Reading Comic Books

Κουλούρι by tomek

| Costas Barbatsis

I am very fond of this comic. It’s funny, quirky and unique and it’s written and drawn by Tomek.

I really, really like Tomek’s art, its so detailed and so enjoyable that just by looking through the pages of the comic you get a whole story and then you read it and you get yet again another story!

l didn’t get around to reading all the issues. They are seven issues in total and they were published by Jemma Press from 2011 through to 2016.

The comics is called Koulouri (Κουλούρι) I don’t know why, maybe l should ask at some point.

Well it’s time l started reading my Friday comic, instead of gazing the amazing covers.

Tell you all about it soon.

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

New Mutants: Dead Souls

| Costas Barbatsis

I’m a big fan of the New Mutants, I was 13 years old when I first read issue 4 of volume one and since then I have been following how their stories progress in different comic book titles. So obviously I had to read the newest limited series about them that came out.

New Mutants: Dead Souls is a 6 issue limited series written by Matthew Rosenberg, penciled & inked by Adam Gorham and coloured by Michael Garland. Issue one came out in May 2018 and issue six which was the final issue of the limited series came out in October 2018.

The limited series focuses on a new set of team members from the New Mutant history. This new roaster consists of Karma, Magik & Wolfsbane three of the original members, Boom Boom & Rictor who joined the original team along the way and are better known as members of X-Force, Strong Guy & Prodigy who are the newest additions. This wasn’t a roaster I was looking forward too especially as I did not see how these characters are linked and how they will interact with each other.

Luckily Rosenberg wove such a story rich with threads of the New Mutant and X-Men history. I was so glad how the characters seemed so true both as to what I knew of them and also in how they have matured and evolved without dismissing the continuity that has defined them.

The art by Gorham was very much to my taste, a bit of gritty/realistic as l like to call it. It has a lot of detail and cool face expressions and what l absolutely enjoyed was that each character had his distinctive look and style which made them different and recognizable. It’s not easy to achieve this.

I really enjoyed this limited series which I did not like at the beginning for the choice of its team roaster but I loved it for the character interaction and for the continuous history and true continuity mentions, it made a good story even better. But l wish it did not end the way it did. It seemed more of a cliffhanger for a next issue then a nearly tied up story.

Its not a comic book series for a jump on point for new readers or a fresh start of reintroducing the New Mutants but I do believe its a great comic book for long-standing fans.

I would definitely suggest it for hardcore New Mutant and X-men fans, you will absolutely enjoy it.