Stumptown Comic: Finding the Thorns in Rose City

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By Taylor Pechter — A missing girl, a run-in with MS-13, gambling debt...these things are a regular part of the life of Dex Parios, the private investigator at the heart of the Stumptown comic. Dex runs the aptly named Stumptown Investigations in Portland, Oregon. First seen in comics from writer Greg Rucka, artist Matthew Southworth, and colorists Lee Loughridge and Rico Renzi, the series has now been adapted for television. With more attention surely coming, now is a great time to take a closer look at the original comic series from Oni Press. 

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REVIEW: Batman #79 continues the long-awaited romantic BatCat reunion

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By Alex Batts — This week’s Batman #79 is the second part of an interlude within the City of Bane story arc. The last issue saw Batman and Catwoman spending quality couples time on a beautiful island. The two battled their feelings for each other, trying to overcome personal faults to be together. As with last week, writer Tom King is joined here by artist Clay Mann and colorist Tomeu Morey, with Clayton Cowles on letters. This issue is a great conclusion to a break from the chaos of City of Bane.

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REVIEW: Aquaman #52 is an action-heavy issue that lets its artwork shine

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By Ander Lilly — When last we saw the former King of Atlantis, he was adjusting to life back in Amnesty Bay after time away on the mysterious island, "Unspoken Water." After recovering his memories, Arthur Curry now has a lot to take care of, including finding his love, Mera. Meanwhile, his arch-nemesis, Black Manta, has plans of his own — plans that involve a new way to bring down his enemy with help from Lex Luthor. Last issue, we were introduced to Black Manta's latest threat to Arthur: the Mecha Manta, a large killing machine programmed to think and act like his late father.

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REVIEW: Justice League #32 is another chapter in a massive bombastic epic

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By Alex Batts — This week sees the release of Justice League #32, the third part in the epic Justice/Doom War story that has been building since the start of Scott Snyder’s run on the title. I’m going to attempt a concise recap before jumping into the major events of this issue, since there has been so much buildup. There are seven energies that make up the DC Multiverse as we know it, but there are also seven hidden dark energies, evil opposites of positive counterparts. The Still Force counters the Speed Force, the Ultraviolet Spectrum counters the emotional spectrums wielded by the Green Lantern Corps, and so on.

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Top Comics to Buy for September 18, 2019: Superman #15, House of X #5, and more!

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By Zack Quaintance — Well, well, well...it finally happened. A comic has dislodged the Jonathan Hickman X-Men run from the top of our PICK OF THE WEEK selections, where those books have dominated since the series began with House of X #1 way back on July 24. That’s a massive run. In our Top Comics to Buy for September 18, however, it has been ended—it just took an entire legion of super-heroes to do it. 

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Best Comics of August 2019: House of X, Ice Cream Man, Jimmy Olsen, and more!

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By Zack Quaintance — As I wrote in my column about the Best New #1 Comics of August 2019, to me the story of this month was the glut of excellent new creator-owned books. And it was right in time too! This has been a harsh summer for major creator-owned works ending, with industry tentpoles like The Walking Dead and, to a lesser extent, The Wicked + The Divine finding their conclusions.

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Comic of the Week: King Thor #1, ‘the end has never looked so good’

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By d. emerson eddy — It's been a big year for Thor, both the character and the franchise. The threat that has been building and building under Malekith's hand for years finally came to a head in The War of the Realms, arguably one of the best superhero event series and tie-ins in recent years. He found the inner strength to become worthy again, both of his mantle and of the pride of his father, Odin. The Asgardian side of Marvel has also become a larger viable franchise again, both creatively and financially, with the recent launches of Loki and Valkyrie. And we're coming full circle to end of Jason Aaron's seven years guiding Thor as he reunites with the Thor: God of Thunder team that (nearly*) started it all of Esad Ribić, Ive Svorcina, and Joe Sabino. 

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Best New #1 Comics August 2019: The Mall, Coffin Bound, Once and Again, and more!

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By Zack Quaintance — August, obviously, can often feel like the dregs of summer. I think this is true in comics as well. The big summer events are usually ended or ending, delayed like all get out, or giving way to announcements about the new comics that will spin out of whatever craziness just happened. It is, in other words, not always fertile ground for interesting new books.

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REVIEW: Black Hammer Justice League #3 features humor and heartbreak in equal measure

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By Nick Couture — Working outside of the big two, Jeff Lemire created his own universe of superheroes. These heroes in Black Hammer are heavily inspired by heroes we know and love. With Black Hammer Justice League #3, Lemire continues to have his cake and eat it too as he brings some DC heroes out of the toy chest and into his universe. Frustrations rise, painful old memories are rehashed, and new characters are brought into the fold, as each team struggles to figure out why their worlds were turned upside-down. Though it will likely be an inconsequential story in the larger context of the Black Hammer yarn, it’s still a must read for Black Hammer fans.

