Stuck Rubber Baby tackles two of the most challenging struggles America has faced over the past half-century: equal rights regardless of race and regardless of sexual orientation. Like author Howard Cruse, Toland Polk is a white boy growing up in Alabama during the 1960s, and this novel covers his coming of age during the civil rights movement. As he observes and experiences the fear and justice of that time, he also comes to accept that he’s gay, sending him through […]

This action movie in a science fiction setting rings a few changes on Warren Ellis’ typical “hard man” character. For one thing, he’s black, resembling Laurence Fishburne — for another, he’s rather restrained, compared to the loonies around him. He’s still got the key characteristics, though, of being tired of the world around him, frequently bad-tempered, and willing to kill when necessary. “A hundred years from today”, a huge fleet of ancient alien coffins is discovered in the ice-covered ocean […]

Superman: Secret Identity is a Superman story for everyone. If you like the superhero concept, this story will provide a new take on what heroism really means. If you don’t know much about Superman, this story demonstrates the core of the character. If you’re bored with Superman, thinking so many stories have been written that no one can provide a fresh approach, here you’ll get something original and unexpected. If you know too much about Superman, this story shows why […]

In a clever twist on the familiar Superman story, Augustus Freeman was an adult alien who escaped to earth in a rocket pod. When the pod was discovered by a slave woman, he was reconfigured into a black baby who, by the time of this story, has become an accomplished lawyer. A teenage girl from the projects, Raquel Ervin, encounters Augustus when she goes with her boyfriend to rob his suburban mansion. She’s surprised when she sees Augustus take a […]

Astro City: Life in the Big City is a Valentine to classic Silver Age comics, collecting the original six-issue miniseries. Each story stands alone, but together they make up a tapestry of a new world with a long history. The threads are familiar, evoking other universes and heroes, but with a modern, knowing twist. It’s written by Kurt Busiek and drawn by Brent Anderson with covers by Alex Ross. The series attracted attention from the start by capturing feelings many […]

If it’s classic Silver Age superhero stories you’re looking for, start with Superman in the Sixties. Many elements of the character’s mythology were introduced earlier (see the Superman in the Fifties collection for the first appearances of Krypto and Supergirl, for example), but the 60s was when the Superman Family really came into its own. Readers learned more about the culture Superman left behind, with stories about life on Krypton and its amazing “scientific” inventions. On the flip side, we […]

I didn’t expect to have quite this much fun with the reprints found in Superman in the Fifties, but due to the diverse selection, I enjoyed this book even more than I thought I would. Mark Waid’s introduction taught me some things about Superman I didn’t know (including how tightly tied together the various media appearances used to be), and there’s a lot of significant first appearances (of Krypto, Supergirl, and various villains). I wanted to read the stories behind […]

I hate to say it (because I abhor the cover), but this may very well be the best Wonder Woman story I’ve ever read. Diana is treated as a realistic person, not some symbol or image of all womanhood, and her unique abilities and heritage are an essential part of the tale. The Hiketeia is a vow where one party takes responsibility for sheltering another. When a murderer hunted by Batman vows herself to Diana, conflict ensues — but this […]