Archive | Guest Columns

Physically, Richards and Richards begin to look less like superheroes and more like parents. In this picture, Reed is shorter than either Johnny or Ben.  Sue's figure isn't as sharp and it's a little unrealistic and she has a zipper as if she has to be mindful of a little LBL now and then.

The Cosmic Fantastic Four

We tend to forget that, up until late 1961, Stan Lee’s professional career was a failure. Prior to the Fantastic Four, Lee has two things to his credit. For years, comic books had to have two pages of text to meet the requirements for cheap postage, so comic books usually had a story for these […]

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Star-Lord

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 […]

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They have been cancelled several times, but they always come back because they are the Legion.

The Legion of Super-Heroes

It was the first superhero team of the Silver Age. It was the first group composed entirely of costumed kid heroes. It was the first group of kid heroes none of whom had an adult mentor. It was the first superhero group to be set anyplace other than in present-day American cities. Yet for all […]

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Power Pack names

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 […]

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Clark Kent glasses 2

Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes

As a teen, Superboy didn’t stay in Smallville all the time. He loved his home, but occasionally he traveled through time – like you do – to team up with the Legion of Super-Heroes. In Superboy and the Legion of Super-Heroes #255 by Gerry Conway, Joe Staton, and Vince Colletta, he works with Shadow Lass, Cosmic […]

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Possibly the first kid hero group, but even here Bucky and Toro are sold in relation to their adult partners

The Coming of the Kid Heroes

Costumed kid heroes sort of begin with Robin, who first appeared in April 1940. Super-powered sidekicks sort of begin with Toro, who appeared in  “Autumn 1940,” though with the tradition of comics coming out prior to their publication dates, he probably first saw the light of day in August. Where adult heroes started with superpowers […]

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loki

The YA of It All: The Future of Teen Comic Book Films

So, here’s a thing about me. When I’m not scripting about one-eyed archers and chronologically recontextualized* vampire hunters for Zenescope or writing articles about the copious amounts of comic books I read for Blastoff, I’m very likely reading some YA. Young Adult literature, as a genre, is financially boomin’ like never before and, as a […]

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Feels abound.

Avengers Academy: Cult Classic

It is a truth universally acknowledged that a well-written and well-drawn comic book about a team of teenage superheroes will have a short but critically acclaimed run and will, in no time at all, develop into a cult classic. Runaways, Avengers Academy, and Young Avengers at Marvel are the most immediate examples that come to […]

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Synthetic Man

The Not So Scary Sorcerer

Spider-Man faces a host of entertaining villains, but he didn’t necessarily meet all of them face to face. In “The Reprehensible Riddle of the Sorcerer,” originally published in Marvel Super Heroes #14, he fights the Sorcerer. However, he doesn’t realize it because the Sorcerer is controlling him from afar. The story written by Stan Lee […]

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The Superior Foes of Spider-Man

It’s currently one of the most interesting times to be a Marvel reader. Thanks to the success of Matt Fraction and David Aja’s Hawkeye, Marvel seems to be allowing its creative teams to get far more experimental with their company-owned characters. At the moment, books like Charles Soule’s She-Hulk, G. Willow Wilson’s Ms. Marvel, Al […]

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That's him, officer, J Jonah Jameson, I saw his face as he operated the robot

Spider-Epic Fails

The rogues gallery of Batman and Spider-Man share some interesting features. Among them is the sheer number of insane members of a rogues gallery. Batman has the Joker, Riddler, Penguin, Mad Hatter, Two-Face, and others. Spider-Man has the various Goblins, the Lizard, the Iguana, the Jackal, and others. Both have had classic villains. Spider-Man has […]

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Amazing_Spider-Man_Vol_1_293

Kraven the Hunter Makes an Impression

When I open the pages of a Spider-Man comic, I don’t expect to find horror. That changed when I read “Kraven’s Last Hunt.” The six part story by J.M. DeMatteis and Mike Zeck spread across the Web of Spider-Man, The Amazing Spider-Man, and The Spectacular Spider-Man in 1987, and it’s the kind of story that […]

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Welcoming the Future, Treasuring the Past.