The Billionty-Oneth Geek: Older Than 8 Since 1991

Ed Brubaker is my favourite comic book author, and perhaps in contention for my favourite author across all mediums.  Whenever I see his titles on the store shelf, I purchase them sight unseen.  The last series he did, Fatale , with frequent collaborator, Sean Phillips, was a favourite.  Blending in noir with mystery and horror was a joy to read. With Fade Out , he returns to the noir genre with a murder mystery.  Gone are the fantastical and horror elements of Fatale.  Instead, it’s a story about 1940s Hollywood centered around a murder of a hot leading actress.  The story mostly follows a young script writer, named Charlie Parish, who wakes up one morning and discovers the body of the actress his hotel room after a night of partying.  His memory is hazy and fragmented and he doesn’t remember how he got there.  He covers up his tracks and it’s soon revealed that a bigger cover up may be going on; this one murder may be tied to the large...

Now, I’ve never seen the show Felicity before. I know my sister used to love it. But when I picked up Ultra a few weeks ago, I thought, “I bet this is the Felicity of comic books”. Essentially, it’s like a comic book chick flick for guys written about girls, but written by guys. And really, what do comic book nerds know about girls? I kid. Ultra is a story that centers around a female superhero named Pearl Penalosa, or better known as the titular, Ultra; she’s sort of like a female Superman. It takes place in a world where superheroes are treated like celebrities, which includes their own “talent” agencies and award shows. The superhero aspect and crime fighting is secondary, if not tertiary, to the main story which is more romance-centric. The story focuses on her struggle that I’m sure resonates with a lot of young readers. She’s a young person with everything that she wants, fame, money, good looks. In that sense, she has it all except the one thing that truly matters t...