Give Me Comics Or Give Me Death!

One big trick I think Marvel is constantly guilty of missing is that they’ve created this huge and popular universe, filled with vibrant characters and a rich history, yet they only really use it to tell superhero stories.   Sub Mariner: The Depths , originally published in five parts under the Marvel Knights banner in 2009, is a rare exception. This claustrophobic psychological thriller, written by Peter Milligan with art by Esad Ribic, is loosely based on Joseph Conrad’s novel Heart of Darkness (which also served as the basis for the film Apocalypse Now ), and is one of Marvel’s best comics in recent years.   The tale is a fantastic little examination of what it must be like to live in the Marvel universe, however unlike Kurt Busiek’s Marvels which tackled the same issue, The Depths  is more about what we don’t see than what we do. Set in an art deco Marvel universe before the advent of the super-heroes, Dr Randolph Stein - scientist and ‘profession

Barcelona! City of that song , that team , and that cathedral !  But who knew it was also a comics hot spot?  Not me, until I was lucky enough to visit the sun drenched coastal second city of Spain on holiday.  Googling (as I always do in a new city) local comic shops, I was staggered as the map pulled up at least 20 comic shops in the Catalan capital!  Unfortunately I had insufficient time (and energy, in the sweltering heat) to visit them all, but I managed to call into a handful so I thought I'd give you my thoughts on them should any of you be fortunate enough to find yourselves there one day.......  (I'll mention briefly what I bought there, but I'll do a separate blog at some point on the comics themselves.  Also, numbers in brackets are footnoted at the bottom of the blog) Universal  Ronda De Santoni, 9 www.universal-comics.com   The blink and you'll miss it exterior betrays a large and very well stocked comic shop.  My eye was immediately caught