Tessera

Comics Outta Context 🏳️‍🌈🏳️‍⚧️@comiccontext.bsky.social · 2d ago

Oh, right. The thing. The thing of the night. The thing that moves and glides in the night. The night thing.

Silhouette of presumably Batman gliding in the night sky with a convienent full moon to backlight him. Narration: "A thing of the night. Like a thing of the night. He moves. He glides."

Farran Smith Nehme 🇱🇧@selfstyledsiren.bsky.social · 2d ago

I had not heard of the late Jean-Pierre Dorléac, Emmy-nominated costume designer for Battlestar Galactica and Quantum Leap, until now, but this postmortem investigation revealing that much of his public persona - including his name - was fabricated is fascinating.

At my substack, no paywall for now: The Man Who Would Be Dorléac. open.substack.com/pub/selfstyl...

Comics Covers@comicscovers.bsky.social · 2d ago

Clearly a nod to Adam West Batman, and I genuinely wonder if the checkered pants on the one crook are an equally deliberate nod to the “Go-Go Checks” DC put on their covers in 1966 in an attempt to make them stand out from competitors…

A 1966 Batman comic cover referencing the Adam West TV series showing an example of the “Go-Go Checks” on the top of DC titles. Robin has the receiver of the Batphone in his hand and calls to Batman: “Hot-line call, Batman! Let’s get going!” Batman is sitting in a chair with his feet up on a Batcave console with a carton of popcorn and (presumably non-alcoholic) beverage and gestures towards a TV showing the words “THE ADVENTURES OF BATMAN”: “Not tonight, kid! I’m staying in the Batcave to watch myself on television!” A splash panel reads: Holy Emergency! What’s the REAL reason Batman’s goofing off? The telltale clue is on this cover!

Ryan W. Mead @rwmead.bsky.social · 3d ago

Today’s Heathcliff comic is, surprisingly, not a Dadaist self-referential joke but a very standard one

Heathcliff, an orange cat, is on a boardwalk standing in front of an ice cream stand with an oversized ice cream cone on top of it. The ice cream salesman says “It doesn’t come in that size”.

The fact Spider-Man’s popularity skews younger than Batman and Superman due to Spidey and His Amazing Friends is unintentionally amusing but also disturbingly seems like a return to the “cradle to grave” marketing tactic that was in vogue a while ago www.msn.com/en-us/entert...

MSN

msn.com

Ryan W. Mead @rwmead.bsky.social · 4d ago

I just found out about the PragerU video that comes to that very conclusion unironically that has become a meme as a result

I want mommy I want milk

YouTube video by dxxlucc

youtu.be

FKFTSH@fkftsh.myatproto.social · 4d ago

Does Your Infant Son Cry Whenever He Wants Your Attention? He Might Be A Narcissist

Ryan W. Mead @rwmead.bsky.social · 4d ago

The American Cinematheque theaters in Los Angeles, where #CoyoteVsACME will hold its world premiere, are doing a rather clever collection of screenings partnering one of the courtroom dramas the movie took inspiration from with a Wile E. Coyote cartoon.

You Can't Handle The Toons! COYOTE VS. ACME Inspirations - American Cinematheque

americancinematheque.com

Ryan W. Mead @rwmead.bsky.social · 4d ago

“Hello, Jim Henson’s Creature Shop? Yes, I know you’re responsible for creating some of the most beloved characters in human history, but I have a tall order for you: create a puppet that everyone will hate immediately the minute they set eyes upon it”

@kattsdogma.bsky.social · 5d ago

ceo of liberty mutual: ppl hate the emu . what else you got ad agency guy: how about a disembodied yellow furry head landing on ppls cars ceo of liberty mutual: jfc how are you so bad at this

Ryan W. Mead @rwmead.bsky.social · 5d ago

Is Liberty Bibberty the world’s first universally reviled Muppet?* (*Technically not a Muppet legally but built by Jim Henson’s Creature Shop so at the very least Muppet-adjacent)

Ryan W. Mead @rwmead.bsky.social · 6d ago

“Fortitude” is an as-of-yet unreleased spy movie based on a true story starring Nicolas Cage as a Yugoslavian double agent who spearheaded a plan to successfully fool Nazi leadership into believing the D-Day landings would take place in Calais and not Normandy.

