Into the Longbox

She doesn't need to turn around and see that fire. She knows it's there. I know it's been a while since I wrote on this blog and I have many other topics I want to cover. Right now though, I just watched the Supergirl pilot today (a day or two late) and I just feel the need to talk about it. Normally I would go into some brief, meandering tale about how I have always liked Supergirl, blah blah, blah. That would be a lie, so we'll skip all that and jump right in. I really liked this pilot and that surprises me. It was a lot of fun. First off, all the DC movies are edging towards super dark, so it's refreshing to have another show (like the Flash) that is more upbeat with heroes that EMBRACE their powers. Imagine that. How uncommon it's become for a super hero show to be about a super hero that likes what they do. Melissa Benoist is just so damn likeable as Supergirl/Kara Danvers. A super hero show only goes as far as it's leading character. Like th...

I know this is on the heels of me complaining about how expensive books are getting. I'm kind of a hypocrite okay? But there have been announcements that not only is there a new Black Panther comic coming, but a new Power Man and Iron Fist book as well?! It's like Marvel is writing to ME. I will give them credit because they have talked about trying to be more diverse with their creators. They are walking the walk. Let's turn this back to me, so I can gush about how excited I am about my three of my top five favorite marvel characters, as detailed in my previous post . I'll start with the top, Black Panther. With his appearance in the upcoming Captain America: Civil War movie and his upcoming solo movie, I knew it was only a matter of time before Black Panther would grace us with is own solo title. That is just the way Marvel works these days. Synergy between the comics and movies, sometimes to an annoying effect. Here it was an inevitability that I am happy that ...

There's a lot of other great news in the comic book industry that I want to touch on. Before I do that, I think it's time for me to have a little rant. I hate to sound like such an old man, but I was buying comics when they were about $1.00 to $1.50 per an issue. Then for a few years in the early 2000s, they stayed around $2.99. The past few years, $3.99 has been the norm and lately there have been issues that have snuck up to $4.99, $5.99 and $7.99. It feels like the industry is starting to settle on $4.99 per a book. I know this is such a first world problem, but hear me out. A hobby that I love is becoming more and more expensive. I will admit I've been insulated from this somewhat because I get a big discount from my local comic book store. This is because I'm a subscriber and pick up a lot of books per month. So for the past few years, I've enjoyed a nice discount. In a previous post, I mentioned how I have cut back my DC comic buying to the bone. I'v...

As I sat there at my desk, filling out a new subscription for my local comic book shop, I couldn't help but notice a trend. It's something that had been going on for months, but visually seeing this on my sheet really struck home the point to me. It's a trend I really don't see going away soon. Have I teased everyone long enough? I like the attention really, so I will make you wait for one more sentence. Okay, here goes. I'm barely buying any comic books from DC. When the "New 52" event started over four years ago that effectively rebooted the DC Universe, I was all in. I will admit that like most die-hard comic book fans, I complained these impending changes. Since I've been a fringe DC fan at best, I realized this was the best thing for me. It gave me a chance to start fresh. Through a deal at another comic store (not my home base), I got all the number one issues. This helped me decide what I liked and what I didn't like. I reviewed this on my...

The War of Stars! Wait, that's not right... Wow. It's been a long time since I wrote on here. And what brings me back? Star Wars! There's been some rumor that there is a new movie coming out later this year. Marvel/Disney knows this (as Disney owns the franchise) and in a move of a cash grab synergistic energy, they have released a lot of new comic books. What you may not realize is that these books have taken over the industry (sales wise) by storm. I won't go into details, but those books alone have made Marvel a top seller. So why do I bring this up? I happen to be one of those poor saps that got roped into these books hook, line and sinker. I'm a sucker for Star Wars. Dark Horse had a lot of great series a few years ago, so I can't even begin to explain why I ignored those and suddenly got super interested in these. What's that? There's a new movie coming out? Oh right. That explains it. That excitement has made me wax nostalgic for this fra...

Buy your copy today! I'm going to do something I haven't done on this blog yet. A book review! Before you get all excited and think I'm cultured, I'm sure you already saw the title of this post. Of course it's a book about comic books. I'll try to be as eloquent as possible, since we're taking care of serious business here. What we have here is an unauthorized look behind the history of Marvel Comics. This book is built on more than a hundred interviews the author, Sean Howe, had with many of the professionals that worked at Marvel Comics over the years. I was completely engrossed in this book, but as I was reading it I kept thinking whether I would recommend this book to my non-comic friends. I'm leaning slightly towards no. Let me explain why. The audience for this book is clearly fans of comic books. The majority of the stories hinge on your working knowledge of the creators with each turn of the page. There are ends of chapters that end with ...

I've thought about this for a while, but haven't written about it here. Since this is a comic book blog, I figured I would take a few moments to talk about my top five, favorite Marvel Characters. I know the Avengers are the hot thing now, but you won't see one traditional Avenger show up on my list. I've long since been a fan of the X-Men and the Fantastic Four, so you will probably see that reflected in my list. So here we go, in descending order. 5. Power Man/Iron Fist - I know these are two distinct characters, but I think they have done just as much good together as they did apart. This is my favorite comic book, buddy cop team. You have a black guy (Power Man/Luke Cage) who is from the streets of Harlem and was experimented on in prison to gain super strength and steel hard skin. You have a white guy who was raised in the mystical city of K'un L'un where he became a partial arts master with a technique called the Iron Fist. These two characters could...