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To Harm Or To Not Harm: The Doctor Aphra Omnibus Review!

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Kieron Gillen (Author), Simon Spurrier (Author), Jason Aaron (Author), Kev Walker (Illustrator), Salvador Larroca (Illustrator), Andrea Broccardo (Illustrator), Emilio Laiso (Illustrator), Wilton Santos (Illustrator), Caspar Wjingaard (Illustrator), Elsa Charretier (Illustrator), Mike Deodato Jr. (Illustrator), Leinil Francis Yu (Illustrator), Marco Checchetto (Illustrator)

Doctor Aphra is a rogue archaeologist traveling the galaxy with a pair of homicidal droids and an unhinged Wookie named Black Krrsantan. This collection details her early days as a freelancer for Darth Vader to her present-day rabble rousing around the galaxy. Aphra is not a hero and she doesn’t claim to be one. If anything, she represents the autonomous galaxy traveler, not unlike pre-resistance Han Solo. She knows what her purpose is and she sticks to it, not attaching herself to a glorified hero stance as so many canon characters have. Aphra is also one of the first openly queer characters within the Star Wars canon. Sarcastic and full of zingers, Aphra is one of the best Star Wars characters, and the Star Wars: Doctor Aphra omnibus is a great place to get to know the inner workings of the Star Wars universe.

Collects: Star Wars: Doctor Aphra (2016) 1-40; Star Wars: Doctor Aphra Annual (2017) 1-3; Darth Vader (2015) 3-4, 8, 21, 25; Star Wars (2015) 13, 19, 31-32; Star Wars: The Screaming Citadel (2017) 1; material from Star Wars: Empire Ascendant (2020) 1 [Read more…] about To Harm Or To Not Harm: The Doctor Aphra Omnibus Review!

What’s Going On with Marvel’s Avengers Continuity?

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A Hypothetical Case Study of How Not to Handle Continuity

Let’s say you’re writing a largely self-contained ongoing comic book title within a much larger shared universe. Let’s call your book… Sergeant USA! During most of your long-running story, Sarge’s lost his superhero identity and his place in the… Revengers. How do you mesh that with the universe’s continuity? Cleverly, at the start of your run you don’t allude to anything else going on in this comic universe, so that you can go on with your long-running story for as long as you like, and when you DO have to link back to the universe’s continuity you get to choose when all of it fits, start to finish. You can have your thirty-part, two-and-a-half years-running self-contained story while justifying Sarge’s absence from the Revengers in-between any two Revengers issues of your choosing, in retrospect. Damn you’re clever!

And then someone else comes along and messes with your simple but genius plan.

*Some spoilers for Sarge… Captain America and Avengers follow*

[Read more…] about What’s Going On with Marvel’s Avengers Continuity?

Bomber Jackets & Love Triangles, The Avengers: The Gathering Omnibus

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Avengers #366, written by Bob Harras, art by Steve Epting and Tom Palmer, lettering by Rick Parker

The early-to-mid-’90s were a wild time for superhero comics, and the overall “heavy on action, low on plot and character development” vibes have been commented on far and wide. Still, for all the bad, this was a time where major shake-ups were happening across the board. This omnibus collects a truly weird era of the Avengers in which the cast was flipped on its side with mostly lesser-known characters like the Black Knight and Crystal of the Inhumans taking the spotlight, and just about everyone owned at least one bomber jacket. Mainstays like Captain America and Iron Man disappear, and the book takes on a moody, tempestuous vibe rare to the Avengers. Love it or hate it, the era that brought us Avengers: The Gathering shook up the status quo of a team that could, at times, feel stagnant.

Collects: Avengers (1963) #343-344 And #348-375, Avengers Annual #22, Avengers Strikefile, X-Men (1991) #26, Avengers West Coast #101, Uncanny X-Men (1981) #307, Black Knight: Exodus And Avengers Anniversary Magazine [Read more…] about Bomber Jackets & Love Triangles, The Avengers: The Gathering Omnibus

X-Men Epic Collection: The Sentinels Live Review!

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On my thirteenth birthday, I was given my first collection of X-Men comics. The characters were already legend. I’d spent the last few years being told stories, bits and pieces cobbled together from comics, and cartoons, and movies. When I started to read that collection, it did not disappoint. I fell in love with each character, the variety of personalities and backstories, all coming together to make a family. Each character showed a different philosophy, a different worldview, a different moral code, and they bounced off each other, creating a world that reflected the real one, creating a team that had depth and nuance.

Was it, at times, soap opera? Absolutely. But it was soap opera that worked, because each character had a beating heart. These X-Men are not those X-Men. [Read more…] about X-Men Epic Collection: The Sentinels Live Review!