Depending on how you look at it, I got a lot more done in the back half of January than I did in the front end. By that, I mean that I watched a lot more movies per day and played a lot more video games. I read a bunch of comics, too. Well… a bunch of issues of one title. But did I do … Continue reading Entertainment Rex: January Part 2
Last week, after doing some meditating on standards in grading books, I started a list of my Top 15 Comic Stories Ever. Go check it out to see how #11-#15 (the “Honorable Mentions” of my Top Ten, as it were) shook out, because here today, we are moving along to part two of that list, in which I will discuss stories ten through six. I’ve become … Continue reading My Top Fifteen Stories Ever: #10 to #6
I turned 40 recently. I know it’s “just a number” and “you are as old as you feel” and all (which… isn’t useful ever since I fell down the stairs in December and hurt my back; I feel 65), but it’s still a whole thing, right? Turning FORTY, man. Thirty is no big deal; you’re just “more of an adult” at that point. Fifty is … Continue reading Top Ten: Best Comic Book Characters Since 1981
As of this writing, Marvel’s most recent event story, Secret Empire has concluded, and the sentiment seems to be… poor. I did not read it; I have a bad habit of only buying comics in trade because then I can cherry-pick stories that I have already heard good things about. It’s almost a shame… Marvel does event stories more often than I eat three meals a day, … Continue reading Stew’s Reviews: Hawkeye
Welcome to our newest feature here at SWO Productions: Entertainment Rex! Twice a month, I will look back on what I’ve read, watched, and experienced and let you know if it can be recommended or not (is that… semi-monthly? Bi-monthly is every other month, right? What means “twice a month”? Semi… Bi-sometimesly? Anyone have any help here?). I’ll be honest with you… mostly I am … Continue reading Entertainment Rex: January
I take no pride in being something of a harsh grader when it comes to comic books. I am not really sure why it is–I tend to grade out movies much more generously than I do comics for whatever reason–but if you look at my grading history, it is easy to see I am typically likely to score books relatively lower than others might. The … Continue reading Tough Grading, The Elusive A+, And My Top 15 Stories EVER
I haven’t done enough “older” comics on these reviews, and I recognize that. There’s a perfectly good reason for it, though, and it’s that, uh, I don’t tend to love them. And I judge them more harshly because of that. It’s not an across-the-board thing, obviously—what is?—but it’s there. A lot of 60’s and 70’s era titles have similar conventions running through them that just … Continue reading Stew’s Reviews: Ms. Marvel
Nobody liked 2020. I mean, it’s even kind of boring as a meme at this point, but yeah, we all know it… 2020 was kind of a dogshit year. That’s brutal, but honest. My 2020 more-or-less started with appendicitis (and that, having happened in January, genuinely feels like an eternity ago), and really… everything just went downhill from there. But don’t worry! It’s all over … Continue reading The Top Fifteen Jubilee Comics
Welcome back, everyone! You know what I’m a fan of? For one thing, not ending sentences in prepositions! So let’s try again: You know of what I am a fan (Whoof, proper grammar is unwieldy)? Free Comic Book Day! First weekend in May every year, just like clockwork. Good old Free Comic Book Day. And I will tell ya: for a day with “free” right … Continue reading Stew’s Reviews: Venom by Rick Remender
Previously, I had discussed the recent disdain I have found for both Marvel and DC; a disdain which led to my culling all of the titles from each publisher from my current pull list at my comic shop. I went on and into what I see as the inevitable future of the industry–an online-only model that replaces expensive and less profitable printed books with subscription … Continue reading Heroes Of Manga
This started off as a slightly different list. Originally, this was going to be my Top Five fight scenes of all-time in comic book history. It’s another one of those Top Ten list ideas for our podcast that we have not gotten around to yet, and one that I thought had some legs and was eager to get a sneak-peek jump on by writing about … Continue reading Top Five: Spider-Man Fights
Well, it’s official. As of this past weekend, I no longer have any Marvel or DC books on my Pull List at my local comic shop. (Which is not to say I have any indie books because I don’t. I have… my pull list is zero. It is no list.) I finally put my money where my mouth is and dropped the remaining titles from … Continue reading Marvel and DC… No More!
VOLUME 2, ISSUE #1 Welcome, everyone, to the BRAND NEW Stew’s Reviews! What’s new about it, you ask? Why, there is a slight format shift; gone are the “Thumbs Up” and “Thumbs Down” sections, and in their place is a more detailed breakdown of each book’s stars and creative team. Also each issue will have a TALKING POINT where you and I can discuss something adjacently … Continue reading Stew’s Reviews: Jubilee & Wolverine
So back in 2002, Marvel decided to have a month where all their titles’ stories had no dialogue. The gauntlet was thrown down to their writers and artists to tell compelling stories with as few words as possible. I say “as few as possible” because some of the titles screwed around with this concept as much as they could (writers would have characters write or … Continue reading Stew’s Reviews: ‘Nuff Said
Hey all! Here’s a series of things I was writing for another site about Image Comics and its history. Anyone with more familiarity, or any recollections of that period, feel free to chime in as well! I wrote little things about each team and many of the solo characters, particularly of the 1990s period. IMAGE COMICS: -Image Comics: where justifiable anger against your bosses, “Meet … Continue reading Jab’s Deep Dive: Image Comics – Part 1 (of A LOT)
