Hair and maturity are tied together in significant ways. Getting your first haircut is a milestone in personal care, and trying to make drastic changes your own hair is a common mistake made by the young, who learn the hard way that they should trust professionals. For cartoonist Ebony Flowers, hair is an essential…
ADHD might be sending young Mateo’s brain in a million different directions, but it does wonders for his parents’ relationship in “Chapter Ninety-Three,” which follows Mateo as he struggles through his first school musical. His ADHD isn’t getting any better, and Jane is still nervous about committing to medication.…
While the majority of people only know Jimmy Olsen as Superman’s dopey redhead sidekick, the character has a long history as the conduit for really strange shit. In the pages of the Silver Age Superman’s Pal Jimmy Olsen, the young Daily Planet photographer would land in wild situations that often involved physical…
Learning how to ride a bike is one of the earliest opportunities young people get to explore their independence, gaining the ability to move farther away from the parents and home than is possible on just two legs. The young characters of Ryan Andrews’ new First Second graphic novel, This Was Our Pact, use their bikes…
What is the point of Doomsday Clock? It can be read as a treatise on hope and optimism overcoming despair and darkness in the superhero genre, but it really leans into the despair and darkness in the execution. If it’s supposed to pave a path for the larger DC Universe, the paving is taking a very long time. After a…
The women of Jane The Virgin have been through some major hardships recently, and it’s time for them to close the door on painful past events and push forward into the future. “Chapter Ninety-Two” is an episode about letting go, with Jane, Petra, and Xo facing struggles that help them overcome bigger issues derailing…
Koyama Press always makes sure to include some kid-friendly releases in its publishing slate, and these books tend to be some of the more imaginative, unusual kid comics that offer plenty for adults to enjoy. Chris Kuzma’s Lunch Quest is one of those titles, a gleefully silly, often surreal series of vignettes about…
If you’re a fan of Neil Gaiman’s The Sandman, you need to be reading The Dreaming. The flagship title of Vertigo’s Sandman Universe line, The Dreaming expands and enriches Gaiman’s mythos with a creative team whose imagination knows no bounds. Writer Simon Spurrier, artist Bilquis Evely, colorist Mat Lopes, and…
When it comes to queer representation in superhero comics, publishers all too often expect readers to be grateful for crumbs. There have been queer-led solo series (America, Batwoman, Iceman, and Midnighter) and team books with a lot of queer members (Young Avengers, The Authority in The Wild Storm), but those books…
Jane Gloriana Villanueva has long dreamed of being a professional writer, and while she had a significant crisis of confidence last week, the universe has assuaged her insecurities by giving her two major writing opportunities. She’s been tasked to write the pilot for This Is Mars after the studio executives were…
Cartoonist John Allison is renowned for his sense of humor, creating delightful, hilarious stories in comics like Bad Machinery and Giant Days. But he’s venturing into darker territory for his latest project, Steeple, a five-issue miniseries from Dark Horse Comics debuting in September. Written and drawn by Allison…
In storytelling across all media, genre provides a foundation of ideas for artists to build on in their own distinct ways. When working within a genre, creators have character archetypes and plot conventions to stimulate their imaginations, ideally adding specificity to these broad concepts. Killer Groove #1…
The Wild Storm is rapidly approaching its conclusion, and the book’s final chapters have introduced a new third party to disrupt the intensifying war between covert organizations IO and Skywatch. Warren Ellis and Jon Davis-Hunt have been building to the debut of The Authority for over two years now, and the group of…
Adaptations are tricky endeavors, pulling stories out of their original media and forcing them into new confines that can often jeopardize their integrity. The challenge is heightened when that source material is a game. Video game adaptations are common and rarely pan out well, with filmmakers simplifying long,…
Marvel Comics’ entire X-line is getting cancelled to clean the slate for Jonathan Hickman’s upcoming takeover, and next week sees the final issue of X-23, a charming comic that did great work building on what Tom Taylor set up in his All-New Wolverine series. Writer Mariko Tamaki came onto the title exhibiting a deep…
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl is one of the greatest, unlikeliest success stories in superhero comics, turning a joke character into the star of a clever, heartfelt, incredibly fun YA series that has become a gateway for readers of all ages. But nothing lasts forever, and after two volumes, 58 issues, one original…
Dial H For Hero is one of the most flexible DC superhero concepts, giving creators the opportunity to explore different facets of the genre through a mysterious rotary phone that transforms people into costumed crusaders when they dial “H-E-R-O”. The property has gone through multiple iterations throughout the years,…
War Of The Realms is a fantastic superhero crossover. The culmination of a story that has been building in Jason Aaron’s various Thor series over the past 6 years, War Of The Realms has massive stakes that justify bringing in characters from all across the Marvel Universe, and the tie-ins have been consistently…
DC’s Black Label was announced as an imprint where premier superhero creators would get the opportunity to tell out-of-continuity stories featuring the publisher’s biggest heroes. Of the first books announced, Superman: Year One easily had the most distinguished pedigree. Writer Frank Miller and artist John Romita Jr.…
