Thirsty Thursdays: A Look at Today’s Hottest Superhero Art

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By Allison Senecal — Superhero comic art has evolved at a really impressive rate in recent years...so much so that sometimes it can be a lot to handle. First there’s excitement, obviously, but then that excitement turns into something else...which is why today we’re introducing a new feature, a different way to look at our favorite comic art. Welcome to Thirsty Thursdays, a sporadic examination of (as the kids say) the month’s thirstiest comics.

Enjoy!

The Thirstiest Comics of September 2018

Captain America #3 – A Steve and T’challa team-up? *Eyebrow waggle* What do you mean “not like that”? Thanks a lot, Marvel. Still a 💦💦💦💦 out of 5 especially with Yu’s excellent Sad Steve.

*Eyebrow waggle* (art by Leinil Francis Yu from Captain America #3).

Catwoman #3 – The saying is madder than a wet cat, but this month nothing is hotter than a wet cat, and any given month nothing is sexier than Joëlle Jones’s Catwoman. A perfect 💦💦💦💦💦 out of 5.

Me-owwww (art by Joelle Jones from Catwoman #3).

Sleepless #7 – SLEEPLESS IS BACK AND SO ARE ALL THE BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE. Easy decision. 💦💦💦💦💦 out of 5.

The beautiful people (art by Leila Del Duca from Sleepless #7).

Wonder Woman #54 & #55 – Atalanta has freckles. Diana, Artemis, and all the Amazons of Bana-Mighdall are drawn thick, muscled, and GORGEOUS. The art was juicy in September and this is a peak example. Everyone looks alive and beautiful, and also like they could kick my ass. 💦💦💦💦💦 out of 5.

Did someone say manipulate the innocent?! (art by Patricia Martin and Raul Allen from Wonder Woman #54 & #55).

Thor #5 – Christian Ward drawing the Goddesses of Thunder. Christian. Ward. Drawing. The. Goddesses. Of. Thunder. If you don’t know what that means GO BUY AARON’S WHOLE RUN. NOW. 💦💦💦💦💦 out of 5.

Feel the thunder and lightning (art by Christian Ward from Thor #5).

West Coast Avengers #2 – Another juicy one. Bless Caselli and Farrell for making the whole team magnetic. Only content we’re getting for either America or Clint so go write letters to these creators and tell them you love it. 💦💦💦💦 out of 5.

Ouch, indeed (art by Stefano Caselli in West Coast Avengers #2).

Justice League Odyssey #1 -- Sejic doing Jessica Cruz and Starfire equals the most breathtaking comic book experience this month. And if you don’t ship them, don’t speak to me. 💦💦💦💦💦 out of 5.

The panels that launched a thousand ships (art by Stjepan Stejic from Justice League Odyssey #1).

Extermination #3 – Extermination has ended up being my sleeper thirst comic every month. Both Jeans. Both Warrens. Classic X-Force. Brisson remembered Cannonball’s Kentucky accent. We’re truly blessed. Larraz and Gracia make everything pop. Hot and dynamic. eXXXtermination. Don’t @ me. 💦💦💦💦💦 out of 5.

Blast off (art by Pepe Larraz from Extermination #3).

Oh and I guess there was Bat-Penis or something this month. Call me when we’re back to full frontal Constantine.

Prep yourselves for October, when I become a walking, talking “Un-Follow Me Now” meme over Shatterstar.

Allison buys books professionally and comics unprofessionally. You can find her chaotic neutral Twitter feed at @maliciousglee.

REVIEW: Wonder Woman #55 by Steve Orlando, Raul Allen, Patricia Martin, Borja Pindado, & Saida Temofonte

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Wonder Woman #55 is out 9/26.

By Zack Quaintance — Let’s just get this out of the way: Steve Orlando’s brief run on Wonder Woman, which concludes with this issue, has been an absolute delight, right up there with the work that Greg Rucka, Nicola Scott, and Liam Sharp did with the character at the start of Rebirth. He’s had an outstanding lineup of collaborators—from Laura Braga on Wonder Woman #51 to ACO to Raul Allen/Patricia Martin—and his scripts have delivered concepts that have given them all a chance to shine.

This issue, bittersweet as it is, is a fitting end, so much so that it makes me look forward both to the future of this book as well as to the work Orlando has coming with other DC characters (including Martian Manhunter, and a new concept set in a Kirby-molded corner of the DC space-time called Electric Warriors). Orlando is a writer who really excels in two primary areas: drawing sensical plot points from continuity, and swagger. You can see the latter is his villain dialogue here, when Rustam yells at our heroes, “Life? These soft-brained idiots are drunk on blind faith. I weep for them, but they must be put out of their misery...So there’s all of that.

Wonder Woman #55 as an individual comic book is itself quite good. It’s largely an issue consumed by a large-scale battle, a fitting end for a two-part story arc with a scope that has seen Diana negotiating nation boundaries for the formerly nomadic Bana-Mighdall. In this story, Diana must be equal parts forceful and diplomatic. She must show that she’s not afraid to throw down while also pushing peaceful alternatives. It is, simply put, yet another way that Orlando has found to derive a compelling narrative from this character’s core values, and I loved it. (A line that stands out as particularly superb is Diana telling Artemis: People are fighting for no honest reason. I expect help.)

Patricia Martin and Raul Allen’s artwork once again shines in Wonder Woman #55.

I also loved the artwork here from the team of Raul Allen and Patricia Martin. As I said in my Wonder Woman #54 review, they’re one of my favorites in all of comics, and it’s a real treat to see them teaming with a writer as thoughtful as Orlando. What I find most striking about their work in this issue is the sheer variety of it. The way they can make a pair of disembodied slowly-closing eyes in the darkness as compelling as kinetic combat sequences. There’s a confidence of vision and a clarity of execution here that I just find remarkable. The scenes where we go inside Diana’s prefect are crucial to the plot, and the team gives them the visual weight they demand.

Overall: A fitting end to a stellar 5-issue Wonder Woman run from writer Steve Orlando, one that has reminded me of the vast and unique potential of this character, while putting her in an excellent place for the next creators. 9.5/10

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

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by  night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as BatmansBookcase.

REVIEW: Cold Spots #2 by Cullen Bunn, Mark Torres, & Simon Bowland

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Cold Spots #2 is out 9/26.

By Bo Stewart — In just two issues, Cullen Bunn and Mark Torres have firmly established the eerie atmosphere of Cold Spots. Everything in this comic simply feels cold. The colors invoke moods of winter, the characters are distant and evasive, and, of course, ghosts linger in the background, ramping up the creepiness. While I am interested in the larger narrative, the real draw of Cold Spots for me is this spine-chilling ambiance. If you’re a fan of stories like The Shining, Insomnia, or Shutter Island, you should definitely be reading this comic.

Every scene is littered with unease, and Bunn expertly builds tension before each major scare. At its heart, Cold Spots is a ghost story, one with infrequent use of the ghosts that makes their eventual appearance more effective. Both of the splash pages with ghosts in this issue haunted me for hours, long after I’d put the comic down. If that’s not effective storytelling, I don’t know what is. It’s also worth mentioning that the ghosts’ designs are frightening and well-imagined.  

The unease of the atmosphere also extends to the characters, and Bunn gives us plenty of reason to doubt their motivations. Everyone has a hidden agenda or secrets to protect or both. The main protagonist, private investigator Dan Kerr, is no exception. One of the major reveals of this issue is that Grace, the girl Kerr has been hired to locate, is in fact his daughter. Grace’s role in the unnatural cold will be one of the big mysteries of the arc. I have always been a sucker for stories that use creepy kids effectively, and Grace certainly fits that bill.  

