Kelly Gaines 5/16/18 Kelly Gaines 5/16/18

Review: Persephone

By Kelly Gaines

It’s rare to find a refreshing retelling of Greek Mythology, but Boom Studios new title has managed to circumvent the cliche pitfalls and create something unique. Persephone blends elements of the queen of the underworld’s tale into a new setting- one with its own rich history and endearing cast. The story still frames an ancient power struggle between the beings that walk the earth and the menacing creatures confined to the Underworld, but Persephone, Hades, and Demeter have a new face- and a beautifully crafted new story about magic, family, and choice.

Benjamin Snyder 5/16/18 Benjamin Snyder 5/16/18

Review: Xerxes: The Fall of The House of Darius and The Rise of Alexander #2

By Ben Snyder

Despite the disappointment I felt last month after reading Xerxes #1, I couldn’t help but feel hopeful for the follow up issue Xerxes: The Fall of the House of Darius and The Rise of Alexander #2. Unfortunately, I am left feeling as thought his series is entirely unnecessary and disappointing. Frank Miller’s script continues to be a slog due to his overused narration and reliance on Greek prayers and feels half finished. Miller’s art however takes it to another level, an extremely poor one. It all collides to create a feeling that this entire endeavor was rushed and unfinished.

Hunter Patrick 5/16/18 Hunter Patrick 5/16/18

Review: Harley Loves Joker #2

By Hunter T. Patrick

For a comic that is meant to be cartoony, this hits hard. Some themes lightly touched upon in the past installments are at full play here. This is a wonderful celebration of Harley in the time she was dating Joker. Her past, present (at the time) and future (current Harley) all appear and helps make this a must-read for Harley fans. This finishes off very strongly which is a delight after the last issue focus too much on The Grison, a weird Cheetah rip off. If she was not so physically resembling Cheetah and if her somewhat interesting origin did not weigh down the last issue, then maybe she could live on, but I struggle to see this character return, except in maybe a cameo or a one-off return then disappearance.

Cat Wyatt 5/16/18 Cat Wyatt 5/16/18

Review: Batman #47

By Cat Wyatt

Issue number 47 of Batman brings about the end to the Gift plotline (AKA the Booster Gold plot). While it was interesting, I have to say that I won’t be sad to see it go. Time to get on to bigger and better things! (Here’s hoping the wedding they’ve been building up to is both). Still, I was curious to see how they’d resolve the conundrum Booster created…

Hunter Patrick 5/16/18 Hunter Patrick 5/16/18

Review: The Brave and the Bold: Batman and Wonder Woman #4

By Hunter T. Patrick

Wonder Woman is probably one of the most overlooked characters in comics. As the greatest female superhero hands down (sorry Gwenpool) she is rarely spoken of in the same way as Batman or Superman are. The movie helped Wonder Woman in being a character who deserves the spotlight. I am guilty of always overlooking Wonder Woman, but it is hard not to when Superman and Batman have so many adaptions between them, and even Iron Man has more than Wondy. People can even name more quotes from Groot then Wonder Woman. I began to appreciate Wonder Woman thanks to her epic rebirth run, and Liam Sharp has helped tremendously for my love for Diana.

Sam King 5/16/18 Sam King 5/16/18

Review: Nuclear Winter

By Sam King

Nuclear Winter is an original graphic novel that was written by Cab, who also did the art. It is an interesting slice of life story with a twist on it, that takes place in Canada. Serious themes like the ones present in X-Men, with a mix of Chernobyl, meets a plucky heroine carrying out a routine job in really bad weather. It is fun and entertaining, without being dark, dreary, and bleak despite the radiation.

Benjamin Snyder 5/16/18 Benjamin Snyder 5/16/18

Review: The Dead Hand #2

By Ben Snyder

Once again I find myself hooked by another twist so cleverly placed at the end of The Dead Hand #2. Each chapter, I feel as if I understand the world of Mountain View and am fairly knowledgeable of its rules only for the end to upheave me. Writer Kyle Higgins, artist Stephen Mooney, and Colorist Jordie Bellaire continue to contort tropes and subvert expectations in the latest issue of The Dead Hand resulting in another standout chapter for the fledgling series.

Cat Wyatt 5/16/18 Cat Wyatt 5/16/18

Review: Death of Love #4

By Cat Wyatt

The second to last issue of Death of Love is here, and I have to admit it’s already a little bittersweet. I’ve been enjoying this series, so I’ll be sad to see it go. In the meantime, I’m going to do my very best to enjoy it while I have it! In the last issue, we saw Philo drugging his two (and possibly only) friends to prove that he wasn’t crazy (because that’s the sort of thing a sane and considerate person would do…oh wait), and well…they now understand what he’s been wailing about this whole time.

Garrett Hanneken 5/16/18 Garrett Hanneken 5/16/18

Review: Goosebumps: Download and Die! #3

By Garrett Hanneken

Goosebumps Download and Die reached its conclusion and as expected it gathers up the monsters placed throughout the story for its final issue. However, its execution resulted in a lackluster homage to the original series.

Sam King 5/16/18 Sam King 5/16/18

Review: Dodge City #3

Last issue, the Jazz Panda dodge ball team saw the return of a former teammate and a lot of drama was stirring up. This time we get more game and less emotional strife, but we see the team having good chemistry and teamwork. It is another fun issue that pushes the pacing up at a point where some adrenaline was definitely needed.

