Tag Archives: shawn lee

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #7 delivers one hell of an issue

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #7

The family reunion hasn’t exactly gone as planned for the Turtles. Even if they could put their sibling feuds aside, there’s no time for the brothers to celebrate. Hunted by a new Foot-enhanced police force led by the relentless D.A. Hieronymus Hale, the Turtle brothers must endure their worst gut-punch yet: New York City is no longer safe for the TMNT, forcing the mutant heroes to take drastic measures – relocating to the sewers of New Jersey! Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #7 is another fantastic issue of a series that can’t be missed!

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #7 is good, really good. It’s an issue that has you excited for what’s come before and what comes next. Action. Emotion. Twists. Turns. It’s a ride of an issue of a series that’s at the top of its game right now. Written by Jason Aaron, the Turtles are surrounded by a city that has been taken over by the Foot Clan and is focused on exterminating the Turtles. The brothers are disorganized and at each other’s throats fighting amongst themselves as much as taking on their foes. Further, the Foot Clan has gotten smart and using propaganda to turn opinion against the Turtles.

But, it’s the emotional punch that gets you. Aaron has tapped into something here, an aspect that I’ve never really experienced reading a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic. There’s been emotional moments but it’s hard to not read Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #7 and the previous issue and come away with sympathy for the brothers. There’s emotional pain for each of them and Donatello is a shell of the hero he once was. There’s a sadness underneath the anger.

The art by Juan Ferreyra is the icing and sprinkles on the cake. With lettering by Shawn Lee and design by Nathan Widick, the comic is a visual treat. The action feels frenetic and harrowing. The emotional moments are a punch to the gut. The comic can be summed up in how Donatello is depicted. The physical slump, the facial expressions, the emaciated look, it shows a level of detail that’s just fantastic. Add in some great page layouts and the combo is a comic that looks amazing to go along with a hell of a story.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #7 is another fantastic issue that picks up on the previous one and just goes to an even greater level. It’s one of the best ongoing series on the shelf right now and a series that should not be missed.

Story: Jason Aaron Art: Juan Ferreyra
Letterer: Shawn Lee Designer: Nathan Widick
Story: 9.0 Art: 9.0 Overall: 9.0 Recommendation: Buy

IDW Publishing provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: Zeus Comics – Kindle

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #6 brings the Turtles back together for one hell of a reunion

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #6

The Turtles are back together, on the run, and at one another’s throats. Navigating a New York City that used to be their home but is now a hostile territory, the four brothers try to get things back to normal, but Donatello is deeply scarred following his captivity. Will the four brothers be able to rally? Or will they find themselves at the mercy of the Foot Clan? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #6 has all four Turtles back together and in New York City and it’s a reunion that does not go well.

Written by Jason Aaron, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #6 is good… really good. The series has been building to this with a fresh start that began telling the tale of each Turtle and now they’re together again. Except, this reunion isn’t a good one. The bitterness and bickering between the group is at an all time high while Donatello is at an all time low. It’s an issue that serves as one that brings together the first five issues while also acting as a perfect jumping on point for new readers as well.

The comic is beyond solid with a tension about it that gets you to want to read more. There’s emotional drama as the Turtles argue with each other as they figure out their path and then the realization the whole city is against them as well. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #6 creates a situation that feels like it’s everything the Turtles have dealt with before but taken to 11.

Then there’s Donatello, a broken shell of the Turtle he once was. Aaron shows him off in a depressing way to the point it’s hard to not feel sympathy for him and the trauma he’s experiencing. All of that is clear in the art by Juan Ferreyra who debuts in this issue delivering visuals that add a punch to Aaron’s writing. There’s an emotion to Ferreyra’s art that’s enhanced by Shaw Lee’s lettering. But, what really stands out is Donatello. An emaciated look, this is a Donatello that’s been beaten down and at his lowest. The visuals are heartbreaking and there’s an amazing visual aspect of these brother’s fighting while one of them is clearly hurting emotionally and physically.

Even if you haven’t purchased or read the first five issues, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #6 is a hell of a starting point for readers. It delivers tons of action, humor, and heartbreak in an issue that feels like a punch to the gut.

Story: Jason Aaron Art: Juan Ferreyra Letterer: Shawn Lee
Story: 9.0 Art: 9.0 Overall: 9.0 Recommendation: Buy

IDW Publishing provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: Zeus Comics – Kindle

The Principles of Necromancy introduces an intriguing new villain in Doctor Eyes

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To see Jakob Eyes – or truly any Doctor – is to know fear, even if you are injured – for a Doctor is mercurial and can act in ways mere humans cannot understand. They are the mad scientists of this horrifying kingdom… and this story is about the one that even other Doctors learn to fear. A man who seeks to make death irrelevant and looks upon his calling with a kind of mad glee. A man who can rebuild people like they were machines… and combine them just as quickly. Doctor Eyes won’t just fix a person… he will make them magnificent!

Story: Jackson Lanzing, Collin Kelly
Art: Eamon Winkle
Color: Jay Fotos
Letterer: Shawn Lee

Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.

