Comic Reviews: September 2019

Another month over, another month closer to Christmas (Oh God, NOT Christmas).

Now, to be honest, as I post this September isn't exactly over as we still have the rest of today (which of course varies depending on where you are). However, as it is the final day and I'm unlikely to review anything else before it ends (although miracles do happen, right?), I'm just gonna call it now; September is done!

And so, because it is done, I've written my what is now standard monthly overview of all the comics I've reviewed on behalf of my good old comic-based employer, Pipedream Comics. Now last month wasn't a bad little month comic wise, as so I recall being intrigued as September began as to what I was going to get and whether it could match up.

Fortunately, I think it's fair to say that it did, and then some.

Omni #1. Image from
Comixology.

The first review for September was Omni #1, the final comic from the Humanoid/H1 shared universe (I did say we'd come back to it later). Now, I really enjoyed this one, as it felt like the strongest of the three Humanoid titles that I've read recently. The story seemed more focused on the characters, as it came across as more of an origin to me and left little confusion. Also, I felt that the power set was weirdly cool and different and to very much my liking. Meanwhile, while the art looks much the same as Ignited and Strangelands and that in itself is no big problem, there was a splash page early on which gave us a visual representation of the Cecilia's power which looked just amazing and really made its mark in my brain.

Meanwhile, I didn't mention the backup because I gushed a lot about the main story but it is the same tale as from Strangelands, picking up after that issue. Now, I liked the backup from Strangelands but this was very intriguing and did make me wonder if 'Ignited' people were cropping up much earlier than these comics were leading us to believe as well as what the girl's power is (to which I'm thinking body swapping).

Overall, though this was the standout comic of the Humanoids line for me and I'd be happy to come back for more (and maybe even return to the others if that backup continues).

Mall #1. Image from
Comixology.

So, next up was Mall #1 and, I have to admit, that this was another comic which I really enjoyed. However, unlike with Omni, I probably knew so after reading the synopsis. With Mall I thought it was fun, it was frantic and it very much reminded me of Karl Urban's Judge Dredd film (or, I guess, Battle Royale which such films are kind of based on). I think the thing about this comic was that, while it is a very 'Walking Dead' style environment, it didn't dwell on that too much, instead focusing on an kind of 'who done it' tale, as Andre attempted to find who'd framed him and only used the end of the world as a back drop.

Meanwhile, the art has this gritty look which works well with that world and also cements that 'action movie' vibe. That said, I did think that the art started to fail towards the end, with a battle between two opposing clans look really bad compared to some of the awesome close up scenes just a few pages earlier. Of course, that one blip wasn't enough to wipe away all of the good in this comic from my perspective and certainly wouldn't stop me from checking out issue 2 at the absolute least.

Sera and the Royal Stars #1
Image from Comixology.

With the next review, I chose to follow up Mall with another Vault book (because they seem to be flooding the market, and not in a bad way) with Sera and the Royal Stars #1 & 2. Once again, I liked this book although, I've got to admit, I'm not sure why. I think that there was some charm to Sera as it looked good in terms of its art and I didnt' see any problems when it came to its story or how it was written. However, despite all of that I did feel that Sera was incredibly 'subdued', with little (that I could see) which could be picked out to focus on (save for the Stars reveals, which I thought were incredibly colourful).

However, despite that, I do believe with what I've written when I said Sera was a good book, with the beginnings of an epic tale filled with intriguing characters who have been drawn and colour to a terrific degree. I personally would like to read more of this series (which, as always is my barometer for if something is good) because sometimes comics just feel like reading despite being unable to quantify why. However, I do hope something jumps out at me more in future issues if/when I were to continue.

For my next couple of reviews of the month I moved away from my standard review pile to partake in some 'special requests'. The first of which was Tainted by Dean Kish, whom came to me for an urgent review before the clock on his kickstarter ended (something I'm always willing to oblige). However, this was a tough one to review for a number of reasons. I found the first issue incredibly tough going to get into, which I don't think it helped that the depression aspect (which is what appealed to me most being a sufferer) seemed very glossed over in favour of setting up the big 'good vs evil' story.

That said, the second issue felt a lot better to me as it flow better without the first issue's need to set up and seemed to focus more on Creek (the main character's) recovery while simultaneously prepping her for the big battle, both of which seemed accurately (in my mind anyway) entwined. The art, on the other hand, is really gorgeous and it makes me think of Manga in some way (or at least some British Manga-inspired comics I've seen). However, I may have been a bit brutal as I do think that, while it looks good, some of Creek's depictions felt clichéd and unrealistic given what she was going through. A bit nit-picky (and, hey, who am I to judge) but it just stuck with me.

Overall though, I did like this comic and am intrigued to see where it goes. That said, it's high price was a bit of a turn off (something I never mentioned in the review) to me personally. However, given Dean's explanation and his plan to amend those prices to a more reasonable level in future, I look forward to seeing the Kickstarter not only run again but succeed.

Glass Hood. Cover by
Michael Rea.

I followed this with the second of my 'special requests' (although this was simply because I got a copy due to my 'other job' as a proofreader) as I reviewed Matt Garvey's new Glass Hood. Now this review ended up being a couple of drafts and is a good example of how first impressions should not always be final ones. This is because my initial thought was how this is such a fantastic story which feels incredibly well paced, never once feeling to slow or rushing, how the characters are so compelling and the twist is, well, I really didn't see it coming and how Graham and Stefano's respective art styles are stellar and really help sell this book. Of course, none of this is false as I did love this book, especially the art as Graham's worked looked very noir-esque and makes everyone look old and tired, while Stefano's is so full of life and very silver age in that respects.

However, when I took a step back, a minute to breathe and looked again, I realised that, yes, this is a good book but, in the end, it could only come second to Red Rocket Comet, although I still believe this lose was only by a nose. Still, this was a great read (which I'm really coming to expect from Matt these days) and a strong comic and was very much worthy of my time and my money (which I really need to send him for a print copy sometime).

Milky #1. Image from
Comixology.

Finally, my reviews returned to the regularly scheduled comics pile as I finished September by checking out Milky, a comic book which Pipedream Comics had been giving a fair bit of love for in the last couple of months, focusing on both the Kickstarter and an interview with the creator. A lot of hype, huh? Well, after reading this I think it was worth it as Milky was a really enjoyable comic. It's a lot of fun and, though I've mentioned the Edgar Wright Cornetto trilogy a fair bit during the review it's only because that's the vibe they give me as I was reading. In honesty, I think that this is a comic  is something special, as the writing felt sharp with some nice witty dialogue and the art was just gorgeous, which just now reminds me of Valiant Comic's Ninjak (which is a really good first 6 issues, by the way).

Now,it's not perfect by any stretch of the imagination as the story and character tropes didn't feel the most original concepts and the art looked a little rough when it got to depicting the aliens invaders at most points. However, these are small quibbles in comparison to the book as a whole, which was just such a great read. Once again, I'd have to say that this is another one that I'd like to check more out.

Which I now realise is almost all of them as I reach the end of this post (in fact it was ALL of them).

So, there's a round up of everything which I had the privilege to review in September for Pipedream comics and, to put it bluntly, 'privilege' is right! I feel I've gotten exceptionally lucky with my review material this month as, while they all varying in their levels of quality, all six of these comics were reads worthy of my time which I would gladly pick up their successive issues (where they had any) if money was no object.

Sadly, money is still an object (for me anyway) and so, these titles will have to just settle with being consigned to my (ever growing) wish list. That said, it's a nice change of pace to have such full on optimism about the comics handed to me to read over a month.

It makes me wonder what next month will consist of?!