Author: somegeektoldme@gmail.com

Movie Preview: Clayface

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn MoviesLeave a comment

I’ve been extremely busy running New Zealand’s 5th least favourite website, so I thought it was time to relax and enjoy the finer things in life. And what would that mean, I hear you ask? Why committing time and energy to another infamous Movie Preview/Review, of course, silly rabbit.

If you cast your mind back over winter (summer for some of you), I went on a bender, writing Movie Preview/Reviews for Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu, Supergirl, The Odyssey, and Spider-Man: Brand New Day. I’m going to do Avengers: Doomsday in December, and maybe, just maybe, Wicker in November, but that one is not confirmed. Yet, as the cookie crumbles over the plate, one film has been confirmed for our head writer to explore, and that is Clayface.

I’ve said this before, but I am an old creature of habit, so I’ll be sticking to my non-award-winning template for these preview/reviews. I hope that’s alright, because that’s all I can manage currently as I still enjoy being unconscious at night time.

So…Clayface. This will be DC Studios’ third feature DCU (DC Universe) film after 2025’s Superman and 2026’s Supergirl, which is part of Chapter One: Gods and Monsters. Of course, in saying that, the DCU already exists in the form of many live-action and animated television shows. I have not seen Lanterns yet, as I’m saving that for over the Christmas holidays.

We did see Clayface in Creative Commandos, which was the first entry into the DCU via a television show, which would predate the film…but I’m not sure what world Clayface is set in. However, I am leaning towards James Gunn’s DCU, rather than the offshoot world of Matt Reeves’ Gotham.

I got out of sync with the movie previews/reviews last time, but I remedied the situation by purchasing an advance ticket for Tuesday. I learnt my lesson, so advance tickets are still the way to go. Yes, it’s in the back row, because where else am I going to sit in the theatre?

Sony released a few live-action Spider-Man spin-off films like the Venom trilogy (seen all three), Morbius (not seen), Madame Web (not seen) and Kraven the Hunter (seen). Interestingly, Sony focused on three of Peter’s rogues’ gallery to flesh out their stories. DC and Warner Bros. did this with Black Adam (seen), Joker (seen), and Joker: Folie à Deux (not seen).

They seem to be following the trend of giving a few of the Caped Crusader’s rogues’ gallery some spotlight in the form of Clayface. He has been stirring up trouble for Batman since his first appearance in Detective Comics #40 (June 1940), and he hasn’t stopped. I need to point two things out about Clayface, which make him stand out from the costumed sociopaths and psychopaths that plague Gotham City.

Firstly, Clayface, like Killer Croc, is in a small group of Batman’s villains that actually have superhuman abilities. For this reason, and just like Killer Croc, this makes him a truly scary and underrated character. Secondly, Clayface is unique in another way, because he is a legacy character. So what does that mean?

Basically, a legacy character can be a villain or hero who either takes or is given the title of a pre-existing or established character. They can take the powers, equipment, and costume of the established character, as well as their name. The two characters generally have some sort of connection, but not always. To the best of my understanding, there have been possibly eight different characters that have taken the mantle of Clayface, with one of the most famous being Matt Hagen. And speaking of Matt Hagen, he’s the star of Clayface.

The film cost only US$30–44 million, compared to US$170 million for Supergirl, and US$225 million for Superman. Are DC Studios nervous about another film’s box office performance since both previous DCU film entries slightly underperformed? I have no idea. Also, I need to mention that Clayface is rated R16, at least in New Zealand.

Clayface was written by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini, and directed by James Watkins. As for the cast, we have Matt Hagen / Clayface (Tom Rhys Harries), Dr Caitlyn Corr (Naomi Ackie), John Borrelli (Max Minghella), with unrevealed roles with Wil Coban, Ruby Sear, Joshua James, Francesca Corney, David Dencik, Eddie Marsan and Nancy Carroll.

And with that out of the way, let’s dive into the seedy nightlife of Gotham City and see what makes Clayface tick!

Credit: NobodyQuiteLikeMe

Am I looking forward to watching Clayface?

I ask this question of all my prey1, as the answer is always the same: yes. As dedicated followers of this informative echo chamber will attest, one of my goals is to support movies based on comic books; basically, if we stop going to films, the studios will stop making them, and I don’t want that. So, here I am, yet again.

I remember watching Batman: The Animated Series, where Clayface was pure nightmare fuel; so he left an impression on me. For Hagen’s origin, I don’t know if the filmmakers will draw inspiration from Batman: The Animated Series, the comics, or some other place to explain and tell the story, or maybe it’s going to be something original.

Being a legacy Batman villain, I was surprised that the studios gave the green light for a movie about Clayface before Batman, considering there are a lot more famous and iconic villains that could possibly deserve their own movie. But, and hear me out, I wonder if that’s the issue.

From a live-action movie perspective, we have seen the Joker, the Penguin, Catwoman, Two-Face, the Riddler, Mr Freeze, Poison Ivy, Bane, Ra’s al Ghul, Scarecrow, Talia al Ghul, Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Black Mask, Killer Croc, and KGBeast. I think exposing audiences to a new-to-cinema, but old enemy, like Clayface, would be to entice the audience into the theatre. Hell, it’s working for me! Plus, we now have the filmmaking technology to display his powers properly.

What is the movie about?

According to Wikipedia, the premise is this:

After being brutally disfigured by a local mob boss, rising movie star Matt Hagen volunteers as a test subject to restore his original face but experiences a series of horrifying psychological and physical side effects that transform his body into living clay.

To build on this, my local cinema is advertising Clayface as:

“Clayface” unravels one man’s horrifying descent from rising Hollywood star to revenge-filled monster in a story that explores the loss of one’s identity and humanity, corrosive love, and the dark underbelly of scientific ambition.

What can we expect?

The running time is 108 minutes, just the same as Supergirl. Not too long, not too short; it’s in the Goldilocks zone.

One thing I’m looking forward to is the special effects, because as I understand it, Clayface’s abilities will be a blend of CGI and practical effects. I’m a fan of practical effects, not shitty and low-quality ones, but ones where you learn later it was a practical effect, and you are in awe of how the filmmakers did that.

In saying that, I also realise the advantages of having a big movie budget, which can bring Clayface to the silver screen. His regeneration, durability, stamina, and strength will be awesome to see, but, let’s face it, it’s his shapeshifting that brings all the boys to the yard. Whether it’s altering his face, body, or, my favourite, changing his limbs into weapons, will be a sight to behold.

I mentioned the budget before, but it needs to be mentioned again. Does DC Studios not fully believe in the film, because they only invested US$30–44 million, which in itself is hilarious, because that’s more money I’ll ever see in my lifetime. The point is that I hope the money has been invested in the plot and special effects, because Clayface is a fascinating character, and I want to see him as a beautiful and tragic nightmare.

One thing we can expect is Hagen going on a revenge rampage, which is why it’s marketed as a horror movie, instead of a supervillain movie. It does make sense, considering he’s a villain and an enemy of Batman; it’s going to be interesting to see how Tom Rhys Harries plays Matt Hagen. Will he be a hero, villain, or anti-hero?

Obviously, the accident (however or whatever it is) changes Hagen, but what was he like beforehand? I understand Hagen will be an actor, like the original Clayface, Basil Karlo. From there, I can only imagine bodies will start appearing.

I also wonder how similar the movie will be to Clayface’s origin in Batman: The Animated Series, with the Feat of Clay storyline. It introduced Matt Hagen, and you were witness to his tragic downfall and his rebirth as Clayface. Later on in my life of absorbing pop culture, Anakin Skywalker’s fall to the Dark Side and rebirth in Star Wars: Episode III- Revenge of the Sith reminded me of Clayface.

I guess I’m not sure what else to expect, as I want the DCU to succeed, so I’m trying to keep an open mind about it.

Do I have concerns?

What type of fan boy would I be if I didn’t have concerns?

  • Which world is Clayface set in: Robert Pattinson’s The Batman or David Corenswet’s Superman?
  • Since Clayface is set in Gotham, will it be before or during Batman being active?
  • Will any famous Gotham citizens make a cameo?
  • Will there be any references to former or ex-Clayface characters?
  • How many people will Clayface kill?
  • What will be the most horrific death?
  • Will the plot make any sense?
  • Will Hagen be a hero, villain, or anti-hero?
  • Will there be a Batman reference?
  • What will, if any, the fight scenes look like?
  • How much will the movie lean into body horror vs thriller?
  • How will Hagen be transformed?
  • Will the reduced amount of budget be obvious in the movie?
  • Will Hagen’s downfall be tragic, believable or stupid?

I’ll probably leave the theatre cursing myself for not thinking about a particular question, but that always happens. I hope Clayface is a success, though how you define success is up for debate; which I’ll discuss one day. However, it’s not today, nor next week.

It’s that time of year when I need to give you a heads-up about my Mid-Summer break that is coming up, which is just a fancy name for the Christmas holidays. I haven’t worked out the dates yet, but it will be happening in roughly eight weeks.

Thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Remember to walk your dog, read a banned book, keep watching the Rugby League World Cup, and I’ll see you next week for the Clayface Review. Look after yourself.

1 Who got that reference?

Reform UK: “More of your conversation would infect my brain.”

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn People, PoliticsLeave a comment

As followers of this high-brow literary masterpiece of the human condition and pop culture, you will already know of my love of William Shakespeare. That being the case, I know you can appreciate the title. And speaking of the title, this week’s little nugget of joy will be about Reform UK.

Now, I know I have readers from around the world, which in itself is really rad to me, but hopefully this example of moral ineptitude can cross borders and languages.

Like last week’s blog post, I often write about the United Kingdom, as it still has a special place in my geek-laden heart, as I lived there for three years, so I’ll always care about it; hence why I’m discussing what Reform UK have been up to, or at least, what they have released to the media.

Before I venture into this new volatile voyage of humour, let’s put on our Hats of Culture and Understanding to briefly explain just what Reform UK actually is. This should be a doozy!

Known as Reform, or the Reform Party, Reform UK is a political party in the United Kingdom that has the (dis)honour of being placed on the right-wing/far-right political spectrum. Basically, whatever you think of the Conservatives (Tories), they are to the right of them. Just for the record, they firmly supported the Leave the EU- pro-Brexit decision. Charming, right?

