You know how Image has been cranking out acclaimed, sellout series one after another this year?  Well August is when the trades for a lot of these start arriving.  It’s going to be a busy month for me… Lots of talk about “buzz” after the break. Black Kiss II #1:  Howard Chaykin’s rep these days […]

I finally got my hands on the last of Jonathan Hickman’s pre-Marvel Image projects and it turned out to be one of his more successful endeavors.  On paper it’s the story of superpowered individuals in the future working to combat the threat of an unstoppable alien horde coming to annihilate the Earth.  While everyone is […]

So you know all that hand-wringing and second-guessing I was doing about the fate of Marvel’s cosmic characters?  Turns out it’s all for naught as Bendis is bringing them back himself.  Hot on the heels of “You Know Who” appearing in the end credits of “The Avengers” the Guardians of the Galaxy will be back […]

This month sees the return of another old comics tradition:  annuals.  Originally they were meant to be extra-sized issues which served as the culmination for a year’s worth of stories.  At least, that’s what I remember hearing.  One time.  Somewhere on the internet.  Anyway, the reason you don’t see them as much now is that […]

I was also considering, “HULK SMASH PUNY BOX OFFICE RECORDS!”  That seemed more appropriate for a weekend write-up of “The Avengers’” box-office achievements as it’s currently on track to set another record for biggest second weekend ever.  Unless “Battleship” surprises everyone by not being absolutely terrible, then we could see more records fall this coming […]

The reinvention of Marvel’s cosmic characters and their places in the universe that began way back in “Annihilation” effectively wraps up here.  Granted, it was never announced that this was going to be the “last” of these cosmic stories but now that Marvel is cutting back on the titles it publishes, and the fact that […]

This one was loaned out to a friend shortly after I got it, but I wanted to say that it wound up being more enjoyable than the previous volume.  Granted, that could’ve been because I didn’t spoil the ending for myself this time but there’s a lot of craziness to appreciate here.  It also has […]

This series is currently planned to end at issue #60.  Much as I enjoy it, I think that having a definite end point is a very good thing in this case.  A great deal of “Chew’s” appeal comes from not only the unpredictability of its plots, but the creative weirdness of its world.  Not only […]

Looking at its troubled release history, one would think that this collection should’ve been a complete mess.  The series originally shipped with two issues in its debut month with artist Yanick Paquette before going on hiatus and returning with two more from Paquette and Chris Burnham.  Then you had Paquette putting out one more with […]