ON COMICS CHARACTERS
ON SCI-FI FRANCHISES
ON GRANT MORRISON
ON TV AND MOVIES
OTHER BOOKS
DOCUMENTARY FILMS
Magazine Archives for:
2012
Switch to calendar view.
Interview with Jim Valentino of Shadowline Comics
Jim Valentino is one of the seven founders of Image Comics. He is also the founder of his own imprint at Image known as Shadowline.
Rippers and Republicans
A few weeks ago, I was reading back over Alan Moore’s seminal take on the story of Jack the Ripper, the telephone book-size graphic novel, From Hell, when an odd news story came at me… [more]
Sharpening the Image: Rob Liefeld’s Youngblood, the Man and the Comic that Started It All (Part 2)
While one certainly should not judge a book by its cover, applying this adage to the cover of a comic book can be problematic.
“A Time of Running”: Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing, Issue #26
Saga of the Swamp Thing #26 “A Time of Running” Cover date: July 1984 Writer: Alan Moore. Penciller: Steve Bissette. Inker: John Totleben. Letterer: John Costanza. Colorist: Tatjana Wood. Cover: Steve Bissette and John Totleben.… [more]
On the Ethics of How and Why Hank Pym Created a Wasp (Part 2)
By design and chance, Tales to Astonish #44 had presented a fledgling romance between Pym and Van Dyne which had the potential to constantly and plausibly generate both conflict and reconciliation over and over again.… [more]
On Mark Waid and Bryan Hitch’s JLA
With Grant Morrison’s departure from JLA in 2000, DC made the absolute best decisions possible for the title’s new creative team. As writer, DC chose Mark Waid. Waid had written Kingdom Come (which had inspired… [more]
Rob Liefeld on Pouches
Rob Liefeld has long been a controversial figure in the comics industry. He’s been criticized for many reasons, one of them being his, what would some say, excessive use of pouches!
Interview with Rich Johnston from Bleeding Cool
Rich Johnston is the most infamous man in comics.
1986, The Year That Changed Comics: Introduction, Part 2
Over the course of the coming months, Sequart will be serializing chapters from my forthcoming book, currently titled 1986: The Year That Changed Comics, here on their website.
Grant Morrison’s Day-Glo Years: Flex Mentallo, Part 3: “Dig the Vacuum”
Issue 3 of Flex Mentallo brings us into the “dark age” of super-hero comics, starting with the Dark Knight parodying cover, which even features faux autographs from the creators.
On Stan Lee and H.E. Huntley’s the Wasp and Ant-Man (1963 to 1966)
Suddenly, Ant-Man’s wife was dead.
On Denny O’Neil and Dick Dillin’s Justice League of America
While many celebrate Gardner Fox’s inaugural run on Justice League of America, comparatively few appreciate the run that immediately followed it: that of Dennis “Denny” O’Neil and penciler Dick Dillin (who had illustrated Fox’s final two… [more]
Scott Williams on His Working Relationship with Jim Lee
Scott Williams is one of the most acclaimed and in-demand inkers in comics, best known for his twenty years of collaboration with Jim Lee.
Interview with Brian Miller from Hi-Fi Colour Design
Brian Miller is the founder of Hi-Fi Colour Design and co-author on the books Hi-Fi Color for Comics, Master Digital Color, and How to Paint Comic Books with the iPad. Chances are that if you read… [more]
Bill Finger, Batman, and the Future of America
New York City, 1938. A young cartoonist named Bob Kane is attending a party where he serendipitously crosses paths with a fellow Dewitt Clinton High School alumni by the name of Bill Finger. Kane had… [more]
Sharpening the Image: Rob Liefield’s Youngblood, the Man and the Comic that Started it All
By many accounts, it was Rob Liefield who initiated talks about forming Image Comics and encouraged other rock star artists of the late 1980s and early 1990s into breaking away from the mainstream to form… [more]
“The Sleep of Reason”: Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing, Issue #25
Saga of the Swamp Thing #25: “The Sleep of Reason” Cover date: June 1984 Writer: Alan Moore. Penciller: Steve Bissette. Inker: John Totleben. Letterer: John Costanza. Colorist: Tatjana Wood. Cover: Steve Bissette and John Totleben.… [more]
X-Men #1-19 by Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, et al (1963-66), Part 2
In the wake of their first public appearance, the X-Men appear to have been briefly embraced by the American people. Having defeated Magneto’s attempt to seize the U.S. military base of “Cape Citadel”, Cyclops and… [more]
On Super Powers (second series), by Paul Kupperberg and Jack Kirby
The six-issue, second Super Powers mini-series from 1985, written by Paul Kupperberg, penciled by Jack Kirby, and inked by Greg Theakston, has been almost completely ignored by critics.
Rob Liefeld on Leaving Marvel Comics in the Early ’90s
For the past twenty-five years, Rob Liefeld has been a best-selling and controversial comics creator. Here, he discusses working for Marvel Comics in the early ’90s and the changing corporate culture there that led him… [more]
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.