read my stuff while you’re stuck at home, part 5: comic book work

So many of us are kinda stuck staying home a lot, and that means more reading time! Or, at least, time spent reading so you don’t go batshit because you’re stuck staying at home a lot……

As one possible thing to read, how about my writing? I’ve already posted about my various writings based on TV shows — including my Star Trek work and my work based on other shows — work based on movies, and work based on games and gaming. Now we look at stuff based on comic books, including prose based on comics characters, nonfiction about comics properties and comics adaptations, and a couple of comics I’ve done that don’t fit in the previous posts.

DC Comics

Nonfiction series:

• “Holy Rewatch, Batman!” on Tor.com — my overview of the entirety of Batman ’66, including all three seasons, the movie, various related projects, and the two recent animated movie followups, written from 2015-2017 (and thus covering the show’s 50th anniversary in 2016)

Nonfiction:

• “Actor and Superactor” in The Man from Krypton — on the eve of the release of 2006’s Superman Returns, I provided a ranking of all the people who had played the role of Superman up to that point
• “Secret Identity as Role Model : A Look Back at Lynda Carter’s Wonder Woman” and “Of Bloodless Beheadings and Lifeless Voice Work: The Animated Wonder Woman” both on Tor.com — on the eve of the release of the 2017 Gal Gadot Wonder Woman, I looked back at two previous screen versions, the 1970s TV series and the 2009 animated movie
• “Adam West’s Five Best Bat-Moments” on Tor.com — after West died in 2017, I did this retrospective of his best moments on Batman ’66.
• “Sometimes You Have to Stop and Eat the Flowers — A Spoiler-Filled Review of Aquaman” on Tor.com — my review of the 2018 Jason Momoa movie
• Poison Ivy Hardcover Ruled Journal — this is a mostly blank notebook, but it also includes several pages of text from Poison Ivy’s diary, which I wrote
• Batman: Quotes from Gotham City — a tiny book that has a bunch of quotes by and about Batman, which I compiled
• “Tropes Abandoned, Tropes as Yet Unseen” in ZLONK! ZOK! ZOWIE!: The Subterranean Blue Grotto Guide to Batman ’66–Season One — my in-depth examination of the “Fine Feathered Finks”/”The Penguin’s a Jinx” two-parter

Marvel Comics

Novels:

• Spider-Man: Venom’s Wrath (written with José R. Nieto) — my first novel, this novel features Robbie Robertson of the Daily Bugle, an NYPD captain, and Venom’s ex-wife all kidnapped by terrorists; Spider-Man must work with NYPD to find them before Venom tears apart the city to do likewise
• Spider-Man: Down These Mean Streets — XXX is a new designer drug that not only gets you high, it gives you superpowers; Spidey must figure out who’s creating it and stop them
• Thor: Dueling with Giants — Hrungnir, smarting from a defeat at the hands of Asgard and being tricked by Odin, kidnaps Frigga and challenges Thor to a duel — but the hand of Loki is behind all of it
• Sif: Even Dragons Have Their Endings — the Lady Sif is called upon to defend the village of Flodbjerge from a dragon that is menacing it, but the dragon’s secret will cause even more trouble
• Warriors Three: Godhood’s End — Hogun the Grim, Fandral the Dashing, and Volstagg the Voluminous go on a dangerous quest to retrieve the Golden Apples of Immortality, lest the gods of Asgard die of old age
• Thor: Tales of Asgard — this is an omnibus of the above three novels, which at this point is the only way to get the Warriors Three book, sadly (it was originally released only as an eBook for some reason, and that eBook is no longer available)

 

Short stories:

• “An Evening in the Bronx with Venom” (written with John Gregory Betancourt) in The Ultimate Spider-Man — my first short story, Venom is after someone, and Spidey must protect him, but there’s more to the story than anyone imagines
• “Improper Procedure” in The Ultimate Silver Surfer — the Surfer almost ruins a hostage negotiation, and tries to make it up to the cops
• “Arms and the Man” in Untold Tales of Spider-Man — an author tries to put together a biography of Dr. Otto Octavius, a.k.a. Doctor Octopus, and finds it a most dangerous pursuit
• “Playing it SAFE” in The Ultimate Hulk — the U-Foes are after the Hulk, but behind their attack is an even more deadly foe
• “Diary of a False Man” in X-Men Legends — the secret origin of the Changeling, the former villain who died in Professor X’s place

Nonfiction:

