By Andrew A. Smith
McClatchy Newspapers
When DC Comics rebooted all of its superhero titles in 2011, some of them got better. But some didn’t, like Green Arrow – which just got a lot better.
First, what they did wrong: In Green Arrow #1 in September
THE CAPTAIN'S COMMENTS
Every week Marvel hogs the Comments section with a flood of number ones, and this week is no different. But at least we get to start with a number one from another publisher: Dynamite. Because Flash Gordon #1 comes out this wee
Read more…Magneto, the long-time X-Men foe, is getting his own ongoing title. And, thankfully, he’s going to be a villain – again.
That last bit might not make sense to folks who have only watched the X-Men movies, or older fans who drifted away a couple of de
Read more…THE CAPTAIN'S COMMENTS
In a press release touting four second printings this week, Marvel said "These red-hot titles join over 30 titles from the massively popular All-New Marvel NOW! initiative to return for second printings!"
Now, honestly, does an
Read more…If you’ve got a favorite adventure character you haven’t seen lately, chances are you can find she, he or it at Dynamic Forces.
While most publishers tend to avoid licensing characters – paying for the license cuts into profits – Dynamic Forces, publ
Read more…I was thinking about writing a column about the five Captain America stories you should read after seeing "Winter Soldier," like I did for Superman after "Man of Steel." But with Superman it was really easy to think of five great stories; in fact, I
Read more…THE CAPTAIN'S COMMENTS
While the big publishers offer their usual avalanche of a books, t's a light week for some publishers. There are no books at all from from Action Lab or Archie,and only one from Valiant. Even "Other Publishers" feels a bit ligh
Read more…THE CAPTAIN'S COMMENTS
Marvel keeps canceling and rebooting its titles in a seemingly meaningless fashion. That's pretty irritating for long-time fans, completists and serious collectors. But don't let that stop you from enjoying two first issues thi
Read more…No one seems to know if or when the movie Snowpiercer will open in the U.S. Having read the graphic novel, I hope it will – and soon.
Snowpiercer’s road to American pop culture has been a long, strange journey. It began as a French graphic novel that
Welcome to another Comics Guide! I am your humble narrator and tour guide, Captain Comics. After my "Captain's Comments" and you're into the Guide proper, my comments will be in blue. Meanwhile, The Baron has dropped by the Cave again, and in an unre
Read more…There’s a new John Constantine in town. But as two recent trade paperbacks demonstrate, he’s the same old “hellblazer.”
Yes, I’m talking about the same Constantine who starred in the movie of that name in 2005, starring Keanu Reeves. That film was ba
Read more…Welcome to another edition of Comics Guide! This week we have a treat for you, and all you have to do is get through my blitherings about the week's notable books. Let's get to work!
THE CAPTAIN'S COMMENTS
It seems every week brings a couple of "All
Read more…Valiant Comics, which went out of business about 12 years ago, made a comeback under new ownership in 2012. And it only took the new guys two years to achieve Unity.
Unity is the name of Valiant’s version of “Avengers” or “Justice League” – it’s a bo
Read more…Welcome back, Legionnaires, for another exciting episode of "Comics Guide!"
Let's try a couple of different things this week.
One, I'm going to go with plain, old bold with my comments, instead of the bold blue I have used to date. For one thing, I
Read more…There was a time when Archie Comics was famous for being rigidly conservative. Now it’s gaining a reputation for being the most experimental comics publisher in America.
Most of the company’s progressive efforts aren’t obvious to the casual observer.
Welcome to another edition of the world-famous* Captain Comics Comics Guide! It's another big week, as manga has made a comeback and a number of publishers are shipping first issues. The bad news: There's something amiss with Archie. But we'll get to
Read more…On Jan. 17, Warner Bros. announced that the debut of the next Superman movie – the one tentatively titled Batman vs. Superman – has been pushed from July 17, 2015, to May 6, 2016. Injuries? Script problems? We don’t know. What we do know is that the
Read more…Welcome back, Legionnaires, for another startling Comics Guide! This one is chock-full of not only a lot of new and interesting books (see "The Captain's Picks"), but an unusually large number of previews -- especially Image, Marvel and Valiant. This
Read more…Five Ghosts Volume One: The Haunting of Fabian Gray
Collecting Five Ghosts #1-5
Writer: Frank J. Barbiere
Artist: Chris Mooneyham
Image, color, $9.99
I wanted to like Five Ghosts, but I'm not sure I did.
The premise is a soldier-of-fortune character
Read more…Creepy Volume Seventeen
Collecting Creepy #78-83 (Mar-Oct 76)
Artists & writers: Various
Dark Horse, B&W and color, $49.99, 304 pages
This volume continues the previous one in terms of strong content, albeit a shade less so (see review of Creepy Vol
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