The Good in Comics

Who is Adam Strange? Strange Adventures Speculation

Posted on September 20, 2019 by thegoodincomics

One of my most anticipated upcoming comic series is Strange Adventures, featuring DC space hero Adam Strange. The award winning Mister Miracle creative team of writer Tom King and artist Mitch Gerads is back for this series, joined by artist Evan “Doc” Shaner. I’m a big fan of all three of these creators, but because the series isn’t scheduled to come out until 2020, we don’t know a lot about it yet. We do know, from a Mitch Gerads tweet, that the series will be mostly based on the original Gardner Fox/Carmine Infantino Adam Strange comics. So, I tracked down a library copy of the Adam Strange Omnibus and read the entire original Adam Strange run. Armed with that knowledge, and a pretty good knowledge of these creators’ previous work, I set out to explain the character of Adam Strange and make some predictions about the upcoming Strange Adventures.

The Man of Two Worlds. Cover by Carmine Infantino for *Mystery in Space* 82.

SHAZAM!: WHERE TO BEGIN

Posted on September 17, 2019 by thegoodincomics

Superheroes are more popular and more mainstream than ever. It seems like every week there’s a new superhero movie, TV show, or videogame hitting the screens. Nearly all of these superheroes and their stories originated in comic books. Of course, there are decades and decades worth of comics out there, and to a new fan it can be daunting trying to figure out which ones to read. In this column, I’m gonna try my best to give new fans fun, easy to understand jumping-off points into the world of comics. As far as accessibility goes, most of these comics are collected and readily available from comic shops, bookstores or online from subscription services such as Comixology, Marvel Unlimited, and DC Universe. Additionally, I always recommend your local library as a free source of comics to read, and with inter-library loan systems you can get your hands on pretty much anything.

Art by Evan “Doc” Shaner for *Convergence: Shazam!* 1.

For this edition of Where to Begin we’re gonna take a look at my all-time favorite superhero, the original Captain Marvel, Shazam! Shazam is a very unique and fun superhero, and with his recent movie the character is more popular than ever. I’ve been reading his comics since I was a little kid, and I thought I’d put this list together for any fans interested in giving the comics a try. For starters, there are two collections that have a good sample of stories throughout the years: Shazam! The Greatest Stories Ever Told and Shazam! A Celebration of 75 Years. Beyond those, if you want more adventures from Billy Batson and the World’s Mightiest Mortal, here’s where to begin.

Top Ten FABLES Issues

Posted on September 14, 2019 by thegoodincomics

Fables is one of the best comic series of the 21^st century. It tells the stories of Fabletown, a community of fairy tale characters driven from their fantasy homelands by the armies of the evil Adversary and forced into exile in present-day New York City. Pretty much every character you remember from childhood or Disney movies is here, but not in the forms you might expect. Snow White, no longer a damsel in distress, is quite possibly the strongest character in the series. The Big Bad Wolf goes by Bigby now, as he’s put aside his monstrous ways and taken human form in order to act as Fabletown’s only sheriff. Prince Charming is a compulsive womanizer, Cinderella is a deadly assassin, and the Three Little Pigs are Marxist revolutionaries. The series ran for 150 issues (plus spin-offs), with Bill Willingham writing all of them and Mark Buckingham providing the art for over 110 issues. The series has been reprinted many times, with collections readily available in libraries and bookstores. Fables is very much an arc-driven series, but since I’m a huge fan of great single issues, I went through Fables and selected the top ten issues from the main series. As always, I’ll try to keep this list free of any major spoilers.

FIREFLY/SERENITY Comic Reading Guide

Posted on September 11, 2019September 11, 2019 by thegoodincomics

My favorite TV show is Firefly, the 2002 space-western adventure series about the crew of the smuggling ship Serenity fighting and struggling to keep flying and eke out an existence on the wild edges of known space. The entirety of the tragically cancelled series consists of thirteen episodes and a movie, Serenity. Despite its short length, Firefly has benefitted from an army of passionate fans that have ensured the series’ recognition and passed it on to new generations of fans.

The adventures of the series’ characters have been continued in several comic books, some of them written by the show’s original creator, Joss Whedon. These comics are all very good, matching the tone, aesthetics, and quality of the TV series. They have been collected, and are easily accessible for Firefly fans looking for more familiar content. If you’re a fan who wants to give the comics a try, but you don’t know where to begin, this guide will give you all the information you need to jump right in.

