Ultimate Captain America was a terrific comic, worth buying in trade. For some of you, your heads are shaking and you’re firing up to drop a comment about what a schmuck I am. Well, if you’re talking purely from a “character” or plot standpoint, I guess I agree with you. There’s not much story here—most [...]

This book was a submission, and it’s hard to get a good flavor for a single issue of a comic–particularly when you’re sent only issue #2.  But from what I gather, in #1 I missed the exposition of the concept: NYCPD Tom Whalen got shot in the head and now is protecting New York from [...]

What to buy, what not to buy from the past month. WHAT TO BUY: THE TOP 5 TRADES OF JUNE 2011 These get a 100 percent solid recommendation from this city corner of the interwebs: Honorable mention:  X-Men: Second Coming.  This gets  a mention because it’s a lot of fun.  The tale of Hope coming [...]

I’m not one to break my old loosies out of mylar and mothballs. Too often, I’ve got a backlogged stack of trade paperbacks waiting for my eyes, and it’s too risky to bring a collectible outside with me on errands anyway. So it’s been a long, long time since I read Walter Simonson’s epic, 4-year [...]

I became a fan of Tony Moore’s art with his work on the much-maligned Frankencastle series, and continued to be a fan with his work on Venom.  The man knows how to bring creepy to life.  So I checked out his work on the 2006 Vertigo title, The Exterminators, written by Simon Oliver. And I [...]

I (finally!) got my hands on the loose issues of Detective Comics #854-57, the first Batwoman arc titled “Elegy.”  I knew nothing about the character and dug this issues up solely based on the tremendous press the story has gotten from various comic book reviewers and bloggers.  Oh, that and the fact that it is [...]

With so many years of back comics to deal with, it’s important for this site to go back to reaching back.  I used to recommend an old book to my readers at least twice a month, but I’ve fallen out of the habit.  Shame on me.  Here’s where I start to come correct. Today, I’m [...]

Once upon a time, there was an Alabama man who wrote a 5-issue mini series for DC/Vertigo about war based on conversations he’d had with his cousin, a guy whose autobiographical experiences became the basis for Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket. It was a powerful piece of work titled, “The Other Side.” But since nobody [...]

I’m such a huge fan of hornhead that I made a pledge to buy every single Shadowland and tie-in (except for Thunderbolts, which I’ll probably get in trade).  I’ve never done that before, ever, but since they promised to include so many of my favorite hard-to-find characters (Misty Knight, Colleen Wing, Shang Chi, Black Tarantula, [...]

I bought this comic on principle: I love Daredevil, and I love the potential in the art form of black and white comic books.  Unfortunately, few b&w books actually achieve that potential, mostly because they’re done as novelty done-in-ones or anthologies.  This one is no different.  The first story is by Peter Milligan, and it’s [...]