REVIEW: Clankillers #1 by Sean Lewis & Antonio Fuso

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Clankillers #1 is dark and gritty in way readers might not expect.

By Zack Quaintance — Clankillers #1 is a gritty comic, but not in the way you might think. It’s not gratuitous nor extreme. There are violence and hints of sex, some nudity, but any violence is unfortunate for all, any sex utterly bleak and without any glamor or romance. Essentially, Clankillers is gritty in a way that feels real in tone and emotion, so much so the book’s imagery lingered with me for days.

It feels real in how cruel its king is (Padraig the Grotesque), how calloused the child protagonist/narrator has become, how fearful and supplicant the king’s subjects are in his presence. Yet, bits of supernatural Celtic folklore float amidst the story (which is set in feudal Ireland), failing to amaze or even captivate Clankillers’ cast, so comfortable are they with banshees and goddesses existing nearby.

It’s this nonchalance I found so haunting. In one scene, protagonist Finola and her best friend the orphan Cillian play with a severed idiot’s head, obviously not for the first time because Finola remarks: This one’s got good bounce to his noggin. In another scene, she launches into a harsh summary narration about her world...This dark fucking world we live in. Only one thing you can do in the face of it all...be darker than the fecks.

The book’s strengths are how it creates a sense of an unavoidable tragedy, and how it gives our hero a clear (if seemingly impossible goal): to get revenge on a goddess who took her mother and drove her father mad by killing Ireland’s four clans.

The visuals are also captivating, rough by design. The entire first issue is bookended by ethereal imagery in which an as-of-yet unnamed naked woman with mysterious body markings and one eye exhales and inhales our story, as if its entirety is being created on her breath. Lewis also makes great choices with what to include in his panels, incorporating disembodied floating skulls in one memorable scene to emphasize a character’s cruelty, while at other times playing with sizes to depict power dynamics.

The book has a unique look and tone, to be sure, and in a year when so many comic book genres—from science fiction to horror—are so heavily saturated, historical and mythological fiction has been somewhat missing. Clankillers being rooted in Celtic lore sets it apart. The bleakness can be oppressive at times, though, and it remains to be seen if there’s power or poeticism behind the grit and doom and dourness that Sean Lewis has done so well.

Overall: Clankillers #1 covers rare ground in comics, and it covers it well, depicting the bleak darkness of Celtic mythology. The excellent artwork fits the tone, and the hero is given a clear objective to move the plot forward. Essentially, this story feels captivating in a way not unlike a slow trainwreck. 8.0/10

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.

REVIEW: The Amazing Spider-Man #1 by Nick Spencer, Ryan Ottley, Cliff Rathburn, & Laura Martin

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Amazing Spider-Man seems to be in good hands with Nick Spencer and Ryan Ottley.

By Zack Quaintance — Taking a beloved superhero back to basics in 2018 seems to mean a new creative team uses a whiteboard to free associate essential qualities that make a character compelling. They undo some of the last team’s work, while keeping other pieces that fit their vision. They then write and draw the hell out of their first issue, inspiring us fans to rush off and Tweet: THIS is the Spider-man I’ve been missing!

It’s not a bad thing, far from it. It certainly works here, as writer Nick Spencer and artist Ryan Ottley take over Amazing Spider-Man, marking the book’s first new creators in a decade. So, what do I think Spencer and Ottley put on their white board? WARNING, here come SPOILERS…I’d it included voice, humor, bad Parker luck, with great power comes great responsibility, and...wait for it…Peter’s relationship with Mary Jane.   

Now, I could spend this entire review discussing how Spencer expertly capture’s Peter’s interiority, how his writing made me laugh aloud, or how he nails Spideys relationship with other heroes—well-meaning but overly chatty and insecure. I could also easily heap 500 words of praise on Ottley’s artwork, which is that good. There’s a two-page spread in particular that made me realize what fans stand to gain by having Ottley on a flagship title.

This is all, however, overshadowed by Spencer’s clear intent to undo One More Day. For those who somehow missed it, in the 2007 story One More Day, Peter trades his marriage with Mary Jane to the demon Mephisto, who revives his Aunt May, effectively making Spider-Man single again. I personally disliked this decision, and I wasn’t alone.

But Spencer bookends this issue with scenes that seem to promise Peter and Mary Jane are getting back together. I try not to be overly prescriptive about comic book writing (much respect for vision and craft), but if I may let down my analytical guise: Holy hell this is everything I’ve wanted for a decade ahhhhhhhhh!

Ahem, now where was I?

Oh right: this issue left me feeling really good about Amazing Spider-Man’s future, both in terms of Spencer capturing what makes Spider-Man special and spinning (heh) interesting plots. Spencer’s take on Spider-Man’s villains is also unsurprisingly great, and not just because he makes them so relatable (Venture Bros.-esque, as he did in Superior Foes of Spider-Man).

In this debut, Spencer includes a ton of Spidey’s excellent rogues, using at least five villains plus a sixth who is discussed but not seen. Spencer, however, isn’t out to re-invent dynamics as Dan Slott seemed to be in his run. Spencer instead appears determined to let shared history between characters influence new battles in ways that feel fresh, which as we’ve seen elsewhere in superhero comics recently (DC Rebirth), is a great way to tell compelling stories about aging properties.

Overall: It sounds cliche, but Nick Spencer and Ryan Ottley really do take Spider-Man back to basics in the best possible way. The Ottley artwork is phenomenal, and the plot and characterization feel both fitting and natural. If this debut is a mission statement for what the new team is planning, I am firmly on board. 9.5/10

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.

Monstress #18 by Marjorie Liu, Sana Takeda, & Rus Wooton

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Monstress #18 is the crashing finale to this Eisner-nominated comic's third arc.

By Zack Quaintance — I’ve been reading Monstress issue-to-issue from its start, enthralled by writer Marjorie Liu’s depth of vision as well as the unparalleled artwork produced by Sana Takeda, as lush as it is detailed. The book blends anime stylizations, fantasy novel trappings, and hints of Eastern mythology, creating a unique reading experience. It also seamlessly alternates from subtle issues that explore its world and strengthen the bonds between characters, to issues that serve as high stakes crescendos.

Monstress #18 is decidedly of the latter category, ranking as the most consequential action-heavy issue since the series’ searing debut, which was a statement about the marginalized striking back against abuse. Reading this issue, it struck me that our protagonist Maika’s being part of an oppressed group is an idea that has faded a bit in favor of her own personal hero’s journey, of her growing into an almost mythical savoir from a powerful line.

It’s a transition that has given her more agency than she had at the start. Maika was threatened in early issues by horsemen and soldiers. By comparison, she has now become the living world’s lone defender against a threat that could end it. Maika’s development feels patient, too, a reward to long-time readers that makes her heroism in this issue all the more impactful.

And this is just the first panel.

In the end, we are left with a sense that the threats and bad actors in our story are not quite what they seem, and while this could feel unwieldy—if every development is OMG SO HUGE AND WOW!, no developments are OMG SO HUGE AND WOW!—Liu simultaneously uses her supporting cast to remind us of the relatable stakes for our protagonist. It’s a wise choice, one that ultimately makes this one of my favorite issues of Monstress this arc.   

I’m tempted to call Monstress under-appreciated, although I’m not sure that’s right, as I often see it prominently displayed on end caps in independent bookstores alongside the likes of Saga, Ms. Marvel, and Ta-Nehisi Coates’ Black Panther. This comic has its readership, to be sure, and it is, perhaps, better-suited for trade, so dense is its plotting. I do, however, think there’s quite a bit to like for monthly readers who haven’t tried the book, all of whom are missing out on—at minimum—some of the industry’s best artwork.

Lastly, it should be noted that there will soon be three Monstress trades available, and that there’s never been a better time for new readers to give it a shot.

