ON COMICS CHARACTERS
ON SCI-FI FRANCHISES
ON GRANT MORRISON
ON TV AND MOVIES
OTHER BOOKS
DOCUMENTARY FILMS
Magazine Archives for:
August 2012
1986, The Year That Changed Comics: Introduction
In discussions of graphic novels, three works that are regularly cited as landmarks of the medium are Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’s highly acclaimed Watchmen, Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Maus, and Frank Miller’s Batman: The… [more]
Grant Morrison’s Day-Glo Years: Flex Mentallo, Part 2: “My Beautiful Head”
Each issue of Flex Mentallo is loosely aligned with an era of comics, and the second issue takes us into the Silver Age. The Silver Age was notable for crazy experimentation
Meet the Magus, Part 8: Transforming Perception in Another Suburban Romance
Quite a few of Moore’s works don’t merely feature transformative themes but display a capacity for transformation themselves. By taking on new forms, they lead what could be described as parallel or alternate lives.
X-Men #1-19 by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, et al (1963-66), Part 1
In a profoundly reactionary society, even a gentle and sincere challenge to the status quo can be read as a significant marker of dissent.
On The Weird, by Jim Starlin and Bernie Wrightson
The 1988 four-issue mini-series The Weird — written by Jim Starlin, with art by legendary comics artist Bernie Wrightson and inks by Dan Green — isn’t told from the Justice League’s point of view. Rather,… [more]
Jim Valentino on the Potential of Comics
Jim Valentino is one of the founders of Image Comics and a pioneer in bringing new ideas and storytelling forms to the medium. Here, he discusses the potential of comics and the way that they… [more]
Why We Still Need Heroes
I am not sure how I stumbled across it, as I was so appalled by its content that I chose to quickly navigate away from it in disgust
Sharpening the Image: Introduction
Comic readers from Gen X and (older members of) Gen Y remember 1992 as a sort of zeitgeist for comics. Change was in the air in all strata of the field
Sequart for Mobile
If you browse the web on your smartphone, Sequart.org now has a mobile-optimized version of the site.
“Roots”: Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing, Issue #24
Saga of the Swamp Thing #24: “Roots” Cover date: May 1984. Writer: Alan Moore. Artists: Steve Bissette and John Totleben. Colorist: Tatjana Wood. Letterer: John Costanza. Cover: Tom Yeates. Editor: Len Wein.
The Adventures of Henry Pym (1962 to 1965)
Don’t print the legend. There was no such thing as an archetypal “Marvel superhero” for the first few years following the publication and unexpected success in 1961 of the Fantastic Four. What would in hindsight… [more]
On JLA: Earth 2, by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely
Like many classic comics from the 1980s onward, JLA: Earth 2 (the 1999 original graphic novel written by Grant Morrison with art by Frank Quitely) plays with comics history in a postmodern way, offering new… [more]
Captured Ghosts Excerpt: Warren Ellis on Planetary
Planetary is one of Warren Ellis’s most beloved and respected series. In this exclusive excerpt from Warren Ellis: Captured Ghosts, series creators Ellis and John Cassaday, as well as fans Joss Whedon and Kelly Sue… [more]
On Rorschach #1
In which the blogger attempts to review Rorschach #1, despite the experience proving a thoroughly enervating one. Visitors should be aware that what follows contains spoilers and, uniquely for this article, a moment or two… [more]
Grant Morrison’s Day-Glo Years: Flex Mentallo, Part 1
The Invisibles is Grant Morrison’s definitive work about our world, the nexus of his philosophical worldview, simultaneously the source and culmination of his ideas about our universe. But there is another world, the super-hero world
On Kingdom Come, by Mark Waid and Alex Ross
1996’s Kingdom Come — a self-contained, fully-painted series by writer Mark Waid and artist Alex Ross — was first published as a four-issue, prestige-format mini-series, designated as an Elseworlds (i.e. out-of-continuity) tale. The story was… [more]
Meet the Magus, Part 7: Dualism and the Dark Side in Batman: The Killing Joke
For fans, many of the works that Alan Moore produced for DC carry the shadow of later acrimony between the author and publisher
On Iron Man in 1963, by Stan Lee, Don Heck, and Jack Kirby
Why should we care about Tony Stark? More importantly, why should we pity him?
Miracleman, Chapter 7 Concludes
We’ve begun discussing chapter seven (parts one, two, and three) of Alan Moore’s Miracleman, illustrated by Alan Davis. Today, we conclude our exploration of that chapter. (We’ve previously introduced Miracleman and discussed chapters one, two, three, four, five, and… [more]
Stoya on Why Chicks are Gross
Stoya is an adult film star and model. She’s also a big fan of science fiction, including the works of Warren Ellis!
No One Cared About Me Until I Put on a Mask
The Dark Knight Rises is not the conclusion to the Dark Knight Trilogy that we deserve, but it is the one that we need right now.
Miracleman, Chapter 7, and British Politics
We’ve begun discussing chapter seven (in two parts) of Alan Moore’s Miracleman, illustrated by Alan Davis. Today, we continue our exploration of that chapter. (We’ve previously introduced Miracleman and discussed chapters one, two, three, four, five, and six,… [more]
“Another Green World”: Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing, Issue #23
Saga of the Swamp Thing #23: ”Another Green World” Cover date: April 1984. Writer: Alan Moore. Artists: Steve Bissette and John Totleben. Colorist: Tatjana Wood. Letterer: John Costanza. Cover: Tom Yeates. Editor: Len Wein.
On the Batman of Three Worlds, by Bill Finger and Sheldon Moldoff (1963)
It’s not so long ago that the very idea would have sounded thoroughly absurd. Yet, the Batman tales of the late ’50s and early ’60s by editor Jack Schiff, writer Bill Finger, and penciler Sheldon… [more]
Miracleman, Chapter 7: The Mike / Liz / Miracleman Love Triangle
We’ve begun discussing chapter seven of Alan Moore’s Miracleman, illustrated by Alan Davis. Today, we continue our exploration of that chapter. (We’ve previously introduced Miracleman and discussed chapters one, two, three, four, five, and six, plus the… [more]