Category Archives: Spotlight

Saudi Arabia, Jared Kushner, and other Private Equity Purchase Electronic Arts

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Electronic Arts

The deal to purchase Electronic Arts by a rogues gallery of villains has officially been completed. Announced in September 2025, Silver Lake Partners, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund PIF, and Affinity Partners teamed together like the Legion of Doom to complete the deal. Affinity Partners is run by President Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Stockholders approved the deal on December 22, 2025.

PIF is the largest insider stakeholder in EA and is rolling over its existing 9.9%. The Saudi PIF has been investing in the video game market since 2022 with minority stakes in numerous companies. They are an investor in Nintendo as an example.

The deal will end EA’s 36-year history as a publicly traded company that began trading with its shares ending its first day of trading at a split-adjusted 52 cents. EA stockholders will receive $210 in cash for each share of EA common stock they owned as of the closing. EA’s common stock has ceased trading and will be delisted from NASDAQ.

One of the partners in this, Silver Lake, is also part of the TikTok takeover deal that’s headed by Oracle. Oracle founder Larry Ellison is helping fund the takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery by his son David Ellison and Paramount Skydance.

As the son-in-law to President Trump, Kushner has been a part of numerous horrible policies including the much discussed redevelopment of Gaza by Trump. Under the first term, Kushner and his wife Ivanka Trump reported between $172 million and $640 million outside income while they served in unpaid roles un the White House. Affinity Partners received billions of dollars from Middle Eastern investors, including $2 billion from Saudi Arabia’s PIF six months after he left the White House.

Saudi Arabia is regularly accused of attempting to wash away the criticism of the regime over human rights abuses, funding of terrorism, and the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. The PIF invested $1 billion in Embracer Group, the owner of Dark Horse among numerous other geeky things. A rumored larger investment in Embracer fell through.

Comic Artist and Writer Dan Boultwood Sentenced for Child Sex Offences

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Snarebrook Crown Court
Snarebrook Crown Court

Dan Boultwood has worked on numerous high profile comics including Chu, Doctor Who, and more but has been sentenced to three years in prison, with a suspension for two years, thirty days of rehabilitation activity related to sexual offences, and 200 hours of local community work. He will also fall under sex-offender notification requirements as well as paying court fees.

Boultwood pled guilty to three counts of sexual activity with a child. The crime occurred in 2010 when he was 29 and the victim was 15. The age of consent is 16 in the UK. Due to the nature of the crime and age, the victim’s identity is anonymous. The crime was reported in 2023 and Boultwood was arrested in 2025. He pled guilt in May with his sentencing taking place this week in a Snarebrook Crown Court.

We reached out to multiple collaborators of Boultwood who were unaware of the arrest and crime, all described him as difficult to communicate with and a bit of a recluse with difficulty getting in touch with and being unresponsive.

The Cartoon Art Museum announces it will Close August 2

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The Cartoon Art Museum

The Cartoon Art Museum has announced that it will not be renewing its lease at its Beach Street address when it expires at the end of August. The location will officially close on Sunday, August 2, 2026. The organization said in its announcement that it will regroup to determine what the next chapter of the Cartoon Museum should be.

The museum opened up ten years ago at its Beach Street location but has faced challenges due to COVID and a slow recovery after.

The Cartoon Art Museum was founded in 1984 and featured original cartoon art, exhibitions, screenings, workshops, research, and various events. It houses 9,000 original pieces of art in its collection and has welcomed over 500,000 visitors since it opened.

Beyond its economic issues, the recent curator for the museum, Andrew Farago, was arrested and is facing charges. He was soon let go after news of his arrest spread. It is unknown if his departure is related to the decision to not renew the museum lease.

The news of the closure comes about month after the the Northwest Museum of Cartoon Arts closed its doors.

We’ll of course have updates as more news released as to the future of the museum and how the comic community the greater public can rally to build the next iteration of it.

