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Superhero Accessories: Part Three: Mo Bat-Money, Mo Bat-Problems
…continued from here. It’s worth noting that the original Klan and the fictional KKK seen in The Birth of a Nation were both begun by young rich white guys who lived in mansions. The hero… [more]
Hannibal vs. Bates Motel: One Kills the Other
Sometime last year a friend of mine recommended I watch Bates Motel, a show about a young Norman Bates. For those of you who don’t know who Norman Bates is – we can’t be friends.… [more]
Twilight of the (New) Gods, Part 1
Introduction “This is the way the world ends…” William Blake. Ever since the moment humanity began to ask about its origins, we also began to wonder about our ultimate end, and what, if anything, comes… [more]
Bugged Out!: Scarab Reconsidered 20 Years On, Part Nine
If you wanted to define the visual aesthetic of Scarab in one word, that word would probably be ugly. Everything from Glenn Fabry and Tony Luke’s covers to the title character’s costume/second skin design to the look… [more]
Sandman #75: How It Ends, and Begins
What made Shakespeare famous was his ability to pen adaptations. This salacious fact draws from his purloining of content from long dead authors, incapable of making too much of a fuss, though some noticed. Gaiman,… [more]
Buffy: No Future For You
The next story arc of Buffy Season 8 once again hits on the main theme of this season and indeed the later seasons of the TV series: what does it mean to be a Slayer?… [more]
“An Arrogant, Aristocratic Batman?”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 13
Continued from last week. But how were Morrison and Millar to explain away the Batman’s aloof and frequently contemptuous attitude towards even his fellow super-heroes? If the Dark Knight was to be cut away from the… [more]
Alan Moore, Oscar Zarate, and One Killer of a Graphic Novel
I was reconnecting with some of my former professors at a reception this past weekend when one of them asked what I was working on. I said I had almost finished writing a book about… [more]
Capital Thoughts: Captain America #18
Cap #18 has our heroic team racing off to a top-secret SHIELD installation. But Mindbubble is already there and has used his psychotropic powers to convince Fury and his agents that Hydra has taken over… [more]
Perfect Chaos: Why the Joker is the Greatest Comic-Book Villain
Simply put: the Joker is the greatest comic book villain of all time. But before I get into the whys, let’s define “great”. The greatest villain doesn’t need to defeat all other villains in a… [more]
Grant Morrison’s Doom Patrol #19, A Companion Reader
The first four issues of Grant Morrison’s run of Doom Patrol are rife with allusions to popular culture and the fine arts bound by a love of opposites. [more]
X-Men: To the Outback & Beyond… Part 2
Writer: Chris Claremont Penciler: Marc Silvestri Inker: Dan Green Colorist: Glynis Oliver Letter: Tom Orzechowski Editor: Ann Nocenti continued With the eulogy to their previous lives delivered last issue in Deadly Games! , with this… [more]
The Crying of Timeline 919: Casanova
In the backmatter for issue #1 of Casanova, (Image, June 2006) Matt Fraction compares the story to Phil Spector’s Wall of Sound production technique—where hundreds of different instruments and sounds are compressed down to a… [more]
“This is Not a Dream, but a Plan”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 12
Continued from last week. There are other indications that Millar might have been a major contributor to the new JLA’s origin tale. In the Justice League’s own title, Morrison had scrupulously ensured that his innovations were… [more]
Captain America, Alan Moore, Alex Ross, and the Truth
I think there must be something wrong with me, Linus. The Captain America film is coming out, but I’m not happy. I don’t feel the way I’m supposed to feel. I just don’t understand Captain… [more]
Capital Thoughts: Captain America #17
Captain America # 17 is ostensibly about Dr. Mindbubble’s attack on Nick Fury and SHIELD. Mindbubble seems to be doing the bidding of Iron Nail, who argues that SHIELD exerts “fascist control” over the planet.… [more]
Bugged Out!: Scarab Reconsidered 20 Years On, Part Eight
The other day I was banging out a review for issue number two of Marvel’s new George Romero-scripted zombie series Empire Of The Dead and I remarked that second issues are kind of a tricky deal… [more]
Sandman: Omnia Mutantur Nihil Interit — Hope for the Exile
The words of Ovid’s Metamorphoses bear the emblematic slogan of Sandman #74, the second to last Sandman of it’s original run: “Omnia Mutantur Nihil Interit.” Gaiman’s translation of the phrase in the comic is “Everything… [more]
20th Century Boys, Volume Five
This is an important volume, deserving of a particularly long write-up. You’ve been warned. This volume starts the conclusion of Kenji’s story, and introduces the next part of this tale – Kanna’s story, which takes… [more]
The Secret Origin of the JLA, and of “Mark Millar” Too: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 11
Continued from last week. It would be another seven months until Morrison and Millar’s next public collaboration on the Batman. In that time, the new JLA title would establish itself as a remarkably successful reboot. Its… [more]
Superhero Accessories: Part Two: Truth, Justice, All That Stuff
…continued from here. DC have long had a problem fitting Superman into the grimmer world the DC Universe has become now its readership mostly consists of adults. It’s clear that senior editors feel the ‘big… [more]
Capital Thoughts: Captain America #16
Issue #16 of Captain America lacks a lot of things, including Captain America, who does not make an appearance except in a hallucination where he appears as the Red Skull’s domesticated pet—I kid you not.… [more]
Grant Morrison’s Doom Patrol, A Companion Reader
This essay series will examine intertexual themes in Grant Morrison’s first four issues of Doom Patrol (#19 to #22). [more]
Celebrating 15 Years of Cult Classic The Goon
After going through three publishing houses, multiple collaborations, and the eternal wrath of “Margaret Snodgrass”, The Goon has reached its 15th anniversary (or ‘gooniversary’, as creator Eric Powell punned on Twitter). I personally love The… [more]
X-Men: To the Outback & Beyond… Part 1
It was certainly not the first time that Marvel’s Merry Mutants left the comfortable grounds of the Xavier Mansion that housed The School for Gifted Youngsters. Way back in the late 1960’s, when Charles Xavier… [more]