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Who is Don Blake?
Thor returns to cinemas this week, in the second installment of an improbably successful film franchise that has made Chris Hemsworth into a worldwide movie star and familiarized millions with the titular norse thunder god.… [more]
Thor’s Early Identity Crisis
Marvel’s introduction of Thor in Journey Into Mystery #83 (published in August 1962) ushered into the world a comic book character that transcended traditional superhero characteristics. Stan Lee, who created Thor, along with his brother… [more]
Thor’s Facelift: Norse Mythology in the Marvel Universe
In 2011, Marvel added the highly anticipated “super-human” alien, Thor, to their cinematic universe, and was largely considered a success. Kenneth Branagh’s direction of the film conjured an old world Shakespearean atmosphere that allowed for… [more]
If They Be Worthy, They Shall Possess the Power of Thor!
“Whosever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of…Thor”. These are the words inscribed on the hammer of the Mighty Thor; on the mythological hammer Mjolnir itself. Thor, though himself a… [more]
How “Tales of Asgard” Changed Everything
In Journey into Mystery #83 (Aug 1962), Donald Blake finds a magical walking stick that transforms him into Thor. It’s a rather inauspicious beginning. In that first story, Thor fights stone-skinned aliens, who simply land… [more]
The Original (and Better) Kickass: A Look Back at Steve Gerber’s Foolkiller #1-10
Foolkiller By Steve Gerber, JJ Birch, Tony Dezuniga & Vince Giarrano Published by Marvel Comics “Live a poem… or die a fool!” There’s a good chance you’ve never read this mini-series, published from October 1990… [more]
Aurelia, Restitutor Orbis: Meddling with Sovereignty in Sandman #52
“Cluracan’s Tale” marks the second installment of single, one-shot style issues in the Worlds’ End story cycle in the Sandman. Exhibiting the wit of the Faerie and the corruption of Man, Cluracan’s yarn advances a… [more]
Ultimate Spider-Man #10-12 is a Coming of Age Story with Tights, Crime Lords, and High School Girls
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]
“Keep Calm. I’ll Wrap This Up Quickly.”: Shameless? Part 34
Continued from last week. The world-building that Millar had begun to invest in Canon Fodder was unusually rich, distinctly quirky, and full of promise. Yet that surprising combination of Catholicism, Holmesian characters, alt-world SF and superheroes… [more]
Sex and Nuclear Armageddon in Young Miracleman’s “Quiet Desperation”
We’ve begun discussing the silent Young Miracleman story originally printed in Warrior #12. Today, we continue that discussion. (If you’re new, hop to the introduction, to the beginning of Book One, or to the interlude… [more]
Capital Thoughts: Captain America #11
Consistency. It’s not much to ask for in a serial. In fact, without consistency, the serial form is moot. Last issue, Remender told us in the “letters” section that Cap “has spent more time in… [more]
“Bones Gnawed to the Marrow”: Shameless? Part 33
Continued from last week. “I had no idea what I was doing for the most part and just learning how to do very basic stuff then. Only good stuff I’d recommend would be Big Dave (which… [more]
Miracleman, Book Two: “Quiet Desperation”
We’ve previously introduced Miracleman and discussed all ten chapters of Book One (starting here), along with the interlude “The Yesterday Gambit,” which were originally published in Warrior #1-11. We now begin Book Two… with the… [more]
Accessibility and the X-Men: A 2-Part Look at My First Comic, Part 2
Two more characters enter the picture in Havok and Longshot and I picked this first page, despite their introductory sequence lasting several more filled with great character insight, because I think it depicts Longshot in… [more]
“Life on the Edge”: In Which a Man Named Robert Finds Himself Stuck in a City
Sandman has fostered its reputation as a staple in the Horror genre since its conception, often executing stories and fables instigating the subtle and unnerving fear lurking in the modest and mundane. Gaiman’s style, very… [more]
Ultimate Spider-Man #8-9 Uses a Variety of Character Perspectives to Show Spider-Man’s Development As a Hero
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]
“Two Tickets for My Next Performance”: Shameless? Part 32
Continued from last week. So how did Morrison and Millar use the pages of Big Dave to express their contempt for homophobia? Starting from the premise that their readers were similarly liberal-minded, they studded the strip’s… [more]
Miracleman, Book One Concludes
We’ve begun discussing the conclusion of Book One (parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10) of Alan Moore’s Miracleman, illustrated by Alan Davis. Today, we continue our exploration of this historic… [more]
Capital Thoughts: Captain America #10
Last time, we explored the death of Cap’s son, Ian, and its emotional fallout. We wondered, for example, how Ian’s death would affect his relation with Sharon, who killed the boy. At least some of… [more]
Accessibility and the X-Men: A 2-Part Look at My First Comic
ac·ces·si·ble adj: Easily approached or entered. I never thought much about the concept of accessibility in comic books for the first 20-something years of my comic book reading career (I think it’s safe to call… [more]
How Comics Work: The Fight Scene, Part 4
Young Avengers 3 Kieron Gillen (writer), Jamie McKelvie (artist), Mike Norton (artist), Mathew Wilson (colourist), et al The third issue of Young Avengers breaks all the rules. The fight has little to no context in the… [more]
Revisionism Comes to a Silver Age: Or Who is Killing the Great Capes of Heropa?
Julian Darius, in a response to a comment of mine in his article “On Underworld Unleashed, Precursor to Kingdom Come” explains that Reconstructionism with regards to the superhero comics genre is a term coined by… [more]
“We Were Just Trying to Bring Peace to the Planet”: Shameless? Part 31
Continued from last week. The urge to stereotype Millar’s beliefs in the light of his least liberal scripts is an understandable one. Yet his work is anything but consistent on matters of social justice. As I’ve… [more]
Miracleman, Chapter 10: The Epilogue
We’ve begun discussing the conclusion of Book One (parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9) of Alan Moore’s Miracleman, illustrated by Alan Davis. Today, we continue our exploration of this historic chapter.