
Review: Rat City #1
By Dustin Cabeal
It has been a long while since I have read a Spawn comic book. I find it infinitely interesting that it is still being published monthly, probably as one of the most consistently published monthly books from Image in general but also from a founder of image. That sheer fact alone makes it an anomaly in comic books as every other creator that founded Image or has moved on from the publisher or is almost incapable of producing a monthly comic book. Eric Larsen is possibly the only other person, but even then, the irregularities of the scheduling of Savage Dragon and its spin-offs makes Spawn a standout and now in 2024. It seems Spawn is expanding its universe; it is becoming More than just Spawn and a few miniseries. I have noticed increasingly that I am seeing different titles related to Spawn, but Rat City caught my attention more than the others.
Cybernetic Spawn is not anything new to the Spawn Universe. I think it actually exists in some form in the action figures first and foremost, but it is relatively new to have an ongoing series about a cybernetic-esque Spawn. Rat City is just a catchy, grungy futuristic name. I mean, no one thinks of rats and goes, that's pleasant. Rat City gives you this futuristic Judge Dread-esque, grimy city to deal with which is a perfect fitting for Spawn and a Spawn spin-off book.

Review: Ghost Cage 001
By Dustin Cabeal
Much of what I am going to say about Ghost Cage is going to be unpopular. Artist/Co-Writer Nick Dragotta is very beloved from his successful Johnathan Hickman comics also from Image Comics. There will be a lot of people rooting for his success as he strikes out as a writer/artist, very few will offer criticism for him and Caleb Goellner to grow as creators. Such is fandom in its current form.

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.

Review: The Curse of Brimstone #2
By Garrett Hanneken
We last saw our “hero” Joe Chamberlain become engulfed in flames as he transformed into the destructive Brimstone. Picking up right after, this issue shows the aftermath of his encounter with the mysterious salesman while giving the reader a slight insight into the bigger picture. As a result, we learn more about this curse that has only just begun.

Comic Bastards Podcast - 030
By Dustin Cabeal
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030 - Plenty of love in the air on this podcast, but only because I forgot to close the window! No idea what that means, I'm just doing the obligatory acknowledgment of Valentines. I'll do the same next month for St. Drunk People's Day. I cover a lot of comics on the show today. All but two of them released today. If you don't want the advanced reviews spoiled for you, stop listening after I talk about Sideways. I would give you an exact time, but then I'd have to listen to the show, and I'm not going to do that!
Comic Books covered in this episode:
- Death of Love #1
- Ghost Money #7
- Giants #3
- Judas #3
- Ninjak #4
- Sideways #1
Advanced Reviews:
- Oblivion Song #1
- The Beef #1

Review: Fantomah #4
By Kelly Gaines
To begin honestly, I was drawn to the Fantomah title because I recognized the name from Jon Morris’ The League of Regrettable Superheroes. Regrettable superhero is not a nomenclature any writer wants attached to their character, but If you’ve been following The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, you’ll notice another “regrettable” character (Madame Satan) has made quite the come back in her modern incarnation. So with Madame Satan’s blessing, I was eager to see how her fellow regrettable was faring in her current title.

Review: Swamp Thing Winter Special #1
By James Anders II
In my lifelong love of the comic book medium, Swamp Thing has been one of my favorites. Ever since I picked up an issue of Saga of the Swamp Thing in the early 80s, I have forever been transfixed on the character and the series through all of the ups and downs of the story. I’ve been there for the good (Alan Moore, Rick Veitch, Nancy A. Collins, Brian K. Vaughn, Scott Snyder, Charles Soule). I’ve been through the bad (Andy Diggle, Joshua Dysart). I’ve been through the “meh” (Grant Morrison, Mark Millar, pre-fallout). And I’ve been through the ugly (Doug Wheeler, God bless him). Through it all, I have seen in Swampy the story of a man, a monster, life, death, and rebirth. Like the changes of the seasons, the Swamp Thing character has had periods of great life and growth, decline, and regrowth. It has all been very fitting for a character whose very essence is that of nature.

Comic Bastards Podcast - 029
By Dustin Cabeal
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029 - I've got a manga filled episode for you this week. Don't worry I still cover two books releasing this week, but let's be honest it's just "that" week in the month in which nothing looks that damn interesting. Rely on your go-to's this week.
Manga, Graphic Novels and Comic Books covered on this episode:
- Fire Punch vol. 1
- RWBY vol. 1
- Food Wars! vol. 20
- Creative Struggle
- VS #1
- Armstrong and the Vault of Spirits #1

Review: Raven - Daughter of Darkness #1
By Kelly Gaines
The half human, half demon teenage superhero of the DC universe has gotten herself into another sticky situation. Raven- Daughter of Darkness #1, picks up where 2016’s Raven left off, with the deeply troubled Teen Titan trying for fit into ordinary suburbia and make a life with her devout Catholic aunt’s family. Being a demon in a church group is the least of Raven’s worries. In her efforts to prevent evil forces from taking hold of the innocent, Raven meets a young superhuman (well, more of a super being at this point - there’s no confirmation that she’s human yet) whose extraordinary powers have attracted the attention of government agents. Raven finds herself caught in the crossfire of a rescue mission gone bad, and comes face to face with another super-powered teenager with a murky moral history and a strong affinity for wearing hoods.

