Author: matthewephotography@yahoo.com
Image credit: Jason Brown, midlifegamergeek.com Caught on the hunt for a terrifying giant creature, Doruk makes his way into the beast’s belly. literally… This is probably the strongest of the series so far, aside from the first edition. It’s full of the usual chaotic action and humor, of course, but it also has a better feel of being part of a larger story than just a moon battle with no development whatsoever. Of course, Bret Bean’s main strength has always been his art, and this issue’s bug-eyed beasts and goblins are real highlights. As always, the cartoonish OTT gore is…
Image credit: Jason Brown, midlifegamergeek.com A strong dwarf is searching for Doruk in order to stop the protagonist from fulfilling a prophecy that will destroy the world. Despite a few plot threads here and there, much of this issue feels like a rehash of #2, even though the enemies are from the realm of light rather than darkness. Even though it’s only the third issue, it already feels like it’s treading water. There is little room for development for the protagonist and his bewitched (cursed?) companions. Despite this, Bret Bean’s artwork is gorgeous, colorful, and cartoonish, with some great humor…
Image credit: IDW Comics Borg Queen Agnes believes she has a solution to the Burn’s devastating effects. She intends to assimilate the singularity. Or is it her? With the addition of the resurrected James T. Kirk, she may encounter more resistance to her plans than she expected. Will that resistance be in vain? This was a really strong issue. I say this after being pretty disappointed with The Last Starship overall. Hernan Gonzalez’s dark, scarred, yet realistic art is great, but some close-ups of faces with the unmistakable features of photo references (sometimes featuring people who don’t even resemble the…
Image credit: Jason Brown, midlifegamergeek.com Titan Comics continues its spiritual successor to classic Marvel magazines with this second volume of The Savage Sword of Conan. To be honest, I was really excited about the possibilities at first, given that the first story in this volume is a crossover of sorts, featuring Robert E. Howard’s characters, including Conan. But they’re mostly disappointing, way too short and almost feel like an advertisement for a “real” crossover (Battle of the Black Stone) that takes place in the mainline Conan comic series. More than making up for that, Jason Aaron’s multi-part King Conan epic…
Image credit: Max Ferrada/Ben Worrell Having read the first two volumes of the indie comic Stellarlands, I think it’s safe to say that I’m a big fan of the rich science fiction and supernatural world in which the story takes place. Well-written, beautifully illustrated, and with a great sense of world-building, Stellarlands is well worth your time. Volume 3 is currently crowdfunding on Kickstarter and the campaign is in full swing. As part of their pledge rewards, fans will receive a variety of digital and physical products, including Volume 3 of Stellarlands alone or the entire trilogy collectively, among other…
Image credit: Denis Berasevic With only a few days left in the Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign, I thought I’d revisit When We Burn #1 and check out the second and third of the four stories in the comic anthology. I had already seen the first story and was very impressed with its world-building and gorgeous art, so I was very excited to check out the rest of the comic. The author Denis Belasevic kindly shared with me the following stories: “The Night King” and “The Prayer”. The Night King follows a noble thief on a mission to recover an important relic…
Image credit: Jason Brown, midlifegamergeek.com At this point, Mark Spears’ Monster series has virtually formed an entire comic book industry on its own. This first issue has been printed an astonishing number of times, with approximately 70 different covers for the first issue of the comic alone. It caused quite a stir among comic book fans and collectors, to say the least. Is this first question good? Let’s find out! A wall of text provides a backdrop to the world created by Mark Spears, with details of a mysterious safe and hidden keys revealed at the beginning. Then there are…
Image credit: Bruno Catarino/Erwin J. Arroza In this first issue of The Odyssey, author Bruno Catalino places Odysseus, his family, friends, and enemies in the middle of an intergalactic war. Of course, since it’s an adaptation of one of the world’s oldest (and most famous) works of literature in existence, there are plenty of familiar elements. Except it’s presented in a beautifully designed sci-fi universe rather than the ancient Greek setting of the original. Issue #1 begins with Telemachus searching for his father, the famous deception of the Trojan Horse (which of course becomes a spaceship in this version) is…
Image credit: Jason Brown, midlifegamergeek.com After digitally reading the first issue of Valiant’s Bloodshot series, set in an Ultimate/Absolute-style rebooted alternate universe, I didn’t read any more. You see, the writer (I won’t mention his name here, and I’m not trying to promote it) inserted a thinly veiled transphobic rant into the story, if at all. While the reimagined Bloodshot was an interesting concept, it overshadowed the whole thing, made worse when fans did a little research and discovered overtly transphobic social media posts by the author. The chapters in the first three issues of Bloodshot ended quietly, and the…
Image credit: Jason Brown, midlifegamergeek.com In this spin-off from Mad Cave’s The Phantom series, the titular hero pursues a group of airborne pirates who help destroy a village. The Ghost Who Walks picks them off one by one, branding your mark with each one they defeat, and picking up unexpected allies on your way to the final boss. I really enjoyed this comic. Starting in media res, there are explosive action sequences and no rest as the story weaves back and forth to show how each encounter with the members of the Sky Band unfolds. This is old school superhero…