All the Comics 2019
Series I read as they came out:
Archie
Assassin Nation
Batman Universe
Black Panther
By Night
Catwoman
Die
Exorsisters
Ghosted in L.A.
Ghostspider
Giant Days
Gwenpool Strikes Back
Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy
Invisible Kingdom
Laguardia
Last Stop on the Red Line
Lazarus: Risen
Lois Lane
The Magnificent Ms. Marvel
Man-Eaters
Monstress
Ms. Marvel
Once & Future King
Paper Girls
Pretty Deadly: The Rat
Redlands
Sabrina the Teenage Witch
Sleepless
Spider-Gwen: Ghost Spider
Spider-man and Venom: Double Trouble
Steeple
Superman's Pal Jimmy Olsen
The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl
The Unstoppable Wasp
West Coast Avengers
The White Trees
The Wicked + the Divine
Graphic Novels & Trade Paperbacks
The Life of Captain Marvel Margaret Stohl Carlos Pacheco
Batgirl Vol. 4: Strange Loop Hope Larson Sami Basri
Jessica Jones: Blind Spot Kelly Thompson Mattia De Iulis
Doom Patrol Vol 2: Nada Gerard Way Nick Derington
Kim Reaper: Grim Beginnings Sarah Graley
Batman Vol. 8: Cold Days Tom King Lee Weeks
Hilda and the Troll Luke Pearson
Batwoman Vol. 3: Fall of the House of Kane Marguerite Bennett Fernando Blanco
X-23: Family Album Mariko Tamaki Juann Cabal
Andre the Giant: Life and Legend Box Brown
How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less Sarah Glidden
Get Your War On David Rees
March Book One John Lewis & Andrew Aydin Nate Powell
Barbarous Vol 1 Ananth Hirsh Yuko Ota
Barbarous Vol 2 Ananth Hirsh Yuko Ota
March Book Two John Lewis & Andrew Aydin Nate Powell
March Book Three John Lewis & Andrew Aydin Nate Powell
The Real Folk Blues: A Cowboy Bebop Fanbook Anthology ed. Zainab Akhtar
Batman Detective Comics Vol 2 The Victim Syndicate James Tynion IV Alvaro Martinez
Off Season James Sturm
Kiss Number 8 Colleen AF Venable Ellen T. Crenshaw
Cleopatra in Space: Fallen Empires Mike Maihack
Batman Detective Comics Vol 3: League of Shadows James Tynion IV Marcio Takara
The Hero Business Season Two Bill Walko
When I Arrived at the Castle Emily Carroll
The Weather Man Jody LeHeup Nathan Fox
The Girl Who Married a Skull & Other African Stories ed. C. Spike Trotman ed. Kate Ashwin ed. Kel McDonald ed. Taneka Stotts
F*ck Off Squad Nicole Goux Dave Baker
The Breakaways Cathy G. Johnson
Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me Mariko Tamaki Rosemary Valero-O'Connell
Batman Vol. 9 The Tyrant Wing Tom King Tom Taylor
Mech Cadet Yu Volume Two Grek Pak Takeshi Miyazawa
Sincerely, Harriet Sarah W. Searle
The Legend of Korra: Ruins of the Empire Part One Michael Dante DiMartino Michelle Wong
Avatar The Last Airbender: Imbalance Book Two Faith Erin Hicks Peter Wartman
Snotgirl: vol 2: California Screaming Bryan Lee O'Malley Leslie Hung
Skyward: Vol 1 Joe Henderson Lee Garbett
Shuri: Vol 1: The Search for Black Panther Nnedi Okorafor Leonardo Romero
Crowded: Vol 1: Soft Apocalypse Chrisopher Sebela Ro Stein Ted Brandt
I Hate Fairyland: Vol 1: Madly Ever After Skottie Young
I Hate Fairyland: Vol 2: Fluff My Life Skottie Young
I Hate Fairyland: Vol 3: Good Girl Skottie Young
I Hate Fairyland: Vol 4: Sadly Never After Skottie Young
California Dreamin' Penelope Bagieu
Runaways: Best Friends Forever Rainbow Rowell Kris Anka
Exit Stage Left: The Snagglepuss Chronicles Mark Russell Mike Feehan
