Marvel Adds Trio of Punisher Showdowns

New York, NY— July 21, 2025 — The streets of the Marvel Universe are set to explode this October as the Punisher comes face-to-face with some of Marvel’s most dangerous heroes! Beginning with PUNISHER SHOWDOWNS: BLACK WIDOW #1, writer Tom Waltz (Marvel Zombies: War Zone) and artist Greg Land (All-Out Avengers) are showcasing previously untold conflicts between Frank Castle and other members of the Marvel Universe in a series of oversized one-shots.

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REVIEW: Keeping 007 Alive

Keeping 007 Alive: Conversations with James Bond Continuation AuthorsBy Mark Edlitz232 Pages/Self-Published/$49 (hc), $29.99 (sc) Pop culture historian Mark Edlitz conducts good interviews, bringing passion and deep knowledge to each of his subjects. Of late, he has focused on Britain’s greatest spy, James Bond. He’s previously written The Lost Adventures of James Bond and James Bond After Fleming: The Continuation Novels…

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REVIEW: The 7th Voyage of Sinbad

In 1958, this was as cutting-edge as it got. Ray Harryhausen took his stop-motion special effects wizardry and applied it to his first full-color film, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, recognizing that the fantasy setting was ideal for his Dynamation creations. Viewed today, the effects can appear dated and, at times, quaint, but for those of us raised on his films throughout the 1960s, Harryhausen was a master whose work deserves to be remembered.

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Daredevil: Born Again by Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli

I'm sure I've re-read this story since 1986. You can't prove it from this blog, though. And my copy of  the trade paperback is the original 1987 edition, with minimal credits and supplemental material, from the era when the Big Two were still figuring out the whole reprint-floppies-in-a-permanent-format thing. (I'm not sure how I can have a copy of that edition, since mine would have died in my 2011 flood, but I do and I'm looking at it now.)

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Nova is Back as are the Ten Rings of Power

New York, NY— July 17, 2026 — The legendary Ten Rings of Power are returning to the Marvel Universe, and only one hero stands in their way of falling into the wrong hands: Sam Alexander, A.K.A. Nova! The fan-favorite hero makes an impactful return this October in NOVA: RETURN OF THE RINGS #1, a Marvel’s Voices one-shot celebrating Hispanic & Latin American Heritage Month.

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The Undertaker, Vol. 1: The Gold Eater & Dance of the Vultures by Xavier Dorison & Ralph Meyer

I try to treat books on the level I find them; it's only fair. This one is the first of a decent-length series of Western comics by two French creators. It collects the first two, very closely linked books in the series, both originally published in 2015 and translated by Tom Imber for this 2026 English-language edition from Abrams. I don't know that the Western in French comics tends to be a high-octane, big-picture genre exercise.

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Robots, Demons & Dayjobs by David Kantrowitz

I regularly read books of funny comics by creators I'm not familiar with. This is usually great - new funny stuff! new perspectives! potentially new favorites! - and there are lots of books out there by lots of funny people. But then I come to write about them here, and I worry that I'm saying exactly the same thing each time: this is a newish book of funny stuff, by somebody I hadn't heard of previously, and it is funny, and you might want to check it out. For example: …

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REVIEW: Pretty Maids all in a Row

The early 1970s were a transitional period for feature films. A new generation of filmmakers was making their presence known, alongside actors still unfamiliar to mainstream audiences. Content was evolving away from escapist fare toward more serious, provocative material. MGM, however, seemed slow to catch up. When Herb Solow, formerly of Desilu and Paramount, took over as head of film production, he jettisoned most of his predecessor’s projects but retained a film based on Francis Pollini’s 1968 novel Pretty Maids All in a Row. William Hanley (Something About Amelia…

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Fantastic Four and X-Men vs. 3K in October

New York, NY— July 2, 2026 — This October, things go from bad to worse for the X-Men and the Fantastic Four in their battle against the villainous group 3K! While Cyclops’ team engages 3K above the skies of Philadelphia to prevent the release of the X-Virus and the emergence of a dark future, the Fantastic Four have mysteriously forgotten their own identities (and how their powers work!) while on their own quest to save the master of magnetism, Magneto. As if that’s not enough trouble, the X-Men’s base in Alaska comes under attack, with John Greycrow left alone to defend it, and Psylocke stalks a mysterious monster on a dangerous solo mission that promises to reveal dark secrets.

