Reviews

January 26, 2018

Monstress

Post By Bojangles102 Reviews No Comments
Over the years there have been numerous comics that with all their brutality and gore have captured their reader’s attention and imagination, and while there have been some greats and some flops, few have been able to capture that brutality quite as beautifully as Marjorie M. Liu and Sana Takeda have with Monstress.

So let’s give you a little background info before we dive into all the finer things.

Monstress revolves around our main protagonist Maika Halfwolf who is struggling with the aftermath of war while also trying to solve the mystery as to what she holds inside her.

The story is set in a beautifully imagined alternate 1900’s Asia which is governed by various Races all trying to get their place in the world or in some cases, rule all as they see fit. The world is amidst a war and the times are filled with cruelty, slavery, and racism between the races and their factions.

We have the humans who seemingly govern themselves, but are actually overseen by the Cumaea, a powerful organization of witch-nuns.  On the other side of the wall, we see the Ancients and the Ancient halfbreeds known as the Arcanics.
Marjorie Liu does a brilliant job at telling a story with so much depth that it allows for an enormous collection of characters and locations that have such uniqueness to them that you can’t help but want to know every one of them.

The one thing that is slightly frustrating with the expansive world and history that Lui builds, is that she does very little in the beginning to hold the reader’s hand. However just as your niggling questions of who, what and where becomes unbearable, she offers answers through various historical lectures given by the delightful Professor Tam Tam.

As with every comic or TP, you will read, with a great story there is usually great art and Monstress is no different.

The amazing artwork of Sana Takeda not only brings life to Liu’s story but enhances it into a perfect world for you to completely invest yourself in. Takeda’s world is teeming with Art-deco steampunk flair and does nothing but add just the right feel for the story, highlighting the vast difference between the races and factions and the worlds they each live in.
Now that you have an idea how vast and beautiful the world is that you’ll be diving into, let’s get a bit more in-depth with Volume One: Awakening.  Hopefully, there won’t be any spoilers, but for those of you who are worried, beware and skip this next section.

Volume One: Awakening starts us off straight in the middle of the more gritty and cruel side of the story with Maika, our protagonist, in chains in the midst of being auctioned off as a slave.

Here we get to see just how much the classes differ and how the races view one another, and we are also introduced to the Cumaea and the power that they command in the world. The story then takes a quicker pace and we learn why and what Maika is doing here in the first place, right before rushing into complete bloodbath delivered by her hand.

As the story progresses we then learn Maika is not only looking for revenge but also answers as to what the darkness that lives inside of her is.

The darkness within her is then revealed in a very tragic way and we discover that she is possibly the most pivotal component to turning the tide in this stalemate war that the races are locked in.

From then on Maika is on the run from the Cumaea, and we are introduced to the Dusk Court, a faction of Arcanics trying to prevent the destruction of their world and the shift of power into the wrong hands.

In the end, we discover the truth about the darkness residing within Maika… and that she is not the only one with this.

Now don’t get me wrong, Monstress for all the praise that I have given it, is not perfect in any way but it is very close to it.

If you’re looking for something that’s a little more complex, with a boatload of depth and don’t mind feeling your way through a story until it kindly reveals some of the missing bits, then Monstress is definitely for you.

Have a look at some of the issues of Monstress that are in-stock or drop an email and ask us to get it for you.

If you have read Monstress then leave a comment or your own review down below, we would love to hear what your take is on it.

 

July 13, 2017

The Black Monday Murders

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Before we talk about The Black Monday Murders, we need to first talk about the author, Jonathan Hickman and the artist, Tomm Coker.

Jonathan Hickman is known for creating Image Comics series The Nightly News, The Manhattan Projects and East of West, as well as working on Marvel Comics’ Fantastic Four, FF and S.H.I.E.L.D. He also wrote Avengers and The New Avengers, as part the “Marvel NOW!” relaunch as well as a six-part miniseries, Infinity, plus Avengers tie-ins for Marvel Comics.

Artist Tomm Coker, on the other hand, is known for his work on Undying Love, Wolverine, and Daredevil to name a few.

What does this have to do with The Black Monday Murders? Everything.
When you start reading The Black Monday Murders you can’t help but feel like all their previous work was just training for this, a chance for them to really hone that dark, dirty, bloody feeling that The Black Monday Murders really thrives on.

Now, let’s get to it. What is The Black Monday Murders all about?

Well first, I reviewed The Black Monday Murders, Vol 1: All Hail, God Mammon TP, which contains comics 1-4 so I’m going to be talking about the entire collection, as it stands thus far.

BUT I’m going to try and do this with as little spoilers as possible, this is one of those cases that you either need to write a full on novel talking about the story to try and do it justice or rather just say nothing at all – I’m opting for the latter.

