victory and a saving grace for this brutal year of comics. Talk to y'all in the Fall!
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