Gustavo S. Lodi Comic Reviews

While still delivering on sharp character dialogue and a very interesting premise, the pacing of "A Walk Through Hell" #3 simply does it more damage than good.

With an art style that borders on cinematic animation, structured around a concise and visceral script, "Aphrodite V" #4 picks reader's curiosity and delivers a satisfying ending.

A beautiful package with confusing substance, "Assassin's Creed Conspiracies" #1 would have benefitted from a more balance arc structure and focus on the main character's key moments.

"Astonishing X-Men" #6 was a great ending for Soule's debut arc and fully delivered on changing the cast's status quo. It remains to be seen how those events will shape the characters going forward, but readers should remain onboard for that.

Aaron and team weave in the personal angle of these heroes lives before the proverbial storm hits. By making it more grounded, it lays the base for explosive combat in the future.

Exciting, surprising, beautifully told and paced; "Avengers" #12 is a series highlight.

Earning the benefit of the doubt, "Avengers: No Road Home" might lead to greatness; it simply has not shown all of its cards just yet.

An excellently written piece, that loses opportunity points on how it could be visually built, but more than makes up for it for the virtue of its narrative. "Batman" #55 is another must-have on King's run.

"Batman" #60 is an example that when this series fully works, it works tremendously, on any desirable level, leaving readers anticipating as to what is coming next.

As this mini-series hits its halfway mark, "Blackwood" continues to excite with such strange situations being beautifully portrayed that readers should already start to miss these characters as the story moves forward.

Although not daring enough on the art department, "Britannia Lost Eagles of Rome" is simply too compelling not to be picked up.

"Cable" #155 is off to a good start on this new run, relying on two elements of Nathan's story that are compelling and worth exploring. If the script can better balance the tough-guy genes of the character on future issues, this could become a very strong arc.

A great ending to a run that hasn't over-stayed its welcome, "Captain America" #700 tells a timeless story, about a timeless hero on a timeless battle for hope.

This Captain Marvel special is enticing enough to bring new readers in despite being light on plot, surely supported by the larger-than-life pieces of art.

Cryptic mystery, an unreliable protagonist and a moody art style make "Cold Spots" a compelling and engaging story.

Despite its beautiful, dynamic art, "Cosmic Ghost Rider" #3 seems to linger on surprise, rather than development, to move the mini-series forward.

A surprisingly concise and relevant one-shot in the middle of an event, "Damnation Johnny Blaze" has some shortcomings in the colouring department, more than offset by strong suits on the overall art and story beats.

An ending to be celebrated, both by the quality of this last issue and by the doors it keeps open going forward, "Daredevil" #612 celebrates the losses and victories of Matt Murdock and how both of them push the hero forward.

A solid start for this new run, with promising dialogue, situations and possibilities for the future.

An interesting and consequential story, "Death of the Inhumans" uses the race's mythology to expand upon it. Hopefully, next issues will show a stronger balance on how lead characters influence the action around them.

"Demi-God" #1 fails to be a compelling first issues for a series that clearly has a lot of ideas. Perhaps there is more under the hood that readers will appreciate more on future issues, but here those expectations fall short.

Dungeons & Dragons mixed with an unlimited canvas and compelling characters and situations " what more could one ask for?

"Doctor Strange" 386 focuses on contained settings and sharp character interaction to move the story forward while offering beautiful art, even if somewhat trapped by large panel counts.

Seems that the good doctor has run out of his usual tricks because this issue and run still have not hit its stride.

Despite its interesting plot twist and the situations it places key characters, "Doctor Strange" #14 is too safe for its own good on the visual department.

"Ducktales" #9 takes the core from the animated show and makes it its own by having just the right interpretation of these characters and adventures, with beautiful art and positive messages.

"Eclipse" shows tremendous promise, based on the quality of it's writing and art, both with space to improve further as the series moves along.

Imaginative, beautiful, timely. "Electric Warriors" #6 is a worthy cap to this complex mini-series.

Beautifully designed and conceptually interesting, "Errand Boys" might stumble a bit on how it closes some doors, but it is still a worthy read.

Despite its hermetic nature, "Euthanauts" draws its audience in by sheer virtue of its art, characters, and compelling plot twists.

Larger structure aside, "Fantastic Four" #6 is another great entry on this relaunch. By focusing on adventures only the four can handle, without losing sight of character, this one surely delivers.

The adventures on Earth X are consequential, deep and, in a terrifying way, beautiful and vintage. Looking forward to more.

While "Green Hornet" #1 offers an interesting story proposition with fluid art, it's pacing choices on how to introduce key new characters and situations leave readers with a question mark about what the series will be about.

Despite being slower than usual to kick-off this new arc, issue #33 succeeds the most when focused on the human characters. Long-time fans of the Green Lantern mythos will be pleased with the main antagonists and certainly will return for more.

"Hunt for Wolverine" #1 delivers on its primary goals of getting readers excited for Logan's return. Beautiful art and a plot line that is respectful for fans, old and new.

The best type of second issues, where a series' statement is made clear and where script and art are fused to deliver an excellent story. "Ice Cream Man" is one to watch.

An interesting continuation of Bobby Drake's story, "Iceman" #2 is a fun adventure, consistent with the characters and their rich backstory.