Torres’ visuals perfectly compliment the script, doing a lot of the heavy lifting in this issue. The gothic setting is gorgeously rendered with the scenes on Quarrels’ Island being a stand out. We are told that it is the dead of summer but the art exudes cold feelings of winter. This adds to the general sense of unease and disconnect. Even if you can’t see the ghosts, on page, you can feel their presence lingering just off panel. This is storytelling through atmosphere at its best.

Unlike a lot of horror comics that use gore and shock values as the foundation for their scares, Cold Spots instead finds value in leaving much of the story unexplained. We don’t know where these ghosts are from, we don’t know what their intentions are. Hell… we don’t even really know what they look like. It feels as if anything can happen at any moment. Bunn and Torres lean on tension, atmosphere, and the unexplained to build horror. This is a slower burn, but I have every inclination that the real scares are just getting started.

Overall: Cold Spots has managed to establish a perfectly-eerie mood with only two issues. The visuals and characters here all support the same chilly vibe, and the end result is a great Halloween season read. 8.0/10

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

Bo grinds for the man by day so he can create comics by night. He is the lesser half of the Stewart Brothers writing team and can be found on Twitter and Instagram @stewart_bros.

REVIEW: Bone Parish #3 by Cullen Bunn, Jonas Scharf, Alex Guimaraes, & Ed Dukeshire

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Bone Parish #3 is out 9/26.

By Bo Stewart — Cullen Bunn is one of the best horror writers in comics. He excels at creating horrific scenarios, using touches of both the surreal as well as the ordinary. One of the best things about Bone Parish’s premise is that it allows Bunn to engage readers on both of those levels. We see surreal horror through the hallucinogenic properties of Ash (the drug at the story’s core), and we also see the more traditional, real-life horrors that led the Winter family to pursue drug production. Bone Parish #3 further examines these everyday horrors, showing how out of their league the Winter family has truly become.

A power struggle at the top continues to ail the Winters. The thing is, neither Grace (matriarch and current leader) nor her underboss/son Brae are particularly up to the task of running the family business. Grace’s loneliness leads her to seek attention in destructive ways. She abuses Ash, which allows her to relive the companionship provided to her by her deceased husband, while at the same time she is also romantically courting a would-be buyer of their operation.

Brae, meanwhile, excels at running day-to-day operations but foolishly shares trade secrets with an untrustworthy cop. Both Grace and Brae want to run the family business, but neither appear to have the acumen to run it effectively. With the cartel breathing down their necks, the Winters are starting to see exactly how steep the cost for maintaining control of Ash will be. It’s a great predicament, one that’s really driving this series forward.  

Problems with the business of the drug trade aside, in Bone Parish #3 we also start to see that no one truly understands the drug Ash itself. As we saw in #1, Ash is mysterious, capable of duplicating the life events of the dead. But what if Ash can also show us the thoughts of the living? As the drug’s creator, Lucien, says, what we do here…will give us control over both life and death. We can live forever. Our protagonists the Winters, however, don’t understand the potential of what they’re selling, and they stand to pay a steep price for their ignorance.  

This is a good place to mention the expert coloring from Alex Guimaraes. Most of the New Orleans setting in this book is colored with shades of green that lend an uneasy vibe to the Big Easy setting. The scenes where a character is abusing Ash utilize an alluring color palette of blues and purples. The end result is a simple message: Ash, good…real world, bad. Ash is selling at a rapid rate and the coloring helps inform why that’s the case by conveying how it makes its users feel.

We haven’t had a truly terrifying image since Winter Family dealer, Dante, was eaten alive during a bad Ash trip. But every panel in Bone Parish #3 is littered with tension as the stakes continue to rise with each issue. The tight linework from Jonas Scharf is crucial in making those stakes feel compelling and real.

Overall: In Bone Parish #3, the ramifications of dealing Ash are catching up with the Winters family quickly, making for a compelling and tense issue that shows readers exactly how woefully unprepared the protagonists of this story are for the challenges to come. 8.5/10

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

Bo grinds for the man by day so he can create comics by night. He is the lesser half of the Stewart Brothers writing team and can be found on Twitter and Instagram @stewart_bros.

Top Comics to Buy for September 26, 2018

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By Zack Quaintance — It’s a week of fantastic new indie #1s, with two powerhouse books debuting from Vault Comics, and the creative team of Chelsea Cain and Kate Niemczyk rolling out Man-Eaters, the creator-owned follow up to their excellent Mockingbird title at Marvel a couple years back now. All three of these made our top comics to buy for September 26, 2018, along with a Big 2 #1, in Justice League Odyssey.

Now, the big omission from that list is probably Heroes in Crisis #1, a book I’ve been bullish on because of the accomplished creative team. I am, however, leaving it off here for a couple of reasons: one, the marketing has been overwhelming, so much so that you’ve presumably already decided whether to buy it; two, I think it’s going to need a couple of issues to clarify things before we can make any sort of evaluation. That second one is a continuing trend as superhero storytelling remains almost ludicrously decompressed, designed for sleak trade formats rather than monthly reading.

Annnnnnyway, enough! Let’s take a look at the top comics to buy for September 26, 2018.

Top Comics to Buy for September 26, 2018

Doomsday Clock #7
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Gary Frank
Colorist: Brad Anderson
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $4.99
The critically acclaimed team of writer Geoff Johns and artist Gary Frank continue the groundbreaking miniseries bringing the world of WATCHMEN to DC. In this chapter, the truth behind Dr. Manhattan's curiosity with the DC Universe is revealed as the planet teeters on the edge of the Super-War.
Why It’s Cool: Remember Doomsday Clock? Sure you do! And guess what? This issue is, simply put, the one where things start to happen. Finally, we get a much better idea of what this comic—and in a broader sense the secrets of Geoff Johns DC-reviving one-shot DC Rebirth #1—is all about.  

Fearscape #1 (Read our review!)
Writer: Ryan O’Sullivan
Artist: Andrea Mutti
Colorist: Vladimir Popov
Lettering: Andworld Design
Publisher: Vault Comics
Price: $3.99
The Fearscape is a world beyond our own, populated by manifestations of our worst fears. Once per generation, The Muse travels to Earth, discovers our greatest Storyteller, and takes them with her to the Fearscape to battles these fear-creatures on our behalf. All has been well for eons, until The Muse encounters Henry Henry, a plagiarist with delusions of literary grandeur. Mistaking him for our greatest Storyteller, she ushers him into the Fearscape. Doom follows.
Why It’s Cool: Short stories, novels, and even films do it all the time, but rarely have comics aspired to capture the insecurity and frustration of unfulfilled artistic ambitions, especially those related to writing. Fearscape #1, however, absolutely nails it, making a pair of wise choices: one, to have a protagonist who is massive talent in his own head, rather than a gifted artist waiting to be discovered; two, blending in fantastical abstract adventuring. This is a powerful book, a must-read for those interested in the art life.

Friendo #1 (Read our review!)
Writer: Alex Paknadel
Artist: Martin Simmonds
Colorist: Dee Cunniffe
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
Publisher: Vault Comics
Price: $3.99
Leo wasn't allowed toys as a kid, but now that he's all grown up he's going to take yours. He used to play by the rules, but then governments and corporations set fire to the rules and still expected him to behave. He probably would have if it hadn't been for his new friend Jerry. See, Jerry isn't human; he's a personalised marketing VR... and he's malfunctioning. Unhinged ultraviolence from Alex Paknadel (Arcadia) and Martin Simmonds (Punks Not Dead).
Why It’s Cool: Friendo #1 is such a perfect blend of so many of the forces giving shape to our culture, from social media, to the gig economy, to the increasingly-hard-to-identify nature of marketing. It’s delivered by a fantastic creative team, too, in writer Paknadel and artist Simmonds.

