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 #14

Amelia Rules #17 — Writer and Illustrator: Jimmy Gownley Yes, this comic about fifth-graders without superpowers (although a few of them would like to have some) is the best book of the week. That might seem strange if you’ve never read it, but look at the Terry Moore cover, the cranky but affectionate fan mail from Harlan Ellison, the other fan mail from writer/producer David Fury, from the guy who created Akiko, from the team that created Kim Possible, from Luann creator Greg Evans, and from others. What do they know? That Gownley is an extremely talented writer and artist, … Continue reading

Posted in New Comics, Reviews | Comments Off on Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Bought #14

Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Read and Put Back #14

Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four #1 (of 4) — Writer: Jeff Parker; Penciler: Mike Wieringo; Inker: Wade von Grawbadger I almost bought this, and if you’re looking for “classic” FF while the main title’s going through one of its periodic let’s-shake-up-the-roster things, you could do worse. Weiringo knows how to draw this book, and the script gives him Spider-Man and the Impossible Man and a Thing-Torch prank to have fun with. There was a little too much going on for me, though; it seemed like the volume was cranked up too high — the villain’s working for an alien race! … Continue reading

Posted in New Comics, Reviews | Comments Off on Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Read and Put Back #14

Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Bought #13

Madman #1 — Words and pictures: Michael Allred Just OK. Wonderful art, but it’s more of a clip show than anything else, and the suggestion at the end that everything up to now’s all been an illusion feels like a cheat. Of course, the cheat might be a cheat, too, so it’s important to reserve judgment; it’s understandable that Allred wants to clear away 20 years of cobwebs surrounding his character, and we’ll have to wait until the end of the storyline to see exactly how he’s going to accomplish that. Allred’s part of an interesting pattern — Matt Wagner’s … Continue reading

Posted in New Comics, Reviews | Comments Off on Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Bought #13

Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Read and Put Back #13

Avengers: The Initiative #1 — Writer: Dan Slott;  Artist: Stefano Caselli So, in the Marvel Universe United States now, if you’re a kid, say, and caught using powers, they throw you into a boot camp training deal, with other “recruits” of all ages and power levels, and there’s a stereotypical drill sergeant, except that he’s got this huge metal weapon-thing attached to his right arm that looks really, really stupid, and then Yellowjacket and War Machine and Peter Gyrich “test” your powers, and when something goes wrong and another kid’s brains get blown all over you, well, that’s too bad, … Continue reading

Posted in New Comics, News and Events, Reviews | Comments Off on Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Read and Put Back #13

Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Bought #12

Batman #664 — Writer: Grant Morrison; Penciller: Andy Kubert; Inker: Jesse Delperdang Morrison’s Wayne is a super-competent international playboy, instead of someone pretending to be a klutz, and that’s kind of fun. Nasty things are happening in Gotham, and Batman gets smacked around and there’s talk of “the black casebook,” apparently one of those shadowy Morrison conspiracy-of-the-weird things, and that’s it: the first chapter of a new story. Andy Kubert’s been a good match for Morrison; he’s good at standard superhero poses, but he’s just off-center and gritty enough to have a style. Look at that cover: it’s generic at … Continue reading

Posted in New Comics, Reviews | Comments Off on Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Bought #12