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Spider-Man: No Way Home Review!

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It’s 2002 and I’m in Junior High, sitting front row (but too nervous to slide four seats over next to my crush) for the debut of the first Spider-Man movie of my life. I’m way too shy to talk to my crush after, but I can’t stop talking to anyone within earshot about Spider-Man. From this point forward I will refer to Spider-Man as my favorite comic book character (sorry Wolverine and Nightcrawler).

It’s 2012, and I’ve been married just over a year, and I’m watching the rebooted Amazing Spider-Man on DVD in my Chicago apartment, gin and tonic in my hand. I’ve started a comic book website recently, but it’s a fledgling little project. I won’t even cover the film there. I’m quite unsure of where my life is headed professionally, stressed out and aimless, but nonetheless I have a great time watching.

It’s 2021 and I have a rare night out without my three young boys, watching Spider-Man: No Way Home in a theater screening that required proof of vaccination against a virus sweeping the world yet again. Today I’ll worry about all the maskless moviegoers around me enjoying their popcorn, but for nearly 3 hours, I’m fixated on the webbed mask Steve Ditko designed so perfectly in the early 60’s.

A lot’s changed for me in two decades, but one relative constant is that I’m more likely than not to enjoy a great Spider-Man movie, and Spider-Man: No Way Home is no exception.
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Spider-Man History: 6 Significant Sinister Six Squads!

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The Sinister Six is a concept elegant in its simplicity. Take six of Spider-Man’s deadliest foes and team them up to accomplish what they’d previously failed to do individually: defeat that pesky wall-crawler. Of course, Spider-Man being Spider-Man, he usually finds a way to win. That doesn’t stop various incarnations of the Sinister Six from trying to make their fiendish “six on one” path to victory a success.

With Spider-Man: No Way Home arraying the MCU’s wall-crawler against the largest assemblage of cinematic villains yet, let’s take a look at the history of the Sinister Six as rendered across, yes, six notable incarnations of the team which have appeared in comics throughout the years. [Read more…] about Spider-Man History: 6 Significant Sinister Six Squads!

Love is the Answer in Reptil

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Reptil #1, Ernanda Souza variant cover

Like so many heroes before him, Humberto is a normal kid. Except…this “normal kid” can turn into a dinosaur. Thus begins the magnificent story of Reptil, a fun and refreshing comic that features a Mexican-American superhero coming to terms with his newfound powers. Humberto’s arrival in the Marvel Universe is a welcome breath of fresh air – there are too few Latinx representations within the comic world. Humberto is a kid that is dealing with the loss of his parents and figuring out how to lead a “normal” life. Does life click into place once you’ve been enrolled at the Fifty State Initiative? Clearly, there are obstacles and revelations to be had.

Humberto graces our presence in Avengers: The Initiative. Born to paleontologist parents, Humberto was given a special fossil that grants him the ability to transform into any type of dinosaur. He inherited the fossil shortly after his parents disappeared, leaving him to live with his grandfather. Tigra is encouraged to recruit Humberto for a special mission to defeat Stegron, who was embarking on a quest to reanimate fossils. All goes awry when it is discovered that Humberto has a hard time controlling his powers. Eventually, a new law – Kamala’s Law –  is proposed to dismiss him from the Academy and to start a new life with his extended family.

Collecting Reptil #1-4 [Read more…] about Love is the Answer in Reptil

Best New Graphic Novel: Dead Dog’s Bite

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I was first exposed to Tyler Boss’ work, as I think many people were, in 2016-17’s 4 Kids Walk Into A Bank from Black Mask Studios, written by Matt Rosenberg. The miniseries tells the story of four friends who, well, plan a bank heist for a variety of complicated reasons. Rosenberg’s writing is charming, the voices of the kids clear and distinct. But what really wowed about the series was Boss’ idiosyncratic artwork.

4 Kids was a critical success, and it seemed a no-brainer that Boss and Rosenberg would follow it up quickly, and indeed, at February 2018’s Image Expo, they announced they were re-pairing, with a new series titled What’s The Furthest Place From Here? This new series seemed imminent, with the pair selling an ashcan edition of the first half of issue #1 in November of that year at New York Comic Con. The ashcan promised a smart, weird and moody comic, set in a near-future apocalyptic world with no adults. Alas, we waited and waited for a solicit that seemed to be forthcoming any month now, but never seemed to materialize.

Then, on May 16 of 2019, Boss tweeted out a cryptic message: a red emoji heart, a black emoji heart, the hashtag “#welcometopendermills” and an illustration showing a peculiar cast of characters and the edge of a “missing” poster: [Read more…] about Best New Graphic Novel: Dead Dog’s Bite