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Mini Reviews For The Week Ending 17/01/2016

Posted on January 17, 2016 by Alex K Cossa

Sometimes, the staff at Graphic Policy read more comics than we’re able to get reviewed. When that happens you’ll see a weekly feature compiling short reviews from the staff of the comics, or graphic novels, we just didn’t get a chance to write a full review for. These are Graphic Policy’s Mini Reviews.

Alex

Batman: Europa #1 (DC Comics)* – Yeah, I’m three months behind here, but after dropping the lackluster Detective Comics during the last crossover, I needed some Batman this week. I was not disappointed here. Overall: 9 Recommendation: Buy

Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #2 (DC/IDW)* – There is nothing wrong with this second chapter. Nothing. It’s exactly the fun comic I wanted, and I love it. Overall: 8.5 Recommendation: Buy

Cage Hero #3 (Dynamite) – I don’t know if this has become a guilty pleasure for me, but I’m enjoying this series. I can’t tell if it is being deliberately tongue in cheek,or if it’s just that cheesy, but either way it’s fun. Is it worth reading? Honestly, I don’t know – the review copy is entertaining, but I wouldn’t rush out to buy it. Overall: 7 Recommendation: Read

Faith #1 of 4 (Valiant) – My reservations on picking this comic up were utterly groundless (that of a character spun out of Harbinger – a book I’ve never read), and I should have known that before going in because it’s a Valiant comic. The first of four issues is brilliantly illustrated, with some fantastic moments within the story where Faith does what we’ve all done once or twice and imagines…. what if? This issue is fantastic, and is exactly why you need to have Valiant on your pull list. Overall: 9 Recommendation: Buy

Holy F*cked! TPB (Action Lab) – Satan is pregnant with Jesus’ baby. But will the skate boarding son of God make it to the hospital in time, when an immortal is out to stop him? Holy F*cked! is as brilliantly wrong as it sounds, but it’s such a great collection that you can’t help but love it. Overall: 8 Recommendation: Buy

Huck #3 (Image) – Y’know I could talk about the emotional power in the largely silent opening pages, or the genuine warmth you feel when reading this, but why don’t you just buy the series so far and find out why I love this so much? Overall: 9 Recommendation: Buy

The Precinct #2 (Dynamite) – There’s a lot here that, in theory, I should love. Unfortunately, despite the fact that there’s a lot of boxes checked off in my “like” column this comic just didn’t do it for me. If you read it, I hope you enjoy it, but I felt it fell a bit short of the first issue. Overall: 6.5 Recommendation: Read

The Troop #2 (Titan) – Despite the promise shown in the first issue, I couldn’t help but feel that this comic felt familiar. The concept of a man (with a secret!) building a team of superheroes has been done before, and in enough cases it’s been done better. Overall: 5 Recommendation: Pass

Rebels #10 (Dark Horse) – Is, as far as I can tell, a standalone story. It’s also the first issue I had read, and I was impressed. Rebels is a solid offering that stands alone this week in terms of it’s setting, so if you’re looking for a comic that takes place during the Revolutionary War, then this is for you. If you’re not? Think about this anyway. Overall: 7 Recommendation: Read

Brett

Abe Sapien #30 (Dark Horse) – Beautiful art plus a new villain (at least I think he’s new), this is an issue that can be a standalone, but I’m sure will have some big impact. The Mignolaverse is one of the best out there, and this issue shows off why. Overall: 9 Recommendation: Buy

Batman ’66 Meets the Man From U.N.C.L.E. #2 (DC Comics) – The comic is campy goofy fun, capturing the two series it mashes together. Overall: 7.5 Recommendation: Read

Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #2 (DC Comics/IDW Publishing) – I still go back and forth with the coloring but this series has no right being as good as it is. Didn’t think it’d work, totally does. Overall: 8.2 Recommendation: Buy

Birthright #13 (Image Comics) – The comic still continues to be entertaining, and there’s some solid twists and turns that have kept me on my toes. A fun fantasy comic set in the real world. Overall: 7.9 Recommendation: Read

Citizen Jack #3 (Image Comics) – Can’t say I saw that twist coming, or is that realistic at all, but the sniveling campaign staff is spot on. Fun political satire. Overall: 8.1 Recommendation: Buy

Descender #9 (Image Comics) – One of the best comics out there continues on doing so. Amazing read. Amazing art. Nuff said. Overall: 8.8 Recommendation: Buy

Extraordinary X-Men #5 (Marvel)* – The series is growing on me, but it’s still missing something that makes it really stand out. I’m still interested in seeing where it goes though. Overall: 7.5 Recommendation: Read

