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!

Ask the Professor #18 — The First Comic

Posted on August 26, 2008 by Phil

Who first wrote the comic book? That’s an interesting (if ungrammatical) question, but the only true answer is: it depends, on what you mean by “comic,” “book,” and “wrote.”  Candidates range from whomever did those cave paintings in the south of France, 10,000 years ago, to Rudolphe Toppfer (who published books using sequential pictures to tell a story in the first half of the 1800s) to Major Malcolm Wheeler, whose New Fun, published in 1935, is generally considered the first comic in the format we’re familiar with today — a floppy pamphlet, for 10 cents — which consisted mostly of … Continue reading →

Posted in Comics History | Comments Off on Ask the Professor #18 — The First Comic

Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Bought #85

Posted on August 24, 2008 by Phil

Amazing Spider-Man #568 — Writer: Dan Slott;  Pencils: John Romita, Jr.;  Inks: Klaus Jansom Probably the best issue since the relaunch;  although it’ll cost you an extra buck, a lot of things seem to click into place. There’s 28 pages of Romita, Jr./Janson art (including a good three-page recap), action, new and old villains, subplots about Parker’s personal life that actually make sense: If you haven’t been reading this lately, and want to know how it’s going, this is a very good place to start.. Air #1 — Writer: G. Willow Wilson;  Artist: M. K. Perker A good first issue … Continue reading →

Posted in New Comics, Reviews | Comments Off on Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Bought #85

Phil's Reviews: Stuff I Read and Put Back #85

Posted on August 23, 2008 by Phil

1985 #4 (of 6) — Writer: Mark Millar;  Art: Tommy Lee Edwards Wasn’t the original idea for this series that it would be a fumetti (that is, that it would be told through actual photographs)? That might have been cool, especially if it had switched to art during sequences in the Marvel universe, in sort of a Wizard of Oz changeup.  As is, Edwards isn’t quite able to handle the difference between “photorealistic” Earth and Marvel-Earth; I think the last panel here is supposed to be shocking, but the change in style isn’t extreme enough to have any impact (it’s … Continue reading →

Posted in New Comics, Reviews | Comments Off on Phil's Reviews: Stuff I Read and Put Back #85

Ask the Professor #17 — What Comics Should I Read?

Posted on August 19, 2008 by Phil

Hey Professor Phil! My name is Stephanie and i reallllllllyyy want to learn more about comic books and super heroes. Do you have any ideas of how i can start learning more about them?! Well, Steph, if you’re interested in current superhero comics, The Professor’s advice is to go to a well-stocked comic book store, go down the new-comic racks, and pull an issue or two of anything that looks interesting to you. If you buy 30-35 books, the bad news is that it’ll cost you a hundred bucks, and you’ll find that maybe 75-80% of it is childish, sexist, … Continue reading →

Posted in New Comics | Comments Off on Ask the Professor #17 — What Comics Should I Read?

Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Bought #84

Posted on August 17, 2008 by Phil

Hellboy: The Crooked Man #2 (of 3) — Story: Mike Mignola;  Art: Richard Corben That last panel’s absolutely chilling;  the comic, even just two-thirds through the run, is a candidate for story of the year — and you don’t have to know a thing about the characters going in to be able to follow it easily, either. Action #868 — Writer: Geoff Johns;  Penciller: Gary Frank;  Inker: Jon Sibal Another book with a chilling last panel; Frank’s been getting better and better on this title, and now it’s just a pleasure to look at.  The characters in this episode spend … Continue reading →

Posted in New Comics, Reviews | 1 Comment