A comiXologist recommends…

CLUE #1

This new series from writer Paul Allor and artist Nelson Daniel is a murder mystery to keep us guessing.  But why guess when we can follow the clues?  I’m pretty sure this is an all-too-legit murder mystery story where we can get enough information to solve it ourselves.  This might be the new story I’ll chart on some corkboard next to my Twin Peaks theories and Riverdale season 2 predictions while I wait for them to come back.  

If, like me, you’ve enjoyed the Parker Brothers’ classic game of whodunit, Clue, or the film starring Tim Curry and Madeleine Kahn of the same name, then you’ve wanted to see how this series was going to turn out.  As opening issues go it’s a whirlwind of intrigue and….MURDER.  It sets a tone of heavy handed mystery drama against a more easy-going design style.  Together Allor and Daniel create a very magnetic hold.

Like Clue the board game, Clue the comic series is rife with bloody murder starting with a classic dinner scene introducing our colorful cast of suspects—er uh, guests.  They are guests because nobody has died.  Did I say “died?” I meant “killed.”  

Because of course somebody, one of the guests we are introduced to, kills the host. The host, Mr. A. Boddy, gets plugged right in the chest.

Two detectives are called in to investigate the brutal slaying on this dreary night, and just when they think they have the suspect, a few new twists come up to really make this a head scratcher of a conundrum.

If we put our heads together I bet we can solve it.

Matthew Burbridge is a Digital Editor at ComiXology and he’s been really considering using this space at the end of his reviews to write a short novel and see if someone will notice/tell him to stop.  No time like the present, eh?

1:  Lawrence had been working the docks for a few years.

A comiXologist recommends…

BATMAN/ELMER FUDD

Tom King and Lee Weeks bring about the most old-school Batman story this year.  Elmer Fudd is an intense as all heck gun for hire who has been sent to take out Bugs “The Bunny,” a sleazy crook who hangs out at Porky’s Bar down the way.  After a brilliant opening monologue in Fudd’s trademark Rhotacism up against Bugs’s clever roundabout ploys the hunter goes looking for Bruce Wayne.  It isn’t Wabbit Season.  It’s Bat Season.

This is some simple fun for everyone who loves Looney Tunes and Batman. Weeks’s art is intense classical Batman noir which always works on me and anybody with eyes.  Tom King’s writing is intensely hysterical because it has all the beats of a good Looney Tunes or Merrie Melodies short while capturing the crisp, rain drenched sulk of our favorite crime thrillers.

This one issue is one for the ages, and I hope to high heaven it becomes canon.

Most importantly, EVERYONE should try to read Fudd’s dark dialogue out loud and as grim as they can make it.  

Matthew Burbridge is a Digital Editor at ComiXology and he thinks you’re super cool.

A comiXologist recommends…

BILL & TED SAVE THE UNIVERSE #1

Written by Brian Jones
Art by Bachan and Alex Guimarães

It’s about friendship.  It’s about love and loss.  It’s about the ever-expanding universe and the steady creep of time slowly closing the icy grip of death around you.

I am completely kidding.  Death is actually a really nice guy even when you beat him at every game in the universe.  He’s also an accomplished bassist and best friends with Bill S. Preston, esq. and “Ted” Theodore Logan.  Yeah, THE Bill S. Preston, esq and THE “Ted” Theodore Logan.  

And since we’re talking about the most righteous heroes in the known universe I should tell you they’re back with a new series!!  Bill and Ted Save the Universe #1 is here with an all-new wild adventure with the Wyld Stallyns!  The expanding canon attached to this most legendary pairing is stepping into its next big chapter, so now is the right time to jump onto their adventures!

With the clever comedy writing of Brian Jones and the illustrative prowess of Bachan, Bill & Ted’s music spreads across the cosmos to end all wars and suffering, but a mysterious new force seeks to halt the harmonious peace times left in the wake of the Wyld Stallyns.  They’ve been to Heaven, Hell, and most places throughout time on earth.  Now they’re headed for the stars.

