Review: Justice League of America #17

October 25, 2017

By Jonathan Edwards

“Panic in the Microverse” is finally over and thank god. I addition to the regular problems with this book, this particular arc has dragged. And, it’s no mystery why. Injecting two full issue-length flashbacks right in the middle of your story, and before the cliffhanger you previously ended on, does no favors for pacing. That’s especially true when neither of said flashbacks provide any useful or necessary information and plot progression. But, that’s the past. How is Justice League of America #17 here in the present? Well, to be honest, it’s not bad. There are still a few hiccups along the way, but the core premise of how to stop the Microverse from being destroyed is sound, and we actually get a good chunk of time dedicated to developing Ryan’s character. Not counting any of the JLA Rebirth one-shots, this might be the best issue of this series to date.

Review: The Ruff and Reddy Show #1

October 25, 2017

By Dustin Cabeal

What in the fuck is this?

I was about halfway through when I had to know who was writing this dribble and low and behold it was Howard Chaykin. Let me put it plainly; I do not enjoy Chaykin’s writing or art in the least bit. Both offend my senses, and I had the luck of seeing both this week. It was a tough pill to swallow to finish this fucking issue, but I felt compelled to for many reasons.

Review: Batman: The Merciless #1

October 25, 2017

By Dustin Cabeal

I finally figured out what’s familiar and ultimately not very good about Dark Nights Metal, and all of these tie-ins that have become redundant and predictable. Remember Marvel’s Original Sin? Remember that shit? Where they just started handing out hammers to the Marvel U, both villains and heroes and basically everyone was a Thor? There were a billion tie-ins were each jabroni takes a one-shot to get their hammer and then, “Tune in for the main title to see them use it!”

Review: The Shadow v3 #3

October 25, 2017

By Justin McCarty

The saga of Mr. Crispy continues! Issue three of The Shadow Vol 3 is out, and it takes us a little deeper into the mystery of The Shadow’s investigation into President Wyatt and his aid Worthy Delaney. So far this story started out with strong social commentary notes, but then gets a little more subtle, the story gets even more subtle with this issue. At first glance, you might think there wasn’t much in this issue. You’d be wrong and haven’t been paying attention.

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Review: Dark Ark #2

October 25, 2017

By Patrick Wolf

Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of series that start off with a bang, but then run out of steam as early as issue #2. Cullen Bunn’s second installment of Dark Ark, unfortunately, belongs to this category. While the series began with a captivating premise and an even more entrancing opening, its novelty quickly wore thin once we become accustomed to the ark’s passengers. We’ve gone from a high-concept ‘Noah’s-Ark-for-monsters’ to a mundane ‘find-the-killer-story’ within a span of one issue. Hopefully, the next installment with offer the freshness and excitement we’ve come to expect from a writer like Bunn, but for now, the franchise is teetering the fine line between genius and mediocrity.

Review: Glitterbomb: The Fame Game #2

October 25, 2017

By Ben Snyder

Glitterbomb- The Fame Game #2 picks up almost exactly after the first issue and does a great job of setting up the rest of the arc while also offering biting commentary on the nature of fame in our current society and almost perfectly capturing the psyche of a troubled teenage girl. However, its struggles in deciding on what exactly to do with its protagonist hold this issue back from greatness.

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Review: Street Angel: Superhero for a Day

October 25, 2017

By Daniel Vlasaty

I'm a recent convert to the world of Street Angel. The first time I even heard about the character was with the recently released Street Angel: After School Kung Fu Special. And I enjoyed that. So, I read everything I could get my hands on of this homeless teenage skateboard crime fighter and her adventures. I killed everything that was available online, and I bought a couple of older collections I could find. And then, this summer, Image released another hardcover story – The Street Angel Gang. And I read that one too and enjoyed it. So, what I'm trying to say is that I'm a fan of Jim Rugg's and Brian Maruca's creation and that I was also super excited to see that they had another book coming out. Unfortunately, Street Angel: Superhero for a Day kind of missed the mark for me.

Review: Descender #25

October 25, 2017

By Ben Snyder

In Descender #25, Jeff Lemire delivers a satisfying penultimate issue to the Rise of The Robots arc. While the arc has been good so far, delivering shocking character developments and an entry into the Driller Saga, in issue #25 Lemire seems to finally begin setting up an arc that feels like it’s been in the makings for a while now- Tim-21 acknowledging his Jedi/chosen one powers.

Review: Pride of the Decent Man

October 25, 2017

By Ben Boruff

The problem with this graphic novel is not that Andrew Peters is not a decent man. He is.

The problem is that I don't care.

T.J. Kirsch's Pride of the Decent Man is a 96-page graphic novel about the life of Andy Peters, a man who spent time in prison for attempting to rob a grocery store with his friend Whitey. Kirsch is a talented artist, and this graphic novel enhances his already impressive resume as a comic artist. Bold backgrounds push raw, unpretentious characters toward the reader. The comic's apt artwork, however, is weighed down by its unceremonious narrative.

Review: Audrey’s Magic Nine vol. 1

October 25, 2017

By Oliver Gerlach

Audrey’s Magic Nine is a charming all-ages fantasy adventure that’s genuinely worth checking out for anyone, adults and children alike. It’s clearly targeted at kids, but there’s a lot of excellent craft and endearing adventure in here for adults too.

Review: Deadbeat

October 19, 2017

By Justin McCarty

Deadbeat is a personal story, told on a small scale. Jed McPherson and Chris Shehan have given us a crime story with a southwest feel, told with mood and gritty style. It’s a one-shot that keeps its world small to tell a story of second chances. If you have only ever managed to make the wrong decision, you will take all the chances you can get to make the right one. That’s sort of the nature of being a screw-up. Deadbeat is everyone that wanted to do the right thing despite not knowing how.

