Comics Discourse 114

In Marvel Fanfare 13, we reach the action-packed conclusion of the Black Widow storyline!

Natasha finally discovers who has been pulling the strings, and you’ll never believe it! Trust us, you won't.

The Black Widow story is brought to us by Ralph Macchio and George Pérez, with Pérez on pencils and John Beatty and Brett Breeding on inks.

In the backup, we travel to Asgard for “Ballad of the Warriors Three.” Idunn sends Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg on a quest to find her missing husband, Bragi, the god of poetry. What follows is a very different kind of Marvel story, with absolutely gorgeous artwork by Charles Vess.

The backup is written by Alan Zelenetz with art by Charles Vess.

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We continue our celebration of spooky season with one of DC Comics' most powerful and vengeful spirits, The Spectre!

We dive into issues #1–7 of the legendary The Spectre series by John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake.

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In Marvel Fanfare 12, the web tightens around the Black Widow!

Natasha has six assassins trying to kill her, including Iron Maiden, and she’s going to have to fight her way through all of them! With a little help from S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Jimmy Woo, the Widow turns the tables on her attackers, but another assassin is waiting in the wings.

The Black Widow story is brought to us by Ralph Macchio and George Pérez, with Pérez on pencils and Al Milgrom on inks.

Then it’s Assistant Editors’ Month! Ann Nocenti and Roger Stern take over Marvel Fanfare and somehow Captain America gets dragged into the insanity. “Marvel Annfare” is written by Stern from an idea by Nocenti, with art by Al Milgrom.

And finally, this issue features a portfolio from Rick Leonardi!

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Halloween season is here, and we’re diving into some new horror comics from Marvel Comics, DC Comics, and Ignition Press! Find out which books we loved, which ones we liked, and which ones didn’t quite win us over.

We kick things off with Marvel’s new Midnight line, featuring Midnight Fantastic Four by Benjamin Percy and Kev Walker, Midnight Spider-Man by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and ScieTronc, and Midnight X-Men by Jonathan Hickman and Matteo Della Fonte.

From DC Comics’ Next Level initiative, we discuss The Demon, written and illustrated by James Harren, and Jonah Hex and the Shadow of Death, written and illustrated by Michael Walsh.

Finally, we turn to Ignition Press for Dinner Date by Joanne Starer and Khary Randolph, and 12-Foot Skeleton by Aaron Campbell, Tim Seeley, and Ben Templesmith.

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In Marvel Fanfare 11, the Black Widow is back in the U.S.S.R.!

Natasha goes undercover in Russia searching for Ivan, but this is the Black Widow, so things don’t exactly go according to plan. Before long she’s on the run from the KGB, heading to Hong Kong, and facing a colorful collection of assassins hired to take her out.

The story is brought to us by Ralph Macchio and George Pérez, with Pérez on pencils and Joe Sinnott and Jack Abel on inks.

In the backup, we reach the end of our journey through The Jungle Book. Jo Duffy adapts Rudyard Kipling, with Gil Kane on pencils and P. Craig Russell on inks.

And finally, we get a collection of pin-ups featuring Cloak and Dagger, Hulk, Man-Thing, and Doctor Strange from Terry Austin, Jim Shooter, Bob Wiacek, and P. Craig Russell.

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Sometimes a comic book character gets an extreme makeover and it works. Other times, it fails completely. And then there were the ’90s!

Brian and Hassan look back at some of their favorite extreme makeovers from Marvel and DC Comics, along with some of the changes they would rather forget.

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Marvel Fanfare 10 kicks off a classic four-part Black Widow story!

While Nick Fury and the leadership of S.H.I.E.L.D. discuss the Black Widow’s complicated past and argue over whether to send her on a dangerous new mission, Natasha has problems of her own. She’s attacked in her own home, leading to an action-packed fight and one hell of a way to start this story!

The Black Widow story is written by Ralph Macchio and co-plotted by George Pérez, with art by Pérez, Bob Layton, Luke McDonnell, and Brett Breeding.

Then we head back into the jungle for “How Fear Came,” the third installment of The Jungle Book. Jo Duffy adapts Rudyard Kipling’s story, with Gil Kane on pencils and P. Craig Russell on inks.

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The stacks are full, and it’s time for another Top of the Stack, with a special focus on new #1s! We dive into our recent comic book reads from publishers including DC, Marvel, Abrams, Image Comics, Dark Horse Comics, IDW, and many more. Plus, Hassan shares stories from Baltimore Comic-Con.

We bring plenty of books to the stack, with The Muppets Take the Marvel Universe, Doom Patrol, Teen Titans, Alex Ross’s Marvel Dimensions, Spawn ’77, Bug Wars, Superman: The Stranger, Six of Us, Hammerfist, Absolute Cassandra Cain, and more. Plus, Hassan brings two very different manga to the stack with Stop!! Hibari-kun! and Chiisakobee.

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Marvel Fanfare 9 has a giant sized Man-Thing, and Brian and Ants are exactly as mature as you would expect.

In “Rock ’n’ Soul,” a struggling rock band decides summoning a demon might be their ticket to success. Surprisingly, this turns out to be a bad idea. Luckily, Man-Thing is there to lend a…hand.

The backup takes us back to the jungle for the next chapter of Gil Kane and P. Craig Russell’s gorgeous adaptation of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book.

And Butch Guice provides this issue’s portfolio, featuring Wolverine, Kitty Pryde, Power Man and Iron Fist, Gorgon, and Howard the Duck.

The Man-Thing story is brought to us by J. M. DeMatteis, Joe Brozowski, and Gray Morrow. The Jungle Book is adapted and penciled by Gil Kane with inks by P. Craig Russell.

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What would have happened to the DC Universe if Superman had never been adopted by the Kents?

We explore that question with special guest Shane from Comic Geek Speak, our resident Justice League expert, as we dive into the DC Comics Elseworlds classic Justice League of America: The Nail by the legendary Alan Davis.

#GreenLantern #Batman #WonderWoman #Flash #Aquaman