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Best Comics To Read Before Avengers: Endgame

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Avengers: Endgame is wholly unique in superhero movies, promising an unheralded level of revelation for the mysteries left in the wake of Avengers: Infinity War. There are so many varied directions Endgame might go, meaning related reads are part recommendation, part Nostradamus pontificating.

In trying to come up with relevant and potentially predictive Marvel Comics that will connect to the next installment in the Avengers movie franchise, it occurs to me how few Marvel books reflect quite the same notes. While we know this isn’t the final Avengers movie, there’s a permanence and finality to the post Infinity War MCU that the never-ending story of comics rarely embraces. [Read more…] about Best Comics To Read Before Avengers: Endgame

Heroes in Crisis & The Breakdown of Tom King’s Formula

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“What does it mean for the world to end?” This is the core concept at the heart of Heroes in Crisis and, regardless of its execution, it’s worth pointing out why it’s such a provocative question. The apocalypse is always around the corner in comic books, with huge, potentially universe destroying events like the Anti-Monitor’s cannon and the Anti-Life Equation near annual occurrences. So much so that some fans are growing numb to this.

Note: Spoilers for Heroes in Crisis follow [Read more…] about Heroes in Crisis & The Breakdown of Tom King’s Formula

Shazam! Review – Sparklefingers Rides Again

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It feels regressive, and frankly boring, to talk about the degree of “fun” in a comic book movie. For me, any movie reviewer honing in on the fact that Shazam feels light, positive, and joyously heroic, is just more of the lazy baseline assumptions that the world is fatigued of “serious” superhero movies.

Taking a step back, though, it is mildly interesting to note the overall darkness at the heart of comic book movies. DC’s Synder-verse has gotten the most attention of course, but it doesn’t take too much analysis of Avengers: Infinity War to assert that a film ending in unmitigated tragedy isn’t a particularly happy-go-lucky affair. [Read more…] about Shazam! Review – Sparklefingers Rides Again

The Macro-Narrative of Tom King: Comics Will Break Your Heart, Kid

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Tom King is impossible to miss right now. His books have won multiple Eisner awards, he’s appearing on late night TV, and if he’s putting out a new book, it’s sure to be on virtually every “must read” list before the ink is dry. Even his backstory is everywhere:

Originally a CIA operative in the Counter Terrorism Center, King left the agency after the birth of his son, stating “the type of career I wanted at the agency did not fit with the type of father I wanted to be.” He returned home to pursue writing, eventually working at the same places he’d interned for while in college — DC and Marvel. [Read more…] about The Macro-Narrative of Tom King: Comics Will Break Your Heart, Kid