Tag Archives: hi-fi

The Big Shakedown #1 lives up to the hype of its high concept premise of a detective story set in a post-major seismic event L.A. nightmare

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Comic book cover for 'The Big Shakedown #1' featuring a character on a yellow scooter, wearing sunglasses and a blue jacket, against a backdrop of a fragmented city landscape.

Noir meets post-apocalyptic sci-fi in The Big Shakedown, a high concept series from Jordan Blum, Tim Seeley, Scott Koblish, and Hi-Fi. The book opens with an earthquake destroying Los Angeles, who is then abandoned by the right wing religious fanatic president of the United States. Without federal aid, the City of Angels turns into a shitshow governed by big tech/drone companies and local gangs and protection rackets. Cop-turned-PI-turned TV show consultant-turned odd-job-working survivor Ester is our entry into this dark world as a simple missing persons case turns very complicated. Blum, Seeley, and Koblish use this first issue to establish the world of The Big Shakedown, but there are plenty of mysteries around the corner, especially towards the end of this installment.

Ester is really a near perfect POV character. She’s flawed, but likable with plenty of demons to exorcise. However, she also has a great sense of humor and has a working class charm. Jordan Blum and Tim Seeley’s captions for her add a lot of personality to The Big Shakedown and keep the story moving. I love that she watches old Lakers game on her VCR to find a semblance of normalcy in this crazy world because I totally watched CPU teams duke it out on NBA 2K when all the sports leagues shutdown due to COVID in 2020. (The 2018-2019 season though, oof ; at least, there was LeBron.) Also, Ester is a total badass improvising her way out of several violent scraps so she can have the money to get what she wants, which is probably out of L.A.

Scott Koblish uses his background in superhero comics to amp up the action sequences in The Big Shakedown with Hi-Fi adding splashes of intense colors like when Ester fights off bill collectors with steaming hot pot of pozole. There is something primal about the way Ester beats the crap out of folks trying to rip her off or take her hard-earned money that hints at a darker past beyond helping a TV star learn how to realistically hold a gun and then sleep with him. Although, she is five years sober, Ester is still prone to impulsive decisions that sometimes make this book feel like watching a car accident in slow motion. But that’s better than the alternative: a boring trope salad, which The Big Shakedown is far from being.

The element that draws me most to The Big Shakedown is that it’s a working class struggle story clothed in heightened genre trappings. Ester really just wants to pay the bills, but the system around her is beyond broken so she has to claw and fight for every last dollar, which is more relatable than an upper middle class white guy with a scotch and cigar sitting behind the desk. It also feels like Jordan Blum, Tim Seeley, and Scott Koblish are drawing on both experiences with the global pandemic and even the L.A. wildfires to show how traumatic events change folks, and that although we might have the same skillsets on both sides of the tragedy, we’re vastly different people. After the quake in The Big Shakedown, folks aren’t shelling out money to hire consultants for cop shows, they’re trying to eke out a living by selling batteries and avocadoes because Southern California still has great weather. Ester has changed as a person in the past five years, and it looks like this comic will go into those changes while also exploring the usual procedural elements of the crime genre.

The Big Shakedown #1 lives up to the hype of its high concept premise of a detective story set in a post-major seismic event L.A. nightmare. Blum and Seeley craft an anti-hero that Emmy-thirsty cable execs would die for, and Koblish and Hi-Fi bring a frenetic energy and a contemporary update on that West Coast noir palette that keeps the story moving and me looking forward to the next blood, guts, sunshine, and snark-filled issue.

Story: Jordan Blum and Tim Seeley Art: Scott Koblish
Colors: Hi-Fi Letters: Nate Piekos
Story: 8.0 Art: 8.2 Overall: 8.1 Recommendation: Buy

Dark Horse provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: Zeus Comics – Kindle

Batgirl of Burnside is a bit of a mixed DC Compact Comics edition for multiple reasons

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Barbara Gordon’s ready for a fresh start. She’s packing her bags, crossing the bridge, and heading to Gotham’s coolest neighborhood: Burnside. And when a freak fire burns up her costume and gear, Babs has the chance to become a whole new Batgirl!

But she barely slips on her new DIY costume before Batgirl starts trending as Gotham’s first viral vigilante — and attracting a new wave of enemies who want her social-media spotlight for themselves. Meanwhile, the girl beneath the gear’s got a whole new crew of friends, college classes that are kicking her Bat-butt and a dating scene that can make anyone want to swipe left on life.

This bat’s done living in the shadows. But will the bright lights of Burnside burn her for good?

