Michael Campochiaro

Michael Campochiaro works in academic publishing and spends any free time he can find reading and drawing. You can read more of Michael's musings at his blog, Words Seem Out Of Place.

MAGAZINE CONTENT BY MICHAEL CAMPOCHIARO (30 TOTAL)

ward1So Long, Iron Fist—We’ll Miss Ward Meachum Most

Netflix recently cancelled Iron Fist after two frustrating seasons of mediocrity. At least season two was a marked improvement in many ways over the first—robbing Danny Rand (Finn Jones) of the Iron Fist and giving it… [more]

21463268_10154716945221246_6229703584911269864_nLen Wein, 1948–2017

For those of us of a certain age, who grew up on comic books in the 1970s and 1980s, it seems like we’re losing far too many of the great creators who helped shaped our… [more]

Diana_Steve 2“What I do is not up to you”: Respect and Agency in Wonder Woman

Patty Jenkins’ exceptional Wonder Woman is rightly being celebrated as one of the most inspiring and exhilarating superhero films to date. Still, it has not been immune to criticism, especially with regards to the female lead’s… [more]

cat002Tim Hanley on The Many Lives of Catwoman

Michelle Pfeiffer as Catwoman in Batman Returns (1992) Tim Hanley (author of Wonder Woman Unbound and Investigating Lois Lane) is back with another superhero spotlight book, The Many Lives of Catwoman. I recently talked to Tim about all things… [more]

WW scott artWonder Woman: The Promise of Hope

Superheroes are often symbolic representations of any number of emotional, psychological, or behavioral traits. In them, we see highly exaggerated and stylized versions of ourselves. Taking an oath to wage a lifetime war on crime,… [more]

legion supervSequart Interviews Jon Morris of “Gone & Forgotten”

MICHAEL CAMPOCHIARO: Your site, Gone & Forgotten, is one of the longest-running comic book blogs on the internet, going on twenty years now. What led you to not only start the blog, but to focus… [more]

verhoeven1Multiple Realities: The Hollywood Films of Paul Verhoeven

After making a name for himself in the Netherlands, Paul Verhoeven moved to Hollywood in the 1980s to work on American films. From that period through the 1990s Verhoeven directed a series of movies across… [more]

steve-gerberSpotlight on Steve Gerber’s The Son of Satan

Marvel Comics in the 1970s were, to put it mildly, weird. Now, I mean that as a compliment. The dizzying array of subgenres that the publisher expanded into during the decade is impressive. Explosive creativity on… [more]

turn loose coverTurn Loose Our Death Rays and Kill Them All! The Complete Works of Fletcher Hanks

In the first of two forewords to Turn Loose Our Death Rays and Kill Them All: The Complete Works of Fletcher Hanks (Fantagraphics), Paul Karasik describes the cult Golden Age cartoonist Fletcher Hanks as the “village… [more]

left hand coverRevisiting The Left Hand of Darkness

Reading Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Left Hand of Darkness in Freshman English during college was a formative experience. Only, I wasn’t prepared yet as an eighteen year old to fully appreciate how so until years… [more]

wing vs fistWord on a Wing: Claremont’s Samurai Detective Colleen Wing

Colleen Wing, the samurai detective who formed one half of the investigative agency Nightwing Restorations Ltd. with Misty Knight, is a complex and vastly underrated character. Created in 1974 by Doug Moench and Larry Hama… [more]

sinnermancoverSinner Man: Lawrence Block’s Long Lost Novel is Back in Print

Lawrence Block’s Sinner Man was originally published under a pseudonym, nearly fifty years ago. This month, Hard Case Crime is bringing the book back into print under Block’s own name. The story behind the book’s disappearance… [more]

stranger-things-show-coverStranger Things: Nostalgia, Loss of Innocence, and Parental Anxieties

Please note: This discussion of Stranger Things includes spoilers for the series. Stranger Things struck a chord with Netflix viewers immediately. My own experience with the show was slightly delayed—having young children will do that… [more]

bluebeetle housead1986Blue Beetle and the Last Days of the Bronze Age

Discussions of DC Comics in the 1980s tend to focus on works like The Dark Knight Returns, Watchmen, and Crisis on Infinite Earths. That’s fitting, because all of these were game changers for the industry,… [more]

hi.res cover.A HUNDRED THOUSAND WORLDS 2Traveling to A Hundred Thousand Worlds: A Conversation with Bob Proehl

