Sam Rutzick Comic Reviews

Die is an incredible series, and issue #17 is its best installment yet. My sole complaint is that I can only rate it 10/10.

A pretty decent Batman story, Heroes Reborn #5 doesn't quite measure up to the other books in this series.

While a decent story, it doesn't necessarily work as a comic.

Despite his best efforts, Jason Aaron pulls off a decently fun comic.

Black Hammer lives and dies by its artistic collaborators " it's just as much Dean Ormston's franchise as it is Jeff Lemire's. And Diego Olortegui is no Dean Ormston.

Hyperion and the Imperial Squad is a consciously retro book that delivers fun teen drama ... in space!

Look, sometimes you just want a bounty hunter to stab another bounty hunter. It's not complicated.

This is a comic book done by madlibs. There's a formulaic plot, stolen from something else, with a series of proper nouns plugged in. It's a shame that the undeniably talented artistic team of Dev Pramanik, Raffaele Semeraro, Alex Guimares, and Ed Dukeshire are strapped to such a sad mediocrity.

This is a bad book, that is barely brought into mediocrity by good art.

James Stokoe's active, emotional art is a treat to see.

Both plot lines in 'The Mighty Valkyries' #1 are themselves interesting, but they're tonally dissonant and don't mesh together well.

While not a good jumping on point, Black Cat #5 is a great example of what Marvel Comics done right is.

Shawn Daley's OGN is a wonderful little introspection on the nature of aging and obsolescence.

Becker and Stack tell their superhero story that, while not innovative, is certainly fun.

Black Cat continues to be great, as it revives one of my favorite weird Marvel miniseries.

This isn't perfect. The fact that the natives are literally monkeys is iffy, for instance, as is the gratuitous nudity. But for a Young Hellboy story, it is a very good one.

The next generation Firefly reboot is a simply boring, imitative, and lazy relaunch.

MacKay and Vitti's conclusion to the Taskmaster series effectively tells a story that is better than the movie synergy it began as.

James Stokoe's energetic, larger-than-life artwork is on full display in this kung-fu comic.

Brittany Peer's coloring props up an otherwise by-the-book conclusion.

An artistic masterpiece, which is unfortunately boring, exploitative, and sexist.

I can't, in good faith, give this comic a perfect 10. It doesn't redefine Thor; it doesn't do something to push the medium forwards. It isn't innovative. But as an example of what comics is, as something to show a fan of the MCU, or someone who has just never picked up a comic before, what a great comic looks like " well, it's hard to go wrong with Thor & Loki: Double Trouble.

A solid MCU-inspired comic that really should just be an OGN.

While not at all important for the greater event, this is a very fun little romance story.

The latest comic in the BOOM! Buffy-verse just doesn't understand the character it stars.

A comic that could have brought comic readers into board games and vice versa instead just fails entirely.

A technically competent, by-the-numbers Hellboy story that shows that Mignola may just be running out of steam.

A really well written retro-feeling comic that is unfortunately let down by its art. Watters should really get a chance to go and write a Superman book, too.

A beautifully drawn and deeply evocative story, 'Luna' is a mature book with an interesting tone and atmosphere, one that I want to see continue to be explored.

A delightful little story that offers a great way into the High Republic era.

A great Acuna/Busiek story weighed down by three mediocre tales.

Tini Howard channels Alan Davis in my favorite issue of Excalibur yet.

I wish I could recommend this book. In my heart, I like it -- I like the spirit here. I just wish that the rest of the book was as good as its soul.

A fun little heist comic that shows just how good a writer Jed MacKay really is.

A really well-colored paint by numbers tie-in to 'King in Black' that rather unsubtly examines Brexit.

This isn't a perfect comic. The characterization being so different between this and Superman of Metropolis is a flaw, even if I like this characterization more, and the art gets strange at times. But still, broadly, this might be the best part of Future State by far.

A delightful new era of Star Wars begins, but it is poorly introduced by this comic.

If anything, the disappointment with 'Superman of Metropolis' is that these great ideas can only be explored in this issue and the next. If this was the first issue of a new Superman series, I think I would be a lot more complimentary. But it isn't. And for a miniseries' opening, I can't help but be let down.

A beautiful comic with a story that'll leave you hanging.

