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Over the Garden Wall Review

Hello there! Emily and I read a book and want to talk to you about it again! This week we read Over the Garden Wall by Pat McHale and Jim Campbell. This book is based off of a Cartoon Network miniseries of the same title. Two brothers get lost in the woods and are trying to find their way home. Their path has been full of misadventures and they have been warned to beware the beast of the forest. With the help of a sassy bluebird, they are on their way to someone who may be able to help. They hope. This issue takes place between episodes 3 and 4 of the show. I actually haven’t talked to Emily yet about what she thought, so I’m going to dive right in with my thoughts!

Julia: Long story short, I LOVED this comic. Immediately after watching it (you mean reading it, right?), I binge watched the entire series and was late to meet up with a friend because I was so into it and couldn’t stop. (Yes, I am that person.) But for realsies, this book had everything I love. It’s funny and adorable, but also smart and well written. Oh also!! I was immediately very excited because I spent all of comic con trying to figure out why people were wearing upsidedown teapots on their heads and Over the Garden Wall gave me the answer! They were cosplaying Greg, the younger of the two brothers. So right off the bat, this comic was on my good side. And it stayed there. Greg is the most optimistic, most wonderful little bundle of naive adorableness and Wirt is the most teenage angsty, poetry spouting, frustrated older brother with a heart of gold. I loved that the comic took place in a fairytale setting, using several tropes of the genre to make a fantastically silly story. This issue is also nice because it can stand alone and doesn’t need to be read in the context of the show. I read it first and understand and enjoyed it. Watching all the episodes just enhanced this experience! Okay. I’m INCREDIBLY curious what Emily thought of Over the Garden Wall, so I’m going to turn this over to her and continue my raving later. (And by later I mean in a few minutes cause I’m seeing a friend and I know he’ll like this comic too. But also later in this article. Raving for dayyysss.)

Emily: After reading it I just knew Julia would absolutely love this comic.  This kind of thing is right up her alley.  My part of this conversation, on the other hand, is probably going to be way way way shorter than Julia’s.  Honestly, there just isn’t much for me to say about it.

It was enjoyable and fun and well written and I liked that it didn’t take itself too seriously.  Sometimes it’s nice to just read something smart and witty for fun, and it’s made better because I actually felt how much fun the writer was having while writing it.  I don’t know why but lately when I think about comic book writers or artists or inkers or whatever, the image of them slaving away and angsting and trying to make deadlines immediately pops in my head. When I think about the people who made Over the Garden Wall, I just see a bunch of silly people throwing silly ideas at each other and somehow making it all work.

Still, isn’t not really my kind of genre but I can appreciate it.  I’m more of the all angst all the time kind of gal.

Julia: I’m glad you liked it, Emily. I knew you wouldn’t be as enthused as me, but I was really nervous that you would hate it and then I would be really sad. I just read the comic again (and watched the show again, whoops, I might be obsessed) and it reminds me a lot of when I used to go watch my brother at speech tournaments. He was in storytelling and this was the kind of story that would have gotten him to state. It has everything that a good fairytale should have. Hilarious mishaps, a weird talking house, frustrating children, and a lesson. I was in storytelling too and, unlike my brother, I was absolutely horrid at it, but if I was able to tell this story at least once a tournament, I may have been able to stay in storytelling instead of getting kicked out and moved to a different category. This story speaks for itself and it  would be difficult to make it terrible. It’s seriously so great everybody, I want all of you to read it!!!

Emily: Haha… whether I liked it or not shouldn’t matter to you so much!  Honestly, I can’t be bothered to hate something though.  It’s just a waste of my time and energy, really, and I can be fangirling instead.  That being said, even though it was well written and fun and witty, I probably will not pick up the next issue and I won’t be watching the show.  Well… maybe.  My whims are unknown even to me.

Julia: Well anywho, I loved it and have talked about basically nothing else for the past three days. Yesterday at work I was telling my coworker about it and then a customer came in and four hours later I realized I hadn’t finished telling her, so I just picked up right where I had left off and kept on raving. It’s that good! Also, all the variant covers are cool tie-ins to the show! I’ve decided to adopt Greg’s attitude as my own life outlook. Everything is wonderful and beauty and adventure can be found in any situation!

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We(l)come Back Didn’t Feel Very Welcoming

So, I think it’s ironic how in our last piece Julia and I talked about how different our tastes in comics are and how we never seem to like (or dislike) the same things, only to start this article by saying that we’re both definitely not feeling Christopher Sebela’s We(l)come Back.  The basic premise, for those who are unfamiliar, is that Mali and Tessa are in this toxic endless cycle of love, war, death, reincarnation, forget, remember, and how they just can’t seem to quit each other.  Rinse.  Repeat.

Emily: Right from the get go I was already side-eying this premise like crazy.  I used to read a lot of mangas and watched a lot of anime so reincarnation in stories is nothing new to me.  But I thought, hey, I should keep an open mind.  This is written from a western point of view and that could be interesting.  Needless to say, it wasn’t.  Not at all.

A few pages in and I know that Sebela is trying really really really hard to get me to connect with Mali, one of the main characters, but it’s just not happening.  The character starts off very maudlin, very “My life is so empty and I’m just going through the motions,” and “What am I even doing with my life.”  With the premise being what it is, that’s a pretty good idea.  That kind of stuff right there, that’s relatable as hell (heck? Julia, am I not supposed to be using curse words? (From Julia - you can totally use curse words, but I’m leaving this in cause it’s hilarious.))  You know what isn’t a good idea though?  Having that be all your character is.  For me, there are no more dimensions to her beyond that, not even when she gets her memories and kickass super assassin skills back.

Maybe it’s just me, but while I was reading this I made a lot of comparisons between this and just mangas as a whole, and my conclusion that it boils down to essentially East vs West methods of storytelling and what’s most important.  Just from my own personal observations, (mainly mangas, animes, and dramas) East Asian writing tend to emphasize moments of reflection and emotion more than anything else to give weight to their works whereas Western (Maybe just American?) stuff is a lot more plot and character driven.  If you read mangas, especially shojo mangas, you’ll know that Japan has basically mastered this technique.  Those  doki-doki scenes man, they’ll get you every time.

I guess to tie it all together, what I’m trying to say is that if you want to emotionally hook readers into investing in your story, you better do a damn good job because it’s hard to like anything when they’re trying to blatantly manipulate you.

