Author Archives: Phil

President Evil #1 — Writer/Artist: David Hutchison Drafted: One Hundred Days #1 (of 1) — Writer: Mark Powers;  Breakdowns: Chris Lie;  Pencils: Junaidi and Faisal Your Obama exploitation books of the week. President Evil is the better one, just because it’s so cheerful about its pop-culture, anything-for-a-buck whoredom (the Army of Darkness pose on the cover, the cranked-it-out-over-the-weekend art, and the puns that start with the title, move on through “Ba-Rot” Obama, the zombie-fighting President, and end with “Stephen Corvair” on the last page: I’d compare it to a Mad movie parody, but that would imply too much quality; let’s … Continue reading →

Batman and Robin #2 — Writer: Grant Morrison;  Art: Frank Quitely Very high-quality comics storytelling, and a reminder that good comics usually require collaboration: Morrison’s Batman: R.I.P was fine, but it wasn’t knock-your-socks-off wonderful, and it’s clear now that one big reason was Tony Daniels’ art — it wasn’t horrible, but it was average superhero rendering. Compare that to what Quitely brings to the table here (as in New X-Men and All-Star Superman): the composition, the expressions (on Damion, especially), the lithe athleticism — and then, with all the pleasure added by the art, we’re also set up to appreciate … Continue reading →

Hey: I’m back (well,I actually didn’t go anywhere, but after two years of reviews I welcomed a break). Let’s have a big round of applause for Dan, who agreed to provide all the June reviews, and did an outstanding job: funny, dead-on, and comprehensive: he reviewed 25 books last week (granted, it was a big week, but you’re lucky to get 12-15 out of me…). If you all liked his style, too, let us know — maybe we can talk him into a few more guest reviews sometime down the line. For now, though, let’s gear up and see what’s … Continue reading →

Glamourpuss #7 — Writer/Artist: Dave Sim I’m not sure why I keep buying this — and it’s impossible to describe — but Sim is one of the great wild talents of comics, and watching him draw high-fashion models crossed with super-hero origin parodies (including, off all things, Steve Ditko’s Mr. A reimagined as “Ms. A”), interspersed with learned discourses on the evolution of realism in comic/newspaper strip cartooning, with namechecks on Caniff, Raymond, Craig Flessel and Lou Fine, just seems like an essential piece of comics scholarship and entertainment. Wolverine #72 — Writer: Mark Millar;  Penciller: Steve McNiven;  Inkers: Dexter … Continue reading →

Back to Brooklyn #5 (of 5) — Story: Garth Ennis and Jimmy Palmiotti;  Writer: Garth Ennis;  Art: Mihailo Vukelic Pretty minor-league Ennis, with a tone that’s both overwrought and curiously flat;  almost everyone’s irredeemable, and the only rooting interest/viewpoint character does nothing but survive to tell the tale. Would it be stereotyping to blame the Italian, Palmiotti, for the excesses of this readable but forgettable goombah tragedy? Madame Xanadu #11 — Writer: Matt Wagner;  Artist: Michael Wm. Kaluta Kaluta interior art (wrapped around an absolutely gorgeous cover), and it’s the first of five parts, set in 1940s New York City. … Continue reading →