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 #294

Posted on December 5, 2014 by Phil

Crossed Plus One Hundred #1 — Writer: Alan Moore;  Art: Gabriel Andrade;  Colors: Digikore Studios A new series by Alan Moore is always cause for celebration, although here he’s playing in Garth Ennis’s zombie-apocalypse-ish Crossed sandbox, not creating something brand-new. As the title suggests, the story’s set in the medium-distant future, 100 years after the initial outbreak of a virulent infection that transformed its victims into homicidal maniacs and crashed civilization.  Moore’s always been a very brainy writer, effective at both world-building and at wordplay, and both are in evidence here, as we follow Future Taylor, the steady, curious young … Continue reading →

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Phil’s Reviews: Stuff I Bought #293

Posted on November 29, 2014 by Phil

Madman In Your Face 3D Special! — Creator: Michael Allred; 3D Process: Christian LeBlanc When is a comic worth $10? When it’s this package: 80 pages of stunning 3D work, with glasses included. Allred is a wonderful artist anyway, and it turns out that his generous, open compositions make him a perfect candidate for the 3D separation process. He’s also a brainy creator with a vast knowledge of comics history: witness the first reprinted story here, “Swiped from Dimension X,” wherein every panel is drawn in the style of a different comics creator, from newspaper-strip legends like Elsie Segar and … Continue reading →

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Phil’s Reviews: Stuff I Bought #292

Posted on November 21, 2014 by Phil

Wonder Woman #36 — Writer: Meredith Finch;  Pencils: David Finch;  Inks: Richard Friend;  Colors: Sonia Oback Sensation Comics Featuring Wonder Woman #4 — (First Story)  Creator: Gilbert Hernandez;  Colors: John Rauch;  (Second Story)  Writer: Rob Williams;  Art: Tom Lyle;  Colors: Wendy Broome;  (Third Story)  Writer: Nick Kleid;  Art: Dean Haspiel;  Colors: Allen Passalaqua Two Wonder Woman books — the regular comic features the debut of a new husband-and-wife creative team, the Finches. It’s OK, although if you liked the previous version you might not be too thrilled; unlike Azzarello/Chiang’s quirky, angular work, this is decidedly mainstream, and looks a lot … Continue reading →

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Phil’s Reviews: Stuff I Bought #291

Posted on November 14, 2014 by Phil

Axis #5 (of 9) — Writer: Rick Remender;  Pencils: Terry Dodson;  Inks: Rachel Dodson;  Colors: Laura Martin and Matt Milla Superior Iron Man #1 — Writer: Tom Taylor;  Art: Yildiray Cinar; Colors: Guru-eFX All-New Captain America #1 — Writer: Rick Remender;  Pencils: Stuart Immonen; Inks: Wade Von Grawbadger;  Colors: Marte Gracia with Eduardo Navarro Captain America and the Mighty Avengers #1 — Writer: Al Ewing;  Art: Luke Ross; Colors: Rachelle Rosenberg These books are all related, so let’s look at them together: Axis is growing as it goes; what was originally a fight-the-Red-Skull story has now morphed into a role-reversal … Continue reading →

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Phil’s Reviews: Stuff I Bought #290

Posted on November 7, 2014 by Phil

Tooth and Claw #1 — Writer: Kurt Busiek;  Art: Benjamin Dewey;  Colors: Jordie Bellaire Busiek’s known for his superhero stuff, but he’s very good at sf/fantasy, too — his Arrowsmith, about World War I being fought on an alternate earth where magic works, was worthy of someone like Fritz Leiber or Poul Anderson, and his Shockrockets was a Heinleinien high-tech romp. In this new series, he’s going for anthropomorphic high fantasy: on a world of intelligent animals, magic is dying, and their attempts to fix things have terrible consequences. Dewey has a lush, painterly style and a knack for structure … Continue reading →

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