Blog Archives
Heroes and Villains – Reviewing Recent Comics 7-19-2017
This time on Heroes and Villains, we’ll be looking at a variety of comics out this week and last, from a variety of genres. Meet me after the jump for my thoughts on Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #17, Sisters of Sorrow #1, Dark Days: The Casting #1, New Super-Man #13, Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 11 #9, Angel Season 11 #7, Kill All Monsters! Omnibus Volume 1, The Guild Library Edition, and Dept. H #16… be warned, there may be spoilers…
Heroes and Villains – Reviewing Recent Comics 7-5-2017
This time on Heroes and Villains, we’ll be looking at a variety of comics out this week and last, from a variety of genres. Meet me after the jump for my thoughts on Zodiac Starforce: Cries of the Fire Prince #1, Patriot-1, Wonder Woman #25, The Flash #25, All-New Guardians of the Galaxy Annual #1, Secret Empire #5, and The Rook Archives, Volume 2… be warned, there may be spoilers…
Heroes and Villains – Reviewing Recent Comics 5-25-2017
This time on Heroes and Villains, we’ll be looking at a variety of comics out in recent weeks while we were away, including selections from Marvel, DC, Dynamite, Boom!, and IDW. Meet me after the jump for my thoughts on Secret Empire #2, Victor LaValle’s Destroyer #1, The Sovereigns #1, Star Trek: Mirror Broken #1, and Justice League #21… be warned, there be spoilers…
Trailer Time: Justice League
As someone who really enjoyed Batman v Superman, I was feeling optimistic about the new Justice League movie. The new trailer isn’t doing it for me, though, except for Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman. What do you think?
Relive Days Gone By With “Black Hammer Giant-Sized Annual” On The Wednesday Run
The comic book annual.
In many ways, the comic book annual is a thing of the past – the last refuge of a special excitement for regular readers of an ongoing comic book series. For the most part, the “Annual” magic died out in the mid-1990’s. That makes for at least two generations of young comic book readers that have never really known the thrill of the double-sized, more experimental, stories that “Annuals” often produced.
Today, the “Annual” has generally been replaced by the one-shot issue, the miniseries, or completely wiped from existence in lieu of publishing multi-part stories within an ongoing comic book, that can be easily collected into trade paperbacks or hardcovers. With market-driven forces changed and thin margins and full workloads, there is no appetite for the back-end work needed to create a separate visual tale within the story of an ongoing series.
But there was a time when comic books were madcap fun – and the “Annual” was a staple and eagerly anticipated part of comic book lore.
One series aims to return to those glory days.
Today sees the release of the thrilling, multi-faceted, multi-part, Black Hammer Giant-Sized Annual!
And all of comic book fandom rejoices!
Aw Yeah It’s “Super Powers #1” On The Wednesday Run
Won’t someone think of the children?
The comic book medium is able to tell all kinds of stories, but often of late, the stories meant for kids has become something of an afterthought. That’s not to say that there aren’t great kids comics being published – there are. That’s just to say that the reading age of those that are actively interested in comic books has risen over the last three decades…and comic book companies have catered to that older demographic in their publications.
It’s great to see that, especially as we approach the holidays – a time of wonderment and excitement for children (and their parents) – that DC Comics has decided it’s apt time to publish something pretty wonderful for kids (and their parents).
Today sees the release of the super-awesome Super Powers #1!
The Biff Bam Pop! New York Comic Con 2016 Wrap Up
While the rest of the world is either in the desert listening to amazing music superstars or watching the latest blows in the American Presidential war, some of us have been focused on the genre events going on at this year’s New York Comic Con. Meet me after the jump for just a few of the highlights, including Iron Fist, the Defenders, Doctor Who, Power Rangers, Justice League, and The Walking Dead, just to name a few…
Trailer Time: Justice League
The Justice League trailer just dropped at Comic-Con, and it feels pretty darn good to us.
How about you?
Everything Old Is New Again With DC UNIVERSE: REBIRTH #1 On The Wednesday Run
Nearly five years ago, DC Comics, in one of their annual summer event series, did away with decades of comic book publishing history, continuity and brilliant stories with the unthinkable.
To both the horror and the delight of fandom, the company ended every title they published, starting them up again with brand new #1 issues. Over a span of weeks, fifty-two new titles would be released, an unprecedented move in the industry, designed to start everyone – characters and readers alike – from scratch.
It must be said, for every great new title, there was also a handful that underperformed.
Nearly five years later, in lieu of declining sales and market share, the committee of editors, writers and artists that make up the captaincy of DC Comics, decided something was missing from their line of publications.
Today, we get the big event that will fix it all. Today, we get DC Universe: Rebirth #1.
Follow me after the jump for the whys and wherefores, which I’ll keep spoiler-free!
RIP Darwyn Cooke – It Was Truly A Golden Age
Darwyn Cooke was a giant talent in the comic book industry and a titan as a sequential artist. Last weekend, at the age of 53, the world lost the award-winning writer and illustrator to cancer.
I, like many others, became familiar with the work of Darwyn Cooke through his DC: The New Frontier (2004), a six-issue miniseries that reexamined DC Comics’ stable of superheroes within the confines of the mid twentieth century and the changing political shape of America after World War II and into the Cold War era. DC: The New Frontier introduced readers to dozens of world-famous characters like Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Flash and even not-so-famous-but-beloved characters like the Challengers of the Unknown, meeting each other for the first time – in the same chronological order that they were originally published during the mid-twentieth century. It brought characters and ideas through the Golden Age of comic books (1930’s to 1950’s) to the burgeoning silver age (1950’s to 1970’s), with the story actually culminating in the foundation of the Justice League of America.
It was a brilliant idea. A tribute as much to the publishing history of comic books as it was a rollicking superhero adventure, the acclaimed series would garner multiple awards including Eisner Awards for Best Limited Series, Best Coloring and Best Publication Design. It also won Harvey Awards including Best Artist, and a Shuster Award for Outstanding Canadian Comic Book Cartoonist. DC: The New Frontier has been collected in numerous formats include a Deluxe and Absolute version, and was made into a direct-to-video animated film which preserved Cooke’s distinctive artistic sensibilities.
