Dustin Cabeal 5/3/17 Dustin Cabeal 5/3/17

Review: Deathstroke #18

By Dustin Cabeal

The Twilight storyline concludes, and this will likely be the third trade in this Deathstroke series. It will also be the one I recommend the most to people. I truly believe that you don’t even need to read the other issues to enjoy this storyline. It’s just that damn good and Priest does an amazing job of recapping the rest of the storyline through the dialogue. For instance, the Red Lion shows back up and gives Rose a new suit to tell her, “thank you” for her actions that led to him getting back his country. Even though it tells you which issues it happened in, the information is there already, and it felt natural to the story.

Daniel Vlasaty 5/3/17 Daniel Vlasaty 5/3/17

Review: Eternal Empire #1

By Daniel Vlasaty

Usually I don’t do fantasy books. Just can’t. They’re not my thing. I don’t know why, I generally just find myself bored by all things in the fantasy genre. But when I saw that the creative team behind Alex + Ada (Jonathan Luna and Sarah Vaughn) was doing a new book, I got instantly excited. I enjoyed Alex + Ada, as well as other things I have read from the Luna Brothers. I didn’t even care what the book was about, I just jumped in. And I will say that the first page instantly intrigued me – some weird cult shit was going on. But then when I turned to page two and I saw a dragon, I think I automatically started to drift away. I just don’t like dragons and stories with dragons in them and blah blah blah.

Levi Remington 5/3/17 Levi Remington 5/3/17

Review: Predator: Hunters #1

By Levi Remington

In loose, belated honor of Alien Day, I decided to read my very first Predator comic. The license has a long history at Dark Horse, beginning in 1989. Most of the stories were published during the nineties, but the character has made a small comeback since the Predators movie in 2010. It was the drought in between where Predator: Hunters found its origins, as editor Randy Stradley and writer Chris Warner discussed plans fifteen years ago for a series that bucked the standard Predator trend – the hunters would become the hunted. After so long in limbo, the story has finally come to fruition. Was it worth the wait? Read ahead to find out while I feed the damn snakes and inappropriately assume your tribe.

Dustin Cabeal 5/3/17 Dustin Cabeal 5/3/17

Review: Brave Chef Brianna #3

By Dustin Cabeal

Well basically everything I said would happen in my second review happened in this issue which shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that’s been reading the series. It’s been very obvious. Sometimes that’s a good thing. It shows that the writer is leading us somewhere and allowing us to feel a part of the story as we “figure it out” while reading. That is not the case here. It’s just that obvious.

Ashley Gibbs 5/3/17 Ashley Gibbs 5/3/17

Review: Injustice 2 #1

By Ashley Gibbs

Personally, I am a casual fan of DC comics, but when the first Injustice video game came out years ago, I was pretty excited and enjoyed it a lot, so I’m eager for its sequel. To help build up hype for the new game, we’re also getting a new tie-in comic that helps explain the world of [i]Injustice[/i], to bring people up to speed on the story so far, as well as offer more story that might not have fit into the game itself. Injustice 2 #1 is the first issue of this new series and takes place directly after the ending of the first game. While it’s not necessary that readers be familiar with the first game or even the comic series revolving around it, these comics add more meaning to the story.

Comic Bastards 5/3/17 Comic Bastards 5/3/17

Group Review: Youngblood #1

By The Comic Bastards

Welcome to a Comic Bastards group review! If this is your first, then allow me to remind you how this works. Each of the participating writers from Comic Bastards will give a score and their thoughts on the issue. This time it’s Rob Liefeld’s Youngblood #1, rebooted by Chad Bowers and Jim Towe.

Levi Remington 5/3/17 Levi Remington 5/3/17

Review: The Damned #1

By Levi Remington

Prohibition-era crime noir meets the occult in Oni Press' new ongoing, The Damned, which got its start in a pair of miniseries originally published from 2006-2008. Despite the previous eight issues, this new series promises a fresh starting point for new readers with a hard-boiled tale of demons, mobsters, demon mobsters, curses, and the nefarious economy of mortal souls. Does it live up to its promise? Read ahead to find out while I develop a soft spot for gutter rats.

Dustin Cabeal 5/3/17 Dustin Cabeal 5/3/17

Review: Tekken #1

By Dustin Cabeal

If you make a Tekken comic book, I’m going to read it. I have read ever Tekken comic that has been made, and one thing is always completely clear to me upon finishing them: There is no reason Tekken should be a comic book.

Jonathan Edwards 5/3/17 Jonathan Edwards 5/3/17

Review: Helena Crash #3

By Jonathan Edwards

Back when Helena Crash #1 came out, I seem to recall it being listed as the first of five issues. It appears that, somewhere along the line, that changed, and now it's only a four-issue limited series. Honestly, it's a bit disappointing, because after this one, I want more that just one final issue. The charm of Helena Crash has slowly but surely won me over. Not that it was met with much, if any, resistance along the way. It's a good book with an interesting enough premise and a world comprised of colorful characters (both literally and metaphorically). It may be a relatively quick read, but it's a solid good time too.

Dustin Cabeal 5/3/17 Dustin Cabeal 5/3/17

Review: Project Superpowers – Hero Killers #1

By Dustin Cabeal

If you’re a fan of Ryan Browne’s strange sense of humor, then you might be a little put off by Hero Killers. Browne’s humor at times pop’s up, but overall feels throttled back. This throttled feeling essentially kills all of the jokes or makes them so safe that they’re not that funny. Which is a shame because the concept is humorous even if it take damn near the entire issue to set it up.

