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

Howl #1 (Ahoy!) – Alisa Kwitney and Mauricet‘s Howl is a fusion dish of Golden Age science fiction, beatnik navel gazing, and social realism with a mushroom on top as a treat. It’s an alien invasion story, but also the story of the breakdown of the marriage between writers Bert and Ziva in Greenwich Village at the dawn of the counterculture when the first issues of the Voice were on the stands and Jack Kerouac was about to hit the road. On the visual side, Mauricet easily transitions from kitchen sink reality to far out space stuff and gets high marks for his use of color and fashion design. Howl #1 is a multi-layered, non-linear delight for literature and pop culture heads. Overall: 9.1 Verdict: Buy

Exceptional X-Men #5 (Marvel) – Exceptional X-Men #5 focuses on Kitty Pryde’s past and Melee’s relationship with her family and the team while also setting up a TikTok meets 23 and Me app for mutants that definitely is the Big Bad going forward. In flashback sequences, Eve Ewing and Carmen Carnero excel at hitting the highlights of Kitty’s ninja training as well as why she killed Orchis soldiers during Fall of X. Basically, it sets up the X-Men not being perfect people and the importance of making your own choices that flows into the Melee story where she tries to stand up for her cousin who is being bullied for being a mutant. It’s cool to see Melee apply the lessons she’s learned from Kitty and Emma Frost to the situation, but in the words of Master Yoda, more training does she require. Exceptional X-Men continues to not be a superhero beat ’em book, but digs into the lived experience of being a marginalized person with a side of superpowers. I love Thao’s phasing and invisibility abilities match her ability, and Carnero draws them in a clear way. Overall: 8.8 Verdict: Buy

Ultimate Wolverine #1 (Marvel) – Chris Condon, Alessandro Cappuccio, and Bryan Valenza turn up the edge in Ultimate Wolverine #1. Logan aka the Winter Soldier is back to being a mindless assassin serving the mutant overlords of Eurasia and is on a mission to take out folks who were very close to him. This new take on Wolverine is sufficiently brutal with Valenza’s red and blacks emphasizing each claw strike and kill in Capuccio’s fluid line work. Condon’s script references X2 and The Ultimates (Vol 1), but in a sick, twisted way. This is a take no prisoners first issue that fits into the Maker’s demented Earth-6160, but isn’t weighed down by continuity. Overall: 8.4 Verdict: Buy

New Gods #2 (DC) – Ram V, Jesse Lonergan, Evan Cagle, and Francesco Segala‘s New Gods continues to be one of the most epic and personal comics on the racks. This issue looks at the power strugles on a Darkseid-less Apokolips while Maxwell Lord, Mister Miracle, Mister Miracle/Barda, and other players start to look for the newest New God, Mira. New Gods #2 is filled with epic shots of powerful beings in action courtesy of Cagle and especially Lonergan in the prelude, but the real hook of the series is the parallels they and V draw between Mira and her family and the Frees. It’s so charming to have Big Barda make cracks about Scott being on diaper duty for the rest of Liv’s early childhood and then see Mira’s family figuring out their place in the world after she manifests divine powers. Nothing beats regular people in extraordinary situations. Overall: 8.8 Verdict: Buy