Hero Hourly #2 (21 Pulp) – How aren’t more people talking about this series. The biggest surprise of 2015 also is one of the best of 2016. Holy crap is it good. Overall: 9.6 Recommendation: Buy

Huck #3 (Image Comics) – When I think I have Mark Millar pegged, he does a series like this. Still waiting for the rug to be pulled out from under me, but so far an amazing comic. Overall: 8.3 Recommendation: Buy

Illuminati #3 (Marvel) – Turn your brain off fun. The comic is giving us some interesting villains and great banter. A fun comic that definitely entertains. Overall: 8 Recommendation: Buy

Leaving Megalopolis: Surviving Megalopolis #1 (Dark Horse) – I hated the first volume of Leaving Megaloppolis, and was a Kickstarter backer. The rather incomplete, abrupt ending irked me. This new volume has been so long in the making I forgot much of the series, and this new issue doesn’t give me much to care going forward. A lot feels like we’ve seen it before and little is new. Overall: 6 Recommendation: Pass

The Massive: Ninth Wave #2 (Dark Horse) – I’m loving this new volume of the series which shows Ninth Wave’s actions before the crash. A great comic which makes environmentalism entertaining. Plus they’re self-contained stories, even better! Overall: 8.4 Recommendation: Buy

Robin War #2 (DC Comics) – The ending isn’t too shocking, especially the twist. Still, this event was entertaining and should shake things up nicely in the Bat universe. Overall: 8 Recommendation: Read

The Sheriff of Babylon #2 (Vertigo)* – Great police procedural comic set in Iraq’s Greenzone. I’m hooked. Overall: 8.3 Recommendation: Buy

Spirited Leaves #1 (Chapter House Comics) – It reminded me of a Miyazaki animted film in many ways. A very pretty, almost poetic story. This feels like a fairy tale you might tell your child. Overall: 8.6 Recommendation: Buy

Squadron Supreme #3 (Marvel)* – The first issue had promise, these past two, not so much. The series is very paint by numbers in its set up after a great start. So far, one of the biggest let downs. Overall: 6.8 Recommendation: Pass

The Violent #2 (Image Comics) – Holy crap is this good. We have comic of the year material here. Just heartbreaking in so many ways. Overall: 8.6 Recommendation: Buy

Weirdworld #3 (Marvel)* – Could be Marvel’s best All-New, All-Different comic. Great art and a real fun story. Just fantastic writing with a great look. Overall: 8.7 Recommendation: Buy

Elana

Catwoman #48 (DC)* It’s a good Catwoman story. It posits that NYC is a place that Gotham’s rogues steer clear of because NYC but the NYPD is just that dirty and violent (I take it the creative team’s been reading the local news). The streetscapes in this comic ring true though the grand scale of NYC’s Selina’s safe house is far too large for anyone who’s last name isn’t Wayne. The art is inky and sleek and colorist Eva De La Cruz knocks it out of the ballpark. Overall: 8 Recommendation: Buy

Princeless: Save Yourself #0. Princess Adrienne has been flying across the land on her dragon, saving other princesses and she hasn’t had much time to save herself from social norms that still weigh on her mind. This is a wonderful exploration of a girl freeing herself from beauty standards. When she chopped her hair off I absolutely cheered! Overall: 9 Recommendation: Buy

Red Sonja #1 (Dark Horse) This is a Sonja I’ve been waiting for! Marguerite Bennett shows her in and out of her element in a great introduction. She’ll be wrestling with some interesting politics in her homeland with her fists and her brains. She’s also scoring with ladies (whoop!). Looks beginner friendly too. Overall: 8 Recommendation: Buy!

Ryan C

Code Pru #1 (Avatar) *: Garth Ennis is back at his tasteless best here, and without the editorial constraints that hindered him from going quite as far as you know he wanted to with All-Star Section Eight (although, hey, bless him for trying, and he did manage to at least get a rapping Phantom Stranger in there). Raulo Caceres’ B&W art is superb, with richly-detailed linework and lush expressions. Not sure how the two competing/corresponding plotlines to which we’re introduced — one involving our college-age heroine, Pru, and her various roommates doing some occult dabbling and some boozing (more of the latter, of course) and the other involving an extra-dimensional Cthulhu-esque entity playing checkers and trading barbs with his captor —will come together as the series progresses, but it’ll be fun to find out. Overall: 8 Recommendation: Buy