Anyway, their inspiring and charismatic leader is the MP for Clacton, Nigel Farage. Yes, that Nigel Farage, the one who resigned in July 2026 over an Ethics Committee investigation into some donations he had received. This triggered a by-election, where Farage was going to run, but also the leader of the Recyclons of Sigma IX, Count Binface, stood up to run against him, among others.

On 13th August, the Clacton by-election was held, and, surprise, surprise, Farage won with 63.3% of the vote. However, it must be stated that the runner-up, with 26.9%, was Count Binface. Yes, over a quarter of the voters in Clacton preferred a man with a rubbish bin on his head to be their MP, over Farage. Awesome. I would love to discuss this public relations disaster with you further, but I want to discuss the real reason this blog post exists at all.

In September 2026, footage was released to the media involving some Reform UK officials. It was an undercover sting operation by journalists, as they posed as U.S. donors, wanting to help Reform UK. This involved an unfulfilled talk about channelling £500,000 into Reform UK, some foreign funding arrangements, and funding three public opinion polls.

The two Reform UK aides in the footage have both since resigned, although Farage was also featured in the footage.

On 7th or 8th October (depending on whether you’re dealing with UK time or NZ time), Reform UK released a statement declaring that after an internal investigation, the party found that the three party members featured in the undercover sting footage had not broken any of the party’s rules or laws, and were cleared of any wrongdoing by Reform UK. The party is also planning to sue the broadcaster.

The Metropolitan Police’s Special Enquiry Team has launched a criminal investigation into potential breaches of foreign funding rules.

Effectively, the story boils down to this: Reform investigated Reform and declared that Reform was innocent.

After Reform UK released this information, well, people had some strong and humorous responses to it. Because of this, I have trawled through the best and funniest comments that I could find for you. So, sit back and relax, and read the best comments about the result of Reform UK’s internal investigation, and see just how absurd it is.

Credit: Daily Mirror

Twitter

Mastodon

Facebook

Now to close it out, we have this banger.

And all of this insanity was before the story broke about Reform UK councillors being filmed making racist remarks. I do realise that our current general election campaign has gone off the rails and has become extremely humiliating and toxic, but Reform UK are a gift that keeps on giving with their corruption and incompetence.

Have you heard of Reform UK’s internal investigation? As always, please let me know. And that’s it, for another breath-taking week with New Zealand’s 5th least favourite website.

Thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Please don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, go watch the Rugby League World Cup, and I’ll see you next week for another movie preview with Clayface. I have to go; Gotham needs me.

What should be Manchester City F.C.’s punishment?

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn People, Sports

I realise the news about this event is old, over a week old now, but I’m playing catch-up. Why? We have a general election on 7th November, so it’s hard to absorb all the daily chaos, and you can bet all your peanut M&Ms that I’ll discuss that soon. However, that event is not today; you will be relieved.

So, after that charming little info dump, and before we discuss the title of the blog post, we absolutely need to understand what has happened to Manchester City F.C. and why a middle-aged white straight New Zealand man-child cares about it. Technically, I care what’s happened, not about the team per se.

If you would like an in-depth analysis of the event, then I suggest reading some professional journalism, not my woke musings. But, for the sake of time, let’s quickly go over one of the biggest sporting scandals I have ever heard about. I also want to establish three points about this scandal to put it in context for people who have no idea what I’m waffling on about this week.

1.) Professional football is a business, as it’s a form of entertainment. Hundreds of millions of every possible currency you can think of flow around the world and into various organisations that run and administer the sport at a national and international level, like FIFA, UEFA, and the Premier League. The money we are talking about, involving salaries, merchandise, tickets, and also sponsorship, is colossal.

2.) I care about this issue for two reasons: I love football, as you already know, but I also follow the Premier League. I have been doing this because my team, West Ham, played in it, but sadly they were relegated last season.1

3.) Manchester City was bought and owned by a company called City Football Group Limited in 2008, which, as I understand it, was backed by the Abu Dhabi United Group (ADUG), which is majority-owned by Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan. It also helps to know that Al Nahyan is the current deputy prime minister and vice president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and his brother, Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, is the UAE President.

The chairman of Manchester City is Khaldoon Al Mubarak, who has corporate, investment, and policy roles within the UAE government. There are at least two other companies involved in the ownership: Silver Lake and CITIC Group, but from what I have gathered, the scandal does not involve them, to the best of my understanding. Crystal clear? Sweet, because things are going to get a lot worse.

Manchester City Football Club are, wait for it, a football club that, would you believe, is based in Manchester. They play in the English Premier League, which is the highest domestic division in the country, as well as in the Champions League via UEFA.

Over the last 10-15 years, the men’s team have won the Premier League Title, FA Cup, EFL Cup, FA Community Shield, Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, and FIFA Club World Cup. Some of these titles have been won multiple times over that time period.

I can’t tell you 100% when the media first discovered the issues, but just like Two-Face, I have two examples. As I understand it, in 2017, a hacker obtained files from the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC). Some of these files were related to Manchester City’s potential financial breaches.

Later that year, Der Spiegel, a German magazine, published information concerning financial breaches committed by Manchester City. In 2019, UEFA launched an investigation into Manchester City’s potential wrongdoing and found them guilty in 2020 of “Serious breaches of the UEFA Financial Fair Play Regulations by overstating its sponsorship revenue in its accounts and in the break-even information submitted to UEFA between 2012 and 2016.” (UEFA investigation).

The punishment from UEFA was to ban Manchester City for two years from the Champions League, which doesn’t sound like much; but it is. It really is because of the vast amounts of money involved. Anyway, Manchester City managed to get the ban overturned.

Fast forward to February 2023, when the Premier League brought 115 charges against Manchester City for serious financial breaches, from the 2009–10 to 2017–18 seasons. This included:

54 counts of failure to provide accurate financial information, 14 counts of failure to provide accurate details for player and manager payments, 7 counts of breaching the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR), 5 counts of breaching UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations, and 35 counts of failure to cooperate with league investigations. (The New York Times).

So in 2024, an independent commission started an in-person, but private hearing to judge the charges. With me far so? Good, because now it gets crazy! On 29th September 2026, the verdict of the hearing was revealed to the media and public. Manchester City was found guilty of 114 out of 115 charges, and it has shaken the football world and the sporting community to its core. According to the release, Manchester City were found guilty of:

  • Creating sham and double contracts.
  • Disguised owner-injected funding money as sponsorship income (Over £800 million).
  • Inflating revenue, along with understating and reducing costs (Over £900 million).
  • Filing inaccurate financial reports.
  • Hid true funding sources from auditors.
  • Broke both Premier League and UEFA spending rules.
  • Failing to co-operate with the investigation.

I do need to say that Manchester City has filed an appeal, so we will have to see how that plays out. Reaction to the news has been swift and powerful, not just from reporters, sports pundits, and celebrities, but also from the general public, largely condemning Manchester City.

Credit: picturebox-uk.com/Alamy

Many people have proposed possible sanctions and punishments for Manchester City, but I give some much-needed context.

The Premier League have deducted points from teams before, with Middlesbrough (3 points, January 1997), Portsmouth (9 points, March 2010), and Nottingham Forest (4 points, March 2024). At the end of the 1994-1995 season, Tottenham were handed a £600,000 fine, a 12-point deduction, and a one-year FA Cup ban; however, they got the points and ban overturned.

Everton F.C. are the most recent club to have faced a points deduction. In 2023, an independent commission deducted 10 points for breaking the Premier League’s Profit and Sustainability rules (PSR), going £19.5m over the limit. Their appeal succeeded in reducing the points deduction from 10 to 6 in 2024. The saga continued, with the club handed another points deduction, but this time it was just 2 points, because they overspent £16.6m during the 2022-23 season. They appealed the decision, but later withdrew it.

Just to clarify, in total, Everton was docked 8 points for £35.1m of financial breaches, over two seasons. During this time, they did not win any trophies.

Switching sports, we are going to look at rugby league, in particular the NRL (National Rugby League) in Australia. The NRL is the highest domestic rugby league division in Oceania; my team, the New Zealand Warriors (Up the Wahs!), plays in it. However, we are not talking about the Warriors, but rather the Melbourne Storm.

From 2006-2010, the Storm won the Minor Premiership (2006, 2007, and 2008), Premiership (2007 and 2009), Runners-up (2006 and 2008), and the World Cup Challenge in 2010. During this time, they were a juggernaut in world rugby league. But, as you might guess, some financial shenanigans were happening behind closed doors.

It was revealed in 2010 that the club was keeping a second set of books and was breaking the salary cap rules for over five years, which the NRL strictly enforces to make sure each club has an equal footing and chance. Because of this massive salary cap breach, the Storm had been effectively cheating, so the NRL could not turn a blind eye to the champions, and their punishment was swift and merciless.

Their punishments were:

  • Being stripped of the 2007 and 2009 premierships.
  • Being stripped of the 2006, 2007 and 2008 minor premierships.
  • Being stripped of the 2010 World Club Challenge.
  • Fined AUS$500,000.
  • Forced to return AUS$1.1 million in prize money, which was redistributed to the other clubs.
  • Deduction of all eight premiership points they had received in the 2010 season.
  • Barred from receiving any further premiership points (including points automatically awarded for a bye during the season) for the rest of the 2010 season.
  • Ordered to cut their payroll by $1,012,500 to meet the 2011 salary cap by 31 December 2010. If they didn’t, the club would have been suspended from the 2011 NRL season.
  • Sentenced to finish the 2010 season at the bottom of the ladder.

Like the Premier League, I follow the NRL, and this scandal was seismic in the rugby league and sports world. The champions were caught cheating through financial breaches.

So, I’m sorry if that felt like reading the Silmarillion, but we are heading into more entertaining shores, because that’s the crux of the blog post. We need to absolutely assume that Manchester City are, in fact, guilty of these financial breaches; so we need to imagine the next step: what should their punishment be?

Any form of punishment for Manchester City has yet to be revealed to the public, but as fans of the sport and justice, we can speculate. The Premier League’s punishment for such a large-scale fraud on England’s national sport has to be severe for the entire planet to see.

