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Opinions 62 - Comics Reality Checks IV: The Action Figure Test (Nov 2001)
Could we find the essence of a solid comics concept in its ability to condense into an interpretation via plastic action figure?

Columns from 2001

Opinions 61 - Comics Reality Checks III: The Index Card Test (Oct 2001)
Perhaps we should measure comics concepts by a brevity and focus that mean essential concepts can fit into few words - in essence, an Index Card Test.

Opinions 60 - Comics Reality Checks II: The Bouncing Boy Test (Sep 2001)
Should comics that have no place for Bouncing Boy and his like have a place in your reading?

Opinions 59 - Comics Reality Checks I: The Three Trashmen Tests (Jun 2001)
The Trashmen Tests provide more than a gauge for measuring music - these three criteria also provide an plausible benchmark for comics.

Opinions 58 - Bad Hair in the Comics (Jun 2001)
Comics provides another element of the larger-than-life in creating a kind of natural refuge for weird, impossible, and ugly hairstyles.

Opinions 57 - What Price for Realism? (May 2001)
Realism as an aesthetic virtue imposes a heavy toll on comics - perhaps even to the point of subverting the purpose of the medium.

Opinions 56 - The Rhetorical Tradition and the Comics Fan (Apr 2001)
The recurring arguments among comics fans strongly suggest an obsession with the pointless, the trifling, the silly, and the irrelevant.

Opinions 55 - Casualties of Editorial Malpractice V: Hal Jordan (Apr 2001)
Ad hominem attacks aside, the way DC discarded one of its pioneer heroes of the Silver Age - the controversial corruption of Hal Jordan - took place in such a cobbled-together way that it makes the character a martyr for casualties of editorial malpractice.

Opinions 54 - Casualties of Editorial Malpractice IV: The Forever People (Apr 2001)
While perceived inadequate sales caused DC Comics to cancel the original Fourth World line of books, the decision to foreclose future use of the concept seems like a key episode of editorial malpractice.

Opinions 53 - Casualties of Editorial Malpractice III: Infinity, Inc. (Apr 2001)
Thrusting heroes into a newly-shared universe meant, for the youthful heroes of Infinity Inc., an imposed redundancy which ultimately amounted to obscurity and oblivion.

Opinions 52 - Casualties of Editorial Malpractice II: The Justice Society (Apr 2001)
Where poor sales kill comics, we see the regrettable but inevitable coming to roost; where editors kill comics that still have paying audiences, as in two episodes in the history of the Justice Society, we must suspect editorial malpractice.

Opinions 51 - Casualties of Editorial Malpractice I: Captain Marvel (Feb 2001)
A hostile editorial model, rather than actual flaws in the character, did the most to keep Captain Marvel from functioning and surviving in post-Silver Age comics.

Opinions 50 - The Natural Enemies of Comics (Feb 2001)
iven the unfortunate results which follow the interaction of a comic book with almost anything, we might conclude that the universe teems with natural enemies of comics.

Opinions 49 - Seven Ways Megacrossovers Fail (Feb 2001)
The megacrossover, as a modern annual fixture, enjoys its own peculiar set of storytelling vices that often work against the purported purpose of comics as entertainment.

Opinions 48 - A Bestiary of Toxic Comics Fans (Jan 2001)
Comics fans, like comics pros, have certain characteristic misbehaviors they can develop when humility, perspective, and civility fail them.

Opinions 47 - How I Discovered Cheeks and Found Peace (Jan 2001)
With the threat of a Cheeks-free World Wide Web looming, we would do well to count the ways in which the World Before Cheeks improved with his appearance on the e-fandom scene.

Columns from 2000

Opinions 46 - Power Bloat and the Bank Vault Problem (Dec 2000)
Where do we draw the line determining when superheroes become too powerful?

Opinions 45 - Bizarro World: Humor or Horror? (Dec 2000)
The grownups who created the comics of the Silver Age might have found something irresistably hilarious in the Bizarro concept, but the components seem more appropriate to horror than humor.

Opinions 44 - The Burden of the Well-Dressed Hero (Nov 2000)
The superheroic dress code, which imposes upon the stalwarts of comics a visual standard far detached from practical requirements of clothing, would do more harm than good in the real world.

Opinions 43 - Hitting the Wall X: Batman (Nov 2000)
The Batman character, while theoretically comprehensible to many writers, often either eludes appropriate treatment or suffers from lazy characterization.

