Dustin Cabeal 4/26/17 Dustin Cabeal 4/26/17

Review: Batman/The Shadow #1

By Dustin Cabeal

Lately, DC has been teaming up a lot of character with other companies. It’s not a bad play as it was a heavy staple of the 90s and I doubt anyone would argue that it was a business practice that sunk the industry. If anything, it was a decent practice that made comics fun so in a lot of ways, it’s nice to see it back. Now, that’s not to say that they’ve all been hits or even interesting.

Dustin Cabeal 4/26/17 Dustin Cabeal 4/26/17

Review: Leash Baby Kung-Fu #2

By Dustin Cabeal

Full disclosure I know the writer of this book Erik McAlister. He used to write for Comic Bastards and wrote many fair and balanced reviews for the site. That said, I will do the same for him as I take a crack at Leash Baby Kung-Fu #2. I will fully admit that the first issue wasn’t my cup a tea. It was a solid book and extremely consistent from beginning to end.

Daniel Vlasaty 4/26/17 Daniel Vlasaty 4/26/17

Review: Loose Ends #4

By Daniel Vlasaty

This is it, my friends. This is the end. The final issue of Loose Ends. If you’ve read any of my previous reviews for this series, you know how much I’ve been enjoying this series. So how does issue #4 stack up in relation to the previous three issues, but also to other books in the same genre? Does it pay off? Does it deliver on all the things it promised throughout the series? Read on for my review of Loose Ends #4.

Ashley Gibbs 4/26/17 Ashley Gibbs 4/26/17

Review: Grimm Fairy Tales #5

By Ashley Gibbs

Fairy tales are something I personally grew up with, be it in book form or told through visual media. I do admit I’m new to this particular comic series but I have seen it before in stores and wondered what it was all about, Grimm Fairy Tales #5 gave me that chance. Despite it being the fifth issue, I jumped in completely blind. Good news is that I didn’t feel too lost, sure I could tell there was a history with the characters and story being told but I was given enough basic information to follow along and enjoy the story. Evil pixies from Neverland have invaded the human world and it’s up to barely-dressed wonder women to save the day, so this issue is filled with plenty of action and adventure.

Dustin Cabeal 4/26/17 Dustin Cabeal 4/26/17

Review: Dollface #4

By Dustin Cabeal

Dollface #4 is a pretty straightforward issue as it wraps up the conclusion of the first arc. Unfortunately, there’s nothing too surprising about it. As we saw in the last issue, Janey was plotting to kill them all, to begin with, and so they throw down once again. No backstory business, nothing.

Dustin Cabeal 4/26/17 Dustin Cabeal 4/26/17

Review: X-O Manowar v2 #2

By Dustin Cabeal

I need to go back and find out how Aric lost his damn hand and when the suit started going by its name and talking because Matt Kindt’s dialogue and characterization for these two is great. It’s vastly different from what Robert Venditti was doing with the character, but in a way continues the natural progression of the character. It’s not one of those hard shifts in comics that make you miss the previous creative team, but rather appreciate them more for getting the story to where it is now. It is my great hope that Matt Kindt will be given a solid 50 issues of X-O before he hands it off to someone else that understands the character as well as he and Venditti have.

Levi Remington 4/26/17 Levi Remington 4/26/17

Review: Batgirl #10

By Levi Remington

In the penultimate issue of Batgirl's 'Son of Penguin' arc, the Penguin plays ping-pong and Babs is bombarded with incriminating Dick pics (I'm referring to Nightwing, you perverted bastards), which causes Ethan, the overly-attached son of Penguin, to completely freak. Meanwhile, corrupt minds behind powerful technologies are putting privacy at risk for the citizens of Burnside, and Batgirl learns what happens when you give in to the allure of the mysterious bad boy. Read ahead for my thoughts on this week's issue, and the series as a whole, while I cry and double-fist some ice cream and vodka.

Dustin Cabeal 4/26/17 Dustin Cabeal 4/26/17

Review: Blackhand Ironhead #1

By Dustin Cabeal

As anyone that reads comics knows, Panel Syndicate is a “Pay What You Want” platform from Brian K. Vaughan and Marcos Martin. They’ve done two series themselves, a one-shot and added another creator to their lineup. The platform has worked for them, though I have no idea how well it worked for the series that wasn’t by them.

Daniel Vlasaty 4/26/17 Daniel Vlasaty 4/26/17

Review: Street Angel: After School Kung Fu Special

By Daniel Vlasaty

When I was in eighth grade I “dated” a girl named Katie. While I was reading Street Angel: After School Kung Fu Special the first thing I thought about was Katie. Which is kind of weird, considering I haven’t thought about her in like 17 years. The reason I thought about her was because she reminded me a lot of the main character, Jesse Sanchez, minus all the kung fu. Although Katie did get into a lot of fights that year we “dated.” Like Jesse Sanchez, Katie was a bad girl. And I don’t mean like “oh, damn, she bad.” I mean like she was just straight up bad. Criminal bad. Like, I remember one time this other girl looked at her wrong, I guess, and Katie threw a chair at her, right in the middle of class. It was funny at the time, but now looking back it was kind of just crazy, really. Or the time she threw a sandwich at the back of Mr. Boswell’s head in the lunchroom. Anyway, I had no idea what to expect when I started reading this book, and here I am now thinking about a girl I “dated” when I was like 14 that I now realize I was really just afraid of. I don’t know, I feel kind of weird now. Thanks Jim Rugg and Brian Maruca.

Dustin Cabeal 4/26/17 Dustin Cabeal 4/26/17

Review: Night Owl Society #1

By Dustin Cabeal

Well, I’ll say this about Night Owl Society, it’s extremely different from the vast majority of titles that IDW publishes. It also seems like their stab at getting their own Breakfast Club-esc story that’s primed and ready for the CW. Also, just because it’s different from what they usually publish, doesn’t mean it’s instantly better.

