Tom Recommends: Astro City

In this space last week, I recommended the comic book series Planetary, the deconstruction of the superhero genre and pulp literature in general.

This week, I’m going to recommend a book that comes from the opposite end of the spectrum when it comes to taking a serious look at the superhero genre, namely Astro City.

Going Through The DCAU Part Eight

Continuing Jimmy and Tom’s rewatch of the DCAU.

This week, we cover the Batman the Animated Series episodes “The Clock King,” “Appointment in Crime Alley,” and “Mad as a Hatter”.

Slightly Misplaced Comics Hero Case Files #16: Triathlon

He’s the new pushy hero nobody was waiting for!

Kurt Busiek and George Perez had a fairly epic run on The Avengers starting in the late 90s.  They had the team take on Ultron and Kang.  They had a mix of old and new characters.  They made Carol Danvers interesting (yes, Jenny, I said it, and she’s been interesting ever since).  There was beautiful artwork, stories that showed great understanding for everyone on the team, and a silent issue where Washington D.C. got destroyed, but the Avengers managed to get George W. Bush out, and only George W. Bush out, before everything went boom.  I did not make that up.

They also put a new character named Triathlon on the team, and he was fairly lame.  I only recently learned why.

Comic Recommendation – THE AUTUMLANDS: TOOTH & CLAW

 

If you’re a comic book fan like me, you have two major problems. The first being that you spend too much money on your current comic runs, and the second being that you are always wondering if there is an new run you should start. Well let me assure you fellow comic fans, you are not alone. But – despite these ongoing problems (which we will not address today) I implore you that if you are wondering if there are new runs you should start, let Autumnlands: Tooth & Claw satiate your hunger.

Ten Best Deconstructive Superhero Stories of All-Time

 

Would this be a work of construction deconstruction superheroes?

I have a reputation on Gabbing Geek as a guy who doesn’t like comic books.  This knock is generally well deserved.  I don’t like much anymore.  But there is a certain kind of comic that even to this day will cause me to get dressed, get in the car, head to the comic shop, and buy a comic sit in my underwear, fire up the ol’ tablet, click Comixology on my browser, and download a digital file.  What are these amazing tales you ask?

Why The X-Men Suck At Their Jobs

Lots of pouches here. It was the 90s.

The X-Men were created for two primary reasons.  One was because Stan Lee needed another superhero team and was feeling kind of lazy, so he threw up his hands and said, “You know what?  They were just born that way!”  The other was as a at-times heavy-handed anti-racism allegory.  The year was 1963, and the Civil Rights Movement was heating things up across the country.  Younger readers of comic books could be taught a lesson on tolerance, and comics were a good medium for that, so here were the X-Men, mutants who were feared and hated by non-mutants for the crime of being born different.  But the X-Men were good and defended regular folks against the evil mutants of the world, in an attempt to prove that not all mutants were evil.

Even given the sliding scale of Marvel time, where everything outside Captain America and the Invaders’ exploits during World War II depicted in a Marvel Comic (barring the upcoming Secret Wars) has taken place over a roughly 12 year time period, the X-Men really suck at their task of promoting tolerance.