Dustin Cabeal 3/16/22 Dustin Cabeal 3/16/22

Review: Lackadaisy vol. 1

By Dustin Cabeal

The cover for Lackadaisy screams vibrant, colorful, exciting story inside. It was the reason I wanted to read the story. As the saying goes, don’t judge a book by it’s cover. Usually, people use that to talk about a great book with a shitty cover, but in this case it’s a great cover with a shitty book.

Dustin Cabeal 3/15/22 Dustin Cabeal 3/15/22

Review: There’s an N On Your Nose

By Dustin Cabeal

In my humble opinion children’s books can be difficult to review. The very intention of the book is to entertain children and so how does an adult objectively review such material. You could simply have a child review the book, but they’re fickle and swing back and forth on little things like using the bathroom. Usually asking them if they like something is meet with, “yes” whether it’s true or not.

Dustin Cabeal 3/14/22 Dustin Cabeal 3/14/22

Review: Bumblebee Grumblebee

By Dustin Cabeal

My first reading of Bumblebee Grumblebee was solo. There’s not too terribly much to the story making it a quick read. Initially, I wasn’t too terribly impressed. The art was interesting, but it’s just word play and rhyming which seemed almost childish in construct.

Dustin Cabeal 3/13/22 Dustin Cabeal 3/13/22

Let's Movie: Looop Lapeta

Dustin Cabeal 3/13/22 Dustin Cabeal 3/13/22

Let's Anime: Booty Tooch

https://bit.ly/LA_Booty_Tooch

We're catching up on our coverage so on today's episode we're only talking about Demon Slayer and Attack on Titan! That's right, Titan Talk is back as a segment rather than an extra episode. Hope you're caught up on both shows because we're not holding back the spoilers! Also we talk about the new Skype screen... just so you know what the fuck we're talking about in the beginning.

Support the show(https://www.buymeacoffee.com/letsanime)

Dustin Cabeal 3/13/22 Dustin Cabeal 3/13/22

Let's Movie: No Exit

https://bit.ly/LM_No_Exit

This week we dabble with a thriller. It's not typically something we'd talk about and this isn't as long as our usual episodes, but we still have plenty to say about No Exit. Like that it's a Hulu, Disney, 20th Century Fox film. Special Guest the voice of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Support the show(https://www.buymeacoffee.com/letsmovie)

Dustin Cabeal 2/25/22 Dustin Cabeal 2/25/22

Let's Anime: A Small Concussion

We've got a loaded episode for you today! We're talking Police in a Pod, My Dress Up Darling, Salaryman's Club and Love of Kill! There's more ranting than reviewing this episode. Or not!

Support the show(https://www.buymeacoffee.com/letsanime)

Dustin Cabeal 2/25/22 Dustin Cabeal 2/25/22

Let's Movie: Supercool

Jake Short is back with another movie! It's not Super Bad, it's not Super Hot... it's Supercool. A film that wants to be all of it's influences, but without the dedication it needs to be any of them. Is the boner comedy dead? Or has it evolved into Supercool?

Support the show(https://www.buymeacoffee.com/letsmovie)

Dustin Cabeal 2/24/22 Dustin Cabeal 2/24/22

Review: Batman – The Imposter

By Dustin Cabeal

If there is one thing that DC excels at in the comic book and movie realm, it’s creating interesting variations of their characters. Each iteration of Batman on film has been successful because of the tweaks and adjustments. It’s the film makers version of Batman rather than the definitive version of the character. You may be wondering why I’ve brought up the Batman/DC movies on a comic book review, well because they share many similarities with what DC has always done in the comics. Look at Frank Miller’s numerous Batman titles and just in recent years the Black Label has become a haunt of different versions of Batman.

Dustin Cabeal 2/21/22 Dustin Cabeal 2/21/22

Review: Vesper Vol. 1

When it comes to fantasy worlds, everyone is living in the shadows of Tolkien and other literary greats that managed to create deep back stories and rich worlds to tell their stories. It is incredibly hard to catch the attention of readers and fans with new worlds and characters. Often, as it is with Vesper, the author is acutely aware of the rich back story that they have created. Instead of unraveling it over the course of the story they instead blurt it out like an excited child who cannot wait to share their creation. The constant mention of the past and exposition dumps provided by each character as they are introduced becomes the biggest hindrance to the story.

Dustin Cabeal 2/20/22 Dustin Cabeal 2/20/22

Yeah… I’m thinking I’m back

When I ended Comic Bastards in 2018, I had a lot going on and while some people were acutely aware that the site was existing more as a historical record of a lot of people’s work; it was also clear that a lot of people never really paid that close of attention to the site.

