Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Read and Put Back #12

Green Lantern #18 — Writer: Geoff Johns; Art: Daniel Acuna A piece of fluff: 16 pages to the main story, of which four are splashes. Lots of T&A, but all that happens is that Star Sapphire shows up, possesses Carol Ferris, and then decides to possess Hal’s new girlfriend instead. That’s it. The backup story introduces one of the villains in Sinestro’s new Yellow Lantern Corps, and is meant to show us what a badass he (it) is. It’s all prelude too. ( *sigh* This whole mega-huge Sinestro story’s going to to be nothing but a big, loud, overbearing maxi-series … Continue reading

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My Bronze Age hero died

Back in 1970’s, I was at a college friend’s house when his roommate walked in and plopped down a brown bag of what I thought was a stack of magazines on the kitchen table. I peeked in the bag and noticed that it wasn’t a stash of magazines at all, but COMIC BOOKS! Not just any comics, mind you, but THE comic, the one that drew me back to the hobby as an adult, DETECTIVE COMICS #471! One of the greatest Bat comics of the Bronze Age era, this book featured the creative work of artist MARSHALL ROGERS and scripter … Continue reading

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Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Bought #11

The Spirit #4 — Writer/Penciller: Darwyn Cooke; Inks: J. Bone Four issues, four solid hits: and this might be the best so far. I would not have bet that anyone could make The Spirit work in a modern setting, but Cooke makes it look easy. Reimagining Silk Satin as a CIA agent attached to homeland security works fine, and there are a lot of delights here — the double-page title splash; the coloring in the desert scenes (all washed-out yellow during the day, and dark blues and black at night); the use of Ebony; the twist in the introductory narrative; … Continue reading

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Phil's Reviews — Stuff I Read and Put Back #11

Ion #12 (of 12) — Writer: Ron Marz; Artist: Fernando Pasarin Um…what, exactly, was the point of this mini-series? Twelve issues of wheel-spinning: fights that didn’t go anywhere, relationships that didn’t go anywhere either, a death of yet another female close to the main character (leading to nothing but cheap angst), and plot developments with the Monitors and the Sinestro yellow rings that went unresolved — but hey, kids, buy the next GL mini-series and maybe then you’ll find out what’s going on! Geez, to think readers who shelled out $36 for this could have bought a Peanuts hardcover, or … Continue reading

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Return to the Past

As most of my regular customers know, I have this inate fascination with the SILVER AGE, comic books published between the years of 1956 and 1970. The wonders of owning this business is that I get to experience the thrill of purchasing and selling these little bits of American publishing history on a daily basis. Don’t get me wrong; I love the entire medium very much, but it’s that step through the past that stokes my engine. I get that same sense of awe when a childhood customer walks back into our store after a two decade absence. That “little … Continue reading

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