Reviews of books, comics, movies, and other random stuff.
I was still out of comics back in 2000 when Marvel pulled off its Sentry hoax, pretending to have discovered a Silver Age creation of Stan Lee's that pre-dated even the Fantastic Four, and getting that bastion of reputable comics journalism, Wizard, to go along with the stunt. Purportedly their answer to Superman, but with the personal foibles that were Marvel's forte, even Lee played along, claiming to remember shelving the character because he was "so powerful, he could very well have destroyed the entire Marvel Universe and everything we were planning." They even created, and then killed, a fictional…
[From the ridiculous to the random to the superb, a quick roundup of notable indie comics (aka, not Marvel or DC proper, though Vertigo, Icon, Image, et al, do qualify) I picked up in the past month. Release dates may vary.]Realizing a few weeks back that I didn't have a single Image title on my regular pull list, I decided to shine the spotlight squarely on them this month, taking a look at five of their newest books: Beyond Avalon, Freedom Force, Mora, and, via their Two Bits sampler, previews of The Imaginaries and Lullaby. A mixed bag overall, qualitatively…
[One Marvel, one DC, both published the previous Wednesday, plus a random indie from whenever I feel like it, each reviewed quickie-style: 1 Minute=bad, 10 Minutes=good. Connections, if any at all, may be forced purely for the experience.]It was all about the Distinguished Competition this week as Marvel's output was overshadowed by the terribly lame, terribly short-sighted conclusion to Mark Millar's "Enemy of the State" story arc in Wolverine. I'm officially boycotting anything he's involved with! Their one saving grace came thanks to Brian K. Vaughan and the first issue of Volume 2 of Runaways. On the flip side, a…
If there's ever been a comic book that was the perfect gift for a comic book geek to give his non-comic book-reading girlfriend, Fade From Grace would be it. Elegantly written, and beautifully illustrated, it's a four-color "chick flick" that any self-respecting fan of quality comic books would love. Fade works on two levels, first as a traditional origin story following our hero, John, as he develops super powers - the ability to control his density - while saving his girlfriend Grace from her burning apartment. The first three issues follow John as he learns to control his powers and,…
[One Marvel, one DC, both published the previous Wednesday, plus a random indie from whenever I feel like it, each reviewed quickie-style: 1 Minute=bad, 10 Minutes=good. Connections, if any at all, may be forced purely for the experience.]It was a strong week for indies big and small, overshadowing the Big Two's output as everything from Grant Morrison's entertaining oddball, Vinamarama, to the intriguing Captain Gravity and the Power of the Vril, to the satsifying conclusions of Lurkers and Ezra made into my stack. The announcement of Ed Brubaker's signing an exclusive with Marvel finally tempted me into checking out his…
There's a perennial debate on which creative setup works best in comics, the collaboration or the solo creator. With superior examples on both sides, of course, there is no definitive answer, but for every good example, there's at least as many bad ones. Creator/writer/artist Mario Gully's intriguing concept - eight-year old Hannah Washington creates an imaginary world in her journal, a world where she is the powerful superhero known as Ant, a world that may not be as imaginary as it seems - has lots of potential, but, unfortunately, it qualifies as Exhibit A for the case against solo work;…
[One Marvel, one DC, both published the previous Wednesday, plus a random indie from whenever I feel like it, each reviewed quickie-style: 1 Minute=bad, 10 Minutes=good. Connections, if any at all, may be forced purely for the experience.]A light week for the big two, highlighted by the already reviewed return of the Black Panther, and solid entries from the New Avengers (#3) and Adam Strange (#5), I've decided to break format completely and review a trio of comic book magazines instead. Fanzines are a crucial aspect of any hobby and their quality, or lack thereof, is generally an indicator of…