Review: Rugrats #1

October 18, 2017

By Jonathan Edwards

This book. This fucking book. I completely missed the announcement for it, so I was surprised to see it pop up as one of this week’s releases. I also just didn’t really know how or why anyone could do a Rugrats comic in 2017. Yeah, it was a popular show (I watched it myself back in the day), but I can’t say I’ve heard anyone clamoring for a revival, let alone as a comic book. I don’t know, I could be wrong. Either way, curiosity still got the better of me, so I decided to give it a look. And boy, was it a painful experience. Rugrats #1 does not invite us back to the wholesome children’s cartoon world of yesteryear. Oh no. Instead, it evokes those rose-tinted memories and nostalgia only to stomp all over them with the unceremonious cynicism of shitty and superficial social commentary.

Review: Rashomon - A Commissioner Heigo Kobayashi Case

October 18, 2017

By Justin McCarty

From Victor Santos and Dark Horse comes a detective noir set in feudal Japan. This story has everything you need for good noir. A hard-boiled detective, a femme fatale, lies, and government corruption. Santos’ first part to Rashomon was previously published only in Spain, here we have both parts published by Dark Horse. Part one is a straight murder mystery. The second part is a murder mystery but backdropped, and part of, the forty-seven ronin story.

Review: James Bond Black Box

October 18, 2017

By Justin McCarty

Dynamite continues its revival of the James Bond mythos in comic form in this six-issue arc called Black Box. This series has had a lot of praise for its ability to tell some pretty terrific stories so far. Unfortunately, I think this was one of the weaker runs in the series. All the components are there. The Aston Martin, obligatory girl, exotic locations, an ugly megalomaniac, the gadget that saves the day, and of course there's Q -- except he is called Boothroyd in this story, as in Major Boothroyd from the first movie and the sixth novel. None of it really comes together, however.

Review: Mighty Mouse #5

October 18, 2017

By Jonathan Edwards

Well what do you know, this is the last issue of this crappy little series. I was honestly expecting it to go to at least to a sixth installment, but thank God that’s not happening. Mighty Mouse has been a consistently subpar book, and it’s only gotten worse over the last few issues, including this one. No joke, it takes all of one panel for it to dive headfirst into shoddy plot convenience masquerading as metahumor. “You can only shoot a cartoon cannon twice if it’s funny!” Joey declares. Now, the sentiment there is clear, but if you actually stop to think about it for, I don’t know, a second, it becomes clear how much of an oversimplification of old school cartoon slapstick humor that is. Furthermore, the story’s internal logic isn’t even consistent enough to take that at face value if you wanted to. Later on, Joey creates a black hole by drawing it (more on that later, trust me) and says it will “suck up everything from the cartoon universe that doesn’t belong in our world.” Someone offpanel notes that’s not how black holes work and Joey simply replies, “mine does.” So, Joey, if you can ascribe characteristics to the shit you draw, then why can’t YOUR cartoon cannon shoot more than once without any prerequisites?

Review: The Realm #2

October 18, 2017

By Patrick Wolf

Last issue of The Realm we got to see Nolan in his everyday life during the goblin apocalypse. In this issue, we still get more character development and set-up, but Seth M. Peck and his team do a great job of dispersing some action scenes to keep us on our toes. With beautiful art, captivating characters, and a spellbinding world, this series is definitely something special and worth looking at for any fan of post-apocalyptic thrillers.

Review: Sherlock Frankenstein & the Legion of Evil #1

October 18, 2017

By Daniel Vlasaty

Apparently, I am just out of the loop when it comes to new comic books. Because this book came out of nowhere for me. I love Black Hammer and I also love Leff Lemire's writing, and I especially love David Rubin's weird/beautiful art. So, right off the bat Sherlock Frankenstein & the Legion of Evil is a win-win-fucking-win book for me. But, really, when you think about it how good can a spin-off book actually be, right? Why make a spin-off at all, other than as a cash-grab? These are a few of the things I initially thought about the book before I even read it. And let me tell you, fuck all that noise. Sherlock Frankenstein & the Legion of Evil is a solid first issue, and a great book overall, as a companion piece to Black Hammer and also as its own thing entirely. Plus, the title's pretty great, too.

Review: Maestros #1

October 18, 2017

By Daniel Vlasaty

I'm pretty sure I've said this before, but I generally don't do fantasy books. They're just not my thing. I think it's because they all tend to be too heavy. To me at least, everything seems weighed down and overly descriptive, and it's mainly the language in a fantasy book/comic that I can't get into. Maestros #1 is a fantasy book. But it's also so much more. Steve Skroce has created a multi-layered book that even this self-proclaimed fantasy hater can enjoy. Ugh. That sentence was terrible and I hated writing it. But it is true. I don't like fantasy but I did enjoy the shit out of Maestros.

Review: Transdimensional #2

October 18, 2017

By Justin McCarty

Recently, I have read several great Kickstarter funded comics. The great thing about Kickstarter is it gets not just original comics made, but unique and inventive comics. Transdimensional is a sci-fi horror comic with some great elements. This issue builds successfully on those elements, and the premise of the first issue, as it takes us deeper into the mystery of the sunken Russian submarine.

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Review: Centralia 2050 vol. 1

October 18, 2017

By Patrick Wolf

The first volume of this popular webseries is finally coming to print, and you can now buy a digital copy for a low as $5 dollars. As it stands, while this series does have some minor pacing and suspense issues, it’s still a fun, sci-fi adventure that’ll keep you coming back. I’d recommend this book to any enthusiast of young adult fiction, and I’d certainly advise all preexisting fans to visit the Kickstarter page and give Michelle Stanford your support. As for anyone new to this series, you can read the first volume for free on the Tapas and topwebcomics platforms.