Forum 2.0

More TV news: 'Batwoman,' 'Moon Knight,' 'Green Lantern,' 'Nick Fury'

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

Oct. 29, 2020 — The small screen is trying to make us forget the big one.

Last week in this space I discussed Helstrom. The week before I focused on Star Trek: Prodigy, M.O.D.O.K., Invincible and several othe

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Things to do before comics return May 20

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

April 30, 2020 — The long drought is broken. Diamond Comic Distributors, which delivers most comics to retailers in North America, announced April 28 on Twitter that it would resume full service on May 20.

Di

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Coronavirus hits genre TV, movies hard

(EDITOR'S NOTE: This column was filed on March 16 for a March 18 release. By the time of release, more comics-related TV and movies had been delayed or canceled due to the coronvirus pandemic. Marvel's Black Widow has been indefinitely postponed, a

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YA GN 'The Oracle Code' a must-read for Barbara Gordon fans of all ages

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

April 2, 2020 — Fans of Barbara Gordon, Commissioner Gordon’s daughter, know the strengths of the character. Her determination, tough-mindedness and eidetic memory led her to be effervescent Batgirl in 1967,

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Yoe's 'Pirates' offers hidden treasure buried in comics history

Pirates comes out this month from Clover Press. (Cover art by Sol Brodsky, courtesy Clover Press)

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

March 12, 2020 — Avast, me hearties! Pull up a barrel and I’ll spin ye a tale of freebooters, sea-soaked adve

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Comics Teletype: Mr. BatMom, J. Jonah Simmons, 'Doom Patrol' and more!

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

June 25, 2020 — The comics industry has barely begun shipping again, and already the Comics Teletype is overheating. Here are the top stories:

ITEM: The Dark Mr. Mom Returns? A lot of comics sites have had a

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Titan Comics drops 9 big ones —and I review them all

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

March 5, 2020 — In these days of digital everything, it’s rare when we ink-stained wretches receive physical, analog review copies. And when there are nine of them – well, we tend to take notice.

The nine boo

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'Rumble in the Jungle' was world's biggest TV event in 1974 — and makes for a great graphic novel in 2021

The cover to Muhammad Ali, Kinshasa 1974 uses both a photo and an illustration, which is a taste of what’s inside. (Photo by Abbas, art by Rafael Ortiz, Courtesy Titan Comics)

 

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

Sept. 24, 2020 — He’s still th

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Pandemic? Pshaw! Batman books continue anyway, and here are some good ones

By Andrew A. Smith
Tribune Content Agency

May 7, 2020 — Nothing stops the Dark Knight, not even a pandemic. Here are some Bat and Bat-adjacent graphic novels, all from DC Comics, all $29.99 (for the hardbacks), all available from bookstores and onli

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DC FanDome part II emphasizes TV, fan participation and, finally, the comics

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

Sept. 17, 2020 — The DC Comics/Warner Bros. online convention has completed its second and final day — and just like FanDome I on Aug. 22, FanDome II on Sept. 12 was an impressive enterprise with lots of anno

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Robin celebrates 80th anniversary, while others wait in the wings (or are ignored)

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

March 26, 2020 — The year 1940 was, in general, a pretty lousy one, what with World War II and all. But it was a great one in comics, with roughly a jillion new superheroes debuting from roughly a jillion pu

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Got some reading time? Try these offbeat graphic novels

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

 April 23, 2020 — Not only is it “safer at home,” but it’s also an opportunity to do some recreational reading. Here are some of the more offbeat graphic novels that have recently crossed my desk:

The Runaw

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ABC's 'Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' is back — in 1931!

Key art for the seventh season of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. shows the main characters for the season premiere, as well as the milieu: 1931 New York City. (Courtesy ABC)

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

June 4, 2020 — Marvel’s Agents of

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The new distribution war in comics has happened before — and that's terrifying

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

June 11, 2020 — So, here’s some news: DC Comics has cut ties with Diamond Comic Distributors Inc.

Yes, I hear the yawns. Most people don’t know how comic books and graphic novels get to where they buy them,

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Trump campaign gets political cartoon taken down, CBDF intervenes.

Donald Trump's re-election campaign got a satirical editorial cartoon by Pulitzer Prize winning 'toonist Nick Anderson taken down from Redbubble temporarily before the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund intervened and the merchandise showing the cartoon w

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'Stargirl' re-introduces often-killed Justice Society — and kills them

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

May 28, 2020 — Stargirl has arrived on DC Universe and The CW, bringing with it the return of the justly legendary Justice Society of America.

The Justice Society is the oldest superhero team in comics, arriv

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'Snowpiercer,' adapted on screens big and small, has long tracks in graphic novels

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

May 21, 2020 — Snowpiercer the series arrived May 17 on TNT, a weekly show set after the end of the world.

While not as depressing as it sounds, it’s still pretty bleak. The premise is a new ice age, and what

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New comics are back! Here are the highlights

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

May 14, 2020 — New comic books are back in the pipeline to comic shops, after the pandemic halted distribution back in March. Here’s the A-list:

'2020 Ironheart' #1

of 2, Marvel Comics, May 20, $3.99, digita

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'Walking Dead': The post-apocalyptic problems you won't see on TV

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

Feb. 27, 2020 — The Walking Dead returned for the second half of its 10th season Feb. 23, outliving most genre shows (and the majority of its major characters). While I enjoy the series, I have long couch-cr

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The CW's 'Stargirl': 24 Fun Facts to Know and Tell

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

June 18, 2020 — In case you love the new DC Universe/CW show Stargirl as much as I do, here are two dozen Fun Facts to Know and Tell about the star-spangled superhero show:

1. Geoff Johns (with artist Lee Mod

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