Paperback in Action

Some comics I've recently reviewed It's June 2018, and I've been freed from the life-consuming stress of A-levels. With my newfound freedom, all I want to do is read comics all day - but what if I could turn my love for the graphic novel into something more productive? The name came first. Paperback in Action probably sounds a bit silly, but at the time I thought it was genius and wanted to claim it before anyone else did - so I set up my blog straight away. This site started off with a garish purple and gold colour scheme in a poor attempt to recreate the feel of the poster for Infinity War , complete with an Avengers font and low-res images of various comic book characters. Still, like furnishing a new home, I felt proud of the little internet space I'd created and was ready to get writing. In my first post , I described Paperback in Action as "a chronicle of all the new books I find, and a place to share my thoughts on some old favourites". My go...

Art by Ryan Sook "We're never going to kill him. We are never going to beat him. But we've been able to run this city without him knowing about it for years." Last year, best-selling writer Brian Michael Bendis ushered in a new era of Superman with The Man of Steel , which introduced the big blue boy-scout to a whole heap of problems including the arrival of the mysterious villain Rogol Zaar and the disappearance of his wife and son. Two new comic book series have spun out of this event: The Unity Saga , following Clark as he saves the galaxy from his brand-new nemesis, and Action Comics , which brings our hero back down to Earth. Invisible Mafia features the debut of the Red Cloud Action Comics kicks off with Invisible Mafia , exploring the chain of arson attacks from the pages of Man of Steel and Clark's shifty new colleague Robinson Goode. The story skilfully shows how an organised crime network has been operating under Superman's nose for som...

Art by Jim Lee and Alex Sinclair Coinciding with Batman's 80th anniversary, March 2019 gave us one of the biggest milestones in comics history: the 1000th issue of Detective Comics , the namesake of DC Entertainment. At nearly 100 pages long, this blockbuster prestige-format comic features 11 short stories from an all-star cast of creators - but do they add up to be the tribute that the Dark Knight deserves? Detective Comics #1000 opens with Batman's Longest Case by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, the creative team behind the widely praised New 52 series and Dark Knights: Metal . This is the intriguing story of Bruce Wayne finally solving a mystery that he has been following since the beginning of his career, and concludes with the introduction of an awesome new concept to the DC Universe that honours Detective Comics ' legacy. Snyder's writing and Capullo's art are just as fantastic as fans have come to expect, making this a perfect first chapter for this ...

Art by Ron Garney and Richard Isanove Before Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Iron Fist united on the small screen, "Defenders" was the name given to an entirely different bunch of heroes. Formed by writer Roy Thomas in 1971, the original Defenders were a "non-team" comprised of the Hulk, Doctor Strange, Silver Surfer and Namor, the Sub-Mariner. These heroes, often known to prefer working alone, were brought together by coincidence on numerous occasions to foil supernatural plots - and now they've been reassembled to save the world once more in The Best Defense. Rather than a standard inter-series crossover or miniseries, The Best Defense is an anthology of one-shots with an overarching plot akin to DC Comics' Multiversity . What begins as a murder mystery story gradually evolves into a more complex tale as the connections between each chapter begin to surface, culminating in a team-up of cosmic proportions. Simone di Meo's imposing Hul...

Art by Ivan Reis "My friends are falling...my planet is in immediate danger...we are surrounded by unknown enemies...and it is right there that it hits me...I may never see my family again." Hold it right there! Phantom Earth might be the first volume of The Unity Saga , but it is very much the second instalment of Brian Michael Bendis' ongoing Superman story. You're going to want to read The Man of Steel   before you hear anything about Clark Kent's latest adventure, so only keep reading unless that book is already on your shelf! One thing I will spoil is that Bendis can indeed write Superman - but can he keep readers interested in the overall narrative? In The Man of Steel , Superman came face-to-face with the cosmic warmonger Rogol Zaar, who claimed to have destroyed Krypton and wants to finish the job. During this fight, Zaar decimated the iconic Fortress of Solitude, including Clark's only means of contact with his space-faring wife and son. Init...

Art by Alex Ross "I am suggesting, Captain...that in its rage, its pain, in the shadow of its Armageddon...Your mortal world may have produced something very close to a god." ...And if a bruised and battered Thor is telling you that, you should be very worried. Marvel's biggest and baddest horror hit returns in  The Green Door , the sequel to Al Ewing and Joe Bennett's  Immortal Hulk . Second volumes are make-or-break for ongoing comic series - so does this instalment live up to its predecessor and encourage you to stick around, or will it scare most readers away? At the end of the first book, the Hulk absorbed a dark force into himself that took the shape of Bruce Banner's father. He still believes he's in control, and continues to seek answers surrounding the mysterious 'Green Door', but the emerald giant is becoming increasingly sinister and thus has a price on his big green head. Remember that "Hail Hydra" thing from a few y...

I've long thought that comics and animation go hand-in-hand. When reading a graphic novel, you're animating it in your head, filling in the gaps between panels. Animation also leads lots of people to become comic fans, such as anime series inspiring fans to follow the manga on which their favourite shows are based. This was certainly the case for me - I was raised on Disney, which led me to anime, which led me to comics. So, out of every animated film I've ever seen, which ten stuck with me the most? To do a proper countdown would be impossible - I'm not even 100% sure which one of these movies is my favourite. For this reason, I've decided to put them in order of release date, starting with... Grave of the Fireflies (1988) Out of every film on this list, Isao Takahata's Grave of the Fireflies should be essential viewing. It's not necessarily an enjoyable film - in fact, I felt sad for days after watching it. Based on Akiyuki Nosaka's short...