Bookshop
Amazon

Magma Comix provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site

The Scale Trade introduces a world where dragons are real, hunted, and endangered

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In a modern-day world one step removed from our own, dragons are a highly respected-and highly endangered-species, but poaching is an existential threat. When a young idealist joins the federal agency tasked with managing dragon populations, he quickly discovers that the entire system is corrupt. After seeing firsthand the cruelty of the system, our newly radicalized dragon savior takes matters into his own hands!

Story: Steve Orlando
Art: Megan Huang
Letterer: Shawn Lee

Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook.

Bookshop
Amazon

Magma Comix provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site

The Missionary #1 is a little choppy at times but overall is a hell of a lot of fun

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Bryce Hunter is a devoutly religious man whose faith is shattered when he catches his wife being…Intimate with an Elder from his church. This harrowing event sends Bryce spiraling into the hands of a demonic entity named Uvydus, Instead of rejecting possession, Bryce ACCEPTS Uvydus. Bryce wants to learn to be “bad” and Uvydus wants to be “less than completely evil.” But before Bryce can use this new partnership to finally live a little, the world’s greatest Exorcist sees Bryce as his greatest challenge. But that’s not even the worst of it as a murderous group of demons breaks free from Hell and threatens to re-shape earth into a kingdom over which they rule!

Story: Ryan Stegman
Art: Jason Howard
Color: Tamra Bonvillain
Letterer: Shawn Lee

Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.

Zeus Comics

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site

Rome Eternal #1 has a good concept but drags everything our and doesn’t give enough detail

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In a world where the Roman Empire never fell, it now stands on the brink of collapse. For over two thousand years, Roman society has thrived, evolving into a technological and military powerhouse. Yet its immense power has bred corruption, making it vulnerable to a group of unique and fanatical individuals known as the Mithra Mysteries. To some, they are terrorists; to others, they are heroes. As their enigmatic leader reveals his bold plan to assassinate the Emperor, no one within Rome is safe!

Story: Homero Rios
Art: Diego Yapur
Color: Oscar Carreño
Letterer: Shawn Lee

Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.

Zeus Comics
Kindle

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site

Day of the Dead Girl #1 shows off some solid potential in its debut issue

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Death is never the end of the story. Coroner Sam Castillo will learn this the hard way, when a supernatural serial killer targets her hometown just as she moves back. A skeptical woman of science, Sam butts heads with her spiritual mother Ana, a leader of a witch coven specializing in Brujeria. But when the coven’s Brujas start turning up murdered, Sam and Ana must work together to find the killer and save their town’s Day of the Dead festival from turning into an occult bloodbath. As if sharing a bathroom with her mom wasn’t hard enough.

Story: AJ Mendez, Aimee Garcia
Art: Belen Culebras
Color: Dearbhla Kelly
Letterer: Shawn Lee

Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.

Zeus Comics

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site

The Moon is Following Us #2 delivers a bit of a flashback as to how things got to where they are

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The Moon is Following Us #2

Sam and Duncan reflect on the first days of their adventure to save their daughter. The Cascade is getting stronger, and time is running out. Who will help them on this epic quest? The Moon is Following Us #2 takes things back a bit. It focuses on the beginning of Sam and Duncan’s quest to save their daughter.

Created by Daniel Warren Johnson and Riley Rossmo, The Moon is Following Us has been an interesting series. It feels both familiar and original. Taking place in a dream world, the characters are confronted with things from their world brought to life in this world. Is it real? Is it imaginary? The Moon is Following Us #2 gives us some answers as to what’s going on as Johnson and Rossmo take us back to the early days.

The first issue of the series dropped us into the action as Sam and Duncan were in the middle of a mission to go save their daughter. Beyond it being a fantasy world, we were told very little about how they got to this point. The Moon is Following Us #2 answers those questions as we’re shown the medical mystery that has lead to the need to rescue their daughter.

Johnson and Rossmo do an excellent job of presenting desperate parents and a medical mystery. There’s a sense of frustration, confusion, and desperation as Duncan and Sam seek out medical professionals with no help. They’re eventually the ones to be sought out and thus begins their adventure.

The art is fantastic showing the emotional rollercoaster the parents go through. They’re angry and sad as well as clearly desperate to help their daughter. That goes into being completely confused and in awe of the world they’re introduced too. They, like the reader, show off their confusions and their reactions are those of individuals with lots of questions. It’s a fantastic match of story and art.

The comic takes us from dark times to a world of wonder that is besieged by a dark ominous threat. It’s a rollercoaster of emotions and plot we’ve seen in so many Jim Henson films and classic tales and it still works today. The small details the two put into the art help expand on the story with each being from the other world telling their own through their look. The colors by Mike Spicer helps create the feeling of a dream world while Shawn Lee‘s lettering helps these intriguing characters have their own personalities.

The Moon is Following Us #2 is a solid second issue that puts on the brakes in some ways and takes us back to the beginning. It answers a lot of questions while raising more. Overall, it builds upon the magical world of the first issue and delivers childlike wonder and fairy tale dread.