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Shaolin Cowboy: Start Trek by Geof Darrow

There are some creative projects that you're pretty sure just aren't for you. Maybe it's in a genre you know nothing about - and aren't inclined to learn. Maybe it's a creator that just doesn't click for you. Or maybe you know that the project is doing something you're not really interested in. And then, twenty years later, you see it again, and don't remember exactly why you avoided it, and remember liking that creator's work, once upon a time. So you try it. And you remember: you were right to begin with.

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REVIEW: Blue Thunder: The Complete Series

By Dayton Ward June 1983: It was right around the end of my sophomore year of high school when some friends and I did what we often did on a Saturday: head to the nearby Cineplex to catch a movie. We’d already done our duty as Star Wars fans and taken in multiple screenings of Return of the Jedi along with viewings of Lone Wolf McQuade, Psycho II (we had to sneak into this one thanks to its “R” rating), and even Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone. Not much of the remaining fare tickled our fancy, except for one flick that we’d somehow missed to that point: …

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REVIEW: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Complete First Season

When you have as rich a history as the world of Westeros does in George R.R. Martin’s unfinished A Song of Ice and Fire saga, and you have a hit television series adapting the novels, obviously, there is room for exploitation and brand extension. HBO and HBO Max have fulfilled a desire to see more of this world, first with House of the Dragon (the third season begins next week) and now the Dunk and Egg novellas. For those unfamiliar, Martin penned three novellas featuring Ser Duncan the Tall and Prince Aegon Targaryen (nicknamed Egg for his bald head), which appeared in various anthologies between 1998 and 2010 with promises of more to come.

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Spider-Woman’s 50th Anniversary Resets Her Status Quo

New York, NY— June 12, 2026 — To know her is to cheer her! This September, SPIDER-WOMAN 50TH ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL #1 celebrates 50 years of Marvel’s Dark Angel with a jam-packed one-shot honoring Jessica Drew’s history and jumpstarting her spine-tingling new era! First, writer Dan Watters (Loki) and artist Andrea Broccardo (Spider-Man Noir) take Spider-Woman back into the shadows, revealing a status quo that will shock fans more than a bioelectric blast! A terrible twist of fate awaits Spider-Woman in the pages of Amazing Spider-Man: Spider-Versity…

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Black Hammer: Spiral City by Jeff Lemire and Teddy Kristiansen

I think this is still the most recent Black Hammer collection; it came out last November. It's set in the modern day, and does not feature the series main characters - the group of five Bronze Age heroes stuck on an extradimensional farm, like that dog you had as a child that had to go away, who I've come to call the Moping Crew because their super-team was never named. Like most Black Hammer stories, it tells superhero stories that the reader will find at least faintly familiar, using its own invented world and characters that are different enough from Marvel and DC so as not to excite the vicious IP lawyers.

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September puts Captain America and the Avengers to the Test

New York, NY— June 12, 2026 — An all-new era for Earth’s Mightiest Heroes kicked off this week in AVENGERS: ARMAGEDDON #1 by Chip Zdarsky, Delio Diaz and Frank Alpizar, the debut issue of a five-part event series that leads directly into Zdarsky and Marco Checchetto’s new run of AVENGERS launching in November! Today, fans can peek ahead with the reveal of AVENGERS: ARMAGEDDON #4, on sale in September. AVENGERS: ARMAGEDDON thrusts Earth’s Mightiest Heroes into a global conflict against Red Hulk, who has seized control of Latveria and now sets his sights on the rest of the globe.

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The Complete Peanuts, 1957 to 1958 by Charles M. Schulz

I reviewed a lot of the Complete Peanuts series when they were coming out - I bought them all, and read them contemporaneously, but the blog started up in the middle of that timeframe - so there's already a lot of words on this blog about Charles M. Schulz and his comics. This one, back in the day, was the first volume in the series covered here, in a quick round-up post of the kind I used to do. [1] I used to throw in a big block of links to all of the books in the series in my Peanuts posts; I'm not doing that this time.

