There's something about the comics profession that reels in the weirdos. Ever since the initial boom of the Golden Age, the comic book industry has been a haven for scores of high-profile kooks, crackpots, iconoclasts, zealots, and eccentrics. We're not judging. But some people can be observed as out of step - As any nine-fingered auto mechanic named Carl will tell you, there's a fine line between ...

In 2006, writer Kieron Gillen and artist Jamie McKelvie debuted the first "Phonogram" volume, "Rue Brittania." Introducing the concept of "phonomancers" -- magicians using music to enter magical states -- the series quickly gained a dedicated cult following and tastemaker Warren Ellis' seal of approval. With the completion of the second volume "The Singles Club" and the trade collection (or ...

The first thing I think of when I consider dissecting Dave Sim's "glamourpuss " is "(No Pussyfooting)." Go ahead, laugh it out. What I'm referring to is the classic loop/ambient collaboration between King Crimson guitarist Robert Fripp and electronic music pioneer Brian Eno. In 1973, the two convened with a Gibson Les Paul and a couple of modified A77 Tape Recorders. Across two songs, the pair ...

The Super Bowl is almost upon us, and you can practically feel the rustle of energy in the air. For many nerds, though, this Sunday's matchup between the New Orleans Saints and Indianapolis Colts means absolutely nothing. While every other member of the family is grunting and oh-ing at the action from Miami, they'll probably be thumbing through their comics and thanking genetics from sparing ...

When I was a kid, the apocalypse scared the crap out of me. Not in that long-term "I'd better be good" way like it's supposed to. I experienced genuine fear and horror at the possibility that the world would someday be thrust into Armageddon. Sunday School studies of The Books of Daniel and Revelation kept me awake at night, worried eyes pleading at the ceiling, fear engorged on images of ...

Though it might feel like it now sometimes, autobio comics haven't always dominated the independent market. Despite a panorama of undergrounds in the sixties, Western comics didn't really do autobiography until the seventies, when the brilliantly troubled Justin Green and the cantankerously regimented Harvey Pekar released their respective books, "Binky Brown Meets the Holy Virgin Mary" and the ...

Like a select few other Marvel titles, "X-Factor" officially returned to its original numbering with the recent release of issue 200. Along with the renumbering came all the double-sized goodness one could hope for: character sheets, a reprint of a classic tale, in this case "Madrox" #1, and a good jumping-on point for new readers to pick up what has quietly become the best X-comic in years. ...

Maybe it's the final shreds of my Judeo-Christian upbringing, or the cumulative mass of thousands of Christmas Special messages, but as we get closer to the holidays, I find myself thinking about the less fortunate more and more. And if you're dumb enough to swallow the tripe the liberal media is feeding you, you know that the unemployment rate in America is nearly ten percent. With numbers ...

Zack Overkill is supposed to be in hiding. As one half of the superpowered Overkill Brothers, he was once respected and feared as a high-ranking member of the criminal organization Black Death. But after the death of his twin Xander -- and getting pinched -- he turned state's evidence against his former cohorts, forever condemning himself to a life looking over his shoulder. Now, some years ...

It's often been said that great art comes from great tragedy. It's another one of those phrases about art that has been repeated by the elbow-patched and goateed so often that it's almost become a platitude, as empty of meaning as the patently untrue "art imitates life." After all, it can just as easily be said that great beauty leads to great art. However, there remains a certain validity to ...