In 1997, ABC aired a remake of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II’s TV musical “Cinderella” starring Brandy and Whitney Houston. Sony, Warner Music, Disney, and the R&H estate all partially claim ownership, making a soundtrack release “Impossible”. www.vanityfair.com/story/cinder...

“Impossible”: Inside the 30-Year Fight to Release Whitney Houston and Brandy’s ‘Cinderella’ Soundtrack

Recording the album was a magical 48-hour whirlwind. Whitney Houston, a superstar in her vocal prime, and Brandy, the rising talent just discovering the full scope and range of her gifts, joined force...

vanityfair.com

Peppa Pig has won her legal battle against Vietnamese YouTube clone Wolfoo - not on the grounds that Wolfoo is a visual knockoff of Peppa, but because every single Wolfoo video brazenly used stolen audio clips from Peppa Pig episodes.

Peppa Pig owners win copyright battle against YouTube animation Wolfoo

A judge orders all videos featuring the popular animated wolf to be removed from YouTube.

bbc.com

don’t know if this have ever surfaced online before this point, but in an interesting revelation the official YouTube channel for ska label Megalith Records has posted the original pilot for Nickelodeon’s Kablam! (originally titled Blam!)

The Toasters 'Kablam Pilot' [Broadcast] Nickelodeon

m.youtube.com

Although the company issued an internal memo (as did Paramount) that they are confident the merger will go through, many at Warner Bros. Discovery - including some unnamed high-ranking executives - are hoping the merger will ultimately fail: variety.com/2026/tv/news...

Some Warner Bros. Execs Are Hoping States’ Antitrust Lawsuit Derails Paramount Deal

Some Warner Bros. Discovery execs are rooting for the states that have sued to block Paramount Skydance's WBD takeover to win in court and get the deal nixed.

variety.com

The whole point of the Mad Hatter, as with most of the characters in Wonderland, is that there is no point to him. He’s not meant to be the lead character and I have no idea how they’re going to try and make an entire animated feature revolve around him. deadline.com/2026/07/amaz...

Animated 'Mad Hatter' Movie In Works From Scott Mosier, Amazon MGM

Amazon MGM Studios has an animated Mad Hatter movie in the works from Clerks producer and actor Scott Mosier, who is set to adapt.

deadline.com

Hatok@hatok.bsky.social · last wk.

It took months for Pokémon to catch on in Japan and the only reason it happened to catch on immediately in the United States is because there was already a slew of tie-in merchandise which in Japan was trickled out slowly but in the U.S. launched all at the same time.

citing pokemon being popular as proof there was no anti anime sentiment in the 90s is some crazy work when a really infamous thing that gets shared around is how they called rice balls jelly doughnuts

With the Daytime Emmys operating at a deficit, talks are currently underway for their organization to be merged back into the Primetime Emmys: www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/e...

Will the Emmy Awards Be Unified? The TV Academies Are Holding Merger Talks

The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences and the National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences split nearly 50 years ago.

hollywoodreporter.com

Jeff Harris@nemalki.bsky.social · last wk.

Produced by Lorne Michaels (who produced a similarly deadpan mockumentary special for Superman’s 50th in 1988), Bill Murray’s contributions to this special went viral a few months ago - and are a pretty damn good example of the tone of the special overall. www.upworthy.com/bill-murray-...

In 1986, Bill Murray dished on Looney Tunes characters as if they were real people for 2 mesmerizing minutes

He was helping promote a local art exhibit on the cartoon legends.

upworthy.com

I missed it this morning, but they're airing a special from 1985 celebrating the 50th anniversary of Looney Tunes on MeTV Toons at the time I'm posting this (10 PM EST) right now. A lot of era-specific stars and Mel Blanc voicing Bugs and the others. Legitimately surprised to see this special.

Supper Mario Broth@mariobrothblog.bsky.social · last wk.

This was reported on three months ago but I’m surprised it didn’t get mileage until Supper Mario Broth picked it up: a genealogist researched Mario Segale, famously known as Super Mario’s namesake, and found by odd coincidence his father was named Luigi:

Father of man who inspired Super Mario was also named Luigi, researcher finds

Elisabeth Zetland, a senior researcher at MyHeritage, found that the actual Luigi had immigrated to US from Italy

theguardian.com

It is well-known that Mario is named after Nintendo of America's former landlord, Mario Segale. It has been discovered that his father, Louis Segale, was actually named Luigi before changing his name during immigration, making it an astounding coincidence that the real Mario's real father is Luigi.