A powerful, instigating script, paired with visuals that are horrifying and mesmerizing at the same time, "The Immortal Hulk" is some of Marvel's current best.

Another character-defining issue of an already seminal run, "The Immortal Hulk" #15 is one more entry of one of Marvel's best series

While not a bad issue or run unto itself, the creative team's efforts are not innovative in any relevant way, leaving readers with a sense of missed opportunity as the story ends.

A personal and respectful story focused on one of Marvel's great cosmic heroes prepares the canvas for a high-stakes event, while wrapped in some truly mesmerizing art.

With beautiful art and an exciting storyline not bogged down by past issues, "Infinity Wars" should bring everyone back" especially after that last page.

A very interesting character study that manages to avoid all the negative tropes of retcons, "Invaders" #4 suffers a bit on pacing, but still delivers.

Despite a complex world and gorgeous visual, "Invisible Kingdom" #2 fails to become truly compelling due to the lack of focus on characters and their emotional reactions, instead of moving the pieces incessantly from place to place.

With dialogue bits and action that's beautifully drawn, and a plot that is fresh but true to characters, "Jessica Jones" #3 is a great issue that will pull old and new fans alike.

Something of a missed opportunity, "Journey Into Mystery" has its high notes, but even them feel too monotone on the overall package.

A noteworthy ending to an unusual series, "Judas" #4 uses the strengths of comics's visual storytelling to ask ages-old questions of despair, hope and how anyone can transcend any pre-ordained behaviour destiny frames reality in.

An exciting issue, with a burst of new concepts and creative energy, nicely designed and captured by the artist team. The script is a strong one, only needing to focus on specific characterization to hit even higher notes.

Despite some meanderings around its objects of power, "Justice League" #12 relies on insightful villain moments and truly outstanding art for its biggest credits

While not without its flaws, "Justice League Odyssey" #5 amps up its game and sets the board from some unique events going forward.

Beautiful, yet shallow, "Magnificent Ms. Marvel" #3 loses too many opportunities for its own good.

"Marvel Two In One" first two issues have been a balm for fans claiming for more Fantastic Four. Issue #3 keeps the momentum going, but the shift in art and a more uneven script makes it stumble.

While not without its flaws, "Meet the Skrulls" #5 ends the mini-series on a positive note and should generate anticipation for future entries on this story.

"Mister Miracle" #5 is a book that should be shown at art schools to demonstrate how to do mature comics right. It explores what the medium is capable of, but never losing sight that it exists to serve a story.

A very good start for this new run, with a strong lead character, interesting discussions and a truly beautiful setting. Readers should try this and come back for more.

Prompting its audience to know what is coming next and how this new status quo will play out, "Nightwing" deserves your attention.

"Ninja-K" #3 has a lot going for it, from a compelling story, intriguing debate and art choices that are very fitting to the different moments and styles they are focused on.

Quickly establishing its new mission statement and voice, Rosenger, Kudranski, and Fabela make this one of the best "Punisher" issues in recent history.

Explosive, brutal, unrelenting. The creative team behind "The Punisher" continues to deliver his tour-de-force across Bagalia.

Compelling, beautiful and engaging, "Section Zero" deserves its audience's attention, if for nothing else for trying to do something different on today's market place.

A good adaptation of the source material that deviates little from the original " for better or worse. With a competent art package, this will appeal to fans of the movie who want a bit more out of it.

"Super Sons" #10 reinforces the series approach to young adventures by telling a personal story of sons and fathers. While the art can be uneven, it should not stop readers for trying this book.

Nicely balanced and put together, "The Superior Spider-Man" is more than worth the visit, and can become even better by ironing out minor flaws.

"Thanos" #13 is a very strong debut issue by the same team of "God Country": the main character is spot-on and the art delivers on the sheer scale of his adventures. Curious to see how Cates takes the setting and timing to interesting places, without becoming inconsequential.

"The Jetsons"#3 continues to build around these very well-known characters and world, expanding narrative choices. The art style helps push the book along, without losing what fans love about them.

Despite an interesting concept of wars among dimensions, with magic thrown in the middle, "The Librarians" #3 suffers from too much exposition on its dialogue and pacing, with an uneven art struggling to show everything that is going on.

"The Silencer" #1 is a good first issue, providing enough context to keeps readers invested, but without relying on an overabundance of plot elements. John Romita Jr's art is dynamic as ever, but detractors of his work won't find much here to change their minds.

An opening issue should deliver on a clear mission statement that excites. But despite iconic characters and some interesting story elements, this issue still feels too much like previous entries.

What a new series should be about: exciting new opportunities, captivating characters, and beautiful art, "Tony Stark Iron Man" should further convince readers that this is going to be a very fun ride.

Compelling, instigating, complex. The sharp dialogue and versatile art on "Wolverine: The Long Night" #1 makes it a very strong debut issue.

Despite some smaller flaws one could associate with a series still on its formative issues, "X-Force" delivers on mutant drama and unique art.

A strong companion to its core series, "X-Men Red Annual" #1 bridges an important gap of Jean's story by focusing on what makes it personal. And while the art can seem strangely designed at times, it does not take away materially from the overall package.

One of (if not the) strongest book of the line, "X-Men Red" #4 borrows from the best the mutants can offer: meaningful character moment, compelling plot threads and just enough soap opera for fans to smile.