Author Archives: W. Blaine Dowler

As you may be able to tell, my formal training is not as a writer. My degrees are in physics and education. In my day job, I work in supplemental education, which is why my productivity is lowest when report card season hits.

Weekly Comics Discussion

One more week until new Smallville hits the
air, so we’ve got to get our superhero fix from the
comics they will forever be connected with. This
week, I’ll be picking up Daredevil #69
(which wraps up the Golden Age arc, and will
be my last monthly copy before I switch back to
trades), Emma Frost Vol. 2: Mind Games (a
digest that covers up to issue 12 in an 18 issue
series), Essential Peter Parker, The Spectacular
Spider-Man Vol. 1, Exiles #58 (my last
monthly issue before switching to trades),
Ultimate Spider-Man #71 (which wraps up the
“Superstars” arc, and again, will be my last issue
before switching back to trades) and Wolverine:
The End (which wraps up that aimless, late
and befuddled miniseries.) That’s six items this
week, all of which should lead to new reviews. Work
is a little nuts right now (as I’m being moved to a
different location) so the reviews may not be coming
as quickly as I’d like. They will come, though.
(The Emma Frost review may wait until I can
review the entire series.) Also shipping this week
are Hulk Visionaries: Peter David Vol. 1,
the second volume of Mark Millar’s Marvel Knights
Spider-Man, Marvel Masterworks: X-Men Vol.
5, and the new Green Lantern Archives Vol.
5 from DC.

Richard Biggs’ Last Role on Dawn of the Dead DVD

joe__gee
writes, I was going through the extras in the Dawn
of the Dead 2004 DVD. In “Special Report: We
Interrupt This Program” — a fictitious newscast used
as background in several of the movie’s scenes — Richard
Biggs gives what I think would have been his last
performance, as a newcaster reporting on the plague
of zombies infesting Wisconsin. His career
ended a few decades too soon.

Weekly Comics Discussion

This week has some interesting entries. I’ll be picking up Pulse #7 and Ultimates 2 #2 myself. Other items of note from Marvel include first issues of Spider-Man / Human Torch (a five issue miniseries), Stormbreaker: Saga of Beta Ray Bill (a six issue miniseries), and X 23 (a six issue miniseries about a character from NYX who may be Wolverine’s daughter). There will also be the first trade paperback collection of the well reviewed but poorly selling District X, and the first trade paperback of Arana: Heart of the Spider (originally published as Amazing Fantasy) which met lukewarm response from buyers and critics. The second volume of Marvel Knights 4 ships today in trade paperback along with issue 14 of the monthly series. Other well reviewed but poorly selling titles out today include Marvel Team-Up #4, New Thunderbolts #4, and the penultimate issue of She Hulk before its relaunch later this year. DC is offering trade paperbacks of Birds of Prey, From Eroica with Love, Incal, Constantine, Danger Girl, and Wonder Woman.