Damien Becton 5/16/18 Damien Becton 5/16/18

Review: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #82

By Damien Becton

There is definitely a lot of work that goes into making a comic book - not even an entire run, just a single issue. Sometimes there is the concern of having “too many cooks in the kitchen” for effective storytelling to take place. As I read the opening pages of the book and saw the credits, I had initial concerns of “too many cooks in the kitchen” when I noticed long series of names TMNT had attached to it. Tom Waltz and Kevin Eastman and Bob Curnow and Dave Wachter and Ronda Pattison was a mouthful. However, I’m glad to say that I was proven wrong with TMNT #82. Eastman and Waltz have been writing these characters for a long time, and it shows.

Cat Wyatt 5/16/18 Cat Wyatt 5/16/18

Review: Green Lanterns #47

By Cat Wyatt

We’re nearing the conclusion to the Ghosts of the Past plot, and man have things gotten pretty intense. Jess is trapped inside her own memories, courtesy of Singularity Jain; Simon is trying to get inside to rescue her, and the rest of the Justice League are waiting outside and probably wishing they could do more to help.

Jonathan Edwards 5/15/18 Jonathan Edwards 5/15/18

Review: Justice League: No Justice #1

By Jonathan Edwards

To be perfectly honest, I wasn’t exactly excited about this book, and that’s mainly because Scott Snyder is in the driver’s seat. Don’t get me wrong; I like him well enough as a writer. However, the Snyder-spearheaded Dark Nights: Metal only just wrapped up back in March, yet here he is with another crossover event impacting the whole of the DCU. Okay, sure, James Tynion IV and Joshua Williamson are co-writing Justice League: No Justice, but Snyder’s the one with top billing. And, regardless of the actual quality of his work, that starts to be just a little bit too much company-wide creative control for a single writer for my taste. But, despite going in feeling that way, I still quite enjoyed Justice League: No Justice #1.

Hunter Patrick 5/11/18 Hunter Patrick 5/11/18

Review: Angelic vol. 1

By Hunter T. Patrick

Never judge a book by its cover. I read this going off of how wonderful the cover was. After reading, I had one word I could not wait to type. Finally. I finally finished this godawful book. The art looks cool, and it is not the best. The story is intriguing enough. The writing was groan-inducing. The dialogue is from animals such as monkey, so you would expect monkeys to say all this, but it went overboard, and I had to endure the word ‘poop’ about twice every other page. The easy part of this review is what went wrong, so let me state what worked first.

Hunter Patrick 5/10/18 Hunter Patrick 5/10/18

Review: Proxima Centauri #1

By Hunter T. Patrick

First and foremost, this artwork is great… Okay great is an understatement, it is phenomenal. This is a book where there is no need to buy this for the writing, but just to look at all the very unique art. It looks straight out of a children’s book, but with a more mature tone. The artwork fits the story and setting perfectly with a more fantasy book with issues of childhood. I am not familiar with the creator (Farel Dalrymple), and I hope this book has the creator be more well known in the comic community after this.

Hunter Patrick 5/10/18 Hunter Patrick 5/10/18

Review: The Couch #1

By Hunter T. Patrick

The Couch is something special to me as it is my very first truly Indie comic ever read. When I came aboard Comic Bastards, this comics name kept attracting me, and I finally decided to try this title. I am very glad I did. There are several things that make this issue work, and the first is diversity. Diversity is an interesting word and in comics is controversial when looking at mainstream books. You cannot help but notice how white everyone is, and there has been a lot of times (especially in recent years) where white characters are replaced by minorities. Neither makes everyone happy as when everyone is white is was natural for the time, but not anymore, and when a white character is forced out for diversity, there is nothing natural about it. This book firmly places diversity in a natural way, not everyone is coincidently white, or coincidently not-white. It seemed like a minor background thing, and whether on purpose or not, the diversity that was included felt natural right from the first issue.

Sam King 5/10/18 Sam King 5/10/18

Review: Sheets

By Sam King

Sheets is what you get when you take a lonely girl, a dead boy, and a financially threatened laundromat, and put it all on a spin cycle. It is adorable, thought-provoking, and imaginative all at once. The artwork is clean and smooth, like freshly laundered linens. All laundry puns aside, it is a good read that has some deep themes hidden underneath a mostly domestic setting.

Sam King 5/10/18 Sam King 5/10/18

Review: Reborn vol. 1

By Sam King

Reborn takes the question of what happens after we die and turns it into a fantasy adventure full of monster killing and the promise of a better future. The artwork is top notch, and the pace is largely optimal for the story being told. This is also a complete story, beginning to end, so this volume will not leave you waiting to see what happens which is a nice plus. There are a few convenience issues, but we will get to that.

Sam King 5/10/18 Sam King 5/10/18

Review: The Gravediggers Union vol. 1

By Sam King

This story is supposedly about people who keep zombies, ghost storms, and vampires at bay, but so far I’m not feeling it. I thought the premise had a lot of potential, but the pace is dragging, and I can’t say I’m all that attached to anyone. The characters are nothing special, the art is lackluster for me overall, and I wish there were more action and less “suspense.”

Dustin Cabeal 5/9/18 Dustin Cabeal 5/9/18

Review: Sideways #4

By Dustin Cabeal

Sideways continues to be an interesting experiment from DC Comics. There are definitely chunks of the story that feel missing or changed at the drop of a hat. While it doesn’t bother me as a reader, I can see the fickle superhero reader being far less forgiving. Mostly, because Sideways breaks a lot of the superhero norms at the moment.