The Savage Sword of Conan #16
(W) Jim Zub
(A) Nicola Scott, Chris Campana, Scott Izaakse
B&W, 64pp, $6.99, On Sale September 16, 2026
Prepare for the launch of the new Conan mini-series, TIDES OF THE TYRANT-KING, with this special issue boasting three thrilling tales from legendary writer JIM ZUB.
Bolstered with an array of pin-ups and incredible covers from Joe Jusko and Nick Percival, THE SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN Issue #16 one is not one to be missed!
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
Fixation #1 (IDW Publishing) – Amy Chase and Savannah Mayer‘s Fixation is a chilling first chapter of metamodern horror where fandom goes very very wrong. The story centers around two super fans who are invited to the 10th anniversary of Blood Mountain, a book turned film series that seems very similar to the Twilight series with Vail standing in for Forks, Washington. The issue begins with a chilling murder and then introduces the cast of fans, actors, production assistants, and mysterious posters setting the scene for a fiction/reality blurring story. Chase and Mayer don’t just point and laugh at how “cringy” fandom is, but actually give the main characters time to show how Blood Mountain had an impact on their lives. They might take things too far, but they’re a lovable duo and I’m rooting for them. Some of the actors, not so much though. Overall: 7.7 Verdict: Buy
Inglorious X-Force #9 (Marvel) – In the penultimate issue of Inglorious X-Force, Tim Seeley, Michael Santa Maria, and Romulo Fajardo go for maximum action and soapiness with just a dash of humor. Domino has a hunch that Cable will assassinate future President Kamala Khan so she forms her own X-Force team to take it out. Seeley and Santa Maria have a lot of fun with the team dynamic although the main cast is more developed and likable. I do want to go back and read the based, hilarious pooch Pug-Smasher’s early appearances. If you like 90s comics with a smidgen more psychological depth and smoother storytelling techniques, then Inglorious X-Force continues to be a solid pickup especially as it builds to a full circle conclusion. Overall: 8.1 Verdict: Buy
Tank Girl: Blue Helmet #1 (Titan) – Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett take the piss out of the Beats in the full color, Tank Girl: Blue Helmet. Basically, Tank Girl, Booga, and Barney go (literally) on the road with thinly veiled Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, who end up being repulsed by all the sex, violence, farts, and other shenanigans. This strip is pure anarchy with Martin churning clever, yet sometimes long-winded zingers to match Hewlett’s wild and crazy pictures. My personal favorite bit is when it turns into a Hanna Barbera parody, which kind of, sort of foreshadows Jamie Hewlett’s co-creation of the Gorillaz. Anyways, the moral of the story is that college boys who read books just to get laid are pretty lame. Overall: 8.9 Verdict: Buy
Of the Earth #5 (Image Comics) – Of the Earth #5 is all blood, guts, and black oil from Andrew Ehrich, Chris Condon, and Charlie Adlard. The wildcatter is at his peak powers, and Tabby must find a way to extricate herself from the situation. Red and black are the colors of the day, and there’s lots of tight corners and suspense. Ehrich, Condon, and Adlard nicely bridge the gap between physical and psychological terror as the issue is really one big third act horror film set piece. This would have made a worthy series finale, but luckily there’s more! Overall: 8.7 Verdict: Buy
The things that go bump in the night fear only one thing, survivors. They grow in strength and conviction and now use their expertise to vanquish those very creatures with whips, magic, knives, and garlic?!
When the Belpaese siblings are tasked with clearing out monsters, Imelda Belpaese stumbles upon The Trickster. An ancient evil so horrific it leaves only destruction in its wake, and now it looks to destroy one thing, Imelda’s mind. The Trickster follows Imelda, wreaking havoc all around her but is invisible to everyone else. And with the rivalrous Ladonna family applying pressure and the Belpaese siblings’ constant quarrels, the Trickster may just be able to destroy everything precious to Imelda.
Vampire Survivors #1 brings the video game to the comic page for a debut that has some interesting aspects but overall doesn’t deliver much new or exciting. I’ve never played the video game and know nothing about it, but I wanted to see what the comic was about and see what it might do that could be new or different. Beyond the relationship between characters, this is any off the rails fantasy adventure. It’s DnD focused on the action and not much of the story.
