Douglas Wolk’s “Reading Comics”

Just picked up Douglas Wolk’s Reading Comics, his informally didactic how-to book about criticizing comic books. It’s like being chastised by your older brother, but in a good way: “No, dude, Eric Carr was actually Kiss’ third drummer.” You blush with shame publicly, but are secretly grateful for the knowledge. I’m about halfway through, and [...]

Oasis vs. Blur vs. Marvel

I’ve been on a horrible comic book bender lately. It’s displaced music as the obsession that becalms and brings order to my agitated male reptilian brain. I wait for the Wednesday release of the new Silver Surfer comic in the same way I used to wait for the Tuesday release of the new Queens of [...]

Don’t be an asshole…

…buy this.
And once you fully comprehend how great the world’s worst superhero is, then get your grassroots on.

Save the Ant-Man

Ran across a fantastic article breaking down the anemia afflicting today’s important novels (imagine that “My dear, I’m a Vanderbilt” kind of tone of voice). Basically, it’s an essay where this British dude, Julian Gough, a novelist and critic who used to play in the “very literary” Irish rock band Toasted Heretic, argues that [...]

Iron Man is a Dry-Drunk Fascist

Whose side are you on?
Yeah, as they say in The Wire, I’m back on that stuff.
I should have recognized it when I went to the library to return some “books” a month ago. The things I checked out were late, and when I was handing everything over, I asked the librarian how much I owed.
“Oh, [...]