Batman #84 Review

Batman #84 is the comic readers should have gotten months ago. While this issue serves as the penultimate chapter of writer Tom King’s epic Batman saga, it devotes the vast majority of its energy to filling in the gaps of previous stories and answering the many lingering questions surrounding Flashpoint’s Thomas Wayne. While those answers help illuminate an often perplexing character, this issue…

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Captain Marvel vs. Thor Ends in Grisly Fashion

Captain Marvel vs. Thor Ends in Grisly Fashion

Captain Marvel #12 features a brawl for the ages as Captain Marvel takes on the newly appointed All-father of Asgard, Thor. This story is being touted as the “Dark Captain Marvel Saga” a la The Dark Phoenix Saga, so it was a given that things were going to get dark, but nobody could have predicted the grim way their bout ended. Warning: full spoilers ahead for Captain Marvel #12 by writer Kelly…

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Venom #20 Review: An Essential Absolute Carnage Epilogue

Venom #20 Review: An Essential Absolute Carnage Epilogue

It’s a bit of a relief to be on the other side of the Absolute Carnage tunnel. While that storyline ranks among Marvel’s better crossover events in recent years, it still suffers from that all too familiar flaw where the core miniseries tells a very straightforward, action-oriented tale. In this case, most of the deeper character work is reserved for tie-in books like Venom and The Amazing…

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X-Force Is Now Marvel's Most Important X-Men Comic

X-Force Is Now Marvel’s Most Important X-Men Comic

In terms of plot, it’s safe to say X-Force is the most important companion series to Jonathan Hickman and Leinil Yu’s monthly X-Men comic. But two issues in, maybe it’s best to go a step further. This isn’t just the most crucial Dawn of X tie-in; it’s actually doing more to set the tone and direction of the franchise than X-Men itself. X-Force is rapidly becoming the proverbial “if you only read…

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Campaign for New Marvel vs. DC Crossover Builds Momentum

Campaign for New Marvel vs. DC Crossover Builds Momentum

Writer Gail Simone is spearheading a call for the Big Two comics publishers to do another epic Marvel vs. DC crossover. Simone, best known for writing Deadpool, Birds of Prey, and Wonder Woman, wants the two companies to make it happen because she thinks it will generate buzz and bring in a new audience, which will help comic book shops recover in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic that has…

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Star Wars - The High Republic Is Just What the Franchise Needs

Star Wars – The High Republic Is Just What the Franchise Needs

After months of teasing, Lucasfilm has finally revealed the secret of the mysterious Project Luminous. It’s actually an ambitious new publishing initiative called Star Wars: The High Republic. Over the course of several years and a number of new novels and comic books, Lucasfilm will shed light on an era set 200 years before the events of The Phantom Menace. It’s an exciting new development in…

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Best Batman Comics on ComiXology Unlimited

Best Batman Comics on ComiXology Unlimited

If you’re signed up for a ComiXology Unlimited subscription and want to read the best Batman stories the service has to offer, then you’re in the right place. We’ve compiled a list of the greatest Batman comics and graphic novels available to read right now with a subscription. ComiXology is a digital comics platform where you can purchase and read comics on your device of choice — desktop,…

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Batman #85 Review

In a week crammed full of major comic book finales, Batman #85 may be the most bittersweet. It’s hard to even imagine an industry where a new Tom King-penned issue of Batman doesn’t arrive twice a month. On the other hand, this series really lost its steam in late 2019, with “City of Bane” failing to capitalize on more than three years of buildup. Batman #85 is about as effective a finale as…

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DC's Flagship Batman Series Charts a Darker Course for 2020

DC’s Flagship Batman Series Charts a Darker Course for 2020

2019 marked the end of writer Tom King’s nearly four-year-long run on DC’s flagship Batman comic. King’s story isn’t quite finished, as he and artist Clay Mann are working on the spinoff series Batman/Catwoman. But as for Batman proper, writer James Tynion IV and artist Tony S. Daniel face the unenviable task of following up on one of the best Batman runs of the 21st Century. Unsurprisingly,…

