COMIC BOOKS

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Written by Erin Jameson Monday, 05 September 2011 19:42

Labor Day brings an end to Lovefool’s “Superhero Summer,” but Marvel’s merry mutants made certain to wrap things up on a bittersweet note.

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Written by Bryan A. Hollerbach Monday, 05 September 2011 09:35

Justice League #1 strains to swing all Peter Allen–Carole Bayer Sager—“Let’s go backwards when forward fails”—but to appropriate the title of a tune from two entirely different writers named Jimmy Page and Robert Plant, the song remains the same, more’s the pity.

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Written by Kelly Stephenson Friday, 02 September 2011 00:00

Supersmart teenagers go on the lam when a deadly virus is unleashed in this new series from the producer of Shrek.

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Written by Sarah Boslaugh Friday, 02 September 2011 00:00

Kim Harrison brings the characers of her "Hollows" novels to the comics world, but only pre-existing fans need apply.

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Written by Bryan A. Hollerbach Monday, 29 August 2011 00:00

This week’s column goes up, up, and away with Superman Beyond #0—an admittedly old-fashioned conception of American comics’ fundamental superhero, as well as one of the most entertaining exploits of the Man of Steel in recent memory. Also this week: a farewell to Xombi?

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Written by Sarah Boslaugh Friday, 26 August 2011 00:00

Doug TenNapel's impeccable art can't quite overcome a conventional story in his new graphic novel for kids.

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Written by Sarah Boslaugh Friday, 26 August 2011 00:00

This comic-as-movie-pitch from Avatar star Sam Worthington succeeds thanks to noir style and solid art from Leonardo Manco.

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Written by Bryan A. Hollerbach Friday, 26 August 2011 00:00

Next week, quoth the company’s co-publishers in a July statement, “DC Comics explodes with 52 new #1 issues! The entire line of comic books is being renumbered”—and in celebrating that explosion, our crusty columnist feels not in the slightest bit sheepish…

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Written by Erin Jameson Monday, 22 August 2011 19:02

Lovefool decides to give yaoi another chance with Tired of Waiting for Love, the debut title from DMP's crowdsourced translation group, the Digital Manga Guild.

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Written by Bryan A. Hollerbach Monday, 22 August 2011 05:46

Several fine funnybooks (Daredevil #2, baaaby!) shipped from Diamond last Wednesday. This fox-in-the-henhouse column focuses on none of them and, sub rosa, cautions that every comic book can represent not only a given reader’s first, but also concurrently his or her last.

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Written by Sarah Boslaugh Friday, 19 August 2011 00:00

This futuristic cowboy/sci-fi comic-as-movie-pitch wraps up in conventional territory.

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Written by Mick Martin Friday, 19 August 2011 00:00

The biography of an eccentric, forward-thinking genius: physicist Richard Feynman.

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Written by Erin Jameson Monday, 15 August 2011 19:32

The secret ingredient is yaoi in Lovefool’s latest treat, a look at Antique Bakery author Fumi Yoshinaga as part of this month’s Manga Moveable Feast.

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Written by Bryan A. Hollerbach Monday, 15 August 2011 00:00

This week, our cranky columnist opens an unexpectedly favorable dossier on Spider-Island: Cloak & Dagger #1, a sweet little romance masquerading as spandex shenanigans. He likewise lauds Hellboy: The Fury #3 and reviews three other new comics notable in one way or another.

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Written by PLAYBACK:stl Sunday, 14 August 2011 16:22

An addiction to alien encounters is the theme behind Shadowline's new series Xenoholics, cowboy Reed Gunther stars in "Comics For Everyone," and Jay "Dynamo 5" Faerber launches a new crime series called Near Death.

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Written by PLAYBACK:stl Friday, 12 August 2011 00:00

Bye bye Future Foundation, because it looks like the Human Torch is back in action in Fantastic Four #600, plus teasers for Fear Itself, the post-Schism X-Men relaunch, and more!

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Written by PLAYBACK:stl Friday, 12 August 2011 00:00

Greg Pak wraps up his five-year Hulk run with Incredible Hulks #635, plus Wonder Man forms a new team--the Revengers!--in New Avengers Annual #1 and Marvel offers some massive spoilers in a preview of Uncanny X-Force #14.

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Written by Sarah Boslaugh Thursday, 11 August 2011 19:18

Looking to learn the finer points of drawing shoujo characters or cute n' cuddly animals? Christopher Hart offers up a pair of instructional manuals to help your cause.