Cameron Stewart, Brenden Fletcher and Babs Tarr reinvent Barbara Gordon from the boots up in Batgirl of Burnside: DC Compact Comics Edition, collecting issues Batgirl #35-45, Batgirl Annual #3, Secret Origins #10 and DC Sneak Peek: Batgirl #1.

Story: Cameron Stewart, Brenden Fletcher
Art: Babs Tarr, Bengal
Additional Art: Cameron Stewart, Irene Kioh, Joel Gomez, Jake Wyatt, Micael Lacombe, David Lafuente, Ming Doyle, Mingjue Helen Chen, Juan Castro
Color: Maris Wicks, Serge LaPointe, Babs Tarr, Bengal, Hi-Fi, Gabe Eltaeb, Ivan Plascencia, Mingjue Helen Chen
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher, Steve Wands

Get your copy now!

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Jordan Blum, Tim Seeley, and Scott Koblish bring readers a sunbaked apocalyptic mystery with The Big Shakedown

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Dark Horse Comics presents The Big Shakedown, a brand-new four-issue noir comic series from Jordan Blum, Tim Seeley, and Scott Koblish. Written by Blum and Seeley, illustrated by Koblish, colored by Hi-Fi, and lettered by Nate Piekos, this pulpy tale brings readers into a mystery through an earthquake-decimated Los Angeles. Issue #1 will be available in September 2026 and will feature cover art by Koblish.

The Big One, the earthquake to end all earthquakes, has finally struck Los Angeles. The government decides not to rebuild and the city becomes a no-man’s-land for those who refuse to leave it. But hey, you can’t beat the weather. 

Five years later, Ester Blanco, a down-on-her-luck former PI, is willing to do anything to escape the City of Angels. She believes she’s found her ticket out when a desperate father hires her to solve a missing persons case in a city where a third of the population is already missing. Instead, the trail of this lost girl leads Ester to uncover a dark web of cults, conspiracy, and corruption that threatens every Angeleno who stayed behind. 

Gather your emergency supplies and prepare for The Big Shakedown #1 (of 4) as it arrives in comic shops on September 16, 2026. It is now available for preorder from your local comic shop for $4.99.

The Big Shakedown #1

DC K.O.: Boss Battle #1 Teases Potential But Feels like it Holds Back

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DC K.O.: Boss Battle #1

Unexpected fighters from beyond the DC Comics enter the arena! Wait… What? WHO?! As the remaining champions in the K.O. tournament prepare for the final rounds, they discover that there isn’t enough Omega energy left to crown the winner a King Omega. To have any hope of stopping Darkseid, they’ll need to engage in combat with the champions of other worlds beyond our own including Annabelle, Homelander, Sub-Zero, and more! This shocking, star-studded crossover sets the stage for the final chapters of the epic DC K.O. event and features matchups you never imagined possible. The ultimate battle is only beginning! DC K.O.: Boss Battle #1 delivers some unexpected battles but overall feels like it doesn’t go far enough.

DC K.O. has been going on for the past couple of months and has DC’s heroes and villains going through a gauntlet to see who will eventually challenge Darkseid. As part of that, the contest has felt like video game match ups mixed with a March Madness bracket as the contestants get winnowed with each release. DC K.O.: Boss Battle #1 takes place after the third issue of the series and has the remaining four heroes battling characters from outside of the DC universe to gain power to then use against Darkseid. It’s a side quest to level up.

Written by Jeremy Adams, the comic brings together some very unlikely characters and match-ups and has a few that we’d like to see more of. Contestants are sent to various worlds to battle having heroes and villains face Annabelle, Homelander, Sub-Zero, Sabrina, Vampirella, and Samantha Strong. Some of the battles work and work really well while others barely happen.

There’s some battles like Batwoman vs. Vampirella that seem like they’d be great but barely register in the comic. Sabrina’s addition feels rather odd in its execution. But, Wonder Woman vs. Red Sonja and Superman vs. Homelander are both battles we need to get an entire comic of. And that pretty much sums up the issue. There’s some aspects that are barely a blip while others don’t get enough of a focus. Lex Luthor taking on Samantha from Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees has so much potential and seeing Lex freak out with what he’s facing has some great humor to it. But, that gets far too few pages. The Joker arguing with Annabelle has some laugh out loud moments. Again, it too is given little beyond a few pages but they’re a highlight. Superman fighting Homelander could be great to really juxtapose those characters but it doesn’t go far enough to do so. It’s a comic that’s full of hits and misses. It teases something really great but isn’t given enough pages to do it and with what little each moment has, plays it rather conservative.

