Few comic-book artists understand the power of darkness like Nate Powell. Darkness hides potential horrors, but it can also create intimacy, bringing people together by keeping the rest of the world out of sight. Powell fluctuates between these two facets of darkness in his new graphic novel, Come Again (Top Shelf),…
Harley Quinn just returned to Earth after an intergalactic adventure that threw her head-first into the world of the New Gods, but she might not have a home to go back to if a greedy Coney Island real estate developer gets his way. Writer Sam Humphries began his run on Harley Quinn with a three-issue story that was…
The year was 1993, and superhero comics were in the middle of a period of over-the-top storytelling that took the grim and gritty ideas of Watchmen and The Dark Knight Returns and hooked them up to an IV drip of Mountain Dew and steroids. At the same time, the world of alternative comics was making major strides in…
Doctor Strange has lost his connection to Earth’s magic, but lucky for him, there’s an entire universe out there brimming with mystical power waiting for him to tap into it. This concept has allowed writer Mark Waid and artist Jesús Saiz to take Stephen Strange outside of his comfort zone by sending him to space,…
Sarah Graley’s Kim Reaper made a delightful debut last year, introducing readers to a college student who pays the bills by working as a part-time grim reaper. The series blends romantic comedy and supernatural horror into a joyful, enthusiastic exploration of courtship in wild circumstances, with a bright,…
Selina Kyle can’t sleep.
Luck tends to be on Neena “Domino” Thurman’s side, but in the current Domino ongoing series, fortune isn’t as reliable as usual for the superhero assassin. Writer Gail Simone has thrown a wrench into Neena’s mutant power to give herself good luck, forcing her to find new solutions to problems that would usually be…
Gareth Evans’ The Raid films are two shining stars of modern action cinema, following a special forces cop in Jakarta, Rama, as he beats down wave after wave of attackers in increasingly elaborate action sequences. The movies don’t spend too much time delving into the complexities of the lead character, instead…
Deathstroke and Batman have always had a contentious relationship. But the current arc of Deathstroke has taken that animosity to new heights, as the two men are thrown into a plot that puts the paternity of Batman’s son in question. Could Slade Wilson really be Damian Wayne’s father? It’s doubtful, but writer…
Reviving a dormant superhero property is a tricky endeavor, especially when creators attempt a back-to-basics approach that tries to recapture the magic of a bygone era. To pull this off successfully, the team needs to understand the qualities that made the original concept so engaging, but also account for the ways…
The Hulk is terrifying. He’s Mr. Hyde by way of the atomic bomb: When Bruce Banner transforms into his raging green alter ego, he unleashes a monster that can level a town in minutes. Writer Al Ewing embraces the horror aspects of this character in the pages of The Immortal Hulk, kicking off the new series with three…
DC Comics has a huge roster of compelling villains who can carry stories without a superhero anchor, and this week’s Beach Blanket Bad Guys Summer Special gives 10 evildoers the spotlight in short stories by a fantastic line-up of creators. Lee Bermejo and Francesco Mattina pit the Joker versus Bizarro. Paul Dini and…
Jamie Madrox just came back from the dead, and he’s already managed to screw over the entire future. The main Jamie died in the Death Of X miniseries, but this is a character whose entire schtick is creating multiples of himself, so of course one of his duplicates survived. That duplicate has a half-life, though, and…
In the pages of Euthanauts, death is something to be celebrated rather than mourned. This new series from IDW’s Black Crown imprint has writer Tini Howard, artist Nick Robles, and letterer Aditya Bidikar venturing into the vast frontier of death, a territory ripe for exploration by those brave enough to leave their…
It’s been almost a decade since writer Gerard Way and artist Gabriel Bá told a new story about the dysfunctional superhero family of The Umbrella Academy, and after years of teases, the series finally returns in October with The Umbrella Academy: Hotel Oblivion. Conveniently timed to coincide with the debut of…
If you’ve kept up with the twisty conspiracy series Mr. Robot, then you know these past two seasons gave us some flashbacks to how troubled hacker Elliot first started toying with the idea of his revolution. But now, there’s a chance for a much more in-depth look at the birth of fsociety—it just won’t be on your…
(This preview reveals plot points for Batman #50.)
Every two weeks, Big Issues focuses on newly released comic books of significance. This week, they are Batman #50, written by Tom King (Mister Miracle, The Vision) with art by Mikel Janin (Grayson, Justice League Dark), colorist June Chung (Wolverine, Batman/Superman), and various guest artists, and X-Men Gold #30,…
Brian Michael Bendis’ excellent The Man Of Steel miniseries set up a lot of plot lines for his runs on Action Comics and Superman, establishing that the writer has big plans for the world’s most iconic superhero. Those ongoing adventures begin in this week’s Superman #1, partnering Bendis with his collaborators from …
Wolverine’s body is gone, and heroes around the Marvel Universe have teamed up to find it in the Hunt For Wolverine miniseries. The best of these four books is Hunt For Wolverine: The Adamantium Agenda, written by Tom Taylor with art by R.B. Silva, inker Adriano Di Benedetto, and colorist Guru-eFX. Tom Taylor’s run on …
