Review: A.D. After Death Book One

(Image Comics 2016)

Written by Scott Snyder

Illustrated by Jeff Lemire

Lettered by Steve Wands

There are sure things in the realm of comics and literature.  Some authors and artists you pick up because their name is on a book.  That’s the simple truth of it.  For all of the admonitions of elementary school librarians, we judge books by their covers.  And often when we’re paging through PREVIEWS magazine, or browsing the over-packed shelves of our local shops, it’s the art or the name on the cover that makes us pick it up.

REVIEW: ‘Wytches’ #2

(Image Comics, 2014)

Story by Scott Snyder
Art by Jock
Coloring by Matt Hollingsworth
Letters by Clem Robins

Scott Snyder has a rabid fan base.  If anyone has read American Vampire you can see his love of horror fiction.  His run on Batman broke records and changed the way people look at the whole DCU.  As if ole’ Bats wasn’t a flagship property already, Snyder cemented that position for years to come.

REVIEW: ‘The Wake’ #9

(DC Comics / Vertigo, 2014)

Written by Scott Snyder
Artwork by Sean Murphy
Color Artwork by Matt Hollingsworth
Lettering by Jared K. Fletcher

The penultimate issue of The Wake opens with Leeward, now the first mate of the enigmatic Captain Mary’s crew, recording a “captain’s” log very similar to those of her numinous predecessor Lee Archer. Having convinced

REVIEW: ‘Batman’ #31

(DC Comics, 2014)

Written by Scott Snyder
Artwork by Greg Capullo
Color Artwork by FCO Plascencia
Lettering by Steve Wands

Scott Snyder has gone to great lengths to humanize Batman and in so doing he has created a flawed hero who rises above those flaws to become stronger; it is, in fact, those flaws that go on to define the hero. It could be said that Batman was born the moment

REVIEW: ‘Batman’ #30

(DC Comics, 2014)

Written by Scott Snyder
Pencils by Greg Capullo
Inks by Danny Miki
Color Artwork by FCO Plascencia

This issue begins the climactic chapter of the Zero Year story entitled “Savage City” with events that were first glimpsed in the opening pages of the epic arc. However now, when viewed in retrospect these images are so much more momentous, not just for the sheer weight of the events but for the calamitous consequences resulting from them that we have now seen unfold.

REVIEW: ‘Batman Eternal’ #1

(DC Comics, 2014)

Written by Scott Snyder, James Tynion IV
Ray Fawkes, John Layman, Tim Seeley
Artwork by Jason Fabok
Color Artwork by Brad Anderson

The new weekly series Batman Eternal boasts a stellar crew of writers headed up by Batman proper scribe Scott Snyder.  The rest of the team consists of some of DC’s most popular and prolific writers including James Tynion IV, Ray Fawkes, John Layman and Tim Seeley and these guys do not waste a single panel before getting the action started.

REVIEW: ‘American Vampire: Second Cycle’ #1

(Vertigo/DC Comics, 2014)

Written by Scott Snyder
Artwork by Rafael Albuquerque
Color Artwork by Dave McCaig
Lettering by Steve Wands

Skinner Sweet and Pearl Jones, the undead stars or Scott Snyder and Rafael Albuquerque’s epic horror story American Vampire, are back after an extended hiatus and having just read the first issue of the second cycle, I can tell you it is worth the wait.

REVIEW: ‘Swamp Thing’ #28

(DC Comics, 2014)

Written by Charles Soule
Artwork by Javier Pina
Color Artwork by Matthew Wilson
Lettering by Travis Lanham

If you are a regular reader of my reviews (and I hope you are) then you know I am never at a loss for words when it comes to praising the genius of Charles Soule. Soule has taken the industry by storm with an impressive and varied body of work founded on solid character development and

‘The Weekly Bat-Signals’, Episode #23

Hello and welcome fellow followers of The Bat, to another Weekly Bat Signal where we dish all the dirt on the Dark Knight. From the palatial Palisades to creepy Crime Alley, we cover Gotham City better than a roll of yellow police tape. This week we are going to dissect