Okay!  There’s more stuff that didn’t work for me, but I’m gonna give Julia a chance to chime in for a bit.

Julia: Hello! As Emily mentioned, this comic did not quite jive for me. However, the most upsetting thing to me was that there were parts of the comic that I totally loved! Like so so much. Certain scenes were incredibly cool and I desperately wanted to see the comic continue in the vain of the good parts, but the overarching plot came in and devoured all the great moments until they were forced to fight through a sea of grand ideas that didn’t quite merge into a cohesive whole.

Mali’s storyline before her awakening was so cool. As the step-daughter of a deceased serial killer, she is constantly plagued by her past. Although she moved to a new town and changed her name, old stalkers and worshippers of her step-father continued to find her and send her eerie messages, praising her step-father’s work and offering to protect her. This, combined with an endlessly unsuccessful job hunt and a boyfriend whose only purpose seems to be filling the void of being alone, was enough to hook me and want an entire series based off of just this concept. Mali is relatable. Mali is a lost twenty-something who is unsure about where her life is going. While I don’t have a murderer in my family, I could identify with her constant sense of transition and searching. The problem is that this comic had a vision of being a lot more than this, connecting to lives across countries and across history.

When this larger plot kicked in, I lost interest. The things that had made Mali interesting were gone and I felt no connection whatsoever to Tessa. The narrative voiceovers felt sloppy and made me more confused, when they were supposed to be explaining the intricacies of this ongoing war. Also something about the coloring and placement of the narrative boxes felt like someone had just stuck post-it notes on the book instead of making the text work with the art.

This book has so much potential. SO MUCH. But I did not see those possibilities come to life. In the midst of a million things done right, there were just enough things done wrong in this book to drive me bonkers. I want it to be something amazing. And I’m hoping that as the series continues, it will find that thing to bring all the multi-faceted plot aspects together, clean them up, and make them sing.

Emily: Jumping back to an earlier point Julia made, I just wanted to add in my little bit about the narration and narration boxes.  Like, narration is supposed to help me understand the story right?  The placement of the narration boxes sometimes made it really hard to figure out which order I was supposed to read them in so I was just even more confused.  The sad thing is I didn’t even care enough to figure it out.  I basically said, “whatever,” and moved on.

Moving on, Julia keeps saying it has so much potential but I don’t really see it at all.  From the first issue I can pretty much figure out where the story is headed.  This wouldn’t be so bad if I think the story-telling was actually good.  Instead it just plays off as incredibly cliche.  I keep saying this to Julia so she’s probably “ugh” about this now, but it really really really reads like fanfiction, which isn’t really what I look for when I’m reading comics, no matter how much I actually love reading fics.

Overall, the disjointed plot points thrown together haphazardly and overly cliched writing makes it so I have absolutely zero motivation or interest to continue reading this.  First issues are like first impressions.  Don’t mess it up.

Julia: As you can see, Emily and I were let down by We(l)come Back. We have both similar reasons and very different reasons for being disappointed. Hopefully next week we’ll find an amazing book that we both loved, but who knows if that will ever happen!

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Beauty Divers

Over the past year of getting to know each other, my friend Emily and I have realized that we have incredibly different taste in comics. We both absolutely love comics and read several books a week, but we rarely read the same titles and when we do, it’s even more rare that we’ll have the same opinion on them.

So we decided to give ourselves a little challenge. Let’s pick one book to read every week, we thought, and then write an article describing what we liked and didn’t like and using each other’s differing perspectives to build on our own feelings about the book.

With this idea in mind, we went through the new release list for this week. There were two books we were very interested in so we decided to read both and decide which one to write about after we had finished them. But, believe it or not, we both liked different ones and thought that each was worth writing about. After a string of text messages that ended in, “But story!” “But boring!” we decided that we should be writing about them both anyhow, so that we could look into what it is that hooked on and what will keep us reading past the first issue. Without further ado, let us present to you our thoughts about Beauty by Jeremy Haun and James A. Hurley and String Divers by Chris Ryall and Nelson Daniel.

Julia: When I first heard the premise for Beauty, I was really excited. An STD that makes you beautiful? A disease that people actually want? That sounds pretty interesting. Not to mention the fact that since the disease physically changes you, everyone will know whether or not you have it. That could lead to some fascinating interactions. I went into it thinking of Black Hole and what an interesting take on sexuality that had been and hoping for another unique look at a subject that is all too often avoided.

Alas, I was sorely disappointed. Beauty read like any crime comic and was as predictable as the sun going down at night. The writing and art were both very good, but it lacked the spark of something new that I had so desperately hoped for. It had your basic conflict between different investigative departments and personal home life issues affecting the members of the task force themselves. The big event in this issue had been heavily hinted at in the marketing so I was expecting it when it happened. I will still probably read the second issue of Beauty, just based on the concept alone, but I had hoped for a more unique start.

String Divers, on the other hand, was fantastic. While I’m not sure how solid the science behind it is and I also find really touchy sibling relationships very weird, the rest of the comic was great. I especially enjoyed the first half of the comic when the String Divers were in their tiny string world trying to save science. I loved the different personalities that all of the androids had, especially the red one. I also appreciate that the scientists working on the project are already confronting that age old question: is it possible to be emotionally attached to a robot or should you just treat them as equipment? I think I’m going to save the rest of my thoughts about String Divers so that I can use them to defend it when Emily tells me what she disliked. Over to you, Emily!

Emily:  Okay!  Sometimes our expectation of how epic or good something is going to be mars our actual experiences.  See, unlike Julia, I don’t follow any comic book news.  Every week I look at what’s coming out and then I decide on what I buy based on whether I think the premise is interesting or not.  The premise of Beauty, an STI that makes you more beautiful, definitely grabbed by attention right away because come on, who doesn’t enjoy a discussion about the outrageous beauty standards and expectations thriving within our society?  Whether there will actually be commentary on this subject or not, I do not know.  What I do know is that I enjoyed reading Beauty a lot more than I enjoyed reading String Divers and it’s probably for a lot of conventional reasons.

Yes, the first issue is a bit predictable but when has that suddenly made something boring or bad?  In an established genre like noir, the interesting part is establishing a well written and well thought out mystery and making it interesting and fun within the established conventions of a genre.  For me Jeremy Haun and James A Hurley established the characters and the setting extremely well without long pages of exposition so that we can get to the fun part: watching how the mystery unravels in front of you as you play detective.

