The Gavel

                Ahh, today is the day, the big 7-5.  If you are unsure of what I am talking about I am talking about the 75 th anniversary of Batman.  It is a huge occasion in the comic book world that Batman has been around for 75 years now.  Batman was created in 1939 by artist Bob Kane and written by Bill Finger when he first showed up in Detective Comics #27.  So in following in these footsteps I would like to point out the top 3 comics that every Batman fan should read in order to honor the legacy of Mr. Kane and Mr. Finger, so enjoy and check it them out because they are some great reads. Enjoy!                 Batman: Knightfall -  In this classic story, Bane escapes from prison in order to hatch his best plan yet, cause a huge riot with the other inmates of Arkham and cause Batman to attack them all so he can break the bat. ...

            I wanted to switch gears a little bit today because for the past week all I have done is talk about the artists of the great comic books we read and enjoy.  The thing is though, without a great writer the comic is nothing more than a fancy art book.  I want to keep this one very focused and on track so I want to talk about my top 3 writers for comic books and why you should check out at least one of their comics at some point in time.             Brian K Vaughn – He might not have a very recognizable name but he is one of the top writing talents in the comic book world.  He wrote the very successful Y: The Last Man, Young Justice, X-Men, and is currently working on a new comic called Saga.  He has been around the comic industry ballpark and has worked for DC and Marvel before switching gears and heading over to Image where he has complete control over what he does....

           Ahh, I have been looking towards writing about this artist for some time now, not only because I believe he is one of the most famous of the comic industry, or because I wanted to learn to draw better like he does, but because of his ultra-realistic approach to comics and the heroes and villains he draws.  He has drawn almost every hero and villain out there and works for everyone.  He is not known to stick to own company and will draw for everyone just for the love and the craft of it.  I am going to talk about my top three favorite works by him and why you should care about them.                         Kingdom Come (1996) - During the 90’s DC comics was going through an identity crisis and they were doing everything possible to stay relevant and stay ahead of the comic industry, they killed off Superman, they broke...

            By now you have guessed that Jim Lee is my favorite comic book artist and that has been all I have talked about well you would be wrong.  I have tons of favorite artists and each one has brought something new to the table.  I will talk about the other four big artists that I admire and what each one brought to the table and how they helped impact the comic books we love and cherish to this day.             Stan Lee - You can’t hear or read Stan Lee’s name without screaming “EXCELSIOR” or one of Stan Lee’s other catch phrases and being the comic book person you are, you know you go into a Marvel movie and you are expecting Mr. Lee to show up at some point in time and say something humorous or witty.  Mr. Lee is credited as creating well known favorites that we all love today such as Captain America, Iron Man, The X-Men, Spider-Man, Thor, The Avengers, and even The Fan...

                 So I want to continue yesterday’s topic about Jim Lee and talk about some of the major comics his art was used in.  These comics are some of my favorite and others are ones that have a cult following.  These are in no order of favoritism and there is no bias at all towards one company or another.  They all have their own merits and that is what I am going to be talking about.  So without further ado, the list of the top 4 comics by Jim Lee.             Batman: Hush – This one features some of the most beautiful art and some of the best writing for the Batman character while it also introduces a new villain that can match Batman’s wits while also making The Dark Knight scramble to save everyone he knows.  The art in this graphic novel is some of the best art to ever grace the comic industry.        ...

            As I talked about yesterday with comic books and the people who make them important, I will continue my running expose about the industry and the wonderful care givers of the comic universe.  When you open a comic book, what is the first thing that you notice, the writing, the art, the cover, the heroes or characters themselves?  Most everyone in a unanimous response would say “The Art”. You good sir or ma’am would be correct.  Today we will talk about of my all-time favorite artists and how he is helping to shape the books we love to read and the stories they weave through their art.             Jim Lee is one of my all-time favorite artists for a plethora of reasons, not only is he an artist, but also a writer, and he is now the Co-publisher of DC comics alongside Dan DiDio the head publisher of DC comics.  You may say to yourself “I don’t know who he is and ...

            Comics, we all love them and some of us have even heard of them, but when was the last time you sat down and truly thought about them and their origins.  How they came about and what was the first one.  When did you think about the writers from each comic, to the artists, even the overarching narrative they strive to tell? We all have found ourselves at one point trying to get into a comic or even just reading it without much knowledge about it. That is where I plan on taking you all, down this little rabbit hole of comics and the people behind it. Each comic book has its own following, whether you care about the person, the story, the artist, or even the writer and company.  The special thing about them is no matter what angle you look at them, you in your own right will find something redeeming about the comic in question. . Comic books have been around since the 1930s with the introduction of Famous Funnies . Acro...