Tuesday, May 29 2012
“So Impress Me…”: the Ferryman’s Dilemma in “Batman, Incorporated #1”
"So impress me…", it's got to be one of the finest moments in comics writing. Either that moment, of the guest appearance of Bat-Cow.
Thursday, May 24 2012
Mark Millar and the Cage of Fame: “CLiNT 2.1”
The cage of fame that powers social media, was most arrestingly described by Lester Bangs in his obit for John Lennon. It's hard not to see it play out again here, with Mark Millar…
Avengers Assembled! ‘Ultimate Avengers Movie Collection’
These films are the spiritual successors to Batman: The Animate Series.
Wednesday, May 23 2012
America’s Funny Book Filter: ‘Comic Books and American Cultural History: An Anthology’
The comics medium has long been as broad as fiction, a mode of expression which reflects the deepest parts of an artist’s self to a corporation cashing in on a trend.
Tuesday, May 22 2012
Much Less Sleep Than Usual: “The Shadow #2”
I wasn't ready for Martin Amis' memoir Experience at the time it was first released. I needed to wait. Just as this Shadow is the Garth Ennis' we've been waiting for, perhaps without realizing it…
Monday, May 21 2012
The Harley on the Shore: “Winter Soldier #5’s” Art of the Endless Epilogue
That image of the Japanese-tsunami Harley washed ashore in Canada, is irresistible. And as with Winter Soldier #5, it too points to the art of the endless epilogue.
‘The Superhero Book’ Makes for an Entertaining but Spotty Overview
This isn't a bad book. It's nicely designed and laid out, and there are plenty of full-color movie stills and comics covers. For a reader who can get over what isn't included, there are plenty of trivia nuggets to be had.
Thursday, May 17 2012
The Metaphors and Mythology of “Batman #9”
The back-up has a strong gothic feel, most notably derived from the artwork of Rafael Albuquerque. The panels are beautiful in their sinister and menacing rendering. It is the most stylized art of whole issue…
Tuesday, May 15 2012
Getting N.O.W.H.E.R.E.: “Teen Titans Annual #1” As Defense of Social Media
It's some infinite underneath, some dark and warm somewhere, some ugly place that just goes on forever. "The Colony" is a hell built for teenagers, and the most striking thing about it, at least at first blush for me, is its very clear resemblance to the idea that caused the once-immortal friendship between 19th century psychoanalysts Sigmund Freud and Carl Gustav Jung to simply run out…
Monday, May 14 2012
Evolving the “Versus”: “Wolverine & the X-Men #10”
Amid the chaos and devastation of Avengers Versus X-Men, Cyclops arrives at Wolverine's school for mutants. But this is not the kind of battle you might expect…
Thursday, May 10 2012
Tom Gauld’s ‘Goliath’ Is Interesting Enough, but Thin
Depth of engagement + duration of experience = importance to the audience.
Tuesday, May 8 2012
A Fortitude from the Finer Things: “Worlds’ Finest #1”
If you're a completist, you'd really need to read James Robinson and Nicola Scott's "The Price of Victory", the opening issue of Earth 2 before reading Worlds' Finest #1. But if you do, you might miss some of the magic of this issue…
Monday, May 7 2012
A Fairytale of LA: “Blue Estate #11”
What the eleventh and near-final issue of Blue Estate presents is a fairytale where the starlet princess is rescued by the AA assassin prince charming… it's pure E! True Hollywood Story-noir...
Thursday, May 3 2012
The Robust Recontextualization of ‘Dial H’
Hear the cries of youth fully realized against grimmer, grittier postmodern sensibilities with Dial H, one of most exciting rebooted silver age concepts of the year.
Tuesday, May 1 2012
Wanna Hold Your Hand…: “Aquaman #8”
Truthfully, you'd probably need to go back to Hemingway to encounter any adventure stories that were as vivid or as vital or as important as Aquaman…
Monday, April 30 2012
Checkmate Means We Lost, Rhodey…: “Invincible Iron Man #515”
There'll come a time, soon enough, when critics will be saying, "It's a good Iron Man story, but it's no 'Demon'"…
Friday, April 27 2012
Getting at the (Quad-) Core: “MAD #515”
This issue of MAD #515 in hand, and it's easy to realize that we've never been closer to some of the nightmare scenarios of Philip K. Dick. And it's equally easy to realize that forewarned is forearmed…
Thursday, April 26 2012
An Iceman at the End: “Uncanny X-Force #24”
In "Frozen Moment" writer Rick Remender poses the question, can the members of X-Force, an off-the-books kill-squad ever really return to the more honor-bound ideals of the X-Men?
Monday, April 23 2012
Wake up!: The Slasher Horror of “Batman #8”
It's only fitting that, emerging from this dreamlike torpor the Court of Owls has put him through, Bruce Wayne fights the Talons in his dressing gown…
Thursday, April 19 2012
Upon a Castle Waiting: the Einstein of “Frankenstein Agent of SHADE #8”
I grumble when I don't find traces of Poe in horror stories. But here in Frankenstein, Agent of S.H.A.D.E. #8 something better than Poe, here's Wally Wood, R. Crumb, and strangely, Albert Einstein.
