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Rosebuds and Grim Reapers: Why Batman: Mask of the Phantasm is the Citizen Kane of Animated Films
From the deputized FBI agent of the 1940’s movie serials to the gritty, realistic vigilante of Christopher Nolan’s films, Hollywood has portrayed Batman in a variety of ways, but none of the live-action films have… [more]
Exposing Triple-D Tits: Sexuality and the Comic Book
There is no limit to what can be said about sex. Such a simple, almost industrial an act, yet mind boggling broad in its implications. The wealth of films, TV shows, and countless songs about… [more]
Clash of the Mythologies
I can appreciate someone like Chris Ware for his artistry, which I think is beautiful, but I think his attitude stinks, it just seems to be the attitude of somebody really privileged, and honestly, try… [more]
Whatever Happened to the Big Red Cheese?
As I write this, Captain Marvel’s future at DC comics is uncertain. Before the relaunch, Freddy Freeman was Captain Marvel (or maybe he was going by the name “Shazam” to clear up all those pesky… [more]
The Right Number – A New Reading Convention
Scott McCloud’s The Right Number is a compact, experimental web-comic. It is also one of the most successful web-comics ever produced. This is primarily due to it questioning something that most creators take for granted… [more]
The Walls of Samaris, Part 4: Textual Variants
We’ve previously examined the story of The Walls of Samaris, a French masterpiece that deserves to be known among comics-literate Americans. In part two, we looked at several implications of its trompe-d’oeil device. In part three, I wrapped up… [more]
Keeping the World Strange in Comics Stores Wednesday
Keeping the World Strange, our book on Warren Ellis and John Cassaday’s Planetary, hits comics stores Wednesday (14 September 2011).
Justice League International #1 Review
It’s hard to put into words how silly Justice League International #1 is. On the one hand, it’s written in a style that’s a throwback to the very early 1990s. That shouldn’t be a total surprise:… [more]
Not Your Daddy’s Superman: How Grant Morrison’s Action Comics #1 Works
Having slammed Justice League #1 so severely in the last week, I feel as if I’d be remiss not to point out how excellent Action Comics #1 is and how it gets right virtually everything… [more]
The Heroic Struggle of Beta Ray Bill
This is a somewhat informal essay on a character that has fascinated me for a few years, Beta Ray Bill. While it echoes the work of folklorists and the hero narrative (Propp, Campbell, et al),… [more]
Mark Millar’s The Ultimates, Part 6: And Now for Something Completely Different
If Ultimate Comics Avengers was a departure from Millar’s previous Ultimates work, then its sequel goes completely off the rails.
Spider Jerusalem and Friedrich Nietzsche
“Spider Jerusalem is like Hunter S. Thompson in the 25th century.” That is how the lead character of Warren Ellis’s Transmetropolitan was first described to me.
Hollow Spectacle (or How Super-Hero Comics Warped My Logic Circuit)
There’s nothing wrong with spectacle. Even, I’d argue, for its own sake. Hell, it used to be its own genre of Hollywood movie (e.g. Cleopatra and more recently Gladiator)! But there’s good and bad spectacle,… [more]
Diagram for Delinquents Update #18: Grimmness
In April 1963, two men sat down to discuss the controversial topic of violence in the media. One man had dedicated his life to the study and eradication of it. The other manipulated it to… [more]
Loud Sounds and Bright Lights: Comic Books and the Addict
I hate the new Justice League. Let me be emphatic on this point: I loathe the new Justice League. I realize to a few this may seem a bit dramatic. After all, isn’t this book exactly what… [more]
How Not to Relaunch a Universe: A Negative Review of Justice League #1
How bad is Justice League #1, written by Geoff Johns and penciled by Jim Lee? It’s virtually a road map for how not to write super-hero comics.
How to Launch a Universe in 52 Easy Steps: A Positive Review of Justice League #1
Though I typically skew toward hyperbole when I discuss anything, I will do my best to avoid such in this review. So let’s get this out of the way right now: is Justice League the best… [more]
Fresh Off the Boat: Stories of the Americanization Process in Anya’s Ghost and American Born Chinese (Part Two)
While Anya’s Ghost subtly weaves the theme of the “FOB” and the struggle with Americanization into its story of coming of age and the supernatural, Gene Luen Yang’s award-winning American Born Chinese takes direct aim… [more]
Defending Identity Crisis
In the past week, not only has my hero Grant Morrison said some pretty strong opinions over Brad Meltzer’s Identity Crisis, but Newsarama has listed the crossover as being their number 1 moment worth forgetting… [more]
Reading Direction and the Story Experience
Comics are a strange thing. When you look at a comic page, if you’ve beheld a few of them before, you usually get right into reading it. Panel one first, then panel two, and so… [more]
The Walls of Samaris, Part 3: More Mysteries… and Some Possible Solutions
We’ve previously examined the story of The Walls of Samaris, a French masterpiece that deserves to be known among comics-literate Americans. In part two, we looked at several implications of its trompe-d’oeil device.
Diagram for Delinquents Update #17: Testimony
1) This week’s Diagram for Delinquents promo card is greatly inspired. I like its eeriness, and I plan to use the handwritten font in at least one more promo. 2) I’m no different than anyone who… [more]
O Captain, My Captain (Part 4)
I started this series three weeks ago to examine the suspicions of blogger Bosch Fawstin that director Joe Johnston’s movie, Captain America: The First Avenger, would reveal the filmmaker’s lack of pride in his country… [more]
Superman is a Sex-Crazed Nazi!
I’m astounded. We shouldn’t even be having this conversation. Yet here we are. Racist tweets by comic shops, Glenn Beck talking about Spider-Man and the change of traditions, and a “radical” Superman. What the hell… [more]