Comic Bastards - The End

August 1, 2019

By Dustin "King Bastard" Cabeal

Long ago when I was starting this site with my good friend Kevin Beckham, we were trying to come up with names. I was drawing a blank and figured something would come to me eventually. While standing in our kitchen in North Hollywood, Kevin came up with Comic Bastards. A name I instantly hated because I knew that anyone reading it would instantly hate us. And don’t get me started on ads! Even though I hated the name, I also fucking loved it. Because it’s fun to say. It is in my opinion, the best name for any comic book website and yes, I am horribly biased.

Best Comics of 2018

January 14, 2019

No, I have not come out of retirement. This is a limited engagement, very limited. One of my greatest pleasures of running my own site was the year-end list. I have always looked forward to it even if most publishers and very few creators ever really cared that they were on it. Sure, everyone cared if they were on the worst of list, but best of, eh. At any rate, I’m back to give you my best comics of 2018 and just like before; I’ll also be back to give you my worst comics of 2018 as well. Let me be frank, any year-end list that doesn’t have a counterpart is bullshit. Did you miss me? No, you didn’t.

Oh and I know this is late, I tried to get it done in December, but that’s just how busy life has been post-Comic Bastards. Oh well, only like five people are going to read this anyway.

I’m not doing any kind of order this year so just soak it all in from start to finish. At this point in writing, I don’t actually know how many picks I have, I’m just going to go through the list I wrote down, and that’s that.

Worst Comics of 2018

January 14, 2019

By Dustin Cabeal

Again, I’m still retired, but again, I love doing the end of the year list. I don’t actually care if anyone reads this list or the Best Comics of 2018 list, but they’ll exist for me and at this point in life that’s all I’m shooting for, writing for myself.

The worst of list has always brought its share of controversy. When I started Comic Bastards, comic fandom was at a stage in which nothing could be criticized because for some reason criticism meant the end of the medium. I’d say some people still act like that, whereas every other form of media strives through criticism, but whatever. Now though, there’s a growing number of people that shit on comics just because they’re not what they liked growing up or they have minority creators and minority characters in the book. Gasp, the world changed and left all these people behind to complain about comics. You won’t find me complaining about a comic for those reasons, these are just comics that shouldn’t be celebrated and hopefully will improve in the next year… or not which is most likely what will happen, but some people can now avoid ever reading this batch of books. Here they are in no particular order.

Comic Bastards Podcast - 036 - The End →

August 1, 2018

By Dustin Cabeal

Click here to listen

This is it, the end of the Comic Bastards Podcast. Also, you should probably read this post: https://comicbastards.com/comics/comic-bastards-the-end

Thanks for listening and supporting the podcast and site over the past seven years!

-Dustin Cabeal
Comic Bastards

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Review: Delilah Dirk and the Pillars of Hercules

August 1, 2018

By Dustin Cabeal

Delilah Dirk is hands down my favorite graphic novel series. I’m always a little surprised when it returns because it just seems like a publisher would throw a mountain of cash at Tony Cliff and pull him away from this story. Thankfully, either that hasn’t happened, or more than likely Mr. Cliff would rather be working on Delilah Dirk.

I will never forget the first volume of Delilah Dirk. It was incredibly powerful in its writing, but more so in its visual storytelling. Cliff makes the writing and artwork so seamlessly that it’s easy to appreciate both. The second volume had a different tone and a different journey. It was personal, but different for our main characters. It too resonated with beauty that I struggle to find anywhere else in the world of comics. Don’t get me wrong; there are so many talented illustrators out there with varying styles and amazing talents. It’s just that seeing a setting that Cliff has illustrated is like falling in love for the first time. It moves you, hell, it makes you want to move. After reading a volume of Delilah Dirk, I’m filled with the need for adventure. To make a flying ship and set out upon the world. Cliff’s artwork calls to you in a way that no other artist I’ve found does. To say he’s masterful seems like only the beginning. He’s a once in a generation talent.

Review: Speak: The Graphic Novel

August 1, 2018

By Dustin Cabeal

Never have I felt more underqualified to review a story than with Speak: The Graphic Novel. A title that leads me to believe that there’s a novel version of this story as well. I don’t know because I don’t research anything before reading it. That probably comes off as a strange thing for a reviewer to do, but its actually the best thing in the world because it’s the only way to be surprised by a story. I never read the synopsis for Speak, and I’m glad I didn’t. In fact, I would even tell you wholeheartedly not to finish this review and instead go get a copy for yourself and go in blind. It makes for a powerful reading experience.

Review: Making Friends

August 1, 2018

By Dustin Cabeal

I love it when the title of a book means one thing before you read it and something else entirely after you’ve read it. I’m sure that people who read the synopsis for Making Friends already got the double meaning, but I live in a strange little world in which I don’t. I mean like ever. In all the years of running Comic Bastards, I have actively tried not to read the synopsis of anything I’ve read. In fact, I didn’t even know about Making Friends until last week when creator Kristen Gudsnuk tweeted about it. That was all I needed to pre-order it. Anyway, maybe you’re like that too, and you’ll get the double meaning of the title after reading Making Friends, which you should totally do!

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Review: Beasts of Burden: Wise Dogs and Eldritch Men #1

August 1, 2018

By Dustin Cabeal

Anytime I can return to the world of Beasts of Burden; it’s a damn good day. It’s probably going to be a sad day too because as a whole the Beasts of Burden series are heartbreaking. The brilliance of the idea is that it’s a simple witches and warlocks story, but because all the characters are animals, it plays upon peoples emotional attachment to their pets. Nearly seeing a dog die in a magic fight is ten times more moving than any death in Harry Potter. Just kidding, I know that will piss some people off, but there is an insane amount of emotion in this series, and that’s saying something considering there are no people in the story.