String Divers, on the other hand, was just a lot of “meh” to me.  Not good.  Not bad.  Just… there.  It’s an interesting concept no doubt but what does it do to establish what the comic is about?  As someone who doesn’t know much about string theory than hey it’s a theory to explain our universe, it felt like I was perpetually left out of the loop.  It felt like with this first issue Chris Ryall and Nelson Daniel didn’t know what they wanted their product to be.  Is it supposed to be large scale? Epic?  Is it humorous?  I don’t know!

The other problem I had with it is that it’s basically an ensemble cast.  There were way too many characters they wanted to establish right away, and what that ended up doing for me is that well, I don’t remember any of them.  When you’ve got that many characters fighting for screen time you basically get to know none of them.

Julia: Maybe it was my expectations that made me dislike Beauty. I actually hadn’t read much more than the Previews description of it before reading the comic, but something about the cover made me expect a very different story. I’m just now realizing that this is what made me expect a different kind of story, but the cover kind of feels fantasy-esque and if I’m being completely honest, the title had me thinking about Beauty and the Beast from the beginning. So with the combination of these misperceptions on my part, I was not at all expecting a run of the mill crime story.

The thing about something being predictable is that when you know what’s going to happen and it follows a specific pattern, what are you reading for? I’m fine with things fitting into a familiar genre, but they’ve got to do something new and different within that framework. Although an STD seems like it would do just that, it ended up reading like any other crime story centered around an unknown illness. Actually, like any crime story centered around an unknown anything. Which is all crime stories. Like I said before, I thought the writing and the art of Beauty were good, it just didn’t have that spark that would make me want to read more. And possibly I set myself up for this disappointment with my wacky expectations, but nevertheless, I was underwhelmed.

Emily, I find it interesting that you didn’t feel that you were able to get to know any of the characters in String Divers. I personally felt that we were getting good views of many of them right off the bat. Here is an example to me of how you can do an often played out idea in a new way. Each one of the String Divers has a specific job to do within the team. They’re color coded and have personalities that tend to fit with their task. Yes, this is typical of a team book. But the thing I thought was really neat about String Divers is the idea that they have drawers of these androids so that if one breaks, they just get another one ready to go into the field. Unlike most situations like this, however, these new androids have all of the old memories uploaded into them so that they can learn from previous experiences. So they are inexperienced, new pieces of tech going into the field with a slew of old traumatic memories. I think this plays out nicely in Red’s character within the first issue and I’m excited to see more.

It’s true, we really didn’t get a good sense of the rest of the crew. We know they’re scientists, we know they’re working on things, but for some reason I was okay with it! The String Divers themselves were the main event for me when reading this title and the scientists felt like side characters that we may get to know, but it doesn’t really matter if we do or don’t. Also, very little is known about String Theory so it’s an open field of exploration for a sci-fi writer choosing to write about it! They can make things up and be imaginative to their heart’s desire.

Emily:  I think it’s funny that you got a fantasy vibe from it because I totally thought it was going to be set in a dystopian universe.  Imagine my surprise when it’s not really the stereotypical dystopian I expected at all.  It does lean a little towards crime drama ala csi or law and order but I think it’s simply the fault of the time period it’s set in.  So maybe it’s not so much noir as it is noir-esque?  Either way I’m definitely open to anything at this point because I need to know!  I need those answers and I need them right now!  Truthfully, that’s what I love the most about noir.  That moment when the mystery is explained and it’s all tied together in a neat package and hey, that little detail you overlooked because it seemed insignificant?  That was the crucial clue that tied it all together!

Don’t get me wrong.  I liked the first issue of Beauty a lot.  I’m not saying it’s the best thing ever but it was definitely a compelling open.  On the flip side, I’m not saying don’t pick up String Divers because it’s the worst thing ever.  Granted, I’ll give you the characterization of Red and that specific moment is pretty memorable because there’s potential there and I love when anything can pose the question of humanity and what it means to be human.  String Divers does have small little nuggets of gold scattered here and there, but is it really enough for me?  I really don’t know.  

I realize now that I might have come off a bit harsh when I talked about String Divers previously.  There is definitely a lot of potential there.  I might not be sold on it (yet) but I would have picked up the next issue even if I wasn’t doing this discussion/review thing with Julia.  I just wished that the writers had put a little more effort into establishing where the story is going or what the story is about.

Now, I’m going to be one hundred percent super completely honest here for a moment.  A large part of why I continue a series is purely based on how I feel about it emotionally.  Even when I know that logically something is terribly cliched and horrible, I will probably keep buying as long as it hypes me up enough to want the next issue more than it makes me roll my eyes at it.  Hell, I can even enjoy hate reading something (here’s to looking at you Bucky Barnes: The Winter Soldier) because I get an emotional experience out of it.  For me there’s nothing worse than reading something boring and forgettable because then I’m just wasting my time.

Anyhow, thinking about it now, I think Julia’s right when she said that we probably enjoy different titles because she loves the endless potential that stories like String Divers bring, whereas I’m much more into the now and what the story is doing right at this moment.  A lot of the stuff I enjoy reading does tend to be more plot and character relationships driven.  I just hate filler issues/chapters/episodes because in my opinion that’s just lazy writing.  It doesn’t have to be fast paced or throw a hundred things at my face, but it should contributing to the overall story, whether it be moving the plot forward, world building, or even just defining who these characters are.

Julia: So I think, in summary, Emily and I like very different things and will never agree. However, we both understand the effort and talent put into both Beauty and String Divers. They just sat with us differently and worked with our wants and needs for a comic series in different ways. Whether you’re looking for a crime drama or a weird sciencey adventure, there are books out there for you! I think what we really want the takeaway from this to be is that y’all should keep reading cause at some point you’ll stumble across something you love, even if it’s not the book that the people around you love. Anyhow, I’ll get off my comic book loving soapbox and say thank you for joining us in our discussion!

Emily: I’m sure there’s a title or two that Julia and I overlap on…  I’m wracking my brain to find something because I remember furiously flailing with her about something… But yes, I concur with Julia’s sentiment.  I encourage everyone to try a new series whenever and wherever they can.  Seriously, if you’re strapped for cash and don’t want or have money to spend take advantage of your comic book reading friends.  I’ve also heard that the library is awesome for this kind of thing and that they actually have a wide selection to choose from.  So yeah, the real take away from this whole exchange you should keep with you is that well… I’m always more right than Julia!