Snow Blind #1 & #2 (BOOM! Studios)**: Ollie Masters, last seen cooking up a pretty tasty crime story with Vertigo’s The Kitchen, hops aboard the “rural noir” bandwagon that’s been growing in the wake of “Revival” with this intriguing little four-parter about a teenage kid in BF Alaska named Teddy who accidentally exposes his family to danger when posting a picture on social media leads a killer to come after them — and to the revelation that his folks have been in witness protection since before he was even born, and never bothered to mention that pesky little fact to him, even once he was old enough to understand what it meant. The first issue’s a bit of an overly-deliberate table-setter, but such is often the case with short-run books like this; in #2, the mystery really heats up and events move into a decidedly faster and more dangerous gear. The loose, sketchy art style of Tyler(“Peter Panzerfaust”) Jenkins may be an acquired taste that not everyone acquires, but I dig it and think it suits the material just fine. Overall: 6.5 (5 for issue one, 8 for issue two) Recommendation: Buy

Shean

Manchette’s Fatale TPB (Titan): I am moon big sucker for Crime Noir novels and Fatale is right up that alley. The Reader is introduced to the alluring character of Melane on her many adventures throughout Europe by way of train meeting individuals of different shades of integrity. Story feels very much like a cross between a Long Kiss Goodnight and A Rage Up In Harlem. By story’s end, you not only feel for Melane but you are rooting for her to fight on for another day. Overall: 10 Recommendation: Buy

Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency: The Interconnectedness of All Kings TPB: Supernatural detectives are everywhere in pop culture most noticeably John Constantine Jim Dresden and the greenest one, Antoine Wolfe. Dirk Gently is quite different from all these characters, as he does not take himself as seriously as he comes off as a British Lupin the 3rd. We join Dirk and his cronies as they solve a very odd case dealing with Egyptian Pharoahs. By story’s end, the reader has gone on a whirlwind trip around the world, as he realizes the world needs his skills.

Well, there you have it, folks. The reviews we didn’t quite get a chance to write.

Please note that with some of the above comics, Graphic Policy was provided FREE copies for review. Where we purchased the comics, you’ll see an asterisk (*). If you don’t see that, you can infer the comic was a review copy. In cases where we were provided a review copy and we also purchased the comic you’ll see two asterisks (**).

Review: Hero Hourly #2

Posted on January 13, 2016 by JS Philosopher

I came across an interesting quote via my twitter feed the other day from @existentialcoms:

“A good novel distracts you from how shitty life is.

A great novel makes you realize that life is shitty in ways you never even thought of.”

I’m going to add/paraphrase a third refrain: “a great comic book makes you realize that life is shitty in ways you never even dared to think of.” Hero Hourly #2 is such a great book. If you haven’t picked this one up, rush out and buy it, and if you can find issue #1 pick that one up too (even if you have to pay a premium).

I connect to this one at all levels. It’s a funny fast page-turner that leaves you wanting more. I haven’t laughed this hard reading a comic book in a very long time.

It’s for all of us whom have had our dreams stepped on, but yet persevere to live our lives with dignity, in spite of it all. It’s a humanistic existential, but profane, action comedy with heart. Saul is the hero we all want to be: the gal or guy who goes to work everyday in and out looking for a little recognition, a small display of appreciation from their corporate overlords– and if we don’t get it today, maybe tomorrow. The art can be a bit cartoony, but it meshes well with the comedic story.

I’m going to have to reach out to the editors at Graphic Policy to add a new rating for this one. It’s not a BUY; it’s a BUY2. Get two copies; they might appreciate enough in value one day to be able to sell them to pay off your mortgage to avoid The Foreclosure.

Story & Art: James Patrick Letters: Carlos Trigo
Story: 10 Art: 10 Overall: 10 Recommendation: Buy

Review: Hero Hourly #2

Posted on January 12, 2016 by Patrick Healy

The most enjoyable book of the year. Yes, I’m calling it already.

Hero Hourly is easily the funniest book in years. Constant, inappropriate and laugh-out loud humor waits on every page.

In a corporate ruled by middle management, defined by rules that make no sense and plagued by the laziest co-workers imaginable, even superheroes aren’t immune. In this world, wearing a mask and matching underwear outside your one-piece suit is the same thing as wearing a green apron. Of course, being an hourly employee at a company that specializes in super heroics has its own drawbacks. Imagine instead of dealing with a pain-in-the-ass customer you had to deal with Godzilla.

The book features Saul, our modest narrator trying to get ahead in the world. Armed with a brightly colored suit and a great attitude, he’s taking on the dangers and frustrations life throws his way.

Something that should be made very is clear is that this is not a book that stars a funny protagonist. Every person in this book has great lines, the kind that get you stuck re-reading individual panels out of amusement. This book is an authentic work of comedy from start to finish. While comics like Spider-Man know their character should be funny and struggle to somehow make it work, Hero Hourly shows the web-slinger how it’s done. Reminiscent of books like the original Tick and Quantum & Woody, the title captures the nostalgia of when reading comics was purely fun. It reminded me of when I was a boy reading Wizard Magazine back when it was funny and… still a thing.

