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.

These are Graphic Policy’s Mini Reviews.

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Logan

House of X #1 (Marvel) Jonathan Hickman’s back at Marvel with big ideas cobbled together from the Grant Morrison, Fraction/Gillen, and even some of Mark Millar’s Ultimate X-Men and Alan Davis’ work at the end of the 1990s. But his biggest influence seems to be the nation of Israel circa 1948, which makes it even more intriguing that Holocaust survivor, Magneto, gets the lion’s share of the action and speech-ifying. In House of X #1, Hickman and artists Pepe Larraz and Marte Gracia have created a wide-ranging sandbox of concepts and organizations that have the potential to revitalize the X-Men line of comics. The mutant vs human struggle isn’t (For the most part.) through the usual fisticuffs, but through espionage, diplomacy, corporate restructuring, and yes, the problem of our age: healthcare. House of X #1 did its job in hooking me into sampling more of Hickman and company’s world. It even had some excellent grace notes like Hickman’s design pages that filled out backstory and exposition in a visually interesting way, and his writing of Cyclops as an ultracompetent, unapologetic badass. The panel composition where he stares down Reed Richards will be stuck in my mind for a bit and is, in a sense, Hickman throwing down the gauntlet at of his old characters/runs. Overall: 9 Verdict: Buy

Dark Red #5 (Aftershock) Dark Red #5 marks the end of Tim Seeley and Corin Howell’s first arc in their vampire epic meets satire of states that vote red, wear red MAGA hats, and yes, bleed red in a gory, action-packed issue. Throughout the storyline, Seeley and Howell have done a fantastic job of fleshing out the backstory of protagonist, Chip Ipswich, a WWII veteran turned kinda good guy vampire/convenience worker. He gets to give a big speech to a bunch of Nazi redneck vampires about how their leader, like Hitler, saw them as cannon fodder to create a new world order and used their white supremacy and insecurities to gain power and cause havoc. And then Howell illustrates a fun one page spread of him biting, wounding, and killing various Nazi vampires. Where the story struggles is its structure as Seeley sets up a romance between Chip and a Native American woman named Evie, who becomes a vampire in the issue, but then he immediately separates them after their big moment. The next arc will focus on her in Chicago and Chip in the small town, and honestly, Chip’s letters have less emotional resonance than the touches and glances they share thanks to Howell’s art. But it’s nice to see a story where a character actually tries to change their rural, hateful settings instead of running away so kudos for that. Overall: 8.3 Verdict: Buy

Joe Ryan

House of X #1 (Marvel) – Wow. What a first issue. Hickman on story, Larraz on art and Marte Garcia on colors give me everything I wanted on this book and so much more. I have been a massive X-Men since I began reading comics, and while this is very different, it is very good. Hickman is a master at high level event stories and setting up all kinds of dimension and time threads while keeping the overall plot moving forward. His Avengers run, FF, and Secret Wars are some of my favorite modern Marvel stories. This is a heck of a first issue. Overall: 9.5 Recommendation: Buy

History of the Marvel Universe #1 (Marvel) – I think Waid did a great job the story (which is really a Marvel history lesson). Rodriguez and Lopez also did a fantastic job showing all of the characters Marvel has had over the years. This is a fantastic book for any new or old Marvel fan. It is a lot of fun to go through and see all of the characters and depth this universe has. At times I felt like I was looking at some of Kirby’s own work with the art, and that made me smile. Overall: 8.0 Recommendation: Buy

Valkyrie #1 (Marvel) – I was excited when I saw Ewing and Arron were writing this book together. I really enjoyed Jane Foster’s run as Thor and love what Aaron does on the book and Ewing on most of his work. I thought the issue was a solid first issue, but I wanted a bit more from it. I do think they felt the need to summarize some things for new readers, so I think that took away from some of the story that we get by the end. The set up was solid and I am excited to see what happens going forward. The art by Cafu and Aburtov was great with bright colors and great panel work. Overall: 7.0 Recommendation: Buy

Guardians of the Galaxy #7 (Marvel) – Donny Cates loves to torture his characters. There were parts of this issue that made me uncomfortable, and at multiple moments I thought he was going to do some shocking things (even for him). I won’t spoil if he did or didn’t do those things. The art by Cory Smith and colors by David Curiel did a great job showing the action and big set piece moments. There are times when this comic felt like a horror title, and for that, I really enjoyed it. Overall: 8.5 Recommendation: Buy

Batman: Curse of the White Knight #1 (DC) – I really enjoyed the first run of the White Knight elseworlds tale by Sean Murphy, and this issue only made me enjoy it even more. You should get the first White Knight book in trade so you know what happened, or at least get a summary online, because going into this will confuse you. The art is fantastic, and the story is mostly different enough from the same old Batman/Joker dynamic we’ve seen for ages. I love the ending and the set up to what is to come should be crazy and fun. Overall: 9.0 Recommendation: Buy

Shean

Sword Master #1 (Marvel) – In what I see as a lead up to Shang Chi’s big screen reveal, we meet a character that is part of his universe. We meet Lin Lie whose father and brother has gone missing thanks to a gang of grave robbers. As he seeks the truth from them, he uncovers even more mysteries connected to their disappearance. By issue’s end, Shang Chi makes his entrance, looking for the sword and so does an unlikely and powerful threat. Overall: 9.6 Recommendation: Buy

Valkyrie Jane Foster #1 (Marvel) – In a rather introspective debut issue, we fet a conflicted titular hero. As she stops a gang of supervillains, one of them dies by mysterious causes. Meanwhile, at her day job, it seems as though her focus is split,leaving her supervisor and coworkers to doubt in her abilities. By issue’s end, in a quest for answers, she goes back to the Asgardian Halls of the Dead, where a powerless villain who has somehow wielded magic is behind all the chaos. Overall: 9 Recommendation: Buy

Age of Conan: Belit #5 (Marvel) – In what is a spectacular finale, we finally get a hero that can stand toe to toe with Conan, as we find a woman hell bent on conquering the world by sea and invasion. As this issue feels like they kept the best for lastas compared to the rest of the series, this is the level they should have been operating thr whole time. I can’t quite recommend the series on this issue alone but if you want a strong narrative, this is it. By issue’s and series end, the reader will gladly follow Belit anywhere she leads. Overall: 9 Recommendation: Borrow

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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 (**).