Raise your hand if you’re excited to see Paul Bettany as Vision in Avengers: Age of Ultron. I’m hoping all of your hands are raised. Though I’m looking forward to the simple and happy fact that there’s another Avengers movie on the horizon, I have feelings (FEELINGS, even) when it comes to Bettany. He’s a […]
Author Archive | Amy Ratcliffe
A Different Side of Romance
Note: This article contains spoilers for Saga #1 – Saga #23. Ahh, romance. There’s nothing quite like the glee one feels at the beginning stages of a relationship. That euphoria, that high – it’s hard to top. It’s also hard to maintain. I don’t mean to say happiness doesn’t continue and that such feelings twinkle […]
Darth Maul, Continued
Star Wars: The Clone Wars shook up the universe. The animated series introduced plot points that changed and/or canonized stories from the Expanded Universe, brought in new characters, and resurrected at least one character that was thought to be dead. Yes, The Clone Wars did what seemed impossible: they brought back Darth Maul. The notion […]
Sleeping Beauty’s Fairy Godmothers Go On Adventures
When Disney’s live action Maleficent movie came to theaters last spring, I spent some time digging through the Internet to find some Sleeping Beauty-inspired recipes. I stumbled across a treasure among the decorated cake pops and cookies and found an illustrated recipe for Flora’s Fudge. It was printed in a Sleeping Beauty comic from way […]
The Biggest Ball of String
When I think about Uncle Scrooge, DuckTales (woohoo) is the first thing that pops into mind. I only recently learned about the presence of the richest duck alive in the pages of comics recently. I was skeptical for no good reason at all and put off reading them for ages. But finally, thankfully, I cracked […]
The Defenders vs. Nebulon
The Defenders. I didn’t think it was possible to have a group that changed its line-up more than the Avengers, but I was wrong. I took a glimpse at the Defenders’ tangled history and decided to start in a safe and oversized place: Marvel Treasury Edition #16. It opened with the first comic featuring The […]
One Last Drink
The things we love the most don’t always love us back. John Constantine, blue collar magician and eternally a grumpy old man, has an addiction to cigarettes. He fights the occult, the extremely powerful, and has more screwball experiences in one day than most people experience in a lifetime. None of that does him in […]
Gwen Stacy Becomes Spider-Woman
The phrase “cross-title event” doesn’t get me excited. In fact, it makes me involuntarily cringe. The thought of obtaining several issues with different titles makes me worry a little about my bank account but mostly I’m concerned that I’ll miss an issue and a key part of the story. I don’t want to have to use […]
Spider-Man and the Human Torch Make the Best Superhero Couple
Reed Richards and Sue Storm make a pretty good couple. So do Peter Parker and Gwen Stacy. As much as I like those pairs, Spider-Man and the Human Torch edge them out of the top place on the list of best superhero couples. I refuse to use the word bromance to describe them on principle, […]
Becoming Batman for a Different Reason
Batman’s origin story is a familiar one. I’d wager many people who know of the character know why he put on the mask and became a hero. Young Bruce Wayne witnessed the murder of his parents, and the event crawled into his soul and left a permanent mark – as it of course would. The […]
The Scarecrow Offers Fear for Sale
I love traveling through the decades in comics. It only took a second for me to realize that picking up Detective Comics #517 by Mike W. Barr, Alan Davis, and Paul Neary was a good decision. It’s all about the Scarecrow, and the opening splash page features a cool layout and design and also this […]
The Origins of Star-Lord
I’m not sure if you’ve heard this, but Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy is coming to theaters. I’d be amazed if anyone has managed to avoid the seeming deluge of marketing surrounding the film. It feels like there have been at least 20 trailers and television spots. But, they’re effective. The ragtag group of outlaws […]
Suit Up with the Power Pack
No adult supervision? No problem. The preteen members of the Power Pack didn’t need grown-ups to tell them what to do or help them save the world. The first issue of the series about Alex, Julie, Jack, and Katie Power was released in 1984 and written by Louise Simonson and drawn by June Brigman. They […]