Overall: The finale of Monstress’ third arc does not disappoint, continuing to illuminate this world’s mythology. This issue is action-heavy, yet it takes time to seed its next arc with a more relatable crisis. Simply put, Liu and Takeda continue to build something truly special. 8.5/10

SPECIAL NOTE: For more thoughts about Monstress, see Top Comics of January 2018.

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.

REVIEW: Wasted Space #3 by Michael Moreci, Hayden Sherman, Jason Wordie, & Jim Campbell

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Wasted Space #3 is this book's best issue yet.

By Zack Quaintance — As Wasted Space progresses, it’s becoming clear galactic dictator Devolous Yam (fantastic galactic dictator name, btw) is a MacGuffin, a writerly term for a plot device many characters pursue with borderline thin motivations. Our heroes want to destroy Yam, our villains want to destroy Yam plus also a planet because anarchy, and an unstoppable otherworldly force wants to destroy our heroes so they cannot destroy Yam because...well, we don’t exactly know yet.

Yam Yam Yam and more Yam. I’m not entirely certain we’ve even seen the guy’s face, but he's all anyone wants to kill or not kill here. We just know Yam eliminated democracy and one of our protagonists—Billy—helped enable his rise, earning great shame and infamy (plus another really painful cost we learn about via incredibly well-done flashbacks in this issue).

And that’s fine, really. It makes for an exciting romp of a third issue wherein various actors intersect after much setup. In #3, writer Michael Moreci, artist Hayden Sherman, and colorist Jason Wordie show themselves just as adept at action storytelling as they’ve been previously at exposition, heady ideas, and character development. Moreci’s sense of humor is on point, too, and Sherman once again makes a strong case for best dystopian action artist in comics.

Yes, as much as I liked Wasted Space #1 and Wasted Space #2, this issue reached a more entertaining level without sacrificing any themes or thoughtfulness. I could get into the weeds about all that I liked, but I don’t want to spoil even small moments. I will say if you’re a new reader, don't be discouraged—reading all three issues consecutively will actually help you appreciate how the various character journeys are being laid out. I certainly know re-reading from the start this time was helpful (if not vital) for me.

Writer Michael Moreci, an avowed Star Wars fan, is clearly having a blast working in homages to his favorite movie franchise.

This book has some of the best side characters in comics, specifically Dust, Billy’s Fuq/Qil Bot best friend who is often comic relief. I’m also a big fan of Legion, the aforementioned unstoppable otherworldly force, who crushes everything and sometimes doles out routine life advice, like, You should take more pride in your work. It leads to a healthier existence.

Lastly, I want to note that there are sneakily relevant bits of ethos and commentary throughout Wasted Space, with Billy flashingback in this issue to himself urging normalcy in the face of dictatorship, an attitude that cost him dearly and sent him into the spiral we find him in when the book begins. I'm curious to see the full scope of the progress he makes as the book continues.

Overall: Wasted Space #3 is this comic’s best issue yet. The creators have built a solid foundation of character and plot, and they’re now clearly having a blast smashing it all together. I have every reason to believe the next issue will be even better as things continue to converge. 9.0/10

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.

ADVANCED REVIEW: The New World #1 by Ales Kot, Tradd Moore, Heather Moore, Clayton Cowles, & Tom Muller

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By Zack Quaintance — The New World #1 is a confident comic, no question. Writer Ales Kot has an impeccable elevator pitch at the heart of this—a second American Civil War has reshaped the global order—and he uses it to play out a number of interesting ideas about where things like television, sports, government, immigration, and law enforcement are currently headed. At a time when so many long-held real world American institutions are in flux (some for wonderful reasons, others less so), the book’s willingness to extrapolate is an incredibly effective hook. Simply put, chances are you will have an interest in one or many of the themes envisioned here.

Results are mixed as we proceed through its execution, though, with a clear exception being Tradd and Heather Moore’s artwork, which I found to be nigh-perfect throughout. Everything from character designs, to action sequences, to a reimagined Los Angeles setting, to the book’s lapses into psychedelic bliss—it’s all rendered beautifully with an almost visionary style, one that takes a unique approach to the well-traveled grounds of dystopia. It sounds cliche, but this book really is a joy for the eyeballs.

And the rest of the comic—characterization and story elements, specifically—aren’t bad either, not by a longshot. It’s just that the something intangible that makes a story really special was missing for me. This is a tough idea to articulate—I’ve tried in the past—but there’s something off about how this comic feels. It’s all a little too on the noise, although that may be reductive. The book just doesn’t seem to have a coherent worldview, oscillating a bit too fitfully at times between targets of its satire: local law enforcement? sensationalistic TV? xenophobia? political opportunism? there’s a lot of disparate ground covered.

The New World #1's colorful-yet-bleak reimagining of Los Angeles.

There's also a slight undercurrent of detached cynicism, both in the characters and their attitudes. Or rather, much time spent on the cusp of cynicism. This perhaps has to do with my own worldview fighting so hard lately to maintain optimism. In other words, results will likely vary, and I don’t fault anyone who is immediately captivated or enthralled by this comic.

There’s definitely a scenario wherein the second issue soothes my concerns and I’m back here next month calling The New World #2 one of the most relevant books on the market. Time alone will tell. For now, I strongly recommend this first issue to anyone interested in a solid graphic story about a bleak-but-colorful future America. The art alone is worth it.

Overall: The New World #1 is a good first issue, polished and confident. There’s a lot of disparate ideas, though, and at times it can be hard to tell which ones we’re supposed to care the most about. Still, this comic hooked me for the next issue or two based on the strength of its artwork alone. 7.0/10

The New World #1 is out July 25, 2018.

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.

REVIEW: Relay #1 by Zac Thompson, Andy Clarke, Donny Cates, Dan Brown, & Charles Pritchett

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What is The Relay and who is Donaldson? These questions give The Relay #1 an intriguing foundation to build its action and philosophy upon.

By Zack Quaintance — Relay #1 is a complex and impressive comic, one as visually stunning as any book in ages. At its core, though, this is a hard sci-fi story with big philosophical ideas in the mold of Philip K. Dick and Ursula K. Le Guin (those all-time great K. writers)—both of whom series creator Zac Thompson has cited as influences. Relay must do a lot to stand out from the half dozen or so other excellent science fiction books released so far in 2018, and, simply put, it does.

Indeed, this year has launched some truly stellar sci-fi comics, including Skyward, Vagrant Queen, Wasted Space, and The Weatherman, among others. Where Relay sets itself apart, though, is in its scope. This is a book concerned with civilization, with the evolution and shaping of society, and it approaches this by incorporating organic discussions between characters about history, religion, power structures, the role of the follower, the role of the good soldier, etc.

It’s a lot, but the book never gets unwieldy. To the contrary, it’s actually a fast-paced and entertaining comic that does a great job of avoiding the first issue pitfall of bogging itself down with excessive exposition. We get a protagonist on page one we can relate to: Jad, just a guy trying to get to work. Then Jad gets a simple task: keep the peace (oh, and find Donaldson if you can), and off we go. Easy. With solid and well-done grounding, our writer Thompson (who conceptualized Relay with red-hot Marvel writer Donny Cates) is free to put us through action sequences as easily as philosophical discussions about this world, all of which remain fascinating because he also establishes mystery: what does The Relay really do and is Donaldson out there somewhere to be found? This is good storytelling 101.

Lastly, Andy Clarke’s artwork is phenomenal throughout, evoking names like Frank Quitely, Jon Davis-Hunt, and Ramon Villalobos. My favorite work sees Clarke impressively transition to a frenetic page design for effect. Not to reveal too much, but sound is used as a weapon. The page design really makes you feel the sonic disruption by ditching traditional panel structure for one that’s jagged and uneven. Once the attack is stymied, the book immediately returns to a normal scheme. Rarely have I seen design so effectively stimulate non-visual senses. Impressive stuff. Dan Brown’s colors are also expert, both gritty and pretty as required by the tone. It all adds up to a fantastic debut comic.

