The latest album in the series, Blacksad: Amarillo, is the fifth, after Blacksad: A Silent Hell and the three reprinted as simply Blacksad. All are gorgeously painted explorations of classic American tropes told by Europeans (the series is written by Juan Diaz Canales and illustrated by Juanjo Guarnido), which gives the series its unique approach. Well, that and the anthropomorphic black panther detective who’s the title character. All the cast members are animals of some kind, often selected for an […]

I recommended Action Philosophers last decade, and that opinion hasn’t changed. What has changed is how you read it — once nine self-published issues, now the entire series is collected in one hardcover, cheaper than the out-of-print paperback, with a bonus eight-page story (more on that later). Fred Van Lente (The Comic Book History of Comics) and Ryan Dunlavey (Dirt Candy: A Cookbook) make an amazing team, conveying a history of philosophy and notable thinkers in dynamic, entertaining fashion. The […]

The newest Finder volume is the tenth (following Finder: Voice), although that doesn’t matter, since the series is more like a set of novels with the same setting and some of the characters than a typical serialized comic series. It’s also the first in color (done by Jenn Manley Lee and Bill Mudron), which takes a little getting used to but makes the full world more substantial. Surprisingly, it’s also a great starting point. Third World follows Jaeger as he […]

Writer Christos Gage is really killing it on this series, with creative stories that are true to the characters but reveal new facets of their personalities, not an easy trick to do with something beloved and long-running. He’s back writing solo after being joined by Nicholas Brendon for a Dracula arc. Artists for this story, “I Wish”, are Karl Moline (Fray) and Cliff Richards, inked by Andy Owens. Our ever-growing gang of friends start off the issue by facing a […]

The “New Rules” storyline concludes in Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 10 #5, out tomorrow, quite satisfactorily. Writer Christos Gage has managed to lay out clearly for readers the idea that things will be different, now that magic is back but in as-yet-undefined changed fashion. Yet he focuses first on the story, not the message — the main Scooby gang, all together here once again, and enjoyably so, are still fighting to save the world. I’m impressed by the way […]

If you’re interested in retro horror comics, The Secret Files of Dr. Drew is the book for you. The fourteen stories here were originally published by Fiction House from 1949 to 1951 in Rangers Comics #47-60. I’d never heard of the series before, so I appreciated the included background material explaining its history. Michael T. Gilbert’s introduction covers what is known about the series’ origin, rooted in Will Eisner’s Spirit studio, as well as elaborating on the strengths of the […]

It is amazing to me that this book even exists. I’ve written about the title’s history before, but in short, Bloodhound ran ten issues from DC Comics in 2004, then disappeared until Dark Horse reprinted the series in one volume as Brass Knuckle Psychology last year. Then came actual new stories! By the same creative team — writer Dan Jolley, artists Leonard Kirk & Robin Riggs, and covers by Dave Johnson! I can’t even think of another comic series that […]

The relaunched Buffy the Vampire Slayer comic series continues to keep my interest by doing fresh, interesting things with characters that feel, sound, and look right. Season 10 is setting itself apart by once again mutating the traditional enemy vampires, but instead of making them oh-so-trendy zombies, now, they’re throwbacks. With the ability to transform into beasts — humanoid bats, wolves, insects, and so on — they’re shaking up our heroes and preventing them from being too jaded. They’re more […]