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 #299

Posted on January 9, 2015 by Phil

Ant-Man #1 — Writer: Nick Spencer;  Art: Ramon Rosanas;  Colors: Jordan Boyd With a movie this summer, of course Ant-Man needs a new ongoing series, and this is a respectable shot at a debut issue. Spencer, who’s a clever writer, is going for a little bit of a Hawkeye feel here, with his good-hearted, regular-guy rogue of a main character, except that where Clint Barton’s problem is his scruffy overconfidence, Scott Lang’s is the opposite: as an ex-con and a divorced father, he knows exactly how normal and scruffy he is, and sees that as a failure, despite his heart, … Continue reading →

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Phil’s Reviews: Stuff I Bought #298

Posted on January 2, 2015 by Phil

The week between Christmas and New Year’s is traditionally very light, and this one’s no exception — but, fortunately, there are still some comics worth mentioning: Abigail and the Snowman #1 (of 4) — Writer/Artist: Roger Langridge;  Colors: Fred Stresing Langridge has delivered a lot of quality humor/bigfoot books over the last few years; his dry British wit and adaptable art made him perfect for The Muppets, and he pivoted from that to a pitch-perfect Elsie Segar-inspired Popeye. On his own, he also produced Snarked, a Lewis Carroll pastiche, and now this: a story about a little girl who meets … Continue reading →

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Phil’s Reviews: Stuff I Bought #297

Posted on December 26, 2014 by Phil

Superman #37 — Writer: Geoff Johns;  Pencils:  John Romita Jr.; Inks: Klaus Janson;  Colors: Laura Martin Harley Quinn #13 — Writers: Amanda Connor and Jimmy Palmiotti;  Art: Chad Hardin; Colors: Alex Sinclair Superman/Wonder Woman #14 — Writer: Peter Tomasi;  Pencils: Doug Mahnke;  Inks: Four Different Guys; Colors: Tomeu Morey Sinestro #8 — Writer: Cullen Bunn;  Pencils: Martin Cocollo; Inks: Scott Hanna;  Colors: Jason Wright The Flash #37 — Writers: Robert Venditti and Van Jensen;  Pencils: Brett Booth;  Inks: Norm Rapmund;  Colors: Andrew Dalhouse Aquaman #37 — Writer: Jeff Parker;  Pencils: Paul Pelletier;  Inks: Sean Parsons;  Colors: Rain Beredo He-Man: The … Continue reading →

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Phil’s Reviews: Stuff I Bought #296

Posted on December 20, 2014 by Phil

The Sandman: Overture #4 (of 6) — Writer: Neil Gaiman;  Art: J. H. Williams III;  Colors: Dave Stewart Shadow Show: Stories in Celebration of Ray Bradbury #2 (of 5) — Writers: Neil Gaiman; Audrey Niffenegger;  Art: Maria Frohlich; Eddie Campbell Another huge week of decent comics (Merry Christmas to us!), starting with two by Neil Gaiman. Sandman: Overture began slowly, but has built nicely, and in this issue really takes off: the J. H. Williams III art manages to pack a lot of visual information into imaginatively-laid-out pages that are like a pop-up book — you could study them for hours … Continue reading →

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Phil’s Reviews: Stuff I Bought #295

Posted on December 13, 2014 by Phil

Lots of good comics this week, so let’s break them down by company — starting with Image, who’s offered literally dozens of cool debuts this year, making themselves the destination publisher for creators who want to stretch their storytelling skills with minimum editorial interference, and maximum retention of the rights to their work: Bitch Planet #1 — Writer: Kelly Sue Deconnick;  Art: Valentine de Landro;  Colors: Cris Peter Deconnick’s been having a breakout 2014 — her Pretty Deadly, a hallucinatory occult Western, was great, and she’s been making Captain Marvel a smart, galaxy-spanning romp for Marvel. Here, she enters creator-owned … Continue reading →

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