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Magazine Archives for:
2013
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Humanity, Heroism, and Action: Grant Morrison’s Action Comics #1
On page 1, panel 1, the first dialogue in the comic goes to real estate developer Glen Glenmorgan says, “and it’s a done deal! How about a drink to celebrate this turning point?” to a… [more]
First World Problems: Imperialism and Noncombatant Casualty in Saga Volume One
Comics are analogues of reality, and paint in fantasy tales more compelling than the real world conflicts they are based on. Saga overwhelms the reader with a terrible level of detail, capturing conflicts ranging from… [more]
The Image Revolution: The Full Trailer for the Documentary Film
Sequart has released a full trailer for its upcoming feature-length documentary, The Image Revolution.
“Strange Fruit”: Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing Issue #42
Swamp Thing #42 “Strange Fruit” Cover Date: November 1985. Writer: Alan Moore. Artists: Stephen Bissette, John Totleben and Ron Randall. Colorist: Tatjana Wood. Letters: John Costanza. Editor: Karen Berger. This issue serves to conclude the… [more]
Why are People so Frightened of Change?: Shameless? Part 4
Continued from last week. “Why are they so obsessed with continuity? A story is a story – nothing more, and yet people want to know which Earth Watchmen takes place on.” (*1) The adolescent Millar… [more]
Warren Ellis, Revisionism, and Reconstructionism
Last time, we discussed how Warren Ellis is a realist, and we contrasted this with the views of Grant Morrison. These two modes correlate strongly with two different modes of super-hero stories. Revisionism, most frequently… [more]
On My So-Called Secret Identity
My So-Called Secret Identity: not just principled, smart and promising, but repeatedly downright enjoyable. Every story contains any number of manifestos. The less a comic’s creators focus on a precise expression of their own beliefs,… [more]
Of Cats and Lizards: An Interview with Jason Brubaker—Creator of reMIND
Comixology has defined part of its business model by giving away first issues of on-going series and samples of other comics as a means of catching reader’s attention and hooking their interest for the long-term.… [more]
Humanity, Heroism, and Action: Grant Morrison’s Action Comics — Introduction
For years now, the problem that all Superman writers must face is how to show the heroism and humanity in the world’s most powerful and recognizable hero. Prior to the New 52, Geoff Johns and… [more]
Humanizing the Endless Immortals in Sandman: Dream Country
Finalizing the Doll’s House narrative plot, Neil Gaiman’s celebrated Sandman series concludes the first twenty issues with four limited one shot arcs, both harkening back earlier tales and looking forward to future ones. So far… [more]
1986: Strikeforce: Morituri: We Who are About to Die
In many of the great comics of the year 1986, their creators were examining the medium and the genre in which they were working and their histories, critically reevaluating them and redefining them for a… [more]
Mark Millar, Deconstructionist, Man and Boy: Shameless? Part 3
Continued from last week. From the middle of the Eighties to the decade’s end, the teenage Millar’s preference appears to have been for the breed of super-hero comics associated with the label of deconstruction. The… [more]
The Very Different Worldviews of Warren Ellis and Grant Morrison
In an interview for Warren Ellis: Captured Ghosts, Ellis recounts how some comics fans, in the wake of 9/11, expressed the wish that Superman were real, so he could have prevented such a devastating tragedy.… [more]
On Chicago Public Schools Censoring Persepolis‘s Images of Torture
In the recent discussions over censorship of Persepolis in Chicago public schools, there’s been a notable lack of discussion over why anyone would want the book removed — and what such reasoning represents.
Demo Volume 1 Review
The first volume of Demo was an impulse buy for me. I knew nothing about it, although the cover image of a red and pink punk rock couple lost in a sea of dour, grey… [more]
Dylan Dog: Of Death, Of Love
Death – Death – Death comes sweeping down – Filthy death, the leering clown. Death on wings, death by surprise, failing evil from worldly eyes. Death that spawns as life succumbs, while death and love,… [more]
A Unwelcomed Visitation: A Treatment of Drone Warfare in Royden Lepp’s Rust
With the advent of newer technologies and advanced AI, humans are being systematically phased out from everyday life. This is the machinist’s nightmare: to be replaced by the very things they fabricate and build. What… [more]
“Southern Change”: Alan Moore’s Swamp Thing Issue #41
Swamp Thing #41 “Southern Change” Cover date: October 1985. Writer: Alan Moore. Artists: Stephen Bissette & Alfredo Alcala. Colorist: Tatjana Wood. Letters: John Costanza. Editor: Karen Berger. Moore and Bissette offer a Voodoo-inspired tale beginning with ‘Southern Change’ in this… [more]
On the Professional Pre-History of Mark Millar: Shameless? Part 2
Continued from last week. Only Mark Millar knows which twelve months of his life would most deserve the title of Annus horribilis. But from what he’s said in the press, the years of the late… [more]
Sequart Announces Two New Books
Sequart is proud to announce two new books: Logan Ludwig’s Moving Panels: Translating Comics to Film and Julian Darius’s This Lightning, This Madness: Understanding Alan Moore’s Miracleman, Book One.
Ancestral Jungles and Voodoo Fears: Evelyn Cream and Race in Miracleman, Chapter 9 (Part 2)
We’ve begun discussing chapter nine of Alan Moore’s Miracleman (parts one and two), illustrated by Alan Davis. Today, we continue our exploration of that chapter.
Sequart Releases The Devil is in the Details: Examining Matt Murdock and Daredevil
Sequart Research & Literacy Organization is proud to release The Devil is in the Details: Examining Matt Murdock and Daredevil, edited by Ryan K. Lindsay. For half a century, Daredevil has been an outsider and… [more]
The Way We Write – A Review
The Way We Write by Rachael Smith centers on the actual band Her Name is Calla from England. Unfamiliar with the music, I researched the band and found the music to be dense, atmospheric, and… [more]
Marvel NOW! Vs. DC’s New 52
A few weeks ago, back when I started talking about my favorite comics of 2012, I mentioned that I kinda stopped following DC Comics at some point late last year. I said that between the… [more]
Foil Hats and Skin Suits: Examining the Content Concerns of Mental Illness in Villainy
In the last few years, there have been many concerns over the content of comic books. In fact, the concerns are over a wide range of topics from Catwoman being too provocative to that of… [more]