Tag Archives: mara jayne carpenter

Preview: Breathless

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Breathless

Writer: Pat Shand / Artist: Renzo Rodriguez / Colorist: Mara Jayne Carpenter / Letterer: Jim Campbell
Mature / $16.99 / 116 pages

It’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer if the villains were big pharma.

Scout Turner works as a cryptozoologist, examining and cataloguing supernatural creatures for scientific purposes. When she discovers the cure for asthma in the venom of a new breed of monster, she quickly finds herself on the run from Kenilworth Pharmaceuticals and the monsters that they’ve hired to kill her. With no one by her side but her clueless assistant, a morally ambiguous succubus, and her geriatric dog, Scout goes on the run… but in a world controlled by money and drugs, can she escape the reaching claws of a medical monopoly? From Pat Shand (Snap Flash Hustle) and Renzo Rodriguez (Hellchild) comes this healthcare horror story about the monsters creeping in the dark… human or otherwise. Collects issues 1-4.

Breathless

Review: Jade Street Protection Services

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JADE STREET PROTECTION SERVICES

Jade Street Protection Services is a colorful and diverse graphic novel following the adventures of five magical adolescent girls in an elite private boarding school, Matsdotter Academy, that harnesses their powers.  Saba, Noemi, Divya, Kai, and Emma are far from model students and find themselves in detention with one another. They cut their punishment short for kebabs, frozen yogurt, and fun moments for themselves only to end up encountering more trouble than pastimes. The comic describes itself as “The Breakfast Club of Hogwarts” and that fits quite well.

Jade Street Protection Services collects the individual issues featuring four chapters each presenting us with different settings and scenarios for us to see how our five protagonists utilize their gifts and come together as a team. Written by Katy Rex, the overall story is good, fast-paced, and full of action.

The main attraction of Jade Street is its immensely vivid and colorful artwork that is consistently cohesive and gradients naturally from page to page and panel to panel. Fabian Lelay provides the linework, Mara Jayne Carpenter the color, and Taylor Esposito handles lettering. Its overall scintillating look is further emphasized by its diverse characters of various backgrounds, including an autistic, non-verbal protagonist.  

It’s very face on and what you see is what you get. 

Story: Katy Rex Art: Fabian Lelay
Color: Mara Jayne Carpenter Letterer: Taylor Esposito
Editor: Magdalene Visaggio Cover Art: Annie Wu

Black Mask Studios provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

Purchase: comiXology – Amazon – Kindle

Preview: Jade Street Protection Services

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Jade Street Protection Services

Writer: Katy Rex / Artist: Fabian Lelay / Colorist: Mara Jayne Carpenter / Letterer: Taylor Esposito / Editor: Magdalene Visaggio / Cover Art: Annie Wu
Mature / $16.99 / 112 pages

It’s like The Breakfast Club of Hogwarts!

Teen delinquent magical girls fight patriarchy and systemic oppression in this all-ages romp from Black Mask Studios.

Divya, Kai, Noemi, Saba, and Emma ditch detention and stumble upon an insidious social conspiracy that makes them question everything they thought they knew.

Combining punk rock ethos with manga aesthetic, Lelay and Rex explore teen angst and class struggle with a healthy dose of love and laughs.

Jade Street Protection Services

Preview: Breathless #4

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BREATHLESS #4

Written by: Pat Shand
Illustrated by: Renzo Rodriguez
Colored by: Mara Jayne Carpenter
Lettered by: Jim Campbell
$3.99 | full color | mature
IN STORES 9/5

The final issue of the healthcare horror epic is here! What if you could face the humans behind the companies that profit off of your suffering? Scout Turner has been on the run from Kenilworth Pharmaceuticals, knowing that the second she stops running… she dies. Now, at the end of the road, Scout takes the fight to them.

Preview: Breathless #2

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Breathless #2

Written by: Pat Shand
Illustrated by: Renzo Rodriguez
Colors by: Mara Jayne Carpenter
Lettered by: Jim Campbell
$3.99 | full color | mature

The healthcare horror story continues with a medical massacre, an old (and yet still adorable) dog, an old (and not quite adorable) lady, a succubus that loves to eat dogs (uh-oh), and a pair of gal pals on the run from the evil clutches of big pharma. Pat Shand and Renzo Rodriguez take the energy up to a new level when underpaid cryptozoologist Scout Turner, armed with the cure for asthma that she pulled out of the ribcage of a monster, takes aim at the corporations that have turned her pain into a commodity. Also, there are donuts.

