This Week in Comics

I’ve been reading comics since 1961. In the late ‘70’s I discovered fandom when some a fellow fan named Mark Earnst from New Hampshire reached out to me and asked me to join his amateur Publishing Alliance (APA) which I did, that APA became known as Phoenix. In 1981, I sold my first professional article, The Ditko Days, to Amazing Heroes; marking me the first person from Phoenix to go pro. By 1996 when the market crashed, I became the most prolific journalist in the field of comics, having contributed to nearly ever comic fanzine (as well as several of the major and minor comic publishers) that were being published at the time.

After the crash which took out virtually all of the fanzines, I switched over to the web, publishing reviews and articles to a number of websites. In the nearly 30 years since then, I’ve “outlived” half a dozen or so sites that have gone dark (one of which just announced this week that it is shuttering early in 2026), and yet I still continue to write about comics, films, TV, and other things which catch my fancy (including writing and publishing my own comics and books).

Yes, I love comics.

This past week I picked up some comics that I want to talk about. Topping off my list is the Marvel/DC Deadpool Batman team-up. Normally I rather enjoy cross-company team-ups, and over the years have collected quite a number of them, and, as a rule, have enjoyed them. Unfortunately, Deadpool/Batman isn’t one of them. While I understand why the two companied chose both characters for a team-up, (The purpose of the book is sales, so put two of the most popular/recognizable characters together for the biggest bang for your buck), still, they couldn’t be two more mismatched characters if they tried. (Batman/Moon Knight, Batman/Daredevil would be more evenly matched and/or logical pairings.)

To be sure, the story does sort of balance out as the Joker is the villain of the piece, thus clashing Joker’s brand of crazy up against Deadpool’s, unfortunately, Deadpool’s chaotic crazy simply doesn’t play well against Batman’s stoicism. (At this point in this essay, I feel it necessary to point out that while I do so enjoy Ryan Reynolds depiction of the Merc with a Mouth, I find the comicbook version not only excessively tedious, but endlessly overused.)

The story has Deadpool dropped into Batman’s Gotham as a hitman for hire tagged to take out the Dark Knight by none other than the Joker himself, who has concocted yet another scheme to kill hundreds of citizens of the city. As can be expected, even as the plan goes predictably array all three of the main characters seem horribly mismatched, as they are pretzeled into the mash-up required to make the story work. So, yeah, not my favorite team-up.

Fortunately, while the Batman/Deadpool story was the lead story, there were other team-ups in the book. Next up is a Captain America/Wonder Woman tale (which makes more sense as a team-up), Still, while this pairing makes more sense as both characters have strong patriotic themes running through their histories, the story itself has them crossing paths throughout their respective histories, as they bounce around through time periods, from WWII to the present day and into a far-flung future. It has them confronting Hitler in the bunker, fighting Galactus, the death of Supergirl during the Crisis on Infinite Earths storyline, opposing Maxwell Lord, and chilling on the JLA Satellite.

There is also a story teaming Krypto and Jeff the Shark that is, well, inexplicably whatever.  Following that is a teaming of Daredevil and Green Arrow (again, another unusual pairing, Green Arrow and Hawkeye would have been much better for obvious reasons, especially as this is not the lead talk, but four stories back). Then comes a two-page Rocket Racoon and Green Lantern short, followed by a three page Frank Miller Wolverine/Batman clash. The issue is rounded out by another three-pager staring Logo (and no, I have no idea who this is, save that it appears to be a mash-up of Lobo and Wolverine), who trashes an Iron Man stand-in, and chats with a substitute Thanos, in a story that make less sense than any of the others.

Finally, in a move that defies explanation, there is an ad in the book that is for the very book itself. The only answer we can consider as passingly rational is that the ad was placed in all comics produced that month, and wound up in the title it was pimping, by accident (because no one was pruning the ads).

I also picked a facsimile reprint edition of Batman #47 (1948) because I occasionally enjoy checking out Golden Age comics. As to why I do this, is often beyond me when I actually read the Golden Age stories. Even as a teen when I first started reading reprints of those Golden Age tales I’m always surprised that—given the level of storytelling itself—how comics manages to survive to even get to the Silver Age. Sorry kids, most to the stories from that era that I’ve read are, quite honestly, barely readable (a sentiment I’ve had confirmed by other comic aficionados (pros and fans alike).