My Brother's Husband Gengorah Tagame
Rice Boy Evan Dahm
FTL Y'all ed. C. Spike Trotman ed. Amanda Lafrenais
Gothic Tales of Haunted Love ed. Hope Nicholson ed. S.M.Beiko
The Immortal Hulk: Or is he both? Al Ewing Joe Bennett
X-23: X-Assassin Mariko Tamaki Diego Olortegui
Ant-Man and the Wasp: Lost and Found Mark Waid Javier Garron
Power Man and Iron Fist: The Boys Are Back in Town David Walker Sanford Greene
Iceman: Thawing Out Sina Grace Alessandro Vitti
Iceman: Absolute Zero Sina Grace Robert Gill
Song of Aglaia Anne Simon
Batman Detective Comics: Vol 4 Deus Ex Machina James Tynion IV Alvaro Martinez
Harley Quinn: Broken Glass Mariko Tamaki Steve Pugh
The Immortal Hulk: The Green Door Al Ewing Joe Bennett
Power Man and Iron Fist: Civil War David F. Walker Flaviano
Cosplayers Dash Shaw
Bad Machinery: The Case of the Modern Men John Allison
Is This How You See Me? Jaime Hernandez
a city inside Tillie Walden
The Immotal Hulk: Hulk in Hell Al Ewing Joe Bennett
Slowly but Shirley Catalina Rufin
Stage Dreams Melanie Gillman
Homunculus Joe Sparrow
Verse Book One Sam Beck
Laid Waste Julia Gfrorer
Gorgeous Cathy G. Johnson
Cosmoknights Hannah Templer
The Hard Tomorrow Eleanor Davis
Pumpkin Heads Rainbow Rowell Faith Erin Hicks
Funky Town Mathilde Van Gheluwe
Pleading with Stars Kurt Ankeny
Avatar The Last Airbender: Imbalance Book Three Faith Erin Hicks Peter Wartman
The Love Bunglers Jaime Hernandez
Spider-man Life Story Chip Zdarsky Mark Bagley
Are You Listening? Tillie Walden
November Matt Fraction Elsa Charretier
Rusty Brown Chris Ware
Dangerously Chloe Volume 3 David Lumsdon Jason Waltrip
The Astonishing Ant-Man: Small-Time Criminal Nick Spencer Ramon Rosanas
Doctor Aphra: Aphra Kieron Gillen Kev Walker
Moonstruck Grace Ellis Shae Beagle
Minis
Maids no. 1 Katie Skelly
Frontier #18 Tiffany Ford
Two of Us Jessi Zabarsky
Visiting Alivia Horsley
Sobek James Stokoe
Resort on Caelum Wren McDonald
Boogsy Michelle Kwan
Frontier #19 Hannah Waldron
Maids no. 2 Katie Skelly
Frontier #20 Anatola Howard
Minotaar Lissa Treiman
Pass the Baton Hana Chatani
Cry Wolf Girl Ariel Ries
At the Edge of the Stream at Dusk Jen Lee
Cavity Michelle Theodore
Hsthete Melanie Gillman
David, I Love You Eileen Marie
The Cutest Curse Laura Terry
Churn Amelia Onorato
An Eye for an Eye Kimberly Wang
Women on Paper: 3 Stories Anna Christine
Liminal State Maria Photinakis
Melusine, The Collector and the Gift of the Pearls Edie Voges
Infinite Wheat Paste Issue 3 Pidge
Anew Dillon Gilbertson Anastasia Longoria
Big Wally James McGarry Sam Bennett
Frontier #21 Derek Yu
Frontier #22 Tunde Adebimpe
Graphic novel is a stupid term that often encompasses things that are not novels, but I used it as a blanket term for anything comics I read that were bound rather than stapled. Minis are shorter works, stapled, and generally self-published by the artist, or done by a small press like Shortbox or Youth in Decline. I was totally lazy about crediting creators on series because my actual list for that is a grid, keeping track of each issue. Similarly, when listing creators on trades, I tended to only list writer and artist which is enough for some books, but sometimes there are many more, inkers, and colorists and letterers, and maybe I’ll do better next year.