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Written by Erin Jameson Monday, 08 August 2011 00:00

A weekend overdosing on Bollywood movies inspires Lovefool to dig into Grant Morrison and Philip Bond's Vimanarama.

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Written by Bryan A. Hollerbach Monday, 08 August 2011 00:00

In a real Lennon-McCartney week, the column says hello and goodbye multifariously, bidding a fond farewell to two series with Secret Six #36 and (no, really!) Superman #714 and welcoming another three with Rachel Rising #1, Snarked #0, and Zorro Rides Again #1.

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Written by Sarah Boslaugh Friday, 05 August 2011 00:00

A collection of vintage 1960s comic strip retellings of Ian Fleming's classic Bond novels.

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Written by Sarah Boslaugh Friday, 05 August 2011 00:00

A young boy is on his way to becoming an ogre in this coming of age horror story.

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Written by PLAYBACK:stl Tuesday, 02 August 2011 21:13

A new webslinger dons the Spider-Man mask for the first time in Ultimate Comics Fallout #4, plus Frank Castle returns in Greg Rucka's Punisher #1, the Thing takes on his team in Fear Itself: FF #1, then faces Rulk in Hulk #37.

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Written by Erin Jameson Monday, 01 August 2011 21:14

Lovefool ventures out on the high seas to check out the manga-style iPhone romance game Pirates in Love.

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Written by Bryan A. Hollerbach Monday, 01 August 2011 16:05

From its last recorded romp, set in 1910, the indomitable Mina Murray’s occult strike force leaps almost six decades, to 1969, in the “paging Professor Castaneda” glory of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Century #2, the finest of the five floppies under review this week.

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Written by Sarah Boslaugh Friday, 29 July 2011 00:00

It's the little wins that count in French cartoonist Manu Larcenet's tale of a war photographer trying to find a new path in life.

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Written by Bryan A. Hollerbach Friday, 29 July 2011 00:00

In honor of DC Retroactive, "Rude Chapbooks" digs into the PLAYBACK:stl archives for five funnybooks from those halcyon days of January 1976.

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Written by Eddie Argos Monday, 25 July 2011 00:00

Upset about the DCnU reboot? Eddie Argos reveals who’s really to blame: himself. And maybe Jamie McKelvie, too.

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Written by Erin Jameson Monday, 25 July 2011 00:00

This week, Lovefool returns to Riverdale to hang with Archie Comics' fashion superstar, Katy Keene.

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Written by Bryan A. Hollerbach Monday, 25 July 2011 00:00

Daredevil #1? Bloody wonderful! Panel by panel, page by page, perhaps the year’s sweetest superheroic romp—a fitting tribute to longtime DD artist Gene Colan, who died as it was going to press. Recommended without reservation from among the week’s five focal floppies.

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Written by Bryan A. Hollerbach Friday, 22 July 2011 00:00

PLAYBACK:stl’s prolix popinjay of piffling pamphlets here raves about a quintet of rude-chapbookish books issued during the second quarter of 2011 by Chester Brown, Daniel Clowes, Dave McKean, Harvey Pekar and Summer McClinton, and Jim Woodring.

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Written by Bryan A. Hollerbach Monday, 18 July 2011 00:00

As The Amazing Spider-Man #665 illustrates, writer Dan Slott’s stewardship of that iconic title could almost—almost—make even the most jaded commentator believe in the viability of the mainstream. Also lauded among this week’s five capsule reviews: Northlanders #42.

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Written by Kelly Stephenson Friday, 15 July 2011 10:33

Artist Mike Rosen brings tongue-in-cheek life to this 15th century "guide to the catching and burning of witches."

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Written by Sarah Boslaugh Friday, 15 July 2011 08:54

Three complete tales starring the female James Bond of the daily comics page.

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Written by Erin Jameson Monday, 11 July 2011 20:56

Inspired by TMZ's recent reports about Archie Comics' co-CEO, Lovefool dives into the surprisingly scandalous romantic machinations of Archie, Betty, Veronica, and company.

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Written by Bryan A. Hollerbach Monday, 11 July 2011 00:00

Against all odds, an “event”-related miniseries earns praise from a columnist almost congenitally hostile to “events”: Flashpoint: Batman Knight of Vengeance #2. Also reviewed from this past week: Elric: The Balance Lost #1, Screamland #2, and two other titles.