I Mean, Fuck Robert Crumb: Thoughts On The Patron Saint For White Apologists

“The Crumb laugh isn’t just unconvincing, it’s painful. Something disturbing is going on, for which the laugh is a bribe. It buys you off, deflects your attention, solicits your collusion. I know that something grotesque is being smuggled in, I just don’t know exactly what.” – Laura Kipnis, BOOKFORUM Review, Spring 2025 Well friends, another new year is […]

“…FanFic Masquerading as Journalism and Still Winning the Pulitzer…” – Highlights from the Mid-Week Mailbag

Well friends, I suppose writing this on a Tuesday doesn’t really qualify as a “midweek” mailbag but hey- this isn’t a journalism site so give your humble and gregarious host a break, yeah?? I’m barely coherent and yet still decided to delve into the ol’ inbox to finally response and share a horrid host of […]

“There Isn’t A Word of Truth In Any of That”- A Conversation With The Elusive & Prolific Clair Noto on Hollywood, Marvel, and Her Erasure from Red Sonja

Clair Noto has been a footnote in the history of Marvel Comics. Superciliously deigned as a co-writer (which she denies), lazily written off (if written about at all) by supposed fans and historians, Noto exists in a rare field between rumor and mystique. Her comic book credits are slim in comparison to other figures; her […]

“Poverty and Comics Don’t Mix (Unless You’re a Creator or Comics JOURNALIST)…” – On One Reason Why Comics Journalism Routinely SUCKS

Please allow me, if you will, to state at the offset that I am not against comics journalism. I am for it, wholeheartedly. It’s just that I sincerely continue to be amazed at how much it fumbles the ball while at the same time publicly commenting on the upwards trajectory it faces and the need […]

“Makes a Big Deal Out of Trumpeting Respect and Admiration For Someone, Then Actually Treats Them With Disrespect…” – On The Complete Lack of Ability Or New Ideas From Roy Thomas

Gosh, that was a long title… and you think you’ve got problems! Truth be told frantic ones, this is not an article I intended or even considered writing. Like with many things, I sort of stumbled onto the idea while researching other topics… and, in my sleepy brain, made a sort of mental chuckle at […]

“I Don’t Like Anything That’s Contrived- I Conceive, They Contrive. OK?”- Another Look at Jack Kirby’s “Infamous” 1989 TCJ Interview

Far be it from me, the most refreshing of comic critics, to simply beat the same old mash all the time, especially when this particular interview has been discussed and covered more academically than I’m about to do. That being said, some minor instances nudged me towards thinking about this oft-cited interview with Jack Kirby […]

“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 […]

“It Became Increasingly Stylish to Bash Stan…”- What Critics of Stan Lee Should Actually STOP Doing in Order to Be Successful

Stan Lee. The Myth. “The Man”. The legend. And one that is, apparently, bashed. The term ‘Stan Bashers’ refers to the sort of Lee critic that has become a sort of subculture within comics history nerdom, with those for and against the career and deeds of the man born Stanley Martin Lieber over a century […]

“Selfy With God”- A Look At The Banal, Misguided & Nauseating Tribute Art After Stan Lee’s Death

It’s now been half a decade since the untimely passing of Stan Lee, creator and co-creator, editor and art director, modern Mark Twain and/or Shakespeare– surely, there won’t be a dry eye in the house once we get through this highly moving selection of tribute art that arose in the days after Lee’s death in […]

“Par for the Course for The Kirby Family”- A Look Back at 20/20’s Marvel Anniversary Special

When the long-running television news program 20/20 aired on ABC the evening of July 24th, 1986, it had to be a rather exciting event for comic fans and professionals alike. In 1986 the cultural assimilation of Marvel into pop culture was still over two decades away; being featured on “mainstream” news was another step forward […]