Tag Archives: flux house

Hairball #1 is an unsettling start to the series

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Hairball #1

I generally didn’t have pets growing up. There was a tortoise and some fish, but beyond that it wasn’t until college where I lived for a long time with an animal that could do whatever it wanted. Since, there’s been some small stints with cats, who liked me far more than I liked them. In recent years, I’ve thought about bringing a cat into our family, maybe one of the strays that wander our yard. After reading Hairball #1, I’m rethinking that.

 The story focuses on a very dysfunctional family. A young adopted girl must witness her new parents fight and marriage meltdown as a new cat acts rather mysteriously. Is this “beast” behind all of the troubles? The parents fighting? The girl’s sickness?

Written by Matt Kindt, the comic is creepy in so many ways. Simple acts are turned into moments of horror and dread as they slowly spread and infect the story. And while Kindt delivers slowly building horror, the real horror is the parents themselves.

An abusive father. A mother who might be an alcoholic and also abusive. Finances melting away. It’s all moments that are very human and grounded that makes the comic’s true scares the family dynamic itself. Nothing is healthy in any way when it comes to anyone in the comic.

All of the ominous dark clouds that hover through the comic are enhanced by Tyler Jenkins‘ art. With beautifully haunted colors by Hilary Jenkins and lettering by Tyler, the comic has a look that feels both grounded and supernatural. But, like the dynamic of the parents, the details of the visuals really stand out. A frayed wire, an electronic being knocked off a shelf near a bath, it all comes together to add small amounts of dread as you expect things to spiral further into horror.

Hairball #1 is an interesting comic. It leaves you pondering which is scarier, whatever the cat is up to or the adults? It perfectly delivers a haunting dark cloud hanging over the issue, building a vibe that’s unsettling. There may be a cute cat on the cover, but what’s inside is anything but.

Story: Matt Kindt Art: Tyler Jenkins
Color: Hilary Jenkins Letterer: Tyler Jenkins
Story: 8.5 Art: 8.5 Overall: 8.5 Recommendation: Buy

Dark Horse provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: Zeus Comics – comiXology/Kindle

Graphic Policy’s Top Comic Picks this Week!

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Hairball #1

Wednesdays (and Tuesdays) are new comic book day! Each week hundreds of comics are released, and that can be pretty daunting to go over and choose what to buy. That’s where we come in

Each week our contributors choose what they can’t wait to read this week or just sounds interesting. In other words, this is what we’re looking forward to and think you should be taking a look at!

Find out what folks think below, and what comics you should be looking out for this week.

Adventures of Superman: Jon Kent #2 (DC Comics) – The first issue was a bit slow but we want to see Jon deal with some of the worst versions of Superman out there.

Disney Villains: Scar #1 (Dynamite Entertainment) – The Lion King villain gets the spotlight. So far, Dynamite’s “Disney comics” have been pretty solid.

Hairball #1 (Dark Horse Comics/Flux House) – Matt Kindt and Tyler Jenkins do horror. Yeah, this is on the list easily.

Junk Rabbit #1 (Image Comics) – A new hero rises from mountains of consumer waste, mass homelessness, and devastating climate change. A hero rises from climate disaster. We’re intrigued.

Magic #25 (BOOM! Studios) – The series wraps up here and we’re not sure how it pulls it all off in an issue.

The Nasty #1 (Vault Comics) – A story about the perception of evil, the power of genre, the love of fandom, the need to create art, oh, and crap-your-pants TERROR! A new horror comic? There’s been a solid run of new releases so far.

Planet of the Apes #1 (Marvel) – We’re excited to see what this new era of this classic franchise brings.

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine – Dog of War #1 (IDW Publishing) – A “lost episode where Quark purchases an extremely rare purebred corgi from Earth.

Samurai Doggy #5 (AfterShock) – The art has been amazing with every issue in this western meets sci-fi.

Second Coming: Trinity #1 (AHOY Comics) – Jesus Christ, the Son of God, tackles his biggest challenge in 2000 years: babysitting a child with super powers! That bit alone has us hooked.

Where Monsters Lie #3 (Dark Horse) – The series about what happens in a community where serial killers spend their time off has been amazing so far.

Preview: Spy Superb #1 (of 3)

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Spy Superb #1 (of 3)

(W) Matt Kindt (A/CA) Matt Kindt
From New York Times bestselling and Harvey award-winning graphic novelist Matt Kindt comes the latest Flux House humorous espionage adventure.

It’s John Wick meets Wes Anderson in this mystery-thriller about a secret organization that’s developed the perfect spy. Who is the perfect spy? A spy who doesn’t even realize they are a spy. AKA the “useful idiot.” This particular useful idiot is named Jay. Jay is sent on missions without even realizing he’s on a mission. Until he picks up the wrong phone with the wrong secret intel and now Russian hit-squads and elite assassins are after him. But Jay believes he was a sleeper agent-and really is the “spy superb”. His complete obliviousness and lack of survival skills may be the only thing that saves him in this globe-trotting espionage tale . . . where nothing is what it seems . . . but also . . . kind of actually is what it seems.

