Here’s a look at what caught my eye over the past week.

Humanoids to creators: Oops, guess we should have mentioned that chapter 7 thing. Is the comic book publisher Humanoids bankrupt? Yes. Are they out of business? It’s…complicated, according to this story from Comics Beat. Another reminder that the world of small comic book publishers is essentially the wild west from a business perspective, with operations like Scout Comics (which have been stealing from myself and my co-creators for over a year now) operating at the edges of liquidity but still managing to stave off creditors by, well, not paying them.

I Wrote ‘Dude, Where’s My Car’ 25 Years Ago. It Would Never Be Made Today. While I wish this piece was a little more in-depth, it’s still an interesting look at a screenwriting career that started out strong, and then fizzled—and what the next chapter was like for Phil Stark, who penned a movie you probably haven’t rewatched in 20 years, but can still quote as though you saw it yesterday thanks to its intense pop culture saturation at the time of its release.

The Last Useful Man. The conceit of this feature—that Tom Cruise regularly chooses characters that represent the physical embodiment of knowledge—is used to contrast that against a perceived cultural environment where skill is devalued due to the ability to instantly look up any knowledge we might need in a given situation. It’s a nuanced and original argument, and while I might not be totally onboard, I did enjoy this read and what it had to say about being human in what the author terms ‘the machine age.’

The Vin Diesel ‘Rock ‘Em, Sock ‘Em Robots’ Movie Has a New Writer: Vin Diesel. I’m including this for this amazing quote, highlighted by my good friend and fellow writer Ryan Harkness:

“Vin is a powerhouse storyteller with an unmatched understanding of action, heart, and world-building,” Robbie Brenner, president of Mattel Studios and producer on the film, added. “His creative vision for Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots is bold, human, and deeply cinematic—exactly the kind of storytelling we love at Mattel Studios.”