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 #113

Daredevil #116 — Writer: Ed Brubaker; Penciler: David Aja; Inks: Stefano Gaudiano Like Stan Sakai over in last week’s Usagi Yojimbo, Ed Brubaker, here and in Captain America and the various Criminal projects, just keeps turning out highly competent comics: entertaining, well-constructed stories that make us care about the characters and appreciate what we’ve read. Let’s applaud that this week, and look at the other creators who can do it: The Goon #32 — Writer/Artist: Eric Powell Powell isn’t much of a Renaissance Man — he can’t do everything well — but so what? He can do this one book … Continue reading

Posted in New Comics, Reviews | Comments Off on Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Bought #113

Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Read and Put Back #113

Strange Adventures #1 ( of 8 ) — Writer: Jim Starlin;  Pencils: Manuel Garcia;  Inks: Al Milgrom Starlin offering another in the continuing adventures of his cosmic DC cast: Captain Comet, The Weird, Starman, Bizarro and, of course, the titular Adam Strange.  It’s oddly comforting to see him and Al Milgrom still part of the same creative team after close to 40 years; he’s only listed as writer, but those layouts look awfully Starliny, and Garcia just seems to be a middleman between the two old pros. Entertaining, and worth checking out, depending on your tolerance for this sort of … Continue reading

Posted in New Comics, Reviews | Comments Off on Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Read and Put Back #113

Ask the Professor #26 — Catching Up….

The Professor’s been focused on school work (instead of the important stuff, like comics trivia questions), and the submissions have piled up alarmingly, so let start with the earliest, and do a few a day until they’re current. The first question is from, embarrassingly, Jan. 21: In Green Lantern when Kyle Rayner was still in the main title, before they brough back Hal Jordan, he was in space and defeating the Black Circle Syndicate. After he defeated Amon Sur the Femail Guardian appears behind him and stabs Kyle Rayner. She leaves his to die but he telports himself out of … Continue reading

Posted in Comics History | Comments Off on Ask the Professor #26 — Catching Up….

Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Bought #112

Usagi Yojimbo #118 — Writer/Artist: Stan Sakai I usually just stick this on the bottom, in the “stuff I don’t have much to say about” list, because it’s so dependably good, but let’s give Sakai a little love this week: this is a good jump-in issue, even though it’s the middle of a three-part story. Watch how smoothly the new reader is given enough information to know what’s happening, how artfully the panels are composed, how inevitably the action moves forward, and how perfectly Sakai renders the characters and the backgrounds, with exactly the right number of strokes of the … Continue reading

Posted in New Comics, Reviews | Comments Off on Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Bought #112

Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Read and Put Back #112

The  Incredible Hercules #126 — Story: Fred Van Lente and Greg Pak;  Pencils: Rodney Buchemi;  Inks: Greg Adams;  (Second story): Story: Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente;  Art: Takeshi Miyazawa A double-size issue for $3.99 (get ’em before Marvel starts charging that much for a regular-sized issue in a month or two), with the first story an origin of sorts (taking place in 1291 B.C.) and the bonus story a bittersweet tale involving Amadeus Cho, Bruce Banner, and that coyote pup. Buchemi shows some talent drawing Greeks, especially the women (some of his panels are reminiscent of Adam Hughes; he … Continue reading

Posted in New Comics, Reviews | Comments Off on Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Read and Put Back #112