Dustin Cabeal 8/1/18 Dustin Cabeal 8/1/18

Review: Speak: The Graphic Novel

By Dustin Cabeal

Never have I felt more underqualified to review a story than with Speak: The Graphic Novel. A title that leads me to believe that there’s a novel version of this story as well. I don’t know because I don’t research anything before reading it. That probably comes off as a strange thing for a reviewer to do, but its actually the best thing in the world because it’s the only way to be surprised by a story. I never read the synopsis for Speak, and I’m glad I didn’t. In fact, I would even tell you wholeheartedly not to finish this review and instead go get a copy for yourself and go in blind. It makes for a powerful reading experience.

Dustin Cabeal 8/1/18 Dustin Cabeal 8/1/18

Review: Making Friends

By Dustin Cabeal

I love it when the title of a book means one thing before you read it and something else entirely after you’ve read it. I’m sure that people who read the synopsis for Making Friends already got the double meaning, but I live in a strange little world in which I don’t. I mean like ever. In all the years of running Comic Bastards, I have actively tried not to read the synopsis of anything I’ve read. In fact, I didn’t even know about Making Friends until last week when creator Kristen Gudsnuk tweeted about it. That was all I needed to pre-order it. Anyway, maybe you’re like that too, and you’ll get the double meaning of the title after reading Making Friends, which you should totally do!

Dustin Cabeal 8/1/18 Dustin Cabeal 8/1/18

Review: Beasts of Burden: Wise Dogs and Eldritch Men #1

By Dustin Cabeal

Anytime I can return to the world of Beasts of Burden; it’s a damn good day. It’s probably going to be a sad day too because as a whole the Beasts of Burden series are heartbreaking. The brilliance of the idea is that it’s a simple witches and warlocks story, but because all the characters are animals, it plays upon peoples emotional attachment to their pets. Nearly seeing a dog die in a magic fight is ten times more moving than any death in Harry Potter. Just kidding, I know that will piss some people off, but there is an insane amount of emotion in this series, and that’s saying something considering there are no people in the story.

Dustin Cabeal 8/1/18 Dustin Cabeal 8/1/18

Review: Crowded #1

By Dustin Cabeal

The concept for Crowded has been staring us all in the face for years. I’m surprised I haven’t read a hundred comics with the idea, but then that goes to show how talented Christopher Sebela is as a storyteller. Because he pulled this idea from the collective ether and got it made.

The cover is confusing in that it seems like a buddy adventure in which one of the character isn’t taking things too seriously. It’s far more complex than that as we meet Charlie, she’s the one in grey with pink hair and those amazing shorts and thigh-high socks. Side note, I love that look. Yes, it’s a hot look, but it goes further than that in that it just screams awesome. It’s probably because of Clueless, but Charlie had my attention instantly.

Dustin Cabeal 8/1/18 Dustin Cabeal 8/1/18

Review: Tongues – Chapter 2

By Dustin Cabeal

The first chapter/issue of Tongues was weird, but in the way, I like my comics. The second issue is also weird, but for a lot of different reasons. It’s clear that the story isn’t linear now. We’re not reading the events in a straight line because parts of the story travel back to before events in the first issue. It also means that we’re starting to see a bigger picture outline for use by creator Anders Nilsen.

Dustin Cabeal 8/1/18 Dustin Cabeal 8/1/18

Review: Sink #5

By Dustin Cabeal

This review is long overdue. I wish I had read this issue a lot sooner because it is just a great conclusion to the first volume of the series. Let’s just say that I don’t regret picking Sink as my best comic of last year, it finishes strong with the fifth issue and manages to highlight all the great things about the series in the process.

Dustin Cabeal 8/1/18 Dustin Cabeal 8/1/18

Review: The Fist vol. 1

By Dustin Cabeal

I would be reminiscent not to complete my review coverage of The Fist. I only wish that I had been able to do so during its Kickstarter run which successfully funded the first volume going to print. I would also like to have gotten a copy, but hey I was late to this part of the party… or had to leave early? I don’t know; I don’t party.

Cat Wyatt 8/1/18 Cat Wyatt 8/1/18

Review: Green Lanterns #52

By Cat Wyatt

It may have only been two weeks since the last issue of Green Lanterns released, but with what has been going on lately it feels like longer. Last we saw of our Green Lantern corps was not good. The Elops were being eradicated, a Guardian had been murdered, Hal was missing, and John had been seriously wounded. On the bright side, things couldn’t possibly get any worse, right?

Cat Wyatt 7/31/18 Cat Wyatt 7/31/18

Review: Batman #52

By Cat Wyatt

Batman #52 has an interesting title, to put it lightly. You know something interesting or confusing it about to happen with a title like Batman vs. Bruce Wayne. Obviously we have a pretty good idea of what will happen, based off the events of the last issue, but still…should be interesting.

To recap quickly: Bruce Wayne is part of the jury in a trial for Mister Freeze. Mister Freeze has been accused of killing three women. It’s very important to note that Batman is the one that found the evidence indicating to the murder, and he’s also the one that brought Freeze in. He also beat the snot out of Freeze first. Seriously, it was a brutal beating.

