Ink Fingers: X-Men and the Death of Thunderbird

By msarko on 1/20/10 5:12pm
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Uncanny X-Men #95 promises a character death right on its cover. That in itself isn't a big deal. Comics have a way of making big claims and then not having to live up to them. When everything from super powers to character motivations don't have to follow any particular logic, life and death aren't so, well, life and death anymore. What makes this issue so stunning is that it not only delivers on its promise, it sets the stage for a series where the stakes really are as high as they seem. In 1975 and beyond, X-Men would prove to be a very different kind of comic.



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Ink Fingers: The New X-Men in 1975

By msarko on 1/13/10 3:54pm
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The reboot has been the top trend in movie franchises for nearly a decade. Old TV shows, classic films and, of course, super heroes have all received the update treatment in some form or another for the big and little screens. But decades before Christopher Nolan reinvented Batman, Marvel Comics started reviving its old stories with visual facelifts and a marked increase in the quality of the writing itself. In the mid-1970's Marvel made a big push to capture new readers by inventing a large cast of new characters and reviving books that had been in mothballs for years. 1975 saw what was essentially a reboot for The Uncanny X-Men, starting with a special edition called Giant-Size X-Men #1. Marvel released a few books with the Giant-Size label to drum up interest in their big-name properties, but Giant-Size X-Men might just be the most important comic in Marvel's storied history.



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Ink Fingers: X-Men in the 1960's

By msarko on 1/6/10 3:32pm
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I love pop culture retrospectives not because I'm a particularly nostalgic guy or because I have any fondness for old things, but because so many great ideas really did start as very small, even forgettable projects. When X-Men #1 came out in September 1963 it didn't look anything like what is arguably the most successful comic franchise in history. In fact, it didn't even have much confidence in itself as a stand-alone comic. On the cover of issue #1 it relies on its association with another, already beloved series to catch its audience's attention. In the top left corner right under the price there's a message that reads, “In the sensational Fantastic Four style!” It's so funny to think that X-Men, the comic series to end all comic series, essentially started as a crude facsimile of another Marvel property. Looking at the original lineup, the original X-Men weren't all that far off that mark, actually.



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Ink Fingers: Comics Revisited

By msarko on 12/24/09 6:44am
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When I really think about it, really only a few things had to happen differently in my childhood to send me careening into all manner of geeky obsessions, comic books most of all. From the age of six until about the age of ten, comics were some of my most prized possessions. What began as reading the funnies with my dad on Sunday mornings blossomed into a real fantasy trigger when I discovered that whole volumes of vibrant, picture-driven stories existed that weren't overtly childish. Comics were better than the picture books at school because they were full of action, super heroes and intensity. So, why didn't I wholeheartedly embrace comics into my teens?



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Alias: Ultimate Collection, Book 1

By JL on 6/3/09 4:14pm
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If you have not read Alias yet you are missing out on what is one of Brian Michael Bendis’ best books to date. Alias: Ultimate Collection, Book 1 contains issues 1-15 of the delightfully gritty world of Jessica Jones a down on her luck ex-cape turned private eye. Definitely not for kids, this title takes full advantage of Marvel’s MAX line of comic books for mature audiences and opens up a darker side of the Marvel Universe, where the bad guys are evil in the worst ways and even the good guys are kind of scummy.

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Second Thoughts

By JL on 5/17/09 11:15am
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Second Thoughts, the first original graphic novel by Niklas Asker is a welcome addition to the already robust catalog of high quality books from Top Shelf Productions.  With fine art and a thoughtful script it’s the kind of wonderful fist impression that is rarely made in comics.

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The Walking Dead: Compendium One

By JL on 5/8/09 1:52pm
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With the release of The Walking Dead Compendium: Volume One whatever excuses you had for not getting on board with Robert Kirkman's harrowing tale of survival in a world over run by the living dead have effectively been eliminated. This book will be the reason you will want to stay home and read this weekend.

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"Motion Comics" Come to iTunes

By erika on 2/19/09 9:01am
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Marvel has struck a deal with iTunes to sell "Motion Comics," enhanced with limited animation, sound effects, and narration. ITunes editions of Spider-Woman will be available this spring, with Astonishing X-Men available on iTunes later this year.

I think there are a few misconceptions in this launch, but I think it is going to be a success anyway. Reading between the lines, Marvel is not trying to reach out to people who have not heard of Spider-Woman and Astonishing X-Men. The saturation point for Spider Woman and X-Men must surely have been reached years ago. Marvel is pushing the discoverability of iTunes, but let's be honest.

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Superman: Red Son

By roskopp on 2/19/09 5:00am
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Red Son coverI’ve never been a huge fan of Superman as a comic book superhero. He is altogether too mighty white and irritatingly without fault or weakness. Even the overly convenient invention of Kryptonite as an Achilles heel of sorts reeks of contrived laziness. The fact it then had to be written into so many Superman adventures was tedious. You have to wonder how much of his home planet is floating around out there, apparently enough to fuel hundreds of villainous schemes.

Superman represents a kind of easy world domination which is reflecting the US culture he was born from. He is the ultimate upstanding citizen, he lives in a perfect Metropolis and he is bound to protect the American way of life. Regardless of his background there have been some great comic books featuring the man of steel but I would contend that the most interesting of the lot was Red Son.

This was originally released as a series of three comics and you can easily pick it up as a graphic novel. The simple premise is that Superman landed in the USSR instead of the USA.

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