TWO TYPES OF "DC"

LegalDispatch .90

Damn, this has been a crazy-busy week. No doubt this is the result of the workweek being compressed into four days due to the three-day weekend. I’m in full pitch-development mode — all for TV projects (though I did have a fun feature Zoom the other day) — and I’m starting to see Keynote decks in my sleep.

None of this means that I’m ready to start pitching to actual buyers, however. The market has yet to show signs of life, IMHO. So this has all been an exercise in me and the various studios I’m working with getting our ducks in a row before sending them out to be slaughtered— Er, I mean find success in what I’m sure will be a vibrant and welcoming marketplace.

OOPS, I DID IT AGAIN

Like most people, I have a complicated relationship with Twitter/X. On the one hand, Elon Musk has turned what had been a terrible hellsite into an even worse hellsite. On the other hand, I truly enjoy interacting with many of the fans who are still on the platform. In recent weeks, I’ve made more of an effort to be responsive to the various questions and requests I occasionally get from followers.

One such follower asked if I had any promotional photos of Brand Routh as Superman from the Crisis on Infinite Earths event that I showran. Thinking nothing of it, I posted what I had on my Dropbox and casually mentioned — because I thought it was a fun little nugget — that Brandon and I had talked about some kind of “sequel series” for his version of Superman.

Well, that little comment kinda went viral. A friend of mine, a comic shop owner, texted me that suddenly his Facebook feed was nothing but articles about the comment — some of which exaggerated said comment into a “possibility” (there is none that I can reasonably conceive of) or even “talks” (which haven’t happened, unless you count Brandon’s and my little chats).

Here’s a sampling of what’s been making the rounds (clicking on the screenshots should take you to the specific article):

Anyways, you get the idea.

I share because it’s (a) an amusing anecdote that demonstrates how even the most innocuous of comments can, occasionally, go viral; and (b) a great example of how much love there still is for the Arrowverse. I don’t often write about the latter in this newsletter because I want it to be forward-facing as opposed to backwards-looking, but I really am humbled by and grateful for all the passion fans still have for our little endeavor. Accordingly, I may resume sharing some nuggets from the archives if there’s demand for them. Feel free to sound off in the comments.

Actually, screw it. You kind people are my lovely subscribers. And what’s the harm in sharing a few more little tidbits, right? Below you’ll find the concept art that our amazing team worked up for the Crisis version of what we called “SuperBrandon.”

I apologize that I don’t recall the names of the artists involved in creating these.

DIRECT CREATIVITY

Back in July, comic book legend Paul Kupperberg reached out to see if I would Zoom with him in connection with a project he was doing involving interviews with various comic book creators on the subject of creativity. The results of those interviews have been collected in a pretty nifty book called Direct Creativity — which is up on Kickstarter as we speak.

The Kickstarter campaign ends on Tuesday, February 27, so it’s not too late to pledge if this sounds like your cup of tea. You can check out the campaign here.

As I mentioned, I spoke with Paul last July, which was at the height of the WGA strike, and I fear that I often digressed into non-comic book territory often. (I felt pretty bad about it, to be honest.) Nevertheless, Paul evidently found enough relevant material from me to include in the book. You can check out a little preview here.

Be good to each other.

Best,

Marc

Encino, California

2.23.24