Overall: There’s so much going on in Relay #1, so many ideas and concepts, all of them fascinating, and expert storytelling by the creators keeps the book from becoming unruly. In a market thoroughly-saturated by great sci-fi comics, Relay stands out, a must-read for fans of Philip K. Dick and Ursula K. Le Guin. 9.5/10

Relay #1 is out July 11. See a preview via our friends WMQ Comics now!

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.

REVIEW: Death of Inhumans #1 by Donny Cates, Ariel Olivetti, Jordie Bellaire, & Clayton Cowles

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Be afraid for all your favorite Inhumans...be very afraid.

By Zack Quaintance — Donny Cates only has one setting: #@$&ING INTENSE. No off switch, no take-it-easy button, no chill. He might not even have brakes in his car. This is all a dramatic way of saying Cates brings the same hard-hitting, grandiose storytelling to all of his books, be it creator-owned titles Babyteeth, God Country, and Redneck, or Marvel’s Venom.

I suspected as much after Cates got what were essentially gap-filling arcs on Doctor Strange and Thanos, yet still added Bats the Ghost Dog and Frank Castle the Cosmic Ghost Rider to their respective mythoses (mythosi?). Now, Death of the Inhumans #1, first of a five-part series that is exactly what its title implies, has verified my Cates ALWAYS Goes Hard theory.

If ever there was a time to ease up, this was it for Cates, who is juggling successful creator-owned comics (the aforementioned Babyteeth and Redneck), while also laying groundwork for a character-defining run on Venom, writing a Cosmic Ghost Rider mini-series, and returning soon to Thanos with Thanos Legacy #1 in September.

The poetic characterization of Black Bolt is one of this issue's major strengths.

But he didn’t lay off. In fact, Death of Inhumans is as intense as any of Cates’ work, if not more so, powered in this issue by expert characterization of Black Bolt and a fearsome new villain, Vox. It also has Cates signature entertaining-yet-authoritative voice, which guides you through the carnage on the page, showing you what hurts most with poetic turns of phrase before cracking wise in the very next panel, all while sounding like a genial Texan uncle.

What has most defined Cates work so far, however, is that you can just tell this guy is having all kinds of nutso fun writing superhero comics. I’d wager half his ideas start in bars (he lives in Austin, as hard-drinking of a town as any) and the other half start with him wondering if he can get away with something.

Vox is one of the most immidiately fearsome villains in recent Marvel memory.

Credit is also owed to Marvel for letting Cates get away with ideas while also pairing him with top-notch artists, including the likes of Gabriel Hernandez Walta and Cates’ God Country/The Paybacks collaborator, Geoff Shaw. They’ve done it again here, putting him with the team of Ariel Olivetti and Jordie Bellaire. While the later is a top tier colorist, Olivetti is new to me, but the work in this book is impressive, especially the character design for the new, horrifying villain. Basically, I for one am primed and ready for the coming annihilation.

Overall: Cates trademark clever-yet-authoritative voice combines with a fearsome new villain and excellent characterization of Black Bolt to turn what could have been a chance for him to take it easy into one of his most intense titles yet. Prepare for the coming devastation. 8.5/10

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.

REVIEW: Captain America #1 by Ta-Nehisi Coates, Leinil Francis Yu, Gerry Alanguilan, & Sunny Cho

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Captain America #1 is easily Ta-Nehisi Coates' best single issue yet.

By Zack Quaintance — Ta-Nehisi Coates is most well-known for Between the World and Me, a heartrending book about racist violence in America, written as a letter from Coates’ to his teenage son. It came out in July 2015, raising Coates literary profile to nigh-mainstream levels and giving the author his pick of follow up projects...which he used to start writing comics.

A lifelong comics fan, Coates launched a new Black Panther book for Marvel in March 2016, even going so far as to answer letters and construct maps of Wakanda for the book’s back matter. There were hiccups in his first arc, times when Coates mishandled T’Challa’s characterization, overwrote captions, didn’t consider visuals, etc. Eventually though, Coates grew into the work, learning quickly, and ultimately combining his love of the medium with his abilities as a writer. And this week Coates has written his best comic yet: Captain America #1, illustrated by Leinil Francis Yu, with Gerry Alanguilan and Sunny Cho.

Captain America #1’s art shines, starting with an action-heavy intro that returns an old villain for Cap to presumably later battle. Throughout, the book features large panels allowing its artists to play up Cap’s iconic visage, winged cowl, flag shield, and grave focus. We see Cap charge into battle on a full page, stand over a foe who subverted his values, and carry a first responder, the two of them laid over Americans working together following an outbreak of random violence (an all too common real world image these days).

Coates picks up on some interesting ideas left dangling after Marvel's Secret Empire event.

Coates plotting is expert, building on ideas left dangling after Nick Spencer’s recent event Secret Empire, in which a Steve Rogers imposter joins Hydra and torments the planet. I’ve complained elsewhere that Marvel glazed over that fallout, but I was too hasty—we get it here from Coates, who uses those threads, making this comic relevant to our national climate without feeling too heavy-handed (a complaint I had with Spencer’s recently-concluded run). Make no mistake, this comic is foremost an entertaining read.

Take the intro, for example: a convoy of Hydra henchmen transport a woman and are ambushed by Russian partisans as said woman cooly remarks This is Russia. Graveyard of Hitler’s horde. Bane of Napoleon and his imperial French. You can read deeply into that, or you can hurry to the next panel and watch a Hydra henchman's skeletal corpse crack the windshield of the prison truck. This is a layered story that gives its readers both options.

This powerful image shows Captain America and Bucky helping in the aftermath of a mass shooting event.

And that’s a challenge at the heart of all narrative writing: how to share intriguing nuanced ideas while also telling a well-paced and entertaining story. Whereas Coates may have leaned too far toward the former on his early Black Panther run, he’s obviously learned and improved. The result is a new Captain America arc that has me excited about the character in a way I haven’t been since Ed Brubaker concluded the most recent all-time great Cap run a few years back.

Overall: This is Ta-Nehisi Coates' best comic yet, layered and nuanced, but also well-paced and entertaining. This book plays up Captain America as a former icon while addressing his tarnished status following Secret Empire. It’s so good that one issue in, this run already has must-read status. 9.5/10

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.

SPECIAL NOTE: Listen to our friends WMQ Comics discuss all things Cap on this week's WMQ&A Podcast!

REVIEW: The Unexpected #2 by Steve Orlando, Cary Nord, Wade von Grawbadger, Jeromy Cox, and Carlos M. Mangual

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In The Unexpected #2, we get Neon the Unknown's origin story.

In The Unexpected #2, we get Neon the Unknown's origin story.

By Zack Quaintance — The Unexpected #2 builds well on its predecessor, deepening the book’s characters while remaining true to its title by continuing the first issue’s fantastic plot twist. Spoiler alert for those who haven’t read it, but The Unexpected #1’s cover seemed to advertise a team book starring four characters...but then killed two of them, also axing its presumed antagonist.

It was incredibly well-executed misdirection, justified well enough by virtue of being—for lack of more elegant language—pretty freaking awesome. This second issue, however, goes past pretty freaking awesome to give the twist significance, extrapolating impressive character development for one of The Unexpected’s dual leads, the blind Doctor Strange analog, Neon the Unknown.

