Welcome, freaks and freakettes, to our inaugural coverage of Al Ewing and Steve Lieber’s Metamorpho: The Element Man. We’re picking up with last week’s issue #3, in which Simon Stagg’s caveman consigliere Java embarks on a globetrotting espionage mission with the shape-shifting Urania Blackwell, aka Element Girl. Will Metamorpho, the Freak of 1,001 Changes, take…
For part one of Margot Waldman’s deep dive into the history of DC’s Legion of Super-Heroes and its fandom, click here. In 1981, after a baffling run by Roy Thomas, the Legion would get a new writer in DC executive Paul Levitz. He would soon be joined by artist Keith Giffen. Both were avid members…
The Tetracide is “The Four Killer,” and Diana has done the unthinkable to escape its fatal grasp. The move may have saved her to fight another day, but the price Diana paid is more than she can stand to lose for the fight that’s coming. She will need the help of allies old and new…
“A comic strip is like a dream… a tissue of paper reveries… It gloms an’ glimmers its way thru unreality, fancy an’ fantasy.”– Walt Kelly, Pogo “Okay, Lois… but who do you ask to help Superman?”– Paul Levitz, DC Comics Presents #43 Comics are a space for writers to write down their dreams. More than…
Scott Free and Barda are still on the search for the child who may just bring about the end of the Fourth World, not knowing they are up against secret machinations laid down by Metron for his own mysterious ends. Before that, though, the Chronicler pulls Metron aside to tell him a story of how…
Bruce Wayne faces a moral dilemma: let the Party Animals operate without Batman’s interference for a week and receive a large sum of money and the gang going easier on Gotham. As Bruce tries to make his decision, political wrangling makes it more clear exactly who is behind the chaos in Gotham. Absolute Batman #5…
“It bounced back and forth in my head until I realized I couldn’t judge it. It was too big. He was too big.“– Frank Miller, The Dark Knight Returns “…all stories are, more or less, ghost stories.”– Julian Woffrey, Victorian Ghosts Comic books were designed to be inherently disposable. Before collecting exploded into a cottage…
Chip Zdarsky’s run on Batman comes to its conclusion as Batman tries to stop the escape of a Russian agent while Jim Gordon and the Riddler fight it out and Commander Star leads a people’s revolt in the streets of Gotham. Batman #157 is written by Chip Zdarsky, drawn by Jorge Jimenez and Tony S….
Elliott Kalan has, from his early career on The Daily Show and The Midnight Kalan, through his long tenure co-hosting The Flophouse, up to his recently prolific comics career, been a sort of Johnny Appleseed of shtick. When I say shtick, I mean it in its most historically situated sense – a Yiddish word deriving…
The Bat family races to save the young men targeted by the serial killer Asema. Batman confronts the killer, but the results are not what he was expecting. Detective Comics #1,093 is written by Tom Taylor, drawn and colored by Mikel Janin and lettered by Wes Abbott. The Amazon rainforest burns with mystical fire. While…
The Tetracide is “The Four Killer,” and Diana has done the unthinkable to escape its fatal grasp. The move may have saved her to fight another day, but the price Diana paid is more than she can stand to lose for the fight that’s coming. She will need the help of her allies both old…
Darkseid is dead. And to some, it looks like the rest of the New Gods aren’t far behind. Prophecies and destinies rear their ugly heads, as skies darken and declare the end of everything the gods of New Genesis and Apokolips hold dear. Big things are afoot, and everyone is scrambling — for power, for…
Step back to Bruce Wayne’s earliest days as Batman, and to a time when Thomas Wayne was still alive, as the background of this new Batman starts to be filled in. Absolute Batman #4 is written by Scott Snyder from a plot by Snyder and Nick Dragotta, drawn by Gabriel Hernandez Walta, colored by Frank…
The Riddler’s plan stands revealed, but there is more to all of the chaos in Gotham, as Batman learns who has been pulling the Court of Owls’ strings. Batman #156 is written by Chip Zdarsky, drawn by Tony Daniel, colored by Tomeu Morey and lettered by Clayton Cowles. Divorce cases are often ugly things. Divorce…
Three issues into each of the three flagship titles, DC’s Absolute line has hit the ground running from both a commercial and critical perspective. In a universe woven with the fabric of antilife, DC’s big three — Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman — have been cast as underdogs, railing against the hegemonic greed of institutions…