EVERYTHING BUT IMAGINARY 2/18/04 -- MUSICAL CHAIRS BEHIND THE MASK

Musical chairs behind the mask

As I’ve said in this column before, one of my favorite things about DC Comics is their concept of the heroic legacy. I love how the mantle of the Flash has been passed down from Jay Garrick to Barry Allen to Wally West, and that there is a new Kid ( Read more... )

EVERYTHING BUT IMAGINARY 2/11/04 -- MAN OF TWO WORLDS

Man of Two Worlds

Not many people in any artform can really be said to help define the medium in which they work. Drama is measured against Shakespeare. Sculpture and painting is measured against Michelangelo. Comic books could have been measured against Julius Schwartz.

Some of you younger ( Read more... )

EVERYTHING BUT IMAGINARY 2/04/04 -- THOU SHALT NOT KILL

Thou Shalt Not Kill

So Iceman killed a guard, I’m told. I’m working on what I’ve picked up talking to various people who are still reading Uncanny X-Men, because it’s been some time since I tried that series, but from what I understand Iceman had been reduced to a few little ice chips (must ( Read more... )

EVERYTHING BUT IMAGINARY 12/10/03 -- MY SECRET IDENTITY

My secret identity

Superman may have been the first superhero in the modern context of the word, but the concept of a secret identity by no means began with him. Zorro, the Shadow, the Scarlet Pimpernel -- great characters from the radio, movies and literature had been carrying on double ( Read more... )

EVERYTHING BUT IMAGINARY 10/22/03 -- LEGACIES AND LIGHTNING

Legacies and lightning

One thing I particularly love about comic books, something that is difficult to find in pretty much any other medium, is the concept of the heroic legacy. There is something about a tradition of power and courage, passed down from one generation to the next, that ( Read more... )

EVERYTHING BUT IMAGINARY 8/6/03 -- WADDLING TOWARDS GETHSEMANE

Waddling towards Gethsemane

Carl Barks was a genius.

Let’s agree on that right off the bat. If you can’t pick up a Barks Uncle Scrooge story and see the research, the attention to detail and the sheer imagination the man poured onto every page, then there’s no point even continuing this ( Read more... )

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 It's time once again for an old-school Everything But Imaginary column. Travel back with me, if you will, September 29, 2004, when I attempted to explain...

Legends of the Legion

One of the things I am most frequently asked by people who frequently ask me questions is, what comic book series would I most like to write myself. In fact, someone should ( Read more... )

Very soon, friends, I'm going to be making a big announcement about the various web pages under my purview. For the forseeable future, I'm going to be using Think About It Central here to re-present old articles and columns that have vanished into the ether. I'm doing this for archival purposes, but I hope you guys enjoy reading them too. Here's a ( Read more... )