Talking About Comics

  Attack on Titan #15-18 Originally released in 2010 Written by Hajime Isayama Art by Hajime Isayama Picking up after the first major victory over the Titans, chapter 15 flashes back to when the main cast were in training to become members of the military. (These flashbacks were moved to the first few episodes of the anime; I guess they figured that getting to know the characters took priority) A lot of characters are introduced at once here, which can make it a little difficult to keep track of.  I know from reading One Piece for years that I shouldn't search any character names online, even to double check them, as Google's autocomplete will hit me with massive spoilers, so I'll try my best to remember them. There's the core trio of Eren Yeager (who's not particularly talented but determined to kill as many Titans as he can), Armin Arlert (who's weak physically but very smart), and Mikasa Ackerman (who's extremely talented but seems almost passive).  Sasha...

Fantastic Four #265-268 Originally released in 1984 Written by John Byrne Art by John Byrne The Secret Wars of the 80s must have been a confusing time for the series starring the characters involved. Fantastic Four 265 was released before Secret Wars even came out - in 264, the team (aside from Sue, who was pregnant) went into a mysterious spaceship, vanished into parts unknown, and returned in 265.  Ben was no longer with them, staying behind wherever they had been, and She-Hulk was a member of the team instead. (and this was before Secret Wars #1 even came out, so there was a full year for fans to speculate how all of this happened since the issues came out monthly) I'm guessing that the writers of the Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Spider-Man discussed changes to the status quo that would happen as a result of Secret Wars, such as Spider-Man's black suit or She-Hulk joining the Fantastic Four, and Jim Shooter would have to set that up in Secret Wars.  I'm sure ther...

Wonder Woman #1 Originally released in 1942 Written by William Moulton Marston Art by Harry G. Peter I haven't read Wonder Woman's earliest appearances; while this issue isn't her first appearance, it's still one that's written by her original creator, so I wanted to see what it would be like.  Much like Captain America #1, this is about sixty pages; I'm not sure if it was just the style at the time and comic books have gotten shorter as the decades have passed, or if they did this because it was the first issue of her self-titled comic. The first story goes over Wonder Woman's origin - Steve Trevor washes up on Paradise Island while chasing after a spy, Wonder Woman nurses him back to health, and Wonder Woman wins a competition to travel with him to the outside world.  The versions that I'm familiar with leave out some details, though. For starters, I knew that the Amazons had a Purple Ray, a sort of healing technology.  I was unaware, however, that Won...

  Astro City #1-4 Originally released in 1995 Written by Kurt Busiek Art by Brent Anderson I've read and enjoyed Kurt Busiek's Avengers run, so I wanted to read his original work. Astro City is an anthology series set in a city that's basically Metropolis or Marvel's New York, focusing on various perspectives from the people living there - newspaper editors, superheroes, low level crooks... The book wears its heart on its sleeve when it comes to references.  The first issue focuses on Samaritan, the setting's Superman equivalent, who dreams of flying without a care in the world. (He can fly, but he's always traveling to one disaster or another so he doesn't get to enjoy it) The problem with being a Superman figure, even in a world filled with countless other superheroes, is that there's always a disaster or a problem happening somewhere, and he runs himself ragged trying to fix whatever the problem is, even if it means that he doesn't get much of a p...

Marvel/DC: It's Jeff/Aquaman and DC/Marvel: Supergirl/Blade Originally released in 2026 Written by Kelly Thompson (Jeff/Aquaman), CRC Payne (Supergirl/Blade) Art by Andres Genolet (Jeff/Aquaman), Mikel Janin (Supergirl/Blade) Marvel and DC have been putting out a lot of crossovers in the past year or two, and I'm all for it.  There were other ones that came out last year which I haven't covered yet, but I'm going to cover two that just came out a few days ago - one which features Jeff the Land Shark and Aquaman (which is inexplicably rated T+), and one which features Supergirl and Blade. (not sure if this duo was meant to tie into both characters having upcoming movies, though the Blade movie has been delayed a bunch and it doesn't seem clear if the people behind the MCU have any idea of what to do with the character even though "guy who fights vampires" seems like a rather straightforward concept) These are both comics that are designed for apps and scrol...