Veteran, Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Steve Sack takes a straightforward approach. Instantly recognisable: the police car, the state, the policeman kneeling on the neck of a downed person, that person’s embodiment as Justice, the mode of that murder. The message is just as easy to parse when you’re aware of the subjects of reference: The Minneapolis…
IDW Pubwatch June 2020
Welcome to the IDW Pubwatch. The world is still on lockdown but here’s something to distract you: a few exciting comics that will occupy your mind, at least for a little while. I’ve also got the latest news coming out of IDW, along with comic book reviews. Unfortunately, I don’t have my usual selection of…
Josie and the Pussycats in Space is Out of Orbit
Josie and the Pussycats have been touring space for a couple of years and they’ve fast become the hottest band in the galaxy. Their fans turn up in droves to see them and weep with joy when they meet the trio. But fame has its disadvantages: chiefly, never getting any rest. It’s becoming a bit…
And Justice For All: Vita Ayala and Tana Ford on Livewire Volume 3: Champion
In case you weren’t paying attention, one of the best series of the last year ended recently: Valiant’s solo hero book Livewire. Penned by Vita Ayala with art duties rotating for each arc, Livewire ran for 12 issues on the heels of the Harbinger Wars 2 event and told a complex, thoughtful, and at times painful…
She Kills Barely Started and It’s Already Awful
Content warning: This work contains depictions of violence and suggestions of sexual violence. A Tongva Native American woman who goes by the name of She Kills lives within the lawless, dangerous territory of Los Angeles, where only mobs and violence rule. She Kills struggles to fend off many evils while having to protect her young…
Previously on Comics: Cyclops Was Right
Comics distribution has started again, but that seems like such trivial news right now because this has been a hard week. An exhausting week. It started with Amy Cooper trying to weaponize the police against a Black man, and led to George Floyd being murdered by a cop, which is exactly what could have happened…
Community Spaces, Alternative Marketplaces: Indie Comics and Culture
Over the last decade, the growth of independent, “indie,” or creator-owned comics has broadened the comic book landscape and birthed a new wave of creators who aren’t adhering to conventional standards. The demand for non-superhero material from publishers outside of the Big Two (Marvel and DC) has empowered creators to carve out their own space…
The Best (or Worst?) Villains Scooby-Doo Has to Offer
If you follow me on any social media, you know that I consider myself to be a connoisseur of Scooby-Doo. In anticipation for the Scoob! movie, I felt the need to bust out my Scooby-Doo DVD collection and rewatch all of them. In doing so, I realized most of the villains in Scooby-Doo share a…
Last Week’s Episode: Something Clever That Isn’t About the Pandemic
I think we officially need to retire using the subtitle “Pandemic Edition” on things. This is now the third of these articles I’ve written from shelter-in-place and I’m starting to accept this is just life now. The good news is that with summer on the horizon, we all seem to be reaching some sort of…
DC PUBWATCH May 2020
Welcome to the May 2020 DC PUBWATCH. The biggest news of the month is surely that comics have returned to retail shelves, and that a hint of normalcy may be creeping back in. Stay safe, and get your comics however you can. Other news is the announced ends of two runs. Harley Quinn is ending…
Marauders #10: A Queen’s Wrath
It’s been a while since we’ve been here, so a quick recap of Marauders #9 is in order: the X-Men discovered a stowaway riding aboard (inside) of Pyro and dispatched him and a strongly worded warning back to Homines Verendi. Now, Emma Frost, tamping down her pain over Kate’s unsolved murder and continued failed resurrection…
Titan Comics Pubwatch: May 2020
For most of us, life is still life on lockdown, with more questions and anxieties than certainties and answers as the hours and days pass. But thank goodness for comics that can provide us with moments of escape and distraction from a 24 hour news cycle that rivals even the most dystopian of dystopias. I…
