Steve Epting

Kid Detectives, Lady Snipers, and Human Flies: QUARANTINE REVIEWS ARE GO!!

April 21, 2020 // 0 Comments

So we’re still in quarantine, and we still have no new funnybooks to read. Or almost none. Because the nerd farm was briefly lit up with one little ray of new comics light last week, and we’ll be starting the column off with that. Afterwards, though, it’s back to the quarantine stash for an old favorite and a new discovery… Friday 1 by Ed Brubaker and Marcos Martin Ed Brubaker describes this series as “Encyclopedia Brown meets HP Lovecraft.” So of course I was [...]

Lois, Jimmy, and Harley

February 5, 2019 // 2 Comments

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 [...]

Vigilantes, Spies, and Batman: Highlights From a Month of Wednesdays

August 23, 2016 // 0 Comments

So I’ve been putting this off and putting this off, but now… I’ve got some catching up to do. There’s easily a full month’s worth of unreviewed funnybooks sitting on my desk (maybe more), and I’ve gotta knock that stack down. Don’t know if I’ll get to it all tonight, but we’re gonna give it a shot. So, without further ado… FUNNYBOOKSINREVIEWAREGO!!! Batman 3–5 by Tom King and David Finch So while I’ve been talking about other [...]

Sex, Lies, and Batman

May 3, 2016 // 0 Comments

Last week was a damn fine week for funnybooks, with three of my current favorites hitting the stands all on the same day. So of course, I’m going to start this week by talking about a book I didn’t actually read at all… DKIII 4 by Frank Miller and… Not-Frank-Miller So, yeah. I’m not really reading this book. I gave it a shot briefly when it started, but it has the feel of someone trying to make sense of the glorious nonsense that is Frank Miller’s Bat-Future. It’s tame when it [...]

The Art of Corporate Funnybooks: Jonathan Hickman’s Avengers, Part Two

May 25, 2015 // 3 Comments

So last week, we discussed the first year of Jonathan Hickman’s Avengers run. You can GO HERE to check that out, or just jump in below… Jonathan Hickman’s Avengers by Jonathan Hickman (duh) and A Variety of Artists I believe I left off last time by saying that the first year of Hickman’s run was all set-up. And I spent an awful lot of time discussing that set-up, at the expense of some of the finer points of the storytelling. So before I move on to the second year, I [...]

Evolution, Apocalypse, and the Arrogance of Kings: Jonathan Hickman’s Avengers, Part One

May 20, 2015 // 5 Comments

Jonathan Hickman’s Avengers by Jonathan Hickman (duh) and A Multitude of Artists So I’m finally getting around to the defining super hero comic of the decade: Jonathan Hickman’s Avengers. Modern comics being modern comics, of course, his run’s not confined to just one book, but two: the core Avengers title, and New Avengers. The former book deals in themes of evolution and growth, while the latter trades on apocalypse and moral dilemmas. While Avengers has lots of [...]

The Spectacle of It All

April 28, 2015 // 0 Comments

So last week was a good week for funnybooks. But, as sometimes happens, life has gotten in the way of me discussing them in my usual depth. So this’ll have to be quick. And, since the four books I’ll be covering are also real pretty to look at, I figured I might as well pick one really spectacular image from each, and share those. Some of them will be SPOILERY, while others… Well, okay. All of them are going to be a bit SPOILERY. But some more than others. Consider yourself [...]

Dork Awards 2014, Part Three: Best Funnybook

January 25, 2015 // 0 Comments

And here we are, back for the final installment of the 2014 Dork Awards. I have to admit, much as I wanted to avoid this thing getting repetitious, it still got away from me. Between the previous categories, and all the reviews of these books I’ve written over the course of the year, I couldn’t escape the feeling that I’ve said all this stuff before. Ah, well. Such is the way of the year-in-review column, I suppose. So, that little warning out of the way, let’s get this [...]

Dork Awards 2014: Writer and Artist of the Year

January 13, 2015 // 0 Comments

Aaaand, we’re back! Real life got in the way a bit last week, and so I didn’t get to the second round of the Dork Awards. But now I’ve chopped out a hollow spot in my schedule, so let’s get crackin’! This week, we’re shifting gears a bit, to discuss specific creators rather than specific books. Honestly, this whole thing was a lot easier last year, when we just did a “25 Best Comics” list. Hopefully, I’ll remember that next year. But, ah well. [...]

A Great Week for Funnybooks

September 16, 2014 // 0 Comments

Holy crap last week was a great week for funnybooks! Lots of variety in tone, topic, and aesthetic, with everything from grounded spies and dystopian futures to hyper-kinetic crime and meta-fictional sci-fi horror. AND ALL OF IT SO GOOD! There were so many good books, in fact, that I despair for the rest of the month. But SCREW YOU, FUTURE! Because right now… RIGHT NOW!! …we are rollin’ in the good stuff! Annihilator 1, by Grant Morrison and Frazer Irving Okay, so yeah. As [...]