Mario Segale (1934-2018) was a real estate developer and landlord of Nintendo of America's warehouse in 1981, famously being the inspiration for Mario's name. Minoru Arakawa, then president of Nintendo of America, reportedly named him after Segale because Segale was so reclusive that Arakawa did not know what he looked like.
It has been discovered in 2026 by genealogy researcher Elisabeth Zetland that Segale's father, Louis Segale, was actually born Luigi Maria Segale near Genoa in Italy, before changing his name to Louis during his immigration to the United States (adopting anglicized names being common among immigrants at the time).
One of the few known photos of Mario Segale
Since this fact has not been known until now, there is no way this could have factored into the naming of Luigi, but it is still immensely notable that the real-life Mario's father turned out to have been Luigi all along.
Source: theguardian.com/games/2026/apr/18/super-mario-nintendo-luigi-inspiration

Brendel@brendelbored.bsky.social · last wk.

The thing that struck me about the 250th was that very few companies wanted to be a part of it. There were in fact two warring 250 committees, one bipartisan and one run by DJT himself, but most companies chose to side with neither and put their own non-infringing logo on their packaging

It is amazing that the 250th anniversary of America was pretty much just not a thing. You could tell all the companies thought it would be, they had 250th ketchup and ice cream and energy drinks but all we got was a shit ass fair that no one went to

A website for Avery, Jones, and Maltese, which claims to be Albuquerque’s leading law firm in the field of comical cartoon injuries. Why Kevin Avery looks exactly like Will Forte and what the hashtag #CoyoteVsACME has to do with this is currently unknown.

Avery Jones & Maltese Attorneys

averyjonesmaltese.com

The Paramount/Warner Bros. merger will officially not go forward until either June 1, 2027 or five days after an official ruling in the lawsuits filed by both the State of California and the Writers Guild of America, whichever comes first:

Paramount Agrees To Not Close Warner Bros. Transaction Until Next Year

The company told a judge that it would not close until June 1 or until legal issues are resolved.

deadline.com

Charles Schulz only attended the San Diego Comic-Con once in his life, in 1974. One fan, not having a piece of paper on them, asked Schulz to sign the only thing they had on hand at a dinner at the convention - a bread roll.

A bread roll with a drawing of Snoopy and the signature SCHULZ.

caroline cash@cashbrowns.bsky.social · 2w ago

I knew immediately this was meant as a riff on Guy Gilchrist

Nancy 7/24/26

This is on the Wikipedia page of the producer who is putting together the film treatment for an unannounced Atari game and this amused me as clearly there has never been an issue with Atari collaborating with someone associated with a person nicknamed E.T.

His great-grandfather was Edward “E.T.” Guymon, after whom the city of Guymon, Oklahoma is named.

After revealing in tour interviews he turned down an AI sponsorship, “Weird Al” Yankovic also revealed he was offered “way more than I’ve ever been” to do the Riyadh Comedy Festival: “I don’t need to take any amount of money if it makes me feel icky.”

‘Weird Al’ Yankovic gets Bigger & Weirder in a tour headed to Pittsburgh

It’s fairly easy to see how “Weird Al” Yankovic’s Bigger and Weirder tour got its name. The tour grew to 90 cities (after hitting 75 last year), plus the band has doubled in si...

triblive.com

Are you prepared for the Atari Cinematic Universe? After a script proposal Universal loved, the studio has picked up the rights to that game plus nine others. Exactly which game is first out of the gate has not been announced.

Atari Makes Universal Movie Deal For 10 Iconic Game Properties; First Up Is Original Script By Matt Reilly & Carl Hampe, Entertainment 360 Producing

Atari Makes Universal Deal For 10 Of Its Iconic Game IP; First Up Is Original Script By Matt Reilly & Carl Hampe With Entertainment 360 Producing

deadline.com

“Before he was Scrooge, he was…EBENEZER.” Unless Mr. and Mrs. Scrooge already had a name in mind for a baby boy wouldn’t it be the other way around?