And finally, I received two comicbook Kickstarter packages this past week, First a grouping of 10 books from G-Man Comics as well as a reprint collection from Heavy Metal/Metal Hurlant (which I haven’t read as of yet but am excited to read both). I’ve previously read and reviewed two groups of G-Man Kickstarter comics, and while it’s been a while since I read any Heavy Metal comic mags, I’m familiar enough with what to expect from this and the other issues I’ve received (and yet still have yet to read).

Well, given that this is Thanksgiving weekend I’m sure that I’ll have plenty of time to red my ay through those comics.

Let's hear it for James Gunn!

We honestly have to give Director James Gunn top marks for finally producing a superhero movie that I, personally, have been waiting years to see. He has developed the “initial” movie in a planned ongoing mythology that bypasses the (so-called) “mandatory” (re)telling of the hero’s origin when the lead actor has been replaced and does what I’ve been talking about for quite some time now. Just tell a story.  In one interview, Gunn said it himself. “We don’t need to go there.” Gunn’s statement acknowledges that—for all intents and purposes—we all know the basic elements of Superman’s origin and his arrival here on Earth.

Needless to say, while there certainly are many superhero characters who are not known by the general public, there are quite a few whose origins are already known or already explained in previous films. As I’ve pointed out elsewhere (over and over) retelling a character’s origin is something oddly specific to superhero films. Rebooting a story and retelling the main character’s origin is just bad storytelling. By way of example, Let’s look at the cinematic history of James Bond, perhaps one of the most well-known fictional characters who doesn’t wear spandex.

Since his debut film, Dr. No in 1962, there have been 29 Bond films (including the original Casino Royal and Never say Never), seven actors (including David Nivin) who have played Bond, and some 27 villains. Further, we never got an actual origin story for Bond until Daniel Craig portrayed him in Casino Royal (2006). Compared to Lex Luthor appearing in five of the seven solo live action films; Green Goblin appearing in three of the Eight solo live action Spider-Man films; Magneto appearing in eight of the 14 X-Men films; and the Joker appearing in seven of the 13 Batman films.

My point here is that many of these comicbook characters have been around for 87 (Superman) to 62 (X-Men) years, and yet the films keep going back to the same legacy villains when each of the various heroes has around 100 (or more) villains, not every film has to go back to the same small group of villains when each of them have such a wide wealth of a rogues gallery. This is why Marvel introducing movies with The Guardians of the Galaxy (under Gunn), Ant Man, and Dr, Strange, are important.

Hopefully, now that Gunn has brought the Guy Gardner Green Lantern, Metamorpho, and The Engineer into the DC Cinematic Universe (with the promise of more of the same) we can all move past that there are only a few heroes with only one villain each.

 

Death of a Hero

Back in 1982, Marvel published a graphic novel entitled The Death of Captain Marvel. This was the death of — not Carol Danvers (who had at that writing, not yet ascended to the mantle of “Captain” Marvel (and was still going by the appellation of Ms. Marvel) but depicted the death of her predecessor — the Kree warrior — Mar-Vell.

The essay that follows, was one of the earliest articles I wrote as a professional in the field of comics (it appeared in Comics Collector #1 1983). In it I wrote about how this death affected me. The post that follows is essentially the same as it originally appeared with only a couple of minor edits for style. 

* * * * * * * * * *

It’s all over now…even the shouting. Captain Marvel is dead, and there is no changing that. No eleventh-hour reprieve, no writer to revive him in a later issue, he’s gone, and that is that. All we have now is the leftover wine, and its bittersweet taste. There are those among the fan-elite who have reduced this tome to so much pop psychology and trite nonsense. Yet to do so is just so much feigned intellectualism in hopes of impressing the masses of fandom is not only unfair; it is outright criminal.

I have two illusions in life; one is grand and terrifying, and the other is dark and fascinating. Together, they form the basis of my beliefs and philosophies of life and truth. Still, Jim Starlin, with his finely crafted work, cuts through all this and exposes the core of my being with his own mysteries that are more fascinating and awesome than I could hope to imagine.

To Starlin, death is a reality. It is not something that only happens to the other guy. It is a part of life, it is a measure of the truth, and everybody is touched by it, one to a customer, with no exceptions. Rich, poor, old, young, coward, hero, it does not matter, we all die, and not always in the manner or fashion that we would expect or prefer.

