Bad Idea is a publisher that’s willing to throw out new ideas and see how it sticks. There’s a long list of both good and bad about their latest, a comic available for only 24 hours. It must be paid for today. Hank Howard, Pizza Detective in Caligula’s Safe is just $1 delivering an entertaining enough detective story. Featuring a B-Side (that’s Bad Idea’s version of a backup story), it’s definitely worth the money. Now the question is, is it worth having to go to the store?

Hank Howard, Pizza Detective in Caligula’s Safe introduces us to a detective who must determine who broke into the safe at a pizza joint. The short comic seems to have fun with its genre pulling out various tropes and throwing them at the reader like an interrogation. Writer Robert Venditti seems to take the concept as a good and roles with it. The concept itself is taken seriously which delivers a level of spoof about it.

David Lapham delivers the art with Simon Bowland on lettering. The combo of the two makes the comic feel more like a B-Side since its style in art and pacing is so close to the series of “Hero Trade” stories that have filled the releases so far. Like Venditti, the art too feels like it’s having fun with the concept and story again playing on tropes for the genre and also playing them very straight.

The comic also features the teaser story for Save Now, a riff on the time travel genre. Written by Matt Kindt, the comic features art by Tomas Giorello, color by Diego Rodriguez, and lettering by Dave Sharpe. The concept is straight out of the manga All You Need is Kill (which inspired the film Edge of Tomorrow). A team of heroes features a leader who can go back in time and then let things play out. The only things are he can’t go forward and he does age. But, it allows him to fix mistakes in battle and find the best strategies. I don’t want to ruin the twist and surprise but the teaser comic has me excited to read more with its concept and features some fantastic art.

Is Hank Howard, Pizza Detective in Caligula’s Safe worth it? Sure, the comic is definitely worth the $1 cover price. Now, is it worth making a special trip for? That’s more up in the air. If the comic was available for a week, sure, but for one day only, this is a special trip to the comic shop it’s ok to skip. Hank Howard, Pizza Detective in Caligula’s Safe is for the diehard Bad Idea fans.

Story: Robert Venditti, Matt Kindt Art: David Lapham. Tomas Giorello
Color: Diego Rodriguez Letterer: Simon Bowland, Dave Sharpe
Story: 7.5 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.5 Recommendation: Buy (if you’re already going to the shop)

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Purchase: Zeus Comics