Costas on Comics

Give Yourself A Treat and be like a kid in a candy store.

| Costas Barbatsis

I know most of your prefer the prints over the digital version of comics, but come on if you get a chance to read a comic book does it really matter in what format it is?

I don’t, I do love prints and all the deluxe editions, they are amazing but for me lately its all about reading comics and especially in a good price.

Thankfully comiXology is making a lot of offers from very big discounts to free comics.

From the previous week up to today this is what I have purchased.

First up from the House of Ideas I got eleven FREE comics, I’m a huge Marvel fan boy. This is the second time Marvel has made this offer and I’m so glad that they have. It gives me the opportunity to pick up collected editions which I never would and if I like them I can purchase the following volumes, which I have already done.

Then the following two comics I bought with a code, buy one and get one for free

I had gotten Jason Aaron’s Avengers vol 1 for free and the following three volumes with a discount so I was eager to get the next volume too. So with the offer I mentioned before I bought volume 5 and I got Daredevil vol 3 from Chip Zdarsky for free, so cool.

Last but not least I was so glad that issue 10 of Marauders had come out. Yes I’m a big X-Men fan and from all the current X-titles I enjoy Marauders the most!

That was enough of Marvel, next I browsed through another type of comics lets say the European style form Humanoids.

Humanoids has published some of the best comics and this time for 1,09€ you had the chance to buy volumes and volumes of great comics.

These are the ones that I picked up.

First The Black INCAL, a classic by Jodorowsky and Moebius.

This comic book is a huge influence for many comic book artists and very popular in Greece. I had read only the first two books, now I have the chance to read all six! If you have already read them do it again for you who haven’t I strongly suggest you do.

Next I choose some comic books that I had never heard of before, but for two of them I knew very well the writers

Being Greek and in love with ancient Greek mythology I noticed first the title, than the art on the cover and that lead me to check the preview. The art was stunning so I had to check who wrote it…Geoff Johns, immediately both volumes went into my cart.

I had a similar reaction with the next comic first I saw the art on the cover and then the interior art in the preview which was equally good and what sent them to the cart was the name of the writer, Kurt Busiek! I L O V E Busiek’s comics, if you do not know who he is shame on you google him and read his comics.

And finally the next two comics although the creative teams are completely unknown to me I bought them simply for the art, its amazingly stunning. The art is the type I would see as a kid and would blow me away and influence me so much that I would try to learn how to draw from it.

I know its a lot of comics and I gave myself many treats but now I will have a full month of comics to read!

I hope you understand why I’m sharing all this with you…I believe one of the things that connects us as comic book fans has to do with what comics we buy not where and how but what. We talk about it with the excitement of a child in a candy store.

Well I have a lot to read and I will tell you though which ones are good, see ya around.

Savage Avenging

| Costas Barbatsis

When I read the announcment that there will be a new Avengers title I wasn’t that thrilled, in my opinion there should only be one team and one title.

This new team would be called the Savage Avengers and feature Wolverine, Elektra, Punisher, Venom, Doctor Voodoo and suprisingly Conan!

Conan? How? Why?

What is he doing in Earth-616?

I definently have to catch up with my marvel history i’ve missed out on

Im very fond of his group, for each and every one of these characters I have a soft spot and I really like that they brought them all together.

But they are not truly Avenger material, yes they are savage but not Avengers

All of them are dark, brutal and lethal. They deal with the dark parts of the Marvel Universe in a violent way, they are anti heroes.

Obviously I was curious on how this new lineup will became an Avengers team and how well will these characters blend and interact with each other.

But what got me to pick up this comic book was the creative team of Gerry Duggan and Mike Deodato Jr.

I’m HUGE fan of Deodota’s art from way back in the ’90s and recently whenever I read a comic from Duggan I just loved it and I wanted to read more of it., l was confident that the two of them they make a good story

They did, from the very first pages I start reading the Savage Avengers: City of Sickles I was captivated, the art was stunning and as each character was introduced into the story they seemed true to how I knew them.

Each character showed the aspect wich made me fond of them, I enjoyed each and every interaction from fighting scenes to conversations.

The story was well thought out and although you thought it was a simple case of beating the evil it had an interesting twist at the end.

This new team of anti heroes are bound to each other from now on, Gerry Duggan found a very smart way to do this and I’m so glad he did and

And the art oh my so amazing!!!.

I do understand the title now it’s a smart one, Savage because they are savage and they came together as a team in the Savage land and they are Avengers because they have something to avenge.

They might have connections to our all favourite superhero team of mighty Avengers but they are not. This is a team that just want to avenge for what they went through in a savage way.

Read it you will enjoy it !

