Let’s just face it. The Beast brightens any page with his humor, snark, and endearing expressions. Case in point: I may have to incorporate that saying into my everyday language. It’s much better than the expletives I currently use when stuck in L.A. traffic. I’ll be sharing some of my favorite panels with Beast and other […]
I haven’t performed an actual count, but it seems to me that the Avengers have more female team members than the Justice League. Not that I don’t admire the hell out of Wonder Woman (I totally do), it’s just nice to see a wider variety of personalities on the table. The number of women isn’t […]
When I started reading the Avengers I didn’t mean to constantly compare them to the Justice League, but I couldn’t help myself. It was another team of superheroes banding together fighting off villains, and it was only natural for me to mentally set them against each other. I’m not weighing super powers either; it doesn’t […]
I can’t lie. One of the aspects of Silver Age DC books that makes me the happiest is the nicknames given to the heroes and villains. Though the writers didn’t mind repetition in the storytelling, it was apparently boring to just say the superhero or villain’s name over and over. Thusly, inventive (ish) nicknames were […]
Before I dived into stories about the Justice League I had heard briefly of multiple Earths, infinite Earths, whatever Earths. I’m far from a lazy reader, but it all sounded too convoluted to be true. Not that I doubted the person who told me about them, but it bordered on ridiculous. Once I read more […]
Only in the Silver Age does this panel make total sense: A Super Gorilla with deadly thought waves. Yep. Almost as good is the pirate torpedo. I’m not kidding. And that one was a cover (oh man, I wonder if that issue can be found for a reasonable price. I might need it). Flash is cheeky from the […]
We’ve established that I like silliness and to just have fun reading comics, right? However. Silver Age Green Lantern takes the word goofy to a whole other level. I can get behind ridiculous villains, and I have no problem with a power ring that can do anything the user wills it to do. Well, almost. […]
My week has been vastly improved by reading Superman In The Fifties and Batman In the Fifties for the first time. Though I haven’t read much Superman before (just some of the new 52 Action Comics), my past experience with Batman is that it’s not always a happy ride. Okay, that it’s rarely a happy […]
Tell me a story about pirates or gladiators or war. I want to hear about damsels in distress and adventure in the Old West and perhaps a jungle expedition on the side. Back in the 50s, I could have found all of these tales under one title: EC Comics. The short sequential stories had pizzazz […]
EC Comics were released in a different era. You can flip the page and go from slinky dresses to swank mansions and fancy décor to splattered blood and diced body parts. My stack of comics today is sadly lacking in this area. Few characters dress with such Madmen-esque style in the modern day of jeans […]
We all know people who haven’t read any comics. For some it’s a willful, snobby refusal to read books full of pictures. If you have the will to try to get those people to see the light, you’re a better (and more patient) person than me. A lot of people just don’t know where to […]
Matt Murdock isn’t afraid to show his feelings. Well, except for the whole “I love Karen, but I don’t want to tell her how I feel and I’d rather just keep wondering if she feels the same way” bit from the beginning issues. So perhaps he’s a bit angst-ridden, but he’s hardly devoid of feeling. […]
We’re incredibly pleased to present the first in our series of original interviews here at Blastoff, as our correspondent Amy Ratcliffe sits down with comic-book writer and historian extraordinaire Mark Waid! Enjoy!