Opinions 42 - Hitting the Wall IX: Dreadstar (Nov 2000)
Vanth Dreadstar may have worn out his concept almost as soon as he began to appear in an ongoing title of his own.

Opinions 41 - Hitting the Wall VIII: Silver Surfer (Nov 2000)
While Silver Surfer, in his tragic aspect, quickly wore thin, subsequent interpretations seem unlikely to find a potent essence of the character.

Opinions 40 - Hitting the Wall VII: Deadman (Sep 2000)
Deadman outlived his purpose very early in his history, yet the character kept on going...and going...and going.

Opinions 39 - Hitting the Wall VI: The Hulk (Sep 2000)
The Hulk, through recurring revisions, indicates that something in the character requires writers to tamper with him to make him work.

Opinions 38 - Hitting the Wall V: Adam Warlock (Sep 2000)
Adam Warlock seemed to have lost his way very early on; and in spite of efforts to resolve the character by retiring him to the grave, he comes back, pointlessly, like a bad cold.

Opinions 37 - Hitting the Wall IV: Orion (Sep 2000)
In the hands of uncomprehending writers, Jack Kirby's Orion would lead an aimless comics career for decades.

Opinions 36 - Hitting the Wall III: Amazing Man (Aug 2000)
From his beginnings as a character who demonstrated how a man can transcend the limitations imposed by his cultural environment, Roy Thomas' Amazing Man would descend to the role of permanent victim and ultimately find no place worth mentioning in the post-Crisis DCU.

Opinions 35 - Hitting the Wall II: Captain America (Aug 2000)
Captain America lost a big chunk of purpose when the Allies drove Hitler down.

Opinions 34 - Hitting the Wall I: The Punisher (Aug 2000)
The definition of some characters inherently limits their scope to the point that they must redefine, fail, or play the same story forever.

Opinions 33 - The Ages of Comics (Aug 2000)
How can we define terms like the Golden Age, Silver Age, or Iron Age of Comics so that they have some coherent meaning?

Opinions 32 - The Superheroine's Plight (Aug 2000)
A loosening of cultural strictures and general easing of self-policing in comics have resulted in fewer, worse places for superheroines in comics.

Opinions 31 - Superheroes Behaving Badly XV: Superheroes Who Should Misbehave (Aug 2000)
Some heroes fulfill their true natures and core concepts by their chronic misbehavior.

Opinions 30 - Superheroes Behaving Badly XIV: Blackhawk(Aug 2000)
Blackhawk showed that a superhero without an arena stands at constant risk of obsolescence, inviting a complex of bad behaviors.

Opinions 29 - Superheroes Behaving Badly XIII: Superman (Aug 2000)
A hero that purports to stand for ideals like Truth, Justice, and the American Way once needed a beginner's lesson in basic Respect.

Opinions 28 - Superheroes Behaving Badly XII: The Vision (Aug 2000)
Superheroes do little for their reputations when they attempt to take over the world, particularly when they have brains made of silicon chips.

Opinions 27 - Superheroes Behaving Badly XI: Reed Richards (Aug 2000)
Bad things happen when superheroes confuse moral posturing with living up to principles, as Reed Richards demonstrated when he saved the Cosmic Butcher.

Opinions 26 - Superheroes Behaving Badly X: Obsidian (Jul 2000)
The treatment some heroes get leaves one wondering not why they turned bad, but why they waited so long to do it.

Opinions 25 - Superheroes Behaving Badly IX: The Ray (Jul 2000)
Superheroes, in the contemporary model, display a full catalog of human failings; and, as far as representatives of the Bad Parent go, the Golden Age hero the Ray stands out.

Opinions 24 - Superheroes Behaving Badly VIII: Hawk (Jul 2000)
Some superheroes begin as annoying galoots and then get worse, but Hawk seemed to have followed the entire career ladder possible for heroes that annoy.

Opinions 23 - The Good, Bad, and Ugly of Comics Shops (June 2000)
What distinguishes a good comic shop from a bad one?

Opinions 22 - Why Comics Don't Sell (May 2000)
What sinister forces have brought about the implosion of comics sales that define the modern market?

Opinions 21 - Essentials of Good Art (Mar 2000)
Everyone seems to know good art (or his own version of it) by the eyeball test alone; but do good comics art follow particular rules?

Opinions 20 - Superheroes Behaving Badly VI: Wonder Man (Jan 2000)
Some superheroes develop a reputation for a take-no-prisoners attitude. Others, however, earn no more reputation than that of a jerk. See one of the latter as Superheroes Behaving Badly brings you Wonder Man!

