Andrew A. Smith

Scripps Howard News Service

Marvel Entertainment announced a new Captain Marvel at WonderCon March 17, a character with a lot of strikes against her. But most fans are cheering.

The major problem is that the character can be confusing. To most folks, “Captain Marvel” means an entirely different character from a different company: Billy Batson, the boy who shouts “SHAZAM!” to become a light-hearted adult…

The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck Volume One

by Don Rosa

(collecting Uncle Scrooge #285-290, 1994-95)

In the mid ‘90s, Don Rosa took up the monumental task of illustrating The Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck. He wrote a 12-issue epic that covered the pivotal moments from Scrooge’s younger days before he…

30 DAYS OF NIGHT ONGOING #6

30 DAYS OF NIGHT ONGOING TP VOL 01

ACTION COMICS #8

ADVENTURE TIME #2 2ND PTG

AGE OF APOCALYPSE #2

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #683 ENDS

AMERICAN VAMPIRE #25 (MR)

ANIMAL MAN #8

ARCHIE MEETS KISS TP

AVENGERS ACADEMY #28

AVENGERS LEGION OF UNLIVING TP

BATMAN BEYOND UNLIMITED #1 2ND PTG

BATMAN GOTHAM SHALL BE JUDGED TP

BATWING #8

BOYS #65 (MR)

BRILLIANT #3 (MR)

CARBON GREY ORIGINS…

Andrew A. Smith

Scripps Howard News Service

Call it self-fulfilling prophecy, but I’ve read the first issues of two of DC’s four new Vertigo books, and I feel about them exactly as I expected to.

Fairest #1 ($2.99), which arrived March 7, was just as much fun as I’d hoped. For those who missed my previous column on this topic (and for shame!), Fairest is a spinoff from Vertigo’s popular and award-winning…

Wonder Woman Chronicles Volume Two

by William Moulton-Marston and Harry G. Peter

(collecting Wonder Woman #2-3, Sensation Comics #10-14 and Comic Cavalcade #1, 1942-43)

I have a confession to make: this was my first extended exploration of the Golden Age Wonder Woman. I’d read her first appearance and origin story in a couple of…

2000 AD #1768

2000 AD #1769

ACTION COMICS #1 5TH PTG

ALL STAR WESTERN #7

ALPHA GIRL #2 (MR)

AMERICAN VAMPIRE #25 (MR)

ANGEL & FAITH #8 REBEKAH ISAACS VAR CVR

ANGEL & FAITH #8 STEVE MORRIS CVR

ANITA BLAKE VH CIRCUS DAMNED SCOUNDREL PREM HC BOOK 03 (MR)

ANITA BLAKE VH TP BOOK 02 CIRCUS OF DAMNED INGENUE (MR)

AQUAMAN #7

AQUAMAN #7 VAR ED

ARCHIE #631

ASTONISHING X-MEN #48

ATOMIC ROBO REAL SCIENCE ADV #1

AVENGERS…

Kanjar Ro!  The Demons Three!  Despero!  Starro the Conqueror!  These were only some of the awesome threats to mankind that the Justice League of America vanquished during its illustrious Silver-Age career.  Terrible forces of evil so powerful that it required the mighty champions…

By Andrew A. Smith

Scripps Howard News Service

The comic-book series American Vampire started small, with just one bloodsucker in the Old West. But now, as is evidenced by the recently released third hardback collection, it has expanded to include a burgeoning cast, a vast back story and genuine historical sweep.

American Vampire is the brainchild of Scott Snyder, a writer whose credits include Batman…

I have a problem. My wish list never gets shorter. I buy a bunch of back issues- maybe a complete run from eBay or an assortment of odds & ends from mycomicshop.com- and soon my wish list is just as long as it was before the purchase.

I guess the real problem is that I like comics. I like a lot of comics. And I like a lot of different comics. I like the…

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #682

ANITA BLAKE CIRCUS DAMNED SCOUNDREL #5 (OF 5) (MR)

ARMY OF DARKNESS ONGOING #2

ASTONISHING X-MEN WHEDON CASSADAY ULT COLL TP BOOK

AVENGERS ROAD TO MARVEL AVENGERS TP

AVENGERS WEST COAST LOST SPACE TIME PREM HC

AVENGERS X-SANCTION #4 (OF 4)

AXE COP TP VOL 03

BART SIMPSON COMICS #69

BATMAN #7

BATMAN BEYOND UNLIMITED #2

BATMAN ODYSSEY VOL 2 #6 (OF 7)

BIG BOOK OF KOLCHAK NIGHT STALKER TP

BIRDS OF…

We read comics for the action- the fistfights and the big explosions.  We read comics for the superheroes- the bright costumes and the capes.  But we also read comics for the relationships- the romances, the mentors and students, the close-knit team.  Over the years, comics have given us some great friendships.  Here are ten of the best of them. 

10. Gambit…

Andrew A. Smith

Scripps Howard News Service

DC’s re-launch of its 52-title superhero line last September made explosive headlines, and now the publisher is upgrading its mature-reader line, Vertigo – albeit on a somewhat smaller scale.

Four new titles launch in March, three ongoing and one miniseries. DC recently published a preview, given away free at comic shops, with seven pages of each new series. That’s not enough to really…

ACTIVITY #4

ADVENTURE TIME #2

ADVENTURE TIME #1 (3RD PTG)

ARCHIE THE MARRIED LIFE TP VOL 02

ART OF MOLLY CRABAPPLE SC V1 WEEK IN HELL

ART OF TARA MCPHERSON HC V3 BUNNY MOON

ARTIFACTS #15

ASTONISHING THOR TP

AVENGERS #24

AVENGERS ASSEMBLE #1

AVENGERS ASSEMBLE HISTORY OF EARTHS GN

AVENGERS CHILDRENS CRUSADE HC

AVENGERS HERO 8-IN AF ASST

AVENGERS VS X-MEN BY KUBERT POSTER

BATGIRL #7

BATMAN AND ROBIN #7 …

Andrew A. Smith

Scripps Howard News Service

If you’re wondering who John Carter is, and why there’s a big, splashy movie about him premiering March 9, let me add two words that will make it all clear:

Of. Mars.

Does “John Carter of Mars” sound more familiar? It should, because he’s a character that’s been around for exactly a century. His first story began in 1912 in the pulp magazine The All-Story, and…

35 years after Luke Skywalker destroyed the Death Star, Star Wars is a multi-billion, multi-media empire.  Cartoons, novels, video games and comic books stretch from the beginning of history to the distant future.  They explore places and races that are both new and familiar.  This year, Dark Horse is giving a big push to their line of Star Wars comics with new titles and…

30 DAYS OF NIGHT ONGOING #5

68 TP V1 BETTER RUN THROUGH THE JUNGLE (MR)

ACTION COMICS #7

AGE OF APOCALYPSE #1

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #681

ANIMAL MAN #7

ASTONISHING THOR TP

AVENGERS 1959 TP

AVENGERS ACADEMY #27

AVENGERS CHILDRENS CRUSADE #9 (OF 9)

AVENGERS X-SANCTION #3 (OF 4) 2ND PTG

BATMAN BIRTH OF THE DEMON TP

BETTIE PAGE IN DANGER #2 (MR)

BEYOND THE FRINGE #1

BLUE HC (MR)

BOYS #64 (MR)

BOYS TP VOL 10…