COMIC BOOKS

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Written by Sarah Boslaugh Friday, 10 February 2012 00:00

Los Bros Hernandez offer up a sci-fi epic overflowing with ideas and artwork soaked in retro cool.

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Written by Erin Jameson Monday, 06 February 2012 00:00

Lovefool looks at a very different kind of love story, the Riverdale-gone-wrong noir murder story Criminal: The Last of the Innocent.

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Written by Bryan A. Hollerbach Monday, 06 February 2012 00:00

This week’s column celebrates a brace of titles starring femme fatalities as disparate as Max and Caroline from a certain ribald CBS sitcom: iZombie #22 and Rachel Rising #5. Also lauded, just a wee, teensy bit, from among the latest select quintet of new floppies: Winter Soldier #1.

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Written by Sarah Boslaugh Friday, 03 February 2012 06:46

Five artists team up to tell a chaotic but fun modern noir story.

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Written by Bryan A. Hollerbach Thursday, 02 February 2012 19:09

Five-by-five, fanboys and fangirls! After airing multifarious objections to such commonplace end-of-the-year fun, our crotchety columnist succumbs to the temptation of naming his choices for the finest comic books of 2011. As defined. With provisos. Lots and lots of provisos.

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Written by Bryan A. Hollerbach Monday, 30 January 2012 00:00

Writer Jonathan Hickman earns a tandem attaboy this week for the carefully crafted cosmic craziness of his work on Fantastic Four #602 and FF #14. Also analyzed herein: American Vampire #23, King Conan: The Phoenix on the Sword #1, and Kirby: Genesis #5.

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Written by Erin Jameson Monday, 30 January 2012 00:00

Pining for St. Louis, Lovefool revisits her old hometown in the pages of Tim Fish’s U. City Loop romance, Strugglers.

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Written by Sarah Boslaugh Friday, 27 January 2012 00:00

Osamu "God of Manga" Tezuka offers up another volume of medical morality tales starring the infamous outlaw surgeon Black Jack.

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Written by Elizabeth Schweitzer Friday, 27 January 2012 00:00

Picking up exactly where the acclaimed Nickelodeon television series left off, new Fire Lord Zuko and Avatar Aang struggle to enforce the peace they’ve worked so hard to achieve. But tensions are rising everywhere as a fire-nation colony within the Earth Kingdom forces our young heroes into the most terrifying arena of all: politics.

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Written by Sarah Boslaugh Friday, 27 January 2012 00:00

David Lapham and Leonardo Manco run standard crime tropes through the ringer in this made-for-the-movies comic series.

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Written by Bryan A. Hollerbach Monday, 23 January 2012 00:00

For a second consecutive column—and the fifth time since mid-December!—a certain writer nabs accolades for the (ahem) Mark-ed superiority of his work, this week on Daredevil #8. Also reviewed: Conan: Road of Kings #12, Fables #113, Lord of the Jungle #1, and Xenoholics #4.

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Written by Sarah Boslaugh Friday, 20 January 2012 00:00

The art is both the greatest glory and the biggest downfall of this years-in-the-making graphic novel from Craig Thompson (Blankets, Goodbye Chunky Rice).

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Written by Elizabeth Schweitzer Friday, 20 January 2012 00:00

Dark Horse presents a stunning compilation of art from renowned fantasy artist and Eisner- winner Charles Vess, an illustrator perhaps best known for his collaborations with Neil Gaiman (Sandman, Stardust).

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Written by Erin Jameson Monday, 16 January 2012 20:10

A pair of less than stellar shopping trips in Omaha have our Lovefool pining for the warm embrace of St. Louis' finest comic shops.

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Written by Bryan A. Hollerbach Monday, 16 January 2012 00:00

Almost inconceivably, our cranky columnist here lauds the first half of a crossover: The Amazing Spider-Man #677. Also praised, in a suspiciously benevolent week: Lobster Johnson: The Burning Hand #1, Punisher MAX #21, Reed Gunther #7, and X-Men Legacy #260.1.

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Written by Sarah Boslaugh Friday, 13 January 2012 00:00

Lewis Trondheim plays up his own foibles to masterful comedic effect in this latest volume of diary comics.

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Written by Erin Jameson Monday, 09 January 2012 21:31

Lovefool sez if you’re gonna be crazy, you’ve gotta own that craziness, just like the kissin’ cousins of Ken Saito’s The Name of the Flower.

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Written by Bryan A. Hollerbach Monday, 09 January 2012 00:00

This week’s column targets a Jack “King” Kirby revival dismal enough that it verges on posthumous regicide: O.M.A.C. #5. From among four other floppies, our ever-gentle columnist likewise likens The Lone Ranger #1 to something its protagonist’s horse might drop on the trail.

