The insightful and fearless Keith Knight has published an essay comic called “Here’s one Obama accomplishment nobody can take away”. It ranges widely yet concisely over the recent past, with the key central point being that it matters to have had a black man serve as President of the United States. No matter what you say is possible, seeing it actually happen is important. Which is why I can’t wait to see the first female President, and the first Asian […]

I really liked this comic by Shannon Wright and Sarah Mirk, “Eight Ways To Resist Donald Trump“. It’s timely, full of useful information, and approachable. One could consider it simply an illustrated list, instead of a comic, but the images add so much emotional affect to the items. I particularly could see a full story behind the second image (shown here), with a young woman explaining something meaningful to older relatives (I assume). Plus, the hand-style lettering makes it more […]

Marvel sent out this teaser for an upcoming Secret Empire project on Friday. The email I got didn’t identify the artist; Alexander Jones says it’s John Cassaday. I know they’re just promoting some new team or crossover event starring big characters — from left to right, it’s Old Man Logan (formerly Wolverine, until Marvel decided they didn’t like any movies they didn’t make), Black Panther, Captain America, Captain Marvel, Spider-Man, Rocket Raccoon, Black Bolt, Black Widow, and Deadpool, all of […]

Lars Martinson has finally finished his Tonoharu trilogy. (I reviewed the first volume when it came out in 2008.) All told, it took him 13 years to make the three books, and he’s now put out a video discussing that process and some of the lessons he’s learned. It’s great seeing an artist do a post-mortem of a significant project, particularly since his key lesson is realizing that time is a limited resource, so you need to keep that in […]

I used to be a huge fan of the Legion of Super-Heroes, the future teen team that was first published in 1958. When I got back into comics in the 90s, I collected all the issues… which was a lot of fun, since they ran in different titles over the decades. Heck, eventually, I even collected the editor. (After meeting at a comic convention, reader, I married him 17 years ago.) When KC Carlson left the book after issue #100 […]

I shouldn’t like the Funko characters as much as I do. They’re almost scarily designed to be perfectly cute, with the giant blank eyes and oversized heads, appealing to all those protective impulses hardcoded in our subconscious. But they are adorable, and now there are three short cartoons with the Marvel characters in Funko style. The first, “Spellbound”, features Spider-Man and Iron Man fighting Loki — and each other, due to some mind control magic. The second, “Bait n Switch”, […]

The DC Super Hero Girls are really growing on me. And I’ve recently rediscovered the fun of building things in Lego. So these three new sets are quite attractive, although there seems to be more dollhouse-style play value than building strategies involved, with the exception of the huge high school set. There’s the Batgirl Batjet Chase, with a Batgirl mini-doll, her plane, a “yellow Kryptomite” (what?), and an “ePad”. The Harley Quinn to the Rescue set includes a cafe with […]

Batgirl Barbara Gordon was created 50 years ago this year, and to honor her history, here’s a rundown of not only Batgirl’s costumes, but the similar heroes Batwoman and Bat-Girl, provided by fun.com. I hadn’t realized just how many versions of her there were! Not bad for someone who exists because the 1966 TV show wanted more female characters. (For more costume histories, here are Wonder Woman, Batman, Spider-Man, The Flash, Captain America, Wolverine, and Superman.)