Welcome to the Comic Bastards end of the year list. Similar to our group reviews, each of the participating writers will be giving their picks for their best and also worst comics of 2017. Without further ado, here are our #5 picks for Best of 2017.
Read MoreReview: DC Holiday Special 2017 #1
By Jonathan Edwards
It’s December, so that means ‘tis the season for holiday specials like this one, and ‘tis the season for starting reviews off with the phrase “’tis the season.” In the wake of Rebirth last year, I was looking forward to DC’s DC Rebirth Holiday Special #1. It seemed like a great way to celebrate the season and the overall success of the relaunch. Unfortunately, if my LCS had gotten any copies (I didn’t ask, but I’m sure they did), they’d sold out of them before I got there. This was also before I started reviewing for Comic Bastards (if only barely), so I didn’t have access to any review copies. Oh well, I told myself, and I figured it maybe wouldn’t have turned out to be that good of a read anyway. In retrospect, that seems like an unnecessarily sour attitude to take during the most wonderful time of the year. And, the best way I can think of to make up for that is to take an optimistic look at DC Holiday Special 2017 #1.
Read MoreReview: Foundmi – Series 2
By Dustin Cabeal
Foundmi is an interesting product. One that really depends on your way of life and the necessity of such a device. It’s a small Bluetooth enable product the size of a keychain, which is perfect because that’s one of the intended places for it to be attached.
Read MoreReview: Deathstroke #18
By Dustin Cabeal
The Twilight storyline concludes, and this will likely be the third trade in this Deathstroke series. It will also be the one I recommend the most to people. I truly believe that you don’t even need to read the other issues to enjoy this storyline. It’s just that damn good and Priest does an amazing job of recapping the rest of the storyline through the dialogue. For instance, the Red Lion shows back up and gives Rose a new suit to tell her, “thank you” for her actions that led to him getting back his country. Even though it tells you which issues it happened in, the information is there already, and it felt natural to the story.
Read MoreReview: Deathstroke #17
By Dustin Cabeal
All good things must come to an end; such is the case for Deathstroke and Power Girl, the strangest duo to hang out in the DCU in quite a long while. This issue of Deathstroke is a reminder for those reading that Slade is a piece of shit, he’s not to be loved or idolized. He is a villain, even if he occasionally does nice things. Just remember, Slade is a piece of shit, but it’s okay to love him.
Read MoreReview: Deathstroke #16
By Dustin Cabeal
Goddamnit, I’m back again for Deathstroke. One day I’ll take a break from these reviews just to catch a breath from my perspective, but as long as Power Girl is in this series, I’m there. Speaking of which, this was almost a very different review because of something that happened in the issue. It was almost a, “How dare you” type of review. Not really, but I would have been very sad.
Read MoreReview: Deathstroke #15
By Dustin Cabeal
I know, I know… I said I wouldn’t be back to review this issue, that I was just going to enjoy the series and not force myself to review it every time. Then Priest went and added Power Girl. A character so underutilized in DC that until this issue I couldn’t name two books she’s been in before now. I may end up picking up Teen Titans if she’s in that, but I will be harshly comparing the characterization.
Read MoreReview: Deathstroke #14
By Dustin Cabeal
This fucking book. I say that in the nicest possible way. If you had asked me two or even five years ago, if Deathstroke would ever be this good, I would have laughed and probably said something about DC not having the balls to make a good Deathstroke title. Well apparently, someone has the balls or ovaries, I don’t pay attention to who edits this book.
Read MoreReview: Deathstroke #13
By Dustin Cabeal
Ah, cover interaction. Remember when that was special? And then Marvel had five covers every week with it, and DC was soon to follow? Well since I gave up reading Marvel and DC until recently, it’s now become special again! Maybe it’s just the fact that I like this book and the kick looks like collateral damage, like a lamp being knocked off in a fight.
Read MoreComic Bastards Podcast - 003
Hopefully, you're getting used to the bi-weekly schedule we have going for the new Comic Bastards Podcast. We're continuing to deliver a different type of show and with that comes an all review episode. We have a lot to talk about and we hope you'll listen and enjoy.
Read MoreReview: Deathstroke #12
By Dustin Cabeal
Hands down Deathstroke is DC’s best title. I say that with no remorse for the rest of their line because if the rest of their line were half as good as Deathstroke, I would be an avid reader. As it stands, Deathstroke is a title I rush to read and let me tell you, that hasn’t happened for a very long time. Especially with a DC comic.
Read MoreReview: Deathstroke #11
By Dustin Cabeal
If you had told me that Deathstroke was taking on the gun violence issues of Chicago, well I probably would have skipped this issue. It’s a good thing I read comics, not solicits.
Read MoreBest of 2016: Deathstroke
Find out why DC Comics’ Deathstroke made our “Best of 2016” list!
