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A new She Has No Head! is up…a list of 25 Great Superherione Moments. Inspired by Sue’s new Tumblr – THIS! – I compiled some of my favorite goose bump inducing moments for women in superhero comics. Enjoy!
You know what definitely made the list? THIS!
If you’ve been waiting for Womanthology, now’s your day! Womanthology should be in your local comic book stores today – so make sure to hunt it down!
You can also buy it online, but it won’t be released there until 3/27.
You can read a preview of Womanthology (including my story “Superless Hero” with phenomenal art by Stephanie Hans in full HERE.
And here are some early reviews (several of which mention “SuperLess Hero” – woo!) of Womanthology:
Also out this week – and a MUST read is:
Saga #1 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples, and I wrote a detailed review of it here on Lit Reactor:
And don’t forget to pick up this completely mind-blowing issue of Buffy – Buffy The Vampire Slayer: Season Nine #7, which I gave 4.5 stars on CBR. The review is mostly free of spoilers, unless you didn’t know about that one thing that was spoiled for all of us a couple months ago.
In fact, this is really a great week for comics…you should also be picking up Paul Cornell and Ryan Kelly’s Saucer Country #1, Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan’s Conan The Barbarian #2, Ross Campbell and Joe Keatinge’s Glory #24, Jason Aaron and Nick Bradshaw’s Wolverine & The X-Men #7, J.H. Williams III, Haden Blackman, and Amy Reeder’s Batwoman #7 (get these Reeder issues while you can!), Though I am behind on Greg Rucka’s Punisher that is also out this week and worth the pick up, as well as The Ray #4, and Powers #9. AND the final (long awaited) issue of Marjorie Liu and Phil Noto’s X-23, which I’ll be reviewing for CBR this week.
I wrote an advance review of Saga #1 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples for Lit Reactor.
Head on over and check it out. Please retweet, comment, and like as if there’s no tomorrow! 
Tags: comics!
A new 3 Chicks Review Comics is up! Sue and I do an advance review of Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples’ Saga #1. We also talk about Grace Randolph’s Supurbia #1. And then there’s a “magical question bonus round!”
Tags: 3 Chicks Cast, 3 Chicks Review Comics, comics!, podcasting
Been just swamped over here, folks, but wanted to link to the last two weeks of CBR Reviews.
“Faith Erin Hicks’ “Friends With Boys” is her best work to date, an engaging beautifully illustrated black and white coming of age story about a girl going to her first year of public school after years of home schooling and the recent disappearance of her mother. Hicks story is surprisingly bold. While on the surface it’s a simple story of a girl named Maggie, her three older brothers and their strange family situation (her mother has just left them), there’s a bizarre supernatural element that pays off in unexpected ways…”
“Fairest,” Bill Willingham’s latest “Fables” spinoff series with art by Phil Jimenez promises a lot of beautiful ladies with its title and Adam Hughes cover, but what you’ll find inside is a bit surprising. While the title and the cover suggest this issue will be focused on Briar Rose, we spend most of the issue meeting Ali Baba (Prince of Theives) and his non-genie of the lamp, Jonah…”
“Although “Green Wake” #10 unfortunately brings the series to a close, Kurtis Wiebe does an excellent job of making it feel as if this was his plan all along. Morley gets to the heart of Green Wake quite literally in this final issue and makes a risky decision with ramifications for all the citizens of Green Wake, past, present and future. Wiebe has a very specific vision for “Green Wake” and you can feel his uncompromising devotion to it as his tale draws to its conclusion. He unravels his mysteries nicely but rarely says anything outright — both a strength and a weakness…”
“Grace Randolph and Russell Dauterman’s “Supurbia” #1 is very interesting. It’s hard to know if it can deliver on all its promise, but this first issue is a bizarrely intriguing blend of traditional superhero comics and “The Stepford Wives,” with a dash of “The Real Housewives” series from Bravo thrown in for modern flavor. Randolph’s idea is lots of fun, focusing on the “women behind the supermen.” If they were less interesting women it could have been a disaster, but Randolph chooses her cast well, which helps to offset the idea that these women (and one man) are not the actual superheroes of the story, even if they are the stars…”
“Christos Gage and Karl Moline wrestle with a massive roster of characters as the entire “Runaways” cast guest stars in “Avengers Academy” #27. Looking for help locating Old Lace, their lost dinosaur, The Runaways come knocking at Avengers Academy and quite naturally get into a fight. The fighting scene is expected; given superheroes too frequently default to fists first to settle disagreements. Plus, The Runaways have been treated poorly by the superhero community in the past and the Avengers Academy students aren’t the most level-headed group out there…”
“Angel & Faith” #7 is the first issue of the series that hasn’t really hit the mark for me. It’s still a solid book, but it’s just not ringing true enough to give it the emotional punch of the first arc. Christos Gage has a good handle on both Angel and Faith’s voices and personalities, enough so it was clear to readers something was going on with Angel’s personality and that continues here. However, on the plotting front this feels a bit weak. The second installment of this new arc, titled “Daddy Issues” is set up to parallel both Angel and Faith’s relationships to or as fathers…”
“Avengers” #23 is not a bad comic book, but given the stakes and the players on the field it should be so much more. In this issue, The Avengers attempt to escape the clutches of Norman Osborne’s H.A.M.M.E.R. while Viper negotiates with the U.S. Government, using the kidnapped Avengers as their bargaining chip. Brian Michael Bendis finds some great funny moments for his characters in this issue, the kind of good chuckles that make comics fun. Unfortunately, beyond those funny moments and a decent escape scene toward the end, there is so much missed opportunity and the issue is ultimately disappointing…”
As always likes and retweets are much appreciated and you can read all my CBR Reviews here!
