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Mini Reviews For The Week Ending 2/25

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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.

Alex

deadpool_the_duck__3Deadpool The Duck #3 & #4 (Marvel) When I started reading this series, I expected not to like it. I’ve never been a huge Deadpool fan but because I am partial to Howard The Duck, I wanted to at least check out the first couple issues. After finishing the 4th issue a few minutes ago I realized that I’ve been thoroughly enjoying the charmingly violent chaotic story. It’s got some genuinely amusing moments, some of which likely unintentional (such as the “emotional” moments that feel a little shoehorned in), but overall it’s worth a read if this is your cup of tea – and you’ll know pretty quickly whether it is or not. Overall: 7.75 Recommendation: Read

Hulk #3 (Marvel) The unfortunate thing about this comic is that it wasn’t as good as the first two issues. It’s still be enjoyable, but it’s not as memorable as the first issue. Overall: 7 Recommendation: Read

Solo #5 (Marvel) It’s hard to explain why I like this as much as I do. Solo is a  freelance operative  currently on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s payroll who is trying to stop a fairly extensive black market weapons ring. The series has been as deep as a puddle with a what-you-see-is-what-you-get mentality that’s actually worked very well for the previous four issues, and continues to do so here. There’s nothing inherently wrong with the series, but if you’re after anything more than an easy to read fun action comic then you’ll be left wanting. Overall: 7 Recommendation: Read

Patrick

Stray Bullets #21 (Image/El Capitan) – One of the things I love about this series is that every issue kind of has its own music. In this chapter, it stays quiet and reserved for a long time. And then all of a sudden its gets really loud really fast. I’m amazed at David Lapham’s ability to keep up this kind of quality over the nearly 600 pages so far of Sunshine & Roses. Also, as a testament to his skill: daughter Beth dresses as her mother
curse-words-2-2nd-printingAnnie and looks identical in every respect but body language, which even on the page totally gives her away. That’s an artist who’s all about characters. Respect. Overall: 8.5 Recommendation: Page 563 might not be the time to jump on board. But this will be a hell of a read in trade.

Curse Words #2 (Image) – So here’s the premise as I understand it: powerful wizard Wizord gets sent to destroy Earth, but winds up digging it instead and decides to become its champion and save it from his now-former wizard bosses. This could be a superfun, really charming comic: Ryan Browne draws the hell out of it and the colors (courtesy Michael Garland with Ryan Browne and Michael Parkinson) pop like candy. But Charles Soule’s writing is a tad generic and the mix of farce and drama just dilutes what could have been an absolute romp through what would an interdimensional wizard love about New York City? Overall: 7 Recommendation: Take a look, this might be your thing.

Shaft: Imitation of Life TPB (Dynamite) – I’m a child of the 70s, so the New York City of my imagination remains that of the Deuce and any number of exploitation movies. David F. Walker and Dietrich Smith do a pretty good job with going back to John Shaft’s world, though for my money the art and story both could have been a lot rougher around the edges, faster and looser and with more swagger and style. I wonder if, by having nothing to really prove and dealing with a known property, the stakes are lowered too much. Where the film has a constant rage and fire underneath the surface, this is more of a slick, professional production. I don’t know if that serves the character best. Overall: 7 Recommendation: Take a look.

Descender #19 (Image) – All we are left with at this point is Jeff Lemire moving the plot forward without raising the stakes much. Dustin Nguyen’s art is gorgeous as usual. Overall: 7 Recommendation: Skip

The Manara Library vol.1: Indian Summer and Other Stories (Dark Horse) – Milo Manara’s main claim to fame is his erotica – a claim to fame which is subverted here in two Westerns. The first, Indian Summer, is a collaboration with Hugo Pratt of Corto Maltese fame – bringing to the fore Pratt’s love of American adventure fictiron and meticulous research. The second, Paper Man, is a Manara solo. In both cases, we are given an absolute feast for the eyes: an Old West that is firmly grounded in its natural wilderness, lush and free. Populated by Native American tribes struggling to understand the new European settlers and settlers trying to make the land their own, the sensibilities are distinctly Italian here: privileging fools and lovers over law and order, Pratt and Manara weave a spell that is utterly magical while adhering firmly to both human nature and the American fictions that inspired them both. The late Kim Thompson’s translation is perfect. Magnificent. Overall: 9.5 Recommendation: Buy.

