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A Comic Book Reading Order Guide For Beginners & Fans

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Avatar: The Last Airbender & The Legend of Korra Reading Order!

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Water. Earth. Fire. Air. Long ago, the adventures of Avatars Aang and Korra were told in two amazing animated shows. And in 2020, when the world needed them most, they arrived on Netflix and became more popular than ever.

However, rare is the fan of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra who has followed the story’s official continuation at Dark Horse. And who could blame them? Both television series have clear, satisfying endings that don’t demand being revisited in a new, different form (looking at you, live-action remake). So what could comic books possibly have to add that the two shows didn’t already do during their run on television? [Read more…] about Avatar: The Last Airbender & The Legend of Korra Reading Order!

The Great Pretenders: The Complications of Wanda’s Marvel Continuity!

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In the Marvel Universe, everything is supposed to be “canon” – everything that’s happened did happen and is supposed to count. And yet — and yet — some events have much more staying power than others, as if their gravitational pull on the fabric of the Marvel Universe cancelled out or diminished the effects of any later story that was supposed to amend their course. Brian Michael Bendis’s “Avengers: Disassembled” and “House of M” are such stories for Wanda Maximoff, whose blame for those events has never been absolved despite many attempts.

But before we get to that, let’s travel back to 1989: In John Byrne’s West Coast Avengers, the twin children of Wanda and Vision were revealed to have been purely magical creations of Wanda, brought to life with pieces of Mephisto’s soul yet maintained in existence solely by Wanda’s will — so much so that, whenever Wanda wasn’t thinking about them, they vanished from reality. (Incidentally, this happened just after Scarlet Witch had essentially lost her husband Vision, who’d been disassembled by the AI-fearful governments of the world and reassembled into an unfeeling machine.)

At the end of this sad turn of events, Mephisto gets his soul fragments back and little Tommy and Billy cease to exist. Wanda’s trauma is such that Agatha Harkness, her mentor in witchcraft, decides to erase all knowledge of the boys from her mind. Even at the time, it’s clear this is probably not the best idea this old Salem witch ever had. [Read more…] about The Great Pretenders: The Complications of Wanda’s Marvel Continuity!

Doctor Strange Epic Collection: Alone Against Eternity Review!

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Doctor Strange is a character who can be difficult to use in comics with wide reaching continuity. Sorcerer Supreme? Master of the Mystic Arts? Sounds like a walking, talking Deus ex Machina, able to step in and solve any problem important enough to warrant his attention. This collection of Doctor Strange comics from the 70s deals with these problems in two ways. One way is by giving him problems so far outside the scope of human problems that they pose a challenge for even a sorcerer supreme. The physical manifestation of eternity? Go for it. Satan? Here he comes. How about a collection of beings who’ve decided they should replace the stars in the sky, by becoming stars themselves? Lay it on me. High concept and over the top, the success rate is mixed, but when the stories land, do they ever.

And dealing with all these heady ideas and beautiful nonsense, that’s where the second point stands out. Throughout these stories, Stephen Strange is plagued with doubt, and, despite his powers, fear of his all too human fallibility. It would be easy to dismiss the sort of character who battles Eternity as just another cardboard cut-out, if they couldn’t understand the doubts of our eponymous hero. [Read more…] about Doctor Strange Epic Collection: Alone Against Eternity Review!

Pastiche Perspective: Barbalien and The Mechanics Of The Martian Manhunter

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Pastiche Perspective is a new monthly column taking a look at pastiches of popular works, ideas, and characters in pop culture, and how they reflect back on their roots. We’re going to be exploring various works, from superheroes to superspies, and more! This first installment kicks off by taking a look at Barbalien: Red Planet by Tate Brombal, Gabriel Walta, Jordie Bellaire, and Aditya Bidikar. Part of the Black Hammer-verse owned and curated by Jeff Lemire, the mini-series explores its titular character, who is an explicit pastiche of DC Comics’ classic Martian Manhunter. [Read more…] about Pastiche Perspective: Barbalien and The Mechanics Of The Martian Manhunter

Betsy Braddock (Psylocke, Captain Britain) Reading Order!

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Elizabeth “Betsy” Braddock (Callsign: Psylocke) is a Chris Claremont creation, making her first appearance in Captain Britain (vol. 1) #8 (Marvel UK. 1976). First introduced as Brian Braddock (Captain Britain’s) twin sister, Betsy did not initially appear to be destined for greatness. But over time, her character was given mutant telepathic abilities and brought stateside in the early 1980s, eventually becoming a core member of the X-Men and a fan favorite. [Read more…] about Betsy Braddock (Psylocke, Captain Britain) Reading Order!