All About Comics Blog

Who first wrote the comic book?

That’s an interesting (if ungrammatical) question, but the only true answer is: it depends, on what you mean by “comic,” “book,” and “wrote.”  Candidates range from whomever did those cave paintings in the south of France, 10,000 years ago, to Rudolphe Toppfer (who published books using sequential pictures to tell a story in the first half of the 1800s) to Major Malcolm Wheeler, whose New Fun, published in 1935, is generally considered the first comic in the format we’re familiar with today — a floppy pamphlet, for 10 cents — which consisted mostly of original material, as opposed to the newspaper-strip reprints that had been appearing for some years before that.
The Overstreet Price Guide has articles on Victorian era, “Platinum” era (the early 1900s), and “Golden Age” (from 1929 on) comics, and they cover many other potential candidates, too; they’re worth reading, just to get a sense of the sprawling, complicated history of the medium we on this site are so fascinated with.

Amazing Spider-Man #568 — Writer: Dan Slott;  Pencils: John Romita, Jr.;  Inks: Klaus Jansom
Probably the best issue since the relaunch;  although it’ll cost you an extra buck, a lot of things seem to click into place. There’s 28 pages of Romita, Jr./Janson art (including a good three-page recap), action, new and old villains, subplots about Parker’s personal life that actually make sense: If you haven’t been reading this lately, and want to know how it’s going, this is a very good place to start..

Air #1 — Writer: G. Willow Wilson;  Artist: M. K. Perker
A good first issue — the first from Vertigo in a while — and it does all the things a good first issue is supposed to: Perker draws people who are quirky but attractive, and Willow has them doing interesting things like falling out of airplanes and kickfighting and having sex in hospital beds and getting involved in sprawling international conspiracies, and it all reads briskly and leaves you wanting more.

Final Crisis: Legion of 3 Worlds #1 (of 5) –  Writer: Geoff Johns;  Pencils: George Perez;  Inker: Scott Koblish
Good old-fashioned fun, and a lot more like the last two Crises than the “real” one is (not that there’s anything wrong with Morrison’s stubbornly anti-blockbuster approach…).  Johns knows his continuity, and how to deliver the kind of straight-ahead crossover adventure many fans want, with its Superboy-Prime, its hundreds of Perez-drawn characters, and its casual intermingling of multiple alternate Earths and futures.

Madman Atomic Comics #10 — Writer/Artist: Michael Allred
Yet another good jump-on issue, as Allred tones back on the formal experimentation, and just shows off his characters, their relationships and their world. It’s a well-drawn and fascinating place, full of weird and interesting people, and new readers should be intrigued enough by it to want to come back for more.

The Brave and the Bold #16 — Writer: Mark Waid;  Art: Scott Kolins
A Superman-Catwoman teamup. Selina’s vamping of the Big Guy, his straightlaced (but not naive) reactions, and her attempts to disguise him are all a hoot, and it’s a Read the rest of this entry »

1985 #4 (of 6) — Writer: Mark Millar;  Art: Tommy Lee Edwards
Wasn’t the original idea for this series that it would be a fumetti (that is, that it would be told through actual photographs)? That might have been cool, especially if it had switched to art during sequences in the Marvel universe, in sort of a Wizard of Oz changeup.  As is, Edwards isn’t quite able to handle the difference between “photorealistic” Earth and Marvel-Earth; I think the last panel here is supposed to be shocking, but the change in style isn’t extreme enough to have any impact (it’s all drawing, after all).  Absent much buzz from the art, we’re left to examine the plot, and it can’t really hold up to scrutiny — it cheats by breaking the ground rules for “our” world, and bringing in a homegrown mutant, and then compounds the problem by introducing him in a clumsy flashback. This is going to need a killer last two issues to have any hope of succeeding as an effective story.

Foolkiller: White Angel #2 (of 5) — Writer: Gregg Hurwitz;  Artist: Paul Azaceta
Pointless, stupid violence, with bad guys who have to be cartoonishly, simplistically evil to justify the “hero’s” bloody treatment of them.  When Steve Gerber, this character’s creator, wrote about him, there was at last an intellectual attempt to examine the corrupting effects of vigilantism, but there’s no hint of that here — just knife edges and spurting arteries. Having the Punisher guest-star is a bad move, too, because it highlights how much of a cheap knockoff of him this version of the protagonist is. Oh, and the art’s the typical hard-to-follow murk that seems to be required of grungy stories like this.

Punisher #61 — Writer: Gregg Hurwitz;  Artist: Laurence Campbell
… and here Hurwitz is again, as the new writer on the Punisher himself, offering a torn-from-the-headlines tale about thugs terrorizing a small Mexican border town.  It’s not horrible — the art’s (marginally) clearer, and a straight-ahead “outsider comes to town and kicks ass” story makes sense for a new guy’s first arc — but as with Foolkiller there’s no subtext: it’s all absurdly-vicious bad guys, who do evil things solely to justify the good guy’s apocalyptic response. Oh, and the last line of dialogue is clunky and out of character. That rustling sound you hear is thousands of Ennis fans closing the book, replacing it on the stands, and abandoning this title.