• “Pryde and Joy” in The Unauthorized X-Men — an article detailing how awesome the character of Kitty Pryde is
• “Superman vs. the Amazing Spider-Man” in Webslinger: Unauthorized Essays on Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man — explaining why Spider-Man is better than Superman
• “Avengers Assemble — In the Bookstore!” in Assembled! 2: The Unauthorized Guide to Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and Villains — a 2009 guide to all the novels and short stories done featuring the Avengers up to that point
• “A Brief History of Luke Cage in the Comics” on Tor.com — on the eve of the release of Marvel’s Luke Cage on Netflix in 2016, I provide the character’s comics history
• “How the MCU Changed Luke Cage from the Comics” on Tor.com — after Luke Cage‘s release, I talk about the changes they made when adapting to live action
• “A Brief History of Iron Fist in the Comics” on Tor.com — on the eve of the release of Marvel’s Iron Fist in 2017, I provide the character’s comics history
• “A Confusing Lack of Action: First Impressions of Iron Fist” and “An Action Hero without Action or Heroism: Iron Fist Season One” both on Tor.com — my impression of the first few episodes, and then my overall review of season one of Marvel’s Iron Fist on Netflix
• “‘Who Are You People?’—Marvel’s The Defenders First Impressions of Episodes 1-3” and “Big Heroes, Big Characters, Big Villains, Small Plot: Marvel’s The Defenders Season 1” both Tor.com — my impression of the first few episodes, and then my overall review of season one of Marvel’s The Defenders
• “Marvel’s The Punisher First Impressions of Episodes 1-3” and “Running Away from Its Roots—Marvel’s The Punisher Season 1” both on Tor.com — my impression of the first few episodes, and then my overall review of season one of Marvel’s The Punisher
• “How the Cloak & Dagger TV Series Compares to the Comics” on Tor.com — a look at the changes made from the source material on the FreeForm series
• “Rage in the Cage—Marvel’s Luke Cage Season 2, Episodes 1-4,” “Family First!—Marvel’s Luke Cage Season 2, Episodes 5-8,” and “Long Live the Chief—Marvel’s Luke Cage Season 2, Episodes 9-13” all on Tor.com — my reviews of the second season of Luke Cage
• “Punching Upward—First Impressions of Marvel’s Iron Fist Season Two,” “Sons of Lei Kung, Daughters of the Dragon—Marvel’s Iron Fist Season Two,” and “Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting—Season Two of Marvel’s Iron Fist Portrays Martial Arts Better, But Still Isn’t There Yet” all on Tor.com — three takes on the second season of Iron Fist: my first impression, my review of the season overall, and my examination of how the series used martial arts
• “Venom Without Spider-Man is Just a Big Ol’ Mess” on Tor.com — my review of the 2018 Tom Hardy film
• “A Huge Mess—Marvel’s The Punisher Season Two” on Tor.com — my review of the final season of The Punisher
• “Avengers: Endgame is Filled with References to Every Previous MCU Film: Let’s Find Them All” and “Avengers: Endgame—The Character Assassination of Steve Rogers?” both on Tor.com — two think pieces in the wake of the 2019 Avengers film, one on how it referenced every previous MCU film, the other on whether or not the final fate of Steve Rogers was a good character choice
• “The MCU’s Spidey: A Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man that Looks Like His Neighborhood” on Tor.com — expressing my glee that, in the Tom Holland Spidey films, we have a New York City that actually looks like New York City instead of a white midwestern suburb
• “11 Thoughts on Marvel’s Phase 4 Announcements at San Diego” on Tor.com — in July 2019, Marvel Studios announced some of their Phase 4 plans, and I had eleven thoughts about them
• “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: Looking Back at 13 Seasons of Marvel on Netflix” on Tor.com — a retrospective on Marvel’s Netflix shows Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage, Iron Fist, The Defenders, and The Punisher

Other comics

Comics:

• Icarus Book 1 (written with Gregory A. Wilson) — the first part of an adaptation of Wilson’s science fiction novel
• “In Defense of Self” in Mine!: A Celebration of Freedom and Liberty For All Benefitting Planned Parenthood — a short piece about a woman who gains confidence through a self-defense class

Nonfiction series:

• “4-Color to 35-Millimeter: The Great Superhero Rewatch” on Tor.com — a weekly look at every single live-action movie based on a superhero comics from 1951’s Superman and the Mole Men to 2019’s Joker, which ran from 2017-2020

Nonfiction:

• “Picture This: Graphic Novels in Libraries” in Library Journal — one of my first professional writing gigs, this was a 1990 article about how comics should be in libraries, which was a very influential piece in the world of pop culture librarianship
• “Get the Picture?: A Serious Look at Comics in Libraries” in Library Journal — a 1991 followup to the above article
• “Good Comic, Great TV Show—The Umbrella Academy Actually Improves on Its Source Material” on Tor.com — my review of the 2019 Netflix series
• “You’re the Real Heroes–The Boys Season One” on Tor.com — my review of the 2019 Amazon Prime series