A GoFundMe has been set up to help with legal fees for R.E. Burke, who was jailed by ICE. Artist Dustin Nguyen has spoken out about Marvel’s pay rates. Monsterverse Declassified reveals new Titans.
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Episode Transcript:
GoFundMe set up to help R.E. Burke.
Dustin Nguyen speaks out about Marvel rates.
Monsterverse Declassified reveals new Titans.
This is Comic Book Club News for March 13, 2025.
GoFundMe Set Up To Help Raise Legal Fees For R.E. Burke:
Earlier this week, we reported on R.E. Burke, a cartoonist who has been jailed by ICE indefinitely during a backpacking tour of North America. Now, a GoFundMe has been set up to raise legal fees to get her out of the Topeka detention center.
Titled “Bring Becky Home!” the fundraiser has been set up on behalf of Burke’s father, Paul Burke, and is looking to cover legal fees for a lawyer to fight for her release, advisory support to “help navigate the complicated visa situation,” money for Burke to be able to buy food and essentials in the bare bones detention facility, and a flight home.
Burke has been held by ICE since February 26, after she was turned away from Canada for offering housework in exchange for a place to stay, which was construed by the border officers and ICE as a violation of her visa.
As of this writing, £5,886 of the requested eight thousand pounds have been covered. More on this as it develops.
Dustin Nguyen Speaks Out About Marvel Pay Rates:
Artist Dustin Nguyen, who is well known for his work on the award-winning Descender, as well as covers and interiors for DC Comics, has spoken out about Marvel’s pay rates on his Instagram.
While we won’t reiterate the explicative-ridden screed here on the podcast, the highlights are that according to Nguyen, Marvel is among the lowest-paying for covers in the industry, and has “been undercutting creators from the start.” One specific number? Nguyen mentions asking for a $75 pay raise, the first time in 15 years, and getting no response. He’s also careful to note that he respects the editors and other creators he’s worked with, and is mostly angered about the corporate pay scale.
Backing up the assertion in the comments are artists like Zoe Thorogood, who notes that she got $100 for a character design that was turned into a cover without her knowing. Sean Murphy comments that he’s been blacklisted by Marvel for 10 years, but might get work for Marvel if he cut his DC pay rate to a third of its current level. And Belén Ortega merely wrote “brave.”
Nguyen’s comments echo those of artist Jen Bartel, who last year revealed that she does not get paid for variants in the mobile game Marvel Snap based on her work.
Monsterverse Declassified Expands Legendary’s World:
Are you ready to meet some new terrifying Titans? Well get ready, as Legendary is releasing a new graphic anthology titled Monsterverse Declassified, which will tell tales of the massive kaiju.
Written by David M. Booher, Greg Keyes, Rosie Knight, and Daniel J. Park, with art by David Ferracci, Oliver Ono, Marco Roblin, and Drew Zucker, the new book will introduce a giant spider monster named Abaddon, Behemoth, a “colossal guardian of Earth’s most fragile biomes,” Tiamat, who somehow invades modern technology, and the smallest Titan, Titanus Doug.
The paperback hits stores on May 13.
For Comic Book Club News, I’m Alex Zalben. And I feel like there’s already some sort of tiny Titans, but I can’t remember why that sounds familiar. Maybe I’ll ask my teen.
Got tips or stories you’d like us to cover? Email us at comicbookclublive@gmail.com.
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