“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 […]

“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 […]

‘Thank God That Jon Bolerjack Came Back to Stan’s Side When He Did!’- On The Continuing Circle-Jerk of No-Talent Comic Grifters & Their Industry Enablers

The starting saga of the inevitable ‘Stan Lee: The Final Chapter’ continues to divide hosts of terrible comic-related YouTube shows and friends of its director; among the majority of observers however, the ones that aren’t dependent on elderly professionals, the verdict seems fairly clear: this thing is highly questionable and highly cringe. It’s quite possible […]

“I Could Trojan Horse My Way Into Meeting Stan if I Could Film Something with Him…”- On Documentaries and The REAL Last Days of Stan Lee

You couldn’t blame someone for thinking that Four Color Sinners is following the zeitgeist right now and touching on a story that’s captured the attention of seemingly all of the comic book community’s attention-starved minds- after all, we were MIA for half a year before worming our way back into your hearts this month, and […]

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 […]

“The Rest is Houseroy Being Houseroy, Kirby Tried to Warn All of Us”- On The Self-Destruction of Roy Thomas’s Legacy

Don’t worry, friends- Old Reliable has finally returned. Which in itself is quite a story- one much more interesting than the very topical issue we’re about to cover below- but, due to the pressing need to cut off utterly worthless excuses for sites like Bleeding Cool (ugh) from continuing to mine Four Color Sinners for […]