Certainly not an all-ages read, Hero Hourly doesn’t shy away from adult language or themes. However, when paired with the cartoonish stylings of Carlos Trigo, this makes for a very disarming feel, rather than a crass grab at toilet-humor. Trigo’s work also helps capture the absurdity of modern life. Yes, everything in this book is surprisingly relatable to the working class, even as its main characters are forced to undergo sexual harassment sensitivity training for a mishandled rescue.

The book isn’t easy to find so make sure you start calling your local book stores now to see who will be carrying the second issue this Wednesday. The first issue is listed for an average of ten dollars on eBay.com but truth be told it’s probably best to go directly to the publisher to order the first issue. This three-issue miniseries from 21 Pulp will be what you’re loaning to your friends and insisting they read years from now.

Story: James Patrick Art: Carlos Trigo
Story: 10 Art: 8 Overall: 9 Recommendation: Buy

Graphic Policy’s Top Comic Picks this Week!

Posted on January 12, 2016 by Brett

Wednesdays are new comic book day! Each week hundreds of comics are released, and that can be pretty daunting to go over and choose what to buy. That’s where we come in!

We’re bringing back something we haven’t done for a while, what the team thinks. Our contributors are choosing up to five books each week and why they’re choosing the books.

Find out what folks think below, and what comics you should be looking out for this Wednesday.

Alex

Top Pick: Hero Hourly #2 (21 Pulp) – The first issue of the first series from new publisher 21 Pulp took me by complete surprise Telling the story of a man employed at a minimum wage company who employs superheroes, Hero Hourly is a comic that, quite frankly, you have to be reading.

Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #2 (DC Comics/IDW Publishing) – Batman and the Ninja Turtles. There’s really nothing else for me to say about why I’m looking forward to this other than the last issue was actually really good.

Huck #3 (Image) – This comic just makes feel all warm and fuzzy inside. A great feel good series from Mark Millar (at least so far) that you should look into before the inevitable movie.

Brett

Top Pick: The Walking Dead #150 (Image Comics/Skybound) – It’s going to be a huge issue and it’s been hinted to expect fireworks out of it. Big anniversary issues like this tend to bring huge shifts in Robert Kirkman’s series, and I’m expecting no less.

Captain Canuck #6 (Chapter House Comics) – I’ve been loving this series and continue to do so. It’s a throwback to fun superheros without the gritty darkness.

Hero Hourly #2 (21 Pulp) – The first issue was hilarious and an amazing debut for this new publisher. I’ve been awaiting the second, and it’s one of the first comics I’m reading this week.

Legend of Wonder Woman #1 (DC Comics) – I really am not a fan of the main Wonder Woman at DC, but this digital turned print series is a breath of fresh air as it looks at the early years of the Amazonians and Wonder Woman as she was growing up. Much like Superman: American Alien, this is trying to get at what makes Wonder Woman wonderful.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #0 (BOOM! Studios) – I was never a Power Rangers fan growing up. I was just a bit too old and out of the age range for the show. Still, the concept was always interesting to me and I’ve been looking forward to seeing what BOOM! does with the series as a comic.

Elana

All-New Wolverine #4 (Marvel) – One of Marvel comics’ bests. Complex, haunted but heroic, Laura is trying to take care of her abused clones by seeking help from Doctor Strange! I never considered this team up and I can’t wait!

Constantine the Hellblazer #8 (DC Comics) – It is DC’s best comic. It’s about the mad, bad and dangerous to know exorcist who’d left his date in a bit of a lurch. It’s going to be great!

No Mercy #6 (Image Comics) – I hate Chad. I want him to die. He is an abuser and a bully and he’s on the cover of this month’s issue with a skull imposed over his head. So maybe this most brutally harsh comic will kill someone who’s really got it coming? Maybe?

Raven Pirate Princess TP Volume 1 (Action Lab Entertainment) – Teenage Lesbian Asian Pirate Princess in an all-ages comic!!! One of the year’s best new series for older-kids and tweens (and adults who like things that are funny, exciting and feminist). Get caught up with the all girl pirate crew. A perfect introductory comic to the Princeless world of diverse, feminist heroic heroines who take no guff and save the day. Here’s my review of the first two issues featured in this compendium.

Javier

Top Pick: Slash and Burn #3 (DC Vertigo) – This is my top pick of the week. I happen to be a Volunteer Firefighter in the town I live in, so I’m digging this one at a personal level.

Bad Moon Rising #4 (451 Media) – This one is filling my Showhole left behind by the cancellation of Sons of Anarchy. It’s got Motorcycle Gangs (possibly Buddhist), Werewolves, and a Murder Mystery.

