The comic book event of the summer is nigh!  Before Watchmen, the much-anticipated prequel series to Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen, will consist of seven limited series and an epilogue one-shot.  Stay tuned, as the Fanboy Comics crew will be reviewing each title as it is released. Hurm. 

Well, after some delays and scheduling weirdness, it’s finally here: the final chapter of Before Watchmen: Silk Spectre. Was it worth the wait?

If you have fond memories of that big book of fairytales that you used to have when you were a kid, then Once Upon a Time Machine is a graphic novel that you should definitely check out.

Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol is a great story. It’s simple, it has a good message, and it’s got some really great imagery. You’d be hard pressed to find anyone who doesn’t have at least a cursory familiarity with the tale, as it has been adapted and reimagined countless times throughout the years. Some of these adaptations are successful, but most feel like tired retreads of the same traditional story. One of the most recent adaptations is Rod Espinosa’s Dark Horse graphic novel, A Christmas Carol: The Night That Changed the Life of Eliza Scrooge, and, unfortunately, it lands squarely in the latter camp.

The concept of Crossover is brilliant---a team of adult comic book creators re-visiting the characters they created when they were kids. Unfortunately, it falls a bit short in execution, and doesn’t quite live up to the promise of its premise.

The comic book event of the summer is nigh!  Before Watchmen, the much-anticipated prequel series to Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen, will consist of seven limited series and an epilogue one-shot.  Stay tuned, as the Fanboy Comics crew will be reviewing each title as it is released. Hurm. 

This penultimate issue of the Silk Spectre mini-series should be building up to the storyline’s climax, but instead comes across a bit aimless.

Kent is an ongoing series from indie publisher Back Row Comics about a small town where strange, Twilight Zone-esque things occur. Revolution Aisle 9 is a one-shot special issue set in the town of Kent, and though it is not without faults, it is most definitely a unique book.

I’ve never read an issue of Locke & Key before, but I know the basic premise: there is a house with many doors, and special keys can unlock them, taking people to strange places. At least, that’s what I thought, but after reading this one-shot, I’ve discovered that what I knew barely scratches the surface of what is going on in the mysterious Keyhouse. As I said, this is a one-shot story, and as far as I can tell, it is not directly related to the main storyline of Locke & Key. Grindhouse is successful as a one-shot in that I never felt lost or confused by what was happening---it’s a great short story, and easy to enjoy even if you’ve never read a single issue of Locke & Key before.

The cover of Think Tank comes with a disclaimer: “DANGER: Reading this book will make you smarter.” While I don’t know if that is necessarily true, the book does raise some interesting questions---and who knows? This is only the first issue, after all, and I did learn a couple of new factoids. Maybe, as the series continues, I actually will rack up a couple of IQ points. Of course, Think Tank’s protagonist doesn’t think much of IQ tests, and he seems way smarter than me, so maybe I should stop speculating and tell you what I actually thought of the book.

The comic book event of the summer is nigh!  Before Watchmen, the much-anticipated prequel series to Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons' Watchmen, will consist of seven limited series and an epilogue one-shot.  Stay tuned, as the Fanboy Comics crew will be reviewing each title as it is released. Hurm. 

This second issue of Silk Spectre shares many of the strengths I pointed out in my review of the last issue: the art is great, the characters are well-rounded and expressive, and the writing is solid. This issue breaks down a bit, but it remains a compelling next chapter in the story of Laurie Jupiter’s early years.

It’s said that we look back on the past with rose-colored glasses; I’m not entirely sure what that is supposed to mean, but those would have turned the subject of this article purple, so that’s fun.  I’m always quick to tell people that I was actually a fan of the time Superman turned into a bright blue energy dude, but that was fifteen years ago. Lately, it’s been coming up a lot, so I thought I would put my money where my mouth is by sitting down with 11-year-old me and re-reading all of my comics featuring “Superman Blue.” Also, the red one. How did it hold up? What new discoveries were made? How is this even possible? Read on.

(For those of you who are fussy about details, the issues I read are: The Adventures of Superman #545-6, 555; Action Comics #732,742; Superman: Man of Steel #67, 77; Superman #123, 132; Superman Red/Superman Blue #1; and JLA: Secret Files and Origins #1)