Tag Archives: Peter Milligan

Just a few loose thoughts on interplanetary wars

Last week I went to see Dune: Part Two, Denis Villeneuve’s epic about Afghanistan on an alien planet, which overcomes *some* of my reservations about the previous film. While the screen is once again filled with masses of anonymous blind … Continue reading

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If you like Barton Fink…

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

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2020’s books of the year: honorable mentions – part 1

Doing a list often involves leaving out a lot of good stuff and this was certainly the case with Gotham Calling’s 2020 books of the year… Some great comics didn’t make it to the list because they didn’t fulfil the … Continue reading

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1990s’ Batman comics reading guide – part 5

Batman: Mr. Freeze By the late ‘90s, not only had the Batman family of books become a well-oiled machine, but three new awesome spin-offs joined the line: Nightwing, about Dick Grayson reinventing himself as a solo vigilante in the neighboring … Continue reading

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1990s’ Batman comics reading guide – part 2

Batman #440 As promised a couple of weeks ago, here is the second installment of my recommended reading order for the various Gotham City-based comics of the 1990s, which tended to play particularly well off each other. What follows is … Continue reading

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Superhero horror movies

Writing about Todd Phillips’ Joker last week got me thinking about the fact that, by now, taking superhero iconography and filming it like a horror movie has become a proper subgenre onto itself. I’m not just talking about the occasional … Continue reading

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My ideal deluxe omnibus volume – part 2

If you read the last post, you know what’s going on. Here are another ten stories that would definitely be included if I had a chance to put together a giant Batman omnibus collecting personal favorites: ‘The Underworld Olympics ‘76!’ … Continue reading

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3 Scarecrow-induced hallucinations

One of the reasons the core of Batman’s rogues gallery has proven so lasting is the fact that many of his foes are super-functional storytelling devices. The Joker is a clown, so he always looks scary. The Riddler has a … Continue reading

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Gothic Batman stories from the ‘90s

Goth subculture had quite a devoted fan base in the 1990s. You couldn’t miss the hordes of stylish, pretentious teens with black clothes and eyeliner back then. Tim Burton and Marilyn Manson were all the rage for a while. Bands … Continue reading

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Jim Aparo’s schlocky Batman

Batman #415 For some, it may sound odd to describe Jim Aparo’s Batman comics as ‘schlocky,’ given that not too long ago Aparo came in second at CBR’s poll of greatest Batman artists, right after the immensely talented Neal Adams. … Continue reading

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