If you're going to be at #DetroitFanfare Comic Con this weekend, be sure to follow me (@Wombatapult) on Twitter and say hi during the convention for a Twitter shout-out and your photo uploaded with the #DetroitFanfare news! I'll be there all weekend covering all the action, and I'll post my whereabouts and what I'm wearing so it's easy to find me. Plus, be the first or second person in order to win REAL PRIZES that are totally not hugs and/or other immaterial acts of validation! Both prizes will include ACTUAL COMICS, candy, and some useless funny crap that'll make you giggle before you

Idealism is not dead.   Joe Kelly is personally responsible for what I consider one of the most politically conscious, ethically challenging, and respectfully diverse comic runs ever written. I'm talking about his JLA run—a run that followed two of the hardest acts in the entire sequential-art medium: Grant Morrison and Mark Waid. Given the precedent set for him, Kelly rose to the occasion and delivered a more than adequate run, which stood equal in quality to the more recognized and applauded authors who preceded him.   Doug Mahnke, whose art is wholly unique and of

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