Comic Bastards Podcast - 027
By Dustin Cabeal
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027 - I saved this one for a little later in the day because I kind of go off on a comic. It's story time as I open up a little about my life, but it's definitely not what you think. It's about cats. My cats. You enjoy that. On the comic side, it's quick and dirty this week so check it out!
Comic Books covered in this episode:
- Doomsday Clock #3
- The Wild Storm #11
- Gears of War #1
- Umami #3
- The Three Rooms in Valerie's Head

Comic Bastards Podcast - 026
By Dustin Cabeal
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025 - This week on the show it's all about the first issues again. Yeah, there were just too many first issues to ignore and not enough returning crap that I read. There's also a manga pick so enjoy that one person who listens and likes both comics and manga. You know who you are, I don't, but you do.
Titles covered in this episode:
- James Bond: The Body #1
- Damage #1
- Go West #1
- Belle #1
- Ice Cream Man #1
- Children of the Whales vol. 1

Comic Bastards Podcast - 025
By Dustin Cabeal
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025 - Whoo! Made it to 25, that counts right? Hey, a big sorry for being gone for a few weeks, I'm sure you understand, and it doesn't seem like anyone was having a holiday breakdown without the show. I'm back now, here's some comic book stuff... fuck, just remembered the other comic I was going to talk about. Oh well, next week, next week.
Comic Books covered on this, the 25th episode of Comic Bastards Podcast:
- Head Games
- Batman: Creature of the Night #2
- Giants #2
- Koshchei: The Deathless #1
- Nightwing: The New Order #5
- Stabbity Bunny #1

The Best and Worst of 2017 - The Complete List
By Dustin Cabeal
If for some reason you don't like how a website works and didn't want to click on all the individual articles, well too bad! I didn't do all that other work for you not to click on shit. This is just a shortcut list to click on all the good and the bad from the year 2017. Thank you for another year of support, and we'll see you all the way through 2018!

5 Questions About 5x5 Fest
By Dustin Cabeal
Ghost City Comics is presenting another contest on their site and this time it's called 5x5 Fest. Essentially you have five days to make five pages of a comic and will be given a prop, setting and a line of dialogue to include in your comic. Judges will pick the winners and I will be reviewing the winners. Exciting right?! Keeping with the theme of "5" I asked Michael Ruiz-Unger and Tucker Tota about 5x5 Fest.

State of the Union – Comic Bastards 2017
By Dustin Cabeal
I’ll save you the long version of how Comic Bastards got its start; I believe I ran through that last year in a similar post. The short version is that I was younger, not by much, but I had a lot more time, or at least I slept less. I was also hungry, hungry to give my opinion about every little thing related to comics.
Comics, comic book movies, trailers, fan trailers, Kickstarters, IndieGoGos and anything that you can and have nerded out on.
I wanted to cover it all.

Comic Bastards Podcast - 024
By Dustin Cabeal
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024 - On this week's show I talk about nothing, other than comics that is because it's a comic podcast. Duh! I have nothing to write here, but there needs to be something... did you know that in Dragon Ball Z they wished for Android 18 to have a vagina? Look it up, but you might want to word it differently. That has nothing to do with the rest of the show.

Review: Punchline #1-3
By Dustin Cabeal
If there’s one thing I’ve written over and over in reviews, it’s that I don’t care for indie superhero stories. Lately though, at least this year, I have found several titles that I have in fact liked. I will have to retire that old statement. It may not be a genre I seek out in the indie world, but damn, some of these creators are delivering while the big companies continue to deliver the same old shit.

Comic Bastards Podcast - 022
By Dustin Cabeal
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022 - Welcome back to the show, I'm ahead of the releases this week so be forewarned that you could hear details about books you can't read yet. That may or may not save you some cash. I cover a lot this week, from indies to big ass titles so sit back and give it a listen.
Comic Books covered in this episode:
- Giantkiller #0
- Gung Ho (One-Shot)
- Heavy Vinyl (former Hi-Fi Fight Club) #4
- Hack/Slash Ressurection #2
- Detropia #1
- Malefic #1
- Batman: Creature of the Night #1

Comic Bastards Podcast - 021
By Dustin Cabeal
Click here to listen to the episode!
021 - This week's show is brief, like your undies. I'm going to cover four comics and only four comics, but three of them are new to the show, but not necessarily new... okay two of them are. Again, if you don't want to hear me spew about first issues then leave a comment and also, thank you for listening to the show!
Comics covered in this episode:
- God Complex #2
- Nightwing: New World Order #4
- Imaginary Fiends #1
- Doomsday Clock #1 (Link)

Comic Bastards Podcast - 014
By Dustin Cabeal
Click here to listen to the show!
Thank you for coming back this week. Due to time restraints, I couldn't get this podcast completed before comic book day, but here is for those of you that wait until payday or didn't check out the reviews on the site already. There's a lot of good stuff this week to make up for last week's stinkers!
Comic covered on this episode:
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