Support your local library, your local comic shop (especially Hub Comics if you’re in the Boston area), and indie comic shows like MICE.
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As the Marvel Cinematic Universe (and its spin-off television shows) grows, the number of actors being cast also increases exponentially. Not only do we start to see more cross-over between actors who’ve worked together before (Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson, for example, have worked together almost a dozen times now), we’re starting to see a great deal of influence from other large bodies of work. Now, with Thor: Ragnarok right around the corner, we’re noticing a recurring trend – there are quite a few cast members from Peter Jackson’s imaginings of Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies making an appearance in this world of superheroes! Some are fairly obvious, but digging through the two extended universes, it’s actually pretty interesting just how much crossover there is.
Richard Armitage
Thorin Oakenshield – The Hobbit Trilogy
Heinz Kruger – Captain America: The First Avenger
Armitage struck a reasonably recognizable figure as the Dwarf king Thorin in Jackson’s foray into the prequel series The Hobbit, as he should’ve. But when you strip away the medieval clothes and massive dwarf beard, you realize you’ve actually seen Armitage before – as a Nazi in the first appearance of Captain America. Heinz Kruger was the Nazi spy that used a bomb to blow up the super-soldier presentation, stole a vial of the serum (that was thankfully destroyed), and killed Dr. Erksine. Though his MCU appearance was a small one, it was pivotal in Captain America’s journey, and most of us didn’t even make the connection to the King Under the Mountain.
Sala Baker
Sauron / Orc / Uruk – The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Extremis Soldier – Iron Man 3 / King – Iron Fist S1.E5
Now this was an appearance I can almost guarantee you didn’t recognize. Though the voice of the Ring throughout the series was played by different actors, Sauron’s flashback appearance in The Fellowship of the Ring was handled by Baker, who was then invited back as an orc for The Two Towers (the one who sniffed and said “Man-Flesh!”), and then as an Uruk in The Return of the King. Afterwards he played an adversary of Tony Stark as a soldier effected with Extremis, before getting a role with a name in the Netflix adaption of Iron Fist. So not only has he branched the two universes, he has played multiple roles within them.
Cate Blanchett
Galadriel – The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Hobbit Trilogy
Hela – Thor: Ragnarok
This Oscar winner has always brought a presence of strength and mystery to her roles, so it only makes sense that she makes a big impact on both universes. She was one of the few characters to perform in all six films in the Jackson franchises, which audiences loved because the elf queen Galadriel was both beautiful and a little terrifying. Now, in just a couple of weeks, Blanchett will step into the MCU as the first lead female villain, Hela, the goddess of death. She stands to be an adversary of Thor and Asgard, but who knows where that role will lead her as Infinity War looms ever closer?
Benedict Cumberbatch
Smaug / Necromancer – The Hobbit Trilogy
Dr. Stephen Strange / Dormammu – Doctor Strange, Thor: Ragnarok
Though Cumberbatch first drew attention for his appearance of Sherlock Holmes (a role once played by Tony Stark actor Robert Downey Jr.), it didn’t take him long to set foot in Jackson’s take on The Hobbit. Though his pivotal role was as the dragon Smaug, the foe of the dwarves, he also performed a voiceover role in the first film of the trilogy as the Necromancer who summoned the Nazgül back to “life”. He even went so far as to perform motion-capture for Smaug, though it was eventually discarded from the final cut. Then in 2016, Cumberbatch took a step into the MCU as surgeon-turned-magician Dr. Strange, wielder of the Eye of Agamotto (a coveted Infinity Stone), as well as providing the voice of his great foe Dormammu (though this is uncredited on IMDB, trivia confirms that Cumberbatch provided the voice). It has also lead to many jokes and petitions that when Tony Stark and Stephen Strange finally appear in a scene together, a Sherlock Holmes joke should be made.
