Author Archives: Phil

Black Summer #3 — Writer: Warren Ellis; Art: Juan Jose Ryp Ellis continues his grim political fun, as the team tries to figure out how to explain to the US government that, you know, even though your leader just assassinated the President, that doesn’t mean you’re bad people. Lots of near-future technical wizardry, along with lovingly-drawn (and colored) explosions and violence and rubble; what more could a superhero reader want? Superman #668 — Writer: Kurt Busiek; Penciller: Rick Leonardi; Inker: Dan Green The thing that sets Busiek apart is that he’s not afraid to make the effort — his DC … Continue reading →

X-Men: Die by the Sword #1 — Writer: Chris Claremont;  Penciler: Juan Santacruz;  Inker: Raul Fernandez Excalibur and the Exiles versus James Jaspers and the Fury, with Saturnyne and the alternate-universe Captain Britains thrown into the mix. Be still, my beating heart;  if I were to construct a parody of a Claremont story, with all his stock characters, situations and dialogue twitches, this would be close to it. There’s one poignant scene, where Nocturne talks about how hard it is to recover from a stroke, and echoes the writer’s own recent medical problems, but that’s not enough to redeem, or … Continue reading →

Gumby #3 — Writer: Bob Burden;  Art: Rick Geary Kids’ lit for cool kids; the surreal jumps from giant Heath bars to cannibal timeshare salesmen to Sherlock Holmes tributes (with laser teeth added) would make perfect dreamlike sense to a six-year-old (even the accidental duplication of page 18 with page 19 somehow works). This third issue concludes the first story, although reading all three issues at once might permanently unmoor you from reality. Jonah Hex #24 — Writers: Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti;  Art: David Michael Beck A Hallowe’en story guest-starring El Diablo and Bat Lash. Palmiotti’s and Gray’s charms … Continue reading →

Wolverine Annual #1 — Writer: Gregg Hurwitz;  Artist: Marcelo Frusin What a strange conceit: the writer’s built this story around echoes of the T.S. Eliot poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock,” with the title now “The Death Song of J. Patrick Smitty,” and small quotes from the poem referenced in the captions and dialogue (“There will be time,” “Do I dare disturb the universe?,” etc.). However, none of the themes of the poem show up in the story, and there’s no other reference to it; in fact, it’s one of those “gang kills people and Wolverine picks them … Continue reading →

The Spirit #10 — Writer/Artist: Darwyn Cook;  Finishes: J. Bone The parody dial’s kind of turned up to eleven, and I had to read the ending three times — although, in fairness to Cooke, it does make sense (“two more people,” but not the Spirit; I get it, although I still don’t like scenes where the hero’s in mortal peril and has to trust to luck instead of skill to get out). Have to admire all the work that went into it, though, and the flashy-but-more-than-competent sense of design and fun that glows in these pages. Justice League of America … Continue reading →