Bill Gates considers The Best We Could Do by Thi Bui to be one of the his 5 favourite books of 2017.
The AV Club lists their best comics of 2017.
NPR lists the graphic novels they rank among 2017's great reads.
Paste has posted their the 25 Best Comic Books of 2017 and the 10 Best Kids Comics of 2017.
Tor lists the Top Spec-Fic Comics of 2017.
CBC lists the best Canadian comics and graphica of 2017.
Paste ranks every Disney-era Star Wars comic.
i09 has their 15 Best Comics of 2017.
In a ruling which will impact the convention circuit, a jury ruled in favour for Comic-Con International in their trademark dispute with Salt Lake City Comic Con. The argument was whether the phrase "comic con" was a generic term or fell within the SDCC trademark for "comic-con." SDCC however was only awarded $20,000 in damages, well below the $12 million being sought. Heidi MacDonald and Rob Salkowitz have noted that the jury ruled SLCC's infringement to be unintentional despite emails being presented where the SLCC organisers admitted that they were aware that they were infringing SDCC's trademark.
Michael Cavna posted a cartoon tribute to his late father.
Miles Wray on the fall from grace of Dilbert creator Scott Adams.
Joe George on the humanism of Watchmen.
Hillary Chute on the evolution of LGBTQ identity in comics.
Bret Lang reports on the corporate shake-up following the disappointing box office performance of Justice League. Of particular interest to comics is the vague description of DC's Geoff Johns being demoted to a more advisory role, and the tighter integration of DC into the Warner Brothers studio system.
Johns, who reports to DC president Diane Nelson, works in areas such as television (and has written various episodes for DC-inspired shows), publishing, and consumer products, in addition to his contributions to the films. Going forward, his work on the films may evolve, and could be more advisory in nature.
These people also say that Emmerich is weighing the idea of further integrating DC’s film operations into the studio’s main movie arm. That would entail putting the divisions under the same roof rather than having DC remain in a separate building on the lot, sources say. Marvel, which is owned by Disney, does operate its comic book film division autonomously, but other studios, such as Fox and Sony, produce their superhero films under the studio’s banner.The aforementioned Emmerich is Warner Bros. Picture Group President Toby Emmerich.
Image via Star Wars
Did anyone notice that a new Star Wars movie is out? I hear it's getting rave reviews.
[Spoiler Alert]
To no one's surprise, The Last Jedi is on the receiving end of some fan backlash, just as with The Force Awakens in 2015. And as with any piece of pop culture with a dedicated fanbase, fans have many opportunities to nitpick at any number of things, however minor: from the existence of new lifeforms, director Rian Johnson's sense of humour, the introduction of new Force abilities, the death of some fan favourite characters, to the dismissal of dearly-held fan theories. A certain portion of fandom is being empowered by Mark Hamill's early comments about the writing of the character he plays, Luke Skywalker.
Hamill's comments are indicative of their sentiments. If The Force Awakens was sometimes criticised for retreading familiar ideas, The Last Jedi noticeably questions most of them, especially the legacy of the Jedi order and the Skywalker family line. J.J. Abrams' film presented fans with a new "Chosen One" in the form of Rey, but Johnson's treatment of Rey roundly rejects the very concept. To those fans, changes like these represents some kind of betrayal of the franchise.
That's a tad overblown. Whatever one thinks of the answers given or if expectations were subverted, the film operates well within the confines of the Star Wars playbook while still finding even more ways to fit in more complex character arcs, deeper world-building, and a more inclusive cast. Luke might start out a broken man full of self-loathing, but he regains his mojo to completely outclass his former apprentice Kylo Ren. The Jedi order is dead, but finds new life in a new generation represented by Rey. The Republic the Rebel Alliance fought so hard to establish in the original trilogy is in tatters, but the fight against facism goes on.
The Last Jedi is very a middle chapter kind of story. It's meant to ramp up the tension and create new complications. But with time, the more extreme reactions to it will fade, and the film will earn its place in the franchise.
And the scene of Luke drinking green milk out of the teat of an animal was the best.
[End Spoiler]
Sean T. Collins thinks these are The 50 Greatest Star Wars Moments.
Someone has to bring up the Star Wars Holiday Special, so we won't forget what a story that really steps out of the boundaries of "canon" looks like.
Nick Gillard talks about choreographing the three way lightsaber duel between Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Darth Maul in The Phantom Menace.
Enough with the irrational hatred for midi-chlorians.
Lauren Michele Jackson on how modern animation subverts the minstrel tradition.
