Welcome to Graphic Policy’s Indie Comics Roundup where we take a look at a handful of indie comics and try to work out just how accessible they are for new readers. Where possible we’ll also be providing  recap of sorts for the relevant story beats up until the issue in question in order to help you figure out if the series is something you’re interested in, assuming we’ve read any part of the story thus far.

Each comic will receive a both a rating of Friendly or Unfriendly as well as a score out of ten. The former is based upon how easy it was for new readers to pick the issues up; expect miniseries or first issues to be rated as friendly by default. For second or third issues, more consideration regarding the comic’s accessibility will be given for the specific issue being read rather than the series overall, but if reading a back issue will help, then that will be mentioned. The score out of ten is Graphic Policy’s typical ten point scale, which is there to help you pick between issues if you only want to check out one or two.

We’d rather feature comics from smaller publishers, but from time to time you may notice an Image, Dark Horse or Dynamite book here. Ultimately it depends on what catches our eye, but we’ll always aim to spotlight lesser known comics.

All comics were provided for review purposes unless otherwise noted.

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There’s a few first issues this week, so assume that those comics are all Friendly unless otherwise noted.

It Came Out On A Wednesday #1  (Alterna)  For $2 you get an incredible amount of value in this double sized anthology. This anthology is a lot of fun and well worth looking up. I’d happily pay twice the price for it. Rathing: 8.4

Konunda #1 (Statix Press) Step into the world of fantasy and forget what you thin great comic book art is. A beautifully illustrate book with a story that isn’t too punishing to follow as you’re swept along for near 50-odd pages. If you like your fantasy comics with some mythical beasties, grab this, sit down and enjoy Rating 8

The Last  Siege #1 (Image) Fantasy style comics, or at least those with a sword involved, seem to be the theme of the week – albeit quite unintentionally. Still, Image’s penchant for producing high quality fantasy comics continues, and the scene is set for a true David and Goliath battle in the coming issues while exploring the roles of women in the middle ages. I’m looking forward to the rest of this. Rating: 8.3

Magic Order #1 (Image) A secret society of magicians exists to protect us, but somebody is killing them off one by one. A beyon standard set up, but the comic is writtten with Millar’s usual flare  (though is considerably less gruesome than some of his other work. Far from a bad issue, it’s just not the strogest, either. Rating: 7.8