Story: Daniel Warren Johnson Art: Riley Rossmo, Daniel Warren Johnson
Color: Mike Spicer Letterer: Shawn Lee
Story: 8.0 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.0 Recommendation: Buy

Image Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: Zeus Comics – Kindle

The Pedestrian #2 continues the quirky and charming fun

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The Pedestrian #2

Detective Sherwood, curious as to who Summer City’s silent samaritan is, investigates all possible leads but the Pedestrian is always one step ahead! As the city continues to be positively impacted by the Pedestrian, a dark force begins to infiltrate the minds of otherwise normal citizens. Who, or what, is the Klutch? All this… and the LAZER TITANS too! The Pedestrian #2 continues the introduction of what might be the strangest new hero in quite some time.

Written by Joey Esposito, The Pedestrian #2 is another intriguing issue. The series begins to bring together the various threads from the debut issue and teases answers to so many questions. But, Esposito doesn’t give any clear answers and instead leaves readers guessing. Who is the Pedestrian and what’s going on with what’s likely his nemesis?

There’s something rather charming about the series. It takes place in a small town and relatively, the crime is pretty low level for a superhero comic. The hero doesn’t say much of anything, speed walking into the situation to save the day for unknown reasons only to speed walk away after, of course following the posted signs about crossing streets.

Sean Von Gorman‘s art adds to the charm of it all with characters that feel like they’re average people just dealing with life. There art nails down the monotony of their lives and reinforces the low stakes of it all. Von Gorman is helped with color by Josh Jensen and additional art from David Bowie Rendon-Gorman and Micah Williams, and lettering by Shawn Lee. The art and story just mesh together so well and create a world that’s strange but also familiar. The character designs emphasize these are just average people. The hero has a way about him that makes the end result feel rather quaint.

The Pedestrian #2 is a comic that feels like it’s long overdue. It’s a story, so far, about someone who’s just doing the right thing. They’re not flashy. They don’t want praise. They just act the hero and move on. There’s something rather nice about that. It’s nice to read a superhero comic where the world’s fate isn’t at stake. It’s nice to read a comic where it’s just average people dealing with shitty situations and a good samaritan helping them out. Where this all goes will be interesting, but The Pedestrian #2 continues a charming debut.

Story: Joe Esposito Art: Sean Von Gorman
Color: Josh Jensen Additional Art: David Bowie Rendon-Gorman, Micah Williams Letterer: Shawn Lee
Story: 8.0 Art: 8.0 Overall: 8.0 Recommendation: Buy

Magma Comix provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: Zeus Comics

Sesame Street #1 is a cute comic young kids will enjoy

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Sesame Street #1

Stroll along Sesame Street and join Grover, Elmo, Cookie Monster, and more of your favorite furry friends in this brand-new comic book series for readers of all ages! Grover wakes up to another beautiful day on Sesame Street! But he soon discovers that his friends each have a problem to solve before they can enjoy it. In this debut, Grover does what he does best: lends a helping hand. After all, the most fun on Sesame Street comes from working together! Sesame Street #1 is a cute debut that young readers will enjoy.

When I was growing up, Sesame Street as a whole wasn’t something I was in to. While other kids knew Big Bird, Oscar, and so many more, I was watching Pinwheel. It wasn’t until my daughter was born that I watched a lot of episodes, and even then, she wasn’t into it much either. So, my experience with the characters is limited through directly watching the show but it’s still a world I know. The one thing I do know though is The Monster at the End of This Book. It’s one we’ve read as a family over and over. Sesame Street #1 reminds me a lot of that story in its pacing and tone.

Joey Esposito does a solid job of capturing the magic of Sesame Street and its characters. The story is perfect for young children as it not only entertains but also includes solid lessons for them to learn. Like many of the episodes of Sesame Street that I’ve watched, the comic focuses in on one character’s experience then expands that out. Here, a beautiful day gets Grover on the move where he discovers it’s not a good day for everyone and decides to help everyone with their troubles. It’s a story and concept that’s hard to not want to put it in the hands of kids who are just starting out reading.

The art by Austin Baechle captures the expected look of the characters and world. Baechle is joined by Alessandro Santoro on color and lettering by Shawn Lee. What’s interesting is the lettering is closer to what you’d see in comics for adults and not blown up in size or cut down in words to make it easier for kids to read. There’s slight adjustment it looks like for the audience but it’s not as noticeable as it is for other comics squarely for kids. Still, it’s a good comic for kids to read that’s also a good introduction to comics.

Sesame Street #1 is a solid debut that’d be a good introduction to comics for young readers who’ve never experienced them before. The story feels like something you’d see on television with a familiar setup and most importantly lessons for kids about helping others and problem solving. It’s a cute start that’s a warm welcomed return of the beloved characters to comics.

Story: Joey Esposito Art: Austin Baechle
Color: Alessandro Santoro Letterer: Shawn Lee
Story: 8.0 Art: 8.0 Overall: 8.0 Recommendation: Buy

Oni Press provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: Zeus Comics – Kindle

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