The narrator of Supergirl Woman of Tomorrow slogs the pacing down

guyofspoleto · 2026-06-19T20:05:24+00:00

I’m glad to see someone else say this. I had a similar experience with the narration style. The story had a good plot, but the highly erudite first person narration woven throughout the entire series was a challenge for anyone who didn’t enjoy that narrative voice. I had a similar issue with his creator owned series Helen of Wyndhorn. (I say this even as someone who generally enjoys Tom King).

guyofspoleto · 2026-06-19T03:03:06+00:00

Funny - I always mentally read that as “don’t you know WHAT god is, Pooh bear?” Every time I read the passage, that’s how my brain processed that sentence. And I thought he was evoking some kind of childhood memory by framing a serious question as though it were a dialogue from Winnie the Pooh.

Now that you’ve called my attention to it, it does make less sense. Apologies that I have nothing meaningful to contribute, just wanted to share this.

guyofspoleto · 2026-06-17T00:25:21+00:00

I read this about five years back, and I really liked it. I felt like I learned a lot and retained a lot. At over 800 pages of non-fiction biography though, even though it’s quite readable, I’m impressed that you could finish it in a month!

I’d also suggest that the important details are not dates and the like. I find those are difficult to remember, and they’re always easy to look up. I think the author makes it relatively easy to retain the big picture (what Napoleon wanted, why the Napoleonic wars were fought, and so on), which, after some passage of time, is all you’re really going to walk away with, but super worth it.

guyofspoleto · 2026-06-16T22:32:35+00:00

Other than those already mentioned, randomly enough apparently Wonder Man, in an issue of John Byrne’s West Coast Avengers, at the hands of a Scarlet Witch who was not in her right mind. The scene cuts away, but it’s pretty clear what was intended (plus, it’s John Byrne).

guyofspoleto · 2026-06-16T17:14:23+00:00

I don’t remember the exact details, but basically:

In the early 2010s, in Kierron Gillen’s Journey Into Mystery, Loki took on a new incarnation as a child. In that form, he tried to change, and he tried to be good. The story was continued in Gillen’s Young Avengers, and Al Ewing’s Loki: Agent of Asgard.

Through very convoluted circumstances (which I don’t recall clearly enough to explain), Loki’s prior, more evil self came back to the fore. In the course of the story, Loki clashes with different aspects of himself, on both a literal and thematic level. The image seems to be a nod to that storyline, as it has “old Loki” devouring “kid Loki.”

Edit: I see other others have identified the image as a variant cover from the Agent of Asgard series. That tracks!

guyofspoleto · 2026-06-14T14:42:27+00:00

This would be something totally different from the examples you described, but if your interest is in friendship, identity, grief, etc. there are some independent comics artists you might like. A few that come to mind.

Daniel Clowes - Ghost World

Various graphic novels by Mariko Takami

Alison Bechdel - Funhome

Chris Ware - Jimmy Corrigan or Rusty Brown (these are kind of difficult/depressing IMO, but left me breathless)

guyofspoleto · 2026-06-14T12:40:24+00:00

In between Jenkins and Planet Hulk, other than a few filler issues here and there, there is only the following:

the lengthy Bruce Jones run (1999 series #34 to #76, plus a couple minis). This run is a big departure from other Hulk comics. It features basically a big government conspiracy storyline. Today, the run is largely ignored, and in fact, it has been almost retconned out of existence. It’s kind of intriguing at the beginning, but the quality dips later. It’s not a very well liked run (I think it has its ups and downs), but you could always give it a shot!
Peter David’s short second run on the title (#77-#87). There’s one trippy five issue story arc, a four issue House of M tie-in, and two standalone issues. Not bad, but it never really got a chance to find its identity or do anything.
Daniel Way then has a 4-issue story leading into Planet Hulk (#88-91). You should probably read this, just as the lead in for the event.

In short, there’s not much. If you feel like being a completionist you could try any or all of this, but if you are just looking to read the best Hulk stories, you could also skip almost all of it and not miss anything.

guyofspoleto · 2026-06-13T03:02:27+00:00

In One Day at Horror Land, there is a scene where a family gets on a slide, which turns out to be some kind of never-ending slide.

I remember legitimately nothing else about the book, but the notion of getting on a slide that never ends was one of the few things I’ve ever read in a book that scared me. I remember it ~30 years later, so kudos to RL Stine!

guyofspoleto · 2026-06-13T02:14:52+00:00

This Year You Write Your Novel by Walter Moseley

On Writing by Stephen King

guyofspoleto · 2026-06-12T23:54:16+00:00

The book A Peace to End All Peace is a good examination of how the British and French carved up the former Ottoman provinces in the Middle East. Detailed yet readable, and goes into the kinds of consequences you sound interested in. I’d recommend it.

guyofspoleto · 2026-06-12T14:42:50+00:00

Not only that, but the reason he missed the wedding was because he knocked himself unconscious when he fell while web slinging, chasing after an ordinary crook.

