Forum 2.0

DC's superheroes battle multiple extinction events on several fronts

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

Things aren’t going so well for our super friends in the pages of DC Comics. And, to paraphrase Ralph Dibny on The Flash TV show: It’s not even summer!

Summer has long had a special place in comics. Back whe

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Yoe Books unearth surprising 'Unknown Anti-War Comics' from Eisenhower years

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

With the recent release of The Unknown Anti-War Comics, Yoe Books publisher Craig Yoe has once again proven that comics can and do attempt every topic under the sun – and that he is going to bring them to us

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'S.H.I.E.L.D.,' 'Lucifer' enjoy reprieves, but 'iZombie' still shuffling off to cemetery

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

iZombie, Lucifer and Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. – three shows whose obits had already been written – returned this month. Oddly, it’s only the zombie show whose death will stick.

I can understand if the

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News & Notes: Sabrina's legal woes, Rick's exit, Batman's Li'l Wayne, and more

Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

Tired of politics? Here are some news and notes from the world of pop culture that offer relief from the real world:

Photo credit: Diyah Pera/Netflix

The Spellman family – from left, Cousin Ambrose (Chance Perd

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'Daredevil' Season 3 mixes and matches stories from the comics

Courtesy Netflix

From left, Elden Henson (as Franklin “Foggy” Nelson), Deborah Ann Woll (as Karen Page) and Charlie Cox (as Matt Murdock) star in Netflix’s Daredevil.

Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

Daredevil Season 3, which dropped on Netfl

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Happy 80th birthday, Batman! It's a big year for the Dark Knight

Art by Jim Lee. Copyright DC Comics Inc.

The cover to Detective Comics #1000.

 

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

Happy Birthday, Batman!

This month marks the 80th anniversary of the Dark Knight’s first appearance, on March 30, 1939, in Detec

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The Book!

Friends and neighbors:

As most of you know, I am writing a book about journalists in comic books. It's a riff on my Master's thesis. It's kinda fun, and I want to share that, since it's consuming all my time. I think maybe you guys would like to be i

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Wide variety, full stories at Free Comic Book Day show why it's a great time to be a comics fan

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

Publishers have gotten much better at Free Comic Book Day. Rather than a collection of teases to books we may never see, most of the 51 titles that were given away May 6 had full stories – and then some teas

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Not easy being green: The best Skrull stories from Marvel Comics

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

March 14, 2019 -- The pointy-eared, green-skinned Skrulls have finally appeared in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Who are they? Without spoiling Captain Marvel, let’s take a look at the shapeshifting aliens’

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'Endgame,' 'Gotham,' 'Game of Thrones': Genre writers have discovered the power of endings

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

Genre fiction seems to have rediscovered a powerful piece of storytelling: The ending.

The most obvious example of that is Avengers: Endgame, which has been described all over the media by Marvel Cinematic Un

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10 Takeaways from 'Shazam!'

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

Shazam!” has arrived, and Holy Moley, there’s a lot to talk about! With SPOILERS AHOY, Here are 10 takeaways:

1. O COME ALL YE FAITHFUL

Shazam! is a Christmas movie. It takes place during the holiday season,

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'Umbrella Academy' the TV show does things 'Umbrella Academy' the comic book couldn't -- but it's still the same terrific story

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

Once again, a great comic book has become an even better TV show – without slavishly following the source material. The Umbrella Academy, currently streaming on Netflix, tells the same story as the comics in

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Where did 'Endgame' come from, anyway? Captain Comics picks the Best of Thanos

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

If you’re inspired by the Avengers movies to read more about Thanos, you’ve probably found a bewildering array of hardbacks, trade paperbacks, comics and miniseries, whose online or back-cover descriptions do

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What is the Doom Patrol? Here's a deep dive into DC's latest TV stars

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

Things are about to get weird on the DC Universe streaming service.

Doom Patrol premieres Feb. 15, featuring a superhero team that’s one of the oddest in DC Comics’ enormous stable of characters. And it’s on

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20 Fun Facts to Know and Tell About Shazam!

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

Are you worried that when “Shazam!” comes out April 5 that you won’t be conversational about him? Take heart! Here are 20 Fun Facts to Know and Tell About Shazam:

1. As the Internet keeps reminding us, Shaza

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From 'Shazam' to 'Ktang': The many Captains Marvel of comic books

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

Feb. 28, 2019 -- It’s time to discuss Captains Marvel.

Yes, Captain Marvel in the plural – because there have been a lot of them. Ironically, the character starring in Shazam, premiering April 5, started out

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'Endgame' nodded at a lot of comic book stories you should read

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

Avengers: Endgame had a lot of great callbacks to the comics, not all of which were obvious. With a huge, honkin’ SPOILERS AHEAD warning, let’s look at a few:

CAP vs. CAP: Superheroes battling their own dopp

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Craig Yoe resurrects the Super, the Weird and the nearly naked from comic book history

 

TM & © 2018 Gussoni-Yoe Studio, Inc.

Super Weird Heroes Vol. 2: Preposterous But True! arrives at bookstores Oct. 2.

Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

What’s super and weird and nearly naked all over? Super Weird Heroes Vol. 2: Preposterous

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'Deadly Class' TV show improves on its comic book source material

By Andrew A. Smith

Tribune Content Agency

Deadly Class, which arrived as an ongoing series on Syfy Jan. 15, is that rare critter: a comics-based TV show that improves on its source material.

These changes were evident in the pilot, which aired online

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From Ducks to Dazzlers, Marvel plans animation explosion on Hulu

Art by John Byrne. Copyright Marvel Entertainment Inc.

Here’s Dazzler’s first appearance, from Uncanny X-Men #130 (1980). She was obviously meant to be a major character, but it just didn’t turn out that way.

Art by Jack Kirby. Copyright Marvel En

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