Sequart Organization » revisionism

A Sandman Miscellany: Sandman Overture #5 Review

Stuart Warren — Wed, 24 Jun 2015 11:00:44 +0000

Sandman Miscellany: Sandman Overture #5 Review" title="A Sandman Miscellany: Sandman Overture #5 Review" style="float:left;" />One of the difficult aspects of reviewing Neil Gaiman’s bookend of his long developed Sandman conceptual universe is making heads and tails of the myriad pathways that intertwine in the grand narrative. [more]

Who Will Save Us Now?: Dirty Realistic Fiction, Grim and Gritty Superhero Comic Books, and the Legacy of 1986—Part 3

William Bradley — Thu, 18 Jun 2015 11:00:29 +0000

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility! In the quarter of a century since these books came out, the American comic book landscape has changed dramatically. Whereas once upon a time, superhero comic books were made… [more]

Who Will Save Us Now?: Dirty Realistic Fiction, Grim and Gritty Superhero Comic Books, and the Legacy of 1986—Part 2

William Bradley — Wed, 17 Jun 2015 11:00:42 +0000

All the reasons which made the initiation of physical force evil, make the retaliatory use of physical force a moral imperative! I read—and loved—The Dark Knight Returns when I was in the 7th grade, about three… [more]

Who Will Save Us Now?: Dirty Realistic Fiction, Grim and Gritty Superhero Comic Books, and the Legacy of 1986—Part 1

William Bradley — Tue, 16 Jun 2015 11:00:33 +0000

Great Krypton! In the fall of 1987, my father gave me 75 cents to purchase issue 595 of Action Comics, the comic book that started my collection. I had read comic books before, but hadn’t… [more]

Eating Brains: Zombies and Dystopianism

Stuart Warren — Tue, 09 Jun 2015 11:00:47 +0000

In 2013 I was at SDCC meeting Julian Darius for the first time. After a long, harrowing comic-con experience we both went to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund after party. There were famous people… [more]

“If it Ain’t Broke …”: Revisionist Missteps in Batman: Earth One

Greg Carpenter — Mon, 08 Jun 2015 11:00:46 +0000

Batman: Earth One" title="“If it Ain’t Broke …”: Revisionist Missteps in Batman: Earth One" style="float:left;" />Three weeks ago, while discussing the Superman: Earth One series of graphic novels, I mentioned in passing that I “didn’t care” for the Earth One Batman series. Now as far as Internet critiques go, saying… [more]

J.M. DeMatteis and His Neglected Contribution to the Revival of DC

Stuart Warren — Mon, 02 Feb 2015 18:00:48 +0000

“Has our world become so twisted, so violent, that this is the kind of hero we produce?” Lois Lane, in a different world, types on her computer a new story and reveals to the world… [more]

Sequart Releases When Manga Came to America: Super-Hero Revisionism in Mai, the Psychic Girl

Mike Phillips — Mon, 09 Jun 2014 14:00:56 +0000

When Manga Came to America: Super-Hero Revisionism in Mai, the Psychic Girl" title="Sequart Releases When Manga Came to America: Super-Hero Revisionism in Mai, the Psychic Girl" style="float:left;" />Sequart Organization is proud to announce the release of When Manga Came to America: Super-Hero Revisionism in Mai, the Psychic Girl, by Julian Darius. The first manga widely available in English, Mai, the Psychic Girl — written… [more]

“‘Cause It’s Witchcraft, Wicked Witchcraft”: Wicked, Broadway, and Revisionist Super-Heroes

Greg Carpenter — Mon, 21 Apr 2014 11:00:40 +0000

Wicked, Broadway, and Revisionist Super-Heroes" title="“‘Cause It’s Witchcraft, Wicked Witchcraft”: Wicked, Broadway, and Revisionist Super-Heroes" style="float:left;" />When you write a weekly column, it doesn’t take long before you find yourself talking about something you don’t know anything about. For me, that moment is now, and I just want to get that… [more]

A Thousand Batmen Blooming: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 8

Colin Smith — Tue, 25 Feb 2014 12:00:01 +0000

Continued from last week. The superhero genre had become more and more susceptible to the myth of the definitive version. It was a fan-consuming fallacy which presumed that each character possessed an irreducible core of utterly… [more]

On “The Elements of Heartbreak”: A Special Valentine’s Day Post

Julian Darius — Fri, 14 Feb 2014 13:00:02 +0000

Legion of Super-Heroes #31 (July 1992), co-written by Giffen and Tom & Mary Bierbaum, would go down in history as one of the most controversial Legion stories of all time. Taking a break from the… [more]

Alan Moore and Super-Heroes, Part 4: But Alan Moore’s Not Wrong

Julian Darius — Mon, 16 Dec 2013 12:00:28 +0000

Continued from Wednesday. When talking about how super-heroes have changed, we always have to beware of nostalgia. The good old days weren’t all that good, and we tend to remember the comics, television, and movies… [more]

