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 #454

Posted on January 6, 2018 by Phil

So, I was too lazy to do a top-ten list for 2017, but if you’re interested you can do it for me: just go here , look for the “Archives” section over on the left, read all 52 of my weekly comics reviews for the year, and decide from that. I will say that Tom King, writer of both Mister Miracle and Batman, would have been the only creator with two books on the list, although Donny Cates (Redneck, Baby Teeth, God’s Country, Doctor Strange, Thanos), Kieron Gillen (The Wicked and the Divine, Star Wars: Captain Aphra, Uber) and Rich Tomasso … Continue reading →

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Phil’s Reviews: Stuff I Bought #453

Posted on December 29, 2017 by Phil

True Believers: Phoenix — What If? #1 (of 1) — Writer: Mary Jo Duffy;  Pencils: Jerry Bingham;  Inks: John Stuart;  Colors: Carl Gafford True Believers: Phoenix — Origins #1 (of 1) — Writer: Sean McKeever;  Art/Colors: Mike Mayhew True Believers: Phoenix — Death of Phoenix #1 (of 1) — Writer: Grant Morrison;  Pencils: Phil Jimenez;  Inks: Andy Lanning with Simon Coleby;  Colors: Chris Chuckry Phoenix Resurrection: The Return of Jean Grey #1 (of 5) — Writer: Matt Rosenberg;  Pencils: Leonil Francis Yu;  Inks: Gerry Alanguilan;  Colors: Rachelle Rosenberg With Phoenix:Resurrection starting this week, Marvel also releases the last three of its … Continue reading →

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Phil’s Reviews: Stuff I Bought #452

Posted on December 22, 2017 by Phil

X-Men: Grand Design #1 (of 6) — Creator: Ed Piskor X-Men: Grand Design, a cool, addictive surprise, comes from Marvel’s hiring Ed Piskor, creator of the Hip Hop Family Tree comic, to tackle an even more tangled history: The X-Men. The result is six forty-page issues, using aged paper and lurid colors to present a mashup of 1940s science-fiction-comic style and underground art (he’s worked with Harvey Pekar and Jay Lynch), to remix and retell the group’s history, using as source material the first 300 issues of Uncanny X-Men. Mind you, it’s not as simple as starting with the story in X-Men #1; no, … Continue reading →

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Phil’s Reviews: Stuff I Bought #451

Posted on December 15, 2017 by Phil

True Believers: Phoenix — Bizarre Adventures #1 (of 1) — Writer: Chris Claremont;  Pencils: John Buscema;  Inks: Klaus Janson;  Colors: Michael Kelleher True Believers: Phoenix — Classic #1 (of 1) — Writer: Chris Claremont;  Art: John Bolton;  Colors: Petra Scotese True Believers: Phoenix — Returns! #1 (of 1) — Writer/Penciller: John Byrne;  Inks: Terry Austin;  Colors: Glynis Oliver Jean Grey #10 — Writer: Dennis Hopeless;  Art: Alberto Alburquerque;  Colors: Jay David Ramos Marvel’s reviving their original Jean Grey/Marvel Girl/Phoenix character (Grant Morrison  killed her in New X-Men #150, and in such a satisfyingly-cosmic way that she’s been dead for fourteen … Continue reading →

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Phil’s Reviews: Stuff I Bought #450

Posted on December 8, 2017 by Phil

True Believers: Phoenix Presents Cyclops and Marvel Girl #1 (of 1) — Writer: Arnold Drake;  Pencils: Don Heck and Werner Roth;  Inks: John Verpoorten True Believers: Enter…the Phoenix! #1 (of 1) — Writer: Chris Claremont;  Art: Dave Cockrum Astonishing X-Men #6 — Writer: Charles Soule;  Art: Mike del Mundo;  Colors: del Mundo and Marco D’Alfonso X-Men Gold #17 — Writer: Marc Guggenheim;  Art: Ken Lashley;  Colors: Juan Fernandez If there was any doubt that Marvel was about to resurrect Jean Grey (who’s been “dead” since Grant Morrison killed her back in 2003), look to the two one-dollar “True Believer” reprints … Continue reading →

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