Some possible options could be:

Points deduction

Remember that Everton got 8 points deducted over two seasons because of financial breaches costing £35.1m, while Manchester City have spent a nine-season period breaching financial rules over £800m. It also pays to point out that Everton co-operated with the Premier League and Manchester City did not.

It’s been said that the punishment Everton received should be the benchmark. So by that standard, at an average of 4 points per season, a minimum of a 36-point deduction could be handed down to Manchester City. It would keep them out of the Champions League for the 2027-2028 season, but also, it would prevent them from winning the Premiership.

Relegation

Because of the vast fraud and deception committed by Manchester City, relegation is an option. It’s not practical to send them down immediately, or maybe it is, but at least they could be sent down to the EFL Championship (Second Division) for the 2027-2028 season. Granted, they would be back in the Premier League for the 2028-2029 season, but many players could leave, so promotion could be impossible.

Fines

A financial option the Premier League could enforce would be a fine or a collection of fines. Basically, it’s a slap on the wrist, but would a £10m fine mean anything to a club that has committed over £800m in financial breaches? If they are going for a fine, it would have to be at least a nine-figure number to really hurt them and set an example.

Compensation

Another financial option could be compensating the other clubs in the Premiership. Whether the money went to teams that directly lost titles and trophies to Manchester City, or just every other team in the competition, compensation is a reality, considering teams are already planning on taking legal action against Manchester City.

This also covers returning prize money that the club has won during 2009-2018, whether directly to the Premier League or other Premier League teams.

Title and Trophies stripped

Like the Melbourne Storm, Manchester City are past winners of premierships, and they have been caught cheating. One punishment could be that Manchester City could be stripped of their Premier League, FA Cup, EFL Cup, and FA Community Shield titles and trophies from 2009-2018. Whether these titles and trophies are awarded to the runners-up or left each year with no winner would be up to the Premier League.

Banned from Champions League

Manchester City indeed won the 2022-2023 Champions League, but it falls outside of the time period that was investigated; however, Manchester City still played in the competition between 2009 and 2018. Because of this, UEFA may decide to ban Manchester City from playing in the Champions League for an unspecified period of time. All of that sweet money flying around, and Manchester City wouldn’t be able to touch it.

Banned from English Football

The Premier League may also take the nuclear option of banning the club from all forms of football in England and Wales; this includes the women’s team, for an unspecified period of time.

The Premier League may decide to use all of these options, some of them, none of them, or even some punishments I haven’t listed. But, whatever the case, the punishment must be complete. There is a fear that this scandal may destroy the Premier League, so they must make Manchester City an example.

There are some people who believe that Manchester City didn’t cheat because it didn’t make the players train or play harder and better; it hasn’t altered any scores. They played with the correct number of players and did not employ any foul tactics in their games, so they did not break the rules.

I understand their position, but Manchester City cheated on paper. This cheating allowed them more money to buy more expensive players, altering everything. The British government did not make these rules; it was the Premier League; it’s their competition. A sports club can’t pick and choose which rules and laws to follow and expect no consequences, any more than I can.

Manchester City cheated for nine years and won multiple titles and trophies because of that.

I love football, and I know the amount of money players and clubs are involved in is obscene. I mean, we are talking about players earning over £100,000 per week is madness, compared to our tiny one-income family. But the fact is, people still believe in hope, fairness, and justice. And in these times, corporations, companies, and the elite seem to be able to skirt around rules and laws because they can.

So imagine if the organisation and people behind Manchester City could face justice. I’ve read and watched various things that promote the concept of nobody being above the law and that even the rich and powerful can still experience justice. They can’t commit this level of fraud and believe there will be no consequences.

On a personal level, I need to see justice for this disaster, because what Manchester City did was unacceptable, and there needs to be accountability to show the children of the world that what we do matters, and it matters what we do. I see that even Andy Burnham, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and ex-mayor of Manchester, is being dragged into this mess.

I hope every single person involved in this fraud should be investigated and, if need be, prosecuted, because I still believe that it shouldn’t matter how much money you have in your bank account; you still must answer for your actions, just like anyone. Otherwise, what’s the point of laws and rules?

What are your thoughts about the Manchester City scandal? What should the punishments be? As always, please let me know.

I appreciate you listening to this week’s rant, so cheers! Thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Please don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, Clayface is coming, and I’ll see you next week because Reform UK have outdone themselves. Later, gators.

1 We will be back.

Comic book relaunches: The Amazing Spider-Man and Aquaman

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Comics

Last week on New Zealand’s 5th least favourite website, yours truly brought up the extremely controversial topic of comic book relaunches. If you missed that sizzling and non-award-winning blog post, you can read it here at your own leisure.

If you’re a street-fighting man or a woman who has boots that are made for walking, you would have remembered that I was going to start showing various comic book titles that have been relaunched, for one reason or another; mainly to point out the insanity of it. This is to welcome yet another ongoing project on Some Geek Told Me, because, well… why not?

You’ll also remember that I said I was going to start with titles starting with “A”, which covers Marvel and DC. This is important stuff to say, because details and facts matter. They matter. Now, because I have a reputation to uphold, and by reputation, I mean a tradition of being pedantic, there are some rules I need to cover:

1.) To be considered a relaunch, the title must be an existing or pre-existing monthly comic book.

2.) The relaunch must be for a monthly title, not for a mini-series.

3.) The relaunch must be a reset with a brand new #1, not realigning itself with any legacy numbering.

4.) With the images I will be showing, they will not be variant covers, only Cover A.

5.) A title can only be relaunched if it contains the same original title name. So Superior Spider-Man does not count. My blog, my rules. Also, I wouldn’t be counting annuals or specials.

That sounds fair, right?! I hope so. With that important and special information explained, let’s get on wth the job of detailing The Amazing Spider-Man’s and Aquaman’s relaunches, plus some geeky statistics to go with it. Allons-y!

All images are courtsey of Marvel Comics, DC Comics, and My Comic Shop

The Amazing Spider-Man

I’m starting with Marvel first, because I can. The Amazing Spider-Man series can be confusing to follow because of many relaunches and the multiple readjustments to the legacy numbering. Spider-Man first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15 in 1962, and not in The Amazing Spider-Man #1, though The Amazing Spider-Man has been pretty much a monthly publication ever since 1963. 

To the best of my understanding, there have been seven different The Amazing Spider-Man #1s. So, let’s look at our Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man’s flagship title.

The Amazing Spider-Man Vol 1 #1 (March 1963)

Cover pencils by Jack Kirby, inks by Steve Ditko. Script by Stan Lee, art by Steve Ditko.

This series lasted 442 issues (430 months/35 years and 10 months) before the relaunch.

The Amazing Spider-Man Vol 2 #1 (January 1999)

Cover by John Byrne. Story by Howard Mackie, art by John Byrne & Scott Hanna.

This series lasted 58 issues (58 months/4 years and 10 months) before the legacy numbering was brought back for #500 in December 2003, and ended with #700, when it turned into Superior Spider-Man in 2013 for 33 issues.

The Amazing Spider-Man Vol 3 #1 (June 2014)

Written by Dan Slott, Christos Gage, Christopher Yost, Joe Caramagna and Peter David. Art by Humberto Ramos, Javier Rodriguez, Will Sliney, Giuseppe Camuncoli, Chris Eliopoulos, David Baldeon, Ramon Perez and Victor Olazaba. Cover by Humberto Ramos.

This series lasted 28 issues (16 months/1 year and 4 months) before another relaunch, a month later.

The Amazing Spider-Man Vol 4 #1 (December 2015)

Written by Dan Slott, Peter David, Robbie Thompson, Dennis Hopeless, Mike Costa and Christos Gage. Art by Giuseppe Camuncoli, David Baldeon, Cale Atkinson, Javier Rodriguez, Stacey Lee Phillips, William Sliney and Paco Diaz. Cover by Alex Ross.

This series lasted 32 issues (23 months/1 year and 11 months) before the legacy numbering was brought back for #789 in December 2017, and ended with #801. These issues were idenitftied as Volume 5.

The Amazing Spider-Man Vol 6 #1 (September 2018)

Written by Nick Spencer. Art and Cover by Ryan Ottley.

This series lasted 93 issues (42 months/3 years and 6 months) before yet another relaunch the next month, for Spider-Man’s 60th anniversary.

The Amazing Spider-Man Vol 7 #1 (June 2022)

Written by Zeb Wells. Art and cover by John Romita Jr. and Scott Hanna.

This series lasted 70 issues (35 months/2 years and 11 months) before, you guessed it, another relaunch a month later.

The Amazing Spider-Man Vol 8 #1 (June 2025)

Written by Joe Kelly. Art by Pepe Larraz; John Romita Jr. Cover by Pepe Larraz.

After 35 issues (16 months) the legacy numbering was brought back for the landmark #1000. This series is currently ongoing.

So, to sum up The Amazing Spider-Man series, after 1,000 issues, we are left with:

  • Seven different editions of Amazing Spider-Man #1, from 1963-2026 (63 years).
  • Six relaunches from 1999-2025 (26 years).
  • Five relaunches from 2014-2025 (11 years).
  • Four relaunches from 2015-2025 (10 years).
  • Three relaunches from 2018-2025 (7 years).
  • Two relaunches from 2022-2025 (3 years).
  • This works out to be a new #1 on average, every 9 years, or 106 months, or 142 issues.1

For me, the most damning piece of information was four relaunches of The Amazing Spider-Man from 2015-2025. That’s a new #1 every 2.5 years, or 30 months. That’s insane. I know Spider-Man is one of the world’s most recognisable superheroes, but even three relaunches in 7 years is excessive. And after six relaunches, just so we can get to #1000? Come on, Marvel, what are you doing?!

Aquaman

Now it’s DC’s turn. The monthly Aquaman title has been in publication since February 1962, with Aquaman Vol 1 #1, which predates Spider-Man’s first appearance. However, Aquaman has not had a consistent monthly title, with gaps over the years. Like Spider-Man, Aquaman made his debut in another title, which was More Fun Comics #73 (November 1941).

He appeared in several monthly titles until, eventually, he was given his own solo series. Not counting a mini-series, there have been seven different Aquaman #1s, though the title has changed its name during different runs. And with that, let’s look at the King of Atlantis’ relaunches.

