Invasionforce

April 2, 2012 9:39 pm A credible conflict has been set up between the Avengers and X-Men in that the two teams would likely disagree about how to handle the return of the Phoenix Force. The X-Men will win this fight because Marvel ain't bringing back the Phoenix without having it stick around for a while to figure into future stories. The only way that happens is if the X-Men win. I hope there are not gratuitous deaths in this crossover. Good story telling makes a story arc memorable or classic, not the death or deaths involved.

March 24, 2012 12:30 pm If there were historical Amazons, (and historians think it possible) they would have had to do something with their male children. Most likely, they just gave them away to neighboring tribles. Traditional societies are often very happy to have more boys. On the other hand, the Amazons likely took in unwanted girls. Girl children are often seen as negatives in traditional societies.

March 13, 2012 4:21 pm "Harbinger" was great as a more realistic, grounded version of the X-Men. The stories were interesting until Peter had his knock down, drag out with Harada, then the title lost momentum. But after a certain point, all of Valiant began to go downhill.

March 1, 2012 8:33 pm I'm not a big DC reader, and after reading this arc, I found that I still did not understand who Darkseid is, where he is from, what his motivations are, or what his powers are. When you don't understand the villian, it makes it hard to become involved in the story.

February 28, 2012 4:13 pm Exactly where comic books fall on the continuum of culture is an interesting question. I tend to think of pop culture in general as "folk art." Most pop music, television, comic books and many feature films were not made by people with aspirations of competing with Henry James, Mozart or Moliere. Pop culture is created by people who just want to entertain and make a buck, and some of he creators may be well educated and know the difference between entertainment and art. Today, many comic artists are trained, and some of their work may actually achieve an artistic merit. I haven't read a comic yet that has writing that I would consider striving to be in the league of Proust or Dickens. And that's fine. Reading only art can be exhausting, and it's pleasant to take a break with mere entertainment. And there is a difference between good entertainment and bad, which I why I bother to review comics. On the other hand, I suspect that when Stan Lee was young, he and most of his fellow writers had no college and would not know the difference between Jane Austen and Herman Melville. Similarly, most of the artists had little or no formal training. So there was an era when comics met Wally's definition of "folk art."

February 28, 2012 6:10 am Wha? And you call yourselves comic fans? No, generally comics are not "high art," but they are a kind of "folk art" and the folk arts of many cultures are collectibles. It could be Grandma Moses, American Indian crafts or oriental rugs. And comics on paper ARE printed. Collectors want the first edition, before the masses caught on to what was cool. A first edition of a novel can even be valuable if it is signed by an author like Hemmingway or Fitzgerald.

February 27, 2012 10:35 pm I am sure that one can get the early adventures of Superman and Batman in some kind of trade paper back or omnibus collection, but has that made the original comics any less sought after? No. In the long run, I think digital may eat up more of the sales for TPB's than for single issues.

February 27, 2012 9:44 pm I don't think comics will ever stop being printed on paper. Fewer of them may be printed because some fans will opt for digital. But the shorter print runs will make the printed comics more valuable.

February 27, 2012 9:42 pm Will serious art collectors be satisfied with a large screen TV that shows a rotating slide show of their favorite works of art? Nope. If an art lover can afford them, he will take the original paintings or prints any day. It will always be the same for comic collectors. I will never throw a comic away (although I might give some away). You never know when an obscure character will be revived, become popular, and make his early appearances valuable. Comics rise in value for odd reasons. The issue of "Uncanny X-Men" where Wolverine is first called "Logan" is more valuable than the several issues before and after. Who knew that Hobgoblin would become a popular Spider-Man villian? His first couple of appearances are more valuable than the several issues before and after.

February 11, 2012 9:02 pm I don't know why people are attacking Tony Moore for "waiting too long." Is there something like a statute of limitations on how long he has to sue in a case like this? If so, he's within his rights to wait until the very last minute to file his suit, as long as he comes in under deadline. Moore also has the right to contest the previous agreement if it was not comprehensive (maybe some language was vague) or if he concludes some details were handled improperly. "The Walking Dead" is creator owned, so the ownership issues are probably going to be more complicated than if the work were done for Marvel or DC.