Daniel Vlasaty 5/3/17 Daniel Vlasaty 5/3/17

Review: The Dregs #3

By Daniel Vlasaty

The Dregs issue #3 is a bit of a change of pace from the first two issues. This one feels like a step back, like we’re slowing down to a crawl with Arnold as he continues his investigation into his friend Manny’s disappearance. As he tries to manage that and a growing Listo addiction and the onset of withdrawals. And this last thing got me thinking. The withdrawals. He’s having paranoid thoughts and hallucinations. A few things that happened in this issue seemed kind of coincidental, and what I’m wondering is how much of what’s happening in the Dregs, and also to Arnold, is actually happening at all? And, then, how much of it is just a byproduct of Arnold’s drug use and subsequent withdrawals. I don’t know; this is just me thinking out loud here.

Dustin Cabeal 5/3/17 Dustin Cabeal 5/3/17

Review: Savage Things #3

By Dustin Cabeal

I wouldn’t be surprised if the entire point of Savage Things is to introduce Vertigo readers to Justin Jordan and Ibrahim Moustafa because the point of the story is lost on me. Lost on me in the sense that it’s breaking some logic that’s being established between the two timelines.

Dustin Cabeal 5/3/17 Dustin Cabeal 5/3/17

Review: Stained #1

By Dustin Cabeal

The concept for Stained isn’t that different from a lot of other comics that have come out in recent memory. A female bounty hunter in the future, you can add the “not so distant” if that makes you feel better, but it’s just the future to me. I can think of at least two other comics that had the same core idea, but the big difference is that Stained didn’t spend an entire issue explaining why the bounty hunter was poor and the “rules” for bounty hunting. All of this is explained through believable dialogue which was refreshing to read since again, not an entire issue was spent on the fine details.

Dustin Cabeal 5/2/17 Dustin Cabeal 5/2/17

Review: Spill Zone

By Dustin Cabeal

Call me strange, but this book smells great. It’s why I’ll always be a print guy, I love the smell of ink and paper and let me tell you, Spill Zone smells great. I don't have anything else to follow that, but yeah... take it all in.

Jonathan Edwards 5/1/17 Jonathan Edwards 5/1/17

Review: Underwinter #2

By Jonathan Edwards

Hrm, this is not the second issue I expected. At first, I thought it was, and I got excited. But as I read on, the promise of a deeper exploration of the demonic forces teased previously quickly gave way to decompressed check-ins with each of the quartet's members. Okay, I thought to myself, it's just reorienting us, and then it's going really dig in. A few pages later, it was suddenly over. I was surprised, and I couldn't help but wish there had been a bit more. In that regard, you could say that this issue was something of a letdown. Although, it is still enjoyable.

Levi Remington 4/27/17 Levi Remington 4/27/17

Review: Secret Weapons #1

By Levi Remington

When I learned that Eric Heisserer, writer of Denis Villenueve's astonishing Arrival, was relaunching Valiant's Secret Weapons as a 4-issue miniseries with Raul Allen on pencils and Patricia Martin on colors, I was ecstatic. Even the previews had stricken me rabid with anticipation. I couldn't wait to see what the team would bring to the Valiant universe with their take on Amanda McKee (Livewire) and this new band of misfit psiots. Well, my dear bastards, the time has come.

Ben Boruff 4/26/17 Ben Boruff 4/26/17

Review: Ink Island

By Ben Boruff

Every so often, two or more of my interests share a glorious, usually fleeting moment. Once, I ate cheesecake as Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited flowed from tastefully small speakers that sat on a rustic coffee table next to a dog-eared copy of William Gibson's Neuromancer. Years later, I met Henry Winkler at a comic con, and he performed an amateur magic trick. And just yesterday, my cat and I played with bubble wrap.

Jonathan Edwards 4/26/17 Jonathan Edwards 4/26/17

Review: Justice League of America #5

By Jonathan Edwards

Welp, I'm back. And if you read my review for the previous issue of JLA, you'll know that means the book has, in fact, gotten worse. But funnily enough, it's not all that rage inducing this time around. It's shit, but it doesn't really feel like much of an effort is being made to convince us otherwise. It's more of a whimper than a bang as T.S. Eliot might say. That being said, shit is still shit, and I'm hard-pressed to let this alone as long as Steve Orlando continues to provide such baffling and stupid content in hopes it'll somehow justify the book's existence. So, here we go: Justice League of America #5.

Dustin Cabeal 4/26/17 Dustin Cabeal 4/26/17

Review: No World #1

By Dustin Cabeal

Like me, you may have missed the deconstruction of the individual Aspen titles sometime last year. Not to be mean, but I really didn’t care. Aspen over the past several years has been very inconsistent and shipped very little. If I’m not mistaken, we’re still waiting for the second issue of the newest Executive Assistant: Iris title, which doesn’t seem to matter now.

Dustin Cabeal 4/26/17 Dustin Cabeal 4/26/17

Review: Batman/The Shadow #1

By Dustin Cabeal

Lately, DC has been teaming up a lot of character with other companies. It’s not a bad play as it was a heavy staple of the 90s and I doubt anyone would argue that it was a business practice that sunk the industry. If anything, it was a decent practice that made comics fun so in a lot of ways, it’s nice to see it back. Now, that’s not to say that they’ve all been hits or even interesting.