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

“Loki” has launched, and once again we are presented with a Disney+ show that could go in many different directions. Let’s consult the tea leaves — and the comics and myths on which the show is based — for what they suggest.

TIME VARIANCE AUTHORITY

Marvel’s TVA first appeared in 1980s “Thor” comics. It’s a little less severe ...Read more

It’s summertime, and the comics are busy.

Back in the long before time, comics publishers would increase the frequency of some titles in the summer, and issue oversize “annuals” — sometimes new stories, but more often reprints. The belief was that kids, who were then the primary market, had more time in the summer — and more ...Read more

It’s been a while since I’ve mentioned that we are in the Golden Age of Reprints. But we still are, and it’s worthwhile to check in now and again on the latest, greatest collections.

“The Complete Kirby: War & Romance”

Marvel Comics, 592 pages, $125

Written by Stan Lee, art by Jack Kirby

We’ve all seen Jack Kirby’s famous 1960s...Read more

“Marvel’s M.O.D.O.K.” is so preposterous, one might assume that most of the silliness is invented for the show. Amazingly, most of the nonsense has actually seen print in Marvel Comics.

Which calls for a quick round of “Is This a Real Thing in Marvel Comics, True or False?,” a game I just made up. Here we go:

ADAPTOID: True.

The ...Read more

It’s time for the graphic novel review roundup!

'Black Star' by Eric Anthony Glover and Arielle Jovelianos

Abram ComicArts, $24.99

As I read this graphic novel, I kept getting fooled — thinking I was reading one thing, while it kept turning out to be another.

The story takes place in a future where interplanetary space travel is possible...Read more

The internet is chockablock with questions about “Jupiter’s Legacy.” Here’s a Q&A to answer some of them.

Q: What’s “Jupiter’s Legacy” about?

A: In the comics, five friends follow their pal Sheldon Sampson’s visions to an uncharted island in 1932 where aliens give them superpowers. Don’t dwell on this; it was almost a ...Read more

Once again, gals have taken over the better graphic novels I have for review. Let’s meet them:

'Why She Wrote: The Graphic History of Classic Women Writers'

Written by Lauren Burke and Hannah Chapman, art by Kaley Bales

Chronicle Books, $19.95

“Why She Wrote” is that rare book I can recommend without qualification. Well, unless you don...Read more

“The Falcon and The Winter Soldier” ended its first (and hopefully not only) season by tying up all the storylines and posing just enough questions to leave us hungry for more. And we’re going to get more, with the just-announced “Captain America 4,” starring Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan.

With a hearty “spoilers ahoy,” let’...Read more