I can say with all honesty that Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo is one of the two comic books (the other being Frank Miller’s The Dark Knight Returns) which turned me onto comics as an adult. Without it, I don’t know if I would have gotten into them as a hobby. It happened one day when I was wandering around the library, looking to kill time. I was in the “comics” section which, at the time, was mostly collections of newspaper strips before graphic novels became a thing. I pulled a book from the shelf and on the cover saw a rabbit samurai. There was instant recognition! I didn’t know anything about this book, but I remembered the toy. I had grown up with it as part of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles line.
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Archive for the ‘Andrew’ Category
THE UNADAPTED: Fear Agent
Posted: January 29, 2015 in Andrew, Dark Horse, Fear Agent, Guest Column, Image, Walking DeadWhen I was a retailer in a comic store I often tried to sell this by describing it as “Han Solo the comic book.” That does a disservice to the overall story, but was generally a nice elevator description to get customers interested. In reality the story of Fear Agent is much more complex than that. Created by Rick Remender and Tony Moore in 2005 for Image Comics, the book is about Heath Huston who is initially introduced as a space-traveling exterminator. His job is to fly around to planets and get rid of unwanted alien infestations. What starts out as a simple eradication job on a backwater planet spins out to a sprawling space epic.
THE UNADAPTED: Criminal Macabre
Posted: December 6, 2014 in Andrew, Cal McDonald, Constantine, Criminal Macabre, Dark Horse, Guest Column, Hellblazer, IDW, The UnadaptedThe most surprising thing about this title is that it technically started in 1990. So that means the main character, Cal McDonald, has been around for over 24 years. Yet most comic book readers would be at a loss to know anything about it. Were it on Jeopardyit would be the awkward question everyone quietly stared at their feet for until time ran out and Alex Trebek read the answer off his cue card.
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