While the story suffers compared to the previous issue, the art is fantastic.

An interesting, if flawed, book, coupled with mediocre art.

The execution never quite lives up to the ideas.

A delightful but conventional comic with 22 pages of our hero getting punched.

Guardians of the Galaxy #9 is one of the best books I've ever read from Al Ewing, and that's really saying something.

A really fun book that is exactly what you'd expect from Kurt Busiek.

A flawed central metaphor coupled with a misreading of its own main thesis, but still a valuable intellectual contribution to the discourse.

It sure is okay. The archetypal mediocre comic.

It sure is okay. The archetypal mediocre comic.

There is a lot to praise in this book. There's a lot of solid, powerful craftsmanship. But that solid craftsmanship can't get past the basic fact that the story that Zub wrote is far too rooted in the past.

Colonel Weird: Cosmagog is a lovely piece of surrealism, and it deserves a place on your shelf.

Of course it's good. C'mon, folks. It's Immortal Hulk!

An intriguing new period horror piece, and it's worth reading this first issue.

I just don't understand why Marvel found this necessary to make.

Warhammer 40k is not for everyone. I would not recommend it to most people. But if you are interested, Marneus Calgar is a very good starting point.

Read up to the second to last page, and it's great.

This is a really, really good book that works on so many different levels.

Look, if you haven't started reading Immortal Hulk by now, I doubt there's much I can do to convince you. But you need to be reading Immortal Hulk. Each issue is better than the one that came before it.

Giga is fascinating. I am really interested in where the book goes next, and I strongly encourage all of you to pick it up.

This is not a bad comic by any means; it's just not nearly as good as it could be. This may be the first disappointment in all of X of Swords.

Guardians of the Galaxy #7 is not just good, it's great. Every issue of Ewing's Guardians is better than the one before.

It's fantastic. Full stop.

Wolverine enters X of Swords with a time-jumping search for the Muramasa Blade.

A solid book, exploring more of Krakoa's culture in the aftermath of the beginning of X of Swords.

As we move into the buildup to X of Swords, Hickman and Yu reveal the secret history of Arakko.

Don't bother. You can get better stories for four dollars.

This is one of the best issues of Marauders so far, and an emotional one that is one of the best Kate Pryde stories in recent memory.

The Flash family returns in a book sure to excite the fans of the Wally West era.

Despite unfortunate delays, the book has really good art and a fun story.

Gerry Duggan has written a very entertaining comic book, an emotion-filled and funny comic worth purchasing.

Captain Marvel #19 is worth a purchase by any fan of Carol Danvers. Despite being saddled with a poor premise, Kelly Thompson writes a very good comic.

This is a bad comic. It's a gross, disturbing romp that trades on cheap imitations of better stories.

Bechko, Hardman and Boyd write one of the best Green Lantern stories in years.

No, it isn't good. Don't buy it. Maybe look over your friend's shoulder at the art, but don't buy it.

Wow, is this good or what? Just a fantastic - and fantastically weird - comic from a really good team.

As Yang brings the series to a close, Michael Holt and the Terrifics go through another adventure that tugs your heartstrings and funny bone in equal measures.

A masterfully drawn comic, with a core of really funny humor.

'Captain Marvel' #18 is a good combination of classic superhero space opera, and deeper musings about what Carol's role ought to be.

Unless you're a completionist, you really have no reason to buy this. It's an underwhelming story in an event that has otherwise been really fun so far. Hopefully, as the story moves beyond its introduction, it will pick up, but I don't see anything of that in this first issue.

In a comic bursting with potential, Wells just can't deliver on those expectations.

A thrilling next step in the adventures of the Guardians of the Galaxy.

These comics only improve with every issue, and it's hard to find flaws in The Immortal Hulk #35.

A near-perfect end for a near-perfect series.

Al Ewing and Butch Guice tell the story of the Leader, in the thrilling horror style of the Immortal Hulk.

Andrea Sorrentino and Jeff Lemire collaborate on a book that is fantastic to look at, but just okay to read.

While perhaps better to wait for the trade, the story is still good, and the character work heartwarming.

Well written, emotionally compelling, and thematically complex, this is a book you won't regret reading.

It's just okay. An okay comic, with okay art, that doesn't live up to the potential of the book. Nothing you haven't seen before.