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Writer: Michael Stock
Artist: Sina Grace
Colorist: Tamra Bonvillain
Welcome to the most magical day for any young kid… Christmas Day! Reading through the first issue, I felt like I was a family friend to Penny, her mother and their cat Iggy, as we got to see a day in the life of this family. All of their quirks and wishes are on display for us as there is a lone present left under the tree that strangely appeared on their doorstep the day before. The two get to dreaming about what could be in the present; Penny wants a for her mom and dad to share a milkshake with hearts in their eyes, the cat dreams of ham and of course the adult wishes for piles of money.
The characters in this story are given a life through the coloring, from the clothes they wear to the energetic colors that fill the panels. The art style is one that make this comic book’s story the focus. The drawings and colors are good and tell a story on their own, but the main focus is the writing and how well by the end of the issue you get to know the family. The extra page at the end “From the writer’s desk…” was a special treat that always enhances the comic book experience (for me at least). In this case, finding out the origin of the story and seeing a photo of the inspiration for the characters has a heartwarming effect that makes the family that much more the family down the street that you might go sing a Christmas Carol to.
*Review by Cory Anderson
Writer: Kurt Busiek
Artist and Cover Color: Benjamin Dewey
Color Art: Jordie Bellaire
Their world is changing, the magic is failing and that is a huge issue, considering one of the major wizarding cities is a colossal flying city held up by levitation spells. This is an amazingly constructed magical world where the characters are kind gentlebeings, meaning they are not human. More than anthropomorphic animals, the gentlebeings that make up this world are strong, fierce and clothed like the wizarding masters they are storied to be, and they are very devote and obedient to their gods, even fearing them. Joining the colloquy that is to take place and discuss the future of their magic, are the sons and daughters of the masters of magic. Not only are we getting to see these animals in humanoid form display their animalistic qualities that become the typecast for their personalities, we also get to see the curious minds of their children
All of this wonderful story that has been written and illustrated through 30 plus pages comes to a devastating and horrendous end, when the need for more magic and a savior plummets the floating city to the ground. The fall out and illustrated splash page completely smash all of the fantasy and magical feeling you may have had for this world. The very icon that displays the epitome of their culture is a crater site and not many survivors are seen in the end. All in the quest to gain more magic, which in the end, they achieved their goal, but at what price? The world was changing around them, and they found a way to obtain what they needed, but in the process they changed the course of all their lives. The final few panels leave us wanting to know more, to explore more and to see if all they lost will be worth it.
*Review by Cory Anderson
Written by: Keenan Marshall Keller
Art by: Tom Neely
The Humans #1 is a wild ride that you won’t see coming. I surely didn’t and it took some time to sink in. I mean we’re talking about Planet of the Apes meets Easy Rider in a rowdy Rated R world of sex, drugs, choppers and violence. What more could you want in a ape biker gang?
Keenan Marshall Keller took his love of 1970’s exploitation films and transferred it to comics in this tale of rough and tumble bikers, The Humans, roaming the roads of Bakersfield, California laying a fallen rider to rest while battling a rival gang. It’s more than a capable homage to the low-budget, gratuitously violent outlaw biker films of the late ’60s and early ’70s. The Humans is Russ Meyer-incarnate capturing the tone and tempo of those cult classic features that exposed America to the seedy underbelly of biker gangs. Except Keller swaps humans for apes creating an alternate reality that is bizarre but totally compelling.
The Humans is a time machine to a seedy movie house in some downtown metropolis with sticky floors and a single screen watching Naked Angels or Motorpsycho. The fact the characters are apes is just an added bonus. Keller and Neely have created a subgenre within a subgenre within a subculture that slaps the reader awake and reinvigorates what adult comic books are all about.