The Black Monday Murders is a new comic book series about the dark and twisted power of money… and exactly what kind of ‘power’ you can buy for yourself with it.

The series is set in a world where all of the top bankers are a part of this ‘god of money‘ cult, where everything is alright when they are making money on the stock market, by any means necessary, but if the stock market crashes, well then the god of money demands payback.

While you journey through this series you follow so many different characters (both good, and bad), so many intertwined stories and timelines, and yet, somehow it all just works.

The whole series has a very distinctive Crime-Noir feel and look to it, and combined with the story it is a wonderful fit.

The style of the whole comic makes you feel like YOU are the detective in this story, and that every new piece of information you uncover is truly going to help YOU solve this all and figure out the truth of what’s happening all around.

Overall this series has just drawn me in, I feel fully invested in the characters and their stories now and I can not WAIT for more.

Also, it ends off with such a cliffhanger that is sure to make you ache just as much as I am. We. Need. More.

July 13, 2017

Snotgirl

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Before I get into this review I just want to tell you a little bit of my backstory, because it’s that story that led to me read Snotgirl in the first place.

My partner and I have been together for so long that I can’t even remember a time in my life that I wasn’t constantly surrounded by the sounds of sneezing and noses being blown.

It’s just this part of my life now that I have come to terms with and accepted, but also something that I joke about relentlessly… in good spirit… mostly.

See there is this running joke I have, that if my partner was ever to be a superhero his initials would be SM – SNOT MAN. I laugh at this thought every single time I bring it up. He doesn’t really laugh, but I do and I think we can agree that’s what’s important here.

So, when a few days ago I was being annoyed by Mr. Sneezes ALL. THE. TIME. sitting next to me, I started looking through a bunch of comics trying to find a new series to read to distract myself, I saw a series entitled ‘Snotgirl’ I literally felt like a small kid on Christmas morning and I had to have it.

At first, I totally got the series as a joke, just seeing the look on his face when I told him that I got a comic to read JUST because it had a character in it that was his comic book twin and then telling him it was called Snotgirl was absolutely priceless and worth it.

But then, I started to actually read Snotgirl, and as was the case with my very own Snot Man, I fell in love.
Before I get into the actual TP, lets first talk about the people responsible for my moment of happiness turned new obsession:

The story of Snotgirl is written by renowned Canadian cartoonist Bryan Lee O’Malley, the man who was responsible for bringing us one of my all-time favorite series, Scott Pilgrim. While Snotgirl couldn’t be any more different from the world of Scott Pilgrim, there is also something vaguely familiar in the way that the story gets told, it’s like you’re a fly on the wall watching these characters lives play out before you in a surreal yet realistic and relatable way. It’s a magic that lies in the inclusion of all the small, seemingly irrelevant details that others would just omit.

Bryan O’Malley is joined in the series by partner in crime Leslie Hung, a newcomer to the scene and the one who brought the world of Snotgirl to life with her absolutely mind blowing art. Leslie has an Instagram page that she runs and it’s not hard to see why Bryan wanted her for this project, Leslie seems to be able to transfer even the most subtle of feelings with her drawings, and it’s this subtle intensity that makes Snotgirl what it is.

And last, but not least, we see the amazing work of colorist Mickey Quinn who takes all of this and makes it jump off the page, every emotion and feeling expressed flawlessly through colors that give it life.

Now I’m going to try and summarize the story of Snotgirl as best I can while giving away as few spoilers as I can, but really that’s not possible – but let’s just pretend.

So Snotgirl introduces us to the world of Fashion Blogging. You follow the life of Lottie Persons a very well known Fashion Blogger who suffers from very real, and very severe allergy problems.

The story is set in modern day Los Angeles and follows Lottie’s career, friendships, struggles, and relationships.

As you get introduced to Lottie you also get to know both parts of her, the Lottie she is when she’s online and the Lottie that’s behind the screen, the Lottie who isn’t confident, particularly happy or as perfect as she professes herself and her life to be on the internet. We see the real her, allergy ridden and tissue dependent.

Snotgirl is a monthly comic, each new comic taking off from where the last ended – telling one continued story.

As you follow this weird, wacky, and often funny story you find yourself being pulled into a story that’s much darker and troubling than what it appears.

There are so many different elements and tones at play here, but it somehow just works.

Snotgirl is a comic that feels modern and fresh and yet it somehow reminds me of the monthly-continuous-story comics I used to love as a child,

This TS made a strong foundation for the story, I’m intrigued and honestly, I can’t wait to see what happens in the strange and twisted life of Lottie Persons next.
July 13, 2017

Rocket Girl

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If you’ve been around for one of my reviews before then you’ll already know that this is usually the point where I start off my review by sharing some personal anecdote with you all about why I chose this comic to read, and if you’re new here then you now know what you’re supposed to be reading here.