The Vikings of old believed that the only way for a warrior to enter Valhalla — the place of the noble dead — was to die with one’s sword in their hand. Calvary men of the American West wished to die “with their boots on,” that is to say, in battle. The plains Indians of America refused to fight at night for fear that the great spirit Wakanta would miss their souls in the dark. Warriors the world over, throughout history have sought to die “with honor” (as witnessed by the death of General Sam Sawyer in Captain America #274).

After reading The Death of Captain Marvel, I cannot help but to feel that this attitude is so much horse manure. When I die, I would wish to go as did Mar-Vell, surrounded by my family and friends.

Noted physiologist Elizabeth Kubler-Ross wrote extensively about the death experience, and she has broken it down into five stages: denial, depression, anger, bargaining, and finally acceptance. Starlin has Mar-Vell move through each of these stages as he approaches his end. This is not pop psychology, but a man who has spent his entire adult life as a warrior, fighting near-impossible odds, now he has come to find out that a disease will strike him down. Even more than that, there is nothing that he can do. Mar-Vell is a man who loves life even more than honor (that which he as a warrior has been taught to love). Now he must face death as it slowly creeps up on him.

Starlin stalls this moment throughout the book by always tempting the reader with the possibility that Mar-Vell will live, in spite of what we all knew was going to happen. Therein, he manages to sustain the suspense of the book, for the reader is always teased by the thought that no company would really kill off a major character, yet another company (DC) did kill off a major character, that “would not be killed off,” The Batman of Earth-2.

When that Batman died, fandom was enraged. Many fans felt that he should have been killed by a major villain, and that a big deal should have been made about it…perhaps by putting the story in an annual, or something (needless to say Marvel has been criticized for doing just that — making a big deal over Mar­Vell’s death — sometimes you just cannot win for losing). The death of Batman was proclaimed as both stupid and wasteful. Well, it was, but not for the reason that many claimed.

When you think about it, is it not stupid and wasteful to die? Batman spent his entire adult life fighting crime, and then he died doing the same. He spent most of his tenure as a crime fighter putting away nameless criminals, and finally one of them put him away. Elysius, Mar-Vell’s lover, confessed to him that she always feared that he would die in some lonely place surrounded by his enemies (what Batman of Earth 2 in fact did). Dying in this way at least she could be with him. It is this that is stupid and wasteful about death; to die in some meaningless gesture, at the hands of some cheap thug. Batman’s death was cheap and pointless, but it was meant to be. Paul Levitz in that story was making a statement about superheroes and their lives, only no one understood the message — pity. Still again, had Mar-Vell been given the choice he, too, would have gone as had the Batman. The desire among warriors to go out in a blaze of glory is great indeed. Yet more than that Mar-Vell would reject death, he would fight to the very end, denying that it was possible for him to die. When Thanos asked if Mar-Vell would “...Challenge the abstract...deny the infinite?” Mar­Vell replies, “Yes!” But why?

Why indeed? In the award-winning television show M*A*S*H, Colonel Henry Blake was consoling Hawkeye over the death of Hawkeye’s friend. “They taught me two rules in command school,” Blake said, “Rule number one is that young men die. Rule number two is that doctors can’t change rule number one.” The man who attempts to deny the infinite is both a fool and tilting at windmills greater than those against which Don Quixote fought.

It is only human nature to deny death, especially one’s own. Yet when a study was made, it was discovered that we “need” death. A few years back several people were hypnotized into thinking that they would not die. They all promptly lost the will to live. That is to say that they had no real reason to do much of anything…today. It was discovered that death adds immediacy to life. For if one has forever to live, then one also has forever to do whatever one wants — so why do it today?

Death is as much a part of life as is living; to ignore one is to reject the other. Perhaps those who panned The Death of Captain Marvel were more upset about Jim Starlin’s message than about the way he packaged it. Unable. (or unwilling) to deal with the form they ripped apart the latter — mores the pity.

The Death of Captain Marvel is a powerful, and important piece of literature, well worth both the wait and the purchase price. All that is now left to say of the Kree Captain, by way of a eulogy, is to paraphrase George Harrison, “Mar-Vell is a dead man...miss him...miss him.” 