Ryan C

blackroad_07-1Justice League Of America #1 (DC)** – I’ve heard it said that even the worst comic you’ve ever read took more work to get into your hands than you can possibly imagine. Steve Orlando and Ivan Reis must have worked really hard on this one. Overall: 0. Recommendation: Pass

Frostbite #6 (DC/Vertigo)** – A surprisingly quick, but nevertheless effective, concluding segment from Joshua Williamson and Jason Shawn Alexander for their dystopian sci-fi six-parter, but I do have to wonder why they pulled a cliffhanger ending out of their ass when you know already that, given this title’s low sales, a sequel is never gonna happen. In fairness, though, it doesn’t feel at all out of place. Overall: 7 Recommendation: Read

The Belfry #1 (Image)** – An interesting and gorgeously-illustrated horror one-shot from Gabriel Hardman that, dare I say it, is probably the best “Batman” book of the year so far. If you didn’t get that joke, definitely check out the comic! Granted, it takes all of about two minutes to read, but those are two enjoyable minutes, and you’ll go back and ogle the artwork on this one over and over again. Overall: 8 Recommendation: Buy.

Black Road #7 (Image)** – Brian Wood and Garry Brown’s small-scale Norse epic never seems to get anything like the attention it deserves, perhaps due to the fact that Wood’s been down this road before. But as far as I’m concerned, a good comic is still a good comic, and as the mystery surrounding the actions of the would-be “Breakaway Pope” and his growing horde of cultists continues to deepen, this is proving to be a very good comic, indeed. Overall: 8 Recommendation: Buy

Shean

Elektra #1 (Marvel) – Elektra has always been the type of character which can only be great when done with the right creative team. This just so happened to be one of those times. We catch up with Elektra shortly after leaving NY as she is hunting for a criminal mastermind in Las Vegas. By issue’s end, she proves to be more than they expect which leads her into a “Running Man” situation. Overall:9.1

 

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 (**).

Webcomics Weekly: Kid Carvers

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Welcome to Graphic Policy’s spotlight on webcomics, where we take a look at one of the many comics available online every Sunday: Webcomics Weekly (but don’t be fooled by the “weekly” part of the title; the feature may happen more or less frequently than that). We’re defining webcomics as any comics published online for free consumption by the general public that doesn’t require a  subscription service.

This week we’re taking a look at Kid Carvers. The strip is created by Jason Reeves, who was kind enough to answer a few questions for us about the webcomic below.

Graphic Policy: In a nutshell, can you tell us what the strip’s about?

Jason Reeves: Sure. Kid Carvers is about twins; Marley and Charley Carver, who also happen to both be kid geniuses. The setting is New Orleans, LA. The twins’ stomping ground/base of operation is their grandmother, ‘Moonie’s backyard, where she takes care of them after school. Marley is a cross between Quvenzhané Wallis’ Annie and a mad scientist, and if you put Doc Brown’s brain into Marty Mcfly, with old Kanye’s fashion sense, you get Charley.

They have a bit of a time dodging bullies in school and outsmarting their teachers, but in their spare time they investigate strange occurrences & mysteries only their brilliance can solve.

GP: How often do you update?

JR: Every Wedenesday.

GP: How long have you been producing the strip?

JR: We’ve been posting since January 3, 2017. So we’re only a few weeks in. We’re very new.

GP: Where did the idea for the strip come from?

JR: Having done a few more comic conventions in the past couple years, we saw that there were few if any all-ages books that the kids could take home with them. As much as we love our sort of rated ‘teen’ comics, looking at all those little eyes peering over the table con after con and having to tell their parents that maybe this book or that was a little too old for them, was a problem for us. So we set out to fill that need as we saw it and Kid Carvers was born.

We (Alverne, Kemi, Joe, Brandi, & I) really loved the optics of shows like Doc McStuffins, the Boondocks, comics like Tuskegee Heirs, and webcomics like Bounce, so we set out to create, inspired by content with an animated feel. 

We also wanted to conjure the idea of Black inventors, many that may be the unsung but brilliant minds of our past. Who better to represent the idea than George Washington Carver. I’m a big fan of the inventive mindset, a mind not just willing to rest on convention, but step outside of it to find more optimal methods, and in turn creating new more efficient conventions. Carver was all about that, creating alternative means of production for poor farmers to compete, and even thrive with the resources (peanuts,….) already available to them. That spirit of overcoming is definitely something I wanted to infuse into the twins.

We plan to shine a spotlight on Black inventors, engineers, and scientists who would be the twins’ heroes. Expect to hear mentions of some you’ve heard of and some you haven’t.

Our model is one more creators have started to embrace in recent years, presenting the content as a webcomic and also collecting the pages into print copies. It gives readers their choice of how they’d like to consume the content. If they’d like to support monetarily they can do so, but anyone can enjoy Kid Carvers free of charge, I think its the win win.

