"Bloom County," Moves to Patreon

Berkeley Breathed did various comic strips with the characters of, "Bloom County," for some decades via that series,  as well as "Outland," and, "Opus." He started doing strips again as a digital verision of, "Bloom County," back in 2015, and has been at it sinc,e with the strips going up on Facebook. However, Beathed has been transparent about how, due to general expenses, he is now going to transition the strip over to Patreon. For just $3 a month, however, people can read his superb works. Some have scoffed at this, but even the original strips were in newspapers you had to pay to read the funnies in--we were spoiled to get the new iteration of the series totally free. If Breathed needs a little scratch to keep telling us stories about Bill the Cat, Steve Dallas, Opus, and the rest, I support this change.

Early January 2026 Links and News

We're early into the New Year, and it is weirdly warm in Saint Louis for January. That isn't a complaint so much as an observation, however. Let's ring in this first full week of 2026 with an assortment of news and links.

One of my favorite trashy reality shows, "1,000 Pound Sisters," has its season premiere tonight. They both have lost a lot of weight, but they and their family are still a mess, so I'm ready to tune in. Plus, "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City," has a new edition today too, and that has been a wildly enjoyable trainwreck this season, as always.

On this day 5 years ago, a bunch of morons who claimed to be patriots but who were actually traitors went and raided our Nation's Capitol under the (false) belief that Donald Trump should have won the 2020 election (as he always lies about). Now that Trump has managed to seize power again, he and his cronies have continued to try to recontextualize the day as no big deal. It was a dark day in history, however, and should be remembered as such.

Well-known golfer and all-around interesting individual, John Daly, would generally hang out at a nearby Hooters restaurant anytime he played the Master's Tournament. His favorite spot shut down due to money issues for the brand, but he has found a new place to relax for the week this April, Top Dawg Tavern. Never fear, John Daly will always find a place to get a drink between playing some golf.

Serving as further evidence that DC's Absolute line is massively popular with anything, "Absolute Batman," selling like hotcakes, a new special issue about, "Ark-M," isn't even officially out until tomorrow and people are already paying a lot on the secondary market in the hopes of getting a copy in case stores run out super fast.

If, "Grand Theft Auto VI," does release in November of 2026 and isn't delayed yet again, how big an impact could it have on the holiday release schedule for video-games? It isn't a question of if it will wreak utter havoc for any competitors trying to release a game; the question is how much mayhem will there be?

Finally, a trailer dropped for the new, "Robin Hood," movie that imagines if the hero were actually kind of a jerk. This is funny to see because I was just saying how there is a new trend of movies imagining villains weren't that bad (Cinderella's sisters and Gaston have flicks coming), but we ought to do something with a hero secretly being unpleasant!

Uh Oh, Ultimate Endgame Blind Bags Suffered Lots of Damages

On December 31st, Marvel kicked off the end of their (latest) Ultimate Universe with, "Ultimate Endgame," #1. As part of the fun they had one variant option of that hot new trend--which is already burning itself out--blind bags. There was a problem, however, in that many of the blind bags turned out to have quite damaged comics inside once opened. Apparently, these weren't shipped the best in some cases and that could result in a store's whole order having nasty nicks and spine tics--not encouraging if you're hoping to pull a rare variant in decent shape. Marvel hasn't said anything official about this, but Penguin Random House (the distributor of Marvel floppies) has declared that as long as retailers send in the damaged comics with the covers stripped off, they'll refund the expense. I mean, that's something?

This is a bit of a mess, and considering how many blind bag promotions there have been from assorted publishers, you'd think PRH/Marvel would know how to ship these. I know Marvel is planning to do more mystery polybags for their, "Daredevil," relaunch, so one can only pray a valuable lesson was learned, and we won't see the same stories about damaged comics in a handful of months. Then again, if this blind bag craze peters out as quickly as it seems to be, it may not even matter before long if people simply quit caring. I suppose we'll have to see what 2026 holds for comic gimmicks and whatever the next hot promotional schtick is.

People are Using Twitter/X's AI Bot, Grok, in Creepy Ways This Week

I guess Grok, the official AI of Twitter/X got an upgrade because many people have been using it in a way that can vary from funny to creepy. You can have a picture of anyone and ask Grok to alter the picture so they are wearing different clothes. Make someone wear an outfit you normally see on a video-game character or such--perfectly innocent. Or have Grok take a picture of a woman and remove her clothes so it looks like she is wearing lingerie...hm.

