Category Archives: Comics
Good News, Everybody! New Multiple Man Comic!
We all kind of hoped it was inevitable, and the big reveal is here: Multiple Man is coming back with his own solo comic book series! Multiple Man #1 will debut in July, the first of five issues. It will be written by Matthew Rosenberg (who is also using Strong Guy and Wolfsbane in New Mutants), with art by Andy MacDonald.
I love wildly inventive/minimalist covers!
Welp, I’m thrilled! This is exactly what I want! I’m not too familiar with Rosenberg’s work, or MacDonald’s, for that matter, but this interview with ComicBook.com paints Rosenberg as a pretty awesome fellow.
“If I were smarter I’d probably say some nonsense about how this was all about the duality of man and the Jungian archetypes that exist within us, how they are often oppositional, and how the ideas of who we are existed before us and continue beyond us. Maybe the book is about what we leave behind in the world for the people who love us and the people who don’t, and how that story is never a complete picture. But, honestly, I just like Jamie Madrox a lot and I raised my hand in a meeting at the Marvel office and said, ‘What if he wasn’t dead?’ and then they asked me to make up how that would work. And so… here we are. Dude’s not dead.”
Sounds good to me!
Some basics about the book: Jamie Madrox isn’t dead yet from the Terrigen Mists, and why he’s not dead is going to drive some of the book. Rosenberg isn’t going to use Layla Miller, at least not right away, but he is going to use Jamie’s friends from Rosenberg’s New Mutants comic. So a bit of boo with all the yay, but I can live with that as long as we get proper Multiple Man back!
This is thrilling news!
———————-
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 2/24/18
I still need to go see Black Panther for a third time…at any rate, I’ve got some solid, quality comics to hold me over!
Can you say Amazing Spider-Man? What about yet another new issue of Tom King’s excellent Batman? Or how about Harley Quinn? I’ve got them all! Including the Comic Book of the Week, Mighty Thor!
Game of Thrones
In other comic book news, did you see that Marvel is pushing for another big all-enveloping change in May? New Avengers focus, new #1 issues shortly after their big renumbering brouhaha. Big everything. I don’t care. As long as they keep making good comics, I’ll keep reading. Though Jason Aaron handling the Captain America, Iron Man and Thor reunion on a main Avengers title sounds like a cool idea!
Comic Reviews: Amazing Spider-Man #796, Batman #41, Harley Quinn #38 and Mighty Thor #704.
Hench-Sized Comic Book Reviews – 2/17/18
Oh man, Black Panther was an awesome movie! I loved it! So good! If only I was reading Black Panther comics and could review them this week! Does anybody have any opinions on the current Black Panther run by Ta-Nehisi Coates? I gave up pretty early on it, but I’ve heard it gets better in the long run, so I’m considering picking up the TPBs.
Fortunately, we’ve got some good comics here, like DetectiveComics with major developments and a hilarious Unbeatable Squirrel Girl! Comic Book of the Week goes to the new issue of Ms. Marvel for an amazing issue that finally make sense of the current storyline.
Darnit, Mike!
Who knew the storyline that purposefully does not include Ms. Marvel would turn out so good? I had my doubts, but here we are!
Comic Review: Detective Comics #974, Marvel Two-in-One #3, Ms. Marvel #27, Sideways #1 and Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #29.
Strong Guy Watch: Through the Looking Glass
Once upon a time, I noticed an odd trend in the pages of Inhumans vs. X-Men, wherein the superhero Strong Guy seemed randomly added to background scenes. As a fourth-tier, supporting X-Men character, Strong Guy has never really mattered much in the larger X-Men scheme of things. He was barely ever acknowledged outside of his home book of X-Factor.
Can’t resurrect your Jean Greys without Strong Guy
But ever since Death of X, Strong Guy has been popping up as a member of the larger X-Men cast. And I found this rather weird. Out of all mutant characters, why was Strong Guy all of a sudden getting background supporting character slots? He was never a member of the X-Men before this, but now he’s clearly involved? Even if only in the background?
At first, my theory was that some editor passed a decree to start adding Strong Guy to X-Men scenes. I don’t know why or how, it just seemed like it had to have been a legitimate plan. There’s no way it was random coincidence. I started the Strong Guy Watch to keep track. But I backed off once it became clear that Strong Guy was definitely a member of the larger X-Men cast, as shown from his recent appearances in Phoenix Resurrection. The dude clearly belonged.
But a new Strong Guy appearance this week has reopened my original theory! What the heck is going on with Strong Guy that he would appear in Unbeatable Squirrel Girl?!
Beardless!
We’re through the looking glass here people.
In the panel in question, Strong Guy is among a wide variety of colorful characters summoned by Loki to help Squirrel Girl fight the Silver Surfer (it’s complicated, I know, but read the issue, because it’s great). The collected characters are immediately dispatched and sent back where they came from. So it was, at most, a two-page gag where artist Erica Henderson got to draw a bunch of wacky Marvel characters. They included Sleepwalker, for crying out loud!
But why use Strong Guy?
Out of all the characters that could have been chosen, why Strong Guy? Yes, he looks weird, and would therefore be perfect for the comic and Henderson’s art style. But she could have picked anybody. Was it even her choice? Did writer Ryan North tell her to include Strong Guy?
Or does my original theory hold: Was there some sort of editorial decision recently that Strong Guy would be used a lot more in the background of comics?!
It’s a mystery I will stay with all night, if I have to! But I will also take no steps to legitimately solve it. Just letting it simmer in my brain is good enough for me!
——————–
My 6 Favorite Comic Book Romances (At the Moment)
Happy Valentine’s Day! And what better way to celebrate this holiday/List of Six timing coincidence than talking about romance in comic books! Romance has been at the heart of a lot of our favorite superheroes. Is anything more solid than the love of Superman and Lois Lane? It’s part of the lexicon!
Classic!
And while Clark and Lois are still going strong, there’s a wide variety of romances throughout all of comics these days. So in honor of this lovey dovey holiday, I thought I’d share with you my favorite romances in comics! Not my favorite romances of all time, but my favorites that exist now, at this point in time. Romance is always changing, but these are really good!
Please share your own favorite comic book romances — current or of all time — in the comments!
Henchman-4-Hire 