By Justin Wood
Before the release of Jordan Claes' All-Star Batman #2 review, I'd heard through the editorial grapevine that he'd made my less than pleasant review of #1 look like a pull quote for the series. Consider my interest having been piqued, but come that Wednesday, having read the comic for myself as prep, I was honestly surprised that the review hadn't been harsher. All-Star Batman #2 was one of the worst comics I've read all year, maybe the worst from the Big Two, though Aquaman #2 definitely stands in the running. I don't have a lingering curiosity for what DC has to do next, once Deadman: Dark Mansion of Forbidden Love is done I can go back to fucking off in the dust collecting indie section at my local failing comic shop. That said, with recent events, both related and not related to All-Star Batman,; I now feel it is some sort of meager duty to cover this book specifically until this terrible storyline ends. I'll pay for it if I have to.
Read MoreBy Mike Badilla
Fight Club: You've probably seen the movie, you've possibly read the book, you can definitely quote that line about what not to talk about. Here is the sequel to that story. The original was obviously well received and is a cult classic, so making a part 2 in a comic book format is odd. However, if you've read or watched anything from Chuck Palahniuk, you know that's the kind of thing you should come to expect from him and his work: odd, violent, funny, philosophical, odd. Whatever happened to everyone's favorite nobody with the split personality and his kooky love life? Find out here.
Read MoreBy Dustin Cabeal
Everything I want from Young Animal continues to be on full display here in Doom Patrol #2. I’m not going to pretend that I actually know what’s going on in this story or where it’s going. I will say that it’s still interesting, weird and full of fantastic art. Granted, I’m a first-time reader of Doom Patrol, so my love for it comes from a long time reader of comics that’s enjoying a weird and strange story. And before someone says it in the comments, I will never read the old Doom Patrol material or for that matter any of the material that Young Animal is based on. Frankly, I don’t read old comics often, and I rarely bother with beloved/hyped to the point of no return titles. Judge me if you want, but I just don’t find the same enjoyment in reading something that the majority of the reader base hasn’t already jazzed all over… verbally. Verbal jizz. It’s a thing.
Read MoreBy Mike Badilla
Anytime I see a book description selling itself as "noir," I'm instantly more interested. Probably one of my favorite genres. That's not to say, however, that there isn't a metric ton of garbage out there labeled in this way. This book, in my opinion, is far from garbage. Dirty? Yes. Trash? No. Let's start from the very beginning; I love the cover. It looks exactly like those pulp noir novels, even down to the classic looking "Hard Case Crime" banner at the top. This looks like a book that would have been on a spinner rack 40 or so years ago, which hooked me instantly. Not only the classic look but the art on the cover is fantastic and makes you feel like you're right there in grimy [enter your favorite grimy city] on a rainy night in the shady part of town. Let's get to the story.
Read MoreBy Chris Tresson
The Lost Boys is one of my all-time favorite movies. I absolutely love it. Imagine my surprise, if you will, when I find out that Vertigo were putting out a comic book set in the movie universe. I had to give this one a go, just to see how they’d handled it. The story opens in Santa Carla and we’re given a little backstory about what happened in the movie. We meet the Frog brothers and Sam and Michael again. They’re all getting on with their lives. Michael’s working in a nursing home and Sam works in the local comic shop now. The Frog brothers are being the Frog brothers still, now receiving trained from Sam and Michael’s Grandpa. There’s loads of chit chat in this and then we get to Grandpa Emerson and his Santa Carla Hunter’s Society having a meeting, which is soon interrupted by some vampires… I’ll leave it there. No spoilers from me, bro.