Get on this series now, because crazy things happen all the time.  Abe Lincoln got a lightsaber in the last one, so there’s that.

And as always: SAN DIMAS HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL RULES!

Matthew Burbridge is a Digital Editor at ComiXology and recently self-proclaimed shellfish blogger.

A comiXologist recommends…

WINNEBAGO GRAVEYARD #1

A very big want I’ve had lately was for a horror comic from a voice I hadn’t seen in a little bit.  Not to say Steve Niles hasn’t been busy or present, I just had a hankering for some horror and this looked right up my alley.  With sleepy small town vibes, out of the darkness comes the haunting opening to Winnebago Graveyard.

Issue #1 of this new spooky tale leaves readers asking questions and scratching our heads as we roll along through the introduction of a typical American suburban family – a wife and mother, her son, and the new husband and step-dad.  The strained relationships of families is a classic trope of the horror genre. The works of Guillermo Del Toro are prime examples of the importance of family in horror.

We join the family on a nice little jaunt through a small, middle-of-nowhere carnival only to find their Winnebago and phones missing when they return (Because dad wanted everyone to be “present.”  What does that even mean, DAD?!).  Forced to find the nearest small town for aide, the three start their trek through scary cult country.

This is a tremendously quick first issue and exceptionally well presented in Sampson’s particular brand of gestural design and blocking.  The angles feel hard, like an effective pushed perspective, but the characters flow through it in the best kind of planned mess only the most confident can do.  Sampson is very confident.

Also, the cover is making me ask a lot of questions about the direction the plot is going.  I’m into this book so far.  

Matthew Burbridge is a Digital Editor at ComiXology and he really wants folks to hit him up about the new Twin Peaks. He’s watched it 3 times through now and is itching to talk about it.

A comiXologist recommends…

VALIANT HIGH #1 by Daniel Kibblesmith and Derek Charm

If you have been feeling like reading YA Novels and binging on Riverdale then you most certainly want to grab a copy of Valiant High #1, out right now.  It doesn’t have murder and small town intrigue in the least, but it does have super-powered teen drama involving exceptional adaptations of our very most favorite Valiant characters!

I can hear the collective scoffing eye-roll of the crowd charging up as we speak, but this is a fun new mini-series with a well-executed concept.  The story and art fit in such a cozy and safe way, I’m going to be looking forward any project these creators work on together in the future.  Writer Daniel Kibblesmith writes a detailed and fun love letter to teen drama and to Valiant.  Derek Charm has created traditional storytelling and character designs that fit more in line with Archie, but with a superhero spin, and it is perfect in the universe of Valiant High.

In this story we join Amanda McKee, AKA Livewire, en route to another day at Valiant High. Valiant High is the high school super-powered teens attend to get an education and learn to control their powers. It’s like a public Xavier’s School for the Gifted and they wear power-inhibiting school badges.  Amanda’s best friend is Faith Herbert, AKA Zephyr, who is known to be able to fly and geek out.  Amanda starts off her morning as any usual day, wondering what her place in the world is, until she finds a love letter from the star running back, Aric Dacia (The King of Boys). This could be a bad idea, Amanda.  Amanda, don’t meet him later it’s probably a trap!

On top of the main plotline, amongst maybe 3 or 4 jam-packed into this first issue of Valiant High, you’ll read about the gym teacher Coach Bloodshot (or “Coach ‘Shot”), an epic struggle for the Eternal Sophomore, and a beautiful reference to one of my all-time favorite Freddie Prinze Jr movies to close out the issue. If you want to know what film that is, you’ll just have to read the issue! Go get a copy of this fun and vibrant new mini-series today!

Matthew Burbridge is a Digital Editor at ComiXology and he’s trying to figure out what should come off his desk to make room for more toys on his desk without taking any of the toys he already has on the desk off.