Hero Hourly #2 (21 Pulp) – Who can’t relate to the plight of the under-paid and under-appreciated working man with super powers? And if you can’t relate, at least have a good laugh.

Limbo #3 (Image Comics) – More Detective Work in a Dead End … oops … in Dedande City. I recommend you snack on some lizards while reading it.

The Violent #2 (Image Comics) – A violence filled tourist’s guide to Canada’s Strathcona: the Canadian Brooklyn (condos and all).

Logan

Top Pick: New Romancer #2 (Vertigo) – New Romancer is the crown jewel in the Vertigo Renaissance and the perfect 21st century love story for someone who uses Tinder and OK Cupid, but misses the love sonnets and romance of yore. Plus Casanova and Lord Byron facing off is going to be a blast.

Red Sonja #1 (Dynamite) – If anyone had to take over for Gail Simone on Red Sonja, it’s Marguerite Bennett, who last wrote the She-Devil with a Sword in the funny, action-packed Red Sonja and Jungle Girl miniseries. I expect nothing but the best in interesting female characters, swashbuckling action, and tongue-in-cheek humor.

Robin War #2 (DC Comics) – The most woke crossover of 2015 comes to a close in the New Year as Damian Wayne doesn’t check his privilege and joins the Court of the Owls to fight Gotham’s teen defenders, We Are Robin, and their more seasoned mentors. It will be interesting to see if there is any last political commentary from writer Tom King, and the martial arts battle will be fun to see unfold.

Secret Wars #9 (Marvel) – This crossover has been a little uneven to say the least, but the previous issue had some Return of the King worthy pitched battles and sheer badass moments, like Doom crushing Thanos’ skulls. Hopefully, Jonathan Hickman sticks the ending in his Marvel epic, doesn’t just push the reset/reboot button via a plot device or something, and gives the Fantastic Four a sendoff worthy of Marvel’s First Family.

The Violent #2 (Image) – Ed Brisson and Adam Gorham are going into some murky, moral territory in their new series The Violent from Image, and he pulls no punches showing the effect gentrification has had on the city of Vancouver. I am intrigued to see how far Mason is willing to go to be a good father while battling the spectres of his criminal past and trying to make ends meet.

Mr. H

Top Pick: Batman/Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #2 (DC Comics/IDW Publishing) – The Dark Knight, Shredder, Turtles. Need I say more? Nope grab a slice and set aside some time for this one!

Secret Wars #9 (Marvel) – Come see how it all ends and how it all begins again. The conclusion to Marvel’s best event in ages. I’m with Uatu on this one, just want to be ringside as it unfolds.

The Walking Dead #150 (Image Comics/Skybound) – The big one. Let’s hope much more walking than talking. Oh yeah and blood. Lots of blood. Come see where Rick Grimes goes next.

Patrick

Top Pick: The Walking Dead #150 (Image Comics) – Tensions have been building in Alexandria over what’s to be done with the Whisperers, a rival community that wears the flesh of walkers. Rick has been struggling to maintain control. In this issue, we find out what that means for him. Negan made a name for himself fifty issues ago, and the Governor fell fifty issues before that. I wonder what will happen tomorrow…

Hero Hourly #2 (21 Pulp) – There’s really no reason you shouldn’t be looking for this book at your local comic store. Do you like laugh? Pick it up. Do you like grabbing comics that people will be talking about for years to come? Pick it up. Do you have a rash your trying to hide while walking back to work? Maybe… maybe this would work for that. But it’s a fantastic comic if you’re just looking for something to read.

No Mercy #6 (Image Comics) – The horrors that have befallen these students continue to unfold as they live in danger of coyotes, drug cartels and even each other. Don’t pass up the chance to keep up with who kills whom.

Paul

Top Pick: Extraordinary X-Men #5 (Marvel) – This title has been BANG since issue 1 and doesn’t show signs of slowing down. New school in limbo; demons attacking; Mr. Sinister is back…and the reveal from the last issue! Where is this going?? Loving the team line up and the art. If you aren’t reading this X book, you better get caught up….I’ll wait.

All-New X-Men #3 (Marvel) – I wasn’t really sure I would enjoy the whole road trip vibe with the time displaced X-Men (as X-Force tried this way back when and it didn’t really work), but I’m kinda digging it. Feels a little rehashed with the Ghosts of Cyclops coming across as junior Acolytes, but they are an interesting gang to counter our band of mutants so I’ll stick along for the ride. Not really feeling Kid Apocalypse and Oya as part of the group, so I’m hoping they gel as the series goes on, but it is fun and I do enjoy the read. But I am really getting tired of Angel treating Wolverine as the damsel in distress….enough already.

