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The Best Comics For Kids Age 7 and Under (New Readers)!

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Watching my son become a veracious graphic novel reader is one of the purest delights of my entire adult life. After several years of only very gently pushing Marvel superhero toys to replace or join his dinosaurs (didn’t take), offering to read him the Marvel encyclopedia instead of the Pokedex in kindergarten (wasn’t interested), and trying to get his first words to be “All Hail Doctor Doom” (that one worked, Doom be praised), turns out I just calmly needed to wait for him to learn to read and I wouldn’t be able to tear him away from comics.

My wife and I have always enjoyed reading to the kids, but in Kindergarten (somewhere in the 5 to 6 year old range) my son started blazing through books on his own and hasn’t looked back. Every week now is full of library visits filling up our basket with as many Magic Treehouse chapter books and comics that we can carry.

Below you’ll find our favorites through less than two years of his reading journey. Keep in mind, this is quite different than my own personal favorite comics. Although that list includes popular all-ages fare like Jeff Smith’s Bone, my kids haven’t been quite ready to dive into that one yet (although I did talk him into me reading some short stories from the Tall Tales collection!). So you can check out the CBH best comics of all time for assorted all ages or middle grade picks that I think sit among the best of the best, but this list is pure, unADULTurated kid-friendly comics. [Read more…] about The Best Comics For Kids Age 7 and Under (New Readers)!

The Evolution of Marvel Cosmic, Part 4: King Kirby & Princeling Thor’s Mission to Space, 1966

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[covers & interiors by Jack Kirby (p), Vince Colletta (i), Stan Goldberg (c), Artie Simek/Sam Rosen (l)]

Part 3 of this “Evolution of Marvel Cosmic” series is here, along with links to previous posts.

Before the introduction of the imperial but adorable Rigellians—of the fictional galaxy Rigel, a name taken from a real star in the Milky Way, part of the Orion constellation—Jack Kirby and Stan Lee’s Thor comics were thoroughly rooted in two things: a pulpy, streamlined reinterpretation of Thor-centric Norse myths, squeezed into backstories (excellent stuff, really), and very silly, mostly mundane villains for him to fight (like Cobra and Mr. Hyde)—but there was a lot of potential with screwball ideas like the Absorbing Man (imbued with Asgardian enchantments courtesy of the God of Lies) and having the Nordic Thunder God encounter the gods and heroes of Ancient Greece (Ares and Hercules). [Read more…] about The Evolution of Marvel Cosmic, Part 4: King Kirby & Princeling Thor’s Mission to Space, 1966

How Spawn Changed Comic Books (Even Though It Sucks)

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In the late 1980s, artist Todd McFarlane exploded onto the comic book scene with his dark, hyper detailed superhero art. Alongside several other up-and-coming young artists, McFarlane represented the new age of comic books, and his art not only helped usher in an era of dark, edgy superhero stories, but also rode the massive financial wave of the speculator boom.

Eventually, McFarlane’s popularity led to him debuting his own new Spider-Man title as writer and artist, with Spider-Man #1 selling a whopping 2.5 million copies in 1990 thanks to a media blitz, variant covers, and collectors HILARIOUSLY thinking that owning a comic that had millions of copies in print would make them a millionaire. It did, however, make McFarlane a millionaire.

And in 1992, McFarlane and 6 other high profile comic book creators founded Image Comics as a place for their creator-owned books without ever giving up their rights and financial stake in the characters they made. The publication launched with several high profile, ultra-90s series – Rob Liefeld’s Youngblood, Eric Larsen’s The Savage Dragon, Jim Lee’s WildC.A.T.s. – but the Image flagship would be Todd McFarlane’s Spawn.

Spawn is the story of Al Simmons, a mercenary who comes back from hell to be reunited with his wife, only to be turned into a superpowered antihero caught in a war between the forces of good and evil. But really, the story of the Hellspawn is the story of Todd McFarlane – a superstar artist and writer who used his popularity and the booming comic book industry to help form a new publication and build a multimedia empire while entire publications floundered and ran out of money.

Spawn may be most well known for its chains, goo, and ’90s extremity, but the impact of the right comic at the right time can’t be understated, even if the years haven’t been kind to McFarlane’s signature creation.

As of this video’s publication, Spawn has published more than 300 issues and become the longest running creator-owned comic book in history. Along the way, it’s produced an animated series, a movie, many video games, and an entire toy company. And from its massive debut through its constant ups and downs both creatively and financially, Spawn has changed the comic book industry, even though it sucks. [Read more…] about How Spawn Changed Comic Books (Even Though It Sucks)

Room for Outsiders | X-Factor by Peter David Omnibus Vol. 1

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Peter David’s work on X-Force is one of those rare books where it’s easier to explain the plot than it is why the book exists in the first place. Where Claremont and Davis’ Excalibur is something of a superhero and fantasy farce, David’s X-Force is a satire of the X-Books themselves. This omnibus is focused right at the 90s era mutant craze while being published right alongside the books it was subtly commenting on.

It debuted the same year as Deadpool and Weapon-X and within months of Lobo, Deathstroke the Terminator, and Shade the Changing Man getting solo titles. Yet X-Factor adds nothing to the Dark Era or its complexities.

These collected issues also existed near the very height of the speculator boom, and yet it doesn’t fall in line much with the Scott Lobdell, Fabian Nicieza, and Ann Nocenti money train. In fact, David would quit the series two times in three decades with one of them being over event books.

X-Statix, the media-ready successor to David’s X-Factor

By rights, this should be the least impactful X-Book since The X-Terminators (no one remembers that book. And if you do, for god’s sake stop.) And yet, David’s work paved the way for everything from Peter Milligan and Mike Allred’s fantastically subversive X-Force/X-Statix series to Jonathan Hickman’s HoX/PoX. And furthermore, I’d say that the future of the X-Men will learn more from this series than Fatal Attractions.

Let’s dig through X-Factor by Peter David Omnibus vol. 1 to find out more. [Read more…] about Room for Outsiders | X-Factor by Peter David Omnibus Vol. 1

Netflix’s Jupiter’s Legacy Review Roundtable!

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Ritesh Babu: So, Jupiter’s Legacy, the first of the upcoming wave of Millarworld media works. The big launch of an IP-farm that Netflix spent 50 million on and bought, only to have Millar helm it and run it for them on top of that. This is his self-proclaimed masterpiece. His apparent magnum opus. His sprawling mega-epic, which spans and touches everything he’s ever wanted to express. So, folks, what do we think of this damn thing?

*Spoilers for Jupiter’s Legacy Season One Follow!* [Content Warning: Discussion Of Sexual Assault]

[Read more…] about Netflix’s Jupiter’s Legacy Review Roundtable!