I slowed down a little in June, due to a quick getaway trip and a large biography, but I enjoyed everything I read nonetheless. Once and Future, Vol. 2: Old English by Kieron Gillen, Dan Mora, and Tamra BonvillainIt’s really the art by Mora and the vibrant coloring by Bonvillain that make this story of... Continue Reading →
Slowed down a little this month with only six books read. They are: DAREDEVIL Vol. 1: KNOW FEAR by Chip Zdarsky and Marco ChecchettoZdarsky’s down-and-dirty take on DD begins here and, as I've mentioned before, it’s Marvel’s best written book right now. While Mark Waid and Chris Samnee’s run on the blind hero restored some... Continue Reading →
Greg Eide died on May 20, 2021 at the age of 69. He died of complications from COVID-19. Even though he had just had a second vaccination shot, he became symptomatic and spent the last two weeks of his life in hospital, according to a post on Facebook. I’m sure a lot of people reading... Continue Reading →
At some point in time, I decided I would become a comic book artist. While I can’t tell you the exact date, I can tell you how that thought came to me. Sometime in 1970, I was reading a comics fanzine called Auction Block. In its second issue, there was a long interview with Al... Continue Reading →
Above: The Exhibit Hall at the 1972 New York Comic Art Convention at the Statler-Hilton Hotel. The swinging sixties swung forward, and we (my brother and I) kept buying comics. The Marvel Age of Comics moved into hyper-drive, with the team of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby at their creative zenith, the return of John... Continue Reading →
Seven books this month! Yes, three are graphic novels, but they count, too, dammit … This retirement thing has hidden benefits! I am well on the way to my 2021 GoodReads goal of 50 books, with 18 so far this year. True Believer: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee is Abraham Riesman’s devastating bio... Continue Reading →
Retirement is the perfect time to think back and reflect on your life. One of the constants in mine has been comics. It was a large part of my childhood, followed me into adulthood (the definition of which may vary from person to person, especially me), and even, eventually, became a defining point in my... Continue Reading →
Man, this year is flying! We’re already into March, with the two dankest, darkest months behind us. Here’s what I read in February. The Drifter by Nick Petrie is the first in his series of Peter Ash novels, about a troubled veteran helping people. This time he visits the wife of one of his comrades,... Continue Reading →
One of the things I’d like to do in 2021 is read more, and hand-in-hand with this I'd like to document the books I’m reading, month-by-month. This does not include comics, magazines, streaming video descriptions or cereal boxes. I’m a little late with the January selections, but let’s cover them anyway, before February dies on... Continue Reading →
Recently I was having a “shower moment;” you know, some fantasy of a past or future moment where you imagine some event that you’re involved in, something where you’re erudite and articulate and people are hanging on your every word. I think most people have these moments in the shower, when they’re imagining what they... Continue Reading →
I’ve been dropping a number of hints over the past few months on this blog and on my Instagram account (@gg92118) about an impending big change in my life in 2021 … and now it can finally be revealed. After more than 20 years (2 decades!) with Comic-Con International: San Diego, I’m retiring. Comic-Con was... Continue Reading →
2018 saw the passing of both Stan Lee and Steve Ditko, the co-creators of Spider-Man. The hero is one of the most recognizable and popular in the world, and a lot of that comes from Lee and Ditko's original 40 or so Spidey stories (38 issues of Amazing Spider-Man, plus Amazing Fantasy #15 and 2... Continue Reading →
I went on a little personal quest during Comic-Con 2018. For a while now, I’ve been obsessed—there is no other word—with Fantastic Four #45 from 1965. It’s a book I read when it first came out, and—technically—still own, although it’s present location is with my brother, 2,500 miles away. To find a second copy of... Continue Reading →
Digging through some boxes and photo albums the other night, I came across the above item, my Marvel “No-Prize.” I treasure this empty envelope, and I’m glad I still have it, in relatively pristine condition, save for a thumbtack hole in it and a little dirt around the edges. Stan Lee started sending out this... Continue Reading →
I don’t write a lot about comics on here, partly because it’s a business thing for me, however tangential, but also because … well, I just don’t write a lot anymore because I write a lot for work. But Darwyn Cooke died today and I felt the need to write something about him and what... Continue Reading →
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