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Tom Shapira @tomshaps.bsky.social · 10h

I see a new season of Moon Boy and Devil Dinosaur Max had been announced

Tom Shapira @tomshaps.bsky.social · 1d

It's not the book Parker, too nice, too talkative, not pro enough, which is A problem if you are a fan of the books (I am) but not necessarily THE problem. An unloyal adaptation could be good on its own merits. Play Dirty doesn't have enough merits of its own.

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Tom Shapira @tomshaps.bsky.social · 1d

Thereabouts

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Tom Shapira @tomshaps.bsky.social · 1d

There are casting issues, there are script issues, there are CGI issues... But the BIGGEST issue - the film has no vision of Parker.

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Tom Shapira @tomshaps.bsky.social · 1d

Either / Or

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Tom Shapira @tomshaps.bsky.social · 1d

Play Dirty?
No, don't Play Dirty!

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Tom Shapira @tomshaps.bsky.social · 1d

Not a Pynchon Person, it turns out. Gave it so many swings. Missed on all of them.

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Tom Shapira @tomshaps.bsky.social · 1d

Imagine a boot stomping on a human face... Forever!
Congratulations, you are now a foot fetishist.

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Tom Shapira @tomshaps.bsky.social · 1d

"Do not, my friends, become addicted to being paid. It will take hold of you, and you will resent its absence."

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Tom Shapira @tomshaps.bsky.social · 1d

Anyway... They should let me revive Epic Comics instead.

Tom Shapira @tomshaps.bsky.social · 1d

What does Vertigo Comics even means in 2025?

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Tom Shapira @tomshaps.bsky.social · 1d

In theory... But a lot if this sounds like, say, the Hill House line. Which also didn't fair too well

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Tom Shapira @tomshaps.bsky.social · 1d

Even HBO isn't really HBO anymore. It's just television...

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Tom Shapira @tomshaps.bsky.social · 1d

If reading one makes my knees less wobbly I'll put the whole line down for Eisner, Harvey, Ignatz, Pulitzer, Nobel and the Fields Medal.

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Tom Shapira @tomshaps.bsky.social · 1d

You bring Vertigo back because it's a name, a 'brand', which means - hey, people talk about it (like I'm doing now). But you are setting up an impossible standard - not the actual comics, but the way people remember them.

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Tom Shapira @tomshaps.bsky.social · 1d

It's possible the later stuff was good, I don't remember enough to judge, but the fact is - whenever someone waxes nostalgia about Vertigo the newest output they talk about is twenty years old.

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Tom Shapira @tomshaps.bsky.social · 1d

Oh - They bring back Paradox Press as well? Truly, nothing stays dead in comics...

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Tom Shapira @tomshaps.bsky.social · 1d

And in terms of 'quality'... Leaving aside that much of the 'classic' stuff probably doesn't hold as much as you remember, the reason Vertigo died out was because they couldn't maintain quality control. The last 2-3 attempts at line-wide jump start died quickly.

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Tom Shapira @tomshaps.bsky.social · 1d

That sounds scary to me (as a person asked to review such things).

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Tom Shapira @tomshaps.bsky.social · 1d

The 'golden age' of Vertigo, the creator-owned-high-concept-long-running-series period, was novel at the time... But that niche had since been filled a dozen times over (except the 'long running' bit - that seemed to have mostly died out).

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Tom Shapira @tomshaps.bsky.social · 1d

The 'superhero but adult' thing is probably played out. Or rather - what counts as 'adult' in terms of sex and violent content in the 1980s isn't as shocking to 21st century crowd. Also, I guess Black Label is still doing that now...

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Tom Shapira @tomshaps.bsky.social · 1d

Do you WANT to remind people of Sandman in 2025?

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Tom Shapira @tomshaps.bsky.social · 1d

Nobody tries to revive Piranha Press for some reason

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Tom Shapira @tomshaps.bsky.social · 1d

Because looking at the title list, other than the 100 Bullets revival, most of it reads like stuff that could come out of Image, Mad Cave, Boom, Aftershock*, Dark Horse, Vault** or possibly half a dozen other publishers I've missed.

* Is that still a thing?
** Is that still a thing?

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Tom Shapira @tomshaps.bsky.social · 1d

What does Vertigo Comics even means in 2025?

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Tom Shapira @tomshaps.bsky.social · 3d

"There he meets Sassoon, as well as Sassoon's 'Dick.'"
Bless you Paul Fussell

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