Author Archives: Phil

Blackest Night: Suicide Squad #67 — Writers: Gail Simone and John Ostrander;  Art: J. Calafiore Amanda Waller and crew appear a little, and Ostrander’s the co-writer, but this is actually a Secret Six story, and continues into the next issue of that title. That’s not a bad thing, mind you, since Simone is so good with that particular cast of characters, and since both teams involve bad guys trying to (occasionally) do the right thing (with Deadshot the link between them), it all makes just the kind of twisted sense that she specializes in; this is a much better BN … Continue reading →

King City #4 — Writer/Artist: Brandon Graham Forgetless #2 — Writer: Nick Spencer;  Artists: Jorge Coelho, Marley Zarcon Tank Girl: Skidmarks #2 (of 4) — Writer: Alan Martin;  Art: Rufus Dayglo Three of the more interesting indy books of the week — King City has been getting some buzz, and Graham’s European-styled art — a mix of Moebius and  Geoff Darrow, with some manga thrown in — accounts for a lot of it.  Too, he’s put some obvious work into his future-city setting and his intriguing cast of twenty-somethings, and the passion helps to cover up the occasional sense that … Continue reading →

Since this was a skip week, it’s a good time to do a “Top Ten Books of the Decade” list, eh? One complication has to do with changes that the ’00s saw in comics production: if the ’80s and ’90s were the decades of the comic store, when fans couldn’t find the magazines in general outlets any more, and had to go to the specialty shops that sprang up across the country like so many mushrooms (and, mushroom-like, in the late ’90s disappeared just as quickly), the ’00s were the decade when comics reappeared in “regular” bookstores; trades, hardcovers and … Continue reading →

Beasts of Burden #4 (of 4) — Writer: Evan Dorkin;  Art:  Jill Thompson You know the drill on this by now — dogs and cats in a small-town suburban neighborhood battling various supernatural menaces, with skillful and effective storytelling by Dorkin, and beautiful art by Thompson. It’s a crime that this is selling something like 6,000 copies an issue in comic book stores, but they’re collecting these four issues, plus the other four stories with the characters, into a nice hardcover for publication next year; watch it fly off of bookstore shelves then. In the meantime, buy this, and the … Continue reading →