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 #419

Posted on May 6, 2017 by Phil

Secret Empire #1 (of 9) — Writer: Nick Spencer;  Pencils: Steve McNiven;  Inks: Jay Leisten;  Colors: Matthew Wilson Guardians of the Galaxy: Mother Entropy #1 (of 4) — Writer: Jim Starlin;  Pencils: Alan Davis;  Inks: Mark Farmer;  Colors: Matt Yackey Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission: Breakout! #1 (of 1) — Writer: Christopher Hastings; Pencils: Edgar Salazar;  Inks: Allen Martinez;  Colors: Andrew Crossley Black Bolt #1 — Writer: Saladin Ahmed;  Art/Colors: Christian Ward Of the Marvel first issues this week, Secret Empire has the most buzz: a fascist takeover of the United States by a Captain America who, thanks to a … Continue reading →

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Phil’s Reviews: Stuff I Bought #418

Posted on April 28, 2017 by Phil

The Mighty Thor #18 — Writer: Jason Aaron;  Art: Russell Dauterman;  Colors: Matthew Wilson Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #18 — Writers: Brandon Montclare and Amy Reeder;  Art: Natacha Bustos;  Colors: Tamra Bonvillain Patsy Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat #17 — Writer: Kate Leth;  Art: Brittney L. Williams;  Colors: Rachelle Rosenberg Hulk #5 — Writer: Mariko Tamaki;  Art: Nico Leon;  Colors: Matt Milla and Andrew Crossley Of the books spotlighting women characters this week, Mighty Thor continues to be the most mainstream (and, not coincidentally, the best-selling), with its Asgardian/Shi’ar war, various gods and Phoenix forces, and Xavier-School alum Quentin Quire combining … Continue reading →

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Phil’s Reviews: Stuff I Bought #417

Posted on April 22, 2017 by Phil

Secret Empire #0 ( of 9 ) — Writer: Nick Spencer;  Art/Colors: Daniel Acuna Steve Rogers: Captain America #16 — Writer: Nick Spencer;  Art: Kevin Libranda, Yildiray Cinar and Jon Malin;  Colors: Rachelle Rosenberg Thunderbolts #12 — Writer: Jim Zub;  Art: Jon Malin;  Colors: Matt Yackey U.S.Avengers #5 — Writer: Al Ewing;  Art: Paco Diaz;  Colors: Jesus Aburtov Whether we all really want to read about a fascist takeover of the U.S. by a nationalist-themed sociopath and his cartoonish super-villain flunkies right now is a good question, especially in a ten-episode mini-series with line-wide tie-ins, but as such things go … Continue reading →

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Phil’s Reviews: Stuff I Bought #416

Posted on April 14, 2017 by Phil

Black Panther and the Crew #1 — Writer: Ta-Nehisi Coates;  Pencils: Butch Guice;  Inks: Scott Hanna;  Colors: Dan Brown X-Men: Blue #1 — Writer: Cullen Bunn;  Art: Jorge Molina and Matteo Buffagni;  Colors: Matt Milla Weapon X #1 — Writer: Greg Pak;  Pencils: Greg Land;  Inks: Jay Leisten;  Colors: Frank D’Armata In a week that sees the debut of two major X-books (well, one and a half…), Black Panther and the Crew #1 leads off because, despite its title, it’s a Misty Knight/Storm teamup in New York City that’s a valentine to the Chris Claremont-era Uncanny X-Men. Coates was facing … Continue reading →

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Phil’s Reviews: Stuff I Bought #415

Posted on April 7, 2017 by Phil

True Believers: X-Men #1 — Writer: Stan Lee;  Pencils: Jack Kirby;  Inks: Paul Reinman True Believers: Giant-Size X-Men #1 — Writer: Len Wein;  Art: Dave Cockrum;  Colors: Glynis Wein X-Men Gold #1 — Writer: Marc Guggenheim;  Pencils: Ardian Syaf;  Inks: Jay Leisten;  Colors: Frank Martin In conjunction with this week’s release of X-Men Gold, the new “main” X-Men title, Marvel’s offering $1 reprints of both 1963’s Lee/Kirby X-Men #1, and 1975’s Wein/Cockrum Giant-Size X-Men #1 (weird to consider that the distance between the Silver Age debut and the Bronze Age makeover was only twelve years — and that it’s been … Continue reading →

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