Interviews + Exclusives Dustin Cabeal Interviews + Exclusives Dustin Cabeal

DC’s Deal with Playtech Could be a Huge Step for the Studio as They Seek to Usurp Marvel

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is an already well-established gold mine which has pulled in mass audiences every year since the release of Iron Man in 2008. The total revenue for all 15 films so far is over $4.5 billion before considering inflation, and the model is something that other studios are desperately trying to replicate. DC have arrived late to the party with their extended universe, and Man of Steel was the studio’s first offering in 2013. There is a lot of work to be done to be able to contend with the might of Marvel and their already much-loved characters, but expanding the franchise beyond cinema is one way of attracting wider audiences.

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Comic Reviews Patrick Wolf Comic Reviews Patrick Wolf

Review: Paklis # 1

Patrick Wolf

Comprised of three short stories, Paklis uses a blend of science fiction and existentialist themes to create some pretty interesting reads. The first is a Kafkaesque narrative called “Mushroom Bodies,” while the latter two are a pair of space adventures: “Sagittarius A” and “Amnia Cycle.” From the three, “Amnia Cycle” is definitely the most promising, but whatever merits it possesses, they’re barely enough to compensate for the weirdness and brevity of its companion pieces.

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Comic Reviews Daniel Vlasaty Comic Reviews Daniel Vlasaty

Review: The Last Contract

By Daniel Vlasaty

If you’re at all familiar with my reviews then you know my usual reading leans more toward the crime fiction side of comics. So, when I saw The Last Contract come up on the review list, you know I had to jump on that thing. I remember seeing this book on the shelves when it was originally coming out, but for some reason I never started reading it. And because of this, I guess, I didn’t know anything about the book at all. I went in blind, essentially, only going off the title and the cover. There’s a car parked near a lake or a river, a body visible in the trunk. The city skyline off in the distance. There are two people standing in front of the car, at the water’s edge. One on his knees, one standing behind him. You can’t see it but you just know he’s holding a gun to the guy on the ground. It’s all dark, colored in blacks and blues. This is all I had going into the book. And I had to know more.

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Comic Reviews Jonathan Edwards Comic Reviews Jonathan Edwards

Review: Trinity - Annual #1

By Jonathan Edwards

I remember having some particular interest in Trinity when I was first looking over DC's new releases that would be launching with Rebirth. I couldn't tell you exactly why, though the promise of a book focusing specifically on the dynamics between Wonder Woman, Superman, and Batman intrigued me. I now know there had previously been an ongoing weekly book with the same name and conceit, but at the time, I was easily hooked by a novelty I somehow hadn't really ever considered. I read the first six issues before stopping, mainly because I'd managed to fall behind in my reading after around Trinity #3. I didn't really want to play that much catch-up, so I opted to just finish up the first story arc and leave it at that. I enjoyed the book enough (I even briefly considered reversing my earlier decision and checking my LCS for back issues), but ultimately I decided that treating those first six issues like something of a limited series was enough for me. And then, this annual cropped up. After some slight deliberation, I decided I might as well let it be the final say in whether or not I picked up the main book again.

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Comic Reviews Patrick Wolf Comic Reviews Patrick Wolf

Review: Liberty Deception vol. 1

Patrick Wolf

Liberty: Deception is an Orwellian sci-fi adventure that’s both fun and smart. Vengroff does an excellent job of balancing radical freedom with debilitating oppression, while at the same time keeping the reader in suspense. Anyone who’s into political drama, science fiction, and Hitchcockian twists should definitely pick up a copy. Indie comics don’t get much better than this.

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Comic Reviews Daniel Vlasaty Comic Reviews Daniel Vlasaty

Review: Spencer & Locke #2

By Daniel Vlasaty

Locke is a homicide detective that doesn’t know when to quit. Spencer is his partner. Spencer’s the voice of reason in this partnership, and that is not a good thing. For one, Spencer can’t seem to keep Locke “locked” down, and also because Spencer is not real. He’s an imaginary friend. He’s a stuffed panther. And he also gets car sick. But whatever, because the boys are hot on the trail of Sophie’s murderer and this is a case that’s bigger than what it appears to be. Nothing is as it seems and this is one case that keeps pulling Locke back into his rough and checked past.

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Comic Reviews Patrick Wolf Comic Reviews Patrick Wolf

Review: Motor Crush vol. 1

By Patrick Wolf

One of the years most acclaimed series, Motor Crush has accelerated itself to a top spot with some of the hottest titles of 2017. Now, while I find nothing grotesquely wrong with this verdict, I find myself more-and-more at a bypass with the other critics. The series is entertaining, but it's hardly doing laps around the competition.

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Comic Reviews Ben Boruff Comic Reviews Ben Boruff

Review: Captives #1

By Ben Boruff

In its eighth season, How I Met Your Mother introduced the world to The Dobler-Dahmer Theory. This theory proposes that, in the context of a potential relationship, "If both people are into each other, a big romantic gesture works, like Lloyd Dobler holding up the boombox outside Diane Court's window in Say Anything..., but if one person isn't into the other, the same gesture comes off serial-killer crazy, or Dahmer." Alexander Banchitta tests this theory, perhaps unintentionally, in Captives, his Rapunzel-esque medieval fantasy comic about a pretty girl in a tower and the host of sexually frustrated men who attempt to save her.

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