Comic Picks by the Glick

Manga and Comic Reviews

Deadly Class vol. 1: Reagan Youth

A few months back, I wrote (briefly) about the first volume of a series called “Five Weapons.”  Essentially it was “Harry Potter” with child assassins standing in for child magicians, and whether or not it worked for you all came down to how hard you didn’t want to think about the incongruity of that premise. […]

Wolverine: Origin II

Back in that period of time we like to call the “early aughts,” Marvel put out a miniseries called “Wolverine:  Origin” that would explore Ol’ Canucklehead’s earliest days.  It wasn’t done out of a desire to answer the many longstanding questions regarding the character’s origin, but to beat Hollywood to the punch after the success […]

Murder Me Dead

In the category of “reprinted crime comics from David Lapham” that has sprung up this year, the “Stray Bullets:  Uber Alles” edition is what you should spend your hard-earned money on.  The forty-one issues it collects detail a rambling, surprising, sometimes terrifying, always compelling narrative about a disparate group of runaways, killers, thugs, and crazies […]

Hip Hop Family Tree vols. 1 & 2

I liked Ed Piskor’s “Wizzywig” well enough, but the fictional narrative he created to serve as a backbone for his exploration of hacker tech and culture came off as underdeveloped and very predictable.  For his latest project, the writer/artist has chosen to work exclusively in the realm of nonfiction to explore the origins of hip […]

Uncanny Avengers vol. 3: Ragnarok Now

We saw the setup for this epic storyline in the previous volume, and now the narrative barrels on full steam ahead.  It’s the Avengers Unity squad vs. The Apocalypse Twins and their horsemen for the fate of Earth itself.  This arc recently concluded in serialized form after eighteen issues — a virtual eternity in today’s […]

MPD-Psycho vol. 11

Back in April when vol. 14 of “Eden:  It’s An Endless World!” came out, I went back and re-read the previous volume to refresh my memory and provide some context for this new one.  Not only did it give me a chance to re-read one of the better volumes in the series, that context came […]

Gantz vol. 32

Now here’s something we haven’t seen in a while:  Moments in “Gantz” that actually invoke feelings beyond simple excitement or suspense.  Things kick off with a young brother and sister trying to cope with the fact that they’re about to be “processed” at one of the alien factories.  Mangaka Hiroya Oku singles them out amongst […]

An Open Letter to Brian Michael Bendis

Dear Brian, Hello.  I’m writing to you as a longtime fan of your works.  Not only is “Jinx” one of my all-time favorite graphic novels, the many other series you’ve been involved with over the years has basically turned me into a completist when it comes to your writing.  The quality of books like “Goldfish,” […]

Marvel Previews Picks: November 2014

It would appear that the cost of doing business with Marvel is going up.  Specifically, in the main way that I do it with them.  Bleeding Cool reports that three upcoming trade paperbacks from Marvel, “Thor:  God of Thunder vol. 3:  The Accursed,” “Ultimate Comics Spider-Man by Bendis vol. 5,” and “Avengers vol. 4:  Infinity,” […]