REVIEW: Wonder Woman #54 by Steve Orlando, Raul Allen, Patricia Martin, Borja Pindado, & Saida Temofonte

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By Zack Quaintance — I tend to keep a running list of my favorite single comics in any given year, in part because I’m compulsive but also because it helps when December rolls around and it’s time to spin some Best Of lists. One of the first books for 2018 was from Valiant. It was a one-shot comprised of vignettes about random items conjured by a guy with special powers. It was called Secret Weapons: Owen’s Story, written by screenwriter Eric Heisserer and drawn by the duo of Raul Allen and Patricia Martin. Meanwhile, one of the more recent additions to my list was Wonder Woman #51, a one shot about the depths of Diana Prince’s compassion, as drawn by Laura Braga and written by Steve Orlando.

See the connection? Now in Wonder Woman #54, the artists from that first comic and the writer from the second have united to tell a two-part Wonder Woman story, and the results in this first half are fantastic. It’s easy to see why DC tapped Allen and Martin to draw this issue. First of all, they’re super talented, and second, the plot of this book takes us to a mythology-tinged anachronistic setting, not unlike territory often covered by stories over at Valiant, where the duo typically works.

Their detailed and fully-rendered linework really grounds the world of the Bana-Mighdall, emphasizing the exotic timelessness of their culture. Orlando’s Wonder Woman writing continues to be strong, as it has for the entirety of his time on this book. Orlando just gets this character, depicting her as he does with equal parts limitless empathy and boundless swagger. It’s a delicate balance, and he nails it, giving us a Diana who knows full well how important her role is, and is also determined to have fun while doing her duty.

One of my favorite visual sequences from Wonder Woman #54

There are some sequences in this comic wherein the sensibilities of the writer and the artist come together impossibly well, thinking specifically of the page in which Borja Pindado’s yellow palette accentuates Rustam’s power as he blasts Diana out of the panel as well as of the bit where the center of the page depicts Diana deflecting bullets within the actual letters of the sound effects she’s making. There’s an old school adventure sensibility to both the writing and art here, as welcomely unstuck in time as the immortals who star in the story.

Overall: Separately, Steve Orlando and the duo of Raul Allen and Patricia Martin have fast become some of my favorite emerging creators in recent years, and so I found it an absolute treat for them to collaborate, especially with a character for which Orlando in particular possesses such an evident understanding. 9.0/10

For more comic book reviews, check out our review archives.

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

Top Comics of August 2018

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By Zack Quaintance — August 2018 was the month of Jeff Lemire, who wrapped up the 14th and final issue of Royal City, the first arc of creator-owned hit Gideon Falls, a multi-year run on Valiant’s Bloodshot, and a big reveal in mysterious superhero nostalgia trip Black Hammer (which, by the way, he’s using to build a generational superhero universe from scratch). Oh, and Lemire did all this while also writing Sentry, The Terrifics, and probably more books I’m forgetting.

That’s not all. Just when Lemire was cresting on the strength multiple impressive and prolific comics runs, he used the platform his profile affords him to castigate a rage movement that bullies and harrasses creators from marginalized groups, an action for which he’s surely gotten blowback. Still, that kind of speaking out sparked the most wide-spanning conversation yet about why it’s important to denounce such tactics and such groups.

So yeah, item of business no. 1: hats off to Lemire. Item no. 2? A look at this month’s top comics, which, unsurprisingly, will also merit further discussion of Lemire. Now that I’ve set a new record for mentions of one creator during my intro...let’s do this!

Shout Outs

Shanghai Red #3 continues Christopher Sebela and Josh Hixson’s searing pioneer revenge epic. The colors in Hixson’s artwork are especially revelatory.

The penultimate issue of Steve Orlando and Garry Brown’s six-part father-son Russian revenge epic Crude took the book to new heights in both physical and emotional stakes.

Michael Moreci and Hayden Sherman’s Wasted Space is now ongoing, which is very cool because every issue has been stellar, including this month’s Wasted Space #4.

Action Comics #1002 was the most complete Bendis Superman issue since Man of Steel #1. Bendis is slowly building his Superman status quo, pulling in vital elements and reconstructing Clark’s life with updates for 2018. Plus, art by Pat Gleason!

Meanwhile in Supergirl #21, Bendis passes a cosmic story thread left dangling in Man of Steel to the creative team of Marc Andreyko and Kevin Maguire. Excited to see where in the galaxy it goes.

I liked The Euthanuats #1, with its poeticism and blurry line between life and death, but I loved The Euthanauts #2, which declared that this comic is primed and ready for a lengthy run.

Batgirl has a new creative team: writer Mairghread Scott and artists Elena Casagrande and Paul Pelletier. So far I’ve liked all of their work, which this month alone included half of Batgirl #25, all of Batgirl #26, and Batgirl Annual #2.

Donny Cates and Ryan Stegman are doing fantastic things in Venom, expanding their vision for a character that previously seemed outdated. Hell of a run taking shape here.

Another issue of Mister Miracle by Tom King and Mitch Gerads, another spot on our monthly best of list. This book is just so good.

Finally, we got a two-issue Wonder Woman arc from Steve Orlando and Aco, high adventure that teamed Diana with Artemis and the new Aztek for mythology-meets-multiverse fun.

Top 5 Comics of August 2018

5. The Wild Storm #16 by Warren Ellis, Jon Davis-Hunt, & Brian Buccellato

The Wild Storm continues to be a wonderfully-complex slow burn of a comic, one with much to say about power structures, corporations, government, and the role of individuals within it all. Warren Ellis and Jon Davis-Hunt (with excellent Brian Buccellato colors) are really taking their time here, giving this comic a more weighty and realistic feel than past iterations of this universe.

It won’t be entirely clear until we get the final eight issues of this story, but I’m starting to suspect this book will land among Warren Ellis’ best work. In many ways, it’s the final form of so many ideas that he’s played with throughout his career, ideas that he’s able to explain through familiar character in a totally new universe that’s unburdened by past or present continuity. DC essentially told Ellis, You know those characters you’ve written on and off throughout your career...would you like to start from scratch and do whatever you want with them? He (obviously) said yes, and the end result is awesome comics.

4. Amazing Spider-Man #4 by Nick Spencer, Ryan Ottley, Cliff Rathburn, Laura Martin & Joe Caramagna

Cards on the table: Along with Uncanny X-Men, Amazing Spider-Man is the first comic I subscribed to as a kid. I’ll always and forever have it on a pull list. That is to say, I was always giving Nick Spencer and Ryan Ottley’s run on this book a shot, and, through the first three issues, I thought it was amusing, a light romp through all the qualities that make Spider-Man a beloved character, albeit a bit light on his central conflict: his guilt over passively enabling the death of his uncle.

Amazing Spider-Man #4, however, was the first issue to break through the shiny veneer of Ottley art and Spencer quips, showing that this creative team is interested in the core of the character and determined to get it right. This book broached Peter Parker’s central conflict and guiding philosophy in intriguing ways, while also continuing to double down on the strengths of earlier issues. As a result, I am one supremely satisfied long-time reader.

3. Batman #52 and #53 by Tom King, Lee Weeks, & Elizabeth Breitwesier

Batman #52 and #53 were part of the recently-concluded Cold Days arc, which is my favorite multi-part story that Tom King has told with Batman (I still like Batman Annual #2, Batman/Elmer Fudd, and Batman #37’s double date better as single issues, but I digress). The arc was drawn by Lee Weeks, who has emerged as maybe Tom King’s best collaborator on this run as well.

What makes the story work so well is how it speaks to comics collective obsession with Batman. In Cold Days, Bruce Wayne manipulates his way onto a jury of a Mr. Freeze murder trial because he worries he made a mistake as Batman, so shook was he after being left at the altar by Catwoman. He gives a 12 Angry Bat-Men kind of speech, wherein he questions the fallibility of his alter ego. Intentional or not, that speech had a meta context, raising questions about the way fandom venerates the character. Fantastic stuff.

2. Ice Cream Man #6 by W. Maxwell Prince, Martin Morazzo, Chris O’Halloran, & Good Old Neon

This comic somehow tells three self-contained stories in a single issue, doing so with little to no dialogue in a way that not only makes sense but will almost certainly haunt the vast majority of readers for weeks (at least, that’s been my experience). Really, if it wasn’t for the monster month of the creator who took the no. 1 spot, Ice Cream Man #6 would have been an easy choice for August’s best.

This comic is one of my favorite single issues of 2018 so far. The craft here is so impressive that I don’t want to think about it too hard, lest I lose motivation to ever attempt anything creative of my own again. Moreover, I have a pretty strong predisposition against stories steeped in cynicism or bleakness—and this issue is most certainly that—yet this book is so well-done I was able to overlook all that. Ice Cream Man holistically is one of the best horror books today, as well as one of the best explorations of what’s possible with the medium, in terms of form and structure. I can’t recommend it enough.  

1. Jeff Lemire

Jeff Lemire landed in the top spot for a few different reasons, many of which we touched on earlier: the conclusion of his Bloodshot epic, the quiet way Royal City’s ending issue made my eyes well, the outstanding reveal on the last panel of Black Hammer: Age of Doom #4, and, of course, the way he stood up to Comicsgate, contributing in no small part to a roiling wave of similarly-prominent creators who did the same.

We should also note that Gideon Falls first arc ended in August (in excellent fashion), and that that book’s entire first storyline has been extremely well-done. So yeah, most months are solid for Lemire output, but August felt like a statement on his part about who he is and what he wants his impact on the industry to be: a disciplined and prolific creator with no tolerance for harassment, rage, bullying, bigotry, or dumbassitude of all kinds. Not bad...not bad in the slightest.

Check out our Best New #1 Comics of August 2018 here plus more of our monthly lists here .

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

ADVANCED REVIEW: Blackbird #1 by Sam Humphries, Jen Bartel, Paul Reinwand, Nayoung Wilson, Jodi Wynne, & Dylan Todd

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Blackbird #1 is due out 10/3. 

By Zack Quaintance — Blackbird #1 is an intriguing debut comic, a stylish fever dream steeped in family dysfunction and disaster and illusion and fantasy and escape, all tinged with a bright dusting of supernatural art. This book is, simply put, an incredibly-stylish story told in big clean panels, rich with memorable visuals and a firm narrative voice from its start. I found it to be thoroughly engrossing.