Written by David Hazan, the comic follows three monster hunter siblings who are focused on getting rid of vampires. One seems to be stalked by some evil only she can see but most of the issue is the trio, as well as another pair of monster hunters, battling strange forces while yelling at each other. Vampire Survivors #1 stumbles as it gives readers little to connect to. It’s an off the rails adventure without character we can cheer for or care about. The end result is a debut issue whose draw is the action and not the story… like so many video games.
The art by Jimmy Kucaj with color by Jão Canola is good. There’s a certain energy about it and it has a style that feels like other recent comic adaptations, it’s bright and very exaggerated. But it also feels like it plays things rather safe. Like the story itself, it doesn’t embrace its video game routes and the visuals are rather a run of the mill fantasy adventure with little unique personality to stand out.
Vampire Survivors #1 isn’t a bad debut but it also isn’t exciting. It doesn’t give us anything particular new or interesting. It’s best quality is the bickering between its characters as siblings. But, that too feels rather generic after a while. This is one for the diehards of the property, there’s fare too many similar stories that are far better to check out.
Story: David Hazan Art: Jimmy Kucaj Color: Jão Canola
Story: 6.5 Art: 7.0 Overall: 6.5 Recommendation: Pass
Titan Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review
Purchase: Zeus Comics – Kindle
Vampire Survivors #1 (OF 4)
(W) David Hazan
(A) Jimmy Kucaj, Jão Canola
The hit gothic horror rogue-lite game takes a bite out of the comics world!
Written by David Hazan (Nottingham) and drawn by Jimmy Kucaj (Deck The Halls).
CONAN OF CIMMERIA believed that THULSA DOOM’s evil had been banished forever, but the Atlantean necromancer’s dark power stirs once more and, if it cannot be stopped, the dead shall overtake the living! The Tyrant-King of Atlantis returns and all shall suffer, unless Conan and his brave allies can turn back the tide!
From writer Jim Zub with art by Jesus Merino, Conan: Tides of the Tyrant-King #1 is out September 23, 2026.
Titan Comics and White Wolf have announced a BRAND-NEW comic book series, exploring a new world within the universe of one of the most iconic tabletop role playing games, Vampire: The Masquerade! Vampire: The Masquerade: Wake in Hate #1 hits comic shops on the November 11, 2026. This new 4-part comic series brings on board a stellar creative team featuring award-winning writer John Lees with art by Tom Mandrake.
When a city on edge becomes a feeding ground, one vampire is sent into the chaos to uncover what’s really hunting amidst the protests.
In the shadows of a city on fire, the bloody feed on every screen has spilled into the streets. Amidst the turmoil, whispers spread of bodies drained in the chaos, killings too precise to be human. When suspicion falls on vampires exploiting the unrest, the powers that be turn to Silky, enigmatic owner of The Dutchman bar, to uncover the truth.
Vampire: The Masquerade: Wake in Hate #1 hits comic stores on the November 11, 2026. The series will consist of 4 issues, followed by a graphic novel collection releasing in April 2027. It features covers by Andrea Sorrentino, Seth Adams, Tom Mandrake, and Andrea Olimpieri.
(W) DAVID HAZAN (A) JIMMY KUCAJ, JÃO CANOLA
FC, 32pp, $4.99, On Sale SEPTEMBER 9 2026
FOC: MONDAY AUGUST 17 2026
The things that go bump in the night fear only one thing, survivors. They grow in strength and conviction and now use their expertise to vanquish those very creatures with whips, magic, knives, and garlic?!
When the Belpaese siblings are tasked with clearing out monsters, Imelda Belpaese stumbles upon The Trickster. An ancient evil so horrific it leaves only destruction in its wake, and now it looks to destroy one thing, Imelda’s mind. The Trickster follows Imelda, wreaking havoc all around her but is invisible to everyone else. And with the rivalrous Ladonna family applying pressure and the Belpaese siblings’ constant quarrels, the Trickster may just be able to destroy everything precious to Imelda.
Blade Runner: Tokyo Nexus: Die With Honor #1 sees Alura show the Kalanthia traitor, who is head of the Cheshire bootleg Replicant program, photos of Stix and Mead, realizing they are still alive he panics and demands she kills them, Alura refuses until Uldren makes good on his promise of delivering bootleg Replicants as promised.
Later she summons Stix and introduces him to the ‘Borealis Team’ – a three Cheshire Replicant team who are all clones of the original Aurora Team who served with Stix on Kalanthia. He is ordered to lead them on a mission to hunt down and kill Madame Nomura.
