Finally, we reach the number-one spot on the list of Golden Turkey villains created by Gardner Fox to threaten the Justice League of America.

So far, we’ve taken a look at super-villains who had the brains and the power, but fell woefully short in the strategy department.  Guys like the Lord of Time and Headmaster Mind, who left holes in their plans big enough…

By Andrew A. Smith

Scripps Howard News Service

April 24, 2012 -- Shooters is a new graphic novel that puts the emotional journey of its warrior protagonist at the center of the story. As such, it’s a “war book” that takes us into places few other war books ever have.

Shooters (DC/Vertigo,…

30 DAYS OF NIGHT ONGOING #7

ACTION COMICS #9

AGE OF APOCALYPSE #3

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #685 ENDS

AMERICAN VAMPIRE TP VOL 02 (MR)

ANIMAL MAN #9

ANIMAL MAN TP VOL 01 THE HUNT

ART OF JAMES HOTTINGER SC (MR)

AVENGELYNE #8

AVENGERS ACADEMY #29 AVX

AVENGERS ART OF AVENGERS HC SLIPCASE

AVENGERS BLACK WIDOW STRIKES #1 (OF 3)

AVENGERS KREE SKRULL WAR HC

AVENGERS VS X-MEN #1 (OF 12) 2ND PTG

AVENGERS VS X-MEN #3 (OF 12)…

Andrew A. Smith

Scripps Howard News Service

April 17, 2012 -- My review pile is overflowing with books that are part of what has become a huge revenue machine for publishers: reprints. But this tsunami of old comics, some not seen for 70 years, raises a new question: Which are really worth reading?

That wasn’t asked in decades past, because prior to the avalanche of hardcover reprints, not much was available. Fans and…

For the past couple of years, I’ve been reading all of the X-Men comics in historical order. Along the way, I picked up a few odds and ends that I hadn’t purchased the first time around.

The project itself has been a blast. I’ve enjoyed reading so many of my favorite stories over again, whether it’s Roy Thomas and Neal Adams, Joe Madureira and Scott Lobdell or…

ABE SAPIEN TP VOL 02 DEVIL DOES NOT JEST

ACTIVITY #5

ADAM WARROCK WAR FOR INFINITY AUDIO CD

ADAM WARROCK YOU DARE CALL THAT THING..?

AIRBOY DEADEYE #1 (OF 5)

ALL STAR WESTERN #8

AMERICAN VAMPIRE #26 (MR)

ANGEL & FAITH #9

AQUAMAN #8

ARCHIE #632

ARCHIE ARCHIVES HC VOL 05

ARMY OF DARKNESS ONGOING #3

ART OF AMANDA CONNER HC

ASTONISHING X-MEN #49

ASTONISHING X-MEN EXALTED PREM HC

AVENGERS KIT

AVENGERS…

The Golden Age of Reprints and Back Issues

I Complain Not

By Andrew A. Smith

Contributing Editor

March 2012: Regular readers of this column are familiar – probably too familiar – with my belief that this is the Golden Age of Reprints. But it’s also the Golden Age of Back…

What's Your Favorite Spider-Man Era?

From the "Coffee Bean Years" to "Spider-Island"

By Andrew "Captain Comics" Smith

Contributing Editor

February 2012: In the words of Maggie Thompson, “the Golden Age of Comics is age 10.” That being the case, a character that’s been around for 50…

I thought it was about time I started posting my Comics Buyer's Guide stories and columns here. Here's the first one published this calendar year, from CBG #1687 (May 12)

More Depth and Breadth

The Growth of Reprints

By Andrew "Captain Comics" Smith

Contributing…

I’ve been fascinated by adaptations for a long time.

Long ago, I composed the philosophy that the primary duty of the adaptor is to make a great film (or depending on the outlet, a great television series or comic book). That philosophy is at odds with many fans who would hold up faithfulness to the text as the primary virtue. Yet a good director recognizes that…

Andrew A. Smith

Scripps Howard News Service

April 10, 2012: Perhaps it’s all the talk of women’s right on the news, but I just read two comics collections that provide a history lesson on the subject.

The first is Blondie: From Honeymoon to Diapers & Dogs: Complete Daily Comics 1933-1935 (IDW Publishing, $49.99). This is the second and last of IDW’s collections of the earliest Blondie strips. The first…

3 STORY SECRET FILES O/T GIANT MAN ONE SHOT

ABE SAPIEN TP VOL 02 DEVIL DOES NOT JEST

ALIEN BIG CHAP SILICONE TRAY

ALIEN EGG POD SILICONE TRAY

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #684 DELLOTTO VAR ENDS

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #684 ENDS

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ARCHIE DOUBLE DIGEST #228

ARMY OF DARKNESS OMNIBUS TP VOL 02

ASTERIX OMNIBUS SC VOL 03

AVENGERS #25 AA APPRECIATION DELLOTTO VAR AVX

AVENGERS #25 AVX

AVENGERS DK…

By Andrew A. Smith

Scripps Howard News Service

April 3, 2012: Sometimes a graphic novel arrives that is more important for what it teaches than how it entertains. Such is the case with Best of Enemies: A History of U.S. and Middle East Relations Part One: 1783-1953 (SelfMadeHero, $24.95), coming in May.

The title sounds a little like a college textbook, and sure enough, I read several books with similar titles when I…

Continuing the countdown of the most insipid Silver-Age bad guys to tackle the Justice League of America . . . .

By 1963, the ranks of the JLA had expanded to nine super-heroes.  It’s quite a task, coming up with villains formidable enough to threaten that many heroes at once, especially when a plot wasn’t padded over a multi-issue arc, as is…

The True Horror of the Apocalypse

Or: Don't worry about the zombies, it's the insects that will eat you

An exchange on a thread about AMC's The Walking Dead about what was or wasn't an implausible coincidence in the season finale reminded me of one of my favorite…

Captain Canuck: The Complete Edition

by Richard Comely and George Freeman

(collecting Captain Canuck #1-15 and Summer Special, 1975-1981)

Captain Canuck isn’t a superhero. I know he looks like one, with the red and white costume and the symbol of Canada on his forehead. I know he sounds like one, with his codename and secret identity. But those are only…

100 BULLETS HC BOOK 02 (MR)

68 SCARS #1 (OF 4) (MR)

ADVENTURE TIME #3

ALABASTER WOLVES #1 (OF 5)

AMAZING SPIDER-MAN HOOKY #1

AMERICAS GOT POWERS #1 (OF 6)

ARTIFACTS #16

AVENGERS ASSEMBLE #2

AVENGERS COMING OF AVENGERS #1

AVENGERS HAWKEYE SOLO TP

AVENGERS VS X-MEN BY JIM CHEUNG B POSTER

AVENGERS VS X-MEN BY RYAN STEGMAN POSTER

AVENGERS VS X-MEN ITS COMING TP

AVENGING SPIDER-MAN #6

BATGIRL #8

BATMAN AND…