I remember watching a documentary on the history of comics in which the host interviewed Denny O’Neil about “A Death in the Family,” the Batman story arch in which Joker kills Robin. O’Neil talked about a time that he had been asked by someone what he did. To his surprise, after he happily told the man that he was the editor of Batman, instead of engaging in a pleasant conversation about his job the man started yelling, in a rather upset tone, to those around him that O’Neil was the man who had killed Robin. It was this event that caused O’Neil to realize that writing comics was not just a profession. What Denny O’Neil had failed to realize was that not only was he a comic writer (editor at the time) but that he was also the caretaker of these beloved characters. Continue reading
Tag Archives: comic books
Weekend Review: Unit 44
From time to time, I come across an independent or small press comic that really blows my mind with humor and art. Locke and Key was one such experience. Unit 44 is another.
Unit 44 (Alterna Comics)
Written by Wes Locher
Illustrated by Eduardo Jiménez
The artistic style of this book is very bright, simple, and playful, which really matches the silly story and humor. Rather than being realistic the characters are caricatures, and drawn two dimensionally, in a style reminiscent of Archer. The color palette continues the cartoon theme, using lots of bright primary colors. Even panels in which the characters are in dark, federal offices or interrogation rooms, the grays and blacks are broken by bright hair colors or even surprising uses of blue and violet. Continue reading
Filed under Comic Reviews, Comics, Saturday Reviews
Relaunch: The New Norm
I am in no way, shape, or form an expert on the inner workings of the comic book industry. While a loyal fan, I am not privy to what goes on “behind the cover” so to speak. Having said this, I am really starting to wonder what exactly is going on at the Big Two when it comes to the nearly continuous reboots and rebranding that have occurred in my relatively short tenure as a comic fan. Continue reading
Filed under Andrew Hales, Comics
What to Do With Old Comic Books
While there are many out there who love comics just for the story and have no desire to hoard boxes upon boxes of bagged and boarded floppies, I am not one of them. I have a thing for collecting. (It used to be cards, now it’s comics.) Even so, I made the decision to go all digital about six months ago. The simple fact is that I was slowly being buried alive by my collection. As it stands, I have somewhere between five and six thousand comics, and that is, regrettably, too many. So the question becomes, what to do with all of those books? Continue reading
Filed under Andrew Hales, Geek Life