The American Library Association’s Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table and the Will and Ann Eisner Family Foundation are pleased to announce the 2020 recipients of Will Eisner Graphic Novel Grants for Libraries. The grants, funded by the Will and Ann Eisner Family Foundation, are administered by ALA's Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table (GNCRT).

The Will Eisner Graphic Novel Grants for Libraries consists of three annual grants given in two categories. This year two libraries have been selected to receive the Will Eisner Graphic Novel Growth Grants – these provide support to a library that would like to expand its existing graphic novel services and programs. The Will Eisner Graphic Novel Innovation Grant provides support to a library for the initiation of a graphic novel service, program or initiative.

The 2020 Will Eisner Graphic Novel Growth Grants are awarded to:

Ryan LaFerney of the Avon – Washington Township Public Library, Avon, IN. The project “Will Eisner Memorial Comic Book Convention” seeks to grow their adult graphic novel collection to include more diverse, iconic and classic graphic works as well as raise awareness of the importance of graphic literature, sequential art, and comics as a literary medium. They plan to host a one-day comic convention at the library in honor of Will Eisner featuring displays on the history of graphic novels, the educational benefits of the medium, activities, lectures and more.


Cathy Burwell of the Cape Fear Community College Library, Wilmington, NC.Their existing program, “Get BiblioGRAPHIC with CFCC,” will be expanded by the grant to include librarian led discussions, partner displays and activities with local public libraries, rotating collections of graphic novels to classrooms, and author and illustrator visits to the early college high schools in their area.

The 2020 Will Eisner Graphic Novel Innovation Grant is presented to:

Deanna Nebenionquit of the Ontario Library Service – North, Sudbury, ON Canada. OLSN’s project, “Northern Ontario First Nation Graphic Novel Collective,” is to engage 29 indigenous communities in Northern Ontario through the First Nations public library system. This engagement effort will include book discussions around a unique collection of graphic novels produced by indigenous authors and artists, storytelling groups, and a plan for a group project. The collective will seek to build community, embrace indigenous heritage, and encourage life-long literacy and creativity. The Ontario Library Service – North is the first Canadian library to be awarded one of the Will Eisner Graphic Novel Grants since the eligibility was opened to include all of North America in 2019.

Each of these grants awards the winning libraries with a $2,000 voucher to purchase graphic novels from Diamond Book Distributors, the grants’ distributor-partner, as well as $1,000 to host a graphic novel-themed event. Additionally, the recipients will receive the Will Eisner Library (a graphic novel collection of Will Eisner’s in-print work and biographies about the acclaimed writer and artist) and a selection of this year’s Will Eisner Award winning graphic novels. The grant recipients also receive a $1,000 travel stipend to be used for ALA Annual Conference. Due to the cancelation of this year’s ALA Annual Conference, the travel stipend funds will be used for the 2020 grant recipients to attend next year’s 2021 ALA Annual in Chicago.

Nancy and Carl Gropper of the Will and Ann Eisner Family Foundation said, “Since 2014, the Foundation has deeply enjoyed its relationship with the ALA, and more recently with The Graphic Novel and Comics Round Table, in sponsoring the Will Eisner Graphic Novel Grants for Libraries. Each year the selected grant winners have exhibited outstanding proposals and accomplishments. Despite horrific conditions, this year was no exception and we understand that as always the judging was difficult. Our congratulations to Ryan LaFerney, Cathy Burwell, and Deanna Nebenionquit, our 2020 grant recipients. Their projects are enriching, visionary, and champion diversity. Their unique programs center around building graphic novel collections for adult, intergenerational, and indigenous populations while advocating the growth of partnerships for sharing graphic novel material. The professional challenges presented by their proposals, and their plans to meet them, are inspiring. In this, Ryan, Cathy, and Deana will join Will Eisner who loved to meet the professional challenges he faced.”

Deanna Nebenionquit of the Ontario Library Service – North and recipient of the 2020 Eisner Innovation Grant said “We would like to extend a chi-miigwetch to the Will and Anne Eisner Family Foundation, the Graphic Novels and Comics Round Table of the American Library Association, and to the Will Eisner Graphic Novel Innovation Grant Jury for selecting the Northern Ontario First Nation Graphic Novel Collective as the first Canadian recipient. Seeing positive Indigenous representation in graphic novels is empowering and long overdue. We would like to acknowledge the many Indigenous storytellers, illustrators, and designers who are contributing to the recent influx of Indigenous graphic novel content. Your work is appreciated, and will now be in the hands of patrons from 29 First Nation Public Libraries in Northern Ontario who will use your work as content for book clubs, and sparking inspiration before embarking on their own photography-based graphic novel projects.”

More information on the grant and the application process can be found on the Graphic Novels & Comics Round Table website.

