REVIEW: SFXS #2 is a refreshing type of creator-owned comic

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By Nick Couture — Hot off a stellar #1 issue, the creative team of the new Image comic, SFSX (Safe Sex) continues to gel on all levels. That team, by the way, is Tina Horn, Michael Dowling, Chris O’Halloran, Steve Wands, Tula Lotay, and Lauren Mccubbin. The story here is about Avory, a former artist and sex worker, wrestling with the sudden detainment of her partner George by the evil anti-sex totalitarian government, and it intensifies in the second issue as she approaches former friends and colleagues to ask for help. Safe Sex is dystopian. It’s grim, but it’s so lovingly crafted you feel like you’re in safe hands.

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REVIEW: Excalibur #1 is very much its own thing, for better or worse

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By Zack Quaintance — This week’s Excalibur #1 brings us right to the edge of the halfway point of Dawn of X, which is the new wave of six X-Men titles springing out of the recently-concluded House of X / Powers of X reconceptualization of Marvel’s X-Men franchise. Next week, a double-punch of New Mutants and X-Force will hurdle us over that halfway point, but for now, here we are. So, about this comic...Excalibur #1 is the first title of the new X-Men era that I, quite frankly, don’t really know what to make of.

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ADVANCED REVIEW: Undiscovered Country #1 is the next mega-hit from Image Comics

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By Zack Quaintance —  The Walking Dead and Wicked + Divine have ended, and Saga is still on an indefinite hiatus, with no new Brian K. Vaughan comic on the horizon just yet. As a result, there’s been talk in fandom and among the comics media lately about what Image Comics will do to fill these large sales gaps. Essentially, readers and critics have been wondering what the next big book will be from Image. Now that question has an answer — it’s Undiscovered Country.

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REVIEW: Going to the Chapel #2 finds the sweet spot between absurd and dysfunctional

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By Zack Quaintance — Through two issues, Going to the Chapel has been a delight...which feels like an odd thing to write about a comic that’s so heavily predicated on a hostage situation, complete with rubber Elvis masks and shotguns. But this has been a romp of a comic, one that uses a Quintin Tarantino-esque setup to probe the scary (and mildly absurd) feeling of going through a wedding ceremony. There are plenty of jokes in this book, and it’s a breezy read to be sure, but look a little closer—Going to the Chapel is actually a hilarious dive into relationship dynamics, from feeling like you’ve met the one to the baggage we carry with us from past break-ups.

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REVIEW: Money Shot #1 is a smart comic about society plus also sex

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By Zack Quaintance — I read this comic with my tablet on a plane while leaning out into the aisle, and, oh boy, was that a mistake. There are, to be sure, panels and scenes in this book that will make you bashful if you read them in a public setting...although maybe not as many as one might assume going into it. Despite the name and branding and concept, Money Shot #1 is not really all that salacious of a story. Sex (obviously) does play a part in this story, but the main ideas/themes here are more about desperation and greed than they are about anything gratuitous.

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REVIEW: ‘Ahoy, Muties’...Marauders #1 is an unlikely but welcome X-Men comic

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By Zack Quaintance — I’m going to be blunt here, folks — never did I think I’d be reading an X-Men pirate comic written by Gerry Duggan. And I especially didn’t think I’d be excited to read that comic. And I especially especially didn’t think I’d finish the first issue and want to read more issues of that comic. Yet, here we are.

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REVIEW: Cult Classic Creature Feature #1 presents a polished vision of dark nostalgia

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By Zack Quaintance — I remember when I first heard about Vault Comics’ shared Cult Classic Universe. It must have been 2017 or so. I was aware of Vault, having read (and loved) Heathen, as well as some of their other early titles, specifically Alien Bounty Hunter, Zojaqan, and Spiritus. It was billed (if I remember correctly) as a shared universe of horror-tinged stories set in the same small town and owing a bit to ‘80s teen genre films (although I can’t remember if that last part is just me projecting).

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REVIEW: X-Men #1 has some fun in the House of X that Hickman built

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By Zack Quaintance — Since Jonathan Hickman launched a new era of X-Men comics back in late July with House of X #1, there have been quite a few surprises in store for fans of Marvel’s mutants. Chief among these surprises is the entire concept of the new era, wherein guided by the lessons learned through Moira McTaggert’s reincarnations (she too is a mutant), Professor X, Magneto, Apocalypse and everyone else (pretty much) have unified, creating a separate mutant state on the living island of Krakoa, where they have also figured out how to revive any mutants that are killed….there is some tension between the newly-empowered mutants and humanity, however, and it is played out through the ongoing development of AI and robots. Phew.

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REVIEW: The artists in Detective Comics #1013 steal the show in an action-heavy issue

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By Alex Batts — Detective Comics #1013 pushes the action in this Mr. Freeze-focused arc into overdrive. Writer Peter J. Tomasi is again joined by penciler Doug Mahnke, inkers Keith Champagne and Christian Alamy, colorist David Baron, and letterer Rob Leigh to round out the creative team. This first issue in this arc did a great job at setting the stage, and this issue does a fantastic job at escalation.

