Welcome back to Bonus Reading, the column where we take a character, creator or concept and tell you about four stories you should read or avoid. But today, itās all about the recommendations, thanks to WMQ&Aās newest Patreon backer, the Loyalest Content Consumer, Asimov Fangirl! She asked for a column about the works of writer…
Last week, to no fanfare, DC released the final trade paperback of the newest volume of Lucifer. This would normally be unsurprising, since trade collections are released every week and usually garner no attention. However, this volume was different: None of this material had been released before in any format. This final arc was another…
Saladin Ahmed had a good 2020. Well, relatively anyway; I donāt know that anyone had a good 2020. His first Kickstarter, Dragon, was an unequivocal success. Heās continued his runs on Magnificent Ms. Marvel and Miles Morales: Spider-Man. And now heās kicking off 2021 with Abbott: 1973, the sequel to his excellent creator-owned Abbott from…
Welcome to the world of tomorrow! Superhero comics have regularly featured time travel, possible futures and glimpses of tomorrow for much of their history. Some are utopias, some are dystopias and most are somewhere in between. DC is in the midst of a two-month event, āFuture State,ā that gives readers a glimpse into the future…
Comics are literature as much as any other written form. There are works of soaring genius, there are works that please the masses and there are works that are just plain awful. From the days of Classics Illustrated, comics have reached out to traditional literature to find source material that was more ārespectableā than what…
If you are only slightly familiar with Star Wars ā one of those people who has seen some number of the nine main theatrical films, say ā and are not steeped in 40-plus years of lore, you might never have really heard of Mandalorians before the TV show that spotlights one of their number became…
This week marks the end of a series I’ve been following since its inception six years ago: Lumberjanes from BOOM Studios. This charming all-ages series, created by Grace Ellis and Shannon Watters, explores friendship, various camp skills, romance and a forest full of mythical creatures, interdimensional portals and magic. So itās not exactly like any…
I think we all wish that comics were more equitable and diverse, both when it comes to who creates them and who appears in them. While recent years have taken steps in the right direction, there are still plenty of under-represented groups. Marvel this year launched a series of one-shots featuring characters and creators of…
Iām going to be up front: I donāt like Lobo. Heās everything thatās wrong with the ultraviolent characters of the early ā90s. And the thing a lot of his fans forget about is this: Heās supposed to be unlikable and to represent everything wrong with those types of characters. When introduced in 1983ās āOmega Menā…
If you read pretty much any coverage on Xavier Files other than my pieces (and if you are just reading my pieces, thanks, but thereās a lot of other great stuff on here. Go read that, too!), you will have seen a trend since the initial art previews for āX of Swordsā were released. And…
Robin is the greatest sidekick in comic history. Whether itās the acrobatic joy of Dick Grayson, the angry young man that is Jason Todd, the brilliant mind of Tim Drake, or the snark and skill of Damian Wayne, Robin brings something to every Batman story. This weekās tie-in to DCās ongoing āDark Nights: Death Metalā…
Itās hard to be a Teen Titan when youāre celebrating a 40th anniversary, but theyāll keep trying. Yes, this year marks the 40th anniversary of the definitive āNew Teen Titansā run by Marv Wolfman and George Perez, a run that rivaled the X-Men at the height of its popularity. āNew Teen Titansā helped define superheroes…
For a rare metal, adamantium sure does show up a lot in the Marvel Universe. Whether itās making a body for Ultron, coating Wolverine to ākillā him or being made into a giant chair for the Hulk by a spendthrift bird-themed billionaire, adamantium has many purposes. But mostly, it seems to make mutants and other…
Since the 1970s and the boom of martial arts media, the martial arts master has become a standard trope in comics. Ninjas, samurai, karate fighters and kung-fu masters have been present in comics from a myriad of companies. In many cases, they are portrayed through the lens of a white creator and with a problematic…
So everything around Xavier Files Central this week has been about swords, swords and more swords. I donāt know entirely why. Maybe something X-Men related. Thatās usually what it isā¦ But seriously, X of Swords has landed, and Sword Bearers and Sword Breakers abound. But not everyone who studied the blade while you were partying…