Charlotte, Dave, and Zack talk Marvel’s What If, comics on Substack, and DC’s The Suicide Squad.
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[Read more…] about 1992 Variant Cover C: What If Suicide Squad Was A Substack Comic?
A Comic Book Reading Order Guide For Beginners & Fans
Charlotte, Dave, and Zack talk Marvel’s What If, comics on Substack, and DC’s The Suicide Squad.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
[Read more…] about 1992 Variant Cover C: What If Suicide Squad Was A Substack Comic?

There is a hole in things.
The inexplicable absence. The piece that does not fit. The nothingness we cannot know.
It is in you. It is in me. It is in all of us, all around us. The things we can’t explain, the things we can’t know, the things we cannot prepare for. That which we can never understand, rationalize, ‘explain’ or break down. That which just is and must be contended with. Its absoluteness both infinitesimal and infinite.
It is every dark, dreadful thought we can’t make sense of, it is every stupid notion and petty cruelty that is a means to nothing except itself. It is all the gaps in our knowledge and understanding of the world, the universe, and ourselves. It is the reality we all contend with, never truly know, never fully understand, always missing something. It is the forgotten thoughts, the fading memories, all the things we can’t retain or get back. Life isn’t the easily explained order, but the chaotic mess of disorder.
The Hole In Things is our broken essence, our darkness, the void at the heart of all of us, and everything, the super-blackhole that reality is surrounded by, the immensity we cover up with our assumptions and ideas.
The hole is important because what isn’t there is just as important as what is. Humanity, people, are defined not just by what we know and are, but what we don’t know and what we are not. To be human is to try and push against that immensity of nothingness, that infinite absence, that absolute void, to be more. To cover up that hole, to fill it up, to ascend higher, that is the human project. That is our essential nature. We make planes, for we yearn to fly. We build rockets, for we wish to touch the stars. All that we cannot do, we yearn to do. All that which is held as impossible, we try and smash, to prove as utterly possible, in our own way, despite our human limitations.
The Hole is forever, it is eternal, and it is the sum totality against which all of human endeavor is built. It is because The Hole exists that we do, in the way we do. For without our imperfections, all our little flaws, all the things we wish we were not, who would we be? What would we dream of? What else would push us to touch the stars, if we were already able to at birth? What would be the pursuit of knowledge, if it was all present in our minds upon arrival into existence? To push up against that cosmic void is our destiny, it is our purpose, it is our journey in life.
And it is not a journey we measure the success of in accomplishments, but in the attempt itself. To try itself is human.
This is what Grant Morrison’s The Bat-Epic hinges on. [Read more…] about Ending To Grant Morrison’s Bat-Epic: The Hole In Things
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:
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This week’s Casual Krakoa will answer:
+ Who’s coming to the X-Office after Hickman?
+ What’s up with X-Men continuity now?
+ What does Isaac Asimov have to do with X-Men? [Read more…] about Casual Krakoa: New Mutants #22, Excalibur #24, Hellions #16 Reviews!

Excalibur will possibly end before it reaches issue #30—although that seems crazy with how much material Tini Howard and Marcus To have introduced, enough for a whole franchise! An entire comic company could be launched from all the elements of their Otherworldly worldbuilding—and X-office contributions, generally. So hopefully, Marvel backs off a bit on its recent kneejerk habit of just rebooting everything without strong in-universe reasons or respect to fans of titles whose stories are never resolved!
That said, this series hasn’t been without its flaws, and its first six issues are its weakest. They still contain much of interest and lay diverse seeds of potential for future storytelling—besides the fact the art is beautiful.
But if the series were to end, it would be a real shame—avoidable if it relaunches with the same creators under a title like Captain Britain and Her Majesty’s Mutants or something. (I’m not a fan of the word “witchbreed,” which is meant to be pejorative anyway; neither is it very compelling.) It’s clear to anyone following Excalibur that the creative team is just getting started with the epic they obviously want to give us. Although that is a bit strange to say after 23 issues!
Related:
[Read more…] about (Re)Read Hickman’s X-Men: Otherworldly Machinations – Excalibur #1-6 Pt. 2
This week on Creannotators, I talk Glorious Wrestling Alliance with cartoonist Josh Hicks. We talk wrestling inspirations, bringing the years-in-the-making graphic novel together in one cohesive story, and what it’s like to make a music video for the Foo Fighters. And much more!
On Comic Book Herald’s ‘Creannotators’ I’ll be interviewing some of my favorite creators in comics about specific runs, graphic novels or series, looking for their insights on the inspirations behind the work and ideas or hidden material readers may have missed. Creannotators is an audio annotative guide to enjoying the intricacies and thinking in the art. Thanks for listening, and enjoy the comics!
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[Read more…] about Creannotators #61: “Glorious Wrestling Alliance” with creator Josh Hicks!