Dustin Cabeal 8/31/17 Dustin Cabeal 8/31/17

Review: I’m Not Here

By Dustin Cabeal

To be honest and upfront, I’m not sure I understood this comic book. That’s not something that’s fun to write because any reviewer hopes that they “got” the material so that they can review it properly. The thing with I’m Not Here is that it’s very abstract. It relies on the reader to make their own guesses and assumptions.

Dustin Cabeal 8/30/17 Dustin Cabeal 8/30/17

Review: Rose #6

By Dustin Cabeal

Cameron Davis’ Rose is an interesting comic in the modern industry. It looks like classic Archie and sounds like Family Circus. Your level of enjoyment with Rose will greatly depend on your feelings towards both franchises

Oliver Gerlach 8/30/17 Oliver Gerlach 8/30/17

Review: Super Robot Mayhem #1

By Oliver Gerlach

Issue #2 Now on Kickstarter

Super Robot Mayhem seems to be half way between Pacific Rim and Alien, and if that isn’t a pitch that at least sounds fun to you then I’m not convinced you have any sense of adventure. It’s a story of sinister alien histories and giant smashy robots and, although there isn’t a lot of robot mayhem in this first issue, there’s a lot to like in here.

Jonathan Edwards 8/30/17 Jonathan Edwards 8/30/17

Review: Justice League of America #13

By Jonathan Edwards

Let's hit the ground running with this review; after finally straightening itself out so that its greatest sin was just being boring last issue, Justice League of America immediately missteps right back into the world of excessive, clunky exposition and underdeveloped concepts. I wish I could say I'm surprised, but I'm really not. I figure me not being surprised by that is itself not that surprising to anyone who's read at least one or two of my prior JLA reviews. But come on, no shit that wasn't Ray Palmer at the end of the previous issue, and now you're going to start off with multiple pages of exposition, completely forced and contrived conflict between Ryan, Lobo, and Killer Frost, and then you're going to cut away back to Black Canary and Ray fighting Afterthought? Well, at least that last bit was the only cutaway in the whole issue, and it's actually managing to build a slight amount of intrigue. However, the fact remains that it takes until a third of the way into this issue for the main plot to actually start progressing again. But even once it does, more exposition bogs it down, and then the issue is over without much else happening.

Jonathan Edwards 8/30/17 Jonathan Edwards 8/30/17

Review: Go Go Power Rangers #2

By Jonathan Edwards

Despite having reviewed a smattering of Power Rangers-related comics, and continuing to do so with this one, I still wouldn't really call myself a fan of the franchise. As a kid I did watch several of the series, and I really liked the toys, but I don't think I ever specifically cared about the characters or the circumstances they found themselves in. I liked the Red Ranger because he was red, and red was my favorite color, not because of who was under the mask. And honestly, I think that probably just carried over into my adult life. I like the core concept, but I have no attachment to any given Rangers, villains, story arcs, or what have you. If there was an exception it'd be Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie and maybe, just maybe, Turbo: A Power Rangers Movie too. But even then, those spots were nowhere near soft enough to make me care for a second about the reboot Power Rangers film that came out earlier this year. I've heard good things from a friend or two of mine, but I see nothing other than one big boring CG-fest. Also, the new suits suck, but I digress. If at this point you're wondering why then I'm reviewing this book, I have an answer for you: Dan Mora. If you happened to have read my review for Klaus and the Witch of Winter and/or the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers 2017 Annual, you know what that means. If you didn't, put simply, I love his artwork. Like, a lot. So when this series was announced with Mora on art duties, I immediately planned to pick it up. And after reading and quite enjoying the first issue, here I am to review the second.

Dustin Cabeal 8/30/17 Dustin Cabeal 8/30/17

Review: James Bond: Moneypenny #1

By Dustin Cabeal

When I saw that Dynamite was only giving Moneypenny one issue, I was instantly disappointed. I’m a fan of the new Moneypenny and so reading her back story intrigued me a lot, but a one-shot pretty much assured that it would be a big hit or a miss. It’s, unfortunately, a miss for me.

