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Mark Millar’s The Ultimates, Part 5: The Return
After Ultimates 2, Millar stepped away from the Ultimate universe for a couple of years. During his absence, Jeph Loeb took over forUltimates 3 and while it was a more traditional super-hero story, it still had… [more]
Mark Millar’s The Ultimates, Part 4: More Betrayal
After numerous issues of in-fighting and build up, all of the pieces are in place for Millar’s endgame and he takes the series to its only logical conclusion — America’s arms race backfires. It’s the… [more]
How to be a Super-Hero in Five Minutes Flat
J. Michael Straczynski and Esad Ribic’s Silver Surfer: Requiem is one of the best comics I have read in recent memory.
“Ultimatum”, “Crisis On Infinite Earths” & “Onslaught” & The Thinning Out Of The Superhero Herd A Touch:- “The End Of All Flesh Is Come Before Me”
“Ultimatum” 14. “Ultimatum” was designed to affect an extraordinary culling of super-folks from Marvel’s Ultimate Universe, a somewhat-ailing if still successful component of the companies multiverse. Like “Crisis” and “Onslaught”, it was a project designed… [more]
Mark Millar’s The Ultimates, Part 3: Saying Something
Volume 2 of The Ultimates (sometimes referred to as Season 2) is not only vastly superior to the first, but I would argue that it is the best work of Millar’s career. It’s a fascinating… [more]
Mark Millar’s The Ultimates, Part 2: Something More Traditional
After the first six issues of Millar’s The Ultimates had established the team as a group of celebrity soldiers with little ethical or moral backbone (except for Thor who is considered insane by the others),… [more]
Mark Millar’s The Ultimates, Part 1: The Anti-Comic
With the ten-year anniversary of Mark Millar’s The Ultimates coming up next year, and with an all new line up of Ultimate books coming from Jonathan Hickman and Nick Spencer later this year, there’s no… [more]
Thor as Camp
Thor is a glitzy, glossy summer movie. It’s also high camp in the traditional sense: super-serious and apparently blissfully unaware of how utterly ridiculous it is on every level. It may take itself more seriously… [more]
Action Comics #1 and the Superman We Know and Love
Action Comics #1 is the quintessential comic book. Beyond simply being Superman’s first appearance, the cover is iconic, and it holds the distinction of being the most expensive comic book of all time. If ever… [more]
G.I. Joe: Resolute: The Real American Heroes
The ’80s were, hands down, the best time for cartoons. Between Thundercats, Masters of the Universe, G.I. Joe, Transformers, and a plethora of other cartoons that are too numerous to mention here, the ’80s were the… [more]
Grant Morrison’s Wildstorm Universe, Part 2: The Authority
While Grant Morrison reimagined the WildStorm Universe’s first team with his WildCats relaunch, the writer also tackled the most popular team with his run on The Authority.
Grant Morrison’s Wildstorm Universe, Part 1: Wildcats
After Mark Millar left The Authority and Warren Ellis’s Planetary had gone to a more erratic schedule, the WildStorm Universe needed a big name to come in and turn the whole line of comics around. Enter Grant… [more]
Kick-Ass: The Comic in Retrospect
The movie version of Kick-Ass received so much press attention that the comic can feel like a footnote. Because the movie was optioned and produced before the series was even complete, it’s easy to feel… [more]
The Peter David Factor: Part 16
X-Factor #85 (Dec. 1992) — Snikts and Bones — This issue continues X-Factor’s part (Part 6) of the multi-part crossover known as X-Cutioner’s Song. Since last issue, Apocalypse has fought and escaped the X-Men, Cannonball… [more]
Deconstructing “Batman R.I.P.”
There’s a lot of controversy surrounding Grant Morrison’s Batman run. To detractors, it’s just unreadable. This often goes along with ugly comments about Morrison in general: that he’s admitted to being inspired by drugs and that… [more]
Valérian: Spaceships, Simulacra, and Star Wars
The French Connection is back after a long hiatus with the same purpose it had two years ago, to present and review significant bande-dessinées. Previous columns dealt with recent publications, works by Sfar, Trondheim or… [more]
Batman #678: The Zur-En-Arrh Connection
Grant Morrison’s Batman #678 relies heavily on reference to Batman #113 (February 1958), specifically Zur-En-Arrh.
Run, Bong-Gu, Run! Review
“Bong-Gu” is the Korean word for “fart.” Although my buddy Kevin says it’s actually “Pong-Gu,” which led to a very lengthy discussion about pronunciation. Then we agreed to call the whole thing off. Significance of… [more]
Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid…
Editor’s Note: The irony is thick with this essay. It was written a few days ago, but with news of the DC-related story reported within the past day by The New York Daily News, it… [more]
Countdown to Final Crisis #1
So, here it is then. After a year of issues (52 weeklies!), we’ve finally reached the end only to find out that it’s time to get on an entirely new train next week. But maybe… [more]
Dreams, Nightmares & Visions: Haunted, Jessica Farm & Funeral of the Heart
In this article, we’ll be looking at three comics that deal with the life of the mind and the delights & terrors within. First up is Phillipe Dupuy’s HAUNTED, a book that’s part dream journal… [more]
Batman #673: The Lingering Shadow of 1963
Grant Morrison’s Batman has been courting controversy since it began. Batman has a son? Man-Bats learned ninjitsu? Comics can be full of words instead of pictures?
Weirdling
As much as it fears me to admit this in a geek milieu, I must say I’m not a huge H.P. Lovecraft fan. I will say this about Lovecraft: he seems tailor-made for comics. Inexplicably,… [more]
Batman #663 Review
Believe it or not, Grant Morrison’s “The Clown at Midnight,” published in Batman #663 (Mar 2007), has a lot in common with J.D. Salinger’s final published short story, “Hapworth 16, 1924.” Having crafted The Catcher in the… [more]