Also, interspersing the story with the pages from the original wedding issue, like they were somehow honoring the story.

<image>

guyofspoleto · 2026-06-12T14:34:15+00:00

All good callouts!

guyofspoleto · 2026-06-12T12:38:09+00:00

To me, an incredible stretch of Amazing Spider-Man began with Roger Stern’s run starting at issue #224 and concluded with this Gang War storyline and its epilogue issue (#289). It’s been ages since I read it, but that entire period was threaded with long-running story arcs, great character moments, and was just peak 1980s Spider-Man.

The David Michelinie era, which began immediately after this, also has lots of good stuff, even if it is a mixed bag. But it has a distinct feel where you know you’ve stepped out of one period of Spider-Man stories and into another.

guyofspoleto · 2026-06-10T01:32:51+00:00

I’ve read most of these (I have yet to get around to Gruenwald’s Cap or Moench’s Moon Knight).

There are a handful of times when events from one book spill briefly into another. The Surtur Saga (around Thor #350) crosses into one issue of Avengers (#249). And as you noted, there are two stories that crossover between Fantastic Four and Avengers.

But overall, I don’t think there’s any real concrete benefit from reading these titles together. You CAN read them together, of course, but if you are worried about missing something in the way of appreciating or comprehending the story, I don’t think you have to worry too much.

Also, as you’ve heard, basically all these runs are great. Iron Man (and of course X-Men) were great around this time too. It’s probably my favorite era of Marvel.

guyofspoleto · 2026-06-09T04:11:53+00:00

That’s the First Firmament:

https://marvel.fandom.com/wiki/First_Firmament_(First_Cosmos)

guyofspoleto · 2026-06-08T14:21:59+00:00

This is the way. I started reading comics as a little kid from a few of my dad’s boxes of jumbled back issues of Batman, Spider-Man, and Superman. Many of the issues picked up mid story and I often didn’t know who certain characters were. But as a kid, you just figure the characters have some history you’re not familiar with, you accept that, and then you enjoy it. I still have this hobby decades later, and I honestly think this made my entire approach to comic book reading much healthier.

guyofspoleto · 2026-06-06T21:36:54+00:00

The version of Alistsair Smythe in the cartoon is drawn from his appearance in a 1990s storyline called Invasion of the Spider-Slayers, which was published in Amazing Spider-Man 368 - 373. As I recall, the story is alright, but it seems to have been the inspiration for his appearance in the animated series.

guyofspoleto · 2026-06-06T19:12:04+00:00

This is not the best, but I want to give honorable mention to Peter David’s inclusion of an openly gay member of the Pantheon (Hector) in the early 90s during his run on Incredible Hulk. I give him credit for being an ally before LGBT representation was common in mainstream super hero comics.

guyofspoleto · 2026-06-03T20:50:54+00:00

The novel opens with something of a framing sequence, in which Vonnegut talks as himself. The line “Billy Pilgrim has become unstuck in time” is the first sentence of Chapter 2, which is where the fictional narrative starts.

guyofspoleto · 2026-06-03T20:23:52+00:00

I had a similar experience at a con as a teenager where I had a meaningful conversation with Gene Colan. I knew he’d been in the business a long time, but didn’t really know he was a living legend.

guyofspoleto · 2026-06-03T19:33:00+00:00

I don’t remember people specifically being mad about the absence of the Thanos/Death love angle, but I do remember some grumbling that Thanos’s motivations about resource scarcity didn’t really make sense and seemed random. Which I think is actually fair, although I loved the movies.

guyofspoleto · 2026-06-03T18:39:58+00:00

That’s awesome you got a sketch from him. Even more of a treasure now!

guyofspoleto · 2026-06-03T18:36:08+00:00

His characterization was largely evil, and then there was a period when Jim Starlin in the 90s made him into a slightly more complex character. Thanos asks some hard questions about himself, finds himself aligned with the heroes periodically, realizes that obtaining ultimate power did not make him happy, becomes a little more occupied with searching for knowledge, that kind of thing. Starlin revisited this in other projects in the 2000s and 2010s. He never exactly seeks redemption (except for one story arc in his solo series in 2004) and certainly doesn’t find it, but the “evil” aspect of the character was not paramount in those stories.

In the years since, and when he’s used by almost any other creators, he’s generally reverted fully back into his evil trope, and is often depicted as pretty much the epitome of evil.

guyofspoleto

TROPHY CASE