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Webcomic Review: Bird Boy

Hello All!

This week I would like to introduce you to a delightful new discovery I made recently.  Bird Boy by Anne Szabla.  The story follows Bali, a small boy in the Nuru tribe who wants prove himself to his elders.  This desire leads him into the mysterious forest, where he finds the weapon of a legendary hero.  He must summon all of his courage to protect the weapon and face the surreal monsters that want to eliminate all of the light in the world.

One of the most striking things about this series is the unique art style.  The images have influences of both Inuit and Scandinavian art, and the highly stylized sections that tell of the legendary hero art beautiful and captivating.  All of the creatures depicted, whether malicious or benign, are delightfully strange with masks instead of faces.  Combined with the beautiful natural landscapes, it creates a world that is surreal and entrancing.

The series has two volumes so far, and the story has started picking up pace in recent updates.  I’m excited to see where it will go, and I think you will be too.

Bird Boy updates every Thursday.

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Comic Sense: July 22nd Edition

Hooray comics! I’m really excited about Power Up, Book of Death, and Wolf. Get reading!

Power Up #1

Publisher: Boom! Studios

Writer: Kate Leth

Artist/Cover Artist: Matt Cummings

Price: $3.99

This is an exciting first issue! I love Amie’s character and I feel for her as she struggles to be a good employee while also just trying to be a functioning human being. We only got a little glimpse of the other characters, but I think that this is going to be a fun crew to follow. I mean, what could be better than a goldfish that turns into a whale? The creepy villain guy is properly creepy in a very dignified evil way. The art is fun and expressive and I already can’t wait to see where this story goes.

Rick and Morty #4

Publisher: Oni Press

Writer: Zac Gorman

Artist/Cover Artist: CJ Cannon

Price: $3.99

If you’re a fan of the Rick and Morty TV show, you will be a fan of this comic. Rick is as disgusting and burpy as ever and Morty is just trying to make him happy while attempting to keep the chaos levels at a minimum (and failing miserably). There are, of course, aliens in this comic who are fed up with Rick’s shenanigans. Rick and Morty is irreverent and enjoyable. It fits well with the feel of the show.

Book of Death: The Fall of Bloodshot #1

Publisher: Valiant

Writer: Jeff Lemire

Artist: Doug Braithwaite

Cover Artist: Rafael Sandoval

Price: $3.99

So this book has Bloodshot as a pirate, Bloodshot with a beard, Bloodshot eating a polar bear, and Bloodshot fighting a dinosaur. Yeah. It’s that awesome. It’s kind of a depressing look back on his life and how alone he’s been and how death is approaching, but I suppose in a book called Book of Death, that’s to be expected. Although it was a bit of a downer, I enjoyed reading this book and it’s one of the only ‘event’ series I’m willing to follow. The art is absolutely stunning and there is a ship that looks like The Millennium Falcon.

Infinite Loop #4

Publisher: IDW Publishing

Writer: Pierrick Colinet

Artist/Cover Artist: Elsa Charretier

Price: $3.99

Okay, this book is crazy!! In a good way, I think. There are so many different time streams and different versions of one person and whoah. The story and art work together to form a mind bending experience that I’m really not quite sure I entirely follow, but I’m still super interested and intrigued. I also like that Teddy’s mom was spouting 1984 quotes every which way.

Wolf #1

Publisher: Image

Writer: Ales Kot

Artist/Cover Artist: Matt Taylor

Price: $4.99

Although this comic is 64 pages long, which is crazy long, it doesn’t feel that way as it moves along smoothly and keeps you page turning the whole way through. Wolf handles supernatural forces in a modern, real life way that doesn’t feel forced or out of place. This issue generates a lot of questions, but not in the annoying way. I want to know what happens next and it will not be a chore to read on and find out. There several exquisite panel set ups in this one as well, like frameable on your wall pages. I’ve read several titles by Ales Kot lately and I think this is my favorite one yet!

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Webcomic Review: Girly

Hello All!

This week I would like to talk to you about the comic that originally got me hooked on webcomics.

Girly by Josh Lesnick.  Boy this one takes me back.  At its core this is the story of two girls falling in love in the middle of a zany and illogical world. The two meet when Winter starts following Otra everywhere, insisting that Otra is her sidekick.  From there things devolve into what can best be described as shenanigans, with the pair always searching for the next big adventure.  With stubborn elephants, inept super heroes and a mysterious pursuer of women, things take a turn for the wacky as these two navigate the city of Cutetown.

This series is always fun and lighthearted, and it often pokes fun at the tropes common in cartoons and anime.  Many of the characters are representations of different genres, and it is fun to see them interacting with each other throughout the story.  I would say that this one isn’t for the youngins out there because the humor can get a little raunchy at times.  As an example, one of Winter’s favorite ways to introduce herself is the hit people on the head with a giant dildo.  However, that is about as explicit as it gets, with the adult themes presented in a more wink-and-a-nudge way.  On the website you can find some of Josh’s other work, but fair warning it is definitely NSFW.

This is a complete series with fifteen distinct chapters.  The adventures are always silly and unique, and the cast includes a wide array of charmingly quirky characters.  If you’re in the mood for irreverent fun then this is the series for you.

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Comic Sense: July 8th Edition

Wow, what an exciting week!! We’re just coming off of a bunch of big Marvel, Image, and Valiant announcements and moving into San Diego Comic Con week! All of this excitement, PLUS a bunch of great comics to read! Woohoo!

Archie #1

Publisher: Archie Comic Publications

Writer: Mark Waid

Artist/Cover Artist: Fiona Staples

Price: $3.99

Well this was just super great!! I grew up reading Archie and I’ve been constantly impressed by Fiona Staples’ art in Saga, so the combination of the two was absolutely fantastic! It was neat to see a more modernized Archie before he even meets Veronica. However, I think I might have a crush on Jughead now, which is a sentence I never thought I’d say in my entire life. While Riverdale looks different, the characters are still the good ol’ Riverdale crew who make the struggles of high school seem both relatable and manageable. This is a first issue that I’ve been looking forward to for awhile and I’m very happy to say that I was impressed. Plus, dang, that Jughead’s jawline and moody smolder.