Blackbird is written by Sam Humphries, who had an instrumental role in DC’s Rebirth line penning Green Lanterns and has since transitioned into writing Harley Quinn. Humphries greatest strength as a comics writer is perhaps his ability to write characters who talk to the audience as if they were a friend (or at least a chatty stranger). His narration makes this protagonist sound like she’s talking directly to us, telling a story, leaning in for support, or even opening up while knowing she’ll come to regret it. The result is a hero who feels and sounds real.

My favorite bit comes about halfway through this issue, when she tells us: I became that girl. I talked about monsters and magic and wizards, like, all the time. I was a girl who made things up, said anything to get attention. But I know what I saw. There is magic in the world, I just can’t find it. The Verdugo Earthquake was ten years ago. Hi. This is me now….it’s a thesis statement, really, one that is intriguing, informative, and conversational all at once.

It’s always hard to tell after a first issue, but thematically Blackbird seems interested in exploring the disconnect between childhood wonder and adult reality. It draws a constant and powerful connection to how kids deal with trauma by finding solace in the biggest and brightest ideas they can, whereas adults are more likely to wonder what the hell happened to me and how do I stop it? There’s a lot of universality here, universality that powerfully compliments the bold and bright linework supplied by Jen Bartel, who, to be clear, is a towering talent of an artist, one with a unique and kinetic style. Really, the visuals in this book are absolutely stunning, worth the price on their own merits.

This book also seems interested in addiction, hints of which were used powerfully by Humphries in another semi-recent book, his follow up to Jason Aaron’s Weird World, which came out post-Secret Wars and was severely underrated. We live in a country where 200 people a day died last year from opioid overdoses. It is without question as serious an issue as any, and I’m curious to see how it factors into this excellent creator-owned comic moving forward.

Overall: A gorgeous urban fantasy that contrasts forlorn subject matter with clean and bright linework. Much intriguing track has been laid in this first issue, wherein Humphries and Bartel also show themselves to be a perfectly complementary team with a grandiose vision. A great debut that I enthusiastically recommend. 9.0/10

For more comic book reviews, check out our review archives.

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

Top Comics to Buy for September 12, 2018

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By Zack Quaintance — I spent this past weekend at Rose City Comic Con in Portland (which was pretty fantastic, as one might expect from a smaller-ish con in a cool city), and as a result I didn’t have as much time as usual to go over my advanced review copies for the week. Luckily, I’d had a chance to read some books in advance and some others while I’m there. That, plus the strength of previews, is what has given us our list.

You know what? For the second straight week I’m putting six comics in our Top Comics to Buy section (plus the new #1s and the 15 in the lower section). It’s my list, I make the rules, etc. I just find that dropping that last book down to others receiving votes is too thin a margin to really justify keeping it out. And, hey, what’s the hard in just one more tiny recommendation, right? Comics are too good right now.

Onward!

Top Comics to Buy for September 12, 2018

Archie 1941 #1 (of 5)
Writer: Mark Waid, Brian Augustyn
Artist: Peter Krause
Colorist: Kelly Fitzpatrick
Letterer: Jack Morelli
Publisher: Archie Comics
Price: $3.99
THE HISTORIC, GROUND-BREAKING MINI-SERIES STARTS HERE! Archie has been around for over 75 years and has been through many significant moments in time, but never before have we seen the characters take on real-world events as they unfold. WWII is looming and Archie and many young men from Riverdale are close to enlistment age. If you're a Riverdale teen, how would you cope with a looming world-changing event? Join the writing team of MARK WAID and BRIAN AUGUSTYN along with artist PETER KRAUSE for the all-new mini-series that is sure to have everyone talking!
Why It’s Cool: Mark Waid is a thoughtful writer with a vast respect for comics history...and this is a book steeped in thoughtful concepts and comics history. It seems like an ideal fit, a great way to look at the universality of being young and facing the churn of a tumultuous world.

Amazing Spider-Man #5
Writer: Nick Spencer
Artist: Ryan Ottley
Inker: Cliff Rathburn
Colorist: Laura Martin
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $3.99
Things look bad for Peter Parker......but GREAT for Spider-Man! The first arc of the epic new run on ASM comes to a climactic finish!
Why It’s Cool: We’ve been pretty effusive with our praise for this new Amazing Spider-Man creative team, which you can read about in this review of Amazing Spider-Man #4. Given that excitement, we are understandably psyched to see how they rap up their very first arc with Marvel’s flagship character. They've set up a pretty intriguing plot point, and we're excited to see how they pay it off and what kind of seeds they plant for the future in the process (ahem, more Mary Jane?)

Cemetery Beach #1 (of 7)
Writer: Warren Ellis
Artist: Jason Howard
Letterer: Fonografiks
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
From the creators of the acclaimed TREES graphic novels, which are currently being adapted for television, comes something completely different. A professional pathfinder, his only ally a disaffected young murderess, breaks out of a torture cell in pursuit of his worst extraction scenario ever: escaping on foot across a sprawling and secret off-world colony established a hundred years ago and filled with generations of lunatics. WARREN ELLIS & JASON HOWARD ignite a high-speed new action serial.
Why It’s Cool: This is a high-speed, high-concept action thriller with a ton of the usual big Warren Ellis ideas waiting just beneath the surface to be explored. Howard’s artwork is kinetic and crackling, and the team as a whole does a fantastic job, putting together one of the best debut issues all year. Read more here.

House of Whispers #1
Writer: Nalo Hopkinson
Artist: Dominike “Domo” Stanton
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $3.99
An all-new corner has been added to Neil Gaiman's Sandman Universe! Welcome to the House of Dahomey, the houseboat of Erzulie Fréda, where the souls of Voodoo followers go when they sleep to beseech the flirtatious and tragic goddess to grant them their hearts' desires and counsel them on their futures and fortunes. When you arrive, you'll find a party is in full swing, filled with all kinds of fabulous and fierce folk, while fish fry and music blasts. From her bayou, Erzulie scries upon the mortal realm and sees four human girls open a mysterious and magical journal filled with whispers and rumors that, if they spread, could cause a pandemic unlike any the Earth has seen, with the power to release Sopona, the loa lord of infectious disease and cousin to Erzulie, who is currently banned from the human plane. But even the fearsome Erzulie cannot be of assistance when her dream river turns tumultuous, tossing her house from her realm and into another…
Why It’s Cool: This book had me at all-new corner has been added to Neil Gaiman’s Sandman Universe...mostly because I’m a Sandman neophyte (who is very publically and shamefully making up for this on Twitter by reading an issue of that series every night). Not having a lengthy pre-existing relationship with the seminal series—but still wanting in on the fun—this book is perfect for me. I also heard Hopkinson and Stanton discuss their plans for the book at SDCC, and it sounds fantastic.   

Long Lost Book 2 #2
Writer: Matthew Erman
Artist: Lisa Sterle
Publisher: Scout Comics
Price: $3.99
Thought. Void. Space. Hazel Patch. Piper is lost and must work with an unlikely ally to find a way home while Frances is reunited with Jody as she sheds new light on everything that has happened. Piper and Frances are fast approaching the end and as questions are answered, they are forced to make game-changing decisions.
Why It’s Cool: Long Lost is a hazy and haunting dream of a comic, one that deals in nostalgia, regret, the lasting effects of childhood damage, and the ongoing fade of America’s small towns...it’s also one of my favorite new comics discoveries this year. This book is clearly headed to a massively intriguing climax, and I for one can’t wait.

Wicked + Divine #39
Writer: Kieron Gillen
Artist: Jamie McKelvie
Colorist: Dee Cunniffee
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
END OF STORY ARC! A 2018 Eisner Award nominee for Best Continuing Series and Best Lettering by CLAYTON COWLES! "MOTHERING INVENTION": Conclusion-Well, it's the end of the arc, in just about every way you could define those particular words.
Why It’s Cool: Wicked + Divine is far into its end-game now, and so many plot points from its distant past are coming around to matter. The end of last arc was certainly heavy with revelations, and we expect the last issue of the penultimate arc of this fantastic ongoing title to be much the same. As always, here’s hoping for HBO or a similarly-prestige heavy network to tap this one for adaptation.

Recommended New #1 Comics for September 12, 2018

  • Iceman #1

  • Journey Into Mystery: Birth of Krakoa #1

  • Low Road West #1 (of 5)

  • MCMLXXV #1

  • Wrong Earth #1

Others Receiving Votes

  • Champions #24

  • Crowded #2

  • Fantastic Four #2

  • Flash #54

  • Hawkman #4

  • Hot Lunch Special #2

  • Infinity Wars #3

  • Mech Cadet Yu #12

  • New World #3

  • Seeds #2

  • Supergirl #22

  • Wasted Space #5

  • Weatherman #4

  • Wildstorm: Michael Cray #11

  • Wonder Woman #54

See our past top comics to buy here, and check our our reviews archive here.

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

The Saga Re-Read: Saga #5

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By Zack Quaintance & Cory Webber — We crossed the 50 weeks remaining mark! Congratulations for all of you who have made this trip with us. I can only speak for myself, but re-reading at this slow and careful pace has been a real treat for me so far, giving me a chance to really live within this story and consider all that I know about what’s to come before moving forward. I hope you’re having a similar experience.

Meanwhile, during this hiatus the creative team is making itself somewhat visible. I highly encourage all of you re-readers to check out this interview from Entertainment Weekly with both Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples, in which they discuss that plot point from Saga #54. Also, if you happen to be one of those mythical folks who doesn’t have a gigantic surplus of comics to read, Vaughan and Staples also recently built a Goodreads list for fans of Saga, which contains some other recent favorites of mine such as Ice Cream Man, as well as some other books that are all new to me and soon to join my ever-expanding to read list.

That does it for this week’s preamble. As always, thanks for joining us on our epic journey. Onward!

Saga #5

Here’s the official preview text from way-back-when for Saga #5:

The smash hit ongoing series from Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples continues, as Prince Robot IV's hunt for Hazel and her parents takes a deadly turn.

And boy does it. It’s still so early in this story, and already we have Vaughan and Staples slamming various character motivations around and making their creations pay the price. Good writing is often as simple as giving characters a clear desire, putting giant obstacles in their ways, and depicting how they respond. Saga has always had an impressive command over that, and this issue is a great example. Plus, that cover!

A Re-Reader’s Perspective by Zack: Looking back, the amount of space dedicated to humanizing The Will and Prince Robot IV in the first arc is interesting. It’s easy to think of them both as side characters who were incidentally fleshed out. That’s not entirely the case, though, considering maybe about a third of the very first arc went to giving them human and relatable motivations for who they become and how they later interact with our heroes. This issue is also notable for being the first appearance of Marko’s defining character flaw, his violent bouts of rage. Eep.

