“I shall make you a Star-Lord!” said the god-like Master of the Sun in Marvel Preview #4, over 40 years ago. That origin, casting Peter Quill as a brash, angry scholar-turned-spaceman willing to kill innocent men in his quest for vengeance, little resembles the Star-Lord you probably know. The wisecracking, roguish starship captain with a…
VIZ Media Pubwatch: December 2020
‘Tis the season to… read manga! Welcome to the December VIZ Pubwatch. This month we’re taking a look at both new and established series in a wide range of genres, including How Do We Relationship? But before that, some news from VIZ.
REVIEW: The Naughty List is One Weird Sleigh Ride
The Naughty List provided the most bizarre reading experience I’ve ever had in my life. Filled with mixed messages — anti-capitalist statements that clash with frantic pro-Santa propaganda along with anti-video game statements — and extremely bizarre plot choices, it often plays like an Ed Wood fever dream. I don’t recommend reading it, and yet…
REVIEW: Marauders #16: Sweet Sweet Revenge
There’s been a lot going on for our friends, so it’s understandable that Kate Pryde had to put her promise to kill—or at least significantly fuck up—Sebastian Shaw on hold. But now that the swords have settled, the Red and White Queens can get down to business in Marauders #16.
REVIEW: SWORD #1 Takes Flight
In the wake of both Empyre and the tournament that was X of Swords, Abigail Brand looks outward to the stars and assembles a team of mutants to see what comes next.
Previously on Comics: Unfuck Your Habitat
Hello again, faithful readers. It’s been awhile. And yet, looking at the news from the past week, it’s like nothing’s changed. Some white male creators who have long overstayed their tenure in comics are still out there slotting and harassing people–but then there’s good shit too. Some weeks there’s a little more of column A…
Last Week’s Episode: Disney Deluge+
Yesterday Disney dropped an entire mountain of new programming, which honestly fills me with a lot of mixed and uncomfortable emotions. Like,surely one of the ten Star Wars shows announced could have been axed to pay to furlough some of the 11,000+ park employees that have been laid off?
REVIEW: Critical Role’s Vox Machina Origins Library Edition Is A Satisfying Tome
Hey, uh…you guys like Critical Role? You know, that show with the voice actors and the Dungeons & Dragons?
Tangerines, Berries, Pirates: Finding your Family in One Piece
A centering theme prevalent across the whole of Eiichiro Oda’s long-running opus One Piece is families, or more specifically found families. In the framework of early One Piece (the East Blue Saga), this is most strongly seen in the context of the Arlong Park arc with Nami, the Straw Hat pirates’ navigator.
REVIEW: X-Factor #5 – For The Children
X-Factor is a hard book for me to talk about. It’s not that it’s bad—quite the opposite—it’s that it quite literally is challenging me on every level when I read it. That’s a factor (heh) I adore.
REVIEW: Champions #3 Needs a Change
Champions #2 was “a lot of dialogue and very few action scenes.” Champions #3 is, likewise, a lot of words, but the change in line artist elevated the overall narrative. The ending, however, left a sour taste in my mouth.
REVIEW: Bill and Ted Are Doomed #2-4 Stays Non-Heinous
As Bill, Ted, Death and the Princesses wend their way through a most horrifying European tour, they find themselves pursued by angry metal bands, demonic forest trolls…and their destiny. But there’s a lot of human feeling packed in between the jokes.