ON COMICS CHARACTERS
ON SCI-FI FRANCHISES
ON GRANT MORRISON
ON TV AND MOVIES
OTHER BOOKS
DOCUMENTARY FILMS
Search Results for:
miracleman
“I won’t wear one of those damnfool spandex body-condom things. I don’t have the bust for it”: Superhero Costume in the WildStorm Comics of Warren Ellis, Part 3
In How To Read Superhero Comics and Why, Klock applies Harold Bloom’s concept of the ‘agon’ to Ellis’s treatment of superheroes in his work for WildStorm. For Bloom, poets can only escape the ‘anxiety of… [more]
The Road to Vertigo: The Suppression and Eventual Rise of Mature Comics and Their Readers
The legacy of Vertigo recalls the very idea of comics finally being allowed to mature; letting people swear, drink, openly take drugs for recreation, and bringing in some serious ambiguity as to what it means… [more]
Alan Moore’s Marvelman, Part 2: Welcome to the Real World
What if Marvelman woke up in the real world? That was the simple and enticing high-concept that Alan Moore wished to explore when he began to write his graphic novel Marvelman. In the hands of a great writer something as simple as “Superman landing in the Soviet Union” can be developed into something profound and thought-provoking. On the surface, Moore’s premise can sound simple and a desire to bring more realism into the superhero genre. [more]
Alan Moore’s Marvelman, Part 1: From the Ashes of Obscurity…
Alan Moore brought new life to one of the most unoriginal superheroes. See how Alan Moore utilized Marvelman to explore and critique the Golden Age of Comics. [more]
Mythic World Rewriting: Alan Moore and Jacen Burrows’ Providence
“All countries and all cultures, in the first few centuries that follow their inception, seem to naturally produce their individual supernatural mythologies and webs of folkloric belief. This much we can deduce by looking at… [more]
The Framework in Agents of HYDRA
Where do we even begin? This is yet another article that I hadn’t been planning. Well, I’m sorry: that is just an alternative fact. You see, I had been thinking of writing about this arc… [more]
Traversing the Plateau of Leng: To Read is to Be Read in Alan Moore and Jacen Burrows’ Providence
“So much of this is made of books, this Commonplace book….” – Robert Black, Commonplace Book, June 5th, 1919, Providence #1, p. 32 This article is strange for a few reasons. First off, it’s about… [more]
Steven Universe: What is The Answer?
It’s funny how something called “The Answer” are two artistic and emotional pathways that ultimately lead to the same place. Then again, perhaps it is more accurate to say that it is quite fitting. In… [more]
A Myth of Love and Metals: Gem Fusion in Rebecca Sugar’s Steven Universe
“So we thought, why don’t we all marry each other?” “Ta-da!” “And if that’s not human enough for you, we throw in a little being born and some dying …” “We’re very sorry for your… [more]
Neil Gaiman Defines the Spawnverse: Writers Writing Spawn, Part 2
Neil Gaiman decided to write an issue of Spawn. This single issue created plot-threads, new characters and a legal battle that none could ever believe. [more]
A Novel Approach to Comic Books
Tokyo-based Australian creator Andrez Bergen has two literary books out this year, on top of a continuing stream of comic titles that he both scripts and often illustrates. What makes the back-to-back novels – Bullet… [more]
Neil Gaiman: Dream Dangerously – An Interview with Patrick Meaney
If you’re reading this, the name ‘Neil Gaiman’ most likely evokes many thought and feelings from you. He may very well be the writer of some of your favorite novels and short stories, the mind… [more]
An Interview with Julian Darius on the Canals of Mars Kickstarter
Julian Darius, the founder of Sequart Organization and Martian Lit, has been running a Kickstarter for his new Sci-Fi anthology comic series, Martian Comics. I got a chance to interview him about the world and… [more]
Remembering the Fifth of November: V for Vendetta
It’s the fifth of November, so I offer my humble thoughts on one of the true classics of our favourite medium. This is by no means an exhaustive analysis, simply a reflection on the book… [more]
Tiptoeing Through the Tulips with Neil Gaiman
While some of the points Gaiman makes in his “Tulip Speech” are less relevant than they were in the early ‘90s, his overall prescription for saving the industry is as simple and true today as ever. [more]
“If it Ain’t Broke …”: Revisionist Missteps in Batman: Earth One
Three weeks ago, while discussing the Superman: Earth One series of graphic novels, I mentioned in passing that I “didn’t care” for the Earth One Batman series. Now as far as Internet critiques go, saying… [more]
Julian Darius, Sequart’s Founder, on his Sci-Fi Comic Kickstarter
Julian Darius, the founder of Sequart Organization, is also a comics writer. His heady sci-fi comic, Martian Comics, is currently on Kickstarter with a 52-page special. CODY WALKER: For the uninitiated, what is the story… [more]
Superhero Movies and the Curse of Familiarity: The Age of Ultron
The art of adaptation as well as the challenge of sequels is to allow the audience to experience things in new ways—strange ways—in order to destabilize us. [more]
The Art of Miracleman: Olympus—Praising John Totleben
John Totleben’s artwork on Miracleman: Olympus is the single most influential art on superheroes since Neal Adams. It is also a rare case of art being “better” than Alan Moore’s writing. [more]
“Text Is Vulnerable To Criticism.”:The Multiversity: Ultra Comics #1
Well. Here we are. The penultimate issue of the Multiversity event. If we are to take anything away from this issue it is the realization that, contrary to my initial impressions and predictions, the greater… [more]
Smorgasbord #10: Whisker Monsters Improve Everything
After a week off Shawn and Tom are back at comics-talk game, starting with the huge news backlog — including the possibility of Spider-Man hopping to the Marvel Cinematic universe (and why it’s a bad… [more]
On All-New Miracleman Annual #1
One of the oddities of Marvel finally reprinting Miracleman is the relative lack of interest it’s generated. We’re talking about a work regarded as being as important as Watchmen in super-hero comics history (and arguably even more… [more]
Krazy Kat Vs. Little Nemo
Dichotomies are dangerous, though useful, monsters. As silly as debating the relative merits of Star Trek and Star Wars can be, these conversations inevitably probe our relative biases and also outline the vast set of… [more]
The Super-Heroics of Frank Miller and Alan Moore, Part 6
The Tragic Villains of Miller and Moore Moore and Miller’s approach to writing is always comparable and yet vastly different. Miller is hard-boiled crime writer and Moore delves deep into culture and vast concepts with… [more]
The Super-Heroics of Frank Miller and Alan Moore, Part 5
Optimism Ultimately, there are two types of stories: tragedies and comedies. There are no inherent requirements for tragedies or comedies. In the days of Shakespeare tragedies ended with death and comedies ended with weddings. But… [more]