Brian Michael Bendis

Science, Crime, and Hobbits: FUNNYBOOKSINREVIEWAREGO!!

February 12, 2019 // 3 Comments

So I’ve gotten sufficiently distracted by a sufficient number of things here lately that I’ve gotten terribly far behind on the funnybook reviews. Which is the story of my blogging life, of course, but I took a good hard look at the stack this weekend and decided it was time to just go ahead and file most of it, and soldier on to the new stack of books I bought last week. Warts and all… The Green Lantern 4 by Grant Morrison and Liam Sharp Four issues in, I’m starting [...]

Lois, Jimmy, and Harley

February 5, 2019 // 1 Comment

So we’ve got a bunch of funnybooks to discuss, but it seems I’ve gotten distracted by Harley Quinn. First, though, here’s a little discussion of Jimmy Olsen and Lois Lane… Action Comics 1007 by Brian Michael Bendis and Steve Epting The better of the two Superman books continues to be better, as Brian Bendis pulls the trigger on the Leviathan storyline he’s been developing in the background of this book since he took it over seven months ago. Now, this will [...]

Criminals, Aliens, Barns, and Pygs

January 22, 2019 // 3 Comments

So we’ve got some reviews to catch up on this week, which means… Funnybooks. In Review. Are Go. Batman 62 by Tom King and Mitch Gerads I bought this comic because it was pink. Pink! Inside and out! That’s a bold color choice for a Batman comic, and I thought I should support that. But I also bought it because of Professor Pyg. He’s one of my favorite Batman villains. One of the last truly great Batman villains, I think, to be introduced to date. I like Pyg. He’s [...]

More Heroes, More Crisis: FUNNYBOOKSINREVIEWAREGO!!

January 8, 2019 // 2 Comments

So after a few weeks of holidays and Doomsday Clock dissection, the review stack’s gotten pretty tall. But the amount of time I have to deal with it is still pretty short. So let’s see how much we can get done before deadline, shall we…? Heroes in Crisis 4 by Tom King and Clay Mann After last issue’s really quite affecting flashback to Sanctuary before the bloodshed, this issue returns to the aftermath, and to the frustrations I had with the series’ first two [...]

Pain and Beauty: FUNNYBOOKSINREVIEWAREGO!

December 4, 2018 // 2 Comments

So here we are again, leading off with some corporate spandex that I just can’t quite quit… Heroes in Crisis 3 by Tom King, Lee Weeks, and Clay Mann. I remain torn on this book, but the sheer quality of the writing keeps bringing me back. And I’m really glad of that, because this issue is quite good. It shows us Sanctuary before the murders, revealing something of how the place worked, and digging deeper into why some of the patients were there. Lagoon Boy, for instance, seems [...]

Tales of Gods and Space Cops

November 20, 2018 // 2 Comments

So we’ve managed to get behind a bit on the funnybook reviews of late, what with Halloween and Stan Lee’s passing and all that. And though this breaks with my usual response to that sort of thing, I think I’m just gonna hit the highlights of the last few weeks, starting with two big corporate spandex books that have caught my fancy… Mister Miracle 12 by Tom King and Mitch Gerads The biggest miracle of this book is that it has, more or less, a happy ending. Scott Free [...]

FUNNYBOOK BATTLE: Heroes in Crisis vs Action Comics!

November 6, 2018 // 0 Comments

So it strikes me that there are two dominant strands of super hero writing these days: the Iconic Take, and the Revisionist Approach. I know I’m over-simplifying there, and maybe stating the obvious, too. But I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. With long-running corporate franchise characters, writers tend to either look at what’s made them work in the past and polish it up for a new generation, or they look for conceptual weaknesses and try to explain or retcon [...]

Hell is Other Super Heroes, and Other Uplifting Funnybook Tales

October 2, 2018 // 4 Comments

So we’ve got a big new corporate spandex cross-over to talk about this week, and for once it looks like it might not completely suck! Let’s get right to that, then. FUNNYBOOKSINREVIEWAREGO!! Heroes in Crisis 1 by Tom King and Clay Mann Tom King’s work is very concerned with trauma. Post-Traumatic Stress, in particular, figures prominently in Mister Miracle, and to some extent Omega Men and Batman as well. And that makes sense; considering his military background, I’m [...]

Batawangs and Other Things: NSFW Edition!

September 25, 2018 // 3 Comments

So the biggest funnybook news of last week was that we saw Batman’s pee-pee. And since that’s the case, I figured we might as well get that out of the way first, before I give in to the temptation to sell that book for some outrageous price on the interwebs… Batman: Damned by Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo I’ve dutifully shared the cover of this book, as per usual, but let’s just cut to the chase and get to the image that’s got everybody talking: Yep. [...]

Again With the Bendis! Jinxworld Relaunches Strong

September 11, 2018 // 0 Comments

So we haven’t talked current comics in a while, as the dangerously-high stack of unreviewed books here on my desk attests. I was going to launch into a round of quick reviews to catch up, but then I started looking at Brian Michael Bendis’ latest work, and got a bit carried away… Pearl 1 Cover 1 Scarlet 1 United States vs Murder Inc 1 by Brian Bendis, Michael Gaydos, David Mack, Alex Maleev, and Michael Avon Oeming The relaunch of Brian Bendis’ Jinxworld books is now [...]

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