Sequart Organization » Brian Michael Bendis

Take on the Risks: Why a Risk-taking Attitude is Necessary to the Future of Comics

Jarrett Mazza — Mon, 21 Dec 2015 18:00:38 +0000

Is it worth the risk? Industry professionals ask themselves this question whenever they are about to embark on a new project. Most of the time it is answered in a variety of ways, with creators… [more]

Netflix Looks to Expand Super Success with AKA Jessica Jones

Dom Fonce — Thu, 21 May 2015 21:00:36 +0000

AKA Jessica Jones" title="Netflix Looks to Expand Super Success with AKA Jessica Jones" style="float:left;" />Earlier this April, Netflix and Marvel collaborated to create Daredevil, one of the most acclaimed Superhero series on recent television. The show became an instant hit, collecting a hefty 9.1/10 on IMDb, 9.4/10 on TV.com,… [more]

How The Avengers Became the Center of the Marvel Universe

Tom Speelman — Tue, 12 May 2015 11:00:18 +0000

The Avengers Became the Center of the Marvel Universe" title="How The Avengers Became the Center of the Marvel Universe" style="float:left;" />From 1961 to 1965, in a white-hot blaze of publisher demand and creativity, Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby, John Romita Sr. and others hammered out the entire Marvel Universe. In the process, they made… [more]

Thor is Not a God, He’s a Lunatic: Realism in Ultimate Marvel

James Kelly — Fri, 24 Apr 2015 16:00:15 +0000

As the Ultimate Marvel Universe is reaching it’s conclusion it is worth looking back at the magnificent alternate universe. So much of the Ultimate Marvel Universe has helped to define both the Marvel Cinematic Universe… [more]

Brian’s Comic Book Grab Bag: Ultimate Spider-Man Volume 1 #67

Stuart Warren — Thu, 03 Jul 2014 19:00:02 +0000

Ultimate Spider-Man Volume 1 #67" title="Brian’s Comic Book Grab Bag: Ultimate Spider-Man Volume 1 #67" style="float:left;" />Last Christmas my brother gave me a booster pack of random, non-sequential issues from a variety of popular comic book titles that syndicated in the late eighties to mid nineties. The nineties was a time… [more]

Going Old School: A Review of Nightcrawler #1-2

David G — Wed, 21 May 2014 20:00:57 +0000

Nightcrawler #1-2" title="Going Old School: A Review of Nightcrawler #1-2" style="float:left;" />According to Urban Dictionary.com, “old school” is defined as: “Anything that is from an earlier era and looked upon with high regard or respect. Can be used to refer to music, clothing, language, or anything… [more]

Ultimate Spider-Man #13 Uses Art and Dialogue to Add Depth to Its Characters

Logan Dalton — Tue, 12 Nov 2013 18:00:02 +0000

Ultimate Spider-Man #13 Uses Art and Dialogue to Add Depth to Its Characters" title="Ultimate Spider-Man #13 Uses Art and Dialogue to Add Depth to Its Characters" style="float:left;" />There are no masks, tights, or supervillains in Ultimate Spider-Man #13. There isn’t a fight scene. No one gets hurt. The whole comic is about a teenager having a conversation with his girlfriend and aunt.… [more]

Ultimate Spider-Man #10-12 is a Coming of Age Story with Tights, Crime Lords, and High School Girls

Logan Dalton — Wed, 30 Oct 2013 11:00:39 +0000

Ultimate Spider-Man #10-12 is a Coming of Age Story with Tights, Crime Lords, and High School Girls" title="Ultimate Spider-Man #10-12 is a Coming of Age Story with Tights, Crime Lords, and High School Girls" style="float:left;" />The coming of age story is one of the most enduring story types in Western literature. From Telemachus in the Odyssey to Huckleberry Finn and more recently the boy wizard Harry Potter, readers young and… [more]

Ultimate Spider-Man #8-9 Uses a Variety of Character Perspectives to Show Spider-Man’s Development As a Hero

Logan Dalton — Wed, 16 Oct 2013 11:00:43 +0000

Ultimate Spider-Man #8-9 Uses a Variety of Character Perspectives to Show Spider-Man’s Development As a Hero" title="Ultimate Spider-Man #8-9 Uses a Variety of Character Perspectives to Show Spider-Man’s Development As a Hero" style="float:left;" />After the editorial mandated origin story, Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley get to cut loose and tell their first official Ultimate Spider-Man story. The name of the story arc is “Learning Curve”, which signifies… [more]

