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Category: Comic Book Review

Agonizer / Comic Book Review / Text

· by Thomas Stockel · Apr 20, 2020

The New Mutants #19-20: The Demon Bear Saga (parts 2-3)

When we last saw our teen heroes, the New Mutants found their friend and teammate Danielle Moonstar AKA Psyche (I’m… pretty sure she wasn’t calling herself “Mirage” at this point. I don’t know if Claremont’s tendency to have characters re-name…

Agonizer / Comic Book Review / Text

· by Thomas Stockel · Apr 13, 2020

The New Mutants #18: The Demon Bear Saga (part 1)

In my last article, I talked about how I had erroneously ASSumed the creation of the New Mutants meant my beloved X-Men were going away. After being assured by my local comic book store owner that it was not the…

Agonizer / Comic Book Review / Text

· by Thomas Stockel · Apr 6, 2020

Meet the New Mutants: Marvel Graphic Novel #4

It might sound dumb now, but back in 1982 when the New Mutants graphic novel was announced, I took that as a sign that The Uncanny X-Men was getting canceled. Please bear in mind I was just a teenager and…

Agonizer / Comic Book Review / Text

· by Thomas Stockel · Feb 17, 2020

DC and Marvel Present Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man (part 2 of 2)

Last week, multiple prologues had villains Lex Luthor and Doctor Octopus thwarted by our heroes, Superman and Spider-Man respectively. As Clark Kent and Peter Parker went off to attend a (yawn) news convention, Luthor and Ock met in prison and…

Agonizer / Comic Book Review / Text

· by Thomas Stockel · Feb 10, 2020

DC and Marvel Present Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man (part 1 of 2)

When I looked at the X-Men/Teen Titans team-up, I had said all the crossovers done before had felt like gimmicks. But after I had said that, I wondered if perhaps I had been, well, unfair. After all, it had been…

Agonizer / Comic Book Review / Text

· by Thomas Stockel · Feb 3, 2020

Birds of Prey #58 and #59 “Of Like Minds” parts 3 and 4 (of 4)

We open up with a woman in a martial arts uniform sparring against an aged Asian man, and the inner monologue has her talking about how her judo wasn’t cutting it and she had to up her game. She and…

Agonizer / Comic Book Review / Text

· by Thomas Stockel · Jan 27, 2020

Birds of Prey #56 and #57 “Of Like Minds” part 1 and 2 (of 4)

When I posted a link to my last article in the Comic Book Resources community section, someone had been nice enough to show me this article regarding the creation of Birds of Prey. All this time I had thought Chuck…

Agonizer / Comic Book Review / Text

· by Thomas Stockel · Jan 20, 2020

Black Canary/Oracle: Birds of Prey #1 (1996)

It might be hard for some modern readers to believe, but there was a time when Batgirl was not interesting. At all. In fact, the only pre-Crisis on Infinite Earths Batgirl story I can remember was a story where…

Agonizer / Comic Book Review / Text

· by Thomas Stockel · Jan 13, 2020

Batman: Harley Quinn (1999)

There were a couple reasons why I picked this particular comic this time out. The first is the Birds of Prey movie is coming out in a few weeks. The second is Thundercats Roar snuck onto the internet, and it…

Agonizer / Comic Book Review / Text

· by Thomas Stockel · Jan 6, 2020

Superman: Red Son #3 of 3 “Red Son Setting”

Remember how last time I praised that opening for issue #2? As a Dark Lord of the Sith once said: Impressive. Most impressive. It’s the 21st century and Superman has celebrated his 63rd birthday. Brainiac has told him almost six…

Agonizer / Comic Book Review / Text

· by Thomas Stockel · Dec 30, 2019

Superman: Red Son #2 of 3 “Red Son Ascendant”

Last issue, Superman, having grown up in the Soviet Union, had become a staunch defender of all things communist. After Stalin’s death, Superman decided to lead the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact, and the only person who might be…

Agonizer / Comic Book Review / Text

· by Thomas Stockel · Dec 23, 2019

Superman: Red Son #1 of 3 “Red Son Rising”

So, let’s talk about Mark Millar. A former associate of Grant Morrison’s, Mark has had an impressive career, working both for DC and Marvel Comics as well as independent titles. Several of his works have been adapted into successful motion…

Agonizer / Comic Book Review / Text

· by Thomas Stockel · Nov 19, 2019

Captain America #289 “Tomorrow, the World?” The Deathlok saga (part 4 of 4)

It’s weird, but when I picked the Deathlok Saga to review, the only thing on my mind had been the fact that the titular character was essentially an animated corpse; Halloween was the only thing on my mind. Then someone…

Agonizer / Comic Book Review / Text

· by Thomas Stockel · Nov 11, 2019

Captain America #288 “Mazes!” The Deathlok saga (part 3 of 4)

Part three of our story opens with Captain America wandering through the bombed out remains of New York City, circa 1993…Waitaminute. Lemme go back and check issue #286… Ah-ha! It was originally 1991! So was Godwulf chilling in that subway…

Agonizer / Comic Book Review / Text

· by Thomas Stockel · Nov 4, 2019

Captain America #287 “Future Shock!” The Deathlok saga (part 2 of 4)

Last issue had Captain America dealing with the problems of breaking in a new sidekick and the inner angst of being Steve Rogers, but then he got to ignore all that stuff when he met the clone of Luther Manning,…

Agonizer / Comic Book Review / Text

· by Thomas Stockel · Oct 28, 2019

Captain America #286 “One Man in Search of... Himself!” The Deathlok saga (part 1 of 4)

With the Halloween holiday upon us, I was wondering what comic I should review. I’ve already looked at Swamp Thing, and Man-Thing seemed a little obvious. I was never a fan of Marvel’s Dracula, and never read Werewolf by Night…

Agonizer / Comic Book Review / Text

· by Thomas Stockel · Oct 21, 2019

Batman #429 “A Death in the Family” (part 4 of 4)

We last saw our heroes, they were confronted by the Joker, now ambassador of Iran to the United Nations. The final part of our story opens with Batman and Superman in a dark room with CIA agent Ralph Bundy, who…

Agonizer / Comic Book Review / Text

· by Thomas Stockel · Oct 14, 2019

Batman #428 “A Death in the Family” (part 3 of 4)

In part two of “Death in the Family”, the Joker blew up a warehouse with Jason Todd inside and DC left it up to us to decide if he would live or die. Part three opens with Batman stumbling through…

Agonizer / Comic Book Review / Text

· by Thomas Stockel · Oct 7, 2019

Batman #427 “A Death in the Family” (part 2 of 4)

Last time, in a story jam-packed full of coincidences, Jason Todd, the least popular Robin, discovered his dead mom was not his biological mom. He went on a quest to find her and he and Batman wound up in the…

Agonizer / Comic Book Review / Text

· by Thomas Stockel · Sep 30, 2019

Batman #426 “A Death in the Family” (part 1 of 4)

DC Comics post-Crisis on Infinite Earths was a weird time. Initially, me and everybody I know who read that epic considered it one of the best stories ever printed. George Perez’s art was top notch as usual, and the…