Aquaman Vol 1 #1 (February 1962)

Cover art by Nick Cardy. Script by Jack Miller, art by Nick Cardy.

This series lasted 63 issues (199 months/16 years and 7 months) before the title was cancelled, and then relaunched 13 years later.

Aquaman Vol 2 #1 (December 1991)

Written by Shaun McLaughlin, with art by Ken Hooper and Bob Dvorak. Cover by Kevin Maguire and Joe Rubinstein.

This series lasted 13 issues (12 months/1 year) before the title was cancelled, and then relaunched 18 months later.

Aquaman Vol 3 #1 (August 1994)

Written by Peter David, with art and cover by Martin Egeland and Brad Vancata.

This series lasted 76 issues (77 months/6 years and 5 months) before the title was cancelled, and then relaunched two years later.

Aquaman Vol 4 #1 (February 2003)

Written by Rick Veitch, art by Yvel Guichet and Mark Propst. Cover by Alex Maleev.

This series lasted 39 issues (38 months/3 years and 2 months) before being renamed Aquaman: Sword of Atlantis, starting with #40, under the 1 Year Later movement, before ending with #57. It was relaunched four years later, as a part of the compay wide, The New 52 campaign.

Aquaman Vol 5 #1 (November 2011)

Written by Geoff Johns. Art and Cover by Joe Prado and Ivan Reis.

This series lasted 53 issues (56 months/4 years and 8 months) before relaunched a month later, under the Rebirth initiative.

Aquaman Vol 6 #1 (August 2016)

Written by Dan Abnett. Art and Cover by Brad Walker and Andrew Hennessy.

This series lasted 66 issues (54 months/4 years and 6 months) before being cancelled and relaunched four years later, in part of the ALL IN campaign.

Aquaman Vol 7 #1 (March 2025)

Written by Jeremy Adams. Art by John Timms. Cover by John Timms.

This series lasted 14 issues (13 months/1 year and 1 months) before being renamed as Emperor Aquaman the next month, continuing with #15.

So, since the first Aquaman monthly solo series, in 1962, we are left with:

  • Seven different editions of Aquaman #1, from 1962-2026 (64 years).
  • Six relaunches from 1991-2025 (34 years).
  • Five relaunches from 1994-2025 (31 years).
  • Four relaunches from 2003-2025 (22 years).
  • Three relaunches from 2011-2025 (14 years).
  • Two relaunches from 2016-2025 (9 years).
  • This works out to be a new #1 on average, every 48 issues.2

In regard to the publication of Aquaman, DC’s model for relaunches has been different to Marvel’s with The Amazing Spider-Man. Firstly, Aquaman has been cancelled several times and then relaunched years later, but also, at least three relaunches have come about because of a company-wide campaign, which reset or relaunched the titles the next month, starting back at #1. The shortest series was only 13 issues, while the longest lasted 76 issues.

Still, just like The Amazing Spider-Man, but for different reasons, Aquaman has had six relaunches, meaning there have been seven different #1 issues. I guess, whatever Marvel and DC do, the other will do it as well; now whether that’s a positive or negative thing is up for you to decide.

Have you ever read an Amazing Spider-Man or Aquaman relaunch comic book? Do you like relaunches? As always, let me know. After those awesome questions, that brings another blog post to a close for another week. Thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Please don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, remember that Mogo doesn’t socialise, and I’ll see you next week for something different. Cool.

1 With the statsitics, I have rounded down, not up.

2 Because Aquaman has not been in consistent monthly publication, the calculations are different from those of The Amazing Spider-Man.

Comic book relaunches: Who do they serve?

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Comics

So. So, so so, so so. What in the Nine Circles of Dante’s Hell am I discussing today? Well, my very patient reader, I’m going to talk about one of the great loves of my life; no, not pizza. Not rugby either. And no, not Salt and Vinegar chips. At least not today.

No, today I’m discussing comic books, which in itself is nothing new on New Zealand’s 5th least favourite website. As you’re well aware of my love for the medium, there are a few things that don’t sit well with me. And because it’s your lucky day, I’m going to discuss one of them with you.

I say this because I’m a supporter, collector, and reader of comic books. There are so many fantastic things that I love about comic books, hence why I love them. But this is not all smooth sailing for me, as I just revealed, as there are aspects to the industry that, if it were up to me, I would definitely change.

However, the nature of this blog post is not to rant about all of them, but rather to shine the spotlight on one of them in particular: relaunches. If you’re a comic book reader like myself, then it’s entirely possible you already know what I’m referring to. However, sadly, not everybody is perfect, and I know this could come as a shock, but not everybody reads comic books. I know the world is a mixed-up place, isn’t it?

To those unlucky people who don’t know what I’m referring to, I’ll do my best to explain it. With the majority of Western, or at least American comic books, I’ll usually find some special information on the the first page, or the last page, or somewhere else in the comic book.

This information, usually, but not always, displays the title of the story and credits the comic’s writer, artist, inker, colourer, letterer and editor on the same page. However, it’s the bottom section of that page that I want to discuss. This bottom section would list the title of the comic book, the issue number, the month it was released1, and the volume number. And it’s the volume number I want to break down for us.

Now before I go on, let us quickly discuss the quiet part out loud. Comic books are a form of entertainment, so that means they are created by publishers for two reasons: to tell stories and to sell those stories. It’s a multi-million industry, and there’s nothing wrong about an industry that provides people with what they want. To a point.

So, comic book publishers exist to tell stories and to get paid for them. Again, there’s nothing wrong with that; it’s a business, so they need to make a profit in order to pay their staff and shareholders, as well as to pay their bills. Awesome, let’s push on.

Two real world examples of historic relaunches were Heroes Reborn from Marvel in 1996, and The New 52 from DC in 2011. Both of these campaigns gained worldwide media attention. Credit: Marvel and James Bareham/Polygon/DC

You see, a monthly comic book could be trucking along, well, monthly, and the publisher could decide to change things up, for reasons that I’ll go into. One consequence of this can sometimes mean that the comic book could be relaunched. Effectively, a comic book could be on #28, then the next issue that’s released would be a #0 issue, though typically it’s a new #1.

An example of this may look like this: The Adventures of Geek Man Vol 1, August #28, so the next issue would be: The Adventures of Geek Man Vol 2, September #1. A relaunch basically resets the numbering sequence from whatever the previous issue was, like #28, #147, or #584, to #0 or #1. The volume number changes as well, from Vol 1 to Vol 2.

That sounds interesting and harmless, right? Fair enough, right? Ok, so why would publishers relaunch a title? Great question, thanks for asking! I could be mistaken, but I believe there are several key reasons publishers may relaunch a title. Ultimately, it all comes down to money, as with most things.

1.) It’s about a sales boost. Traditionally, a new monthly issue #1 will sell more copies than your standard monthly title, especially if it’s, say, #97, #318, or #874. Granted, the sales boost is only temporary and small, but it’s still an increase. Fans would always love to get their hands on a new Punisher #1 or Wonder Woman #1.


2.) It’s a way to celebrate a new creative team. Back in the day, if a new creative team took control of a title, as in a new writer and artist together, the publisher would celebrate by declaring that the team would take the character(s) in a bold, new direction, but continue with the legacy numbering system. But now, maybe 35 issues into a run, the publisher will relaunch the title from #1, in order to promote the new creative team. I mean, if you have the hottest writer and artist working on a new title, why wouldn’t people deserve to have a new #1 to go with the new team?

3.) To draw in new readers by having a new #1 as a jumping-on point for them. Trying to start reading a monthly title that is in its 300s, 700s, or over 1000 issues can be daunting, so a new #1 can make the title more accessible to new readers.

4.) It’s a reason to flood the solicitations with variant #1 covers. By this I mean, what could be cooler than getting a new Thor #1 Cover A? By getting Cover B, C, D, and every other letter of the alphabet as well. A company could say their new #1 sold 450,000 units, but if they have 20 different variant covers, people are not necessarily buying it for the story; they just want the variants.

5.) If a comic book is getting a screen adaptation, whether it’s for a movie or television show, a publisher can relaunch the title to align it with the adaptation. And what better way than a brand new sparkly #1?

6.) This is an odd reason, but it helps with marketing and promoting trades and collected editions. I discovered my local library had two copies of Captain America Vol. 3, but they were written and drawn by different creative teams. Volume 3 is a lot more accessible than Volume 376, right?

There are other reasons, but to me, these are the top six, though they are listed as I thought of them, and no other reason. However, there is an old phrase that relates to relaunches and nearly anything else:

Just because you can do something, doesn’t mean you should.

Now, I’m an old comic book reader, as I’ve been reading and collecting them for decades. And from that experience and perspective, I find the concept of relaunches upsetting. Even though I have laid out the reasons why they happen above, that doesn’t mean I agree with them.

I want the comic industry to thrive and succeed, and I know it’s important to entice new readers; but it’s also important to retain the old readers. So, after reading this blog post, I can only assume you must be asking, “What’s his point?” Another great point, by the way.

The point is that this is the opening salvo of a brand new literary project I am undertaking. What I’m proposing to do is list all of the relaunches famous titles have had; as in giving the title a new #1. I plan on doing this across Marvel and DC to begin with, and then take it from there.

This means that the first entry into this ill-advised venture will be next week. I’m still working out the details, but the blog post will be concerning relaunches with titles that start with “A”, so I’m going in alphabetical order. I don’t know how long it’s going to take, but I’m up for the challenge, and I hope you are too.

And with that, I’m done for another week. Thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Please don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, don’t believe what the office is saying about you, and I’ll see you next week.

1 If you buy a newly released comic book off the shelf in June, it would have August as the month. Many comic book publishers release their full promotional solicitations two months in advance so retailers and readers can pre-order upcoming single issues or other forms of the literature.

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1964-1969

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn History, Music, People, Politics

I want to take this moment to assure all of my followers, readers, and haters that Some Geek Told Me is totally committed to providing you with the second-from-the-bottom blog experience this side of an NSYNC Reunion Tour. This includes bringing back one of history’s greatest ever literary projects: We Didn’t Start the Fire. The Bayeux Tapestry has nothing on me.

