Lucky #1 (w: Tim Seeley, a: Troy Dongarra)
Publisher: Keenspot Entertainment

Tim Seeley returns to his "edgy girl in a skirt kicking monster ass" roots this time with a unique superhero angle. The book follows Lucky, a super-powered cat girl (maybe) with the ability to borrow luck from those around her. She began as part of a super team called the Super Beasts, which included Dracula Man, a ghost, a Frankenstein's monster-kinda guy, and like a rock lady. Anyway, Lucky didn't last long on the team since her ability resulted in her comrades having increasingly frequent stints of bad luck. Eventually, the team disbanded and went their separate ways.

For Lucky, this meant barely scraping by as a delivery driver. For Dracula Man, this meant becoming mayor. Super duper fair.

After a routine attempted mugging, Lucky eventually uncovers a corrupt political plot and begins her journey to thwart it, all building to her comeback as an official solo superhero. It's a fun romp with an incredibly cartoony art style. The whole adventure is set in a world comprised entirely of Halloween-y/monster-y people (a la Halloweentown in Nightmare Before Christmas, but mixed with more urban sprawl and less Tim Burton). For fans of Tim Seeley, this will be a refreshing story as his roots in Hack / Slash are easily apparent. It's quirky, it's angsty, it's a little silly. It was an overall good time.

Zombicide Day One #1 (w: Luca Enoch, Stefano Vietti, a: Alessio Moroni, Marco Itri)
Publisher: Source Point Press

Is this the best zombie apocalypse story ever told? No, not really. It's fairly run of the mill, pretty straight forward. However, what it lacks in nuance, it makes up for in being just darn fun. Maybe I'm biased out of my love for the Zombicide board game, but gosh dang it, I love me a zombie story that features a diverse cast each with unique abilities. I guess what I'm trying to say is that this is the "large fries" of the comics available this week: it isn't going to sustain you, and yeah, sure there are healthier choices, but it is definitely going to be an enjoyable experience.

Children of the Black Sun #1 (w: Dario Sicchio, a: Letizia Cadoniei)
Publisher: ABLAZE Publishing

This book is full of wonderful bait-and-switch moments. Taking place in a world where on two separate occasions the normal sun was replaced by a dark, ominous Black Sun. During the first of these events, millions lost their lives to despair. On the second, billions lost their lives to one another. We enter into a world trying it's hardest to feel hope. Ten years have past since the second event, and a collective paranoia has set over society. People want so hard to feel hope for a future free of more Black Sun events, but every slight negative emotion or chilly breeze is read as a sign of the end of days. People are angry, nervous, tired, and generally trying their hardest to keep it together.

Amidst this rising tension live the Children of the Black Sun, kids who were conceived during one of the two events. Though they sport grey skin, red eyes and white hair, science has found that they are genetically identical to normal human beings. Despite this knowledge, they are targeted by the increasing paranoia of their community resulting in discrimination and anger from their neighbors, classmates and even family members. We follow Matthew as he tries his hardest to earn the compassion and respect of his community: speaking in a soft, friendly way, constantly sporting a calm smile, and generally just being a good dude in the face of oppression. It is only when Matthew and his friend Clementine meet two older Children of the Black Sun from the first event that the kids realize what their true potential might be.

"Vampires, right?" But like, no. It doesn't seem to be vampires.

"So, the kids of the Black Sun are malicious, yeah?" I don't think so, no. Maybe? But it seems more like the world around them is malicious.

"Another Black Sun is coming, though, right?" Hard to say. After living through a pandemic, paranoia and societal infighting is scary enough without a big eldritch ball in the sky.

This is a nifty book. It's dark, dreary and oddly relatable. It hits on discrimination, specifically how painful it is being a child dealing with discrimination and having little control over it. Is it fantasy, is it horror, is it sci-fi: I honestly don't know. Super unique and fascinating, definitely gonna be a fun one to keep up with.

Black Cloak #1 (w: Kelly Thompson, a: Meredith McClaren)
Publisher: Image Comics

Good gracious, what an insanely cool book.

Black Cloak is a procedural crime drama set in a cyberpunk fantasy world full of corrupt elite, class conflicts and discrimination. This thick first issue drips with delightful world building as Thompson and McClaren carefully define the laws and layers of this beautifully dangerous world. We follow detective Phaedra Essex, a member of the law-enforcement agency known as the Black Cloaks, as she investigates the murder of her childhood friend and former lover. The murders pile up as Essex and her partner Pax dig deeper into the case. Eventually, Phaedra's own history is thrown into the mix as she has to meet with the victim's mother, the Elf Queen. We slowly learn about Phaedra's complicated history with her elven kin, namely that for some reason she's been exiled and they don't take very kindly to her presence.