A New Reader’s Perspective by Cory Webber: This issue starts off with another signature Saga splash page of the mundane with Prince Robot IV on the toilet. I love that he’s reading the harlequin novel he confiscated as evidence back in #2. Now, let’s talk about Marko, specifically his sword skills. Umm, remind me not to piss him off. Also, I love how he goes all Kill Bill on the soldiers, but Alana shoots him before he can kill them...and he thanks her for shooting him. This pretty much sums up their relationship—she grounds him, by any means necessary. Now, let’s talk about The Will the Lord of shit vacations. It was nice to see him try and rescue the child. I like that Vaughan is creating sympathy for characters who are bad. Nothing about this book is black or white; there’s lots of gray. As for the ending, I definitely did not see that coming.

Cory’s New Reader Predictions: The Stalk is okay. Her heart is somewhere in her large abdomen. And her and the Will will go on endless shitty vacations with their newly-adopted and rescued child.

Thanks for joining us, and be sure to check back next Friday for a discussion of Saga #6! Tweet us @BatmansBookcase with your own thoughts, and we may run them here next week…

Cory Webber is a work-from-home entrepreneur who also reads and reviews comics for fun. Find him on Twitter at @CeeEssWebber. He lives in Lehi, Utah with his wife and three sons.

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

Five Questions With Creators: Stephanie Phillips

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The final order cutoff date for Devil Within is Sept. 10.

By Zack Quaintance — Stephanie Phillips new book Devil Within (out Oct. 3 from Black Mask Studios) caught my attention after I hear her discussing it on a panel at San Diego Comic Con. It’s no stretch to say that 2018 has been a banner year for horror comics, and Devil Within seems to fit squarely into that, while also staying ground in something most readers will surely relate to — a shared romantic relationship.

We recently caught up with Stephanie to ask her about her new book Devil Within. Stephanie is also involved with a pretty diverse set of pursuits outside of comics, ranging from academia to Muay Thai and hockey. We also used this as an opportunity to talk to her about all of that, and how (if it all) it connects with her writing.

Without further adieu, here is this week’s edition of Five Questions with Creators!

1. Okay, so first things first…can I start by asking about your background as a writer? Just from taking a quick look at your website, it seems super interesting and also intellectually diverse…

I have an MA in English and I am a PhD candidate in Rhetoric and Writing (currently dissertating). I also teach technical communication in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University at Buffalo. I have worked as a technical writer, an editor, a journalist, and a writing teacher. Besides my brief stint making sandwiches at a Firehouse Subs in Florida, most of my jobs have centered on writing.   

2. I heard you describe your forthcoming book from Black Mask, Devil Within, at SDCC…and it sounds terrifying. What kind of experience should readers expect when we pick up this comic?

The main focus of the story is actually trust and relationships. I think back to old slasher movies where a couple is in peril and one person has to watch their lover get slaughtered in some horrific manner. Loss of love is terrifying, but I want to explore what it means to lose love while also being terrified of the person you love. What if the monster is sharing a bed with you?

Reveals and jump scares don’t work in comics the same way they might in a movie, so we are definitely going for a more psychologically stimulating scare that calls into question who we trust and let into our lives, while also showing off some creepy creatures. Maan’s storytelling and monsters should definitely make your skin crawl.

Rising comic writer Stephanie Phillips. 

3. The book is also set in the Philippines…what role does Filipino mythology play in the book?

I don’t want to give too much away, but a lot of our creatures are based in Filipino mythology, if not directly taken from mythology. The story also focuses on Filipino cultural practices surrounding possession. As I have said before, DEVIL WITHIN is based on a true story. Using the actual events as a jumping off point, I tried to stay authentic to the experiences of the people who witnessed what they believe was a demonic possession. One interesting thing I learned about Cebu is that a friend of mine who lived in the Philippines actually had a school day canceled on account of possessions. Snow days, hurricane days, possession days… makes sense.

4. So, compared to the academic writing, personal essays, and journalism you’ve done…how is writing comics different and do you have to drastically alter your approach?

This is actually a really tough question. There is absolutely crossover with everything I write, and I would like to think that my degrees, at the very least, qualify me to write a grammatically sound sentence. Pinpointing what bleeds into my comic writing from my time as an academic writer is a bit tough, but I think the biggest takeaway from working in technical communication is how best to work with my teams. Comics are extremely collaborative, and that means communication is essential. When I explain to Maan what I envision for a page, I need to be able to write in a way that allows Maan to clearly interpret all the things happening in my brain without taking away his creative license, but still providing enough detail to where he isn’t left in the dark. It’s actually a super interesting process and I could write an entire dissertation on it… oh wait, I am!

Kicking Ice from Stephanie Phillips and Jamie Jones is coming soon.

5. Aside from Devil Within, what other upcoming comics projects are you currently at work on? 

So much! KICKING ICE, drawn by Jamie Jones, is at the printer and will be out in the wild very soon. I am also working on a short story with Top Cow set in the Postal universe, and three secret projects that I can’t talk much about yet, but I promise they are big and I am really, really excited about them.

+1. So, you’re an accomplished beer league hockey player, and some of the proceeds from your all-ages graphic novel Kicking Ice went to help the National Women’s Hockey League grow women’s hockey…if you weren’t writing, what are the odds you’d be spending even more time on the ice?

Actually, if I wasn’t writing and teaching, I think I would be spending more of my time in a boxing ring than an ice rink! I absolutely love to play hockey, but I was never good enough to reach the level needed to play professionally. As a Muay Thai fighter, however, I had a number of bouts and worked as a trainer at a local gym in Florida. The more writing projects I took on, the less time I could spend training and fighting. I still train for fun once in a while, but I don’t think I will be stepping back in the ring for the time being (my mom is thrilled about this). 

Check out our other Five Questions with Creators pieces and other Comics Lists here!

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

The Punisher’s Code: A Look at Frank Castle’s First Appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #129

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By Theron Couch — Unlike Marvel’s other vigilante heroes, the Punisher has always used lethal means to accomplish his goals. Whether in his own series, a guest appearance in another character’s book, or even during an extended alternate future tale like the one in this week’s Old Man Logan Annual, Punisher always carries the chance for serious casualties. Frank Castle’s history of lethal justice dates all the way back to his first appearance in Amazing Spider-Man #129, wherein Spider-Man was his target and readers could be forgiven for not being able to tell whether Punisher was good or bad...despite who he was aiming his gun at.

Spider-Man vs. The Punisher

Through a lie that Spider-Man had murdered Norman Osborne, the Punisher was manipulated by The Jackal into trying to kill the wall crawler. Much of the issue focused on Peter Parker, yet I’d still call it action packed, since we are talking about a battle between Spider-Man and The Punisher, after all. And that fight started off decidedly in The Punisher’s favor, at least before Spider-Man summoned the strength to break the titanium bonds Punisher put on him.

Even after getting free, Spider-Man still wasn’t a match for the combined forces of Punisher and Jackal, the latter of which scratched him with electric claws and sent him off the side of a building. Of course, Spider-Man survived, eventually finding a clue planted by The Jackal that leads to a dead friend of the Punisher’s. The Punisher and Spider-Man arrive in the same place, and Spider-Man explains the frame job to Punisher—only Jackal could have planted the clue leading to the body, clearly killed by Jackal’s claws, but it’s Punisher who would have taken the fall. Spider-Man and the Punisher depart tolerably, if not amicably.

The Punisher’s Code

Old Man Logan Annual #1 is now available.

Even in this first appearance, Gerry Conway establishes a code of conduct for The Punisher that puts him closer to the side of the angels than the devils. The Punisher will only kill murderers. Indeed, his justification for killing Spider-Man was the supposed murder of Norman Osborne. The Punisher’s code is so rigid, in fact, he believes he must kill a target rather than allow that target to die in an accident—such as when Spider-Man falls off the roof following Jackal’s attack. Siding with Jackal may be a stain on Punisher’s shield, but Punisher remarks that he believed they were teaming up to rid New York of a criminal element.

The thing that ultimately lands Punisher in the villain column, however, comes at the end of this issue. Once Spider-Man has revealed the frame job and exposed Jackal, Punisher calls him a hero and leaves him alone, instead vowing to get revenge on Jackal. Unfortunately this set of circumstances does nothing to absolve Spider-Man of the Normal Osborne murder—the reason Punisher was hunting Spider-Man in the first place. To stay loyal to his code, the fight against Spider-Man should have continued.

The Punisher is often likened to a simple villain in Amazing Spider-Man #129, and maybe that’s the case, but I think there’s more to it than that. The Punisher follows his code of conduct throughout the issue, acting in a consistent way with a clear and avowed goal to end crime. If there is a villainous moment, it’s when he decides to stop fight against Spider-Man—abandoning his code—in favor of the pettiness of revenge.

Theron Couch is a writer, blogger, and comic book reviewer. His first novel, The Loyalty of Pawns, is available on Amazon. You can also follow him on Twitter at @theroncouch.

REVIEW: Batman #54 by Tom King, Matt Wagner, Tomeu Morey, & Clayton Cowles

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By Zack Quaintance — Batman #54 is a stand-alone tale that uses the character’s longest-standing relationship—Bruce Wayne’s adoption of Dick Grayson, which goes back to Detective Comics #38 in 1940—to tell a heartfelt father-son story. In this comic, grown Dick is visiting Bruce, who is still suffering serious heartache following the events of Batman #50.

**BEWARE if you haven’t yet read it, I’d hate to spoil the emotional trajectory.**

The pattern of the book’s structure intermingles the present day with the past, using snippets of Dick’s first days at Wayne Manor, when he was freshly-orphaned, a sad and furious youth, understandably stunned by the loss of his own parents, guarded and distrustful and stubbornly bent on acting out. We get a scene of young Dick struggling as Bruce tries to comfort him. Then we get a scene of adult Dick cracking wise as he and Bruce fight some of their most ridiculous foes (Crazy Quilt, Condiment King, etc.), with now Bruce being the one who won’t express himself.

The construction is perfect, so emotional. King is a student of comics history, a writer who so obviously appreciates this character’s past. He knows what he has here with arguably the most ubiquitous duo in the world. Up there with Lewis and Clark, Sonny and Cher, peanut butter and jelly...Batman and Robin. King savvily knows his audience will mostly all have some level of emotional attachment to this bond, likely one that connects back to their own childhoods.

That brings us to the other major creative decision that makes this such a heartrending comic. King’s script never once calls for young Robin in costume, because this isn’t about the dynamic duo’s adventures. King instead reels us in with the far more relatable moments in which Bruce was simply an adult caring for a child who needed him. We’ve all been there, with older readers (of which Batman surely has many) having been on both ends.

