With the threat of Donald Blake dealt with, this should be a time of rejoicing in Asgard, right?  Wrong.  Thor is brooding over how his powers and Mjolnir failed him in the previous battle and, along with that vision of Thanos he had back in vol. 1, he worries that his reign may be coming […]

The titular object is something that was first sighted in WWII with cults, death, and destruction following in its wake.  It could house Jesus’ unborn child’s fetus, or just Nazi gold, nobody knows for sure.  Especially not the Secret Service.  That’s why they’ve made tracking the case down a hazing ritual for new recruits who […]

Above-the-Board Recommendation: Radiant Black vol. 2:  Team-Up The first volume of this series was one of the best surprises I read all year.  One of the many disappointments in growing older is that it becomes harder for the things I like to surprise me.  This is as true of comics as it is for everything […]

Above-the-Board Recommendation: Batman:  Beyond the White Knight #1 (of 8) “Batman:  White Knight” was an interesting “Elseworlds”-style story that sought to interrogate some of the more questionable/problematic aspects of the Bat-mythos before backing off and delivering a conclusion that mostly returned to the status quo.  Its follow-up, “Curse of the White Knight” then took a […]

Above-the-Board Recommendation: We Have Demons #1 (of 3) I don’t think that Dark Horse’s recent acquisition by the Embracer Group is going to change anything for the company in the short term.  As for the long term, things will only change if Embracer decides that they don’t want to be in the business of producing […]

Above-the-Board Recommendation: Defenders:  There Are No Rules Al Ewing was doing great work at Marvel long before he blew up with “The Immortal Hulk.”  I’ll refer you to his “New Avengers” and “Loki” series if you need convincing.  Both series had great writing and clever plotting in addition to a willingness to take odd, random […]

I was genuinely surprised by the first volume of this series.  Most of James Tynion IV’s superhero work had come off as by-the-numbers to me and his (and Werther Dell’edera’s) monster hit series “Something is Killing the Children” didn’t feel like it offered me anything new.  “The Department of Truth,” however, took a nightmarish look […]

Contrary to what its title implies, the third “Reckless” graphic novel does not involve a giant-size Ethan Reckless taking on Gozilla, Mothra, King Ghidora, and other monsters in a giant kaiju free-for-all.  (I would still pay to read that, Ed and Sean, if you’re reading this.)  “Destroy All Monsters” is a bit of a departure […]

This is the latest title to reach print from Brian K. Vaughan and Marcos Martin’s Panel Syndicate operation, which has creators offering their comics to readers on a pay-what-you-want basis.  The creators in this case are Martin himself and writer Ed Brubaker, which does set my expectations for this story quite high.  It does have […]

After years of making other people’s comics — specifically “Rumble,” and multiple arcs of “B.P.R.D.” — look good, James Harren decided it was time to create his own.  “Ultramega” is the result and the initial impression it gives off is that it’s “Pacific Rim” meets “Ultraman.”  You’ve got your kaiju on one side and your […]