Justice League Odyssey #1
Writer: Josh Williamson
Artist: Stjepan Sejic
Letterer: Deron Bennett
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $3.99
Spinning out of JUSTICE LEAGUE: NO JUSTICE! When a cosmic menace threatens worlds beyond our own in the Ghost Sector, it falls to a new Justice League team to answer the call to battle! Cyborg, Starfire, Green Lantern Jessica Cruz and an out-of-his-element Azrael head to deep space inside a commandeered Brainiac Skull Ship. But as these wildcard teammates try to break through the impenetrable maelstrom imprisoning the desperate collection of planets, they discover something that nothing in the universe could have prepared them for: Darkseid...who says he's there to help?!
Why It’s Cool: This is the third book of DC’s red-hot new Justice League line, spinning out of the weekly event from May, No Justice, and, dare I say, this is the freshest of the three titles. It’s a cosmic book with a truncated yet interesting team, plus also heavy theological implications for dead planets. Read that again, if you must. It’s all pretty freaking cool.

Man-Eaters #1 (Read our review!)
Writer: Chelsea Cain
Artist: Kate Niemczyk
Colorist: Rachelle Rosenberg
Letterer: Joe Caramagna
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
A mutation in Toxoplasmosis causes menstruating women to turn into ferocious killer wildcats-easily provoked and extremely dangerous. As panic spreads and paranoia takes root, the fate of the world rides on the shoulders of one twelve-year-old girl. Part Cat People, part The Handmaid's Tale, MAN-EATERS will have everyone talking.
Why It’s Cool: Writer Chelsea Cain is one of the sharpest satirical high-profile voices in comics, catapulted to notoriety by a successful career as a prose writer, a fantastic Marvel debut a few years back on Mockingbird, and an ensuing controversy that angered all the right people. We may not be getting her Vision book from Marvel, which was to be a sequel to Tom King’s seminal run on that title, but we are getting this unrestrained and imaginative comic satire from her and Kae Niemczyk. Don’t miss out.

Wonder Woman #55
Writer: Steve Orlando
Artist: Raul Allen and Patricia Martin
Colorist: Borja Pindado
Letterer: Saida Temofonte
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $3.99
Then, two armies stand ready to annihilate each other, with Wonder Woman and Artemis caught in the middle, fighting for the souls of the exiled Amazons living in Bana-Mighdall! Does Diana possess the might and diplomatic prowess to convince her sisters to stop their march toward war? Who will fall beneath the flaming swords of Rustam? And more importantly, how does she make sure this doesn't happen again? Will Diana have to Occupy the Amazons?!
Why It’s Cool: This is the fifth (and, sadly, final) issue of Steve Orlando’s fill-in Wonder Woman arc, against which all future fill-in runs should probably be judged. Orlando’s time on Wonder Woman has been a treat, start to finish, and this final issue doesn’t disappoint, powered as it is by the fantastic art duo of Raul Allen and Patricia Martin.

Top New #1 Comics for September 26, 2018

  • Domino Annual #1

  • Faith Dreamside #1

  • Fantasmagoria #1

  • Harbinger Wars 2 Aftermath #1

  • Heroes in Crisis #1

  • High Heaven #1

  • Star Trek vs. Transformers #1

  • Stranger Things #1

Others Receiving Votes

  • Action Comics #1003

  • Amazing Spider-Man #6

  • Batgirl #27

  • Black Panther #4

  • Bone Parish #3

  • Extermination #3

  • Flash #55

  • Justice League Dark #3

  • Long Con #3

  • Marvel 2-in-1 #10

  • Punisher #2

  • Redneck #15

  • Sentry #4

  • Shanghai Red #4

  • X-O Manowar #19


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

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by  night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as BatmansBookcase.

The Saga Re-Read: Saga #7

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By Zack Quaintance & Cory Webber — Saga #7 is an issue that’s heavy on this book’s dual interests: family dynamics, and a state of infinite galactic war. For my money, it’s also the issue in which those two throughlines begin to seamlessly blend, as writer Brian K. Vaughan and artist Fiona Staples seem to discover here the formula that best serves their story.

Look, for example, at the first five pages, an anecdotal lead that indoctrinates us to young Marko’s earliest experiences with the war. This little bit, short as it is, does wonders to indoctrinate readers to the effect prolonged generational hostilities have on society through the lives of one family, while simultaneously seeding the tense dynamic between Alana and her new in-laws. It’s work that hits that magic middle ground in comics, straddling the line between efficiency and entertainment.

But I digress...I can (and do) prattle on about storytelling craft and comic book structure all day. Let’s put a pin in all that and get on to the specifics of this issue of Saga!

Saga #7

Here’s the official preview text from way back when for Saga #7:

Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples' smash-hit ongoing series returns! An all-new adventure begins, as new parents Marko and Alana make an unexpected discovery in the vast emptiness of outer space.

So yeah, this is the start of the book’s second arc, likely following a roughly three-month break, the same sort Saga has taken since the series inception (until this recent one year minimum hiatus, the impetus for our reading project). There’s definitely, as I touched on above, a new sense of polish and focus to the comic now, so much so that one imagines Vaughan and Staples sitting down together before getting to work again so as to evaluate everything that worked and didn’t work, identifying along the way the direction they wanted the tone of the book to go.

A Re-Reader’s Perspective by Zack: This was just a fantastic issue of Saga, likely my favorite yet, with the way it runs the whole range of this series’ strengths. It’s all in this book: Hazel’s voice and narration, gross out visuals, unique new monster designs, soap opera twists, and family bonding that moves at breakneck speed from disastrous to awkward to heartrending. This is the first time since we’ve started I’ve been tempted to push right through and read the next issue. Great stuff.

A New Reader’s Perspective by Cory Webber: Saga #7 features a familiar family dynamic: disapproving in-laws (not that I speak from experience or anything). Herein, Vaughan introduces us to Marko’s parents, and we see similarities between the generational gaps that we experience in our own lives, namely attitudes toward war and how the younger generation doesn’t make much mind of it, or seem to respect it, since it’s been an ever-present part of their lives. I think this is one of the bigger appeals to Vaughan and Staples’ Saga, the parallels between their worlds and ours. Also, another hallmark of their work is their talent for injecting real, emotional drama, and we see it again in this issue by way of a startling confession. All this and I haven’t mentioned the splash page that will forever be burned into my retinas. Maybe I was avoiding it? At any rate, if you’ve read Saga #7, then you know what I’m talking about. If not, then you’ve been forewarned — keep the eye bleach handy!

Cory’s New Reader Predictions: Vaughan and Staples will find a way to replace the aforementioned image burned into my retinas with one that will be even grosser.

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 tech reporter by day and freelance writer by  night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as BatmansBookcase.


Best Marvel Comics Right Now (2018)

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By Zack Quaintance — Earlier this week (or maybe it was last?), I mentioned on Twitter that I thought Immortal Hulk was Marvel’s best book...and that it wasn’t close. Now, I threw in that last bit because, well whatever, and also because overstating things can be a great way to get attention online (only use that power for good). Somewhat surprisingly, the vast majority of folks who responded to my effusive Hulk Tweet seemed to agree with me! This could be an effect of disagreers having healthy attitudes about life and just rolling past, going on with their days.

Orrrrrrr, it could be that Immortal Hulk is really that good. Whatever the case, it became clear that there was a conversation (and listicle) to be had around the things that Marvel has been doing well in recent months, at least since the publisher’s semi-weird Fresh Start announcement turned out to be less of a drastic relaunch, and more of a soft but steady refocusing. Anyway, what I’m here to talk about today are the best Marvel comics right now (2018).

I’ve culled this list from the suggestions of folks on Twitter plus a healthy dose of my own opinions. Let’s do this!

Best Marvel Comics Right Now (2018)

Immortal Hulk #6, with guest artist Lee Garbett, is out now.