The thing is, though, I don’t have one.

The honest truth is that I didn’t choose Rocket Girl, and I’m not 100% sure it would choose me (and yes, comics are like wands – you don’t choose them, they choose you).

Rocket Girl was one of those comics that I picked up purely because it was there and I couldn’t sleep.

Okay, bonding moment is now over, let’s begin.

Rocket Girl is brought to us by comic book legend, Brandon Montclare.

He has worked on DC Comics Batman; Frank Miller’s Batman and Robin; Batman: City of Crime and Batman: Dark Moon Rising.  Recently he’s been working on Legends of the Dark Knight; Eerie and of course Rocket Girl.

His storytelling is only further brought to life by renowned comic book artist Amy Reeder.

Amy’s work can be recognized in comics like Fool’s Gold, Madame Xanadu, Batwoman and now, Rocket Girl.

The story of Rocket Girl is as follows:

In the future (2006) NYPD is made up of teenagers because, for an unknown reason, adults can’t be trusted.  One of the officers, a young girl named Deyoung, goes back in time to 1986 to stop the largest quantum mechanics company in the world from doing something that drastically altered the future.  She does so knowing that if she stops them she will be destroying the current future and everyone in it.

Only you don’t really know what she’s trying to stop exactly or why.

Now before we go on, I feel the need to clarify something I touched on above.  While 2006 is indeed the future, in the comic you will see it referred to as ‘the past’ and 1986 as ‘the present’ which does make perfect sense when you sit think about it, but in the moment while you’re reading the story, it just feels off.

The idea behind Rocket Girl feels pretty solid, but the execution of that idea? Not so much.  I found myself bored with the story pretty much from the start, mainly because of all the gaping story holes which are just blatantly ignored, like the potholes on the road outside my house.

I had so many questions that were just left hanging in the air pretty much from page 1 up until the last page of the TP (issue 1-5) when I just gave up on ever knowing.

Why can’t adults be trusted?

What is so horrible about ‘the future’?

What happened in the past that was so terrible?

Why does only Deyoung care enough about it to want to sacrifice everything to change it?

Just so many questions… No answers in sight…

That’s also not the only part of the comic that I felt didn’t get the attention it deserved, the characters themselves are more often that not ignored too.  I’m usually very easy to please when it comes to characters because I can form emotional bonds when I read very easily, for Rocket Girl that just wasn’t the case.

I put down the TP feeling exactly how I did when I picked it up: I knew nothing really about Deyoung or the rest of the supporting cast… and I also don’t really care that I don’t.

Now don’t get me wrong, the art is very pretty but it’s not pretty enough to vale over the thinly spread story.

All in all, I wouldn’t recommend Rocket Girl to anyone and I wasn’t exactly sitting on the edge of my seat needing to know more, but I will probably pick up the second TP when it comes out, just to make sure that I didn’t like it, because as with the story I put the comic down just not knowing anything for sure.
July 13, 2017

Wayward Vol. 1

Post By Constantine104 Reviews No Comments

You know that feeling when you see something, however quickly, and you just KNOW that you are going to love it?  Well, that is 100% how I felt about Wayward from the second I laid my eyes on it.

Now, I’m going to be honest with you here, I couldn’t stop at just Vol. 1 – in the last day, I have read every. single. issue. and I regret NOTHING.

But for the purpose of reviewing it, I’m going to be splitting it up by TP’s (I couldn’t wait but now I have power to make you wait – mwahaha).

It’s hard to know where I should start talking about Wayward, it’s all just too damn amazing and I feel like I could ramble on about it for ages.

So let’s start by talking about the people responsible for this beautiful work of art:

Jim Zub, the author, has worked with just about anyone you can think of, from Marvel, DC and Image to Dark Horse, IDW and Dynamite – as far as I’m concerned all of that was just a warm-up for Wayward which he describes as Buffy, set in Japan, with Monsters.

Jim is joined by Steve Cummings, the artist, Steven has worked on Elektra, New Excaliber, Flash, Deadshot and Batman: Legends of the Dark Knight.

If that’s not enough to tell you that this comic is going to blow your mind then… well… just continue reading I guess?!

Wayward Vol. 1 includes issues 1 – 5

I’m going to try my best to not give away any spoilers.

The story starts with us meeting Rori Lane, Rori comes from a Japanese mother and an Irish father with whom she’s been living in Ireland following her parent’s divorce.  We start to follow her life just as she’s landed in Japan for the first time, on her way to her mother’s apartment to start a whole new life.

