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Grant Morrison: The Day-Glo Years
I’ve spent a lot of time over the past few years writing about Grant Morrison, talking about Grant Morrison, and making a film about Grant Morrison, and it’s now time to continue that work with… [more]
My Introduction to Manga, Part 1: Suppli Takes on Batman and Loses. By a Landslide.
Like many Western comic fans of a certain age (which will go unmentioned), I have had little exposure to manga and anime.
Miracleman, Chapter 6: “Investigation” and “Deduction”
We’ve previously begun discussion of chapter six of Alan Moore’s Miracleman and gotten through page three. We now continue discussion of this pivotal chapter.
Kafka and The Bunny Suicides
During the last week of December, savvy shoppers are aware of the 50% discount on new calendars for the upcoming year.
Meet the Magus, Part 1: The Birth Caul
Allow me to introduce you to a man you may have met before through his writing, art, or interviews.
On Adventure Comics #332, by Edmond Hamilton and John Forte (1965)
The received wisdom has it that the future world of the Legion Of Super-Heroes was originally an inspiringly optimistic, comfortingly cosy, super-scientific utopia.
Miracleman, Chapter 6, Page 3: “Reflections” of Kid Miracleman
We’ve previously begun discussion of chapter six of Alan Moore’s Miracleman, which originally appeared in the classic British magazine Warrior. We continue that discussion today.
Black Hole… Where Everyone is Welcome!
Charles Burns’s Black Hole starts off like so many other bildungsroman stories before it: girl and boy meet, girl and boy fall in love, girl and boy experience sex together for the first time, girl discovers… [more]
Deconstructing Batman & Robin: A Game of Villainy, Part 7
I’m sitting at a little coffee shop in Springfield, Missouri, called the Brown Egg with my comics spread out on the table. As the waitress delivers my pancakes, she remarks, “That looks really cool,” as… [more]
On Boys’ Ranch #1-3, by Jack Kirby and Joe Simon (1950)
In his Art of the Comic Book, R. C. Harvey offers Boys’ Ranch as an example of Jack Kirby having elevated comics into an “art form.”
Miracleman, Chapter 6: “Secret Identity”
Having introduced Miracleman and discussed chapters one, two, three, four, and five, as well as the interlude “The Yesterday Gambit,” we now turn to chapter six of Alan Moore’s Miracleman, which originally appeared in the classic… [more]
Deconstructing Batman & Robin: A Game of Villainy, Part 6
While R.I.P. could be argued to be a game of chess between Batman and Dr. Hurt, the game of dominoes is at the forefront of Batman & Robin.
On Body Typing in Comics: What We’re Not Saying and Why It Matters
This is not an essay I wanted to write. Doing so, I’m conscious of wading into waters famous for their landmines. This is at least the sixth full draft of this essay. Most of the… [more]
Galactus: Meditations on a World-Eater
The Uncreator. The Universal Endbringer. The Anti-God. Gah. Lak. Tus.
Persepolis & Fun Home: Women and Comic Books in the College Classroom
There’s been a lot of controversy over women’s rights in the United States in the media lately.
Deconstructing Batman & Robin: A Game of Villainy, Part 5
In the footnotes for the first volume of Batman & Robin, Grant Morrison discusses the strange coincidence of the third issue’s cover resembling an image of the Joker that Brian Bolland had done years previous.
Alan Moore’s Miracleman and the Influence of Chris Claremont’s Dark Phoenix Saga
Having reached the halfway point of Book One, let’s pause and consider the influence of Chris Claremont and John Byrne’s Dark Phoenix saga on the way Moore presents his own hero-turned-villain, Kid Miracleman.
Fiction Suit
Alan Moore’s done it. Jack Kirby and Stan Lee did it. Osamu Tezuka did it. Grant Morrison did it so regularly and intently that he gave it a name.
The Anxiety of Influence and Failed Sequels: Frank Miller and The Dark Knight Strikes Again
“I mean the criticism teaches not a language of criticism […] but a language in which poetry already is written, the language of influence, of the dialectic…” (Bloom 25).
Deconstructing Batman & Robin: A Game of Villainy, Part 4
Once the transformation into the Batman of Zur-En-Arrh is complete, the comparisons to the Joker are apparent and numerous.
Dan Dare, by Garth Ennis and Gary Erskine (2008)
Dan Dare is ancient comics history now.
The Conclusion of Miracleman, Chapter 5
We’ve looked at chapter five of Alan Moore’s Miracleman, examined it in the context of the 1981 Brixton riots, and carried through to Kid Miracleman’s defeat. We now conclude our look at this chapter, originally printed… [more]
The Difficulties of Being “Just” Good and Bad in Comics of the New Millennium
In 1974, Frank Castle—also known as The Punisher—made his debut in Amazing Spider-Man #129, and the comics world was introduced to what would become one of the most popular anti-heroes—though he certainly was not the… [more]
Deconstructing Batman & Robin: A Game of Villainy, Part 3
The most controversial storyline in Morrison’s Batman run, R.I.P. is the psychological destruction of the Dark Knight.
On The Evolutionary War (Marvel Comics, 1988)
Those who choose to see the superhero comic’s decline as a relatively recent occurrence may prefer to keep their preconceptions away from The Evolutionary War, a sequence of often-awkwardly linked stories which were originally strung… [more]