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superhero
Ultimate Spider-Man #4 Uses Language to Explore Peter Parker and Spider-Man
Ultimate Spider-Man #4 primarily consists of conversations, inner monologues, and characters running away from each other. No one throws a single punch. Some of the events, like Peter’s foray into wrestling and arguments with Uncle… [more]
“He’s Camp as Christmas, but He’s Good as Gold”: Shameless? Part 28
Continued from last week. The debate about the attitudes expressed in Millar’s work towards LGBT issues is hardly a new one. Even as early as 1993, Monaghan’s pseudo-interview with Millar and Morrison in Comic World #18… [more]
How Comics Work: The Fight Scene, Part 2
Wonder Woman 18 By Brian Azzarello (writer) Goran Sudzuka (artist) Cliff Chiang (artist), Tony Akins (layout artist), Dan Green (finishes) Mathew Wilson (colourist) et al. Not to pick on American superhero comics but Wonder Woman seems… [more]
A Safe Pair of Hands?: Shameless? Part 27
Continued from last week. Millar’s longest running assignment at 2000AD had been Robo-Hunter, for which he wrote several hundred pages between 1991 and 1993. (*1) Created by writer John Wagner and artists Jose Ferrer and Ian… [more]
Humanity, Heroism, and Action: Grant Morrison’s Action Comics #12
Captain Comet has invaded Superman’s mind and created a false history that secretly reveals Clark’s desires (and also what most fans would probably want from the hero). Ma and Pa Kent wave their son goodbye… [more]
“What’s the Point Chief?”: Shameless? Part 26
Continued from last week. Laughter can be used to reveal prejudice before the mind has the chance to stifle it. But the Millar of the period gave no sign that he disapproved of his own heartless… [more]
A Smarter World: Hickman’s Avengers #1-3
Judging a long form story based on a small glimmer of it month to month doesn’t make much sense. You can judge a cake from a slice, but this isn’t cake! Stories trace trajectories. … [more]
How Comics Work: The Fight Scene, Part 1
Most Superhero comics are based around two things: character-based drama and fight scenes. Many even forgo the former for the latter, under the horrible impression that they’re the same thing. This is in part due… [more]
The Stitching Together of a Mythos: Kris Straub’s Broodhollow
It’s a rare thing to watch a reality in the process of its own formation. It’s like observing a building being created row by row: block by block. But in this case it’s more like… [more]
“Never Trust A Woman… Women Will Eat You Alive”: Shameless? Part 25
Continued from last week. But Millar’s work for Fleetway often went far beyond casual, unthinking sexism. As the months passed and the examples of this piled up, he gave every impression of being a died-in-the-wool misogynist.… [more]
“The Best Thing Since Dark Knight, Possibly Better”: Shameless? Part 23
Continued from last week. Despite years of cold shoulders and rejection letters, Millar’s determination to write for the major players in the American comics industry never seems to have wavered. In particular, he continued to long… [more]
Humanity, Heroism, and Action: Grant Morrison’s Action Comics #10
After taking an issue off to visit Earth 23 and President Superman, Morrison returns the narrative back to Maxim Zarov (also known as Nimrod the Hunter) who was last seen killing a T-Rex at the… [more]
A Tale of Two Choices—Reflections on Man of Steel
Warning: If you somehow have managed to not see Man of Steel or had its controversial ending spoiled, turn away. In The Man of Steel from 2013, Superman faces a man that appears to be… [more]
“But The Bad People Haven’t Gone Away”: Shameless? Part 22
Continued from last week. The Spider wasn’t the only long-unseen British superhero to be radically reworked by Millar in Vicious Games. He also briefly laid claim to Tri-Man, who’d been a far more conventional example of the… [more]
Superior Spider-Man #14 Review
Superior Spider-Man #14 Written by Dan Slott Art by Humberto Ramos and Victor Olazaba Colors by Edgar Delgado Published by Marvel Comics Rating: 9 (of 10) “Otto’s ambition, confidence and preparation in Superior Spider-Man #14… [more]
The Wolverine is a Cut Above the Rest
(Sorry about the headline. Low-hanging fruit.) A few months ago I sort of picked apart the trailer for The Wolverine and voiced my disappointment in the direction that they’d seemingly taken the movie in. I… [more]
Thoughts on Reviewing Comics
Every Wednesday, local comic shops and online retailers provide readers with a bevy of new comic book titles and issues. Some superhero series take flight while others crash without rhyme or reason. Some of us… [more]
“Lots of People Dressed Like That in the Sixties”: Shameless? Part 21
Continued from last week. Fifteen months would pass until March 1992′s 2000 AD Action Special and the next of Millar’s superhero stories to see print. A stillborn revamping of the Sixties British superhero The Spider, it… [more]
What it Means to Take Superheroes Seriously
It’s been a few weeks now, and I think that maybe, just maybe, comic book fandom is ready to talk about something else besides Man of Steel. Maybe. As expected, the movie turned out to be… [more]
“That Slightly Dodgy, Anarchic Material”: Shameless? Part 20
Continued from last week. The obviousness of Millar’s influences would become more and more of a problem as his work for Fleetway continued. Of course, 2000AD had been founded upon a deliberate policy of appropriating and… [more]
Why Can’t Spider-Man Swing Both Ways?
Recently, Entertainment Weekly ran a piece in which Amazing Spider-Man 2 star Andrew Garfield questioned why his character, Peter Parker, couldn’t be rewritten as being gay in the upcoming film. Garfield, who last played Parker/Spidey… [more]
“A Worm Shouts a Magic Word”: “Shameless? Part 19
Continued from last week. Millar hardly made it easy for the reader to sympathise with his protagonist. Arthur Montgomery is as unconvincing as a type as he’s unsympathetic as a character, and it’s only in… [more]
Catalyst Comix #1 (of 9) Review
Catalyst Comix #1 (of 9) Written by Joe Casey Art by Dan McDaid, Paul Maybury and Ulises Farinas Colors by Brad Simpson Published by Dark Horse Comics Rating: 7 (of 10) “Catalyst Comix #1 is… [more]
Yet Those Hands Will Never Hold Anything: Emiya Shirou as the Interactive Superhero of Fate/Stay Night (Part 2)
Continued from part one. At some point in the superhero trope, the hero has to start building on the foundation of their training and perfecting their powers. For Shirou, this results in the mangling of… [more]
Humanity, Heroism, and Action: Grant Morrison’s Action Comics #8
The issue begins inside the bottle city of Metropolis as Lex Luthor explains that he has no desire to be rescued by Superman and then tries rationalizing his alliance with the Collector as a plan… [more]