Scarlet Witch #2 (Marvel) – Honestly, Issue 1 was just meh (you can read my review if you like), I didn’t hate it, but I wasn’t wowed. I loved the art and I do have a soft spot for Wanda, one of my favourite characters. I’m holding out hope that this whole ‘witchcraft is broken’ story really goes somewhere different and takes Wanda in a unique direction.

Secret Wars #9 (Marvel) – END ALREADY. You’ve already launched your All New All Different; confused the readers by hinting at things in the new titles that haven’t happened. You started with a bang…yes, you had some great tie ins, but lets be honest, you are definitely limping to the finish line.

Uncanny Avengers #4 (Marvel) – Like the last volume of this title, I just can’t stop checking it out….not that it’s good, I just can’t stop looking. Maybe I’m hoping it turns around, maybe I just feel sorry for it, I don’t know. I feel there’s potential here…I just wish it could be reached.

Preview: Hero Hourly #2

Posted on January 9, 2016 by Graphic Policy Team

Hero Hourly #2

Written by James Patrick,
Drawn by Carlos Trigo
Colors by Alex Sollazzo
Lettered by ET Dollman

Everyone has one of those days at work. The one where nothing goes right. Where the copy machine jams or you spill coffee on your pants. Saul’s about to have one at Hero Hourly, and let’s just say it’s not exactly the same.

Review: Hero Hourly #1

Posted on November 17, 2015 by Alex K Cossa

I’m willing to bet that you’ve worked a job just for the paycheck, whether it be flipping burgers or asking if you’ve tried turning it on and off again. Sometimes those jobs are taken when we’re young and just starting out in the work force, but sometimes we take them because there is nothing else available; and so we find ourselves fighting through minimum wage and battling stupid corporate policies just to put food on the table. Welcome to Hero Hourly, where you get paid $9.75 an hour to save the world, and your job still sucks.

But while their job may suck just as much as yours, the comic sure doesn’t.

Written by James Patrick (Batman, Green Arrow), Hero Hourly is a unique take on the whole concept of superheroing. Rather than fighting the good fight because it’s the right thing to do, these men and women do it because there’s a paycheck involved at the end of the day (although maybe not a very good one), and there are some fairly decent benefits. That probably sounds familiar to a lot of us, minus the yellow spandex, that is. With Hero Hourly James Patrick has delivered the opening salvo in a three issue mini series that manages to be both relevant to today’s economic problems, and yet timeless in it’s approach to the back drop of the tale; most of us have had jobs where we counted down to the weekend. On top of that, though, indeed even because of it, this is a funny comic. Maybe because the story has struck so closely to periods in my life, but I absolutely love this series.

Issue #1 follows Saul as his life takes a series of turns from a promising career to getting punched in the face in a mask, before experiencing the all too mundane side of the superhero business. Watching him suffer through work place politics, unemployment and misery is fantastic; it’s not exactly a good trait to watch somebody suffer, but when it’s as funny as Hero Hourly #1, how can you not enjoy it? Carlos Trigo (2000AD) does some really great work here that compliments the dialogue between characters like milk does cookies (especially the scenes depicting Saul‘s first day on the job – oh man). Hero Hourly is a breath of fresh air, and as the first offering from 21 Pulp that I’ve read, it really excites me for what else this promising new company has up their sleeve (and Graphic Policy have an interview with James Patrick where he gives a little away about what’s coming down the pipeline).

Hero Hourly #1 is part one of a three part miniseries published by James Patrick‘s new publishing company 21 Pulp, that is absolutely worth your time and money.

Story: James Patrick Art: Carlos Trigo Colours: Alex Sollazzo
Story: 9.5 Art: 9 Overall: 9.5 Recommendation: Buy

21 Pulp provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Graphic Policy’s Top Comic Picks this Week!

Posted on November 17, 2015 by Graphic Policy Team

Wednesdays are new comic book day! Each week hundreds of comics are released, and that can be pretty daunting to go over and choose what to buy. That’s where we come in!

We’re bringing back something we haven’t done for a while, what the team thinks. Our contributors are choosing up to five books each week and why they’re choosing the books.

Find out what folks think below, and what comics you should be looking out for this Wednesday.

Alex

Top Pick: Wrath Of The Eternal Warrior #1 (Valiant) – The Eternal Warrior has become one of my favourite comic book characters recently, and with this new series being the first released when my ear is turned toward Valiant has really got me excited.

Hero Hourly #1 (21 Pulp) – What if your day job was to be a superhero? What if instead of asking “you want fries with that?” you were punching people just waiting for the clock to tick own? Yeah, I can’t wait to get my hands on this inaugural offering from 21 Pulp.