The art is handled by Ronan Cliquet, Carmine Di Giandomenico, Kieran McKeown, and Pablo M. Collar with color by Hi-Fi and lettering by Tom Napolitano. It looks pretty solid and there’s some sequences that look absolutely solid. The art has a rather quick and frenetic aspect to it that matches the rather short time given to each aspect of the comic. There’s some matches that really stand out and there’s moments where a lot is packed into the issue.

And that’s the thing with DC K.O.: Boss Battle #1, it packs a lot in. It expands the story beyond the remaining for contestants. If it focused on just that four, it’d have been a far tighter and better issue with each getting a bit more time to enjoy. But, it’s an issue that attempts to put too much into it which makes everything feel a bit short. It’s not bad and there’s some things that are really great. It overall shows off some potential we’ll hopefully see more of in the future.

Story: Jeremy Adams Art: Ronan Cliquet, Carmine Di Giandomenico, Kieran McKeown, Pablo M. Collar
Color: Hi-Fi Letterer: Tom Napolitano
Story: 7.25 Art: 7.5 Overall: 7.3 Recommendation: Read

DC Comics provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: Zeus Comics – Kindle

DC Unleashes a Multiversal Showdown in DC K.O.: Boss Battle #1. Check Out an Early Preview!

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Arriving February 4, DC K.O.: Boss Battle #1 delivers a high-octane one-shot that brings the multiverse into the event. The issue is from writer Jeremy Adams and artists Ronan Cliquet, Carmine Di Giandomenico, Kieran McKeown, Pablo M. Collar, and Hi-Fi. This special issue throws DC’s greatest Super Heroes into a gauntlet of unexpected challengers from across comics, horror, fantasy, and gaming.

For the first time ever, DC Super Heroes will face off against icons including Sub-Zero (Netherrealm), Homelander, Red Sonja and Vampirella (Dynamite), Samantha Strong (IDW Publishing), and even New Line Cinema’s Annabelle, the infamous horror doll. And in a surprise twist, DC has revealed that Sabrina the Teenage Witch (Archie Comics) will make a cameo appearance!

In DC K.O.: Boss Battle, the heroes of the DC Universe are running out of time, and don’t have enough Omega Energy to enter the final battles. To stop Darkseid’s escalating threat, they must enter a series of escalating boss fights across the multiverse, each more unpredictable than the last. Every encounter pushes them closer to the edge, and failing to level up means certain failure in the final DC K.O. contestant brackets!

DC K.O.: Boss Battle #1 arrives on February 4 at participating comic shops and digital retailers with a main cover by Jamal Campbell and card stock variant covers by Jeff Spokes, Darick Robertson and Diego Rodriguez (featuring Homelander), Patrick Horvath (featuring Samantha Strong), Frank Cho and Sabine Rich (featuring Vampirella, Red Sonja, and Sabrina the Teenage Witch), and Gleb Melnikov (AEW cameo variant). Jeff Spokes’ variant cover will be available as an OTO wraparound in both card stock and foil. DC K.O.: Boss Battle #1 will retail for $4.99 US (main), $5.99 US (card stock variants), and $7.99 US (foil variant).

Preview: Archie vs Minor Threats #4

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Archie vs Minor Threats #4

Writer: Patton Oswalt, Jordan Blum, Timmy Heague
Artist: Scott Koblish
Colorist: Hi-Fi
Letterer: Nate Piekos
Cover artist: Scott Hepburn

Archie Andrews of Riverdale and Frankie Follis aka Playtime are forced to team-up. From adversaries to allies, an unlikely alliance is forged! The duo have been sucked into a magical abyss after chasing after the almighty Five Fingers of Merlin AND more importantly, their beloved Betty & Scalpel! This vortex of magic bends time and space to alter reality, confronting those who enter with their past and future, challenging them to question everything they know about themselves and the life they live. Can our dysfunctional dynamic duo survive this twisted mystic realm or will the magic-addicted Top Hat get in their way from not just saving the women they love, but their homes of Riverdale and Twilight City?…

Crime, milkshakes, and magic await you in this climatic crescendo finale of the first ever Minor Threats crossover!

From the villainously comedic minds of Patton Oswalt, Jordan Blum, Timmy Heague, and featuring artwork by the dastardly yet brilliant Scott Koblish!

Archie vs Minor Threats #4

Preview: Archie vs Minor Threats #3

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Archie vs Minor Threats #3

Writer: Patton Oswalt, Jordan Blum, Timmy Heague
Artist: Scott Koblish
Colorist: Hi-Fi
Letterer: Nate Piekos
Cover Artist: Scott Koblish

The villains of Minor Threats and iconic teenagers of Archie Comics have switched places!