Some women have uploaded suggestive pictures of themselves and then done the trick of tweeting at Grok to put them in an even more revealing outfit. These women are generally influencers promoting their OnlyFans accounts or such, and more power to them. They are consenting to their pictures being used in a sexual manner and telling the AI themselves to use a picture and make it saucy.  I'm sex-positive and pro-sex work; that's their choice. It gets a lot weirder when a woman uploads a harmless picture of herself and a bunch of men start tweeting at Grok to alter the picture so she is in a bikini, or has different colored hair and is licking ice cream, or a variation a woman didn't consent to. This has been referred to as a, "Mass Undressing Spree," but instead of people literally ripping clothes off of women, they are using AI.

Some dudes have had their pictures tweaked in suggestive ways from what I can see, but this impacts women a good 99% of the time. Where it gets really uncomfortable and borderline illegal is when it is girls under 18 having a picture of them altered to look suggestive. Grok won't make anything outright pornographic, but when a well-known actress who everyone is aware is underage has a picture tweaked so she's in extra-revealing clothes...well, maybe the users doing those prompts need a bit of extra scrutiny because they're just a hop-skip-and-a-jump from outright committing a crime.

How has Twitter/X responded to all of the news about this? They released a press statement saying, "Legacy media lies." Elon Musk himself seems relatively unbothered too. I mean, even if the media allegedly lies, the countless prompts demanding a woman have her outfit turned into a transparent bikini say it all. I swear, AI is only going to get, "Better," at faking images or videos to the point where, in three or four years, we legitimately won't be able to tell what is a real picture/video or generated/tweaked by AI. At that point, life is going to get really scary. As it stands right now, continue (as always) to be careful what you put on social media. Not only could the real content be used against you, but now people can change something innocent into questionable content. The future is now, and the future is deepfaked beyond recognition.

Diamond Comic Distributors is Officially No More

One long National nightmare is over (out of many that still persist, but oh well). Yes, Diamond Comic Distributors ceased operations/existence on December 31st, 2025, serving as the last day. Heidi over at ComicsBeat has an article detailing the last days of Diamond. Within the span of 365 days they went from a struggling-but-still big comic distributor, to in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, to struggling to find a buyer, to screwing over publishers by selling inventory they didn't own against the publishers' will, to being more of a shuffling zombie than a real company, to getting a stake put in the heart (I am mixing metaphors) and being truly good and dead as 2025 concluded. What an insane year for Diamond, and clearly declaring them my comic-book-related fiasco of 2025 was undoubtedly on point.

Diamond did a lot of good for the comic industry while also often being a huge thorn in the side of publishers, stores, and so forth. People wanted Diamond to change, not die. That said, sometimes when you fail to evolve, extinction is inevitable. I feel awful for the people who worked hard at Diamond, even if Diamond as a company itself often received scorn. As the dust settles, we have Lunar and PRH distributing many comics, with some smaller companies trying to assist with indie books (such as Philbo) and other entities eyeing ways to get involved in the comic game (Universal Distribution is making moves on the United States after being a big player in Canada). I don't know what 2026 will hold for comic-book distribution, but I can say with 99% certainty it won't be as crazy as last year!

"Pretty, Pretty, Pretty Good," is a Superb Book About Larry David and His Works

Author Josh Levin has published, via ECW Press, a fantastic book all about Larry David and his works. Titled, "Pretty Pretty, Pretty Good: Tlary David and the Making of Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm," it is a bit of a biography, a bit of an episode guide, and 100% full of Larry David--in all his positives and negatives! I had a ball reading it over the holiday season when I needed a break from all the hustle and bustle. There is a bit of a focus on young Larry and the creation/massive popularity of, "Seinfeld," is discussed, but the majority of the book focuses on his other masterpiece besides, "The Show About Nothing," his improv-heavy joy, "Curb Your Enthusiasm."

The early inspiration, the creation, and the gleeful nastiness of, "Curb," are all covered. We learn about how the cast formed, to where the jaunty jingle at the open and close of each episode came from, how HBO was quite at David's mercy in regards to when exactly seasons got made, and so forth. Controversies are not skimmed over (a chunk of the cast did face some scandals later on from Jeff Garlin being accused of inappropriate remarks on the set of another show he did, to how Larry's fictional wife, Cheryl Hines, later married a known vaccine-denier/danger to society's well-being, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Even with certain depressing elements taken into account, that does not take away from how amazing, "Curb Your Enthusiasm," is and why the show is worth spending a large chunk of this book covering.

"Pretty, Pretty, Pretty Good," has a guide to every single episode of, "Curb," which can be handy if you don't quite remember which season features a particular bit or just want an enjoyable trip down memory lane looking at highlights. It does not seem as if David plans to make more, "Curb," although he does have a new project in the works for HBO (a mysteriously untitled, six-episode American history sketch comedy series). Reading all about Larry David, "Seinfeld," and especially about, "Curb Your Enthusiasm," is great fun in Levin's book. I'd encourage you to ask your local store to order you a copy, ask your library to get a copy, or you can visit the ECW website for plenty of purchasing options.

