Sometimes, the staff at Graphic Policy read more comics than we’re able to get reviewed. When that happens you’ll see a weekly feature compiling short reviews from the staff of the comics, or graphic novels, we just didn’t get a chance to write a full review for. Given the lack of new comics, expect this weekly update to begin featuring comics that we think you’ll enjoy while you can’t get anything new to read – only new to you.
These are Graphic Policy’s Mini Reviews and Recommendations.
Logan
Saga #56 (Image)– On the low, this issue of Saga is a condemnation of right wingers in punk spaces as Alana, Hazel, and Squire run into some space pirates, who seem to be friendly. (But maybe not so much.) Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples continue to explore the throughline of the unpopularity of the Landfall/Wreath war from the start of Saga #56 with the pirates immediately busting out the ice cream and bootlegged music when Alana condemns the war. This theme extends to the Robot Kingdom where there’s a lively debate between the Robot King, Prince Robot IV, and his staff (Gotta love a crocodile footman) about avenging Squire’s “death”. For being such powerful people, they react very much in a knee jerk way. Finally, Staples’ art increases in explosiveness as the tension increases in Saga #56. A conversation in a grid format turns into blurs of speed lines and broken glass and is a reminder that she’s great at action as well as character design, color palette, and heartbreaking moments. Overall: 8.5 Verdict: Buy
Step by Bloody Step #1 (Image)– Wordless comics are always a treat: just pure visual storytelling. And Si Spurrier, Matias Bergara, and Mat Lopes’ Step by Bloody Step is no exception. The story follows a little girl and a big giant as they traverse a harsh and sometimes beautiful landscape. Bergara and Lopes give each new area a distinct character and color palette with Spurrier scripting strong establishing for each new environment. He also includes lots of suspense and various conflict (In one panel, Matias Bergara conveys the idea of a power differential by having an armored man put his boot on an unarmored one.) plus lighter moments like the girl and her giant getting in a snowball fight. Step by Bloody Step is definitely a survival story, but it’s full of beauty and a surprise or two with Mat Lopes using these gorgeous greens for the different plant life that the girl and her giant experience. It’s a shining example of the uniqueness of the comics medium and worth seeking out. Overall: 8.8 Verdict: Buy
Kingjira (Scout)– Marco Fontanilli turns in a gruesomely hilarious kaiju comedy in Kingjira. Basically, the monster Kingjira is wrecking a city because he’s hungry for the finest of culinary delights: pizza. And the giant pizza sign on top of the local skyscraper isn’t working. With great skill and trippy colors, Fontanilli shows the destruction Kingjira cause in his quest for nourishment. He also mines a lot of comedy out of the mainly inept humans who are trying to stop him and eventually figure out his main goal towards the end of the comic, but of course, can’t be straight with him. Yes, even in this slapstick comedy, Kingjira still explores the theme of the destructiveness of nuclear power and militarization. But with slices, a great cheese pull, and of course, belching to go with the usual nuclear breath. Kingjira put a huge smile on my face and is yet another wordless comic hit this week. Overall: 9.5 Verdict: Buy
Carnage Forever #1 (Marvel)– Carnage Forever #1 is an interesting beast. It features a straight-up Carnage horror story from Philip Kennedy Johnson and Edgar Salazar featuring a homeless girl named Elsie becoming a host for the symbiote and taking vengeance on those who exploit her and exploited Cletus Kassady in the past. It has strong characterization, a sense of justice, and even some jump scares with Salazar using plenty of shadows to add to the eerieness of the school where young Cletus was a student. This story is followed by one by Ram V and Salvador Larroca that’s a prelude to V’s run on Carnage. It’s more of a trailer than a full-on story, and Larroca’s art continues to be more storyboard than sequential storytelling. However, they make Hydro-Man into an interesting character a la what Alan Moore, Stephen Bisette, and John Totleben did with Floronic Man in their Swamp Thing run. Finally, Carnage Forever wraps up with an adorable, humorous one-pager from Ty Templeton that is Cletus Cassady meets the Sunday funnies. Overall: 8.0 Verdict: Buy
Well, there you have it, folks. The reviews we didn’t quite get a chance to write. See you next week!
Please note that with some of the above comics, Graphic Policy was provided FREE copies for review. Where we purchased the comics, you’ll see an asterisk (*). If you don’t see that, you can infer the comic was a review copy. In cases where we were provided a review copy and we also purchased the comic you’ll see two asterisks (**).
Source: Graphic Policy
