Manga and Comic Reviews
The pun in the title of this Hope Nicholson-edited anthology from Dark Horse is that while “Pros” relates to the many professionals who contributed to it, it’s also full of prose as well. It’s basically a fifty-fifty split between essays and comics about the convention experience. So on one hand we’ve got shorts like “Only […]
The ideal review for this volume would be a .gif of me shaking it with the words “MAKE IT BETTER” flashing at regular intervals. Three volumes in and this series has managed to distinguish itself from mangaka Tsutomu Nihei’s previous work in that it’s the most conventional and straightforward thing he’s done to date. That […]
Man, what is it about these “Black Hammer” spinoffs? I like the main series well enough, but the miniseries that have been spun out of it, “Sherlock Frankenstein,” “Doctor Star,” and now this, have all been disappointingly conventional. This is even though they’ve all been written by series creator Jeff Lemire. I think the main […]
Jonathan Hickman’s “House of X” and “Powers of X” are halfway done and the response has been pretty good so far. Critical acclaim, good word of mouth, strong sales — it sounds both are going to be great reads when I pick up the edition collecting them both in December. However, out here in the […]
The title of this volume seems like good advice. After all, what good ever came to Marcus and the rest of his friends while they were at King’s Dominion? That’s exactly what winds up happening, however, and the results may not be what you were expecting. Unless you were expecting to see Marcus and Maria […]
This has been a penultimate-y year for volumes, it feels like. “Black Science,” “Paper Girls,” “The Wicked + The Divine,” “Curse Words,” “Prison School,” “East of West,” and “Happiness” are all series that have seen their next-to-last volume released this year. You can now add “I Am A Hero” to that list and it’s one […]
Above-the-Board Recommendation Undiscovered Country #1 What if The Wall got built? What if it wasn’t just between the U.S. and Mexico? What if it was built to encompass the entire United States? That’s the premise of this new series from co-writers Scott Snyder and Charles Soule, and co-artists Giuseppe Camuncoli and Daniele Orlandini. The fun […]
Above-the-Board Recommendation: Pearl vol. 2 The first volume of “Pearl” wasn’t the best of the creator-owned bunch of titles that Bendis delivered when he set up shop at DC. If I’m being honest, it was just ahead of “Scarlet.” Yet it’s the only one which is being followed-up on by its creators after that initial […]
Above-the-Board Recommendation What’s Michael? Fatcat Collection vol. 1 Wow. I had just about forgotten that Dark Horse had published this series. This series, about the wacky adventures of a cat named Michael, was just a bit ahead of its time. It wasn’t published in pamphlet form, but in slim 60-100-page graphic novels for around $7 […]
Above-the-Board Recommendation: Punisher: Soviet #1 (of 6) This is a pick that, on the surface, was incredibly easy to make. After all it’s Garth Ennis writing “The Punisher” again with his “Crossed” and “303” collaborator Jacen Burrows. It even has a premise that makes it sound like it’ll fit right in alongside the other “Punisher […]