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Magazine
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]
“Nice to Meet You, Big Guy!”: The American Superhero Comics of Mark Millar, Part 5
Continued from last week. Though he’d never again see one of his scripts feature in any of the Batman’s many headlining titles, Millar would return to the character over and over again throughout the Nineties. It’s… [more]
The Curious Case of the Omnipresent Consulting Detective, Part 2: An Interview with Leah Moore and John Reppion
You’re in for a special treat this week. In my last column, I talked about the flurry of Sherlock Holmes projects that have appeared over the past five years. This week I wanted to turn our… [more]
On the Art and Cycle of Proper Suffering: The Artist-Figure in Phoenix: Karma
It is neither a new nor a culturally specific idea that art is created through suffering: that the figure of the artist is an individual who must experience great ordeals in order to accomplish his… [more]
Review of Community Season 5, Episode 5
I was really looking forward to this episode of Community. It’s quite possibly the last episode of the show to feature Troy (played by Donald Glover). It’s also a new high-concept episode, something the show… [more]
Review of Arrow Season 2, Episode 11
“Blind Spot” is the kind of episode that was needed after last week’s subpar outing. It’s not an all-time classic episode, but it’s a good, solid hour of TV that hinges on a strong central… [more]
Lights Go Out on Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark
Saturday, January 4, saw the last ever Broadway performance of Julie Taymor’s calamitous superhero musical, Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark. I’m a huge Spidey fan (who isn’t?), so I’ve been curious to see the play… [more]
Top 5 TV Farewells of 2013
In 2013, we got to see a lot of comings and goings in the world of television. You had new shows making their bid for supremacy, and you had some oldies (but goodies) take that… [more]
The Champions: A Bridge Between Genres and Time
The Champions as term and footnote When most people hear of the term “The Champions,” they think of the iconic song created by Queen. Others think of the 1975-1978 Marvel comic series or various other… [more]