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 #379

Posted on July 30, 2016 by Phil

Civil War II #4 (of 7) — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis;  Art: David Marquez;  Colors: Justin Ponsor Captain Marvel #7 — Writers: Ruth Fletcher Gage and Christos Gage;  Art: Marco Failla;  Colors: Matt Wilson Ms. Marvel #9 — Writer: G. Willow Wilson;  Art: Takeshi Miyazawa and Adrian Alphona;  Colors: Ian Herring Totally Awesome Hulk #9 — Writer: Greg Pak;  Art: Mike del Mundo;  Colors: del Mundo and Marco D’Alfonso All four of these books are Civil War II-related, most significantly Civil War II #4 itself,  the biggest draw, and as it rounds the halfway point of the big event it reveals … Continue reading →

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Phil’s Reviews: Stuff I Bought #378

Posted on July 23, 2016 by Phil

San Diego convention week brings a number of first issues — eight from indy publishers, and three from DC, but none from Marvel. Let’s start with the indy stuff first, since it’s the most wide-ranging: Snotgirl #1 — Writer: Bryan Lee O’Malley;  Art: Leslie Hung;  Colors: Mickey Quinn Betty and Veronica #1 — Writer/Artist: Adam Hughes;  Colors: Jose Villarrubia Faith #1 — Writer: Jody Houser;  Art: Pere Perez with Margaurite Sauvage and Colleen Duran;  Colors: Andrew Dalhouse Black Hammer #1 — Writer: Jeff Lemire;  Art: Dean Ormston;  Colors: Dave Stewart Avaterex #1 — Writer: Grant Morrison;  Art: Jeevan J. Kang; … Continue reading →

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Phil’s Reviews: Stuff I Bought #377

Posted on July 9, 2016 by Phil

Justice League: Rebirth #1 — Writer/Penciler: Brian Hitch;  Inks: Daniel Henriques with Scott Hanna;  Colors: Alex Sinclair The Flintstones #1 — Writer: Mark Russell;  Art: Steve Pugh;  Colors: Chris Chuckry Loads of second issues from DC this week, but only a few first ones: Justice League: Rebirth is basically “New Superman joins the Justice League while they’re fighting a super-big threat”; it does its job of introducing the current versions of all the heroes, and of course Hitch makes them look like a twelve-year-old comics fan’s dream, although you have to squint a little to ignore the thin plot (it’s … Continue reading →

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Phil’s Reviews: Stuff I Bought #376

Posted on July 2, 2016 by Phil

The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #9 — Writer: Ryan North;  Pencils: Erica Henderson;  Inks: Tom Fowler; Colors: Rico Renzi Extraordinary X-Men #11 — Writer: Jeff Lemire;  Pencils: Humberto Ramos;  Inks: Victor Olazaba;  Colors: Edgar Delgado All-New All-Different Avengers #11 — Writer: Mark Waid;  Art: Mahmud Asrar;  Colors: Dave McCaig Captain America: Steve Rogers #2 — Writer: Nick Spencer;  Art/Colors: Jesus Saiz Spider-Man #5 — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis;  Art: Sara Pichelli;  Ink Assist: Gaetano Carlucci;  Colors: Justin Ponsor Ten new Marvels to talk about, so let’s take them five at a time. The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl gets to the top of the … Continue reading →

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Phil’s Reviews: Stuff I Bought #375

Posted on June 24, 2016 by Phil

Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #8 — Writers: Brandon Montclare and Amy Reeder;  Art: Natacha Bustos;  Colors: Tamra Bonvillain Mighty Thor #8 — Writer: Jason Aaron;  Art: Russell Dauterman;  Colors: Matthew Wilson Ms. Marvel #8 — Writer: G. Willow Wilson;  Art: Takeshi Miyazawa and Adrian Alphona;  Colors: Ian Herring with Irma Kniivila Scarlet Witch #7 — Writer: James Robinson;  Art: Annie Wu;  Colors: Muntsa Vicente The women heroes really rule at Marvel right now — many of the company’s best, most imaginative storytelling comes from books with female leads. Look at the four here: Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur is … Continue reading →

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