Spy Superb #1 (of 3)

Preview: Spy Superb #1 (of 3)

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Spy Superb #1 (of 3)

(W) Matt Kindt (A/CA) Matt Kindt
From New York Times bestselling and Harvey award-winning graphic novelist Matt Kindt comes the latest Flux House humorous espionage adventure.

It’s John Wick meets Wes Anderson in this mystery-thriller about a secret organization that’s developed the perfect spy. Who is the perfect spy? A spy who doesn’t even realize they are a spy. AKA the “useful idiot.” This particular useful idiot is named Jay. Jay is sent on missions without even realizing he’s on a mission. Until he picks up the wrong phone with the wrong secret intel and now Russian hit-squads and elite assassins are after him. But Jay believes he was a sleeper agent-and really is the “spy superb”. His complete obliviousness and lack of survival skills may be the only thing that saves him in this globe-trotting espionage tale . . . where nothing is what it seems . . . but also . . . kind of actually is what it seems.

Spy Superb #1 (of 3)

Flux House and Dark Horse cough up a Hairball with Matt Kindt, Tyler Jenkins, and Hilary Jenkins

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Timed to National Cat Lover’s Month, Flux House and Dark Horse Comics have announced Hairball by bestselling writer Matt Kindt and artist Tyler Jenkins with colors by Hilary Jenkins. In this supernatural thriller from the Eisner-nominated creators of Fear Case and Apache Delivery Service, a dysfunctional family’s mounting problems may or may not be caused by an unlikely culprit: the family’s cat. This frightening, four-part mini-series is Matt Kindt’s latest series with frequent collaborators Tyler Jenkins and Hilary Jenkins.

In Hairball, a young girl named Anna begins to suspect that her black cat is behind all her troubles: her parents’ fighting and the strange whispering in her ear at night.. As she tries her best to rid herself of this creature, she finds that it’s not so easy to kill. But just maybe, the cat is the only thing standing between her and an even greater evil that threatens to destroy her life.

Hairball #1 is out April 2023 with a cover by Kindt and a variant cover by Martin Simmonds.

Dark Horse and Flux House present Mister Mammoth

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Dark Horse Books and Flux House Books have announced Mister Mammoth! This hardcover graphic novel is the English-language debut of the Mister Mammoth saga, written by Matt Kindt with art by Jean-Denis Pendanx.

Mr. Mammoth has solved every case he’s ever had – a perfect record. And he’s the kind of person you don’t forget – a seven-foot-tall pacifist, covered head to toe with an impressive collection of scars he refuses to talk about. 

But he might be losing his edge. This new case has him stumped and his obsession with a soap opera actress might just be…unhealthy. This case might destroy his career, but it might hold the clues that unlock the only real mystery he’s ever cared about…his traumatic childhood and the scars he carries.

Mister Mammoth plays with the tropes of detective fiction but by the end, turns everything on its head.

Mister Mammoth is the first-ever original graphic novel from Matt Kindt’s all-new imprint, Flux House, which features crime, science fiction, and humor stories, all told in startling and untraditional ways. For Mister Mammoth, Kindt—the bestselling creator of MIND MGMT and DEPT H.—is joined by internationally acclaimed artist Jean-Denis Pendanx, who’s making his U.S. debut. 

Upcoming Flux House publications will take many forms. Matchboxes! Briefcases! Cards! Don’t miss this first-ever Flux House graphic novel.

The Mister Mammoth hardcover volume will be in comic stores March 29, 2023 and bookstores April 11, 2023. It is available for pre-order on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and at your local comic shop and bookstore for $29.99.

Mister Mammoth

Spy Superb from Matt Kindt and Sharlene Kindt comes to Flux House and Dark Horse Comics

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Who is the perfect spy? That question may be best answered by bestselling cartoonist Matt Kindt, who has been writing and illustrating espionage and action-fueled comics like for the last two decades. Next January, Kindt and the acclaimed colorist Sharlene Kindt will release Spy Superb their latest collaboration, an offbeat mystery-thriller about a secret organization that has developed the perfect spy. And just who is that perfect spy? Someone who doesn’t even realize they are a spy. 

In Spy Superb, a secret organization identifies the ultimate asset: a man named Jay, who is what they call a “useful idiot.”  Jay is sent on missions without even realizing he’s on a mission. Until he picks up the wrong phone with the wrong secret intel and now Russian hit-squads and elite assassins are after him. But Jay believes he was a sleeper agent—and really is the “spy superb”. His complete obliviousness and lack of survival skills may be the only thing that saves him in this globe-trotting espionage tale …where nothing is what it seems…but also…kind of actually is what it seems.

