Comic Picks by the Glick

Manga and Comic Reviews

Invincible vol. 13: Growing Pains

After the world-shattering events of the last volume, writer Robert Kirkman dials things back for the latest one.  Of course, “dialing it back” by “Invincible’s” standards involves the title character being forced to square off with an all-powerful alien amazon while the sequids decide to unleash their long-gestating plan to take over Houston… and then […]

Runaways (vol. 10): Rock Zombies

I wasn’t really blown away or fearsomly disappointed by writer Terry Moore’s first volume of “Runaways,” but I’m not sorry to see him depart the series three issues in to this volume.  What we have here is a bog-standard superhero plot where an evil DJ and his voodoo-priest buddy turn everyone in L.A. who has […]

Counter X vol. 3: X-Man

Some background on this first:  Back in the day when Warren Ellis getting all sorts of attention for his work on “Transmetropolitan” and “The Authority,” Marvel approached him with the opportunity to re-make three satellite X-titles in his own image.  These titles were “X-Force,” “Generation X,” and “X-Man.”  Of the three, this was the one […]

Hawaiian Dick vol. 2: The Last Resort

What I like most about the “Hawaiian Dick” series is that writer B. Clay Moore and artist Steven Griffin (with Nick Derrington) do such a great job of capturing the time and place of Hawaii in the 50’s.  The island atmosphere, the clothing style, the low-fi feel of the times — it’s all here.  They’ve […]

X-Men: S.W.O.R.D. — No Time to Breathe

Cut down as an ongoing series before it completed its first arc, this spin-off from “Astonishing X-Men” still manages to tell a very satisfying tale.  “No Time to Breathe” is an apt sub-title for this volume as it chronicles one very hectic day in the lives of Sentient Worlds Observation and Response Department co-leader Abigail […]

Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk

Hulk fighting Wolverine!  In the Ultimate Universe!  Written by “Lost” co-creator Damon Lindelof!  A six issue mini-series that took over three years to finish.  Care to guess which one of these was the most memorable thing about my experience reading this book?  If nothing else, this series provided another solid reason supporting my habit of […]

Twin Spica vol. 3

Three volumes in and I’m having the sinking feeling that my optimism regarding the first volume was misplaced.  While the subject matter here is considerably less depressing than it was in the last volume, it’s all hugs and smiles as life lessons are learned, bitter adults become less bitter, and displays of the power of […]

Dark Avengers vol. 1: Assemble

It feels odd reading this volume now that “Siege” has brought the uber-plot that it was a part of to an end.  Fortunately there’s still lots of nasty fun to be had in seeing Norman Osborne manage the team of villains he’s assembled to be his Avengers.  One of the main reasons he’s done so […]

The Unwritten vol. 2: Inside Man

This second volume of the adventures of Tom Taylor, who may be the real-life incarnation of the wildly popular fantasy literature character Tommy Taylor, finds him in a French prison awaiting trial for the mass murder he was framed for at the end of volume one.  In said prison he encounters the usual colorful cast […]

The Question: The Five Books of Blood

I’ve generally liked writer Greg Rucka’s DC Universe work, but this extension of his Renee Montoya/The Question/Religion of Crime storyline that he started in “52” didn’t really do much for me.  Five different artists illustrate the five issues collected here as Renee gets an up close and personal look at the four tenets of the […]