Opinions 19 - Superheroes Behaving Badly V: Hal Jordan (Jan 2000)
If you want to see a superhero behave badly, you won't do better than a character who killed thousands of other heroes, killed his bosses, and went on to remake the universe in his own image. Superheroes Behaving Badly brings you Hal Jordan!

Opinions 18 - Superheroes Behaving Badly IV: Cyclops (Jan 2000)
While most superheroes seem to recant, repent, or die to redeem themselves after they go wrong, the X-Men's Cyclops seems able to continue to get away with the life of a rascal. Having abandoned a wife and child to pursue the woman he really wanted, he seems to do no more than smirk at disopprobrium.

Opinions 17 - Superheroes Behaving Badly III: Speedy (Jan 2000)
Superheroes should behave better than Everyman, and we can label shooting up heroin as bad behavior for costumed heroes. Superheroes Behaving Badly shows you that even a stain like that on a hero need not end his career when we bring you Speedy!

Opinions 16 - Superheroes Behaving Badly II: Iron Man (Jan 2000)
Sometimes when superheroes behave badly, it means nothing more than the onset of a bad (and disposable) story. Dennis O'Neil, however, managed to turn the self-destructive tale of Iron Man's alcoholism into a story about redemption.

Opinions 15 - Superheroes Behaving Badly I: Yellowjacket (Jan 2000)
Some superheroes get into things that make readers want to forget years and years of the stories that dragged them down. This installment of Superheroes Behaving Badly brings you that spandexed wife-abuser Yellowjacket!

Columns from 1999

Opinions 14 - Casualties of Retcon VII: The Spider-Clone (Dec 1999)
Spider-Man narrowly escaped the worst damages a retcon could inflict in the unforgettably awkward Spider-Clone saga.

Opinions 13 - Casualties of Retcon VI: The Legion of Super-Heroes (Dec 1999)
The Legion of Super-Heroes became less understandible with each new retcon designed to clarify them.

Opinions 12 - Casualties of Retcon V: Donna Troy (Dec 1999)
Donna Troy stands on the border of the land of retcon casualties and the domain of unusable characters thanks to thirty years of revised histories.

Opinions 11 - Casualties of Retcon IV: The Falcon (Apr 1999)
Marvel Comics turned the Falcon from a role model to an embarassment for the sake of providing a shock ending to his partnership with Captain America.

Opinions 10 - Casualties of Retcon III: Power Girl (Apr 1999)
Power Girl turned from fan-favorite heavy-hitter in the DCU to a forgettable obscurity, thanks to the retcon makeover that lost everything that made her interesting.

Opinions 09 - Casualties of Retcon II: Hawkman (Apr 1999)
Continuity revisions turned Hawkman from a sleeper superhero into an incomprehensible tangle DC doesn't dare include in stories any more.

Opinions 08 - Casualties of Retcon I: Guy Gardner (Apr 1999)
Guy Gardner has taken a trip through the retroactive continuity shredder, changing his powers, personality, and ultimately, his species.

Opinions 07 - Seven Sins of Comics VII: Raunch and Gore (Mar 1999)
Comics eventually came of age - but did they become adult or just raunchy?

Opinions 06 - Seven Sins of Comics VI: Smoke and Mirrors (Mar 1999)
Superhero comics of the Mica Age introduced a series of gimmicks that placed flash over substance.

Opinions 05 - Seven Sins of Comics V (Mar 1999)
Superhero comics frequently resort to graphic, lethal violence as a substitute for, or antidote to, good storytelling.

Opinions 04 - Seven Sins of Comics IV (Feb 1999)
Superhero comics kill and resurrect superheroes so often these days that the superhero death has become one of the most trite and annoying of cliches.

Opinions 03 - Seven Sins of Comics III: Cannibalism (Feb 1999)
Comics sometimes turns tribute and self-reference into little more than cannibalism of exhausted concepts.

Opinions 02 - Seven Sins of Comics II: Continuity (Feb 1999)
Continuity as an editorial standard made the modern shared universe possible, but also left comics vulnerible to destructive accretions over time.

Columns from 1998

Opinions 01 - Seven Sins of Comics I: Inflation (1998)
Superhero comics may boost excitement in the short term by increasing the stakes, but eventually this leads to stories on a scale that does not allow a reader to connect to the characters or events they depict.

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