While most of the focus over at Marvel Studios is currently on the pair of upcoming Avengers films, Ryan Coogler is ready to return to Wakanda for a third Black Panther film. We’d heard of the possibility of the film originally from Denzel Washington who, while speaking of his potential retirement, mentioned the film as one of his future projects and then when Nate Moore left Marvel last year, he said he would be back producing the third Black Panther film. Now, Coogler himself said while on stage talking about his film Sinners, that Black Panther 3 would be his next movie. The series kicked off with Chadwick Boseman as T’Challa, king of the African Nation of Wakanda and while he reprised the role in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, he sadly passed away shortly after. The sequel dealt with the characters death and passed the mantle on to his sister Shuri played by Letitia Wright who is expected to reprise the role in the upcoming Avenger films, but with talks of a potential soft reboot of the MCU, it’s unclear who will be wearing the mask for the third film.   

The most recent news on the DCU has to do with Jimmy Olsen. Variety is reporting that Skyler Gisondo will reprise his role from Superman in a true-crime docuseries style show that focuses on villains in the universe starting with the Flash rogue, Gorilla Grodd. Tony Yacenda and Dan Perrault are set to write and showrun with James Gunn and Peter Safran joining them as executive producers. The show is planned for HBO Max and will be a mockumentary style similar to Yacenda and Perrault’s previous series like American Vandal and Players. In the original report, Variety claimed the series would be called DC Crime, something Gunn took to social media to debunk, saying there had never been any project in production called DC Crime, he then added that his saying that doesn’t mean that the rest of the report is false. This sounds like a pretty good confirmation to me. 

A new Star Trek film is in the works and Paramount is tapping the team of Jonathan Goldstein and John Frances Daley to write, produce and direct. This news comes shortly after David Ellison, founder of Skydance who recently purchased the studio, told investors that the next Star Trek film would not be a sequel to the Chris Pine/Zachary Quinto lead series of films. While this hasn’t been 100% confirmed, word is that the new film will be focused on new characters and not directly tied to any previous film or television series. Goldstein and Daley have a good track record when it comes to revitalizing franchises having written Spider-Man: Homecoming for Marvel Studios and wrote and directed Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves which was very well received by fans and critics.   

With The Fantastic Four: First Steps having moved to Disney+, the Pedro Pascal and Vanessa Kirby lead team is now first in fans minds. But one person still thinks about the First Family of Marvel presented a decade ago and what went wrong. Miles Teller, who played Reed Richards in Josh Trank’s 2015 version of the property, still thinks about the project and how he believes the problems all came down to one person. Teller was on Sirius XM’s Radio Andy show said, “You saw the movie, right? Your eyes were working during that time? I think it’s unfortunate because so many people worked so hard on that movie. And, honestly, maybe there was one really important person who kind of f***ed it all up.” While Teller didn’t say who that was, he was referring to the person who made the final cut on the film, which was not director Trank. Teller said that he wanted a superhero film on his resume to help show him as a serious leading man, but after seeing the final cut recalled, “I remember talking to one of the studio heads, and I was like, ‘I think we’re in trouble.'” The 2015 version made $167 million worldwide compared to this year’s version which made $521 million. He stopped short of calling for a director’s cut of the film. 

The Creeper is a unique character from DC Comics, first introduced in "Showcase #73" in 1968. Created by Steve Ditko, The Creeper’s real name is Jack Ryder, a former television talk show host and investigative journalist in Gotham City. After being attacked during an undercover operation at a costume party, Ryder is injected with a serum by Dr. Yatz and gains superhuman abilities, including enhanced strength, agility, rapid healing, and a pain tolerance bordering on the supernatural. The serum, combined with a bizarre costume, transforms him into The Creeper, a vigilante known for his wild laughter, erratic behavior, and flamboyant appearance—a shock of green hair, yellow skin, and a red mane-like cape. The Creeper remains largely untouched by mainstream media, providing an opportunity to introduce audiences to a fresh face and break away from more established archetypes. His blend of horror, humor, and psychological complexity could create a film that stands out from traditional superhero fare. The Creeper’s unsettling persona and visual style lend themselves well to a film that could blend genres—horror, black comedy, and superhero action. His maniacal laugh and unpredictable methods could inject dark humor and psychological thrills, appealing to fans of films like "Joker" and "Deadpool" while carving out a distinctive identity in the DCU. Jack Ryder’s journey from cynical journalist to bizarre vigilante offers rich storytelling potential. Exploring themes of identity, sanity, and the nature of heroism, a Creeper film could delve into Ryder’s internal struggles and the impact of his dual life, making for a character-driven narrative that resonates with audiences seeking depth and complexity. And with being set in Gotham City, The Creeper’s adventures naturally intersect with the city’s gritty underworld, providing opportunities for noir-style detective storytelling. His background in journalism and investigation can be leveraged to create suspenseful plots involving corruption, criminal conspiracies, and moral ambiguity—making him an ideal protagonist for a film that explores the darker aspects of the DC Universe. The Creeper stands as one of DC Comics’ most unconventional and intriguing characters. His untapped potential, distinctive personality, and ability to straddle multiple genres make him a perfect candidate to lead a film in the new DCU. 

