Names like Superman, Batman, Iron Man and Spider-Man may sound silly, but there’s something sillier still.…
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FANTASTIC COMIC FAN: An Untold Tale of Joe Kubert
Keith Champagne has been a comic book creator since the 1990s. He’s been an artist, inker,…
FANTASTIC COMIC FAN: Stan Lee and Law’s Murphy
Over the last few years, I’ve reimagined how I thought of Stan Lee. Too often, fans…
JUST IMAGINE! August 1941: The Lure of the Sinister Circus
A “Circus of Crime” would be an unlikely and unwieldy enterprise, yet Marvel Comics has frequently…
FANTASTIC COMIC FAN: Two New Podcasts on Indie Creators
About a year ago, I reworked and refocused my regular podcast, Fantastic Comic Fan. I felt…
JUST IMAGINE! October 1940: The Black Hood – On The Page and In the Air
In the early 1940s, the Black Hood became MLJ Comics’ first cross-media star. The feat would…
FANTASTIC COMIC FAN: The Return of Dr. Doom—NOT That One!
Last week, I talked about how, in the pages of Little Archie, Archie, as a boy…
JUST IMAGINE! June 1967: Marvel Moves into Paperback
The first hints of Marvel Comics’ eventual ascendency in American popular culture came in June 1967…
JUST IMAGINE! July 1962: The Menace in the Metal Mask
Three members of the Fantastic Four were writhing and gasping for air in a gray dungeon,…
JUST IMAGINE: October 1966: The Beast Man EffecT
Whether through superheroes, horror or science fiction, comic books can express metaphoric truth by making it…
JUST IMAGINE! August 2009: The Super Power of Gaslighting
The superhero genre — always a distorted amplification of what is to be found in real…
FANTASTIC COMIC FAN: Duck Season
Right now, we are into Children’s Book Week, running May 5ththrough the 11th. It inspires young…
JUST IMAGINE: July 1965: The Puzzle of the Protean Predator
I have always regarded Menace of the Atomic Changeling as sort of “peak Green Lantern.” Green…
FANTASTIC COMIC FAN: Remembering Butch Guice
I remember the first time Butch Guice, it was during his run on Micronauts, but I…
FANTASTIC COMIC FAN: When Archie Battled Dr. Doom—NOT That Doom!
It was the South Side Serpents from not one but two Archie columns last week that…
INDY SPOTLIGHT: The Blade Of Miracles #2
The Blade Of Miracles #2 Jack and Lancelot have resolved their differences, but it turns out…
Harvest Moon Brings the Farm to the Switch this Summer
Beloved farming game by developer Natsume Inc., Harvest Moon: The Lost Valley & Skytree Village is…
JUST IMAGINE! August 1959: Lois of the Leopards
Lois Lane’s small plane develops engine trouble on her way back from interviewing Dr. Albert Schweitzer…
JUST IMAGINE! September 1962: Norse Gods and Cuban Dictators
A weak, vulnerable person is transformed by magic lightning into a caped, Herculean hero who can…
FANASTIC COMIC FAN: Traveling Through the Tower of Shadows
One of my fanboy “soapbox rants” is how lousy DC and Marvel are at collecting comics…
FANTASTIC COMIC FAN: It’s Archie Monday… Sort of…
Yesterday, I ran my somewhat usual Archie column, but it was getting too long for me.…
JUST IMAGINE! October 1942: A Joker for Junior
I wonder if I’d have preferred Superman or Captain Marvel? Having been born in 1954, I…
JUST IMAGINE! September 1964: Character Under Pressure
Stan Lee used the climax of Tales to Astonish 59 (Sept. 1964) as an opportunity to…
FANTASTIC COMIC FAN: Archie Is Having A Goldbergpalooza!
It’s Monday—so it must be Archie Comics Day! I don’t know where it started, but I…
JUST IMAGINE! 1902: The Boy Who Could Fly
The appeal of flight … I mean, Batman’s got a cool car, but flight is what…
INDY SPOTLIGHT: Zero Hunters #1
Zero Hunters #1 Garrick is obsessed with hunting down the vampire that killed his family. In…
FANTASTIC COMIC FAN: Who the Heck is Paul Kupperberg?
For those new to comic books, Paul Kupperberg’s work offers an incredible dive into decades of…
JUST IMAGINE! October 1954: The Year of the Cat
One mid-1950s Marvel superhero tends to get overlooked — Leopard Girl. A cross between Sheena and…
FANTASTIC COMIC FANS: More Fantastic Indies
As a comic book fan—I’m thrilled that’s there’s so many indie creators out there and putting…
JUST IMAGINE! September 1967: From Tiny to Titanic
Early on, I realized that on subatomic worlds, the Atom could as easily become a giant…
FANTASTIC COMIC FAN: Rob Hanes Adventures
Randy Reynaldo has been doing Rob Hanes since 1990—and I have been a big fan right…
Der Katzenprinz and Other Zemnian Tales is a Must for Critters!
Critical Role has published their stories through different media over the last few years. From comic…
FANTASTIC COMIC FAN: Put A Little Pep Into You Day
Archie Comics has been archiving the Golden Age Pep Comics. Some zombie fans who only pick…