Northeastern Global News: Do comics help as a STEM learning tool? Northeastern professor’s study aims to answer that question

Northeastern Global News: Do comics help as a STEM learning tool? Northeastern professor’s study aims to answer that question . “The National Science Foundation awarded [Luke] Landherr a grant to examine this in one of the first studies of its kind on whether comics help as a visual learning tool. Landherr will create a series of comics for a core introductory chemical engineering course that will be used at five partner institutions, as well as Northeastern. Landherr will then look at grades as well as concept testing to determine if student understanding and engagement improves when comics are used.”

Bill Willingham: Willingham Sends Fables Into the Public Domain

Bill Willingham: Willingham Sends Fables Into the Public Domain. “As of now, 15 September 2023, the comic book property called Fables, including all related Fables spin-offs and characters, is now in the public domain. What was once wholly owned by Bill Willingham is now owned by everyone, for all time. It’s done, and as most experts will tell you, once done it cannot be undone. Take-backs are neither contemplated nor possible.”

CBR: Comics Twitter Has Created A Fandom That Doesn’t Understand Comics

CBR: Comics Twitter Has Created A Fandom That Doesn’t Understand Comics . “Twitter, or X as it’s now called, has become the most important advertising tool for the comic industry. Companies like DC Comics and Image use the site to get the news about new books out. A whole ecosystem of fan accounts and podcasts has sprung up around Twitter, where indie creators peddle their wares, and fans and creators interact like never before. However, Comics Twitter is often a cesspool of toxicity and bad takes. In fact, the very nature of Comic Twitter has often been its downfall, and the fans Comic Twitter created have run into some huge problems.”

Anime News Network: Manga Archive Organization Dedicated to Archiving Manga Materials Founded

Anime News Network: Manga Archive Organization Dedicated to Archiving Manga Materials Founded. “The Manga Archive Organization announced its founding on Monday. Formally founded on May 1, the organization aims to preserve and share manga creators’ original artwork and related materials, including published material such as magazines and compiled book volumes. Taku Ōishi, the curator of the Yokote Masuda Manga Museum, will be the organization’s board representative.”

Bounding Into Comics: Disgruntled CBR Employee Hijacks Official Twitter Account, Publicly Accuses Outlet Of Becoming “An AI-Driven, Clickbait-Focused Content Mill”

Bounding Into Comics: Disgruntled CBR Employee Hijacks Official Twitter Account, Publicly Accuses Outlet Of Becoming “An AI-Driven, Clickbait-Focused Content Mill”. “In a move that speaks volumes to the present state of the entertainment media ecosystem, a disgruntled Comic Book Resources employee recently used their access to the outlet’s official Twitter account to deliver a scathing condemnation of its current leadership direction.”

Screen Rant: Shonen Jump Develops AI Manga Writing Tool, Steps Into Controversy

Screen Rant: Shonen Jump Develops AI Manga Writing Tool, Steps Into Controversy. “Shonen Jump+’s Deputy Editor-in-Chief Yuta Momiyama tweeted out a link to the company’s new AI tool Comic-Copilot (or Comicopa for short), which is intended to help mangaka with simple tasks like refining dialogue and creating character names. Mangakas can ask the AI a question or give it a request and Comicopa will attempt to help them the best it can. The website stresses that the tool is meant to be used as an aid for mangakas and not their replacement and as of now this certainly rings true.”

BusinessWire: Shueisha to open official website for popular comic series Naruto (PRESS RELEASE)

BusinessWire: Shueisha to open official website for popular comic series Naruto (PRESS RELEASE). “Along with the latest news and information about the globally popular ninja-action manga series by Masashi Kishimoto, the new website will cover comics, animations, games, and merchandise related to Naruto and the sequel Boruto-Naruto Next Generations. The site will be jointly operated with Bandai Namco Entertainment and all content will be available simultaneously in six languages: Japanese, English, French, Italian, German, and Spanish.”

downthetubes: British comic fanzines archive “The Fanscene Project” has a new online home

downthetubes: British comic fanzines archive “The Fanscene Project” has a new online home. “Founded back in 2015 as the Classic UK Comic Zines site, artist and comic archivist David Hathaway-Price has been constantly adding to what is now The Fanscene Project… the project is an online, read-only archive of British comic fanzines, published across the last 50 years, including, with the permission of their original editors, titles such as BEM, Comic Media News, Fantasy Trader, Infinity, Speakeasy, and many more.”

PC Gamer: This neat website archives over 700 fan-made Half-Life 2 comics

PC Gamer: This neat website archives over 700 fan-made Half-Life 2 comics. “One of my favourite parts of the mid-noughties Internet was the thriving Half-Life 2 (opens in new tab)comics scene. Through a combination of Garry’s Mod’s model posing function and a rudimentary knowledge of Adobe Photoshop, it was possible for artistically inept people like myself to create thrilling, amusing, or just plain bizarre comics revolving around the Half-Life 2 universe…. Now, over 700 of these comics have been rescued from the recycling bin of history and archived onto the website Metrocop(opens in new tab).” I glanced through a few of these to see if I needed to provide any content warnings, but the ones I saw were more silly than violent. I did see at least one series marked as horror.

Boing Boing: Creating an AI-generated comic book in Midjourney

Boing Boing: Creating an AI-generated comic book in Midjourney. “I really enjoyed watching filmmaker Elvis Deane talk about his experience in creating a comic book using the Midjourney AI art program. I love some of the analogies he uses—that working with a current AI is kind of like trying to communicate with your dog, or like having an infinite number of monkey artists who aren’t giving you exactly what you want, but sort of.”

New York Times: Comics That Read Top to Bottom Are Bringing in New Readers

New York Times: Comics That Read Top to Bottom Are Bringing in New Readers. “For decades, the fans who powered the comic book industry made weekly pilgrimages to their local comic shops to buy the latest issues about their favorite caped-and-cowled adventurers. These Wednesday Warriors, named for the day new installments typically land on shelves, still do. Voracious readers of printed comics, they skew older — and are mostly male. But now all it takes is a smartphone, as the world of comics is reshaped by the kind of digital disruption that has transformed journalism, music, movies and television.”

Contra Chrome: A Biting Satire of Google’s 2008 Chrome Comic (The New Stack)

The New Stack: Contra Chrome: A Biting Satire of Google’s 2008 Chrome Comic. “For those of us old enough to remember Web 2.0 in its heyday, one of the classic ‘texts’ of that era was the Chrome comic book, which was released in September 2008 at the same time the first version of the Chrome browser was launched. As a tech blogger at the time, I was lucky enough to receive a paper copy of the comic, which I still have on my bookshelf to this day. Well, this week I got a surprise when I discovered a new online ‘remix’ of that comic.”