Live your life with the stupid confidence of Michael Larson. But be less stupid. Ten comics — including a familiar one in the pole position — and a little game show history coming your way in this week’s X Spot. The Bottom (at the Top) 10. Black Cotton #1. Story: Patrick Foreman and Brian Hawkins,…
What if it was actually the year 1724? Wouldn’t that be something? Vishal Gullapalli, Forrest Hollingsworth and Will Nevin team up to talk over Department of Truth #6 by James Tynion IV, Elsa Charretier, Matt Hollingsworth, Aditya Bidikar, Dylan Todd and Steve Foxe. Will Nevin: Well that was a hell of a final page, wasn’t…
Hey, we’re back in the present this week! The Magistrate is just a glimmer in the eye of a creepy billionaire, the Scarecrow is running amok and there’s … sigh, more Ghost-Maker. Plus, in the backup, a mother and child reunion is only a stabbing away as Damian goes home to Talia in Batman #106…
Heavy on format changes and spies and assassins this week. Let’s get to it. The Bottom (at the Top) 10. Spawn #1-2. Story, pencils and inks: Todd McFarlane; Colorists: Steve Oliff, Reuben Rude and Olyoptics; Letterer: Tom Orzechowski; Publisher: Image With the news of Todd McFarlane starting a shared “Spawn’s Universe,” I thought it would…
A killer emerges and horrifies a city and the world … but then sticks around in Maniac of New York #1 by writer Elliott Kalan, artist Andrea Mutti and letterer Taylor Esposito. The dead rise and the Old Ones awaken. More Lovecraftian horror abounds in Miskatonic #4 by writer Mark Sable, artist Giorgio Pontrelli, colorist…
It’s an explosive week in Gotham City (which is a bad pun, since there are a lot of bombs going off, but we’re standing by it). Bruce Wayne faces down Magistrate-1 and Red Hood is on the run in Future State: Dark Detective #4, featuring: “Dark Detective,” written by Mariko Tamaki, drawn by Dan Mora,…
Maniac of New York, the new AfterShock series from writer Elliott Kalan, artist Andrea Mutti and letterer Taylor Esposito, begins with a simple idea: A big, tough Jason Voorhees-type abomination climbs out of the camp swamps and heads to the big city to kill a lot of people. And that would be a fun slasher…
In his concurring opinion in 1989’s Texas v. Johnson, Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote, “And so great is our commitment to the process that, except in the rare case, we do not pause to express distaste for the result, perhaps for fear of undermining a valued principle that dictates the decision. This is one…
We’re back in the future Gotham, where the Next Batman must race the Magistrate to save people who tried to kill him, Cass Cain and Stephanie Brown save a lost ally from the Magistrate, and Catwoman and Poison Ivy have one last girl’s weekend in Future State: The Next Batman #4 with: “The Next Batman,”…
Wanna run away and join the circus? What would you do to get there? And could you live with the consequences? It’s Haha #2, the second installment of the only running anthology series about clowns. Written by W. Maxwell Prince, drawn by Zoe Thorogood, colored by Chris O’Halloran and lettered by Good Old Neon. Will…
We’re reading Artists, Writers and Artisans books this week, Loyal Content Consumer. And, yes, that’s the name of a real comic book publisher and not at all an attempt to game any sort of alphabetical listing system. Who are the Artisans who are not Artists? Letterers are artists, rights? Maybe it’s editors. Editing is a…
Bruce Wayne comes face to face with his successor and learns exactly how far the Magistrate police state has infiltrated Gotham while Grifter, Huntress and Luke Fox make a midnight run across the city to escape in Future State: Dark Detective #3, featuring: “Dark Detective,” written by Mariko Tamaki, drawn by Dan Mora, colored by…
Penultiman, the hero from humanity’s far-flung future sent back in time to live with his more primitive ancestors (that’d be us), has been beset by failure, self-doubt and a robot (Antepenultiman) who seems more beloved and better at his job than he will ever be. And it’s all clearly starting to wear on the man:…
For the last few months, I’ve been averaging 10+ miles per day on my runs. Hold your applause, please — it’s not so much an accomplishment as it is daring my body to fall to pieces on me. (My body has not done so to date. The coward.) But I was thinking earlier today with…
Welcome back to Bat Chat with Matt (and Will!). Batman is on the run from The Magistrate, Duke Thomas makes a speech and the Arkham Knight makes a statement in Future State: The Next Batman #3 with: “The Next Batman,” written by John Ridley, drawn by Laura Braga with breakdowns by Nick Derington, colored by…