And while we’re on the subject of collections worthy of their hardcover editions… “Batman & Robin Must Die” functions as both an ending and beginning in Grant Morrison’s run with the character(s).  As the business with Dr. Hurt and the Black Glove is wrapped up, the stage is set for the worldwide franchising of the […]

Okay, so “Write up this review and then go play more ‘L.A. Noire,” last night turned into “Hang out, have dinner with friends, then try out the multiplayer modes on ‘Black Ops.’”  With that out of the way, let me say that despite its occasionally wonky pacing and lack of focus this was a very […]

I could go on, and on, and on about the things that I liked in this volume.  From its unveiling of the “Ultimate” versions of professional Marvel sidekick Rick Jones and B-list spider-villain the Chameleon, to the welcome addition of “amazing friends” Iceman and the Human Torch to the cast, and the simple fact that […]

… and it was quite good.  Not the unqualified blast of fun that the first “Iron Man” was, but more enjoyable than its unfocused sequel.  Director Kenneth Branagh (unsurprisingly) gets good performances out of the entire cast and (surprisingly) shows that he has a good hand on big-budget effects-driven film-making.  We get several great shots […]

While Tokyopop the manga publisher will cease to exist in North America at the end of the month, Tokyopop the media company still lives on.  In fact, its first major film release opened on Friday.  “Priest” is set in the far future and focuses on a soldier in the war against humans and vampires called […]

This volume represents a couple endings as it collects the last four issues of the “Conan the Cimmerian” ongoing series and writer Tim Truman and artist Tomas Giorello’s final story about the title character’s adventures at this time in his life.  As “Conan” stories go, it’s pretty by-the-numbers as the barbarian’s escape with the beautiful […]

Oh man!   “The Viltrumite War!”  I remember that sitcom!  BEST!  COMEDY!  EVER!  Even if it was moved around for fourteen different timeslots in the three months during the summer of 1987 that it was on. Alright, so while the series’ naming trend of its collected editions is effectively broken with this volume, it still […]

The first volume of this series  represented a return to form of sorts for writer Mark Millar, in my opinion.  While it wasn’t quite as good as his work on “The Ultimates,” it was still miles better than anything else I had read from him last year.  This volume, however, doesn’t sustain that trend.  Though […]

Now this is odd.  Here we have a collection of comics that I think I might have actually enjoyed more if I had read them in single issue form.  That’s because while these six issues have an overriding plot, it’s very much a “hunt the MacGuffin” endeavor whose only purpose is to provide a context […]

All good things must come to an end, or — in the case of most Marvel comics these days — pause for a month or two before being re-launched with a new title and direction.  Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente’s “Incredible Hercules” saga reaches its conclusion in this volume, and it’s a worthy end.  […]