The loss of Neon’s team, it turns out, evokes nigh-crippling thoughts of past trauma connected to his origin, expertly told here in a concise two-page spread same as the other lead’s was last issue. The book then trampolines off that trauma to start building a compelling dynamic between Neon and its other lead, Firebrand. Without going into too much detail (ahem spoilers), Neon is a tortured artist so riven by guilt he fails to truly embrace his powers. Firebrand, meanwhile, is a paramedic saddled with a powerful heart that requires her to fight (and likely harm) someone every 24 hours. Neon is on a self-tortured redemption arc, while Firebrand is a no-nonsense practical hero with agency. She needs his expertise and he needs her tough motivation. It’s great.

Orlando’s script just does so much here while remaining tight. It gives Dark Nights Metal continued significance by incorporating key concepts from that event—Nth Metal and the World Forge—it nods to larger DC continuity via June Robbins and the God Garden, and it has the badass swagger of Orlando’s best work, including Midnighter (2015) and his Image Comics creator-owned revenge story Crude.   

Orlando and Nord are building Firebrand into one of the DCU's best original characters in recent memory.

The lone knock on The Unexpected is its prospect for longevity, which is harmed by it being part of the New Age of Heroes, which some fans have (rightly) criticized for being branded as artist-centric before quickly swapping out artists on nearly every book. Will Orlando and Nord get to play out their full vision? It’s unclear. I do, however, think Firebrand is one of the strongest new Big 2 superheros in recent memory, cut in the mold of Midnighter, but whereas Midnighter was a weapon with little memory of normalcy, Firebrand juggles a dual life as a human weapon and a nurturing paramedic. Surely, DC Comics will always have a place for a character battling such a poignant contradiction.

Overall: The Unexpected #2 is a strong follow-up to the best debut of any New Age of DC Heroes title. It invests well in many of the key qualities of strong superhero comics — action, absurdity, character development, continuity nods, and plot twists. Put simply, this series is one of the more exciting original properties at either Big 2 publisher in recent years. 9.0/10

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.

REVIEW: Luke Cage Season 2

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Luke Cage season 2 ranks as the best Marvel Netflix show since Jessica Jones season 1.

By Lido G. — Let’s talk about Luke Cage season 1 real quick.

Luke Cage season 1 happened so long ago it’s like a relic from another time, both in terms of the socio-political upheaval that’s happened in the past two years and the almost immediate drop-off in Marvel Netflix cultural cache the series ushered in. Don’t get me wrong, Luke Cage season 1 had good elements, but between the overlong running time, the inability to find an all-around strong antagonist, and the weird conservatism of a show produced just months prior to the dawn of the Trump administration, it definitely does not hold up. What’s more, it’s place as precursor to the back-to-back failures of Defenders and Iron Fist puts it in an uncomfortable position of being the Marvel Netflix show that ended up an exit point for a lot of the wider audience.

I bring this up because season 2 is an incredible leap forward that actually addresses most of the series’ biggest flaws and is easily the best Marvel Netflix offering since Jessica Jones season 1, and it’d be a damn shame if past failures kept people from checking it out.

Fixing Past Mistakes

Speaking of past failures, you don’t need to have seen Defenders or any other Marvel Netflix show to understand Luke Cage season 2. Taking place sometime after Defenders, Luke has been exonerated of the crimes that landed him in prison and has returned to Harlem as a community hero and minor celebrity, complete with merchandise and an app dedicated to spotting him. Meanwhile, his cop friend Misty Knight is adjusting to life after losing an arm, also during the events of Defenders, while trying to find her place in the law enforcement system that has for so long defined her and her world. As for our villains, the main antagonist is Alfre Woodard’s Black Mariah, ex-city councilwoman turned Harlem gunrunner eager to buy her way into the world of white-collar crime so as to bury her family’s violent criminal history. Her plan is scuttled, however, by a new villain, Bushmaster, a Jamaican mobster with ties to Mariah’s past and superpowers to rival Luke, plus a thirst for vengeance that threatens to tear Harlem apart. 

One of season 2's biggest strengths is its dynamic villains.

So, the best thing about Luke Cage season 2 is the show managed to fix many of its flaws without compromising its unique vision of what a superhero should be.  Specifically, the show sets out to better fill its 13-episode order without padding things with more action or sex scenes — we are here for character interactions first and foremost.  That’s what Luke Cage decided its core is and, to its credit, it’s great at giving EVERYONE in the cast an interesting arc. Everyone is relatable in their goals. All three of the season’s main villains have well-composed and fascinating arcs that eclipse the hero at times. Black Mariah’s growing desperation to rewrite her history works as a great subversion of Marvel’s tendency to give heroes dark revelations about their own foundations. Black Mariah’s rigid unwillingness to accept any responsibility for her past slowly gives way to a violent, bigoted wallow in her own crapulence, a decision that if she can’t forget the past she will embrace it as her present. 

Bushmaster is the perfect counter to this arc, almost too perfect. He’s basically a better version of Whiplash from Iron Man 2, right down to his father helping found Mariah’s heritage but ending up written out of the history books for shady reasons. It all takes me back to a quote that’s truly come to define Marvel after dark revelations in Winter Soldier, Black Panther, and Thor: Ragnarok — You come from a family of thieves and butchers and now, like all guilty men, you seek to rewrite your own history and you forget all the lives your family ruined.

The problem with Bushmaster is he’s too charismatic and likable. He’s treated like a villain because he wants to kill Mariah for revenge, which seems deeply unfair given we JUST had a whole season of Punisher with that same goal. It gets to a point at the end, as Black Mariah descends into more and more brutal savagery and racism, that you wonder why Luke doesn’t just let Bushmaster have his revenge, especially after the lengths the show goes to show his origin and Mariah’s sadism. 

To be fair, Luke’s antipathy toward saving Mariah is a key part of his own arc of feeling trapped by his celebrity. It’s actually a really clever subversion of season 1’s exhaustive dedication to respectability politics by making that same respectability Luke’s greatest obstacle. He’s constantly left feeling like his actions aren’t making a difference, which fuels a growing anger in direct opposition to the idealized black man his celebrity demands he be. The show opens with a lavish media profile of Luke describing him as this synthesis of every great black male historical figure in modern memory and as the show continues it becomes increasingly obvious how much that ideal isn’t just unattainable but actively constraining Luke from orchestrating real change. In the end, Luke finally arrives at a conclusion about who he wants to be, even selecting his own black icon to emulate, and it’s a compelling statement about the need to create systems outside the law when communities can’t trust in it anymore.

Luke and The System

Speaking of the law, the most interesting development Luke Cage is its worsening relationship to the system. In season 1, the show landed firmly on the viewpoint that the system wasn’t bad but rather staffed by imperfect servants, and that if we could all trust the system a little more things would improve: it’s fair to say this message has not aged well. It’s clear the showrunners realized this with season 2, even though they aren’t quite ready to reject the system in full — there’s nothing here quite as radical as the killer cops and government-sponsored human experiments on black citizens found in Black Lightning, but things are progressing. Overall the new outlook is that the system isn’t actively malicious but ultimately powerless to help, hindered by inability to effectively police itself until after the fact and all too often co-opted by the very criminals it seeks to put away. 

As Luke moves further away from supporting the system, Misty Knight ultimately continues to embrace it.

This ends up leaving Misty Knight in a weird place. Her overall arc is how Misty got her groove back and also a robotic arm, which works for the most part but her relationship to the system mirrors the show’s overall ambivalence. There are parts where she seems to fully grasp the uselessness of a system that lets wife beaters go free yet puts Luke Cage in prison, but ultimately she still embraces it, as if the victories she managed were due to good police work instead of the criminal community using the police as their own form of penance and punishment. This isn’t a bad place for Misty per se, as she’s still growing along with the show and it works keeping her as our one foot in the establishment while Luke moves further from it, but it’d still be nice for the series to take a stronger stance on abuses by law enforcement as they become increasingly egregious and public every day. 