A comiXologist recommends…

WWE #1 by Dennis Hopeless, Serg Acuña, and Doug Garbark

Seth Rollins has seen his share of ups and downs in the world of professional wrestling (pronounced ‘rasslin’).  He ran with The Authority, ditched the Shield, betrayed his closest friends, and made some bold plays for power.  Seth’s story is a tale as old as time; warriors fighting in an endless cycle to prove they are the strongest go back to our earliest legends, our earliest literature, and our earliest comic books.  Pro wrestling is no different.  The only real difference is the ring, the consistent live-action showmanship, and the belt.

That damned belt.  In the all-new WWE #1, out now from BOOM! Studios, we are given a glimpse of the struggle these warrior poets suffer to become legend and hold the fabled belt as their own.  We are also given a hint of the fresh challenges that await them when they reach the top.  Winning the belt doesn’t put a champion on Easy Street.  Winning the belt welcomes all comers to challenge whosoever it is deemed “Number 1.”

 I am getting very carried away, so I’ll try to keep it down to earth.  Dennis Hopeless has written an unabashedly loving piece of wrestling drama.  He writes without irony, applying total affection for these characters.  Seth Rollins’s fight to the belt is relatable and easy to get super pumped about. Triple H is presented as the villain he always should be, and I love that. Hopeless has clearly staked his claim in the WWE universe with this opening issue, and I’m really hoping I can get my hands on issue #2 already (however unlikely that is).

 I am going to close out on Acuña’s art. The dynamic line and storytelling Acuña’s brush presents fits just splendidly.  Seth Rollins’s tough guy faces and fights are so well and truly over-the-top picture perfect I’ve read it four times through to get a good idea of what sets this apart visually from older wrestling comics.  This one takes itself entirely seriously, and it is excellent fun because it succeeded in that way.  Acuña’s ability to add drama and gravitas to all the wild and sweaty fights makes this book.

 And when Seth Rollins pouts… Acuña’s ability to draw a wounded pout is just top notch.  I’m talking top shelf angst.

Matthew Burbridge is a Digital Editor at ComiXology and he is trying to work around his schedule to get in some wrestling viewing to satiate his primal need for violence.  But let’s be real, he’s probably gonna just watch Roadhouse again.

A comiXologist recommends…

GOD COUNTRY #1 by Donny Cates, Geoff Shaw, Jason Wordie, and John J. Hill

The team behind Buzzkill is back with a look at family, loss, age, and cosmic gods brawling. I’m writing of course about the anticipated God Country #1, out just this past Wednesday from Image.  In this new jaunt, Donny Cates and Geoff Shaw send some Kirby-esque badasses and a big damn sword down to West Texas and put it in the hands of a man suffering from Alzheimer’s.  Also, the sword is 12-feet long and composed of cosmic-space-god-magic so we can assume some wild and outrageous antics will ensue.

Cates opens the story with Roy, the family man, rushing to his father’s farmhouse in West Texas.  Roy’s father, Emmett, has been slowly slipping deeper into the later symptoms of Alzheimer’s for some time.  Emmett was found wandering the highway far from home and when police attempted to escort him home he broke an officer’s jaw.  It is around this point where Roy’s wife and daughter come into Emmett’s farmhouse only to run right back out upon Emmett’s reveal.  Emmett is loud, paranoid, doesn’t recognize his family, and is swearing obscenities to high heaven.

 Roy’s wife takes their daughter and drives away because she’s at her wits-end with Emmett’s uncontrollable mood swings and worsening condition.  It’s about here in the story where a giant storm unlike any Texas had ever seen or will ever see again descends upon the house, with Roy and Emmett inside obliterating it.  From the rubble out climbs Roy and a 20-foot tall demon that looks real hungry.  For the rest of this one you have to buy the issue! It is issue #1. There is no better time!