Demo-Graphics: Tabletop Game Edition – We’re going Worldwide in July

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Demo-Graphics has generally focused on the demographics of comic fans but occasionally we have also reported on other fandoms and communities. In August 2025, we kicked off a new regular look at those interested in tabletop games. That includes board games, roleplaying games, and card games. Why? The question still remains… who are the fans of tabletop games?

What is Demo-Graphics?

Each month I dive into data from Facebook looking at the various demographics it can tell us about comic, and now tabletop game, fans. This isn’t hard numbers, purchasers, or “Wednesday warriors,” but best used to show trends in the industry and the potential of the market out there.

How does it work?

We use key terms, “likes”, that users have indicated and have come up with our own set to measure each month. There’s over 50 terms used (and no I won’t release them). We stick to specific terms for the industry such as “board games” and “collectible card games” as well as publishers and leave out broad terms.

Other things to know…

This data is important in that it shows who the potential audience could be. These are not purchasers, these are people who have shown an affinity for tabletop games, are potential purchasers, and those with a clear interest.

Also, with this being online/technology, due to laws and restrictions, those under the age of 13 are underrepresented.

The data that is presented as a wide range. I’ve taken the average of the range. So, if it’s presented as somewhere between 500 and 1,000 people, the number would be 750.

So, let’s kick off the first entry with the big question…

Facebook “Tabletop Gamer” Population: Around 605.6 million worldwide

In the United States 27.78% of individuals on Facebook indicate they’re also interested in tabletop games. Worldwide, that number decreases to 17.67%, 605.6 million individuals out of the 3.428 billion on Facebook. In the future, we may see how easy it is to see how those numbers break down per country.

Gender

Men are a majority, far more so than in the United States. While in the US, the gender difference is a few percentage points, worldwide it’s almost 15 percentage points. Men account for 56.59% of the population with women making up 41.91% and those not reported as either are 1.5%.

Worldwide gender breakdown for tabletop games in July 2026

Age

While similar in some ways to the United States data, those 19 to 34 are a far greater percent of the worldwide population.

Worldwide age breakdown for tabletop games in July 2026

Relationship Status

This status saw some bizarre returns, the same thing is happening with our monthly “comic fan” reporting and this is the third month this has happened. Both “engaged” and “unspecified” dropped to less than 1,000.

Facebook Worldwide tabletop relationship status July 2026

More Stats!

Spanish Speakers: 96.3 million individuals are Spanish speakers, 15.9%, which is below the 19.97% in the United States.

Education: 118.15 million have at least a college degree, that’s 19.51%.

Parents: 107.4 million, 17.73%, are parents! That’s a bit higher than the 16.48% in the United States.

And finally, what’s the crossover with fans of board games and video games?

Comic Book fans: 347.45 million (57.37%)
Video Game fans: 352.5 million (58.21%)
Comic Book and Video Game fans: 210.7 million (34.79%)
Comic Book or Video Game fans: 499.15 million (82.42%)

Demo-Graphics: Tabletop Game Edition – July Sees a Jump of Nearly 3 Million Individuals

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Demo-Graphics has generally focused on the demographics of comic fans but occasionally we have also reported on other fandoms and communities. In August 2025, we kicked off a new regular look at those interested in tabletop games. That includes board games, roleplaying games, and card games. Why? The question still remains… who are the fans of tabletop games?

What is Demo-Graphics?

Each month I dive into data from Facebook looking at the various demographics it can tell us about comic, and now tabletop game, fans. This isn’t hard numbers, purchasers, or “Wednesday warriors,” but best used to show trends in the industry and the potential of the market out there.

How does it work?

We use key terms, “likes”, that users have indicated and have come up with our own set to measure each month. There’s over 50 terms used (and no I won’t release them). We stick to specific terms for the industry such as “board games” and “collectible card games” as well as publishers and leave out broad terms.

