Articles

Analytic articles, whether historical or literary, scholarly or popular. Views expressed are not necessarily those of Sequart.

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All Things Must Pass: How Comic Books Can Never Grow Up

You and me, we are getting old. I know. It does suck.

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]

It Takes Two – Text & Image in Comics

So, comics as an art form! A truly legitimate art form, unique and self-actualized, with debacles and triumphs all its own. Not the bastard child of film and literature, and not just for kids, male adolescents, or… [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.

“Fixing” Barbara Gordon’s Legs: The Politics of Retconning a Disability

What does it mean when you take the most successful disabled character in comics and reverse her disability?

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.