The Future is Still Being Written (setting out on a new journey after completing the last)

On the day I began writing this sentence—Saturday, December 13, 2025—I finished the rewrites of my speculative fiction novel Arcadia Lake. The manuscript now stands at 426 pages, just over 95,700 words. When I started the rewrites, my goal was to get the book down to 94,000 words. I didn’t quite hit that number, but […]

Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, by Tom King (writer) & Bilquis Evely (artist) (DC Comics) — a review

I admit to being a former comic book geek in my bio on this site. The heyday of my comic book collecting years was the 1970s until the early ’80s. Even then, I wasn’t what you think of as a “collector.” No bags, no boards, no long boxes. I was a comic book “enjoyer.” I […]

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania — a movie review

There often seems to be an inverse relationship in critics’ movie ratings to that of the movie-watching public. For instance, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. On the Rotten Tomatoes review site, the critics—as of June 10, 2023—gave the movie a disappointing 46%, based on 393 professional reviews. Meanwhile, the audience score is an overwhelmingly positive […]

What If …?: Season 1 (Disney +) — a review

As soon as I watched the first episode of this series, “What If . . . Captain Carter Were the First Avenger?” I knew that I was going to like it. Although the movie Iron Man was the official kickoff of the MCU, it was the first Captain America movie that really set the tone […]

WandaVision: Season 1 (and only?) — a review

The finale of this series aired back at the beginning of March 2021. I was still quarantining with my wife back then, with a lot of extra time on my hands. Still, I never watched an episode of WandaVision the same day it aired, even though I was watching them soon after, perhaps even just […]

Jupiter’s Legacy: Season 1 (Netflix) — a review

I read some distressing news recently. The Netflix original, Jupiter’s Legacy, has become another one-and-done series for the streaming giant. It’s not the only Netflix series to receive this treatment, of course; but, when I look at the list of other Netflix one-and-dones, this is the only series I actually watched. For those of you […]

What Stan Lee Said (Or: Not a Review of Comic Book Confidential [1988])

Comic Book Confidential is a cool documentary from 1988 about the history of comic books. I recommend it just to see a young Frank Miller with hair. Otherwise, you already know the stuff in this documentary. Superman, EC Comics, Dr. Frederick Wertham, underground comics—nothing really new. But, there are a lot of filmed interviews with […]

Supergirl: Season 5 — a review

I was looking back through my posts and discovered something I had forgotten. I never wrote reviews for Supergirl: Season 4 or The Flash: Season 5. I remember what happened. I did watch all the episodes of both of those seasons, growing increasingly dejected as I did so. I’ve described this before as DC-on-CW fatigue. […]

Invincible: Season 1: Episode 1: “It’s About Time” — a review (Amazon Original)

I’ve written reviews of the first shows of new series I’ve watched before. I recall writing separate reviews for the first and second episodes of The Orville. I wasn’t crazy about the first, but I came around by the second. Still, I generally wait until I’ve watched the whole season. There are only eight episodes […]

The Flash: Season 6 — a review

You don’t have to tell me that this review is waaay late. Or that Season 7 is playing right now, as we speak. The truth is that I put the CW’s The Flash on a non-COVID-related hiatus after I watched the fifth season of the series. It’s not that I hated the season, because it […]

The Boys: Season 2 (Amazon Prime) — a review

The second season of Amazon Prime Video’s The Boys—based on the celebrated graphic novel by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson—has made me thirsty (in the original sense of the word) for Fresca. It also made me wonder if Amazon and Coca-Cola weren’t somehow in collusion to drive up the sales of the carbonated grapefruit-based beverage […]

The Essential Uncanny X-Men: Vol. 1, featuring Stan Lee & Jack Kirby (Marvel Comics)

You have to know what you want when you’re ordering an X-Men omnibus collection. This “Essential” volume collects the first twenty-four issues of The X-Men, which didn’t become Uncanny until issue #95, after a five-year hiatus between 1970 and ’75, when no new X-Men stories were published. The “Essential” volume that contains issue #95 is […]

The Boys, Vol 1: The Name of the Game, by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson — a comic book review

