“He’s a Good guy, He’s just Not a GREAT guy”- on 2021’s “TRUE BELIEVER: The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee”

It was only four short years ago (as of this writing) that a truly monumental work was published, a work that, for a short time at least, seemed to signal a possible push towards a truer narrative in the long-cultivated myth of comics history that we’re all so used to. That work was the Stan […]

“This soft-spoken, erudite, 84-year-old man has been bullied into silence…”- Roy Thomas, Victim

I awoke before 4am and hazily checked my messages, when I saw that a few people sent me a link to another Pulitzer-worthy piece on The Beat. I cannot express to you, whether it’s when I’m running on three hours of sleep or thirty, just how terribly misplaced, badly written and tragically amateurish this piece […]

“That is, is This a Fraud Fraud?”- On the Rob Granito Hoax That United All of Comicdom

Think, if you will, to the climax of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon’s seminal Watchmen. I’m going to simplify it (severely) but essentially, Ozymandias fakes an extraterrestrial invasion with the intent of unifying the world as they’ll be forced to work together against a common threat. Now imagine that the comics community had such a […]

“What You’re Really Saying is, ‘How Do I Save My JOB in Comics?”- On The Impending and Present DEATH of COMICS JOURNALISM

I cannot stress enough how stymied I feel to appear at all late to the discussion, but various work and fundraising duties have kept me in a rare passive position of late- ear to the ground, but (for once!), more passive than proactive- as I have heard further discussion on the apparent death of comics […]

Sunday Mailbag: Or, I Never Thought I’d Get SO MANY eMails About Jon Bolerjack’s Stupid Ass

It’s true: when the last entry of 2024 was posted, Four Color Sinners was firing on all cylinders and had tremendous traction. And no one was more surprised than yours truly, still the most gregarious and, yes, humble of writers. In that time, we’ve received so many emails that I was initially overwhelmed to sift […]

Looking Back in Exasperation: Revisiting The Lion in Winter, 10 Years On…

Don’t let my long-awaited return fool you, dear friends. I have not been prompted or motivated to write due to topical events at all, believe it or don’t- on the contrary, I’ve been planning a return to regular posts for the past two weeks, largely motivated by the steady influx of e-mails I’ve received covering […]

“Must Be The Only Thing Written About Roy Thomas that Roy Never Read…” – On The Public and Prolific Bitterness of Roy Thomas

It had been brought up more than once, notably by Patrick Ford, how often a certain generation of Marvel employees referred to Jack Kirby in the press as “bitter“- and the irony in that considering that many of the employees guilty of that particular smear were, themselves, quite prolific in public venting, righteous indignation, fragile […]

“Roy Knows This, But He’s Turned Into a Ghoul Late in Life…” – The Comics Biz Gets Wise, Better Late Than Never

I suppose it had to happen tho’ I wish it had happened earlier. A portion of the comics industry has begun to finally speak out against what Four Color Sinners has been covering and compiling for the better part of a year: the ongoing and calculated makeover of Roy Thomas as the co-creator of various […]

Historians or Enthusiasts? A Look At How Poorly The “Comics History” Community Operates

As all of you know, the rapid rise of social media outlets contributed to the mass misinformation crisis we suffer from in the present. Combine that with misplaced sentimentalism and a deeply disturbing need to preserve and maintain the fondness of youth into old age and you’ve got at least half of the problem with […]

“It Was a Dichotomy that Made No Sense”- Reexamining 2011’s ‘Lee & Kirby: The Wonder years’

I’ll admit to being a bit conflicted upon reviewing Mark Alexander’s sentimental study of Stan Lee & Jack Kirby’s Fantastic Four run from 2011, ‘Lee & Kirby: The Wonder Years‘, published by TwoMorrows Publishing (and doubling as the 58th issue of The Jack Kirby Collector, albeit in a deluxe, trade paperback format) for what I’d […]