New Comics

Phil’s Reviews Special: FCBD, Plus the Avengers Movie

Posted on May 7, 2012 by Phil

Avengers Movie Review first:  go see it.  A small series of misadventures left us walking into the theater halfway into the previews (so I missed the Dark Knight trailer), and meant we had to sit in the second row — but it was a 3D movie, and it turns out that’s the perfect spot for me; I’m nearsighted in one eye, and farsighted in the other, so 3D effects don’t work well, but when it’s that close they work fine. Even better, Harkins is wise enough to invest in good theater seats with comfortable headrests that lean back easily, so … Continue reading →

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Phil’s Reviews: Stuff I Bought #222

Posted on May 6, 2012 by Phil

Earth 2 #1 — Writer: James Robinson;  Pencils: Nicola Scott; Inks: Trevor Scott Worlds’ Finest #1 — Writer: Paul Levitz;  Pencils: George Perez;  Inks: Scott Koblish These books are inter-related, with Earth 2 best read first; as its name implies, it’s setting up the alternate DC Earth that contains a modern-day version of the Justice Society. The first issue, though, focuses on death instead of birth: it shows a world where the only super-heroes who exist are Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman — plus a Supergirl, and a Robin who’s Batman’s daughter. That turns out not to be enough to … Continue reading →

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Phil’s Reviews: Stuff I Bought #221

Posted on April 29, 2012 by Phil

Popeye #1 (of 4) — Writer: Roger Langridge;  Art: Bruce Ozella Snarked #7 — Writer/Artist: Roger Langridge Back in the ’70s, when I was first discovering America’s long, rich history of newspaper comics, E. C. Segar’s Thimble Theater, the strip that birthed Popeye in 1928, was one of my first encounters, and it was a revelation: tough, funny, adventurous and told with a sureness of line and vision that puts it in the top ten of everybody’s best-of lists. This new comic doesn’t reach that peak, but it comes closer than anyone else has since Segar’s death in 1938: Ozella … Continue reading →

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Phil’s Reviews: Stuff I Bought #220

Posted on April 15, 2012 by Phil

America’s Got Powers #1 (of 6) — Writer: Jonathan Ross;  Art: Bryan Hitch Ross is the former British talk-show host who’s a big comics geek, and has dabbled in writing them before (Turf, about Prohibition-era vampires, came out a year or two ago). Here, he’s snagged Bryan Hitch as artist, which helps his cause considerably. The comic itself is nakedly commercial: it’s a mashup of J. Michael Straczynski’s  Rising Stars (radiation from a mysterious meteor causes a bunch of kids whose mothers are exposed to it to be born with super-powers), America’s Got Talent (there’s a reality show wherein the … Continue reading →

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Phil’s Reviews: Stuff I Bought #219

Posted on April 1, 2012 by Phil

Avengers Vs. X-Men #0 — Writers: Brian Michael Bendis and Jason Aaron; Art: Frank Cho Bendis provides a Scarlet Witch story wherein Wanda (a) fights M.O.D.O.K., (b) talks to Carol Danvers, who convinces her to go to Avengers Mansion, and (c) actually goes to said mansion, wherein she meets the Vision (it’s a good idea to read Avengers #24.1 before this book, if you’re wondering what the Vision is doing there and why he acts the way he does), and things don’t go well. The Cho art is fun to look at, in its mildly cheesecakey way, and the story … Continue reading →

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