Yes, awesome readers, even though it’s been MIA since 22nd June 2026, We Didn’t Start the Fire is back with another entry to entice your historical leanings. Because I’m a firestarter, twisted firestarter, I have included a list of the amazing previous entries:

We Didn’t Start the Fire: The Beginning 

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1948-1949.

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1950

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1951

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1952

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1953

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1954

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1955

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1956

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1957

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1958

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1959

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1960

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1961

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1962

We Didn’t Start the Fire: 1963

If this project followed the new FIFA World Cup format, we’d be entering the knockout round, like the round of 32. We are deep into the song now, standing at the precipice of the ninth verse, which actually covers multiple years.1 We have not done this since the start of the song with 1948-1949.

Another interesting point to talk about is the song’s time references, because I have seen both Ho Chi Minh and Richard Nixon back again, grouped under different years. When I get to the reference, I’ll go full geek and explain it. So, there’s nothing left to do but to shake what my Mumma gave me and move on.

Credit: Etsy

1964

There is no entry for 1964, sadly.

1965

Birth Control

This reference is connected to a court case, Griswold v. Connecticut. On 7th June 1965, a landmark decision was reached by the United States Supreme Court that ruled in favour of the constitutional right for married couples to use birth control. This decision struck down state laws like Connecticut’s that prohibited the use of or recommended contraceptives, and violated the right to marital privacy.

The results of this decision meant that birth control had become legal in the United States for married couples, and eventually, in 1972, it became legal for unmarried people.

The legacy of the 1965 decision is still being played out in courtrooms in the modern setting. The 1973 Roe v. Wade case, which recognised the constitutional right for a woman to choose to have an abortion, was overturned in 2022 by the Supreme Court. The result was that nearly half of the states enacted severe restrictions or total bans on abortions.

On June 7, 1965, the court released its decision. Echoing Estelle Griswold’s comment about policemen under the bed, Justice William O. Douglas asked, “Would we allow the police to search the sacred precincts of marital bedrooms for telltale signs of the use of contraceptives?” (Above, Griswold, left, celebrates with Cornelia Jahncke, president of Planned Parenthood in Connecticut.) Bettman, Getty Images

1965 (or 1969)

Ho Chi Minh


Here is the first of our dual references, with Ho Chi Minh being listed as 1965, as well as 1969. On 2nd March 1965, Operation Rolling Thunder started, which was the sustained and gradual aerial bombardment campaign by US forces against North Vietnam. This foreign policy of trying to bomb the Viet Cong into submission did not work the way they thought it would, as the campaign failed to dampen their resolve or stop the transport of resources across the Ho Chi Minh Trail. This policy dragged and entrenched the United States into deploying more troops into the conflict, which history would later call the Vietnam War.

Air Force F-105 Thunderchiefs conduct a bombing run over North Vietnam in February 1966. The enormous “Thuds” were the Air Force’s workhorse during Rolling Thunder and as a result suffered heavy losses.

As stated previously, Ho Chi Minh could also serve as a 1969 reference for the President of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam), Ho Chi Minh. He ruled the country from 1945 to 1969 and was a revolutionary icon who fought against colonial oppression. He died on 2nd September, 1969, which pushed North Vietnam further away from peace with the United States.

Some contemporary examples of Operation Rolling Thunder and the death of a 21st-century revolutionary icon can be seen in Afghanistan, Ukraine, and the air campaign against ISIS, as well as in the lives of Yasser Arafat, Ahmed Ben Bella, Võ Nguyên Giáp, Nelson Mandela, Fidel Castro, and Hugo Chávez.

North Vietnamese President Ho Chi Minh dies, Published September 4, 1969.

1966-1967

Apparently, according to Billy Joel, nothing of note happened in 1966 or 1967. If you listen very carefully, you can hear English football fans screaming about 1966, while in 1967, we had Che Guevara’s death and the Six-Day War, which still influence 2026.

1968 (or 1969)

Richard Nixon back again

We met Richard Nixon back in 1950, and as the lyrics suggest, he’s back! When listing this reference, it can fall under 1968 and/or 1969, and the reasons are connected. With US federal elections, they are held on “the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November.” So with the presidential inauguration, that is held on either 20th or 21st January. Since you get 10 hours of quality sleep, you’ll see where I’m going with this.

The former United States vice president won the 1968 US presidential election against Hubert Humphrey and George Wallace on 5th November 1968; but he was inaugurated on 20th January 1969, thus putting him under 1968 and 1969.

Its sort of obvious, but 21st century equalivanets of Nixon, would be George Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama, Donald Trump, Joe Biden, and of course, the return of everybody’s favourite (insert your own word here____________) Trump.

Richard M. Nixon, right, is sworn in as the 37th US president, taking the oath administered by Chief Justice Earl Warren, left, in front of the Capitol in Washington, DC, January 20, 1969. Outgoing President Lyndon B. Johnson is behind Warren. (AP Photo)

1969

Moonshot

I was born after 1969, but I have talked to many people about the Moonshot reference and their memories of it. Being the clever little bees that you are, you would have deduced that Moonshot refers to the events of 16th to 24th July 1969, especially 20th July.

The above dates covered Apollo 11, the fifth crewed mission of NASA’s Apollo program, but more importantly, it was the mission that would land humans on the Moon for the first time. The crew were Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins, and on 20th July 1969, the Apollo Lunar Module landed on the Moon, allowing Armstrong and Aldrin to become the first humans to walk on the Moon.

Not to be undone, Collins remained in the Apollo command and service module and set the record for human isolation. He spent roughly 21 hours completely alone in lunar orbit. For 48 minutes during every two-hour orbit behind the far side of the Moon, he was entirely cut off from radio contact with Earth, as well as being over 3,200 km away from his crewmates and over 400,000 km from the rest of the human race.

The legacy of Apollo 11 is the Artemis exploration program, with Artemis IV due to depart for a lunar landing sometime in 2028.

Lunar Module Pilot Buzz Aldrin. Commander Neil Armstrong, who took the photo, and the Lunar Module Eagle are visible as reflections in Aldrin’s helmet visor. Right: Aldrin’s bootprint in the lunar regolith. Credit: NASA/LPI

Woodstock

Back in 1969, a music festival was held on a dairy farm in Bethel, New York, which was about 95 km from Woodstock, the town that’s the festival’s namesake. The Woodstock Music and Art Fair, or just Woodstock, was held from 15th to 18th August, and became famous for two main reasons: as it became a focal point for the 1960s counterculture movement, and for having music across various genres.

The first was the size of it; between 460,000 and 500,000 people were estimated to have attended the festival. The second was who actually performed, like Sweetwater; Melanie; Ravi Shankar; Richie Havens; Santana; Quill; Country Joe McDonald; John Sebastian; Canned Heat; Grateful Dead; Creedence Clearwater Revival; Janis Joplin; The Who; Joe Cocker; John Winter; Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young; Sha Na Na; Jimi Hendrix, and many more.

The best examples of modern Woodstocks are annual festivals that draw in hundreds of thousands of people each year. To the best of my geek-influenced mind, these festivals include, in no particular order, Tomorrowland, EDC Las Vegas, Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, Lollapalooza, and Glastonbury. To nobody’s shock, Fyre Festival has not made the list.

I have yet to go to any of these festivals, but hope springs eternal.

Aug. 16, 1969 file photo shows a crowd of about 400,000 people attending the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival in Bethel, New York. Woodstock was staged 80 miles northwest of New York City on a bucolic hillside owned by dairy farmer Max Yasgur. It was great spot for peaceful vibes, but miserable for handling the hordes coming in by car. Fifty years later, memories of the rainy weekend Aug. 15-18, 1969, remain sharp among people who were in the crowd and on the stage. Credit: AP

So for 1964-1969, we covered contraceptives, an aerial bombardment campaign, the death of the President of North Vietnam, the former United States vice president becomes president, the moon landing, and a music festival. This was a weird list because of the skipped years, but hold down your flares, because the 1970s are next, and they are going to mess up the order of this blog.

And speaking of messing things up, let us bring another shambles of a historical lesson to a close. The Warriors and the All Blacks have lost, so my heart is very fragile currently; however, there’s hope the Black Ferns can knock over the world champions next week.

Thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. If you like pointless daily facts about nearly anything you can think of, my Twitter and Mastodon are for you. Please don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, go talk to a grandparent, and I’ll see you next week, when once again I try to be funny and fail.

1 In reality, its the remainder of the 60’s.

Star Trek: Dammit Jim, I’m a part-time blogger, not a novelist!

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Books, Comics, Movies, Television

Hailing frequencies open.

I was trying to think of a phenomenal way to introduce this blog, but as usual, like my mum has always said, “If there’s a complicated or confusing way of doing something, then I’ll do it.” So, instead of doing something inspiring and meaningful, I’ve done this. Wow. Not at all confusing.

Moving on, I contacted the department heads of Some Geek Told Me and finally got them into the same room for a brainstorming session on this week’s topic. As usual, the director of marketing and the head of HR started clashing; like always. The Social Media consultant started waffling on about We Didn’t Start the Fire, while the head of sports trivia did not want to discuss the All Blacks and Springboks. That one is still raw.

However, in most cases, the man-child who sits in the corner and tries to look busy suggested Star Trek. And since the others were too busy bickering, the deadline passed, and Star Trek was selected. Cool.

I can only imagine that if this were written by a professional writer, the lead-in would have been better, but sadly, Horatio, this fellow has only finite jest. This badly drawn-out and ill-conceived beginning is now at an end, so let us begin the ode to Star Trek.

Image by Adam Evertsson from Pixabay

So why is Star Trek the topic of today’s rant? Apart from our resident man-child’s suggestion, it’s the 60th anniversary of the first US broadcast of Star Trek: The Original Series, on 8th September 1966, so what better time to discuss my love of Star Trek? Although it is pretty obvious, I love science fiction. This covers books, comics, movies, computer games, and television shows. And with science fiction franchises, there are many that I like, but I have three main ones: Star Wars, Doctor Who and Star Trek.

