Comics

With 'Captain America: Civil War' raging in theaters, it is a good time to take a look at the comic that inspired it: Marvel’s 'Civil War' (2006-07) by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven. Like Frank Miller’s 'The Dark Knight Returns' (1986) and Alan Moore’s 'Watchmen' (1986-87), Civil War pits superheroes against one another in a battle to decide the proper role of super-powered crime-fighters in a democracy.

It’s the Toronto Comic Arts Festival this weekend and I was invited to partake in a Panel Discussion about the merits of comics on education. It’s a bit of a big deal to me. After all, I’m a teacher who loves comics and yes, I use them in my classroom. …

It’s the international day of Star Wars today! May the Fourth be with you all. Of course, I couldn’t let this day go by at school without treating my students to something special. Last period was devoted to a classroom round of Star Wars trivia that they all created and …

As a follow up to my two-part scholarly analysis of Frank Miller’s 'The Dark Knight Returns' (1986), I’d like to explore the second of what Sean Carney calls “two towering monoliths that changed the face of the superhero”— 'Watchmen' (1986-87) by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons.

I’m teaching my students about the concept of transformative media. You know, when stories exist in one form of media and then get spun off into other forms? Well, you have to be selective about thematic elements when you transform media into other formats and, depending on the format, some …

Prince always had superpowers. You only had to witness him picking up a guitar or sitting down at a keyboard to know it. His voice could encompass Curtis Mayfield, Stevie Wonder, and Mick Jagger, while remaining recognizable as its own thing. But around the time he created his own musical …

I’m a geek and I write about entertainment. This week I had a conversation with a PR specialist who was trying to categorize me for her company’s database. Admittedly, it does look like I mostly write about comics – I write a weekly column, after all. But I also write …

Ebbs and flows. Comics are cyclical, like everything under the sun. It’s important to remember that. Sometimes the writer has a good arc and then there are bad ones. Good reincarnations of titles occur and then are ones that force you to wonder just what the writer had for breakfast …

The acclaimed cultural commentator has penned a limited series of Marvels African superhero, and the timing couldn’t be better. You have no people. You are no longer my son. The first issue of the much-hyped, Ta-Nehisi Coates-penned Black Panther limited series landed at comic book shops this Wednesday, with fans …

Markus Prime is the artist behind B.R.U.H., the title of a cleverly named paperback that stands for “Black Renditions of Universal Heroes.” And his brilliant work is exactly what it sounds like. He has reimagined some of your favorite superheroes — Superman, the Powerpuff Girls, Ash Ketchum, “Adventure Time”‘s Finn — as …

Why is it hard to appreciate the simple virtue of goodness? Why did we drop our faith in the simplicity of generosity? Everyone on the planet is familiar with the bold, capital “S” inside the characteristic diamond-shaped crest. Superman, inseparable from the U.S. and its founding values, has become a universal icon thanks to film and television productions.

This has been a busy week. I mean, I have a full-time job as a teacher, which has to take priority, right? But this week saw a series of articles about Jim Shooter (generously praised by Mark Millar), my Epic, Illustrated article go out in Back Issue #88 and then a …

Dave Dorman’s a lucky guy. I mean, the talent notwithstanding, it’s the subject choice that he gets to work with that makes any card-carrying geek seethe with envy. Do you remember back the amazing cross-over event Marvel ran with its Star Wars titles just before the New Year? I’m not …

I met former Marvel Comics editor-in-chief Jim Shooter… and I shut up, I listened and I learned. I didn’t meet him the usual way that I normally meet comic book celebrities. I didn’t go to a con, approach his table, shake his hand and then get him to sign something. No, for this one …

This post is a round-up of both current and recently completed crowdfunding campaigns on Kickstarter, Indiegogo or other platforms by Chicago-based comic creators.