The Nerd Thread (Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Comics, Games, Collectibles, Lore, etc.)

@AlsoSprachOdin
I somehow have over a thousand now.

@Dex Stewart
A side note… I went to subscribe to your channel, then discovered I’m already a subscriber lol

Vanguard is starting the process of backing away from ESG initiatives, alongside BlackRock. In four or so years, the current pipeline of projects should be cleared out. We may see a shift away from identity politics in pop culture after that.

IDW lost the Transformers license and now Image is the new holder.
So Image launched a new Tranformers comic that is very loosely based on the G1 cartoon, except that Starscream is the current Decepticon leader (On account of nearly all other Decepticons still being deactivated inside of the Autobot’s Ark) and so far the guy has been doing a decent job, in fact the first thing he did after being reactivated was blasting a hole through the still deactivated Bumblebee’s head. and after that he (begrudgingly) accepted to explore Earth to forage for Energon or it’s equivalent on account of being the only Decepticon with enough Energon reserves to move around.
If anything, looks like the new TF continuity is going to be a rollercoaster of surprises.

I think my favorite thing in pop culture this year has been the faceplant that is Saw Patrol. It was an obvious astroturfing campaign that kicked off right after Barbie and Oppenheimer had their big combined opening weekend. Everyone saw through it immediately, and it got almost no traction. Much of the traffic it did get was people making fun of the studios for trying to force a repeat of the Barbenheimer phenomenon. The only people still talking about Saw Patrol are the mainstream outlets desperately trying to spin their uninspiring box office performances as a triumph.

@ANoobis
Barbenheimer was both funny and a perfect reflection of the western Zeitgeist in year 2023.

You can’t force either of those things.

@Fleur de Lis
How so? I saw neither and don’t really get what this “Barbenheimer” thing is about.

The response to Southpark’s Panderverse special has been interesting. The number of articles and reviews claiming that it’s not anti-woke, but instead is bothsides-ism, makes it feel like it’s a coordinated message. I’ve even seen some Twitter cope claiming that it “owns the chuds” and is actually theirs.

Considering how much the left’s views have shifted since the Last of Us 2 released, will the show include the synagogue tour?

@Dex Stewart
Bummer that Palicki appears to not be returning.

@BikerDash
Yeah, that’ll be weird to write around.

I was looking forward to the new The Crow until I saw the trailer. Here’s hoping it’s better than it looks, I guess.

Funimation has ceased operations.

Twilight Sparkle recites poem about Gil-Galad from The Lord of the Rings.

A recent Forbes article dug into Disney Star Wars’ financial performance. Disney appears to still be in the hole on the Lucasfilm purchase.

Wizards of the Coast has decided to fix the problem (that they made up) of orcs being black stereotypes by making them into canon Mexican stereotypes.

@ANoobis
But orcs are not black sterotypes. Only actual racists ever even thought that to begin with.

Marvel Comics is attempting to use the success of the Deadpool & Wolverine movie to push another replacement on readers. For the time being, this is the new Deadpool.

And here is the writer making it happen.

@ANoobis
It was already bad when Marvel canned The Punisher to replace him with some crappy legacy character blargh.

Captain Marvel’s solo series is cancelled again. I wonder how many times it’s going to take before they give up. The character has never been popular, and astroturfing has a history of not working in this industry.

Welp… I watched the Borderlands movie today. It was as bad as I expected it’d be.