The Kids Aināt Alright in New Mutants #15, from Vita Ayala, Rod Reis, and Travis Lanham. Stephanie Burt: Hi Liz! Hereās another issue thatās mostly slice-of-life, mostly setup for future conflicts, mostly ways to place Chekhovās guns on walls so they can go off later, and I love it. I love it so much. Iāve…
Superhero stories are often at their best when they reflect the struggles people go through, but in a situation writ large with pathos and drama that we will never see in our day-to-day life. And since so much of our day-to-day life is surrounded by social media, why wouldnāt a superhero have problems that involve…
Remember cons? You would pay money to walk in circles around a crowded hall for hours, mingling among cosplayers and guys with messenger bags as they fist-bumped creators, commissioned sketches of Cyclops or Batman having a good day and thumbed through endless dollar bins looking for buried treasure like that X-Men state fair comic but…
Welcome back to the swinginā 70ās with WandaVision at CXF, starring Mikey Zee and our very special guest star Tony Thornley! When we last left our favorite witch and android couple, Wanda was surprised to discover she was pregnant, and not just newly pregnant, but months along! Mikey Zee: Welcome to my lovely home, Tony,…
This is a week for catching up, for getting to a few of those books Iāve ābeen meaning toā for āan inordinate amount of timeā which is now apparently āleading to an abuse of sarcastic quotes.ā To the books, Geoffrey! 10. Batman: The Abduction. Writer: Alan Grant, Artist: Norm Breyfogle, Inker: James A. Hodgkins, Colorist:…
Chasin’ the Bird is Dave Chisholmās telling of Charlie Parkerās tumultuous time in Southern California. And, like Birdās time in Los Angeles, the many extraordinary highs of this book are weighed down by a few immense, chronic lows that begrudgingly yet necessarily color my view of this work. Chisholm, who holds a doctorate in jazz…
Itās a big week here at Bat Chat with Matt (and Will!). Weāre back in the future Gotham with the new Batman doing some detecting, Cass Cain and Stephanie Brown are in the Magistrateās jail, while Catwoman and Ivy make a new friend and have a night on the town in Future State: The Next…
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…
We’ve got a Doctor to steal in Black Cat #2 by Jed McKay, C.F Villa, Brian Reber and Ferran Delgado. Allison Senecal: Honestly? What a beefy issue for being another tie-in and pretty action-heavy. I remember getting to page 14-ish and thinking I should be close to the end, and phew, that wasnāt the case…
Dylan is tempted by the power of darkness as Gods battle for the future of the Earth in King in Black #3 Written by Donny Cates, penciled by Ryan Stegman, colored by Frank Martin, and lettered by Clayton Cowles. Forrest Hollingsworth: Justin, after a surprisingly good issue of Venom itās time for another issue of…
Mutant babies have gone missing. The Summers family takes that personally. Gerry Duggan, Phil Noto and Joe Sabino deliver Cable #7. Ritesh Babu: And weāre back, Ian! This is the first proper Post-XoS issue of the book! Ian Gregory: If it feels like itās been a long time, thatās because it has! Issue 6 of…
When the world’s biggest influencer posts something irredeemably horrific online, the world changes in an instant. Now it’s up to his social media manager, Anne Stewart, to fan the flames of outrage and create a sensationalist campaign that rewrites the rules of “banned content.” Thus begins a carnival of lust, revulsion, desire and disgust ā…
I have tweeted many dumb thoughts in my life but no dumber tweet (aside from a meme about bullying the president-elect) has gotten as much traction and #engagement as me saying that everyoneās favorite Wolverine, Laura Kinney deserves sillier hair. Hot Take: Laura Kinney’s hair should be 100% dumber than it is. How are you…
The Ultimate Universe was made with noble intentions – to find a way to make an accessible version of Marvel characters that were true to the original idea of the comics. It started with Ultimate Spider-Man written by Brian Michael Bendis with art by Mark Bagley, creating a new Peter Parker who was once again…
[Please note, this piece talks in deep on WandaVision episodes 1 and 2, and as such contains spoilers for both episodes. Consider yourselves warned!] Mikey Zee: You’re traveling through another dimensionāa dimension not only of sight and sound but of mind…. Charlie Davis: Uh. Hello? Hello? Umā¦ Mikey, is everything black and white for you?…