Shadow Divers
by Cary Christopher
March 5, 2008

I have a question for you. In 2008, is there anything or any place of size and significance in the world left to discover?

It's a valid question. A hundred years ago, people were still pushing into areas man had never set foot in and documenting new species of animals never before seen. I'm not talking about small animals either. I'm talking about large mammals, fish, even insects the size of a man's hand. In the process they were finding places only hinted about in legends; places like Machu Picchu, the peak of Everest and the tombs of Egyptian pharoahs. Discoveries were being made in waves that sparked the imaginations of thousands, if not millions of people both young and old.

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Super Heroic Interview With Keith Howell
by Eric San Juan
September 12 , 2007

Once upon a time, the shelves were bulging with big, loud adventure. Larger than life heroes. HUGE adventure and massive imagination. These were the days of pulp literature, and they were days of big fun. Also once upon a time, the world of comic books was populated with the same, bright, imaginative heroes battling vile villains. The Silver Age of comic books was for many the very BEST time in comic books.

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Golden, Silver, Bronze: Defining the Comic Ages
by Bob Garrett
July 25, 2007

Ahh, the Ages of comics, designations that help define important eras in comic history. Fans argue when the Golden, Silver and Bronze Ages began and when they ended. Opinions vary, but there are landmarks that are impossible to ignore.

I always believed that the Golden Age begins with Action Comics #1 and effectively ends with World War II. By the end of the war, the popularity of superheroes had greatly declined, and these "Age" designations do - for better or worse - seem to be "super hero-centric" in their use. This, however, means that 1946-1955 is basically ... unnamed. Some fans don't like that and extend the Golden Age until 1955. I'm still mulling that debate.

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Staying Inside The Lines With Ian Sokoliwski
by Eric San Juan
July 10, 2007

Few are the major characters that artist Ian Sokoliwski has not had his hands on.

Figuratively speaking, of course. 

During his time with Digital Chameleon, he worked with some of the biggest characters in comics, including just about every major character at Marvel and DC. He is a credited colorist (or as he would say, colourist) on Dark Horse Comics' stellar Conan the Barbarian reprints. He has worked on an assortment of independent books, including Shadowflame, Kolchak: the Frankenstein Agenda, Grimm Fairy Tales, and Ripperman: Fair Warning, is a credited inker on the forthcoming Lotus by Zeroes2Heroes, and is the top-to-bottom creator - writing, art, inks, colors - of creator-owned comics BattleWitch and Selig: The Second Coming. He also colors the commissioned artwork of legends like Bob Layton and Paul Smith and creates and sells his own vivid, imaginative art. But don't take our word for it, just look at his homepage to see what he brings to the artistic table.

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Spider Writers: Ranking Their Best Runs
by Bob Garrett
May 2007

Football fans have their Super Bowl. Comics fans have super hero movie premieres. Spider-Man 3represents more than two hours in a theatre – and fans are likely to eat it up. These days, if Spidey’s a favorite character, then you can proudly wave your fan banner and celebrate his history.

In that spirit, I present this retrospective spotlighting the best writers’ runs on Spider-Man comics.  By doing this, I don’t mean to downplay artists’ contributions. I originally tried grouping runs by artist and writer, but it proved difficult, as a writer often outlasted several artists or vice versa.  I’ll leave it for someone else to evaluate the artists’ run.

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Papercut Cinema: # 6
by Lostwire
May 2007

"We need a hero, couragous sacrificing people, setting examples for all of us. Everybody loves a hero, people line up for 'em, cheer for them, scream their names, and years later tell how they stood in the rain for hours just to get a glimpse of the one who told them to HOLD ON a second longer. "

"Gotham's time has come. Like Constantinople or Rome before it the city has become a breeding ground for suffering and injustice. It is beyond saving and must be allowed to die. This is the most important function of the League of Shadows. It is one we've performed for centuries. Gotham... must be destroyed."

"And what have I done to my son, Ms. Ross? Nothing, I tried to improve on the limits in myself, myself, not him. Can you understand, to improve on nature, my nature, knowledge of one's self. It's the only path to the truth that give men the power to go beyond god's boundaries."

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Captain America: He’ll Fuck Your Day Up!
by Sean "Bias" Lawler
December 20 , 2006

I have never been a huge fan of Captain America, with his goofy costume and ridiculous patriotism. However, a few months back I went to my local comic shop, Hijinx Comics, and the owner pointed me towards the newest trade, called Captain America: Winter Soldier. The cover art struck my eye and I thought, Why the hell not? It had Nick Fury, a blonde woman with an assault rifle and Captain America throwing his shield at you, with massive explosions going off in the background. Michael Bay would have been proud. However, once I opened it up and started to read the story, I realized that the cover was very misleading. It wasn’t some balls to the wall action story - it’s a very wonderfully written story of Captain America’s fall into darkness after his nemesis, the Red Skull, is killed.

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Speaking Geek For The Week: San Diego Comic-Con
by Sean "Bias" Lawler
July, 2006

The San Diego International Comic-Con. Comic conventions just don't get any bigger than this one. This year, from July 20 to July 23, fans by the thousand packed into the San Diego Convention Center to see the stars, see the superheroes, see the comics, and see if they could survive a few days of utter mayhem.

And I was one of them.

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Can't Get No
The Graphic Novel Review
by Eric San Juan
July, 2006

As an artist and writer, Rick Veitch has paid his dues in the world of comics. While probably best known for his work on Swamp Thing (first as an artist with writer Alan Moore, then taking on full duties with his own acclaimed run) and Heavy Metal magazine, as well as other Moore collaborations, including 1963 and co-creating ABC Comics' Greyshirt character, he has in recent years built up an impressive library of graphic novels, including The One, Brat Pack, and Abraxas And The Earthman.

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Watching The Rings: Part 1
by Eric San Juan
May, 2006

Moore’s Watchmen and Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings Are Strikingly Similar Landmarks.

When one talks of landmark works, of vital contributions to the art of comics, one cannot ignore Alan Moore. With a body of work as consistently terrific as his – he has more certifiable classics under his belt than any comic writer of the last 30 years - targeting any given tale as his “best” is an impossible task. But of Alan Moore’s contributions to comicdom, one truly stands as not just an undeniable landmark, but the undeniable landmark, putting its stamp on comic history forever. We speak, of course, of Watchmen, the powerful 12-issue collaboration with Dave Gibbons circa the Reagan-era 1980s.

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Watching The Rings: Part 2
by Eric San Juan
May, 2006

In part 2 of Watching The Rings, Eric discusses how, despite their deep surface differences, Watchmen and The Lord of the Rings examine very similar moral territory, grappling with larger questions of good and evil.

At a glance, it appears these two stories could not be further apart – Watchmen is populated with dark and loathsome heroes willing to do wrong to achieve good, while The Lord of the Rings is peopled by noble heroes unwilling to tamper with evil even if it brings good. But that’s too simple an interpretation.

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