A Comic Book Reading Order Guide For Beginners & Fans
Marvel comics of 1991. Venom returns, Thunderstrike enters town, & Simonson writes Dave’s favorite Doctor Doom vs Reed Richards throwdown!
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[Read more…] about 1991 Pt. 2: Venom, Thunderstrike, & Doom vs Richards!
Dave Buesing: Earlier this year, my podcast co-host Zack Deane requested a Koi Boi reading order on behalf of a Comic Book Herald patron, and if that didn’t make sense, wondered if a guide to trans representation in Marvel could be an alternate. Since a CBH guide to Koi Boi would ultimately just say “read Unbeatable Squirrel Girl,” we have instead sought out a complete guide to transgender characters in the Marvel Universe, with detailed conversations about the quality of Marvel’s representation for each.
I want to be eminently clear that this is not a victory lap celebrating Marvel. Finding examples of Trans representation are few and far between in the tens of thousands of comics the publisher’s released. Likewise, there are examples of what could be considered “transgender” representation that are so reprehensible and offensive that I couldn’t bring myself to even mention them in this guide. [Read more…] about A Guide to Trans Representation In Marvel Comics
When they began their run on Action Comics in 2011, Grant Morrison was at a crucial juncture in their comics career. After returning to DC in the early 2000s following the end of their run on New X-Men, they launched into a staggering creative frenzy that took them through the first act of their Batman epic, their cult classic take on The Seven Soldiers of Victory, and the multi-Eisner Award winning All-Star Superman with their defining artistic partner Frank Quitely, along with significant contributions to the acclaimed 52. Their mid-naughts imperial phase culminated when Dan DiDio finally handed them the keys to the kingdom and allowed them to do their take on a classic DC Crisis event, leading to the seven-issue Final Crisis with J.G. Jones and Doug Mahnke. Instead of delivering a classic crossover action comic (heh), Morrison wrote a baroque, austere story about the apocalypse powered by symbolism and metaphor as much, if not moreso, than by narrative logic, an ontologically dense exploration of DC’s icons that contrasted them with grimy images of Jack Kirby’s Fourth World New Gods to advance Morrison’s concept of the Justice League as the gods of the Fifth World. [Read more…] about The Old 52: Action Comics & The Birthplace of Modern Morrison
The 90s were a tough decade for Marvel. They started off great – In 1990, Todd McFarlane’s Spider-Man #1 sold 2.5 million copies and a year later Rob Liefeld’s X-Force #1 sold 5 million copies and Jim Lee’s X-Men #1 sold 8 million copies. Then in 1992 all three of these artists and a handful of others left Marvel to form Image. Then in 1996, Marvel was forced to file for bankruptcy. Between these two events, we got Heroes Reborn
Since his brooding debut in writer David Michelinie and artist Erik Larsen’s The Amazing Spider-Man #344 (1991), serial killer Cletus Kasady has become a familiar, fan-favorite fixture in Peter Parker’s rogues’ gallery as the most common host of the bloodred Carnage Symbiote.
Unlike the more amenable Spider-Frenemy Venom, Carnage has been defined by his unwavering tenacity, his murderous intent, and his ruthlessness. He doesn’t just hate Spider-Man, he hates everyone and everything. Sometimes hilarious but always hyper-violent, he’s a force of nature unlike many others in the Marvel universe, and his long and sometimes complicated history reflects it in both its lowest moments and its surprisingly dense and tense highs. Even Woody Harrelson has taken note.
That’s right, Cletus Cortland Kasady: serial killer… and serial storyteller! It’s more likely than you might think in our list of the best Carnage comics below! [Read more…] about The Best Carnage Comics of All Time!