Daytripper, the ten issue maxi series comic by Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon, is an almost-surreal life study of one man, Brás de Oliva Domingos, and how he has lived his life. Each issue is a slice of life tale where we are presented with one day in Brás’ life. Sadly, however (and this shouldn’t […]
Category Archives: Comics
Back Matter Matters – A Study In Commitment
It is a story in words and pictures; that’s comic, kids. That’s what the companies sell, that’s what we buy. But I always want more, and I don’t think I’m asking for too much. There are some comics out there that offer you just a little more bang for your buck and I know I […]
Charlie Adlard Interview – Portrait of the Artist as a Walking Dead Man
Back in the nineties, I had the pleasure of working with Charlie Adlard on Topp’s The X-Files comic. Ages later, the man who draws The Walking Dead was kind enough to spend some time catching up on Skype. And it all went something like this…
C.A.S.S – Cool Acronyms of Spy Stories
The ability to boil something down to just one word has power. To use that word is impressive but to know the meaning of the word is the key to unlocking a world that exists behind the façade of reality that every man faces. To know the meanings of the true powers of the world […]
Scalped: Unwanted – A Study In Flawed Characters
Scalped is a phenomenal series, that’s not news to anyone whether you read it or not. The book gets good press like the ocean gets waves. Constantly. But just recently, I bought the latest trade, Volume 7: Rez Blues, and the next 5 issues to get myself all caught up on a series that consistently […]
Run, Micro, Run
The notion of the sidekick has been a popular one in story-telling since time out of mind, yet it has most likely been brought to its highest prominence in superhero comics. The majority of these sidekicks, like Batman’s Robin, have been cheeky teenagers, created in order to act not only as foil for the hero, […]
Phonogram: Singles Club 4 – Konichiwa Bitches | Best Single Issue Comics
The first Phonogram mini landed and people weren’t sure what to believe. Here was a comic about music that talked about lyrics and music instead of writing and art. It didn’t feature a cape in sight and it was black and white. It sat as almost the definition of an independent comic on the stands. […]
A Marjorie Liu Interview – Dirk, Steele, and X-23
Recently I was given the chance to have a phone chat with best-selling author Marjorie M. Liu, author of the “Dirk & Steele” paranormal romance series and “Hunter Kiss” urban fantasy series; Marjorie is also a current writer for Marvel Comics with “X-23” and “Daken.” In anticipation for Marjorie’s latest Dirk & Steele novel, In […]
Daredevil’s Yellow – A Perfect Memory
A bright yellow costume on a man called Daredevil. It was simply never going to work putting a slightly older, lawyer/vigilante, protector of Hell’s Kitchen in a bright yellow costume. How many reasons are there for it not being a great idea? It’s a colour usually reserved for children’s playrooms and bright insects. It would […]
American Vampire – A Study In True Vampirism
Scott Snyder is a writer who is working to remind the reading masses what vampires are. In American Vampire, Snyder has created a new divergent path for vampires to tread as he imagines the species taking a different path as they evolve and change. He’s joined by the amazing art of Rafael Albuquerque and the […]
Secret Warriors – A Steranko Vision For The Morrison Future
Secret Warriors was a title that spun out of the massive Marvel event of yesteryear, Secret Invasion. It could have been the usual dreck, a spin off title with the usual creative team but instead it became a massively different beast. Secret Warriors became a good comic, possibly even a great one, and as it […]
The Abominable Charles Christopher
Karl Kerschl is another comic artist who has dipped his toe into the big pond, he’s worked for DC on a multitude of titles, but his real magnum opus is coming in his longform webcomic. He works with the TransmissionX Comics studio where he often collaborates with fellow webcomic master Cameron Stewart, who I featured […]
Sin Titulo – A Study In Paranoid Noir
Cameron Stewart is an artist who has become well known due to his collaborations with Grant Morrison on Seaguy and Batman & Robin as well as working with Jason Aaron on the Eisner winning Vertigo mini, The Other Side. He’s got a very clean style and he’s also a bit of a writer, but you’d […]
Warren Ellis’ X-Men Is Death
The fact that Warren Ellis has a run on any X-Men title should be enough to merit pause and reflection. That he was then able to craft a science fiction dirge about mortality and creation after the pop sensibilities of Joss Whedon and John Cassaday’s run is a feat unto itself. Reading through the first […]
Black Panther: The King Without Fear
It’s just been announced that T’Challa, the Black Panther, King of Wakanda, is going to become the new Man Without Fear protecting Hell’s Kitchen. This turn of events will transpire after the Shadowland event centering around Daredevil becoming the leader of the, usually evil, ninja cult The Hand.
Stumptown – A Study In Retro Noir
If you missed Stumptown then you might not be blamed for the omission in your reading stack. Hell, even if you got the comic you might have missed the subsequent issues because the four issue debut arc took ten months to complete. The series kicked off plagued with timing issues but in the end the […]
West Coast Blues by Jacques Tardi and Jean-Patrick Manchette Review
Jean-Patrick Manchette was a French crime novelist who wrote 10 novels. He is held in the highest possible regard by his English-speaking audience. To date only two of his novels have been translated. Let me say that again in the off chance that, among my limited readership, a publisher is reading this. Only. Two. Books. […]
MPD – Psycho No.1 by Eiji Otsuka Review
MPD Psycho was a mini-series that came out in 2002 and was inspired by a Manga that came out in 1997. Dark Horse has been releasing the book in America since 2007. I’ve been meaning to jump into MPD – Psycho for a little while now and I’m finally starting to get caught up on […]
Kick-Ass Female Authors and their Killer Heroines | NYCC Panel
Friday the 13th is the perfect day for Bookspotcentral Valentine to some wonderful women authors of paranormal fiction. Whether the label du jour is urban fantasy, dark fantasy, or some flavor of paranormal, with or without heavy romantic elements and (ahem) explicit hotness, these series can encompass high-octane thrills, layered world-creation, ensemble character development, humor, […]
A Mignola Daydream – Rhys Hughes Guest Blog
I first learned of the existence of Mike Mignola only in 2007 when I received an email out of the blue from a writer and editor by the name of Christopher Golden. His message informed me that he was editing an anthology of Hellboy stories by various writers, and would I like to contribute? I […]