It’s funny how society likes to divide us up, as you need to be on one side or the other. In that regard, for personal principles and values, it’s important to take a side. However, there are times when not taking a side is exactly the winning move, like DC vs Marvel, Aliens vs Predator, Coke vs Pepsi, or Star Wars vs Star Trek. For me, I love Star Wars, as unlucky readers of this popular blog will attest to, but I love Star Trek as well. Granted, it’s for different reasons, but the love is still there.

So, why do I love Star Trek? Difficult answer, but I’m up for the challenge. I think it boils down to the scope of it: that hundreds of years into the future, humanity has pulled its socks up and solved many global problems, resulting in an explosion of technology and understanding, as well as meeting our stellar neighbours.

In truth, it’s a nice notion that many of the social barriers we have constructed for ourselves have been/will be torn down to usher in a new age. The world of the United Federation of Planets and Starfleet Academy seems so far removed from 2026, it’s almost laughable. But the intent is there.

I love how the uniforms change for each show and era, yet they remain the same. To demonstrate my love for the uniform, I carried a Star Trek Science Officer badge in the breast pocket of my wedding suit.1

Image by blueprint2015 from Pixabay

I have mentioned this before, but the TV shows Star Trek: Discovery, Star Trek: Picard, and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds have reawakened my love for the franchise. I know Season 4 of Strange New Worlds has started, but me being me, I will need to watch the previous season again.

Discovery was a gateway back into the franchise, and I loved the way the USS Discovery used the spore drive to travel, which, at least to me, was highly creative. Picard was great for seeing old friends, while Strange New Worlds has been a chance to meet new friends and villains. It’s been interesting to have the Gorn as the main antagonists, since they’re an alien species that I haven’t seen a lot of, much like the Orion.

Because I’m on this Star Trek wave, I want to start at the beginning and watch Star Trek: Enterprise again. Though, to be fair, I did watch a lot of episodes, but I never got to watch the entire series from start to finish because comics and football got in the way. Not girls, though; I was living my peak-geek life then, so girls were nowhere to be seen.

In saying that, I’ve never seen every single episode of The Original Series, The Next Generation, or Deep Space Nine. There are massive gaps in all the shows that I want to be filled. One of the biggest connections I’ve had to a Star Trek show, prior to Discovery’s launch, was Voyager. It was another show I never completed, but I gave it a damn good try.

It was on Channel Four, and I thought the premise of the show was awesome and simple; they were transported to the other side of the galaxy, so they were just trying to get home. I was at the right age when it was broadcast, and my love for it spilt over into university. I was extremely cool. And by cool, I mean the biggest geek/dork/nerd. I am still in some ways.

As for the films, I’ve loved them too. I can’t remember the first Star Trek film I ever saw, but I can remember the first one I saw at the cinema. Now, back in the day, my dad loved movies; he still does, but his favourites were westerns, war, action, or cop movies. Science fiction movies were not his cup of tea, but James Bond was. He once took me to The Living Daylights, though I was underage. Mum was not happy, but I was.

I remember Mum and my sister went on holiday early, so Dad and I were going to join them, but I think it was going to be nearly a week later, because Dad had trouble getting away from work. I think it was for a wedding; I can’t remember exactly, but it will do for the story. Anyway, I stayed behind to keep him company until he was free to leave, so we got to spend time together, just as boys.

At the time, and where we lived, we received cinematic releases a lot later than the rest of the country, let alone the whole world. I saw that Star Trek V: The Final Frontier was playing, and I asked Dad if we could both go. As I said before, Dad didn’t like science fiction movies or Star Trek, but he still took his geeky son to watch something he personally didn’t want to see. I appreciated that, because every time I watch The Final Frontier, I think of Dad.

Because he took me to the cinema to see that Star Trek movie, I have seen every Star Trek movie since then: Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Star Trek Generations, Star Trek: First Contact, Star Trek: Insurrection, Star Trek: Nemesis, Star Trek, Star Trek Into Darkness, and Star Trek Beyond at the cinema.2

Another lesson I learnt from that experience was something that I now do as a parent: I take my boys to the cinema each school holidays, where they agree on a movie to watch, even if I have no desire to see it, but we all still go.

Image by Iris,Helen,silvy from Pixabay

I’ve never been one for reading Star Trek novels; I’ve only ever read two Doctor Who novels, compared to the library of Star Wars books at my command. I can’t really explain the division over that, except I’ve started reading some IDW Star Trek comics. I recently read Star Trek: Red Shirts, which was pretty gnarly. I’m waiting for Star Trek: Red Shirts – Ghost of the 21st Century #1 to arrive now.

I love the vehicles, weapons, and technology, but most of all, I love the aliens and alien planets. Vulcans, Betazoids, Klingons, Romulans, Ferengi, Cardassians, Andorians, El-Aurians, Bajorans, and the Borg; but we also can’t forget the Q, or is it just Q? Its one of the greatest aspects to Star Trek and science fiction in general, the ability of creators to dream of bad-arse aliens, with their cultures, vehicles, appearances, and languages. The mind is a fertile place.

I’m not familiar with every single Star Trek character to have ever graced the small screen, as I’m just a middle-aged geek, not the God of Pop Culture. However, there is one character I know well enough, and that’s the OG miracle worker himself, Montgomery Scott. I say this because…well…if your first or last name is Scott, then at some point in your life, some highly unoriginal person, whether they are meeting you for the first time or not, would have said unto you, “Beam me up, Scotty!” When that phrase is spoken to me, I have to suppress the Klingon in me and embrace the Vulcan.

So, to bring this long and pointless exercise to a close, I just want to state that I love Star Trek, and this wannabe science officer is so grateful for it. And that’s it for another week. Did you like Star Trek? As always, please let me know. Remember to walk your dog, read a banned book, Up the Wahs, and I’ll see you next week because we’re off to 1964.

Hailing frequencies closed.

1 I did wear Superman cufflinks as well. Total class act.

2 I haven’t seen Star Trek: Section 31, but that’s a television movie, plus its on Paramount+, so I don’t know if I’ll ever see it.

The last week of August was rough

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn People

Hi everybody, and how are you feeling today? I’m sorry for interrupting my own weekly rant about science, movies, politics, comics, sports, and just about anything I can think of, to discuss life and death. Yes, 2026 has once again farted in our face and left the party, leaving us to pick up the pieces.

Last week, I was talking about the dwarf planet Haumea, but today it’s something different, though not unfamiliar. Sadly, I have mentioned this type of blog post before, but that reinforces the whole concept of doing it in the first place. Basically, I want to acknowledge the deaths of Dolly Parton, Tim Curry, Peter Cullen, and two special groups of people.

Image by Nile from Pixabay

Dolly Parton died on 25th August 2026 in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, aged 80. As you already know, Parton was a music legend whose career spanned over six decades. She released over 60 albums, including studio, collaborative, live, and soundtrack albums, and sold over 100 million albums, in addition to her acting career in film and television. She also wrote over 3,000 songs. I have trouble saving $3,000.

Apart from her music and acting career, Parton was also famous for her advocacy and philanthropy work, like the Dollywood Foundation. Part of the foundation operates Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, which, as I understand it, mails one free, high-quality, age-appropriate book every month to registered children from birth until their fifth birthday. Since its inception in 1995, the Imagination Library has given over 330 million free books to over 120 million children.

I remember growing up listening to Dolly Parton on the radio because both my parents liked her and country and western music. As I’m writing this, I’m flipping back and forth, singing between 9 to 5 and Jolene. You have to wiggle your shoulders if you sing 9 to 5 as well. Those two songs are infectious for two vastly different reasons, as I can’t resist singing them.

Credit: OPRY

Tim Curry was an actor and singer who died at the age of 80 on 25th August in Los Angeles, California, United States. It’s been said that how you know Tim Curry from his acting career, which spanned nearly six decades on screen and stage, can say a lot about your personality.

Curry has given us some classic movie performances like Dr. Frank-N-Furter (The Rocky Horror Picture Show), “Rooster” Hannigan (Annie), Darkness (Legend), Wadsworth (Clue), Dr. Yevgeniy Petrov (The Hunt for Red October), Mr. Hector (Home Alone 2: Lost in New York), Herkermer Homolka (Congo), Long John Silver (Muppet Treasure Island), Roger Corwin (Charlie’s Angels), and Colonel Anatoly Cherdenko from the computer game Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3.

He also voiced several roles, including Sir Nigel Thornberry (The Wild Thornberrys), Hexxus (FernGully: The Last Rainforest), Professor Finbarr Calamitous (The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius), Chancellor Palpatine / Darth Sidious (Star Wars: The Clone Wars), and many more.

However, Curry scared the shit out of my whole school and me as Pennywise from the TV mini-series, IT. Later on, as a man-child, I managed to read the book, and in my mind’s eye, when Pennywise was running around in it, I only saw Curry. He had an astonishing talent at playing villainous characters, and I loved him for it.

Credit: Instagram/summainfernoen

On 26th August, one day after the deaths of Parton and Curry, Peter Cullen died, aged 85, in Los Angeles, California, United States. I could be wrong about this, but I believe Cullen had mostly worked as a voice actor. His iconic voice had enabled him to work on many animated shows, as well as movies.

In saying that, some of his most beloved roles have been Thaedus (Invincible), KARR (Knight Rider), The Predator (Predator-he provided the iconic vocal effects and clicks), Monterey Jack (Chip ‘n Dale: Rescue Rangers), and Eeyore (Winnie the Pooh).

However, the role he is universally known for is the leader of the Autobots, Optimus Prime, from the Transformers franchise, in both animated and live-action series since 1984. When I’m watching a movie or television show and I recognise Cullen’s voice, it’s like, “Hey, it’s Optimus Prime! What’s he doing there?!” That is never going to change for me.

Credit: Dan MacMedan

And to close out this uplifting and positive blog post, I also want to acknowledge the victims of the 2026 Venezuela earthquakes and Nepal–Tibet floods. On 24th June, two earthquakes measuring Mw 7.2 and Mw 7.5 struck Northern Venezuela, which caused damage across the region, especially in the capital city of Caracas. To the best of my knowledge, the current aftermath has resulted in 6,509 people being killed, with 226,696 injured, but 18,100–50,000 are still missing.

