Dec 30 2014
As the final days of 2014 close in on us, we take the opportunity not to look back in anger or nostalgia, but to look ahead to the wonders that 2015 will hold. (The looking back all happens in our podcast Issue 123 and our annual Panels Awards). Next year will be a massive year …
Nov 27 2014
Following the Flashpoint event, DC Comics did something that very few thought was possible in modern comics: they scrapped everything. Beginning with 52 number #1 issues in September 2011, The New 52 was the first line-wide reinvention of DC’s core characters in over seven decades. More than simply renumbering, it took characters from all of …
Oct 30 2014
Plus supernatural investigator Karnak, the conclusion of Unmasked, and the unholy union of Celts, Romans, and zombies in Legio Ex Mortis. Readers and listeners around these parts will be familiar with Christian Read, the writer of comics The Eldritch Kid and Unmasked. When he last visited Behind the Panels, he had also just published Black City, …
Sep 21 2014
Green Arrow was dead. Or at least, Oliver Queen and the book that carried his alter-ego’s name was. When the first ongoing Green Arrow series ended in August 1998, it came in at #94 on the sales figures charts for the month. While DC Comics and the industry generally began to get nostalgic at the turn of …
Aug 30 2014
Green Arrow may have returned to the spotlight during the darker turns of the 1980s, but even he wouldn’t escape the superhero death toll of the 1990s. Mike Grell’s departure from the book coincided with a sea-change in the industry, with the Dark Age that arguably began with The Dark Knight Returns (1986) and culminated in the grunge …
Aug 26 2014
Larime Taylor’s A Voice in the Dark is a book that you should be investing in. Let’s state our bias up-front. Since we first discovered the work and story of Larime Taylor, we’ve not only reviewed his stuff quite favourably, but we’ve also interviewed him several times. He’s even been a guest host on our …
Aug 06 2014
We rank our favourite movies based on Marvel properties, putting aside studio divides and anti-mutant sentiments. Prepare for controversial choices and fights on the discussion boards. With Guardians of the Galaxy, Marvel marks its tenth film since 2008 under the Marvel Cinematic Universe banner, a cohesive set of films that stand up individually but interconnect …
Jun 10 2014
With the release of a major Marvel movie based on the Guardians of the Galaxy, mainstream audiences and even some comics fans had just one question on their lips: “Who?” A team called the Guardians of the Galaxy was first introduced back in 1969, billed as “Tomorrow’s Avengers” and hailing from the 31st century. They went …
Apr 26 2014
By the late 1980s, Green Arrow had conclusively shed his Golden Age persona in the Crisis on Infinite Earths event, and the groundwork had been laid for his own series. DC was getting darker, as evidenced by the previous year’s Batman: The Dark Knight Returns from Frank Miller and Lynn Varley, and it was time …
Nov 06 2013
Writer Matt Fraction has reported on Twitter that his comic Sex Criminals #2, released through Image Comics, has been officially blocked by Apple from being sold through iOS apps. Quoting a message he received from the company, the issue was blocked as it “contains content that many audiences would find objectionable which is not in compliance with …
Nov 04 2013
The sad news that artist Nick Cardy, perhaps best known for his work on Aquaman and Teen Titans during the 1960s, has passed away following ill-health. The news was broken by artist Craig Rousseau via his Facebook page, who was informed by mutual friend and comic book creator Todd Dezago. Cardy was 93 when he died. The …