Ultimate Spider-Man #5-7 Has an Abrupt Ending, but Transforms Peter Parker into Spider-Man

Logan Dalton — Wed, 02 Oct 2013 11:00:16 +0000

Ultimate Spider-Man #5-7 Has an Abrupt Ending, but Transforms Peter Parker into Spider-Man" title="Ultimate Spider-Man #5-7 Has an Abrupt Ending, but Transforms Peter Parker into Spider-Man" style="float:left;" />Unlike the previous four issues which have played extremely fast and loose with Spider-Man’s origin in Amazing Fantasy #15, Ultimate Spider-Man is surprisingly faithful to Stan Lee and Steve Ditko’s story. The plot is virtually… [more]

Ultimate Spider-Man #4 Uses Language to Explore Peter Parker and Spider-Man

Logan Dalton — Wed, 18 Sep 2013 11:00:08 +0000

Ultimate Spider-Man #4 Uses Language to Explore Peter Parker and Spider-Man" title="Ultimate Spider-Man #4 Uses Language to Explore Peter Parker and Spider-Man" style="float:left;" />Ultimate Spider-Man #4 primarily consists of conversations, inner monologues, and characters running away from each other. No one throws a single punch. Some of the events, like Peter’s foray into wrestling and arguments with Uncle… [more]

Ultimate Spider-Man #2-3 Reveals the Perils of Power without Responsibility

Logan Dalton — Wed, 04 Sep 2013 11:00:47 +0000

Ultimate Spider-Man #2-3 Reveals the Perils of Power without Responsibility" title="Ultimate Spider-Man #2-3 Reveals the Perils of Power without Responsibility" style="float:left;" />Unlike the first double-sized issue of Ultimate Spider-Man, the second and third issues move at a much slower clip. At the end of Ultimate Spider-Man #2, Norman Osborn tells his scientists that he is testing… [more]

Ultimate Spider-Man #1 Introduces Peter Parker, his “Fathers,” and Hints at a Rich Supporting Cast

Logan Dalton — Wed, 21 Aug 2013 11:00:54 +0000

Ultimate Spider-Man #1 Introduces Peter Parker, his “Fathers,” and Hints at a Rich Supporting Cast" title="Ultimate Spider-Man #1 Introduces Peter Parker, his “Fathers,” and Hints at a Rich Supporting Cast" style="float:left;" />Ultimate Spider-Man #1 is one of the most important comics issues of the 21st century. The series was the brainchild of Marvel publisher Bill Jemas, who wanted to create a Marvel universe that was accessible… [more]

Eight Thoughts on Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 3 #1-2

Julian Darius — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 11:00:14 +0000

Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 3 #1-2" title="Eight Thoughts on Ultimate Spider-Man Vol. 3 #1-2" style="float:left;" />The right-wing media went apeshit over Peter Parker being replaced by Miles Morales, based on a single seven-page sequence (really its own short story) in Ultimate Fallout #4. Lots of people were perfectly prepared to… [more]

Ultimate Fantastic Four: The Fantastic

Andrew Presnal — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 17:22:16 +0000

Ultimate Fantastic Four #1-6 In my collection of DVDs I have a bootleg copy of the 1994 movie Fantastic Four. Simply put, there is nothing fantastic about it. Fast-forward to 2005 and I am sitting… [more]

Ultimate Spider-Man: Power and Responsibility: Part 2

Andrew Presnal — Fri, 21 Jul 2006 17:04:03 +0000

Ultimate Spider-Man #2-7 The second issue is titled “Growing Pains”. It could have been called “The Longest Day” and fit just as well. It starts off with Peter in class. Coming down with the shakes,… [more]

You Can’t Go Back Again

Thu, 20 Jul 2006 04:37:55 +0000

An unfortunate trend seems to have taken hold at Marvel Comics, which has slowly convinced me to give up reading my favorite super-heroes. Instead of writing stories that move the characters forward by building on… [more]

Ultimate Spider-Man: Power and Responsibility: Part 1

Andrew Presnal — Fri, 30 Jun 2006 16:59:04 +0000

Ultimate Spider-Man #1: “Powerless” I’ve got a confession to make: I’ve never been a big Spider-Man follower before. Yes, I did see the movies, the sequel literally brought me to tears, and I consider it… [more]

Your Guide to Civil War: Disassembled, House of M, and the Road to Civil War

Richard Renteria — Tue, 02 May 2006 20:29:26 +0000

As we get ready for the start of Civil War, I think it’s time we take a look at some of the events that, while not directly related to the storyline, have brought us to… [more]