There’s an early scene here where young Dick has a nightmare about his parents dying and wakes up screaming. Bruce runs to comfort him, to just be there. King—to his credit—gets out of the way and doesn’t overwrite. Wisely, there’s no narration throughout. While comforting Dick after his nightmare, Bruce is actually laconic, as most fathers surely were, saying It’s okay, boy. It’s a dream. You’re safe. It’s not much, but it’s perfect.  

And the issue is littered with similar relatable moments. There’s Bruce asking adult Dick how long he’s planning to stay. I practically heard my own dad trying to ask me about my life, So, uh, what’s new with you? So much always unsaid. And there’s Dick and Bruce bonding while watching football, which might as well have been my living room as a kid. It just all so perfectly captures the emotional fragility of heart-aching men, our deep desire for someone to reach out and our crazy inability to let would-be comforters see us suffer. It’s what makes father-son stuff so inherently fraught, and it’s rendered so gorgeously here via one of the most enduring father-son relationships in all of fiction.

“Writer: Tom King
Artist: Matt Wagner
Colorist: Tomeu Morey
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Price: $3.99
Release Date: September 5, 2018”

Much credit should also go to Matt Wagner’s art. Wagner is an incredible cartoonist operating at full strength. As emotional as the story is, the depiction of faces and the framing of certain shots is just as vital (if not more so). Essentially, Wagner’s work brings out the potential of King’s words. I’m a noted big sappy baby, so it doesn’t mean much for me to say this issue made me cry, but oh man did this issue make me cry. I loved it.

Overall: Following the three-part Cold Days arc is a tough act, but the standalone story about the father-son relationship between Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson in Batman #54 pulls it off. Matt Wagner’s art is fitting and emotive, and Tom King’s script is tonally perfect, an honest look at the emotional fragility of hurt men and how difficult it is to open up. 10/10

For more comic book reviews, check out our review archives.

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 Unexpected #4 by Steve Orlando, Yvel Guichet, Cary Nord, Scott Hanna, Jeromy Cox, & Carlos M. Mangual

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By Zack Quaintance — The Unexpected has featured locales, ideas, and lore from throughout the DCU…and now in issue #4, we get other heroes, too, right from page 1 panel 1. New characters in superhero comics often face world-ending threats, and a natural question becomes why don’t they reach out to the experienced shared universe heavy hitters? This story nicely addresses that, making for another strong single issue in one of my favorite new Big 2 books in ages.

As an individual issue, The Unexpected #4 clearly has a specific goal to reach before its end, and it definitely gets there, landing in a place that promises a new evolution for the book in #5. Along the way, we see our new heroes—Firebrand and Neon the Unknown—study their plight with the tense aid of Bat-family detectives. We also see another of the grandiose set pieces that have so far appeared in every issue, plus a continued push to address the aftermath of DC’s recent Dark Nights Metal event, extending plot points from that story to new and interesting places, essentially contextualizing what happened into the history and future of the DCU.

That’s all to say writer Steve Orlando’s main strengths are very much on display here: his vast and impressive command of continuity, his commitment to taking the shared universe concept seriously, and his ability to have muscle-bound folks punching each other with stakes.

Art-wise, the book is in transition. Cary Nord, on-board from issue one, is off to G. Willow Wilson’s forthcoming run on Wonder Woman, launching in November. That leaves us with the team of Yvel Guichet and Scott Hanna, plus Jeromy Cox providing colors. And this book looks good, to be sure. Next issue will see Mark Farmer drawing, followed by Ronan Cliquet. There’s no reason to believe future installments will suffer, but if we could just take a brief moment in honor of Nord’s contributions. He will be missed.

Anyway, with The Unexpected I remain impressed by how compelling the team has made original characters—no easy feat within a publishing line of adventures that span many decades. The book being a natural extension of Metal helps. Thematically, I think The Unexpected also addresses an idea prominent in the post-Metal DCU: restraint. In surviving Metal, the Justice League broke the source wall, ushering in complex threats. The Unexpected’s central use of the volatile Nth Metal builds on that. Here, we have a powerful character who must resist giving into violent urges, lest she destroy herself and maybe the world, as threats accelerate around her. In many ways, it’s a metaphor for 2018, and I love it.

Overall: The Unexpected continues to be a standout book of DC’s New Age of Heroes line, expertly incorporating bits of the DCU’s past while making an argument for being part of its future. Artist Cary Nord’s departure is a bummer, but this book clearly still has big plans. 8.5/10

For more comic book reviews, check out our review archives.

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

Relay #3 by Zac Thompson, Eric Bromberg, Donny Cates, Andy Clarke, Jose Villarrubia, & Charles Pritchett

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By Zack Quaintance — When I finished reading Relay #3, I took a moment, inhaled, and stretched a one-syllable expletive into five or six. I don’t use much profanity (or I didn't before November 2016, ahem), and I usually say words with the regular amount of syllables (because I’m not Pauly Shore in the ‘90s...anyone get that? sorry, never mind). This comic, however, is as intricate and complex as any I’ve reviewed, as laden with disparate and heady ideas as it is with plot twists and perils for our hero.

Relay is, simply put, a precisely-executed hard sci-fi book that sets out to disorient and misdirect its reader...and then wildly accomplishes its goals. It’s why I love this book, and it’s also why I, quite frankly, find this book a major challenge to review. I, however, will bravely soldier on (hold your applause) throughout the length of this series, because I think Relay’s complexity will attract a large and loyal audience, catapulting this book into a massive hit, and also I want to engage with it on a deeper level, hopefully catching as much of what’s happening as possible before my head explodes (no regrets!).

Phew. Okay, now about this issue: in some ways it’s utterly different from all that came before, yet how it expands your perception of this story is entirely consistent with the first two issues. What actually sets Relay #3 apart is the long stretches within where Andy Clarke and Jose Villarrubia absolutely decimate eyes and minds with their artwork.

I’m becoming (somewhat) used to Zac Thompson’s whip-smart scripting and the brain twists of the story he cooked up with Eric Bromberg and Donny Cates, which point one way while suddenly teleporting another. Until now, however, Clarke’s linework has been detailed and imaginative yet fairly grounded in a futuristic vision of reality. That changes here. There is a stretch in Relay #3 where the art is grotesque in its design but stunning in its execution, abstract in a way that disorients while also serving the goals of the story. It’s really impressive, and based on the cover for Relay #4, we’re surely in for more.

As with the end of the first two issues, the final panel of Relay #3 leaves our story with an entirely new status quo. As such, I think it’s becoming clear that part of this story’s ambition is a statement about reality, showing us how fallible our perceptions are due to the inherently-limited nature of the information we as individuals have access to. We just believe so much because it’s what we’ve been told, be it history, customs, religion, politics, power structures, technology. In past reviews I’ve talked about how this story’s interests are colonialism, conformity, and God, and I think all of that is still true, but I’m starting to also suspect Relay has a point to make about the very nature of reality.  

Overall: This book is becoming more engrossing with each issue, so much so that I suspect word of mouth will soon catapult it to much wider audience. I highly recommend jumping on board now. Start at the beginning, of course, but whatever you do, read this comic—this series is not to be missed. 9.5/10

For more comic book reviews, check out our review archives.

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

Best New #1 Comics of August 2018

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By Zack Quaintance — I love any month wherein indie publishers sweep our top five best new #1 comics list, and this is (obviously) one of those months. I’m not sure how often this happens, but it’s always a treat. This month, simply put, brought one of the best crops of new creator-owned debut issues I’ve ever seen...two of which were even by the same writer!

What’s also great is the diversity of publisher among our top 5 best new #1 comics of August 2018, with books coming from usual suspects like Dark Horse and Image, and from other sources too, including AfterShock Comics, Scout Comics, and IDW’s Black Crown imprint. Yes, not only do we have a top 5 consisting entirely of indie books, we also have a list that features five different indie comics publishers!

The state of comics is strong, friends, strong indeed. We are truly lucky to be fans of this storytelling medium in such exciting times. Now then, let’s get to the list!

Quick Hits

It's been a while since I've enjoyed a big Marvel event as much as the first two issues of Infinity Wars, both of which came out this month. I attribute this to killer Deodato art and an increasingly strong overall state of affairs within the Marvel Universe.

The DC/Looney Toons specials were a delight, yet again. The Lex Luthor/Porky Pig Special #1 and the Catwoman, Tweety, & Sylvester Special #1 don’t hit Batman/Elmer Fudd levels of greatness, but they’re both quite good.

In my Extermination #1 review, I wrote about liking it because it seemed like minor cleanup of X-continuity in preparation for November’s relaunch of Uncanny X-Men. If that’s what this series ends up being, count me in for all five issues.

After what he did with Mike Allred in Silver Surfer, Dan Slott has 100 percent of my trust when it comes to nailing the family dynamic at the heart of the Fantastic Four. The first issue did nothing to change that.

I’m currently working my way through the original Sandman for the first time (I know, I know), one issue per night, and the reason why is because I found the Sandman Universe #1 teaser issue so intriguing.  

I loved Matt Kindt and Tyler Jenkins’ recently-concluded series Grass Kings. They’re back now, with a completely new book, Black Badge, and I’m all in. Read my review of Black Badge #1.

I have a new rotating gig writing the DC Round-Up for my favorite comics website, The Beat, and I got Pearl #1 with my first crop of books...and I loved it! Read my first DC Round-Up, in which I discuss Pearl.

Cold Spots #1 was appropriately chilling, promising more horror to come and living up to its title.

Leviathan #1 is one of those new books that brings together a creative union so perfect it seems like it's been going on for years.

West Coast Avengers #1 is a perfect use of every character in it, and a natural evolution of this franchise. I’m glad it exists.

Top 5 Best #1 Comics of August 2018

Crowded #1 by Christopher Sebela, Ro Stein, Ted Brandt, Triona Farrell, & Cardinal Rae

As someone currently working a full-time job, plus three other work-for-hire writing side gigs that involve logging keyboard time fairly regularly at all hours (nights, weekends, etc.)...this late capitalist horror story about a young woman targeted by a crowd-sourced assassination app who subsequently contracts a defender via another separate app...well, it hit close to home for me.

My own economic and professional perspectives aside, Crowded #1 is simply a well-done comic. The pacing spares no tension, giving us just the right amount of info before throwing us into rapid action, and the bits Sebela and team reveal about their two lead characters are equal parts relatable and fascinating. What this book excels at most, however, is emphasizing the absurdity of what it’s like to work in 2018, extending the gig economy to a logical-yet-horrific extreme that should make every reader afraid, or at least introspective the next time they call an Uber.

