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Rich Johnston on Comics Gossip
Rich Johnston is the sole relevant gossip columnist for an entire artistic industry in America. Sometimes scandalous, his columns have broken major stories and changed the face of comics historicism,
Media Coverage of Comic Books: The Case of 60 Minutes II
Tonight, I watched 60 Minutes II because I read online that Marvel Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada, popular hero for returning (or contributing to the return of) Marvel Comics to greatness (or something closer), would be on the… [more]
Comics Published on 23 October 2002
Fantastic Four #62 Marvel Comics – Mark Waid (w); Mike Wieringo (p); Karl Kesel (i) I’m really torn on this one, because I feel like I should be enjoying Fantastic Four a lot more these… [more]
Reviews out of Time 2: The X-Men #1, Tales of Suspense #39, and Sgt. Fury #1
I’m told that there’s been a lot of e-mail in response to the last column, and what’s apparently called “printouts” of it has been sent to me, since I don’t do e-mail myself.
Comics Published on 16 October 2002
Spider-Man and the Black Cat: The Evil That Men Do #3 Marvel Comics – Kevin Smith (w); Terry Dodson (p); Rachel Dodson (i) My opinion of Kevin Smith’s comic book career is a lot like… [more]
Comics Published on 9 October 2002
Hunter: The Age of Magic #16 DC Comics / Vertigo — Dylan Horrocks (w); Richard Case (p); Steve Bird (i) Wow…Where to start? I’m rather torn on this one. There was a time, albeit rather… [more]
Comics Published on 2 October 2002
Uncanny X-Men #414 Marvel Comics — Chuck Austen (w); Sean Phillips (p/i) After a while you run out of ways to say the same good things about the same books. I know that problem is… [more]
Comics Published on 25 September 2002
Before I start, a couple of items of business: I did in fact get a request for me to review Ultimate Adventures #1 and Marville #1, though I don’t think that request was made with… [more]
X-Men is Not an Allegory of Racial Tolerance
It’s funny that it’s so resoundingly universally accepted. It’s been repeated so many times, from everyone from fans and comics professionals to scholars, that it’s become an article of faith.
Comics Published on 18 September 2002
Before I start, there’s something I want to address. As you can see, my first review is Captain Marvel #1, the first issue of Peter David’s contribution to the Marvel “U-Decide” stunt. I thought, very… [more]
Comics Published on 11 September 2002
This past Wednesday was new comics day. It was also my birthday. It was also, as we all know, September 11. Much was made in the media, the American media in particular, of remembering the… [more]
Comics Published on 5 September 2002
As I understand it, this was supposed to be the famous “psychic cat-fight” issue that Grant Morrison promised in an interview several months ago. Even though that promise has proven to be hollow (though, given… [more]
Reviews out of Time 1: Fantastic Four #1, The Incredible Hulk #1, and Amazing Fantasy #15
Guys, I’d like to tell you that there’s some good stuff going on over at this company called Marvel Comics! They got this guy Stan Lee writing, and he’s doing some weird stuff.
The Cult of the Writer
One of the major phenomena occurring in American comic books in the last two decades has been the cult of the writer, often in competition with the cult of the artist or illustrator. Various years… [more]
Superman 2002
Metropolis. A group of walking citizens suddenly stops on the street and stares hopefully toward the heavens.
A Brief Consideration of Gaiman’s Usage of Lucifer in The Sandman
Before he had his own ongoing series, Lucifer came to prominence in Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman. But Gaiman’s Lucifer went through three very different depictions, somewhat inconsistent with one another.
Against Silver Age Marvel, the Cult of Stan Lee, and Fantastic Four (Annual) #1 / For Comic Books as Literary Art
To this day, one hears otherwise intelligent comic book creators saying that they want to recapture the joy of reading Fantastic Four #1, of its fun and its newness. This always shocks me, especially when it… [more]
Comic Book Morality
It’s true: there’s a simplicity to seeing Doc Doom or Lex Luthor as bad and Superman or the Fantastic Four as good.
Censorship of The Authority
The 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks upon the United States of America left many Americans, and much of the world, seriously shaken and disturbed. Almost immediately, the shockwaves echoed throughout the artistic world:
The State of American Comics Address, 2002
The American comic book industry, as an economic institution, is doing terribly. Artistically, however, this will be remembered as a fairly good period. Many mainstream titles are selling less than 20,000 copies; a few even… [more]
The State of American Comics Address, 2001
Okay, ground rules: I take it for granted that comics — or, rather, the medium of graphic literature (an important distinction) — is a serious artistic form, obviously under-appreciated by comparison to painting, sculpture, and… [more]
Belfast and New York, Ireland and America, and “Irish Studies” as Reflected by Garth Ennis
Garth Ennis, an Irish writer working in the graphic novel (or extended comic book) format, represents a literary outsider. Although he shows considerably greater disdain for many other groups, Ennis has openly shown disdain for… [more]
Mark Millar on The Authority
The Authority, already popular, has taken off under the new team of Mark Millar and Frank Quitely. Though many doubted they could replace their popular predecessors, they have followed a revolutionary act with one that… [more]