1. Immortal Hulk

Al Ewing is a writer who’s had a number of beloved-by-critics-yet-ignored-by-fans superhero book, with the most prominent among them being The Ultimates. The Ultimates was fantastic, a direct cosmic successor to many of the ideas in Hickman’s run on Fantastic Four/New Avengers/Avengers. The problem, however, was that the book wasn’t pushed hard enough. It should have been billed as Marvel’s flagship title, but it was shuffled out with a wave of other forgettable All New, All Different team books, fated as it was to go unnoticed. Immortal Hulk, however, has avoided that.

Marvel wisely spun the book out of its attention-grabbing (if not quite meriting) 16-issue weekly Avengers event, No Surrender, making clear as it did that this was A. the return of Bruce Banner, and B. the Hulk in a horror book like you haven't seen before. It was a great conceptual move, one that Ewing and artist Joe Bennett capitalized on by setting a clear tone, telling four seemingly self-contained stories to start, and then segueing into an ongoing story arc that pulls in all of Marvel’s hardest hitters, including The Avengers, just like any good Hulk crisis would. It’s really something, and I can’t recommend it enough. For extra reading points, do yourself a favor and try guessing the villain of this story. I think about it every month, and it makes this title all the more engaging.

2. Thor

Artwork by Russell Dauterman.

Jason Aaron’s run on Thor has just been so good for so long, ascending into the pantheon of all-time great Thor stories alongside those of Jack Kirby and Walt Simonson. Oh yeah, and it’s not even headed for its end just yet (although it’s likely well past halfway). Aaron just gets the nordic lore that inspire Thor. He also gets that this hero is immortal, and that his time in The Avengers is but a blip on his life arc.

Understanding all this the way Aaron does has freed up his story, allowing it to extend through all of time. He walks a careful tightrope with chronology and he walks it well, expertly plotting developments so as to not contradict himself. And, really, I could have very easily put this book number one. In fact, given the length of its run, it probably merited it, but, hey, this is monthly superhero comics, where the attitude of what have you done for me lately reigns. A more interesting question is whether the opening arc on Immortal Hulk ends up being as good as the opening God Butcher arc was for Thor. That’s a battle.

3. Venom

Artwork by Ryan Stegman.

Donny Cates is a rising star at Marvel, with nearly everything he touches finding a vocal and extremely pleased audience (presumably a tattoeed and head bang-y too). After tooling around with brief stints on properties like Doctor Strange and Thanos (read Thanos Wins, like, yesterday if you haven’t), Cates seemed to land on a book he’s always wanted to do: Venom.

And his love of the character has certainly shown, along with his obvious desire to write a sustained run, potentially to rival Aaron’s Thor (which he’s already entwined his Venom story with). I’ll be honest, I’ve never read Venom for any length of time before this, but Cates collaboration with veteran Spider-Man artist Ryan Stegman has been great. It hasn’t totally obliterated me with sheer excellence the way Immortal Hulk has, but I don’t have a single complaint about this title. It’s going to be very good for a very long time.

4. Captain America

Artwork by Leinil Francis Yu.

This is a beautiful comic, drawn to near-perfection by one of Marvel’s best artists, Leinil Francis Yu. Plus, writer Ta-Nehisi Coates, whose background is firmly in non-fiction and journalism, clearly learned a lot from his early stumbles in 2016 on Black Panther. This book has all the compressed and exciting action that run lacked, complete with the poignant ideas that he executed well even as he was learning the medium.

5. X-23

Phew, writer Mariko Tamaki and artist Juan Cabal sure had a tough road to follow, taking on Laura and her world after Tom Taylor’s fantastic run with her on All-New Wolverine, but they’ve done a fantastic job, keeping the best bits and the boundless heart from his work, while bringing a slightly more serious, horror-tinged new direction. If this Fresh Start business has a sleeper book, I’d definitely say it’s this one.

Others Receiving Votes

Amazing Spider-Man has especially been a favorite of mine, with writer Nick Spencer and Ryan Ottley really working to capture the long-time spirit of Marvel’s flagship title, and, really Amazing Spider-Man and X-23 could be 5a. and 5b.

At one time, Marvel 2-in-1 and X-Men: Red would have been no-brainers, but the debut of Fantastic Four and the forthcoming event of Uncanny X-Men have really sucked the momentum out of those titles.

Punisher had a great first issue with savage artwork from Szymon Kudranski.

Exiles, meanwhile, has been eclectic and high-energy, if a bit frivolous (which to be fair is by design).

The aforementioned Ta-Nehisi Coates’ continuing Black Panther run has been strong, but it’s more of a new arc than a fresh start proper.

And after this week’s Avengers #8, I’m all in on Jason Aaron as the long-term writer for Marvel’s flagship superhero team...what a quiet but strong feat of character building that was!

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

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by  night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as BatmansBookcase.

REVIEW: Patience! Conviction! Revenge! #1 By Patrick Kindlon, Marco Ferrari, Patrizia Comino, & Jim Campbell

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Patience! Conviction! Revenge! is out 9/19.

By Zack Quaintance — The solicit copy for this comic mentions crime syndicates and cyberpunk Las Vegas, before doing that new comic book formula thing and landing on Elmore Leonard novels with a touch of Blade Runner...which is all a means of saying that the preview peaked my interest in this book, even though I am admittedly unfamiliar with these creators. I will note, however, that AfterShock Comics has somewhat quietly been putting out very strong science fiction stories in a marketplace brimming with them (you’re all reading Relay, right?). But I digress.

Let’s get to the question of whether this comic is good! The dialogue is definitely strong, pithy and clever, fast. I’d wager Kindlon grew up reading or was heavily influenced by Brian Michael Bendis. His script here does a very Bendis thing, taking snippets of conversation, turns of phrases, and cadences one commonly hears somewhere mundane—riding public transit, at the next table in a coffee shop, in the breakroom at a job, etc.—and juxtaposing them with the fantastical sci-fi action comic books demand.

The result isn’t as honed as what you get from Bendis (that guy is the master of this), but it’s strong none the less, a solid tone-setting choice for a book that seems determined to be entertaining. Given his protagonist Renny’s genius-y skillset, the best description for how this comic reads is probably Bendis by way of Rick and Morty (or vice versa, I’m not entirely sure how that construction works), which I think is a more recognizable reference for its target audience than Elmore Leonard.

As for the art, Marco Ferrari’s linework and Patrizia Comino’s colors make a great team, especially in this comic’s many two-page spreads, whether they be of a heavily-detailed and intricate robotic workshop or a cave wall being used as a canvas with varied light on it that demands tricky bits of shading. Where the visuals really start to shine is in exploring the past, outside of the onenote desert setting. The art, really, is probably this book’s greatest strength, as impressive as it is.

That said, I think at times the wordiness of the script gets in the way of the plot and artwork, both of which I liked quite a bit. A little bit of editing could be helpful in drawing focus to the best jokes in here (which are quite good), allowing the strongest writing to shine. In the end, I think the art and ideas do enough to bring me back for a second issue.

Overall: Clever dialogue abounds in this one, which reads like a Brian Michael Bendis comic by way of Rick and Morty. The artwork, however, really stands out as the biggest reason to pay attention to this book. 7.0/10

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

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by  night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as BatmansBookcase.

REVIEW: Burnouts #1 by Dennis Culver, Geoffo, Dave Dwonch, & Lauren Perry

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Burnouts #1 is out 9/19.

By Zack Quaintance — Burnouts #1 is essentially a hybrid of a B-movie and a teen comedy romp, in which there are glowing neon green aliens possessing people, green aliens that only a few outcast kids in a random suburban town can see...while they’re wasted. It is, essentially, a comic that piles trope on top of trope, hoping it will all add up to some new ground, while also doubling as the antithesis to the D.A.R.E. program (is that still a thing?).