Moon Knight #21 — Writer: Mark Benson;  Layouts: Javier Saltares;  Artist: Mark Texiera
Worth noting because the cover’s such a huge ripoff: it’s dominated by a looming Arthur Suydam Venom, who Read the rest of this entry »

Hey Professor Phil!
My name is Stephanie and i reallllllllyyy want to learn more about comic
books and super heroes. Do you have any ideas of how i can start learning
more about them?!

Well, Steph, if you’re interested in current superhero comics, The Professor’s advice is to go to a well-stocked comic book store, go down the new-comic racks, and pull an issue or two of anything that looks interesting to you. If you buy 30-35 books, the bad news is that it’ll cost you a hundred bucks, and you’ll find that maybe 75-80% of it is childish, sexist, stupid or all three, but that’ll leave 20-25% that isn’t, and then you can start reading more of those, and spend your money much more efficiently. If you find an artist, writer, character, etc. that you like, the next move is to go look through the trade paperback/graphic novel selections, and see what earlier works by those creators, or about those characters, are available. (A cheaper alternative would be to go to your local library, and check out their graphic novel selection, but the disadvantages would be that you wouldn’t necessarily get the most current stuff, or that the variety of stories available wouldn’t be that great). The same procedure would work with non-superhero books, too; the percentage of childish/sexist/stupid books would probably be lower, although the percentage of boring/incomprehensible ones would go up a bit.
There are also a lot of magazines (like Wizard and Comics Buyer’s Guide), websites, etc. devoted to talking about new comics, but The Professor thinks that it’s better not to listen to any of them at first — go explore, see what you like, form opinions based on your own tastes, and then see what everybody else thinks about them. It’s just like music: everybody’s attracted to different stuff (what your friends hate might sound great to you), and it’s always the new or obscure groups that you find by yourself that give you the most pleasure.

Hello everyone! We’ve purchased many great collections over the course of 27 years in the comic book business, but some acquisitions stand out among the rest. The one I’m about to tell you about is one of them. The grand-daughter of Golden Age writer WILLIAM WOOLFOLK has consigned with us a complete two-year run of Batman from 1949 through 1951. Originally working in the studio of Will Eisner penning scripts for THE SPIRIT and BLACKHAWK in the early 1940’s, Mr. Woolfolk also wrote scripts for Fawcett’s CAPTAIN MARVEL, Timely’s CAPT. AMERICA, and DC’s SUPERMAN and BATMAN! (Just for a bit of comic book trivia, Woolfolk also coined the phrase, “Holy Moley” for Captain Marvel!)
This twelve issue two year run, originally bound and stitched in hardback book format in the DC offices of the 1940’s, have been individually removed and are now featured in one of AABC’s display cases! Amanda Woolfolk, granddaughter of William, has personally written a letter authenticating that these books were her famous grandfather’s, and said letter is also on display with these magnificent historical books! Because of the ages-old stitching process, this twelve issue run is graded as “Fair”, and priced accordingly. The spine of most of the books leave the books in said condition, but the overall look of each comic is just beautiful….gorgeous color, flat and supple with white page interiors! It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity to own a piece of Golden Age DC history! Come in a check it out!
Alan Giroux

Hellboy: The Crooked Man #2 (of 3) — Story: Mike Mignola;  Art: Richard Corben
That last panel’s absolutely chilling;  the comic, even just two-thirds through the run, is a candidate for story of the year — and you don’t have to know a thing about the characters going in to be able to follow it easily, either.

Action #868 — Writer: Geoff Johns;  Penciller: Gary Frank;  Inker: Jon Sibal
Another book with a chilling last panel; Frank’s been getting better and better on this title, and now it’s just a pleasure to look at.  The characters in this episode spend a little too much time attacking one another ineffectually (Superman punches Brainiac, who shrugs it off and punches Supermen, who…), but otherwise Johns moves them around well, and he has an enthusiasm that must be infectious; the store’s selling more copies of Action now than we were a few months ago, and it has to be because it’s finally got a worthy, dependable creative team..

The Punisher #60 — Writer: Garth Ennis;  Artist: Goran Parlov
Final chapter of Ennis’s run, and it’s more of a curtain call; you have to go back to that last Barracuda story to find the emotional conclusion. Nice elegy, but if you’ve never read any of it, don’t start here — Ennis produced at least 10 or 15 good arcs during his tenure, and trade or back-issue collections of them are the way to go.