Here we are four years later, and I still get emails asking for coverage on this or that. Would you be willing to interview so and so about their new project? I’ve lost track of how many email lists I’ve unsubscribed from in an attempt to gain control of my inbox and again… it’s been four years.

Dustin Cabeal 8/1/19 Dustin Cabeal 8/1/19

Comic Bastards - The End

By Dustin "King Bastard" Cabeal

Long ago when I was starting this site with my good friend Kevin Beckham, we were trying to come up with names. I was drawing a blank and figured something would come to me eventually. While standing in our kitchen in North Hollywood, Kevin came up with Comic Bastards. A name I instantly hated because I knew that anyone reading it would instantly hate us. And don’t get me started on ads! Even though I hated the name, I also fucking loved it. Because it’s fun to say. It is in my opinion, the best name for any comic book website and yes, I am horribly biased.

Dustin Cabeal 1/14/19 Dustin Cabeal 1/14/19

Best Comics of 2018

No, I have not come out of retirement. This is a limited engagement, very limited. One of my greatest pleasures of running my own site was the year-end list. I have always looked forward to it even if most publishers and very few creators ever really cared that they were on it. Sure, everyone cared if they were on the worst of list, but best of, eh. At any rate, I’m back to give you my best comics of 2018 and just like before; I’ll also be back to give you my worst comics of 2018 as well. Let me be frank, any year-end list that doesn’t have a counterpart is bullshit. Did you miss me? No, you didn’t.

Oh and I know this is late, I tried to get it done in December, but that’s just how busy life has been post-Comic Bastards. Oh well, only like five people are going to read this anyway.

I’m not doing any kind of order this year so just soak it all in from start to finish. At this point in writing, I don’t actually know how many picks I have, I’m just going to go through the list I wrote down, and that’s that.

Dustin Cabeal 1/14/19 Dustin Cabeal 1/14/19

Worst Comics of 2018

By Dustin Cabeal

Again, I’m still retired, but again, I love doing the end of the year list. I don’t actually care if anyone reads this list or the Best Comics of 2018 list, but they’ll exist for me and at this point in life that’s all I’m shooting for, writing for myself.

The worst of list has always brought its share of controversy. When I started Comic Bastards, comic fandom was at a stage in which nothing could be criticized because for some reason criticism meant the end of the medium. I’d say some people still act like that, whereas every other form of media strives through criticism, but whatever. Now though, there’s a growing number of people that shit on comics just because they’re not what they liked growing up or they have minority creators and minority characters in the book. Gasp, the world changed and left all these people behind to complain about comics. You won’t find me complaining about a comic for those reasons, these are just comics that shouldn’t be celebrated and hopefully will improve in the next year… or not which is most likely what will happen, but some people can now avoid ever reading this batch of books. Here they are in no particular order.

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

Comic Bastards Podcast - 036 - The End

By Dustin Cabeal

Click here to listen

This is it, the end of the Comic Bastards Podcast. Also, you should probably read this post: https://comicbastards.com/comics/comic-bastards-the-end

Thanks for listening and supporting the podcast and site over the past seven years!

-Dustin Cabeal
Comic Bastards

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

Review: Delilah Dirk and the Pillars of Hercules

By Dustin Cabeal

Delilah Dirk is hands down my favorite graphic novel series. I’m always a little surprised when it returns because it just seems like a publisher would throw a mountain of cash at Tony Cliff and pull him away from this story. Thankfully, either that hasn’t happened, or more than likely Mr. Cliff would rather be working on Delilah Dirk.

I will never forget the first volume of Delilah Dirk. It was incredibly powerful in its writing, but more so in its visual storytelling. Cliff makes the writing and artwork so seamlessly that it’s easy to appreciate both. The second volume had a different tone and a different journey. It was personal, but different for our main characters. It too resonated with beauty that I struggle to find anywhere else in the world of comics. Don’t get me wrong; there are so many talented illustrators out there with varying styles and amazing talents. It’s just that seeing a setting that Cliff has illustrated is like falling in love for the first time. It moves you, hell, it makes you want to move. After reading a volume of Delilah Dirk, I’m filled with the need for adventure. To make a flying ship and set out upon the world. Cliff’s artwork calls to you in a way that no other artist I’ve found does. To say he’s masterful seems like only the beginning. He’s a once in a generation talent.

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.