* * * * * * * * * *

As of this posting, I haven’t yet seen Marvel’s new Captain Marvel film (staring Brie Larson), but I will be seeing it tomorrow; after I do, I’ll be posting my review of the film, and will be adding a link to that review here.

Superhero Cakes

So, I was in Dunkin’ Donuts today, and I noticed that DD is offering a quartet of superhero-themed cakes, two featuring Spider-Man

And a pair featuring Batman.

So, I'm thinking that with Father’s Day and My Birthday both still happen this year, Someone is going to deserve a couple of Spidey Cakes soon.

Seriously, You call this writing?

OK, so I realize that today everyone is either talking about DC Rebirth or the fact that (apparently) Captain America has been an agent of Hydra all these decades since his inception, but personally, I'm still stuck on this issue of Batman 52 (which frankly I'm still not entirely sure is Batman from the New 52, Batman #52 or simply Batman 52 (the indicia wasn't all that clear to me).

In any event, it really doesn't actually matter, because with the frequency with which comicbook series are rebooted, renumbered, and reimagined, none of that (unfortunately) really has no actual value — in fact we’re really surprised that comicbook companies don’t simply just call a spade a spade and call each and every comic published issue #1 — but, like peter David, I digress.

Leaving that all behind for the time being, we’d like to focus on the story, only there really doesn’t appear to be much of one in this issue, because what we have is yet another re-telling of the origin of Batman. The frequency of which comicbooks are rebooted and origins retold, it is no wonder why every time there is a film made about one of our four-color heroes that the filmmakers feel that they need to include an origin story.

Well, at any rate, the story involves a thief named Crypsis who has a hi-tech suit that allows him to phase through walls. turns out that Crypsis is looking to steal something of immense value belonging to Bruce Wayne, so Crypsis  breaks into some guy’s office to steal a key that is to the safety deposit box where this item is stored. So, Crypsis breaks into the guy’s place, steals the key, then breaks into the bank, and uses the key to open the box to steal the item; which then sets up the fight between him and Batman.

We really just have one question. If the suit allows Crypsis to phase through walls, then why did he need the key? Couldn’t he just have phased through the safety deposit box? We call this bad writing.

Want to know what else we call bad writing? This week on Arrow was the final showdown between Green Arrow (Stephen Amell) and (Neal McDonough) — no, we’re not going to give away any spoilers — during the confrontation, Green Arrow fires an arrow at Darhk winging him, and putting a nice scar on his cheek. Now while we don't quite understand how the greatest marksman in the world could miss a stationary target standing like 20' in front of him, but the story never addresses that standing like 20' behind Darhk, there is a tightly-packed mob of civilians and the arrow apparently didn’t hit any of them either.

Next Arrow’s superhero friends show up to help and Darhk calls upon his own hoard of minions and a great big brawl erupts, which is interesting because every other time this goon squad shows up they were touting automatic weapons, which makes you wonder why they didn’t bring their this time as well.

Again, bad writing. There’s more in this episode, but we’re already exhausted, so we’ll leave it at that for now.

More Superhero Hot Wheels cars from McDonald’s

OK, we totally checked out the Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice film last night and then today we (once again) headed over to McDonald’s to score some more superhero-themed Hot Wheels toys.

There are two more cars to this set and I hope to score them over the weekend.

Batman Vs Superman: General Mills Edition

OK, we just posted about how the new Batman/Superman film is appearing at McDonald’s with Hot Wheels superhero cars, well it is also appearing in General Mills Cereals with a quartet of pint mini comics. Here re the first two:

OK, now I have issue #3 as well!

Batman vs Superman @ McDonald’s

OK Kids, unless you’ve been living in a Spider hole for the last couple of cycles y’all already know about the big upcoming Batman/Superman slug-fest that is coming up soon enough (Thu, Mar 24). Well, in the meantime while you are still waiting for the film to drop, you can head over to McDonald’s to score some superhero-themed Hot Wheels toys.

The promotion apparently just started, so you should be able to score a full set. Here is what I grabbed up so far.

Here are the four cars I currently have are Flash, Superman, Green Lantern, and Batman

In addition to the Superhero Hot Wheels cars there are Barbies.

So, yeah, I picked up my toys this morning, and grabbed me a Shamrock Shake in the process.

