Category Archives: Reviews

Feral #17 goes in an unexpected direction in an issue packed with tension and horror

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THE BATTLE FOR PET CITY BEGINS!
Elsie and Lucky lead their crew against Mother Helena and her strange felines with the winner taking control of the pet superstore. The only problem is, what was once a safe haven is now filled with rabid BAD KIND!

Story: Tony Fleecs
Art: Trish Forstner, Tone Rodriguez
Color: Brad Simpson

Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.

Zeus Comics
Kindle

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Expatriate X-Men #1 has engaging action and some solid art

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UNITED BY WAR! X YEARS LATER, like the fallen and reassembled United States, the new team of MS. MARVEL, BRONZE, MELEE and RIFT rises! They have seized control of the Mississippi River waters that divide mutantkind from the rest of humanity. Feared and powerful, their guerrilla tactics keep them in control – until a high-stakes mission to extract a valuable asset threatens to tear them apart. Can they hold together when everything’s on the line?

Story: Eve L. Ewing
Art: Francesco Mortarino
Color: Raul Angulo
Letterer: Ariana Maher

Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.

Zeus Comics
Kindle

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site

Cul-De-Sac #3 is a solid issue packed with action, humor, and some teases of what’s to come

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Out of the frying pan! After a narrow escape from an explosive encounter with vampire hunters at the bus station, the kids are back on the run, this time in a hotwired new ride. But vampire assassin Jagger is hot on their trail and she’s hungry for blood. Between Jagger, the hunters, and the cops chasing them down, Gail and her friends are seriously outgunned and in way over their heads. And just who is Thale, the shadowy figure who seems to be pulling the strings, and why is he so obsessed with seeing them put into early graves?

Story: Mike Carey, Robert Venditti
Art: Jonathan Wayshak, David Lapham, Trevor Hairsine
Color: Dave Stewart
Letterer: Tom Napolitano, DC Hopkins

Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.

Third Eye Comics

Caravaggio: A Light Before the Darkness is an interesting mix of history and swashbuckling action

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The turn of the 17th Century is a time when The Catholic Church struggles to maintain its power against The Reformation. The artist Caravaggio arrives armed with secret painting techniques of the Renaissance, a revolutionary and compassionate vision, and a volatile penchant for defeating opponents at the point of his sword.

Story: Ken Mora
Art: Cyrus Mesarcia
Color: Lancelot Catan, Bhakta Ranjan Behera
Additional Flats: Richel Tagyamon
Letterer: Ken Mora

Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.

Bookshop
Amazon

Graphic Policy was provided with a FREE copy for review
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site

Ichabod Crane reunites with Katrina Van Tassel in Return to Sleepy Hollow #1

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Return to Sleepy Hollow #1

The Headless Horseman hasn’t plagued Sleepy Hollow for 15 years now, but unbeknownst to the residents of the drowsy valley, a deeper evil lurks in the roots of the town, and it will stop at nothing to quench its thirst for blood. Ichabod Crane is a man of science and, despite his indisputable brush with the supernatural, has built a name for himself debunking claims of the occult across the world. However, when he receives a frantic letter urging him to return to Sleepy Hollow, Ichabod must reunite with his now estranged love, Katrina Van Tassel, to investigate a string of strange, unexplainable murders. Together, they will uncover the truth of Sleepy Hollow’s origins and the roots that connect them all. Return to Sleepy Hollow #1 is a follow up to Tim Burton’s film based on the classic horror story of the Headless Horseman.

I’ve never seen the Tim Burton film Sleepy Hollow. When it came it, it wasn’t something I was interested in and the many years since, I never went back to watch it. I know the basic Headless Horseman story, but this specific iteration, not so much. So, I went into Return to Sleepy Hollow #1 with a very basic idea but none of the specifics. And, while it’s entertaining, it also feels like the little I saw of Sleepy Hollow and left me with no interest.

Written by Casey Gilly, Return to Sleepy Hollow #1 has another murder taking place in Sleepy Hollow. It’s been 15 years since Ichabod’s original adventure and he’s been elsewhere debunking the supernatural while it seems attempting to forget the events of the film. He’s called back to investigate the murder under circumstances that might have more significance for those who have seen the film. With that, it’s an ok story that focuses on the strained relationship between Ichabod and Katrina. There’s some nice details about the roles of individuals during the time period and the dialogue feels like it fits for it as well.

The art by Savanna Mayer with color by Dearbhla Kelly, and lettering by Valeria Lopez is good. It’s an interesting style that delivers a tinge of horror without going over the top with it. The art dives into the aspect of what’s not shown is far scarier. The settings, dress, hair, all feel like they could be out of the time, though I’m not an expert.

