Now that the first storyline of The Beauty has concluded, creators Jeremy Haun and Jason A. Hurley have decided to tell some single-issue stories “to explore the wider world” of their premise. That’s a great idea, since the strongest part of this series is the concept, of a world where a sexually transmitted disease makes you more conventionally attractive, and I’d welcome learning more about how people react. These stories are set before the events of the first arc, before […]

The previous issue, The Wicked + the Divine #18, began a new storyline they’re calling “Rising Action”. It’s a more straightforward approach, where two groups of the reincarnated gods finally directly face off against each other. There’s a lot more action, and frankly, for someone not completely indoctrinated into the cult of the title, it’s a lot easier to follow. I feel horrible saying that, because I feel like it’s an indictment of my lack of willingness to participate actively […]

The psychological horror series by Alex de Campi and Carla Speed McNeil concludes its second arc with the most powerful issue yet. It’s also a great starting point, if you’re curious, since it’s a flashback issue focusing on a single one of the doomed teens. (If you’re looking for a more chronological starting point, the first four issues of No Mercy have been collected at a discount price.) Back in issue #6, we saw how poorly siblings Chad and Charlene […]

Now that The Fuse issue #18 is out, I can talk about the entire The Fuse: Perihelion storyline. If you want to read the entire thing (and you haven’t been intrigued enough to start reading with the first two mysteries, The Russia Shift and Gridlock), the collection comes out at the end of April in comic shops, early May in bookstores. It reprints issues #13-18, and I’ve previously talked about issue #13, issue #14, and issue #17, so I will […]

Writer Nick Spencer and artist Steve Lieber worked well together on The Superior Foes of Spider-Man during their 17-issue run from 2013-2015. Under them, a villain team-up book became a wacky heist series with a sardonic tone and imaginatively outrageous occurrences for its team of losers. However, that kind of thing doesn’t last forever when dealing with other people’s character property in a shared universe, so now Lieber and Spencer are doing something similar on their own turf. The Fix […]

I haven’t talked about this science fiction mystery series in a while, because once the situation was established, the middle issues just made it all more interestingly complicated. But I wanted to make sure to check in on The Fuse #17 as we work towards the solution to all the crimes taking place during the satellite version of Mardi Gras. I was pleasantly surprised to see how effective this “part 5 of 6” was on its own. As established at […]

Well, Top Cow’s got balls. I thought the first storyline, issues #1-4 of The Tithe, was gutsy, taking on mega-churches and criminal preachers, but this one goes even further. This time around, the subject is Muslim terrorists. Issue #5 kicks off a new story arc with the bombing of St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City. It’s written by Matt Hawkins, with layouts by Rahsan Ekedal and art by Phillip Sevy. With all the action and investigation, this is the […]

Jeremy Haun, aided by Jason A. Hurley on story, has come up with a doozy of a premise. There’s a sexually transmitted disease that makes its victims beautiful — skinny, clear-skinned, and glowing — so people want to catch it. I was intrigued by the kinds of stories that could be told with this idea, pieces about how relationships were changed or how society reacted. Unfortunately, what the creators do with this outstanding starting point winds up pedestrian and typical. […]