NYC’s Big Apple Con Returns Saturday March 5, 2016

Well, it looks like this is going to be another great weekend time for comicbook fans in the NY Tri-state area as Mike Carbonaro (“Mike Carbo”) throws yet another of his legendary Big Apple Cons The comicbook show is the longest-running Pop Culture convention in New York City. As usual, the show is happening at Penn Plaza Pavilion (401 7^th Ave @ 33^rd Street — opposite Madison Square Garden). The show launches Saturday, March 5, 2016 and runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. This show is (as usual) an amazing confluence of comicbooks, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Horror, and Cosplay (costume play for the uninitiated — where fans dress up as their favorite heroes).

As with most of these types of multi-media, Pop Culture events, the New York Big Apple comicbook show brings together top-flight not only numerous fan-favorite comicbook creators along with media celebrities, but combines them with a metric tonne of vendors all of whom have gathered together in this one location in order to sell unique and interesting items of interest, along with panel discussions each targeting various aspects of comicbook, collectible, and multi-media culture. There will also be a costume contest, as well as many more additional attractions all gathered together in one place for their fans to enjoy. Carbonaro himself assures us that there will not only be hundreds of tables offering comics, toys, posters, videos, original art, t-shirts and other collectibles all available for purchase.

The show also includes a number of special panels and programming that will highlight the 50^th anniversary of the Batman TV show, the first appearance of Marvel’s Black Panther (who will be featured in the upcoming Captain America Civil War film), as well as the history of Charlton Comics, Star Wars, plus the Winter Indie Film Awards animated shorts, and NY Jedi.

In addition to the multitude of vendors that will be appearing at this year’s Big Apple Con, the event will also feature a full-to-the-brim Artists Alley of comicbook and trading card creators, including: Jim Steranko (Captain America, Nick Fury: Agent of SHIELD), Neal Adams (Batman, Green Lantern/Green Arrow), Mark Texeira (Wolverine, Ghost Rider), Ramona Fradon (Aquaman, Super Friends), Erik Larsen (Spider-Man, Savage Dragon), Rich Buckler (Fantastic Four, Deathlok), Reilly Brown (Deadpool, Daredevil), David Lloyd (V For Vendetta, Aces Weekly), Joseph Michael Linsner (Vampirella, Cry For Dawn), John Cebollero (Captain America, Batman), Sean Chen (Iron Man, Valiant Comics), and Brian Kong (Leaf Trading Cards, Cryptozoic Entertainment).  

In addition to all of the comic and collectible guests, headlining the show will be a number of media guests form films and television, including Lori Petty (Tank Girl, Orange is the New Black), Laurence Mason (Gotham, The Crow), Jason David Frank (Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, Sweet Valley High), Kathy Garver (Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, Family Affair), Karyn Parsons (Static Shock, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air), Johnny Brennan (Family Guy, Jerky Boys), Debbie Rochon (Tromeo & Juliet, Santa Claws), as well as Pro Wrestlers The Nasty Boys, Scott Steiner, and Ryan Shamrock from the WCW and WWE.

Still, perhaps one of the most anticipated highlights of the show will be Captain Zorikh’s Costume Contest which will once again bring together the most amazing costumers and Cosplayers for a fast-paced, exciting show of creative excellence and costume design. So, shake off the winter blues, and come on out as your favorite character in comics, sci-fi, fantasy, horror, cartoons, anime/manga, video games, or simply make up your own. There will be prizes awarded by audience applause to the event’s best costumes. So come on out and enjoy the day, Saturday, March 7^th from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Penn Plaza Pavilion; located at 401 7^th Ave. @ 33^rd St. in midtown Manhattan. 

And now, for something completely different...

Apparently these items were sent to Kevin Smith who spends part of his time on his AMC TV program, Comicbook Men. They are presented here without comment.

Listen to The Batman

Gotham Before Batman

here is a full two-minute trailer for the Batman prequel series, Gotham. We are told that it is the most anticipated new show in the running for next season, is below. 

How It Should have Ended

OK, this stuff is hilarious. Check it out.

Lego Avengers

Batman vs. Superman

Too, too funny!

Mount Rushmore: Geek style!

Let us eat cake!

I want someone to make this cake for me at my next birthday party!

The Lego Movie

I totally want to see this film!





Wicked cool!

Na na na nanananananananana BATFLECK!

Yeah, like that!

DC comics is moving...