Earlier this year it was announced that artist Lee Bermejo would be writing and drawing a special Christmas-themed “Batman” original graphic novel.  Though I’ve known the man to be very good a drawing characters and settings that have a dark, “realistic” look to them but never come off as distractingly photo-referenced (in the way that […]

In his first volume of “Punisher MAX,” Jason Aaron did a great job of staking out his own territory with the title by acknowledging the character’s roots in the Marvel Universe and making Wilson “The Kingpin” Fisk the main antagonist.  Here, he shows us something else that will only help separate his run from the […]

Seeing this on the shipping lists a couple weeks ago was a pleasant surprise as I had completely forgotten it was coming.  After years of mini-series and one-shots, this marks the first “Hellboy” story to be published as an original graphic novel.  That said, it’s kind of thin for this sort of thing as it […]

Back in vol. 13 of “Invincible,” when Nolan Grayson and Allen the Alien were scouring the galaxy for resources they could use against the Viltrumite threat, one of the places they visited came with this awesome footnote from writer Robert Kirkman: “Holy crap!  He’s talking about ‘Tech Jacket!’  You should totally order that trade paperback […]

Here’s some free advice to Marvel:  When you’re collecting a story that includes the much-hyped death of a major character and want it to remain a surprise for those who haven’t had it spoiled for them, DON’T include a quote on the back that gives it away.  Great job with that.  As for the volume […]

… Because I doubt that he’ll be around for the (just announced) third season of “The Walking Dead.”  This isn’t a knock against the actor, as he has had one of the most difficult roles of the series in Shane.  Though he’s the best friend of main character Rick, we also know that he was […]

Here’s some bad news and a spoiler for you:  I’ve heard that Bucky dies in the “Fear Itself” crossover.  Now for some worse news:  I’m not sure that’s entirely a bad thing after reading this volume.  At first I was disappointed to learn that the character’s fate would be determined outside of his series and […]

While Jonathan Hickman’s “Secret Warriors” is an epic, high-energy espionage caper, and his “Fantastic Four” reconfigures its classic elements into something new, this first volume comes off as an attempt to tell one of the “big idea” stories that made him famous at Image in the context of the Marvel Universe.  The high concept here […]

This volume is a nice change of pace from the past few multi-volume epics that were the series’ stock-in-trade.  Instead we have a collection of three extra-sized issue-length stories (and a short eight-pager) that showcase Tony Stark’s past, present and future.  We also get to see what his “archnemesis” The Mandarin has been doing with […]

No, this was not an improvement.  Along with the previous volume, the story told here could’ve been done in half the space.  Just take out the pointless stuff about the new Daredevil, give Blade one good introduction scene, and set this up as the “initial strike” from the vampire population instead of the “final battle.”  […]