Category Archives: Comics

Comic Book Confidential movie review

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Comic Book Confidential was released at the end of the 1980s and is a good capstone to one of the best decades for the comic book industry. Back in the late 80s and early 90s, the internet wasn’t nearly as prevalent as it is now, so it was very possible that a lot of the non superhero comics would not be known to a lot of people. That was what made Comic Book Confidential essential viewing for the comic book fan. It not only introduced people to a lot of comic books they might not have seen before, but it also showed panels and pages (narrated by the author) from those books. But is it worth viewing now?

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Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O’Malley

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Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O’Malley is a new (relatively) comic book series that has been adapted into a movie (starring Michael Cera who must play all alternative teen boys in movies). The series has 6 books which were released yearly starting in 2004 (except for skipping 2008) and the final volume was just released this month. The format and art is influenced by Manga, but the series is all Canadian. But, who is Scott Pilgrim?

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The Quitter by Harvey Pekar

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The Quitter by Harvey Pekar is probably as close to an autobiography as we have for Harvey Pekar. That’s kind of strange to say about a person who made their name writing a autobiographical comic book featuring stories from his life, but The Quitter lays out his early life for all to see in typical Pekar fashion. It’s American Splendor in a novel length story and it’s wonderful.

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Our Cancer Year by Harvey Pekar and Joyce Brabner

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Our Cancer Year by Harvey Pekar and Joyce Brabner is a novel length slice of life book that Harvey Pekar is famous for. This revolves around the year that Harvey had cancer (NOTE: He did have another flare up after he retired that wasn’t as bad as this one). Spoiler: He survived. At the same time as Harvey’s cancer was the first Gulf War and Joyce (a peace activist) was working with teenage peace activists from around the world. So how was cancer?

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American Splendor: The Life and Times of Harvey Pekar

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American Splendor: The Life and Times of Harvey Pekar is a good starting point for anyone who’s interested in what Harvey Pekar did. Many people have seen that Harvey Pekar died this weekend, but might not be familiar with his work. A really good way to find out who Harvey Pekar really was is to watch the American Splendor Movie. This book was released around the same time as this movie to capture the momentum, which is why it has the movie cover. But who is Harvey Pekar.

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Jaka’s Story by Dave Sim

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Jaka’s Story by Dave Sim is my favorite Cerebus storyline. The multiple storylines are at once depressing, yet full of life and hope in a unforgiving climate. Previously Jaka has been a talisman of hope for Cerebus. He would see her or call for her when he was at his most desperate. And the timing was never right. So, after the events of Church and State, Cerebus saw all that he had worked for was destroyed, so he once again went to Jaka. And this is that story.

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DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore

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DC Universe: The Stories of Alan Moore is a compendium of Alan Moore stories that he did as one-offs (or 2 or 3 offs) with various characters in the DC Comics Universe. Some of these stories have been reprinted in other books and some are only collected here. There are a mishmash or full comic length stories and smaller backup length stories. Not all of them are great, but for an Alan Moore fanboy, this is a must have.

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Hero Happy Hour by Dan Taylor and Chris Fason

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Hero Happy Hour by Dan Taylor and Chris Fason is a delightfully loopy comic book about an after hours hangout for super heroes (we can’t call them super due to Marvel/DC Trademark issues). Set in a regular bar, the city’s hero’s come in after a hard night crime fighting to commiserate with each other and to drink a few beers before heading home. Is it worth reading?

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Astro City: Confessions by Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson

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Yesterday we discussed the first Astro City book which was a collection of one off stories. Astro City:Confession is the first multi-chapter story arc in the Astro City universe. Where in the first book we dealt with a Superman stand-in, here we deal with a Batman stand-in: The Confessor. This is the story of The Confessor’s new sidekick (and much, much more).

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Astro City: Life in the Big City by Kurt Busiek and Brent Anderson

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Astro City is Kurt Busiek’s baby. The culmination of his comics career and a damn good read. Busiek loves superheros. Really, really loves them. So he’s created his own superhero universe, stocked with all the typical superhero archetypes and has spent the last 15 years rewriting the superhero mythos. And it all started with a dream of flying in Astro City: Life in the Big City.

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