This is just such a fantastic book. The story itself feels compelling and mysterious. The pacing through this first issue is spot on, providing enough additional detail to grasp your attention while leaving a strong air of mystery to keep you wanting more. McClaren's art is wonderfully adorable and fun, conflicting with the tone of the narrative in a way that provides a very interesting vibe to the book; one that challenges your initial preconceptions of the style at every twist and turn. Somehow magically, the art style fills the requirement for griminess and darkness expected by crime dramas or cyberpunk stories without dragging the whole tone down with it. It's a wonderfully playful art style and I'm glad I got to experience McClaren's work in such a fun setting.

It's a fun book, page after page, an absolute winner.

Gangster Ass Bartender #1 (w: Pat Shand, a: Renzo Rodriguez)
Publisher: Black Mask Studios

Our pal Pat Shand continues making fun stories with fun characters.

Spinning out of one of our absolute favorite titles, Destiny NY, comes a story following Trinity, the foul-mouthed, Irish thug who is trying to turn over a new, less violent leaf as a barista. The first issue features illicitly earned money, the struggles of customer service, an annoying coworker, lady bikers, rotisserie chickens and more! It's a stellar, ultra-fun first issue for anyone looking for a character driven story grounded in a completely realistic and relatable world (give or take some details).

What I love so much about the Destiny, NY world and more expansively about Pat Shand's writing as a whole is how incredibly detailed all the characters get in just a few panels. It's admittedly been a while since I've read anything Destiny related, but diving in I instantly knew Trinity's motivations, her hopes and dreams, the subtle things that pull her forward, all of it. Destiny, NY, and by extension Gangster Ass Barista, should be taught in creative writing classes as examples of developing fleshed out, real characters quickly and efficiently. It makes these stories so much more endearing and compelling than a lot of the books I've read. 10 out of 10.

Moseley #1 (w:  Rob Guillory, a: Sam Lotfi)
Publisher: BOOM! Studios

I'll admit that I'm getting a little burned out on the techno-dystopian theme in comics. It seems that everywhere you turn, you're hit with a book about a dreary future where people are slaves to technology and our main character is somehow more enlightened than others but that just means the people they care about treat them like a luddite but then they turn out to be right and blah blah technology bad, put down your phones millennials and zoomers.

This book was in that category for me and I spent most of the first bits just eye-rolling and "here we go again"-ing. Then the last like 8 pages happen and suddenly I'm enthralled. Possible mysticism or some sort of human spirit, I don't truly know WHAT I'm looking at, but the "I'm enlightened that's why I do everything the hard way and discriminate against the status quo" character is suddenly a lot more neato. It felt reminiscent of the way I felt about "Do A Powerbomb" which went from fun character piece to whacky necromantic thrill ride in it's last two pages.

Rob Guillory does a good job keeping interest up in the first few pages with solid character writing and a veil of mystery as to what Moseley's role in the new world order actually is. The bloody knuckles ending of this book just adds to the overall mystery of the world, leaving the reader ever curious as to what makes Moseley so wonderfully special and what his goals will be going forward. I would love to see this book introduce some grey area. Make it so that Moseley's mystical crusade against technology isn't necessarily right or wrong. Make the robot overlords generally benevolent, even if at times misguided. There is a lot of really cool storytelling potential here and it is definitely a book for thrill seekers.

​There are a LOT of types of Munchkin - some work better than others, for sure, but this one is a pretty solid iteration of the fan-favorite game. With custom art, the traditional playful silliness, and a deep understand of what makes Batman so weird, this is a version definitely worth picking up. 

​This book, while definitely on the spicier side, is an excellent deviation from the more traditional sci-fi romps we've taken in recent comic titles. It's time travel, it's aliens, it's pocket universes - but also, none of those features feel like they overwhelm what's ultimately a story about love, family, and being honest to oneself. It gets pretty deep, but it's worth it, we promise. 

​If you listened to our end of the year "Best of" episode, you know that Chris's favorite board game of the year was Marvel Dice Throne. Well, now you get to find out why it's so great! From its portability, to its quick pace, to its easy to grasp gameplay, this is one of those games you'll want to pick up for the family ASAP! 

​It's the end of the year, and we're looking back on the best of the best in comics, graphic novels, movies, TV shows, video games, board games, and episodes. Let's get down and dirty on our top picks from 2022!

