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Wolverine Epic Collection: Blood and Claws Review

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Throughout Wolverine’s long history, Larry Hama, having done more to develop the character than any writer aside from Chris Claremont. Blood and Claws, the third Epic Collection volume for Wolverine’s solo series, features the beginning of Hama’s storied run and showcases how the author put his stamp on the character right from the beginning. working alongside artist Marc Silvestri (who was also new to the series and became Hama’s chief partner on it) to transform the series as a whole from its history as a largely self-contained action/adventure book into a series with more overt comic book trappings and stronger ties to X-Men continuity, transforming Wolverine himself into a character that could support big story ideas and complex character development.

With that in mind, let’s break Blood and Claws down into its composite parts and look more closely at the stories collected in this volume. [Read more…] about Wolverine Epic Collection: Blood and Claws Review

The Best of Batgirl Comics!

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The title of Batgirl has been held by several characters in DC’s history. Betty Kane, Barbara Gordon, Cassandra Cain, and Stephanie Brown: all have made their mark on the mantle, whether they were the first or the one most often identified by the role. We have taken into account all of the Batgirls when compiling this list, and while some are going to be favoured over others, every Batgirl deserves her chance to shine.

This list is presented in chronological order, rather than a definitive ranking. Despite its infamy, The Killing Joke will not be included here. While it is important to Barbara Gordon’s story, as it resulted in Barbara being paralysed, it is not a Batgirl story and does not focus on Barbara. The Killing Joke also has questionable canonicity, as there are conflicting statements as to weather it is an Elseworlds entry or fully canon (though Three Jokers may have changed this). [Read more…] about The Best of Batgirl Comics!

Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman: The Stories Within Us

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They say if you want to bore someone, tell them about your dreams.

But for Neil Gaiman, the world of dreams was everything to his hugely popular comic The Sandman, gaining a legion of fans since it began in 1989.

The Sandman follows Morpheus, the lord of dreams and one of the 7 members of The Endless – an eternal family who each embody an aspect of life and have existed since the universe began. They are, alliteratively, Dream, Death, Destiny, Despair, Desire, Delirium, and Destruction. The story begins with Morpheus escaping from a 70-year imprisonment and quickly trying to rebuild his kingdom of The Dreaming, that amorphous realm of the subconscious from which all our dreams come from, which has fallen into disrepair in his absence. [Read more…] about Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman: The Stories Within Us

Creannotators #55: “Cyclopedia Exotica” with Aminder Dhaliwal!

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This week on Creannotators, I talk Cyclopedia Exotica, one of my favorite comics of 2021, with comics creator Aminder Dhaliwal. We talk the impact of the Cyclops metaphor as satire,  transitioning from Instagram comic to finished graphic novel, what’s next for Woman World on TV, 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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Black Widow Movie Review: The Reboot Redefined

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The number one question I’ve had about Black Widow since its announcement as a belated Phase 4 MCU project is *why* finally getting to a Scarlett Johansson solo movie made since for this new era. After all, the narrative is set between 2016’s Captain America: Civil War and 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War. So why wasn’t this movie planned for *that* time period, apart from Marvel Studios (specifically Ike Perlmutter’s) absolute terror of delivering a feature film with a woman lead?

Ultimately, regardless of the success of the film as Marvel’s mixture of The Americans, cold war spies, and classic Black Widow superhero intrigue, I’m going to fixate on the purpose (glorious or no) of Black Widow as a Phase 4 film. Delivering a massively belated ScarJo spy movie just because it’s better late than never simply rings hollow.

So does Black Widow deliver as a turning point for this post Avengers: Endgame MCU landscape? [Read more…] about Black Widow Movie Review: The Reboot Redefined