A worker at La Esperanza Cemetery in Catia La Mar, La Guaira state, northeast of Caracas, paints graves for unidentified victims of the June 24 earthquake. Photo / AFP

As for the Nepal-Tibet floods, on 26th August, a glacier collapsed on Langtang Lirung, a mountain in the Himalayas, along the Nepal-China border. The section of the glacier dropped ice from around 5,200 to 5,600 m in elevation and fell about 1,200 to 1,900 below into the valley.

This created two things: a seismic event measured at Ms 5.2, as well as a catastrophic flash flood, with the wave estimated to have reached a median height of 70 m, ranging from 40 to 134 m. The wave also managed to reach speeds of 167 to 170 km per hour, which is about 47 to 52 m per second, and the debris travelled for over 100 km. The human cost of this disaster across Chinese-controlled Tibet and Nepal is, at the time of writing, 1,138 dead, with over 5,300 injuries, and over 5,610 people still missing.

Numbered identification tags placed inside pots mark the graves of flash flood victims at a mass burial site in Chitwan, Nepal, Monday, Aug. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Dar Yasin)

There are many aid agencies and international emergency relief organisations still working in Venezuela, Nepal and Tibet, such as:

  • UNICEF
  • Red Cross
  • Oxfam
  • Save the Children
  • World Vision   

Several other organisations are supporting the victims with rescue and relief operations, so if you spare some money, please donate to one of your national organisations, or an international agency. It’s cliché to say, but it’s still true: every bit counts.

I don’t know what else to say about this blog post, other than to thank Dolly Parton, Tim Curry, and Peter Cullen for sharing their skills and talents with the world, and to the relief workers still working in Venezuela, Nepal and Tibet, trying to help the victims’ families and other survivors rebuild their lives.

Thank you for reading, and I’ll see you next week.

Tour of the Solar System: Haumea

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Science

18th May 2026. That was the last time we visited the Solar System’s worst tour. We’ve been ranting about movies, football, movies, 1963, movies, and more movies since then, but today marks its glorious return! I know, I’m very sorry for keeping the people of Internet land away from this amazing and highly educational blog post, which is Some Geek Told Me’s Tour of the Solar System.

Since the turning of the Earth and the resurrection of dead comic book characters are sadly very predictable, may I offer you the opportunity to search through the predictable and very serious past entries of the tour. They are:

1.) Meet the Family

2.) The Sun

3.) Planets vs. Dwarf planets

4.) Mercury

5.) Venus

6.) Earth

7.) The Moon

8.) Mars

9.) The Asteroid Belt

10.) Ceres

11.) Jupiter

12.) The Galilean moons

13.) Saturn

14.) Titan

15.) The Moons of Saturn

16.) Uranus

17.) Titania

18.) The Moons of Uranus

19.) The Literary Moons of Uranus

20.) Neptune

21.) Triton

22.) The Moons of Neptune

23.) The Kuiper Belt

24.) Pluto

25.) Charon

26.) The Moons of Pluto

The last stop on the tour was Charon, the largest moon of Pluto, and then the remaining moons of Pluto. So, like the New Horizons spacecraft, we must leave Pluto and its quirky children and venture out into the Kuiper Belt to meet another member of the family: Haumea. Here’s nothing else left to say, but strap yourself in, because we’re off to Haumea!

Low-resolution Hubble Space Telescope image of Haumea and its two moons, Hiʻiaka (top) and Namaka (bottom), June 2015. Credit: From 28x39s WFC3 exposures (images ico803sxq – ico803tmq), in public domain since 2016-05-13. Darin Ragozzine, Florida Institute of Technology: The Intriguing Formation of Haumea’s Satellites (HST Proposal 13873)

We are going to leave Donald Trump’s new trade war with his northern neighbour and visit Haumea, the third recognised dwarf planet in our Solar System. And when discussing a new acquaintance, the extremely polite thing to do is ask what their age is. So, in Haumea’s case, it is about 4.5 billion years old, similar to Pluto and other Kuiper Belt objects.

And just so we’re all on the same page, Haumea is pronounced as hau·may·uh. Now you know.

One of the leading theories about Haumea’s formation is that it formed from the remnants of the Sun’s formation and the creation of the planets and moons. However, it is believed that a proto-Haumea was struck by a huge object, resulting in a gigantic collision. This collision altered the shape and spin of the dwarf planet that would become Haumea.

The discovery of Haumea is not an easy one to discuss or explain, as it’s not cut and dry. The way I understand it, two different research teams both claimed Haumea’s discovery in 2005, with a team led by Mike Brown basing their claim on images from 2004, while the José Luis Ortiz Moreno-led team based their claim on their images from 2003.

Haumea’s name is just as complicated, because both teams put forward different names, with Moreno’s team proposing Ataecina, the goddess of spring, nature, fertility, and the underworld from Iberian culture; though ultimately, a member of Brown’s team, David Rabinowitz, suggested Haumea, the Hawaiian goddess of childbirth and fertility. And wouldn’t you know it, on 17th September 2008, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) announced the name to the public and media; although the working name for it was Santa.

Haumea has some other interesting facts to make you swipe right, as it’s part of a very elite club: it has a ring. No, Beyoncé didn’t put a ring on it, but it’s still there. The ring was discovered in 2017, and it’s believed to be about 70 km wide, at a radius of 2,287 km from the centre of Haumea. This gives Haumea the title of the only known dwarf planet and object in the Kuiper Belt to have a ring system.

An artist’s conception of Haumea, its moons Hi’iaka and Namaka, and its ring system; the moons are much more distant than depicted here. Image credit: Pablo Carlos Budassi.

And speaking of a system, Haumea has something else going for it. You see, Haumea does not just have one moon, but two. Discovered in 2005, though their names were not revealed until the Haumea announcement on 17th September 2008. And, funnily enough, they were called Hiʻiaka (goddess of dance and patroness of the Big Island of Hawaii) and Namaka (goddess of water and the sea), who were named after the daughters of Haumea. One leading theory for Haumea having a ring and two moons is that it is the result of the heavy impact I mentioned earlier in its life.

What makes it remarkable for a dwarf planet to have a ring and two moons is the size of it. Its diameter is only about 1,544 km, which works out to be roughly the length of Great Britain from north to south; a drive from Madrid, Spain, to Paris, France; or the length of New Zealand, from Cape Reinga to Slope Point. Compared to the Earth, Haumea is about 1/7 the width of it.

Haumea’s distance from the Sun is interesting. Since its orbit places it past Neptune, Haumea is a Trans-Neptunian object (TNO), as well as a Kuiper Belt Object (KBO), because it resides in the, yes, you guessed correctly, the Kuiper Belt. Its average distance from the Sun is 6.5 billion km, which is quite staggering.

Another measurement is the AU, or the astronomical unit. This cool measurement is the average distance from the Earth to the Sun, which works out to be about 150 million km, so that’s 1 AU; Haumea is 43 AU. Its perihelion, which is its closest point to the Sun, is about 5.19 billion km, while its aphelion, the furthest point away from the Sun, is about 7.69 billion km. Haumea also has an orbital speed of about 4.53 km/s.

Dwarf planet Haumea and its satellites, imaged by the Hubble Space Telescope’s WFC2 camera from 12 May 2008 and 19 May 2008. The brighter dot orbiting Haumea is the larger outer moon Hi’iaka while the fainter dot is the smaller inner moon Namaka. This animation of the moons’ orbits spans 7 days and the orbital plane of Namaka is oriented vertically. Credit: Hubble Space Telescope/Michael E. Brown.

This, of course, you would know all too well: at that distance, light from the Sun would take along time to reach Haumea, six hours to be precise. In comparison, light from the Sun takes about 8 minutes and 20 seconds to reach Earth. Six hours equates to watching four football games, back to back, but also the run time of the Back to the Future Trilogy, including trailers.

Do you remember when I explained about the proto-Haumea being hit by another object and altering its shape and spin? Of course you do, because you get nothing but straight A’s. You see, because of that impact, Haumea’s rotation is freaky. Not just freaky, but that-will-cost-you-extra-freaky. It has a rotation rate of about four hours, which makes it one of the fastest rotating large objects in our Solar System. The Flash would be so proud.

An extension of this is the time it takes for Haumea to make one orbit around the Sun. As it’s been established, the general rule for orbits in the Solar System is that the closer an object is to the Sun, the shorter the length of time to make one complete orbit around the Sun. Because of this, the opposite is true: the further an object is from the Sun, the longer it takes to make one orbit.

To elaborate on this, it takes Earth approximately 365.25 days to complete one full orbit around the Sun, which makes a year. However, Haumea takes 285 Earth years to make the same journey. To make sense of this measurement, when Haumea was roughly in its present location in time and space; in 1741, George II was the King of Great Britain and Ireland, Great Britain and Spain were fighting each other in The War of Jenkins’ Ear, the Indian kingdom of Travancore had defeated the infamous Dutch East India Company at the Battle of Colachel/Kolachel, with the War of the Austrian Succession in the background, along with the eruption of Oshima–Ōshima and the Kampo tsunami. In 1741, the estimated total world population was about 700 to 750 million people.

Haumea is not exactly the best place to unwind; I mean, it’s not Ibiza or Tahiti. Yes, the travel cost and distance are a concern, but so is the temperature. The average surface temperature of Haumea is about -241°C, which is −151.8 °C colder than the coldest temperature recorded on Earth.

As for Haumea’s atmosphere, to the best of my understanding, Haumea does not have a detectable atmosphere, though future monitoring technology may reveal it. For Haumea’s physical features, it is believed to be 90% covered in a substance like pure crystalline water ice, because of how much light it reflects. And like Pluto, Haumea has tholin-like compounds, which have reddened parts of the surface, as represented in one area as a large dark red patch.

This artist’s concept depicts Haumea and its ring. Image credit: Institute of Astrophysics of Andalusia.

To cap this tour off with Haumea, we need to discuss its shape. One of the criteria for a cosmic object to be classified as a planet is that the object needs to have sufficient mass to assume hydrostatic equilibrium. Basically, it means that the object needs to be nearly round. Strictly speaking, the inner and outer planets are relatively round, like a football or basketball.1

Haumea is very different from the rest of its family members. When large cosmic objects are spinning, gravity likes to pull them into a shape that reflects a sphere. Because of this, the fast spin causes its centrifugal force to push outward at the equator. This can be observed with the Earth, because it bulges at the equator and flattens at the poles; thus, Earth is actually an oblate spheroid.