Joe Quesada on Various Fruity Topics

C. C. Banana — Wed, 22 Mar 2006 18:00:13 +0000

Editor’s Note: C.C. Banana is a comedian. The following interviews are provided for entertainment purposes only. Last weekend I went to the premiere New York Comic-Con at the Jacob Javits Convention Center, intending to snag… [more]

On House of M

Scott King — Fri, 10 Mar 2006 17:41:13 +0000

House of M" title="On House of M" style="float:left;" />Welcome to “Trade Waiting,” where we wait till comic book arcs are collected in trade format so that we can study and analyze the story on a whole. We will focus on character arcs, plot… [more]

The “M” is for “Mediocre”

Matt Martin — Thu, 30 Jun 2005 19:44:54 +0000

House of M #1 Marvel Comics – Brian Michael Bendis (w); Olivier Coipel (p); Tim Townsend (i) Well, I guess this means summer is officially here. DC started its tent-pole summer event about a month… [more]

“Lacking on Every Level”

Matt Martin — Fri, 30 Jul 2004 19:24:04 +0000

Avengers #500 Marvel Comics – Brian Michael Bendis (w); David Finch (p); Danny Miki (i)I almost didn’t review this, for a couple of reasons. Here’s the score: No matter what I say, for good or… [more]

A Day at Borders

Bryan Miller — Fri, 16 Jan 2004 16:45:05 +0000

Greetings, and welcome back. I just got back to Chi-town on an Amtrak train, just in time for the inaugural edition of New Comics Day 2004, the first after our holiday hiatus. Good to see… [more]

Tremble in Fear, Hollywood!

Bryan Miller — Wed, 10 Dec 2003 16:28:28 +0000

Hey, gang — welcome to another New Comics Day. I’m screwing around with the format of the column (again). Look for some more changes in the coming weeks. If you hate the new format and… [more]

Down with Comics Activism!

Bryan Miller — Mon, 10 Nov 2003 16:05:51 +0000

The lights are out at O’Malleys and the greatest y’allternative bluegrass band in the world, The Woodbox Gang, are twanging up my stereo with devil songs. The ol’ wallet is considerably lighter thanks to beer… [more]

The Art of Intrinsic Failure: Epic, The Cubs, and Some Reviews

Bryan Miller — Tue, 21 Oct 2003 14:58:09 +0000

Salutations, and welcome to another New Comics Day. Well, okay, not really. New Comics Day plus a few days. Sadly, New Comics Day last week was spent in mourning after watching the Cubs blow it… [more]

Getting Mauled by Tigers

Bryan Miller — Mon, 13 Oct 2003 14:53:53 +0000

The lights are off at O’Malley’s. I’m full of Sam Adams and smoke, so it must be a Wednesday, time again for another edition of New Comics Day. I Swear, This Is About Comics. Really.… [more]

Sex Scenes, Orson Welles, and Other Matters

Bryan Miller — Tue, 07 Oct 2003 14:48:16 +0000

Greetings, and welcome to another edition of New Comics Day. As usual, New Comics Day winds down at O’Malley’s Pub on Lincoln where the beer is cheap but the comics reviewers are cheaper. This week,… [more]

Wednesday, 24 September

Bryan Miller — Thu, 25 Sep 2003 14:31:27 +0000

Hello, all, and welcome to the fourth edition of New Comics Day. Thanks to Julian and Matt for having me here at Sequart.com for what will hopefully be a nice long run of ranting and… [more]

August Comics

Bryan Miller — Sun, 31 Aug 2003 14:23:52 +0000

FEATURED BOOK Teenagers from Mars #7 Rick Spears’ tale of teen angst, censorship, comic books and rebellion nears a close with this, the penultimate chapter, in which something actually happens. It’s a nice change from… [more]

July Comics

Bryan Miller — Thu, 21 Aug 2003 14:17:18 +0000

FEATURED BOOK Wolverine #3 I know you’re reading this. Everybody is reading this. Wolverine is one of those books you wouldn’t usually catch a comic snob dead reading. They probably did anyway, but you wouldn’t… [more]

Summer Comics

Bryan Miller — Tue, 19 Aug 2003 14:01:09 +0000

FEATURED BOOK Enemy Ace: War In Heaven (TPB) Nobody writes war comics today like Garth Ennis. For that matter, nobody today really writes war comics other than Garth Ennis, but it’s hard to imagine many… [more]

