REVIEW: Bad Mother #1, a well-made start for a pulp adventure

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By Jacob Cordas — Pulp stories are deceptively simple. They are stories that when summarized sound like so many other things we’ve seen before: a hard boiled detective needs to solve the mystery that is too close for comfort, a woman gets revenge on the men who wronged her, a monster attacks a city whose citizens must bond together to stop it. But when reduced down to this, it ignores the beauty of pulp. The familiarity is not a negative but a benefit. Knowing the beats makes each detail stand out so much more strongly. The voice of the author(s) comes through louder and clearer in all the ways they are able to play with these prepackaged toys.

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REVIEW: Hedra One-Shot by Jesse Lonergan

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By Larry Jorash — Experimental is the only way to describe what Jesse Lonergan has done with the new Hedra one-shot, published by Image Comics. What we have here is a somewhat unorthodox 48-page contained comic story about space travel and nuclear holocaust. This book is void of dialogue, yet still finds a way to communicate its message, theme, and story in expert fashion. The color palette is minimalist and comforting to the eyes, and multiple reads of this book with its incredibly simple story evoke thoughts of a fine wine — rich in flavor with a thought-provoking aftertaste.

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REVIEW: Chu #1, a triumphant return to the world of CHEW

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By Gabe Gonzalez — On June 3, 2009, a 60-issue culinarily-enhanced detective noir was born from the minds of John Layman and Rob Guillory in the form of Chew. If you’re unfamiliar with the comic, the original Chew series was about an FDA agent named Tony Chu who had a special ability…he was a cibopath, meaning he could gather psychic impressions from the things he consumed.

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REVIEW: Futurism invades Die #12

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By Keigen Rea — After reading Die #12 for the second time, I opened ComiXology and downloaded the rest of the series to reread. Partly it was that I had completely lost the plot, between pandemic brain and not reading the second arc upon completion, and also the delays, when I should have done what I normally do and reread the arc in whole.

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REVIEW: Family Tree #7 deepens the mystery

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By Benjamin Morin — Once again, the creative team behind Family Tree knocks it out of the park. With Family Tree #7, writer Jeff Lemire begins to tie all the various narrative threads together from previous entries. The three main threads of Grampa Judd’s escape, Meg’s concurrent transformation, and Josh’s future struggle are woven together through Josh’s unique perspective. This is an action-packed issue that grabs readers from page one and does not let go.

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REVIEW: Ludocrats #3 is a sequential narrative driven (at least partially) by pelvic thrusts

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By Keigen Rea — Any attempt at reviewing or critiquing Ludocrats feels like it’s missing the point entirely. Yet, missing the point is not in itself a defiance of Ludocratic principles, as there can be whimsy and intent in missing the point, and may even have more Ludocraticity than trying too hard to understand something. If one does not understand a thing, can one review or critique it?

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Faithless II #2 from BOOM! - REVIEW

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By Jacob Cordas — There’s a small detail I keep coming back to in Faithless II #2. Near the midpoint of the comic, our protagonist, Faith, has journeyed to Turin with her agent. Her agent reveals Louis, her mentor and possible devil, hasn’t come with them. He can’t fly. Instead he is taking a “slow boat from ‘Gina.” When Faith asks if Louis is afraid to fly, her agent says, “What else does can’t mean?”

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Money Shot #6 - Vault Comics REVIEW

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By Jacob Cordas — I’m unsurprisingly a fan of anime. I didn’t get into till I was an adult though so a lot of the conventions I never developed the same fondness (or maybe tolerance for?) that most of my friends have. And almost nothing in anime frustrates me more than a filler episode.

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Something is Killing the Children #8 - REVIEW

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Keigen Rea — This issue feels like it was made for me, so it almost feels unfair that I get to review it. Liking it as much as I do very nearly breaks my normal critical process because I’m not sure I have any tangible criticism other than *excited noise* but, well, *excited noise*

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Adventureman #2 - REVIEW

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By Jacob Cordas — Genre fiction is often a trip into disappointment. While I have a deep seated affection for the swashbuckling and screams that make up this world, so much of the time the classics are filled with toxicity that you need to tune out to enjoy the pieces. Modern examples often attempt to avoid these issues by acting like that past toxicity doesn’t exist (i.e. 2003’s Pirates of the Caribbean). Occasionally we’ll get an attempt at modernization, that wants to engage with those elements of the source material but struggles under the weight of the seemingly incompatible goals (i.e. 2016’s Tarzan).

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REVIEW: The Plot #5 is a top-tier horror comic

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By Gabe Gonzalez — As a big fan of gothic horror and comics, I am always ecstatic when something is released that can satisfy both of those loves at the same time. When The Plot was announced by Vault Comics, I was excited…one of the best new publishers was putting out a book that seemed aimed at my exact tastes without me even asking. Boy, was I correct. Every issue of The Plot is better than the last, crafting a sinister story that keeps an everlasting hold on readers throughout each and every panel. The Plot is a story with such fantastic writing and art that it simply can’t be beat by anything else horror-centric on the shelves, and The Plot #5 continues the brilliance of the book.

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REVIEW: All-America Comix One-Shot

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By Benjamin Morin — “Her time has come,” exclaim the opening pages of Joe Casey’s newest superhero adventure, the All-America Comix One-Shot. Through this story, Casey and artist Dustin Nguyen introduce the world to its newest superheroine: America Vasquez. If the character on the cover looks vaguely familiar, you would be forgiven for mistaking her for Marvel’s own Miss America Chavez. Casey, not-so-subtly, riffs on his previous character to bring her seemingly more in line with his original vision. Within that context, this issue pairs high-energy action with cosmic potential in an engaging 32-page read.

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Billionaire Island #2 - REVIEW

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By Jacob Cordas — My first introduction to comic books was through the funny pages. I remember reading a Spider-Man strip in the newspaper every week next to Hagar the Horrible and Pearls Before Swine. It was all so silly and so fun. And then I got my first comic book, a beat up copy of Spider-Man #68 from a flea market. I was blown away by the seriousness of it. I was nine years old but, with only comic strips to compare it to, this was what I imagined adult art looked like. I was a tween dragged into the tail end of ‘90s nihilism and carried away into the edginess of the ‘00s. Adulthood in the art I consumed became synonymous with darkness. For a minute, I was even a fan of Mark Millar. And, while I aged out of this for the most part, there was still a “seriousness” to my comic reading.

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REVIEW: Olympia #5 comes to a thunderous conclusion

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By Benjamin Morin — Olympia has been a wonderful metafictional journey through comics history while telling a deeply emotional tale. Previous issues have laid the groundwork through an examination of the concept of heroes, the ever-changing comics landscape, and a human story of loss. Its concluding issue is no different as it delivers a gripping final battle and ties up the emotional throughline.

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REVIEW: Devil's Highway #1 from AWA

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By Wesley Messer — If you ever want an understanding as to stuff I find myself digging, a good thriller is my jam. Which is why the idea of Devil’s Highway caught my eye. The cover by Brent Schoonover and Nick Filardi struck me as well, which added to my curiosity for this comic. It’s also my first time looking into AWA’s comics so this is an added treat. AWA got lost in the comic shuffle for me due to all the crazy events of the past few months. Two adventures in one, a comic I’m curious about and trying out a new company, sounds like fun right? Well, let’s get on with the show here and see how this all goes shall we?

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REVIEW: Protector #4 does a lot, and does it well

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By Keigen Rea — Protector #4 might be my new favorite example of an issue that tells its own story, while building off of previous issues, and setting up the next one. It’s almost paradoxical, but this issue pulls it off while using some of my favorite art in all of comics to do it.

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