Unwinnable

Written in Mission, Texas, February 1932; suggested by the memory of the hill-country above Fredericksburg seen in a mist of winter rain.

-Robert E. Howard on his inspiration for Cimmeria, home of Conan

It is on an appropriately gloomy day that I write about the sullen barbarian hero Conan, and the other creations of his equally sullen creator Robert E. Howard. With The Hobbit still somewhat fresh in my mind and a new season of Game of Thrones around the corner, it’s easy to forget about one of the first examples of the modern sword and sorcery genre. Unlike the professorial majesty of many of Tolkien’s stories (or quaint Hobbit whimsy), Howard wrote in a pulpy manner, freely imbuing horror, graphic violence, swordplay, nudity, magic, epic battles and humor into his tales. (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…)

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…)

While reading Dark Horse Comics’ Crime Does Not Pay Archives Volume 2, I was reminded of the time I worked for New York comic convention impresario Mike Carbonaro. Mike bought a lot of collections and part of my job was to organize and catalog various collectibles he bought and sold. I was knee deep in Golden Age, Silver Age, Bronze Age and (ugh) ‘90s comics every day of the week. It was a pretty awesome job. While in his employ, I got to fulfill a lifelong dream. I got to thumb through a copy of Detective Comics # 27 – the first appearance of Batman!
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Published by Dark Horse Comics, Brian Wood and Kristian Donaldson’s The Massive is the story of a group of environmentalists surviving in a world besieged by underwater earthquakes, the dissolution of society and dwindling supplies. It’s a slow burn post-apocalyptic story of life on the high seas. Sure, there are shades of Waterworld, but The Massive has more in common with Escape From New York or The Postman than it does with Shitty Mad Max’s Adventure at Sea.

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Much like Peter Parker and his alter ego, Spider-Man, my love of comics is something that I can never permanently walk away from, even though I’ve tried multiple times. Since I started writing for Unwinnable, I’ve rediscovered my love for comic books – and what keeps me coming back. There’s just so much more to discover and journeys to be had with characters that have been there with me for many years. (more…)

Heraclitus, the fragmented pre-Socratic, wrote, “Just as the river where I step is not the same, and is, so I am as I am not.” From this the notion of flux was introduced into the philosophical dialogue. Heraclitus observed a world in which everything flowed. As in nature, Man too exists in a state of perpetual change. (more…)