So after breaking the internet two weeks ago with my “No, It’s Not Equal” post, I’m recommending some great books that you should be reading that don’t fall into any of the “No, It’s Not Equal” traps. So let’s break the internet with PRAISE this time and SUPPORT THE GOOD!
Tags: comics!, she has no head!
So, I’ve begun writing columns for Lit Reactor, a really great site for writers (and readers) that’s full of wonderful columns, as well as resources for writers. I’ll be primarily writing about comics, tag teaming it with another columnist. However, I’ll also be writing a series of essays about my experiences with my novel and getting an agent, so for those of you interested in that aspect of my work, those pieces might be something a little different.
My first piece, titled 10 Graphic Novels For The Literary Minded went up today, so check it out now. Next week will see the first installment of my essay about publication (or lack thereof!). So follow Lit Reactor on twitter, and keep your eyes peeled for my pieces.
Thanks everyone!
Tags: comics!, lit reactor
A new 3 Chicks Review Comics is up!
In this episode we review two great Dark Horse books – Conan The Barbarian #1 by Brian Wood and Becky Cloonan and the new B.P.R.D. by Mignola, Arcudi, and Harren. We also interview the lovely Faith Erin Hicks about her new book Friends With Boys. Sue picks Chick of the Week and we both chat about a variety of things, including the craziness that came out of my last She Has No Head! column. Check it out!
Tags: 3 Chicks Cast, 3 Chicks Review Comics, comics!, podcasting, she has no head!
Absolutely love this gorgeous Mark Brooks Rogue cover for X-Men Legacy #262:
Tags: comic covers, Cover Of The Week
So here are a few CBR reviews I didn’t link to from last week and this week. Enjoy!
“Jason Aaron and Nick Bradshaw’s “Wolverine & The X-Men” #6 continues this excellent series with the same high energy and confident storytelling we’ve seen in the first five issues. Aaron has made his book an action packed and wild ride never skimping on character development. He does more with character in a few lines than most writers can do in pages. It’s a deft skill to never sacrifice character development for plot while simultaneously never sacrificing plot for character development…”
B.P.R.D. Hell On Earth: The Long Death #1
“B.P.R.D. Hell On Earth: The Long Death” #1 by Mike Mignola, John Arcudi and James Harren kicks off another fantastic mini-series with a story focused on Agent Johann Kraus. Like all Mignola’s excellent books in the Hellboy universe, “The Long Death” stands nicely on its own for both veterans and new readers, making it a powerful beginning to a must-read mini…”
“Winter Soldier” #2 by Ed Brubaker and Butch Guice is a wonderful noir espionage mix with a breakneck pace. It’s a story playing to both Brubaker and Guice’s strengths as writer and artist and the result is an exciting new book for Marvel. Brubaker is at his best in this issue with effortlessly cool dark and dirty spy capers. James and Natasha fit the roles of espionage agents perfectly and Brubaker has a great handle on both their voices. The premise for the book plays to both Brubaker’s and his characters’ strengths and the concept is firing on all cylinders…”
“Birds of Prey” #6 by Duane Swierczynski and Javier Pina is a good comic book but a step down from what we’ve seen for the past five issues. It’s unfortunately timed, as this issue seems like the penultimate issue of the first arc. Swierczynski’s “Birds of Prey” has been a rollicking ride full of jumps forward and backward in time, tons of mystery, action and a beautiful amount of character development — including the introduction of a fantastic new hero in Starling. Unfortunately, this issue feels like a misstep as too much of the mystery is unloaded through info-dump talking heads. It’s never ideal from a storytelling point of view and feels completely counter to everything Swierczynski has done thus far…”
