Dracula, as created by Bram Stoker, is one of the most written about and filmed literary characters. As with Sherlock Holmes, it feels like everyone has a Dracula story. Sometimes they’re comedies (Mel Brooks’ “Dracula: Dead and Loving It”), sometimes they’re rooted in history (Elizabeth Kostova’s novel “The Historian”) and sometimes they’re… odd choices (“Blade:…
Matt Fraction, David Aja, and eventually Annie Wu, changed the superhero comic landscape in 2012 with the debut of Hawkeye. Effortlessly cool, equal parts a laugh and a gut punch and, above all, incredibly distinct, the series met with such universal acclaim and sales success that the re-writing of Clint Barton’s character passed by with…
Big, big news that I am proud to break this week. Let’s get right to it. Today (July 20): DClassified: Week of Announcements Begins After last week’s news that DC will be releasing Rorschach, a 12-issue maxiseries by writer Tom King and artist Jorge Fornés that represents a mystifying return to the Watchmen well, the…
Each week, Xavier Files staff offer their recommendations for what to read. New DC comics come out Tuesdays, everything else Wednesdays. DAN’S PICK: Chu #1: Tony Chu’s criminal sister Saffron steals the spotlight – and other stuff – in the debut issue of this prequel to John Layman and Rob Guillory’s classic Image series “Chew.”…
Pandemic or no, change was always coming. According to ICv2 and Comichron, the North American comics and graphic novel market topped more than $1.2 billion in sales last year, an 11% increase over 2018. It was a heady year, topped by bestsellers like Detective Comics #1,000, Spawn #300 and a new X-Men #1. But those were comics. And in comics, comics…
We are all the hero of our own story. It is an idea hammered home from an early age, with countless books, TV shows, movies and other media showcasing noble figures we can see ourselves in, knowing we would be just as heroic if given a chance. (This is not to say that everyone deserves…
Comics are a visual medium, a combination of written words and pictures. But movie adaptations have taught us that comic book stories, whether superhero, crime, biographical or otherwise, can be translated to other media. But even before there were superhero serials on the big screen, comic books were translated to another medium: radio plays, whether…
As an addendum to today’s Giant Size X-Men: Magneto discussion, Ian and Stephanie offer their thoughts on a particular scene that inspired discussion. Ian is a Jew by choice with a degree in Jewish Studies; Stephanie grew up Jewish and attends a Reform shul now and then. Ian Gregory As the previews for this issue…
On March 23, Diamond Comic Distributors halted shipment to comic shops as a response to the mass shutdown stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. Under the circumstances, this was unavoidable. However, much has been written about the systemic problems within the comics industry that led to the monopoly Diamond held. This shutdown, and the resulting retooling…
Dear Content Consumer, Please forgive me. You see, I’m taking this week off after the heaviness of our last time together. But don’t worry — I’ve arranged for my brother Bill to take over my duties this week. Bill is 43, a successful concrete contractor and is Extremely Offline. We are not close. And forgive…
Unearthed from the Summa Marvelogica, 13th century saint and philosopher Thomas Aquinas brings us answers to the most pressing questions of our day. In this piece, he looks at both Knull, the King In Black, and The Batman Who Laughs as they relate to each other and to the current comics landscape as a whole….
You’ve no doubt heard this complaint from people who Talk About Comics: “Why is comics’ biggest publisher farming out all its all-ages books to another company? Doesn’t it know the kids’ graphic novel market is a goldmine?” We’ve made that observation over and over and over again. Welp, Marvel’s apparently licensed its characters out to another publisher for more young-reader content….
Welcome to Bonus Reading, a weekly feature in which Matthew Lazorwitz looks at four (or so) comics linked by a common character, creator or theme. Patreon backers of the WMQ&A podcast can request a custom Bonus Reading column built around their fave. Sign up here. This week, two new all-ages graphic novels are out from two…
That special something, that hidden talent, that wildcard, that X-Factor. It’s that thing you just can’t quite pin down, and it’s as applicable for the colloquialism as it is the X-Men franchise that bears the name. There have been many different squads who go by the moniker X-Factor, and today, we’re going to rank them…
Since comics are a silent medium, mispronunciations of character names can be a common problem. You’re not alone if you grew up thinking Magneto was pronounced with a “net” instead of the correct “neat” syllable and felt a little surprised hearing it out loud in the animated series or the arcade game. Well, today we…