The moment she lands, things start to get complicated.  Rori has always had an eye for patterns, now it seems like she LITERALLY has an eye for patterns, seeing mysterious red lines, visible only to her which lead her to mysterious places, and into mysterious people around the city.

Rori soon bumps into a strange, cat loving, blue-haired girl called Ayane and soon discovers that she’s not the only one who’s ‘different’ around town.

The story has an exceptionally fun, manga type feel to it but it can get really serious and dark in the same breath.

We find out that Rori cuts to deal with the antianxiety and fear of being different, and she’s not the only one struggling to cope either.  As the group of ‘special’ ones grows we find out that even when you’re special, you still have insecurities and fears – only now you have to battle those personal demons while battling real life demons too all while trying to figure out who you are.

And that’s pretty much all I feel like I can share about this first volume without spoiling too much, also we’re at the end of the review now so why are you still here? Go grab your copy now and let me know what you think down bellow!
July 13, 2017

Extremity

Post By Constantine104 Reviews No Comments

I usually try my absolute best to avoid getting comic books right as they come out, same way I try and avoid new TV series as well.  It’s because I’m a bing-er,  I love nothing more than cuddling up on a couch or in my bed, picking up my comic or turning on my TV and not stopping until the whole series is done.

But sometimes, on that rare occasion, a series looks just too good for me to be okay with missing my seat on that initial hype train.  Such was the case when Extremity appeared on the scene.


Created and Illustrated by just one man, Danial Warren Johnson, and coloured by Mike Spicer we have something magic here.

Daniel, who you probably know from his web-comic Space Mullet has had a successful career as a writer, artist and illustrator having worked with Marvel, DC, Dark Horse and Image Comics in the past.  When I found out he would be writing and drawing Extremity on his own, I was beyond excited.  There is just something about knowing that everything that you read or see is HIS that really bonds you to the comic.

Colorist Mike Spicer also seems like the perfect addition to this project, having worked on titles such as Suicide Squad: Most Wanted Deadshot, Mad Max: Fury Road, Mythic, Head Lopper, Dead Drop, Silent Hill, and Sons of Anarchy.

Together they have the perfect synergy to really capture the fast-paced, riveting essence of Extremity.

What is Extremity?

Extremity is one bloody, gory, brutal AF battle, and that’s just Episode 1. When you open the comic you are instantly thrown into the story, the girl you see on the cover, Thea, alongside her father (a chieftain) and sibling are on a journey of revenge. Their home village was attacked, among the lost was her mother, her right hand, her childhood and her innocence.  She used to be one of her villages great artists, but all of that was stolen from her.

This is a story about finding yourself, standing up for who you are and revenge. The comic is dark, rough, violent, a bit gross and very intriguing. Taken on the journey with Thea and her remaining family, you are faced with two very different paths on the same side of the battle; the one that wants vengeance at any cost and the one that wants a better life.

Where will these paths lead and what lies in store?  I hate the fact that I have to wait to find out, I need to know! Now!
July 13, 2017

Wayward Vol. 2

Post By Constantine104 Reviews No Comments

Welcome back to Wayward.  This time we will be talking about Vol. 2. If you’re here with me then I’m guessing you’ve either read my review of Vol. 1 or you’ve read the previous volume for yourself, if not, then I highly suggest you do because here there be spoilers.

Still here even though there’s a spoiler warning? Okay well your choice, let me catch you up quickly.

Wayward is a comic collection brought to us by author Jim Zub and artist Steve Cummings.  They are big deals.  Trust me.

The story revolves around a small group of ‘gifted’ teenagers with ‘superpowers’.  It’s been described by the author as “Buffy, set in Japan, with Monsters”

Okay, so now that you’re basically caught up, let’s move onto Vol. 2 (episodes 6-10).

First:

WHAT WAS EVEN UP WITH THAT ENDINING?

#TRAUMATIZED

But it’s right there, in the aftermath of the tragedy that rocked us at the end of Vol. 1, that our story continues.

Everything is connected by this giant web that is reality, and things are quickly becoming unraveled.

The world has changed, Rori and Shirai are both gone, missing, considered dead.  The job of hunting down the evil monsters who plague the streets is left to Ayane, the girl who is made of cats and Nikaido the boy who manipulates emotions.

There is also someone new on the scene, we get to meet, a typical ‘good, well mannered and normal’ girl, Emi Ohara, who it turns out, is anything but.

Ohara can manipulate certain types of matter and she knows something about Rori.

Now we’re left with the burning question, how do they all fit together in this web of reality and are they changing the fate of Japan forever.

I absolutely loved this volume, just as much, if not more than I did volume 1.

I can’t wait to see more threads of this story to come together and share it all with you.