ON COMICS CHARACTERS
ON SCI-FI FRANCHISES
ON GRANT MORRISON
ON TV AND MOVIES
OTHER BOOKS
DOCUMENTARY FILMS
Magazine Archives for:
June 2012
Spider-Man, Boy Genius
Thwip!
Grant Morrison’s Day-Glo Years: St. Swithin’s Day
During the early ’90s, Grant Morrison was wrapping up his acclaimed runs on Doom Patrol and Animal Man and moving away from mainstream super-heroics.
“Loose Ends”: Alan Moore’s First Issue of Swamp Thing
Saga of the Swamp Thing #20: “Loose Ends” Cover date: Jan 1984. Writer: Alan Moore. Penciler: Dan Day. Inker: John Totleben. Colorist: Tatjana Wood. Letterer: John Costanza. Cover: Tom Yeates. Editor: Len Wein.
On Joe Simon and Jack Kirby’s Captain America (1941)
1-2-3-4! Joe Simon and Jack Kirby’s “The Case of the Hollow Men” is punk super-heroics.
The Fever of Urbicande, Chapter 4 Concludes
We’ve previously looked at The Fever of Urbicande‘s prologue (and some of its implications), as well as chapters one, two, three (in two parts), and most of four (parts one, two, and three). We now conclude our… [more]
Robert Kirkman on Developing the Walking Dead TV Series
The Walking Dead‘s 100th issue is poised to be one of the highest selling comics in years, its blockbuster success fueled by the record-breaking TV series.
The Venom Formula, Part 2
A few weeks ago, I wrote a column about the new version of Venom as he appears in the cartoon series Ultimate Spider-Man.
Mazzuchelli’s Asterios Polyp and the Fine Line
Have you read David Mazzuchelli’s Asterios Polyp? If not, you should. This graphic novel exemplifies the type of comic that makes excellent use of its visual components and economic use of language
Meet the Magus, Part 3: The Deep Green, Jack of the Green, and the Swamp Thing
Ten years before Alan Moore informed friends and family that he would be pursuing the path of a practicing magician, he began working for the megalithic American comics company DC on the production of The… [more]
More The Fever of Urbicande, Chapter 4
We’ve previously looked at The Fever of Urbicande‘s prologue (and some of its implications), as well as chapters one, two, three (in two parts), and most of four (in two parts). We now continue our look… [more]
Chris Claremont on the Original Plan for Maddy Pryor
Chris Claremont’s run on X-Men / Uncanny X-Men was a milestone achievement for Marvel and super-hero comics in general, spanning seventeen years and hundreds of stories. One of Claremont’s more intriguing characters was Maddy Pryor
Spidey Suit
Spider-Man is known for taking chances with his wardrobe.
Grant Morrison’s Day-Glo Years: Kill Your Boyfriend
NOTE: Rather than start chronologically in the early ’90s, I chose to begin my exploration of Grant’s Day-Glo Years with a work that best exemplifies the themes, motifs, and energy of that era of his career
A Ghost Dressed in Weeds: Unearthing Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing
Alan Moore began his career as a minor cartoonist working for his local newspaper and U.K. music magazines, producing humour strips like Maxwell the Magic Cat, Roscoe Moscow, and The Stars My Degradation.
On Charley’s War, by Pat Mills and Joe Colquhoun (1979-80)
You have to be careful what chapter of Charley’s War you pick to introduce yourself to the strip. It’s all too easy to stumble upon a three- or four-page episode that, at first, seems to… [more]
The Fever of Urbicande, Chapter 4 (Cont.)
We’ve previously looked at The Fever of Urbicande‘s prologue (and some of its implications), as well as chapters one, two, three (in two parts), and the beginning of four. Although it’s been a while, we… [more]
Nick Spencer on Comics vs. Creativity
Every Sunday, Sequart will be premiering an exclusive clip drawn from our extensive interviews with many of comics’ finest creators.
“We’ve Got to Make Superman, Spider-Man, and Everyone Dance”
Music and super-heroes have, for some reason, never been able to get along. Looking at the track listing for the Avengers sorta-kinda movie soundtrack, Avengers Assemble, we can see right away that finding songs to… [more]
My Introduction to Manga, Part 2: A Mechanical Emerson for the Future in Urasawa’s Pluto
In 1942, Isaac Asimov introduced the world to the three laws of robotics and, in doing so, set the stage that later science fiction writers interested in writing about robots would have to cross.
Meet the Magus, Part 2: The Universal Dance in Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell’s Snakes and Ladders
When we discuss the relationship between Alan Moore’s artistic works and magic, clearly marked boundaries become, instead, borderlands of relationship.
On Planetary #3, by Warren Ellis and John Cassaday
“After this, there’s nothing,” explains the ghost of the murdered Hong Kong cop. There is, he assures Planetary’s “mystery archaeologists,” no afterlife awaiting them, or indeed anyone else, when death arrives. Something has brought the… [more]
Miracleman, Chapter 6 Concludes
We’ve previously begun discussion of chapter six of Alan Moore’s Miracleman and continued through page five. We now conclude discussion of this pivotal chapter.
The Venom Formula
If there’s one character who is constantly in need of a makeover, it’s Venom.