The inevitable wait between issues of Phonogram: The Singles Club means that actually finally buying the comic has become a ritual. Don’t peek at the comic until safely home, pick some appropriate music, and squeeze every single possible piece of goodness that I can out of those 32 pages. Have a glorious half-hour, bathe in [...]

A review of Marian Churchland’s “small but perfectly formed” graphic novel, from Image.

A quick exercise; let’s do a rundown of the number of teams carrying the Avengers name right now: the Mighty Avengers, New Avengers, Dark Avengers, and Young Avengers (ignoring the Avengers Initiative and Ultimate Avengers).

Now Paul Cornell is throwing, technically, a team of New Dark Young Avengers into the mix. The cover to issue one proudly announces: “They’re Exactly What You Think!” which is an odd promise, and one that I think is unfair to the comics.

Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: Butch Guice
Colors: Justin Ponsor
Publisher: Marvel Comics
My secret origins: back when the Marvel website offered free Dot.Comics, I was about 12 and geeky and hungry for a new obsession. The Ultimate Universe was, for as long as the scant issues they offered could last me, that obsession. When it came to laying [...]

Writer : Paul Cornell
Artist : Pat Olliffe
Publisher : Marvel
Ahh, Birmingham. England’s oft-forgotten Second City (or, to put it less charitably, the cultural arsehole of Britain) and my hometown. Birmingham, you see, lacks the romance, history or sights of other cities. Yet we remain a proud people: over the past year, we have started a [...]

Writer: Mark Millar
Art: Steve McNiven, Dexter Vines, Morry Hollowell
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Since the dawn of time… ok, since Dark Knight Returns, writers have been obsessed with the grim future that lies ahead for their aging superheroes. Just recently, we’ve seen Spiderman: Reign, various ‘The End’s for all manner of Marvel characters and even that #666 [...]

“Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly; levity always beats gravity.”
A friend just IM’d me this little quotable nugget, attributing it to the peerless Stephen Fry. So… just how lightly does Warren Worthington III, Angel of the X-Men, take himself? Daffs reviews X-MEN FIRST CLASS, X-FORCE and ANGEL REVELATIONS, all starring the X-Men’s ANGEL

A double feature 0-day review of the new IRON MAN titles released today to coincide with the blockbuster box office hit movie: INVINCIBLE IRON MAN and IRON MAN: VIVA LAS VEGAS.

Writer: Zeb Wells
Artist: Chris Bachalo
Inker: Tim Townsend
Publisher: Marvel Comics
First thing’s first. I’m not going to even try commenting on, or understanding, the Brand New Day fiasco. I’m not going to argue its merits, or add to that huge pile of words pointing out its stupidity. I’m not.
So, luckily, these issues have very little to do [...]

Writer: Judd Winick
Artist: Ian Churchill
Inker: Norm Rapmund
Colourist: Edgar Delgado
Publisher: DC Comics
Let’s get one thing clear. This is a superhero comic.
In every conceivable way, everything you might think a ‘superhero comic’ might entail… Yup, this is it. More accurately, it’s a team book. Even more accurately, it’s an origin story (or re-origin, technically) for a team [...]

Writer: Warren Ellis
Artist: Cary Nord
Colourist: Dave Stewart
Publisher: Marvel Comics

Two words coloured my expectations of this series: Warren Ellis.
That name meant coming to the issues with big expectations. I came hoping for a re-examination of the two starring characters: the Ultimate versions of Tony ‘Iron Man’ Stark, and Bruce ‘Hulk’ Banner. To my knowledge, there [...]