Seriously though, I love this concept.  Aging Texan and his family confronted with Kirby’s New Gods!  That is so cool!  I’ve been kind of looking at this one as a point of reference in Kirby’s cultural impact from a very specific position.  This is the Texan spin on the New Gods like Jersey Gods a few years back was obviously about New Gods appearing in New Jersey.  Each references specific iconographic elements of their region with an effective love and respect that can only come from being from the place in question.   This issue is an exceptionally strong opening from an exceptionally strong writer/artist pairing.  

If anybody remembers the end of Buzzkill will know that specific tone of grounded self-deprecation amidst the fantastic.  A sardonic charm that bleeds through when these two work together is all over this project.  It is just wonderful.

Matt Burbridge is a Digital Editor at ComiXology and he’s finishing up Book 3 of Legend of the Galactic Heroes. Third one started off kinda real slow, but the tail-end is just carnage, carnage, carnage. :D

A comiXologist recommends…checking this list twice.

KLAUS, by Grant Morrison and Dan Mora

Grant Morrison is known for coming up with some of the wildest comic stories anybody can find.  My favorite Morrison stories are the big blockbusters, like his Justice League adventures back in the 90s. His DC stories led to some wondrous places, and Klaus is an outstanding example of what wonder he can inspire.  With artist Dan Mora slinging some of the most dynamic scenery and action around, Klaus is one killer Santa Claus story.

Oh yes. This one is about good ol’ Santy Claus! But his name is Klaus and he’s somewhat of an exile from a city of people trapped in a totalitarian regime nestled atop an evil power that sustains its oppressive stranglehold on love and kindness.  It’s about the man and his faithful companion, and their rebellion against the powers that keep evil strong.

Oh right, I should probably tell you that Klaus is essentially going to be Santa Claus, and his faithful companion is a wolf and they hurt bad men to protect children and their families.  There are finer details to this story and its plot, but the broad strokes of the synopsis should tantalize anyone into at least opening this one up.  I am very convinced I could simply write a checklist of cool stuff that appears in this book and it would work to pull in a few readers.

I will close this recommendation with the observation that I have never had tears start to well up at the end of a Morrison book.  I’m being melodramatic I know, but when a hero’s main goal is to save children I’m 100% on board, invested, and am guaranteed to cry tears of joy.

Yes, I cried. It is a really great read.  I love Santa Klaus and his rad as heck wolf.

Matthew Burbridge is a Digital Editor at ComiXology and this week he’s trying very hard to be a Vulcan in his everyday life.

A comiXologist recommends, from Kate Leth, Megan Levens, and Marissa Louise – SPELL ON WHEELS

Kate Leth is known for so many fun and fanciful titles like Edward Scissorhands, Bravest Warriors, and Girl Over Paris, that I was happy to take a look at the new Leth and Levens book out from Dark Horse this week: Spell on Wheels.

Three twenty-something witches who share a house in Northampton, Massachusetts have a pretty well set up coven.  They have each other and they tattoo & tarot at music festivals to make ends meet.  Each of the three has their own abilities to round out the team.  Jolene (the tattooist) has technopathy and emotional manipulation.  Claire (the Tarot Reader) has psychic intuition, visions, and obviously can read the truth of tarot cards.  The youngest member of the coven is Andy, with her mastery over spellwork, charms, and potions.  The best covens come in 3’s.

The trouble starts for the Spell on Wheels trio (I’m working on a better fan-made coven call sign) when their security broom is knocked over in their home and they sense it from half a state away.  Some jerk named Nathan has broken into their home and is rifling through their spells and gear.  Their house thoroughly ransacked and their stuff turning up all over the country when they search for it online, Jolene decides they should all pack-up and take to the road.  There might even be some demon killing along the way.

I like this opening issue a lot.  It has the charm and down-to-earth character work I associate with Kate Leth’s writing.  Megan Levens art does so well to keep things in a grounded place that strengthens Leth’s intentions.  Levens is a charming and solid choice for this project because there is certainly magic here, but it does such a nice job to keep us in the reality.  Mystical elements are everywhere but we lose none of the gravity of everyday life.  That is a sign of good witch fiction and this one only just started.