Hot Lunch Special #1 by Eliot Rahal, Jorge Fornes, & Taylor Esposito

Hot Lunch Special, as I’ve said on Twitter, blends a generational American immigrant story with Midwestern crime noir evocative of Fargo. The result is a comic unlike any other on the stands today. Essentially, you come to this book for the mafioso murder/extortion plot line, and you stay for the touches of sincere graphic memoir—or maybe vice versa.

Even with severed appendages inside sandwiches appearing pretty near the story’s start, it’s to Hot Lunch Special’s credit it feels understated, as a good Midwestern story should. This is due in large part to the impressive work Rahal and Fornes do building character, particularly with the younger members of the family. An organized crime story is just so much more compelling when you start to tangle up those who are born into it, who maybe don’t realize the extent of the dirt and certainly didn’t ask for it. Rahal and Fornes know this well, and it makes for a great comic.

House Amok #1 by Christopher Sebela, Shawn McManus, Lee Loughridge, & Aditya Bidikar

Annnnnd here we have another entry from writer Christopher Sebela, this time via IDW’s en fuego Black Crown imprint, which landed a book in last month’s Best New #1 Comics with another favorite of ours, The Euthanauts. The hits will likely keep coming for Black Crown too, what with the Laphams rolling out a crime noir book this fall about a nefarious shape-shifting travel blogger (I know, right?! sounds amazing). But I digress.

House Amok is visually rich with the work of veteran artist Shawn McManus, colored so effectively here by Lee Loughridge, one of the industry’s best at using different tones to establish flashbacks and mood. In addition to the stellar art, Sebela deploys a precocious narrative voice, a child writing about her literally crazed family in an innocent diary, trying to parse her own little healthy reality amid the violence the older relatives she’s supposed to trust continue to justify are perpetrate. Lyrical and dark, I’m all in on this comic.

Long Lost Book 2 #1 by Matthew Erman & Lisa Sterle

Speaking of lyrical and dark, our next new #1 is more of a continuation than a pure debut, but we like it so much we had to include it. And, hey, isn’t more of a continuation than a pure debut an accurate summation for nearly every new superhero #1 of the past two or three decades? Anyway, Long Lost is everything that’s healthy about indie comics right now rolled into one brilliant sequential graphic story.

In this book, readers find experimentation with form, effective-yet-subtle visuals that convey mood, patient characterization, and ideas that are mysterious and haunting. By design, much of the nature of this book is still to be revealed, yet the ride we’ve been on now through seven total issues has been thoroughly engrossing, incorporating ideas about the past, moving on, and sisterhood. Do yourself a favor: find and binge every issue of this comic. And do it while spending a long and quiet weekend somewhere, nostalgic and alone.

Seeds #1 by Ann Nocenti & David Aja

Ann Nocenti and David Aja’s Seeds #1 is the type of comic that will bug your eyes, expanding your consciousness and giving you occasion to slow down and run your hand over its pages and pages of stunning and provocative visuals. This book is probably best classified as near-future science fiction, a genre thriving in comics right now. Something about Seeds, however, feels different; as if these creators were given an actual glimpse of a future, complete with logical societal changes that are as of now impossible to predict.

Maybe that’s what makes Seeds feel so obviously brilliant—its world feels realistic, yet very much the product of the creators’ minds, sharp and visionary as they are. This is a four-part series, and after one issue I’m unequivocally on board for all of it. Nocenti and Aja are both towering talents who’ve contributed seminal works to mainstream superhero comic books, and now they’ve gone off-map. Be excited and afraid.

Check out more of our monthly lists here.

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: Man-Eaters #1 by Chelsea Cain, Kate Niemczyk, Rachelle Rosenberg, Joe Caramagna, & Lia Miternique

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Man-Eaters #1 is out Sept. 26.

By Zack Quaintance — There’s a fantastic sense of freedom in Man-Eaters #1. The book is written by Chelsea Cain and drawn by Kate Niemczyk, a duo that last teamed together for Marvel Comics’ Mockingbird. I really enjoyed that comic, which was an engrossing puzzle box of a superhero story that also hinted (somewhat controversially...but I won’t get into that nonsense) at the themes in this book.

Mockingbird, however, addressed those themes subtly, putting superheroics at its forefront pretty much at all times. Man-Eaters #1, though, has the liberating benefit of being a straight satire. The book has mystery, action, and even a touch of body horror, to be sure, but all of those qualities grow from the story’s foundational poignancy, rather than having it be the other way around. The result is an unencumbered creative team firing with all its strength, and, simply put, it’s fantastic.

Visually, this comic is brimming with small details and gags that reward careful readers. Pencil Shoppe...Hand-Sharpened While You Wait!, an unseen kid labeled The Intern In Charge of Social Media., a Bitch Planet poster on the wall in a bedroom, etc. Niemczyk is a big talent, with clean and precise linework on characters and in backgrounds. There’s an eclectic two-page splash early in this book that sets the tone for the strength of the visuals to come, as well as for how much attention should be devoted to each panel, lest readers miss out on the details included for them by the creators.

And these visual gags in the early pages go a long way toward making the hefty amount of exposition we get up front story palatable. It’s not that big of a deal—stories with younger protagonists have a long tradition of heroes talking directly to the audience, introducing readers to the world the same way kids in real life explain things—but it’s still noticeable. The young protagonist and her narrative voice are both immediately likable, and the world and concept of this comic are more than interesting enough to make this comic engaging. In the end, this book is really well-done and smart, ending with a fantastic last page cliffhanger, as all great #1 issues should.

Essentially, Man-Eaters #1 did a fantastic job setting up its characters, world, and plot points, and I’m excited to see what the creative team will do with it all moving forward.

Overall: A smart and searingly clever satire, Man-Eaters #1 is a great setup for a comic that has important things to say. Visually, this book is a total treat, packing rewarding details and entertaining gags for careful readers into most of its panels. This comic gets a full endorsement. 8.5/10

For more comic book reviews, check out our review archives.

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

Top Comics to Buy for September 5, 2018

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By Zack Quaintance — Phew, this week is packed tighter with great books than the shoebox where I used to keep my comics as a kid back before I shelled out the little bit of cash to get my first short box. That probably wasn’t as clever as I hoped it would be, but you get what I’m saying all the same. This? This is a good week for comics. In fact, we even had to write up six books instead of the usual five, and even then we were still force to make some tough choices.

In fact, it’s so good that it was a real challenge to pair down my list. I can usually confidently pick out the five comics I recommend most just by looking at what titles are coming out in a given week. This week, however, I had a near-crippling amount of indecision. Anyway, Leviathan, Relay, and Snotgirl all muscled their ways onto this week’s list just by virtue of being amazing comics.

Let’s take a look!

Top Comics to Buy for September 5, 2018

Batman #54
Writer: Tom King
Artist: Matt Wagner
Colorist: Tomeu Morey
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $3.99
Dick Grayson-the original Robin-gets to spend some quality time fighting crime with his mentor for the first time since Batman popped the question to Catwoman. It's a walk down memory lane as Bruce Wayne helps Dick get over the loss of his high-flying acrobat parents, which in turn led to his crime-fighting career. Guest artist Matt Wagner (Mage, TRINITY) jumps on board for this special issue!
Why It's Cool: Cool is probably the wrong word for a book that seems like it's going to be a modern classic, a touching yet never saccharine examination of the father-son dynamic between Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson. Batman's recent Cold Days arc was a near-masterpiece, but it's heartfelt and honest single issues like this seems to be \that keep Tom King's Batman among my favorite recent runs on the character. 

Border Town #1
Writer: Eric M. Esquivel
Artist: Ramon Villalobos
Colorist: Tamra Bonvillain
Letterer: Deron Bennett
Publisher: Vertigo
Price: $3.99
When a crack in the border between worlds releases an army of monsters from Mexican folklore, the residents of Devil's Fork, AZ, blame the ensuing weirdness-the shared nightmares, the otherworldly radio transmissions, the mysterious goat mutilations-on "God-dang illegals." With racial tensions supernaturally charged, it's up to new kid in town Frank Dominguez and a motley crew of high school misfits to discover what's really going on in this town torn between worlds. 
Why It’s Cool: To quote our Border Town #1 ADVANCED REVIEW, Border Town #1 is a strong start for a reinvigorated Vertigo imprint, a relatable coming-of-age teen drama in one of the least understood yet most argued about parts of the country. The art is terrifyingly detailed, and the story leans enthusiastically into time-tested horror tropes, also finding new ground by adding Mexican/Chicano folklore and mythos.

Cover #1 (of 6)
Writer: Brian Michael Bendis
Artist: David Mack
Publisher: Jinxworld
Cost: $3.99
Years in the making, from the award-winning team of Brian Michael Bendis and multimedia sensation David Mack, comes a brand-new graphic novel experience. And it's all kind of based on a true story. Sort of... Deep in the American intelligence community, someone realizes that comic book creators, who travel all over the world to sell their wares, might make the perfect cover for operatives in the dangerous, topsy-turvy world of intelligence and counterintelligence...and that's when all hell breaks loose. This is the story of the time the world of comics and the world of international spy work smashed together-with unexpected results!
Why It’s Cool: The creative team for this book have both worked with the government at various times, I believe, in consulting capacities, bringing their unique knowledge about narrative threats and the like to bear on real-world problems. It's poised to give this book—which is shaped by an excellent concept already—an added layer of honesty and truth. I really enjoyed Pearl #1 last month, the first fresh title from Bendis' reborn Jinxworld imprint, but Cover #1 looks like it's on another level. It stands to be such an honest look at life for comics pros, intermingled with an espionage story and stunning David Mack artwork. All indications are that this six-part series is going to be one to remember.

Leviathan #2
Writer & Letterer: John Layman
Artist: Nick Pitarra
Colorist: Michael Garland
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
"'TIL DEATH DO US PART," Part Two...While Ryan DeLuca tries to piece together exactly how his friends summoned a giant monster, government defense forces take the fight to the depths of the Earth, where monsters dwell. Then, of course, they piss off the wrong monster.
Why It’s Cool: The second issue of the new book from Layman and Pitarra (who are an unbelievably complimentary team, btw) really hints at a much different book than I was expecting. I won’t go into detail about a comic that’s not out yet, other than to say that if you liked issue #1 you’ll love this one, and, even if you didn’t like #1, I’d still recommend giving this a chance, because it’s quite possible this book is up to more than you think.

