Tuesday, January 10 2012
Jack and Marlon, and Art and Franco
A recently discovered letter by Jack Kerouac to Marlon Brando hints at the kind of collaboration between giants we could have seen in the early 60s. In a wholly different arena, creative team Art Baltazar and Franco's Young Justice captures perfectly that same aspirant spirit.
Monday, January 9 2012
“Batman #4” Is Character Development on Display
By issue #4 of any storyarc, things should slow down. Predictably, even the high-frequency genius of the Snyder-Capullo creative team on Batman does. But it's this downturn that allows writer Scott Snyder's true vision of Batman to shine through.
Thursday, January 5 2012
MAD About You: An Open Letter to MAD’s “Usual Gang of Idiots”
Thanks a lot, you Usual Gang of Idiots. You just broke Satire! Used to be I could sit back on my couch and chuckle it up because satire was just entertainment. No chance of that after your "20 Dumbest of 2011".
Tuesday, January 3 2012
Aquaman and the Literary Depths
It's all-out action as Aquaman plumbs the depths to uncover the secret of The Trench. But writer Geoff Johns deeply meditative tones make Aquaman #4 equal parts Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness as George Lucas' Raiders of the Lost Ark.
‘Opera Adaptations; Vols 1-3’: A Synaesthetic Echo of the Operatic Performance
The graphic novel, in its robustness and variety, is the perfect setting for opera’s troubled universe.
Thursday, December 15 2011
Aww Yeah, Titans: ‘Tiny Titans’ Creators’ New Kind of Writers’ Room
It's the Holy Grail of DC interviews, an exclusive with Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns. So why am I stealing time to read Tiny Titans: The Treehouse and Beyond instead? Maybe it's because Tiny Titans allows me to touch base with why I read comics in the first place.
Tuesday, December 13 2011
Red Lantern Mosaic: Milligan’s Mastery of a Complex Emotional Palette
It's a book based on a single premise, and a single emotion... rage. But writer Peter Milligan surpasses all expectation in crafting Red Lanterns as a story of deep emotional complexity.
Monday, December 12 2011
“Defenders #1” Already Feels Like “When Tomorrow Comes”
Why has Defenders always been a seminal title, but never been a mainstay of the popular imagination? Can writer Matt Fraction and artist Terry Dodson assert this new volume of the classic book as tomorrow's halcyon, today?
Tuesday, December 6 2011
A Very Gödel Christmas, Batman
"'Cuz for this story to make sense… for it to mean anything… you have to believe in something. Something very important. You have to believe that people can change". Batman: Noël is the pure, staggering genius of superimposing Dickens' A Christmas Carol on the darkest of Dark Knights.
Friday, December 2 2011
Disney’s Ducks, BOOM! and Grand Theft Bob Dylan
It's an accidental magic that brings up the perfect two-Dylan playlist for reading Darkwing Duck/DuckTales: Dangerous Currency, Disney's swansong at publisher BOOM! Studios. Or maybe it only seems accidental.
Tuesday, November 29 2011
Decision 2012 By Way of a Sense of Place
BOOM! Studios' release of Decision 2012 read through the political and economic realities of life in the Bronx. Life has been complex here these last few years, Decision 2012: Barack Obama should be as well.
Monday, November 28 2011
The Evolution of the Thinking Man in ‘Captain Atom’
Ancient philosopher-king, detached god-complex egoist or superhero here to the save the day? J.T. Krul offers a profound new vision of classic DC science-hero, Captain Atom.
Monday, November 21 2011
Blue Estate’s “Tonight’s the Night” is Perfectly Balanced
The line between parody and send-up is very fine. Image Comic’s Blue Estate has danced on that line for six issues, and with issue seven, the limited series takes that same line and twists it into a pretzel.
Thursday, November 17 2011
Cleopatra in the Carpet, and Catwoman
The love affair between Catwoman and Batman, with Batman recast as Best Actor in a Supporting Role does nothing but demonstrate the unparalleled genius of writer Judd Winick.
Tuesday, November 15 2011
Wonder Woman’s Secret Santa
Brian Azzarello, the architect of the New 52 Wonder Woman, is definitely on point with his vision of a Wonder Woman who tackles the issues of the social structures that both limit and liberate us.
Monday, November 14 2011
The Tragic Hero in “Penguin: Pain and Prejudice”
In the beautiful, lovingly-realized world of Penguin: Pain and Prejudice writer Gregg Hurwitz and artist Szymon Kudranski unfold a Batman that is little more than a bully and a Penguin who heroically rises above the perpetual torment of his childhood.
Thursday, November 10 2011
Mr. Snyder, Ms. Watson and the Devil’s Haircut
It's not at all about Abby Arcane's sudden reappearance in the closing pages of last month's Swamp Thing. It's about the strange jazz of Beck's Odelay, and the siren call of getting back to normal.
Tuesday, November 8 2011
The Anti-Victimology Dan Slott Uses to Reclaim Spider-Man
In "Boss Battle", the concluding chapter of "Spider Island", Dan Slott reclaims Spider-Man not from cynical naysayers, but from the limitations we've unquestioningly come to accept about the character.
Friday, November 4 2011
‘Habibi’: Orientalism for Dummies
This ought to be a landmark in the development of the graphic novel as a serious form that tackles heavyweight subjects, alongside Art Spiegelman's Maus, Joe Sacco's Palestine and Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis.
Thursday, November 3 2011
“Spaceman” Reveals the True Horror at the Heart of Dystopian Fiction
In Brian Azzarello's heartrendingly insightful Spaceman, a true heart of horror is revealed. Society doesn't breakdown because it fails. It breaks down because it succeeds.
