Author Archives: Benjamin Birdie

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Longform
What Tom Spurgeon Built

By | Nov 14, 2019 | Longform

There’s a very specific way someone in comics takes a compliment. There’s a step back; sometimes subtle, sometimes pronounced; and some kind of verbal admission of surprise that precedes the one of gratitude. The best and nicest people that read or make or write about comics are always surprised when you tell them how much […]

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Deadly Class Featured Interviews
NYCC ’18: Wes Craig on “Deadly Class”

By | Oct 23, 2018 | Interviews

As co-creator of “Deadly Class,” Wes Craig has developed a comic that is simultaneously violent and poignant, over-the-top and all-too-real. His style is instantly recognizable and versatile in ways that consistently surprise you. At NYCC this year, I was lucky enough to talk to him about how his collaboration with the team on “Deadly Class” […]

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Amazing Spider-Man 801 Featured Reviews
“Amazing Spider-Man” #801

By | Jun 22, 2018 | Reviews

Dan Slott says good bye to everybody’s favorite wall-crawler in a stand-alone story that could satisfyingly be considered the last Spider-Man story ever. (Spoilers follow below.) Written by Dan Slott Illustrated by Marcos Martin Colored by Muntsa Vicente Lettered by Joe Caramagna After ten years, Dan Slott’s final issue of THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN is here, […]

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Columns
Hey Comics! What’s Good? #15

By | Jun 19, 2018 | Columns

1. The Bizzaro World of “Superman” The Bizarro world of opposites is a long standing tradition in the DC Universe, and has seen all kinds of interpretations, but in their last big storyline for their “Superman” run, Peter Tomasi, Patrick Gleason, and Doug Mahnke (with letterer Rob Leigh and a bunch of inkers and colorists […]

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Ultimate Spider-Man 131 Page Art Feature
Art Feature: Stuart Immonen

By and | May 31, 2018 | Art Feature

Editor’s Note: Yesterday, the comics world was shocked by the ‘retirement‘ of Stuart Immonen. Part of the shock is that Immonen’s decision is so unlike what we see from most comics creators, who only stop working when either they physically cannot draw anymore, or the calls for work stop coming. Immonen is in neither situation, […]

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flavor-1-feature Columns
Hey Comics! What’s Good? #14

By | May 22, 2018 | Columns

1. That smokey “Flavor” (I immediately regret what I just wrote but not enough to erase it, sorry ’bout it.) Anyway, the first issue of “Flavor” does a great job at building a charming and compelling world and you should totally read it. Co-creators Joseph Keatinge (writer) and Wook Jin Clark (artist) are at the […]

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Columns
Hey Comics! What’s Good? #13

By | Apr 17, 2018 | Columns

1. How good Stuart Immonen is at drawing. Stuart Immonen is a really great artist (inked here, as he usually is, by Wade Von Grawbadger). One of the things that makes him great is how everything he draws reflects serious thought about the things he’s drawing. Like, sometimes you forget how impressive it is that […]

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Columns
Hey Comics! What’s Good? #12

By | Feb 20, 2018 | Columns

1. Christopher Priest’s first “Black Panther” storyline Chances are it’s been a while since you’ve revisited the very beginning of Priest’s landmark run, but it’s remarkable how well he establishes his own voice to the character and also manages to combine so many disparate elements into a single story. Priest’s run features a lot of […]

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Vs 1 featured Columns
Hey Comics! What’s Good? #11

By | Feb 13, 2018 | Columns

1. “VS” #1 is the best debut issue since “New X-Men” #114. I mean we’re all on the same page here, right? We were all duly excited about “VS,” of course. We had Ivan Brandon writing his follow up to “Drifter,” one of the only finite comic series that hid its reveal to the end […]

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Columns
Hey Comics! What’s Good? #10

By | Feb 8, 2018 | Columns

1. The Wild Future Vision of “Motherlands.” One of the great advantages of a sci-fi comic is that you can create a future with a limitless budget, and cram all the wild ideas you’ve got into its pages. Si Spurrier and Rachael Stott (with Felipe Sobriero coloring and Simon Bowland lettering), are definitely leaning into […]

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Columns
Hey Comics! What’s Good? #9

By | Jan 30, 2018 | Columns

1. Shalvey + Bellaire = Team Supreme on “Injection” Warren Ellis’s “Injection” has become the perfect showcase for the synergy between artist Declan Shalvey and colorist Jordie Bellaire (lettered here by the great Fonografiks). It’s moody, atmospheric, and super-weird; all qualities on display in the series’ last arc about Brigid Roth’s examination of strange rock […]

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