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Written by PLAYBACK:stl Thursday, 05 January 2012 19:39

One of Robert E. Howard's best known Cimmerian tales is adapted by the superstar team of Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan in Conan the Barbarian #1.

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Written by PLAYBACK:stl Thursday, 05 January 2012 19:28

Bucky Barnes finds out he wasn't the only Soviet super soldier as he takes the lead in Winter Soldier #1.

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Written by PLAYBACK:stl Thursday, 05 January 2012 19:17

Captain America and Hawkeye enter a secret nation run by the Masters of Evil in Secret Avengers #21.1, plus the FF, the Inhumans, and Johnny's Light Brigade battle the Kree Supreme Intelligence in Fantastic Four #602.

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Written by PLAYBACK:stl Thursday, 05 January 2012 19:08

Deathlok joins the faculty at the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning in Wolverine & the X-Men #4.

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Written by PLAYBACK:stl Thursday, 05 January 2012 18:57

It's an all new brand of web-slinging action as Kaine takes center stage in Scarlet Spider #1, plus the non-team faces off with the Breaker of Worlds in Defenders #2.

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Written by PLAYBACK:stl Thursday, 05 January 2012 17:15

Sara Pezzini is headed to Chicago and invites fans along for the ride as the new creative team of Tim Seeley (Hack/Slash) and Diego Bernard take over in Witchblade #151.

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Written by Erin Jameson Monday, 02 January 2012 16:19

Lovefool rings in the New Year with some resolutions for how to make her column really shine.

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Written by Bryan A. Hollerbach Monday, 02 January 2012 00:00

In Witch Doctor: The Resuscitation, writer Brandon Seifert and artist Lukas Ketner delightfully continue the exploits of their white-clad medico toting the gladstone packed with black magic. Also praised in this inaugural column of 2012: GØDLAND #35 and Incorruptible #25.

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Written by Bryan A. Hollerbach Friday, 30 December 2011 17:22

In a meditative mood as this year concludes and the next commences, our crotchety columnist bids adieu to one of the mainstream’s finest offerings of the past decade, reflecting on Wednesday’s shipment of writer Brian Wood and artist Riccardo Burchielli’s DMZ #72.

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Written by Erin Jameson Monday, 26 December 2011 17:56

Lovefool lists some life lessons learned from the pages of Naoko Takeuchi's Sailor Moon as part of this month's Manga Moveable Feast.

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Written by Bryan A. Hollerbach Monday, 26 December 2011 00:00

In Memorial #1—writer Chris Roberson’s latest phantasmagoria, in collaboration with artist Rich Ellis—our columnist sees a fantasy potentially rivaling the best now being published. Also praised this week: Daredevil #7 (most emphatically) and three other new floppies.

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Written by Erin Jameson Tuesday, 20 December 2011 07:03

An internet meme inspires Lovefool to take a look at a more sophisticated romance in the pages of Mike Carey's Lucifer.

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Written by Bryan A. Hollerbach Monday, 19 December 2011 00:00

In this week’s review of five new comic books, KISS trades licks with a certain redhead from Riverdale in Archie #627, and Captain Kirk and Cosmic Boy clash in Star Trek/Legion of Super-Heroes #3. So swig some more eggnog, dear reader, and keep scrolling!

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Written by Elizabeth Schweitzer Friday, 16 December 2011 00:00

When a plane lands with everyone aboard dead, CDC Agent Dr. Ephraim Goodweather is summoned amid reports of a possible bio-terrorist threat with a strange, terrifying twist in this dark tale about an age-old threat resurfacing among modern humanity from the wicked minds of director Guillermo del Toro, novelist Chuck Hogan, and Eisner Award-winning writer David Lapham.

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Written by Erin Jameson Tuesday, 13 December 2011 07:15

Love is often borne of bad decisions, as Lovefool finds within the the pages of Yoko Kamio's classist shojo "romance" Hana Yori Dango, a.k.a. Boys Over Flowers.

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Written by Bryan A. Hollerbach Monday, 12 December 2011 00:00

In a year glutted even more than usual with relaunches, Defenders #1 positively shines, even as its eponymous team turns 40. (Where did the time go?) Also praised from this week’s five focal funnybooks: Irredeemable #32, Thought Bubble Anthology #1, and Valen the Outcast #1.

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Written by Erin Jameson Monday, 05 December 2011 22:24

Lovefool wraps up a twee day of hall decking by checking in with some of her favorite Christmas comics.

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Written by Bryan A. Hollerbach Monday, 05 December 2011 00:00

New creative spooks replace old on the masthead of Haunt #19, our columnist notes with approval. He also scratches his head over Green Wake #7, waves bye-bye to Herc #10, gives a welcome-back hug to T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents Vol. 2 #1, and clinks steins with Wolverine #19.