​Boy howdy, there's been a LOT of speculation around the future of the DCU! Rumors about who's in, who's out, who hates who, and what random characters may get introduced have been whirling wildly all over the internet, with only limited confirmations or denials coming from the Gunn-man himself. We're here to help clear up what's true, false, and undecided, along with our theories about what's next for the DC Cinematic Universe. 

​So, this movie came out almost 3 years ago at this point, but because of the dreaded panini, it really fell under the radar for most folks (it literally released in mid-March 2020). We recently had a chance to check it out, and decided to share our thoughts on this pretty decent Vin Diesel flick that should have gotten way more love than it did. Wrong place, wrong time, wrong company, wrong circumstances. 

Art Brut #1 (w: W. Maxwell Prince, a: Martin Morazzo)
Publisher: Image Comics

If those creator names sound familiar, it's because they're the minds behind the critically acclaimed and absolute Cover B Certified Fresh series "Ice Cream Man." Art Brut is actually a remaster of sorts of this teams first collaboration, which was originally named The Electric Sublime and published through IDW. What we're getting now is a book with new covers, new lettering, new design and delightful Silver-Age styled backup stories.

Much like Ice Cream Man, Art Brut is wildly inventive and astoundingly fun. The story focuses around a man name Arthur Brut, who is referred to as "the Dream Painter." He is contacted by the Bureau of Artistic Integrity after a spate of tragic murders/suicides/terrorist attacks all surface surrounding a similar image and culminates in the Mona Lisa suddenly winking. As things come to a dramatic head in the investigation, we finally see exactly what makes Arthur so special in the world of art. At the center lies mysterious artistic powers, the nature of art and mental health, and a creative look into the history of some of the greatest works of arm mankind has ever produced.

While tonally very different from Prince's other works like Ice Cream Man and Haha, which both take a very bleak perspective on their various messages, Art Brut still drips of the magic and whimsy that is common among Prince and Morazzo's work. It's an adventure on par with some of the most popular stories out there, be it Sandman or Umbrella Academy or whatever else might tickle your fancy. Morazzo's blending of various art styles not only gives credit to their skill as an artist, but also gives the story such incredible depth and beauty. It's a wonderful book and absolutely deserving of a revival.

A Vicious Circle #1 (w: Mattson Tomlin, a: Lee Bermejo)
Publisher: BOOM! Studios

Let me just start by saying that if you've never read a book with art by Lee Bermejo, then you are in a for a treat. Bermejo's art is so incredibly visceral at the best of times, and this book is a prime example. Bermejo takes some risks here, splashing in a bunch of different uses of color and bouncing his style around, borrowing from various different styles to absolutely magical results. It's a wonder to behold page after page.

This isn't to say Tomlin's story isn't holding its own. A dark, neo-noir tale about a pair of time travelers locked in an endless struggle. It's fatalist, it's existential and it's captivating.

I can't think of the last time Boom! did a magazine sized issue, if ever, but this is an absolute homerun. Do yourself a favor and pick this one up before it becomes impossible to come by.

Hexware #1 (w: Tim Seeley, a: Zulema Scotto Lavina)
Publisher: Image Comics

Tim Seeley does it again. He once again produces a comic that I fall in love with at the jump. Damn you, Seeley, you beautiful, beautiful mind.

Hexware is a Constantine story by way of Detroit: Become Human. We enter into a world in extreme class divide, with the rich and privileged, the aptly nicknamed "uppies," living in high rises above the city streets, and the less fortunate forced to endure a dank, dark world at street level. In the wake of a terrorist attack at a mall, a family suffers the loss of their teenage daughter Jesi. The family's android, who acts mainly as a maid and quality-of-life assistant, is forced to sit and watch as the family falls into their grief. Her programming compels her to constantly ask what she can do to help, eventually drawing the ire of the broken and mournful family. As a simple support unit, she is helpless. Until she suddenly springs into action and reads through the extensive collection of books the family has regarding paganism, mysticism and witchcraft. And here we find ourselves at the tagline for the book: "Why sell your soul when you can buy one...?"

Hexware is a beautiful mash-up of science and the supernatural. So often we see these two things crammed together in a way that results in one of them being more of a theme or set-piece than an actual setting. Whenever they are successfully blended, they result is some of the most unique examples of modern storytelling, and this book is definitely just that. Seeley quickly shows that he aims to truly examine how demons, souls, witchcraft, and other supernatural tidbits would interact in a world full of androids and advanced technologies. Moreover, it's that world itself that lends an exceptional quality to the story in that it's a world more advanced than that of the reader but not so advanced as to feel unreachable. Sure, we don't have in home androids, but we have AI slowly becoming more accessible, various companies working to bring robots to the masses, and entire generations brought up not knowing what it was like to not have interconnected supercomputers attached to our hips. This is a distant world, but it's not SO distant that it becomes hard to relate to, making the characters feel that much more real.

