Forum 2.0

Cuts at DC Comics, DC Universe and DC Direct were expected — but the size of them is a surprise

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

Aug. 13, 2020 — There’s a lot of sorrow in Batman’s Gotham City. This week it may be worse in the real-life city of Burbank, California, home of DC Comics.

On Monday, Aug. 10, WarnerMedia announced layoffs of

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TV uncovers hidden gems with deep dive into comics

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

Aug. 6, 2020 — Call it the Summer of the C-List.

Despite the pandemic, TV still has a lot of original content — much of which is based on comic books. But with so many shows lifting concepts, ideas and entire

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Comic-Con@Home: The Big Announcements

 By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

July 30, 2020 — Comic-Con@Home, the attempt by the San Diego Comic-Con to replicate the show’s experience online, had at  least one major similarity to its live-action predecessors: Tons of big announcement

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From Kent State to East End London, recent slate of GNs cover a lot of ground

 By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

Sept. 10, 2020 — It’s been raining graphic novels here in the Comics Cave. Let’s look at a few:

Kent State: Four Dead in Ohio

Art/writing: John “Derf” Backderf

Abrams ComicArts, $24.99

Backderf made a na

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Marvel, DC launch long-delayed summer crossovers ... and they are awesome

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

July 2, 2020 — The pandemic delayed the usual summer comics crossovers, but the first shots have finally been fired.

In Burbank, in the red Superman trunks, is DC Comics and “Death Metal.” In New York, in t

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Comic-Con@Home brings a lot of the San Diego experience online (minus all the sweating)

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

July 23, 2020 — What do you do if the pandemic has canceled your comic convention? If you’re the big dog, Comic-Con International: San Diego, you take it online.

And it’s already started.

Comic-Con@Home runs

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Where did all those wacky 'Doom Patrol' concepts come from? Comics, of course

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

July 16, 2020 — Watching Doom Patrol it might be hard to believe the bizarre characters on the screen actually first appeared in comic books. But it’s true, as we shall see with this stroll down Memory Lane.

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Genre TV: Four shows worth a look

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

Oct 8, 2020 — The pandemic has curtailed a lot of TV filming, and Netflix has begun canceling even successful shows over delayed production. But, amazingly, there’s still an awesome amount of TV on the air wo

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NYCC online show was a lollapalooza of TV announcements

Slugfest is a documentary series on Quibi that explores the eight-decade rivalry between the Big Two  comic book publishers, Marvel Comics and DC Comics. The NYCC panel included luminaries like Kevin Smith (top left) and Brandon Routh (center bottom

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From Bluebeard to Wonder Woman, some of the best YA graphic novels

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

July 9, 2020 — The popularity of Young Adult graphic novels has exploded, along with their shelf space in bookstores and comic shops. Here are some of the latest:

Bluebeard cover: This Papercutz graphic nov

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DC FanDome pulls no punches with big announcements

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

DC Comics skipped the online San Diego Comic-Con this year, and launched one of its own, “DC FanDome.” Part One ran Aug. 22, and boy howdy, they didn’t skimp on the big announcements. Here are the ones that g

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Disney announces cascade of Marvel, Star Wars content to come

The Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Chapek makes announcements at the Investor Day 2020 presentation. (© The Walt Disney Co. 2020.)

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

Dec. 17, 2020 — OK, that’s … a lot to process.

I’m talking about Disney’s Investor

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The big summer crossovers in comics have begun — and the readers will be the winners

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

July 2, 2020 — The pandemic delayed the usual summer comics crossovers, but the first shots have finally been fired.

In Burbank, in the red Superman trunks, is DC Comics and “Death Metal.” In New York, in the

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"Beast Boy" a snappy addition to Garcia/Picolo Teen Titans series of YA graphic novels

Teen Titans: Beast Boy is a new take on the DC Comics character, showing his teen years in Georgia in a new YA graphic novel. (Art by Gabriel Picolo, copyright DC Comics)

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

Oct. 1, 2020 — If you’ve read the Yo

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Black Canary finds her voice in YA graphic novel 'Ignite'

Copyright DC Comics Inc.

Black Canary: Ignite is a new Young Adult graphic novel by Meg Cabot and Cara McGee, about a 13-year-old Dinah Lance just growing into her inherited super-power.

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

Nov. 5, 2019 -- How

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'Fear the Walking Dead,' 'World Beyond' demonstrate what the zombie apocalypse needs: Better writers

 By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

Dec. 10, 2020 — Oh, Walking Dead, wherefore dost thou vex me so?

I really want to like TWD and, by extension, its spinoffs. I loved the first few seasons of the original, and still remember the thrills I on

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DC releases some great Joker stories (but maybe too many)

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

Nov. 12, 2020 — It’s been a Joker kind of month.

Not because of the pandemic, or the Election Week Death March or the myriad other problems and tragedies that beset us. It’s because DC Comics has put so many

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News Ticker: Marvel TV shrinks (for now) while DC TV expands

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

Oct. 31, 2019 -- The Geek-O-Tron 1000 News Ticker has been working overtime. Let’s take a look at the whats, and then discuss the whos, whys, wheres and the sometimes how muches of the latest developments:

A

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TV's 'Helstrom' lifts from different eras of Marvel's Son of Satan

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

Oct. 22, 2020 — If you caught the first season of Helstrom when it dropped on Hulu on Oct. 16, you may be wondering if it’s a Marvel TV show or not. The answer is yes, but at such a remove that you can be for

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More TV news: 'Batwoman,' 'Moon Knight,' 'Green Lantern,' 'Nick Fury'

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

Oct. 29, 2020 — The small screen is trying to make us forget the big one.

Last week in this space I discussed Helstrom. The week before I focused on Star Trek: Prodigy, M.O.D.O.K., Invincible and several othe

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