New Frontiers: The Many Worlds of George Takei Edited by Jeff Yang and Keith Chow SI Universe Media, LLC August 2017 Growing up with only a very casual knowledge of Star Trek, I did not know who George Takei was until around a decade ago. Certainly, I had seen his face, passing TV sets, and had…
BOOM! Bar: Rangers, Revenge, Regret
Hi-Fi Fight Club (BOOM! Box) develops its sweet and fresh central girl/girl romance, and starts to open up some of the secrets under the record shop. I don’t know how this story is gonna wrap up in only four issues, but it’s a very pretty book with an affirmational, welcoming perspective. We’ve got a longer feature…
License, Please: Jurassic Park Is a Really Bad Comic
What if I were to tell you that Walt Simonson, Gil Kane, and George Perez–three of the most beloved names in comics–made a book together? “It’s almost too good to be true,” I hear you cry aloud! Yes. Walt and these two great G-monikered men working on a book you’ve probably yet to read. What…
VANS X PEANUTS: Comics You Can Wear
I was meandering around a shop looking for backpacks when I stopped, quite startled with delight. I had seen the Snoopy Shoe: the best of shoes. Behold it now. Scream! I love it. It’s two things at once. Vans x Peanuts is a whole line; popular with the YouTube sneaks-review set, a collaboration between the skate…
52 Facts About DC, By The Numbers: September 2017, Week Three
Or However Many I Feel Like, And They Might Not All Be Facts Welcome back to By The Numbers, the column where I count things in this week’s new comics from DC! This column will contain spoilers, but I’ll keep them as vague as possible while still amusing myself. Two Metal tie-ins! More Wildstorm fanservice! Wonder Woman/Conan!…
BOOM! BAR: Hit Me With Nostalgia Sticks
This week, Misfit City (BOOM! Box) starts to get good. Reading the previous issues was frustrating—the characters don’t quite manage to blossom beyond their gimmicks (the research one, the one who smiles fiercely while she disparages you, the Kristy, the one who… lives in an old derelict tower? Is she a ghost? I don’t think so?…
Hi-Fi Fight Club: Fixed Nostalgia Still Needs to Move
What I really like about comics is that sometimes, amidst all of the fluff and fun, they help the reader understand something, whether about themselves or about the world or the life that they inhabit. Sometimes that thing is a profound and deep thing, and sometimes it’s something very simple or basic. For instance, Hi-Fi…
From Sexy to Sexual: Witchblade’s Return & Top Cow’s Maturing Eroticism
Back when I spoke to Matt Hawkins in March, we spent a little time talking about the sexual legacy of the first ten years or so of Top Cow. We also spoke a little about Witchblade–a title about a woman who carries a living weapon disguised as a bracelet–which is being resurrected in December, with…
2017 Ignatz Awards Celebrate Diversity and Community
This year’s Ignatz Awards felt more charged than recent years, and the current political climate felt immediate and present even in the ballroom of the Bethesda Marriott where the ceremony is traditionally held. This wider perspective led to an evening of intensely personal speeches about the power of community, comics, and becoming an active participant…
Hasbro vs DC: Dawn of Litigation
At the tail end of last month, news broke that Hasbro was taking DC Comics to court over DC’s marketing of toys featuring a character named Bumblebee. This Bumblebee is distinct from the friendly Autobot everyone’s familiar with–she’s a Teen Titan, and definitely not a robot–but Hasbro has still taken the stance that the name…
Totally Buggin’ for Clueless: Senior Year
Clueless: Senior Year Amber Benson and Sarah Kuhn (Writers), Siobhan Keenan (Artist), Shan Murphy (Colorist), Jim Campbell (Letterer) Based on characters created by Amy Heckerling BOOM! Studios August 23, 2017 Spoiler Alert: Plot details below
BOOM! BAR: Let’s Get Gothic (Plus Robots! Murder! Roller Derby!)
Jane! Jane Eyre. It’s Jane Eyre time! In comics! Yessss. It’s a fat week for BOOM! actually, with ten releases all told. Seven are single issues; three are graphic novels (two of which are collections, actually). In the latter of the latter, Kurt Russell and Kurt Russell team up: Pak and Bayliss’ Big Trouble in Little…