David Rubin

November’s Cold Chains, and Other Funnybook Cheerfulness

November 12, 2019 // 2 Comments

So here we are with a stack of funnybooks to review. Looks like there’s new Immortal Hulk, Jonathan Hickman’s New Mutants relaunch, the first issue of that Blackstars mini Grant Morrison’s using to bridge the first two seasons of The Green Lantern… and what was easily the best comic I read last week: November, Volume 1: The Girl on the Roof by Matt Fraction and Elsa Charretier We’ve been big Matt Fraction fans here on the nerd farm for a long time, dating back to [...]

THE LIST, Part One

February 19, 2019 // 3 Comments

So I did some funnybook filing this weekend, organizing, bagging, and boxing what was probably the last six months’ worth of comics. And I made the decisions I always make when I’m doing that: what books go into the permanent collection, and what books get dumped off into the “maybe I can sell this” pile. Normally, the latter of those two groupings is pretty small. It’s generally for stuff I didn’t like, or stuff that I liked okay, but know that I’ll never read [...]

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. [...]

Great Adventures and Grand Designs

July 31, 2018 // 0 Comments

So I’ve got a great big stack of funnybooks sitting here waiting for my attention. Which I suppose means that… CAPSULE REVIEWS ARE GO!! Fantastic Four #1 Preview Spotlight Give-Away Thingie by Dan Slott and Sara Pichelli The new Fantastic Four comic is launching next week, and I’m glad to hear that the book’s coming back. FF is, as I’ve said more than a few times, my favorite super hero comic, so I’m psyched that it’s getting a relaunch. That said, [...]

Funnybooks on Vacation Are GO!!

June 26, 2018 // 1 Comment

So I am, technically, on vacation this week. Normally, that would mean a quick throw-away article if I was busy doing vacation stuff, or some crazy in-depth thing about something I’ve read, re-read, or dug into in my time off from the day job. This time, though… I’m not busy doing anything but goofing off. And I haven’t had time yet to dig into anything especially interesting. So I guess I guess I’ll just talk about this here stack of funnybooks like always, then. [...]

Aliens, Gods, and a Walk Through Hell: FUNNYBOOKSINREVIEWAREGO!!!

May 22, 2018 // 0 Comments

So I’ve been reading some funnybooks! Let’s see how they were… Avengers 1 & 2 by Jason Aaron and Ed McGinnis So these were fun. I normally wait to read Jason Aaron work-for-hire stuff until I can find a digital trade on sale, but I decided to give this new Avengers relaunch a shot because… Well, I dunno. Because what the hell, I guess. I like Aaron’s larger than life, hell-bent-for-leather approach to the big corporate toys. As long as I keep in mind that [...]

The Weird and the Wonderful: Some Alternative Picks for the Fantastic Four Relaunch

April 24, 2018 // 5 Comments

So we were talking about the upcoming Fantastic Four relaunch down at my local funnybook store recently. Which, yeah, if you haven’t heard… They’re relaunching Fantastic Four this summer, in a new series by Dan Slott and Sarah Pichelli. And that… …was what we were talking about. I made the off-hand comment that I will, of course, be giving it a shot, but that Slott and Pichelli wouldn’t have been my first pick for the creative team. One of my buddies kind of [...]

Two Weeks in the Funnybook Life

February 6, 2018 // 1 Comment

So last week, my attempt to answer a reader question turned into a discussion of my reading preferences, and why I generally prefer indie comics over work-for-hire stuff. This week, I thought I’d continue along the same lines, and take a look at every new comic I’ve read in the last two weeks. Not because it’s been a particularly great time for funnybooks. In fact, it’s been anything but. Few of my real favorites came out in the last two weeks, and in their absence I [...]

Tales of Gods and Lesser Folk: FUNNYBOOKSINREVIEWAREGO!!

November 28, 2017 // 0 Comments

So I haven’t done a decent round of funnybook reviews in a while. Let’s take care of that now… Batman: White Knight 2 by Sean Murphy I liked the second issue of this book quite a bit. That may have just been because Sean Murphy took a potshot at the more modern versions of Harley Quinn in favor of the classic… …which is an opinion I can wholeheartedly get behind. “Cheerleader with a bigger rack” does a pretty good job of explaining why I’m not a fan of [...]

Jokers, Gods, Heroes and Madmen

October 24, 2017 // 0 Comments

So we’re getting ready for a little Halloween vacation here on the nerd farm, and that means we’ll be keeping it brief this week, as we play a little catch-up with the Funnybooks of October… Mister Miracle 3 by Tom King and Mitch Gerads Two things struck me as I read this issue: One, Tom King’s use of narrative quotations from Jack Kirby’s original Mister Miracle as a sort of greek chorus, responding to the more dour goings-on of this series, has the air of mockery [...]