*Review by Enrique Rea
Written by: Pat McHale
Art by: Jim Campbell
Colors by: Danielle Burgos
Over the Garden Wall is a miniseries currently airing on Cartoon Network. It tells the story of Wirt and Greg, two brothers lost in The Unknown, a strange and bizarre place filled with skeletons that wear pumpkins as clothes and talking birds, as well as a terrifying creature known as The Beast. Wirt and Greg are foils and trying to return home. The miniseries itself is a delightful piece of work, weaving in an early 20th century design and a simplistic yet elegant art style with dashes of humor. The comic is no different.
Over the Garden Wall airs on Cartoon Network every day this week at 7:00 pm. You can watch the first episode on Cartoon Network’s website or download the first episode free from iTunes.
*Review by Tyler Pollock
Written by: Tony Puryear & Erika Alexander
Art by: Tony Puryear
Concrete Park #3 continues to build the seedy and dangerous world of Oasis and their brutal gang rivalries. It’s a world we’ve seen before but never with characters of color taking the lead. This ambitious mini-series from Tony Puryear and Erika Alexander is exciting and mysterious but their goals and aspirations may be too wide and varied for the limited format. There’s a narrative that keeps expanding leading us to new characters and situations while losing character development along the way.
With such an expansive canvas as this prison planet with warring gangs it can be easy to stray away from the main plot point. Unless the focus is Luca who we’ve gotten to know better and this issue demonstrates more of her thought process amid the danger she faces being on the Potato King’s hit list. She’s smart and careful but resourceful. She’s a great character with some layers and has shown to be our lead. Or is she?
The book is exciting, beautiful and reminiscent of ‘The Warriors’ and ‘Mad Max’ but I don’t know how they’re going to successfully wrap up this tale in five issues. Perhaps it’s not meant to be. And what is the end game here? A lot of questions remain especially after the latest cliffhanger. It’s still worth finding out though.
*Review by Enrique Rea
Written by: Ed Brubaker
Art by: Steve Epting & Elizabeth Breitweiser
Velvet continues to be the best spy series in comics. You can keep your Black Widow and Grayson I’ve got my money on Velvet Templeton. Initially dismissed as a female James Bond, Velvet can hold her own and then some. She’s knee deep in taking her former employer to task and holding Director Manning hostage is all part of the plan.
Steve Epting’s pencils and Elizabeth Breitweiser’s colors successfully capture 1970’s London with a noir-ish pulp look full of shadows and muted tones. The focus is always set on Velvet, she’s in virtually every panel and you can’t take your eyes off of her. It’s a cinematic style that hits all the beats and angles that accentuate the action. The fluidness of the story in words and pictures comes from a creative team that are in sync on every issue.
Velvet is a winning series that doesn’t disappoint. If you enjoy a gritty spy thriller full of action and deadly conspiracies then this is the book for you.
*Review by Enrique Rea
Written by: Dan Slott
Art by: Olivier Coipel & Justin Ponsor
Epilogue art by: Guiseppe Camuncoli, Cam Smith & Antonio Fabela
So this is the official first issue of Spider-verse (after many issues of Edge of Spider-verse) and it starts off with a bang! This issue finally sucks 616 Peter Parker into the Spider-verse mess and introduces him to all the other Spidey’s. I thought I was as excited about Spider-verse as I could possibly be back when they announced it, but after reading this issue my excitement reached a whole new level. We get more Spider-Gwen, Old Man Spider, Spidey 2099 and last but absolutely never least… Spider-Ham! We get a few horrific deaths of different Spider-men in this issue at the hands of Morlun and his family the Inheritors of Reality. We get to see a ton of amazing alternate universes but the one that matters the most is that of the Ultimate Universe. We get to see Miles Morales and Ultimate Jessica Drew! There is an epilogue in the back of this book that is as creepy as Edge of Spider-verse #4 and your fear won’t want you to turn the pages! There are more Spider-men and women in this book than ever before. Almost every main one I can think of appears in either this issue or the Spider-verse Team Up book this week.
*Review by Everett Harn