The area where Luke Cage season 2 skirts closest to relevance is a very bizarre throwaway plot relating to Bushmaster being Jamaican. His Jamaican heritage is interesting, playing up the divide between black Jamaicans and African Americans, zeroing in heavily on the Jamaican history of Maroons — slaves who escaped and lived in free rebel communities in the Jamaican wilderness. The politics between Mariah’s American blackness and Bushmaster’s Jamaican background is fascinating but the fact that most of his gang are Jamaican ends up creating a bizarre sequence where we hear secondhand about ICE rounding up anyone with a Jamaican accent. It’s a weird footnote in the show that doesn’t fit but at least it implies some understanding of police profiling, even if they lay the blame for this action on Bushmaster.

Speaking of additional problems, despite all the plate-spinning the show can’t quite fill 13 episodes on drama alone, which is a shame because there are a number of characters I wish had more identity and relevance. Mariah’s daughter Tilda is a new addition who ends up a major reveal, but she never really felt like as firm a presence as her mother or Bushmaster. She might have more development in season 3, but ultimately most of her screen time is spent being unsure about or disappointed by her mother — she doesn’t really stand alone. Luke’s father, played by the late great Reg E. Cathey, is another character I’d have liked more of. He’s absolutely superb whenever he shows up and definitely has an internal life and identity. He just didn’t feel that relevant, and he kind of moves in and out of the narrative too easily for how much Luke’s daddy issues come into play. 

Biggest Surprises

Finn Jones as Danny Rand is a lot more fun when he's supposed to be insufferable.

The biggest surprises of the season are Danny Rand and Shades. Danny stops by for a one-episode cameo, and it’s amazing how much better he is when he’s not a main character. He’s still playing the same insufferable hipster trust fund baby who uses a yoga studio to creep on women, won’t shut-up about the year he spent in the far east, and would rather you not call him rich, but it works when we’re SUPPOSED to find him insufferable. It’s actually really funny when he tries to insert mystical nonsense into Luke’s grounded crime story, like a Zen Jack Burton. He also ushers the show’s best action, as Luke himself is kind of dull to choreograph due to his super strength and invulnerability. 

Shades is the standout though. His arc is easily the most satisfying. He’s basically a standard gangster movie plot, someone raised by the streets to never trust anyone or show emotion, testing the waters of both in his relationship with Mariah as they prepare to move out of the world of street crime. Obviously Luke and Bushmaster complicate his plans, but the real meat of his story how he reacts when Mariah becomes the kind of violent mobster he hoped she wasn’t. There are great beats in his story about who we let in or lock out, and about how much devastation we stand before money isn’t worth it.

The Music

The show's musical interludes are actually even MORE prominent this time, though maybe not quite as memorable. The musical performances are constant, blending a little too easily into the background, though they do serve a unique purpose of reflecting those in power. The Harlem Paradise changes hands multiple times and each new owner brings unique taste to the musical performances. So we cycle through classic rap and hip-hop, funk infused soul, and even reggae. It’s a nice example of form reflecting content, though there’s nothing quite as viscerally impressive as some other music/action pairings in the superhero genre of late, like Immigrant Song in Thor: Ragnarok, Am I Black Enough For You from Black Lightning, or even Luke Cage season 1’s Long Live the Chief. 

Overall

Luke Cage season 2’s best description is improved.  There’s still room to get better in the show’s relationship to the system, using time well, and making Luke a compelling character instead of just an iconic one, but that doesn’t subtract from everything this season achieved. It was a season of villains more than anything, a season in which bad guys were main characters, uniquely compelling and human in a way Netflix villains haven’t previously managed. Past highlights like Kingpin and Kilgrave succeeded on actor charisma or their representation of a broader threat, but Black Mariah, Shades, and Bushmaster are written as real people with real lives and struggles — we see joy from them, not just ugly cruelty. It’d just be nice if the show found more of that material for its main character because, as it stands, Luke still hasn’t been as fun solo as he was in Jessica Jones season 1. Maybe for season 3 they can split the difference and jump straight to Power Man and Iron Fist, but I guess we’ll see. 

Lido G. writes about television, movies, comics, culture, and more on his blog, Lido Shuffle. You can follow him on Twitter @saintwalker98.

REVIEW: Her Infernal Descent #3 by Lonnie Nadler & Zac Thompson, Kyle Charles, Dee Cunniffe, & Ryan Ferrier

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By Zack Quaintance — Her Infernal Descent is the story of Lynn, a mother literally marching through hell in search of her recently-deceased family. Put simply, it's one unique comic. A loose retelling of Dante’s Inferno, it stars a fairly typical mom plus a host of dead celebrities, from Jimi Hendrix to Homer (Odyssey not Simpson) to Kafka, ironically serving as a judge.

This issue is three of five, and in it, the qualities that made the first two installments so interesting have been upped: dry humor, surreal encounters with departed artists, and the melancholy motivating Lynn to traverse literal hell. There’s quite a bit to be impressed with, both holistically as well as within this singular issue, but let’s start with the writing.

The duo of Lonnie Nadler and Zac Thompson are on the rise, catching much buzz with their work on Marvel’s Cable, taking over Valiant's Bloodshot, and writing the excellent body horror book Come Into Me. Although it’s early in their careers to brand them with a regular motif, I’d still say this book seems like a departure, at once under and overstated—understated with its characterization of Lynn and overstated with the absurd hell unfolding around her.

The cover of Her Infernal Descent #3 is an excellent summation of what this book's art does so well, juxtaposing the protagonist's outward normalcy with her madcap and macabre surroundings.

The mom-ness of our hero is so well done, especially in interactions with deceased members of the intelligentsia. She’s unimpressed but tolerant of William Blake yet thrilled to meet Agatha Christie. When Andy Warhol tells her he’s trying to be nice, she replies Try harder. She uses old school mom-typical expressions like Hey buster, Oh for Pete’s sake, or ...that time I smoked the danged reefer. Obviously these writers aren’t mothers, but they seem to be working hard to see and convey their own moms' perspectives. The result is a character who is utterly relatable.

The real heart of the book, however, is Lynn's regret over her lost loved ones. In this issue, hellions try to torture her with her own memories in a poignant spread that nearly brought me to tears. We also see Lynn recall that normal life had perhaps pushed her to drinking. Like the earlier charm, these tragedies are never belabored, and that's a credit to the scripting.

The visuals, of course, also deserve much credit. Kyle Charles and Dee Cunniffe are a versatile team, capable of both quiet emotions and of depicting hell. They bounce between these modes, often integrating them into shared environs. The cover to issue three is a great example. We see Lynn with her practical haircut and dress navigating a labyrinth of the macabre. Within this cover, Charles and Cunniffe so thoroughly convey her driving mission so well that ifI think about it too long I’ll get emotional.

On that note, I’ll conclude by noting this book is built to hurt your heart, badly, the moment she reunites with her family, and I for one am there for the devastation.

Overall: In Her Infernal Descent #3, the qualities that make this comic so enthralling are ratcheted up, resulting in the best issue yet. This is a literary comic of the highest order, a well-constructed story rich with melancholic moments, intelligentsia in-jokes, and a layer of subtle charm. 9.0/10

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.

REVIEW: Quantum and Woody! (2017) #7 by Eliot Rahal, Francis Portela, Andrew Dalhouse, & Dave Sharpe

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Quantum and Woody #7 is a bold issue.

Quantum and Woody #7 is a bold issue.

By Zack Quaintance — Quantum and Woody! #7 makes a lot of bold choices, the majority of which work. It's the second issue of new writer Eliot Rahal’s run, and whereas last issue was a heart-felt full-blown superhero action romp, complete with what felt like urgent and high stakes, this issue is a trip into Woody’s psyche, with a splash of Quantum’s mind thrown in, too.

