Reading Experience Archive

  The “tribute” to a national tragedy comic book issue has always come across to me as a very slippery slope for the superhero medium. Of course, I can’t think about one of these “very special” issues without immediately reflecting on Amazing Spider-Man #36 (volume 2), which was written/illustrated

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Though I often complain about the cynical nature of comic books, I thought I would take advantage of all the “Avengers-mania” connected to the new blockbuster movie (in theaters today!) and do a post about a featured character in that movie, Black Widow. Of course, I have an ulterior

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Just as an addendum to my post earlier this week about the Venom symbiote not belonging anywhere near a supergroup of superheroes like the Avengers, I thought I’d look back at the issue of Amazing Spider-Man where we discovered that there was, indeed, something a bit suspicious about that

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I’ve never been one to totally buy into the concept of destiny when it comes to how things went about happening in my life. But every once in a while, I think back to a specific moment and push aside my cynicism and accept that yeah, maybe there is

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A renowned bad guy “going straight” is often a theme I’ll touch upon when I write about Venom, but I can probably make a better case study out of this phenomenon by talking about Sandman, who has been one of the longest-tenured “tweener” characters in the history of the

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I feel like fans and critics toss around the terms “underrated” and “overrated” a little too loosely, especially when it comes to the world of pop culture. I’ve personally been guilty of using these phrases when I talk about the world of Spider-Man and all of its characters, writers

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As I continue to focus on the current lineup of the Sinister Six in anticipation of the “Ends of the Earth” storyline, I’m now stuck on trying to come up with something thoughtful and insightful about the Rhino. And perhaps there’s my hook for a post. Personally speaking, Rhino

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While the comic book medium is notorious for its “can you top that?” mentality, sometimes that old K.I.S.S. adage (depending the edginess of your audience, it’s either keep it simple silly or stupid) really holds true. While I appreciate backstories with incredible depth and development, or storylines with shock-twist

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It’s very rare in the world of comic books for creators to land upon an appropriate arch-nemesis right out of the gate. It wasn’t until the fifth issue of Fantastic Four when the world was introduced to Doctor Doom. The Joker didn’t show up until Batman #1, which as

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When it comes to J. Jonah Jameson, I’ve long debated the argument of whether or not he effectively crosses the line from “antagonist” to out-and-out villain. He’s certainly long been one of Spider-Man’s greatest adversaries over the history of the character, but a villain? Definitely not a villain in

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