Given how many Deadpool miniseries there have been over the years, it’s surprising that it’s taken so long for the fourth-wall-breaking mercenary to star in a choose-your-own adventure comic. These stories require a lot of organization because the story structure is so complex, but writer Al Ewing has proven time and…
Action Comics #1 changed comic books forever when it debuted 80 years ago, introducing a new character whose wild popularity created the genre that became synonymous with the medium. Superheroes have since jumped off the page and become bonafide pop culture juggernauts, and Superman laid the groundwork, starting with…
Hope Larson is fascinated by adolescence: The intense emotions, the crucial identity questions, the desire to grow up while holding on to the last remnants of childhood. With her work on books like Chiggers and Mercury, Larson has shown a deep understanding of adolescent relationships and how they can blossom and die…
Boom! Studios has been doing remarkable work with the Power Rangers franchise over the last year, with two ongoing series that have brought depth to the property while also establishing its value as an independent superhero universe. While the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers series pushes the spectacular superhero…
Writer Si Spurrier has built a career on off-kilter, high-concept science fiction stories, and for his latest Vertigo title, Motherlands, he’s put a dysfunctional mother-daughter relationship at the core of the plot. Tab is a bounty hunter following in the professional footsteps of her elderly mother, Selena, a former…
The actor: Ivonne Coll first stepped onto the international stage as Miss Puerto Rico in the 1967 Miss Universe Pageant, but she had no intention of being an actress. She worked as a bit comedian and showgirl before scoring a small role in a huge movie, and her time on the set of The Godfather Part II put her on a new…
Jane Gloriana Villanueva does not like surprises, but unfortunately she’s living a telenovela story that is constantly throwing unexpected plot twists her way. She had her future planned in meticulous detail before getting pregnant from an accidental artificial insemination. Her abuela was thrown down the stairs by a…
Every two weeks, Big Issues focuses on a newly released comic book of significance. This week, it is Prism Stalker #2. Written and drawn by Sloane Leong (From Under Mountains, Change), this new series takes readers on an introspective sci-fi journey through a beautiful, dangerous alien universe. This review reveals…
Built on the idea of a team of superheroes from alternate realities traveling through different dimensions, Marvel’s Exiles is a title that allows creative teams to explore the full breadth of the Marvel Comics Multiverse. It’s basically Sliders for superheroes, and the series is in the midst of a big revival thanks…
Dark Horse has been telling stories within the universe of the Alien films for decades, but the property has had a major upswing in the last year after handing the reins to singular writer/artists with a distinct vision for this concept. James Stokoe’s Aliens: Dead Orbit (now available in a collected edition) was a…
Since its debut in 2003, writer Evan Dorkin and artist Jill Thompson’s Beasts Of Burden has been one of the comic industry’s best horror titles, telling chilling, heartfelt stories with a cast of adorable animals who join forces to fight supernatural threats. The various Beasts Of Burden one-shots over the years have…
Michel Fiffe loves superhero teams with a high mortality rate. His creator-owned series, Copra, is a love letter to John Ostrander and Kim Yale’s legendary run on DC Comics’ Suicide Squad, and for his latest project, Bloodstrike: Brutalists, he’s reviving a ’90s Rob Liefeld property featuring a team of assassins…
What does it mean for a TV show to be “grounded”? It’s a word I often use in a positive context, and I think grounded stories tap into relatable human experiences and bring complexity and depth to the emotional lives of characters. Being grounded shouldn’t be every series’ top priority, but shows can always benefit…
Scott Free is the universe’s greatest escape artist, but the current Mister Miracle miniseries is building a trap from which he can’t break free. Scott has become the Highfather of New Genesis and taken on the responsibilities of leading an alien planet during wartime, but he’s also a regular father dealing with the…
Being helpful to other contestants on a reality TV competition is a smart way to build alliances and ingratiate viewers to your character, but you have to put yourself first. Asia O’Hara learns this the hard way on tonight’s RuPaul’s Drag Race, which has the queens serving three looks on the runway for “The Last Ball…
Nathan “Cable” Summers has one of the most convoluted backstories of any superhero character, but with the right creative team, that history can provide rich narrative material to push the psychic commando forward. Writers Lonnie Nadler and Zac Thompson are newcomers to the world of superheroes, and they’re taking…
With the Avengers at the core of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the franchise has gotten a big push in comics over the past decade, spawning multiple titles that expanded the team’s presence in the Marvel Comics line-up. This gradually diluted the brand with too many books taking on the Avengers name and pulling the…
Back during season one, I never would have predicted that DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow would be my favorite superhero show on TV. Eventually the writers realized that this is a show about superheroes traveling through time, so it really shouldn’t take itself too seriously, and the series became all about fun and humor and…
James Tynion IV has done remarkable work crafting compelling drama around the Bat-family with his Detective Comics run, taking cues from the Chris Claremont school of superhero storytelling to build a dense narrative featuring a big cast of characters, each with their own subplots. Tynion’s run ends with May’s issue…
After two tearjerker episodes focusing on Xo’s cancer diagnosis, it’s refreshing to have an episode of Jane The Virgin that traffics in joy and relief rather than fear and sorrow. There’s definitely potential for tears in “Chapter Seventy-Nine,” but they’re happy tears as Alba finally gains her U.S. citizenship after…