Dustin Cabeal 4/25/17 Dustin Cabeal 4/25/17

Review: Black Clover vol. 6

By Dustin Cabeal

Well, I’ve put off reviewing this for far too long, and some of my initial excitement has been lost to time, which is a shame because whatever I would have originally written would have been filled with joy. Probably for the best, but I will say that if I were going to do a wrestling chant for this volume, it would be “Holy Shit, Holy Shit, Holy Shit” and so on and so on until my voice gave out.

Dustin Cabeal 4/25/17 Dustin Cabeal 4/25/17

Review: Spider Man 1,000 Dot-to-Dot Book

By Dustin Cabeal

Unlike my regular reviews, I've decided to do this one as a video since it's the best way to cover something like a dot-to-dot aka, heavy on the visuals. After introducing the book, I tried out a time lapse video, and I will fully admit that you stare at the back of my head for far too much of it in the beginning. I underestimated the camera placement and just how on top of the paper I would need to be to see the small numbers. It gets better about half way through and don't worry it's not that long. The ending is just a reveal of the page I completed and my final thoughts on the product. I'm not going to score it because it seems silly when this is really a product you'll be interested in or you won't.

Dustin Cabeal 4/25/17 Dustin Cabeal 4/25/17

Review: Real Friends

By Dustin Cabeal

Real Friends is probably the best title you can come up for this story, but unfortunately, it has very little to do with real friends. Maybe more in line with finding real friends or even figuring out who to spot real friends, but then you’d never be able to find the title for the story. My point is, don’t think that you’re going to read a happy story about “real friends” finding each other and going on great adventures. Not that this story isn’t happy, but it’s a lot like life in that everything comes in waves.

Press Release 4/24/17 Press Release 4/24/17

Preview: Bloodshot Salvation #1

Valiant is proud to present your first look inside BLOODSHOT SALVATION #1 – the FIRST ISSUE of the BLOCKBUSTER NEW ONGOING SERIES from New York Times best-selling writer Jeff Lemire (BLOODSHOT REBORN, Moon Knight) and extraordinary artists Lewis LaRosa (BLOODSHOT REBORN, SAVAGE) & Mico Suayan (BLOODSHOT REBORN)! On September 27th, to protect his true love and newborn daughter from the forces that made him a walking weapon, Valiant’s machine-made soldier will be forced to run his most dangerous mission yet…and begin a harrowing gauntlet of revenge and bloodshed that will forever redefine the course of Bloodshot’s present and future…

Press Release 4/24/17 Press Release 4/24/17

Dark Horse Announces "The Dark North"

Dark Horse and Charles Wood Publishing AB are excited to terrify more readers with The Dark North! Originally crowdfunded for publication in 2016, this illustrated prose-art book fusion features five unique tales ranging from Norse mythology to apocalyptic science fiction to fantasy.

Dustin Cabeal 4/24/17 Dustin Cabeal 4/24/17

Review: My Hero Academia E.015-017

By Dustin Cabeal

If you’ve listened to our anime podcast Super S – Anime Podcast or read any of my past anime or manga reviews for My Hero Academia, then you know that I’m not hyped on this anime. It came just after One-Punch Man, and so the expectation was that it would be handled with the same level of care as OPM. It wasn’t. The first season was not brilliant and frankly dragged in all the wrong places, while rushing its way to the ending.

Dustin Cabeal 4/24/17 Dustin Cabeal 4/24/17

Review: My Hero Academia vol. 8

By Dustin Cabeal

My Hero Academia is a strange creature. On a personal level, I enjoy this story and prefer the manga to the anime. It’s a very interesting take on the superhero genre, and it’s surprising that it’s not more popular with American comic readers as it fits the market perfectly. The strange thing about this story is that I don’t rush to read it like I do so many others. Perhaps it’s a slump right now where it’s missing that spark of interest, but while I read it and enjoy it, I’m not craving it.

Dustin Cabeal 4/24/17 Dustin Cabeal 4/24/17

Review: Attack on Titan E.029

By Dustin Cabeal

Admittedly, I’ve fallen behind on reviewing this show. I still haven’t quite figured out what day it releases because I’m just watching it on Hulu. Fuck I wish they were getting more simulcast titles now that I’ve gone commercial free. Anyway, I would have bunched a few of the episodes together for review, the 27th episode was character driven, and the last episode just had too much going on. I will probably just talk about it on the podcast and call it a day.

Dustin Cabeal 4/24/17 Dustin Cabeal 4/24/17

Review: Busou Shoujo Machiavellianism E.03

By Dustin Cabeal

This show… I don’t even know if it’s really trying to be believable and yet, I can’t stop watching it. The premise, again for those who forgot, is about a school dominated by girls that discipline delinquents that arrive at their gates. Boys, in particular, are treated like scum because let’s be honest, they’re scum. This made the formation of the Five Swords. A group of girls that rule over the school and are allowed to carry actual swords and are masters of their different sword styles.

Dustin Cabeal 4/24/17 Dustin Cabeal 4/24/17

Review: Tsuki ga Kirei E.01

By Shanel Kamara

Tsuki ga Kirei is a very distinct romance series in that both protagonists become aware of each other simultaneously. Often in traditional romance series, the male character or female character – depending on the demographic – becomes interested first, before the subject of their affection reciprocates or rejects their feelings. It is very rare in romance series for the protagonists to have mutual feelings at the beginning and it is usually at least halfway or near the end of the series when the characters admit that they have feelings for each other. Typically, romance series conclude with the main characters becoming a couple or entering a close relationship.