Dustin Cabeal 8/30/17 Dustin Cabeal 8/30/17

Review: Bombshells United #1

By Dustin Cabeal

Having never read any of the Bombshell titles and only enjoying the T-Shirts, I had no expectations going into this series. Frankly, I was curious because of the different little universes that DC’s been able to make, maintain and build a fan base. Injustice has always had rave reviews from readers and critics and Bombshells must be doing something to have gotten to thirty plus issues on the main series and warranted a spin off.

Daniel Vlasaty 8/30/17 Daniel Vlasaty 8/30/17

Review: Crosswind #3

By Daniel Vlasaty

I don’t have much of an opinion on the genre of body swapping stories. I’ve seen some movies. I’ve read some things. But I’ve just never really given it much thought. I think because it’s too simplistic of a thing. You have two people, and they’re either miserable or bad or mad or sad or whatever, and then something magical or mystical happens that swaps their mind with someone else’s. And then there’s a period of time where they try to figure out what happened. Why they’ve been swapped. Or whatever. And ultimately they’ll learn that in order to switch back they will have to learn a lesson. They’ll learn that maybe they don’t have it so bad. Or maybe it’s not so easy to be someone else. They’ll learn that they’re smart and good and I don’t know. Whatever you get where I’m going with this. Probably. Maybe. Anyway. This is my review of Crosswinds #3. A body swapping, mobster/suburban step-mom romp.

Oliver Gerlach 8/30/17 Oliver Gerlach 8/30/17

Review: Mitch Hammer #1

By Oliver Gerlach

Mitch Hammer #1 is described by its writer as “silly fun with a splash of Nextwave, flaunting its girth in the manner of Shirtless Bear Fighter.” That’s not an entirely inaccurate description. Contained within this issue is a great deal of silly fun, clearly influenced by titles such as the two mentioned. Obviously it’s not Nextwave, because Nextwave is unique and special, but it shares a similar sense of fun and a similar use of wild balls-to-the-wall action for pure entertainment value. It’s the story of a construction worker fighting mad science at a local community college, and is exactly as serious as you might expect: not remotely.

Daniel Vlasaty 8/30/17 Daniel Vlasaty 8/30/17

Review: Ringside #11

By Daniel Vlasaty

I just want to be completely honest here and say I don’t like wrestling. I’ve never liked it, not even in the 90s when literally everyone liked it. I never saw the appeal of it. It just seemed so ridiculously dramatic and very clearly fake. But everyone knew it was fake and pretended it wasn’t. Or they didn’t care. I have no fucking idea. It just wasn’t my thing, I guess. And I think this is the reason why I never read a single issue of Ringside before last night. This is a review of issue #11 but I didn’t want to go in completely blind so before reading this new issue, I also read the first 10 issues.

Jonathan Edwards 8/25/17 Jonathan Edwards 8/25/17

Review: Generation Gone #2

By Jonathan Edwards

At first I didn't want to review this one. However, it probably wasn't for the reason you'd initially think. I liked the first issue of Generation Gone well enough that I kind of wanted to keep my reading of the book casual. That way, I could take my time with each issue and not have to immediately jump into the critical thinking. Of course, that would've also likely meant I'd quickly fall behind in my reading of it (I'm already behind on a number of books I'm already reading casually). And since there really wasn't all that much else coming out this week that I felt the desire to review, I decided I might as well just go ahead and do Generation Gone #2. And, you know what? I'm glad I did. Because, now I'm interested in talking about this one.

Dustin Cabeal 8/25/17 Dustin Cabeal 8/25/17

Review: Sink #3

By Dustin Cabeal

Fear not, there’s a review for the second issue of Sink coming, but as the creator and writer John Lees informed me, each issue of Sink is standalone. It’s all tied together in the same world, but they’re standalone stories depicting different dark aspects of this one hellish town. I will say this, don’t get in the van. The comic will tell you to get in the van but don’t you fucking dare. No one wants to get into that thing.

