Marvel Masterworks: Doctor Strange volume 1

Jack Kirby and Stan Lee are notorious for creating the Marvel Universe, controversy aside. Together, this writer and artist team brought Earth’s Mightiest Heroes under one umbrella. They reinvented Thunder Gods, envisioned science adventurers, and put some of the weirdest and most recognizable superheroes (and villains!) on newsprint paper. Though each comic was a triumph, and every story they told a lasting memory, there was a third mind that solidified Marvel’s dominance over the superhero genre. His name was Steve Ditko. Best known for illustrating and co-creating Spider-Man, the most dynamic and greatest good guy to spawn from the Silver Age of comic books, Ditko also created the eminent Doctor Strange.

Top 10: My Favourite Thor Stories

This time around: the God of Thunder himself, Thor. The character isn’t in my top five but over the years he’s found himself in terrific stories that are great reads. And I have read many of them numerous times. Thor stories are usually spectacular and vast in scope– these are among the most spectacular comics stories ever done and among my all-time favourites. They all stand up to several re-readings. Without further ado, here we go…

Low Moon

The latest offering from the brilliant Norwegian cartoonist Jason is this hardcover book that contains his Low Moon story that was serialized in the New York Times Sunday Magazine “Funny Pages” section. It also contains four other short stories, each as entertaining as the last.

Jim Henson Co., Archaia Partner

Hollywood, CA (June 22, 2009) – The Jim Henson Company and Archaia have entered into a partnership that will publish comic books and graphic novels based on popular Henson titles as well as new co-branded original properties.

The multi-year partnership will draw from The Jim Henson Company’s extensive film and television library, including Fraggle Rock, The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, Mirrormask, The Storyteller and other titles. The agreement also allows The Jim Henson Company and Archaia to partner with talent in the comic book, television and film industries to create brand-new stories under a co-branded banner, building on the legacy of quality and creativity of The Jim Henson Company brand and strengthening Archaia’s relationships within the entertainment sector.

Top 10: My Favourite Legion of Super-Heroes Stories

I love epic stories, and the Legion with its large cast is perfectly suited for epic. The best stories are the ones where the threat is so dire it takes the entire Legion to handle. DC is forever tinkering with the concept, and is always throwing the baby out with the bathwater by twisting it like a pretzel to fit whatever vision the current powers that be have.

Top 10: Best Superhero Battles of All Time

This time around, the best superhero fights of all time. I got bogged down compiling this one, as there were so many to choose from. The breakthrough came when I determined what made a great fight. 1) The hero(s) overcome great obstacles and adversity to eventually triumph. 2) The fun in seeing a match-up between two similar characters or characters you’d like to see duke it out. 3) A well choreographed fight.

Dark Reign: Fantastic Four #4

Fantastic Four #569 will be rocking comic shops in mere minutes and the majority of of readers will be jumping ship, as Mark Millar and Bryan Hitch finish up their lauded run. I’m going on the record now that they shouldn’t. Dark Reign: Fantastic Four author, Jonathan Hickman, is set to take over Stan Lee’s and Jack Kirby’s baby, and it’s due to be…well, fantastic.

Expand your Comic Conscious!

When I first decided to re-enter the world of comic book reading and collecting, I started out just reading the titles and characters that I remember from the 80’s. I have always been a DC fan, so I started back with old favourites like Batman, Superman, Justice League of America and Green Lantern. However, I soon realized when I was looking at the racks and racks of books in my local store that I must be missing out on some other great reads. But where do you start? When is a good time to jump into a series? What are some great stories and trades? Who are some up and coming creative teams that I should be following or at least paying attention to? Instead of just trying different random issues, I chose to do a bit of research. And let me tell you, with these sources I have discovered some fantastic reads like Criminal, Scalped, B.P.R.D, The Boys, G.I. Joe (by IDW), and others that I know I likely wouldn’t have even tried! Here are some of the resources that I used to help me discover some great reading!

Batman and Robin #1

Grant Morrison had two major strikeouts with his Final Crisis and Batman: RIP. I’ll give him credit though; he ALMOST redeemed RIP with the last issue revealing that Bruce was in control of the situation the whole time. Lame ending though with the helicopter crash. Final Crisis was basically a WTF? I hated this storyline when it ran as “Prodigal”. The lead-in storyline, Battle for the Cowl, was a bit weak as well– it needed two more pages at the end to set up the new status quo for all the main characters (i.e. TIM!).

Absolution #0

Absolution follows in the footsteps of fellow creator-owned titles from Avatar. Much like Warren Ellis’ Gravel run and Garth Ennis’ over the top zombie series Crossed, Christos Gage takes a classic tale and fuses it with some violence and a dash or two of sophistication. Absolution boiled down is about a superhero serial killer. John Dusk has had enough and has decided to kill the criminals who need it the most, the villains who hid behind the law and continue to ruin innocent lives.