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REVIEW: Justice League #33, this run continues to be an epic MUST READ

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By Alex Batts — Justice League has been and continues to be an insanely wild ride. The Justice/Doom War is nearing its climax, and each issue brings massive twists and turns for the fate of the Multiverse as we know it. Writers Scott Snyder and James Tynion IV are joined here by Bruno Redondo and Daniel Sampere on pencils, Redondo and Juan Albarran on inks, Hi-Fi on colors, and Tom Napolitano on letters.

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REVIEW: Batman #80, the Bat-Cat return to Gotham does not disappoint

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By Alex Batts — This week sees the ‘City of Bane’ story arc shift its focus back to Gotham. The last two issues have served as an interlude of sorts that built up and solidified the relationship between Batman and Catwoman. Now, we return to Gotham, and with us, Batman and Catwoman return to their city as well. Tom King is joined by artist John Romita Jr., inker Klaus Janson, colorist Tomeu Morey, and letterer Clayton Cowles for this issue.

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REVIEW: Relics of Youth #1, something new for Vault Comics

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By Jarred A. Luján — Relics of Youth #1, a new title from regularly-awesome publisher Vault Comics, released this week. Relics is sort of an interesting addition to the Vault publishing line, one that has more of a YA feel to it than most of Vault’s other titles. With crazy cool cover art (that Deadly Class variant tho) and my favorite logo on a book ever, Relics of Youth had some solid momentum, even before I cracked the book open. 

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REVIEW: SFSX (Safe Sex) #1 updates familiar dystopian ideas for our modern times

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By Zack Quaintance — Safe Sex took a long time coming….oh my god! That’s not what I meant! Jokes aside (very very bad jokes, at that), this book does have a long and interesting pre-publication history. Written by Tina Horn, and drawn and colored by Mike Dowling (with covers by Tula Lotay and letters by Steve Wands), SFSX (Safe Sex) #1 was originally announced as part of the ill-fated and now-defunct Vertigo Rebirth, which basically both started and fizzled in 2018, before this comic could even be solicited.

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REVIEW: Detective Comics #1012 is a very cool (heh) start to a new arc

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By Alex Batts — Detective Comics #1012 sees the Mr. Freeze story arc finally begin in earnest. This is a story that has been teased and built up in the closing pages of recent Detective Comics issues and has now taken center stage. Regular series writer Peter Tomasi is rejoined by penciler Doug Mahnke, inker Jaime Mendoza, colorist David Baron, and letterer Rob Leigh. While Christian Duce did a great job with the art for the previous arc, it’s a welcome sight to see Doug Mahnke back on a Batman book.

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REVIEW: Tommy Gun Wizards #2 is ‘a true page-turner with intuitive paneling and epic splash pages’

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By Alex Batts — The first issue of Tommy Gun Wizards was all about introducing the world and characters of the series. Tommy Gun Wizards #2, on the other hand, is full-throttle action and escalation. Writer Christian Ward, artist Sami Kivelä, colorist Dee Cunniffe, and letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou return with a new chapter of this genre-bending gangster title set in the Windy City against the backdrop of a prohibition on magic.

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REVIEW: Batman #79 continues the long-awaited romantic BatCat reunion

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By Alex Batts — This week’s Batman #79 is the second part of an interlude within the City of Bane story arc. The last issue saw Batman and Catwoman spending quality couples time on a beautiful island. The two battled their feelings for each other, trying to overcome personal faults to be together. As with last week, writer Tom King is joined here by artist Clay Mann and colorist Tomeu Morey, with Clayton Cowles on letters. This issue is a great conclusion to a break from the chaos of City of Bane.

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REVIEW: Aquaman #52 is an action-heavy issue that lets its artwork shine

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By Ander Lilly — When last we saw the former King of Atlantis, he was adjusting to life back in Amnesty Bay after time away on the mysterious island, "Unspoken Water." After recovering his memories, Arthur Curry now has a lot to take care of, including finding his love, Mera. Meanwhile, his arch-nemesis, Black Manta, has plans of his own — plans that involve a new way to bring down his enemy with help from Lex Luthor. Last issue, we were introduced to Black Manta's latest threat to Arthur: the Mecha Manta, a large killing machine programmed to think and act like his late father.

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REVIEW: Justice League #32 is another chapter in a massive bombastic epic

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By Alex Batts — This week sees the release of Justice League #32, the third part in the epic Justice/Doom War story that has been building since the start of Scott Snyder’s run on the title. I’m going to attempt a concise recap before jumping into the major events of this issue, since there has been so much buildup. There are seven energies that make up the DC Multiverse as we know it, but there are also seven hidden dark energies, evil opposites of positive counterparts. The Still Force counters the Speed Force, the Ultraviolet Spectrum counters the emotional spectrums wielded by the Green Lantern Corps, and so on.

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REVIEW: Black Hammer Justice League #3 features humor and heartbreak in equal measure

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By Nick Couture — Working outside of the big two, Jeff Lemire created his own universe of superheroes. These heroes in Black Hammer are heavily inspired by heroes we know and love. With Black Hammer Justice League #3, Lemire continues to have his cake and eat it too as he brings some DC heroes out of the toy chest and into his universe. Frustrations rise, painful old memories are rehashed, and new characters are brought into the fold, as each team struggles to figure out why their worlds were turned upside-down. Though it will likely be an inconsequential story in the larger context of the Black Hammer yarn, it’s still a must read for Black Hammer fans.

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