Review: Justice League of America/Doom Patrol #1

February 14, 2018

By Kelly Gaines

Justice League/ Doom Patrol #1 is the first chapter of the Milk Wars event; an event promised to be the “weirdest” thing that has ever happened to the DC universe. If you were a fan of My Chemical Romance in the early 2000’s, you now have something else to thank Gerard Way for. I’ve read interviews with Way over and over trying to piece together how it is that a rockstar walked into the DC office and said “hey, can I do whatever I want?” and was pretty much told “sure, go nuts.” I’ve decided I don’t care how it happened, I’m just extremely grateful that it did. This is something Way has said he’s wanted to do his whole life- becoming a rockstar was getting sidetracked. I don’t know what god you have to pray to for ‘rockstar’ to be the job you fall into while you’re working towards your dreams, but take me to that church.

Review: Ninja-K #4

February 14, 2018

By Dustin Cabeal

I’m sure for some they’re probably tired of reading the backstories of former Ninjas, but I for one wish we had already gone through the alphabet once with this story. This issue is all about Ninja-G, and her story has similarities to the other Ninjas, but her race and gender make her story different.

Review: Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #38

February 14, 2018

By Cat Wyatt

This was an interesting issue, to say the least. We start off with both Hal and Kyle awfully beat and bloody, trapped in a jail cell on Planet Jekuul, now home to Zod (and his family, of course). Kyle appears to be worse off than Hal, though that could also have something to do with Hal’s physiology for all we know.

Review: Realms of the Void

February 12, 2018

By Cat Wyatt

Realms of the Void is a new graphic novel that’s currently still in the works. It’s a creative science fiction story, written and drawn by Santiago R. Villa, an impressive feat to say the least. The whole story takes place in space – frequently out in ships or out in the vacuum itself, rather than on any planets. This was an interesting choice, and one that I found appealing.

Review: P M Buchan's Hangover

February 12, 2018

By Kelly Gaines

Comics like P M Buchan’s Hangover are everything that’s fun about picking up a title with no expectations, and I’m dead serious when I say I went in with NO expectations. I picked the book for a ridiculous and very me reason: I was hungover. I looked at the title and thought ‘Now here’s a book that understands me.’ Was P M Buchan’s Hangover about being hungover? No. Am I happy I read it? Absolutely. If this is what this man's hangovers are like, we need to drink together. Hangover is not one storyline, but an anthology of strange, disturbing, and darkly hilarious short comics. It’s the funny pages for anyone interested in cannibalism, Satan, and things that go bump in the night. I wouldn’t judge anyone who reads it based on that take away alone- shine on you crazy fucking diamonds. This review would go on for pages if I went story by story and talked about my likes and dislikes, so I’m going to try something new in my review structure.

Review: The Big Sheep: A Farm Noir

February 12, 2018

By Cat Wyatt

The Big Sheep is a farm noir, and by that I mean it’s a noir story involving anthropomorphized farm animals and a mystery (because it wouldn’t be a noir without a little mystery, now would it?). Our main character, Slow Spade, is unsurprisingly a turtle; he’s also a private investigator though the times have been a little been a little rough on him lately.

Review: Zen Pencils - Creative Struggle

February 8, 2018

By Dustin Cabeal

There is no better way to describe Creative Struggle than to use the tagline. If I did that though, this would be an incredibly short review. Creative Struggle is a book of illustrations that take quotes, biographies, interviews and anything else that a famous creative person may have said and put them together.

Review: Asylum vol. 1: New Born

February 7, 2018

By Cat Wyatt

What immediately drew my attention to Asylum was the stunning cover. Have you ever taken a moment to browse through art history covers? I have, and this one immediately reminded me of a painting in the Romanticism Art Movement. Which is something I’ve never really seen applied to a graphic novel cover before. It’s hard to pass something so unique up, to say the least.

Review: Any One Of Us #2

February 7, 2018

By Thea Srinivasan

Adrestia has come back into the picture with even more action and an extra dose of humanity ironically enough. But I cannot go any further with this review without a warning. For anyone who has not read the first comic, please do not read this review. This is your only spoiler warning for this review. Turn back now if you DON’T want spoilers. Also, this particular issue will contain very triggering, graphic content in terms of murder, rape, and PTSD. For these reasons, I highly do not recommend this particular comic for anyone who cannot handle such macabre content

Review: Fantomah #4

February 7, 2018

By Kelly Gaines

To begin honestly, I was drawn to the Fantomah title because I recognized the name from Jon Morris’ The League of Regrettable Superheroes. Regrettable superhero is not a nomenclature any writer wants attached to their character, but If you’ve been following The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, you’ll notice another “regrettable” character (Madame Satan) has made quite the come back in her modern incarnation. So with Madame Satan’s blessing, I was eager to see how her fellow regrettable was faring in her current title.