Predator: Badlands is doing very well, thanks for asking. The latest film in the long-running franchise set a few high franchise marks including domestic opening with $40M, best worldwide opening with $80M and best Cinemascore with an A-. The film also sits a the top of this week’s box office beating out the 2nd place film, Regretting You, by $32.9M… though that film is in its 3rd week. Other new films opening this week, Sarah’s Oil and Nuremberg, opened in 4th and 5th with just over $4M each. Badlands is the third Predator project for director Dan Trachtenberg, the first Prey showed how he could handle the franchise but then he wanted to follow it up with an animated film, Killer of Killers and then for the first time Badlands make the Predator the protagonist. 

Recent reports about problems on the set of Stranger Things may not have been what they seemed. There were stories being published that Millie Bobby Brown had filed a report against co-star David Habour, accusing the older actor of bullying. But the validity of those reports are now in question as both Brown and Harbour joined their Stranger Things cast members at the red=carpet premiere of the show’s fifth and final season. Brown and Harbour were seen joking together and even hugging. Brown has also spoke of Habour to Extra, saying: “It’s been amazing. We’re so lucky to have each other. The show means so much to the both of us, and to everyone here. This has been the last 10 years of our lives.” Brown stars as the psych-powered Eleven and Harbour plays Sherriff Jim Hopper who ends up adopting her. The fifth and final season will release on Netflix in three sets with Volume 1 on November 26 (four episodes), Volume 2 on Christmas (three episodes), and The Finale on New Year’s Eve. 

There is a major movie franchise out there that is not going by its original name and it’s thanks to the star. When screenwriter Derek Kolstad finished what would become is most popular film, he was inspired by revenge-thrillers with one-word titles like Payback and Shooter. He dubbed his film, Scorn. The problem came when the star of the film went out and talked about it, he always referred to it by the lead character’s name rather than the title. After a while, the studio realized that their star, Keanu Reeves, had done millions of dollars worth of brand recognition for the name John Wick… they decided to go with it and renamed the film. Why Reeves did this is unknown, but Kolstad has since admitted that John Wick is a better franchise name, saying, “I can’t imagine it being Scorn now.” Was this an intentional thing on Reeves’ part or just a happy coincidence? We may never know. 

If you check the major Hollywood sites like Deadline and Variety, they’ll tell you that October 2025 has been the lowest box office take in almost 30 years. It sits currently at $440 million with a few days left to add. In 1998 the box office did $455 million, which this month should just creep past. By comparison October 2018 did $832 million with just three films: Venom, A Star is Born and Halloween, taking in $481 million. But last year, October only took in $478 million showing the decreasing trend. Adding to the decline is the fact that no major releases were scheduled for this weekend because of the Halloween holiday. And what was put into theaters the whole month really didn’t get people’s attention. Tron: Ares was the highest profile film and that hasn’t even broken $70 million in its four weeks in theaters.   When you look at numbers like that, it’s hard not to think about what might have been. There was a big budget film slated for release this month, a film that got delayed and delayed and hasn’t even started filming. A film that finally has a finished script and is set to release in October of 2027… that of course is Matt Reeves’ The Batman Part 2. One of the most anticipated films currently in production, the sequel to the 2022 hit, bolstered also by the fan favorite HBO series The Penguin, would easily match and likely succeed the success of the first film. The Batman opened on March 4, 2022 and ended that month with $338 million domestically.  It was originally scheduled to be released October 3rd, looking at that release date, this year there really wasn’t any big film put in its place. The film would’ve done better than the first and that amount would’ve driven 2025 towards the top of the list, maybe even surpassing 2018. Ah, what could’ve been. 

DC Studios has potentially taken a significant step by filing for a trademark for a film titled "Salvation Run." A move that isn’t too surprising since the Salvation planet and the idea of using it as a prison for meta humans was introduced in the season finale of Peacemaker season 2. But the filing does indicate just how big this idea could be for the DCU. "Salvation Run" is a storyline from DC Comics that originally ran in the late 2000s. The story centers on the mass exile of some of DC's most notorious villains to a hostile alien world, forcing them to band together for survival. It was a concept originally pitched to DC by Game of Thrones writer George R.R. Martin. The trademark filing by DC Studios suggests that the company is considering developing "Salvation Run" into a feature film. While trademark filings do not guarantee that a film will be produced, they often indicate serious intent or early-stage development. The filing protects the title and concept, ensuring that DC Studios retains exclusive rights as plans evolve. Should "Salvation Run" move forward, it could introduce a fresh dynamic to DC's film slate. Instead of focusing on heroes, this story would shine a spotlight on villains, possibly expanding character development and offering audiences new perspectives on well-known antagonists. It also opens opportunities for ensemble casting, complex storytelling, and connections to other DC properties.