Secret Invasion #5 ( of 8 ) — Writer: Brian Michael Bendis;  Penciler: Leonil Francis Yu;  Inker: Mark Morales
The low point having been reached, the heroes begin to turn it around. Very well put together, with just enough rattlely places to make it a good ride. I suspect this will read better as a trade, too, with all the chapters arranged chronologically and all the information available at once.

Batman #679 — Writer: Grant Morrison;  Penciller: Tony Daniel;  Inker: Sandu Florea
Rounding into shape — this is the first issue that feels confident, like it knows where it’s going, instead of Read the rest of this entry »

Mercy Sparx #0 — Writer: Josh Blaylock; Art: Matt Merhoff
Lord help us, we’re seeing the return of the early-’90s Bad Girl craze, with cute Gothy demon chicks who are bad because, you know, they have red skin and horns and, like, smoke cigarettes and have tattoos. Such characters stir the loins of your average comic book geek, who figures he could never get their real-life equivalents to look at him, and so he’s ready to forgive the cookie-cutter plots and pedestrian art (for a time, anyway) in favor of the mild fantasy jolt they provide. Points here for making the Earth incarnation of the character look like Gwen Stacy (surely the anti-Goth), but otherwise this is a pointless revival of a trend that was pointless the first time around, too.

Final Crisis: Revelations #1 (of 5) — Writer: Greg Rucka; Pencils: Philip Tan; Inks: Jonathan Glapion, Jeff de los Santos and Walden Wong
This features the intersecting stories of the Spectre, who’s going around snuffing out actual villains, for once (literally, in Dr. Light’s case, although who thinks that death is going to last?), and the new Rene Montoya Question. Interesting enough — and the Question is Rucka’s baby, so fans of that character will want to read this — but the Spectre’s power level is so high that it’s hard to get very invested in him (even good writers like Rucka have to work overtime to figure out ways to rein him in; otherwise, he’d just snap his ghostly fingers and fix everything), and Tan’s art is too dark and murky to follow easily, so despite some nice bits I’m going to give this a pass.

The Last Defenders #6 (of 6) — Writer: Joe Casey; Penciler: Jim Muniz; Inker: Cam Smith
There’s a big “Who cares?” problem here, because instead of the original idea of the Defenders (get Marvel’s heaviest hitters — the Hulk, Sub-Mariner, Dr. Strange and the Silver Surfer — together), this incarnation features the She-Hulk, the Warlord Krang, Damien Hellstrom and a “new,” ex-Shield-agent Nightcrawler, with a behind-the-scenes Kyle Richmond bankrolling things. Whee… but, I repeat, who cares? A 12-year-old who picked this up wouldn’t recognize any of the good guys, and would be put off by the square-jawed, ugly faces and the lack of any cool action sequences. Me, too — it’s like the creators deliberately crafted a title with no good reason for anyone to buy it. In today’s crowded market, that doesn’t seem like the best marketing strategy….

Captain Britain and MI13 #4 — Writer: Paul Cornell; Penciler: Leonard Kirk; Inker: Jesse Delperdang
End of the first arc, with the Skrulls in England routed (at a high price), and the new, Excalibur-like team together. If you care about Captain Britain, England or the Marvel characters who live there, here you go; for me, though, in spite of some nice writing it’s a lot like The Last Defenders: there’s just no incentive to pick up this book.

Secret Invasion: Thor #1 (of 3) — Writer: Matt Fraction; Penciler: Doug Braithwaite
Fraction’s staking out a claim to be the next Thor writer, between this and Read the rest of this entry »

I have a copy of Lots ‘O’ Fun Comics that grades around VG-. It features
“Crime Does Not Pay”. I have no idea how much it’s worth. It isn’t listed in
the Guide or on comicspriceguide.com Any help would be great. Thank you.

Well, when a comic’s not in Overstreet, one possibility is that it might be a foreign edition (like Canadian or British).  Check the bottom of the inside front cover or first page for the indicia, which should have the “official” title of the book, the issue number, date, and information about the publisher. If the listed publisher’s address is somewhere in England or Canada, it’s probably a foreign reprint, which might account for its different title (the ads in the book are sometimes a clue to this, too). Foreign editions often go for about half of their American counterparts, although that can vary quite a bit.
While you’re looking at the title, also make sure it’s what you thought it was;  if it just says “Crime Does Not Pay,”  instead of “Lots ‘O Fun,” then there’s your problem, and you can solve it by looking up the actual listed title in Overstreet instead.
Other than that, The Professor doesn’t know, although looking at the actual comic (or a scan of the cover and the indicia) might suggest some other possibilities….