Preview: Jupiter Jet #5

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JUPITER JET #5

Writer(s): Jason Inman & Ashley Victoria Robinson
Artist Name(s): Ben Matsuya (Lineart), Mara Jayne Carpenter (Colors), Taylor Esposito (Letters)
Cover Artist(s): Ben Matsuya (Cover A) Art Baltazar (Cover B)
32 pgs./ E / FC
$3.99

The battle for Olympic Heights ends here! Jupiter Jet faces off with Praetor Pluto in the skies and the fate of her family hangs in the balance! Can Jupiter Jet survive a battle against Praetor Pluto’s robot army? What is Pluto’s master plan? And a shocking conclusion that will change everything in Jupiter Jet’s world.

Preview: Jupiter Jet #4

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JUPITER JET #4

Writer(s): Jason Inman & Ashley Victoria Robinson
Artist Name(s): Ben Matsuya (Line art), Mara Jayne Carpenter (Colors) Taylor Esposito (Letters)
Cover Artist(s): Ben Matsuya (Cover A)
32 pgs./ E / FC
$3.99

Her brother captured, her home burned, things are looking bad for Jupiter Jet – and she only has one choice. Break into police headquarters and face Praetor Pluto! Plus in part 4 of the ORIGIN OF THE JETPACK backup, Jupiter Jet’s father makes a choice that will change everything in Olympic Heights.

Preview: Jupiter Jet #3

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JUPITER JET #3

Writer(s): Jason Inman & Ashley Victoria Robinson
Artist Name(s): Ben Matsuya (Lineart), Mara Jayne Carpenter (Colors) Taylor Esposito (Letters)
Cover Artist(s): Ben Matsuya (Cover A)
32 pgs./ E / FC
$3.99

Praetor Pluto has found the Flying Girl. Will the new upgrades to Jupiter Jet’s jetpack allow her to escape? Danger! Family! And Cats! This issue has it all. Plus, part three of The Origin of The Jetpack backup with art by Jorge Corona (The Flash and We Are Robin).

Preview: Jupiter Jet #2

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JUPITER JET #2

Writer(s): Jason Inman & Ashley Victoria Robinson
Artist Name(s): Ben Matsuya (Lineart), Mara Jayne Carpenter (Colors), Taylor Esposito (Letters)
Cover Artist(s): Ben Matsuya (Cover A), Jenn St-Onge (Cover B)
32 pgs./ E / FC
$3.99

Teenage hero Jupiter Jet must push her jetpack to the limit in order to outrun the villainous Praetor Pluto who is hot on her heels! But will a new invention built by her brother Chuck help Jupiter Jet’s mission or harm it?

Review: Jupiter Jet #1

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Jupiter Jet Action Lab #1In the grand tradition of strong female characters, Jacqueline “Jacky” Johnson takes to the skies in a Robin Hood tale with a science fiction twist. Jupiter Jet #1 in a steampunk-y version of the 1940s. Jacky and her brother Chuck are struggling to keep their parents’ auto repair shop open despite financial woes (and the fact that they are children with no adult supervision). While the two use their smarts and Jacky’s jetpack to watch out for their neighbors and redistribute wealth, their do-good attitude has left little time or money to take care of themselves. The threat of leaving the city for a rural life with their Aunt and Uncle looms large over them, until said Uncle shows up and offers his farm for collateral against the shop.

The first issue leaves plenty of open-ended questions: what are the mysterious power sources Chuck and Jacky keep discovering? Who were the Johnson parents? And who are the figures lurking in the shadows? But it also builds a strong platform on which to answer those questions.

The writing from Jason Inman and Ashley Victoria Robinson is charming without being shallow. Of particular interest is how Chuck managed to turn what could have been a restrictive wardrobe into the female equivalent of Batman’s Utility Belt. Before the book is over, Inman and Robinson manage to squeeze in a little taste of what’s coming up, and I was delighted to see that space travel isn’t far off for our teenaged heroine.

Ben Matsuya, Mara Jayne Carpenter, and Taylor Esposito create the perfect aesthetic for this innovative world. Jacky soars through the sky with grace, but once she hits the ground she can’t manage to walk in a straight line without tripping. The movement comes off as a character trait, however, rather than a gag. Instead of seeming like a teenage girl cliché, it shows why Jacky might prefer the clouds.

Story: Jason Inman and Ashley Victoria Robinson Line Art: Ben Matsuya
Colors: Mara Jayne Carpenter Letters: Taylor Esposito
Story: 9.0 Art: 9.0 Overall: 9.0 Recommendation: Buy

Action Lab Entertainment provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

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