You can read Kid Carvers: Engineers of the Impossible every Wedenesday at: http://kidcarvers.com/

Or you can get Kid Carvers: and the Backyard Bike Bandits for purchase at: http://www.133art.com/

Why it’s awesome: Oh man… I don’t honestly think I can say anything more than what’s already been said. Y’all need to check this out yesterday.

Below you’ll find some examples of the webcomic in no particular order..

Kid Carvers Poster v2.jpgKid Carvers pg1 [small].jpgwebcomic pg12.jpgKC advert4.jpg

If you’d like to have your webcomic featured here, then drop us an email.

Review: Justice League of America #1

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justice-league-of-america-1This start up issue of the new JLA line-up is a nice beginning to what I’m sure will be one bad ass arc! There’s a Killer Frost upgrade, a brooding Batman, Vixen looking fierce AF and, a well-written story. We even get to see a little bit of fun being poked at Batman’s historical inability to get along with the JLA for the long haul. I’m excited to see where the story goes with Frost, villain backstory & Suicide Squad history aside, being added to the mix.

Steve Orlando sets the story up in multiple locations so the reader gets to see all of the JLA out and about on life-saving missions. Killer Frost, or Frost as she prefers to be called now, is working on upgrading the sanctuary’s generator with Atom, who like most of us will take some time getting used to her dropping the Killer. Things get hella real when Lord Havok shows up on Earth with his crew, collective known as The Extremists, who are ready to take away Earth’s freedom and restore “order” to our chaotic planet.

Orlando changes up the game for the usually boring JLA and has Batman, of all people, concerned about creating a JLA that is relatable to humans. The characters seem to be more kick ass and have more agency than in previous incarnations of the league. Orlando has created a league that I actually care about and, doesn’t seem as goody goody or bland as the League’s previous versions. He also creates formidable foes and the addition of a former Suicide Squad bad girl adds not only crossover potential between the two groups but, a bit of tension that keeps the reader on their toes.

Ivan Reis is an amazing artist and the details that he provided as the base for the colors added is amazing. There is real emotion and passion in his work and it add another dimension to an already brilliant story.

I found this starter issue to be a great jump off point for the series. I’m a big fan of the Atom / Frost colleague pairing since both are newbies to the JLA they both want to prove they deserve to be there, for very different reasons. Frost is more fleshed out as a character and there’s an element of will she or won’t she return to her old ways that makes her presence always exciting. Orlando seems to have put the characters goals, emotions and, needs on the page in a way that makes them compelling and real. There’s a sense that a lot of politically correlating story lines can come from this arc and series as a whole, that in ways will parallel the current political climate. Orlando’s storytelling skills seem more than ready to tackle whatever turn this current arc will take and I’m excited to tune in for his action-packed stories that couple perfectly with Reis’s killer modern comic realist art style.

Story: Chris Orlando Art: Ivan Reis
Story: 9.1 Art: 9.0 Overall: 9.0 Recommendation: Buy

DC Comics provided Graphic Policy with a free copy for review

Unboxing: Loot Crate’s February 2017 Box “Build”

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Loot Crate‘s February 2017 release has arrived and here’s what you can find inside. The theme for this month is “Build” so check out what’s inside including items from Batman, LEGO, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, and Tetris.

There’s a decent amount of items in the box and some cool properties, but how do they stack up?! Find out!

You can get your Loot Crate here!

 

 

Loot Crate provided a FREE box 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.

Game Review: Pokemon Sun & Moon

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pokemon-sun-moon-trailer-gameplayGame reviews aren’t something I’ve taken the opportunity to venture on with Graphic Policy, but I do consider myself a gamer in every sense of the word. In 2016 the Pokémon Franchise celebrated a remarkable 20 Twenty Year milestone, and I am happy that my first game review is an opportunity to chime in that celebration. Pokémon’s latest installment Sun & Moon is marked with sustained freshness, polished gameplay, and fresh mechanics, that have frequently changed the strategic dynamic. I.e. mega evolutions, z-crystal moves, regional variants.

