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 #259

Posted on September 27, 2013 by Phil

Sex Criminals #1 — Writer: Matt Fraction;  Art: Chip Zdarsky You know how people say, about great sex, “time stopped”? Well, this is a story about a girl who finds out that, when she has an orgasm,  time literally stops; it’s a mutant power triggered by the rush of endorphins or serontin or dopamine or whatever. In the wrong hands, this could be a disastrous premise for a series, all snickering adolescent exploitation, but fortunately Fraction and Zdarsky are made of sterner stuff; Fraction’s got a deep humanism that’s at the core of all of his best writing, making us … Continue reading →

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Phil’s Reviews: Stuff I Bought #258

Posted on September 13, 2013 by Phil

Yes, yes, we’ll get to all of those fancy DC villain books in a minute (even though, contrary to this column’s title, I didn’t buy all of them — but, hey, without credits on the cover, I figure you need some sort of quick description of each one, to see which will be worth your time) — but first, let’s look at the regular titles that stood out this week: Astro City #4 — Writer: Kurt Busiek;  Art: Brent Eric Anderson This was the best book of the week the last time it came out, too, and it’ll probably be … Continue reading →

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Phil’s Reviews: Stuff I Bought #257

Posted on August 30, 2013 by Phil

Let’s start with a pair of DC books this week — very different, but tied for the top of the reading list: American Vampire Anthology — Creators: Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque;  Jason Aaron and Declan Shalvey; Rafael Albuquerque and Ivo Milazzo; Jeff Lemire and Ray Fawkes; Becky Cloonan; Francesco Francavilla; Gail Simone and Tula Lotay; Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon; Greg Rucka and JP Leon As with most anthologies, this rises or falls based on its creator credits — and look at them: that’s an all-star lineup. Snyder and Albuquerque, the book’s regular team, contribute a bookend story around … Continue reading →

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Phil’s Reviews: Stuff I Bought #256

Posted on August 17, 2013 by Phil

There are a lot of good non-corporate, creator-owned books out right now (this has been a great year for them), so let’s start with those this week: Saga #13 — Writer: Brian K. Vaughan;  Art: Fiona Staples This is revving up again after a few months’ absence (the creative team takes a break after each six-issue volume), and the cover helps to show why Staples, the artist, has been such a big part of its becoming a hit: the eyes are drawn to the cute baby first, and the lifelike eyes, but then they notice the horns… and the fact … Continue reading →

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Phil’s Reviews: Stuff I Bought #255

Posted on August 2, 2013 by Phil

Optic Nerve #13 — Writer/Artist: Adrian Tomine Tomine’s been publishing these comics through Drawn and Quarterly for almost 20 years, and even though he’s grown famous (he’s “New Yorker cover artist Adrian Tomine” now), he still manages about one a year. This, like the others, is very accomplished straight-ahead storytelling, with no fantasy, superheroes or other gimmicks. His precise panel layouts, carefully-constructed architecture and intense focus on character — especially the myriad small flaws that make us all wince when we see them in others, or ourselves — make him overlap with Daniel Clowes in a lot of fans’ minds. However, he’s … Continue reading →

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