The Paybacks #3 (Dark Horse) – Probably one of the funniest series on my pull list, the idea of a superhero repo squad is hillarious. If you can’t tell, I seem to have a hankering for non-traditional superhero fare this week.

Red Thorn #1 (Vertigo) – After talking with David Baillie and Meghan Hetrick about this comic (the writer and artist, respectively), I’m really pumped to check this out on Wednesday. That it’s chock full of Scottish mythology is also very interesting, as I know very little about that, and I’m looking forward to read some more.

Brett

Top Pick: Hero Hourly #1 (21 Pulp) – You think your job sucks? 21 Pulp kicks off their publishing slate with this new series which sees an average joe who can’t get the work he wants after college taking on a low paying gig as a superhero. Yes, superheroes are hired out as hourly security guards

Andre the Giant: Closer to Heaven (Lion Forge/IDW Publishing) – I remember watching WWE/WWF when I was a kid in the 80s, and one of the rockstars of that time was Andre the Giant, the mountain of a man. This graphic novel, working with his daughter, presents us the life of this legend. There’s already been one graphic novel released on Andre, and I loved that, and am looking forward to seeing how this one compares.

The Paybacks #3 (Dark Horse) – One of the funniest comics out there right now. It’s a superhero repo team. If that idea alone doesn’t put a smile on your face…

Star Wars: Vader Down #1 (Marvel) – I’ve read the first issue and if you’re a fan of Marvel’s Star Wars comics, you’ll love this start of their first crossover event. So good.

Wrath of the Eternal Warrior #1 (Valiant) – When I think of Valiant, I think quality. The event Book of Death really shook up the Eternal Warrior setting him upon this new path. When it says Valiant, I know I’m going to be entertained and this kicking off a new series is a great place to start and find out yourself.

Elana

Top Pick: Phonogram: The Immaterial Girl #4 (Image Comics) – Phonogram is the best new comic around. I wrote an essay on why. A must for all music lovers and comics fans alike.

Jughead #2 (Archie Comics) – It’s a new world — one in which people who mostly read super heroes or read creator-owned comics are won over by the quirky humor and art of Chip Zardski and Erica Henderson. A world where people like me actually read an Archie comic. I truly enjoyed this new take on the world of Archie. From what I know of Jughead (ok, not much) Erica and Chip are channeling Jughead’s spirit for a new age. Really fun.

The Mighty Thor #1 (Marvel) – Thor is still Doctor Jane Foster, therefore I’m still interested.

Pretty Deadly #6 (Image Comics) – Pretty Deadly is about Death’s Daughter. But the real focus is the comic’s atmosphere — like a psychedelic Western movie, and the unusual poetic rhythm of its prose. This new arc takes place many years after issue 5. It starts like a psychedelic western too but it ends like…. you’ll just have to read it.

Preview: Hero Hourly #1

Posted on November 17, 2015 by Graphic Policy Team

Hero Hourly #1

Creators: James Patrick (Batman Confidential, Green Arrow, Joker’s Asylum: Harley Quinn), Carlos Trigo (2,000 AD), and Alex Sollazzo (Morning Glories).

Welcome to Hero Hourly! If Saul thought that working as a superhero would be any different than asking if you want fries with that, he was sorely mistaken. Now he has to deal with bad pay, passive-aggressive bosses, work politics, and that one jerk who never carries his weight. We all have to start somewhere, and Saul’s going to learn that the best thing for a person might just be a hard-day’s work.

James Patrick Chats To Us About His New Company 21 Pulp, And New Comic Hero Hourly

Posted on October 2, 2015 by Alex K Cossa

James Patrick has written comics such as Batman, Green Arrow and Star Trek to name a few. Having recently started his own publishing company, 21 Pulp, which is aimed toward producing high quality comics and graphic novels. I got a chance to chat with James Patrick about his new company, and his new comic the Kickstarter funded Hero Hourly which was also published by 21 Pulp.

Graphic Policy: What drove you to start up your own publishing company?

James Patrick: Hmm. In some ways, drove is a strong word. While I toyed with it because of necessity early on and so there was a vehicle for my early books, and while I’ve always imagined what it’d be like to start one, I was never about creating a publishing company. I’m a writer at heart. But then I was approached about it and offered some things that meant maybe we could do it right, and I started falling in love with the idea. And I become more passionate about it every day – with what being a successful publisher means – about brand and sales and understanding the markets. About making appealing strong products. And I’m built in a way that I’m obsessed with its success now – with not failing and making it everything it can be.

GP: Where did the name come from, is there any significance to the name 21 Pulp?

JP: It just stands for 21st century pulp, which is what comics essentially are with their general popularity but still viewed by many as inferior or more trite than other forms of entertainment. It’s a crazy world we live in where the masses simultaneously ingest us wholesale and view us inferiorly.

