Black Widow #1 Review by: Erik Radvon Story by Chris Samnee and Mark Waid Art by Chris Samnee Color Art by Matthew Wilson Lettering by VC’s Joe Caramagna Cover by Chris Samnee & Matthew Wilson Publisher – Marvel Comics Cover Price – $3.99(USD) Release Date: Mar 2, 2016 Rating: 4/5 stars There’s a pendulum in…
Comics
Kill the Silver Age
I will never get tired of seeing Barry Allen die. Blame my age. My comic-reading vice (it’s an absurd habit, really) latched onto my central nervous system sometime in the mid ’80s. From the vantage of 2016, it was an extraordinarily strange time to come into the medium. The X-Men were dead rebels on the…
Roach Dude Election Special ’16 – aka Fun with Manga Studio
Hello internet. I just got Manga Studio 5 and a cheap Wacom tablet so I can make cheap comics for cheap laughs. Note: I’m a writer, and my artistic output illustrates that wonderfully. Don’t hate. Here are breakdowns of my first output, a patriotic mini-comic called ROACH DUDE ELECTION SPECIAL ’16.
2015 Eisner Awards Nominees + My Picks for Winners
The 2015 Eisner Awards nominations have been released! Check out the full list here. Just for fun, here are my picks for winners in each category: Best Short Story “Rule Number One,” by Lee Bermejo, in Batman Black and White #3 (DC) Love, love, love that this got nominated, and would love it even more…
Can Peter Parker Finally Grow Up?
It’s time to let go. It’s time to put the scrapbooks of teenage, wisecracking Peter Parker on the shelf. It’s time to hang-up the throwback perpetual bachelor fantasy. It’s time to put Spider-Man away. It’s time to let Peter Parker get old. I say this as a reader who came into funny books in the…
Comic Review: ANNIHILATOR #1
Grant Morrison’s done this all before, you know. The whole “metafiction starring a none-more-mod writer with a dark and magical alter-ego/creation slicing through the tenuous membrane dividing the real world and the world of creation because what is reality anyway, mannnn” thing. It’s been done. Morrison did it perhaps most notably in the The Invisibles,…
Comic Review: SOUTHERN BASTARDS #4
The first arc of Jason Aaron’s Alabama epic concludes with the full-speed-ahead force of a freight train in this week’s Southern Bastards #4. The issue is a dark, balmy action tale rife with firecracker dialogue, brutal violence, and the stifling, claustrophobic energy of a small town gone bad wrapped around each panel. The breathtaking issue…
Comic Review: TERMINAL HERO #1
In the afterward of Terminal Hero #1, writer Peter Milligan describes the book as unlike anything he’s previously written. That’s mostly true, although traces of Shade the Changing Man are present. It’s a weird comic by a weird writer with some weird art, and it’s definitely unlike anything else on the stands. The story is a…
Comic Review: MILES MORALES THE ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN #4
This is Brian Michael Bendis at his best. There’s no diner scenes. No shots of superheroes drinking coffee. No infamous Bendis “wall of words” slowing down the story’s pace. There’s not even a pop-culture reference or winking aside to detract from the proceedings. Miles Morales: The Ultimate Spider-Man #4 is a slam-bang Spider-Man adventure comic,…
Comic Review: LOW #1
There’s a scene in Woody Allen’s Annie Hall where a young version of Allen’s character Alvy Singer is taken by his mother to the doctor. Young Alvy is depressed and has grown apathetic toward his 9 year-old responsibilities. His reason- the universe is expanding and will someday break apart into nothingness. “He’s not doing his…
Comic Review: TRANSFORMERS vs. G.I. JOE #1
This is a crazy comic book. Artist-writer-colorist-letter Tom Scioli channels Jack Kirby and Jim Steranko, embarking as a nearly one-man band to drum up a radically different take on the Robots in Disguise meeting the Real American Heroes. Co-writer John Barber tags along to pepper in dialogue, captions, and plot points. What does the duo…
Comic Review: SUPERMAN #33
Two solid issues of Superman in a row? The new DC, there’s no stopping them now! The Man of Steel’s refresh era continues in Superman #33, with writer Geoff Johns and long-time Marvel artist John Romita Jr. bringing readers part two of their “Man of Tomorrow” story. While not quite as explosive as their first…
Comic Review: SUPREME BLUE ROSE #1
And now for something completely different. Supreme Blue Rose is an entirely new take on the world of Supreme, the Superman proxy created by Rob Liefeld and helmed for years by Alan Moore. In Blue Rose #1, writer Warren Ellis steps in to apply his own unique take on the Supreme world, and combined with…
Comic Review: TEEN TITANS #1
Why oh why is this book not called New Teen Titans? It sure feels deserving of the title. After a lackluster first salvo at the launch of the New 52, the Teen Titans are back in a fresh #1. The creative team of Will Pfeier and Kenneth Rocafort make it an exciting debut, with an…
Comic Review: ORIGINAL SIN #6
The Watcher has no eyes. Original Sin has no heart. Perhaps the more accurate word is core. Writer Jason Aaron is clearly in touch with the various Marvel Universe characters that populate the pages of Original Sin #6. He takes special care with Nick Fury Sr., the book’s de facto star, peppering his dialogue with…