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On Alan Brennert and Jim Aparo’s Batman story, “Interlude on Earth-Two”
It may not seem like so at first, but everything is broken in Alan Brennert and Jim Aparo’s Interlude On Earth-Two.
Miracleman, Chapter 1: “A Dream of Flying”
Having briefly introduced Miracleman, let’s begin looking at Alan Moore and Garry Leach’s earliest stories, which appeared in the legendary British magazine Warrior.
Ultimate Thor: Continuity Offender
Many mini-series set in the Ultimate Universe are known for being odd ducks indeed.
On Robert Crumb’s The Book of Genesis Illustrated, Genesis Chapter 22
What to do when trapped with a front-line, world-class bore?
Why Miracleman Matters
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.
The Art of the Cover: Paolo Rivera’s Daredevil Covers
The covers to most comics are a mixed bag. There are some that look so atrocious they would make Warren Ellis puke up his Red Bulls and shepherd’s pies. The cover, after all, is just… [more]
The Power Ring and the Comic Book (Part 1)
Whenever a critic speaks of any popular work as possessing a “mythology”—a term often applied to serial, fictional narratives—the most common objection is that popular fiction is too “low”—as in, “created for the lowest common… [more]
Reading Holy Terror’s First Act
After its three-page thematic introductory sequence, Holy Terror shifts to the Fixer chasing Cat Burglar across Empire City’s rooftops. It’s a sequence not without its charms, including a few powerful images. It depicts an eccentric, hard-boiled… [more]
Parody in Alan Moore’s The Stars My Degradation
Alan Moore’s early professional work (such as Maxwell the Magic Cat, Roscoe Moscow, and The Stars My Degradation) was firmly rooted in comedy, which may seem at odds with the more later dramatic work he became… [more]
Stan Lee, Presented (Part 3)
In Part 2 of this discussion of editor / writer Stan Lee’s contribution to the creative process in the era of Silver-Age Marvel Comics, I argued that Lee had done far more than just dialogue… [more]
Reading Holy Terror‘s Introductory Sequence
It’s hard for me to describe the mixture of pleasures and pains, both of them quite intense, that I feel reading Holy Terror. The pleasure tends to be artistic, primarily visual. The pain tends to… [more]
Alan Moore’s The Stars My Degradation
The title of Moore’s second strip for Sounds Magazine, The Stars My Degradation, owes its inspiration to a famous science-fiction novel by Alfred Bester, The Stars My Destination (1956). In the novel, Gully Foyle is… [more]
Ultimate Captain America: A Meditation on American Identity
While Mark Millar was experimenting with narrative during his return to the Ultimates, Jason Aaron was exploring the inner-workings of Captain America in his mini-series Ultimate Captain America.
O Captain? Not My Captain
Captain America: the First Avenger—henceforth abbreviated to Captain—is a fairly entertaining film that illustrates both the advantages and disadvantages of applying real-world verisimilitude to comic-book superheroes.
A Place for Bold: Understanding Frank Miller
No one seems to get Frank Miller. Despite the flurry of digital ink spilled over him, most critics seem to be left scratching their heads. Indeed, the entire body of Frank Miller criticism can now… [more]
Mark Millar’s The Ultimates, Part 8: The Grand Exit
A word of advice before going into this series: ignore the “Death of Spider-Man” banner at the top and you’ll be just fine.
Stan Lee, Presented (Part 2)
In the previous installment of “Stan Lee, Presented,” I argued that Stan Lee had functioned as a “truly creative editor” during his tenure as editor/writer at Marvel Comics.
The Fever of Urbicande, Chapter 4
We’ve previously looked at The Fever of Urbicande‘s prologue (and some of that prologue’s implications), as well as chapters one, two, and three (in two parts). This time, we’ll begin to look at chapter four,… [more]
Moore, Gibbons, and Superman Annual #11: For the Story that Has Everything
Superman Annual #11 is a comic that stands as a classic for all the right reasons.
Pacing and Punch in Watchmen #2
Watchmen is commonly thought of as one of the greatest graphic novels of our time, but it’s actually a reprint collection. The work originally came out as 12 separate issues, although they were all planned… [more]
The Fever of Urbicande, Chapter 3 (Cont.)
We’ve previously looked at The Fever of Urbicande‘s prologue, some of that prologue’s implications, chapter one, chapter two, and the beginning of chapter three. This time, we’ll conclude our look at chapter three, in which the… [more]
The Fever of Urbicande, Chapter 3
We’ve previously looked at The Fever of Urbicande‘s prologue, some of that prologue’s implications, and chapters one and two. This time, we’ll continue to chapter three of this fascinating story.
A Man of the Times
In the year 1942, America was embroiled in global conflict – she had entered World War II.
Superheroes are More than Propaganda
It’s been five years since he originally announced it, and ten years since the events of Sept. 11, 2001, which inspired the story, but Frank Miller’s graphic novel Holy Terror has finally been released.
The Fever of Urbicande, Chapter 2
We’ve previously looked at The Fever of Urbicande‘s prologue, some of that prologue’s implications, and chapter one of the comic proper. This time, we’ll continue into chapter two of this fascinating story.