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The Origin of the Punisher and the Narrative Power of War
I do not think it is entirely unfair to suggest that the commonly agreed upon origin for the Punisher is focused on the idea of vengeance over the death of Frank Castle’s family. This is… [more]
All for One, One for All — The Super-Hero Story
I had originally planned to write this article at a later date, but after reading Cody Walker and Julian Darius’s columns this past week, I couldn’t resist the temptation to jump ahead. I’ve been brewing… [more]
Dan Dare and the Seductive Myths of Englishness
In the very first Dan Dare adventure, which began to be serialised weekly in the Christian boy’s comic Eagle in 1950, we’re introduced to the ”Inter Planet Space Fleet some years in the future.”
Captain Britain and the Comforting Myths of Englishness
In Paul Cornell’s Captain Britain and MI:13 #1, the eponymous Captain is killed by a Skrull missile during an alien invasion of Britain. As is the way of super-hero comics — and as was something of a habit… [more]
The Obscure Cities: An Introduction
The Obscure Cities (Les Cités Obscures) arose in the midst of a pivotal time in the history of French comics. So let’s talk about French comics, shall we?
He’s Not a Super-Hero, He’s Not Even a Very Naughty Boy: The Case Against Grant Morrison and Steve Yeowell’s Zenith
He’s a bad one, that Zenith, and we can be sure about that badness because the people who know assure us that it’s true.
Flashpoint: Hal Jordan and the Strange Askew Culture of Comic-Book Excellence
It’s impossible to believe that DC Comics was careless where it came to Flashpoint: Hal Jordan. They must have known exactly what it was that they were doing. The powers at 1700 Broadway, NYC, must… [more]
Erasing the Justice Society
In the continuity of DC’s relaunches, Superman will reportedly be the first super-hero. This implies that the Justice Society will have been wiped from continuity, and that seems to be DC’s current plan. This isn’t… [more]
Blame it on Hector: A Green Lantern Movie Review
I’ve wanted to watch a live-action Green Lantern movie ever since I was ten years old, so to say that I was excited for this film is a gross understatement.
Why I (Don’t) Hate Bat-Man, Part 2
In which we continue our look, begun here, at the first year of the Batman’s existence.
Issues in Digital Comics Distribution — and Where We’re Heading
Assuming we recognize the very real and pressing need for a comprehensive digital comics policy, several issues still remain that must be solved, before we can envision what such a policy would look like.
On Digital Comics Distribution
We all know it’s the future. We all know we’re behind the gun. Playing catch up. And scared. But we’ve been here before.
The Diversity of DC’s Relaunch, by the Numbers
Since DC has publicly stated that its line-wide relaunch is partially to increase the diversity of its line, it’s worth asking how the relaunched titles stack up in this regard, including some hard quantitative analysis… [more]
A Closer Look at DC’s Line-Wide Relaunch: Non-Super-Hero Offerings
Beyond its super-hero offerings, DC’s relaunch includes its “dark” magic titles, which incorporates some Vertigo characters into the DCU, and also a few non-super-hero, non-supernatural titles. How do these stack up, as part of an… [more]
A Closer Look at DC’s Line-Wide Relaunch: The Rest of the Super-Heroes
In addition to its more obvious “big guns,” DC’s relaunch includes a bunch of other super-hero offerings, including a promising new Aquaman series, new WildStorm-based titles such as Stormwatch, and many more. We’ll examine each here.
A Closer Look at DC’s Line-Wide Relaunch: The Big Guns
Unless you’re hiding under a rock, you’ve heard that DC is relaunching its entire super-hero line, including venerable mainstays like Action Comics and Detective Comics, in the wake of the company’s Flashpoint crossover.
Why I Hate Bat-Man, Part 1
The Bat-Man was not a bad-ass. He was an idiot.
On Flashpoint #1: Sex, Gender, and the Superhero Crossover
We’ll talk of the value of Geoff Johns and Andy Kubert’s Flashpoint #1 solely in the context of a superhero comic at another time, but it’s worth saying in passing that it’s in many ways a… [more]
The Mighty Thor, the “Frail and Feeble” Donald Blake
What are we to make of the hero and his alter ego in “The Mighty Thor and the Stone Men from Saturn,” from August 1962?
The Challenge of the Super-Friends: Why Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch’s The Authority is One of the Sweetest Comics of the Modern Era
For a comic book characterised by its “intense graphic violence” (according to Wikipedia) and designed to be marked by an “attention to nasty little details, its appalling bad attitude, and the utter carnage the cast are capable… [more]
Seduction of the Insolent (or, Retraction of the Innocent)
Know thy enemy. It is a long-standing idiom and one that is well-practiced by mainstream comics, most specifically the super-hero genre.
On the Anthology Format
Tim Callahan’s recent “When Worlds Collide” column has me thinking about anthologies.
Racial Utopia in X-Men
When he created the X-Men, Charles Xavier’s primary mission, in the short term, was to create a safe haven for mutants. In the long term, his goal was to create a perceived perfect world where… [more]