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Shock and Awe   Avengers # 347  writer: Bob Harras      penciller: Steve Epting inker: Tom Palmer colorist: Gina Going-Raney * I’ve read tens of thousands of comic books in my lifetime, but there are only a select few for which I can remember the exact time and place I read them. One of those is Avengers #347. I was sleeping over at my friend Stan’s house. I’d brought some comics over to show him (he was a dabbler) and to read before falling asleep. As I lay there on the floor in my sleeping bag, a   single halogen lamp for light, my mind was blown by what I read in Avengers #347, which was the  conclusion of a nineteen(!) part storyline called “Operation Galactic Storm.” The previous 18 parts had been underwhelming, with the story sinking under its own weight and having no real coherence. So for the story to end in such an unexpected and thought-provoking way was a real shock. * There are two kids of major events in comics. One is the  Inf...

Taking Flight Alpha Flight #106 Writer: Scott Lobdell Penciller: Mark Pacella Inker: Dan Panosian Colorist: Bob Sharen * Though I'm a cisgender heterosexual male, I’d say I’m pretty far along on the spectrum of embracing the wide array of differences in how people express their sexuality and gender.  That wasn't always the case though, and it took a sometimes-ugly journey to get here.   Begin that I'm a cisgender heterosexual male, the system wasn’t designed for me to be tolerant and accepting of homosexuality or anything else outside of the heterosexual or gender “norm.” In addition to the gender and sexuality coding that everyone gets, I was raised in a conservative church that condemned what were euphemistically called “alternative lifestyles.” And I absorbed that, along with the casual homophobia that permeated the 1980s TV and movies of my youth.   At the same time, I knew and liked my dad’s friends, a couple named Ron and Tom, though I was naïve enough that it to...

A Perfect Thirty-First Issue Quasar #31 Writer: Mark Gruenwald Penciller: Greg Capullo Inker: Harry Candelario Colorist: Paul Becton * Reading monthly comics you become conditioned not to expect each individual issue to cover much territory on its own. You accept that you’re buying a part of a larger story. It might be enjoyable, but you don’t expect it to feel like a complete reading experience in and of itself. Of course there are the occasional standalone issues, which can be good, but aren’t inherently better by virtue of being self-contained. The rarest unicorn of all is the single issue that is part of the larger tapestry but still feels complete in-and-of-itself. Quasar #31 is one of those unicorns. It’s an act of magic that is and does things it shouldn’t be able to be or do. It’s a standalone story that’s part of a larger narrative. It ties off its plot threads but opens up many others. It makes Marvel’s much maligned New Universe seem like an intriguing place. And it deep...

The Thrill of the Hunt New Titans #82 writer: Marv Wolfman penciller: Tom Grummett inker: Al Vey colorist: Adrienne Roy * The Teen Titans began in the mid-1960s as a group of sidekicks who occasionally hung out and had adventures. As many DC characters did, the team went in some shaggy and weird directions in the 1970s. But in 1980, Marv Wolfman and George Perez revamped the team completely, adding new members (Cyborg, Changeling a.k.a. Beast Boy, Raven, Starfire) and glowing up originals Robin, Kid Flash, and Wonder Girl. The New Teen Titans was a massive hit, and at its height rivaled the popularity of The Uncanny X-Men . In fact, that’s the book it was most compared to, as both concerned a diverse group of characters who operated as a makeshift family.   George Perez left Titans in the mid-1980s, and was replaced by Eduardo Barreto. Perez returned in 1988 and the book was rebranded as The New Titans (the characters by this time all having reached their early 20s. ...

...And in With the New  X-Men #1 Co-Plotter/Scripter: Chris Claremont Co-Plotter/Penciller: Jim Lee Inker: Scott Williams Colorist: Joe Rosas * Chris Claremont began writing Uncanny X-Men in 1975 with issue 94. Over the next sixteen (!) years he transformed it into the most popular and best-selling superhero comic at either major company. Over those years, the title had three spin-offs - New Mutants , Excalibur , and X-Factor - but remained mostly self-contained. Despite having a large cast and enough plots for several books, there was only one place to read about the X-Men.   That changed in late summer 1991 with the debut of a second title, simply called X-Men . Like the adjective-free Spider-Man before it, the title was a smashing success. And it never would have happened without artist Jim Lee.   Jim Lee was born in South Korea, but his family moved to St. Louis, Missouri when he was young. He attended Princeton University, and studied psychology with a goal of bec...

A New New (Old) Universe The Fly #1 Writer: Len Strazewski Penciller: Mike Parobeck Inker: Paul Fricke Colorist: Tom Ziuko * By dint of their ongoing 60-year continuities, Marvel and DC superhero comics have the blessing and the curse of the enormity of their characters’ histories. It’s a blessing because it creates a sense of loyalty from fans, and gives creators wealth of backstory to draw upon. It’s a curse because it can be a huge roadblock to welcoming new fans. As I wrote in essay #1 , it wasn’t an impediment to me, and in fact I took it as a challenge. But there are plenty of potential readers who aren’t willing to do that.   That’s why both Marvel and DC have, since the 1980s, tried a several times to create new superhero universes separate from their mainstream ones. Marvel’s 1986 New Universe was the first. It started as a “back-to-basics” restart of Marvel’s main heroes (an idea they’d actually carry to fruition with 2001’s Ultimate Marvel), but soon morphed into a coll...

Death Becomes Him Infinity Gauntlet #1 Writer: Jim Starlin        Penciller: George Perez    Inkers: Josef Rubinstein and Tom Christopher Colorists: Max Scheele and Ian Laughlin * As I sat in a packed theater in the spring of 2019 watching Avengers: Endgame, I was surrounded by a person in a Spider-Man costume and another in Captain America regalia. It was at that moment  that it truly hit me just how far into the mainstream superhero fandom had come.  As I discussed this in the introduction to this project, there was a time not so long ago that superhero comics were not only shunned, but derided.  Now, people are going crazy for a TV show featuring Scarlet Witch and Vision, and my sons play with a life size infinity gauntlet toy. This is, of course, all down to astonishing quality of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But, and as obvious as this is, the MCU wouldn’t be anything without the comics that came before. It’s become sore...