Unwinnable

Uncanny X-Men #1

(Marvel – writer: Brian Michael Bendis; art: Chris Bachalo)

Marvel is building a case against Scott Summers, and Uncanny X-Men seems to be their smoking gun. With Brian Michael Bendis at the helm, and a surprise ally aiding the other side, Cyclops seems destined for a great fall in the very near future.

Bendis does some of his best work in this comic, scaling back on the action and instead going for fluid and engaging dialogue. Comic fans know that Bendis can be word heavy, but the man knows how to write a story that moves swiftly between scenes, keeping its main focus ever present. (more…)

In my very early days, I listened to a lot of Power Records, a known quantity series of comic book and record sets that chronicled the adventures of Batman, Spider-Man, Wonder Woman, Superman, The Six Million Dollar Man, Star Trek and a few other properties. They either came as a smaller 45 RPM record with one adventure or a larger 33-1/3 RPM record with up to four adventures. The 33-1/3 record sleeves were like proto comic book trade paperbacks. (more…)

All New X-Men #6

(Marvel – writer: Brian Michael Bendis; art: David Marquez)

I think I’ve figured out Bendis’ MacGuffin, and pardon me if I’m slow on the uptake, but All New X-Men is his vehicle for bringing back Jean Grey. So far, the series has really centered on Jean as she discovers her powers, comes to terms with them, and attempts to make peace with what has become of Scott Summers. (more…)

The Black Beetle first started popping up on Pulp Sunday, a blog created by Francesco Francavilla that is dedicated to pulp and noir. The character appeared in a series of mock movie posters and lobby cards, paying homage to the kind of pulp/noir that comic readers really only got to see in Lobster Johnson and Incognito. Today, Dark Horse Comics is giving the costumed crime fighter a series of his own in The Black Beetle: No Way Out #1.   (more…)

I don’t like endings. I’m the kind of person who stays in the theater until the end of the credits, who re-reads books over and over and over again, who roams pointlessly through the rescued kingdoms of my videogame worlds. To me, when the screen finally goes black, or the last sentence ends, or the dreaded “Game Over” looms before my eyes, it feels like rejection – like the director, author, developer had revoked my passport to this other world. The curtain, so briefly pulled away, had been closed again, and once Virgil said “the end,” I was no longer allowed inside. (more…)

2012 was a great year for comics. Keeping this list to ten was impossible due to ties, so we went for twelve. However, even at twelve, this list feels too small to encompass all the great comics that were published this year. Nevertheless, there was one comic that pretty much every comic reading member of Team Unwinnable agreed on: Hawkeye. (more…)

Batman #15

(DC – writer: Scott Snyder; art: Greg Capullo)

The Joker, who is the focal point of Scott Snyder’s “Death of the Family” arc, is barely present in Batman #15. His existence, however, fills every page. Snyder backs off the action of the previous issues to show readers the Joker’s true power in a comic that is pure poetry in its narration and terrifying in its delivery. (more…)