Category Archives: WEBS OF FICTION

COMICS CAN BE AWESOME (9 May 2022)

Posted on May 9, 2022 by I.M. Baytor

Comics and cinema seem more intertwined than ever. Even setting aside the countless film adaptations of superhero franchises, the coolest movies in recent times have evoked many of the magical features of comic books. Thematically, last year’s The Worst Person … Continue reading →

Posted in WEBS OF FICTION | Tagged Al Feldstein, Alarming Tales, Ben Oda, Black Magic, Bob Brown, Bob Powell, Charles Voight, covers, Crime Patrol, Danny Crespi, Frank Brunner, Gang Busters, Gil Kane, Headline Comics, Howard the Duck, Ira Schnapp, Joe Giella, Joe Rosen, Joe Simon, John Romita, John Severin, Johnny Craig, movies, Paul Reinman, Steve Gerber, Tales from the Crypt, Thrill-O-Rama, Tony Mortellaro, Vault of Evil, Western Comics | Leave a comment

If you like Barton Fink…

Posted on April 28, 2022 by I.M. Baytor

By 1991, Joel and Ethan Coen had done three very different pictures, but they all shared some connection to crime fiction, not to mention a fondness for labyrinthic plotting. With their next project, though, the Coen brothers truly defied everybody’s … Continue reading →

Posted in WEBS OF FICTION | Tagged A Small Killing, Alan Moore, Coen brothers, Cold War, Dave McKean, Duncan Fegredo, Grant Morrison, horror, Jon J. Muth, Kyle Baker, movies, Neil Gaiman, Oscar Zarate, Peter Milligan, politics, World War II | Leave a comment

A few loose thoughts on Matt Reeves’ The Batman

Posted on March 24, 2022 by I.M. Baytor

So, I finally went to see The Batman… Overall, I thought the movie was a baffling mess, although not entirely without merit. I kept trying to like it, but it kept fighting back. I’m not going to write a cogent … Continue reading →

Posted in WEBS OF FICTION | Tagged Batman's personality, Gotham City, movies, noir, Penguin, politics, Riddler | Leave a comment

Another Watchmen sequel

Posted on June 10, 2021 by I.M. Baytor

The main reason The Ludocrats was Gotham Calling’s 2020 Book of the Year is that, by the time I did the list, I hadn’t yet read Portrait of a Drunk (a nihilistic piece of ribaldry that lives up to Seinfeld’s motto: … Continue reading →

Posted in WEBS OF FICTION | Tagged 300, Alan Moore, Alex Ross, Caspar Wijngaard, Damon Lindelof, Dave Gibbons, Eddie Campbell, Frank Miller, From Hell, Geoff Johns, Godland, Grant Morrison, Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou, Joe Casey, Jonathan Lau, Jordie Bellaire, Kieron Gillen, Lynn Varley, Mary Safro, Pete Morisi, Peter Cannon, politics, Ryan Kelly, Simon Bowland, Steve Darnall, Thunderbolt, Tom Scioli, Ultimates, Vinicius Andrade, Warren Ellis, Watchmen | Leave a comment

Batman movies without Batman – part 2

Posted on April 28, 2021 by I.M. Baytor

If you’ve read last week’s post, you know I’ve been listing films that somehow feel like Batman movies, even though the Caped Crusader is nowhere to be found… Knives Out Many classic Batman comics used to be about fun mysteries … Continue reading →

Posted in WEBS OF FICTION | Tagged Chuck Dixon, horror, movies, politics, science fiction, Sheldon Moldoff | Leave a comment

Batman movies without Batman – part 1

Posted on April 22, 2021 by I.M. Baytor

The Dark Knight has starred in over a dozen theatrical films – plus a string of direct-to-video projects – and, in fact, his filmography has become a fascinating object in its own right. Not only are there extremely disparate takes … Continue reading →

Posted in WEBS OF FICTION | Tagged Carmine Infantino, Christopher Nolan, David S. Goyer, Frank Robbins, Gene Colan, Gotham City, horror, Jae Lee, Kelley Jones, Mark Millar, movies, noir, science fiction, Steve McNiven | Leave a comment

On Richard Lester’s Musketeers

Posted on October 22, 2020 by I.M. Baytor

For a long time, when critics talked about ‘comic book movies,’ they used to just mean silly, exaggerated action films. In the past couple of decades, the term is more likely to refer to a movie that is a direct … Continue reading →

Posted in WEBS OF FICTION | Tagged Hergé, Hermann, Hotspur, movies, The Towers of Bois-Maury, Three Musketeers, Tintin | Leave a comment

Expanding The War of the Worlds – part 2

Posted on July 23, 2020 by I.M. Baytor

If you read last week’s post, you know I’ve been discussing comics that expanded H.G. Wells’ classic novel The War of the Worlds. Today I want to start with The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Alan Moore’s and Kevin O’Neill’s fun … Continue reading →

Posted in WEBS OF FICTION | Tagged 2000 AD, Alan Moore, Cold War, D'Israeli, Emma Beeby, H.G. Wells, horror, I.N.J. Culbard, Ian Edginton, Kevin O'Neill, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, politics, Scarlet Traces, science fiction, War of the Worlds | 2 Comments

Expanding The War of the Worlds – part 1

Posted on July 16, 2020 by I.M. Baytor

A couple of months ago, I recommended (re)visiting H.G. Well’s The War of the Worlds. This classic sci-fi horror novel became a massive influence on pop culture as the urtext for books, films, television shows, theatre plays, and video games about … Continue reading →

Posted in WEBS OF FICTION | Tagged Alan Davis, Amazing Adventures, Bill Mantlo, Cold War, Don McGregor, Fred van Lente, Gerry Conway, Greg Wright, H.G. Wells, horror, Howard Chaykin, James Robinson, Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray, Killraven, Manuel Garcia, Mark Farmer, Neal Adams, P. Craig Russell, Paul Cornell, politics, Roy Thomas, science fiction, War of the Worlds | Leave a comment

COMICS CAN BE AWESOME (15 June 2020)

Posted on June 15, 2020 by I.M. Baytor

Lately I’ve been using the COMICS CAN BE AWESOME section to spotlight nifty covers, mostly of old, Cold War-era series, from war/horror hybrids to pulpy fantasy anthologies (usually with the words ‘weird,’ ‘strange,’ and/or ‘mystery’ in the title)… I’m not the … Continue reading →

Posted in WEBS OF FICTION | Tagged 1963, Big Bang Comics, Bulletproof Coffin, Chis Ecker, Cold War, covers, Laura Allred, Madman, Mike Allred, Scott Morse, Shaky Kane, Stephen Bissette, Strange Science Fantasy | Leave a comment