Things I Like and Don’t Like for the Week of May 29th, 2019

It’s that time again, where I tell you what’s really grinding my gears for the week of May 29th, 2019.

Some weeks it’s mostly likes, other weeks it’s dislikes.

So what’s grinding my gears this week?

Deadpool and the MCU

There’s rumors about Deadpool being introduced into the MCU. This is great news I think if it happens. I would totally welcome Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool alongside other characters in the cinema setting.

Like rush_diehard mentioned in some comments yesterday, get your New Mutants #98 ready cause these can possibly see another round of heat, pushing the value back up after they seemed to cool off a bit right before the first Deadpool movie hit theaters.

Most of the articles now popping up around the web are claiming his introduction could be through one of the future Spider-Man movies. If true, we could maybe see a new demand for Spider-Man/Deadpool ongoing title that saw some heat when it was first released a few years back.

We started a discussion in the forums. Go chime in, speak your mind about this tidbit of news and rumors.

Tom King Departing Batman

Don’t get me wrong, I like Tom King. I loved his short Vision run at Marvel that got him more notoriety that got DC’s attention to bring him on full time at DC.

But I must admit, I was not a fan of his Batman run (I only lasted up until around issue #24 around the proposal). Some writers despite being great writers are not always perfect matches for some characters. I think Batman was not King’s strong suite.

So what could be behind them departing earlier when King mentioned previously his run was going to be until issue #100 or so? I think it’s likely slumping sales. Batman was always a book that hovered around the 100k mark each issue but lately it hasn’t been and that’s not counting the numerous unsold books of Batman on comic shop shelves.

While out and about at the local shop on Friday, I was curious how far back I could find Batman issues at one shop and they had plentiful issues going all the way back to issue #30 still on their recent books shelf.

There could be a number of reasons why King is departing Batman but we can only assume what’s obvious to us unless DC and King say otherwise publicly. I think King is a much stronger writer when the titles are mini-series, not the long ongoing type series.

It’s rumored his last book is going to be issue #85 and that’s likely only the case as he’s probably already written up to that issue.

Let’s just hope DC doesn’t do another reboot with a new issue #1.

Last Knight, Last Snyder & Capullo Chapter

I’m looking forward to this new series, which is supposedly Snyder and Capullo’s final chapter of Batman they’re doing together. I’m sure we’ll see more in the future from both.

Let’s just hope DC doesn’t ruin this Black Label run like they did with Batman Damned issues after the first with delays, editing, etc. What’s the point of labeling your new label as “Mature” when you don’t let it be mature.

Sheriff Kapoor?

Don’t take this next piece the wrong way but have you all seen the cover of Walking Dead #194? It’s titled “Last Shot” and the solicitation says “Meet Sheriff Kapoor…  if you dare!”

Seriously though, is Adlard’s art getting worse over the years (it actually is getting worse) or has he been drawing Walking Dead for so long he can’t draw a new character that doesn’t look like the future Rick Grimes as a black man?

Maybe this new Sheriff Kapoor is Grimes in a new twist in the apocalypse. Instead of turning into a zombie when you die, everyone turns into a black sheriff perhaps (and growing their missing body parts back)! Here’s a head shot of Rick for comparison of the new Sheriff.

But is Rick going to actually die? If you missed out on the first printing of when he supposedly got shot, you can still grab copies of
Walking Dead #191 (2nd Printing) on pre-sales.

But seriously, slumping sales of course result with us getting a possible death of a long time character and the push for a new character to boost potential sales. The last time we saw a “Meet….   ” type of solicitation, it was for Princess who turned out to be a big pile of no one special.

I just have this hunch this story has not been driven by a master and grand plan of story telling with a clear beginning and end. It’s a story driven by, what can Kirkman write to drive more sales to keep this mess of a story continuing. Can Kirkman think of nothing else to keep this book interesting? We had two governors. Now we have two sheriff’s?

Simply put, Kirkman is out of ideas clearly at this point.

If you’re still reading the Walking Dead, bravo and kudos to you for hanging on for so long. It’s truly amazing to me if you still are.

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That’s all I got this week. What’s grinding your gears this week? Tell us here or in the forums.