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DC Comics co-publisher Dan DiDio gave Comic Vine a short video about Rebirth at Wizard World Portland Comic Con this weekend.

Including mentioning what he calls “Probably the single most controversial scene at DC Comics in all the time that I’ve been there.”

Time to light the torches and brandish the pitchforks, folks!

Rebirth To Include “The Single Most Controversial Scene At DC Comics” – Dan DiDio

Last Wednesday was significant in terms of comic book piracy. As retailers flew to assemble in Portland for ComicsPRO, there was a significant drop in comics being pirated and torrented.

And why? Because one individual, a British uploader known as Nemesis43 had gone missing.

Had he or she been taken down by a court order? Arrested? Had his or her technology confiscated by the police? Not a bit of it. Nemesis43 was just busy, moving house.

Several hours later, a few other uploaders decided to start to share the burden of buying and uploading every comic book released that day on ComiXology – no one it seems actually scans books anymore. But it did reveal the truth that Nemesis43 has become so ubiquitous in the comic book pirating scene that everyone else has, basically, stopped.

Once upon a time I read a manual created for the pirate comics community, detailing the process of creating the best uploads. Digital comics has made that experience and knowledge base irrelevant, and if one person was willing to buy all those titles and convert them into pirated digital form, then everyone else was happy to let them do it.

Until they move house that is…

Why Comic Piracy Suffered A Temporary Setback Last Week

Currently Meredith Finch and David Finch create the Wonder Woman comic book together for DC Comics.

With DC Comics Rebirth, everything changes and Wonder Woman goes bi-weekly.

Bleeding Cool has reported the rumour that DC Bombshells and Angela writer Marguerite Bennett is the new writer on the title, though things are rather in flux at the moment.

And while I don’t know what either David or Meredith are working on next, I have confirmed that they are both working on new DC Comics projects – but separately.

We wait until WonderCon to find out…

David Finch And Meredith Finch Are Both Working On DC Comics Rebirth – But Not Together?

We’d heard about the changes to Playboy Magazine, the elimination of nudity. This was met with mixed reactions at best. But we now get word that they will be eliminating something else the magazine is well known for… the cartoons. And I don’t mean just nudity in the cartoons, I the cartoons all together are gone.

The word of this comes from long-time Playboy artist Dean Yeagle who says he just got confirmation from Playboy’s cartoon editor that there would be no more cartoons.

This is rather shocking as one of the things that Hugh Hefner prided him self on was employing cartoonists. That is because growing up he wanted to be a cartoonist and when he started his magazine he wanted to help some of his friends from the industry get steady work. The Hero Complex did a nice article about Hugh’s connection to the cartoons back in 2009.

This was the home for amazing talents like Jack Cole, Gahan Wilson, Harvey Kurtzman, Yeagle and many more.

If you take away the cartoons and the nudity… what is left to make Playboy unique from the dozens of magazines on the market like Maxium and FHM?

Playboy Now Does Away With Cartoons…

by Gage Skidmore

Originally published on comic creator Kody Chamberlain’s Tumblr page and reprinted here with permission,

People sometimes ask me if I like Rob Liefeld.

I met Rob Liefeld for the first time the same week Sweets #1 came out. It was also the same week of the San Diego Comic-Con and that’s why we were both there. I had a table in the Image Comics section (I miss those days), and Rob Liefeld was directly to my right at the corner table.

Back in the day, I bought X-Force and Youngblood comics, and those that know me well know that I have a very special spot in my heart for the Bloodwulf gun-bike. That stuff is outrageous and a shitload of fun.

Truth be told, the final Marvel books all the Image Creators ( X-Force, X-Men, Spider-Man, Wolverine) are what got me into comics in the first place. New issue number ones, clean entry points, fun art, lots of energy, that era of comics seemed eager to welcome in new readers and I was one of them. That stuff was my entry point. When they made the jump, I followed those creators to Image, and I got in even deeper from there with the second wave at Image and right into Dark Horse, Vertigo, etc. I never looked back.

Still, until that SDCC, I don’t recall ever actually meeting Rob at any convention I’ve ever done, and I didn’t know much about him except for the Levi’s commercial and the Stan Lee video series “Comic Book Greats,” I owned four of the set and Rob was on two of those.

As I normally do for big conventions, I got there a little early to set up. Rob got there around the same time and dropped off a few boxes, then started chatting with old friends. At some point, he started making the rounds to introduce himself to many of the Image creators he hadn’t met, including me. He flipped through some of my original art pages, said a few nice things, I gave him a copy of Sweets, thanked him for helping start Image Comics, and he moved on. As comic book conversations go, it was pretty light, but the guy already had a line wrapped around the corner.

For those that don’t know, SDCC is the best and the worst of all the comic book conventions. Because of the size and the attention, it’s great in so many ways, but there’s also a big downside of the size. The constant meetings, signings, panels, and a massive crowd that makes all of those things difficult to get to, and even harder to get back from. Table time is precious and scarce. Still, I’d say Rob put in a solid amount of time at his table, not an easy task for anyone.

