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

Infinite Frontier #0 (DC)– Infinite Frontier #0 is a lot to take in, but I came out of it with mostly positive vibes. (Although, I had similar feelings about DC Rebirth.) In almost line-wide way (Especially in the stories penned by Joshua Williamson), Infinite Frontier is embracing legacy heroes, the DC multiverse/Elseworlds, and DC Comics’ 83 year old history for better or worse. Some of the highlights of this one-shot are Philip Kennedy Johnson and an always fantastic Jamal Igle showing that Jon Kent is just as much as a hero as his father, and James Tynion and a chameleon-like Jorge Jimenez focusing on the Bat-family (Especially the Batgirls past and present) while grafting in some of the status quo from Future State, which worked best when dealing with the Gotham stuff. Also, Alan Scott coming out as gay in the main continuity, Nubia becoming queen of the Amazons, Oliver Queen and Dinah Lance reuniting, and even Wally West becoming the main Flash show the heartwarming side of the DC Universe. As an artist, Howard Porter (He did the Flash story.) has gotten better with age. The only real stinkers of the bunch are Geoff Johns and Todd Nauck doing a text-heavy, bad cover version of Bendis and Bagley’s Ultimate Spider-Man in their Stargirl story, and Geoff Thorne continuing to show that his take on the Green Lantern characters is a bit disjointed even if Teen Lantern can’t help but shine through. I didn’t really follow Death Metal or Generations to get why the DC Universe is like this, but Infinite Frontier is a great primer on characters, books, and creators to follow going forward in 2021 and is a reminder that DC Comics has a deep bench of worlds, heroes, and villains that are dying to be fleshed out and explored. Overall: 8.0 Verdict: Buy

The Swamp Thing #1 (DC)– Ram V, Mike Perkins, and Mike Spicer kick off their ongoing Swamp Thing series with parallel stories. A monster in the Arizona desert (Rumore to be around since the 1860s) kills with no respite, and an Indian man named Levi Kamei has nightmares of the Green while returning from India back to New York. Perkins’ horror chops continue to be evident in any sequence featuring the Pale Wanderer and are at its finest in a double page nightmare sequence where Swamp Thing emerges from Levi’s body (and eyes aka ick!) causing the plane to crash. V doesn’t reveal a lot of information about Levi’s connection to Swamp Thing instead focusing on introducing him as a character. He came to New York when he was a teen to study biology at Columbia and has a strained relationship with his family in India, yet still wants to make amends. Mike Perkins uses nine panel grids to capture the natural conversational flow between Levi and his colleague Jennifer Reece in the quieter moments between the nightmares. He’s a smart, vulnerable protagonist who from the final page seems utterly prepared for the Western-meets-horror story going on in the other side of the country. Like Alan Moore and various artists in the famous “American Gothic” arc, Ram V and Mike Perkins are using Swamp Thing as a vehicle to comment on the nature of America using the horror genre from an outside perspective (Ram V is an Indian writer who now lives in London) and succeed at setting that up in their first issue. Overall: 8.6 Verdict: Buy

Chariot #1 (AWA)– Although it sometimes seems like it came right out of an after school special and the premise is straight out of Knight Rider, Priscilla Petraites’ art and Marco Lesko’s colors giving Chariot #1 that extra push that’ll make give issue 2 of the series a shot. Writer Bryan Edward Hill lets them cut loose over the first 10 pages of the comic in a gorgeous, thrilling car chase with pastel, synthwave colors from Lesko, who is easily the book’s MVP. The protagonist’s love for cars comes out in how nicely he treats this special prototype even though it confuses him initially. Also, having him struggle with medical debt makes him really relatable for our day and age. If the characterization matches the setpieces that open and close this comic, Hill, Petraites, and Lesko could have a hit on their hands. Overall: 7.6 Verdict: read

