This Week’s Whatnots
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Some peripherally comics related stuff: Stan Lee’s L.A. home on the market; Macmillan Publishers donate to bookstores/comic shops in hurricane Helene’s path; Garfield Nendoroid Prototype; a Rugrats live-action movie; a New Yorker strike could disrupt the New Yorker Festival.
Back in late 2014, Marvel Comics legend Stan Lee doled out $4.4 million for a modern home perched in the coveted Birds Streets area of Los Angeles. The Spider-Man creator and his wife Joan—who have since passed away, he in 2018 and she in 2017, both at age 95—subsequently transferred the Hollywood Hills property high above the Sunset Strip to their daughter Joan Celia (“J.C.”) Lee. Now the residence is available for the first time in a decade, asking $8.8 million.
From Wendy Bowman and Robb Report: Comic Book Legend Stan Lee’s Last Home in L.A. Lists for $8.8 Million. Photo page.
Especially standing out is an expansive entrance hallway, which flows to a fireside den sporting a seated bar and a large dining area that’s perfect for entertaining. A remodeled kitchen is outfitted with an eat-in island and stainless cabinetry and appliances, while the living room is highlighted by a fireplace, floor-to-ceiling windows, and a glass door spilling out to a hedge-lined backyard hosting a pool and spa nestled alongside an open-air cabana.
Elsewhere is an office and an opulent movie theater with plenty of tiered seating, plus a spacious primary retreat that comes complete with a fireplace, a Juliette balcony, a sauna, and dual walk-in closets and baths.
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- Macmillan Publishers will match up to $10,000 in donations for bookstores and comic shops after Hurricane Helene.
- BINC is receiving urgent aid requests from stores affected by the hurricane’s devastation across six states.
- Victims face trauma, power outages, and communication issues, with ongoing relief efforts for water and cleanup.
- BINC has supported over 10,000 families since 1996, providing financial aid during severe hardships and emergencies.
Bleeding Cool reports: Macmillan Matches Donations For Books & Comic Shops After Hurricane
The Book Industry Charitable Foundation, or BINC, has been receiving dozens of calls for help from bookstores and comic shops in the path of destruction from Hurricane Helene, which travelled more than 500 miles across six states. Macmillan Publishers has now announced it will donate up to $10,000 as a matching gift against private donations made to BINC to help out. This means any donations made will now have double the impact.
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Back in May 2024, Good Smile Company announced that the comic cat Garfield would join its line of Nendoroid figures. Now as part of WonFes 2024 Shanghai, the first prototype of the figure appeared.
Jenni Lada for Siliconera reports: Garfield Nendoroid Prototype Features Comic Cat’s Iconic Stripes
The Garfield prototype is an unpainted one. As such, all the painting and coloring is unfinished. However, stripes on the cat’s tail and back appear, and there are already markings on his ears. It also shows how the original concept art, which appeared in May 2024, influenced the current design.
There’s no release date yet for the Garfield Nendoroid.
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The latest victim of IP resuscitation is the Rugrats, which is crazy because Rugrats was revived just three years ago as a CG animated series that has already been completely wiped from Paramount+. No matter; Hollywood can keep birthing Rugrats over and over again as long as there’s money to be made. Which brings us to today’s announcement that a live-action Rugrats is in development, per Deadline.
Mary Kate Carr reports for AV Club: The live-action Rugrats movie is coming, whatever that means
What does “live action Rugrats” mean, you may ask? It’s a good question, but there are no solid production details available to give you an answer. Will they go the Lion King route, where “live action” actually means an uncanny valley simulacrum of a real living creature? Or will this be a Look Who’s Talking situation, where the infants sort of lay around while adult actors narrate their telepathic dialogue? Real babies whose dialogue is dubbed over artificial moving mouths like Doctor Who‘s recent “Space Babies” episode? The possibilities are numerous and, if we may say so, largely horrifying to contemplate…
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More than three years ago, The New Yorker‘s unionized employees authorized and threatened a strike during a contentious first contract negotiation that culminated with scores of protestors descending on the Greenwich Village home of Condé Nast executive Anna Wintour days before a deal was ultimately reached.
Now, as the labor group is in the middle of negotiating a second contract with mother ship Condé Nast, it is applying similar pressure.
From The Hollywood Reporter’s Katie Kilkenny: New Yorker Union Members Unanimously Authorize Strike
A strike authorization vote does not mean a strike will occur, but it gives a union power to call one when it deems necessary.
The timing of the authorization vote is no coincidence. The move comes less than a month before this year’s edition of The New Yorker Festival (Oct. 25-27), which is set to feature guests including Rachel Maddow, Julianne Moore, Liz Cheney, Jean Smart, Dax Shepard and Sara Bareilles [and some New Yorker cartoonists].
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