Other things to know…

This data is important in that it shows who the potential audience could be. These are not purchasers, these are people who have shown an affinity for tabletop games, are potential purchasers, and those with a clear interest.

Also, with this being online/technology, due to laws and restrictions, those under the age of 13 are underrepresented.

The data that is presented as a wide range. I’ve taken the average of the range. So, if it’s presented as somewhere between 500 and 1,000 people, the number would be 750.

So, let’s kick off the first entry with the big question…

Facebook “Tabletop Gamer” Population: Around 78.6 million in the United States

The Facebook population increased by about 2.1 million over the month and the tabletop community outpaced that by increasing 2.95 million over the same time frame.

Gender

Men remained the majority though lost ground as both women and those not reporting their gender increased. Men increased in population by their percent of the population decreased from 50.36% to 49.30%. Women increased from 46.93% to 47.07% and those who don’t have gender reported increased from 2.71% to 3.63%.

Gender breakdown for tabletop games in July 2026

Age

Interestingly, those age 18 and under creased in population size while 19-24 remained the same from the previous month. When it comes to the percentage, 25 to 39 lost ground but 40 and up all gained in their share of the percent.

Age breakdown for tabletop games in July 2026

Relationship Status

This status saw some bizarre returns, the same thing is happening with our monthly “comic fan” reporting and this is the third month this has happened. Both “engaged” and “unspecified” dropped to less than 1,000.

Facebook tabletop relationship status July 2026

More Stats!

Spanish Speakers: Increased to 15.7 million (19.97%) which is up in count from last month’s 15.45 million but down from its percent of 20.42%.

Education: This month is up from the previous with 12.3 million, an increase of 300,000.

Parents: 12.95 million, 16.48%, are parents! That’s a increase of 1.75 million individuals from the previous month.

And finally, what’s the crossover with fans of board games and video games?

Comic Book fans: 47.35 million (60.24%)
Video Game fans: 42.65 million (54.26%)
Comic Book and Video Game fans: 25.7 million (32.7%)
Comic Book or Video Game fans: 64.95 million (82.63%)

Demo-Graphics: We’re Going Worldwide! Comic Fans Around the World!

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Demo-Graphics is back! Demo-Graphics was relaunched in 2025 because the question still remains… who are comic fans?

What is Demo-Graphics?

Each month I dive into data from Facebook looking at the various demographics it can tell us about comic fans. This isn’t hard numbers, purchasers, or “Wednesday warriors,” but best used to show trends in the industry and the potential of the market out there. This has shown the shift towards women being a major force in readers and a shift to the younger demographic.

How does it work?

We use key terms, “likes”, that users have indicated and have come up with our own set to measure each month. There’s over 50 terms used (and no I won’t release them). We stick to specific terms for the industry such as “comics” and “graphic novels” and “one-shots” as well as publishers and leave out broad terms like specific characters or stories. Just because someone likes Batman doesn’t mean they like comics.

Other things to know…

This data is important in that it shows who the potential comic audience could be. These are not purchasers, these are people who have shown an affinity for comics, are potential purchasers, and those with a clear interest.

Also, with this being online/technology, due to laws and restrictions, those under the age of 13 are underrepresented.

Since the last time this feature was run, Facebook has made adjustments as to what it can report so some data is no longer available and we’ve also added in new data that hasn’t been reported before, and it now presents the data as a wide range. I’ve taken the average of the range. So, if it’s presented as somewhere between 500 and 1,000 people, the number would be 750.

So, let’s kick off the latest entry with the big question…

Facebook “Comic Fan” Population: Around 597.55 million worldwide

While we’ve usually reported on stats in the United States, we’re going worldwide with our reporting to give an even better idea of what the possible comic market could look like. 597.55 million individuals match our search criteria out of 3.428 billion individuals on Facebook. That means 17.43% of Facebook profiles worldwide show some interest in comic books (which includes manga, graphic novels, webtoons, and comic strips).

