Planetary: The Fourth Man, Volume 2 by Warren Ellis & John Cassaday
Having just written a review of Volume 1 of Planetary by Warren Ellis, I didn’t think I’d feel any need to write a review of Volume 2; however, I just finished reading Planetary: The Fourth Man, Volume 2 again and feel that it certainly deserves a review of its own. Please read my first review to get a full picture of the complex nature of this profound yet quickly-paced comic book.
October 5th, 2012. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Warren Ellis | Comics | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Planetary: All Over the World and Other Stories, Volume 1 by Warren Ellis & John Cassaday
Planetary: All Over the World and Other Stories, Volume 1 by Warren Ellis and John Cassaday is for the reader who has a nostalgia for the space explorer- and Doc Savage-style pulp fiction along with a love of futuristic and science fiction settings. Three main characters make up the mysterious group called Planetary. Elijah Snow is about 100 years old, looks like a fit 40-50 year-old, can lower the temperature of a room by walking into it (hence his name),
September 7th, 2012. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Warren Ellis | Comics | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Identity Crisis by Brad Meltzer & Rags Morales
Over the years, the DC universe has undergone a series of crises — Crisis on Infinite Earths, Identity Crisis, Infinite Crisis, and Final Crisis. Out of these four, arguably the best written and most significant, and certainly my personal favorite, is Identity Crisis by Brad Meltzer and Rags Morales. It’s about the death of Sue Dibny,
August 31st, 2012. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Richard Stark’s Parker: The Hunter adapted and illustrated by Darwyn Cooke
The Hunter (Book One), starring Richard Stark’s Parker, by Darwyn Cooke is one of the best graphic adaptations of a novel you could ever get your hands on. The main character is as tough as they come. Women shudder and men cower when Parker passes — even if he’s in a good mood, which is rarely. But wait until he’s in a bad mood. Like in this book. Like when he wants what’s his. And somebody else has got it.
August 17th, 2012. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Comics | SFF Reviews | 8 comments |
Captain America, Vol 5.: “The Winter Soldier” (Issue 1-14) by Ed Brubaker
There has been a long-standing rule for writers of Captain America: his sidekick Bucky must stay dead because his death is central to understanding the character of Captain America in the present. The basic story is that Captain America takes a teenaged Bucky under his wing in his fight against Nazis in World War II. In an explosion that nearly kills Captain America, Bucky Barnes dies. When Captain America is found years later preserved in the ice and is brought back to life,
August 3rd, 2012. Brad Hawley´s rating: 5 | Ed Brubaker | Comics | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
by Dr. Brad K. Hawley
The latest superhero movie, The Avengers, is perhaps the best big-budget comic-book based film Hollywood has produced so far (however, there are certainly quieter, lower-budget films that offer solid competition for best adaptation of comic to screen: Ghost World by Daniel Clowes,
July 13th, 2012. Brad Hawley | Comics, Reading Comics | SFF Reviews | 5 comments |
by Dr. Brad K. Hawley
Now that we’ve discussed the reason why there can be multiple #1 issues for the same comic book title (different volumes, or series) and have seen how valuable Wikipedia is in finding current publication and reissue information on comic books, we need to consider reviews of trade collections and purchasing options.
July 6th, 2012. Brad Hawley | Comics, Reading Comics | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
by Dr. Brad K. Hawley
In this week’s column, I need to clarify some terms and explain purchasing options so that you can understand the multiple ways comics are issued and reissued.
The first terms to be understood are trade, arc, and the two definitions of volume.
June 29th, 2012. Brad Hawley | Comics, Reading Comics | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
by Dr. Brad K. Hawley
I would hate to continue writing my essays without recommending a few actual comic books! I would like to recommend two books that are fairly recent; they look back at the beginning of certain superheroes but with a contemporary sensibility, particularly Marvels by Kurt Busiek and Alex Ross,
June 22nd, 2012. Brad Hawley | Comics, Reading Comics | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
In my first four-part essay (see links above), I offered reasons for reading comics and suggested how one go about appreciating the art of comics by paying attention to what often goes unnoticed at first, much as one might not notice how important film angles or film editing is to the art of cinematography.
June 15th, 2012. Brad Hawley | Michael Chabon, Scott McCloud | Comics, Reading Comics | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
If the state of the arts puzzles you, and you wonder why so many novels are "retellings" and formulaic rework,…
I picked my copy up last week and I can't wait to finish my current book and get started! I…
Gentlemen, I concur! (Forgive me for jumping into your convo)
The cover is amazing. I love how the graphic novel (and the review!) hewed close to the theme of "good…
I've thought about picking that one up. The artwork looks perfect.