Kyle Rowsey Comic Reviews

Jeff Lemire playfully introduces Tim the android child and his pup-bot Bandit with a backdrop of death, and even despite the mounds of bodies left behind on Dirishu-6 the tone somehow doesn't shift to grim. Dustin Nguyen's brushed artwork is always a refreshing thing to view because it's so different from what is normally seen in comics, and it works seamlessly with the mood that Lemire has created for us in Descender. Just a small aside, Sony Pictures has already grabbed the movie rights for Descender.

This is the team's last issue, which is a bit of a letdown, but you won't have to wait long for more Flash Gordon. King: Flash Gordon #1 is also released January 28th. If you want more of Parker, Shaner, & Bellaire you'll have to wait a tad longer. They'll be the team behind one of DC's more anticipated Convergence titles this spring, Shazam.

Hit is a great classic noir story crafted by Bryce Carlson where the neon illuminates the danger on the page instead of it hiding in the shadows, with vibrant colors on top of kinetic artwork by the art team of Vanesa R. Del Rey & Niko Guardia. If you're a fan of the artwork from Spider-Gwen, but feel the need for something R-rated, this is the book for you.

Series regular Alberto Jimnez Alburquerque takes an issue off and is replaced by Drew Moss (Terrible Lizard) for this flashback issue. The art fits well with the series norm, with regulars Dan Jackson and Crank! on colors and letters, respectively. He captures the squatly natures of Secretary Mitcher and Dr. Portek well, and highlights the differences between the military personnel and the civilian Hayden and Rowan. There's also a fun Star Wars Easter egg, a few Lambda class shuttles, in the under-mountain base.

The back-ups, in place of a letter's column, serve as world-building, advertisements, magazine articles and the like. This is a great supplement to the series with so much crammed into 5 issues, for your money there's very little you can find that packs this much punch into such a small package. A review isn't going to do this story justice, if any of it peaks your interest do yourself a favor and grab these 5 issues or get the trade collection.

Feel like a whirlwind? Good, it's supposed to. Saga reads like nothing else right now, all credit due to BKV and Staples for telling three parallel stories in twenty-two pages and have it not feel claustrophobic somehow. The roller coaster-like pacing of this series is exactly what it needs to be. Fiona Staples lovely wrap-around cover for this issue shows almost the entire (still living) main cast of the series, and with Vaughn somehow continues to give us a world full of royalty with television heads, horned and winged humanoids, outstanding monsters, unreal worlds and vegetative space transports, but yet makes it so relatable with details like a lottery ball draft, drive-in movie theaters, detoxing from drugs and a parent sobbing into a missing child's stuffed animal.

Howard Chaykin (American Flagg!, American Century, Black Kiss) was born to draw smutty pin-up girls wrapped in lace, and I think he's well aware of that. The detail on every page is a thing to admire. The stitching of hosiery, patterns of wallpaper, newspaper columns, pinstripes, checkerboard, polka dot, and plaid, any type of pattern or detail you could think up are found in the pages of this comic. It's almost as if Chaykin called up Fraction and said "challenge me."

This is certainly a "first issue" and Southern Cross is definitely a genre book, and not without the tropes and clichs that come with that, but followers of weird science tales should embrace that because Southern Cross has all the pieces in place to become a fan-favorite.

Face it tigers, we've hit the jackpot. The only reason I didn't want to give this book a perfect score is because I know these guys are going to keep surging.

The art in this issue is a big hurdle for me, from the ill-proportioned characters, to the face acting from panel to panel. If there is a positive it's the background work, Robinson really captures the post-apocalyptic setting and the passerby's that are silhouetted is a tease of what I was hoping to see more of in this book's pages. But hey, Parks and Recreation didn't have a stellar first season, so if this is a story you enjoy and the stylized art is your thing, or you can look past it, stick with The Empty.

Who doesn't love pop idols + mythology? The seventh issue of the Gillen + McKelvie team's 2014 breakout hit doesn't pull its punches. With the Tron-like suited Woden profiled on what is another terrific cover by Mckelvie (I'm a sucker for graphic continuity on covers), and quoted on the back saying "I'm a God, not a saint." It's a cover that you can judge this book by, a perfect microcosm of the issue.

The story by Snyder brought to life with the art by Jock and Hollingsworth, is anxiety manifested on page in the most beautiful way. Jock's (Detective Comics, Green Arrow: Year One) sketchy line work and inks work fantastically to portray the mood of Snyder's script. The biggest debate about this book since its release has been the color work by Matt Hollingsworth (The Wake, Hawkeye). In the previous issue some art process was shown, and the coloring alone just doesn't carry the same veil of impending doom and confusion as the mixed-media finished product seen on the page. Snyder has worked with both Jock and Hollingsworth before, and this team isn't afraid to be creative in their quest to portray Wytches to its greatest unnerving extent.