Comic Books

Comic books have developed from throwaway stories into an American icon. Over the years, they went from simple pulp fiction to campy silliness and finally into legitimate literature. Groundbreaking works such as Watchmen showed the medium’s versatility and demonstrated to the world that comics can be viewed through the same critical lens as film and prose.

I love comic books for many, many reasons. While I enjoy stand-alone stories like Watchmen and Y: The Last Man, I particularly love the mainstream superheroes that have become American icons, such as my personal favorite, the Incredible Hulk. This section features my thoughts on both comic books and their related media, combining nerdy rants with history lessons on some of America’s most enduring characters.

• Comic Reviews: Check out my reviews over at The Complete Marvel Reading Order.
• Crowning Moments of Awesome:A section providing a list of some of the most awesome moments ever seen in comics.
  • The Incredible Hulk
  • Crowning Deaths of Awesome and Sadness
  • Wonder Woman
  • Crowning Moments of Fatherhood
  • The DCAU
• Equal Opportunity Suffering: A discussion of Women in Refrigeratorsand the treatment of women in comics.
  • Part One
  • Part Two
• Let’s Read: As the title says, let’s read comics.
  • Planet Hulk: Exile, part one (The Incredible Hulk #92)
  • Planet Hulk: Exile, part two (The Incredible Hulk #93)
  • Planet Hulk: Exile, part three (The Incredible Hulk #94)
  • Planet Hulk: Exile, part four (The Incredible Hulk #95)
  • Planet Hulk: Banner War (Giant-Size Hulk)
  • Planet Hulk: Anarchy, part one (The Incredible Hulk #96)
  • Planet Hulk: Anarchy, part two (The Incredible Hulk #97)
  • Planet Hulk: Anarchy, part three (The Incredible Hulk #98)
  • Planet Hulk: Anarchy, part four (The Incredible Hulk #99)
  • Planet Hulk: Allegiance, part one and Planet Cho (The Incredible Hulk #100)
  • Planet Hulk: Allegiance, part two (The Incredible Hulk #101)
  • Planet Hulk: Allegiance, part three (The Incredible Hulk #102)
  • Planet Hulk: Allegiance, part four (The Incredible Hulk #103)
• Superhero Makeovers: Superheroes have changed a lot over the decades, and this group of rants focus on the big status quo shifts, be they new looks for iconic heroes or a lasting shift in direction.
  • Superman
  • Batman
  • Spider-Man
  • Wonder Woman, part one
  • Wonder Woman, part two
  • Hal Jordan, the Green Lantern
  • Roy Harper
  • The Incredible Hulk, part one
  • The Incredible Hulk, part two
  • The Incredible Hulk, part three
  • The Incredible Hulk, part four
  • Renee Montoya
• Those Blasted Superfriends: A look at some of the episodes of the old Superfriendscartoons, where nostalgia repeatedly punches me in the balls.
  • Sirena, Empress of Evil
  • Evil is as Evil Does
  • Rest in Peace, Superfriends
• Batman Week: Inspired by The Dark Knight Rises, I take a week to discuss the intricacies of The Dark Knight Trilogy.
  • The Importance of a Symbol
  • Elemental Forces
  • Alfred
  • The Rogues Gallery
  • The Why of Batman
• Ang Lee’s Hulk: What I think about the 2003 comic book film.
• The Animated Superhero: Live-action films are great, but animation is where superheroes can really come to life.
• Batgirl sets Women’s Rights Back 100 Years: A review of Detective Comics #371. Look at those gams!
• I’m Sorry, Superman: My apology for the years of ribbing I’ve given the Man of Steel.
• The Man Who Laughs: The history of the Joker.
• 4 Reasons I Don’t Get the X-Men: Can somebody please explain them to me?
• 7 Things I Learned from Silver Age Green Lantern: Hal Jordan is my kind of hero.
• Sexy Women in Comics: Yes, I apparently have a gripe about the number of scantily-clad superheroines in modern comics.
• Thou Shalt Not Kill: A look at the sanctity of life in superhero comics.
• The Trials of Ant-Man: Is Ant-Man the worst superhero ever?
• The Tyranny of Good: A word about Marvel Comics’ Illuminati and the many times they almost destroyed the world.
• Watching the Watchmen: Surprised by the graphic nature of the Watchmen movie? Then you’re a dumbass.
• When Superman Defeated the KKK: Seriously, that really happened.
• Why I Love Comics: Rage Kitty helps define my adoration for the medium.
• The Why of Superman: Why the Man of Steel does what he does.