Let’s dive right in to my To-Review Pile, Graphic Novels, Non-Superhero Category:

The Butchery HC

Story/Art: Bastien Vives | Fantagraphics | $19.99

According to the public relations material, this “poetic graphic novel explores the emotional bloodbath of a romance gone awry.” So, you’re told right up front that the graphic novel ...Read more

The Teetering Tower of To-Review is once again in danger of falling over and destroying the city, so let’s pull out some graphic novels to relieve the pressure. Today’s theme: books that are unusual, even by my standards.

'The Dancing Plague'

Story/art by Gareth Brookes; SelfMadeHero (192 pages, $20.99)

From the description: “Set in ...Read more

“Shang-Chi and the Legend of the 10 Rings” arrives in theaters Sept. 3. If you think he’s an odd addition to Marvel’s line of mostly superheroes, you’d be right. And therein, of course, lies a tale.

It’s a long one, going back to the early part of the 20th century, when Asian martial arts began surfacing in the West.

Jujitsu was ...Read more

Sal Buscema. Ron Frenz. Roger Stern. If you’ve read American comic books for any length of time, these aren’t just familiar names. They’re comic book gods. And their work — usually on Marvel titles like “Amazing Spider-Man,” “Avengers” and “Thor” — was always welcome to eager fans.

But they’re gods of a previous era, so ...Read more

It’s been a big week for genre TV — four existing series returned, while a new Marvel series launched. With a hearty “Spoilers ahoy,” let’s recap:

'RIVERDALE'

“Chapter Eighty-Seven: Strange Bedfellows”: Season 5B premiere, Wednesday, Aug. 11, The CW.

It’s not a season premiere, just the return of the series for the final five ...Read more

“The Suicide Squad” premiered Aug. 5, written and directed by James Gunn (“Guardians of the Galaxy”), and yes, it’s a hoot. Let me add to the party with 11 Fun Facts to Know and Tell about the film.

1. BELLE REVE PENITENTIARY

Just like in the comics, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) operates out of a prison in Louisiana that is home to a ...Read more

Free Comic Book Day is returning, my friends!

On Saturday, Aug. 14, participating comic shops will offer at least 50 titles absolutely free.

OK, some shops will require a minimum purchase. But that just means you get more stuff!

With so many books available, smart shoppers will know in advance what books they’re looking for. Here’s a ...Read more

The world-famous Comic-Con International: San Diego took place last weekend. You can be forgiven if you didn’t notice.

The venerable SDCC, once home to the biggest comics, movie and TV news on the planet, was attended only virtually on July 22-25. The ultra celebration of geekdom, nerdery and genre love, which used to consistently draw 100,...Read more

If you watched the season finale of “Loki” on Disney+, you may be saying to yourself, “Self, I sure wish I’d read the comics and myths this show is based on, so I would understand this gibberish better.”

Well, I have read the comics and myths. And they do help to a degree.

For example, when Agent Mobius (Owen Wilson) consigns the God...Read more

The saga of Natalia Alianovna Romanova, aka Natasha Romanoff, has come to its bittersweet end with the “Black Widow” movie. Probably.

But here are 10 Fun Facts to Know and Tell about Marvel’s Superspy Avenger from the comics that spawned her.

1. Romanova wasn’t Marvel’s first Black Widow

Back in 1940, when Marvel was called Timely ...Read more

The Hellfire Gala had one last party favor up its sleeve last week: the death of a popular character.

Well, popular on TV.

Wanda Maximoff — the Scarlet Witch — was boffo on her Disney+ TV series, “WandaVision,” where she was portrayed by Elizabeth Olsen. And she’s apparently going to more or less costar in the upcoming “Doctor ...Read more

The party’s over. Now comes the hangover.

(Warning! Many spoilers ahead for recent issues of Marvel’s X-Men titles!)

The party in question is the Hellfire Gala, a high-fashion, elites-only soiree hosted by Marvel’s mutants on the sentient mutant island Krakoa, based on the famous Met Gala. In a stunning show of Marvel’s confidence in ...Read more

I’ve got four graphic novels to discuss, a meat-and-three for the intellectually hungry. Here’s our steak:

'MONSTERS'

By Barry Windsor-Smith

Fantagraphics, $39.99

Barry Windsor-Smith is a much beloved comics artist, an A-lister who wields a detailed, classics-influenced style rivaled only by P. Craig Russell in its lyrical beauty. But he...Read more