Every Monday I’ll post a random, but fantastic, page from a Batman comic – this will improve all of our weeks.
No context, no commentary, just:
(Batman/Green Arrow: The Poison Tomorrow – Writer: Dennis O’Neil – Artist: Michael Netzer)
Every Monday I’ll post a random, but fantastic, page from a Batman comic – this will improve all of our weeks.
No context, no commentary, just:
My unbridled love for Grant Morrison’s Batman is very well documented by now, so if you don’t want to hear this giddy cheerleader shout out a long-winded rally for the team, then please, go read some other comic blog… all you’re going to get from here on out is an extended fangasm… because really, this issue deserves it.
Every Monday I’ll post a random, but fantastic, page from a Batman comic – this will improve all of our weeks.
No context, no commentary, just:
(Batman #227 – Writer: Denny O’Neil – Artists: Irv Novick and Dick Giordano)
It’s that time of the year again: time to promote juvenile diabetes! Also time to relish the chance for an increasingly non-secular nation to dip their toes into the dark side and openly venerate ghosts, demons, monsters and all things horrific. Halloween! Fuck yeah!
After trudging through innumerable “sexy ___fillintheblank___” costumes, I thought it may be wise to cut through some of the noise by listing what I’ve found online this year to be the coolest geeky Halloween costumes:
Every Monday I’ll post a random, but fantastic, page from a Batman comic – this will improve all of our weeks.
No context, no commentary, just:
(Batman: Nosferatu – Writers: Randy & Jean-Marc Lofficier – Artist: Ted McKeever)
October 9, 2012 (Aliens, murder and magical mystery!)
Every Monday I’ll post a random, but fantastic, page from a Batman comic – this will improve all of our weeks.
No context, no commentary, just:
(Batman, Hellboy, Starman #1 – Writer: James Robinson – Artist: Mike Mignola)
October 2, 2012 (Classic monsters, universal masters and being in the mood for love)
Every Monday I’ll post a random, but fantastic, page from a Batman comic – this will improve all of our weeks.
No context, no commentary, just:
(Batman Incorporated #0 – Writer: Grant Morrison/Chris Burnham – Artist: Frazier Irving)
Every Monday I’ll post a random, but fantastic, page from a Batman comic – this will improve all of our weeks.
No context, no commentary, just:
(Batman: Earth One – Writer: Geoff Johns – Artist: Gary Frank)
September 18, 2012 (Masks, whips and cross-dressing. Kinky!)
David Halvorson, the one-man-band behind the inspiring symphony that is Armstrong, alerted me to a new project he is working on, this time collaborating with a writer; one Eric Grissom.
Said collaboration has yielded Planet Gigantic. Planet Gigantic is the story of two test tube superheroes, created to be the most powerful… sample collectors in the universe.
Sample Collectors? Yes, it seems the mundane day to day of scientific research is where our heroes have grown up and learned to hone their powers. The mundane is of course, never truly mundane when you have a good writer relaying it to you, and to that end I can say that Grissom seems to be a damn good writer. The dialog in this issue is natural and pertinent – often times writers pile a lot of superfluous dialog into their books because they think it equates to character/story development, when really all it does is come off as a time-suck and, more often than not, does a disservice to the story by derailing the pacing and obscuring the plotting. Grissom though, seems adept at this writing thing, as there are no throwaways here; everything seems germane and advances character and/or plot. We seem to be in good hands.
In this inaugural #0 sneak peek issue we’re thrown right into the fray as our young heroes are introduced to us and quickly set against some insidious odds. It’s clear, concise and paced well. For instance, we’re treated to a very snappy set piece involving giant space-spiders and it all works very well, ramping up the world building, conveying character and advancing the plot all at once – it’s fun, it’s engrossing and it’s all done in a few simple, clean pages. Again, most independent writers I read would have buried the delivery of this moment in tedious exposition to legitimize why these kids are in space, why there are giants spiders and why they’re being attacked… however, Grissom smartly eschews all of that nonsense and places faith in the sophistication of the readers to orient themselves in the fiction. Thank fuck too – I really wish more writers out there held similar standards.