The State of American Comics Address, 2003

Julian Darius — Tue, 10 Jun 2003 17:00:25 +0000

Things are, in many ways, quite good in American comics. Sales stink, but the quality of the average comic book is really rather high. It may seem a bit spoiled, in this climate, to complain… [more]

Comics Published on 14 May 2003

Matt Martin — Sat, 17 May 2003 14:43:12 +0000

OK, kind of an apology to start this column off. I know I was slacking for quite a few weeks there, only turning on a review or two. And then lately, it looked like I… [more]

Comics Published on 7 May 2003

Matt Martin — Mon, 12 May 2003 14:30:09 +0000

Venom #1 Marvel Comics – Daniel Way (w); Francisco Herrera (p); Carlos Cuevas (i) Another week, another Tsunami release (I know, I’ve not yet reviewed Runaways and Mystique; they were good though). I’m starting to… [more]

Comics Published on 16 April 2003

Matt Martin — Mon, 21 Apr 2003 17:12:09 +0000

The Silencers #1 Moonstone Books – Fred Van Lente (w); Steve Ellis (a) Moonstone Books is known primarily (at least to me) as a company that produces overpriced, but entertaining, black-and-white noir comics. Those same… [more]

Comics Published on 2 April 2003

Matt Martin — Fri, 04 Apr 2003 17:57:31 +0000

Wolverine: X-Isle #1 Marvel Comics – Bruce Jones (w); Jorge Lucas (a) Well, another day, another Marvel mini-series by Bruce Jones. The last one was Captain America: What Price Glory? and from what I read,… [more]

Comics Published on 15 January 2003

Matt Martin — Wed, 22 Jan 2003 16:37:20 +0000

Optic Verve makes its triumphant (or generally unnoticed, depending on your point of view) return to the Internet, having taken the holidays off due to lack of Internet connectivity and a general plague of viruses… [more]

Comics Published on 11 December 2002

Matt Martin — Tue, 17 Dec 2002 16:27:38 +0000

Before I get started, a quick apology to the readers of these articles: this week was a really light week for me, as far as books are concerned. Even worse, next week looks to be… [more]

Comics Published on 4 December 2002

Matt Martin — Tue, 10 Dec 2002 15:57:01 +0000

I’m currently snowed in, so badly so that I almost didn’t go to work on Wednesday to get new comics at all. However, the time cooped up in the house should allow for a) lots… [more]

Comics Published on 20 November 2002

Matt Martin — Thu, 21 Nov 2002 15:30:01 +0000

Daredevil #39 Marvel Comics – Brian Michael Bendis (w); Manuel Gutierrez (a) My goodness… this was absolutely fantastic. Daredevil is a book that’s been hit and miss for me over the past six months or… [more]

Comics Published on 6 November 2002

Matt Martin — Tue, 12 Nov 2002 17:26:54 +0000

Powers #25 Image Comics – Brian Bendis (w); Michael Oeming (a) Periodically, I like to sit down and make a list of all the titles I buy, month to month. In doing so, what I… [more]

Comics Published on 16 October 2002

Matt Martin — Fri, 18 Oct 2002 15:52:46 +0000

Spider-Man and the Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do #3 Marvel Comics – Kevin Smith (w); Terry Dodson (p); Rachel Dodson (i) My opinion of Kevin Smith’s comic book career is a lot like… [more]

Comics Published on 9 October 2002

Matt Martin — Thu, 10 Oct 2002 15:45:03 +0000

Hunter: The Age of Magic #16 DC Comics / Vertigo — Dylan Horrocks (w); Richard Case (p); Steve Bird (i) Wow…Where to start? I’m rather torn on this one. There was a time, albeit rather… [more]

Comics Published on 2 October 2002

Matt Martin — Mon, 07 Oct 2002 15:29:03 +0000

Uncanny X-Men #414 Marvel Comics — Chuck Austen (w); Sean Phillips (p/i) After a while you run out of ways to say the same good things about the same books. I know that problem is… [more]

Comics Published on 18 September 2002

Matt Martin — Fri, 20 Sep 2002 15:08:30 +0000

Before I start, there’s something I want to address. As you can see, my first review is Captain Marvel #1, the first issue of Peter David’s contribution to the Marvel “U-Decide” stunt. I thought, very… [more]

Comics Published on 11 September 2002

Matt Martin — Fri, 13 Sep 2002 14:54:16 +0000

This past Wednesday was new comics day. It was also my birthday. It was also, as we all know, September 11. Much was made in the media, the American media in particular, of remembering the… [more]