Why Opposing “Dark Realism” is a Straw Man Argument

Julian Darius — Mon, 24 Jun 2013 11:00:20 +0000

For years now, I’ve heard people complain about how it’s time that super-heroes weren’t so dark and realistic. I’ve heard this relentlessly about super-hero comics, but I’ve also heard it about super-hero movies. Most recently,… [more]

Zack Snyder’s Revisionist The Man of Steel

Julian Darius — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 17:00:10 +0000

The Man of Steel" title="Zack Snyder’s Revisionist The Man of Steel" style="float:left;" />The Man of Steel is very much Zack Snyder’s. But that doesn’t mean what we thought it did. (As usual, here there be spoilers.) Prior to the film’s release, super-hero fans had a lot of… [more]

On Warren Ellis’s Super-Hero Work at Avatar

Julian Darius — Mon, 08 Apr 2013 11:00:04 +0000

We’ve previously looked at Warren Ellis’s realistic worldview, at his much-celebrated 1999-2003 period, and at his work for Marvel from 2004-2010. One of the more interesting developments of Ellis’s career, especially given his professed distaste… [more]

Warren Ellis at Marvel, 2004-2010

Julian Darius — Mon, 01 Apr 2013 11:00:16 +0000

We’ve previously looked at Warren Ellis’s overall realistic worldview and how this is reflected in the revisionism of his much-celebrated 1999-2003 period. We now turn to his work at Marvel from 2004-2010. Warren Ellis at… [more]

Warren Ellis, Revisionism, and Reconstructionism

Julian Darius — Mon, 25 Mar 2013 11:00:34 +0000

Last time, we discussed how Warren Ellis is a realist, and we contrasted this with the views of Grant Morrison. These two modes correlate strongly with two different modes of super-hero stories. Revisionism, most frequently… [more]

On Kingdom Come, by Mark Waid and Alex Ross

Julian Darius — Thu, 16 Aug 2012 11:00:51 +0000

Kingdom Come, by Mark Waid and Alex Ross" title="On Kingdom Come, by Mark Waid and Alex Ross" style="float:left;" />1996’s Kingdom Come — a self-contained, fully-painted series by writer Mark Waid and artist Alex Ross — was first published as a four-issue, prestige-format mini-series, designated as an Elseworlds (i.e. out-of-continuity) tale. The story was… [more]

On Hawkworld, by Timothy Truman and Alcatena (1989)

Colin Smith — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 11:00:35 +0000

Hawkworld, by Timothy Truman and Alcatena (1989)" title="On Hawkworld, by Timothy Truman and Alcatena (1989)" style="float:left;" />In the shadows of the planet Thanagar’s great High Towers, where the three billion souls of the Empire’s alien underclass are segregated away in the most squalid and soul-butchering of conditions, there’s a statue of… [more]

Miracleman, Chapter 3: “When Johnny Comes Marching Home”

Julian Darius — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 07:00:55 +0000

Miracleman, Chapter 3: “When Johnny Comes Marching Home”" title="Miracleman, Chapter 3: “When Johnny Comes Marching Home”" style="float:left;" />We’ve introduced Miracleman and discussed its first and second episodes, plus the first page of chapter three. We now continue our look at that third chapter of Alan Moore and Garry Leach’s Miracleman stories, which… [more]

Why Miracleman Matters

Julian Darius — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 12:00:29 +0000

Miracleman Matters" title="Why Miracleman Matters" style="float:left;" />Everybody talks about Miracleman, but few have read it. Far more people know of Miracleman’s importance than understand why it occupies such a crucial role in the history of super-hero comics. This article endeavors to… [more]

Why Comics Have Failed to Achieve Real Respect

Julian Darius — Mon, 17 Oct 2011 11:00:14 +0000

It might superficially seem as if comics have finally achieved respect. They’re covered by the mainstream press. They’re increasingly taught in colleges. Their adaptations account for a huge percentage of Hollywood blockbusters. Hey, even nerd… [more]

Sex and “The Man who Has Everything”

Julian Darius — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 11:00:37 +0000

Long before Alan Moore delved into literary pornography with Lost Girls, he was infusing his work with a broad understanding of human sexuality as natural. And this wasn’t limited to auteur projects like Lost Girls… [more]

Your Guide to Infinite Crisis: A Brief History of Adam Strange

Julian Darius — Fri, 23 Dec 2005 12:00:13 +0000

Infinite Crisis: A Brief History of Adam Strange" title="Your Guide to Infinite Crisis: A Brief History of Adam Strange" style="float:left;" />It’s hard to claim that Adam Strange has a particularly glorious history, but he remains one of the DC’s most beloved science fiction characters. He goes back to the dawn of the Silver Age and… [more]