Now that we’re starting to be able to think about being outdoors again, you may want to consider a water bottle to take with you on activities. Nalgene Outdoor has created an entire line featuring many favorite Marvel superheroes: Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Hulk, Black Widow, and the Avengers. They gave me one of the 32-ounce wide-mouth Black Widow bottles to evaluate, and I took it with me on my road trip to visit family over the winter holidays. […]

It’s rewarding to see how comic creators who didn’t grow up in the medium can take long-running characters (who often have been dragged in so many directions over the years that there’s no personality left, or they’re a mass of contradictions) and find fresh, modern new approaches to them that make them fascinating. That’s precisely what Chelsea Cain does with Bobbi Morse, Mockingbird, in this five-issue collection. Mockingbird: I Can Explain contrasts hugely with the cash-grab Mockingbird: Bobbi Morse, Agent […]

I’ve been reading comics a long time, so sometimes I feel like I’ve met my lifetime quota for superhero tales. Then a fresh, modern approach comes along that makes me appreciate even more the talent involved in telling good comic stories. Patsy Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat!: Hooked on a Feline reprints the first six issues of the series by Kate Leth, Brittney L. Williams, and Megan Wilson. (Issue #6 had art by Natasha Allegri instead of Williams and Wilson, which makes […]

I’m amazed. I’ve been skipping the superhero comics I normally read because they’re either rebooting AGAIN (DC’s Rebirth) or in the middle of a crossover event rerun (Marvel’s Civil War II). But here, Kelly Thompson and Paulo Siqueira manage to explain the point of the event to me while still giving me entertainment regardless of the stunt branding. Most importantly, I enjoyed the time I spent with this team of women and want to see more. There’s even a guest […]

A superhero team book rises or falls for me on the mix of personalities (not powers), and I really like the blend put together here. The characters are well-known, but not big or central enough to handcuff the creators. (Plus, A-Force came out of an alternate universe crossover, so who cares about continuity?) She-Hulk, always a favorite, and Medusa, queen with the magic hair, battle it out for leadership. Captain Marvel is the muscle, Dazzler (of all people!) is the […]

When you’ve been reading superhero comics for decades, many of them start blurring together. It’s easy for creators and readers to settle for the usual supervillain challenges, where costumed, powered characters duke it out without much real-world connection. But after a while, when you’ve read more than your share of those stories, it all becomes familiar and boring. That’s why I was so surprised and pleased to see what Peter David was doing with the recent run of All-New X-Factor, […]