Comic Book Herald

A Comic Book Reading Order Guide For Beginners & Fans

Featured

Black Cat Volume 5: “I’ll Take Manhattan” Ties Up Loose Ends In This Very Good Run

by Leave a Comment

Black Cat Vol 5, the fifth trade paperback of Jed MacKay’s Black Cat run, and the second of the series that began with the relaunched Black Cat #1 in 2021, wraps up the storyline with Black Fox, Felicia’s mentor.

The first issue in the trade, Black Cat #5 begins with Felicia and Black Fox meeting on Coney Island well before Felicia became known as Black Cat. In fact, what we are seeing is the moment when Felicia decides to take on the mantle that was once carried by her father before her. This scene acts as a prelude to what’s to come in terms of the dissolution of Felicia’s relationship with the Black Fox, reminding us of what he means to Felicia before he betrays her in the pursuit of immortality. [Read more…] about Black Cat Volume 5: “I’ll Take Manhattan” Ties Up Loose Ends In This Very Good Run

The Marvel Universe of Al Ewing (Reading Order)!

by 1 Comment

In the few years since he’s joined the Marvel universe, Al Ewing has become one of the biggest names in American comic books, especially superhero comics ; not least of all because of his critically acclaimed work on The Immortal Hulk. However, his Marvel Comics history actually started back in 2013, and has since then spanned across many different characters and stories, from Loki to the Inhumans and even several different Avengers teams.

Ewing’s work at Marvel is not only noteworthy for often aiming to shake up the status quo of the Marvel universe as well as taking on cosmic proportions ; but also for his dedication to representation in his stories, especially queer representation in books like Immortal Hulk and Guardians of the Galaxy, as well as having mostly non-white teams in his Mighty Avengers and Ultimates especially.

And although Immortal Hulk is approaching its end, Al Ewing’s time at Marvel seems to only be beginning, as he is currently heading the new era of Marvel’s Galactic stories, across titles like Guardians of the Galaxy, S.W.O.R.D., and Venom; and events like Empyre and The Last Annihilation. [Read more…] about The Marvel Universe of Al Ewing (Reading Order)!

The Old 52: Revisiting DC’s Villains Month

by Leave a Comment

The New 52. What a ride, am I right? An attempt to reimagine the DC Universe from the ground up that was almost immediately bogged down by increasingly complex continuity and a series of retcons-for-retcons-sake that would ultimately get wiped off the board when the need for another company-wide reboot was required in just five short years. Yet, a lot of fans that are still reading today had their entry to comics during this era, and it would be disingenuous to say that there was nothing good to be found here. Crossovers may not have delivered, but there were certainly some good ideas being thrown around, and Villains Month was one of them.

Focusing on antagonists and antiheroes like Poison Ivy, Bizarro, Darkseid, Solomon Grundy, Black Manta, and Cheetah, this crossover-within-a-crossover indicates both the best and the worst of New 52. Lacking the time and space to actually explore the new ideas they set forward, these stories range from the incredibly satisfying to the wildly disappointing, but on average tend toward the middle of the road. [Read more…] about The Old 52: Revisiting DC’s Villains Month

Gore, Guts, and Glory in the Predator Omnibus

by Leave a Comment

Dark Horse began publishing the Predator comics in 1989 with the story now generally referred to as Concrete Jungle, not long after debuting its Aliens line the year prior. Rather than focusing on an ongoing, the publisher pushed short appearances in the Dark Horse Presents anthology while offering up a number of limited series and one-shots over the years.

Foregoing the larger world building that the Aliens franchise has explored in novels and comics to focus on repeating the format that makes the Predator movies so great, it’s easy to forget about the early Predator comics in comparison to the Aliens and AVP series. Aliens offers more character and plot development while AVP has even more epic fights, which leaves some of these stories in the dust. On the other hand, the original outings with the Predators did offer massive amounts of bloodshed and a revolving series of backdrops and characters, which means that Predator Omnibus still has a lot to offer for fans of the films.

Collects: Predator (1989) #1-4, Predator 2 (1991) #1-2, Predator: Big Game (1991) #1-4, Predator: Cold War (1991) #1-4, Predator: The Bloody Sands of Time (1992) #1-2, Predator: Bad Blood (1993) #1-4, Predator: Invaders from the Fourth Dimension (1994) #1, Predator: Dark River (1996) #1-4, Predator: Strange Roux (1996) #1, Predator: Kindred (1996) #1-4; material from Dark Horse Presents (1986) #46, #119; Dark Horse Comics (1992) #1-2, #4-7, #10-14, #16-18, #20-21; A Decade of Dark Horse (1996) #1 [Read more…] about Gore, Guts, and Glory in the Predator Omnibus