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Review: Cici’s Journal: The Adventures of a Writer-in-Training

March 21, 2018

By Dustin Cabeal

Once upon a time seems like a good place to start. That is who Cici’s Journal begins, and I have admittedly been staring at the screen trying to find an opening for this review. Usually, when I start a review I know the tone, be it positive or negative, I know where I stand. The only time this is a struggle is when there are numerous pluses and minuses of the work being reviewed. It leaves you trying to find a starting point because once the review gets started you trust that you’ll figure it all out. At least, that’s how I review, but I’m probably a terrible example.

Review: Batman #43

March 21, 2018

By Cat Wyatt

Batman #43 ended with a bang, so to speak. Poison Ivy has taken control of almost every human being on the planet (with the obvious exceptions of Bruce Wayne and Selena Kyle). Being that they’re two of the last people left with free will, they’re feeling somewhat compelled to try and do something to stop what is happening. During their attempts, Bruce may or may not (read: totally did) pushed Ivy a little much and taken a full Superman punch to the face. Needless to say, that didn’t go over to well.

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Review: Peter & Ernesto: A Tale of Two Sloths

March 21, 2018

By Dustin Cabeal

Peter & Ernesto is exactly what you want from an all-ages story in that it can be enjoyed by a lot of people coming from different moments in their life. For someone like myself, I read almost everything, but I’m also curating my child’s reading experience at the same time. Even though my son is only two and still a bit too young for this story, it’s one that I’m looking forward to sharing with him when he’s older.

Review: Lucy Dreaming #1

March 21, 2018

By Cat Wyatt

Lucy Dreaming is a new five-part series from BOOM! Studios that’s full of colorful art and an interesting idea come to life (literally). I’ll confess I wanted to give this series a try because Lucy with all her daydreaming and her nose stuck in oddball books reminds me quite a bit of a young me. Though I doubt that’ll be the case once she’s finished going off on all of her crazy adventures.

Review: Kill or Be Killed #17

March 21, 2018

By Ben Snyder

Each and every new chapter in Kill or Be Killed excites me and leaves me with more and more questions tat I can’t wait to get answered. Kill or Be Killed #17 is no exception as writer Ed Brubaker and artist Sean Phillips deliver another riveting entry. Chapter #17 offers some interesting revelations, and the delivery of them is brilliant if not untrustworthy, but the main success of this issue is how Brubaker toys with the idea that Dylan may not be insane despite being in an asylum.

Review: Scarlett Hart: Monster Hunter

March 21, 2018

By Dustin Cabeal

When I saw Scarlett Hart: Monster Hunter announced, my gut said I should pass on it. I didn’t because I still like to challenge myself to read things I’m not particularly drawn to or that I’ve judged without reading. Sometimes though, your gut knows you best. Because when I read the titles, looked at the cover and finished with the synopsis, my only thought was, “Sounds generic.”

Review: Death of Love #2

March 21, 2018

By Cat Wyatt

In issue #1 of Death of Love our main character, Harris, was a little on the dumb side and took a drug from a complete stranger (something I’m pretty sure our parents have been trying to teach us not to do since before we could walk…but whatever). The drug? Well apparently it can give you the ability to see cupids (cupidae?), and trust me; they do not like being seen. When we last saw Harris, he was running to the bathroom in a panic, hoping that the cupid he spotted wouldn’t shoot him with an arrow (and not the ‘make you fall in love’ type of arrow either).

Review: Descender #28

March 21, 2018

By Ben Snyder

Descender #28 succeeds for many reasons that the previous issue failed. It feels relevant to the overall story, it’s story is interesting if a bit tedious in the beginning, we finally learn what exactly a “Descender” is, and it features Dustin Nguyen’s stellar art. Descender #28 still isn’t a perfect issue as many of the pitfalls of the story are still present, but it is still a marked improvement over the previous entries.

Review: Star Scouts: The League of Lasers

March 21, 2018

By Dustin Cabeal

I wasn’t particularly a big fan of the first volume of Star Scouts. I’m always willing to give something I don’t like a second chance because with comics you never know what can happen. I have inadvertently fallen in love with a series as I continued to read it. I have also fallen out of love with a series while being excited about it.