Gender

On Facebook, men account for about 54.41% of all users while women account for 43.48%. that’s a 10.93 point gap. When it comes to comic fans, things skewer closer with men account for 51.8% and women are 46.6%, that cuts the gap over in half to just 5.2 points.

Facebook comic fans gender July 2026 worldwide

Age

Compared to the US, those age 50 and above make up a smaller percentage of the overall segment with the other groupings increasing with the exception over “18 and under” which is just a hair smaller as far as percent.

Facebook Comic Age July 2026 worldwide

Relationship Status

The issue we’ve seen for relationship status persists internationally with some reporting as under 1,000 individuals, which is no way correct. So, take the below with a grain of salt for those at 0%.

Facebook comics relationship status worldwide july 2026

More States

Spanish Speakers: There are 105.55 million Spanish speakers that are also comic fans worldwide. That’s 17.67% of the comic fan population compared to the 20.38% of the fans that are in the United States.

Education: 112.65 million have a college degree or better worldwide.

Parents: 107.3 million individuals are parents.

Board Game and Comic Fans: 353.7 million
Video Game and Comic Fans: 300.25 million
Board Game and Video Game Fans and Comic: 213.4 million
Board Game or Video Game Fans and Comic: 446.05 million

Demo-Graphics: Comic Fans see an Increase after three Months of Decreases

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Demo-Graphics is back! Demo-Graphics was relaunched in 2025 because the question still remains… who are comic fans?

What is Demo-Graphics?

Each month I dive into data from Facebook looking at the various demographics it can tell us about comic fans. This isn’t hard numbers, purchasers, or “Wednesday warriors,” but best used to show trends in the industry and the potential of the market out there. This has shown the shift towards women being a major force in readers and a shift to the younger demographic.

How does it work?

We use key terms, “likes”, that users have indicated and have come up with our own set to measure each month. There’s over 50 terms used (and no I won’t release them). We stick to specific terms for the industry such as “comics” and “graphic novels” and “one-shots” as well as publishers and leave out broad terms like specific characters or stories. Just because someone likes Batman doesn’t mean they like comics.

Other things to know…

This data is important in that it shows who the potential comic audience could be. These are not purchasers, these are people who have shown an affinity for comics, are potential purchasers, and those with a clear interest.

Also, with this being online/technology, due to laws and restrictions, those under the age of 13 are underrepresented.

Since the last time this feature was run, Facebook has made adjustments as to what it can report so some data is no longer available and we’ve also added in new data that hasn’t been reported before, and it now presents the data as a wide range. I’ve taken the average of the range. So, if it’s presented as somewhere between 500 and 1,000 people, the number would be 750.

So, let’s kick off the latest entry with the big question…

Facebook “Comic Fan” Population: Around 75.3 million in the United States

After three months of decreases, the “comic fan” population on Facebook increased by about 1 million. Overall, Facebook users in the US increased by 2.1 million, so some of the increase is due to that. While the increase is more than June’s result, it’s still smaller than May’s reporting which was 75.7 million.

As noted below, there’s some oddities for reporting where numbers that made sense normally suddenly decreased and remained low this month.

Gender

Women increased 450,000 from the previous month while men increased the same amount. Those unknown increased by about 100,000. Women account for 50.3% of the population, a decrease from last month’s 50.9%. Men are 47.7%, the same as last month. Those who don’t report a gender account for 2.0%, an increase from last month’s 1.9%.

Facebook comic fans gender July 2026

Age

While the percentages didn’t shift much, if at all from the previous month, almost every segment increased in population. But, those age “19-24” decreased from the previous month by 200,000 individuals.

Facebook Comic Age July 2026

Relationship Status

This is one of the stats that has been odd. Those marked “engaged” and those as “unspecified” each dropped to less than 1,000 individuals last month and remained there this month We’ll see if things return to more expected numbers next month but it’s an odd result.

Facebook Comic Relationship Status July 2026

New Stats!