Cat Wyatt 7/31/18 Cat Wyatt 7/31/18

Review: Scales + Scoundrels #11

By Cat Wyatt

It’s time for another issue of Scales + Scoundrels! This issue is different from the others so far, in that it focuses not on Vep, but instead on Dorma. While that makes it different, it’s still an interesting point to be seen. We’ve never really seen much of Dorma’s home life, though we know that she must be heading home to inform her family of her brother’s passing. That would make a return very difficult…

Cat Wyatt 7/31/18 Cat Wyatt 7/31/18

Review: Giant Days #41

By Cat Wyatt

It’s amazing how long this series has been running, and yet it still feels so new. In Giant Days #41 there’s no shortage of adventures that our wonderful group gets into, but that’s really no surprise, is it? This issue is pretty well balanced, on the whole, showing us issues with Daisy, Esther, and Susan equally. There are also cameos from out two guys and what they’ve been up to during this time. It’s worth noting that Susan is on the cover of this issue, and her with skulls for pupils is an absolutely fantastic and accurate image.

Press Release 7/31/18 Press Release 7/31/18

Archie Meets Spotify to Launch New Motion Comics

Press Release

Archie Comics and Spotify have teamed to adapt the publisher’s critically acclaimed and bestselling comics into a video series streaming live on the music platform. The new six episode series, live now only on Spotify, is the next part of Archie’s continued effort to expand to new audiences and story-telling mediums with its wide array of world famous characters.

Dustin Cabeal 7/31/18 Dustin Cabeal 7/31/18

Review: Animus

By Dustin Cabeal

Where has Animus been all year? Hands down this is one of the best stories I’ve read all damn year. This is also going to be one of those reviews where I don’t tell you much about it because you should just be reading it or pre-ordering it if it’s not released by the time of this review.

Dustin Cabeal 7/31/18 Dustin Cabeal 7/31/18

Review: The Nameless City: The Divided Earth

By Dustin Cabeal

The Divided Earth is a strong finish to Faith Erin Hicks’ The Nameless City trilogy. A series that has worn its influences on its sleeve while blazing its own path. I’m sure some have looked at the story and thought, “This should be an animated series!” Maybe they’re right, but this trilogy will always feel more at home in the pages of a comic.

Press Release 7/30/18 Press Release 7/30/18

DISSONANCE, VOL. 1: a fantasy drama in a sci-fi world like no other

Press Release

Designer Melita Curphy, co-writers Singgih Nugroho and Ryan Cady, and artist Sami Basri (Batgirl, WITCHBLADE) will release DISSONANCE, VOL. 1 this September from Image Comics/Top Cow.

Press Release 7/30/18 Press Release 7/30/18

ROYALBOILER: BRANDON GRAHAM’S DRAWN OUT COLLECTION arrives this October

Press Release

Brandon Graham (KING CITY, PROPHET, MULTIPLE WARHEADS) will release an in-depth artist’s retrospective collection—ROYALBOILER—this October.

Dustin Cabeal 7/30/18 Dustin Cabeal 7/30/18

Review: Sad Girl, Psycho Baby #1

By Dustin Cabeal

I’ve been a long-time follower of Dan Mendoza’s. To the point that when he launches a Kickstarter, I pay attention to it. Having been flooded with numerous requests for Kickstarter coverage over the years, I’ve grown to ignore the platform when it comes to comics, especially as big publishers have begun to abuse the platform as a pre-order type storefront. The Kickstarter for Sad Girl, Psycho Baby was particularly interesting because it seemed to have a different vibe than his Dollface Kickstarter, which was a title that instantly landed at Action Lab’s Danger Zone imprint.

Dustin Cabeal 7/30/18 Dustin Cabeal 7/30/18

Review: The City on the Other Side

By Dustin Cabeal

The City on the Other Side is difficult for me to review. I bring with me on every review of every story I’ve read. Which is and isn’t fair for everything I review. The City on the Other Side has a lot of similarities to other stories I’ve read. It pulls from a lot of fantasy elements to make a world that’s familiar. On the other side of things, pun intended, if this were someone’s first foray into fantasy stories, it would be interesting and exciting.

Press Release 7/30/18 Press Release 7/30/18

Review: The Unsound

By Dustin Cabeal

I never really intended to read The Unsound until BOOM! sent it along to me for review. It took me a long time to crack open the pages. It had nothing to do with the creative team or the publisher. Just something about it didn’t interest me. You’re probably waiting for the swerve where I say, “but boy was I wrong.” Well, it’s not coming.

Dustin Cabeal 7/30/18 Dustin Cabeal 7/30/18

Review: All Summer Long

By Dustin Cabeal

All Summer Long is not one of those slice of life, coming of age stories that anyone can pick up and enjoy. It is exclusively written for seventh and eighth graders that are entering their tween years of life. When I say exclusively, I mean it. For an adult, this book lacked a lot of emotional depth, but I didn’t hate what it was doing because somewhere, there’s a tween that’s going to read this and relate to it… not deeply or for very long, but for a fleeting moment it will resonate with them.