“I’ll Be Damned if I Stand Aside Silently…” – The Confessions of Roy Thomas, Creator

Well folks, buckle up! The long-awaited rebuttal from Rascally Roy has finally reached us, courtesy of TwoMorrows Publishing- and its chock-full of, well, everything you might expect from Team Thomas at this point. One of the more interesting things I got from reading this was indisputable proof that at least someone on Roy’s plantation is […]

“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 […]

“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 […]

“This Really Diminishes Him and Makes Him Look Pathethic”- A Look At Industry and Fan’s Opinion On Roy Thomas’s Grand Theft

I know, some of you are thinking “still with the Roy Thomas coverage…? Why, it almost sounds personal at this point!” Allow me to assure you, dear reader, that there is no obsessive interest in the misdeeds of the Rascally One and his vile hangers-on and enablers. It’s simply that Thomas continues his celebration tour […]

“You’ve Heard The Legend- Which I Think Is True…”- A Flip Thru’ the Supermarket Sleaze of 2018’s ‘Entertainment Weekly- Stan Lee: A Life of Marvel’

I’ve seen this shit. You’ve seen this shit. These compiled “special” issues of various articles from the pop culture media put out to celebrate any figure who has some topical traction and visibility at the moment- I saw a special edition magazine last week at the grocery store dedicated to Madonna, whom I remembered is […]

“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 […]

“Stan Lee is God”- Reviewing Tom Scioli’s Same-Old, Same-Old “I Am Stan: A Graphic Biography of The Legendary Stan Lee”

This is a review of the newest in a long list of Stan Lee biographies, the second Lee bio which is in graphic novel format as well as the second creator biography done by the truly talented Tom Scioli. Scioli had already made the right choice with his first endeavor, the well-received “Jack Kirby: The […]

“…and pulled down fistfulls of the national zeitgeist.” Reviewing the gruesome ‘Stan Lee: the Man Behind Marvel’

Start a pot of tea because this is going to be a lengthy one, covering the 2017 pre-death Stan biography “Stan Lee: The Man Behind Marvel” by one Bob Batchelor. Apparently, it comes in multiple editions, (there’s a young readers adaption of the same book, not pictured) with what I presume is the latest update […]