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superhero
Five Years Later: 52, the New 52, and the Elusive “New Reader”
DC Comics has never been shy about branding, their long line of multiverse spanning event comics don’t always feature the same titular influence, but it always seems like there’s some new form of Crisis looming… [more]
On “Vengeance of the Molecule Man!”, by Steve Gerber, Gil Kane, and Joe Sinnott
There’s something of the world before the meteor fell about the Marvel Comics of the mid-Seventies.
The Girl with the Robin Tattoo
By now everyone has at least heard of, if not seen, David Fincher’s adaptation of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, a film that many are calling one of the best of the year.
The Power Ring and the Comic Book (Part 3)
Green Lantern #18 reads like something of a reprise of issue #11, with Sinestro once again playing mind-games on the hero and luring him to Qward as well.
Musings over Space Adventures #35
When I was a kid, I remember asking my dad which superhero was his favorite.
On Alan Brennert and Jim Aparo’s Batman story, “Interlude on Earth-Two”
It may not seem like so at first, but everything is broken in Alan Brennert and Jim Aparo’s Interlude On Earth-Two.
How Batman Made Me a Buddhist
As I write this, Hanukkah is in full swing and Christmas is days away.
The Power Ring and the Comic Book (Part 2)
Green Lantern #3 makes the Weaponers of Qward the hero’s first repeat villains, as the extra-dimensional villains create an illusion to aid them in stealing Green Lantern’s power battery.
Continuity Conundrum
Continuity can be a good thing.
The Bane / Venom Connection
Ok, so here’s a fun one.
Parody in Alan Moore’s The Stars My Degradation
Alan Moore’s early professional work (such as Maxwell the Magic Cat, Roscoe Moscow, and The Stars My Degradation) was firmly rooted in comedy, which may seem at odds with the more later dramatic work he became… [more]
Aiming Below the Belt
I was speaking to a friend of mine recently who lives primarily in Thailand but has been staying in the U.S. temporarily, and I asked her if she was familiar with Superman.
Screen Villains
It’s often said that a hero is only as good as his villain. I think.
O Captain? Not My Captain
Captain America: the First Avenger—henceforth abbreviated to Captain—is a fairly entertaining film that illustrates both the advantages and disadvantages of applying real-world verisimilitude to comic-book superheroes.
Death and the Super-Hero
Let’s talk death.
Mark Millar’s The Ultimates, Part 8: The Grand Exit
A word of advice before going into this series: ignore the “Death of Spider-Man” banner at the top and you’ll be just fine.
Stan Lee, Presented (Part 2)
In the previous installment of “Stan Lee, Presented,” I argued that Stan Lee had functioned as a “truly creative editor” during his tenure as editor/writer at Marvel Comics.
Moore, Gibbons, and Superman Annual #11: For the Story that Has Everything
Superman Annual #11 is a comic that stands as a classic for all the right reasons.
Pacing and Punch in Watchmen #2
Watchmen is commonly thought of as one of the greatest graphic novels of our time, but it’s actually a reprint collection. The work originally came out as 12 separate issues, although they were all planned… [more]
Frank Miller Controversy
Having written a recent column dealing with Frank Miller’s “Holy Terror” graphic novel, and subsequently one regarding the Occupy protests, I feel that it would be pertinent for me to follow them up with a… [more]
Stan Lee, Presented
“A creative producer is very involved with the writing, even though he does not do the screenplay and is not the author of the original material. You work with the writer, you guide the writer,… [more]
Why Chris Claremont’s X-Men?: A Look at Comics in Focus
Over the past two years, I’ve produced two feature length documentaries about iconic comic book writers, Grant Morrison: Talking With Gods and Warren Ellis: Captured Ghosts. I’ve also thought a lot about what other stories… [more]
The Growing of Adult Pulp
In “The New 52 and the New Adult Pulp,” I asserted that DC’s new line followed the sensationalistic tradition of American pulp magazines, upon which most (though not all) early American comic books modeled their… [more]
A Man of the Times
In the year 1942, America was embroiled in global conflict – she had entered World War II.
Superheroes are More than Propaganda
It’s been five years since he originally announced it, and ten years since the events of Sept. 11, 2001, which inspired the story, but Frank Miller’s graphic novel Holy Terror has finally been released.