Continuity is a tricky beast. When you’re telling stories about a character for years or decades, there have to be common ties. You need consistent places, familiar villains, and constants that can revolve around and tangle with the protagonist’s ongoing story. Ten years of one shot issues or unrelated mini-series don’t work as well. You […]
V for Vendetta was the first comic I read. Well, almost. I remember having some Muppet Babies comics when I was very young, but to be honest I mostly colored in them (I was like four!). I’d watched and liked the movie, and I wanted to know more about the story that inspired it. That’s […]
I’ve figured it out. I can tolerate horror in comics because I can’t be scared by the thing that jumps out of the dark. In movies and TV shows and even books to some degree, there is always that scene that is created just so a terrifying something can come out from behind the corner […]
Some stories never die. Some are never finished or can be turned upside down and torn apart and told dozens of different ways. Some characters in these stories are just that compelling. They deserve hundreds of pages of examining their origins and adventures. And sometimes, well, I think writers lean on already established legends because […]
Comic books basically invented the superhero genre, and that genre spread to prose and especially movies. Comics didn’t create good-guy horror, but they made the topic a genre and gave it a home. By good-guy horror I mean horror in which the reader’s sympathies are with the monster. Naturally, Mary Shelley seems to have invented […]
This guy has kept me awake recently. Yeah, I can’t imagine why. He actually doesn’t look as terrifying in the light of day. But. Imagine that it’s late at night, you only have one light on in the entire house, and your cats are pacing around and casting shadows on the wall and their tails […]
Horror is subjective. What you find silly might scare me and vice versa. I refuse to watch slasher films like Halloween or Freddy because I know they’ll give me nightmares; most people I know find those same movies laughable. Imagery, gore, violence, the supernatural – we all react to them differently. I can’t read books […]
I might just admire Reed Richards more than any other superhero. He’s likable, he’s intelligent on a level few of us can comprehend, he’s loyal to his team, he’s protective of his family, he’s kind – he has an everyday guy sort of vibe despite his talents. He could so easily be arrogant or bitter. […]
I tend to catch up on most of my television on Netflix these days. I pick one of the many series from my “to-watch” list (it’s embarrassingly long) based on what I’m in the mood for and how many seasons the show lasted. If I like it, I’ll watch episode after episode. I inhale them […]
Sue Storm is a woman of many talents. Superhero. Wife. Mother. Generally awesome. And I don’t just like her because she quoted Star Wars in “Childhood’s End:” It didn’t hurt, but it’s not the only reason I admire the Invisible Girl. I respect the way she is able to balance her life. She delivers […]
Sometimes you just have a feeling about certain characters and stories. You know that they will speak to you, that they will resonate, that they will matter. I had a hunch about the Fantastic Four. I’m not sure why, precisely. I’ve seen them pop up as a group or individually in many other comics but […]
Is it weird to be nostalgic for a time period you weren’t around for to enjoy? Technically, I guess it’s not possible. But as I’ve read over a handful of Marvel Silver Age books this month, I can’t help but daydream about being a comic book reader in that time. It was a period of […]
I’m impressed with Ant Man. He’s one of the smallest superheroes there is, but wrong-doers are afraid of him regardless. They speak of Ant Man with respectful, slightly fearful tones. They talk about how they can’t get away with anything now that he’s on the radar. He’s a force to be reckoned with, and word […]
