What Are You Reading? | ‘Porcelain,’ ‘Godfell,’ ‘Local Man’ and more

See what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately.

Welcome to What Are You Reading?, our look at what the Smash Pages crew has been checking off their “to read” list lately. Today’s reviews include first issues of Godfell and Local Man, as well as Porcelain and some classic DC Comics Presents.

Let us know what you’ve been reading lately in the comments below or by tagging us on social media.

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What Are You Reading? | In ‘Miracleman,’ ‘the character work alone would be worth the read’

See what the Smash Pages crew has been reading lately, including Dark Web, Doctor Strange, Aquaman and more.

Welcome to What Are You Reading?, our look at what the Smash Pages crew has been checking off their “to read” list lately. Today’s reviews include recent issues of Miracleman and Mary Jane & Black Cat, some classic Doctor Strange and Aquaman, and some new/classic Bishop stories.

Let us know what you’ve been reading lately in the comments below or by tagging us on social media.

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‘Batman ’89’ is not content to just be a continuation of the film

Tom Bondurant shares his thoughts on the first two issues of Batman ’89, which continues the story started in the first Tim Burton ‘Batman’ film.

The more I think about the current Batman ’89 miniseries, the odder it seems.

Tim Burton’s Bat-movies don’t fit easily into any one category. Weird as they are, they’re not full-on “Tim Burton” movies, because they’re beholden to at least a nominal amount of source-material lore. That weirdness also sets them apart from other action-movie blockbusters. Today, after a decade or two of superhero movies becoming more faithful to the comics, Burton’s efforts seem almost primitive, with a dreamlike quality – far from the hard edge of Christopher Nolan’s urban crime stories or the DCEU’s CGI-enabled spectacle.

However, Batman ’89 – written by Sam Hamm, drawn by Joe Quinones, and colored by Leonardo Ito – isn’t really interested in translating Tim Burton to comics. Although writer Sam Hamm penned the Burton movies’ original drafts, both were revised to varying degrees by subsequent writers, especially Daniel Waters on Batman Returns.

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It was a bunch of punching: Heroes Return roundtable, the big finale

Lo! There shall be an ending!

This is it! The moment you’ve all been waiting for! The final chapter in Marvel Comics’ spectacular summer event, Heroes Reborn comes to a close in Heroes Return #1.

Tom Bondurant, Shane Bailey, Carla Hoffman and the jovial JK Parkin bask in the final faceoff between the Squadron Supreme of America and the remnants of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes for the answers to all our questions! Who will win? Who changed reality? What was Mephisto’s secret purpose? And why were these books $4.99??

Grab your copy of the finale and read on!

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I wish Johnny Quick would put on a shirt: Heroes Reborn roundtable, week 7

Carla, Tom, Shane and JK continue to discuss Marvel’s latest comics event and its tie-in one-shots.

The Smash Pages team is back this week for our penultimate Heroes Reborn roundtable, where we break down the latest Marvel crossover issue by issue. This week Shane Bailey, Tom Bondurant, Carla Hoffman and I talk about Heroes Reborn #7, as well as the final tie-in issue, Weapon X & Final Flight.

You can read part one of our roundtable discussions here, part two here, part three here, part four here, part five here and part six here.

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‘Fantastic Four’ #33 provides ‘the greatest reaction page in the history of comics (this week)’

Carla Hoffman offers a quick review of the second chapter of Doctor Doom’s wedding.

So I love superhero weddings almost as much as I love pro wrestling weddings, and the two genres have a lot in common.

After all, none of us are coming to the nuptials to see love triumph or watch people slow dance at the reception; we want to see the carnage. If there’s a big cake, we want someone to go through it. If the officiant asks for anyone to “speak now or forever hold your peace,” there should be at least five people jumping to their feet to object. 

It’s drama, it’s fashion, it’s a comic book wedding for Fantastic Four #33.

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Stellar motorcycle shots: Heroes Reborn roundtable, week 6

Carla, Tom, Shane and JK continue to discuss Marvel’s latest comics event and its tie-in one-shots.