Dirk Gently #2

Publisher: IDW Publishing

Writer: Chris Ryall

Artist/Cover Artist: Tony Atkins

Price: $3.99

So I read the first Dirk Gently issue before I had read either of the Dirk Gently novels. I liked the comic and found it entertaining. However, I’ve recently read Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency and I’m halfway through The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul. There is something about Douglas Adam’s humor, wit, and timing that simply cannot be replicated. This new comic series is a cute and interesting story, but it doesn’t feel like Dirk Gently. I am happy to see that he now has his weird maroon hat in this issue, as he should.

Starve #2

Publisher: Image

Writer: Brian Wood

Artists/Cover Artists: Danijel Zezelj and Dave Stewart

Price: $3.50

I am still so all about the art in this book. Starve is Hunger Games and Top Chef mixed into one and it makes for a savory pairing (hehe, see what I did there?). As the book comments on our wasteful society, it also explores familial relationships, friendships, and the use of entertainment as a means of ignoring prevalent real life issues and flaunting the ability not to care. The graffiti-esque nature of the art intensifies the bleakness and suffering of much of earth’s population at this time. Starve is thought provoking, engaging, gritty, and stunning.

Invader Zim #1

Publisher: Oni Press

Writer: Jhonen Vasquez

Artists: Aaron Alexovich and Various

Cover Artist: Aaron Alexovich

Price: $3.99

Boy, does this book bring me back. I remember sitting in my friend’s porch, watching Invader Zim for the first time and going, ‘What is this silliness?? I’ve never seen anything like it! It’s so goofy and wonderful!’ (My family didn’t watch much TV, as you can maybe tell). It’s great to see that loveably and incompetently evil green guy back in action! I’ve probably mentioned this before, but I really don’t like oozy, gross things, which is why I don’t watch shows like Rick and Morty or Spongebob. Because of this, there were several panels in this issue that I had to avert my eyes from and maybe cover up a little bit with my hand, but Gir is just so adorable, he makes up for it. And most people don’t have weird squeamish things for no reason like I do, so I don’t think grimy, revolting Dib will be a problem for most people! This is a fun first issue and I think it will make many Invader Zim fans very happy.

The Tomorrows #1

Publisher: Dark Horse

Writer: Curt Pires

Artist: Jason Copland

Cover Artists: Jason Copland and Dylan Todd

Price: $3.99

So. First, I really like the color scheme in the book. It’s cool and pastel-y and vibrant. I also really like that their computer is Andy Warhol. I want to know if it’s actually his consciousness in their somehow or if it’s just programmed to be like him. (I’m sure it’s the latter, but a girl can dream, right?) Reading this book felt a lot like reading The Surface. Maybe I’ve just been reading too many comics recently, or more specifically, too many comics in one genre, but The Tomorrows felt like just another dystopian future with a band of cool rapscallions who are going to bring down the government. There was nothing wrong with it and it was an enjoyable read, but it felt a little bit stale. With a storyline that has been tackled so many times, I needed something to really set this story apart from all of the other Big Brother, Mega-City One type narratives. I’m holding on to my optimism for this series and will read the second issue in the hopes that it will change my mind for the better!

Negative Space #1

Publisher: Dark Horse Comics

Writer: Ryan Lindsay

Artist/Cover Artist: Owen Gieni

Price: $3.99

Negative Space did the opposite of The Tomorrows. It took the idea of constantly being watched and exploited in a direction I’ve never seen it go before. I’m honestly not quite sure where exactly it’s going still, but I certainly know that I’m enjoying the journey. I’m writing this review having not read any synopsi of the comic before reading this issue because it looked cool and I wanted it to see where it would take me. I was very pleasantly surprised and a little unsettled as I read, which is a nice way to feel. I like when books take me off guard and I want you to be able to experience this feeling as well so I won’t tell you too much about the plot of Negative Space. As a person who understands the burden of being extremely empathetic, this issue struck a chord with me. Owen Gieni’s detailed and full art brings this story to life with passion and depth. If you’re looking for a new series to try out, I fully recommend this number one!

P.S. I just read a synopsis and I’m even more intrigued.

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Webcomic Review: O Human Star

Hello All!

This week I would like to introduce you to an artist from my home town of Minneapolis. O Human Star by Blue Delliquanti.  Taking place in the near future, this comic deals with issues of robotics and artificial intelligence in a way that I haven’t seen before.  Commonly called Synthetic Beings, the robots of this world are given full civil rights and citizenship under law.  Some can even “pass” as organic beings.  The thoughtful way that these issues are handled in the comic mirror the themes of sexuality and gender identity that are present, as exemplified with some characters being afraid to be “out” as synthetic.  The complicated relationships of the three main characters are heartfelt and nuanced, and I found myself wholeheartedly invested in their struggles.

I love the art in this series.  As an architecture nerd, I had a major fangirl moment the first time I saw some of the iconic landmarks of Minneapolis.  Anyone who is familiar with Minneapolis will recognize sights like the downtown Central Library, Hennepin Avenue Bridge and the IGN building.  The real world setting feels so genuine that it elevates the story to something more than science fiction.  It truly feels like this series is taking place in a real city in the not so distant future.  I guarantee that this story will draw you in and never let you go.

O Human Star Updates every Monday.

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Webcomic Review: The Wormworld Saga

Hello All!

Boy do I have a treat for you this week. The Wormworld Saga by Daniel Lieske. I can honestly say that this is one of the most beautiful comics that I have ever read.  The amount of visual detail turns every panel into its own work of art.  With vivid colors and incredible light effects, each page feels like looking through a window into another world.  At times I found myself staring at a panel for minutes at a time trying to take in every detail.  

Described as a digital graphic novel, The Wormworld Saga follows Jonas, a young boy visiting his grandmother’s farm over his summer break.  During his exploration of the attic, he finds a portal to another world and is promptly separated from his own.  He quickly discovers that his fate is entwined with this new world through an ancient prophecy.  

Part of the charm of this series is the sheer strangeness and wonder that is contained in Wormworld.  The plants, animals and even laws of nature are fundamentally different, and we as readers get to experience it all through Jonas’s eyes.  The Wormworld Saga is also a truly unique format that I haven’t seen anywhere else.  The story is organized into chapters, and each chapter is one long, continuous strip on the webpage.  Flowing from one panel to another without any breaks makes reading this series a completely immersive experience.  Take care not to lose track of time while reading this one, because I know I certainly did.

