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Why Continuity Matters
Continuity. The word alone strikes terror into the hearts of editors everywhere. When you disregard it, people will want it back. When you keep it, new readers complain it’s too much to ask of them.
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]
The Future of a Re-Fusion
Not long ago, I saw a post on the the Comics Beat by former Comics Journal contributor Robert Boyd remarking upon the virtual separation of the world of “mainstream comics” and “artcomics.” Boyd didn’t comment… [more]
Sex and “The Man who Has Everything”
Long before Alan Moore delved into literary pornography with Lost Girls, he was infusing his work with a broad understanding of human sexuality as natural. And this wasn’t limited to auteur projects like Lost Girls… [more]
Justice for All
Fourth Age of Comics is an excellent blog site that examines modern comic book storytelling with a particular focus on the types of issues superheroes can effectively be used to address.
Why Carlie Cooper Matters (in Just One Panel)
It’s hard to suppress the suspicion that there are comic-book creators who have quite deliberately chosen to ignore the business of storytelling in favor of butt-shots and throw-downs, pin-ups and continuity porn.
All Things Must Pass: How Comic Books Can Never Grow Up
You and me, we are getting old. I know. It does suck.
Diner Walls and Black Backgrounds: Punisher Max and Extradiegetic Poetics
I have had a few conversations about the work of Garth Ennis over the years, and have concluded that his work (and indeed, he himself) is misinterpreted or misunderstood by the average comic consumer.
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]
Another Reality: The Spatial Imperative, Part 1
Ah, the dreaded cliché super-hero page – well drawn, beautifully rendered, and completely incomprehensible.
Undoing Super-Hero Marriages: The Failure of the Writerly Imagination
With the news that Superman and Lois Lane will no longer be married after DC’s relaunch, super-hero comics have said loudly and clearly: they hate their characters being married because it makes for less drama.
Watch Grant Morrison: Talking with Gods for Free on Hulu
If you haven’t seen our Grant Morrison documentary, it has just debuted on Hulu, so you can now watch the entire film over and over for free! Check out the embedded video below:
Behind the Mask
At Halloween, superhero costumes are a popular choice for many Trick-or-Treaters. (We had two Iron Men and a Spider-Man come to our door last year.) This is a departure from the original concept behind Halloween… [more]
The Die is Cast: Cyclops Crosses the Rubicon
Cyclops of the X-Men is a wet blanket. He whines about the responsibility he shoulders and is perpetually miserable about the life he is thrust into. His personality is more that of a bad manager… [more]
The Origin of the Punisher and the Narrative Power of War
I do not think it is entirely unfair to suggest that the commonly agreed upon origin for the Punisher is focused on the idea of vengeance over the death of Frank Castle’s family. This is… [more]
Interview with Peter Laird
Peter Laird is an indie comic sensation. Together with Kevin Eastman, the two created the most successful independent comic franchise of all time, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Laird also started the Xeric Award — a… [more]
All for One, One for All — The Super-Hero Story
I had originally planned to write this article at a later date, but after reading Cody Walker and Julian Darius’s columns this past week, I couldn’t resist the temptation to jump ahead. I’ve been brewing… [more]
Colin Smith on Comics Criticism, Part 2
Continuing from part one, we now move on to discuss when it’s fair to criticize a work for depicting human rights violations such as torture and rape, writing personally, and comics culture.
Colin Smith on Comics Criticism
As a medium, comics are in a strange place. In many ways, we as comics scholars and advocates have achieved the respect we long sought.
Diagram for Delinquents Update #11: Community
Let me first open with another new promo card I made. I kind of like this one. It has more color than the previous promos and I like the presence of the hand in the… [more]
Dan Dare and the Seductive Myths of Englishness
In the very first Dan Dare adventure, which began to be serialised weekly in the Christian boy’s comic Eagle in 1950, we’re introduced to the ”Inter Planet Space Fleet some years in the future.”
Captain Britain and the Comforting Myths of Englishness
In Paul Cornell’s Captain Britain and MI:13 #1, the eponymous Captain is killed by a Skrull missile during an alien invasion of Britain. As is the way of super-hero comics — and as was something of a habit… [more]
Heroes Crying at Graveyards: Transforming Killing into Kidnapping in Blackest Night
Death can often be tragic, if not inexplicable. The sixteen year old in peak physical shape who dies of a coronary on the field. A mom crossing the street, struck down by falling debris from… [more]