Dustin Cabeal 8/25/17 Dustin Cabeal 8/25/17

Review: Corrsolla Robot #3

By Dustin Cabeal

I’m a shit for this review. I have been sitting on this issue for so long that it’s ridiculous, but I wanted to get a review done because it’s indie and I enjoy the series.

Dustin Cabeal 8/25/17 Dustin Cabeal 8/25/17

Review: Black Hand, Iron Head #2

By Dustin Cabeal

Well, I’m way late to the party, but I’m still reviewing the second issue of Black Hand, Iron Head. This story is interesting. The second issue was a lot goofier than the first issue, and so I don’t quite understand the tone of the series. I liked the tone of this comic though, and I find it interesting the pairing of the sisters.

Oliver Gerlach 8/25/17 Oliver Gerlach 8/25/17

Review: Dark Beach #1-2

By Oliver Gerlach

Dark Beach is a crime story set in a future with no sun at all. It’s a neat hook that both fits very well with the genre trappings of the murder investigation and opens up for some clever and interesting world building. This is one of those proper crime noir comics that is full to bursting with a sense of place and atmosphere, and it’s an added bonus that the sci-fi concept behind it is such an enjoyable one.

Dustin Cabeal 8/25/17 Dustin Cabeal 8/25/17

Review: Look

By Dustin Cabeal

Look is a story about a robot named Artie trying to find purpose in life. Like all of us. His job is to survey the desert, and he does that job, but he doesn’t know why. He’s followed around by a buzzard named Owen, who is his friend and yet also his biggest problem to deal with at times. One day the head bots decide that Artie needs to have his memory wiped and he’s not a fan of that and breaks his programming. From there, he and Owen set off on an adventure of uncharted territory.

Dustin Cabeal 8/25/17 Dustin Cabeal 8/25/17

Review: Destiny, NY vol. 1

By Dustin Cabeal

When I read the concept for this graphic novel, I had a feeling I would enjoy it. The concept is that magic is a part of our world and people are given destinies of greatness, a little like a magical girl receiving her calling and having to fight some great evil. Right there you have me because magic girl. The thing is, it’s not the thing that I ended up liking about this book. Instead, it was the complex relationships and diversity of characters.

Dustin Cabeal 8/25/17 Dustin Cabeal 8/25/17

Review: Killbox: Chicago #1

By Dustin Cabeal

Ever have an advanced review turn into a late review? No probably not, but when you run a small site and have a handful of people helping you out, it, unfortunately, happens more often than not. I read Killbox: Chicago #1 a month ago, maybe more and just never sat down to review it. I review a lot each week, this week is probably my record for reviews, but there was something holding me back from reviewing this issue.

Jonathan Edwards 8/23/17 Jonathan Edwards 8/23/17

Review: Plastic #5

By Jonathan Edwards

Y'know as much as I've loved every issue of Plastic, I'm glad it's ending here at #5. A big part of what makes this book so damn engrossing is the uniquely skewed perspectives of Edwyn and the narrative itself. As such, one of the biggest problems we could encounter as readers would be getting used to those perspectives. So, ending it before that has a chance to happen is the way to go. That being said, is the ending actually any good? Is it a predictable conclusion? Or, does it do something unexpected yet inevitable? Well to be honest, the answer to all three of those questions is "yes." At first, I was almost a little disappointed in how quickly and even perhaps uneventfully things seemed to be wrapping up. And then, right before the end, something happened. It's simultaneously the type of thing I never expected for a second that this book would do and the final defining reinforcement of who Edwyn really is. But, that's all I'm going to say about it. Because, there's no way I'm going to even come close to spoiling that moment.

Dustin Cabeal 8/23/17 Dustin Cabeal 8/23/17

Review: War-Mother #1

By Dustin Cabeal

War-Mother... is just a weird combination of words to say together. Also, and I know this is shitty to bag on first, but that Mack cover isn’t good. The image is fine, but the font and everything else is at this point dated. The dude’s artwork hasn’t evolved, and so seeing this cover was like seeing a left over Daredevil cover from the heydays of Marvel’s rebound in comics.