Read MoreBy Mike Badilla
Last we left off, WW just did some adventuring in a cave saving some kids from being sacrificed to some weird ol' ancient God, all the while being accompanied by some cheetah woman that was once a regular ol' woman. Not that women are regular, they're all amazing and beautiful creatures and deserve respect. This issue starts in a mansion, with a man angrily explaining to his child's teacher that she is not to be teaching his daughter about Greek mythology, as it is imaginary and imaginations are not good for children's growth or whatever. The woman tries to explain that his daughter is super smart and cool, but that dad doesn't even care. No way, mythology. We are then flashbacked* to a time many years ago when Mrs. Cavendish, the teacher, is just a wee little girl, or maybe a teen, doing as all teen girls do; running around with a cardboard sword and shield and doing some hardcore LARPing action, when she is suddenly called away to have some time with his lordship, who has beckoned her.
Read MoreBy Robert Larson
I wasn’t entirely happy with the direction Black Science took last issue, in part because the never-ending series of misfortunes was starting to wear thin. Yes, it’s been fun to watch Remender take the screws to his characters, especially given that most of them deserve at least some of the misfortune they’re force-fed, but it can start to feel predictable. And yet, this issue makes me want to step back from that a little bit, if for no other reason than Remender really commits to the monkey-wrench he threw last time. I can at least appreciate a writer making meaningful consequences stick.
Read MoreBy Robert Larson
It feels like there’s been a real explosion in the number of comics dealing with a second civil war (DMZ), secessionist movements (Briggs Land), or American military occupations (We Stand on Guard). This latest one breaks a bit of new ground by dealing with the aftermath of the first two and the midst of the third, this time in the state of Kentucky. It throws out some interesting ideas, though the narrative structure left some things in the air that could be secret for now, or just inconsistencies. I want to like it, but I’ll need another issue.
Read MoreBy Chris Tresson
I don’t know what it is about Bond for me… It may be my British-ness or the fact I grew up watching the films on an almost weekly basis, but I always find myself coming back to him. I haven’t actually watched the last few 007 movies but I have been reading the comics and I’ve been finding them more entertaining than any of the movies I had watched recently (I think Casino Royale was the last I watched), so it’s good to see more comics coming out. Anyways, I’ll stop talking nonsense now. Here’s my review of James Bond: Hammerhead, published this week by Dynamite Entertainment.
Read MoreBy Dustin Cabeal
After Huck, I came back into the fold on Mark Millar. Before that, I had read and dropped off a lot of Millar titles after the first or second issue. I’ve learned that you have to give him two issues before you heap praise on him, with Huck being the exception.Reborn is vintage Millar. It’s high concept and easy, to sum up. The afterlife is real, but we’re all reborn in different bodies and fighting some fantasy adventure world of good and evil. Like I said, high concept. The charm of the issue comes from the methodical build up that leads to the reveal I just mentioned. We follow a woman’s life as it’s approaching its end and Millar carefully reveals to us each of the characters she’s lost and will once again be united with. It works because Millar is a talented writer and if he would just get over his need to have some kind of ultraviolence, then this issue would have been damn good. His dialogue, in particular, is the closest to the masterful work he did on Huck. I know I’ve brought up Huck way too much, but it is his masterpiece.
Read MoreBy Robert Larson
Southern Cross doesn’t let up with the second issue of this arc, which is usually where a series slows down for a little bit. But given the crisis that’s unfolding on Romulus, taking things slowly wouldn’t really make all that much sense. Everything was so close to crisis as is, and the disappearance of the Southern Cross and the murder of Carter has make it all fall apart. In the middle of this, Hazel is trying to make sense of it all without getting killed, knowing full well that a murderer is targeting her.
Read MoreBy Shanel Kamara
Yes! Finally, the long awaited release of another novel and unconventional anime. Honestly, I am not surprised to see another niche and female stereotyped sport-themed anime show after the success of the equally unique show, Cheer Danshi!! It is great to see a steady rise in these non-conforming and thought provoking type series.The anime focuses on the protagonist Yuuri Katsuki, a Japanese Ice figure skater who experiences utter defeat at the Gran Prix Finale Ice Skating Competition.
