Comic reviews: June 2019

This post is a quicker one than some that I've put up recently and there's a very good reason for that.

I'm not sure if it was a blessing or a curse, but the reviews I put together in June seriously paled in comparison to the number/volume that I was able to drum out in May. In a sense it was a blessing because I got to do a lot more of my own things, but a curse in the sense that I feel I missed out on quite a number of interesting comics to have come out.

That said, I still managed to get through three titles and, overall, they weren't half bad.

The first review for June was of Road of Bones #1 from IDW by Rich Douek and Alex Cormack and, I've got to admit, that to say I enjoyed this was an understatement. I loved this book as it was totally engrossing and kept me hook from the moment I started it right to the end. I think the thing I enjoyed most was the atmosphere as the brutality and hopelessness of where the characters are just shined through in Cormack's art especially. It wasn't perfect as the night time/dark scenes were a little difficult to follow, but that was a small complaint, given how into the story I was (and how I want to know more about that apparently reptilian Donovik who appeared at the end).

 My next review for June was Wailing Blade #1 which, like Road of Bones was a Rich Douek production as he re-teamed with his Scam (the name of the comic) artist Joe Mulvey to offer us a tale bandits facing a monstrous knight with a big sword in a fantasy world (the actual review describes it better). Unfortunately, unlike Douek's prior title which I review, I just seriously struggled with this one. I think that the problem I had with it was that it offered no direction and, as a result (maybe apart from the very final page), little incentive to read on. Of course, the art was funky and the world itself seemed fully realised but the lack of an idea about where the story was going was what, ultimately, put me off this.

 Finally, there was Starside #1 & 2 by Dylan Klein, Lane Brettschneider and Jordan Chao, which told the story of a young man who goes on an interstellar adventure when he is taken prisoner during an alien invasion. Now, this comic was one that I actually got into really quickly and enjoyed a lot. The reason for this, I think, was down to the opening half of the first issue, whereby the story starts slow and gives us time to properly get to know the main character and better understand who he is as a person. As a result, I felt that this carried through the rest of the story, helping me care for his plight. Meanwhile, the art had a unique look to it which really had me hooked from the start. Of course, it wasn't perfect, with a few underlying question about some unresolved plot threads, but it was still enough in my book and I'd happily go back to see more.

 And there you have June over and done with. I've got to admit that it was a shame that all three comic series didn't get more positive thoughts from me but, unfortunately, Wailing Blade just didn't have enough in it to get me invested.

However, I thought both Road of Bones and Starside were awesome, particularly the former, and I'd be more than happy to follow up on them in future.