It’s been almost eight years since DC Comics released its last Secret Files And Origins one-shot, but that changes with this week’s Batman: Secret Files #1, a new single-issue anthology featuring an outstanding line-up of creators telling short stories about the Dark Knight. The Batman creative team of Tom King, Mikel…

The Black Panther film came out just eight months ago, injecting the Marvel Cinematic Universe with fresh life and building on the success of Thor: Ragnarok to invigorate an increasingly overburdened franchise. And while Ta-Nehisi Coates has been guiding T’Challa though far more than the originally planned miniseries,…

Donny Cates is on fire at Marvel right now. Whether he’s writing Doctor Strange, Thanos, or Venom, he arrives on every title with ambitious, confident storytelling, bringing out the best in whatever character he’s writing. Next week is a big one for Cates with two debuts: Cosmic Ghost Rider #1, continuing the story of…

The Fantastic Four are slated to make their grand return after two and a half years away in August’s Fantastic Four #1, but Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, and the rest of the Future Foundation are still presumed dead by the rest of the Marvel Universe. Victor Von Doom and The Thing have resigned themselves to…

Mark Waid’s return to Captain America takes the name of Marvel’s Legacy initiative to heart, exploring the hero’s place in the present before jumping to the future to show how his legacy withstands the test of time. Steve Rogers previously joined a team of rebels to defeat a despot that had taken over the United…

The current run of Hawkeye has been outstanding. Writer Kelly Thompson, artists Leonardo Romero and Michael Walsh, colorist Jordie Bellaire, and letterer Joe Sabino created one of the most exciting, stylish comics on stands with Kate Bishop’s Los Angeles adventures, and the strength of this team suggested the book…

Aleš Kot has made their name writing politically charged comics, using genre fiction to explore domestic and international problems surrounding warfare, class conflict, and bigotry. Days Of Hate, Kot’s new series with artist Danijel Žeželj and colorist Jordie Bellaire, explores all three of these topics as it ventures…

Magical schools are a popular plot device in fantasy stories, allowing creators to combine the drama of a scholastic environment with the extraordinary elements of the mystical plane. DC’s Mystik U miniseries reimagines the publisher’s magical heroes and villains as the students and faculty of a secret university, and…

Every two weeks, Big Issues focuses on newly released comic books of significance. This week, they are Doctor Strange #384 and Thanos #15. Written by Donny Cates (God Country, Redneck) with art by Gabriel Hernandez Walta (Magneto, The Vision) and Geoff Shaw (Buzzkill, God Country) and colors by Jordie Bellaire (Magneto…

The key that unlocked the true potential of Tom King’s run on Batman was the romance between Batman/Bruce Wayne and Catwoman/Selina Kyle. Both their superhero and civilian identities are at play, and now that the characters are engaged, they have to seriously consider what it will mean to bring their separate lives…

Each week, Big Issues focuses on a newly released comic book of significance. This week, it’s Redlands #3. Written by Jordie Bellaire (Injection, Pretty Deadly) with art by Vanesa R. Del Rey (Scarlet Witch, The Empty Man) and Bellaire, this issue adds a strong erotic element to the horror series as it introduces a…

Marvel’s Doctor Strange And The Sorcerers Supreme has consistently experimented with visual storytelling, making it one of the most imaginative superhero comics of the past year. The main art team of penciler Javier Rodriguez, inker Álvaro López, and colorist Jordie Bellaire took advantage of the book’s magical…

Kate Bishop never had an especially great relationship with her father, and their dynamic has only gotten more strained since she became a superhero private investigator that is trying to take down villains like her dad. Marvel’s current Hawkeye series by writer Kelly Thompson, artist Leonardo Romero, and colorist…

The first year of Becky Cloonan’s exceptional The Punisher run took Frank Castle out of New York City for a thrilling, horrifying story that pitted The Punisher against an old military friend and his gang of mercenary drug dealer. And now that Frank’s mission is done, he’s headed back to his regular stomping grounds.…

Occupy Avengers has been Marvel’s strongest Avengers series this year, so it’s a pity that the book has struggled to gain an audience. Much of the blame can be placed on the title, which ties the book to a social movement that lost steam years ago. But it didn’t help that the book spun out of Civil War II, a messy…

Jimmy “Savage” Hardy wants to make a name for himself as a gang leader in Limerick City, Ireland, but he’ll have to overcome waves of opposition to get there. He’s made enemies of rival gangs, the cops, his best friend, and even his mother, and they all want to take him out before he becomes an even bigger problem.…

Doctor Strange And The Sorcerers Supreme has been flying under the radar, but it’s a damn good superhero comic. Doctor Strange is one of those characters that has a really cool concept but isn’t easy to make compelling, and writer Robbie Thompson has successfully crafted an intriguing story around Stephen Strange by…

Frank Castle is a killer, and that’s very scary. He may kill bad guys, but that doesn’t make him any less terrifying, and writer Becky Cloonan is deeply aware of this. Cloonan’s run on The Punisher has been an exceptional action-horror series that emphasizes Frank Castle’s cold, disturbed nature, and she’s not trying…