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Editorials
How Batman Made Me a Buddhist
As I write this, Hanukkah is in full swing and Christmas is days away.
Continuity Conundrum
Continuity can be a good thing.
The Bane / Venom Connection
Ok, so here’s a fun one.
Super-Hero Prose: It’s About Damn Time
Marvel is branching out into legitimate publishing and I couldn’t be more excited.
Aiming Below the Belt
I was speaking to a friend of mine recently who lives primarily in Thailand but has been staying in the U.S. temporarily, and I asked her if she was familiar with Superman.
Screen Villains
It’s often said that a hero is only as good as his villain. I think.
Death and the Super-Hero
Let’s talk death.
Frank Miller Controversy
Having written a recent column dealing with Frank Miller’s “Holy Terror” graphic novel, and subsequently one regarding the Occupy protests, I feel that it would be pertinent for me to follow them up with a… [more]
Who Needs Killing?: Frank Miller and Blanket Morality
Each day we get closer to having to admit that some of our heroes have views we disagree with. Some views we might even call nuts. Sure, we might love our heroes to be a… [more]
Stan Lee, Presented
“A creative producer is very involved with the writing, even though he does not do the screenplay and is not the author of the original material. You work with the writer, you guide the writer,… [more]
V for Vendetta Provides a Face for the Frustrated
If you follow my twitter feed at all, you might notice lately that I have been retweeting several updates from various professional journalism and citizen journalism sources regarding the Occupy Wall Street movement.
The Growing of Adult Pulp
In “The New 52 and the New Adult Pulp,” I asserted that DC’s new line followed the sensationalistic tradition of American pulp magazines, upon which most (though not all) early American comic books modeled their… [more]
Damian, You Son of a Bat!
Damian is the son of Bruce Wayne and Talia Al-Ghul, and has become one of the central characters in Morrison’s Batman epic and beyond.
DCU Animated: Some Meditations on Adaptations
Of all the comics I’ve read throughout the years, I think I’ve read Batman: Year One the most, so it’s sort of strange that it’s not a particularly memorable comic to me.
How to Level a Lumpy Playing Field
In The Linking Myth I stated that I thought that the Jungian approach to understanding the myths in all the stories humans tell proved superior to any linguistic analysis.
Why I Believe in Comics
On NPR, there is a program called This I Believe… where respondents briefly explain their particular belief about a certain topic in around 500 or so words.
Have We Isolated Ourselves?
Every so often we get a good comics scandal involving a creator and random fan bickering across the internet. Seemingly within days it, has sent ripples across the comics world. Jack Creator and Ralph the… [more]
Arkham City Fights to Make Robin Relevant Again
One of my favorite things to ponder when it comes to the realistic or quasi-realistic treatment of superheroes is the treatment of Robin, The Boy Wonder.
Why Comics Have Failed to Achieve Real Respect
It might superficially seem as if comics have finally achieved respect. They’re covered by the mainstream press. They’re increasingly taught in colleges. Their adaptations account for a huge percentage of Hollywood blockbusters. Hey, even nerd… [more]
Super-Heroes Getting Laid
By now, everyone in the comics blogosphere is more than familiar with the controversy that arose from the recent Catwoman #1.
Respect Your Audience: The New 52 and Calvin and Hobbes
DC’s New 52 initiative has sparked a lot of recent controversy over the presentation of women and female characters.
Her Name was Jezebel
After finishing Batman R.I.P., many complained that the reveal of Jezebel Jet as a member of the Black Glove was completely obvious – that it was not the shocking plot twist Morrison had promised them in the beginning.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, on the Guitar… Superman!”
The Last Son of Krypton, looking a little less brawny than I imagined him to be and with less than enough hair to pull off a spit curl, took center stage while his superfriends disappeared… [more]
How Could They Do That?: Understanding Scott Lobdell and the New Comics Criticism
I’m quite certain writer Scott Lobdell, writer of Red Hood and the Outlaws, didn’t intend to make Starfire in any way diminishing of women. I know this because it’s leaked that DC was concerned, prior… [more]
Seeing through Spectacles
Julian Darius’s essay Hollow Spectacle cites a current DC comic for its overuse of meaningless spectacular scenes, such as a scene in the recent Justice League #1, in which Green Lantern uses his power ring… [more]