REVIEW: Ice Cream Man #17 somehow finds a new, very poignant way to satirize Superman

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By Zack Quaintance — Superman satires have been done often, largely by publisher DC Comics but also by so many other creators in the comics medium. They’ve been done so often that new or different takes on Superman are almost to be expected, like a rite of passage for anyone seriously creating comic book stories. This week it’s Ice Cream Man’s turn, with the horror anthology series from Image Comics taking its shot — and what we get is one of the greatest recent takes on Superman, one that has more and better things to say about our times than the vast majority of other commentary taking place throughout comics right now.

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REVIEW: Vagrant Queen - A Planet Called Doom #1 is a great return for this book

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By Jarred A. Luján — Vagrant Queen is back again! This particular book from Vault Comics is that special blend of character-driven narrative and plain strangeness that only a team-up like Mags Visaggio and Jason Smith could create. It’s first volume was so good that it was picked up for a SyFy series set to debut later this year. With that in mind, debuting the second arc gives 2020 real potential to be YEAR OF ELIDA AL-FEYR, and it’s all very exciting.

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ADVANCED REVIEW: On the Stump #1 is satire that hits like a punch to the face

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By Zack Quaintance — On the Stump #1 is a political satire comic that hits readers like a punch to the face. This is fitting, because this is also a comic that features many a punch to the face, or stomach, or head. It’s also in many ways a natural comic for our current political climate.

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TRADE RATING: ROADQUEEN manga features a compelling story of love and motorcylces

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By Danielle L. — Last month as part of Trade Rating, I wrote about the 2017 Kristen Gudsnuk comic, Henchgirl. Today I’ve decided to change things up a bit, and so I’m going to be writing about manga. Specifically, the manga I’ve chosen to discuss today is Roadqueen: Eternal Roadtrip to Love, which is both written and illustrated by Mira Onga Chua.

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REVIEW: Family Tree #3 deepens the mystery of this intriguing series

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By Nick Couture — Family Tree #3 — from Jeff Lemire, Phil Hester, Eric Gapstur, Ryan Cody, Steve Wands, and Will Dennis — continues the journey of a young girl who is literally turning into a tree. This issue adds new threads, villians, and mystery to a book already stacked with intrigue. The warm hug of a Jeff Lemire book feels nice (as always), and this is another solid entry to the beginning of a new book, but part of me wishes that a few more risks were being taken.

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REVIEW: Wonder Woman #750 stories ranked

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By Zack Quaintance — Wonder Woman #750 is out today, and it marks a celebration of the august character’s past, present, and future, accomplishing all of that by compiling nine stories by a host of creators and interspersing pin-ups between them. This is, essentially, the third time that a major DC character has gotten this treatment in as many years…with publisher slated to do the same for The Flash, Catwoman, The Joker, and probably more in the months to come.

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REVIEW: Guardians of the Galaxy #1 is the next evolution of Al Ewing’s high-concept cosmic madness

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By Zack Quaintance — Look, I don’t mean to be one of those people who brag about being into stuff before it was cool, but I was into Al Ewing comics before it got cool. Specifically, I was into his special brand of cosmic comics madness as far back as 2015, after the end of Secret Wars destroyed the Marvel Universe (kind of but not really), and gave rise to a bunch of fresh starts in a new publishing initiative called All New, All Different Marvel.

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REVIEW: Heist, Or How to Steal a Planet #3 is too damn funny

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By Jarred A. Luján — Heist, Or How to Steal a Planet is an ambitious comic book series. It has made no secret of that, because you surely don’t subtitle something Or How to Steal a Planet in an attempt to be subtle. From page to page, the book has continued to bring together the disparate aspects of it’s plot, it’s tone, and it’s widely different cast of characters into one cohesive book. While each issue has been successful, I’m not sure there’s been a better landing for it than in this one, Heist, Or How to Steal a Planet #3.

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REVIEW: Once and Future #6 is a fantastic end to a stellar first arc

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By Jarred A. Luján — By this point, you’ve surely heard of Once & Future, but just in case, I’ll give you a quick primer anyway. It’s a Kieron Gillen/Dan Mora collaboration that takes Arthurian legend, an unrivaled character dynamic between a guy and his grandmother, and just a hint of English nationalism, and it stuffs it all into a blender and puts the sucker on high. What results is a topsy turvy tale with some of the best art in the industry, but enough about the book in general, let’s talk about Once and Future #6, the conclusion of the first arc.

