A Comic Book Reading Order Guide For Beginners & Fans
What do you get for the man who has everything?
A simple question that speaks to preconceived notions of Superman. That he’s perfect. That he has no human needs. That he’s elevated to a degree both morally and physically as to be completely unrelatable to the common reader.
That’s all, of course, not true. But it’s a question that lies at the center of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons’ 1985 story, “For the Man Who Has Everything,” originally published in Superman Annual #11
Hello and welcome to Comic Book Herald’s Hickmania, a series running through 2022 where we’ll be reading and analyzing the creator-owned works of writer Jonathan Hickman, from his debut The Nightly News through to his most recent output. We’ll be reading one creator-owned work a month through 2022, and each month I’ll release a new analysis with a new guest discussing the comic!
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[Read more…] about Hickmania #1: The Nightly News (W/ Zack Quaintance)
With the oversized concluding chapter of the four-part Inferno
After a brief intro, I’ll run through: Hickman’s three core innovations to the franchise and then, having heaped much justified praise upon the man, we’ll look at the many things we didn’t get to see, and the very few that didn’t really work. The last stop is a brief look at what the end of Inferno #4 has promised us in no uncertain terms, as well as the architect’s own promise to all who have come to call Krakoa home—fan and creator alike.
Here at the start, though, I’ll include one of my favorite moments from Inferno #4, Emma’s moment—this is just so brilliantly earned:
[Read more…] about Always Additive: A Retrospective of Hickman’s Tenure as Architect of Krakoa
I often say I don’t care about Wolverine, but that’s not really true.
There are Wolverines that I love. This includes the one named Laura, the James Howlett one who loves Hercules, and the ones in fanfiction and fanart who are various kinds of queer. Sometimes, I also love ones named Logan who appear in licensed comics, cartoons, and films. The Wolverines that I love challenge stereotypes related to masculinity and violence and the supposed inseparability of the two. These Wolverines struggle, heroically, against what a bad world wants them to be or else don’t give a fuck about stereotypes, because they’ve seen it all and know who they are.
Then there are Wolverines I don’t love. This includes the ones mired in white savior tropes and cultural appropriation and especially the ones who uncritically glorify violence, graphically murdering untold scores of people who are usually bad people but still, nonetheless, people. These Wolverines never change yet always demand forgiveness through their enduring popularity and the seemingly boundless acceptance of their less-murderous friends.
But despite knowing which Wolverines I love and don’t love, I frequently struggle to decide how I feel about specific stories starring Wolverine. Take the first four issues of the recent X-Men Unlimited Infinity Comic, written by outgoing X-Men franchise impresario Jonathan Hickman with art by Declan Shalvey. [Read more…] about Choosing Violence: The Complexity of Loving Wolverine
On my weekly livestream, Casual Krakoa Live, I review the week’s X-Men comics, and answer big questions about what’s going on with Marvel’s merry mutants! You can listen or watch below:
* Spoilers Follow *
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[Read more…] about Casual Krakoa: Inferno #4 Post-Game Live!