I absolutely loved Quantum and Woody! #6, which I came away from with huge expectations for where Rahal and team would take this book. While this next issue did nothing to dampen my excitement, it did lack a bit of the compressed sense of purpose of its predecessor. This is, by design, a more mindful issue, one that is almost entirely about fears in the context of character growth. It compliments last issue, which saw the guys both decide to face great danger without their powers, but it’s not nearly as easy of a read as its predecessor. This, I suppose, is just a necessary effect of setting the bar so high at the start of the run while also laying pipe for the future.

Don't get me wrong, this is still a very strong comic. Rahal has said that as his run progresses he’ll get back to the humor that marked his predecessor Daniel Kibblesmith’s run, which is good because humor is largely what this franchise is known for. Rahal is a funny guy, too, and there are hints of that in the way Woody banters with those around him. Francis Portela also does an excellent job illustrating the ideas in this script, making scenes ethereal and dreamlike around the characters when the story calls for blurring reality.

Perhaps the biggest strength of this particular issue though is where it leaves its heroes at the end: tangled together and presumably ready to combine forces yet again to overcome a shared problem, whether they want to or not. Basically, like all good Quantum and Woody stories, the heart of this one is the past and present dynamic between the two lead characters.

Looking forward, Rahal seems driven to do big things with this book. The ambition of this issue, as I said earlier, is incredibly bold, almost daring, and he's shown in his other work (Cult Classic, The Paybacks) that he's more than capable of executing ambitious visions. That said, I know I’m personally on board as long as he’s writing this book.

Overall: Like all of the best issues of Quantum and Woody, this one puts the past and present dynamic between the two leads at its heart. What’s especially impressive is it manages to do so by delving into their psyches, making for a story that is at once abstract and character-driven. 8.0/10

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.

REVIEW: Harbinger Wars 2 #2 by Matt Kindt, Tomas Giorello, Diego Rodriguez, Renato Guedes, & Dave Sharpe

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There is a level of novelty to Harbinger Wars 2 #2 that Marvel and DC are no longer capable of reaching.

There is a level of novelty to Harbinger Wars 2 #2 that Marvel and DC are no longer capable of reaching.

By Zack Quaintance — Harbinger Wars is one of the first superhero events in a long while that feels totally justified, in large part because Valiant hasn’t overdone its crossovers. It's a luxury Marvel and DC no longer have, and it adds a level of relevance to this huge story, taking it to a significant place those larger publishers are perhaps not capable of reaching, not anymore. This all occurred to me about halfway through Harbinger Wars #2. Long-running characters were meeting/fighting on the page for the first time—what was this feeling? The story seemed...important? Maybe not quite that, but it at least seemed novel.

It was a feeling I remembered from when I was a much younger reader, and the Big 2 had a few relationships that weren’t quite as rote as they are nowadays. In recent years, event stories at those publishers have seen characters take self-aware, here we go again attitudes toward massive galactic threats. There are exceptions, of course (Hickman’s Avengers stands out), but for the most part, the major dangers of the galaxy or multiverse are met with a wink. As a younger publisher with less continuity, however, Valiant has the luxury of acting like they haven’t been here before, despite this all being a sequel to a previous event.

That to me is the single greatest strength of Matt Kindt and Tomas Giorello’s Harbinger Wars 2 #2. Not to give specific plot points away, but there were fights here that had me rooting for both sides with no idea what would happen, which is very rare for superhero comics. There were also character interactions that felt weighted and poignant, like the world depended on them, even if it was just two heads talking. That’s no easy feat, especially given one scene in particular that involved characters Kindt hasn’t recently been writing.

This issue works really well for the most part, even if Giorello’s hyper-realistic artwork felt a little out of place for characters that are usually depicted by less realistic artists, like Animalia and Faith. The range of emotions in this book is pretty stunning, though, specifically in a scene where Kindt uses a young psiot to remind us of something Marvel’s X-Men used to do better—that many of these abilities make lives worse, much much worse. It’s a brief scene of well-tread thematic space, but it’s well executed, reminding us of the human stakes behind the superhero war.

Overall: Harbinger Wars #2 has just enough action as it builds toward what is presumably a gigantic climax in the final two issues of this event. Kindt and Giorello especially excel here at giving character interactions and conflicts the weight an event story deserves. 8.0/10

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.

ADVANCED REVIEW: Outpost Zero #1 by Sean McKeever, Alexandre Tefenkgi, & Jean-Francois Beaulieu

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Outpost Zero #1 is out July 11.

Outpost Zero #1 is out July 11.

By Zack Quaintance —  When I start an original series, I usually have preview text handy to orient myself and keep from wondering questions that might bog down the narrative. I’m sure some purists would say a comic should stand by itself, but I’m fine with this. Comics is a serialized medium informed by its past arguably more than any other storytelling format. Spider-Man has decades of audience familiarization; I'm cool allotting new books a few sentences.

Anyway, with Outpost Zero #1, the preview talks of a small town where people work the land, spend Fridays watching sports, and often lack grand aspirations because survival is so demanding. As a result, I expected this book to be analogous of modern small-town America. I was pleasantly surprised, however, to find that while there are hints of that, the book’s aspirations are much broader.

It’s actually not the plight of resource-poor regions this book is concerned with, not entirely, but rather grander philosophical questions about practicality versus ambition, both as applied to the individual and to society. Do you keep your head down and focus on your day-to-day, or do you fight to change the world? It’s a question I’ve wrestled with in my life, and I’m sure I’m not alone.

A preview page from Outpost Zero #1.

A preview page from Outpost Zero #1.

And it’s actually a question the creators float early in this first issue, before later applying it to a familiar debate about science. Do we push our economy forward in brief spurts, or do we invest in a culture of innovation and knowledge? As someone whose day job is to write about how local governments deploy innovation and technology, I found this all especially compelling, but I’m sure for those outside my (incredibly) niche industry, it will be of interest as well, given our current national climate.

Philosophy aside, this is just a well-done comic, as I’ve come to expect from the Skybound imprint. The art is top-tier, the character’s faces emotive, and the sci-fi outpost a perfect blend of familiar Earth trappings and tools of futuristic survival. The dialogue accomplishes the heavy scientific and philosophical lifting, and it rarely seems contrived, stumbling a bit during the talk between teenagers (something 98 percent of comic writers fumble).

In the end, though, it's a surprising yet logical character-driven choice that has me coming back for issue two. To say anymore would risk a spoiler.

Overall: This issue does what Skybound books do best: leaves you badly wanting to know what happens next. It seems outwardly simple, but this book is layered, character-driven, and deceptively complex. The creative team behind Outpost Zero #1 has planted some compelling seeds. 8.0/10

Outpost Zero #1 will be available July 11.

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.

ADVANCED REVIEW: Farmhand #1 by Rob Guillory, Taylor Wells, & Kody Chamberlain

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Farmhand #1 mixes body horror, espionage, and father-son drama.

Farmhand #1 mixes body horror, espionage, and father-son drama.

By Zack Quaintance — Farmhand #1 is as packed as the fertile soil that is so central to its plot. Or maybe loose soil is better for growing? I’m not sure, as I know so very little about farming, but I am sure that there is a lot going on in this book. This book contains a father-son story, a corporate espionage subplot, an examination of the medical good versus the religious stigma of working with stem cell research, and a whole heck of a lot of scary and grotesque body horror imagery.

It’s a credit to writer/artist Rob Guillory that this issue is so linear and easy to follow. With all of its ambition, Farmhand #1 could have gotten confusing or clunky, and it never once tips into that. The pacing is strong and the on-panel action engaging, the exposition doled out in chewable (sorry!) bits that don’t slow the proceedings any more than they need to.

