By Zack Quaintance — Here begins Saga’s self-contained The War for Phang event story, which I remember being a tad bit disappointed with at the time. In retrospect, it’s really more on me than it is on the creator’s of this comic. Saga is not and has never been that kind of comic, the one to play up grandiose warfare into some kind of marketable event. Besides, have you seen the rest of…
Read MoreBy Jarred A. Luján — For those unaware, The Boys has returned recently via a new omnibus collection. The story, co-created by writer Garth Ennis and artist Darick Robertson, follows a CIA-backed, physically enhanced outfit as they aim to keep superheroes in check. This is second part of my review of the omnibus, covering issues #7-#14 (you can read all about my bad teenage haircut…
Read MoreBy Alex Batts — Before we dive into the recent arc of Batman that just wrapped yesterday, I’d like to review the basic info to make sure we’re all up to speed. Also, this serves as a SPOILER WARNING. I will be discussing events from Tom King’s Batman run leading up to issue 61 as well as the events of this story arc, issues 61-69. I’ll avoid divulging everything that happens in these issues, mainly because…
Read MoreBy @Kimota1977 — Here’s something I thought I’d never write—I just finished watching Season 1 Episode 8 of the Doom Patrol which introduces Danny the Street—an actual living, queer, sentient street that can teleport anywhere in the world and enjoys cross-dressing.
As a lifelong fan of the Doom Patrol, this new show continues to blow me away by incorporating the strangest elements …
Read MoreBy Zack Quaintance — To use the parlance of writer Donny Cates’ native Texas, boy howdy did the #$@^ really hit the fan in Guardians of the Galaxy #4. I won’t reveal much more than that, however, just noting that a conflict I thought we were on pace for a few issues down the line, really kicked off in a big way right here in these…
Read MoreBy Zack Quaintance — This is it, everyone, the six-part largely separate Knightmares story arc has now come to an end. This has been an audacious set of stories, each illustrated by a different artist and designed to explore a different part of Batman’s psyche, revealing as they did that our hero was suffering some form of torture. Remember those old campy and elaborate death traps Batman always got stuck in back in Batman ‘66? Well, this arc has been like that, but the booby trap is Batman’s own…
Read MoreBy Zack Quaintance — When Mary Shelley Monster Hunter #1 was first announced, I was a little skeptical about the concept. The pitch for it seems to be, what if Mary Shelley didn’t invent the story in her most famous novel at all, what if she had actually lived it? I’m sure the idea came from a place of good intentions, an idea to turn the precocious Shelley into a…
Read MoreBy Zack Quaintance — Xena Warrior Princess #1 is an exceedingly well-done comic from its start, owning what it is—an adventure comic of the highest order that must also pay homage to a beloved character—and reveling in it. Indeed, in this book the creative team of writer Vita Ayala, artist Olympia Sweetman, colorist Rebecca Nalty, and letterer Ariana Maher tell a concentrated and…
Read MoreBy Zack Quaintance — It’s one of those rare weeks where the majority of our top picks our superhero books. This doesn’t happen all that often, but we just had to give credit where credit is in this feature for Top Comics to Buy for April 17…
Read MoreBy d. emerson eddy — Since his surprise heel turn in the most recent volume of The Avengers, Namor has been a difficult character to pin down. This has been true of his motivations and actions lately through the stories in that series, as well as in the Defenders: The Best Defense crossover, and here in the new Invaders series, too. His erratic mood swings, as he went back and forth seemingly indiscriminately between hero and villain, were once explained by an “oxygen imbalance” in his blood, but we were told earlier in this series that this isn't the case now. With all that in mind, this issue begins to explain Namor's hidden history and how it might feed into why…
Read MoreBy Zack Quaintance — There was some big news this week about Saga! Not the big news about when the book is finally coming back, but decent-sized news all the same. My Twitter buddy Christian Holub had the scoop over at Entertainment Weekly, the scoop being that…
Read MoreBy Jarred A. Luján — The Boys, which is Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson’s series about a CIA-backed team that keeps superheroes in check, is back this year with a new omnibus that collects the first 14 issues of the series (Editor’s note: this review covers the first half of the omnibus, but check back next week for a piece about the rest!). For those not in the know, The Boys is a fairly iconic series co-created by…
Read MoreBy Taylor Pechter — Death is a fact of the universe that most of us fear. We fear it for ourselves or for our loved ones, and at our lowest moments, we maybe even wish it on those we hate, be them real life figures or characters on TV. Death, however, is much different in the comicbook landscape, much less…
Read MoreBy Zack Quaintance — She Could Fly, a four-issue miniseries that ran last year via Dark Horse Comics’ Berger Books imprint, had a somewhat tidy ending. At least in terms of the emotionality of its story arc. The premise of the book was very very good from the start: a mysterious woman flies through the sky randomly for weeks (like, legit flies), captivating the nation before one day bursting into flames. The series then follows the world’s reaction as filtered through a set of adjacent characters, including a…
Read MoreBy Zack Quaintance — Orphan Age #1 is a quick read that has a lot going on. It launches a relatively complex world pretty quickly. In this book, all of the adults on the planet died mysteriously 20 years ago, and now the children are running the world. This concept seems like one that could drive the book by itself, making the conflict one of unprepared youths shedding their childhoods…
Read MoreBy Zack Quaintance — Every comic is unique, of course, but Faithless #1 struck me as a singular book from the first pages. It’s written by Brian Azzarello, a veteran comics writer who has had success with a wide range of titles, from hey day Vertigo stuff like 100 Bullets to recent Big 2 works like…
Read MoreBy Zack Quaintance — Fairlady #1 is essentially a hardboiled noir PI story, transposed over a high fantasy setting, with a female lead and a giant cat bodyguard too. This new Image book is written by Brian Schirmer, drawn by Claudia Balboni, colored by Marissa Louise, and lettered by David Bowman, and in terms of its plot, it’s a fairly straightforward affair. Our hero is…
Read MoreBy Zack Quaintance — A very tardy set of Top Comics to Buy for April 10, 2019 this week, but what can I say? There were a lot of great books, and I wanted to make sure I’d read as many of them as possible before settling on my recommendations. It’s called due dilligence, and I’ll be damned if I don’t...um, do it. Yeah.
Read MoreBy d. emerson eddy — Jakub Rebelka is one of BOOM Studios! secret weapons. Like Dan Mora, he's an artist that always turns in interesting, captivating, and beautiful artwork for the company, deeply enriching whichever project that he's working on with his unique character compositions and approach to color. His shapes, lines, and the appearance of almost a mix….
Read MoreThis piece is the third of a monthly series giving nascent creators a chance to share and document part of their artistic journeys. We’ll be following four individuals—writers, artists, writers/artists—and spotlighting each on a rotating basis throughout 2019. Future installments will take more of a traditional journal format, giving creators a space to share thoughts and comics. For the intro…
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