This book sets up what is the answer to my witch-themed prayers. Kate Leth and Megan Levens have a fun and fresh read that couldn’t have come at a better time with Halloween around the corner!

Matty Boo is a spooky ghost pirate currently haunting the halls of ComiXology and might go watch the Craft.  Fairuza Balk is awesome.

A comiXologist recommends… [redacted for spoilers]

DARTH VADER #25

Written by Kieron Gillen

Art by Salvador Larroca

As far as conclusions go, this Darth Vader finale is pretty conclusive.  Vader has been tortured and tossed about by the Empire’s greatest internal threats, fought enemies at the proverbial gate, and come to terms with missing out on being a dad.  Gillen and Larroca’s run on this series has put a nice spin on Vader and what keeps him locked into the Dark Side of the Force.

This late into the series it is damned near impossible not to spoil anything so this review is mostly going to be about gushing with love for the whole shebang, but I’ll sum up the obvious direction things are headed.  Vader becomes the commander of the Executor and the Imperial Fleet so as to be ready for The Empire Strikes Back, but it is implied that Vader also seeks to connect with his son.

For those of us who haven’t touched pop culture at all until this very moment, Vader’s son is Luke Skywalker [editor’s note: Um. Spoilers, Matt!] and each has spent the last (estimated) two decades believing the other was dead. Sorry to break it to you before The Empire Strikes Back.  That’s a pretty big reveal in that film.

All jokes aside, this series has created a nice internal struggle for Vader.  It sets up some solid motivation for fans of the Star Wars mythos to get behind the twisted Anakin Skywalker.  Anakin Skywalker is Vader’s real name, by the way.  Sorry to ruin that too. [editor’s note: Matthew we talked about this.]

Anakin’s choices led to some logical but less than considered consequences at the end of the Clone Wars, leading him to become the black armored Imperial enforcer.  After all was said and done he had no wife, no children, and nothing outside his mission. Therefore, he had no reason not to be Darth Vader.

With the end of this series he still has his mission, but he now also has Luke to find.

Matthew Burbridge is a Digital Editor at ComiXology and is just burning with anticipation for Rogue One.  He even bought a Death Trooper helmet.

A comiXologist recommends… CAGE! #1

By Genndy Tartakovsky

Genndy Tartakovsky is all about the old school.  Tartakovsky’s is a voice that effectively satirizes the old tropes of superheroes, samurai, science fiction, and horror movie monsters.  He is ideal to take on any Marvel property as a comedy series, and what better choice than the Hero of Harlem: Luke Cage?

In the opening of the new mini-series “CAGE!” we are given an honest and true blast from the past!  A quiet day in New York is disturbed by gaudily dressed D-Listers known as the “Bank Rollers.”  The Bank Rollers are bank robbers on roller skates that get stopped with a few good punches and some punchy one-liners! The tone from this spot-on opening carries the Silver Age vibe flawlessly through the issue.

Luke Cage’s first appearance is a perfect (immaculate even) hero shot taking down a Bank Roller with one shot. Luke gets in what I’ll admit is a really lame one-liner, but moments like it are my greatest pleasure in homage comics like this one.  It does this heart good to see some love for the old days both in tone and storytelling choices.  It is why books like this one are made.

CAGE #1 gets everything charged up fast for some hard-hitting cartoon violence but not without those moments of trademark Tartakovsky humor and goofiness.  It’s that goof factor that will remind a lot of us who remember Dexter’s Lab what we’ve been missing.  It hits all the right tones in between the action.

For anybody who really enjoyed Samurai Jack, Kyle Baker’s Plastic-Man, and the Silver Age camp of Marvel this book was made for you.

Matthew Burbridge is a Digital Editor at ComiXology and he can’t wait to earn his ComiXology Detective Shield. And then he’ll go over his Captain’s head and get knocked down to traffic where he can’t cause any more problems. After a brief period of melancholy he’ll leave the force to pursue justice as a Private Investigator.