And it kind of finds a little bit of new ground, especially toward the end of the book when we start to get a little glimpse at what’s going on. The creators do a good job of doling out the most perfunctory exposition when the action on the page is at its highest, kind of like putting medicine in with chocolate. It’s a great way to get information across, and it really works to serve the story in this book.

The pacing in this comic is also strong, in that it’s a quick read that hums right along. Part of that is the discretion they use in withholding information to make their story lean, and part of that is that there just doesn’t seem to be much deeper meaning to be found here, nor is there much characterization. In fact, I wasn’t entirely sure which character was the protagonist until about halfway through this issue (although to be fair, if I’d gone back and looked at the cover, it would have been pretty obvious that it was the nerdy kid in the center, Andy).

Also to be fair, my inability to lock into this comic might be an effect of my age. This premise, which puts being totally wasted at its center, is one I would have found exciting in high school. I’m a few years past that now—ahem—and I just kept thinking that the alternatives to partying (especially watching Star Trek and having pizza) sounded like a much better time. I suppose part of the point here is sober people (like me) are automatons, but isn’t that a little outdated in 2018? I live in California, where I can get weed delivered to me door in the next 15 minutes...by three different businesses. It’s hard to think of something that’s become so entrepreneurial as subversive or countercultural at all anymore.

That said, first issues are incredibly hard, and I think there’s enough capable storytelling in here to suggest it’s still possible to turn this title around.

Overall: A quick read, an alien invasion story by way of Stranger Things. Burnout #1 shows some potential toward its end once its premise becomes clear, but the characters are pretty ill-defined throughout. The whole thing relies heavily on tropes, and the characters are a little hazy, much like the weed smoke at the center of this premise. 6.0/10

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

Zack Quaintance is a tech reporter by day and freelance writer by night/weekend. He Tweets compulsively about storytelling and comics as BatmansBookcase.

REVIEW: Crude #6 by Steve Orlando, Garry Brown, Lee Loughridge, & Thomas Mauer

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Crude #6 is out 9/19.

By Zack Quaintance —  It all ends here...unfortunately. I can’t help but feel like this story deserved to be longer. Clearly, there were plans for that at some point. The solicit for Crude #6 says END OF STORY ARC, not end of series. But, alas, writer Steve Orlando’s note in the back of this comic makes it pretty clear that our story has now ended, and, really, so too does the action on the page.

Crude hit its emotional heights last issue, with a revelatory chapter in which the protagonist finally got what he really wanted all along—a better idea of who his son was and what his son’s life was like. Throughout this series there has been somewhat of a duality, a physical plotline in which the main character battles the actual villains, thugs, and conspiracies responsible for his son’s murder with his highly-skilled fists; and an unseen subconscious struggle the main character has waged against guilt he felt over being dishonest with his son about who he was.

It’s been a powerful book, to be sure. There are surface level lessons about acceptance, but those stories are ones that have been told quite frequently in recent years. How Crude sets itself apart is with the case it makes for familial honesty. The exact nature of the secrets that our father and son duo kept from each other matter less as our story progresses. Piotr is not guilty per se about having been a government tough, and when he learns of his son’s bi-sexuality he’s accepting. It’s the lack of emotional courage that kept them from being honest with each other that engendered the deep guilt and regret, not the nature of their lives.

And it’s actually this notion that makes me most regret we won’t get more issues of Crude. It’s an intriguing one rarely (if ever) tackled by such a macho story. I’d have liked to have seen it tackled at a slower pace. Orlando and the art team of Garry Brown and Lee Loughridge, however, do a great job here of wrapping up the physical action on the page, making it both satisfying and cathartic. The foil for Piotr is aggressively awful right up to the point our hero doles out his comeuppance. It’s a classic revenge plot resolution, executed to perfection by skilled creators. I just wish we could have seen more of the lead-up and aftermath, of what Piotr’s life and grieving will be like.

Overall: A cathartic and fitting end to a book that packed as much of an emotional punch as it did a physical one. This final issue felt a bit compressed, but the creative team should still be proud of the emotional journey it put its protagonist through. If you missed out on Crude as a monthly comic, I HIGHLY recommend picking it up in trade. 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.

REVIEW: Skyward #6 by Joe Henderson, Lee Garbett, Antonio Fabela, & Simon Bowland

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Skyward #6 is out 9/19.

By Zack Quaintance — With its first arc done (and done well, I might add), Skyward finds itself in an interesting place, one where it now has motivated characters with compelling goals inhabiting a world that the story can continue developing in unexpected ways. A key aim of any great storyteller is throwing myriad obstacles into characters’ paths, separating them from their desires and thereby forcing them to act in ways that complicate situations.

What Skyward has essentially done through five issues is convincingly create a situation—the  Earth is plagued by diminished gravity—in which the setting is liable to assail the protagonists at any time. As we saw in Skyward #5, something as traditionally innocuous as a rainstorm is vastly altered by the new environment, turned perilous and far more dramatic. One can only imagine how much fun it is to tell a story with so many possibilities, imaging the ways the changed world can pose new threats.

These creators definitely seem to be enjoying all their status quo enables as they catapult from one new environmental development to the next at a breakneck speed. This, simply put, is the type of comic that moves so quickly the novelty becomes part of the attraction, and, when the plot does slow down, the change in pacing makes whatever's happening on the page all the more serious or poignant. Basically, I’m as bullish about this book’s future now as I was at its start (which is very bullish, indeed).

Skyward #6 is the first chapter in which our main character also faces a new status quo. In the context of the hero’s journey, the intro arc ended with her experiencing a tragic call to action: the death of her father and revelation she can save the world by restoring earth to its normal gravity, subsequently undoing the top down classism that now afflicts the planet, thereby honoring the sacrifice her dad made to save her. She, however, is now a wanted terrorist pursued by the most powerful man in the world, a corporate exec responsible for her father’s death (who’s also profiting like crazy from lack of gravity).

It’s all in here, the good stuff that makes for a compelling story: character with searing motivation, high stakes, commentary on power, villainy, a treacherous setting where just about anything is possible. There are, to be sure, many books with solid foundations. I was reminded again in this issue, however, that veteran artist Lee Garbett’s vast talent in particular contributes so many near-intangibles to the story, little things like individual page pacing and slight facial expressions, making the book feel organic and real, allowing the whole package to really shine.

Overall: Skyward #6 is another great issue in an impeccably constructed and perfectly executed comic. It’s the first of a new story arc and status quo, and all indications are that this will continue to be a book to follow. 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.

ADVANCED REVIEW: These Savage Shores #1 by Ram V, Sumit Kumar, Vittorio Astone, & Aditya Bidikar

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These Savage Shores is due out 10/10.

By Zack Quaintance — Earlier this year, the good folks at Vault Comics announced plans for books from each of the writers in London’s White Noise Collective, including the eco-fantasy series Deep Roots, plus the forthcoming comics Fearscape and Friendo (both of which I’ve read and absolutely adored). Due out Oct. 10, These Savage Shores from writer Ram V, artist Sumit Kumar, colorist Vittorio Astone, and letterer Aditya Bidikar is the latest to join this White Noise wave.

Cards on the table: of all Vault’s books this year, These Savage Shores was the one I found myself most strongly drawn to based on its description, which involves merchanteering in India circa 1766 and also vampires. I can’t really intellectualize it, but the book’s tagline—Along these savage shores, where the days are scorched, and the nights are full of teeth—is the type of poetic-yet-gaudy teaser that makes me mutter to myself, cool, especially when coupled with Kumar’s appropriately savage cover artwork.

The poeticism of the summary and tagline actually permeates much of the prose in the book, with lines like I hear it is found beyond the water’s edge on fairer shores, where men die with dignity and learn to live with shame. This lyrical, flourish-heavy writing is something I’ve come to expect from Vault, lines more likely to be found in literary journals than comic books, and Ram V’s work in These Savage Shores is rich with them.