GP: Do you have a specific style of comic, or story, that you’re looking to publish through 21 Pulp?

JP: Excellent ones. First and foremost. Having said that, I do have a publishing brand that the company has begun steering towards – but I’m not ready to reveal what that is. I’d be lying if I said that we knew who we were at our conception or that we’re what we want to be now, but without a doubt I currently know where we’re heading and how I want people to see us and think about us.

GP: How much does running the company differ from you’re expectations of what it would be like to run 21 Pulp?

JP: The work is massive. It’s massive because we’re trying to do it right. It’s a lot of hats I’m wearing at this early stage and some days. It doesn’t differ so much as I just didn’t know what it would be if I was doing it other than how I had done it before, which was just a writer who self-published early and had a label as a vehicle for books.

GP: What else do you have in the pipeline that you can tell us about?

JP: After Hero Hourly, Imposter comes out in February, there will be a digital release of some other books in January that will lead to collections and be simultaneous, and in March one of our other books is scheduled for print as well. We’re rolling out to multiple books per month because we want to build awareness before we get there. We also want to get some of the bumps sorted out before too many things are rolling down hill.

But 21 Pulp as a publisher – and here’s your warning I’m going to go into sell mode here – but 21 Pulp as a publisher – aside from the amazing talent we have that’s from DC, Marvel, IDW, Image, Boom, and others – has some wonderful things that we’re rolling into as a company and that’s not hyperbole. We’ve already started getting unsolicited attention and some rumors are bubbling out there about us, but we’re actually shaking hands and making progress in areas I never thought we would at this age of the company. We’re starting to make a little noise and we’re going to make a lot more next year, and it’s a tricky balance between grabbing some things or being patient and growing into them.

GP: Would you ever work for Marvel, DC or any other publisher again now that you have 21 Pulp? If so, are there any characters you’d love to get your hands on?

JP: Yeah, if that circumstances are right – but I can’t imagine taking on too much other work now. I barely come up for air and while there are characters I’d love to go at again or others I haven’t written, I’d honestly have to make a decision at the time it was offered.

GP: 21 Pulp’s first batch of releases includes an original graphic novel and three miniseries. Do you have any plans for an ongoing series down the road (that you can tell us about)?

JP: I think of two of our next few books can be turned into a more longform if we want and we feel like there’s enough interest, but I don’t want to commit to anything and then put us in a difficult position. Our plans right now are graphic novels and minis, and we’ll look at each situation as it arises.

GP: Moving on to the comic that you’ve most recently penned, Hero Hourly, personally I really enjoyed the first issue. Hero Hourly is a take on superheroing that hasn’t really been approached in this manner before; where did you come up with the idea for the story?

JP: I don’t remember! It’s a years-old idea that was sitting in my computer and we were having a meeting one day and everyone in that meeting said that they wanted to see that book, so it was one of the books we chose. That’s also why it started on Kickstarter – because it wasn’t in our publishing schedule and we gauged it that way. But I honestly can’t remember the sequence of events that happened of when I came up with it.

GP: You touch on some very real problems in North America right now with the comic, and the difficulty in finding employment; was that the plan before you came up with the story, and the character of Saul?

JP: It’s always an evolution. I come up with an idea and then explore it in the construction of the story and that’s what came out of that somehow, whereas the second issue explores a bit of a different area in the entitlement or perceived-entitlement of a generation. What’s odd is that I started it during the recession so that’s why a lot of it is like it is, but I think it’s still relevant overall.

GP: If you could, would you ever want to become a superhero for an hourly wage?

JP: Ha. No. Not like at Hero Hourly anyway.

GP: Lastly; pirates, aliens, ninja’s or cowboys?

JP: Ninjas. Frank Miller ninjas.

The company’s first offering, Hero Hourly #1, also written by James Patrick was reviewed earlier this week. You can find a review of the first issue here (spoiler alert: it’s great).

Early Review: Hero Hourly #1

Posted on September 30, 2015 by Alex K Cossa

But while their job may suck just as much as yours, the comic sure doesn’t.

Hero Hourly #1 is part one of a three part miniseries published by James Patrick‘s new publishing company 21 Pulp, that is absolutely worth your time and money. Originally funded as part of a Kickstarter campaign, the digital copies of the first issue have already been distributed to backers already, and with print copies scheduled to hit the racks on November 18th, now is an ideal time to let your retailer know you want to add this comic to your pull list.

Story: James Patrick Art: Carlos Trigo Colours: Alex Sollazzo
Story: 9.5 Art: 9 Overall: 9.5 Recommendation: Buy

21 Pulp provided a FREE copy for review, but I have added this to my pull list, and will be buying it next month. I hope you do, too.

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