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The Greatest DC Detective Stories Review!

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Many of us have our own definitions of what count as the “greatest” stories ever told. Stories we parade around as our recommendations to any new or curious reader who wants to hear our thoughts. Many of us put out our top-10 lists on forums, or argue on twitter about which story is the best one ever told. And these lists do not even have to be in order or have a defined structure. They could just be a handful of stories you think are awesome.

DC and Marvel are both no strangers to this concept, they’ve published trades in the past collecting their favorite stories. They might give us a collection of origin stories, or deaths, or weddings, or world-shattering events. This time around, DC has given us a list of what they believe to be their “Greatest Detective Stories Ever Told.” Whether or not this is a valid claim, we will see. I will be taking us down this rabbit hole of days gone-by and do my job as a critic to give my readers as much information as they can, so they can decide if this comic is good for them. [Read more…] about The Greatest DC Detective Stories Review!

The Best Ghost Rider Comics!

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Ghost Rider has long been one of Marvel’s more offbeat properties, and that’s what makes it great. Who knew a loose analog of Evel Knievel with a flaming skull head and demonic powers that elevate him to the living embodiment of vengeance was going to stick around? Not me! Yet stick around he did, and our Ghost Rider has been hopping about the Marvel Universe and beyond for decades: a skull-head kind of guy doing skull-head kinds of things. [Read more…] about The Best Ghost Rider Comics!

Asterix Reading Order!

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Every French person has heard these words at least once: “The year is 50 BC. Gaul is entirely occupied by the Romans. Well, not entirely… One small village of indomitable Gauls still holds out against the invaders.”

Written at the beginning of every volume of the adventures of Asterix, these are some of the most well-known words in French comics — and French pop culture in general. They sum up an idea at the core of Asterix: the irrepressible resistance against oppression, something fundamental to a series that started publication barely 15 years after the end of World War II.

First published in 1959 in the French comics magazine, Pilote #1 , Asterix was created by writer René Goscinny and artist Albert Uderzo. Highly reliant on humor and wordplay, Asterix also lives and dies by Uderzo’s art style, which pushes the medium forward with its dynamism and expressiveness, taking the “big nose” style of the Marcinelle School and expanding upon it, strongly influencing the next generations of French and Belgian comic book artists.

So if you want to know more about the adventures of Asterix and Obelix, let’s talk about some Gaulish comics! [Read more…] about Asterix Reading Order!

The Infinity Crusade Omnibus Review!

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Infinity Crusade #1, written by Jim Starlin, art by Ron Lim, Al Milgrom, and Ian Laughlin, lettering by Jack Morelli

Infinity Crusade is the third installment of the Infinity series, which means that comic fans of the early ’90s had already had their wallets tried by two similarly themed events in short succession. Though it’s difficult to know how this series would have read if one were returning to the comic shop every week only to see all their favorite titles had been sucked into the event, in omnibus form, we’re allowed to read Infinity Crusade all the way through, uninterrupted, as a 1200-ish page complete story.

As someone who had only read the crossover in bits and pieces beforehand, I found that the story greatly benefits from the collection by saving its reader from having to run quite literally all across the Marvel Universe to find random, loosely-connected issues. What we’re left with is a crossover that delivers on all its promises by giving fans the high-impact moments they want, with no shortage of compelling character beats among its sprawling cast. [Read more…] about The Infinity Crusade Omnibus Review!