Dustin Cabeal 2/28/18 Dustin Cabeal 2/28/18

Review: Betrothed #1

By Dustin Cabeal

What a surprisingly charming comic. I giggled. Like actually giggled when I read the first six pages. That might not sound like much of a compliment, but laughing is easy. Making some giggle, well that takes charm.

Betrothed is a fantasy story set in high school. It’s roots feel grounded in manga in that we have a chosen boy and a chosen girl that need to save the future of their races. The catch, the charm, is that they have no fucking clue. They meet for the first time in high school, and when the guy touches the girl on the shoulder to get directions, she turns instantly violent. Through their narration and efforts of their friends, we learn that they were both filled with bloodlust upon that touch, but then also something more. I won’t tell you the rest of the scene, but it was a pleasant and fitting surprise.

Cat Wyatt 2/28/18 Cat Wyatt 2/28/18

Review: Motor Crush #10

By Cat Wyatt

With a dramatic cover like the one accompanying issue #10, it’s going to be hard to resist reading this one. Motor Crush #10 starts off with Sullivan Swift (Dom’s father) in a ghastly situation (which maaaay be putting it a bit mildly since I’m pretty sure he’s about to be tortured). The real question is, does Dom know that her father is in danger, and more importantly, does she even know where to find him?

Cat Wyatt 2/28/18 Cat Wyatt 2/28/18

Review: Batman Beyond #17

By Cat Wyatt

Ever since the last issue of Batman Beyond released, I’ve pretty much been chomping at the bit for this one to come out. We left off with our hero fighting for his life against Stalker. Which is actually worse than it sounds, as there had previously been an understanding between Batman and Stalker. Additionally, Stalker knows Batman’s real identity, which could prove to be the even bigger threat in this fight.

Cat Wyatt 2/28/18 Cat Wyatt 2/28/18

Review: Twisted Romance #4

By Cat Wyatt

It’s time for the fourth and final issue of Twisted Romance. I’ll admit I’m sad to see it go, but all things must come to an end, right? In this issue we once again are gifted with three stories, Treasured is the first story (also the one shown on the cover), followed by Unbound (the text story for the issue), and finally, Legacies finishes off the series.

Cat Wyatt 2/28/18 Cat Wyatt 2/28/18

Review: Batgirl #20

By Cat Wyatt

In Batgirl #19 we last saw Burnside suffering from a sudden and unexpected snow storm (courtesy of a hacked weather app). If that wasn’t odd enough, that fact combined with Penguin being…kind and helpful was certainly enough to get Batgirl’s attention. Issue #20 concludes the story that’s already begun.

Cat Wyatt 2/28/18 Cat Wyatt 2/28/18

Review: Rat Queens v2 #8

By Cat Wyatt

Issue #8 of the Rat Queens doesn’t waste any time, throwing us right into the thick of things. The opening scene is that of Hannah and Sawyer Silver on a ship facing towards what has to be the gloomiest island I’ve ever seen. That combined with Sawyer’s statement of ‘this is the end,’ and I’m more than a little concerned about what is happening to Hannah, and worried about where the rest of the Queens are.

Kelly Gaines 2/28/18 Kelly Gaines 2/28/18

Review: Raven: Daughter of Darkness #2

By Kelly Gaines

*Obligatory spoiler warning, which I apologize for not including more often*

Raven: Daughter of Darkness #2 is an in-depth look at a half demon’s crash course in empathy. Raven, current alias Rachel, is splitting her time between typical high school and telepathic superhero business. We left off with Raven coming face to face with a superhuman creature. The girl, who Raven calls Azure, is able to conjure horrifying illusions straight out of her enemy's nightmares; a power that currently leaves Raven in a tight spot. Raven is unable to tell if she’s the hunter or hunted but remains as determined as ever to help Azure- if helping her is possible at all.

Cat Wyatt 2/28/18 Cat Wyatt 2/28/18

Review: Lumberjanes #47

By Cat Wyatt

Do you think the Lumberjanes will ever get tired of their explorations and adventures? We saw in the last issue that they’re capable of getting scared (not that I blame them, ’The Voice’ is super creepy). Beyond that, I’m not sure these girls are capable of slowing down. When we last saw our campers back in issue #46, they were back in their cabins, but there’s a hitch (isn’t there always for this group?); while they had given up on their quest, their newly acquired friend did not.

Cat Wyatt 2/28/18 Cat Wyatt 2/28/18

Review: The Silencer #2

By Cat Wyatt

To recap, the Silencer is a new DC series about a woman named Honor (ironic, I know) who is a retired assassin. In the last issue, we were introduced to her quiet home life, which was then rudely interrupted when her ex-organization’s enemy decided to try and go after her again. The second issue continues showing us the fallout from those actions and events.

Benjamin Snyder 2/28/18 Benjamin Snyder 2/28/18

Review: Days of Hate #2

By Ben Snyder

Days of Hate #2 picks up with Amanda Parker and her partner on the run and Parker’s ex-lover Huan Xing picking up the case on their heels. While this issue doesn’t necessarily advance the plot further, it does provide the quiet character moments that were lacking from the first issue. So far writer Aleš Kot and artist Danijel Žeželj adhere to a traditionally successful formula. Days of Hate #1 makes us care about the world and Days of Hate #2 makes us care about the characters involved.