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REVIEW: Detective Comics #1011 is a satisfying end to this Batman v. Deadshot story

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By Alex Batts — This week’s Detective Comics #1011 is the conclusion of a three-issue arc featuring Deadshot. This issue boasts slightly more action than the previous two, as we finally get a full-force showdown between Batman and Deadshot. As with previous issues in this arc, Peter Tomasi is joined by Christian Duce on art and Luis Guerrero on colors, with Rob Leigh lettering.

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REVIEW: Batman #78, ‘every panel of every page is stunning’

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By Alex Batts — Up until this point, the City of Bane story arc has been pedal to the metal, full force insanity. This week’s Batman #78, however, puts on cruise control, sending readers on a semi-vacation with Batman and Catwoman. It’s a welcome break in pace, which keeps things interesting. Tom King is joined by frequent collaborators Clay Mann and Tomeu Morey on art duties, with Clayton Cowles on letters. This interlude — I’m not sure it’s officially called an interlude but I’m rolling with that — does something similar to the Kite-Man interludes in The War of Jokes and Riddles arc, in that both serve as a break from fast-paced high octane action while also lending it all an incredible amount of emotional weight.

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REVIEW: Pandemica #1 is a great debut issue for an intriguing conspiracy story

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By Jarred A. Luján — Pandemica #1 is a new mini-series from IDW Publishing written by New York Times’ bestselling author Jonathan Maberry with line art by Star Wars: The Old Republic alumni Alex Sanchez. It’s also a timely book about designer pathogens used to commit ethnic cleansing across the globe. Which is, to be blunt about this, a pretty horrifying plot. The phrase “designer pathogens” alone gives me a sense of dread, and Maberry has made it quite clear that he wants the book to be grounded in reality, going so far as to mention that he has been conducting research with epidemiologists and molecular biologists to make the book more realistic.

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Top Comics to Buy for September 11, 2019: Powers of X #4, Coffin Bound #2, and Event Leviathan #4

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By Zack Quaintance — This can’t last...that’s what I’ve been thinking since House of X #1 was our Pick of the Week on the Wednesday that Marvel’s X-Men revitalization launched. Yet, here we are — the Top Comics to Buy for September 11, 2019 features another Hickman X-Book right at the top. You know why? Because every time the story loses even a tiny bit of momentum, we get an iconic issue like House of X #4. 

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COMIC OF THE WEEK: Legion of Super-Heroes Millenium is a unique bridge through DC Universe time

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By d. emerson eddy — There were a couple forms of the Legion Super-Heroes that were around at the beginning of DC's New 52 reboot back in 2011, all of which kind of continued on from what had been happening with the team before the reboot. These included one team, Legion Lost, that was thrown back to the present, where they started dealing with the strange time anomalies from Flashpoint in rather oblique ways, never really directly referencing the change. Neither series lasted long, and the franchise virtually disappeared two years into the New 52. After the publisher relaunched its superhero properties in 2016 with Rebirth, writers and artists have dropped some Easter eggs and other hints within the DC Universe, but it's still been almost six years since we've seen a proper Legion of Super-Heroes comic.

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The Saga Re-Read: Saga #50 starts with sex and happiness as we move toward the fall

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By Zack Quaintance — In some ways, this is the quintessential issue of Saga. It blends moments of domesticity so well with science fiction, commentary, and the suspenseful escape plot we’ve been following from our first issue. It is, perhaps, fitting that this is the book’s 50th issue, and one that comes before a massive status quo shift. Oops, we’re getting ahead of ourselves.

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3 Questions About PARADIGM DRIFT, Andrew Scott's New Kickstarter Project

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Andrew Scott has written a couple of pieces for Comics Bookcase—including a short argument about Daredevil on the character’s anniversary, as well as this interview with artist Peter Krause, who drew Archie 1941. Now, he’s back to talk about his new Kickstarter campaign for Paradigm Drift, an anthology of stories he wrote drawn by an impressive roster of artists.

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REVIEW: No One Left to Fight #3 makes us sad this comic has to eventually end

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By Jarred A. Luján — No One Left to Fight #3 is out today, continuing a streak of excellence for one of the most fun comics being published today. This book really does fire on all cylinders, and while its rooted in nostalgic anime vibes, it also does so much to establish itself as its own unique and wonderful thing.

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REVIEW: Crowded #9, this book is one of the best things in comics right now

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By Nick Couture — Crowded is the collective work of writer Christopher Sebela, artists Ro Stein and Ted Brandt, colorist Triona Farrell, and letterer Cardinal Rae. With each issue, the team gels more as they find notes that really make the book sing. Crowded is a refined work. It’s a dark near-future road trip comedy with the world at its disposal. Crowded #9 follows  main characters Vita and Charlie as they continue to hangout in Vegas. Unsurprisingly, hijinx ensue.

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