Daniel Lieske recently released the seventh chapter of The Wormworld Saga on the website.  

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Comic Sense: June 24th Edition

There were a lot of #1′s released last month, which means that this week we get to take a look at some great #2′s! There are several series going on right now that I’m very excited about and many of them happen to be coming out this week!

Mythic #2

Publisher: Image

Writer: Phil Hester

Artist/Cover Artist: John McCrea

Price: $2.99

Mythic #2 was just as good as Mythic #1! The first issue of this comic introduced us to one particular magic maintaining team and hooked us with a great short story. The second issue expands the universe and creates a bigger picture of several teams fighting a much bigger foe. There’s a cool old wooden robot and a fiery demon and an overall awesome story. I’m endlessly impressed by McCrea’s art and Spicer’s colors. The soft background color palettes combined with the sharp line shading in the ink work make every panel dynamic and very visually pleasing. Mythic is snarky while still being incredibly epic and building to what is sure to be a spectacular adventure of an arc. And in case you’re wondering, yes, the mountains sexual needs were fulfilled. So thank goodness for that.

Material #2

Publisher: Image

Writer: Ales Kot

Artist: Will Tempest

Cover Artist: Tom Muller

Price: $3.50

As I’ve mentioned before I try to stick to a personal goal of reading the second issue of every series I start, even if I didn’t particularly love the first one. I don’t always follow through with this, but I try to as much as I can. Material #1 was confusing and a little high falutin, but there were also some concepts in it that were interesting to me so I went into the second one with a glimmer of hope. And I’m still at just about the same place as I was after the first issue. Material tries to tackle a lot of social issues and I’m not sure if I just don’t get it or if it just doesn’t really make sense in general. The art is cool, there are interesting dilemmas brought up, and I love that it talks about the history of comics in it, but I just don’t follow. I also tried to listen to the music that was suggested to play while reading at the bottom of several pages. This just left me even more frustrated because I can’t concentrate on words and music at the same time. I want to like this comic. I really do, but it’s not quite jiving for me yet.

Ninjak #4

Publisher: Valiant

Writer: Matt Kindt

Artists: Butch Guice and Marguerite Sauvage

Cover Artist: Jelena Kevic-Djurdjevic

Price: $3.99

The mystery of Roku’s mummy wrappings from the first issue has been solved! Ninjak #4 looks at Roku’s past and how it is she is now able to move her hair with her mind. Pretty cool stuff. I really enjoyed this issue a lot. Roku has a cool origin story (and as we all know, origin stories are my fav). There are really interesting moments throughout Roku’s story where she compares her experiences to a tale she often heard in her childhood. These panels are illustrated in the style of a children’s book. It’s a neat device to not only emphasize Roku’s humanity, but also to add variety to the issue. There is also backstory Kannon in this book. Now for the next clothing conundrum: why is there a man wearing a monk’s robe and what looks very suspiciously like an Ant Man mask?

UFOlogy #3

Publisher: Boom! Studios

Writers: James Tynion IV and Noah J Yuenkel

Artist/Cover Artist: Matt Fox

Price: $3.99

Wow, the dream sequences in this issue are super cool. I can’t wait to see how Becky’s hallucinations end up working into the whole story. I’m not quite sure if these things are actually happening and no one else can see it or if it’s all in her mind. I’m also really intrigued by Malcolm’s family and the way that their radio program was started. There were a lot of little hints and clues about where the alien activity is coming from in this issue and I’m super pumped about it!! UFOlogy continues to be a solid story with great art and phenomenal colors. I don’t really know what’s going on in this little town, but every issue makes me more excited to find out.

Venture #1

Publisher: Action Lab

Writer: Jay Faerber

Artist/Cover Artist: Jamal Igle

Price: $3.99

Venture #1 is a solid first issue of a super hero-y comic with mythical goings on sprinkled in. It has an X-Files meets Superman kind of vibe. I got really excited because the main villain in this issue is a pyrokinetic, which is what I used to always want my super power to be. I’m moved on to telekinesis, but pyrokinesis will always have a place in my heart. While Venture #1 didn’t really stand out to me, it was an entertaining read and I think it has the potential to do some cool things!

Jem and the Holograms #4

Publisher: IDW Publishing

Writer: Kelly Thompson

Artist/Cover Artist: Sophie Campbell

Price: $3.99

I cannot even begin to capture how much I love Jem and the Holograms in words. It is just so wonderful and awesome and fantastic! The art is so bright and wild, I love it. The writing is heartfelt and fun, I love it. The characters are unique and developed, I love it. I love it, I love it, I love it. Throughout Jem and the Holograms, characters of various body types and romantic inclinations have been portrayed equally and with in-depth attention to who these people are on an individual basis. It’s great. And in this issue, the girls poke fun at how ridiculous their band name is for a band that consists of all real people, except for the one hologram, Jem. Please, I beg of you, read this comic instead of seeing the movie. I promise it maintains the heart and passion of the original show much more than any movie ever could.

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Webcomic Review: Rice Boy

Hello All,

I’d like to take you all back to a wonderful time in my past when I first discovered webcomics.  I remember that one of my first forays into internet graphic novels was a beautiful, intriguing story called Rice Boy, (http://www.rice-boy.com/see/) by Evan Dahm.  From the first few pages there was something about this story that snagged a piece of my heart and wouldn’t let go.   

Reading this story is like falling down the rabbithole.  The world in this story is vivid and incredibly surreal despite having a fairly simple art style.  Fans of the ongoing Saga series would appreciate this story for its sprawling and multi-faceted world with its array of unique races.  

The story revolves around the titular Rice Boy.  Despite being a tiny creature with no arms and legs he discovers that he is at the center of a prophesy that goes back thousands of years.  As you follow him through the story you’ll be taken on a journey through the strange yet fascinating world of Overside.

Rice Boy is a complete story, spanning 5 books and 39 chapters. Evan Dahm’s current updating work, Vattu, is also on the website. It updates every Monday, Wednesday and Friday.

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Comic Sense: June 17th Edition

Hi everybody!! It’s another rhyming edition of Comic Sense! I’ve been struggling with quite an illness this week so my review is a bit shorter than normal, but I wrote a poem for my three favorites of the week!! I hope you enjoy my rhyming reviews!