This greatest strength, to me, was actually its charm and levity. I know, I know — I just ran through a whopping list of heavy contents above. Also, this is a story about scientific breakthrough that enables the growing of body parts from trees, bushes, and the ground. Yet here I go calling it charming?

It’s true, though, and furthermore I would credit it to Guillory taking advantage of doing both writing and illustrating duty by throwing in background site gags at so many turns (a breakfast cereal called Chupacbr-os, a sign that reads No pets allowed, they smell. -mgmt, etc.). He’s clearly having a blast drawing this complex tale, and it shows. It’s hard not to enjoy yourself when a storytelling is having so much visceral fun with his world.

What I did struggle with a bit while reading Farmhand #1 was focus. There’s a dream scenario that opens the book that made me think we were in a straight-up sort of old school zombie horror book. Not to go into specific (spoilers!) but there was just so much more to the plot. I am, however, dead set on returning for a second issue, suspecting as I do that subsequent chapters in this story will crystalize what the book’s primary concern is as our story progresses. Guillroy has earned as much.

Overall:  Farmhand #1 is a singular and at times charming vision that juggles a super wide range of concerns. It’s an easy and entertaining comic, if a little overburden at times with its ambition. I’m very much interested to see how writer/artist Rob Guillroy will pull it all together in coming issues. 7.0/10

Farmhand #1 is out July 11 from Image Comics.

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.

REVIEW: Skyward #3 by Joe Henderson, Lee Garbett, Antonio Fabela, & Simon Bowland

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For the third straight issue, Skyward shows itself to be a gorgeous and charming comic.

For the third straight issue, Skyward shows itself to be a gorgeous and charming comic.

By Zack Quaintance — The concept in Skyward has been strong from the start—gravity has inexplicably lessened, sending humans floating fatally into the sky—as has the delivery of information about our characters and the world’s plight. Skyward #1, to be perfectly blunt, was a book I had few expectations for, as the creative team was unfamiliar to me, but I loved the first issue. Why? I attribute the ongoing success of this book in large part to how expertly information has been doled out from its start.

One of the most difficult tricks in plotting is knowing what to reveal and when, how to hit a sweet spot and orient an audience without gumming up the pacing with too much info. A lot of debut issues suffer from that, as if creators have accepted forced exposition as a necessary problem of #1 issues and are spilling it fast so they can get the actual story.

Skyward does not once make a concession in that regard, instead finding organic and natural ways to let us know about our hero, her family, and what’s happened to the world. The book essentially floats through its earliest reveals, focusing heavily on the family—a girl and her parents—that is at the heart of our story. The result is one of the most charming books in comics. This issue continues to be excellent.  

Skyward expertly uses storytelling tools unique to comics, including a juxtaposition of the shading and reaction in the bottom right panel.

Skyward expertly uses storytelling tools unique to comics, including a juxtaposition of the shading and reaction in the bottom right panel.

Last issue ended with our protagonist’s optimism, trust, and naivety catapulting her into danger, and Skyward #3 picks up immediately there. The expert reveals continue, but I also began to notice new strengths, too. Admittedly, I’ve maybe been too preoccupied with Henderson’s script choices to notice the feats of characterization Garbett and Fabela have pulled off with the artwork. This issue, though, it really stood out. The panels here are framed to reveal fear or recklessness, while the characters are shaded to indicate sinister motives or apprehension. Hell, even the walls in the villain's place tip toward emergency red. It’s just all so well done, using the full breadth of storytelling tools comics put at one’s disposal.

This issue also ratchets up the intensity, with some well-placed but tasteful violence. Even so, the book maintains its heart by deploying sharp incidental humor between tense moments (the bit where a kid asks a question about weak gravity creating—ahem—a new way to get pregnant is so sharp), before wrapping up with an absolutely killer cliffhanger for the third time in as many issues.

Overall: Skyward’s incredibly adept use of pacing and its engrossing concept—the gravity that once bound humans to the earth has dissipated—continue to make for one of the best original comics of the year. The team of Henderson, Garbett, Fabela, and Bowland are doing so many things right. I am once again surprised at how thoroughly I’m enjoying this book. 9.5/10

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.

REVIEW: Crude #3 by Steve Orlando, Garry Brown, Lee Loughridge, & Thomas Mauer

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Crude is a violent and complex revenge story, driven by a father-son relationship.

Crude is a violent and complex revenge story, driven by a father-son relationship.

By Zack Quaintance — As much as I liked Crude #1 and #2—and I did, a lot—it’s #3 that firmly establishes the book as one of my favorite ongoing creator-owned titles, up there with Saga, Monstress, and Southern Bastards. To get even more specific, it was actually this issue’s last panel that cemented it with such lofty company, a panel I will, of course, only discuss in vague terms here, because spoilers are bad, etc.

Anyway, a quick refresher: Crude is from writer Steve Orlando, artist Garry Brown, colorist Lee Loughridge, and letterer Thomas Mauer, and it's about a former Russian assassin seeking information on/revenge for the death of a son he never understood, a son who sought a new life in a far-flung oil city in Siberia (I think). When that son is murdered amid a dispute between rival oil companies, our hero heads to Siberia to do what he should have done in life—get to know his boy. And also to kick an incredible amount of ass, usually shirtless and streaked in greasy filth for a tactical advantage (I’m telling you, this comic rules).

Badassery aside, Crude’s compelling character motives and poignant imagery make it truly special. Let’s look at both of those in detail, starting with motives. Piotr (our hero) is on a dual quest, one for physical revenge, and another to know his son better. It’s the second one that’s really compelling. In fact, one gets the sense Piotr is less distraught by death—in his reality life is cheap—than by never being emotionally honest with his son, which causes him to feel culpable for the murder. Simply put, I fear more for Piotr emotionally than physically, as I learned in this issue when our hero learned details about his son during a pair of fight scenes. There’s just so much relatable father-son BS masculine angst.

Basically though, the aforementioned dual motivations are what push the book forward. An ubiquitous piece of creative writing advice is to create a character and give that character something they want, badly. The more we know what the character cares about, the more we care about the character. And the more wanting something puts the character in difficult situations, the better. That’s what Crude does so effectively (again, see #3’s final panel!).  

Garry Brown is doing career best work in Crude, especially as it pertains to the conceptualization of the imagery.

Garry Brown is doing career best work in Crude, especially as it pertains to the conceptualization of the imagery.

The second strength—poignant imagery—makes Piotr’s motivations all the more visceral, the way only comics can. Every issue has had a haunting panel conveying Piotr’s mourning and regret. This issue, however, has the most memorable yet, wherein Piotr walks through a seedy alley with a ghostly coffin chained to his neck, ridden by his son who waves his arms as if it were the bomb in Doctor Strangelove. Oof.

Overall: Crude #3 exceeds previous installments, raising this book up among my favorite creator-owned titles right now, as well as among my favorite Image books period. It’s well-constructed and perfectly-executed, a bleak and deeply emotional story about damage caused by emotional distance and dishonesty between fathers and sons. 9.8/10

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.

REVIEW: Shanghai Red #1 by Christopher Sebela, Joshua Hixson, & Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou

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Try not to fall overboard (sorry) during the incredible action sequence that opens this comic.

Try not to fall overboard (sorry) during the incredible action sequence that opens this comic.

By Zack Quaintance — Shanghai Red—a new creator-owned book from Image by the rising team of writer Christopher Sebela, artist Joshua Hixson, and letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou—is an ambitious comic, one that opens fast and vicious, with art that makes readers all but feel salty blood mingling with the unforgiving sea. It quickly gives us a protagonist—murderous and mysterious Jack—and a reason to root for them in spite of the violence they’re committing, that reason being that they’ve spent years on the boat enslaved.

