Review: Western Tales of Terror #1-3
Comic books I like generally fall into one of two primary categories: 1) well-written, character-driven fare (Gotham Central, Ex Machina); or, 2) old school, straight-up fun comics (Ezra, The Losers). A third category – the thought-provoking, big idea classic – is a rare treat that usually starts in one of the two other categories before
Comment: Making Comics Thin-Skinned
It’s no secret that creative types can be pretty thin-skinned when it comes to their art, especially when they’re in their early developmental stages. Personally, when I first got into the poetry slam scene – competitive poetry readings, for the uninitiated, where original poems are performed and then judged on a scale of 0-10 by
Free Trade Guerrilla: Superman: Secret Identity (TPB)
Intro time: My name is Oscar and where once I was a rabid collector and all-around comic fiend, I have had to calm my obsession down to where I now visit nationwide bookstores and happily use their cafés to help me catch up on what’s happening in the comic book world through trade paperbacks. Not
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
Review: Greg Rucka, Novelist
I first came across Greg Rucka’s work in Gotham Central, during his Eisner Award-Winning “half a life” story arc (issues #6-10). In it, he puts his protagonist, Detective Renee Montoya, through the ringer in a well-paced, character-driven story of obsession and revenge. I’d only returned to comics less than six months prior at that point
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
Indie Spotlight: February 2005
[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
Interview: Dabb on Atomika
Andrew Dabb is a busy man. Between writing Megacity909 and Mu for Studio Ice/Devil’s Due, and Ghostbusters for 88mph Studios, you’d think his plate was full enough. But starting this March, he teams up with artist Sal Abbinanti for Atomika, “a groundbreaking story of men, supermen and the forces that shape our reality,” set in
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