Silent panels like this one do wonders to convey These Savage Shores interests in colonialism and power structures.

This book, however, is never overly reliant on prose. It uses letter writing as a framing device in a way that enables Kumar and Astone to create kinetic action sequences that give readers vital exposition. Kumar and Astone’s artwork is overall very strong, especially as it pertains to tone. There’s one panel in particular this applies to, depicting a proper vampiric Englishman as he surveys Calicut from beneath an umbrella, standing at the bow of an approaching rowboat, posture ramrod straight with one hand kept behind his back. You can almost hear the bustle of the shore and feel the oppressive humidity as this man condescendingly absorbs what to him must be an exotic locale, one in which he will clearly be an interloper.

Tone and feel are two of These Savage Shores most noticeable strengths, both conveyed often and with much versatility, in scenes that range from the one I described above to a creepier set piece in which an ancient tree erupts with a bat colony to a character placing a tender reassuring hand on a pensive lover’s face to, finally, another scene intercut with sensual dance and primal nightstalking. If this sounds like a unique book, that’s because it is, one I highly recommend following.

Overall: Thematically, this comic promises contemplation of power dynamics and colonialism, piloted by a creative team with the clear storytelling chops to turn deeper concern into compelling narrative. Yet another strong book from Vault Comics, These Savage Shores is one to watch. 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 19, 2018

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By Zack Quaintance — This was an especially strong week, with the penultimate issue of Mister Miracle sort of headlining the books I’m looking forward to. It kind of seems like that book has been going on for years (even though it launched in August 2017) and like we’ll have it for the rest of our days (the last issue is currently due out on Oct. 24...although if recent issues are an indication it's probably likely to slip).

The book has just been so so good, and we will most definitely be sad to see it go. That said, we’re also enjoying the heck out of these final few issues. Tom King is one of the best and most introspective superhero writers, and what he’s done first with The Vision and now with Mister Miracle is work that seems likely to find a wide audience for a good long while. It’s been really rewarding to follow it in monthly issues, even with these minor delays.

Oh hey, and also there’s a lot of other good stuff, too! Let’s take a look...

Top Comics to Buy for September 19, 2018

Crude #6
Writer: Steve Orlando
Artist: Garry Brown
Colorist: Lee Loughridge
Letterer: Thomas Mauer
Publisher: Image Comics
Price: $3.99
Piotr has fought his way across Blackstone to avenge his son's death. Now he faces off against the biggest bastard of them all, and only one will walk away.
Why It’s Cool: This is the finale of a fantastic book about closure, violence, secrets, acceptance, and fathers and sons. If that sounds like a lot, it’s because it is. Creators Steve Orlando and Garry Brown, however, streamline their many powerful themes into a cathartic and powerful story.

Harley Quinn #50
Writer: Sam Humphries
Artists (In Order of Appearance): John Timms, Whilce Portacio, Agnes Garbowska, John McCrea, Kelley Jones, Jon Davis-Hunt, Brett Booth, Norm Rapmund, Scott Kolins, Dan Jurgens, Guillem March, Mirka Andolfo, Babs Tarr, Tom Grummett, Cam Smith
Colorists (In Order of Appearance): Alex Sinclair, Gabe Eltaeb, John Kalisz, Michelle Madsen, Andrew Dalhouse, Romulo Fajardo Jr.
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $4.99
In a special anniversary story, "Harley Saves the Universe!"-no kidding! While reading a mysterious Harley Quinn comic book, H.Q. accidentally breaks all of reality. And you know the saying: if you break it, you bought it! Now it's up to Harley to travel through both time and space to fix all the continuity errors she created. Luckily, she'll have a little help, 'cuz riding shotgun is none other than special guest star Jonni DC, Continuity Cop! Good thing, too, because if Harley fails, it means her own mom will be lost forever. Gulp! That doesn't sound very funny!
Why It’s Cool: Listen, I’m not a big fan of Harley Quinn stories. The zany superhero books (ie Deadpool) don’t usually do it for me, but this one takes a gigantic and meta idea, using it to tell a poignant story about the nature of superhero franchises, sprinkled liberally with fun deep cut nods to DC continuity. It’s a must-buy for long-time DC readers.

Ice Cream Man #7
Writer: W. Maxwell Prince
Artist: Martin Morazzo
Colorist: Chris O’Halloran
Letterer: Good Old Neon
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Price: $3.99
"MY LITTLE POLTERGEIST"
Another sullen, sequential short! Here, a little girl's best friend comes back from the dead. Or does she? It's hard to say, ghosts being an unreliable sort.
Why It’s Cool: Ice Cream Man #6 was one of my favorite books of 2018 so far, accomplishing some really impressive feats of comic-making craft. It did, however, leaving me wondering if this book was becoming a bit nihilistic...until this issue put that question at rest. This is the most heartfelt issue yet of one of the best comics on the stands, and I highly recommend picking it up.

Immortal Hulk #6
Writer: Al Ewing
Artist: Lee Garbett
Colorist: Paul Mounts
Letterer: Cory Petit
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Price: $3.99
"THE GREEN DOOR" STARTS HERE! Bruce Banner is alive - and everyone knows it. Now he's hunted by the government, Alpha Flight, the mysterious Shadow Base...and the Avengers. And someone's going to find him first. But Bruce has bigger problems. Something terrible has infected him. Something with unspeakable plans for humanity. And the only one who knows about it...is the IMMORTAL HULK.
Why It’s Cool: I’ve liked Immortal Hulk quite a bit from its first disturbing issue, but last month’s Immortal Hulk #5 introduced a new villian that in my opinion gives this story a chilling new sense of direction, one that stands to make it an even more powerful book. This is, quite simply, my favorite comic at Marvel right now.

Mister Miracle #11
Writer: Tom King
Artist: Mitch Gerads
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $3.99
If there's one thing popular fiction has taught us by now, it's: never make a deal with the devil! And yet Mister Miracle is still listening when Darkseid approaches him with just such a devilish proposition-if Scott sends his newborn son to Apokolips, there will be peace on New Genesis. Since when has Darkseid been famous for his honesty?! It'll be a miracle if this doesn't blow up in Scott's face.
Why It’s Cool: Our site and many others have spent the past year or so heaping praise upon Tom King and Mitch Gerads Mister Miracle, and that’s not going to stop now that we’ve reached the penultimate issue. This is a series filled with equal parts introspection and misdirection. Expect some answers here, but also expect to wait for Mister Miracle #12 to really get a clear idea of what’s been going on.

Recommended New #1 Comics for September 19, 2018

  • Amazing Spider-Man Annual #1

  • Batman: Damned #1

  • Burnouts #1

  • Captain America Annual #1

  • Dick Tracy: Dead or Alive #1

  • Gideon Falls: Directors Cut #1

  • Return of Wolverine #1

Others Receiving Votes

  • Avengers #8

  • Batman #55

  • Black Badge #2

  • Black Hammer: Age of Doom #5

  • Britannia: Lost Eagles of Rome #3

  • Ether Copper Golems #5

  • Justice League #8

  • Lost City Explorers #4

  • Pearl #2

  • Skyward #6

  • Teen Titans #22

  • Thor #5

  • Usagi Yojimbo The Hidden #6

  • Venom #6

  • The Wild Storm #17

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 #6

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In Saga #6, the narration continues to do so much work, floating through panels like wisps of nostalgia gently tinging all that's taking place.

By Zack Quaintance and Cory Webber — Let’s talk about Saga’s narration, about the little snippets of Hazel looking back at the story. They just do so much work, both in setting an epic and emotional tone as well as in helping Saga stand apart from other comics, which I think is accomplished mainly through the aesthetic way the font seems to float through the panels, as if it were wisps of nostalgia gently tinging all that’s taking place.