Read MoreReview: DC Comics 11/23/16 – There Can Be Only One
By Dustin Cabeal
We get a ton of DC books, and due to a thinning of the ranks, a lot of them have gone un-reviewed for weeks. Not that I particularly care, but to amuse myself I read all of their releases this week and shit… it was a lot more than I was expecting.
Read MoreReview: Deathstroke #1
This issue essentially picks up right where the last issue left us. This issue progressed the story of the Clock King further. We find him holding a prisoner; the prisoner is one of the men that hired Deathstroke to kill the Clock King. There are a lot of threats and talk between the Clock King and the prisoner in regards to how he shouldn’t have tried to hire someone to kill him. Throw in a half-naked fight flashback between Deathstroke and his ex-wife along with some pretty stellar action scenes and you’ve got yourself a solid comic. The flashback was interesting because it wasn’t Deathstroke’s flashback, it was one of his longtime friend’s flashbacks because he walked in on them as they were finishing their crazy fight, sex party. This flashback did give us a sense of who exactly Deathstroke's wife was. She was the one that trained him to become an assassin; she was, in fact, kicking his butt pretty good in the fight scenes. His ex-wife is clearly jealous that he gets to go out and fight while she is stuck at home doing laundry and other chores.
Confronting the Clock King is no easy task because he is on a delay essentially, so any image you see of him is a hologram because it is in the past. Given Deathstroke's abilities and top notch fighting skills, he can stop the Clock King in this issue, but it is hard to say if this is the last we will see of the Clock King. I think there are many more opportunities to use him even if just for flashback purposes to give us more ideas as to how Slade became the world's most deadly assassin.
Overall, Priest does an excellent job; his writing is good quality, fast paced, detailed enough without becoming overwhelming to the reader. The story progression from the first one-shot issue was pretty solid. Details that were a little cloudy were cleared up a bit more, such as the Clock King's plan and his real power. This isn’t by any means the best writing ever, but I enjoyed it, and Priest gives you just the right amount of story to satisfy the reader by the end of the issue. There was excellent usage of the pages, giving flashbacks leading into more background for certain characters, possibly even hinting at a new assassin joining the game, Slade's ex-wife.
As the same from the last issue, the art has been excellent. Fantastic character details and the environments are clean, and you can clearly tell where the character is. The movement of characters is captured very well, especially in the half-naked fight scene. Overall this was a good read, might be worth the three dollar price tag, but honestly could probably go down to two dollars. If you are a fan of Slade Wilson as Deathstroke, then definitely pick this issue up. I think the creative team behind this series is doing Slade justice and giving the readers a well-paced, action-packed comic series that can compete with being some of the better writing out of the other DC Rebirth titles.
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Deathstroke #1 Writer: Priest Artist: Carlo Pagulayan, Jason Paz, Jeromy Cox Publisher: DC Entertainment Price: $2.99 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital
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Review: Deathstroke: Rebirth #1
Coming off one of my favorite comic runs by the previous Team Deathstroke, Christopher Priest, Jason Paz, and Carlo Pagulayan had a tall order with Deathstroke: Rebirth. Thankfully, the Terminator looks to be in capable hands. Rebirth establishes Deathstroke as a hardass and as usual, his family life is shown to be less than ideal. The more things change, right? The story uses flashbacks to establish a bit of Slade's relationship with his children, while present day, Deathstroke is on a mission to assassinate a classic villain. This villain is also under protection from the locals… who have hired Slade. Yeah, no honor among thieves. This changes though, when the assassination target gives Slade information about an old friend.
The writing is very dry. Slade doesn’t mince words, but there is a dry wit about his character that is worthy of a few chuckles. This book isn’t really going for that though. This feels like a very personal piece for Slade, as opposed to last time. World building was the big set up with Bonny, Tyler, and Daniels. This feels more about building up Slade as a person and as Deathstroke the Terminator.
This is only a prologue so there are some questions left, but there are key members of Slade's supporting cast shown so that’s always promising. These include Grant Wilson and Billy Wintergreen, who was absent from the previous run, and will hopefully stick around.
As far as the art goes, I’ll admit, I was on the fence. I remember seeing concept art for what Slade and Rose would look like and I wasn’t too keen on them. Paglayan and Paz really made those designs work. Likewise, their take on Slade in action was very well done. Poetry in motion would not be untrue to say of Slade, and the art
At the end of the day, this book is off to a solid start. The art and the story look like they’ll be very engaging going forward and if you’re looking to learn more about the man behind the mask, this looks like the book for you.
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Deathstroke: Rebirth #1 Writer: Christopher Priest Artist: Carlo Pagulayan, Jason Paz Publisher: DC Comics Price: $2.99 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital
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