Nocterra #1 (Image)– Scott Snyder and Tony Daniel craft a high concept world in Nocterra: a universe where the sun has gone out. People live on secondary light sources, like bulbs and lanterns, or risk being turned into shades. The idea is a little silly, but it works as a metaphor for a world-ending. Nocterra #1 explores life after everything goes “PM” from the perspective of Em, who was child when it happened, and now works as a truck driver taking humans to sanctuary cities. Daniel inks himself on this comic, and he and colorist Tomeu Morey bring a naturalistic approach going stylized for when the shades attack or a scary opponent pops up towards the end of the issue. Snyder also builds the plot around Em needing to find a way to reverse the darkness in her brother Emory, and this justifies any risks she might take. Also, the final page stage cranks up the stakes big time. Overall: 8.5 Verdict: Buy

America Chavez: Made in the USA #1 (Marvel)– America Chavez finally gets a solo series worthy of her star turns in Young Avengers, Ultimates, and West Coast Avengers courtesy of Kalinda Vazquez and Carlos Gomez. Even though there’s plenty of punching and one-liners, America Chavez #1 keeps its ambitions terrestrial with plenty of flashbacks of America with her adoptive family, the Santanas, who found her when she washed up on Jones Beach. Vazquez and Gomez set up this miniseries to be set up around her Washington Heights root and Latinx heritage while also telling a more traditional loss of powers stories. Gomez’s art is a little on the house style side, but his depiction of America and Kate Bishop punching giant moles made me smile. This issue provided a lot of insight both into America’s past as well as how she’s feeling currently, and I look forward to the rest of the mini. Overall: 8.8 Verdict: Buy

Hellions #10 (Marvel)– Arcade has upgraded from murderous pinball games and Snake (If you played Marvel Ultimate Alliance.) to psychological horror in another excellent issue of Hellions from Zeb Wells and Stephen Segovia. His motivation is trying to get Mr. Sinister to provide him clones, which is quite easy, but he still makes the Hellions go through their worst nightmares anyway. This ranges from Kwannon not knowing her name to Empath being confronted by everyone he’s ever mentally manipulated to and Havok having some weird, horny thing with Madelyne Pryor. Segovia and David Curiel do an excellent job setting up a different tone for each room, and we really get to know each team member as Arcade ramps up the scenario. Also, Mr. Sinister roasting Arcade at the beginning of the book is quite hilarious. Overall: 8.9 Verdict: Buy

Brett

Batman #106 (DC Comics) – Batman’s Future State storyline was fantastic and the seeds to that possible future are being planted here. Gotham is in chaos (is it not?). Arkham has been destroyed and so many issues are cropping up. Batman’s doing what he can with his new situation and his new headquarters. There’s a solid mix of action, setup, and letting new readers know what’s up. It’s the most solid issue of James Tynion IV’s run so far. The art is really solid as well with some fantastic visuals that pop, especially for the action sequences. This is what I’ve been hoping and waiting for. Overall Rating: 8.5 Recommendation: Buy

Man-Bat #2 (DC Comics) – The first issue was solid with an exploration of Langstrom’s addiction and drug use resulting in his becoming Man-Bat. This issue? Not so much. The Suicide Squad is after him resulting in an entertaining but overused battle trope. There’s also a reveal of the big bad. An entertaining issue but the first is so much better. Overall Rating: 7.75 Recommendation: Read

BRZRKR #1 (BOOM! Studios) – The high profile comic is here in its first single issue. It’s pure action and quite clearly a vehicle for actor Keanu Reeves whos’ one of the co-writers/creators. The story of an immortal who wants to die has a lot of potential and the tease at the end of the comic is really solid but as is, it’s a lot of flash with little substance. But, that flash looks great on the page. Overall Rating: 7.85 Recommendation: Read

Dead Dog’s Bite #1 (Dark Horse) – A girl is missing and that’s about what we got in this interesting setup of a mystery. The characters and location has potential but the comic doesn’t quite hook. It starts off with an interesting narrator but then gets into a fairly typical murder mystery laying things out. Overall Rating: 7.0 Recommendation: Read

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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 (**).