There’s a stiffness to Return to Sleepy Hollow #1, a similar feeling I had from the little I’ve seen the film and the numerous trailers. With that stiffness, for me, it’s all rather slow. There’s nothing bad with that overall, it just doesn’t appeal to me as a reader, a personal thing than anything the creators have done. But, from reading it, I have a feeling those who really enjoy the original film will enjoy this.

Story: Casey Gilly Art: Savanna Mayer
Color: Dearbhla Kelly Letterer: Valeria Lopez
Story: 7.5 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.5 Recommendation: Read

IDW Publishing provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: Zeus Comics – Kindle

Creative Writing with Miss Mary Mac is a great graphic novel to get younger kids into writing

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Writing doesn’t have to be a chore! This graphic novel guide for aspiring writers will show you how to create your masterpiece.

Authors are artists! But instead of putting paint on a canvas, they put words on a page. Writing coach Mary McInerney (aka Miss Mary Mac) will show you how to use words to express yourself―and have fun doing it!

The writing exercises in this book aren’t what you’re used to! With Miss Mary Mac’s help, you can unlock your creativity, find inspiration all around you, and develop a voice that’s truly your own. When you use your imagination, writing is never boring. Follow the tips in this graphic novel guide and turn the page into your very own canvas.

Story: Mary McInerney
Art: Rivkah LaFille
Color: Jim Kettner

Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.

Bookshop
Amazon

First Second provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site

The Ephemerata: Shaping the Exquisite Nature of Grief is dour but hauntingly beautiful

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Drawing upon her own bereavement, renowned comics artist and writer Carol Tyler emerges from a decade long period of grief to create an allegorical masterpiece.

During collisions between life and death, estrangement and loss, Carol Tyler turned to her pen to face facts and extract meaning from the oddly sacred experience. Exploring realms metaphorical, half-imagined, and all-too-real, she explored previously uncharted emotional territory for herself and others, in a work that is both painfully intimate and philosophically rich.

An artistic advancement nearly forty years into Tyler’s comics-making career, The Ephemerata features Tyler’s most breathtaking picture making ever ― fine, dense brush lines complemented with occasional color washes or highlights ― and formally stunning cartooning. Combining art and text in multiple ways ― in the traditional comics panel grid, as words-and-illustration, as organically flowing images surrounded by floating text ― she depicts the inner monologue of a fallible human being grappling with questions of profound relevance. Tyler’s memoirist skills also rise to the fore, excavating and colliding scenes from her history, delineating with sensitive intuition ways in which the inevitability of grief is built into our lives and our loves. To struggle in the face of loss is a universal experience. To turn it into this compassionate, deep and beautiful book takes a true artist.

Story: Carol Tyler
Art: Carol Tyler

Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.

Bookshop
Amazon

Fantagraphics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site

Synthetics Volume One #1 delivers a bleak look at the future, commenting on today

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Synthetics Volume One #1

On a dying Earth filled with expanding dead zones, humans form rage gangs to vent their anger at futures lost or escape into the cyber-void to avoid thinking about what’s coming. Our only hope of survival rests with a new kind of human. Will their appearance in a desperate world be met with acceptance—or destruction? Are they angels, devils, or the latest iteration of a Frankenstein’s monster? Synthetics Volume One #1 is an intriguing sci-fi series that feels like it’s a reflection on issues technology has today.

Written by J. Michael Straczynski, Synthetics Volume One #1 is a bleak debut. Set far in the future, the world only has a decade left before humanity is gone. The comic teases the calamity but doesn’t dwell on the reality, as the “how” of it all doesn’t really impact the story. Instead, Straczynski focuses on what individuals do, especially the rich and powerful tech oligarchy, when faced with the situation.

Where Synthetics Volume One #1 really shines is the debate it has about the use of technology, especially new technology. The comic’s true center is on the ability to regrow human body parts. Arms, legs, organs, this is an ability that exists in this world. And, with the ability to grow so much, it isn’t a stretch to grow full human bodies. What are the ethical boundaries of that? Where do humans become and synthetic beings begin? How much of your body needs to be replaced? Add in the dealing of memories like it was a drug, and it’s an interesting combination of moral lines and how far those with power will cross it. If you invent it, they will abuse it seems to be the mantra Straczynski is going for.

