June 2012
10 posts
1 tag
A Word on Klaus Janson
I love tributes to artists, and believe me, I would never speak ill of anyone who takes the time to publicly appreciate a Nora Ephron or Andrew Sarris or Tony DeZuniga or any other important artist, critic, or entertainer who has died. But the older I get, the more death I see, and the more I regret not telling, or at least not putting the thought out there into the world, how much I love an...
3 tags
David Mazzucchelli Daredevil: Born Again Artist's...
There’s one page in this magnificent volume that has a caption that says something like “This single page is the only one in this book not reproduced from the original art.” It’s a cover image of reporter Ben Urich, made small in his terror, having been brutally attacked and his hand broken by an enormous, evil nurse sent by the kingpin. Somehow the presentation of the book...
7 tags
Spurge Interviews Ed Brubaker
We’re huge fans of both individuals here at TWC, and it’s always great when Tom Spurgeon chats with perennial ace writer Brubaker, which they’ve been doing for years now. This one is maybe just a little more special, because in addition to more familiar territory like discussing the latest work (Fatale, including great insights into the strengths of longtime Brubaker collaborator...
3 tags
The Massive #1
Writer/Creator: Brian Wood
Artist: Kristian Donaldson
Dark Horse Comics. $3.50 USD
Brian Wood is back with another dystopic science fiction comic. But unlike DMZ, this one is set on water. That makes sense, as global warming is going to melt the polar ice caps and cover more land. But this isn’t Waterworld. It feels much more inspired by the Discovery Channel show, Whale Wars. Wood takes...
2 tags
Scrampance
“Scrampance,” a former colleague once told me, was her mother’s word for what was for dinner when the cupboards were nearly bare and you were down to nearly nothing. Tom Spurgeon’s latest Five for Friday asks, essentially, what are the last five comics buying impulses you would give up? In other words, if you had just about lost all interest in comics, what would be the...
5 tags
The New Extreme: Supreme #64
As I seem to be dropping a fair amount of Marvel books, and have dropped most of DC’s New 52 titles, I find that in the past few months I’ve gotten into a line of books from Image I wasn’t looking forward to and never thought I’d be enjoying: the relaunch of many of Rob Liefeld’s various Extreme books. Now, I like some better than others, and one not much at all, but...
3 tags
ADD Reviews Greg Rucka's Alpha
Greg Rucka’s gifted comics writing, which brought believability and drama to titles as diverse as Queen and Country and Gotham Central, led me to give his prose writing a try. I think I started with the Queen and Country novels, which were very well written and a nice addition to the mythology created in the comics; but it was with the Atticus Kodiak series of novels that my appreciation for...
2 tags
9 tags
We Do Annual
When I was growing up, in the ’70s and ’80s, the superhero comic annual was generally a big, stand-alone story, often by the same creative team as the monthly comic, or maybe the same writer and an even better artist who didn’t draw monthly books much anymore (Michael Golden, Jim Starlin). Guys like John Byrne and Frank Miller did quite a few annuals when they were coming up, and...
5 tags
Jack Kirby's Spirit World
Written by Jack Kirby, Mark Evanier and Steve Sherman
Art by Jack Kirby and Mike Royer
DC Comics $39.99 USD
It’s true; the majority of Jack Kirby’s significant work is now in print, enough to treasure and learn from and make an educated evaluation of a career. But the man was about the most prolific cartoonist in the history of the industry, and there are still some things worth...