CAMPOCHIARO: Let’s start with your origin story, along with the origin of your debut novel A Hundred Thousand Worlds. What is your relationship to the worlds of comics, sci-fi, fandom, and the myriad others that… [more]

hi.res cover.A HUNDRED THOUSAND WORLDSA Hundred Thousand Worlds: Fandom, Friendship, and Love

There are moments in Bob Proehl’s debut novel A Hundred Thousand Worlds that will affect readers even after finishing the book. These are bighearted yet subtle moments that stick with you, like when one of… [more]

C&D Marvel Age coverHunger and Longing: Growing Up with Cloak and Dagger

While I can’t remember exactly what happens in this comic book, the cover to Peter Parker, the Spectacular Spider-Man #95 has long been burned into my memory. It’s cover dated October 1984 and I must have… [more]

Last Night book coverLast Night, A Superhero Saved My Life: Reading Comics to Live

While reading Last Night, A Superhero a Saved My Life (Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press, 2016), I was struck by how emotionally invested I became in these tales of lives saved and redeemed by comic… [more]

WW earth one panelThe Complicated Legacies of Wonder Woman and Lois Lane

Throughout the history of DC Comics, two female characters stand above the rest, in terms of appearances and popularity in the broader culture: Wonder Woman (Diana Prince) and Lois Lane. It can be argued that… [more]

CA.0413.the.avengers.A Marvel Cinematic Universe Wish List

The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), including their Netflix series, is expanding rapidly. Since having kids, the wife and I can’t seem to keep up. I’m not sure she’s as impatient to see Captain America: Civil War… [more]

catwoman by cookeRethinking and Re-inking Catwoman

A few months ago I started reading Deborah E. Whaley’s recent book, Black Women in Sequence: Re-inking Comics, Graphic Novels, and Anime. In it, Whaley explores how women of African descent are portrayed in various visual… [more]

Preacher picUntil the End of the World: Thoughts on Preacher

Tulip: The way I hear it, there’s two good places to look for God: in church, or at the bottom of a bottle. Jesse: Maybe I’ll go find a liquor store, then … ’cause lemme… [more]

Patti+Smith+sings+1979+at+the+Milwaukee+AuditoriumThe Music of Defiance: Thoughts on Early American Punk Rock

“To me, punk rock is the freedom to create, freedom to be successful, freedom to not be successful, freedom to be who you are. It’s freedom.” — Patti Smith “To me, punk is about being… [more]

Shining book coverReturning to the Overlook: A Kubrick Fan Finally Reads The Shining

When I was in college, fancying myself a budding film nerd, I began deep diving into the canon of essential films, and in my mind none were more essential or important than those of Stanley… [more]

MSDPAPE EC004I Keep Talking Louder Because You Haven’t Heard: Appreciating The Paper

[NOTE: The following is something I worked on sporadically for a while, as a way to understand more about how I work inside a relationship (any relationship, generally, but with my wife, specifically). Only then… [more]

0115prettyinpink01I Just Want Them to Know That They Didn’t Break Me: Pretty in Pink Thirty Years On

Pretty in Pink turns thirty this year. Written by John Hughes and directed by Howard Deutch, the film stars Molly Ringwald, Andrew McCarthy, John Cryer, James Spader, Annie Potts, and Harry Dean Stanton. It would… [more]

PM IF CoverThe Boys are Back in Town: Power Man and Iron Fist #1

Nostalgia played a big role in why I picked up the first issue of Marvel’s new Power Man and Iron Fist series. From the pre-release buzz, it appeared that writer David F. Walker, artist Sanford Greene,… [more]

purge-anarchyGenre Bliss: Surviving The Purge: Anarchy

I recently spent a sick day at home, trying to recuperate from a nasty cold. In the grand tradition of sick days, I decided to spend it on the couch watching movies and catching up… [more]

Black Panther CoverA Priest, a Panther, and the Dora Milaje Walk into a Bar: Christopher Priest’s Black Panther

With the Black Panther entering the Marvel Cinematic Universe soon, I figured it was high time I explored the character in print, at least more so that I have previously. I’ve always liked T’Challa but… [more]

mohawk stormOn X-(Wo)men and Third-Wave Feminism

Sometimes you find ideological influences in the unlikeliest places. For example, X-Men comic books helped make me a feminist. Those comics were some of the first places that I saw women as leads who did… [more]

STATISTICS FOR MICHAEL CAMPOCHIARO

Total Words for All Magazine Content: 46,351