Spanish Speakers: Last month there were 14.7 million individuals that were “comic fans” and Spanish speakers but this month sees an increase to 15.35 million, that’s the same amount from May 2026.

Education: This is another stat that’s rather odd. Two months ago, 12 million had at least a college degree, down from the previous month’s 21.8 million. Last month, it increased slightly to 12.1 million. This month remains at 12.1 million, even with the increased overall population.

Parents: After a slide down to 10.65 million in June 2026 from 22.65 million in January, things increased in July to 12.3 million, an increase of 1.65 million.

Board Game and Comic Fans: 48.25 million
Video Game and Comic Fans: 38.2 million
Board Game and Video Game Fans and Comic: 26.25 million
Board Game or Video Game Fans and Comic: 60.15 million

SDCC 2026: Cold Slither debuts “Cobra Island” ahead of their Convention Concert Tonight

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Hasbro Music and Reigning Phoenix Music have unveiled “Cobra Island,” the latest single and music video from Cold Slither, the infamous heavy metal band from the world of G.I. Joe. 

Inspired by the legendary Cobra Civil War storyline from the G.I. Joe comics, “Cobra Island” channels the chaos, power struggles, and all-out warfare between Cobra Commander, Serpentor, and their rival factions through razor-sharp riffs, soaring vocals, and classic ’80s metal energy. 

Headbang to the treacherous heart of Cobra’s infamous stronghold with Cold Slither’s crushing new track “Cobra Island”. This thunderous heavy metal ripper captures the utter chaos, and all-out warfare of the legendary Cobra Civil War from the G.I. Joe comic book series — the brutal power struggle between Cobra Commander, Serpentor, and their rival factions that tore the organization apart and dragged G.I. Joe and the Iron Grenadiers into the fray. Interpreted by our beloved bunch of Dreadnoks!  

Packed with razor-sharp riffs, Zartan’s soaring vocals, and a relentless groove that hits like a Thunder Machine barreling through the swamps, “Cobra Island” high-octane energy and shows a glimpse of what things might sound for a future album. Think classic ’80s metal fury meets the early thrash groove and power — perfect for headbanging, moshing, and plotting world domination. 

Cold Slither is a declaration of war. Fronted by the enigmatic Zartan and his ruthless Dreadnok bandmates Torch, Ripper, and Buzzer, the band fuses old-school heavy metal with anarchic energy and unrelenting force. With tracks built on punishing riffs, venomous vocals, and apocalyptic atmosphere, COLD SLITHER resurrects the myth and turns it into a modern-day metal juggernaut. 

The release arrives just ahead of Cold Slither’s performance at Hasbro’s The Transformers: The Movie 40th Anniversary Celebration of Life Concert, taking place Thursday, July 23 at the House of Blues in San Diego. The one-night-only event will feature an all-star lineup, including the hard-rocking band returning to the stage following their fan-favorite live debut in San Diego last year, bringing their loud and rebellious sound straight from the world of G.I. Joe. 

Anthropic’s $1.5 Billion AI Copyright Settlement is Approved

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Anthropic

A judge has signed off on the $1.5 billion settlement of a class action lawsuit against Anthropic for its misuse of their books to train their AI.

U.S. District Judge Araceli Martinez-Olguin granted the approval, the largest known settlement of a U.S. copyright case, and rejected claims that the settlement was too small.

The deal was initially approved in September 2025 by now-retired Judge William Alsup.

The lawsuit was launched in 2024 and said that Anthropic used books without permission to teach the artificial system, Claude.

The ruling was a bit mixed in that some of the use was ruled as fair use but the company was nailed for saving more than 7 million pirated books into a “central library.” A trial was scheduled for December.

Authors and other copyright holders filed claims covering over 92% of the more than 480,000 works included ​in the settlement, an attorney for the authors said during a court hearing.

Some authors believed the settlement was not large enough and that the attorneys were receiving too much from the settlement. The attorneys were receiving more than $101 million of their $187.5 million in their requested fees.

