COMIC BOOKS

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Written by Erin Jameson Monday, 12 March 2012 00:00

Lovefool finds the tales of teenage wasteland in Brad Abraham's Mixtape "so eerily similar to actual teenagers that it's frightening."

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Written by Bryan A. Hollerbach Monday, 12 March 2012 00:00

For its voguishness and verve, this week’s column embraces the Fables spin-off Fairest #1. Among freshly shipped floppies, it also welcomes The Manhattan Projects #1 and Night Force #1, praises Rachel Rising #6, and pans (out-Land-ishly) Uncanny X-Men #8.

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Written by Sarah Boslaugh Friday, 09 March 2012 00:00

Holmes' greatest foe heads on a mission to Burma to track down the secret to immortality in this second story arc.

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Written by Jason Green Friday, 09 March 2012 00:00

Usamaru Furuya turns decadent novelist Osamu Dazai's semi-autobiographical tale of a disconnected young man into something that's a little too decadent for its own good.

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Written by Bryan A. Hollerbach Monday, 05 March 2012 00:00

The Wizard of Oz–influenced No Place Like Home #1 marks a dark and intriguing debut from Angelo Tirotto and Richard Jordan, but Batman Beyond Unlimited #1—the other premiere from among this week’s five comics under review—sparks considerably less enthusiasm.

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Written by Erin Jameson Monday, 05 March 2012 00:00

It's a wild wedding wuxtravaganza as a yaoi manga about a wedding planner and his beau takes on a wedding in white, Harlequin style, in this latest Romance Roundup.

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Written by Erin Jameson Monday, 27 February 2012 00:00

Dann Lundie's Microgirl, a snippet of a story starring a shrinking superheroine and a stray soul, leaves our Lovefool pining for Spring.

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Written by Bryan A. Hollerbach Monday, 27 February 2012 00:00

Beyond the series’ customary virtues of script and art, AvengersAcademy #26 earns accolades this week for an unlikely but no less fine lagniappe: its letters page. Also praised, panned, or simply pondered: Dark Horse Presents #9, The Flash #6, Mondo #1, and RASL #13.

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Written by Jason Green Sunday, 26 February 2012 21:55

Jason Green, Fearless Editor digs into his own archives for teenaged JG,FE’s thoughts on Osamu Tezuka’s Black Jack from way back in 1997 as part of this month’s Manga Moveable Feast.

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Written by Bryan A. Hollerbach Friday, 24 February 2012 00:00

Belatedly, PLAYBACK:stl’s king of comic book crankiness rules on a quintet of rude-chapbookish subjects from the fourth quarter of 2011, created by Warren Ellis and Paul Duffield; Jim Henson, Jerry Juhl, and Ramón K. Pérez; Mike Mignola and Richard Corben; Trina Robbins, Anne Timmons, and mo oh; and Osamu Tezuka.

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Written by Sarah Boslaugh Friday, 24 February 2012 00:00

Legendary artist Ernie Colón conjures up comics versions of "tales of mystery, horror and suspense" from the archives of the World War II-era radio series.

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Written by Terri Gudowicz Green Monday, 20 February 2012 22:03

Lovefool is on vacation this week, so Mrs. JG,FE fills in by offering up some centuries-old Japanese sequential art that must be seen to be believed.

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Written by Bryan A. Hollerbach Monday, 20 February 2012 00:00

This week, writer/artist Roger Langridge’s Snarked #5 makes our otherwise congenitally cantankerous columnist…well…positively burble. Dreadfully uncharacteristic—and not a little icky. Also reviewed: Fables #114, Moriarty #9, Peter Panzerfaust #1, and Wonder Woman #6.

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Written by Sarah Boslaugh Friday, 17 February 2012 00:00

This alternate history tale takes a trip into the mind of Sherlock Holmes' most dastardly foe.

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Written by Bryan A. Hollerbach Monday, 13 February 2012 00:00

With Kevin Keller #1, arguably the industry’s most conservative publisher earns kudos for launching an ongoing with a homosexual protagonist. Also lauded in this gloriously diverse week: Berlin #18, Black Panther #529, Conan the Barbarian #1, and Thief of Thieves #1.

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Written by Erin Jameson Monday, 13 February 2012 00:00

Taking a look back at the first year of Lovefool.

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Written by PLAYBACK:stl Sunday, 12 February 2012 21:38

The PLAYBACK:stl comics section’s own Jason Green, Fearless Editor guestblogs for Robot 6.

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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.