J&STAC: Re-envisioned

-J. Michael Bestul is a writer for theĀ Addison Recorder. Stephanie Ruehl is an artist who works in a comic book shop. They’re married and have a lot of discussions about comic books and graphic novels. Combine all that into a biweekly feature and you get “J. & Steph Talk AboutĀ Comics.”

Modern comics are a medium of iconography and archetypes, whether reinforcing or re-inventing them (or re-booting them, or cashing in on them…). The Bat-symbol carries worlds of meaning to countless fans, but which version of the symbol? Is your Iron Man the Tony Stark of Kirby & Lee, Fraction & Bendis, or Robert Downey, Jr.? What’s your opinion of the last Superman flick? Do you have a think-piece on all the differences between Jessica Jones in the comics and on Netflix?

While we have thoughts on those questions, we decided it would be more fun to focus on the re-imaginings, re-interpretations, and re-envisionings that piqued our interest over the years. [Read more…]