But if we go back to Haumea, its extremely fast and powerful spin has caused deformation. Because of its fast spin, the centrifugal force has stretched and pushed Haumea out into an elongated shape, similar to an egg or a rugby ball. Essentially, Haumea is not a sphere; it’s more of an oval shape, like an elongated triaxial ellipsoid. Science is cool.

And with that amazing fact, we shall bring this week’s rant to a close. What’s your favourite fact about Haumea? As always, please let me know. Thanks again for reading, following, and subscribing to Some Geek Told Me. Spring is just around the corner for us; Autumn for others, so if you want daily information to help you with this transition, my poorly written anti-social media accounts are still operating on Twitter and Mastodon. Yes, I know it’s called X; I just don’t want to call it that.

Please don’t forget to walk your dog, read a banned book, watch some panda fail videos, and if you ever repeat any of the information I write about, and someone asks you where you learnt it, just say, “Some Geek Told Me.” Take care, and I’ll see you next week.

1 Once again, suck it Flat Earthers!

 

San Diego Comic-Con 2026: So, what happened?

On By somegeektoldme@gmail.comIn Books, Comics, Movies, Television

The staff here at Some Geek Told Me have been working around the clock to bring you the latest news from around the globe.1 And when I say news, I don’t mean politics, sport, crime, or the economy. I know you have no room in your life for such frivolous subjects, so that’s why we thought it was time to bring some much-needed logic and reason to the table.

This is why we pulled out all the stops and spared no expense to bring you our annual San Diego Comic-Con wrap-up!

I do realise some of you amazing people may not have any idea what I’m talking about, and that’s ok; nobody is perfect. Well… nobody living anyway. The point is that San Diego Comic-Con is one of the biggest dates on any geek’s calendar, whether they attend the event or not.

If I can break down the event, it would be this, even though I’m cheating from last year:

San Diego Comic-Con is an opportunity for some of the world’s leading entertainment companies to showcase their upcoming products, including toys, anime, computer games, manga, books, comics, movies, and TV shows, to the ticket-paying fans and the rest of the world.

Once again, the event has been and gone without me attending; however, one fine day, I will win the lottery, and then I’m going there. The queues, the overpriced food, the fans, the creators, the trailers, the back issues- it sounds amazing! Over the course of the event, information trickles out from all sections of the entertainment industry, covering everything you wanted to know, plus stuff you didn’t even know existed! Because of that, it’s my self-appointed job to wade through the content to discover the gems.

However, as with anything on this scantily information-clad blog, there are rules. There are always rules.

1.) I have not read or seen every article or trailer released from San Diego Comic-Con. I can only discuss the things I know about and the things I’m interested in.
2.) Just because a product is on my list doesn’t mean I’ll get to see or purchase it. Quite simply, if something has landed on this list, it has my attention, regardless of whether I watch or purchase it.
3.) I have included some information and trailers that were released just before San Diego Comic-Con. This is because I’m the lead writer on this venture, so what I say goes.

Since I know you’ve been waiting harder than Michael Meyers for Laurie Strode, let’s look at the announcements that were made only for me!

Credit: San Diego Comic-Con

Literature: (Books and Comics)

It’s slim pickings this year, to be honest. There was extra information about Marvel’s Midnight Universe (which I already knew about and had pre-ordered the first issues of the three series a few weeks ago) and some content about some of DC’s new titles, but there were only two comics that were a complete surprise to me.

Batman Day 2026: Batman of Two Worlds #1 (One-shot)

Credit: DC Comics

Indiana Jones and the Sword of Pandemonium #1-5

Credit: Marvel

Star Wars: Edge of the Abyss (Reign of the Empire)

Credit: Random House Worlds

Movies:

A lot of movies were announced at San Diego Comic-Con that will be released between 2027 and 2028, but there were only a few that I cared about that were still being released in 2026.

Coyote vs. Acme

I heard a while ago that this project was shelved, but it seems that the universe has not finished it, and it’s going to see the light of day. To me, the Coyote is one of the world’s greatest optimists. I understand the film is based on Coyote suing Acme because of their faulty products and the damage it has had on Coyote’s physical, financial, mental, and emotional health.

In one of the trailers, it looks like Coyote manages to actually touch Road Runner, after 76 years of trying, along with a shower of cameos. It looks stupid, crazy, and bonkers, so naturally, I want to see it, with or without the boys.

Ebenezer

I know what you’re thinking, seriously, I do. Not another adaptation of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. There have been so many versions of it over the decades, though you can’t go wrong with The Muppet Christmas Carol or Scrooged. Having said that, like a new Shakespeare adaptation, I’m ready and down for another version of A Christmas Carol.

From what I gather, Ebenezer Scrooge is being played by Johnny Depp, the go-to man for quirky or weird characters. Supposedly, the film will flesh out more of the story about Ebenezer, but I’m not 100% sure. I also saw the reference in the trailer to Depp’s first movie role in A Nightmare on Elm Street with the bed. Nice touch.

Whatever the case, Ebenezer Scrooge has one of the greatest, if not the most powerful, redemption arcs in literature, so it will be terrific to see him again.

Clayface

The DCU is still trying to establish itself, since it started with its first movie entries in the form of Superman and Supergirl. Both films have been great, but I would say their box office returns have disappointed the studios. Enter their 3rd entry, Clayface, a member of Batman’s rogues’ gallery, who is one of the few who have legitimate superpowers.

It was a bold move to give Matt Hagen his own movie, and it seems the movie is the offspring of John Wick and The Substance; and for the record, that’s not a bad thing. Whether it’s the right time to bring a bit of horror into the DCU, I can’t say; however, I will be watching this odd nugget in the cinema. Count on it.

Avengers: Doomsday

If you’ve been a follower, supporter, or subscriber of New Zealand’s 5th least favourite website, then this one pretty much speaks for itself. If it’s possible, I want to go to the opening screening at our only cinema this December. I’ll even try to take the day off work, if I have to.

Not counting 1994’s The Fantastic Four, Fox had three cinematic attempts at portraying Latveria’s most beloved ruler and sorcerer correctly, but has failed three times. It’s now Marvel, Disney, and Robert Downey Jr.’s turn, and they really need to get Victor right.

Television shows:

Unlike the movie announcements, there are a lot of TV shows I would like to see. Now, whether that’s a positive or negative thing, I am not smart enough to answer that.

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 4

Star Trek: Discovery and Star Trek: Strange New Worlds have reignited my love for all things Star Trek, to the point that I’m trying to track down and watch Star Trek: Enterprise, so I can work my way from the beginning. I’ve also been reading some Star Trek comics, which is quite rare for me.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised with Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, so Season 4 should be awesome. Having the Gorn as the main antagonists throughout the series has been, in my humble opinion, a stroke of genius. I love the show and cast, along with the diverse storylines. With Star Trek’s 60th anniversary just around the corner, the future of Star Trek seems solid.

Lanterns

I realise Lanterns has already started on HBO Max, and it’s part of the DCU, via its television arm. Currently, I’ve just started on Season Three of The Greatest American Hero; it’s a long story. I also realise Lanterns is gathering a lot of backlash, but I have faith in the showrunners; I mean, you have to, right?

Anyway, I will start on Lanterns soon. I have no idea how much of the series will be set off-Earth, but it’s certainly great to see John Stewart (Aaron Pierre) in a live-action role, along with Hal Jordan (Kyle Chandler) and hopefully other notable characters. I have learned that Nathan Fillion plays Guy Gardner and Ulrich Thomsen as Sinestro. Seriously, I’m looking forward to this show, and maybe Kyle Rayner.

The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power Season 3

Before I go back to this show, I’ll rewatch the first and second seasons, and I think the series is getting better. It ended with devastation, but also laced with hope, which I believe is a good place for a cliffhanger. 19 rings of power have been forged over the two seasons, but that just leaves one ring to be created. The One Ring. The Master Ring. The Ruling Ring.

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
Where the Shadows lie.

One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

To my understanding, Sauron, the Dark Lord, does in fact forge the final power ring in the season and sit on his dark throne. Will we see more of the various rings’ abilities? Only time will tell.

Avatar: Seven Havens

We are going back to the world of Avatar. No, not James Cameron’s Avatar; I mean the OG, Avatar: The Last Airbender. I actually discussed this TV show in last year’s San Diego Comic-Con wrap-up, but we only had one image; now we have a trailer. I believe the story is set after the events of The Legend of Korra, with Avatar Korra obviously having passed away, though I don’t know the time jump.

Korra’s world was different from Ang’s because of the march of technology, so I do wonder what the world’s technology will look like now. Having said that, again, to the best of my understanding, some sort of disaster or apocalypse has hit the world, and somehow regressed or devolved civilisation.

I have high hopes for Avatar Pavi, though I have no idea how I’ll ever see it.

Reacher Season 4

Like Lanterns, the new season of Reacher has already started, and I’m going to be there for it. As a character, I like Jack Reacher- sorry, Reacher, my bad; he’s like James Bond, Jack Ryan, Sherlock Holmes and Batman, all rolled into one. My wife has started reading the books, and I will also. One day.

Reacher Season 4 will be on my list for late 2026, if not sometime in 2027. Not that it matters in the scheme of things, of course.

And speaking of the scheme of things, I know there’s a massive amount of things going wrong in the world, but there’s also a lot of positive. I fear sometimes the negative can drown out the positive, and it can convince you that the world is broken because of A, B and C. That could be the case, but D, E and F are fighting to rebalance it. The world’s not a lost cause, because you and me, well, we’re still here, and that counts for something.

Yes, reviewing the announcements from a pop culture event is petty and vain, but it’s not ignoring the pain of the world; it’s there to humble it.

There was probably a vital piece of information that I missed from San Diego Comic-Con, so as always, please let me know.

That delightful transition brings us to the end of another blog for another week. Remember to walk your dog, read a banned book, Up the Wahs, and I’ll see you next week for the return of the least recommended tour in the Solar System.

1 Flat Earthers, it sucks to be you.