Reviews

Reviews of comic books, graphic novels, books on comics, and other comic-related media.

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Guardians: A Marvel #1 Worth Guarding

Guardians #1 Marvel Comics – Marc Sumerak (w); Casey Jones (p); David Self (i)Let’s be perfectly clear on one thing before we start: Marvel puts out entirely too many books in any given month and… [more]

Batman Flounders, Richard Dragon Amuses, and Spider-Man 2 Gets Some Snarky Comments

Just a couple quick reviews and a little something “special” at the end this week. Batman #629 DC Comics – Judd Winick (w); Dustin Nguyen (p); Richard Friend (i) Gotham City’s criminal underworld is currently… [more]

The Gray Area in Black and White

The Gray Area #1 Image Comics – Glen Brunswick (w); John Romita, Jr. (p); Klaus Janson (i)John Romita is one of my favorite artists of the Silver Age. I’m also of the opinion that his… [more]

Getting Under the Hood of Ex Machina

Ex Machina #1 DC Comics / WildStorm – Brian K. Vaughan (w); Tony Harris (p); Tom Feister (i)I must say, I’ve been nervously looking forward to this book for the past two months. I’ve been… [more]

I Shot the Devil (Chon’s laziness works out in everyone’s favor — and heals a broken nation)

Ronald Reagan died last Saturday, and I pretty much swore I’d save this section of what all the cool kids are calling “The Arb” for self-indulgent goofball antics and stay away from the topical stuff,… [more]

The Fall of Hype: Astonishing X-Men and Superman

Astonishing X-Men #1 Marvel Comics – Joss Whedon (w); John Cassaday (a)Well, I can’t envision any scenario where this book isn’t the most reviewed title of the week from the online comics community; there’s just… [more]

And the Senses Being Dulled are Mine (Let’s regain our sense of fun with The Plastic Man Archives, Volume 1)

Here’s the problem with superhero comics: They’re inherently stupid. But here’s the great thing about superhero comics: They’re inherently stupid. Yep. Superhero comics are stupid. Most of the people who disagree with this statement miss… [more]

Of Adventures of Superman and Invincible

Adventures of Superman #628 DC Comics – Greg Rucka (w); Matthew Clark (p); Nelson (i)Y’know what I am so fucking sick of? Superman: The Indecisive Candyass. Last Son of Krypton? How about Last Hand-Wringing Pussy… [more]

Every Atom Belonging to Me as Good Belongs to You (He self-indulgently rambles once again and then finally talks about Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind)

In the words of Frederick Schodt: Manga! Manga! We all love manga. It’s replaced ice cream as that thing we all scream for. It’s just fun to say. Come on and say it with me:… [more]

Of Spider-Man and Action Comics

Spider-Man #2 Marvel Comics – Mark Millar (w); Terry Dodson (p); Rachel Dodson (i)Man, it is not often that I see a book transition from “promising” to “pointless” so quickly. To recap, last issue, after… [more]

The New Firestorm

Firestorm #1 DC Comics – Dan Jolley (w); Chriscross (p); John Dell (i)It seems like everyone has been clamoring for a Firestorm relaunch for the longest time now. Frankly, I’ve never been able to figure… [more]

In Which Doris Has Had Her Oats for a Bit (and Summer Blonde is Discussed)

As I was familiarizing myself with my new surroundings here at Sequart.com, one of the things I’ve noticed was that, like with the rest of the internet, save a few exceptions, a lot of action… [more]

On Mark Millar’s Spider-Man

Spider-Man #1 Marvel Comics / Marvel Knights – Mark Millar (w); Terry Dodson (p); Rachel Dodson (i)It’s not often that I look at a solicitation text, roll my eyes and absolutely WANT to dislike a… [more]

Power and Masculinity: On Be a Man and Supreme Power

Be a Man Top Shelf Productions – Jeffrey Brown (w/a)Last year, Jeffrey Brown released Clumsy, his debut graphic novel (or rather, I think it’s his debut) through Top Shelf. It was an enjoyable read, in… [more]

Sweet Love, Suicidal Depression, and Racism

Mighty Love DC Comics – Howard Chaykin (w/a)Howard Chaykin seems to be one of those rare, completely polarizing figures in the comics industry. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone who was familiar with his… [more]

Strike First, Strike Hard, No Mercy Sir (It is Time to Talk about The Interman)

Hello. I’m Jeff Chon and I’m your new arbiter of good taste. Introductions are horribly self-indulgent and self-indulgence is something I save for poetry slams and double live albums. So if you want to know… [more]

2 March Comics

Alpha Flight #1 Marvel Comics – Scott Lobdell (w); Clayton Henry (p); Mark Morales (i)Alpha Flight is one of those titles that, during the periods that it’s not being published, people seem to think they… [more]

New X-Men Feeling Old

New X-Men #153 Marvel Comics – Grant Morrison (w); Marc Silvestri (a)Well, it’s almost over. Grant Morrison’s semi-historic run on the formerly adjective-less X-Men is in the final stages, this issue being the penultimate moment.… [more]

More 11 February Comics

4 #1 Marvel Comics – Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa (w); Steve McNiven (p); Mark Morales (i) Not so long ago, the comic book market barely needed one ongoing Fantastic Four book. Suddenly, it needs three. So, based… [more]

Chosen and Stay Puffed

Oy. Welcome to this incredibly late New Comics Day. Apologies for the long delays — paying work and some side project have been taking over life as of late. (If you happen to have a… [more]

Aquaman’s New Direction

Aquaman #15 DC Comics – Will Pfeifer (w); Patrick Gleason (p); Christian Alamy (i)Ah, Aquaman. Monarch, superhero… subject of more failed relaunches than just about any other hero imaginable. At this point, there’s not much… [more]

Coup d’État: Sleeper

Coup d’État: Sleeper DC Comics / Wildstorm — Ed Brubaker (w); Jim Lee (a)Internet, prepare your flamethrowers. Ready? Here we go: This is one of the single dumbest comics I’ve ever read. And apparently I’m… [more]

Preacher: Texas and Beyond

Hello, there, and welcome to another New Comics Day. This week I’m taking the easy way out and reprinting an old essay I wrote for the now-defunct Savant. It’s older material, but I’ve gone through… [more]

A Day at Borders

Greetings, and welcome back. I just got back to Chi-town on an Amtrak train, just in time for the inaugural edition of New Comics Day 2004, the first after our holiday hiatus. Good to see… [more]

Optic Verve X-Travaganza!

Just for the sake of doing something different (y’know, like me reviewing more than one book a week), I thought I’d take advantage of the fact that four books with X’s in their titles all… [more]