A comiXologist recommends…

Revolution #1
Written by John Barber & Cullen Bunn
Art by Fico Ossio

IDW’s explosive Revolution event is all about action cartoons at war.  If you ever sat around as a kid pitting your GI Joes against your Transformers and all your other toys, this event is just that! There are explosions, violence, and misunderstandings leading to even greater violence!

Revolution #1 opens right into the thick of things with IDW’s resident secret agent Action Man skydiving onto Mount Olympus.  Action Man and his pilot partner Salmons find a cave of glowing purple crystal formations.  Impaled on one of these formations is former GI-Joe and mercenary Big Ben.  Big Ben uses his final moments to warn Action Man of some serious business coming down on everyone’s heads.  Then Mount Olympus blows up, setting every faction on the planet on edge and poised for a fight.  

Things pick up pretty fast and before you can say, “Roll out,” or “Yo Joe,” people are bursting into flames and Transformers are losing limbs.  It gets pretty visceral and it is just fantastic.  It would be at this point that I would insert clapping Emojis in between every syllable of “fantastic” if we were texting.

Revolution #1 is exactly what I like in an event opener. A page of exposition per faction is given and then everybody gets to work  By the end of the issue there’s a really big problem and more fighting to come!  It is also very encouraging to see in the first issue that this event isn’t as cumbersome as events can and have been.  If you’re an avid reader then you know how big and unwieldy these events can be, but this creative team keeps everything moving, fresh, and at a manageable size.

John Barber is most known around this office for his work on Transformers: More Than Meets the Eye and Robots in Disguise. With Cullen Bunn of  Deadpool Kills the Marvel Universe the two create an action work that carries the right balance of fights and attention to character logic.  As far as interior artists go, Fico Ossio is a fantastic storyteller.  Fico’s character acting for all human and humanoid aliens is flawless and well-paced.

This creative team has put forth some hard choices to come for the Transformers and G.I. Joes.  And who knows what became of Action Man up there on Mount Olympus?  I sure don’t, but I can’t wait to find out.

Matthew Burbridge is a Digital Editor at ComiXology and he is super digging that new look of yours. It’s really working for you. <3.

A comiXologist Recommends

Doom Patrol #1

Written by Gerard Way

Art by Nick Derington

Those familiar with the writing of Gerard Way and find his choices delightful will find his incarnation of the Doom Patrol fascinating and exceeding all expectations.  Issue #1 of Doom Patrol carries all the questions left to us from previous incarnations (sort of), the resurfacing of old mainstay characters (Robotman, heck yeah), and the cerebral sarcasm that comes with tying cosmic catastrophe with everyday life (The Gyro).  

Doom Patrol introduces the reader to a Casey Brinke. Casey drives an ambulance and just wants to do good things.  Casey explains casually her fascinating youth in day-to-day life as if it doesn’t come off like the coolest series of adventures a little kid could have had. Most importantly, Casey wants to do good things because her mother told her to do good things, right before her mother flew off into the sun.

Quick food-related segues and analogies lead to perhaps my most favorite reintroduction to a character ever.  I really want to get into it and chew on the meat a bit. I wouldn’t know where to safely start or safely stop so I will not “chew” or “get into” anything. This single issue is so well-constructed and nuanced that the segues and scene changes fall like dominoes, one inciting incident after another, gag after action-packed gag triggers another outrageous moment so if I started somewhere I would have to spoil the next moment to adequately geek-out.

Nick Derington’s art reminds me of Darwyn Cooke’s character acting with Mike Allred’s line quality and pacing.  It is great fun if you aren’t familiar with his other work, and it is a real treat to see him under the new Young Animal banner.

With such expert writing paired with charming art by Nick Derington the Doom Patrol are going to be getting mixed up in some weird weirdness.

Matthew Burbridge is a Digital Editor at ComiXology.