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 reviews of the comics, or graphic novels, we just didn’t get a chance to write a full one for.

These are Graphic Policy’s Mini Reviews and Recommendations.

Logan

Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #1 (DC Comics) – There are glimpses of Godzilla, Kong, and other denizens of Legendary’s MonsterVerse in Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #1, but mostly, the comic reads like a pretty standard Justice League vs. Legion of Doom throwdown. Brian Buccelato and Christian Duce turn in an episode of Superfriends with more modern dialogue and an art style that’s a lot like the New 52 designs, but sleeker. Buccelato also seems to get some of his characterization from the early days of the New 52 with Hal Jordan acting like a total douchebag while Barry Allen is a little unsure of himself and hasn’t revealed his secret identity to Iris. However, Superman’s characterization is more traditional with the heart of the comic being his proposal to Lois Lane that’s, of course, interrupted by a certain kaiju. JL vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #1 is a pretty standard superhero comic, but it has flashes of fun like the Legion of Doom breaking into the Fortress of Solitude that’s thwarted by someone who never should have been on the team in the first place. It’ll be interesting to see if the quality gets better when we see more of Godzilla and Kong. Overall: 7.2 Verdict: Read

Hack/Slash: Back to School #1 (Image Comics) – Cartoonist Zoe Thorogood turns her talents to the postmodern horror genre in a new revival of cult 2000s comic Hack/Slash. It’s like Buffy the Vampire Slayer and X-Men, but way more fucked up. Thorogood immediately dives into the trauma of protagonist Cassie Hack who is living a wayward life after killing her mother who was a literal monster. She conveys this through messing around with layouts as a fast food mascot ghost merges into an image of Cassie’s mom. The intervention of former B-movie starlet/current headmistress sets up the premise of the series, and Zoe Thorogood subverts the “weird new girl” trope by having all the students of the school have traumatic backstories involving monsters, or slashers as they’re called in this universe. All in all, Hack/Slash: Back to School #1 is perfect reading for spooky season with buckets of blood, general creepiness, and a self-aware sense of humor to go with the vulnerability in the captions Thorogood writes for Cassie done in a handwriting type lettering style. Overall: 8.7 Verdict: Buy