I found The Family Trade, written by Justin Jordan & Nikki Ryan and illustrated by Morgan Beem, a fairly standard story about a teen assassin working to save her fantasy world. It’s distinctive only due to its art and coloring. The Free Republic of Thessala, aka the Float, is an independent city-state in the middle of the ocean, a center of commerce and diplomacy. Jessa is a young orphan member of the Family, a loosely related gang of thieves and […]

So glad to see Sleepless return after its summer break and the release of the collection of the first storyline. It’s an outstanding series that uses fantasy and romance conventions to tell a deeper story of politics. Sarah Vaughn and Leila del Duca are showing us a young woman finding her place and power in a setting where everything seems turned against her. It’s been almost a year since we last saw the princess Poppy. She’s still being guarded, but […]

I can’t read most of Justin Jordan’s work. It’s purely my fault; his comics are well-done, but he’s often exploring violent topics, and I’m too squeamish. For some reason, though — perhaps because the violence here is committed on small, silly-looking mythical creatures — I enjoyed Death of Love for the modern way it takes down a certain type of whiny entitled guy complaining about the “friend zone”. Philo is a self-described “nice guy” and friend to Zoe because he […]

Jeff Lemire’s (Roughneck) latest series concludes with this issue, which I appreciated for its acknowledgement of adult choices and how we settle down. The publisher describes Royal City as follows: Royal City charts the lives, loves, and losses of a troubled family and a vanishing town across three decades. Patrick Pike, a fading literary star who reluctantly returns to the once-thriving factory town where he grew up, is quickly drawn back into the dramas of his two adult siblings, his […]

Unnatural #1 attempts to justify its soft-core porn by tossing in some platitudes about how beings should be allowed to love whom they love. But it’s still all about drawing the eye lingeringly over images of a well-endowed topless woman. Leslie is a pig girl, which means she has a turned-up nose and a little bitty curly tail at the top of her butt, which we see plenty of. She’s having erotic dreams about a wolf-man lover, even though it’s […]

Sleepless has continued to be a satisfying fantasy series that wraps together themes of family, devotion, and politics. This latest issue concludes the first arc with several surprising twists around the relationship between the princess and her sleepless knight protector. Writer Sarah Vaughn provides depth to the royal machinations beyond the obvious motivations. I really feel for Poppy, placed in an untenable position due to the death of her father the King, as she tries to navigate between attempted assassinations […]

It’s not really fair to judge a comic by its first issue. That’s the one everyone spends extra time and effort on to make a great first impression. So when I find a great second issue, that bodes well for enjoying a comic for the long run. Sleepless #1 set up the basics of the premise; in this second issue, Sarah Vaughn and Leila del Duca expand on the premise by showing us Princess Poppy trying to find out who’s […]

I’m going to give one of those backhanded compliments. Sleepless, a new fantasy comic by Sarah Vaughn (Alex + Ada) and Leila del Duca (Shutter), was interesting enough to overcome my antipathy towards the genre. I know there’s nothing wrong with fantasy stories — and goodness knows I understand why they might be attractive in today’s culture — but I just don’t care much for knights and quests and wizards. Sleepless puts a fresh spin on at least the first […]