This trade paperback collects issues #1 through 6 of The Boys, by writer Garth Ennis and artist Darick Robertson. These were the first six issues published by Wildstorm, a DC imprint, prior to the series being cancelled by DC. Ennis and Robertson would move the series over to Dynamite Comics. The series would continue through […]

10-List: Favorite Superhero Comic Book Characters

What follows is my list of favorite comic book superheroes. In no particular order: Batman (DC) — The Batman that I love isn’t necessarily the original Bob Kane (with Bill Finger) Batman or the 1966 Batman with his campiness and go-go vibe. Nor is it the Frank Miller “old man Batman.” It’s definitely something in-between. […]

Spider-Man: Blue, by Jeph Loeb & Tim Sale — comic book review

I’ve read Jeph Loeb’s work before. He wrote Batman: Hush, an excellent Batman story drawn by Jim Lee. I liked that one a lot. He also wrote Batman: The Long Halloween, with art by Tim Sale, the artist in the Spider-Man limited series. I didn’t hate this one, but I didn’t like it as much […]

In Memoriam: a belated remembrance of Stan Lee (1922-2018)

I’ve written about my personal history with comic books before. As far back as I can remember (I can remember kindergarten quite well, and perhaps things that happened before then), comic books were a part of my life. At first, it was books such as Baby Huey, Little Lotta, and various Disney characters, including Scrooge […]

The Boys: Season 1 (Amazon original) — a review

The Boys was a revelation. This is the superhero television show that I’ve been waiting for, apparently. Comic book deconstructionism, as a movement in superhero comics, owes some of its longevity to the work done in the 1980s by writers like Alan Moore and Frank Miller. Moore and Miller, and others of their ilk, attempted […]

S.H.I.E.L.D., by Steranko — a comic book review

This trade paperback collects Strange Tales 151 – 168 & Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. 1 – 3, 5. All of these individual issues, as you may have guessed from the title, feature the art of Jim Steranko, from the period 1966 through ’68. I never read any of these when I was a kid, […]

Doom Patrol: Season 2 — a review

Nearly a year and a half ago, I posted a review of Season 1 of Doom Patrol. I liked the series a lot, assigning it a grade of a solid A. I was aware of a group called Doom Patrol back when I was reading DC Comics. But, I never read any of their books. […]

The Immortal Hulk: Vol. 1: Or Is He Both?, by Al Ewing & Joe Bennett — comic book review

Doc Bruce BannerBelted by gamma raysTurned into the HulkAin’t he unglamo-rays!Wreckin’ the townWith the power of a bullAin’t no monster clownWho is as lovableAs ever-lovin’ Hulk! HULK! HULK! These were the lyrics to the theme song for the 1966 cartoon, an Incredible Hulk segment on The Marvel Super Heroes show. I dig the way the […]

10-List: Favorite Comic Book Artists

Here’s a list of my ten all-time favorite comic book artists. As of today. I winnowed down a very large list, cutting out many artists I admire and respect. You can tell that my list is heavily skewed towards older artists, which coincides with the years I was an active comic book reader. I am […]

Harley Quinn: Season 2 — a review

With DC Universe undergoing its current implosion, the fate of some of the television shows I’ve enjoyed on that platform may be up in the air. Is that a mixed metaphor? Implosion and up in the air? The three series on my mind are Titans, Doom Patrol and, of course, this animated series, starring the […]

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Season 7 — a review

I took a brief hiatus from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. after Season 5, which I think of as S.H.I.E.L.D. in Space, or, alternately, as Cracked-Egg Earth with Kree. It ended with what I think was the first live-action appearance of Graviton, who was soundly defeated by Daisy/Quake, which made the Earth future we just lived through […]

Post #700: Spider-Man Memories

This issue of The Amazing Spider-Man—issue #700—had a February 2013 publication date but actually appeared on the stands at the end of December 2012. It was the conclusion of the “Dying Wish” storyline, which had Peter Parker and Dr. Octopus in some kind of Freaky Friday situation, swapping bodies. It was also the last issue […]

Arrow: Seasons 7 & 8 — a review

I wrote a review of Season 6 of Arrow way back in May 2018. I said then that the series was doing an incomplete job of keeping my interest and announced I was stepping away from it for a while. Absence making the heart grow fonder, and all that. Which is what I did, not […]

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