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. Given the lack of new comics, expect this weekly update to begin featuring comics that we think you’ll enjoy while you can’t get anything new to read – only new to you.

These are Graphic Policy’s Mini Reviews and Recommendations.

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Logan

X-Force #10 (Marvel) – Benjamin Percy and Joshua Cassara’s telefloronic/killer plant people arc wraps up in an ooze of body horror and horniness in X-Force #10. Cassara and eGuru-FX’s visuals carry the action bits while Percy sinks his teeth into the moral quandaries of X-Force in a conversation between Beast and Jean Grey. This is nicely coda’d by Wolverine and Jean Grey chatting in a hot tub about the team’s status quo with side of polyamory and bisexuality that’s in that grey area between text and subtext. She is fully in the camp of not giving a shit about humanity as long as mutants are united and working towards the greater good, and her actions in the field (Majestically portrayed by Cassara) show that she’s better than the calculator in the chair, Beast. This is issue is full of goodies and gives each member of the ensemble cast a memorable moment of humor, action, or pathos from Sage showing up with a bunch of pouches for her field-work to Quentin Quire facing the abyss and for once, being left with nothing to say. This is truly an epic return for the series after about a 4 month hiatus. Overall: 8.8 Verdict: Buy

Money Shot #6 (Vault) – Sarah Beattie, Tim Seeley, and Rebekah Isaacs’ saga of scientists doing intergalactic, extraterrestrial research and funding it by creating intergalactic, extraterrestrial porn takes a bit of a pause in Money Shot #6. Beattie, Seeley, and Isaacs juxtapose the tragic love story of two aliens in a Klingon-esque society where battle is constant and what determines who gets to have sex for reproduction purposes with some slice of life stories featuring protagonists Ocampo, Wander, and Steinberg in a kind of bisexual love triangle. For the love story, Beattie and Seeley’s writing is downright noble compared to their usual double entendres and sexy science quips. It’s also some of the best art from Isaacs and colorist Kurt Michael Russell, who turn a buckets of blood and space ooze Geof Darrow joint into a touching love story. Isaacs’ skill with expressive faces come in handy later as Ocampo has come down with something and spends literally an entire night Googling STI symptoms and alien planets for them to explore/film porn on. There’s a quiet tragedy in Ocampo’s relentless search for a narrative while one is unfolding light years away. Money Shot #6 is a tone poem for this series, which isn’t just sex jokes and Star Trek riffs, but about the emotional bonds between people. Overall: 8.6 Verdict: Buy

Adventureman #2 (Image) – Less overwhelming than the previous issue, Matt Fraction and the Dodsons masterfully merge portal fantasy and pulp fiction in Adventureman #2. Armed with a mysterious missing book in the Adventureman series, single mom and ex-cop Claire Connell maneuvers a side of New York she’s never seen before even though she’s a lifelong resident. The Dodsons craft gorgeous Art Deco architectural settings and use double page spreads to give a real zest to the sequences where Claire is dodging robots at Adventure Inc’s not-so-fictional headquarters. This vibrance extends to the scenes in the “real world” where they don’t skimp on Claire’s son Tommy awkwardly trying to help his mom navigate by texting in class, or a souffle date with her sisters gone wrong. Each page is packed with personality and retro cool as fact and fiction collide, and it’s awesome to see a badass single mom be a hero in a genre that’s all lantern jawed men and femme fatales. I’m starting to really enjoy this comic. Overall: 8.0 Verdict: Buy

Brett

Detective Comics #1023 (DC Comics) – A lead up to “Joker War” the comic features either Joker awakening Owls to take on Batman and Batman searching for Two-Face. It’s well into the series arc and transitioning what’s to come. It’s definitely not a starting point for those interested in “Joker War” and it’s a bit of a headscratcher due to where the main Batman series is. It’s probably fine as part of the arc but as a single issue it lacks a bit. Overall Rating: 7.0 Verdict: Read

Young Justice #16 (DC Comics) – What’s up with Bart Allen? We find out the truth here and it’s a pretty intriguing concept and story. The anticipation makes it a bit of a letdown but big picture it sets things up nicely. There’s some real emotion to the comic and you feel where Bart is coming from. If you want to know where the series is going, this is an issue to check out. Overall Rating: 7.75 Verdict: Buy

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

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 (**).