DC’s Detective Comics Wins GLAAD Media Award
Last night, the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), handed out its annual awards to various forms of media for positive depictions of gays and lesbians, and this year DC Comics has a big reason to celebrate. Batwoman, arguably DC’s highest profile lesbian character, helped to win Detective Comics the Outstanding Comic Book award at this year’s ceremony in New York City. Detective Comics also has a back-up feature in each issue, starring The Question, a former romantic partner of Batwoman’s. Read more
Comic Book Highs, Lows, Misses and More for 2009!
Get out the champagne, party horns and confetti! The new year is soon upon us, and like most other people who are out there reflecting on the year that was, we’re taking stock of the triumphs, the tragedies, the highs and the lows. Of course there are those “did that just happen” moments as well, just to keep things interesting. Let’s take a trip back over the past twelve months, shall we, to see the highs, lows and wth’s over this year in comics, using our own unique system of categories, labels and examples! Read more
Do we NEED A New Batgirl? The Case For, and Against, Stephanie Brown
It’s sitting beside my outstretched legs right now, propped slightly against the couch cushion. She’s staring at me, from behind her cowl, batarang slightly off the page. Yep, Batgirl is officially staring me down, daring me to write this article. I’ve just finished reading her latest issue, Batgirl #3, and I’m pretty ambivalent about it. Not the issue on its on necessarily, but the concept of this Batgirl. Stephanie Brown, the current wearer of the cowl, started out in the early 1990’s as Spoiler, vigilante daughter of the “super” villain Cluemaster. She’s had a long road from those early days to where she is now, but two questions are begging to be asked; does she deserve to be Batgirl and, perhaps the most important, do we need a Batgirl right now? Read more
Comic Book Previews for October 14th, 2009
Well avid readers, we’re freshly back from our trip to the Baltimore Comic-Con this past weekend, and boy are our pens tired! Expect to see some great reports, pictures and interviews over the next week from the show, but first, of course, our comic book previews of hot books coming out this Wednesday!
Marvel brings us some items from the somthing old and something new categories this week, as Web of Spider-Man returns with issue one! Kaine the spider-clone retuns in this issue, as well as a feature with Spider-Girl herself! The something new this week comes with the return of Magneto, which will kick off a new story arc in Uncanny X-Men # 516, as the Nation X story begins! Speaking of mutants, Deadpool hits us with Deadpool #900. Boy, doesn’t the time…fly? Does it matter what issue this is numbered? It’s 104 pages of everything but the kitchen sink humor, action and a live chicken even! Read more
Comic Book Previews for October 7th, 2009
Before you punch your ticket to Baltimore, Maryland for this weekend’s Baltimore Comic-Con, be sure to stock up on plenty of reading material for your plane, train or automobile travel! You certainly won’t lack for pages and pages of action this week, and DC kicks things off with an explosion of Bat-titles! Kicking this off is the first issue of new limited series Batman: Unseen, which promises us a new supervillain to add to Batman’s formidable rogues’ gallery. Batman Annual #27 and Batman and Robin #5 also drop into stores this Wednesday, and fans should look for a new printing of the landmark graphic novel Batman: The Killing Joke, the book that redefined former Batgirl Barbara Gordon’s role in the DCU. Read more
Earthquakes, Crises and Wars, oh my! 10 Memorable Comic Book Disasters
Does there exist a more threatened group of people than those who inhabit the earths and universes of our beloved comic book heroes and villains? What other fictional population seems to live under the constant threat that at any given point their world could be turned into zombies, an earthquake may shut down the city, or that their universe may cease to exist altogether!? The past few decades have seen several major disasters, manmade, natural and perhaps supernatural, that have caused devastation and damage beyond the norm for several comic book universes. Here, in no particular order, are ten of the most memorable and, pardon the pun, earth-shaking disasters and crises to hit the comic book populace. Read more
Comic Book Previews for September 16th, 2009
Where does the time go? It’s already time for a look at what will be hitting store shelves this week from the producers of your favorite four-color adventures! DC Comics unleashes Blackest Night #3, the next chapter in the saga of Earth’s heroes against the super-powered dead! Can the Green Lanterns and the Justice League begin to figure out what’s causing long-departed friends, family and villains to rise and attack? The newest Batgirl spreads her wings in Batgirl #2 and a showdown in Fawcett City takes place in JSA vs. Kobra #4! Action Comics #881 picks up immediately with the aftermath of Codename: Patriot, and Supergirl finds herself under added pressure. Famed writer J. Michael Straczynski takes helm with issue 27 of The Brave and the Bold, as Batman teams with, wait for it, Dial H for Hero!! Also be sure to check out Batman and Robin #4 and Streets of Gotham #4! Read more
Wonder Woman Turning 600? That’s up to YOU!
Recent editions of DC Nation, the ongoing, last page feature in the back of DC Comics’ titles, have featured an open letter from Dan Didio of DC, throwing down an interesting gauntlet to fans of DC, most especially fans of titular heroine Wonder Woman. Didio states, “In case you didn’t know, there is a group of Wonder Woman fans who feel that her ongoing series needs the numbering that would be reflective of her time and stature in the industry. After all, both Superman and Batman are closing in on issue 700, and Wonder Woman, being an integral part of our trinity, should be right up there with them.” Read more
SCREAM 2009 Awards Nominees Announced!
Spike TV’s 4th annual SCREAM Awards are coming up on October 17th at the Greek Theater in Los Angeles. Before we get to that ceremony however, first come the nominees! Announced late this afternoon, the nominees for the awards, which honor the fan favorites in comic books, sci-fi, horror and and fantasy, certainly comprise a number of blockbusters and fan favorites from the past year. J.J. Abram’s sci-fi masterpiece Star Trek leads the way with a total of seventeen nominations, including Best Science-Fiction Movie, Best Director and Best Ensemble. Read more
Batman The Widening Gyre #1 Review
So what is Kevin Smith’s new Batman mini-series “The Widening Gyre” like? Based on the first issue, it looks to be a sometimes funny, often violent, and interesting take on Batman and many of his supporting cast. If you haven’t read the first issue yet, then be warned that there are spoilers ahead.
While the first issue dealt mainly with Poison Ivy’s takeover of Arkham Asylum, the central underlying plot seems to be developing as what if Batman had an adult partner instead of the child partners he has had in the past.
“The Widening Gyre” kicks off with a short fight between Batman and Robin and Baron Blitzkrieg and the Atomic Skull. The opening sequence is written in the tone of being a really poorly written Batman comic book from the sixties.