Cat Wyatt 2/28/18 Cat Wyatt 2/28/18

Review: Wonder Woman #41

By Cat Wyatt

In Wonder Woman #40 we saw a lot of events occur, along with the defeat of Silver Swan, we saw something happen to Jason, Darkseid making a move, and Steve unintentionally getting in the way of said move. Issue #41 picks up all those loose threads and continues to weave them together.

In the last issue, we saw Darkseid’s Female Furies (love the alliteration there) take on Steve and his crew in an attempt to gain access to the relic inside the Topkapi Palace. His team won (go Steve!), and they even managed to capture two of the furies while they were at it. Darkseid is very displeased with their failure, a fact he’s currently making clear.

Benjamin Snyder 2/28/18 Benjamin Snyder 2/28/18

Review: Abbott #2

By Ben Snyder

Abbott #2 does enough to meet the lofty expectations set by its introductory issue by introducing a wide variety of interesting characters and leaning more into the supernatural elements of the story and still maintaining it’s detective story roots. Writer Saladin Ahmed and artist Sami Kivelä experiment enough in this issue to stretch out their roots and reach for the even higher heights in future issues. However, I do have some hesitations that the story may go down the traditional “Chosen One” story path that we have seen time and time again.

Cat Wyatt 2/28/18 Cat Wyatt 2/28/18

Review: Suicide Squad #36

By Cat Wyatt

You’ll probably remember that in issue #35 of Suicide Squad it was revealed that Hack was back (I didn’t mean to rhyme there, I swear), but not quite in the flesh. She remembers that she was murdered, but not knowing who did it she’s decided to take out her anger and frustration on all of Belle Reve, Waller, and the Task Force X; which leads us to issue #36, which picks up her witch hunt where it left off.

Jonathan Edwards 2/28/18 Jonathan Edwards 2/28/18

Review: The Beef #1

By Jonathan Edwards

With a title like The Beef and a cover featuring the subtitles “tainted love” and “a biochemical romance,” I went into this first issue expecting a story along the lines of Image’s Plastic from last year. And, since Plastic was the best thing I read from Image last year, I was pretty stoked at the idea of a similarly nontraditional love story, this time utilizing an inverse metaphor and theme (that is to say, about meat rather than, well, plastic). Of course, that was a pretty big conclusion to jump to, so it’s not all that surprising that it turned out to be an inaccurate one as well. Yet, that by itself isn’t the most disappointing thing about The Beef #1. Instead, it’s the story’s utterly familiar setup and stark lack of any meaningful variation that turns this issue into one big missed opportunity.

Cat Wyatt 2/28/18 Cat Wyatt 2/28/18

Review: Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps #39

By Cat Wyatt

In the last issue of Hal Jordan and the Green Lantern Corps we saw Kyle safely back on Mogo, but obviously, Hal is still in quite a bit of danger. Granted, he’s probably doing better with the situation than a lot of people would be (even other Green Lanterns), but it still isn’t an ideal place to be. I’ll admit I’ve been a bit worried about our hero.

With Kyle gone to rally the troops (because this is the Green Lantern Corps we’re talking about, there’s no way they’ll abandon Hal to die), Hal is left alone to deal with Zod and his creepy family. Thankfully Zod seems more than willing to give a monologue or two, giving us a better idea of his plan.

Dustin Cabeal 2/28/18 Dustin Cabeal 2/28/18

Review: Deathbed #1

By Dustin Cabeal

I don’t particularly like it when reviews spout off comic history or such nonsense like, “Vertigo was Image before Image was.” I get it though; we look for ways to simplify and boil things down to their core. Which is why I will say that Deathbed is the most Image feeling Vertigo comic I have ever read.

Cat Wyatt 2/28/18 Cat Wyatt 2/28/18

Review: Motherlands #2

By Cat Wyatt

Motherlands #2 wastes no time reminding us just how scummy dear old mother (aka Scarlet Sylph) really is. By all appearances, she’s happily soaking in all the attention of being the mother of a known criminal – and by also being one of the bounty hunters going after him. It’s no wonder Tab didn’t want to have to ask her mother for help.

Dustin Cabeal 2/26/18 Dustin Cabeal 2/26/18

Review: Dagashi Kashi 2 E.04

By Dustin Cabeal

Here I was worried that with the shortened episodes there wouldn’t be as much time for character development. This episode is full of heart. I still lean towards the second episode as my favorite of the season thus far, but this one is really close behind. Hell, upon a second viewing it might actually beat out the second episode, but I’m not going to go back and forth right now.

Erika Suarez 2/26/18 Erika Suarez 2/26/18

Review: DARLING in the FRANXX E.04

By Erika Suarez

Episode 4 finally picks up the pace with an accelerating and showy performance. After Zero-two is ordered to save Ichigo’s team once again, Hiro joins her while they rebel against all orders from the APE team.

Dustin Cabeal 2/26/18 Dustin Cabeal 2/26/18

Review: Killing Bites E.04

By Dustin Cabeal

After a steady flow of reviews for this series, I needed a break. Something about this fourth episode just killed any and all motivation I had going. Possibly because the series continues to have zero logic. I don’t mean real world logic either. That doesn’t need to exist in fantasy-based stories, but the world presented should have a logic to it. Rules if you will, but this show barely establishes the normal before shitting all over it. Each episode seems to follow the same rhythm in which the norm of this underground world is established and then Rattle gets to break all the rules in some attempt to show how different and special she is in this world.