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ADVANCED REVIEW: Tartarus #1 is a grandiose, sins-of-the-mother story with stand-out artwork

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By Zack Quaintance — I had a weird double reaction to the announcement of Tartarus. I loved the creative team — writer Johnnie Christmas, artist Jack T. Cole (an industry superstar waiting to happen), and letterer Jim Campbell (quite possibly the busiest man in comics) — and I was stunned by the preview artwork, as I tend to be by anything Cole draws.

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REVIEW: Archie #710 finds a new type of conflict for a very old character

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By Zack Quaintance — As many reasons as there were to get excited about Archie #710 — and there were a lot, including a team-up between a pair of writers in Mariko Tamaki and Kevin Panetta who wrote the best teen romance stories of last year, and the uber stylish artwork of Laura Braga — I came to this book a bit leery. This issue marks the start of a brand-new story arc in which Katy Keene comes to Riverdale...right before her new TV show debuts on The CW in the real world.

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REVIEW: Undiscovered Country #3 establishes this comic as a unique story, unlike anything we’ve seen before

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By Jarred A. Luján — Oh, man. Undiscovered Country has been the talk of the comics town for a minute now. Ever since its announcement, which revealed that the book would see heavy-hitter writers Charles Soule and Scott Snyder teaming up with Giuseppe Camuncoli and Daniel Orlandini on interiors, the hype behind this book has only increased. Then it was announced that it had been optioned for a film franchise…before the first issue ever hit the shelves. Basically, the momentum has always been there for this book.

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REVIEW: James Bond #2 continues to deliver on this series’ promise

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By Jarred A. Luján — James Bond #2 is out this Wednesday, and in case you don’t follow my every move on the internet, I actually wrote a GET HYPED article about this exact book back in August. It was easily one of my most anticipated series for 2020, and now I get to review it! The universe is a rewarding place...sometimes.

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REVIEW: The Clock #1 is an ambitious comic rooted in the real world

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By Zack Quaintance — Rooting comic book stories firmly in current events can be a tricky business. I would argue that the vast majority of comics (even the most fantastical) have a lot to say about current events, growing as they do from the subconscious of creators living within them, but very few can consistently evoke details, news items, socio-political realities and so on in a way that makes their happenings seem totally plausible. It’s one thing for say, Watchmen, to feel like the people are real, but it’s entirely another for those people to be reacting to the same issues we do outside our doors.

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REVIEW: Relics of Youth #4 leaves us with mystery and setup for the future

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By Jarred A. Luján — Relics of Youth has been a special kind of ride. When I first picked up this book, it had a really curious, mysterious element, and the book has utilized that well to create twists and turns I never expected. With Relics of Youth #4 dropping this week, the final issue in (what appears to be) this arc, Relics has left us with a lot to think about. 

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ADVANCED REVIEW: Undone by Blood #1 is a metafictional revenge story from rising creators

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By Zack Quaintance — It’s always nice when a group of rising creators gets together to tell a new story, and that’s exactly what we have here with Undone by Blood #1, a new series launching in February from AfterShock Comics. Writing this new book, we have the team of Zac Thompson and Lonnie Nadler, who led the X-Men event that preceded the House of X/Powers of X launch (Age of X-Man, to be exact), but are perhaps best known (around this site, anyway) for their excellent creator-owned books, including The Dregs, Come Into Me, and Her Infernal Descent. 

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REVIEW: Butcher of Paris #2, a horrified look at the human experience in the darkest of times

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By Jarred A. Luján — So, a fun fact about me: I’m a giant World War II buff. I could go on and on about why I love that era politically, philosophically, historically, and on and on and on, but I will abstain from doing that in this comic book review. My love of that era, though, is really what brought me to the new book, Butcher of Paris. I’m not sure there’s a better elevator pitch than: “horrifyingly efficient serial killer in Nazi-occupied France” ...except when you end said pitch with, “based on true events.”

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TRADE RATING: Henchgirl is a superhero parody about taking control of life

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By Danielle L. — The comic Henchgirl first came to my attention in 2015 or 2016 through the YouTuber Aaron Bishop, who is also known as Professor Thorgi, and the premise seemed interesting enough that I decided to seek it out and give the series a read. It’s a book that has stuck with me, so much so that today I’d like to take a closer look at some of the things it has to say about the superhero genre, which it seems determined to parody.

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