Author Archives: I.M. Baytor

Spotlight on Fury: Peacemaker

Posted on July 30, 2019 by I.M. Baytor

We kicked off this year’s Spy Fiction Month with a comic set in World War II and we’ll finish with one as well. Like I mentioned last week, in 2001 Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson reinvented Marvel’s war-hero-turned-super-spy Nick Fury … Continue reading →

Posted in SPYCRAFT & WARFARE | Tagged Darick Robertson, espionage, Garth Ennis, Jimmy Palmiotti, Nick Fury, politics, Raúl Treviño, Rodney Ramos, World War II | Leave a comment

Spotlight on Fury MAX

Posted on July 24, 2019 by I.M. Baytor

Way before Samuel L. Jackson embodied the role, Colonel Nick Fury was already a household name for Marvel fans, having starred in a string of seminal psychedelic spy comics by Jack Kirby and Jim Steranko back in the 1960s… Strange … Continue reading →

Posted in SPYCRAFT & WARFARE | Tagged Axel Alonso, Bill Jemas, Cold War, D.G. Chichester, Darick Robertson, espionage, Garth Ennis, Jimmy Palmiotti, Joe Quesada, Nick Fury, politics | Leave a comment

A couple of excellent spy novels

Posted on July 17, 2019 by I.M. Baytor

Shifting gears for a bit, today let’s talk about a couple of cool books without drawings that came out almost a decade ago… OUR KIND OF TRAITOR (John le Carré, 2010) “At seven o’clock of a Caribbean morning, on the … Continue reading →

Posted in SPYCRAFT & WARFARE | Tagged books without pictures, espionage, Greg Rucka, John le Carré, politics, Queen & Country | Leave a comment

Spotlight on The Unknown Soldier, 1975-1976

Posted on July 10, 2019 by I.M. Baytor

In the early 1970s, the Unknown Soldier feature of Star Spangled War Stories told exciting spy adventures set in World War II, starring a disfigured operative turned master-of-disguise who undertook secret missions under direct orders from Washington. As I explained … Continue reading →

Posted in SPYCRAFT & WARFARE | Tagged Cold War, David Michelinie, espionage, Gerry Conway, Gerry Talaoc, Joe Orlando, politics, Unknown Soldier, World War II | Leave a comment

Spotlight on The Unknown Soldier, 1970-1974

Posted on July 5, 2019 by I.M. Baytor

There is a whole branch of spy fiction focusing on World War II going back to the time of the conflict itself. In cinema, the British kicked things off with thrillers such as Night Train to Munich and Contraband. Hollywood … Continue reading →

Posted in SPYCRAFT & WARFARE | Tagged Archie Goodwin, Bob Haney, espionage, Frank Robins, Jack Sparling, Joe Kubert, movies, politics, Robert Kanigher, Unknown Soldier, World War II | Leave a comment

COMICS CAN BE AWESOME (July 2019)

Posted on July 2, 2019 by I.M. Baytor

July is Spy Fiction Month here at the blog. Before going on my yearly marathon of posts about foreign intrigue and counter-intelligence, though, let us all just take a moment to contemplate the fact that comics can be many different … Continue reading →

Posted in GLIMPSES INTO AWESOMENESS | Tagged Adrienne Roy, Blankets, Bob Lappan, Craig Thompson, Eduardo Barreto, Fiona Staples, Marv Wolfman, New Teen Titans, Romeo Tanghal, Saga | Leave a comment

3 ‘silent’ sequences by Tim Levins

Posted on June 25, 2019 by I.M. Baytor

If there is one Batman run that doesn’t get enough praise, it’s the strand of highly entertaining stories published in Gotham Adventures #15-60, from 1999 to 2003, written by Scott Peterson, mostly with pencils by Tim Levins, inks by Terry … Continue reading →

Posted in ART OF BATMAN COMICS | Tagged Batman: The Animated Series, Lee Loughridge, Scott Peterson, Terry Beatty, Tim Levins | 3 Comments

Batman comics on drugs – part 2

Posted on June 18, 2019 by I.M. Baytor

If you read the last post, you know I’ve been looking at Batman comics about drugs. Today I want to briefly discuss two stories from the early 1990s that approached this topic in extreme ways. In his many adventures, the … Continue reading →

Posted in POLITICS OF BATMAN COMICS | Tagged Adrienne Roy, Alan Grant, Batman's personality, Denny O'Neil, drugs, Ernie Chua, Gerry Conway, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez, Norm Breyfogle, politics, Russel Braun, Steve Oliff, Todd Klein, Trevor von Eeden | Leave a comment

Batman comics on drugs – part 1

Posted on June 11, 2019 by I.M. Baytor

Drugs have traditionally played a substantial role in Batman comics (hell, in the whole medium). The Dark Knight has put away his share of drug dealers – from run-of-the-mill villains (your prototypical crime fiction trope) to the kind of outlandish … Continue reading →

Posted in POLITICS OF BATMAN COMICS | Tagged Adrienne Roy, Alan Grant, Batman's personality, Bob Smith, Dave Taylor, Doug Moench, drugs, Gene Colan, Pamela Rambo, politics, Ricardo Villagran, Robin, Stan Woch | Leave a comment

COMICS CAN BE AWESOME (June 2019)

Posted on June 6, 2019 by I.M. Baytor

Your June reminder that comics can be awesome… Man-Thing #1 The Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot #1 The Invisibles (v2) #19

Posted in GLIMPSES INTO AWESOMENESS | Tagged Bill Spicer, Chris Weston, Claude Legris, Daniel Vozzo, Dave Hunt, Frank Miller, Geoff Darrow, Grant Morrison, Invisibles, John Costanza, Man-Thing, Ray Krissing, Sal Trapani, Steve Gerber, The Big Guy and Rusty the Boy Robot, Todd Klein, Val Mayerik | Leave a comment