Relay #3
Writer: Zac Thompson
Story By: Zac Thompson & Donny Cates
Artist: Andy Clarke
Colorist: Jose Villarrubia
Letterer: Charles Pritchett
Publisher: AfterShock Comics
Price: $3.99
In the future, the galaxy is united under a monolith known as the Galactic Relay. Although the towering monument is meant to inspire conformity of ideas, technology, and progress, it is not without its enemies and many have begun to resent the foreign structure. And now, Jad Carter, a Relay employee, has found the Relay’s mythological creator. An interstellar mug causes a complete breakdown of reality. Jad travels inside the Monolith but it raises more questions than answers.
Why It’s Cool: The most complex and intricate sci-fi book on the shelves today...in market that is booming with great entries in the genre. Relay #3 expertly builds on the themes and complexity of its first two issues, while giving artist Andy Clarke some space to blow readers minds the way the story by Zac Thompson and Donny Cates has so far. This entire creativity team is firing on all cylinders. This book is a slow burn, but I’m starting to suspect it might end up being a mega hit. If you haven’t been reading this, I’d highly recommend grabbing all three issues this Wednesday, setting aside roughly 90 minutes of very quiet time, and diving all the way in.

Snotgirl #11
Writer: Bryan Lee O’Malley
Artist: Leslie Hung
Colorist: Rachael Cohen
Letterer: Mare Odomo
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
NEW STORY ARC! Chapter 11: "MY SECOND DATE.” While her friends have some concerns, Lottie just wants to take her relationship with Caroline to the next level-which is why she's keeping it a complete secret!
Why It’s Cool: I mean, it just is (that’s a joke from the issue). As I Tweeted immediately after finishing this issue, there's a lot of comics that comment on our times, but Snotgirl does so in a really unique and refreshing way. Its interests are seemingly innocuous, but look closer and this book is often just as scary as comics about war or fascism. Content deals heavily in social media, vanity, modern priorities and values, and the price of appearances, all through an incredibly relatable and terrifying prism of neurosis.

Recommended New #1 Comics for September 5, 2018

  • Bully Wars #1
  • Dreaming #1
  • Jinxworld Sampler #1
  • Old Man Logan Annual #1
  • Silver Surfer Annual #1

Others Receiving Votes

  • Captain America #3
  • Cosmic Ghost Rider #3
  • Dead Hand #6
  • Death of Inhumans #3
  • Deathstroke #35
  • Eclipse #10
  • Giant Days #42
  • Immortal Hulk #5
  • Justice League #7
  • Paper Girls #24
  • Seeds #2
  • Thanos Legacy #1
  • Unexpected #4
  • Unnatural #3
  • Walking Dead #183

See our past top comics to buy here, and check our our reviews archive here.

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

The Saga Re-Read: Saga #4

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Lying Cat and his human, The Will. 

By Zack Quaintance & Cory Webber — This is it folks, the last issue before we start the final 50-issue home stretch. We're officially within a year of finishing this project! I can't speak for Cory (whom I know is itching to read ahead at a faster pace...and who could blame him?), but I've gotten quite a bit out of this little re-read project so far.

Part of the logic for doing this was to keep the story and the characters fresh in my mind during the one-year hiatus. This series is so well-done, though, that doing a slow re-read is having the added advantage of making me aware of layers and character growth I might have glazed over during my first read, when every time I cracked an issue I was mostly just concerned with what's going to happen?! Essentially, that's all a verbose way of noting that taking Saga at a slow, weekly pace is a new experience for me as a re-reader and I'm noticing things I might have missed the first time. 

Onward!

Saga #4

Here's the official preview text from way back when for Saga #4: 

Welcome to SEXTILLION, a distant planet where even your darkest fantasies become reality. See why everyone's talking about this hit new ongoing adventure from BRIAN K. VAUGHAN and FIONA STAPLES!

Oooo, that's all a bit more descriptive than the last two weeks. Sextillion! How exciting. The solicit has also segued from touting the book as a controversy to embracing it's roll as a budding mega-hit, the likes of which Image (and, really, the industry) hadn't seen since Robert Kirkman's The Walking Dead, which took a few years and a successful TV adaptation to really get rolling. Saga, meanwhile, was a hit right from the start. Now on to your takes!

A Re-Reader’s Perspective by Zack: This issue gives us another of Saga's distinctive intro pages, one of the first of many to come. Really, this whole issue is another pretty slow one, especially as it pertains to our central family with all the main action happening off-panel and the dramatics relying on conversation. It is interesting to look back at, though, because it depicts a desire on Vaughan's part to make even his villainous characters sympathetic right from the start (talking of The Will here). Sometimes I feel like comics writers become enamored with villains and backwards engineer sympathy. Not here, though. This issue also has that panel that I reference in my spoiler heavy Why Saga #54 Hurts So Bad piece. Sigh.

A New Reader’s Perspective by Cory Webber:  Well, Sextillion is, umm, interesting. I’ve heard of these unique opening pages that Saga likes to throw our way, and this one was unique, for sure. Moreover, I quite enjoyed the back-and-forth banter between Alana and Izabel. I feel that relationship is going to grow on me. Also, it was nice to see that The Will can be sympathetic, at least as it applies to saving child sex slaves. And, it was nice to see that flat-headed slaver get his comeuppance. We have been getting a lot of great personal, character moments and relationship/world building, but that appears to be changing soon based on the last page. I can’t wait to see how the action and mayhem unfurls.

Cory’s New Reader Predictions:  We will be seeing the wrath of Gwendolyn, at some point. And I cannot wait for it!

Thanks for joining us, and be sure to check back next Friday for a discussion of Saga #5! Tweet us @BatmansBookcase with your own thoughts, and we may run them here next week...

Cory Webber is a work-from-home entrepreneur who also reads and reviews comics for fun. Find him on Twitter at @CeeEssWebber. He lives in Lehi, Utah with his wife and three sons.

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

Five Questions With Creators: David Moses LeNoir

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By Zack Quaintance — David Moses LeNoir sent us his first comic earlier this year, saying a review would be cool but more than that he just wanted to share it. That, I think, is indicative of a passion for writing and drawing (both of which he does...and does well, too) that also shows in his work. Dave, as you’ll read in a moment, is heavily influenced by Jack Kirby, both in aesthetic and in the sort of larger than life (yet grounded in dynamics) stories he likes to tell.

The best way to get to know him (in addition to the questions below) is probably to read his comic, which is available here (and highly recommended). You can also find him on Twitter @MosesLeNoir and his ongoing comic @GJSwmlf. It’s called Galactic Junk Squad (Well, More Like Family), described by its Twitter page as a cosmic cacophony about a family of space beings who run an intergalactic junkyard. The book is written and drawn by LeNoir, with lettering by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou. Think Jack Kirby writing/drawing a dysfunctional family sitcom and you’ll have a decent idea of what to expect.

The cover for issue #1.

Anyway, enough! Onward to the five questions…

Q: I think the phrase I see most often associated with Galactic Junk Squad (Well, More Like Family) is Kirby-esque…what kind of relationship do you have with Jack Kirby’s work?

A: For me, Kirby attains a level of dynamic energy and has a connection to the marrow of life that is unmatched in comics. I haven’t been able to shake the purity of his creative expression. His imagination was unhinged from limitation, and he used it in service to humanity - to pursue tough questions. Kirby is equal parts artist, philosopher, and prophet. For example, he did an interview alongside Carmine Infantino where he reveals the underpinnings of the Fourth World, which dealt with the effects of technology on humanity; he was both prescient and ambivalent as a futurist. But his exploration of technology always came back to his philosophical center: the struggles and potential of the human spirit. I think that’s the thing for me: wherever Jack goes he pushes the boundaries, but the core is always humanity.

Q: So then, can you narrow it down to a top 5 of favorite Kirby creations?

A: That’s a tough one! Many people think Jack needed editing, but I disagree. Most of my favorite stuff from him was what he wrote for himself. Top of the list has got to be Forever People, simply for the subjects he tackled: fascism, the promises and pitfalls of youth, and the practical failure of heroism that is, somehow, ultimately hopeful. It’s extremely relevant today. Close behind that is the rest of the Fourth World, which was massive in scope, but dealt with mundane circumstances; like, here are gods that have to disguise themselves and deal with bureaucracy or bullets or Darkseid - the embodiment of evil - chilling on their couch! Next, 2001: A Space Odyssey, mostly because of the beautiful cosmic absurdity. I feel like he was the most unfiltered in that series. It was pure, high-concept Kirby philosophy. And Mike Royer, who’s my favorite inker for Jack, does some truly beautiful work there. Next, it’s mid-to-late era Fantastic Four. Sinnott’s inks were incredible, and Lee did great work interpreting Jack’s story sense - not to mention, the FF are the foundation for the Marvel Universe. Then, I think, everything Black Panther that he did, because Jack wanted to push the conversation forward. He knew he was writing mostly for kids, so he built in assumptions that countered the general American narrative about race. The period of his work between 1967-1976 was where I think he hit his strongest stride.

Q: I know you mentioned that this was your first comic. Can you talk about where the idea for this book came from and how it developed into a fully-formed comic?

A: Before this, I wrote a full five-issue arc of a comic in an entirely different style, and I was planning on farming out the art duties. My wife kept prodding me to do the art, but I didn’t feel ready. Then one day we were driving out of town when suddenly this thought poked into my head: “hillbilly space family that runs a junkyard in space,” and for the rest of the night I couldn’t stop thinking about it. This was the thing I knew I wanted to draw, and I was going to pack as much Kirby crackle and reflective metal into it as I could! So I took that initial idea and started teasing it out into a script. It became a cute little one-shot with a happily-ever-after ending. But in the process of drawing it, I thought, what if it didn’t end there? It became a sandbox for me, where I could explore any and all ideas that I have. So more characters, like The Catastrophe Twins, started surfacing. More and more of the mythos of this world developed, and even though it became decidedly less “hillbilly” than the original idea, I wanted to try and retain a humorous element.

Q: The banter in this book strikes me as being as witty as a well-done sitcom. What are some of your favorite TV family comedies?

A: Thank you! That’s nice to hear because I feel like I’m not particularly good at banter. Brooklyn 99 is a modern classic. I feel like each show has at least one big laugh. Definitely the first three seasons of Arrested Development - I am in awe at what Mitch Hurwitz was able to do with thirty plot threads and subtlety. The IT Crowd is another one. Also, reaching way back, the Dick Van Dyke Show, which my wife and I have watched through three times.