Read MoreBy Shanel Kamara
In today’s episode, the nyanbo focus on fixing the UFO. In order to do so they attempt to implant different objects into it, but due to several failed attempts decide to go outside and search for the potential right pieces that could fit into the centre of the UFO. While searching outside, they meet the nyanbo idol group, known as ‘Nyanbo Angel’s’, made up of Sabara and Kijitora who expect their undivided attention but are disappointed to fid out that the other nyanbo’s are too busy to pay them any mind.
Read MoreBy Jason Beckham
Due to some internet issues for both M&W, this is the first episode in a couple of weeks. The duo recount their 1st world tales of woe and why the online world eluded them. Monster updates his thoughts on American Horror Story, as well as gives his reviews for...
Read MoreBy Patrick Larose
Green Valley #1 is everything I hate about reviewing single-issue series. This isn’t even really the fault of the comic itself but instead all the hype and marketing around it. When Green Valley was first announced there was this intense secrecy about it. Every interview following its announcement showed four knights facing off a barbarian horde. They’re friends, this is a fantasy comic it should be straight-forward but the writer, Max Landis, made sure to preface every interview with an “I can’t tell you anything about it without spoiling it.” The tagline itself invites us to question everything that happens in this comic: Kill a wizard, and slay his dragons. But there’s no such thing as wizards, dragons don’t exist.
Read MoreBy Dustin Cabeal
It's NYCC time, which used to be a happy time... now it's just a con I used to know (fuck you Justin for getting that song stuck in my head forever!). How are you? I ask that because that's how Warren Ellis writes his newsletters and he's in charge of WildStorm now! That's at the end, though, we start with Power Rangers and Logan. Lion Forge makes big moves and there's other actual comic news to come from NYCC. I know. Comic news on a comic podcast, what will we think of next?
Read MorePRESS Release
In celebration of the upcoming release of the graphic novel Holliston: Friendship is Tragic, based on Adam Green’s comedy/horror TV series, there will be an in-store signing with both cast and crew of the television series as well as creators of the graphic novel. Tuesday, October 18th, from 7pm to 9pm (PST) fans can come to the Dark Delicacies bookstore in Burbank, California to get an exclusive Dark Delicacies variant graphic novel, before the title’s release date! (Regular store release date is October 26th).
Read MoreBy Dustin Cabeal
For the longest time on the site, we supported Kickstarters and crowdsourced comics in general. After a long while, I noticed that we stopped moving the needle on these projects. There were too many, and our audience either became numb to them or worse, stopped caring about them. Either way, we dropped Kickstarters from the site unless we could review the material. Of course, all this feeds into Monster of the Week which is heading to Kickstarter. The book is finished which is always the best way to bring your comic to Kickstarter, and so the creators sent it my way to check out. I’ll tell you right now: this is the type of book we were always looking to support and help out.
Read MoreBy Pablo Arriaga
Karl Slominski is a weird dude. Karl Slominski is a guy who loves to make comics more than anything else and has dedicated his life to do so. A Kubert School graduate, he has worked on several beloved indie titles like Golgotha, a book about a man addicted to drugs and H.P. Lovecraft is on the hunt for the people who have exhumed his corpse. Karl also lent his talents for Ashes, a comic about a NY firefighter relearning how to approach his career after a traumatic experience where he loses a leg. And being part of the DC/IDW Comic Book Anthology Love Is Love, to honor the victims of the horrific Orlando attacks, he will join the superstar names like Patton Oswalt, Phil Jimenez, Olivier Coipel. Karl Slominski knows three things really well and has them on his business card. Noise. Paint. Love.
Read MoreBy Robert Larson
This is an oddly lifeless issue of The Walking Dead (har har). The battle between the Whisperers and Rick’s people ends in a kind of stalemate, which makes most of the fighting filler for what comes next. Paradoxically, the most interesting moments occur off the battlefield, as there’s a hidden threat in the Kingdom that might derail some of Rick’s plans. But that can’t change the fact that this is a thoroughly middling issue, some filler on the way to something else. Warning: I will be discussing spoilers in this review.
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