As expected, Rob always had a huge line and spent most of his time signing books. He did reach into his bag and hand off the occasional commission or crank out a quick Deadpool sketch for a kid, but it was mostly signing books and talking comics. And Rob is very good at talking comics. His favorite runs, his favorite creators, the works. My first impression was that Rob Liefeld was a nice guy that loves comics.

Then it happened. Then it happened again. Four or five times during that convention, I heard ‘fans’ pass his table and insult him. Not constructive criticism or playful jokes, but bile-filled insult directed at the man and his work. Out loud. For everyone to hear.

Everyone has opinions on everything, and there’s a TON of comics out there I don’t enjoy, or that I consider downright horrible. But to actually scream an insult to a creator at a convention? I’ve never seen that happen toany creator at any convention, before or since. It was shocking. The fact that it happened multiple times is even more shocking.

To his credit, I never saw or heard Rob react to any of it, he never got noticeably angry or yelled anything to anyone. I was there, inches away. Not one thing. No one would have blamed him if he had gone off on one of those idiots, but he never did. Rob just kept his focus on the people there to meet him and was genuinely happy to meet the fans that support his work. Rob’s work helped get me into comics, I published my first fully creator-owned book at Image Comics, a company he helped start.

Yeah. I like that guy.

Kody Chamberlain’s Rob Liefeld Story

This article contains spoilers for last night’s episode of Arrow – Sins of the Father.

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Photo: Dean Buscher/ The CW — © 2016 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

We hear the term “game changer” all the time when it comes to television shows. The idea of something happening that shakes things up so dramatically that you suddenly know things are going to get intense and in a way you didn’t see coming. That was last night on Arrow. What seemed like a show tying up an outstanding loose end may just turn everything on its ear. And the title, Sins of the Father… probably should have been Fathers. Lets get to the important moments.

1 – Nyssa returns with a cure for whatever the Lazarus Pit is doing to Thea Queen. But instead of just giving it to Oliver Queen, she offers it as an exchange for him killing Malcolm Merlyn so she could be the head of the League of Assassins. This starts a very bad series of dominoes that I think will not end well for Oliver as the season progresses.

2 – Oliver tries to find a compromise, not wanting to kill his sister’s father to save her life. But his attempts to make a deal are thwarted when Malcolm’s love of power overshadows his love of his daughter. So instead of handing over the ring of Ra’s al Ghul, he attacks and there is a war in the streets. Just pause here for a moment and think of how many lives would’ve been saved if Oliver has simply accepted Ra’s offer last year and became the Head of the Demon?

3 – Oliver’s determination to resolve this with no one dying leads to him convincing Malcolm to challenge Nyssa to a trial by combat. Merlyn knows he can best Nyssa and agrees. But Oliver switches things up and stands in for his wife… yes they are still married in the eyes of the League… and defeats Malcolm. But instead of killing him, he merely chops off his hand and gives the ring to Nyssa. I’m sure leaving Malcolm alive won’t bite Oliver in the ass later.

4 – The sub-story going on here is Felicity Smoak’s father, Noah Kuttler, tries to get to know his daughter after he realizes that she is Overwatch as well as the head of Palmer Technologies. But her father is The Calculator and has an angle on everything it seems as she catches him trying to steal information from the company. She has him arrested. So the question is, was he genuinely trying to connect with his daughter and just stole because it’s what he does… or was he truly working an angle. And has Felicity created an enemy for herself now?

5 – In a move I don’t think anyone saw coming, Nyssa disbands the League and melts the ring. There is no more Ra’s al Ghul. Which I find a bit hard to believe. If the writers of the series just want to take that set of characters off the board, fine. But disbanding the League just means that a whole lot of highly trained killers were just made unemployed. Other organizations will suddenly get stronger or someone else will step up to lead. Maybe Ra’s al Ghul himself… if he could come back from the dead.

6 – Malcolm tells Damien Darhk about William. Which immediately made me think that William is in the grave. That would explain Oliver being upset but not that many folks around. Barry Allen knows about William so he’d want to be there for Oliver. And Felicity would be there, but the fact Oliver didn’t tell her about his son would drive a wedge between them. Either way, this is a level of evil Malcolm hasn’t done in a while. Since he lost the League, maybe he figures Darhk goes after William, Oliver kills Darhk and Malcolm takes over HIVE.

By the time this season is done, we will probably end up with a very different show for season five. A lot of the things built up over the first three seasons are being done away with. Amanda Waller, The Suicide Squad, League of Assassins and I doubt Damien Darhk is going to make it out of this season alive. Which will only leave the Dark Archer and whatever if anything remains of HIVE.

Speaking of HIVE, next week they seem to have put together a demolition team that’s causing some problems in Star City.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Six Important Moments From Arrow – Sins Of The Father

It’s no surprise that Donald Trump skits are alive and kicking. The man provides so much material, it’s almost wasteful to not make fun of him. However, would you expect to see dynamite actor Johnny Depp taking on the role of Trump? Well, it has happened thanks to Funny or Die. The 50-minute spoof movie is called The Art of the Deal.

In addition to Depp, you’ll also see Alfred Molina, Robert Morse, Patton Oswalt (as Merv Griffin), Jack McBrayer, Michaela Watkins (as Ivana Trump), Henry Winkler, Stephen Merchant, Kristen Schaal, Andy Richter, Paul Scheer, Rob Huebel, Ron Howard, and even Alf.