As on Armstrong, Halvorson’s art is just immensely enjoyable to look at – it’s a bit Darwyn Cooke, a bit Bill Watterson, but still wholly his own; Halvorson’s art is crisp, colorful, full of verve and motion is conveyed quite well. There is weight and dimension and everything just rings true. The spell is in firmly place and you’re never once brought out of the world because of some skewed look to something or someone. It’s all very cohesive and enjoyable. Halvorson’s work is already incredibly inventive and retains an inherently effortless charisma to it, so the idea of having those traits let loose and writ large across the expansive backdrop of a sci-fi space opera is quite exciting.
Overall, this is a great preview – it reveals just enough of all the ingredients a good book contains, so that you come away certain that there is a solid series waiting to be unleashed on the world here.
I can’t wait and I’ll definitely follow these guys into issue #1 and beyond. Immensely enjoyable, lighthearted, yet mature and intelligence – the world needs more creator-owned comics like this. Bravo, gentlemen – now give us the series!
Every Monday I’ll post a random, but fantastic, page from a Batman comic – this will improve all of our weeks.
No context, no commentary, just:
(Batman: Through the Looking Glass – Writer: Bruce Jones – Artist: Sam Kieth)
September 11, 2012 (Killer Klowns, Dennis Hopper on a rampage and great music)
Every Monday I’ll post a random, but fantastic, page from a Batman comic – this will improve all of our weeks.
No context, no commentary, just:
(Batman: Night Cries – Writer: Archie Goodwin – Artist: Scott Hampton)
Every Monday I’ll post a random, but fantastic, page from a Batman comic – this will improve all of our weeks.
No context, no commentary, just:
(Batman: The Return of Bruce Wayne #2 – Writer: Grant Morrison – Artist: Frazer Irving)
August 28, 2012 (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Plastic Zombie Head)
Every Monday I’ll post a random, but fantastic, page from a Batman comic – this will improve all of our weeks.
No context, no commentary, just:
(Batman/Joker: Switch – Writer: Devin Grayson – Artist: John Bolton)
August 21, 2012 (Bowie, dictators and political subversion)
Every Monday I’ll post a random, but fantastic, page from a Batman comic – this will improve all of our weeks.
No context, no commentary, just:
(Batman #668 – Writer: Grant Morrison – Artist: J.H. Williams III)
August 14, 2012 (Turtles, porno gangs, serial killers and emo awkwardness)
Every Monday I’ll post a random, but fantastic, page from a Batman comic – this will improve all of our weeks.
No context, no commentary, just:
(Batman: Mitefall Writer: Alan Grant – Artist: Kevin O’Neill)
Holy disappearing Bat-book! There are SPOILERS after the jump! Since most of you definitely haven’t read this issue yet, I’ll say it again, just to make it perfectly clear:
Notice I’m not calling this a review? That’s because I just cannot find the energy to write a full-on, proper review. I’ve also been trying really hard to not write any negative articles for the site – but after reading the issue a few times and then seeing CBR’s absurdly vague 4 1/2 star corporate ball-licking “review” that didn’t even attempt to mention the story telling, I just couldn’t help it. I felt compelled to rant a bit.
So, please, allow me to level with you right off the bat so that you may either stop reading and/or start writing your hate mail: I think Scott Snyder has successfully completed the worst “big event” Batman story that I have ever read.
Ugli Studios Presents is creator-owned fantasy/horror/sci-fi anthology book. Its inaugural issue contains two different shorts, each co-written by Jason Lenox and David Paul and drawn by Mr. Lenox. For a point of reference think; The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits, etc. – these are short, succinct stories that present a self-contained tale with some sort of unexpected plot twist or surprise ending. I must confess; I’ve seen every single episode of the original Twilight Zone series and I’ve even read a lot of the original scripts – so to say I enjoy this mode of storytelling would be a bit of an understatement. Unfortunately, as a reviewer this also means I have a high bar set for people to be able to compete with the likes of Rod Serling, Ray Bradbury, etc. That all being the case – I’m here to support and drum up interest for independent comic creators – so I’ll be tempering my sky-high expectations as much as possible while still being a discerning commentator ;)
Onward to the meat:
I present to you the BTAS series bible.
