Comic Picks by the Glick

Manga and Comic Reviews

Saturn Apartments vol. 4

Though the structure of this series tends towards the episodic, showcasing the various situations its cast of low-Earth-orbit window washers finds itself in, there have been hints of an uber-arc to tie everything together in previous volumes.  You’d figure that with how young window washer Mitsu’s father disappeared all those years ago that mangaka Hisae […]

Real vol. 10

Not only was this worth the year-long wait from the release of vol. 9, but my reaction upon finishing it was basically, “Damn!  I can’t wait to see what happens next!”  “Real” is in a position similar to other series like “Berserk,” “Black Lagoon,” “Yotsuba&!” and “Blade of the Immortal,” where the long waits between […]

Joe the Barbarian

I wouldn’t trade “New X-Men,” “All-Star Superman,” or his ongoing “Batman” run for anything, but I still wish Grant Morrison would find the time to do more weird and imaginative creator-owned series like this.  As the story goes, Joe is your average teenager who is currently having the mother of all diabetic freak-outs.  Now instead […]

Batman: Noel

Earlier this year it was announced that artist Lee Bermejo would be writing and drawing a special Christmas-themed “Batman” original graphic novel.  Though I’ve known the man to be very good a drawing characters and settings that have a dark, “realistic” look to them but never come off as distractingly photo-referenced (in the way that […]

Punisher MAX vol. 2: Bullseye

In his first volume of “Punisher MAX,” Jason Aaron did a great job of staking out his own territory with the title by acknowledging the character’s roots in the Marvel Universe and making Wilson “The Kingpin” Fisk the main antagonist.  Here, he shows us something else that will only help separate his run from the […]

Hellboy: House of the Living Dead

Seeing this on the shipping lists a couple weeks ago was a pleasant surprise as I had completely forgotten it was coming.  After years of mini-series and one-shots, this marks the first “Hellboy” story to be published as an original graphic novel.  That said, it’s kind of thin for this sort of thing as it […]

Tech Jacket vol. 1: Lost and Found

Back in vol. 13 of “Invincible,” when Nolan Grayson and Allen the Alien were scouring the galaxy for resources they could use against the Viltrumite threat, one of the places they visited came with this awesome footnote from writer Robert Kirkman: “Holy crap!  He’s talking about ‘Tech Jacket!’  You should totally order that trade paperback […]

Fantastic Four by Jonathan Hickman vol. 4

Here’s some free advice to Marvel:  When you’re collecting a story that includes the much-hyped death of a major character and want it to remain a surprise for those who haven’t had it spoiled for them, DON’T include a quote on the back that gives it away.  Great job with that.  As for the volume […]

Princess Knight vol. 1

This is shojo manga of the oldest school.  Both in the sense that it was originally published in 1953, and created by a man — none other than Osamu Tezuka himself.  Its concept is bizzare enough to loop back around to being kind of groundbreaking for its time.  A mix-up in heaven causes a girl […]