With its rich lore, with intergenerational ties, and more recently multiversal implications/migration, the seventh generation brings a level of “meta” to the game that we haven’t seen since Generation 1’s glitch Pokémon Missingno. which unintentionally pierced the veil between fantasy and reality. With Pokémon Sun & Moon and the recent OR/AS  it is now canonically established that individual game versions and former generations are self-contained worlds/dimensions, which now experience intergenerational migration (both Pokémon and People) as of Generation VII. I noticed this when discovering the presence of a  version exclusive pokémon,(Restricted to my version) near a monument that seemingly allows travel to another “universe” Upon reflection this made sense as what is called the “Ultra Wormholes” in this game was explicitly referred to as a “Link Cable” in Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire. It’s these little touches that really shows how layered the franchise has become and makes me appreciate it more, doubly so when such elements aren’t heavily announced and left for the player to discover.

Gen VII’s offering seem to me, to be as a truce between the so called “Gen Oners” and more recent fans to the franchise.The regional variants offer a fresh new take on many beloved gen one favourites. This was a welcome compromise with respect to not adding as many new creatures comparable to prior generations. All of this praise aside, there are some critiques that I have, but they are nitpicks at best and borne from my deep love for the game.

Critique 1 – The current game’s lack of a national pokedex. It has been a  growing fear of mine that the meta-quest of “Catching them all” has become a Sisyphean task and may be de-emphasized or pushed to the wayside entirely eventually. This fear was confirmed to some degree with the lack of a national dex, omitting the full pokedex listing of every pokémon in the series. Where this may come as some relief to some, to me it somewhat betrays the core goal and mantra of the series “gotta catch them all”

Critique 2 – “Too little water!” If ORAS committed the infamously parodied sin of Too Much Water (sorry IGN). I argue that the Alola Region commits the sin of too little of it. The choice to overhaul and remove the HM system is a double edge sword. On one hand It frees up your pokémon move repertoire choices, and eliminates the need for “HM slaves “but it also restricts your exploration. Having just experienced the immersive freedom of the Hoenn remakes where you can surf, dive and travel up waterfalls. Alola by contrast feels a bit limited. Especially so considering its beautiful environments and vistas that just beckon at you to be explored intimately.

All this said, Gen VII is still a strong offering to a franchise that is not going anywhere soon. The creature designs of the current generation are also a marked improvement from what we’ve seen in recent installments.  My personal favourites are the Rockruff and Stufful evolutionary lines . This is a good sign letting us know that the game creators are listening to the fans.

7 generations and 20 years strong  The sky is the limit for the franchise and it looks as though that is where it is indeed heading.  There have been rumours that we will see a third version of this generation titled “Pokemon Stars” as a launch title for the upcoming Nintendo Switch. (to be honest I think the title “Eclipse” would have made much more sense)  with all of the cosmic/interdimensional themes, that have been popping up in the franchise lately this makes sense.

Final Thoughts

I Really love the Lovecraftian designs of the Ultra Beasts

Game Freak really missed out on an opportunity and should have revealed Missingno as an Ultrabeast. It would have connected Gen VII organically to the events of Gen 1 in a way that fits with the current mythos magnificently.

Review: Elektra #1

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elektra__1Matt Owens starts off this reboot, or continuation, of the Elektra story by giving us an escapist vibe. Elektra is trying to sort herself out and figure out her next move, she chooses Las Vegas as the jump off point for her adventure/awakening. While there she goes after a woman beating rapist and sets herself up to possibly be used in a very dangerous game.

Owens provides a bit of girl power and sisterhood by having another woman, Elektra, come to the aid of a woman whose attack she catches on the tail end of her assault. Outside of a short bar scene, a bathroom scene and, her retaliation against the misogynistic scum bags running the casino, there isn’t much Elektra in this issue. I get that the first issue is supposed to set up the story but, the story seems to be more about the foul-mouthed bad guys than Elektra.

Juann Cabal serves up some pretty sleek artwork. It’s halfway between manga and old school Marvel. It’s sleek,y et dark and Archer-esque while being well linked and detailed. The fight scenes and the Elektra reveal are drawn extremely modern giving the readers a visual upgrade to add tone to the action.

Overall I found this issue interesting as a story but, not as an Elektra comic. The title character appears on less than half of the pages which I haven’t seen happen in any other comic book. Getting past the lack of Elektra, I can say that the story was realistic to a degree and gave us a nice little cameo in the end. Elektra’s retreat is ruined by having to be the bad ass ninja assassin that she provides a nice parallel to the abused bartender part of the story.

There’s a lot of trapped women going on and, not only does Elektra use the male abusers communication method of violence against them but, she turns it up a notch. We get a woman as an avenging angel with her own goals and agenda. I’m curious how it will turn out when she’s put in the inevitable situation of being used by men as an object of violence. I’m hoping that they keep up with the girl power vibe that Elektra embodies and don’t cop out, create a type of comic book torture porn or, remove her agency like she was removed from most of the pages.