Spy Superb is the second release from Flux House, a new boutique imprint that will feature the writing (and sometimes) art of Matt Kindt, with crime, science fiction, and humor stories, all told and presented in startling and untraditional ways, following the release of Mind MGMT: Bootleg. Spy Superb #1 will feature a main cover by Matt Kindt and incentive variant covers by Martin Simmonds, Tula Lotay, and Christian Ward.

Preview: Mind MGMT: Bootleg #1

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Mind MGMT: Bootleg #1

(W) Matt Kindt (A/CA) Farel Dalrymple (VCA) Daniel Brereton, Marguerite Sauvage
In Shops: Jul 06, 2022
SRP: $3.99

MIND MGMT is: weird, mind-blowing, paranoid storytelling. It is the first ever comic book from Flux House, Matt Kindt’s all-new imprint which features crime, science fiction, and humor stories, all told in startling and untraditional ways. Upcoming publications will take many forms, and the polybagged variant versions of MIND MGMT will contain a card that is playable as a playing card or as part of a new Flux House game. Previously in MIND MGMT: a covert government agency of psychic superspies fell into oblivion after one of their top agents went rogue. What looked like the end was only the beginning as a former leader of MIND MGMT explores the darkest parts of the world and recruits a team of forgotten agents to rebuild the organization, bend reality, and go to war with a competing agency.

Cover C variant is a special polybagged cover, drawn by Marguerite Sauvage, and contains a special Mind MGMT playing card!

Mind MGMT: Bootleg #1

Review: Mind MGMT Bootleg #1

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Mind MGMT Bootleg #1

Mind MGMT is back in multiple ways. The organization that “protects” freedom is being rebuilt after the events of the previous volume and recruiting new individuals for their mission. Mind MGMT Bootleg #1 kicks things off with a story that builds off of what has come before while also setting out with its own style and narrative.

Set in a world filled with telepathic/telekinetic/superpowered spies, Mind MGMT Bootleg #1 picks up after the destruction of Zanzibar and a young man sucked into being recruited by a new Mind MGMT. What’s this new organization about and are they on the side of good? Writer Matt Kindt delivers enough teases and doubt to know this series isn’t going to be as straightforward as one might hope.

It’s not until much later in the comic does this debut tie itself more into the first volume delivering a richer reader for those who experienced it. While you don’t need to read it, the world of Mind MGMT is so much more for those that experience it all, that includes a board game. Kindt has crafted a world where every small detail builds and one has to spend time examining every clue and comment.

That includes with Mind MGMT Bootleg #1. Farel Dalrymple continues Kindt’s tradition of layered art. Not only do we get the main story but panels and even pages are filled with text that add depth to the world and speak directly to the reader at times making them part of the story. Dalrymple forgoes the rather deep material in the margins for this use of panels making a more playful read that is more like an interactive comic than the previous volume’s puzzle. Though Dalrymple’s style differs from Kindt’s first volume, the art still feels very much of this world in its dreamlike state.

Mind MGMT Bootleg #1 is a welcome return of the property to comics. It continues the layered fun that was the first volume and does so in a way that new readers can dive in and longtime fans can get excited for what comes next. Mind MGMT Bootleg #1 isn’t just a comic, it’s an interactive experience.

Story: Matt Kindt Art: Farel Dalrymple Letterer: Farel Dalrymple
Story: 8.25 Art: 8.25 Overall: 8.25 Recommendation: Buy

Dark Horse provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: TFAW – Zeus Comics – comiXology/Kindle

Preview: Mind MGMT: Bootleg #1

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Mind MGMT: Bootleg #1

(W) Matt Kindt (A/CA) Farel Dalrymple (VCA) Daniel Brereton, Marguerite Sauvage
In Shops: Jul 06, 2022
SRP: $3.99

MIND MGMT is: weird, mind-blowing, paranoid storytelling. It is the first ever comic book from Flux House, Matt Kindt’s all-new imprint which features crime, science fiction, and humor stories, all told in startling and untraditional ways. Upcoming publications will take many forms, and the polybagged variant versions of MIND MGMT will contain a card that is playable as a playing card or as part of a new Flux House game. Previously in MIND MGMT: a covert government agency of psychic superspies fell into oblivion after one of their top agents went rogue. What looked like the end was only the beginning as a former leader of MIND MGMT explores the darkest parts of the world and recruits a team of forgotten agents to rebuild the organization, bend reality, and go to war with a competing agency.

Cover C variant is a special polybagged cover, drawn by Marguerite Sauvage, and contains a special Mind MGMT playing card!

Mind MGMT: Bootleg #1
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