I’m a huge fan of Johnny Depp, and he’s got the Trump voice down pat. Be sure to discuss the movie on Twitter using the hashtag #FODTrumpMovie. Check out the full movie here.

Johnny Depp Plays Donald Trump In A New Funny Or Die Movie

Chris Ahrnsbrak writes for Bleeding Cool from PAX South,

The explosive regrowth and rediscovery of tabletop gaming was more and more evident throughout wandering the PAX South show floor. Many well-known brands were on full display, but the one area that constantly had a line for their experience was Reaper Miniatures.

Reaper Miniatures is well known to many RPG players and Kickstarter watchers. Beyond just their well-known line of highly-detailed, lead-free pewter miniatures, three highly successful Kickstarter drives have generated enough capital for the Texas-based manufacturer to not only launch, but to expand and enhance their growing line of paintable plastic miniatures– miniatures which cross genre lines with wild abandon.

The popularity of a Reaper Paint-and-Take, in which participants can use Reaper’s specially formulated lines of miniatures paints to prime, paint, and take home one of nearly a dozen figures from all kinds of different genres, was evident in the constantly filled tables and lines to go through the experience. “All of these shows,” said Bryan Stiltz, Community Manager forReaper Miniatures “get us out there to teach people” how to paint the minis. Even from watching and participating, gamers of all ages, all skill levels, and who liked everything from sci-fi gun-runners to classic fantasy magi enjoyed their time at the tables.

“Deep, historical divisions don’t need to exist between genres of gamers,” explained Stiltz, pointing out that there’s room at the proverbial table for aficionados of all genres to enjoy collecting and painting. And while most tabletop RPG players are more than familiar with their product lines, it’s shows like the PAX shows which help the company to expand its presence and shine brighter in an already crowded field.

Well beyond their own convention in Denton, TX (near the Dallas/Fort Worth metro area) in October, Reaper‘s full convention schedule this year includes a stop at Frederickburg’s Historicon in July 2016, a relatively untapped market for their product. “Tabletop is growing at all of these venues, and we’ve been looking into shows outside our market to expand our presence,” Stiltz said. “The tabletop presence is growing, and being at a show like PAX South gives us exposure to a new audience, hungry for new products, but not familiar with us.”

For a better idea of the hundreds upon hundreds of individual miniatures, paints, and sets Reaper has to offer, check them out at www.reapermini.com.

PAX South 2016: Reaper Minis’ More Colorful And Customizable World

Titanfall 2 is on the way from Respawn Entertainment, which I am greatly looking forward too. The first was very good and a sequel gives the developer a chance to build on some of that game’s key mistakes. It seems it is not the only game the developer is working on though.

Indeed, as spotted by GameSpot, a job listing posted to Gamasutra says that the developer is looking for:

designers for two game development projects–a new game in the Titanfall universe as well as a new 3rd person action/adventure IP.

Count me in. I really do regard Respawn as a talented developer, so I’m all for them doing more than just Titanfall. With Titanfall 2 supposedly a little out itself though, I wouldn’t expect to see this new 3rd person game for quite some time.

Titanfall Developer Is Making A Third Person Game Alongside Titanfall 2

During the CW presentation at the TCA Winter Press Tour, president Mark Predowitz announced that Kevin Smith (Clerks, Dogma) will be directing an episode of The Flash. Though no specific episode was given, it will be in the second season and air in May. That would make it one of the last three episodes of the season.

Smith is already scheduled to be on the CW as co-host for the upcoming special Dawn of the Justice League, airing the same night The Flash returns from its mid-season break.

[Source: Heroic Hollywood]

Kevin Smith To Direct An Episode Of The Flash

Fans of Game of Thrones who were hoping that the next novel, The Winds of War would be completed prior to the sixth season of the HBO series being aired are going to be disappointed. George R. R. Martin announced on his blog that the novel is not complete and he has missed the window to have it published prior to the television series return.

THE WINDS OF WINTER is not finished.

Believe me, it gave me no pleasure to type those words. You’re disappointed, and you’re not alone. My editors and publishers are disappointed, HBO is disappointed, my agents and foreign publishers and translators are disappointed… but no one could possibly be more disappointed than me. For months now I have wanted nothing so much as to be able to say, “I have completed and delivered THE WINDS OF WINTER” on or before the last day of 2015.

But the book’s not done.

The author anticipates the next question that most fans will have:

Having said all that, I know what the next question will be, because hundreds of you have already asked it of me. Will the show ‘spoil’ the novels?

Maybe. Yes and no. Look, I never thought the series could possibly catch up with the books, but it has. The show moved faster than I anticipated and I moved more slowly. There were other factors too, but that was the main one. Given where we are, inevitably, there will be certain plot twists and reveals in season six of GAME OF THRONES that have not yet happened in the books.

So when will the new novel be done?

I am going back to my stance from last March, before all this. It will be done when it’s done. And it will be as good as I can possibly make it.

Game Of Thrones Season Six Will Air Before The Next Novel Is Released