World Comic Book Review

25th March 2024

Judge Dredd: Deviations (Review)

Judge Dredd: Deviations IDW Publishing, March 2017 Writer: John McCrea “Deviations” is a line of comic book single publications from American publisher IDW Publishing, in which well-established character properties are placed in “alternative reality” scenarios. IDW Publishing’s writers craft stories that address what would have happened if events were changed in established storylines, basically having … Read more

The X-Files: Deviations – A Whole Lot of Nothing

The X-Files: Deviations – Time and Being
IDW Publishing, March 2016
Writer: Amy Chu

In March 2016, American comic book publisher IDW Publishing launched a publishing campaign dubbed ‘Deviations’. This campaign at essence is a set of standalone stories for IDW Publishing’s titles that play around with the concept of alternate realities, not as a plot point but as an entire concept. The “Deviations” one-shot issues do not explain why the presented reality is different from the established one, if indeed such an explanation is necessary, and instead each issue jumps straight into the parallel universe story. In the “Transformers: Deviations” one-shot, a character that died in mainstream community survived. In the “X-Files: Deviations” issue, the male protagonist of the famous science fiction television series, Fox Mulder, is replaced in the narrative by the character’s sister.

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Better to Burn the World than Rule the World

G.I. Joe: Deviations (review)
IDW Publishing, March 2016
Writer: Paul Allor
Review by Neil Raymundo, 30 March 2016

Comic book villains have a variety of motivation. Some are propelled by a lust for power (Julius Caesar in “Asterix”; the Kingpin in “Daredevil”) and some because they embody power (Lucifer Morningstar in “Lucifer”; Death in “East of West”). Others are motivated by psychosis (The Joker in “Batman”). Some reform (Magneto in “X-Men”) and some are motivated by vengeance and incapable of reform (Lex Luthor in “Superman”). Some are motivated by something else.

The “G.I. Joe” franchise started as a line of toys produced and owned by toy company Hasbro, originally created in 1964 and consisted of 12-inch figures representing four branches of the U.S. armed forces ( both “G.I.” and “Joe” were generic terms for U.S. soldiers in World War Two though the latter term has become derogatory in some South East Asian countries.) The toyline is responsible for popularizing the term “action figure,” and at the time developed a small following among young boys.

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