Separate lawsuits have been filed by authors who have opted out of the settlement.

Marvel to leave New York and Move to L.A.!? Stephen Wacker named new Editor-in-Chief

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Marvel logo

The Hollywood Reporter has an exclusive that Marvel Comics is leaving the Big Apple and heading across the country to Los Angeles as part of a major shift. Employees are being asked to relocate to Burbank by next July.

Folks have been expecting major news when it comes to the future of Marvel Comics under its new leadership, and this seems to be it, an interesting choice as the publisher heads into San Diego Comic-Con which kicks off next week. It’s sure to be THE topic of conversation.

The relocation plan was revealed during a town hall meeting where employees where told that the publishing division would be moving its location. Burbank is the current headquarters of Marvel Studios as well as the its parent company The Walt Disney Company, so the consolidation makes sense as the movies/television plans become more entwined with the comic side of things.

Stephen Wacker has also been named the new editor-in-chief, replacing C.B. Cebulski who took on the role in 2017. Cebulski will remain with Marvel and head to Japan to focus on the company’s push into manga (insert Akira Yoshida joke here).

Marvel has been criticized in recent years for lack of excitement in its comic line with many feeling there’s been a creative slump.

Marvel has recently seen new leadership installed with Brad Winderbaum and David Abdo taking on leadership positions in the company. It has been expected with their installation the company would eventually shift to bring their comics, film, and television visions more aligned.

Marvel’s move is a seismic shift ending almost a century of history as New York City is where the might Marvel bullpen created the company and characters we know today.

In 2015, DC left New York City to head to Burbank.

The plan from Marvel has been in the works for some time, and the plan is to complete the relocation by July 2027.

Below is the memo sent to Marvel staff:

Team,

We just wrapped a town hall with the team in New York and wanted to share some important Marvel Comics and Franchise news with everyone.

As we look toward the future, we’ve made the decision to relocate the Comics and Franchise division to Marvel’s central headquarters in Burbank, California. This move will position the team beside our broader creative organization and create opportunities for collaboration across both Marvel and Disney. Our goal is simple: to continue to make the best comic books in the business. Bringing our comics, film, television, and other creative teams together will help us learn from one another, collaborate, and build on the strengths that make Marvel the true House of Ideas.

New York has played a huge part in who Marvel is as a company, and in the pages of our comics. While our network of writers and artists is now an international operation, New York is still woven into our DNA and that will never change. Our colleagues in New York have helped shape generations of stories and characters, and their contributions to Marvel’s legacy cannot be overstated. We sincerely hope they choose to continue that journey with us in California. We are committed to supporting every affected employee throughout this transition, which will take place over the next 12 months.

We also announced today that Stephen Wacker has been named Marvel Comics’ new Editor-in-Chief. Many of you know Stephen from his years at Marvel between 2006 and 2022. He is a tremendous editor, a passionate advocate for creators, and someone who deeply understands that Marvel Comics is the source code of our entire enterprise. Stephen will be at SDCC and will officially join us in Burbank the week of July 27 before spending time in New York the first week of August. We’re excited for everyone who doesn’t know him to get to know him.

At the same time, longtime Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski will be stepping into a new role overseeing APAC-originated graphic fiction and manga, based in Japan. This opportunity reflects both C.B.’s passion for the medium and the tremendous potential we see in that space. We’re deeply grateful for his leadership, partnership, and stewardship of the Marvel line over the past decade and are fortunate to have him spearheading this new endeavor for us.

We know this has been a year of significant change for Marvel. Through all of it, this team has continued to show up with creativity, resilience, and an unwavering commitment to great storytelling. That commitment is the foundation of everything we do, and it’s what will carry us into this next chapter.

For our New York colleagues, we’ll be sharing additional details very soon, and we’re available to answer questions and support you through the transition.

Thank you for everything you do for Marvel and for the fans we serve.

Brad & David

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