After a white-knuckled opening volley, however, Shanghai Red #1 grinds to a bit of a halt in the service of necessary but slow backstory dissemination. This exposition isn’t bad or clumsy here, no. It does, however, feel abrupt and incongruous with the high action opening of the book’s first act. As a result, the pacing in Shanghai Red is almost at odds with itself, creating an effect presumably akin to battling for your life against a mugger and then having to immediately sit through a lesson about history. No matter how exciting that history is, that shift is still a tough adjustment.

Simply put, the middle of this comic feels a bit slow relative to the action of its beginning and the tense foreboding crescendo of its end (which, no spoilers). Still, with our protagonist’s backstory so thoroughly and thoughtfully laid out, there’s every reason to believe Shanghai Red will establish itself in coming issues as a top-tier comic. The artwork is especially something to behold, not just for the craft and visual quality, but for the choices Hixson makes with perspective.

Hixson does a masterful job using space to convey the contrasting claustrophobia and limitlessness inherent to sailing the ocean.

Hixson does a masterful job using space to convey the contrasting claustrophobia and limitlessness inherent to sailing the ocean.

I was particularly impressed with the way he used spacing in each panel to convey what the characters within must have felt. Scenes below deck were kept dark and cluttered, claustrophobic the way ships in the 1800s surely felt, while scenes with characters looking to horizons were wide and free, sometimes taking up entire pages. The end result is feeling at once trapped and limitless, as if readers too were traversing the seas.

Overall: Shanghai Red #1 is the first issue of a book with MASSIVE potential, and both the writer and artist hit some truly impressive heights here. Now that the protagonist’s backstory has been made clear in great detail, this book seems poised to sail (sorry!) to some really exciting places. 8.0/10

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.

REVIEW: Lost City Explorers #1 by Zack Kaplan, Alvaro Sarraseca, Chris Blythe, & Troy Peteri

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Lost City Explorers #1 is out June 20. 

Lost City Explorers #1 is out June 20. 

By Zack Quaintance — There’s an interesting dichotomy in AfterShock Comics’ latest series, Lost City Explorers. On its surface, the book has all the trappings of a traditional teen adventure story—bickering siblings, a diverse group of friends, a parent lost to a mysterious realm beneath the city—but rather than lean into the ‘80s nostalgia that has come to define this sort of story in recent years (see Netflix’s Stranger Things), this comic goes the other way, makings its protagonists very much of our time.

For example, the introductory scene depicts a science experiment deep beneath New York City that suddenly goes wrong and swallows its researchers. This entire scene feels timeless, as if it could have happened from 1950 on. Once it has concluded though, artists Alvaro Sarraseca and Chris Blythe give us an establishing shot of modern New York City (with One World Trade Center and all) that next gives way to teens at a Bleachers concert (great band, btw).

The characters in the first scene may as well be ‘80s teen adventurers grown up, while those who follow are their kids, left to navigate a less rosy world. In fact, our protagonist’s fitting first line is, This world sucks. And the scene goes on from there to expertly capture the vast uncertainty of heading toward high school graduation without a blueprint for what comes next. One fantastic panel has main character Hel standing with her toes over the edge of subway platform, musing, Everything just seems so pointless. 

This comic brings the teen adventure genre out of the '80s and into 2018.

This comic brings the teen adventure genre out of the '80s and into 2018.

Essentially, Lost City Explorers #1 seems to have its kids saying, Yes, we remember teen movie nostalgia, but what does that have to do with our plight? It’s an interesting ideological contrast, and I hope the book delves into it more substantially as things progress.

This issue is ambitious, deliberately working toward its (excellent) final panel, which marks the proper start of the adventure to come. In getting there, however, there is A LOT of exposition, dolled out in too-large chunks that occasionally slow the pacing. Kaplan writes great dialogue, but in one scene following a funeral, a character lapses into straight info dumping that feels a little jarring.

I can’t, however, imagine there’s much left to impart in the second issue, and as such I’m optimistic this book will get even better as it goes. For now, though, I’d say this is a solid comic, very much worth a read for fans of teen adventure stories, especially those born after 1994 who just don’t understand my (slightly...only slightly!) older generation’s fascination with the ‘80s.

Overall: Lost City Explorers #1 is a mashup of bygone teen adventure stories and 2018 sensibilities, blending earnest wonder with the blunted expectations of today. It's a really interesting book, seemingly bent on reclaiming the genre from decades past. There is, however, much exposition in this first issue, and I won’t be surprised if #2 is stronger. 7.8/10

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.

ADVANCED REVIEW: Unnatural #1 by Mirka Andolfo

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Look carefully and you may miss the pig features, likely a deliberate blurring of perception by artist/writer Mirka Andolfo.

Look carefully and you may miss the pig features, likely a deliberate blurring of perception by artist/writer Mirka Andolfo.

By Zack Quaintance — Unnatural #1 has intrigued me since it was announced. The first sentence of its summary reads: Leslie is a simple pig girl. She loves sushi, she's stuck with a job she hates, and she lives under a brutal totalitarian government—one that punishes transgressors for anything deemed "unnatural." Meanwhile, its cover features said pig girl in a state of undress. Look quickly, and you almost miss the pig, so faint are the animal touches. See what I mean? Intriguing.

That aside, I didn’t know what to expect from this, first of a 12-part story originally published in writer/artist Mirka Andolfo’s native Italy. It is, however, pretty straightforward. Unnatural #1 is essentially an exploration of government interfering with sex and freedom. Andolfo has cited George Orwell’s novels as inspiration, which certainly shows. Indeed, a simplistic and reductive pitch for this book could be: Animal Farm meets 1984 with a dose of 2018 sexual politics.

The result, though, is a comic of the highest order. I loved Unnatural #1, from the artwork to the capital B Big ideas beneath it. This first issue is a joy, both entertaining and filled with smart questions. There’s a central metaphor here conjures images of governmental decisions on birth control, abortion, same-sex marriage...all of which are recent or ongoing.

This is, perhaps, part of why Unnatural works so well on an intellectual level. There has been tension between government and its constituents in this area likely back to the dawn of civilization, and Unnatural extrapolates what could happen if that tension tipped too far toward one side (in this story it’s a prurient interest in further reproduction among the same species).

Unnatural #1 does a wonderful job using relatable character moments to deliver its complex questions and central metaphor.

Unnatural #1 does a wonderful job using relatable character moments to deliver its complex questions and central metaphor.

Past the Big ideas, however, the book is well-done and engaging, devoting time to relatable character moments—a love of sushi, a disdain for rain, banter between roommates—while checking standard first issue boxes: world-building, character names, cliffhanger ending, etc. As for the art, Andolfo’s work is sexy, reductive as that sounds. It isolates notions of beauty—steely blue eyes, voluptuousness, confident smirks—and telegraphs them onto anthropomorphic figures, giving the animals desirability, if only for a moment. Andolfo has said she doesn’t like drawing humans, and her choice to go anthropomorphic may be simple as that, but I suspect blurring lust lines between species was a deliberate means of depicting inherently fuzzy lines of sexual attraction.

I only took issue with one panel in this book. A lot of comics do a wonderful job of subtly building a central conceit without explicitly stating it—before going ahead and stating it anyway. One famous example is The Walking Dead, with a full-page early on wherein protagonist Rick Grimes yells something like, Don’t you see? WE are the walking dead? There’s a similar panel in Unnatural, though not as grievous. Really, it’s a small compliant in an otherwise stellar comic.

Overall: This is a captivating book, at once smart, poignant, and stylish. Andolfo clearly has strong thoughts about the intersection of sex and government, but she also knows well that those thoughts are best served by first and foremost telling an entertaining story. As a result, Unnatural #1 is not to be missed. 9.5/10

Unnatural #1 comes out July 4, 2018.

Zack Quaintance is a journalist who also writes fiction and makes comics. Find him on Twitter at @zackquaintance. He lives in Sacramento, California.