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

Marvel Knights: Punisher #1 (Marvel) – This is an average, middle of the road Punisher story with brutal art from Dan Panosian and a phone-it-in kind of script from Jimmy Palmiotti. (I guess Garth Ennis didn’t want to come back.) The obituaries for the dead characters at the end is a fun touch and does humanize the thinly written casualties in Frank Castle’s war on crime. Marvel Knights: Punisher is guns, explosions, and minimal depth feeling more like a video game than a comic. Overall: 6.1 Verdict: Pass

Marian Heretic #1 (BOOM! Studios) – Catholicism, paganism, and nunsploitation ass kicking all blend into the engaging brew that is Tini Howard and Joe Jaro‘s new Marian Heretic series. The Witchblade/Magdalena influence is pronounced, but I love the worldbuilding that Howard does finding a middle path between the Trinitarian patriarchy of The City of Vespers and the witches in the wilds. God totally is a woman because Ariana Grande (and Kevin Smith in Dogma) said so. Jaro brings 90s-tinged art with big action and expressions, but moves the story along smoothly as the protagonist tries to comes to grips with grey areas in a black and white world. Marian Heretic #1 is religious trauma, but make it badass, and I look forward to learning more about this intense world and the women that make it tick. Overall: 8.0 Verdict: Buy

Absolute Batman #13 (DC) – Absolute Batman #13 is like the movie The Dark Knight Rises was actually good and didn’t have lame, ineffectual, pro-cop politics. Scott Snyder, Nick Dragotta, and Frank Martin weave together the story of Bruce and Selina’s romantic relationship with a setup for a final showdown between Bane and Batman with venom coursing through both their veins. Dragotta’s bulkier, jacked take on Batman pays off in this story as Batman comes face to face with being the monster that Gotham needs to protect them. He and Martin continue to bring bone-shattering power and passion to the fight scenes in this issue. (And also one sex scene.) In the plot department, Snyder is skillfully connecting the story of Waylon Jones’ big boxing match in the past to the Batman/Bane battle royale raising the stakes. Overall: 8.6 Verdict: Buy