Author Archives: Phil

About Phil

With 40 years of experience in comic reading, collecting and reviewing, English Professor Phil Mateer has an encyclopedic mind for comics. Feel free to ask Phil about storylines, characters, artists or for that matter, any comic book trivia. He will post your questions and answers on the AABC blog. His knowledge is unparalleled! He is also our warehouse manager, so if you are looking for that hard to find comic book, ask Phil!

Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Bought #115

Seaguy: Slaves of Mickey Eye #1 (of 3) — Writer: Grant Morrison; Artist: Cameron Stewart Whoa: I had no idea this was coming out this week. You can have your expectation-raising, slam-bang blockbusters like Final Crisis, but Seaguy is the Grant Morrison I want. It’s best to read the first series before tackling this one, but get to it, because this is the heir to Animal Man and The Invisibles: small-scale, reality-bending, full of little moments that can make you whistle in awe or break your heart. Pray for a decent ending (Morrison is sometimes more about the cool zen … Continue reading

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Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Read and Put Back #115

Who Wants to be a Superhero?: Defuser #1 — Writer: Jeremy Barlow; Art: Kajo Baldisimo Pretty bad — but not bad enough to derive any real pleasure from ripping on it. Save that for the one-page profiles of the other nine contestants whose characters could have been featured in this Dark Horse marketing crossover bonanza, complete with “Who’s Who”-type dossiers on each character. Look, particularly, at the entries for “Braid,” “Hygena,” and, um, “Mister Mitzvah,” a character so ill-conceived (“A direct descendent of King David!”) that words fail me. Yeesh. It’s all done with a straight face, too; the lack … Continue reading

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Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Bought #114

Crossed #4 — Writer: Garth Ennis;  Art: Jacen Burrows Battlefields: Dear Billy #3 (of 3) — Writer: Garth Ennis;  Art: Peter Snejbjerg Ennis always delivers something worth reading, no matter what book it is. Crossed, for example, has been a standard small-group-against-the-apocalypse story so far, with its combination of present-day events (wherein a member or two of the dwindling crew get picked off each issue) and flashbacks to the early days of the it-didn’t-turn-them-into-zombies-so-much-as-werewolves disaster. It’s the first book I read every week that it ships; like Stephen King with similar material, there’s just something about Ennis’s easy combination of … Continue reading

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Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Read and Put Back #114

Yes, I’m back, after a 7-day cruise down the Pacific Mexican Riviera with Mrs. Professor (comic reviewing pays better than you thought, eh?). Let’s all applaud Dan for the “Phil-in” weeks; I’m a big fan, enjoyed them immensely, and think in same ways his were better than mine. We’ll try to get him back once a month or so, as his college-student schedule permits. Meanwhile: Ms. Marvel #37: Writer: Brian Reed; Pencils: Patrick Oliff; Inks: Serge LePointe Hmmm. If you’re Carol Danvers fan, and haven’t liked the way Reed’s been treating her the last few issues, this one is going … Continue reading

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Ask the Professor #27 — Still Catching Up….

As promised last week, The Professor is continuing to get caught up on his email questions. Thankfully, none of the questions this week ask things like “Tell me everything you know about comics,” as all the writers demonstrate an ability to posit actual answerable questions. This first is from February 24th: What can you tell me about the obscure Licensable Bear #4 comic?  It would appear to be the first Obama appearance in a comic book.  As such, why doesn’t it get more attention? Well, Licensable Bear is one of those too-hip-for-the-room concepts; the whole joke is that he’s cute … Continue reading

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