Anyway, my point is that the narration is back and heavier in Saga #6 than it has been in some time, and I’m glad for it. This is the conclusion of the first Saga trade, the one I’ve bought for more than a few people and always been absolutely puzzled if they decide not to move on. How, I wonder, could anyone (regardless of their experience with the medium) stop following this story after these six installments? Then I shake my head and shrug, because, hey, we like what we like and anyway it’s not really my business.

What is my business is continuing this one-issue-per-week plodding Saga re-read. Onward!

Saga #6

Here’s the official preview text from way back when for Saga #6:

The epic hit series continues, as Alana and her baby finally reach the legendary Rocketship Forest, where everything changes forever.                                

Despite the presence of epic phrases like the legendary Rocketship Forest and everything changes forever, this is still a pretty bare bones teaser for the issue. The cover is decent, though, juxtaposing an indelible sign of nature (a bright green leaf) with the harsh and instantly-recognizable void of outer space. The color contrast works well enough too. I wouldn’t, rush, however, to put this cover up with the best of the series.

The cover for Saga #6.

Now on to our takes!

A Re-Reader’s Perspective by Zack: Ho boy, the brief interaction between Prince Robot IV and The Will put dread in the pit of my stomach. Oh, the things that come...anyway, here’s a great line about our lovers: Marko, the father, is a force of fucking nature. But it’s the mother who really frightens me. Awesome. In terms of craft, it’s evident in this issue that Staples potential is vast and unlimited. Her linework isn’t quite as clean as it becomes, but she’s really nailing the excellent grandeur, specifically the first shot of the spaceship. The design work on the ship’s interior is also interesting as is the ship in flight and the armor for Marko’s parents. I’m noticing upon re-reading that the domestic drama cliffhangers (And then my grandparents came to live with us) are just as significant (if not more so) than those rooted in action or blood.

A New Reader’s Perspective by Cory Webber: The family expands! I love how Marko’s parents were introduced. I just hope Izabel is okay. After all, we see her get zapped and nothing after that. Also, I’ve just assumed Horrors couldn’t die...again, but I digress. Moreover, I loved the developments here: a wood-based rocket ship with empathetic abilities, Marko’s parents being introduced, and The Will showing human emotion (again!). I can’t wait to crack the next issue and see where the intergalactic saga goes next. Although, I will admit I am pretty anxious about this journey based on the general sentiments regarding the developments in the final issue before the hiatus. For now, I’m buckled in and ready to take this ride for eight more volumes! Wish me luck!  

Cory’s New Reader Predictions: Izabel will be okay, right?! I mean, she’s bonded to Hazel. That has to mean something!

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.

Top Modern Superhero Artists: The Sultans of Style at Marvel and DC

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By Taylor Pechter — In comics, there’s always debate over what is more important: writing or art. These discussions can go either way, but they almost always conclude that both are equally important in different ways. Writers give characters their personalities, desires, and struggles, while the artists give motion and create a flow to the story. Artists also give characters different body types, faces, and ticks that writers can’t show with words alone. They are, simply put, storytellers in their own right.

Through the many decades of comics history individual artists have helped inform the style of the time. From legends like Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby in the Golden and Silver Ages, to the sleek photorealism of Neal Adams in the Bronze Age, to the incomparable detail of George Perez that helped usher in the Modern Age of comic art. However, in the past 20 years, a handful of artists have helped push the medium forward, while defining the company they belong to. This has been dubbed house style.

Exactly what is considered house style has changed during the past few years, but, even so, what I’d like to look at today are the artists who who have helped define their respective superhero universes.

DC

1. Jim Lee — Arguably the most popular artist of the 1990s, Jim Lee rose to fame drawing the X-Men for Marvel in the early years of the decade before breaking away to form Image and his company, WildStorm Productions. In the late 90s, he sold his company to DC, bringing his signature style over to the brand. Lee’s style contains heavy linework, chiseled jawlines, extreme detail, and dynamic action. This style has helped define the look of the modern DCU by making it grander and more epic in scale. Currently, Lee serves as Chief Creative Officer of DC Entertainment.

Notable Works:

  • Batman: Hush

  • All-Star Batman and Robin: The Boy Wonder

  • Justice League: Origin

  • Superman: Unchained

2. Ivan Reis — Coming to American comics all the way from Sao Paulo, Brazil, Ivan Reis has quickly become the go to event artist for DC of the past decade. Combining the sleekness of Neal Adams, the cinematic flair of Bryan Hitch, and the sheer scale of George Perez, Reis is a defining artist of the current generation. He’s also a notable collaborator with modern DC architect Geoff Johns, and his delicate-yet-cinematic style has helped bring new prominence to characters like Green Lantern and the Teen Titans. He’s currently drawing Superman, which is written by Brian Michael Bendis.

  • Infinite Crisis (With Phil Jimenez, George Perez, and Jerry Ordway)

  • Green Lantern: The Sinestro Corps War

  • Blackest Night

  • Teen Titans: Titans of Tomorrow

3. Gary Frank — English superstar Gary Frank is a roughly 23-year veteran of the business. Frank got his start at DC helping co-create the Birds of Prey team with legendary Bat-scribe Chuck Dixon. He later honed his craft at Marvel, drawing the Incredible Hulk and also collaborating with J. Michael Straczynski, but he eventually returned to DC to become one of, if not the defining Superman artists. With his keen eye for detail, simple-but-effective panel layouts, deep shadows, and expressive faces, Frank has become a favorite of mine and of many others.

Notable Works:

  • Superman: Brainiac

  • Superman: Secret Origin

  • Batman: Earth One

  • Doomsday Clock (currently ongoing)

4. Alex Ross — Arguably the most recognizable artist of this bunch, Chicago-based painter Alex Ross combines the photorealism of Norman Rockwell with the grandeur of the DCU. Ross depicts superheroes the way they were always meant to be seen: standing taller than life in the face of adversity. Using vast landscapes, strong postures, and smiles galore, Ross has become a multimedia sensation, not only drawing comics but also creating posters for film and video games.

  • Kingdom Come

  • The World’s Greatest Super Heroes

  • Justice Society of America: Thy Kingdom Come

5. Jason Fabok — The newest artist on the DC block, Canadian Jason Fabok rose to prominence during DC’s New 52. While starting on smaller stories in Detective Comics, he later became popular via the mega Bat-event Batman Eternal followed by a run on Justice League with Geoff Johns. With his blend of realism, glossy texture, cinematic layouts, and brutal action, Fabok has fast-become one of the most acclaimed DC artists of the decade.

  • Batman Eternal

  • Justice League Darkseid War

  • Batman/Flash: The Button

  • Three Jokers (upcoming)

Marvel

1. Joe Quesada —  Coming from New York City, Joe Quesada, much like his contemporary at DC Jim Lee, had a hand in crafting Marvel’s signature style coming out of the 90’. With inker Jimmy Palmiotti, Quesada redefined what street-level Marvel meant, fueling the creation of Marvel Knights. Quesada’s use of overly exaggerated proportions, dense and heavy shadows, and cartoony-yet-expressive faces is part of the blueprint for Marvel to this day. He now acts as Chief Creative Officer for Marvel Entertainment.

  • Daredevil: Guardian Devil

  • Spider-Man: One More Day

2. David Finch —  Another comics superstar hailing from the Great White North, David Finch started drawing in the late 1990s for Marc Silvestri’s company Top Cow before moving to the House of Ideas in the 2000s. An early collaborator with a young Brian Michael Bendis, Finch’s heavy shadows, musclebound heroes, and cinematic action helped Marvel craft a denser and darker universe. He now works as a freelance artist and is husband to writer Meredith Finch. Most recently he has drawn issues of Tom King’s ongoing run on DC’s Batman.