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Read a Free Excerpt of Dwarf Story, by W. W. Marplot

Read a Free Excerpt of Dwarf Story, by W. W. Marplot

From the backyards of the American suburbs to a fantasy world where dwarves, fairies, and dragons are real, the new book Dwarf Story promises to take readers on a journey where homework and cell phones collide with a mystical turf war. Yeah, it must be Wednesday! Written by Professor W.W. Marplot, Dwarf Story tells the tale of middle-school student Arty, who stumbles upon “an ax-swinging,…

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Concept Artist Discusses Those Cancelled Zelda and Mario Spin-Offs

Concept Artist Discusses Those Cancelled Zelda and Mario Spin-Offs

Concept art revealing the existence of cancelled spin-off games based on The Legend of Zelda’s Sheik and Mario’s Boo was recently discovered by Shinesparkers, but the artist behind it says very few people at Nintendo would ever have seen them before the games were canned. Speaking to IGN, ex-Retro Studios concept artist Sammy Hall explained that both games were in pre-production when cancelled,…

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Lucasfilm Reveals Star Wars: The High Republic Publishing-Led Initiative

Lucasfilm Reveals Star Wars: The High Republic Publishing-Led Initiative

Star Wars’ Project Luminous has officially been revealed as Star Wars: The High Republic – new adult and young adult novels, children’s books, and comics that will explore this new era that takes place 200 years before the events of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace. These inter-connected stories, which will begin to debut in August 2020 at Star Wars Celebration Anaheim, “will not overlap any of the…

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Tom King’s 12 Comics to Read While You’re Sheltered in Place

Tom King’s 12 Comics to Read While You’re Sheltered in Place

A note from IGN Senior Editor Joshua Yehl: If you’ve suddenly found yourself with a lot of extra time on your hands that you don’t know what to do with, then worry not, because IGN is teaming up with some of our favorite comic book creators to help you out with a list of recommended reads. Today’s special guest is Tom King, an ex-CIA officer and Eisner-award winning comic writer you may know from…

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Batman: The Court of Owls Explained

Batman: The Court of Owls Explained

Batman has a well-known and timeless gallery of villains, but one of his more recent adversaries poses one of the greatest threats to Gotham City. The merciless group is known only as the Court of Owls, a secret society with comic origins revealed in the pages of the New 52 relaunch in 2011. In fact, they’re so secret, you might not even know who they are. When Batman donned the cowl under the…

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Captain Marvel vs. Thor Ends in Grisly Fashion

Captain Marvel vs. Thor Ends in Grisly Fashion

Captain Marvel #12 features a brawl for the ages as Captain Marvel takes on the newly appointed All-father of Asgard, Thor. This story is being touted as the “Dark Captain Marvel Saga” a la The Dark Phoenix Saga, so it was a given that things were going to get dark, but nobody could have predicted the grim way their bout ended. Warning: full spoilers ahead for Captain Marvel #12 by writer Kelly…

View On WordPress

X-Force Is Now Marvel's Most Important X-Men Comic

X-Force Is Now Marvel’s Most Important X-Men Comic

In terms of plot, it’s safe to say X-Force is the most important companion series to Jonathan Hickman and Leinil Yu’s monthly X-Men comic. But two issues in, maybe it’s best to go a step further. This isn’t just the most crucial Dawn of X tie-in; it’s actually doing more to set the tone and direction of the franchise than X-Men itself. X-Force is rapidly becoming the proverbial “if you only read…

View On WordPress

Venom #20 Review: An Essential Absolute Carnage Epilogue

Venom #20 Review: An Essential Absolute Carnage Epilogue

It’s a bit of a relief to be on the other side of the Absolute Carnage tunnel. While that storyline ranks among Marvel’s better crossover events in recent years, it still suffers from that all too familiar flaw where the core miniseries tells a very straightforward, action-oriented tale. In this case, most of the deeper character work is reserved for tie-in books like Venom and The Amazing…

View On WordPress