The Smash Pages team is back this week for our sixth Heroes Reborn roundtable, where we break down the latest Marvel crossover issue by issue. This week Shane Bailey, Tom Bondurant, Carla Hoffman and I talk about Heroes Reborn #6, as well as two tie-in issues: Night-Gwen and Squadron Savage.

You can read part one of our roundtable discussions here, part two here, part three here, part four here and part five here.

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‘Batman: Earth One’ Vol. 3 ‘reframes a number of classic elements in an entertaining way’

Tom Bondurant reviews the latest in DC’s line of Earth One graphic novels, the long-awaited third part of Geoff Johns and Gary Frank’s Batman trilogy.

This week I read a lot of Batman, which sounds stereotypical, but it’s kind of unavoidable. The new issue of Detective came out this week, along with the third issue of Batman: The Detective; and both featured Bruce Wayne battling overmuscled man-mountains with handlebar mustaches and crazy glints in their eyes. There was also issue #3 of The Batman/Scooby-Doo Mysteries, plus a decent amount of the Darknight Detective in issue #2 of Justice League: Last Ride. And I’m still in the middle of a New 52 Batman re-read, getting into the “Zero Year” epic.

All that said, I’m going to talk about Batman: Earth One Volume Three, written by Geoff Johns, pencilled by Gary Frank, inked by Jon Sibal and colored by Brad Anderson.

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Sunday with ‘Sandman’ | Looking back at the earliest issues of the beloved series

Shane Bailey cracks open ‘Sandman: The Deluxe Edition V1,’ journeying back to the late 1980s for a look at the influential series.

Last week I decided to start a massive reread of the Neil Gaiman-written Sandman family of books, starting with the Deluxe Edition v1, and honestly I forgot how great these books are. Over the years I’ve come to take them for granted, but they are really top of the class in terms of subject and craft.

Reading these books again I see how heavily it leans into horror, which I had forgotten. It has that creeping horror feel down, the kind that starts the hairs on the back of your neck to signal that something isn’t quite right, rather than in-your-face shock horror.

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Hawkarang-in-the-eye: Heroes Reborn roundtable, week 5

Same Hawk-time, same Hawk-channel: Carla, Tom, Shane and JK continue to discuss Marvel’s latest comics event.

We are back this week for our fifth Heroes Reborn roundtable, where we break down the latest Marvel crossover issue by issue. This week Shane Bailey, Tom Bondurant, Carla Hoffman and I talk about Heroes Reborn #5, as well as two tie-in issues: American Knight and Marvel Double Action. It’s Bat-week! Three out of four bloggers would probably agree it’s also the best week of the event thus far.

You can read part one of our roundtable discussions here, part two here, part three here and part four here.

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Guns that shoot stars: The Heroes Reborn roundtable, week 4

Carla, Tom, Shane and JK assemble once again to discuss Marvel’s latest comics event.

We are back this week for our fourth Heroes Reborn roundtable, where we break down the latest Marvel crossover issue by issue. This week Shane Bailey, Tom Bondurant, Carla Hoffman and I talk about Heroes Reborn #4, which puts the spotlight on the very unlikable Doctor Spectrum, as well as three tie-in issues: Magneto and the Mutant Force, Siege Society and Young Squadron.

You can read part one of our roundtable discussions here, part two here and part three here.

So let’s jump right in …

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How many TVs was that again? The Heroes Reborn roundtable, week 3

Carla, Tom, Shane and JK assemble once again to discuss Marvel’s latest comics event.

Time for round three of our Heroes Reborn roundtable, where we break down the latest Marvel crossover issue by issue. This week Shane Bailey, Tom Bondurant, Carla Hoffman and I talk about Heroes Reborn #3, which puts the spotlight on the super-speedster, Blur, and the more mystical elements of the Marvel Universe.

You can read part one of our roundtable discussions here and part two here.

So grab your copies and let’s jump in …

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