‘The Weekly Bat-Signals’, Episode #22

Greetings Gothamites and fellow followers of The Bat, welcome to this week’s installment of The Weekly Bat Signal, where we delve deep into the unseemly underbelly of Gotham City to bring you all the dirt on the Dark Knight, we get to the core of The Caped Crusader or to put it a little

‘The Weekly Bat-Signals’ with Shawn Warner, Episode 21

Greetings on this auspicious anniversary of the first appearance of our revered Dark Knight Detective.  The year was 1939, the publication was Detective Comics volume one, number twenty-seven and the co-creators were the brilliant Bob Kane and Bill Finger. Little did these two mild mannered cartoonists know that they had touched eternity with their creation and in so doing they had given a gift to the ages

‘The Weekly Bat-Signals’ with Shawn Warner, Episode 20

Welcome Gothamites to the first Bat Signal of 2014! Yes it is a brand new year here in the city that bleeds but nothing has changed at The Bat Signal, we still bring you all the Bat-related news items, reviews and other tidbits no self-respecting Bat-Fan should be without.

THINGS TO COME for January 2014

Things to Come for January 2014
with Kenneth Kimbrough

Welcome to 2014, the year we first get attacked by kaiju and the year when Solid Snake grows a pretty rad stache. As a part of the new year, I’m introducing a feature to the site in which I highlight new releases, reprints, relaunches and just about anything else that tickles me. All of this information can be found in the retailer catalog—PREVIEWS—which your local comic store should carry.

‘The Weekly Bat-Signals’, Episode 19: Year End Wrap-Up

Greetings fellow Gothamites and welcome to the final episode of The Weekly Bat-Signal for 2013. The city is abuzz getting ready to ring in the New Year Gotham style which means lots of garish pageantry and drunken disorderly conduct in the streets, from the lowest of Crime Alley miscreants to the stratosphere of Gotham’s high society the parties will rage on well into the first morning of 2014.

Bag and Bored’s ‘Best of 2013’: RAYMOND JACQUES

BEST OF 2013
with Raymond Jacques

Greetings, Friends & Fellow Readers. I’m Raymond Jacques (and you’re not).  It has been an amazing opportunity contributing to BagAndBored.net for the last 8 months or so & this is my contribution to Bag and Bored’s “Best of 2013”.

Bag and Bored’s ‘Best of 2013’: SHAWN WARNER

BEST OF 2013
with Shawn Warner

So here we are about to close out another year and as sure as public drunkenness, unwanted gifts and over eating are all part of the festivities indulged in to celebrate the end of twelve months of

Bag and Bored’s ‘Best of 2013’: JOHN MONAGHAN

BEST OF 2013
with John Monaghan

– Best Comic Overall

REVIVAL

The single most important comic of 2013 for me. 2013 has been the year of REVIVAL.

‘The Weekly Bat-Signals’ with Shawn Warner, Episode 18

Season’s Greetings fellow Gothamites. There is nothing quite like Christmas in Gotham; the snow covered city takes on a picturesque charm worthy of any Hallmark holiday special, even the usually imposing gothic architecture and grounds of Arkham are somehow transformed into a whimsical winter wonderland when dusted with a frosty coating of shimmering snow.

REVIEW: “Talon” #13

(DC Comics, 2013)

Review by Shawn Warner

Written by James Tynion IV
Artwork by Emanuel Simeoni
Color Artwork by Jeromy Cox
Letters by Taylor Esposito

Like most Talon readers I have been having a love/hate relationship with this book for the past few months.  I love the story James Tynion IV told with Scott Snyder back in the beginning but

REVIEW: “Batman: the Dark Knight” #25

(DC Comics, 2013)

Review by Zakk Saam

Written by Gregg Hurwitz
Artwork by Alex Maleev
Color Artwork by Dave McCaig
Lettering by Carlos M. Mangual

Clayface is back in Batman: The Dark Knight #25. While there seems to be an influx of Clayface stories in the past six months, this is one of the better ones in my opinion. In a story carefully crafted by Gregg Hurwitz (Vengeance of the Moon Knight, Penguin: Pain and Prejudice), Clayface has broken out of Arkham Asylum