Comment: Giving the People What They Want
Marvel EIC, Joe Quesada, and his main partner in crime, Brian Michael Bendis, caused a minor tempest in a teapot a couple of weeks ago during Newsarama‘s “Quesadarama” PR stunt that gave Quesada “control” of the site for the week. He posted an entertaining mix of informative and self-indulgent interviews with the likes of Kevin
Retro: The Sentry (TPB)
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
Interview: Field on Free Comic Book Day
Who doesn’t like free comic books? On Saturday, May 7th, 2005, participating comic book shops across North America and around the world will be giving away comic books from more than 25 different publishers absolutely free to anyone who comes into their stores, as part of the 4th Annual Free Comic Book Day, celebrating “an
Interview: O’Reilly on Arcana Studio, Part II
In Part I of this two-part interview, Arcana Studio‘s Publisher, Sean Patrick O’Reilly talked about Arcana’s successful first year, what really happened with Ant and Image, how Ezra became their most popular title, and what it takes to succeed in the comic book business. Today in Part II, we take a peek into Arcana’s future,
Interview: O’Reilly on Arcana Studio, Part I
In the midst of my ever-growing pull list, there is an elite group of comic books that rank as Must-Buys, even if it means eating Ramen for lunch all week! Two of the books currently in that group are published by Arcana Studio, the fledgling Canadian indie that is home to 100 Girls and Ezra.
Review: Ant: Days Like These (TPB)
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
Comment: Being Black in a Four-Color World
It’s an old joke: Why is Black History Month the shortest month of the year? There’s no punchline to that one, of course. The question is the joke. In time for Black History Month 2005, Marvel Comics is relaunching the Black Panther in his own series, his fifth including the short-lived, unfortunately-titled but highly-regarded Jungle
Comment: A Fanboy’s Rant #1
1. One of the sequences in Comic Book Superheros Unmasked (2003) dealt with the crash of the comic industry during the early 90s. I’d like to bring up one point made by Marvel’s Editor-in-Chief Joe Quesada during the interview, where he basically states that the variant cover phenomenon during that time played a big part
Review: New X-Men:Academy X #1-6
When the New Mutants re-appeared on the stands 20 months ago, I was just returning to comics after a 15-year hiatus and welcomed the sight of a familiar face to ease me back into the monthly habit. Joshua Middleton’s beautiful cover art featuring some of the women from the original lineup drew me in, and
COMMENT: On Reloads and Relaunches
Answer: Everyone that bought a copy of Astonishing X-Men #1. [See the end for the Question.] As someone who stopped buying comic books back in the early 90s – missing the worst of the speculator-driven boom and bust – and started again last year, I can see both sides of the “Relaunch/Reload” debate that seems