The Rattler was a snake-man villain created by Stan Lee and John Romita Sr. for The Amazing Spider-Man comic strip that ran in newspapers. The owner of Reptile World (dig that cool sandwich board), Henry Bingham relied on an experimental anti-venom to save his life and give him powers he used for, what else, crime….
One of the things I tell guests before every episode of The ComicsXF Interview Podcast is “Tangents are welcome and encouraged.” Because while we’re there to talk about comics, there’s a joy in being able to lower the wall of professionalism for a moment and just talk about the Wu-Tang Clan (with Mike Del Mundo),…
This weekend is the 11th annual Flame Con, the world’s largest comics and pop culture convention focused on the work of LGBTQ+ creators. As part of this year’s show, Flame Con, with the support of sponsor Kickstarter, continued its SparQ program. According to Flame Con, SparQ aims to amplify the work of marginalized voices in…
Your local comic shop is about to get a little more jawsome. No, wait. Your local comic shop is about to get a little more fin-tastic. No, WAIT. Your local comic shop is about to enter a cartil-age undreamt of. Because shark skeletons are made of cartilage. BOOM. Nailed it. Actually, not BOOM. IDW. Mattel…
While the fallout from the Diamond Comic Distributors bankruptcy and sale continues to become public at a pace we can’t keep up with (shoutout to Heidi MacDonald at The Beat for staying on top of that raging dumpster fire), a new company has entered the comics distribution market. Philbo Distribution began taking orders July 1…
In True North, out July 1, writer and Alpha Flight superfan Daryl Lawrence has written the definitive issue-by-issue accounting of the first volume of everyone’s favorite Canadian super team. As a fellow devotee of the “one issue at a time” approach to comic book analysis, I reached out to Daryl to ask him about the…
We talk a lot about the preservation of physical media as a bulwark against the erasure of culture, both by streaming services that remove content at their whim and by fascist nations seeking to perpetuate their message of strength through exclusion at the expense of all others. Also, who doesn’t love a nice Criterion Collection…
Two weeks ago, Jon Adams’ long-running webcomic Chief O’Brien At Work ended its 12 year run. In more than 400 entries, the comic featured a largely static image of Chief O’Brien as he waits for someone, anyone, to need the transporter, or, failing that, a friend. With mostly unseen supporting characters like Keiko, Commander Riker,…
Alex Segura might be the nicest person in comics. An industry veteran with impressive stints at DC and Archie, he’s also a best-selling novelist — the Los Angeles Times awarded 2022’s Secret Identity its Book Prize for mystery/thriller. It’s also been named a New York Times Editor’s Choice and an NPR Best Mystery of the…
I first met Ryan Alexander-Tanner when, writing as “Teebore,” I left comments on his Full House Reviewed website, where Ryan, as “Billy Superstar,” was reviewing (and hilariously excoriating) every episode of the terrible-but-foundational ’80s/’90s sitcom Full House. Bonding over our shared love of awesomely terrible and terribly awesome shows as well as — importantly —…
For as long as stories have been told, fairy tales have been a source of delight, fear and inspiration for children and adults alike. This is especially true for the LGBTQ+ community, who often find solace in their themes of transformation, true love and happy endings. Some LGBTQ+ creators have even gone on to create…
Three years ago, I had the immense pleasure of reviewing the indie superhero short film Captain Zero: Into the Abyss Part I for ComicsXF. Over the holidays, I attended a virtual screening for Captain Zero Part II and recently sat down with creator, director, writer and voice actor Z Cher-Aimé to talk about the past,…
Once again, I’ve reached Ryan Qwantz North as he travels the highways of Canada, ever his constant remote companion, this time to discuss Star Trek, chooseable path stories and Star Trek: Lower Decks — Warp Your Own Way, the upcoming chooseable path graphic novel from IDW, with art by Chris Fenoglio, colors by Charlie Kirchoff…
Newspapers. Believe it or not, they still exist! And they’re not just for telling you yesterday’s news, Peanuts reruns and where the good yard sales will be this weekend. A new Kickstarter asks the question “what if newspaper but comics criticism?” The Comics Courier is a twice-annual print newspaper that will feature a mix of…
Food. You know it. You love it. You’ve probably eaten some in the past few hours. I just had sushi. From ShopRite. DON’T JUDGE ME. But if you’re like me, you’ve probably wondered if any of your favorite comic creators have any good recipes to share. Like MarkWaid-a-roni and cheese or Chicken a la Tom…