Crossed #0 — Writer: Garth Ennis; Art: Jacen Burrows
Avatar’s an interesting publisher — they get a lot of series from writers like Ennis and Warren Ellis, often quick-moving, B-movie-type tales, not as polished as the stuff they write for the mainstream publishers, but guilty pleasures nonetheless. This one’s no different; it’s a zombie riff, with a plague turning people into psychopaths and a small group of survivors that we follow as they struggle to fight off the murderous hordes, etc. Burrows is good at delivering the violence (a typical requirement for Ennis artists), and his gleeful, infected bad guys are just right. For a buck, this 11-page prologue is hard to pass up.

Special Forces #3 — Writer/Artist: Kyle Baker
This is apparently an ongoing series, since Baker talks in the editorial page about his plans for issues #5 and up. OK by me; the tone of this comic tends to careen around, not sure if it’s dramatic, satiric, or somewhere in between (seriously: the kick-ass female lead is meant to be over-the-top but reality-based, and yet there’s a psychic kid who shows up completely out of left field; I suppose any story that offers an autistic special-forces GI running a motorcycle up a statue onto a helicopter can probably stretch to accommodate him). On the other hand, his Eisneresque art, breakneck action and indefatigable protagonist/narrator make the book hard to refuse (and I’d bet that it would be popular with actual GIs in Iraq, too, although not so much with their superiors).

Final Crisis #3 (of 7) — Writer: Grant Morrison; Art: J. G. Jones
It’s funny how different this is from the slam-bang all-out war going on over in Marvel’s Secret Invasion — it’s much quieter, and moodier, with its small, precise scenes and its jumps between the major players like Wonder Woman and Green Lantern (who are faring badly) and Morrison’s own Seven Soldiers characters like Frankenstein and Mr. Miracle (who, while they aren’t doing that much, at least aren’t actually losing… yet). This series, right now, is fighting through some problems — inflated expectations, for one, while the Darkseid influence, and the last-scene jump into the future, recall one of Morrison’s earlier, similar JLA stories too closely — but I’m still optimistic that it’ll form a satisfying narrative, and a lasting stand-alone story, by the time it’s all done.

The Sword #10 — Writers/Artists: Jonathan and Joshua Luna
I’ve been on the fence about this title, but this issue’s full-length battle, and its full-page shift-the-perspective cliffhanger, have talked me into it. Through Ultra and Girls to this, the Luna brothers have honed their storytelling skills, and now they’re very good at Read the rest of this entry »

Wolverine: Killing Made Simple #1 (of 1) — (First story):  Writer: Christopher Yost;  Penciler: Koi Turnbull;  Inker: Sal Regla   (Second story):  Writer: Todd Dezago;  Pencils: Steve Kurth;  Inks: Serge LaPointe
One of those inexplicable, occasional one-shots Marvel does with this character; here, it seems to be a couple of inventory stories they had lying around, the first involving Trance (formerly of the New X-Men) and Nanny, certainly one of the most annoying X-Family villains in the repertoire. The second story is a Wolvy-against-an-alien-virus deal, involving an Antarctic research station. None of it’s horrible, but it’s all mediocre and predictable enough that readers who aren’t Wolverine completists should spend their $4 elsewhere.

Hawkman Special — Writer/Penciller: Jim Starlin;  Artist: Al Milgrom
The good news is it’s Starlin; the bad news is it’s yet another fix-Hawkman’s-continuity story, this one involving a standard Starlin cosmic deity type who informs him that everything he’s been told about his origins is wrong, and then attempts to set up a less-cluttered new one where he’s one of a group called, God help us, “The Aberrant Six” (no, we don’t find out who the other five are, or what makes them “aberrant”; that might involve action, and this book is too enamored with characters talking to want any of that). It doesn’t help that he’s also given a glimpse of his grim future, involving “chaos… pain… death,” that’s too reminiscent of Starlin’s ’70s Warlock stories. Verdict? This reboot doesn’t show much more potential than any of the dozan or so others that Hawkman’s been given over the last few decades.

Storming Paradise #2 — Writer: Chuck Dixon;  Pencils: Butch Guice;  Inks: Eduardo Barreto
The first issue of this alternate-future military mini-series, wherein the US didn’t develop the atomic bomb during WW II, and so now is forced to invade and conquer Japan the old-fashioned way, was at least mildly interesting (at least the part where Oppenheimer, et. al., got themselves all blown up real good), but already we’ve devolved into a standard Saving Private Ryan-style D-Day invasion, only this one involving the Pacific theater. There’s the standard blood and guts, the standard American Japanese soldier facing the standard redneck-soldier prejudice, the standard Japanese kamikaze pilots, etc., etc. Except for readers who’ve been pining for old-fashioned war stories, there’s just not much to see here, despite all the flying bullets and piled-up corpses.

Patsy Walker: Hellcat #2 (of 5) — Writer: Kathryn Immonen;  Artist: David Lafuente
Like the first issue, this has some gorgeous, manga-y art (oddly, it makes Patsy look better without the mask and costume than with it), and it should get some points for Read the rest of this entry »