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“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]
Monstrosity in The Unwritten: Frankenstein’s Creature and Father Figures
A book within a book is not an original story. On the other hand, many books in a comic connected by the collective consciousness in a universe similar to ours is a completely other thing.… [more]
The Batman As Father Figure: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar Part 10
Continued from here. DC’s post-crisis, Dark Age portrayal of the Batman had long been a source of aggravation for both Morrison and Millar. Years before Morrison landed the job of scripting the JLA, the two men… [more]
Jeff Smith Delivers the Old Rasl Dasl
One of the running gags I used to enjoy on The Simpsons was the dreaded educational filmstrip. Whenever Bart or Lisa’s class would settle in to watch one of these out-of-date filmstrips, the faded color,… [more]
Bugged Out!: Scarab Reconsidered 20 Years On, Part Seven
Finally! Time to get down to the nitty-gritty! We’ve spent the first six parts of this series setting the stage as thoroughly as, I like to fancy, is humanly possible given the vagaries of time… [more]
Sandman: “The Wake” — In which a Funeral and Wedding Occur
The final, enigmatic issues of the Sandman emulate a diverse response to the death of the titular Dream. Though there are still two issues left to go in the Sandman series proper, this here is… [more]
Superhero Accessories: Part One: Masked Vigilantes
Perhaps the most damning criticism Alan Moore made about superheroes has been overlooked in all the controversy around the ‘Last interview’: ‘the origin of capes and masks as ubiquitous superhero accessories can be deduced from… [more]
“We knew the world would not be the same…”: Thoughts on the Chimeric Nature of Promoting Gareth Edwards’s Godzilla
Not long ago, fellow Sequart contributor Greg Carpenter tweeted his interest in Godzilla after viewing the trailer released towards the end of February. I attempted to let this learned man know that there is more… [more]
The Long Walk Home
“Everyone calls me ma’am these days.” -Buffy Summers Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the TV series, was about many things, including being a profoundly human and true coming-of-age story. By the end of season 7, Buffy… [more]
“A Semi-Unhinged, Essentially Humourless Loner Struggling with Rage and Guilt”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 9
Continued from last week. Grant Morrison’s ambition was, it appears, to free the DCU from the constraints of both wonder-killing editorial dictats and the conventions of the Dark Age. Yet unregulated creative anarchy doesn’t seem to… [more]
Understanding Comics on the Wabash Cannonball
I took the last “left” to Clarksville because, contrary to popular belief, there is no train. Driving up the Interstate from Nashville, I wondered idly how many other people had been disappointed to learn that… [more]
Archetypal Fictional Universes and Hypertexts in Seven Soldiers of Victory
Introduction In his long career, Grant Morrison has written many different types of comics in numerous genres, but he is most known for his work on mainstream superhero titles. This article will attempt to explore… [more]
Making Love the Will Eisner Way: Intercourse Discourse in A Contract with God
In Will Eisner’s Contract with God, sex is is a struggle for power. [more]
The Long Influence of Will Eisner
In any medium there are great, influential works that no one actually partakes of. In film this mantle falls on the shoulders of directors like Carl Theodor Dreyer, Fritz Lang, and Abel Gance. They made… [more]