SCC's Comics Talk

  Start of a new weekly comic review column - 26 Aug 2015. Rating out of 5 stars. Comics courtesy of Absolute Comics (Plaza Singapura).   Captain Marvel and the Carol Corps #3 Story: Kelly Sue DeConnick and Kelly Thompson Art: David Lopez Marvel Comics Kelly Sue DeConnick continues her winning streak with Captain Marvel, the title that made her a fan favourite and brought her critical acclaim a few years ago. Part of the Battleworld series, we see Carol Denvers refashioned into a squad leader of a group of fighter pilots, the Banshee Squadron. To me, Deconnick does not simply write superhero comics; she plays with genres like giving the old Western a twist with Pretty Deadly (Image Comics). Captain Marvel and the Carol Corps is her chance to write a  WWII style fighter plane comic book. It reminds me of Garth Ennis' Night Witches, also featuring a group of all...

One of the most popular threads on SCC is about the old comic book shops of the 80s and 90s in Singapore. We all have our own memories of Leisurecraft, Comics Mart, Comic Art Gallery, Comics World, The Comic Shop and the uncles and aunties behind the counters – Mrs Wong, Raymond, Uncle Bill, Carol and Ming, and especially this individual by the name of Carlos. Most of us have our own Carlos story. I have mine, which I will share later.The story of the first comic shops in Singapore is similar to the development of comic speciality shops in America with the rise of the direct market as a result of convention organizer and comic dealer Phil Seuling approaching comic publishers in 1972 to purchase their titles directly from them on a non-returnable basis. This was different from the traditional distribution model of selling comics at newsstands and drug stores,...

Like Superman and Spiderman, the comic collector in Singapore can be elusive. Some of us have wondered who is this person. Does he or she have a secret identity like the superheroes? Even for the bestselling titles, newspaper reports would only give rough estimates based on ballpark figures provided by comic shops or booksellers. A few years ago, I...