  • Avengers Disassembled

  • New Avengers: Breakout

  • Moon Knight: The Bottom

  • Ultimatum

3. Steve McNiven — This is the last Canadian artist on this list, I promise. McNiven has been a Marvel mainstay since the early 2000s, when he did many covers for the publisher. His big break, however, came in 2006, when he was tapped for Marvel’s biggest event of the decade, Civil War. After that, McNiven started a partnership with Mark Millar. He is a king of rendering, using different styles of fabric and metal to do so. He adds many layers of texture that help lend to his somewhat stylized photorealism. His explosive panel layouts and eye for epic moments have led him to become one of Marvel’s blockbuster exclusive artists.

  • Civil War

  • Wolverine: Old Man Logan

  • Death of Wolverine

  • New Avengers: The Sentry

4. Olivier Coipel —  Magical, mythical, grandiose...these are all words that have been used to describe French artist Olivier Coipel’s work. Rising to prominence as a frequent collaborator of Brian Bendis, Coipel helped tear down and rebuild the Marvel Universe many times over. With his delicate linework, his characters move with a certain grace along with detailed architecture and lush landscapes that help create truly stunning comics.

  • House of M

  • Thor (2007)

  • Siege

  • Unworthy Thor

5. Leinil Francis Yu —  Last but not least we come to Filipino artist Leinil Francis Yu, who got his start his start in the late 90’s, his claim to fame being a major stint on Wolverine and other X-Men titles. His style is much looser than the others on this list. Yu uses many different lines to add intricacies. During Marvel’s big resurgence in the 2000’s, he became, much like Coipel and McNiven, a go to artist for the blockbuster events and headlining books. His action is frenetic and that helps greatly set the pace for the books that he draws.

  • Wolverine

  • Secret Invasion

  • Ultimate Wolverine vs. Hulk

  • Captain America (currently ongoing)

In the end, these artists have all been mainstays of certain universes with styles that while influenced by many great artists before them, are still uniquely their own. They have all played significant roles in creating the house styles that differentiate the two superhero universes, with DC having a more detailed, almost photorealistic look, while Marvel features a more exaggerated, cartoony, and fantastical aesthetic. These artists have helped redefine their universes; they are true sultans of superhero style.

Taylor Pechter is a passionate comic book fan and nerd. Find him on Twitter @TheInspecter.

Check out Marvel Comics, now at comiXology.com!

REVIEW: Amazing Spider-Man #5 by Nick Spencer, Ryan Ottley, Cliff Rathburn, Laura Martin, & Joe Caramagna

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Amazing Spider-Man #5 is out 9/12.

By Zack Quaintance — We as readers have maybe come to take for granted twice-monthly flagship superhero books, now basically standard at both Marvel and DC, with Amazing Spider-Man and Batman both on that schedule (plus others too). To write and edit a title at that pace surely means a yeoman effort of planning, an inability to have even a minor misstep in terms of completing one’s work, lest a high-selling title in a publishing line skip a week and cost the company all kinds of money.

As much as I’ve loved Tom King’s Batman (and overall I have loved it, quite a bit), there’s no denying the sometimes major gaps in consistency, story arcs flawed in both conception and execution. For whatever reason, Dan Slott’s recently-concluded Amazing Spider-Man run seemed to suffer from slightly different problems. Whereas King’s scripts never lack for the grandiose or poetic, leaving him prone to mischaracterizations or over-writing in service of grand ambitions, Slott’s run on Amazing Spider-Man at times mired in the minutiae of seeding the future, leading to occasionally slow or less than fully-satisfying comics.

That struggle, I think, is also an issue with Nick Spencer and Ryan Ottley’s Amazing Spider-Man #5, the end of this new team’s first story arc. I absolutely loved Amazing Spider-Man #4, to the point I wrote an effusive and glowing review, but this finale landed for me with a bit of whump. That’s right, a whump. Spencer lays quite a bit of track for the future—be it with MJ, Boomerang, or two other villains I won’t mention here for fear of spoilers—leaving the actual hero versus villain conflict of this story to resolve itself in the space of less than four pages.

And I get that the real conflict here is between two versions of the protagonist—Spider-Man and Peter Parker, who’ve been separated via sci-fi hijinx—but their conversations with each other don’t hit any ground that wasn’t covered in more interesting and concise scenes in prior issues, and, really, what resolves their plight is pretty convenient and lucky, with neither side acting in a way we haven’t just seen last issue. And, yes, this is superhero comics and growth for the main character is all but forbidden, but Spencer’s past work (especially on Astonishing Ant-Man) has found ways to obscure that stagnation with poignant heart-to-hearts or conflicts that force telling choices from the hero.

All that said, Spencer continues to have a knack for Peter’s world and voice, and Ottley’s art is sharp as ever. Slott on his run did have an established pattern wherein he absolutely nailed the biggest issues of his run, the anniversaries and events and the like. Spencer certainly showed in Amazing Spider-Man #1 that he has it in him, too. In an age of high-pressure double-shipped books, that kind of writing rollercoaster may very well be inherent to these characters.        

Overall: The end of Spencer and Ottley’s first Amazing Spider-Man arc does a better job laying track for the future than paying off this first story arc. It has quite a bit to say about the Spider-Man ethos, but it’s all stuff we heard last issue. Still, the voice and ambitions here remain strong, and I’m optimistic for this run’s future. 6.5/10

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: Wasted Space #5 by Michael Moreci, Hayden Sherman, Jason Wordie, & Jim Campbell

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Wasted Space #5 is out 9/12.

By Zack Quaintance — Through four issues, Wasted Space has done a tremendous amount of world-building, character development, tone-setting, and plot setup. This is a book built on a foundation of Star Wars-esque high action space heroics. Said space heroics, however, are also laced with high ideas about religion, chemical escapism, terrorism, and the merits of political stances ranging from complacent apathy to total anarchy. It’s a lot, to be sure, and a less confident set of creators might buckle under its weight.

Not this team. Wasted Space #5 is the conclusion of this comics’ first arc, and it’s also this book’s most entertaining issue to date, paying off so much of the dense track that has been laid while having an absolute blast doing it. That’s not to say this book is irreverent or escapist. No, far from it. The complex and increasingly-relevant battle of one man’s desire to be loved and happy versus his responsibility to combat societal injustice and oppression at great cost to himself continues to rage. Indeed, there are choices made here as dramatic as all get out, yet still executed in a way that mercilessly tickles the brain, be it via machine gun quips, kinetic page-busting linework between panels, or a plot that feels equal parts inevitable and surprising.

What is perhaps most impressive about Wasted Space is the way that Moreci and Sherman have built a tone that gives them so much freedom to tell their story. In this issue, there is a scene wherein two blue robots designed to have sex and murder have a soap opera exchange about why one left the other at the altar. In this very same comic, there’s a three panel set of close-cropped shots of teary characters faces, one of which belongs to a possibly-hallucinated robotic god. None of this feels at odds or out of place. It speaks to the confident imagination and high craft of the storytellers that all of this is now possible and coherent within the space of a single issue.

On top of the big ideas and high adventure, Wasted Space is a sharply hilarious comic.

I see nothing but a bright future for this book. It’s already come such a long way since we reviewed its first issue way back in April, regularly popping in features written by national pop culture outlets about comics that are not to be missed (welcome to the party folks, btw). Its publisher, the very cool and very smart Vault Comics, has also wisely made Wasted Space an ongoing comic. Simply put, Wasted Space is a comic that reads like Star Wars by way of 2018, determined to honor the tradition of the space opera

Overall: Simply put, Wasted Space is a comic that reads like Star Wars by way of 2018, determined to honor the hijinx and high adventure of the space opera while fearlessly exploring the central conflict of our times: where should one’s desire for comfort end and their obligation to combat oppression begin? 9.5/10

For reviews of Wasted Space #1 - #4, plus many other titles, 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: 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.