The future has arrived. And it spells doom for the remnants of our favourite band of mutants.
‘Ultimate Comics: X-Men’ #1 is the latest series in the relaunching of the Ultimate Comics universe, and in the aftermath of the events of ‘Ultimatum’ and ‘Ultimate Fallout’, this is a very dangerous backdrop for mutantkind.
Due to Magneto’s attack [...]

You know, as a comic book fan, this is one of the most exciting times  to ever strike the industry.
No matter what side of the fence you fall on – whether Marvel, DC, or indie – there’s plenty of stuff to enjoy right now.
DC has relaunched their entire brand, Marvel is relaunching their Ultimate Comics [...]

‘Ultimate Comics: Captain America’ is a story distinctly shaped by the politics and sentiment of a post-9/11 America.

It has been a rough few years for Marvel’s Ultimate Comics range.

I have been catching up on my comic book reading. And by ‘catching up’ I mean that I’m finally getting around to reading some comics that I’ve had my eye on for a while but for whatever reason (work, kids, time, zombie apocalypse) haven’t had a chance to get to.
I used to love the Ultimate [...]

‘Captain America’ is a fun action ride that doesn’t try to put on airs.

Great Odin’s Raven! Kenneth Branagh’s ‘Thor’ is remarkably uncompromised.

The first issue of the Marvel revival of Mark Waid’s much-missed Eisner winning detective series features sharp dialogue, nice art and easily understandable characters

Like Scrooge, we’re a bit at sea about what the future holds for our favourite kinds of nonsense.

Let me be clear from the off, this is a very high quality comic. It’s very well written and exceptionally well drawn.

Yes, fine, it’s not actually about Iron Man, who doesn’t personally appear within its pages, but then ‘Invincible Mandarin Annual’ just sounds a bit silly.

The first real consequence of Marvel’s acquisition of the Marvelman character (assuming that the death of The Sentry, a Marvelman like character if ever there was one, doesn’t count) is the first issue of this six issue series reprinting stories from the 1950s.

The iPad makes e-comics a more viable proposition, but print comics aren’t dead just yet.

Superhero team books are a big part of Marvel and DC’s publishing schedules, but does their style of storytelling stand up when taken out of the weekly churn of periodical publishing?

The Fantastic Four have been waiting for a writer like Jonathan Hickman.
While various approaches have been taken in recent years to Marvel’s ‘first family’, often emphasising the ‘family’ angle while torn between retro, silver age callbacks to the Lee/Kirby originals and current comic book fashions, none of these variations have really stuck.
Most spent far too [...]

It seems to be an unwritten rule in Hollywood that the second film in a major motion picture franchise has to be the darker, more introspective entry.

Written by the highly respected Jason Aaron and drawn by superstar artist Adam Kubert, ‘Astonishing Spider-Man & Wolverine’ is a fun, frothy stand-alone adventure for Marvel’s two most popular heroes.

Two great spin-offs from (relatively) recent high-profile runs on the ‘X-Men’ franchise…

Bub’ll squabble.

It’s musical team rosters as ‘Dark Reign’ really gets underway in ‘Dark Avengers’ #1, ‘Thunderbolts’ #128 and ‘Mighty Avengers’ #21…

Support the flailing economy: buy more DVDs! This time: ‘Incredible Hulk’, ‘Pushing Daisies’ and ‘There Will Be Blood’…

God-like.

‘Secret Invasion’ is over, and ‘Dark Reign’ is here. (Really, really don’t read this if you haven’t read ‘Secret Invasion’ #8.)

A short movie that nonetheless seems a trifle long ‘The Incredible Hulk’ is utterly, almost desperately, okay.

I’ve been a big fan of JMS’ ‘Amazing Spider-Man’ since it began and one of the things I liked, no loved, about it was his portrayal of the real and enduring love between Peter Parker and his wife Mary Jane.

Check it out dude, it’s the Mighty Thor.

I have to admit that I didn’t see the first ‘Fantastic Four’ movie, mainly because when I saw the trailer it looked like the most generic superhero film ever…

‘Spider-Man 3’ does not reach the giddying heights achieved by it immediate predecessor, but nor does it crash and burn it any appreciable sense.

One could say that ‘Ghost Rider’ takes a minor Marvel hero, casts a skilled, distinctive and under-appreciated actor to play him and – despite fiddling with the character’s continuity in doing so – gets right to the heart of his appeal.

The Thunderbolts get a new creative direction, while Zemo gets his own book…

Marvel simultaneously relaunch ‘Blade’ and ‘Union Jack’, two of their less popular night stalkers…

A true evolution, or a load of old Ratners?

In terms of the Marvel characters likely to get picked for a high profile, top talent relaunch, Moon Knight is in roughly the same stratum as Batroc the Leaper and Whistle Pig the Living Totem….

I’ve bought five comics with the ‘Fantastic Four’ in in my whole life. Four of them were by Grant Morrison and the fifth had art by Jim Mahfood.

Can a Kevin Sorbo clone with bright green hair really carry his own Marvel comic? The answer may shock you, true believers…

If 2004 was, as we said at the time, the year of late arrivals and revivals, 2005 was a year of completing, and contrasting, circles.

At last, a comic for people who want to see Captain America walking around carrying half his brain in his hand…

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I have a somewhat chequered history with Mark Millar’s work. ‘Superman: Red Son’ has, I think, the authentic touch of creative inspiration to it, but I really dislike ‘The Ultimates’.

This issue wraps up Volume 1 of ‘Supreme Power’ J Michael Straczynski’s free reinterpretation of ‘Squadron Supreme’. It’s also the last issue of the book to come out under Marvel’s Max imprint before moving to the Marvel Knights line…

The Pulse #10, Spider-Man: House of M, and The Incredible Hulk #83-85.

The Fantastic Four was always something of a lesser property compared to Spider-Man and X-Men, and nowhere is this truer than in the Four’s first big screen outing…

Marvel has produced a couple of funny books that are actually funny.

So far, when it comes to this year’s two big summer crossovers, at concept level Marvel’s ‘House of M’ is grabbing the Shelf’s attention more than DC’s ‘Interminable Crisis’…

Haven’t you really missed the New Warriors? No, me neither…

Three crossover titles out this week – House of M #1, Superman/Batman #20, and Marvel Team-Up #9.

‘Livewires’ is my new favourite comic book and if every issue is this good then it has my undying loyalty – unless they kill off Gothic Lolita…

‘Team-Up’ has just come to the end of its first arc and is working surprisingly well…

So, how does such a stupid idea become such a good comic book?

To make up for the recent drought, here’s a random round-up of last week’s comics, in alphabetical order, to keep you going.