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Magazine Archives for:
2013
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Yet Those Hands Will Never Hold Anything: Emiya Shirou as the Interactive Superhero of Fate/Stay Night (Part 1)
The super-hero genre is something that has not only cross-pollinated into different media, but has–in itself–been subject to a considerable amount of scrutiny. Superheroes have been changed into gritty, horrifyingly realistic beings by the Revisionism… [more]
The Garden and the Wilderness: Walking Dead #7-12
The second arc of Robert Kirkman’s Walking Dead follows Rick Grimes and his group of survivors dealing with the ramifications of being forced from the sanctuary of their roadside camp site and back into the… [more]
Not Your Television’s Dexter: On Dexter #1, from Marvel Comics
Dexter #1 Writer: Jeff Lindsay. Art: Dalibor Talajic. Cover: Michael del Mundo. Variant cover #1: Dalibor Talajic. Variant cover #2: Ive Svorcina. Publisher: Marvel Comics. I’m a sucker for serial killers. They’re my guilty pleasure. I… [more]
Tyrant Issue Two: Blood and Berries
The second issue of Tyrant starts on a more introspective note than the first. Steve Bissette opens the story with a quote from Alfred Hitchcock’s film, Vertigo: Somewhere in here I was born, and there I… [more]
1986: D.P.7 — Reality Vs. Fantasy
The previous installment recounted how in the landmark year of 1986, Marvel and editor in chief Jim Shooter introduced the New Universe, a new fictional reality, that was intended to be a more realistic setting… [more]
From The Saviour to Judge Dredd and Zenith: Shameless? Part 17
Continued from last week. For a brief moment in early 1990, Millar’s career appeared to be unambiguously prospering. As of May, Trident had, in addition to The Saviour, added Millar’s The Shadowmen to their schedule. Though… [more]
The Complete Story of Animal Man
As the Continuity Pages continue to grow, the pages for Animal Man have been completed, comprising a guided tour of all 125 Animal Man-centric issues that DC has ever published, along with every collected edition.… [more]
Captain America #8 Review
Captain America #8 Written by Rick Remender Art by John Romita Jr., Klaus Janson & Scott Hanna Colors by Dean White Published by Marvel Comics Rating: 9 (of 10) SPOILERS! Captain America should be dead.… [more]
Where Are All the Jack Kirby-Inspired Films or Television Shows?
Jack Kirby is seen by comic readers as one of the most creative, recognizable and iconic creators of our time, influencing not only the medium of comics but also work that has inspired music, art… [more]
Humanity, Heroism, and Action: Grant Morrison’s Action Comics #7
After a two issue break, Superman is back to battle the Collector of Worlds and save Metropolis. Strapping an oxygen tank to his back, Superman is going to leap into space to reach the Collector… [more]
The Old World: Comics and Cultural Reclamation in Sandman #38
Worthy expressions of folk myth are few and far between in the mainstream media, but persist as the most iconic means of contemporary storytelling. At the conclusion of A Game Of You, Gaiman introduces a… [more]
“A Murder of Crows”: Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing #48
Swamp Thing #48 “A Murder of Crows” Cover date: May 1986. Writer: Alan Moore. Artist: John Totleben. Editor: Karen Berger. Colorist: Tatjana Wood. Letterer: John Costanza. We are off to an atmospheric start in this… [more]
“Celibacy Being Such a Drag”: Shameless? Part 16
Continued from last week. It often appears that Millar is determined to deny any interpretation of his work that he doesn’t approve of. Yet as we’ve discussed, he repeatedly fails to produce comics whose political content… [more]
Why Opposing “Dark Realism” is a Straw Man Argument
For years now, I’ve heard people complain about how it’s time that super-heroes weren’t so dark and realistic. I’ve heard this relentlessly about super-hero comics, but I’ve also heard it about super-hero movies. Most recently,… [more]
The Man of Steel Lacks Heart, Brain, Courage
It’s been two days since I saw Man of Steel and I haven’t stopped talking about it. Wait, let me revise that. It’s been two days since I saw Man of Steel and I haven’t… [more]
Review: Superman Unchained #1
Superman Unchained #1 Written by Scott Snyder Art by Jim Lee, Scott Williams and Alex Sinclair Letters by Sal Cipriano Published by DC Comics Review by Markisan Naso Rating: 6 (of 10) SPOILERS! When I… [more]
Future Progressive, Past Regressive: Livewires
Adam Warren’s Livewires is Perfection. This is not a word I use lightly, especially when the thing involved is a one-off project by a person who is often considered a not-very-major-creator[1] ™ but Livewires: Clockwork… [more]
The Garden and the Wilderness: Walking Dead #1-6
Image Comics’ monumentally successful ongoing series Walking Dead presents itself as a story of survival – specifically the survival of the comic’s protagonist, Rick Grimes, in an apocalyptic world that has been overrun by flesh-eating… [more]
Tyrant Issue One: Knock Knock
The first issue of Tyrant, Steve Bissette’s short lived fictional biography of a T-Rex, came out in September of 1994. The series was published by Bissette’s own company, SpiderBaby Grafix. The story lasts 21 pages,… [more]
“The Parliament of Trees”: Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing #47
Swamp Thing #47 “The Parliament of Trees” Cover date: April 1986. Writer: Alan Moore. Artists: Stan Woch and Ron Randall. Colorist: Tatjana Wood. Letters: John Costanza. Editor: Karen Berger. This issue opens with the first… [more]
“The Evil was the Act of Violence…”: Shameless? Part 15
Continued from last week. Millar’s preference for deconstructing genre can at times make for routine and predictable comic books. For those who’d prefer more of close observation, ambition and innovation, and less of the bare bones… [more]
Zack Snyder’s Revisionist The Man of Steel
The Man of Steel is very much Zack Snyder’s. But that doesn’t mean what we thought it did. (As usual, here there be spoilers.) Prior to the film’s release, super-hero fans had a lot of… [more]
Is Superman Still Relevant in a Postmodern World?
Superman. The name alone conjures up images of capes flapping in the skies over thriving metropolises, walls exploding as a rock-hard fist punches through them, and criminals quaking in fear before a hulking mountain of… [more]
Deconstructing the Deconstructions: Hyper Drama and Realism in Superman: Secret Identity
Part of the essence of the superhero genre lies in hyperbole; by this I mean to say that in a superhero “story” (here referring to the output of Marvel, DC and they many succors and… [more]
Humanity, Heroism, and Action: Grant Morrison’s Action Comics #6
The Anti-Superman Army that was teased at the end of the previous issue appears at the beginning of this issue. It appears that the Dealmaker from the first issue (who has popped up a few… [more]