This book is a delight. I love it so very much.

All Against All #1 (w/a: Alex Paknadel & Caspar Wijngaard)
Publisher: Image Comics

All Against All is a fascinating story made even better by fascinating art. This book has a lot to offer and a lot to think on, from it's incredibly bleak outlook of the Earth's future to the existential nature of a race of aliens who inhabit the bodies of other creatures. The most interesting thing to me from the jump is that this is an alien invasion story told from the perspective of the invaders. Man-kind's position in the narrative seems to be that of an antagonist or even a monster. It's like someone threw an Uno-reverse card at a xenomorph.

We follow director B'tay, a highly decorated researcher for a race known as "the operators," as he examines the biomes of Earth, wherein his race is cultivating lifeforms that they apparently found in the Svalbard seed vault. The goal seems to be utilizing the animals of earth to build better bodies for their soldiers in order to end a war that we never see. However, B'tay has reservations for this goal and has restricted access to live specimens, making the station he operates one of pure observation. This lack of productivity has caught the eye of the military who have decided to step in and move things along.

All of the above takes place years after the book's opening scene, wherein Director B'tay comes face to face with a hostile human boy. By the end of the book, the boy has grown and is not too happy to see a new group of Operator scouts investigating his home.

As I mentioned earlier, there is a lot happening in this book. There's nepotism, a commentary on the military viewing people as tools, thoughts on conservation, reflections on loss, examples of panic attacks and anxiety disorders... It's a hefty think-piece wrapped in a beautiful, technicolor coat. It's absolutely stunning and a must read for sci-fi fans.

It's Only Teenage Wasteland #1 (w: Curt Pires, a: Jacoby Salcedo)
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics

I feel like a lot of comics nowadays are focusing on what it was like to be a teenager before - with lots of stories set in the '90s and early '00s, giving authors the opportunity to show what their world was like when they were teens, and pull on their own experiences. What was nice about this book is that it's from the perspective of teens right now, but it actually feels realistic. The things they say, the things they do, the behaviors they express, all feel true to teens today (from my limited experience with current teens & the relationships I see in others, anyway). 

For the bulk majority of this book, those behaviors and actions are what matter. We follow Javi, a sort-of-in-the-closet-but-not-really teen boy, as he hangs out with friends and narrates his planning and throwing of a party while his parents are out of town. When the party gets crashed by the racist, sexist, homophobic d-bags no one invited, a fight breaks out and ends with... a massive twist out of left field that is not even a little bit hinted to or explained in the first book. Trust me, you won't guess it. Don't even try. 

If you've ever seen the movie +1, it feels kind of like that. You're drawn in through a traditional teen-based story of relationships and clique-drama, only to be whisked away into some weird, (potentially?) sci-fi vibes that you can't reconcile and aren't entirely sure how it happened. I really like the characters they've established, and I'm interested to see where the heck this is going. Talk about a cliffhanger. 

Know Your Station #1 (w: Sarah Gailey, a/ca: Liana Kangas)
Publisher: BOOM! Studios

The first few pages of this book made my skin crawl - in a good way. From the beginning, we're introduced to ​"The First Resort - A Hub for the Future," and all the many drafts of marketing gobble-di-gook they worked through to get to that tagline. Then we meet, one-by-one, the C-Suite, all of which have nefarious, pro-capitalistic, marginally offensive backstories that generally make you feel really icky. Oh, and all the jobs on this station pretty well suck, too. The future is bleak for the not-1%, my friends. 

The real story focuses on Elise, a Security Liason for the station, and an investigation into a brutal murder that just took place. Clearly, nothing like this has ever happened before, so they call in reinforcements from ground-level to help break the case. Before she knows it, Elise is wrapped up in something much darker than she knows how to deal with, and may be more involved than she even knows. 

What I like about this book is that they subtly-not-so-subtly double down on horrible things being absolutely normal. For instance, Elise wakes up with an awful hangover, proclaiming she's quitting her job, only to receive some sort of medication provided by the ship's all-knowing AI that serves as the strongest upper I've ever seen - completely reversing her instinct to leave and pepping her step for the day ahead. It feels futuristic and surreal, but also, not. So much of our current news cycle is getting weirder and weirder, more and more dystopian, that this almost feels... about right? Like, if the world's richest men did have a pow-wow and decided to build a space station that accommodates their needs, this is exactly what it would be like. And honestly, I can't tell if I really like that sort of truth-telling, or kind of hate it. Either way, it makes for a compelling read.