Pop Culture Diary: This Week's Reviews, Reads and Roundups: 'The Christophers,' Gerry Conway and More

What I've Been Into...

"The Christophers" (2026). A fantastic, funny and thoughtful film about, of all things, art from director Steven Soderbergh.

Michaela Coel is Lori Butler, a talented artist and art restorer hired by the useless children of a famed painter to complete a set of legendary, unfinished works by their dad, Julian Sklar, played by Ian McKellen, without him finding out about it so they can sell them off when he croaks.

Julian, of course, does find out about the scheme, which leads to some sharply written and very funny scenes between the elder and younger artist, along with discussions of authenticity and ethics and the differences between art vs. artifice and art vs. commerce.

Coel and McKellen's performances are both excellent and should set them up nicely for awards consideration later in the year. Jessica Gunning and James Corden are sparingly used (probably a good idea) as Julian's terrible kids, but are fun when they turn up. An excellent film.

Sunday Reads:

Via 13th Dimension: A lengthy interview with veteran comics writer Gerry Conway, who passed away this week (see obituary link further below).

"Stan was a mixed bag. He wasn’t a huge fan of mine when I started working on the Marvel superhero books. But he came to appreciate me, which I thought was great. I worshipped his writing and I admired the man from afar, so it meant a lot to me when he finally passed on the writing of Spider-Man to me. Thor, too, although he was a little critical of some of the Thor (1966) work I did, which is probably justified. But as I got to know him and saw some of his flaws, I got a bit disillusioned and disappointed, which was unfair. Stan operated on several different levels. As a writer, he was always trying his best. I don’t think he ever slacked on anything, although he had limitations as a writer. And he was a pretty darn good editor, mostly because he chose great people and let them find their own styles. He didn’t put a straitjacket on anybody’s creativity. As a self-promoter, there was nobody to beat him. Nobody. And that was the part of the job that Jack Kirby never understood and resented, which was very unfair."

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Via CrimeReads: Author William Bernhardt talks about his new book, "The Superman Wars," which looks at the legal fight regarding the rights to the Man of Steel.

LWH: How soon did Jerry [Siegel] realize he had made a big mistake in his deal for the publication of Superman?

WB: Almost immediately. Even before Action Comics No. 1 hit the stands, the McClure syndicate requested samples for a Superman newspaper strip, which was what Jerry had wanted all along. But he couldn’t negotiate the deal because he no longer controlled the rights. He had to settle for no control and a percentage of the profits, while Harry Donenfeld pocketed a $100,000 advance.