When I was a very young kid growing up in the United Kingdom, my parents owned a convenience store. Every week, comics would arrive on our doorstep and on those mornings, I would put on my bathrobe and slippers and separate the comics from the newspapers. It was my supposed …

As I continue to teach online, the paradigm of the student weighs most pressingly on my mind. You see, most kids don’t realize that the word ‘student’ is not just a descriptor, but a title. It’s a title that historically used to hold great weight in society. When individuals identified …

Did a significant historical event occur when you could say: you were there? Hell, the last year has been one elongated example of that, I suppose. But there are moments that you know matter. The dominant part of the word ‘history’ is ‘story’ and there are so many stories in …

Every once in a while, it’s reassuring to know that what’s important to you sometimes shows up in the media you enjoy reading. Simply put: the comics for the list this week definitely resonate with me for the things that I value in my life. Whether that’s family, principle, or …

Memories … like the waters of my mind. I love how comic books have the capacity to evoke entertaining and fun memories of times past. Some comics take me right back to where I was and simply because I was reading the comic, it makes me feel good. It’s the …

If you’ve ever gone through part of your day and wondered what’s missing today, then you’re not alone. I think we’ve all experienced that sort of absence at some point in our lives. Absences open the door for all sorts of stories: lost things to find, creating friendships or to …

Monsters come in all shapes and sizes, circumstances can make them hidden and stealthy or blatantly obvious and overpowering. They are twisted in a variety of ways. Sometimes they have been affected that way by time or some are that way by design. The one thing they all have in …

These days, life seems like a grind. With a limited range of opportunities available (no movies, no restaurants, no social gatherings) to us all, a firm sense of resolve to see this thing through is what we need to cultivate. Who better than Conan the Barbarian? Marvel Comics Conan the …

I have come to realize in my years of existence on this planet that bravery is not a consistent state of being, but rather a state of mind that one can achieve when the moment is upon us. When beset upon by all sides, when your back is against the …

Simplicity is best. A comic doesn’t need to be overly complicated. I don’t need fancy decorations in the credits or a pretentious tone to embellish an existing franchise that has been around for about sixty years. All I need is a reminder of why I liked the franchise in the …

If you’ve ever met John Rhys-Davies, you feel dwarfed in his presence. No pun intended. The star of epic films like Raiders of the Lost Ark, Lord of the Rings¸ his numerous appearances on stage, screen and television, is one of those actors whose presence can overwhelm an audience with …

the influence of the 70’s four-colour heroes is a power that instilled a genuine sense of the power of justice in a lot of people my age who grew up reading them. There was nothing a true crusader borne of the spot-colour process couldn’t do. They could absorb damage, push …

It’s independence week for me this time around! I love stories with an individual hero/villain breaking ground and proving their worth, but gotta be true to myself. You see, lucky for me, I get sent a wide array of comics to preview, and to be honest, it’s such a massively …

More than ever, we look to the items of comfort that tide us through the challenging times. Though we can see the end of these days, I can admit to finally feeling the strain of the last ten or eleven months. Last year, after March, I completely taught from home. …

I find that looking fondly back at the past helps me to look forward to the hopes of the future. That’s the province of comics in my opinion. Comics are the rightful successor to the pulp literature of yesteryear. These were stories that captivated the imagination but were set in …