Join us on the Frontlines with our weekly review roundup. This is where we have assembled to give our thoughts on various issues that are released each week. This week we have Brant, Jay, Kat, & Louis giving reviews for books from Aftershock, Black Mask, BOOM! Studios, DC Comics, Dynamite Entertainment, Marvel Comics, and Valiant! Check out the reviews below and let us know what you think in the comments below or on Twitter. Welcome to the FRONTLINE REVIEWS, hope you enjoy the experience!
THE LOST CITY EXPLORES #5
"Death"
Written & Created By: Zack Kaplan
Art By: Alvaro Sarraseca
Colors By: Dee Cunniffe
Letters By: A Larger World's Troy Peteri
Price: $3.99
Hel is still on the other side of the portal as the guardian threatens her friends they fight to keep it open and one enters it to rescue her. This was an awesome mini series that leaves the reader wanting more from the story and the characters. I felt that this was just whetting the appetite for more to come and from the final page I think I am right! I both love and hate that the mystery of Atlantis is still there, but they have my money for a followup to this so I can learn more about Atlantis and the characters. The art here is always solid as well, it lends a certain chill to the story which goes great with the story and the mystique of it all. ~ Jay @ComicBookTheate
SEX DEATH REVOLUTION #1
Written By: Magdalene Visaggio
Art By: Becca Farrow
Colors By: Harry Saxon
Letters By: Zakk Saam
Cover By: Kiki Jenkins
Price: $5.99
We are all defined by our pasts. So who do you become when your history is being rewritten before your eyes? This is the premise of Sex Death Revolution. The series introduces us to an interesting pair of characters that help you grow attached to this magical mystery, but the downside of this issue is that the magic feels overly complicated. This is due to the series trying to create a mystery around the magic being performed, but this makes the mythos hard to grasp since the audience comes in not knowing the ground rules of the magic in this world. Becca Farrow’s pencils are solid and I like how she portrays magic in the comic. The series delves into some dark territory, but both the colors and pencils are still crisp. Sex Death Revolution’s strongest element is its love story, but the magic still needs a stronger foundation to help deliver a potentially powerful mystery. ~ Kat @ComicUno
FENCE #11
Created By: C.S. Pacat & Johanna The Mad
Written By: C.S. Pacat
Art By: Johanna The Mad
Colors By: Joana Lafuente
Letters By: Jim Campbell
Cover By: HamletMachine
Price: $3.99
Nicolas and Seiji watch the final match with Eugene who is like Nicolas is anxious about the outcome as the winner will determine if they are on the team or not. What is BOOM! doing to me? First Mech Cadet Yu ends and now Fence is on its penultimate issue before it transitions to the OGNs. But man C.S. Pacat and Johanna The Mad are stepping up their game in these final issues. I don't know how but I feel like I know every student at this school, as well as their families which is insane, that is a testament to this team and how they brought each and everyone to life for me. I can not recommend this book enough, do yourselves a favor and pick it up! ~ Jay @ComicBookTheate
BATMAN: SECRET FILES #1
Written By: Tom King, Ram V, Cheryl Lynn Eaton, and Jordie Bellaire
Art By: Mikel Janin, Jorge Fornes, Elena Casagrande, Jill Thompson, and Brad Walker
Colors By: Jordie Bellaire, Matt Wilson, and Trish Mulvihill
Letters By: Clayton Cowles, Steve Wands, Deron Bennett, and Tom Napolitano
Cover By: Mikel Janin
Price: $4.99
Batman: Secret Files is a collection of different Batman short stories. While current Batman writer Tom King writes two of the five stories,this issue allows other creators to give their voices to the Caped Crusader. Even though these stories are not note-worthy, they’re still entertaining. Plus readers are bound to find at least one story they’d enjoy. For me that story was Batman’s team-up with Detective Chimp. Also these stories are stand-alones so they’re completely new reader friendly. If you know someone who’s a Batman fan, this would be a great stocking stuffer for the upcoming holidays. ~ Louis @SpiderMan1991