Review: Crowded #1

August 1, 2018

By Dustin Cabeal

The concept for Crowded has been staring us all in the face for years. I’m surprised I haven’t read a hundred comics with the idea, but then that goes to show how talented Christopher Sebela is as a storyteller. Because he pulled this idea from the collective ether and got it made.

The cover is confusing in that it seems like a buddy adventure in which one of the character isn’t taking things too seriously. It’s far more complex than that as we meet Charlie, she’s the one in grey with pink hair and those amazing shorts and thigh-high socks. Side note, I love that look. Yes, it’s a hot look, but it goes further than that in that it just screams awesome. It’s probably because of Clueless, but Charlie had my attention instantly.

Review: Tongues – Chapter 2

August 1, 2018

By Dustin Cabeal

The first chapter/issue of Tongues was weird, but in the way, I like my comics. The second issue is also weird, but for a lot of different reasons. It’s clear that the story isn’t linear now. We’re not reading the events in a straight line because parts of the story travel back to before events in the first issue. It also means that we’re starting to see a bigger picture outline for use by creator Anders Nilsen.

Review: Sink #5

August 1, 2018

By Dustin Cabeal

This review is long overdue. I wish I had read this issue a lot sooner because it is just a great conclusion to the first volume of the series. Let’s just say that I don’t regret picking Sink as my best comic of last year, it finishes strong with the fifth issue and manages to highlight all the great things about the series in the process.

Review: The Fist vol. 1

August 1, 2018

By Dustin Cabeal

I would be reminiscent not to complete my review coverage of The Fist. I only wish that I had been able to do so during its Kickstarter run which successfully funded the first volume going to print. I would also like to have gotten a copy, but hey I was late to this part of the party… or had to leave early? I don’t know; I don’t party.

Review: Astra: Lost in Space vol. 3

August 1, 2018

By Dustin Cabeal

My oh, my, is there a lot of character development in this volume of Astra. We also finally go back to their home planet and see how the folks are holding up with the kids being gone. I was wondering when the story would flip back to earth, but Kenta Shinohara surprised me in that the scene with the parents didn’t play out like I thought it would at all.

Review: Black Torch vol. 1

August 1, 2018

By Dustin Cabeal

The cover grabbed me instantly for Black Torch. The smokey cat sitting on the shoulder of our main character who looks geared up for battle. My mind instantly went aflutter with ideas of what was going on with the cat how cool it would be to have a familiar that was a part of you. I wasn’t too far off as I read the story and was Tsuyoshi Takaki came up with was very cool.

Review: Animus

July 31, 2018

By Dustin Cabeal

Where has Animus been all year? Hands down this is one of the best stories I’ve read all damn year. This is also going to be one of those reviews where I don’t tell you much about it because you should just be reading it or pre-ordering it if it’s not released by the time of this review.

Review: Ultraman vol. 10

July 31, 2018

By Dustin Cabeal

Ultraman has become one of those series that you either enjoy or simply aren’t reading yet. The downside to becoming that way also means that there merely isn’t a lot to say about it from review to review. The story is steady, not slow, but steady. With all the development, battles and conversations it can easily be mistaken as being “shonen slow,” but it’s not. The level of detail that goes into the plotting and art is unlike the vast majority of manga out there.

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Review: The Nameless City: The Divided Earth

July 31, 2018

By Dustin Cabeal

The Divided Earth is a strong finish to Faith Erin Hicks’ The Nameless City trilogy. A series that has worn its influences on its sleeve while blazing its own path. I’m sure some have looked at the story and thought, “This should be an animated series!” Maybe they’re right, but this trilogy will always feel more at home in the pages of a comic.

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Review: Mobile Suit Gundam: Thunderbolt vol. 7

July 31, 2018

By Dustin Cabeal

I don’t know if I’ve ever talked about how great the cover feels for this book, but I’m going to take a moment and talk about it. The Viz Signature books are always bigger in size than the mangas they release. I don’t know why they don’t offer a choice between both for each title they print because there are numerous titles that I would like to read in the larger format. Anyway, the Signature series is the premiere format. The paper is a bit better, the cover is about the same, but it’s just nicer in the hands. Thunderbolts cover is the nicest cover of the Signature line. It has a better cover that has a nice texture. You want to hold it. You want to run your fingers up and down it because of how it feels. It almost tricks the mind into thinking that the interior pages feel the same which is crazy, but that’s what it does to me. It is hands down, the best feeling cover of any manga I have read. I have stopped to touch the cover at least three times while writing about it, it’s just that nice to touch, and usually, I don’t excessively touch covers, but with Thunderbolt, I always do.

Review: Sad Girl, Psycho Baby #1

July 30, 2018

By Dustin Cabeal

I’ve been a long-time follower of Dan Mendoza’s. To the point that when he launches a Kickstarter, I pay attention to it. Having been flooded with numerous requests for Kickstarter coverage over the years, I’ve grown to ignore the platform when it comes to comics, especially as big publishers have begun to abuse the platform as a pre-order type storefront. The Kickstarter for Sad Girl, Psycho Baby was particularly interesting because it seemed to have a different vibe than his Dollface Kickstarter, which was a title that instantly landed at Action Lab’s Danger Zone imprint.

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Review: Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle vol. 2

July 30, 2018

By Dustin Cabeal

I never read the first volume of this. It wasn’t sent to me, and I doubt it was really something I needed to read for this volume to make sense. Sure, certain elements of the story would have been known already, but the story does a decent job of recapping the plot as it goes along.