Comic Book Herald

A Comic Book Reading Order Guide For Beginners & Fans

Sara Century

M-Tech’s Warlock: An Underrated Late ’90s Gem

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Warlock #1, cover art by Joe Quesada, J.G. Jones, and Richard Isanove

The M-Tech line of the late 1990s is a mostly forgotten footnote in Marvel’s history today, but that’s not to say it doesn’t hold up. After all, it didn’t have much of a chance to breathe before the whole thing was canceled, which makes it difficult to write it off fully—not a bad idea so much as one that buyers weren’t quite ready for. Regardless of the line’s brevity, tapping into underutilized tech-based characters like X-51 and Deathlok for their own solo series made for some interesting comics, and Warlock Vol. 5 is one of them.

It was in writer Louise Simonson’s run on New Mutants in #95 that the techno-organic being known as Warlock (temporarily) perished at the hands of Cameron Hodge. This was in 1990, immediately before she left the book with #97 and it transformed into X-Force. Here, nine years later, she returns to the character while remaining soundly outside of the X-Line for which they were both known. In the interim, she was one of the main architects behind The Death of Superman and surrounding stories at DC, and Warlock had been through resurrection, a name change, and more than one serious identity crisis.

Discussing Warlock Vol. 5 #1-9 [Read more…] about M-Tech’s Warlock: An Underrated Late ’90s Gem

Marvel Then: Morbius Moves Forward in Marvel NOW!

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The Morbius (2013) series seems to come a bit out of left field, considering that the last time we’d consistently seen Michael M. had been back in the early 1990s with Rise of the Midnight Sons. Receiving a hard push into his own series roughly two decades later with a new costume and a full superhero makeover may have seemed like an odd move because… it was!

Morbius isn’t a character who works particularly well as a superhero—he’s much better-suited for horror-adjacent solo series or guest spots in the books of more traditional heroes like Spider-Man. Yet Marvel NOW! was all about bringing old concepts into the modern age whether they liked it or not, so we ended up with a fairly unusual short-lived Morbius solo that sometimes works, though it often does not.

Covering Morbius (2013) #1-9 [Read more…] about Marvel Then: Morbius Moves Forward in Marvel NOW!

I Have Awoken in a World that is Upside Down: Mystique & Destiny in Inferno

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Inferno #1, Peach Momoko cover

Wrapping with Inferno #4, Hickman’s X-Men has drawn to a close, yet the Krakoa era has only just begun. New stories are kicking off and away from the central premise introduced in HoXPox, ushering in another chapter of X-History. There are many important elements of this run to discuss, which is a major reason why it has been widely reviewed and commented on by critics both within comics and in the larger entertainment sphere. From the resurrection protocols to Moira X to Nimrod and the Omega Sentinels, Dawn of X and then Reign of X hit the ground running and the X-Titles are showing no signs of slowing down.

One monumentally important element of the era has been bringing the villain Destiny back and reinstating her importance in both the franchise and Mystique’s life. While decades of subtext, film franchises, editorial mandates, and death have kept them apart, this run effectively brought the pair to the forefront as a couple for the first time in ways that could never have happened before. Among the many things this era has given its readers, perhaps no gift has been so sweet as the reunion between these two murder wives and the long-awaited continuation of their beautiful love story, all while pitting them against Moira X, Xavier, Magneto, and others.

Discussing elements of House of X/Powers of X, X-Men Vol. 5 #1-21, and Inferno #1-4 [Read more…] about I Have Awoken in a World that is Upside Down: Mystique & Destiny in Inferno

“No Glory In This War” in A Wave Blue World’s Bloody Hel

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Norse mythology is rife with bizarre imagery and legends about the war-mongering tendencies of the gods. Outside of Marvel’s necessarily cheerier take on the Norse tales of old, many creators have found themselves inspired to explore their more upsetting elements. Some books effectively serve to show the effects of long-term war on a person, as in Heathen, while others offer an examination of some of the negative, or at the very least self-important, aspects of the gods, as in The Sandman.

In A Wave Blue World’s Bloody Hel, the story takes us into the trenches of WWI, drawing a connective line between the majesty of the myths and the filth, pain, and lack of a clear purpose that many on the front lines are forced to bear in global wars. A story that manages to be both introspective and epic, this is a comic not to be missed for fans of mythology, war history, and/or tightly-paced single-volume comics. [Read more…] about “No Glory In This War” in A Wave Blue World’s Bloody Hel

‘Tis the Season to be Harley (Quinn) in the Batman Adventures Christmas Specials

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Batgirl Adventures #1, written by Paul Dini, art by Rick Burchett and Rick Taylor, lettering by Albert DeGuzman

If you’ve watched, read, or listened to pretty much any media featuring Batman in which a holiday is even mentioned, it’s likely that you’ve heard his tragic origin story. If not, here’s a quick recap: his very rich parents were killed in a dark alleyway they had no business being in after an opera, play, or movie. After that, every holiday was ruined. Every single one. Yes, including St. Patrick’s Day. Forever.

Oh, to be an orphan on Christmas! As you know, this tragedy messed the young Bruce Wayne up in all kinds of ways, and to this day, he’s still out here, dressing like a bat just in case someone does a crime. It might not come as a great surprise that Batman is a real Scrooge when it comes to celebrating the winter solstice, but to be fair, a lot of people try to kill him in highly inventive holiday-themed ways on a fairly regular basis. Somewhat paradoxically, despite Batman being a real bummer during this time of year, Batman Christmas Specials are a delight across all mediums. That goes double for most of the myriad Batman Adventures comics based on Batman: The Animated Series.

Covering The Batman & Robin Adventures #3, The Batman Adventures Holiday Special #1, Batgirl Adventures #1, and Batman: The Adventures Continue #15-17 [Read more…] about ‘Tis the Season to be Harley (Quinn) in the Batman Adventures Christmas Specials