Prepare to experience these characters like you’ve NEVER seen them before! Frankie Follis aka Playtime has gone from being Twilight City’s Queenpin of Crime to becoming Riverdale’s Queenbee teenager. The Five Fingers of Merlin has granted her the childhood she never had, void of crime, where the only score to be had is winning the Riverdale High Talent Show! The prize? Ultimate cosmic power! New villains from Twilight City have their eye on taking home the prize, a group of super crooks led by none other than Archie Andrews aka Gingersnap! Riverdale’s most pure hearted teenager breaks bad!

Archie vs Minor Threats #3

The Static: Season One DC Compact Comics edition is a nice introduction to the Milestone Universe

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Bullied nerd Virgil Hawkins wasn’t the kind of kid you’d normally find on the streets at a protest—but like everyone else in the city of Dakota, he was fed up. Unfortunately, the first time he stood up to raise his voice, the world turned upside down. The experimental tear gas released that day left some of his classmates maimed or dead…but it left Virgil, and others, with stunning new abilities. Virgil has power inside him now—real power, the ability to channel and manipulate electromagnetic fields.

But there’s anger burning inside him, too.

What is he supposed to do about all of this? And first and foremost—what is he supposed to do about his bullies, now that they’ve got superpowers too?

Story: Reginald Hudlin, Vita Ayala, Greg Pak
Art: Denys Cowan, Nikolas Draper-Ivey, Chriscross, Jim Lee, Ryan Benjamin, Jimmy Palmiotti, Don Ho, Bill Sienkiewicz, Khoi Pham, Scott Hanna
Ink: Bill Sienkiewicz, Juan Castro
Color: Chris Sotomayor, Wil Quintana, Alex Sinclair, Hi-Fi
Letterer: Andworld Design

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.

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Amazon

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

It’s Archie vs. Minor Threats this August!

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Dark Horse Comics presents Archie vs. Minor Threats,a new crossover comic miniseries featuring Twilight City’s favorite villains and Riverdale’s favorite teenagers. Timmy Heague joins Patton Oswalt and Jordan Blum on writing duties, and artist Scott Koblish, colorist Hi-Fi, and letterer Nate Piekos round out the talented creative team. Issue #1 will be available with six different covers illustrated by the all-star lineup of Scott Hepburn, Scott Koblish, Joe Quinones, Patrick Horvath, Dan Parent, and Mike Allred.

It’s your favorite high schoolers forced to fight your favorite costumed villains in a story that will have lasting ramifications for all involved! Archie, Betty, Veronica, Jughead, and friends are on their way to Twilight City for a field trip when the magical meddling of Sabrina the Teenage Witch lands them in the seedy underbelly of Redport, the most villainous part of town, which is controlled by Frankie Follis, aka Playtime, and her gang of Minor Threats. Archie and the others suddenly find themselves drafted into both sides of the war Playtime is waging against magic users on her turf. One thing is for sure: blood and milkshakes will be spilled!

The gang gets together on August 6, 2025 when Archie vs. Minor Threats #1 (of 4) will be available in comic shops. It is now available for pre-order from your local comic shop for $4.99.

Gen and Stray Dog are back in Usagi Yojimbo: The Crow

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Usagi returns for a 40th Anniversary celebration in a new comic story arc featuring fan-favorite characters Gen and Stray Dog in Usagi Yojimbo: The Crow. Dogu Publishing and Dark Horse Comics presents Stan Sakai’s continuing adventures of Miyamoto Usagi as the rabbit ronin travels through 17th century Japan with his cousin. The five-issue series features art and story by Sakai, with colors by Hi-Fi Colour Design. 

This newest Usagi adventure sees Usagi and Yukichi finally making it out of the frozen mountains, where they come across a merchant being attacked by brigands. They rescue the supposed merchant only to discover much later that he is really a criminal with a huge bounty on his head! Of course, wherever there is a huge reward you will find bounty hunters Gen and Stray Dog…and other unscrupulous trackers.

Main cover art for the series is provided by Sakai, with colors by Emi Fujii, and variant covers by Arita Mitsuhiro. A second variant cover for issue #1 will be revealed soon–stay tuned!

Usagi and his cousin fight for survival when Usagi Yojimbo: The Crow #1 (of 5) arrives in comic shops April 4, 2024. Pre-order the first issue today for $4.99. 

Usagi Yojimbo: The Crow #1
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