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
Human Remains #1 (Vault)– Human Remains #1 is a clever bit of apocalyptic horror from Peter Milligan, Sally Cantirino, and Dearbhla Kelly. The structure is a bit all over the place with the characters on the cover not showing up until the last third or so of the comic, but Milligan and Cantirino give us a bird’s eye view of a world where any kind of heavy emotions (Positive or negative) leads to monsters falling from the sky and ripping people to shreds. Kelly’s use of reds in the midst of an end of the world haze definitely drives home these monsters’ threat, and there’s an air of mystery around their purpose and origin with all kinds of solutions and conspiracy theories popping up a la how folks talk about the COVID-19 pandemic. Human Remains has all the satiric bite of Milligan’s recent series Happy Hour, but features Sally Cantirino and Dearbhla Kelly’s striking horror aesthetic. Overall: 8.0 Verdict: Buy
Adventureman #5 (Image)– Matt Fraction, Terry Dodson, and Rachel Dodson give us what we’ve all been waiting for: a big damn pulp slugfest. Claire aka the new Adventureman is bluffing like crazy as she and formerly fictional characters Gentleman Jim and Phaedra face down the Baroness Bizarre and the real world and world of adventure, airships, giant robots, and fisticuffs collide. Fraction seamlessly goes from witty banter to purple prose narrative captions and finds a way to merge real life New York City with the fiction of Adventureman. This is while letting the Dodsons draw dashing heroes and heroines, big double page spreads, and expressions of passion, glee, and especially hope. All in all, Adventureman is a series that is only improving with each issue as Matt Fraction and the Dodsons’ influences begin to shift from Doc Savage to the Captain Marvel family… Overall: 8.3 Verdict: Buy
Echolands #2 (Image)**- JH Williams, Haden Blackman, Dave Stewart, and Todd Klein are back with one hell of a fantasy comic! Echolands #2 builds off the literally explosive results of the first issue and is a non-stop thrill ride with Neverwhere/Bas-Lag-esque underground escapes. Williams’ use of double page, landscape layouts are perfect for the meandering underground of magical San Francisco. The labyrinthine approach to page design matches his and Blackman’s words as the main cast of characters bickers non-stop mostly over the protagonist, Hope’s risky behavior and relationship with mysterious badass, Cor. Echolands #2 also features a nonbinary Elf, morally questionable pirates, a killer robot turned cutie, and plenty of explosions. It’s a goddamn delight of an action adventure comic rendered with gorgeous colors from Stewart, dense pages and beautiful details from JH Williams, smart dialogue from Haden Blackman, and Todd Klein doing his character-defining word balloon thing. Because of its unique layouts, this is definitely one you’ll want to pick up in physical format. Overall: 9.9 Verdict: Buy
Brett
Inferno #1 (Marvel) – An issue that’s all about setting up conflict. Seeing so many threads finally coming together feels like the beginning of a payoff that’s well overdue. Moira’s conflict with Xavier and Magneto is full of tension and anger. Mystique’s maneuvering is fantastic. That’s the real highlight. We’ll see where it all goes and if it pays off but for now, it’s intriguing but not an actual inferno. Overall Rating: 7.75 Recommendation: Read
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 (**).
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