David Moses LeNoir, as drawn by his 3-year-old daughter.

Q: Not to be too intrusive, but has your own family read your work, and if so, has there been any feedback?

A: Yes! Good feedback, actually! We’re all very supportive of each other’s creative endeavors. All of the family that has read it has been encouraging. Even if comics may not be their “thing,” they still support it. I haven’t gotten, “Hey, is that supposed to be about me??” Really, I have not been writing it in a way where I’m directly referencing things that have actually happened, or where characters are based on my family members. If anything, the Galactic Junk Squad (Well, More Like Family) represents different sides of myself, each vying for dominance - or at least a modicum of control - and I say, “Let’s see what happens when it all falls apart.” I want to make it as human and relatable as I can, but set it against a crazy cosmic backdrop.

+1: Funniest family drama story you’re able/willing to share…

A: When I was probably two or three, my brother told my mom that he wanted a TV for his room for Christmas. This was back in the 80’s when there was just one TV in most homes. My mom said, “Get realistic,” and I said, “Yeah, get real lipstick!”

Check out our other Five Questions with Creators pieces and other Comics Lists here!

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

August 2018 New Comic Discoveries: Long Lost, Warlords of Appalachia, and Mashbone & Grifty

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By Zack Quaintance — I’ve had a pretty broad experience with America in my life. I was born and raised outside Chicago; I went to college in rural Southern Illinois; after college I lived in Texas on the U.S.-Mexico Border; after that I lived in the hip enclave of Austin; and recently I moved to Sacramento, an odd hybrid of the San Francisco Bay Area and California's agriculture-heavy Central Valley, an obscure city where America’s culture wars often collide.

And all of this is relevant to comics how? Well, it connects to the books in this month’s New Comics Discoveries, which as always are comics I’ve read after having them recommended to me a billion times. This month's selections give us a broad vision of modern America, too, using a range of genres—from dystopian sci-fi warfare to subtle horror to jokey over-the-top detective adventure—to take closer looks at different parts of America, at Appalachia or withering towns abandoned by their youth or neighborhoods called Little Mexico.   

These are all books that when taken together speak to the diversity of the American experience today, so excellently reflected through comics. These stories all have something uniquely 2018 to say, and I highly recommend seeking them out and reading them.

With all that in mind, let’s get to it now: August 2018 New Comic Discoveries!

Long Lost Vol. 1 by Matthew Erman & Lisa Sterle

This haunting book from Scout Comics is bold, complex, experimental, and abstract in a way mainstream books are often afraid to be. Long Lost is a story I will pass to friends who generally prefer literary fiction to sequential graphic storytelling. Basically, this is an incredibly smart comic with a deep tonal range that spans everything from sheer terror, to the malaise of routine, to the way we justify to ourselves (and others) the challenges life has dealt us...the way we grapple the past into being okay rather than actually dealing with root causes of deep-seeded pains and dysfunctions.

Lisa Sterle’s art in Long Lost is fittingly subdued and minimalistic, saving its greatest flourishes for moments that accentuate either horror or the role of setting in the story. Matthew Erman’s writing, meanwhile, is poignant and rich with poetic narration. Its dialogue is also telling without feeling forced. I jotted a number of favorite lines (some are listed below), because the prose on the pages kept demanding it. Ditto for screenshotting favorite panels.

There’s just something Lynchian at work in how this story withholds orienting information and accentuates the horrors of the mundane. Yet, there’s never a full dive made into bleakness or cynicism. A main conceit of Long Lost is revisiting the past, which in part means having our protagonists return to the forgotten rural town where they grew up. That kind of narrative can definitely lend itself to pessimism, but Long Lost never tips that way. The relationship between the two central sisters gives it way too much heart, making for a complex and haunting book that is equally human and relatable.

Some favorite lines:

  • Mom has been “missing” since we were kids. It’s only now that she has finally disappeared like everyone I know.

  • I see Hazel Patch like...you would see snakes gathered in overgrowth, maybe sleeping beneath blackberry bushes. And also, This was it though. This was Hazel Patch, in all its glory. Barely here, existing for no other reason than pure stubborness. An aimless void where people never leave because there is no where else to be except here. Nowhere.

  • I’ve had this foggy thing going on in my head, been like that for about a year now—I dunno. And I broke my arm learning to juggle.

  • Yesterday I woke up in a place I thought I knew but...it’s gone. The world is different. Everything has changed and all I feel is dread.

  • I dunno...I kind of loved this place growing up...or maybe I didn’t. It’s been so long I can’t seem to remember.

Warlords of Appalachia Vol. 1 by Phillip K. Johnson, Jonas Scharf, Doug Garbark, & Jim Campbell

Warlords of Appalachia imagines our current political years from now, taking it to vast and bleak extremes by depicting a situation in which Kentucky is a war-torn Chechnya-esque territory that the rest of the world leans on the U.S. government to leave alone. This is, without question, a prescient comic about individualism, about the power of religion as a motivator to justify drastic action or fighting in times of great poverty, and about the dangers of substituting macho cult personality for an actual leader with courage and integrity.

In terms of its DNA, this is a war comic, and the action sequences written by Phillip K. Johnson and drawn by Jonas Scharf are clear and intense, very well-done. Yet, that’s not really what makes this such a compelling comic. This is a good comic because of the ideology that surrounds the combat, the reasons the people fight, be it because they’re career soldiers, religious zealots, or members of fedup and oppressed communities.

This is also the type of comic that both sides of our very real raging ideological war could read and relate to heavily, which I think is likely also part of the point...not that this story is making the flawed argument that our current politics have two equal sides, but to remind us that once any political stance is corrupted enough, the end goals of those who are doing the corrupting start to look the same. I’ve only read the first volume of this book, but I heavily suspects that's where this story is heading.

Mashbone and Grifty #1 by Oscar Garza & Rolando Esquivel

Mashbone and Grifty from 5 Meats Comics was such a nice palate cleanser after the much heavier fare in the first two titles, but it’s still a great comic with a unique (and often hilarious) perspective. First about the funny: this is one of those comics that packs in visual and dialogue gags at a rapid clip, reminding of the work of my favorite funny-man in comics, Kyle Starks (whose Rock Candy Mountain was a previous New Discovery). To give you a sense of what to expect, this first issue is about a man who approaches our heroes because someone has stolen his cock (rooster) named Mango.

This book is super funny and also steeped in a Mexican-American perspective. At one point, a character asks why he has to do the dangerous undercover work in Little Mexico, and after another character tells him it’s because he’s Mexican...everyone goes silent and someone mumbles something about being uncomfortable. There’s also a funny interlude with a handy el dandy Spanish Glossary, plus a quick clip from Mashbone’s favorite movie, which uses an Indiana Jones type character (Dakota Dan) for a quick satire about immigration.

In other words, Mashbone and Grifty is a funny book with something unique to say, and if it makes you uncomfortable—good, because this comic is telling a ton of jokes-per-minute even if some of those jokes make you flinch.  

Click here to check out Mashbone and Grifty.

See all our past months of new discoveries here. And check back to the site next week for our Best Debut Comics of August 2018 as well as our Top Comics of August 2018, too.

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

Beyonders #1 by Paul Jenkins & Wesley St. Claire

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Beyonders #1 is out Aug. 29. 2018.

By Zack Quaintance — The opening pages of Paul Jenkins and Wesley St. Claire’s Beyonders #1 are not unlike having a conversation with someone who is really into historical conspiracy theories at a party or a bar: the information comes at you so fast that you can’t make much sense of it...all you know is that there’s something much much larger going on here, something that may or may not be worth going all in on.

In that sense, Beyonders #1 does a great job opening up a new comic, throwing out an intriguing hook that basically encapsulates what this story is about, one that will surely make clear to like-minded readers that they’re in for something worthwhile. For those who are maybe a little overwhelmed with the opening, the creative team does a great job of getting us right to our protagonist, who himself then makes clear that he finds this all a bit overwhelming as well. That he does it with some funny too is another enticing quality laid out early by Beyonders.

That’s all really great on a surface level. What I found more enticing about this book was the hints at bigger questions about conspiracy culture, about how it’s accelerated in odd regions due to the Internet and about how certain types of people are prone to use it as a distraction from more tangible and immediate things in the world around them. It’s all so relevant for this tough year of 2018, and Jenkins and St. Claire do a great job of conveying that without being heavy-handed.

Some of the scenes of Jacob’s real life, however, are just a little too on the nose and convenient, especially one where he’s called into his principal’s office so the man can give him a speech and also inform him he’s been denied...by every college he applied to. That convenience took me out of the story a little bit (just a little), but thankfully the book is never far off from lapsing back into its central concern: conspiracies.

Jenkins and St. Claire are experienced creators who know their craft stuff, and the book reads quickly. Everything here is well-polished and easy to digest. Whether or not is proves to be a lasting series, however, will likely depend on how well it continues to unpack the reasons online culture has accelerated belief in conspiracies.

Overall: There are a lot of surprises in this comic, as one is right to expect from a book about conspiracies, and they’re all well-done. In the end, I’d heartily recommend this comic to anyone who gets lost down conspiratorial rabbit holes on the Internet with any degree of regularity. 7.0/10

For more comic book reviews, check out our review archives.

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: Cemetery Beach #1 by Warren Ellis & Jason Howard

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Cemetery Beach #1 is due out Sept. 12.

By Zack Quaintance — Right from the start, Cemetery Beach by Warren Ellis and Jason Howard lets you know it’s a wild affair, very much unlike the team’s previous book, Trees. It does this with a set of instructions on the inside cover, starting with: 1. This book is valuable. Do not lose it. Whereas Trees was high concept sci-fi intermingled with commentary on social and cultural issues, Cemetery Beach is high concept sci-fi delivered via raucous adventure, steeped in shock, danger, and lunacy—you know, the good stuff.

The book’s front/inside cover starts establishing all that before readers hit the first panel. On top of that first instruction, there’s more plus also imagery that evokes escape, colonialism, Black Hawk helicopters, and early space travel. When the first panel does arrive, we launch straight into our exposition heavy yet very entertaining opening scene, in which Ellis pens some of his pithiest dialogue in recent memory. We learn in 1920 a group of industrialists and scientists found and operated a method to travel off-world. They built a colony, and our hero is on that colony now doing reconnaissance for Earth...that’s as far into the plot as I need to go here.

As you can see, this book is imaginative. It’s also light by recent Ellis standards, which feels like an odd way to describe a book with this much murder but here we are. The high-concept Ellis ideas are still here, as is the world-building. What sets Cemetery Beach apart from recent Ellis output (think Trees, Karnak, The Wild Storm, etc.) is a lighter energy and gripping plot from our start (more on that soon).

