Author: Matthew Peterson

Believe it or not, there was a time when the most-seen characters in comics was not Canadian mutant James Howlett, but young multi-millionaire Richard R. Rich II, known to his friends as Richie Rich  For the better part of three decades (decades when, it should be noted, comics readership numbered in the millions, rather than the paltry tens of thousands we have today) Richie appeared in multiple monthly titles, crossed over with his friends to support their books, and even got his DOG a starring role that lasted longer than the original run of the Incredible Hulk!  Richie’s downfall came…

Or – “Because We’re All Expecting It, I’m’a Get This Outta The Way:  OH, MY!” Kevin Keller may be new to Riverdale, but the boy has excellent taste in his pop culture.  But what would bring a real-world TV and film legend to the microcosm of Riverdale, USA?  Your Major Spoilers review awaits!

A recent purchase by the comic buyer at work (150 issues of Spectacular Spider-Man) started me thinking about the sad case of Professor Miles Warren, aka The Jackal. Initially a genius who pioneered cloning technology decades earlier than in the real world, he was then down-graded to garden-variety loony-tune who wanted everyone to THINK he had a cloner. Over the years, Warren was, then wasn’t then once again was able to actually clone people, despite fact that his own evil clone, Carrion, remained on the loose. The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) loves a good retcon as much as the…

Or – “Part Of Me Wants To Call Him Tom Welling, For Old Times’ Sake…” The DC Universe is full of characters who serve as the ‘Dark Mirror’ of their hero, from Bizarro to Professor Zoom to Sinestro himself.  Even Man-Bat serves as a kind of revers-o version of his primary character, which begs the question:  Does EVERYONE have a backward-self?  For at least one Justice Society stalwart, the answer is in these pages.  Your Major Spoilers (retro) review awaits!

Recently, I was trolling the internet and found a darkened corner wherein someone lamented all the unfinished plot-lines and lost opportunities of Tim Kring’s ‘Heroes.’  Though initially interesting, the book coasted a bit in season 1, fell apart due to the writer’s strike in season 2 and never regained my interest enough with season 3 to bring me back for the last “volume.”  Given its ‘super-powers are genetic’ premise and the multiple similarities to the comic-book adventures of the X-Men, some have said that the end of the show was due to a case of Xavier-envy, but I wonder about…

Or – “Holy.  Shnikies…” John Layman, you are a very, very bad man.  Your Major Spoilers explanation of why awaits!

The sequel to X-Men: First Class is apparently well underway, and recent announcements seem to indicate that the creators are intending to keep it in continuity with the first three X-Men movies from earlier in the century.  The internet has many theories on why this is good or bad, most of which focus on changing the ages of characters like Havok and the White Queen to be a few decades older than Cyclops (who is their brother/comic-book-ex-lover, respectively.)  Of course, this argument seems to be a bit disingenuous, given that the original X-Men franchise trilogy has already changed the ages…

Yesterday’s review of the new FF #1 (featuring the always-wonderful art of Mike Allred) got me to thinking about the concept of varying mileage, especially as regards artists and their creative endeavors.  When I was young, I recall turning up my teenaged nose at the work of Gil Kane, and not understanding why anyone would want to look at Gene Colan’s artwork.  In the years since, I’ve embraced the true awesomeness of those two artists and dozens more that I used to not care for, from Don Heck to Joe Staton to Jack Kirby himself, to the point where I…

Or – “A Whole New Start…” I admit to being a little bit conflicted about this new FF #1.  On the one hand, I’m totally psyched about the teaming of Fraction & Allred, about the characters at play here, and about a new wrinkle for the Future Foundation.  On the other, I’m not sure that I think FF has run its course sufficiently to need a reboot or a relaunch…  Either way, your Major Spoilers review awaits!

There’s a fascinating moment that seems to come around every season or so in Doctor Who, when The Doctor is asked about the exterior of his TARDIS and has to explain what a Police Box was. Fifty years down the line from “An Unearthly Child,” the iconic blue box is probably better known as the Doctor’s ship than for its actual (now entirely defunct) function. Of course, when the producers fixed the broken Chameleon Circuit during three tenure of the Sixth Doctor, the fan outcry was overwhelming. A similar problem is evident in my favorite Star Trek spinoff, Deep Space…

This week’s third Major Spoilers Podcast features a discussion of the works of JJ Abrams (look for it this Friday!) which led to me ruminating a bit about his 2009 continuation of the Star Trek series.  (My friend Dusty, the biggest Trek aficionado I know, will not allow me to refer to it as a reboot.)  In that film, I was really impressed by the work of Karl Urban and Zachary Quinto, both of whom created their own takes on the iconic roles of Leonard McCoy and Mr. Spock.  However, the kid they have playing Kirk never quite nails enough…

Or – “Yeah, He’s Totally What We Thought He Would Be…” Things aren’t looking too good for young Peter Stanchek.  After being outed as a supremely powerful psiot, his mentor and sugar-daddy has been revealed to be somewhat less than altruistic of intention.  Is there any hope for Peter’s survival?  Your Major Spoilers review awaits!

Unless you’re in a coma, you’re probably familiar with Superman, the last son of Krypton, the man of tomorrow, the non-bird, non-plane thing up in the sky.  And, as you’re probably aware, Superman has had an astounding array of superpowers over the years, from super-breath to super-hypnosis and even (for a short while in the 1940s) the ability to manipulate the muscles in his face to perfectly duplicate another person’s features.  Given that massive back catalogue of powers, many people like to grouse that Superman will never be interesting because the creators can just yank new powers out of thin…

Or – “Early Work By The Architects Of Comics History…” It’s always interesting to look at comic creator collaborations, and none has had more impact than Simon and Kirby, creators or co-creators of most of what you love in comics.  Joe and Jack worked in all comics genres, from science fiction to romance, but during the 1950s they created a scathing parody of patriotic super-types, still remembered today.  Your Major Spoilers (retro) review awaits!