Brad Dourif
Grima Wormtongue – The Two Towers, Return of the King (extended edition)
Thomas Nash – Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., S1.E16
One of the favored performances of Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers was that of Grima Wormtongue, the twisted advisor to King Theodon that secretly worked for Saruman. He was slimy and everyone loved to hate him, especially when he got super creepy towards the king’s niece Eöwyn. That was not his only experience as a villain – he then went to ABC’s television show Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. to be hunted as the potential candidate for the Clairvoyant, a Hydra mole inside of S.H.I.E.L.D. Because Wormtongue was such an iconic look, it was hard to recognize him in regular clothes!
Martin Freeman
Marvel’s Captain America: Civil War L to R: Agent 13/Sharon Carter (Emily VanCamp) and Everett K. Ross (Martin Freeman) Photo Credit: Zade Rosenthal © Marvel 2016
Bilbo Baggins – The Hobbit Trilogy
Everett K. Ross – Captain America: Civil War, Black Panther
Freeman has developed a bit of a reputation as being eternally paired with Benedict Cumberbatch for projects, as the Dr. Watson to his Sherlock Holmes on Sherlock, and appearing in these two extended universes alongside Cumberbatch doesn’t help dispute the theory (even though in the MCU, the two have shared no scenes yet)! Freeman was chosen to portray Bilbo Baggins in his youth (after Ian Holm’s performance in the Lord of the Rings trilogy), on a journey with a group of dwarves as their burglar. Freeman stood out with his unique mannerisms and fun attitude, becoming a fan favorite even to those who were upset with the trilogy itself. In the MCU, Freeman cuts a different sort of figure – not only is he second character with the surname Ross (whether or not he’s related to Hulk opponent Thaddeus Ross has yet to be clarified in the films), but he seems to be an antagonist toward the Avengers. He appeared alongside Team Iron Man to promote the Sokovia Accords after Captain America’s group were captured with Bucky in Germany, and he seemed pretty happy to throw away the key on all of them. The magnitude of his role in Black Panther has yet to be determined.
Evangeline Lilly
THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG (2013) EVANGELINE LILLY
Tauriel – The Desolation of Smaug, The Battle of the Five Armies
Hope van Dyne – Ant-Man, Ant-Man and the Wasp
As a rather athletic actress, Lilly has been taking extended universe roles as a rather badass fighter, so it makes sense that both her characters in these series’ can hold her own with warriors and superheroes. Lilly performed in one of the few female roles of the Hobbit trilogy as the female elf scout Tauriel. She eventually fell in love with one of the dwarves, but throughout the two films she appeared in, she spent a great deal of time fighting Orcs and giant spiders, proving her skills with a bow and knives. She then slipped into the role of a business woman who still knew how to throw a punch in Ant-Man as Hope van Dyne, the daughter of Hank Pym. She was a bit of an antagonist towards Scott Lang at the beginning, taking pleasure in showing him exactly how she punched, but by the end the two had gotten plenty close, and now she stands to be equal to him in a superhero suit of her own in the sequel film.
Lee Pace
Thranduil – The Desolation of Smaug, The Battle of the Five Armies
Ronan the Accuser – Guardians of the Galaxy
Pace is one of the only actors to have appeared in the Guardians of the Galaxy segment of the MCU as well as the Jackson-verse, going from something between an anti-hero and antagonist to a full-blown villain. His performance as Thranduil in the Hobbit films was an interesting one, as his elven king was both a hinderance to the dwarf quest and yet he was not necessarily out to murder them like the Orcs. He was also the father of Legolas, who played a pivotal role in the Lord of the Rings series. Pace’s appearance of Ronan was far darker, however, as an alien with a vendetta against an entire planet and an Infinity Stone in his grasp. He threatened to destroy entire planets in his rage, and was only stopped by a dance-off. Sort of.