Review: Green Lanterns #43

March 21, 2018

By Cat Wyatt

The last several issues of Green Lanterns has been focused on the superhero trafficking that’s been occurring. Issue #43 brings us the conclusion to this boy, and it is not a letdown. To recap, in the last issue Jess was surrounded by mind-controlled superheroes (she’s attempting to save them by using constructs to destroy the chips in their brains – risky), Simon is fighting the big bad, and Scrapps went ahead and found Night Pilot…sort of.

Review: Buni: Happiness Is A State of Mind

March 20, 2018

By Dustin Cabeal

Buni speaks to me on a generational level. This mostly fucked up collection of short stories follows buni, a character I only know the name of because it’s the title. Buni is relatable in that sometimes he’s delusional, other times he’s depressed, but mostly jacked up things happen around him.

Review: Floating Head #1

March 19, 2018

By Kelly Gaines

Comic anthologies might be my new thing. Floating Head #1 has fully converted me. These books are pure fun. Floating Head is for anyone who enjoys weird creatures and sci-fi misadventures. A majority of the stories managed to get at least a chuckle out of me, and a few got a full on, not library appropriate, roll of laughter. The whole anthology is worth a look, but there were a few standout stories I’d like to mention specifically.

Review: The Resurrected #1

March 19, 2018

By Thea Srinivasan

Clean, crisp and quiet. The three words that I use, to sum up, “The Resurrected” by Christian Carnouche. The tale is compacted into 24 pages and unfortunately does not give everything to be classified as a “book.” Instead, I consider this beginning to be chapter one of a potential long-standing sci-fi thriller that just makes you want to keep exploring the creator’s mind. But in any case, I’m glad the author let his imagination create an alternative future that wasn’t globally post-apocalyptic nor was entirely technologically realistic. The way Carnouche created his world reminded me of a combination between “The Fifth Element” and “Ben 10” with the use of futuristic and sci-fi elements. But I must digress in the fact that the story does live it up to the three words.

Review: Hard Wyred #1 & 2

March 16, 2018

By Thea Srinivasan

If I had to describe one movie that’s similar to this comic, I would choose The Matrix. Both of them talk about uploading someone’s mind to the internet, the belief that A.I programs can have sentience and physics-defying abilities someone can have on the internet. If you haven’t watched the movie series, I’m sorry I spoiled it for you.

Review: Copperopolis # 1

March 16, 2018

By Thea Srinivasan

If the answer to the universe’s problems was handed on a silver platter, we would probably end up in something similar to the D.C and Marvel’s universe. Like several others, I can only dream about the scientific advancements that can come to life and I end up relying on hope for any sense of discovery in different fields. It led me to wonder, what if everything relied on one source of hope?

Review: Transdimensional #2

March 14, 2018

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.

Review: Transdimensional #1

March 14, 2018

By Justin McCarty

I picked up Transdimensional having no prior knowledge of the subject. Not even the Kickstarter description. If I had, I probably would have skipped it. I am probably one of five comics fans that don't get into sci-fi horror. The Kickstarter describes the comic as being a sci-fi horror in the same family as Alien and The Abyss. I’ve seen Alien maybe (just the one - sad face from you probably), not The Abyss. I wasn’t the proper audience for this comic. However, if I was into this type of story, I could see its appeal.

Review: Batgirl and the Birds of Prey #20

March 14, 2018

By Cat Wyatt

Batgirl and the Birds of Prey #20 starts out on a more somber tone than is usual, but considering the events that occurred in the last issue, this isn’t terribly surprising. When we last saw our heroine trio they had suffered a great loss – somebody they all considered to be their friend ended up dying because of their actions (okay, well more specifically because of Batgirl’s actions). Their grief is palpable, even if they chose to process it in different ways.

Review: Demon vol. 4

March 14, 2018

By Dustin Cabeal

While the story of Demon has been an enjoyable one, as it went on there were less and less moments of humor. After the second volume, you can easily become numb to the violence and the gags, but the overall story is mapped so brilliantly that it's worth staying until the end. That and at its core there is a message to this story, and it’s quite unexpected.

Review: Suicide Squad #37

March 14, 2018

By Cat Wyatt

The last couple of issues for Suicide Squad have been focused on Hack and her quest for vengeance. This issue is no different. She still doesn’t know who killed her, or why, and she’s still ticked off about that. When we last saw Hack (along with most of the Suicide Squad team) Waller had just blown the servers, hoping it would kill Hack (and knowing it may kill the team); sounds about par for the course for her.