As a stand alone issue this is a good kick off point for a story and worth having a look at. Unfortunately, I would have liked to have seen more Elektra.

Story: Matt Owens Art: Juann Cabal
Story: 7.8 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.0 Recommendation: Read

Marvel provided Graphic Policy with a free copy for review

Review: The Wicked Righteous #1

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wicked righteous 1 cover.PNGIt’s been two years since a biological attack decimated the world’s population. Lucas Goodspeed and his brothers have spent that time preparing to escape the dangers of San Diego, CA. When a beautiful girl named JC is abducted their plans appear to be in jeopardy. The Brothers must now choose how far they’re willing to go to save a life… even if it means endangering one of their own.

When it comes to post-apocalyptic stories, there’s usually one of two things that has caused the apocalypse – war or disease. In the case of The Wicked Righteous it’s a disease that we don’t really know a whole lot about just yet, other than for as-yet-unexplained reasons it didn’t infect everyone. Terry Mayo uses the opening of the comic to establish the world of The Wicked Righteous as the mystery disease is already rampant infecting some and ignoring others; although we don’t find out how or why, the cause of the plague doesn’t really matter at this point because that’s not the focus of the story.

The comic itself is an almost by the numbers take on establishing a story in the post-apocalyptic landscape, although contrary to what you may be thinking, that’s not actually a bad thing as you’re able to focus more on the characters than the setting of the story. It’s always the characters, and their relationships, that make any good post-apocalyptic tale, and The Wicked Righteous has the potential for us to explore some very interesting angles of character development – and that’s why the formulaic backdrop upon which the story is set works so well.

At the end of the day, this is a very solid first issue and is well worth your time if you’re looking for a fresh take on a familiar setting.

 Story: Terry Mayo Art: Lucas Romero Colours: Christopher Hall
Story: 7.0 Art: 7.0 Overall: 7.0 Recommendation: Read

Graphic Policy was provided with a FREE copy for review

Review: Upgrade Soul: The Complete Collection

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screenshot2016-09-26at3-15-56pmThe world has always been obsessed with the “fountain of youth”, and as technology improves one can only believe it is a matter of time before we can stop or eve reverse it. Popular culture and science fiction have explored it in various incarnations. One of the most interesting versions of this, was the recent “Age of Adaline”, which speaks off the struggles of getting old without your body showing the visible ravages of time. Then there is the reverse version of fountain of youth, like in “Big”, where he gets to find out how it is to be older while still possessing the mind and spirit of an adolescent. One of my personal favorites is the Black Mirror episode of “San Junipero”, which technically doesn’t age them, but lets the main characters live a younger version of themselves.

The movies I remember from my youth are the “Cocoon” movies, which dealt with senior citizens being rejuvenated by aliens. Not since those movies, have senior citizens and their adventures with the fountain of youth not so much been revisited since then. That is until I had the good fortune about finding out about Upgrade Soul, which just so happened to have won the Dwayne McDuffie Award for Diversity at the Long Beach Comic Expo. The description alone was more than worth the look:

UPGRADE SOUL is the story of an elderly couple who become the guinea pigs of a visionary procedure that aims to revivify them by filtering toxins from their bodies on a molecular level. When the procedure experiences a fatal complication, the couple is faced with severely disfigured, though intellectually superior duplicates of themselves. Soon, it becomes clear that only one version of each individual can survive, and the psychological battle for dominance begins.” From the first panel, the story immerses you into the world of Molly and Hank.

When they are told about this experiential procedure, they are more than hopeful for the positive gains it would bring such as living up to 200 years and really didn’t consider the possible negative residual effects. The story flips between before the procedure and after the procedure, as to follow a non-linear way of telling the story but even more compelling. As we meet the other couple who have gone through the procedure, the reader gets challenged with traditional beauty standards, what their idea of it is and what they consider inner beauty. By the end of the book, our main characters’ intellect and senses get heightened and much like “Lucy “and “Limitless”, they have truly become better versions of themselves.

This book, much like one of my favorite movies, and maybe because they remind me of family members makes you fall in love with the characters, just like “Bubba Hotep.” The sequential art feels like portraits at times and really makes the reader feel at home. The story is smart and more immersive than most fountain of youth stories, it gives you feels at the most unexpected moments. Overall, a powerhouse book that feeds the mind as much as it rejuvenates the spirit.

Story: Ezra Claytan Daniels Art: Ezra Claytan Daniels
Story: 10 Art:10 Overall: 10 Recommendation: Buy

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