Review: Not Alone

February 7, 2018

By Cat Wyatt

Not Alone is a really interesting new series. I actually had to sit down and think for a while before writing my review for it. It both is and isn’t a story; which sounds strange, but bear with me. It all starts out in the middle of a story, and it ends in the middle too (though I suspect there will be another volume, so that isn’t exactly true). That means the focus is more on the characters than on what is happening around them.

Review: The Mercenary #1

February 7, 2018

By Thea Srinivasan

Although this comic was written over several years ago, its charm and beautiful scenery, art, and logic to the world makes it worth so much in the present. I will have to give a viewer discretion for this particular comic as features naked women and violence. This is my only warning for a viewer’s discretion before I go on.

Review: Swamp Thing Winter Special #1

February 7, 2018

By James Anders II

In my lifelong love of the comic book medium, Swamp Thing has been one of my favorites. Ever since I picked up an issue of Saga of the Swamp Thing in the early 80s, I have forever been transfixed on the character and the series through all of the ups and downs of the story. I’ve been there for the good (Alan Moore, Rick Veitch, Nancy A. Collins, Brian K. Vaughn, Scott Snyder, Charles Soule). I’ve been through the bad (Andy Diggle, Joshua Dysart). I’ve been through the “meh” (Grant Morrison, Mark Millar, pre-fallout). And I’ve been through the ugly (Doug Wheeler, God bless him). Through it all, I have seen in Swampy the story of a man, a monster, life, death, and rebirth. Like the changes of the seasons, the Swamp Thing character has had periods of great life and growth, decline, and regrowth. It has all been very fitting for a character whose very essence is that of nature.

Review: Solar Flare - Season 1: Fort Myers

February 7, 2018

By Cat Wyatt

Solar Flare is described as the Walking Dead, but with science (and without zombies, but given the title that’s probably obvious). It’s a dystopian graphic novel, bordering on the post-apocalyptic side (sounds all doom and gloom, I know). It ponders the question; what would happen to the human race if we suddenly lost access to all forms of power and electricity? Could we survive without our precious electronics? Or would society collapse?

Review: Mindbender #1-5

February 7, 2018

By Cat Wyatt

Do you ever wonder how you’d handle everything in your life changing, in the blink of an eye? Alex doesn’t have to wonder, he’s already been there. He’s the main character in a new series, Mindbender, by Scout Comics, and it’s safe to say that he’s had more than his fair share of trauma.

Review: Niourl

February 7, 2018

By Ben Snyder

Niourk would be hard to describe to anyone. It starts off extremely simple, telling the tale of seemingly Stone Age tribe outcast and his struggles to get back home; but then it becomes so much more and expansive. In theory, this seems great, but too often Niourk seemed to meander and waste time, leading up to an ending that can seem out of nowhere and uninspired. There are also some characters that are underdeveloped and themes that once again seem ungrounded. But Niourk isn’t entirely bad, as the first chapters of the book offer an interesting take on a familiar story and the art can be gruesome and exceptionally cool.

Review: Harley Quinn #37

February 7, 2018

By Cat Wyatt

After the ending of the last issue, I was concerned about where Harley was going to go next, and what was going to end up happening. As it turns out, I had a right to be concerned. Running away from home and running late-night ads for your vigilante business (paid, of course) does not strike me as something an emotionally stable person would do. But then again, we’re talking about Harley here.

Review: No. 1 With a Bullet #4

February 7, 2018

By Cat Wyatt

No. 1 With a Bullet #4 starts out in a surprising manner; with Jad Davies admitting to the other board members of the business that he did, in fact, sleep with Nash and film her without her knowledge (or consent). Now, admitting this to two guys in a locked office is completely different from admitting it on the news, but it’s a start, right?

Review: Green Lanterns #40

February 7, 2018

By Cat Wyatt

Our Green Lanterns have been busy – busier than usual actually. Clearly something is going on, the question is, what? A tropical storm is the most recent event requiring multiple heroes to step up and help to save the day (man, wouldn’t it be wonderful to have heroes during natural disasters?). Several notable heroes are in the backgrounds of these scenes, such as Powergirl and Supergirl, as well as some less known heroes like Bulleteer (yes, you read that right).

Review: Batman: White Knight #5

February 7, 2018

By Ben Snyder

Batman: White Knight #5 continues the story of a seemingly reformed Joker and how the rest of Gotham copes and deals with it. Sean Murphy has been in fine form throughout this mini-series, and issue #5 is no exception. Murphy is able to straddle a fine line with showing the mental stability of the various characters in this series and his art offers a unique spin on an already well mapped out city. But perhaps the greatest asset to this series so far has nothing to do with Murphy’s writing or art, but with the legacy of a character like the Joker. Mainly, we still don’t know how this is going to all shake out.