Animal Man is an uninteresting superhero. The character does not offer a whole lot to those interested in him. It is up to the writer of the character to make a stand, and flesh out the backstory of the B-list hero. The first writer to take a substantial leap with the character was Grant Morrison. The hero works in an extremely limited context that the British writer nailed down to the core. Baker is an average Husband and father to wife Linda Baker and two kids Clifford and Maxine. He is one of the few married superheroes in the DC Universe. When writers go to the character, there is

On the subject of villains this month (or as we wrap up the end of the month, really), let’s go a little ways back to 1963, Uncanny X-Men #4 where not only do the X-Men finally battle face to face with Magneto himself (one of Marvel’s most notorious villains) we also catch a glimpse of the less than notorious (but well known anyways) villain, who’s very good at finding himself being kicked around, Toad. Yes, you read right.   If there were ever a villain who was in need of some fresh zest, it would be Toad. This guy has been around since the sixties and while his

What makes the hero the hero?  A hero is most commonly defined as one who steps up in the face of adversity and does the right thing.  In the world of comic books, that adversity generally comes in the form of the villain.  Villains bring a changing flavor to storylines.  The heroes stay the same.  They are the constant in a given title.  The villains rotate in and out of the story as the creators see fit.   I’m a child of the 1980’s.  As such, growing I had two great loves in the animation world - Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja

1.  Infinity #1 2.  Superman Unchained #3 3.  Batman #23 4.  Justice League #23 5.  Justice League of America #7 6.  Batman Superman #3 7.  Superior Spider-Man #15 8.  Superior Spider-Man #16 9.  Avengers #18 10.  All-New X-Men #15 The Big 2 split the Top Ten again.  Marvel takes the top spot with their kick-off for the late-summer Infinity event, but DC takes the following five spots.   There’s been word of comic shops getting subscription cancellations for Infinity.  Will the depth of the story be a

September is Villains Month at DC Comics. We're about to stuff ourselves so full of villainy, we'll have to puke. And how better to celebrate than by going over a list of my five favorite Justice League villains ever!?   Okay, they're not my favorites. Well. They are. But all of them are my favorites. Except for Gorilla Grodd. Monsieur Mallah is a better talking gorilla than Grodd will ever be, and we certainly don't need TWO talking gorillas. Also Mallah has a beret. Case dismissed.   My personal approach, whenever discussion veers toward villains, is to

Thanos is a character that has gone through so much pain and misery. He is a charismatic brute that ruins almost everything that he touches. The Mad Titan does not rest until he gets exactly what he wants. He is a character that was created via Jim Starlin, the writer revealed that he was a different take on the popular DC rogue known as Darkseid. It is remarkable that at this moment in popular culture, Thanos is much more relevant to fans than the character that inspired him. He made his debut in an issue of Iron Man, and attempted to steal one of the most important artifacts contained in

With Angel and Faith coming to its final issue tomorrow (August 28th, 2013), here’s an overall look at the series, celebrating everything it did well on and what made it such a good series.   5.  It does the Buffyverse justice.   For any fan of Joss Whedon and the entire world that he’s created along with the rest of the creative team who helped him build the world of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel & Faith remains true to the world, the characters, and breathes the same life that the television show did. There’s a lot of throwbacks to the television

1.  Superman Unchained #2 2.  Batman #22 3.  Guardians of the Galaxy #5 4.  Justice LEague #22 5.  Batman Annual #2 6.  Batman/Superman #2 7.  Justice League of America #22 8.  Superior Spider-Man #13 9.  Superior Spider-Man #14 10.  Superior Spider-Man Team-Up #1 Scott Snyder rules the charts, as always.  He has the top two books this month, and you have to go back to July 2012 to find a top three without a Snyder book.  Would love to see his Vertigo book, The Wake, pick up some steam and head up much high than its 89

Saturday night the zombie parade was in full swing. Previously the event was held by AMC in support of The Walking Dead television show. There were a few detractors of this year's event, who claimed it was not as strong without the support of the major company. The parade was more than slightly disorganized this year as people were walking in all directions of the street. The zombies were also a bit of a let down, simply because the makeup producer of the television show was not on staff. Thankfully there was still an enjoyable time to be had on the other side of the street. This was

After going to San Diego Comic-Con for nearly six years in a row, I expected not to be impressed at my first day of the overcrowded show. While my results were fairly mixed on this first Thursday I just attended, there was still some fun to be had. First and foremost it needs to be said that this is a horrific show for any kind of shopping experience, except for toys as for some reason they all seem to be in abundance at San Diego. As a comic book junkie there were only a few vendors that really peaked my interest. Torpedo Comics always has quite a good selection of material available to any