5 out of 5 Stars.

Happy 2026/The List of My 2025 in Review Posts

We've arrived in 2026! I hope this year is a good one and has more ups than downs! If you wanted an alphabetical list of my 2025 in review posts then you are in luck as I now present that to you below. Have a great first day of the year!

2025 in Review posts...

Comic-Book Fiasco of the Year: Diamond Comic Distributors' Bankruptcy

Gassiest Household of 2025: Mine

Musical Return to Form of the Year: Clipse

My Favorite Television Shows From This Year

Some of My Favorite Comics This Year

T.V.-Related Bummer of the Year: "Doctor Odyssey," Getting Canceled

Gassiest Household of 2025: Mine--2025 in Review

It's the last post of 2025, and we're concluding with a bit of a fart joke--would you expect anything less from me? Seriously, however, I feel like when it comes to households with the most flatulence, ours has to be the winner. Between how much I fart due to my stomach issues (I love dairy, it doesn't love me), how much our boys love to toot, and how even Samii will fart sometimes (and she's a pretty polite lady), not an hour goes by without somebody cutting the cheese. Heck, this even applies to our cats. One of them, Clarence, will literally go to his catbox, rip a loud one without even using the box, and then proceed on his way (at least he goes to the catbox just to be safe, as you should never trust a fart, as they say). My family is incredibly gassy, and I love them in spite of and because of how loud and stinky we can all get. May our 2026 be just as or even more flatulent!

My Favorite Television Shows From This Year--2025 in Review

I will often watch shows that came out years ago. I often love them when I finally get around to checking them out, but to say they were among the best of 2025's television offerings would be factually incorrect. Hence, I am going to discuss some of my favorite TV shows that I watched this year, and which came out in 2025. In no specific order...

The Lowdown, Season 1--More Hopefully Coming?

A surreal neo-noir story with a large cast and an even bigger mystery, creator/director Sterlin Harjo gives us a wild ride. It is quite thrilling as truth-obsessed journalist Lee Raybon (Ethan Hawke) continuously finds himself in situations that result in getting beaten up, told off, or both. Filmed on location in Tulsa, Oklahoma, the show doesn't shy away from examining heavy topics such as systemic racism, fiscal inequities, and so forth--but it also manages to be incredibly funny and clever too. A hoot of a show, the entire season aired on FX and can be streamed via Hulu.

Severance, Season 2

In my review of, "Severance," I discussed how I enjoyed the first season that came out a bit ago just fine, but loved the second batch of episodes that were released during this year, hence it ending up on this list. Found on AppleTV, this quirky program imagines a World where people can undergo the Sevrance procedure and start having a new identity that exists at a mysterious office with zero memories/knowledge of the outside World. It's a trippy piece of sci-fi, and the second season is full of payoff that makes watching the show feel quite rewarding.

Doctor Odyssey, Season 1/The Only Season We're Getting

Yeah, I already touched upon this show in my post about how much of a bummer it was that it got canceled, and a chunk of the season did air in 2024, but there was enough in 2025 that I'm gonna argue it can count, okay? This was such a fun and silly show about a sexy doctor on a cruise ship. I know the whole program was absurd, but I adored it.

Traitors, The--Season 3 of the U.S. Version

As I said back in March, the third season of, "The Traitors," was some good television. Part game show, part psychological warfare, and all Alan Cumming being delicious as the host, this is such a wild program. A bunch of competitiors at a Scottish castle scheme and study each other closely in the hopes of figuring out who is a, "Faithful," and who is among a group of, "Traitors," that wants to pick off the Faithful. Season 4 is due soon on Peacock, and I can't wait!

Comic-Book Fiasco of the Year: Diamond Comic Distributors' Bankruptcy--2025 in Review

It is hard to believe that Diamond only declared bankruptcy at the start of this year, back in January. It feels like we've been following this slow-motion trainwreck for a decade. At first, it was going to be restructuring and business as usual. Then Diamond was trying to sell itself, but who was going to buy it got confusing. Diamond was bought, but basically turned into a zombie of a company, trying to sell off warehouse stock it did not own in the name of paying debtors...some of whom they were selling the inventory of without permission. 

From the ashes of Diamond, we saw further growth of Lunar as well as Penguin Random House, further announcements of new distribution options, and as the year ends, things seem to have finally settled into a mostly stable groove...Free Comic Book Day/Comics Giveaway Day arguments aside. Still, it has been less than 365 days, and the landscape of comic distribution has changed to a remarkable degree, which I think few could have foreseen coming.