Reviews (2599)
Visitations #7 is split into two stories: Prisoners and Slaughter at the Stockyards. The first looks at the consequences of the mayor’s death on Blackwood and his supernatural team, while the second provides insight into the headless vaudevillian, The Entertainer. While they are loosely linked by The Entertainer’s presence in both, Slaughter at the Stockyards stands alone in examining a sad part of Chicago’s past without tying it directly to the Blackwood storyline.
After a short jaunt away to focus mostly on Xander, this issue brings the focus back to our Slayers… all three-ish of them. Just in case a refresher is needed, we previously learned that Willow became the Slayer after a spell to ease Buffy’s burden went wrong, stripping Buffy’s mantle from her. A side-effect to all that is that another Slayer was also Called. Enter Faith.
Previously, Jayne found that being a dad is not easy, especially when he never really had any sort of role model to base his attempts on. Meanwhile, the crew grappled with yet another emergency after the monastery was attacked again.
Nazis! Saboteurs! Airplane dog fights! Although these things can most likely be found in any number of 1940s serials, they can also be found in IDW’s The Rockteer: The Great Race. Dave Stevens’ famous character returns to wrap up his new 4-issue mini-series with style.
Previously on Angel: With Angel overseas in Romania to shoot a feature film, the gang is sorta figuring out their new dynamic. With Spike negotiating a pretty ambitious deal for himself to hop onto Cordi’s show, a werewolf on the loose, and murderous alterna-selves siring up an army, things sound pretty dire.
In the first installment of Heirs of Isildur: The Perilous Prospects #1, we’re basically flung into limbo and things are a bit confusing at first, but they quickly clear up. There’s a handy primer for newcomers to the universe in the Prologue/Foreword which does a pretty good job of catching you up. I’m fairly new to the Heirs of Isildur universe, having only read the Tales of Nocturnia title before, but there seems to be a common thread of taking the genre to an over-the-top space that runs through the universe. In this case, think sci-fi/steampunk through a heavy metal lens.
Randyl Bishop, creator of the gritty revenge story The Hawk of New York, steps away from serious, more mature tales to indulge in a fun, all-ages romp centered on one of the bands he enjoys with The Silvers: Up, Out, and Back. It’s a silly, energetic take on how The Silvers react when a crustacean alien race decides to take over their island; it reminded me of some of the less reality-based episodes of The Monkees or other TV shows of that era. The comic also integrates three music videos from The Silvers, and I listened to the songs while reading which I enjoyed.
Eight Billion Genies returns, and with it comes the continuation of one of the wildest comics in recent memory. We're "eight days" into the story, and with about half of the world's wishes granted, we've also seen about a quarter of the world's population meet their end. Thankfully, though, none of those people are inside the Lampwick Tavern which is wish-proof, thanks to the wish of the bar's owner.
In the previous issue, WOL-421313, frustrated at the loss of his job and status, decided to invoke the robot right to settle a dispute “metal to metal,” but, this time, it will be "metal to human."
Mind MGMT is Matt Kindt’s opus. It was the series that really, truly caught the attention of a wider audience and for good reason. It’s brilliantly subversive and wickedly intelligent. It casts a spell and never lets up. While telling an incredible story, it also dissects the format of the comic book to put you into the proper mindset: that your brain is about to get effed with. Now, we have Mind MGMT: Bootleg.