INCREDIBLE HULK: WHERE TO BEGIN

Posted on September 8, 2019September 8, 2019 by thegoodincomics

Superheroes are more popular and more mainstream than ever. It seems like every week there’s a new superhero movie, TV show, or videogame hitting the screens. Nearly all of these superheroes and their stories originated in comic books. Of course, there are decades and decades worth of comics out there, and to a new fan it can be daunting trying to figure out which ones to read. In this column, I’m gonna try my best to give new fans fun, easy to understand jumping-off points into the world of comics. As far as accessibility goes, most of these comics are collected and readily available from comic shops, bookstores or online from subscription services such as Comixology, Marvel Unlimited, and D.C. Universe. Additionally, I always recommend your local library as a free source of comics to read, and with inter-library loan systems you can get your hands on pretty much anything.

For this edition of Where to Begin, I’m going to look at the Strongest Avenger himself, the Incredible Hulk. Hulk may seem at the outset like a simple character, nothing more than a big dumb green guy who gets angry and smashes things. However, when written well, the character is one of the deepest in Marvel’s entire roster. His stories often explore themes of persecution and isolation, all while providing dynamic superhero action. For everyone who enjoyed Hulk’s parts in the Avengers movies and Thor: Ragnarok, here’s where to begin.

WandaVision: Comic Book Influences and Wild Internet Speculation

Posted on September 5, 2019September 5, 2019 by thegoodincomics

Marvel just announced a whole lot of movies and TV shows as part of Phase IV of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Out of all of the announced projects, the WandaVision TV show on Disney Plus is the one I’m most excited for. Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, and the super-android Vision are two of my favorite Marvel Comics characters, and I love the way they’ve been adapted in the movies. The romance between Wanda and Vision was undoubtedly my favorite part of Avengers: Infinity War.

Cover to *The Vision* 7 by Mike Del Mundo.

The series is scheduled to come out in the spring of 2021. With a release date that far out, there hasn’t been a lot of information released about the series. We know the show will star Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany as Scarlet Witch and the Vision, and we know Kat Dennings and Randall Park will reprise their roles as previous MCU side characters Darcy Lewis (Thor and Thor: The Dark World) and Agent Jimmy Woo (Ant-Man and the Wasp). The cast will also feature Kathryn Hahn and Teyonah Parris. Director Matt Shakman has said the show will feature sitcom elements, which matches the theme established in the series’ one released poster. The poster features Wanda and the Vision dressed in 1950’s fashion, sitting in front of the TV in a well-kept suburban home. This hints at WandaVision being influenced by traditional 1950’s sitcoms such as Leave it to Beaver and Father Knows Best. In this post, I will explore other likely influences on the series, and make some guesses as to what the show will be like based on comic book history.

SPIDER-MAN: WHERE TO BEGIN

Posted on August 31, 2019September 3, 2019 by thegoodincomics

Superheroes are more popular and more mainstream than ever. It seems like every week there’s a new superhero movie, TV show, or videogame hitting the screens. Of course, nearly all of these superheroes and their stories originated in comic books. There are decades and decades worth of comics out there, and to a new fan it can be daunting trying to figure out which ones to read. In this column, Where to Begin, I’m gonna try my best to give new fans fun, easy-to-understand jumping-off points into the world of comics. As far as accessibility goes, most of these comics are collected and readily available from comic shops, bookstores or online from subscription services such as Comixology, Marvel Unlimited, and D.C. Universe. Additionally, I always recommend your local library as a free source of comics to read, and with inter-library loan systems you can get your hands on pretty much anything.

Spider-Man himself, painted by Alex Ross

Welcome to The Good in Comics!

Posted on August 31, 2019September 3, 2019 by thegoodincomics

Greetings, true believers, and welcome to The Good in Comics. My name’s James, and I’ve been reading all kinds of comics for as long as I’ve known how to read. In this space, I’m gonna be posting my writings about a wide variety of comic book topics. Comic book characters have never been more popular than they are right now, and I’m excited to contribute my little piece to the culture here. Comics are for everyone, and there’s gonna be something for everyone on this website, whether you’re a new fan looking to get into reading comics, or a hardened comic-shop veteran like me.

I’m doing this for a couple of reasons. Mostly it’s just gonna be for fun. Everything I post here is gonna be an article I would read for enjoyment myself. Also, I’ve noticed that comic book discourse has been unfortunately trending towards the negative. Lots of creators are focusing on writing articles and making videos about why they hate certain comic books or movies, rather than focusing on what they love. On this website, I’m going to strive to always keep it positive. There are definitely things I hate in the world of comic books, I’m just not gonna write about them. I’m gonna write about the things I love, and hopefully get other people to love them too. I’m gonna try to post a couple times a week, so keep an eye out for new articles and follow @thegoodincomics on Twitter to make sure you don’t miss anything. I look forward to sharing my love of comics with everyone out there. So long, and happy reading!