Andy Serkis
Gollum / Smeagol – The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Ulysses Klaue – Avengers: Age of Ultron, Black Panther
Serkis is the king of motion-capture performance, though he surprisingly does none in the MCU (where you would expect they’d need a bunch). One of his best performances to date is as the deformed Gollum in the Lord of the Rings trilogy as both an antagonist and protagonist, helping and hurting Frodo and Sam on their journey to Mount Doom. His creepy snarls and creeping stance was left beyond as he traversed into the MCU as weapons dealer Klaue, a former associate of Stark Enterprises that was approached by Ultron for a deal on vibranium. It has also been established that he is the only dealer to get in and out of the mysterious Wakanda on a regular basis, perhaps hinting at more screen time in the upcoming Black Panther.
Liv Tyler
Arwen – The Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Dr. Elizabeth “Betty” Ross – The Incredible Hulk
Tyler’s angelic face and sweet voice provides her with a great aptitude for the love interest, and her two appearances in extended universes reflect that. In one, she is the daughter of the elf lord Elrond, linked to the future king of Gondor Aragorn. Her visions of the future help to lead him down the path to reclaiming his throne, and her elf magic also helped to save Frodo after his encounter with the Nazgül. Then she moved on to become a biologist and become romantically involved with the nuclear physicist Bruce Banner. Though The Incredible Hulk is one of the films that the MCU crowd tends to ignore (even if it’s not the worst Hulk film), Tyler’s performance was still an important one to the development of Banner and, consequently, the Hulk.
Karl Urban
Eömer – The Two Towers, The Return of the King
Skurge – Thor: Ragnarok
Karl Urban has actually branched into three extended universes (if you include the rebooted Star Trek films), but his newest “trek” is into the MCU as the Asgardian warrior Skurge. He is a character playing two sides, trying to keep Hela from destroying him alongside Asgard, but he still cuts a frightening figure, so who knows what he’s really after? This is coming after Urban’s experience as the horse lord Eömer, nephew to the king and leader of the army of Rohan. At the very least, Urban’s got experience with all of the medieval weapons that a warrior of Asgard would be working with.
Hugo Weaving
Lord Elrond – The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, The Unexpected Journey, The Battle of the Five Armies
Johann Schmidt / The Red Skull – Captain America: The First Avenger
Weaving is only one movie short of appearing just as many Jackson films as his costar (and according to Lord of the Rings lore, mother-in-law) Cate Blanchett. The two have, however, starred in the same amount of MCU films, both as villains no less. Weaving took the role of the elf Lord Elrond, father of Liv Tyler’s character Arwen, in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. He also appeared in two films of the prequel series, The Hobbit, to continue world-building Middle Earth. He was presented as a wise and fair character, though maybe a little disheartened by everything he’d seen in the world, and more than ready to head to the undying lands. In the Marvel Universe, on the other hand, Weaving played the man who would become Captain America’s greatest foe – The Red Skull, leader of Nazi offshoot Hydra, determined to wield the power of the Tesseract himself and become a perfect being. His character was greatly unstable, but there are speculations that, because of the Tesseract’s ability to open portals into space, we may not have seen the last of him.
David Wenham
Faramir – The Two Towers, The Return of the King
Harold Meachum – Iron Fist
Another character who made a wild transition from franchise to franchise is Wenham, whose character in the MCU is extremely different from his Middle Earth appearance. In Middle Earth, Wenham appears as Faramir, the second son of the steward of Gondor who has grown up in the shadow of his brother, as he is the more bookish of the two and less of a warrior. He does have a great strength of character, however, as he is able to push out the influence of The Ring. When he appears in the MCU, however, that strength of character didn’t come with him. The series Iron Fist brings out his inner demon as Harold Meachum, the ruthless business partner of Danny Rand’s father, brought back to life by The Hand, and willing to do anything to protect what he believes is his, no matter who gets in his way. It is actually very funny how much he acts like Denethor, as though the influence of his deranged father followed him across the universes.
Mystical in Marvel: The Lord of the Rings Crossover As the Marvel Cinematic Universe (and its spin-off television shows) grows, the number of actors being cast also increases exponentially.
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