Dafna Pleban

Latest stories

• Crazy days of Comic-Con

  July 30, 2007 at 12:45 a.m.

  For four days we suffered through heat, long lines and a crowd of over 120,000 fans at this year’s Comic-Con International. With beer-bellied Spartan gladiators in leather Speedos and children attached to their leather-clad mothers by chain leashes, this annual convention was not for the queasy or faint of heart.

• Comic Corner: "The Professor's Daughter"

  May 18, 2007 at midnight

  The daughter of a British professor and esteemed Egyptologist, Lillian Bowell has found ways of having her own sort of fun within the stifling properness of Victorian England.

• Comic Corner: “Runaways” No. 24

  March 2, 2007 at 1:03 a.m.

  “Runaways” No. 24 By Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona Marvel Comics 4 Paws Brian K. Vaughan and Adrian Alphona’s run on “Runaways” has finally come to an end. And ...

• Comic Corner: X-Factor #15

  Feb. 2, 2007 at midnight

  X-Factor #15 By Peter David and Pablo Raimondi MARVEL COMICS Despite consisting only of still illustrations and dialogue bubbles, Peter David’s “X-Factor” manages to bring just the right amount of ...

• Event benefits Marvel’s true heroes – its artists

  Dec. 1, 2006 at midnight

  This Saturday, the heroes are coming to UCLA. Well, at least the man who created them. On Dec. 2, director Kevin Smith will host “Marvel: Then & Now – a ...

• Comic Corner: Absolute DC: The New Frontier

  Nov. 21, 2006 at midnight

  Absolute DC: The New Frontier By Darwyn Cooke DC COMICS Darwyn Cooke, an animator on the classic cartoon “Batman: The Animated Series,” manages to bring back that sort of nostalgia ...

• Fair Play?

  Nov. 17, 2006 at midnight

  For students camped out in front of Ralph’s at 3 a.m. on Thursday, the waiting has been the hardest part. Clad in UCLA sweatshirts and swaddled in sleeping bags, the ...

• Enter the real World of Warcraft

  Nov. 9, 2006 at midnight

  It’s 2 in the morning, and I’m hours past my deadline. I had no excuse; I had all the materials for the story – the interviews, the research and finally, ...

• Comic Corner: Ultimate Spider-Man #101

  Oct. 31, 2006 at midnight

  Ultimate Spider-Man #101 By Brian Michael Bendis and Mark Bagley (artist) MARVEL COMICS I dread the day that Mark Bagley leaves “Ultimate Spider-Man.” Bagley’s pencils along with Brian Michael Bendis’ ...

• Comic Corner: 'The Boys'

  Oct. 10, 2006 at midnight

  Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson “The Boys” #1-3 WILDSTORM COMICS (Out of 5) It wouldn’t be wrong to say that “The Boys” is what Garth Ennis does best: grotesque set-pieces, needless ...