Pulp noir fiction is a medium and genre that is dark and cynical in tone and involves crime. The person investigating is not an official like a police officer or detective, which would make it hardboiled fiction. The hero of the story is a victim, a suspect, a perpetrator, or a vigilante. The system itself […]
Scalped, a western/crime noir comic book by current Marvel architect Jason Aaron and artist R. M. Guera, is about as rough as it gets. The book starts with a bar fight, and the violence and testosterone doesn’t relent until toward the end, when the shape of what Aaron and Guera are really doing begins to […]
The thrilling conclusion to Josie Schuller’s clash with her life as a housewife and her secret life as an assassin. Though perhaps not a new concept, this old setting breathes new life into the idea of a woman leading a double life. The setting has such hope, with its cutting edge technology and the feel […]
About a year and a half ago, Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips signed an unprecedented deal at Image Comics that sent a considerable wave through the industry. Exclusive deals are usually thought of as limiting deals where corporations seek to lock down a writer or artist as long as possible, roping them into a […]
Hit opens with moments before a dance of violence and bullets and spilled drinks, and ends with more gunfire on the horizon. This four-issue series, a comic book crime noir drenched in blood and bourbon, was originally serialized by Boom! Studios as Hit #1-4, published as an oversize Pen & Ink volume (think a single […]
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 […]
Thor has done more for modern comics than I think anyone gives it credit for. I’m talking the first movie – the one I also very often see folks negatively (and unfairly, I think) comparing to other Marvel Cinematic Universe flicks. I’ve seen more people say that Thor has opened up the world of comics […]
So, there has been a lot of talk recently about this gal, Carol Danvers. Formally known as Ms. Marvel, in 2012 she took up the mantle of Captain Marvel, and the comic-book world went crazy. Since then she has acquired a snazzy new suit, a gathering of fans that can best be described as charmingly […]
This ain’t your Disney Avengers. Avengers: Ultron Forever #1 combines members of the Avengers from various time periods and in their different incarnations. United by a very unlikely ally, they must end Ultron’s rule in a future that cannot be while also maintaining the delicate balance of time. Naturally, Ultron is not their only foe. […]
Al Ries and Jack Trout came up with a theory about advertising. They called it positioning. Basically, you can’t own the whole market for long so you have to associate your product with a position in the mind of the prospect and own part of the market for a long time. So Coke is the […]
Tony Stark has never been the idealized, larger-than-life hero like some of his Avengers counterparts. He’s a “billionaire, playboy, philanthropist” who, prior to donning the suit and becoming a hero as Iron Man, was a reckless, thoughtless… well, billionaire, playboy, etc etc. Even once he became a superhero, he had to reckon with his past […]
As soon as it was announced that the sequel to Marvel Studios’ Captain America: The First Avenger would be The Winter Soldier, following Ed Brubaker’s storyline that saw the resurrection of Bucky Barnes as a weapon against Steve Rogers, folks began wondering if Chris Evan’s time as Cap was limited. The rumors were bolstered by […]
Launching a new Hawkeye series that follows Matt Fraction’s landmark, critically-acclaimed, award winning run on the title is not a task I envy – except, you know, in the literal sense. Writer Jeff Lemire with art team Ramon Perez & Ian Herring have even a riskier feat to pull off, though. Matt’s Hawkeye isn’t even […]
