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When Supervillains Go Good (20 Heroic Character Transformations!)

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A hero is only as good as their villains, but what happens when a villain becomes a hero? Superhero comics live and die on the strength of their bad guys – characters whose darkness can thrill readers in ways their morally upright heroes can’t. But sometimes, the popularity and longevity of a villain inevitably lead to their heroic turn. Is it permanent? Is it a fakeout? And can any character designed to be evil ever permanently be a force for good?

Let’s take a deep dive into the history of supervillains turning good, sometimes for good and sometimes not, character by character in chronological order.

Who will be a force for good? Who will inevitably betray our heroes? And how many times will Venom change his mind about being a bad guy? Let’s find out. [Read more…] about When Supervillains Go Good (20 Heroic Character Transformations!)

Creannotators #8: “The Butcher of Paris” Deep Dive With Writer Stephanie Phillips!

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This week on Creannotators, I talked with writer Stephanie Phillips about The Butcher of Paris, and the complexities of writing both historical fiction and true crime.

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/visual annotative guide to enjoying the intricacies and thinking in the art. Thanks for listening, and enjoy the comics!

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Previously On #112: Missing Milestone Media Comics!

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Update Feburary 2021: Since posting, DC and Milestone have fortunately digitized and added more of the Milestone Universe comics to various platforms including Comixology and DC Universe Infinite. Better yet, the “Dakotaverse” is returning with all new comics, and I’ll be tracking and updating the reading order on this page below.

Today I’m looking at the history of Milestone Comics (the home of Static Shock), and particularly this big question: Why do Milestone comics remain so terribly inaccessible in 2020?

Milestone Comics was founded in 1993 by exclusively African-American creative voices, Dwayne McDuffie, Denys Cowan, Michael Davis, and Derek Dingle (Christopher Priest also had a very early role prior to launch). The creators built their own shared superhero universe (the “Dakotaverse”) with a focus on underrepresented minorities in their stories. Milestone was distributed via DC Comics, although technically Milestone retained editorial control. The company published in the vicinity of 250 comics across around 8 monthly series until closing comics publication in 1997 (Milestone Media remained, though, and went on to ensure a home for the animated Static Shock series – which notably crossed over with DC’s Batman Beyond – from 2000 to 2004). [Read more…] about Previously On #112: Missing Milestone Media Comics!