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 #359

Posted on March 5, 2016 by Phil

Black Widow #1 — Writers: Chris Samnee and Mark Waid;  Art: Chris Samnee;  Colors: Matthew Wilson Avengers Standoff: Assault on Pleasant Hill Alpha — Writer: Nick Spencer;  Art/Colors: Jesus Saiz Two debuts from Marvel: Black Widow‘s had a lot of anticipation, coming from the Daredevil team of Waid and Samnee, and what this first issue offers is basically the first five minutes of a James Bond or Mission Impossible film: a full-on action sequence/chase showcasing the super-spy derring-do aspects of the character. Since much of it is wordless, it’s over quickly, and readers may feel like “That’s it?”, but if … Continue reading →

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Phil’s Reviews: Stuff I Bought #358

Posted on February 27, 2016 by Phil

Patsy Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat #3 — Writer: Kate Leth;  Art: Brittney L. Williams;  Colors: Megan Wilson Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur #4 — Writers: Brandon Montclare and Amy Reeder;  Art: Natacha Bustos;  Colors: Tamra Bonvillain The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #5 — Writer: Ryan North;  Art: Erica Henderson;  Colors: Rico Renzi Silk #5 — Writer: Robbie Thompson;  Art: Veronica Fish;  Colors: Ian Herring Jem and the Holograms #12 — Writer:  Kelly Thompson;  Art: Sophie Campbell;  Colors: M. Victoria Robado Another week with a big batch of diverse-audience-friendly comics, four of them from Marvel; none of them are breakout hits as monthly … Continue reading →

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Phil’s Reviews: Stuff I Bought #357

Posted on February 20, 2016 by Phil

Avengers Standoff: Welcome to Pleasant Hill #1 — Writer: Nick Spencer;  Pencils: Mark Bagley;  Inks: Scott Hanna;  Colors: Paul Mounts Power Man and Iron Fist #1 — Writer: David Walker;  Art: Sanford Greene;  Colors: Lee Loughridge Deadpool and Cable: Split Second #3 (of 3) — Writer: Fabian Nicieza;  Pencils: Reilly Brown;  Inks: Jay Leisten and Jeremy Freeman;  Colors: Jim Charalampidis Two Marvel first issues, and a last one: Pleasant Hill, despite its title, has no Avengers in it; it’s more of a Prisoners riff (or Wayward Pines, if you’re too young for ’60s references), about a seemingly-tranquil community that’s actually … Continue reading →

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Phil’s Reviews: Stuff I Bought #356

Posted on February 13, 2016 by Phil

Love and Rockets: New Stories #8 — Creators: Gilbert and Jaime Hernandez This yearly dose of new Hernandez Brothers’ work is always cause for celebration — very few creators can say they’ve been chronicling their creations’ lives for thirty years, aging them in real time (you’d have to go to daily newspaper strips like Gasoline Alley or For Better or for Worse to see anything similar, and neither of those is still publishing new material), and both brothers are still capable of tremendous storytelling. Gilbert’s the more operatic, as the many descendants of his Palomar character Luba follow film careers … Continue reading →

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Phil’s Reviews: Stuff I Bought #355

Posted on February 6, 2016 by Phil

Spider-Man #1 — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis;  Art: Sara Pichelli;  Ink Assists: Gaetano Carlucci;  Colors: Justin Ponsor Amazing Spider-Man #7 — Writer: Dan Slott;  Art: Matteo Buffagni;  Colors: Marte Gracia Spidey #3 — Writer: Robbie Thompson;  Art: Nick Bradshaw;  Colors: Jim Campbell and Rachelle Rosenberg Three Spider-Man books in one week isn’t exactly a testament to Marvel’s shipping strategy, but at least they’re all very different.  Spider-Man is Miles Morales in the regular Marvel universe — and he’s one of only a couple people who even remember that there was any other universe, or a Secret Wars,  all because he … Continue reading →

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