Verdict: 4 ½ Stars
HEROES IN CRISIS #2
"Part 2: Then I Became Superman"
Written By: Tom King
Art By: Clay Mann (pgs 1-15, 19-22) & Travis Moore (pgs 16-18)
Colors By: Tomeu Morey & Arif Prianto
Letters By: Clayton Cowles
Cover By: Clay Mann & Tomeu Morey
VAriant Cover By: Ryan Sook
Price: $3.99
The investigation into the murders at Sanctuary continues as the Trinity follows clues to Harley while Booster decides to do what Batman would do and investigate it himself. WOW this series just started and I am already craving more and filled with theories. We have some great raw emotional stuff here from almost everyone. The way King is coming at this it really pulls you into the story and into their minds gets you into the story even more and makes everything so real. Mann and Moore also do superb jobs with the art here bringing all the emotion right to the page. This book brings out the detective in me and to see the three best investigators Batman, Lois, and The Flash all on the case just ups the antsy for me. ~ Jay @ComicBookTheate
NANCY DREW #5
Written By: Kelly Thompson
Art By: Jenn St-Onge
Colors By: Triona Farrell
Letters By: Ariana Maher
Cover By: Jenn St-Onge, Trula Lotay, Emanuella Lupaccheno, Triona Farrell
Price: $3.99
Nancy Drew #5 ends this (surprise) mini-series on a big bang, literally. This issue is a solid ending to a story arc, but not the series. There is still so many questions unanswered, and the issue ends on a killer cliffhanger. This is both a positive and negative because it leaves the audience wanting more, but the issue never tells us if we will be getting more. Jenn St-Onge continues to nail it on pencils as every panel is nice and crisp. I love the modern look she continues to give to all the Nancy Drew characters. Nancy Drew #5 is a good ending to a story arc, just not a mini-series. ~ Kat @ComicUno
SPIDER-FORCE #1
"The Uncanny Spider-Force 15 Minutes"
Written By: Priest
Pencils By: Paulo Siqueira
Inks By: Oren Junior & Craig Yeung
Colors By: Guru e-FX
Letters By: VC's Joe Sabino
Cover By: Shane Davis, Michelle Delecki & Morry Hollowell
Variant Cover By: Will Robson & Morry Hollowell
Price: $3.99
Kaine has to assemble a group of web-warriors from across the multiverse to go to Earth-3145 to find the Inheritors father Solus' soul which was captured in a crystal to prevent them from bringing him back. I have been hyped about this book since we got teased with it and the glorious cover with Spider-Kid, ok maybe hyped is an understatement, more like obsessed and it has been worth it! I freaking LOVE Spider-Kid!!!! The Great Web Hope for Marvel has arrived and his name is Charlie! Ok now that my gushing is over this book was great for me, we had a little bit of everything here from Charlie's weird mix of early Peter Parker and the more cynical Kaine, to Kaine himself to Jessica Drew I am hooked! The art here is very solid as well loved the attention to details. ~ Jay @ComicBookTheate
TONY STARK: IRON MAN #5
Written By: Dan Slott
Art By: Max Dunbar & Gang Hyuk Lim
Colors By: Dono Sanchez-Almara
Letters By: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Cover By: Alexander Lozano
Price: $3.99
Even though Tony’s name is in the title, this issue is all about his brother, Arno Stark. Dan Slott does an impressive job showing how Arno and Tony are similar but different. Like Tony, Arno now spends his time traveling the globe solving people’s problems. However while Tony’s solutions are the product of engineering, Arno’s are more biological. While Arno’s motives to help people are similar to his brother, Slott quickly shows Arno still has some latent resentment towards Tony. Unlike most superhero characters who’s jealousy consumed them, Arno’s jealousy is still in check. Plus towards the end of the issue, Arno meets with Sunset Bain (Tony’s recent recurring antagonist). This tells the reader that Slott is setting Arno up for a bigger story in the future. Arno hasn’t made much appearances after Kieron Gillan’s Iron Man run, so this issue was a nice reintroduction for the character. Overall, Slott is clearly laying the groundwork for a bigger story and it isn’t something fans should miss. ~ Louis @SpiderMan1991