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Wild That We’re Alive by Lauren Haldeman

Every book is from a particular person, with a distinctive point of view. The best authors realize that, and are as deeply themselves as they can be, to emphasize the things only they would say, in the ways only they would say it. Wild That We're Alive is a collection of diary comics, from one woman, mostly about her family life. It's not anything at all like that description would make you think it is - some hybrid of Erma Bombeck and James Kochalka - because that's not who Lauren Haldeman…

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C-Villain Boomerang is Upgraded to the Amazing Venom

New York, NY— June 8, 2026 — The mystery wearer of the super stylish new Red & Blue Venom suit was revealed this past April in Web of Venom #1 to be none other than fan favorite villain-turned-vigilante Boomerang! This September, after fighting alongside his fellow symbiote heroes during Queen in Black, he’ll swing into his first solo adventure in AMAZING VENOM, a five-issue limited series from the returning Web of Venom creative team, writer Jordan Morris and artist Luke Ross. Now calling himself COMEBACK, Fred Myers sets a course for Klyntar, the symbiote homeworld, on a cosmic quest that will test his limits as a hero and reshape his understanding of what it means to be a symbiote host.

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REVIEW: Billy the Kid Vs. Dracula

Growing up, I learned many things, among them that John Carradine never met scenery he couldn’t chew and that his Billy the Kid vs. Dracula is one of the all-time bad movies. It’s also fallen into the public domain, so multiple versions can be found for sale. Joining the collection is this new 50th-anniversary Blu-ray from Shoreline Entertainment, which comes with just the film and nothing celebratory. Carrdine has said on more than one occasion, "I have worked in a dozen of the greatest, and I have worked in a dozen of the worst.

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Young Shadow & the Watchdogs by Ben Sears

I'm still not sure if Ben Sears intends his comics to be all-ages (or, more specifically, most-ages, for tweens and up), or if it's a by-product of the stories that he tells. Either way, I'd say his books are OK for tweens, mostly, if that's something you care about. Young Shadow & the Watchdogs is Sears' new book this year; it follows 2021's…

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A New Book of Boba Fett is Coming in Sept.

New York, NY— May 26, 2026 — After his long-awaited return in The Mandalorian, Boba Fett went on to headline his own Disney+ series, The Book of Boba Fett. The hit show reintroduced the iconic bounty hunter to fans everywhere as he navigated the galaxy’s underworld and claimed control of Tatooine following Jabba the Hutt’s fall. This August, in the long-standing tradition of Marvel Comics epic Star Wars adaptations, Marvel brings this pivotal Star Wars saga to comic stands in STAR WARS: BOOK OF BOBA FETT, a seven-issue series by Star Wars veterans Rodney Barnes (Han Solo – Hunt for the Falcon, Ahsoka) and Will Sliney (Rise of Kylo Ren).

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First Midnight X-Men Details Revealed

New York, NY— May 26, 2026 — The light had its turn. Following up on the reveal of the all-new, all-terrifying MIDNIGHT UNIVERSE, Marvel is proud to lift the curtain on the first look inside the debut series from writer Jonathan Hickman (House of X, Ultimate Spider-Man) and artist Matteo Della Fonte (Nova: Centurion) along with a movie homage variant cover by Björn Barends.

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REVIEW: Iron Man: Super Smash

Iron Man: Super SmashBy Dean Hale and Douglas Holgate96 pages/Abrams Fanfare/$12.99 The team behind the entertaining Iron Man: Something Strange is back with a new graphic novel for younger readers, this time pairing Shellhead with the jade-jawed giant himself, the Hulk. In this whimsical adventure, Iron Man senses the Hulk has something against him, and he takes Thor's suggestion to heart, that the pair bond through smashing things.

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Hugh Jackman Recaps the Legend of Robin Hood

From writer/director Michael Sarnoski and starring Hugh Jackman, Jodie Comer, Bill Skarsgård, Murray Bartlett, and Noah Jupe. THE DEATH OF ROBIN HOOD – In theaters June 19. This retelling of his latter days is a big budget production, the first such since 2018's Riobin Hood, which starred Taron Egerton as Robin and Jamie Foxx as John. This is a version different from the current version on streaming.

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REVIEW: The British Are Coming Vol. 1

The British Are Coming Vol. 1By Rick Atkinson, Nora Neus, and Frederico Pietrobon320 pages/10 Speed Graphics/$35 Adapting prose storytelling to a graphic novel is tricky. Sure, it’s easier to visualize colonial America than describe it in words, but you also need to ensure readers know what they’re looking at and why. In this adaptation of Rick Atkinson’s same-titled book, so much context is missing that it’s a breezy, empty read that won’t enhance the reader’s knowledge.

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