For those unaware of what a “series bible” is:
from Wikipedia
Show bibles are commonly used in television series; new writers and freelancers are often referred to it when writing scripts for the show to ensure continuity with previous episodes; they’re also used by individual writers for books and movies to keep track of details.
BTAS – Series Bible
Right click to ‘save as’ and download and/or read the thing with a left click
What do we have here? Well, we have an independently released creator-owned comic series: Johnny Space Commander, by Sean Parnell.
Mr. Parnell was kind enough to send me issues #1-4 for review purposes, so being the stand-up guy I am, I decided to do just that; read Mr. Parnell’s work and then give you delicate readers of discerning taste, my opinions on said books.
Continue on, you brave explorers of uncharted independent comic lands –
This isn’t a proper review, rather just a quick sketch of what I thought of my most anticipated book of 2012.
I plan on doing full annotations on the whole run, so that will come soon, but for now this is all I have time for before I leave town for a week and wander around the wilderness without computers or cell phones.
Wow.
I came into (heh) “Avengers XXX A Porn Parody” expecting to find the ridiculous level of storytelling shoe-horned between scenes of hardcore porn that I had last witnessed in Axel Braun’s masterful, Spider-Man XXX, and what I got was… really just the hardcore porn part. As bad as the “story” was in Spider-Man XXX, at least it still kind of had a three act structure; it kind of had a plot. Yet in a bold step towards deconstructionism (?), Avengers XXX eschews the notion of plot almost entirely. The film starts out acting as if there is going to be a plot, yet what we’re ultimately left with is a confused mess of incoherent elements contradicting one another and only providing a half-assed two act structure. The film slowly peters out after the opening scenes and it seems as if the writer/director forgot he was supposed to be delivering some geeky adult fun. People randomly namedrop other Marvel characters and deliver their semi-geeky lines like pron robots in a hasty attempt to get to the sex. There’s barely any dialog referencing the comics and they don’t even provide the actors with any ridiculous puns that would be chuckle inducing to comic nerds.
Sure, it is a porno, so why in the hell am I critiquing the story so much? Well, I figure if you’re going to go this far – that is, if you’re going to get some pretty cool costumes and fill your movie with “obscure” heroes that only comic fans will recognize, then you should at least attempt to put them in a fun, tongue in cheek world where you can deliver on the promise of a ‘parody’. The only laughs came from seeing how awfully the actors delivered their lines, and from thinking about how Axel Braun probably takes himself way too seriously and considers himself as some sort of auteur… the Christopher Nolan of the porn world
Anyway – let’s get to it huh? I know you just want a blow by blow account of the action relayed to you in X-rated screen caps, so let’s do it!
I’ve grown oh-so-tired during these past few months with cape books and I’ve been desperately trying to expand my comic genre horizons. As a life-long DC fan the majority of the New 52 leaves me bored, dismayed and actually, more than a bit annoyed. I left Marvel in the 90’s and I’ve never really gone back (Waid’s current Daredevil is fucking great though!) it seems things have become very complicated in the interim; there are a ridiculous amount of Marvel titles out every month and it discombobulates me completely while standing in my LCS, so I’ve never been presented with a good segue back into the universe. However, Image has been my saving grace as of late. They’ve been consistent in putting out unique and well crafted books that have short and snappy runs or are limited series in one way or another.