WEST COAST AVENGERS #3
Written By: Kelly Thompson
Art By: Stefano Caselli
Colors By: Triona Farrell
Letters By: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Cover By: Stefano Caselli & Nolan Woodard, Sujin Jo
Price: $3.99
This comic is totally bonkers, and it's the best! In this issue our team of misfits get battle ready to defeat BRODOCK and his minions, which I should mention are 50 foot animal women. The kicker is that Kate also gets kidnapped, and is turned into an actual Hawk. I told you totally bonkers…but I love that we have a comic on stands like this. There aren’t a lot of comedy comics out there, but I like to consider this a comedy. But this book is not all fun and games, Kelly Thompson hits some great emotional beats as well. The scene that stood out the most to me here is Quentin’s small hints to his REAL attraction towards Gwenpool. Stefano Caselli is a great fit for this title. He nails both these comedic and emotional moments with his use of facial expressions. West Coast Avengers #3 is a fun addition that creates even more layers towards this weird mashup of a team. ~ Kat @ComicUno
FAITH: DREAMSIDE #2 (of 4)
Written By: Jody Houser
Art By: MJ Kim
Colors By: Jordie Bellaire
Letters By: Dave Sharpe
Cover By: Marguerite Sauvage
Variant Covers By: Sibylline Meynet, David LaFuente with Andrew Dalhouse
Price: $3.99
I’m a little biased with this book as Faith has been one of my favorite new characters in recent comic history. She is just so much fun because she’s a pop culture junkie like so many of us. You can see yourself in her and understand her problems from a different level. That relatability is one of the things that always drew me to Spider-Man, and I get the same with Faith.
That aside, what I really enjoy about the Faith minis is that each one tackles a different genre or sub-genre of pop culture. Faith has tackled aliens, time traveling robots bent on world domination, and now she’s battling ghosts. And because of her love for all things geek, it just works. You almost, at times, forget it’s a superhero comic.
So this miniseries sees Faith being sprung from a cop car by Animalia because Animalia needs help. That’s the gist of issue one. We pick up here where Faith is taking Animalia to meet Doctor Mirage, who is in the middle of giving a talk show interview for her show Night Shifters.
Before I continue about the story, I should mention Kim’s art, which is fantastic and fits the story so well. With Doctor Mirage, there’s almost an anime influence to her, but the rest of the characters look fairly typical comic book style. Some of the ghosts also fit that anime style. And when I say that, I don’t mean it’s a drastic difference, but a subtle one that differentiates the two worlds of these characters we’re dealing with. It’s an interesting juxtaposition of styles that really works in the story Houser and Kim are telling here.
Speaking of that story, the basic plot of this issue is that Animalia is seeing ghosts and they are wrecking her life. She recently lost friends and now they have supposedly come back to haunt her. What we get is something not even Doctor Mirage has encountered, which sets us off on an interesting journey where, once again, Faith has to leave her comfort zone and go into unknown territory for her.
Houser just gets Faith, and that hasn’t changed here. Faith is all heart and only wants to keep her friends safe. Animalia was handled very nicely here as well, guilt-ridden and literally haunted by the death of her friends. And Doctor Mirage’s frustration with the media and the whole circus of it, is torn between two worlds as her dead husband’s ghost is always around, and she sees ghosts everywhere. But she still has to balance that with real world responsibilities.
I thought it was an interesting twist to present Doctor Mirage with a threat she herself wasn’t familiar with, which leads to the aforementioned journey she and Faith embark upon. It was a fun issue with lots of reveals and forward momentum, and it left me excited for the next. ~ Brant @BrantFowler
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