Staff Picks :: Astro City #2 :: JULY 10, 2013

July 08, 2013 By: Andy Mansell Category: DISCUSS, Staff Picks

ANDY’S PICK :: ASTRO CITY #2: This is unofficially, the 61st issue of ASTRO CITY– the Kurt Busiek (writer) and Brent Anderson (artist) and Alex Ross (Covers and Design)  love letter to mainstream super-hero concepts. Others have tried to offer an homage/pastiche to heroes from an earlier era,  but more often than not, they end up as either a parody (Tom Strong) or a blatant rip-off (Supreme) Where others have failed, Astro City succeeds because the creative team love comic books, they love their characters and above all they love their fictional town.  You will feel the tingle of nostalgia and the joy that comes when you read a well crafted and (on its own terms) believable super-hero comic book. You owe it to yourself to give this book a try–especially if you were once at home on the mainstream side of Heroes and have since  moved across to the other side of the store.
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Review :: Leaping Tall Buildings: The Origins of American Comics

September 03, 2012 By: Andy Mansell Category: DISCUSS, Reviews

This is for all of you out there in Heroesland who were unfamiliar with Joe Kubert and did not understand the importance of his his place in comic’s history or the importance of his (and other’s) stature in the history of our beloved medium. There is nothing to be ashamed of–comics has a long rich history and it is hard to get involved in comics’ past when the present is moving so quickly toward the future.
Now, I love comic books and there is only one thing I love more than Comic Books (besides my wife, daughter, and  those fresh Harris Teeter donuts with the sprinkles) and that is Books about Comics. I am a Comic Lit junkie and I try to read every book that gets published about Comic History and Comics Analysis.  And there is a lot out there.  Some of it is OK, some of it is good and some of it is great.  Most books are for the experienced Comic Enthusiast but  sometimes a book is published for fans who are new to our rich history. And Leaping Tall Buildings: The Origins of American Comics by writer Christopher Irving and photographer Seth Kushner is an ideal place for the initiate to annoint themselves in the rich history of Comic book past. In all honesty, the book is really a Photography Portrait album peppered with quite a few fascinating quotes from the creators themselves.
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