Jane Foster: A true warrior

| Costas Barbatsis

Recently l read the first issue of the new series Jane Foster: Valkyrie. I like Jane Foster, she was the one from Thor’s supporting cast that I always would like to see more of. It was a surprise when she became Thor but now that she is a Valkyrie I like it a lot more.

I found issue one of this new series interesting. Jane Foster is a cancer survivor, she is working as a doctor and she is a superhero. She feels powerful and strong with her new powers.

As a superhero her powers are connected to the Norse mythology, she has a new powerful weapon but also she has gained a special connection between life and death.

Jane Foster knows how important it is to be a warrior in life, to fight to be and do the best and most you can within the time you have.That’s why I think it was a very smart move to make her a Valkyrie, the one who chooses the warriors who are deserving an afterlife in Valhalla.

I would prefer the authors had explored more of her spiritual side in the first issue.Having her go against villains which are more likely to fight Spider-Man or Daredevil would did not appeal to me.

I enjoyed though the new twist at her job, the discovery of new powers and what was revealed when she visited Asgard. That’s what l will be looking forward to read in the following issues.

l do believe it can become a great comic book series, so l will read a couple more issues.

House of X: A house of greatness

| Costas Barbatsis


Jonathan Hickman has come back to Marvel and he has taken over the X-Men.

If you ever read his run on Avengers you know his stories are of epic proportions and that’s how it will be for the X-Men as well.

In a single issue he has taken the truth of what the X-Men are and expanded it to a level higher than what we fans believed it could ever happen. It’s revealed as the story unfolds in the first issue of House of X that our merry mutants have finally achieved greatness and they seem happy and serene!

They were outcasts and uncanny monsters who society feared and hated, they were scattered and hunted around the world and divided among themselves out of hope and fear on how they can fit in with the rest of mankind. Now they have chosen to become a nation of powerful individuals who separate themselves from the rest of the world in a peaceful way.

There is a “house” now that can shelter them and all can be part of, they feel safe.

They have matured and use their powers to advance as a nation for a better life for themselves and offer solutions for humankind. In return for what they offer to humans they demand to be recognized, accepted and left alone to prosper in a nation of there own, to be free and become what they always truly were, the new gods of this world.

This new era we are introduced by Jonathan Hickman is written with interactions and dialogues of how we would expect the various characters of the X-Men family to be, there is respect of who they are and they seem true to how we know them. All this is portrayed by artist Pepe Larraz in a wonderful way and Matre Garcia’s colours are stunning!

I do believe that the creative team of House of X has succeeded in making the X-Men to be yet again part of what Marvel truly represents, the House of ideas!

I strongly suggest for you to read it, there are great things to come along!

My love for the New Mutants

| Costas Barbatsis

I had started reading comics at the age of 9 because there weren’t enough animations on television and I didn’t like the ones that were already there. I did not expect it but I started to like reading comics, they intrigued my imagination which I expressed through drawing and I advanced my drawing skills by studying the art in the comic books. You can say that out of necessity I got into comics. They were there for studying and to read in my spare time but eventually, I fell in love with them!

 At the age of 13, my eye caught a comic book which had an amazing cover with the most realistic art hanging by a peg next to the entrance of my local corner store. I was transfixed and I was standing there for several seconds studying and building up a story for what I saw on the cover. As I returned home I could not forget it so I went back and bought it!

It was a superhero comic translated from English to Greek and it featured 3 comics from Marvel – the Uncanny X-Men, New Mutants and Alpha Flight! On the cover was the New Mutants and the comic was named X-Men.

I was amazed by how good the creative team of Chris Claremont and John Byrne were so I loved the X-Men, I was fascinated with Alpha Flight this new Canadian superhero team that John Byrne was introducing, but I identified immediately with the New Mutants!


The New Mutants were a bunch of teenagers trying to fit in while feeling moody, awkward and outcasts but they had superpowers! Yes at that age I felt just like that and I wished I had superpowers too but also and mostly I just wanted to have friends just like them!

Chris Claremont had succeeded to build for each and one of them a true personality and Sal Buscema’s art was the type I called “realistic”…they seemed so authentic and real to me and that hooked me. As I grew older I continued to read their stories as they grew up and became X-Force and up to today I’m still following Dani’s, Sam’s, Berto’s, Rahne’s, Amara’s and Xi’an’s adventures wherever they might be featured.

My love for the New Mutants is big and great. They got me hooked on comics and I will always feel fortunate for that. I will always read their stories and it will be like visiting old friends.

If you are fans of the New Mutants I believe you will understand my passion.

For you who are not I strongly suggest to read their stories, I’m sure you will enjoy them as much as the rest of us