Howard’s artwork is also outstanding, a bit more kinetic than what we saw through much of trees, but just as clear and interesting. This first issue has a necessarily claustrophobic feel through most of it, seeing we start within a Mysterious Torture Shitbox, as our hero puts it. We do get a quick glimpse of the larger world, though, and I’m anxious to see more in future issues when the adventure presumably takes us to new corners of this colony.

The book’s clearest strength, however, is the mastery with which it takes a complex plot and gives us an absolutely perfect amount of information to engage with, to not feel disoriented, and to root for our protagonists. This balance, to me, is key to all great #1 issues. Creators must obviously avoid making readers feel like they’re having info forced on them, but they must also orient us within the story and make us care about characters, otherwise the cliffhanger at a first issue’s end won’t be compelling. Ellis and Howard nail all of that so hard with Cemetery Beach.

Overall: A masterful debut issue from a veteran creative team. Ellis and Howard’s Cemetery Beach #1 puts vast thematic and conceptual depth beneath a fast-paced and deceptively simple exterior, one loaded with quips and kinetically-drawn action scenes. BUY BUY BUY this comic and enjoy. 9.5/10

For more comic book reviews, check out our review archives.

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

REVIEW: House Amok #1 by Christopher Sebela, Shawn McManus, Lee Loughridge, & Aditya Bidikar

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House Amok #1 is available Aug. 29, 2018.

By Zack Quaintance — Simply put, writer Christopher Sebela is on fire, rolling out some of the most compelling creator-owned books in all of comics with a nigh-unparalleled range of themes, concepts, and genres. His summer started with the historic high seas/frontier revenge story Shanghai Red, continued with the satirical late-model-capitalist nightmare Crowded, and culminates now with the morbid reality-bending familial murder story, House Amok.

House Amok pulls the difficult double duty of orienting the reader with traces of recognizable tropes while mercilessly pushing into original circumstances as its story demands. Our leads are the Sandifers, a dysfunctional family the exact likes of which I’ve never seen, not in any medium, made unique not by the macabre violence they’re perpetrating—horrifying as it is, it has been done—but rather their justifications. That’s what makes this story so urgent and vital. Not only do the Sandifer parents utterly believe in some contorted and bloody logic, they’ve made it a matter of survival for themselves, their oldest son, and their younger fraternal twin girls, our protagonists.

It’s this decision that makes House Amok so compelling on essentially two separate fronts: first as a story of depravity and survival, and second as a tale of precocious innocents trying to parse the truth of their parents' dysfunctions. While there is little universality in the horror elements within House Amok, it’s this feeling of having to forge a world view from within the imperfect lens provided by one's parents that most (if not all) readers will relate to, hard. I could even see the story broadening into a look at shared delirium among certain segments of society. I’m certainly looking forward to seeing where Sebela and team take this narrative potential. 

From a craft perspective, House Amok is impeccable, as have been all the books from IDW's Black Crown imprint. Shawn McManus is a confident and veteran artist, and it shows in his linework, which conveys deep terrors from within a mundane childhood framework, and Lee Loughridge contributes much with a standout set of muted palettes and fitting color tones.

House Amok’s greatest strength, however, is the voice of its narration, which guides readers through the madcap reality-skewing imagery of this story with an orienting calm, poetic and assuring in a way that made my brain tingle. The twist at House Amok’s end is fittingly subdued, yet the unexpected nature of it is such that it ranks as one of the most chilling cliffhangers I’ve read in a #1 issue all year. Closing though: Egad, did I love this comic.

Overall — House Amok is a comic so rich and immersive that its ending will ambush you, leaving you demanding the second issue. It’s a childhood horror story that raises questions about fears, realities, innocence, and shared delusions. It is, quite simply, yet another must-read title from IDW’s Black Crown. 9.5/10

For more comic book reviews, check out our review archives.

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

Top Comics to Buy for August 29, 2018

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By Zack Quaintance — Ah, the weird fifth Wednesday, where indie titles are free to shine, DC rolls out its annuals and specials, and delayed comics from throughout the month finally find a home. It’s also the month where Wednesday Warriors (who are presumably the only folks who would be reading this) get a slight break for their wallets.

I say slight because there are, of course, still new comics to be had, for nothing can entirely stop the juggernaut that is comics commerce, rolling forward each week via its direct market of thousands of small business spread throughout the country, in what these days has likely become the oddest and most-antiquated media distribution system that still has a large and fairly entrenched following (of, to be fair, mostly middle-aged guys).  

Annnnyway, the point is there are comics coming out this week, so with that in mind let’s look now to our Top Comics to Buy for August 29, 2018!

Top Comics to Buy for August 29, 2018

Batgirl #26 / Batgirl Annual #2
Writer: Mairghread Scott
Artists: Paul Pelletier (#26) & Elena Casagrande (Annual #2)
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $3.99 (#26) & $4.99 (Annual #2)
#26 — "Art of the Crime" part one. During a high-speed chase with murderous art thief Grotesque, the villain K.O.'s Batgirl with a souped-up stun gun that temporarily fries the device implanted in her spine. (That thing that helps her, you know, walk and be Batgirl?) Babs finds herself in for a whole new world of hurt now that old wounds have been opened up-and so does Grotesque.  
Annual #2 —  Sibling rivalry takes on a whole new meaning in this one-shot story that tracks Batgirl's hunt for a serial killer whose M.O. strikes a familiar chord. Namely, a disturbing similarity to her brother, current convict James Gordon Jr. Family bonds are restored during a visit to his maximum- security surroundings, but Babs' doubts linger. Is James Jr. helping to solve this case... or pulling her strings in a diabolical power play?
Why It’s Cool: I’m on record as having loved Batgirl #25, which gave us our first glimpse at the forthcoming run on the character by the new creative team of Mairghread Scott and Paul Pelletier/Elena Casagrande. Scott seems bent on drawing from the character’s history to tell stories that speak to her core values as well as her place within the Bat-family...plus, both of these artists are very exciting.

Harbinger Wars 2 #4 (of 4)
Writer: Matt Kindt
Artist: Tomas Giorello
Publisher: Valiant Entertainment
Price: $3.99
THE FINAL BATTLE! LIVEWIRE VS. THE VALIANT UNIVERSE! We called it the biggest, most impactful, most ambitious Valiant event ever attempted - and we meant it! From across the Valiant Universe, the paths of all of the world's most formidable heroes - X-O Manowar, the Harbinger Renegades, Bloodshot, Ninjak, the Secret Weapons, H.A.R.D. Corps, and dozens of newly activated psiots - have finally converged, drawn together by their old ally Livewire's last-ditch effort to protect the powerless. Now, the long-brewing battle between Valiant's greatest icons will finally reach the stratosphere - literally - and, out of the ashes, a new order for the Valiant Universe will be hewn.
Why It’s Cool: What an event Harbinger Wars 2 has been, clocking in at spry four issues, maintaining the same creative team throughout its duration, and pairing up characters in fresh ways that only a younger superhero universe can do. This is the finale, sort of...there’s an aftermath issue coming out soon. Either way, big things seem to be afoot here and we’re definitely there for it.

Lex Luthor Porky Pig Special #1
Writers: Mark Russell, Jim Fanning
Artists: Brad Walker, Andrew Hennessy, John Loter
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $4.99
Facing financial and personal ruin, a desperate Porky Pig applies for and gets and entry-level position with LexCorp. Grateful to his new benefactor, Porky becomes Luthor's most loyal employee and defender. But when a major scandal breaks in the news and Lex is called before a Congressional Committee, guess who is about to be offered up as the sacrificial pig?
Why It’s Cool: Nobody in comics is better at taking pop culture icons (a group in which we’d include Porky Pig) and turning them into modern satires than Mark Russell, who has done the same with The Flintstones and Snagglepuss, and will soon get another chance to do so with The Lone Ranger. Based on the preview text, this comic seems to be an incredibly timely look at white collar crime—we have this pegged as an early contender for book of the week.

Submerged #2 (of 4)
Writer: Vita Ayala
Artist: Lisa Sterle
Publisher: Vault Comics
Price: $3.99
As the worst storm in New York City's history crashes over its streets, Ellie Puente's desperate search for her brother, Angel, takes her into the terrifying depths of the subway system. There she finds a lost, helpless child, and is confronted with the stuff of her nightmares.
Why It’s Cool: This year could be remembered for being the one in which the industry saw the rise of Vault Comics, and books like Submerged are a big part of the reason why. This book combines a potpourri of different mythos with family drama and a terrifying experience writer Vita Ayala (who has also spent 2018 on the rise) had in New York City during Hurricane Sandy. Like all Vault books, we have no idea where this one is going, but we’re certain it will be both rewarding and complex.

X-Men Grand Design: Second Genesis #2 (of 2)
Writer/Artist: Ed Piskor
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $5.99
SPACE INVADERS! The Shi'ar! The Brood! The Starjammers! Watch as Marvel's merry mutants take to the stars for the very first time all over again. See the inaugural X-Men adventures of Kitty Pryde and Carol Danvers. Marvel at the conclusion of the now-classic DARK PHOENIX SAGA.   A great entry point for new and lapsed X-Men fans alike!
Why It’s Cool: It just is. Writer/artist Ed Piskor’s X-Mythos remix Grand Design is one of the coolest things happening in comics today, with everything from the artwork to the structure to the tactile enhancements made by the book’s special paper ranking as pretty freaking cool. We may end up waiting for the over-sized compiled addition that’s coming down the road, but we still want to stress this as a book that is not to be missed—regardless of your preferred format.

Recommended New #1 Comics for August 29, 2018

  • Beyonders #1

  • Catwoman Tweety & Sylvester Special #1

  • Daredevil Annual #1

  • House Amok #1

  • Hunt for Wolverine Dead Ends #1

  • Nightwing Annual #1 (drawn by Otto Schmidt!)

  • Scarlet #1

  • Silencer Annual #1

  • Web of Venom: VeNam #1

Others Receiving Votes

  • A Walk Through Hell #4

  • Beatles Yellow Submarine Hardcover

  • Bone Parish #2

  • Euthanuats #2

  • Exiles #7

  • Isola #5

  • Marvel 2-in-1 #9

  • Ms. Marvel #33

  • New Mutants: Dead Souls #6

  • New World #2 (of 5)

  • Paradise Court #2 (of 5)

  • Red Hood and the Outlaws Annual #2

  • X-23 #3

See our other top comics to buy here.

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