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.

---

Logan

Crush and Lobo #2 (DC)– Crush and Lobo by Mariko Tamaki and Amancay Nahuelpan is really my current comfort comic. It mixes the queer yearning with a deadpan sense of humor, and it’s set in space. Tamaki layers Crush’s relationship with her ex Katie and her dad Lobo into a fun slice of life-meet-adventure story. Basically, space baristas aren’t to be trifled with. Nahuelpan’s action chops on his creator owned Black Mask titles definitely transfer over to this book, and he gets to draw zero grav fight sequences in this one. My one slight issue with this book is that there’s not a whole lot of Lobo in it, but a hilarious prison group therapy sequence shows that Mariko Tamaki already has his voice. I can’t wait to see his interactions with Crush in the next issue. Overall: 9.0 Verdict: Buy

Black’s Myth #1 (Ahoy)– Black’s Myth #1 is a comic about white supremacist attacking, werewolf P.I. nicknamed after Joe Strummer from writer Eric Palicki and artist Wendell Cavalcanti, who does the whole book in black and white with lots of grid layouts. It starts intense with its protagonist bleeding out from a silver bullet wound in the bath tub and never lets up and doesn’t shy away from its supernatural elements. In fact, Cavalcanti’s best work happens when he’s slinging ink and blacks around when a recovering Strummer decides to fuck up some Nazis in an alley and find out who’s trying to kill her. Black’s Myth hits that sweet spot between crime and fantasy, and the art style gave me strong David Lapham vibes. Overall: 8.4 Verdict: Buy

Hellions #13 (Marvel)– Hellions #13 kicks off a new arc, and Zeb Wells, Roge Antonio, and Rain Beredo dig into the consequences of the team’s (Well, mainly, Mr. Sinister) actions in previous storylines. So, there’s the return of the insane, Frankenstein Monster with a cape Mr. Sinister clone, who led the suicide mission into Arakko in X of Swords and also some subplots featuring the A.I. mutant baby the team rescued and X-Factor investigating their resurrections. (The book’s cancelled, and this plot is only in one data page, but an X-Factor vs. Hellions book would have been great fun.) But this issue isn’t just clones and the return of the past enemies as Wells and Antonio take time for team-bonding like Empath and Wild Child joking around about heroic sacrifices, or Orphan-Maker latching onto Greycrow as a parental figure now that Nanny spends all her time with the A.I. These moments make a predominantly table-setting issue more interesting as Zeb Wells sets up a big brawl for the next issue. Overall: 7.8 Verdict: Buy

X-Force #21 (Marvel)– Spinning out of the Terra Verde incident (Think the Iran/Contra affair, but more psychic and telefloronic), Benjamin Percy, Joshua Cassara, Robert Gill, and Guru eFX are back on their sentient plant shit in X-Force #21. Somehow, a strain of Man-Thing is infecting humans in politics, corporate boardrooms, police forces etc. all across the U.S., and they’re doing irrational things like murder. X-Force is on the case to find the cause of these happenings and see if there are any connections to Terra Verde, and more frightening, Krakoa. Cassara and Gill’s art and Guru eFX’s color palette do a good job with the body horror sequences, and there’s one especially nauseating sequence with Wolverine early on. The big panel layouts work well for an action-driven book, and they and Percy give Wolverine and Quentin Quire a fun kind of chemistry and their own unique fastball special. Some readers may shrug at Benjamin Percy introducing yet another plotline to X-Force, but he threads the needle and connects the Man-Things to the long running XENO plot as well as the recent telefloronic happenings. Also, immediately fighting a being that is benevolent, yet misunderstood is totally in the mutant CIA’s M.O. Overall: 8.1 Verdict: Buy

Brett

X-Men #1 (Marvel) – A decent start for the new series that has its moments but never quite excites. There’s a lot of setup in this newest volume and that rather slow aspect is given some action to give the issue a little excitement. Unfortunately, that action fills like filler material in between major arcs. It’s not a bad start, there’s a lot that’s intriguing, but it doesn’t quite have that spark that has me immediately wanting to see what’s next. Overall Rating: 7.0 Recommendation: Read

---

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 (**).