Empty Zone #1

Publisher: Image Comics

Writer/Artist/Cover Artist: Jason Shawn Alexander

Price: $3.50

I want makeup like Corrine’s,

But I wouldn’t want to have her dreams.

Her life seems slightly less than swell.

Ghosts and robots don’t mix well.

The art in this book gave me chills.

Take one look and your heart stills.

Each pages beauty can’t be surpassed,

With passion, grit, and strength amassed.

For reals, this book is crazy good.

It has intrigue and horror, as it should.

It’s solid work from Alexander,

If you’re smart, give it a gander!

Ghostbusters: Get Real #1

Publisher: IDW Publishing

Writer: Erik Burnham

Artist/Cover Artist: Dan Schoening

Ahaha this book is great.

Read it, please. Don’t hesitate.

Ghostbusters meet their dopplegangers,

Alternate universe familiar strangers.

I don’t understand TV Ray’s red hair,

He could be a Weasley heir.

Things get weird when worlds collide,

And Slimer isn’t on their side.

This book is cute and clever.

I applaud this new endeavor.

Double the Ghostbusters, double the fun!

Read this book to everyone.

The Fiction #1

Publisher: Boom! Studios

Writer: Curt Pires

Artist/Cover Artist: David Rubin

Price: $3.99

It’s Magic Tree House, fully grown,

Books with powers still unknown.

Quite literally sucked into the story,

But the adventure has lost its former glory.

Another friend has disappeared,

The other two estranged for years.

They know that something must be done

And yet they can’t tell anyone.

The Fiction is unique and smart.

The characters are full of heart.

The art is gorg, the story’s grand.

It’s sure to be in high demand.

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Webcomic Review: Dresden Codak

Hello All

If you are a fan of science fiction then you will love this weeks webcomic. Dresden Codak (http://dresdencodak.com/) by Aaron Diaz is a gorgeous technological adventure into the world of Dark Science, a forbidden art of immense power. This comic is the perfect indulgence for the Steampunk enthusiast. The story follows Kimiko Ross, a genius inventor who turns herself into a cyborg after a life threatening injury. Throughout the story she seeks to uncover her famous father’s mysterious past in Dark Science.

This series is action-packed with many incredible and explosive fight scenes. Kimiko is stubborn, confident, and will stop at nothing to get what she wants. The twists and turns in this story always keep me coming back for more. On top of all this action, the art in the comic is absolutely beautiful, with impressive detail to the machines and robots.

Aaron posts on the front page when the next update is coming out, so make sure to check back every week.

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Comic Sense: June 10th Edition

Stop! It’s comics time!

Starve #1

Publisher: Image Comics

Writer: Brian Wood

Artists/Cover Artists: Danijel Zezelj and Dave Stewart

Price: $3.50

Sometimes I’m not really in the mood to read comics, but I do anyway so I can tell you all how I feel about them! That was the case when I started Starve yesterday, but by the end I wanted to read comics alllllll night! First. The art. I’ve been making my roommate stare at the last panel going, “Look, LOOK! Just look!  Look at it!!” We spent a good while trying to decide the best way to describe the art, but the best we came up with was: “Well the lines are really dark, so that’s cool!” “It looks like someone put tape on the background, spray painted over it, and then took the tape off!” “IT’S JUST SO COOL!” So yeah, not the best descriptions, but the art is bold and charged and beautiful. I also just realized that it’s not tape with spray paint over it, it’s probably the eraser tool, which is also awesome. The heavy lines accentuate the depressive state of the nation as global warming has led to extensive flooding and the gap between classes is ever increasing. I’m very interested to see where this story goes and I can’t stop staring at the last panel. Like I said, this comic got me excited about reading comics last night, so that is decidedly wonderful.

X-O Man of War: Valiant 25th Anniversary Special #1

Publisher: Valiant

Writer: Robert Venditti

Artist: Cafu

Cover Artist: Cary Nord

Price: $3.99

I’ve never read X-O Man of War before because his story just never really seemed like something I would be interested in and he also had a lot of backstory that seemed like it would take a good chunk of time to catch up on. But when I saw that Valiant had a special one shot looking at the origins of X-O’s suit, I decided to give it a shot! The preview pages looked really neat and it seemed like it would be a good jumping on point. Now I want to read more X-O Man of War! I love the idea of plants and machines and people all combining into a potentially evil force, which seems like it shouldn’t be evil cause the human at the root of the thing is a young girl. Super cool stuff. However, I still think that X-O Man of War has a silly mustache.

Clarence #1

Publisher: Boom! Studios

Writers: Liz Prince and Derek Fridolfs

Artists: Evan Palmer and JJ Harrison

Cover Artist: JJ Harrison

Price: $3.99

Ahaha this comic was so. cute. I don’t watch cartoons normally so I really like when they are made into comics. For me, it’s an easier format to experience that kind of humor because the voice actors on cartoons can be a little grating and there seem to be a lot of oozing things animated into shows that just leave me feeling grimy. But that doesn’t happen in comics form! Clarence is just so gosh darn adorable in his worm costume, wriggling around, pretending to be a night crawler. And I love that his friend’s head is an actual square. Kid friendly comics make me so happy and this one was just extra specially cute!

Insufferable #2

Publisher: IDW Publishing

Writer: Mark Waid

Artist/Cover Artist: Peter Krause

Price: $3.99

Blonde middle-parted hair and a goatee were pretty good signifiers from the beginning that I was not going to like one of the main characters in Insufferable. Galahad, as he calls himself, is a bit of a tool. Family is very important to me and when I see people disrespecting their parents for not super good reasons, it makes me incredibly sad and angry. That being said, I’ve really enjoyed the first two issues of this series. It follows the two estranged members of a father-son superhero team. The father, Nocturnus, quietly saves the day while his son, Galahad, gallivants about in the spotlight, mucking things up and making things difficult for his dad. Now, it could be the case that Nocturnus is not as good as he seems and Galahad is not as bad as he seems. There have been hints of that, which is part of the reason that I’ve continued to be intrigued by the comic. In this issue, Galahad and Nocturnus both receive a bizarre message from the ashes of their deceased mother and wife, respectively. While Galahad turns to the public to help him solve the mystery, Nocturnus does some quiet sleuthing on his own. The two are forced to work together as villains from their past start making appearances and the mystery of Lauren Culver’s talking ashes remains unsolved.