Tony Parker provides the art with Carrie Strachan on color and Steve Dutro lettering. The art is interesting as it has a sense of being both futuristic but also a little worn down in a way as well. It’s an interesting design choice. What’s nice is it all feels lived in and while futuristic, still realistic and doesn’t distract with the wonders of the future. The look of Synthetics Volume One #1 teases a world with technology far beyond our own but at the same time it hasn’t really improved things. There’s this sadness about the world design, a drab, ominous tone about it all. It works and works really well to set the feel of the comic and the world.

Synthetics Volume One #1 is a solid debut that throws out some ethical debate while also pondering the end of it all. It’s a different apocalyptic disaster with humanity either resigned to what will happen or scrambling in an attempt to survive what’s to come. But, through it’s entertaining premise and concepts, it feels like it has something to say about our state of the world, the present and what we’re denying is our future.

Story: J. Michael Straczynski Art: Tony Parker
Color: Carrie Strachan Letterer: Steve Dutro
Story: 8.25 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.25 Recommendation: Buy

Dark Horse provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: Zeus Comics – Kindle

It Killed Everyone But Me #1 is some solid horror and setup for what’s to come

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In the summer of 1996, Sutton Reed had it all. A popular teenage girl with amazing friends, a loving family, and a bright future. But it all came crashing down over one mysterious weekend that saw her friends brutally murdered and left Sutton as the sole survivor of the legendary Riverton Massacre. Now, three decades later, the death and disappearance of two local teens strike the Riverton community again, forcing Sutton, now a divorced single mother, to face the truth she tried so desperately to hide. Because to catch one killer, she’ll have to dig up the real monster she buried away all those years ago.

Story: Ryan Parrott
Art: Letizia Cadonici
Color: Alessandro Santoro
Letterer: Taylor Esposito

Get your copy now! To find a comic shop near you, visit http://www.comicshoplocator.com or call 1-888-comicbook or digitally and online with the links below.

Zeus Comics
Kindle

This post contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links and make a purchase, we’ll receive a percentage of the sale. Graphic Policy does purchase items from this site. Making purchases through these links helps support the site

Supernatural #1 is a solid start to the Winchester Brothers’ new comic adventures

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Supernatural #1

Get ready to hit the road again with Dean and Sam as they prowl the highways and byways of small-town America in search of demonic wrongdoing to put right! Set between the foundational first and second seasons of the television series, brings readers back to where the dark magic first began — and reveals a disturbing new threat that the bickering brothers will have to face before they can return to hunting down the demon who killed their mother. Supernatural #1 is an easy, and fun, debut that new readers can dive fight in to.

The monster hunters must uncover the entity responsible for a series of mysterious fires in a decaying rust belt town — attacks that begin with a Windler Industries factory burning down, and then escalate to several Windler employees themselves going up in flames. But finding the malevolent force behind the otherworldly arsons may not be as straightforward as it might seem — especially once the suspiciously well-prepared CEO Steff Windler gets personally involved! Supernatural #1 is an issue that feels like a one-shot that lays out the ground for new readers as to who these characters are and what they can expect. Longtime fans, I couldn’t tell you what they’d think, I’ve never watched the show and know little about about.

I’ve never watched Supernatural, I just know it has die-hard fans but I really enjoyed Supernatural #1. It’s an easy comic to get into and understand what’s going on, mixed with an easy understanding of who these characters are and what you can expect. Writer Greg Pak does an excellent job of not only delivering an entertaining story, but more than enough information to get a sense of the background of the characters and the world. Pak weaves the knowledge you need to understand what’s going on and does so in a way that feels natural.

The story itself is fun and has a decent amount of action, feeling like an intro one-shot adventure to get readers hooked and caught up as to what’s happening. While I’m sure elements of the story will play out in the future, the comic doesn’t feel like it’s the start of some epic multi-issue story, and is instead self-contained and perfect to just pick up and enjoy.

Eber Messias‘ art is solid. From what I know of the actors, they look similar enough to know who is who but isn’t intended to be a perfect likeness. Thyago Brandao‘s color keeps things bright and nice to look at instead of some dour, dark, style for horror comics. Jeff Eckleberry‘s lettering delivers the easy to read charming dialogue along with some cool spells. Overall, the comic’s art style matches for the tone Pak is going for in the comic.

Supernatural #1 is a fun debut with a certain charm about it. While it doesn’t get me to want to go back and watch the television series it does make me want to continue to read the comics. It also makes it clear why it has such a solid fandom. The comic is fun and entertaining, perfect comic reading to distract and just lay back and enjoy.

Story: Greg Pak Art: Eber Messias
Color: Thyago Brandao Letterer: Jeff Eckleberry
Story: 8.0 Art: 8.0 Overall: 8.0 Recommendation: Buy

Dynamite Entertainment provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: Zeus Comics – Kindle

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