So, about Secret? Riiiight, well…
This week we are going to break down what we believe to be the best Batman covers from each era of comic book history – so expect this to be broken into four different parts encompassing:
Modern Age (1985 – present)
Today we move on to our final list
This week we are going to break down what we believe to be the best Batman covers from each era of comic book history – so expect this to be broken into four different parts encompassing:
Bronze Age (c.1970 – c.1985)
Today we move on to
This week we are going to break down what we believe to be the best Batman covers from each era of comic book history – so expect this to be broken into four different parts encompassing:
Silver Age (1956 – c.1970)
Today we move on to
This week we are going to break down what we believe to be the best Batman covers from each era of comic book history – so expect this to be broken into four different parts encompassing:
Golden Age (c.1938 – c.1950)
Today however, we shall begin with
This is a bit of an oddity. Back in December of 2011 I was asked to expound upon some general questions I had previously answered for a genial fellow working on a collegiate assignment. The answers I provided were to be worked into some sort of thesis and I was told that the final paper would be passed on to me, so that I could see how my input was put to use. I’ve never seen that paper.
Regardless, I think some of the topics broached here are mildly interesting and I plan to further extrapolate on a few of the answers I provided in the near future; Specifically the notion that the character of Batman stands as an undeniably (and perhaps singular) anti-theistic superhero. I also find it somewhat funny that I make mention of a hypothetical sequel to Moby Dick not being able to ruin the original work, since recently, Alan Moore used the same analogy a bit differently.
In any event, here are some words I wrote about Batman back in December:
Every Monday I’ll post a random, but fantastic, page from a Batman comic – this will improve all of our weeks.
No context, no commentary, just:
*Since I skipped last week I’ve put up a two page splash; it counts for two… so we’re caught up.*
(Batman #68 – Writer: Grant Morrison – Artist: Tony Daniel)
Every Monday I’ll post a random, but fantastic, page from a Batman comic – this will improve all of our weeks.
No context, no commentary, just:
(Batman 428 – Writer: Jim Starlin – Artist: Jim Aparo)
Batman #5 – Writer: Scott Snyder – Artist: Greg Capullo
I think I’ve gone mad.
Everyone else I’ve heard speaking of this issue has lobbied some extreme, hysterical hyperbole at it such as “The greatest script of Snyder’s career” or that it is one of the best Batman issues ever written. What? Maybe I read a different book, or maybe I’m just not as blown away by the rather gimmicky page flipping component of the book as others are, because, from what I read – I was thoroughly nonplussed.
SPOILERS Ahead! Abandon all hope, ye who enter here
Every Monday I’ll post a random, but fantastic, page from a Batman comic – this will improve all of our weeks.
No context, no commentary, just:
(The Batman of Arkham – Writer: Alan Grant – Artist: Alcatena
About a month ago I started a Reddit group called Comic Book Collaborations – in hopes of creating, what basically amounts to, an online classified’s section which is specifically geared towards helping amateur comic book creators find collaborators, in order to get their independent comic book projects off the ground more easily. I thought having one place online to go would be easier than scouring through thousands of Deviantart accounts or personal blogs. Good ideas often blossom even better ideas and soon I found myself thinking it would be great to simply create a comic through this venue.
Every Monday I’ll post a random, but fantastic, page from a Batman comic – this will improve all of our weeks.
No context, no commentary, just:
(Batman: Absolution – Writer: J.N. Dematteis – Artist: Brian Ashmore )
Well, not ALL of Grant Morrison’s Batman; his stand alone stories are not discussed here – only the currently in progress epic, which will continue on during 2012/2013’s relaunched Batman Inc.
If there is one question I’ve answered more than any other in the past few years in regards to Batman, it is “what is the reading order of Grant Morrison’s run”, or some variation thereof. So I have created this list as a permanent resource and answer to that question. I’ve also created this list for my own edification, to satiate my own disturbingly deep love for Morrison’s Bat tale.
This will hopefully be a straightforward, simple and easy to follow chronological list that will tell you the reading order and supply you with visual representations of all the comics that make up the run, to help the die hard, single issue collectors out there. (I’ve pictured all variant versions of issues below, but not all re-printings where the only thing that changed was a color tone shift and I’ve also put this list here as pure text, just in case you simply want to copypasta it onto your phone, etc. for use in comic shops.)
Every Monday I’ll post a random, but fantastic, page from a Batman comic – this will improve all of our weeks.
No context, no commentary, just:
(Batman & Nightwing: Bloodborne – Writer: Kelley Puckett – Artist: Toby Cypress
Comics Astonish 