Welcome back to Everything We Read This Week. This is the place that we make our weekly trip through this week’s pull-list. It features mostly spoiler-free brief analysis and commentary of each book.
This week we read a so many great comics. There was some amazing storytelling out there this week. We encourage you to go out and find the comics you like, and remember, Read More Comics!!
We reviewed books from DC Comics, Marvel Comics, Ahoy Comics, Aftershock Comics, IDW Publishing, Dynamite Entertainment, Vault Comics, and Image Comics this week. As always, we hope you might find what we say interesting enough to try some of these comics. Don’t forget we welcome comments on these and any other comics that you read. Feel free to leave a comment and get the conversation moving.
Also, Don’t forget to check our hotlist of new books debuting this month over here. You will see books that we were looking forward to with the designation Hot #1 by them. There are a few of them out this week, and they are really good.
And here are the books we read in alphabetical order:
Batman #86
DC Comics
Written by James Tynion IV
Pencils by Tony S. Daniel
Inks by Danny Miki
Colors by Tomeu Morey
Letters by Clayton Cowles
Cover art by Daniel & Morey
James Tynion is a very good Batman writer. In the first issue following Tom King’s epic run, Tynion sews the seeds of an interesting new mystery, while delivering a well orchestrated single issue. It acknowledges what came before, and is clearly building something new. Tony Daniel, Danny Miki, and Tomeu Morey are as fine a Batman art team that you could assemble, and they do not disappoint in this issue, which is filled with action and intrigue. Definitely a good start.
Battlepug #5
Image Comics
Written by Mike Norton
Art by Norton
Colors by Allen Passalaqua
Letters by Crank!
Cover art by Norton & Passalaqua
This book is a high octane climax to this series. Mike Norton and company pull out all the stops to deliver a compelling conclusion to this tale of the Kimundian. The familiar banter and outrageous dialogue that has filled this series are present, as is the amazing visual storytelling techniques that Norton uses to layout the pages in interesting ways. Unfortunately, We have learned that the story of Battlepug ends here for now, but this is a fantastic ending.
Dark Red #9
Aftershock Comics
Written by Tim Seeley
Art by Corin Howell
Colors by Mark Englert
Letters by Carlos M. Mangual
Cover art by Meghan Hetrick
What a packed comic this is? The rising action to the conclusion of this arc is fast and furious in this issue. Tim Seeley masterfully uses story to expound on character and plot development in the broad daylight of the action of the story, and it works wonderfully. Corin Howell continues to do a fantastic job in rendering the monster filled world of this comic with just the right amount of lusty sexiness. This series has been an unexpected joy.
Deadpool #2
Marvel Comics
Written by Kelly Thompson
Pencils by Chris Bachalo
Inks by Wayne Faucher, Livesay, Al Vey, Jamie Mendoza, Victor Olazaba, & Tim Townsend
Colors by David Curiel
Letters by Joe Sabino
Cover art by Bachalo & Townsend
The second issue of this new Deadpool series is a worthy successor to the first. Kelly Thompson has a great voice for the character, and the plot is full of ridiculousness and violent action. A perfect Deadpool book. Chris Bachalo’s visual narrative gives the great imagery of a island of monsters and works so well with this story. We definitely recommend this book.
Dragonfly & Dragonflyman
Ahoy Comics
Written by Tom Peyer
Art by Peter Krause
Colors by Andy Troy & Paul Little
Letters by Rob Steen
Cover art by Jamal Igle
This series has grown on me as it goes along. The dual historical adventures of the titular characters have evolved into important emotional exploration tales. There is real empathy that is drawn from the reader for Stinger in both stories. Peter Krause’s dynamic and interesting panel designs are an excellent tool to engage the reader. His character work is fantastic, as is the coloring in this book. Ahoy Comics continues to surprise in excellent ways.
Dying is Easy #2
IDW Publishing
Written by Joe Hill
Art by Martin Simmonds
Colors by Simmonds w/ Dee Cunniffe
Letters by Shawn Lee
Cover art by Simmonds
Sometimes comics have too many words. Sometimes they have too few. Each word in this book is carefully chosen for the appropriateness of its meaning and purpose for the narrative. The dialogue in this book is fantastic. Martin Simmonds’ and Dee Cunniffe create the perfect haze of artistic abstractness to keep the audience just far enough from this book so that their clothes don’t get soiled by the stench of desperation and anxiety that permeates every page. This is a damn fine book, and you should be reading it.
The Plot #4
Vault Comics
Written by Tim Daniel & Michael Moreci
Art by Joshua Hixon
Colors by Jordan Boyd
Letters by Jim Campbell
Cover art by Hixon
This is a terrifying comic book. It is dark and tragic. There are monsters and crappy people, but the thing that elevates this book is the character of Chase Blaine. The creative team has nurtured subtle character development to have me rooting very hard for the uninterested protagonist in this book. The art in this book is fabulous in its horrifying imagery. I am very eager to find out what happens in the next issue.
Red Sonja #12
Dynamite Entertainment
Written by Mark Russell
Art by Mirko Colak
Colors by Dearbhla Kelly
Letters by Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
Cover art by Amanda Conner & Paul Mounts
What a way to stick the landing!! This story has been methodically crafted over the past twelve issues and Mark Russell brought everything together with a satisfying ending. Mirko Colak and Dearbhla Kelly‘s art is a fantastic fusion of style of storytelling. Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou‘s lettering in this series is severely underrated. Any fan of Sonja who isn’t reading this run is missing some truly excellent comic storytelling. We look forward to what this team has to bring us next.
Strikeforce #5
Marvel Comics
Written by Tini Howard
Art by Jacopo Camagni
Colors by GURU-eFX
Letters by Joe Sabino
Cover art by Juan Jose Ryp & Matthew Wilson
This is definitely my favorite Marvel team book right now. Jacopo Camagni does good work filling in on the art in this issue. Tini Howard ratchets up the plot and brings in an interesting villain. The character interactions are what really keeps this book delivering at a high level. Howard has taken a bunch of “leftover” heros and made them into a great team without them even knowing it.
Trees: Three Fates #5
Image Comics
Written by Warren Ellis
Art by Jason Howard
Colors by Howard & Dee Cunniffe
Letters by Fonografiks
Cover art by Howard
The finale to this Warren Ellis / Jason Howard tale is well done and has sense that it is probably over. This creative team is a joy to read and this issue is wonderful. The culmination of this story is sad and satisfying as one should expect.
Also don’t forget to check out our weekly reviews of New Numbers Ones. This week we reviewed:
The Clock #1
Daphne Byrne #1
Marvels X #1
Star #1
White Ash #1
DISCLAIMER:
We use a 4 star rating system. It is simple and not to be taken too seriously. Everyone has their own impressions of art. These ratings are just to give our readers an idea of what we thought of the book, and they will be on the generous side, normally. So don’t expect to see a lot of 1 Stars. After all, it’s not often that you have a bad book on your pull-list.
The rating system is as follows:
OK
No
