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Magazine Archives for:
2014
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Hannibal: Beauty in Gore
The second season of Hannibal is upon us, and I, for one, think this show deserves much more attention than it has. Although this NBC series struggled with its first season’s ratings, many (including developer,… [more]
Great Books vs. Late Books: Should Marvel Switch to a Bi-Monthly Schedule?
When you picked up Hawkeye #16 in late January, you might have been wondering what happened to issue #15. Well, it turns out that #15, originally solicited for September, is finally scheduled to arrive in stores February… [more]
Bugged Out!: Scarab Reconsidered 20 Years On, Part Six
In the immortal words of Monty Python’s Flying Circus, “And Now For Something Completely Different —” It’s my belief, dear reader, that we live in drastic times — and that we have been for some… [more]
This Review is Rated NC-17: Sex – The Summer of Hard
It feels so strange to see the “Man of Action” logo on the back of a book like Sex. Not simply because of the graphic nature of the work (we’ll get to that) but because… [more]
Powerpuff Girls: Too Hot for Comics?
A small furor erupted recently when a variant cover for the IDW tie-in to the Cartoon Network series The Powerpuff Girls was withdrawn from circulation after criticism that it was too sexualized. Michigan comic book… [more]
Experiments in Slayage
Tales of the Slayers and Tales of the Vampires are two anthology comics published in trade paperback in 2001 and 2004, respectively. Both offer numerous diversions away from the established Buffy/Angel storylines and glimpses into… [more]
Pulling Out of the Dark Age?: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 7
Continued from last week. It’s only to be expected that Millar’s work on the JLA would mesh with Grant Morrison’s agenda. But it is remarkable how closely and effectively Millar’s contributions reflected his friend’s wider ambitions… [more]
Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around: John Lewis’s March
The story begins on the Edmund Pettus Bridge with a long line of marchers in the center of the top panel. They walk two-by-two on the left side of the road, hugging the railing, prepared… [more]
On the Art and Cycle of Proper Suffering: The Artist-Figure in Phoenix: Karma Part 3
In the second part of this article, we looked at the challenges that faced each artist-figure in Phoenix: Karma. Now, in the final part of this article, we will look at how they come to… [more]
Beware the Batman Episode 5 Review
After a short string of episodes that left me grossly underwhelmed, Beware the Batman bounces back with an episode that has revived my interest in the series. Broken, the fifth episode in the series, returns… [more]
Review of Arrow Season 2, Episode 12
I was excited when it was announced that Michael Jai White had been cast in a villainous role for Arrow’s second season. He’s a magnetic performer who hasn’t really had anywhere near the opportunities to… [more]
On “The Elements of Heartbreak”: A Special Valentine’s Day Post
Legion of Super-Heroes #31 (July 1992), co-written by Giffen and Tom & Mary Bierbaum, would go down in history as one of the most controversial Legion stories of all time. Taking a break from the… [more]
Dream in Conflict: “The Kindly Ones,” Chapters 7-9
It is revealed in The Kindly Ones Part 8 that the identity of the furies has lain in the titular designation all along. When Lyta Hall comes upon them in a solitary shack, deep in… [more]
Harley Quinn #2 Review
They say never judge a book by its cover, and yet comic books in some sense urge us to do so. Comic book covers are in essence what hook many of us into purchasing a… [more]
The Great Smallville Rewatch, Part 2
Tapping the Mythology One of the complaints that comics fans make about Smallville is that it took hours and hours of television simply to retell “the origin of Superman,” which has been done so much… [more]
An Interview with Richard Fairgray
After several years of gestation, writer / artist Richard Fairgray and co-writer Terry Jones have recently launched their flagship title, Blastosaurus, through ComiXology. Blastosaurus is an ongoing monthly comic about a crime-fighting dinosaur, written and drawn… [more]
“How Can You Possibly Live in a World Without Superheroes?”: The American Superhero Comics Of Mark Millar, Part 6
Continued from last week. Who was responsible for what in Morrison and Millar’s many collaborations? Credit boxes are often little help at all. Stories which carried the Morrison/Millar by-line were on occasion the product of an… [more]
The Foucault Gospel: Grant Morrison, French Philosophy, and One Mangy Coyote
William Shatner has said that one of the secrets to a fulfilling life is learning to say “yes.” Sure, you sometimes make mistakes, but if you say “yes” enough times you wind up recording albums… [more]
On the Art and Cycle of Proper Suffering: The Artist-Figure in Phoenix: Karma Part 2
In the first part of this article, we looked at the beginnings of the artist-figure Tezuka Osamu, the cultural time period that informed his work, the era he chose to create Phoenix: Karma in and… [more]
Capital Thoughts: Captain America #15
Iron Nail… Cap’s newest villain. Inventing a Cap villain can’t be easy. Any new character is immediately compared to the Red Skull, among the most iconic villains in comics, right up there with Batman’s the… [more]
#SixSeasonsAndAMovie: Why Community, and the Meta-Geeks Who Love It, are Having a Moment
With an epic narrative to rival the trials of Odysseus and his men, any fan of Dan Harmon’s “Community” can recount its constant struggle to remain on the air. In fact, the current hashtag on… [more]
Bugged Out!: Scarab Reconsidered 20 Years On, Part Five
Welcome back to 1993! Nice enough place to visit, although you might not want to live here — Actually, 1993 wasn’t a bad year at all for comics. The Invisibles got off the ground with a… [more]
Savant-Garde: Shaolin Cowboy
Shaolin Cowboy doesn’t care about me. It doesn’t want my opinion, my critical evaluation or my appreciation. As far as Shaolin Cowboy[1] is concerned, I might as well not exist. That is a very refreshing… [more]
Fray: Slayage in the 24th Century
Dark Horse and Joss Whedon first explored the “vampire slayer” world in the 2001-2003 8-issue miniseries Fray, widely available now in TPB. With an original script by Joss Whedon, conceived and written during the troubled… [more]
Sequart Announces She Makes Comics Documentary and Kickstarter Campaign
Sequart and Respect Films are proud to simultaneously announce the production of a brand new documentary about the history of women in comics and a Kickstarter campaign to help fund it. She Makes Comics busts… [more]