Long Distance #1

Publisher: IDW Publishing

Writer/Artist/Cover Artist: Thomas F. Zahler

Price: $4.99

This comic is full of romance and friendship and love and it kind of made my cynical, lovehurt heart want to stick its tongue out and say, “boooo.” But actually it was very well done and very sweet. It’s an extra long issue, coming in at 47 pages and every page is filled with the hope and excitement of a budding relationship. It speaks to the difficulties of having a long distance love and highlights the wonder of finding someone with whom you just click. Having met in an airport, Carter and Lee’s infatuation seemed doomed from the start. However, they aren’t about to let the distance stop them and do everything they can to make things work! Long Distance is charming and charismatic and would do well alongside the likes of You’ve Got Mail and Sleepless in Seattle.

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Webcomic Review: Junior Scientist Power Hour

Hello All!

This week I would like to tell you all about the funniest webcomic that I have found.  Junior Scientist Power Hour (http://www.jspowerhour.com)  by Abby Howard is one of those comics where I literally belly laugh alone in my apartment.  Abby’s humor is irreverent, sarcastic and sometimes bordering on darkly morbid.  Her cartoonish art style blends perfectly with the jokes to create a product that is impossible to read without laughing out loud. Her comics are similar in style to Hyperbole and a Half, with dry observations about life’s eccentricities. Make sure to read the comments at the bottom of each page because that is where some of the best jokes are.

Junior Scientist Power Hour updates every Monday.

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Comic Sense: June 3rd Edition

Once again New Comic Book Day is full of phenomenal books!! Check out the ones that particularly impressed me!

Dead Drop #2

Publisher: Valiant Entertainment

Writer: Ales Kot

Artist: Adam Gorham

Cover Artist: Raul Allen

Price: $3.99

Oh Archer. That guy just can’t get a break, but every moment of his misery is adorable and hilarious. I love that each issue of this four issue series has a different tone, therefore appealing to many different readers. The first one was an intense chase through New York with lots of action and not as many words. While this isn’t really my style it was well-written and well-drawn and got me extra excited for #2, which features Archer of Archer and Armstrong fame. As I predicted, #2 was much more fun for me because I’m a big fan of the quippy hilarity that surrounds Archer’s general state of confusion and distress. Valiant made a smart move in creating this series, which involves very different, yet very familiar characters all working to solve one big mystery and save the world. It’s a little bit of everything, perfect for both long time Valiant fans and new readers getting excited about the Valiant universe! This short standalone series is an exciting and entertaining read so be sure to pick it up!

Arcadia #2

Publisher: Boom! Studios

Writer: Alex Paknadel

Artist: Eric Scott Pfeiffer

Cover Artist: Matt Taylor

Price: $3.99

Ahhhh, this comic is so good!!! It’s a really great sign when I’m completely blown away by a first issue and then even more blown away by a second issue! Arcadia has set up its story in a way I really appreciate. It started by building an incredibly intriguing and developed world in the first issue and then, to use a lovely cliché, the plot thickens in the second issue as mysterious things start happening and we start to realize that there may be more going on here than we first realized. This to me is storytelling gold. There are a lot of series these days that take the opposite approach, putting all the mystery and confusion in the first issue and explaining the world in the second. As I’ve explained before going into a story without knowing what’s happening makes me cranky. But Arcadia made me excited and then made me ecstatic! I was so hooked after the first issue that all the suspense of the second issue has left me with that perfectly satisfied feeling of mild confusion, but overwhelming appreciation for time well spent reading a great piece of literature. It’s got futuristic sci-fi goodness, political intrigue, and an impossible murder mystery. I cannot stress enough how much I want everybody to be reading this series!!

Broken World #1

Publisher: Boom! Studios

Writer: Frank J. Barbiere

Artist/Cover Artist: Christopher Peterson

Price: $3.99

Speaking of futuristic sci-fi and political intrigue, Boom! has you covered this week. Broken World is another fantastic apocalyptic mystery that hooks you from the get go. The entire time I was reading this issue I was reveling in all the moral quandaries it supplied. Your world is ending, how do you handle it? Do you fight to find a way to survive? Do you wait it out? Do you take the easy way out? Broken World takes a fresh perspective on these age old questions as Earth’s government implements its own version of the rapture, deciding who is fit to leave the planet and who deserves to be left behind. This series debut examines the unique nature of human beings in a crisis situation, when relationships, religion, fear, and families make things a little more complicated than just fight or flight. I definitely suggest picking up Broken World tomorrow!

Airboy #1

Publisher: Image Comics

Writer: James Robinson

Artist/ Cover Artist: Greg Hinkle

Price: $2.99

On my first read through of Airboy #1, I did not know that Airboy was actually a real hero from the past. Now that I know that, my second read through has been even more entertaining. This book is irreverent, inappropriate, and wonderful. I adore it when comics feature comic writers and artists. As someone who is incredibly interested in the industry, seeing a comic writer’s perspective on the comic writing process, albeit in a potentially exaggerated fashion, is fascinating. This book is full of dark, thought-provoking heart as it pulls the reader through a frantic night of drugs and sex seen as imagined elixirs of luck and paths to a flitting muse, rather than the means of procrastination and self-doubt that they really are. Wow, that sentence made this book sound really gloomy and gritty, which it is, but it’s not? It has a morbid humor that pokes fun at the darker aspects of creativity and humanity while still ending on a hopeful note. The monochromatic color scheme of the majority of the book makes Airboy’s shiny colorful goodness in the last panel even more exuberant. Airboy is brilliant and powerful and should definitely be on your list of things to read tomorrow!

Age of Reptiles: Ancient Egyptians #1

Publisher: Dark Horse

Writer/Artist/Cover Artist: Ricardo Delgado

Price: $3.99

Dinosaurs!!!!! This comic brought be back to the days when I wanted to be a paleontologist and watched Jurassic Park every weekend for an entire summer. I got really excited because the main dinosaur in Age of Reptiles: Ancient Egyptians looks like a dinosaur toy that I have in my room. This story has no words, but it doesn’t need them to convey the gorgeous epic of a dinosaur fighting to survive. The art is incredible. There is a moment that really stands out when what you think is a wide pan of the landscape is actually a close up of a dinosaur’s closed eye. If you have ever gone through a dinosaur phase, which I think everybody has, I guarantee that you will enjoy reading this book!