Meanwhile, Mead, still believing that Stix is the killer of Sayo – Nomura’s daughter, steals his Cheshire ID card and breaks into Cheshire HQ in search of evidence and witnesses the brutal mass assassination of the Yakuza sub-bosses by a second Cheshire Replicant kill team lead by Lerna, who is linked to Alura via one of the two surviving Aurora Yokes.
Blade Runner: Tokyo Nexus: Die With Honor #1 from writer Nancy A. Collins and art by Mariano Taibo arrives November 4.
Set in a post-apocalyptic age of primitive industrialist technology and futuristic dark magic, Europe has been conquered by the tyrannical Granbretan empire led by King-Emperor Huon.
Dorian Hawkmoon faces a race against a ticking clock to gain control over the black jewel embedded in his head and his only hope comes in the form of a hermit mage in a distant land. It is up to the Duke and a few strange allies to thwart the cult’s twisted beliefs and find the mage to allow Dorian Hawkmoon to lead the fight against the Granbretan Empire.
Hawkmoon: The Mad God by Jérôme Le Gris, Benoît Dellac, and Luca Bulgheroni arrives in October.
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
Chachu #1 (Image) – Chachu #1 is a hell of a creator-owned comic debut from writer Iman Vellani. She, Marianna Ignazzi, and Jordie Bellaire turn into a gorgeous Hollywood neo noir starring a Pakistani-Canadian college student whose trip to find her missing, mysterious uncle opens a big ol’ can of worms. Vellani’s captions demonstrate her protagonist’s yearning for connection and a life bigger than the one she’s currently have while Ignazzi and Bellaire’s visuals reveal a world full of glory and double dealing. Chachu’s missing wife might be the most interesting character of all as the creative team easily subverts damsel in distress/dead wife cliches to give her the beginnings of an arc and one hell of personality. This is a comic that will fit nicely on the shelf with such Image noirs as The Good Asian and the Brubaker/Phillips collaborations. Overall: 8.2 Verdict: Buy
Mary Jane, Face It Tiger #1 (Marvel) – Mary Jane, Face It Tiger #1 is an eras spanning celebration of one of the most badass female characters in comic books and her evolution from love interest to superhero on her own right. The comic leads off with a story set in the aftermath of Chameleon impersonating Peter Parker and then getting his ass beat by Mary Jane. JM DeMatteis and Andrea Broccardo use the superhero metaphor to explore living in the aftermath of trauma and also remind us how great Peter and MJ were together. Also, yay, therapy! In the second story, Ann Nocenti and Alina Yerofieieva offer a glimpse at Mary Jane’s superhero future while she fights off the villainous Haze on a movie set. Nocenti’s MJ is whip smart and easily bests an evil mist and a sleazy director with ease. Yerofieieva’s nigh-90s artwork, but with better storytelling chops fits the tone of the story too. Up next, JMS and Luigi Zacaria go for full bittersweet as an aged Mary Jane reflects on her life with Peter and Spider-Man. It’s a reminder that JMS was a damn good Spidey writer when he wasn’t focusing on the totems or One More Daying. MJ Face It Tiger #1 wraps up with a present day story showing MJ standing up for herself and her fellow actor with the help of the Venom symbiote. Sadly, this story is a bit of a rerun of the Nocenti/Yerofieieva one, but Phil Noto’s art is always solid and I need MJ’s Venom bag. Overall: 7.8 Verdict: Buy
Tank Girl Summer Love Sensation (Titan) – Tank Girl Summer Love Sensation is a reprint of a 1990 full color Tank Girl serial by Alan Martin and Jamie Hewlett in the mighty Deadline Magazine. Nominally, the comic follows Tank Girl and Booga visiting her grandparents in rural England, but it transforms into a mayhem, nudity, dirty joke, and obscure UK pop culture reference-filled quest for the Fountain of Youth. This comic is dense is a good way ; there’s always some new reference or background gag to laugh at. Also, Hewlett’s different visual approaches keeps the book interesting, especially his use of mixed media and collage. This is a book that can go from glorious Romantic art homages to jokes about rival cartoonist’s pubic hair. It’s the perfect beach read for the cheeky ones out there. Overall: 9.9 Verdict: Buy
