(But yeah, I also have a shelf full of X-Men pops.)

I remember my wife and I started occasionally buying them because they were about the only collectibles we could afford, and didn't have that testosterone-fueled realism aesthetic of many other lines. We were shocked when they became a Beanie Baby-sized bubble and hot front in the geek culture wars.

Doctor Who: The Prison Paradox #1 reminds me of the classic Doctor Who comics I've read, in that it's a bit grittier than what usually appears on the show. The Doctor is trapped in a space prison and forced to lead his own Suicide Squad, while Belinda is thrown into a Scheherazade role. Brilliant.

In Batman #3, Matt Fraction shows he knows exactly how seriously to take superheroes, so the story feels relevant and readers can invest without it all feeling overwrought. Vandal Savage as police commissioner is brilliant. Jimenez's art is gorgeous. The bit with Riddler is both clever and tragic.

Each Assorted Crisis Events issue feels like an attack on my emotional well-being. #6 is no different. I can't be the only one who, having reached the back half of my expected lifespan, fears the possibility of cognitive decline with climbing age. ACE #6 cleverly explores this with a sci-fi conceit.

I'm typically a fan of Al Ewing's work, but I have to admit that Absolute Green Lantern hasn't hit the same way thus far. It's been too focused on the high concept and not enough on the characters. This issue, which fully focuses on Jo and her life story, addresses that problem.

You should certainly keep an open mind. You can dislike a series or genre and still review a thing wondering if it will change your mind. That's exciting!

Fans reviewing for fans only creates increasingly insular discourse and gets you fanbases as entitled as Star Wars.

If the paragraph is about how much you hate hockey video games, I think that's fine, as long as you can explain why they're bad. I think the idea that only people coming from a place of at least neutral predisposition should review games is why reviews are too often seen as an extension of PR.

Disagree! People who vehemently dislike something should be able to write about that thing and be blunt. No one questions when a predisposed Pokémon lover reviews Pokémon, and haters should be given as much leeway if not more so long as they can back it up.

If anyone is curious, here's my list. Hardly reinventing the wheel, though I lacked the Sideboard Urabrask's Forges for most of my run due to lack of Wildcards and ran Witchhunter's Frenzy/Cut Power/Abrade in their place (depending on which archetype was annoying me most at that moment).