Author: Derek Heid

The Immortal Hulk #17 Marvel Comics Written By Al Ewing Art by Joe Bennet “Nobody tells me what to do. You keep needlin’ me, and if I want to, I’m gonna take this joint apart. And you’re not gonna know what hit you.” – John Paxton and Bill Meadow, The Wild One. I genuinely feel every review of an issue of The Immortal Hulk should start with the black page cold-open quote that Al Ewing places on the first page of the entire series. It perfectly sets the tone, and actually echoes what’s in those 30 pages so succinctly,…

Pearl #1 Jinxworld Writer: Brian Michael Bendis Artist: Michael Gaydos Bendis is here. He’s been here, but he was coming before, and now, with the release of Pearl, he’s really here. Know what I’m saying? Except for his three Superman stories (two of which he is still writing), Bendis hasn’t really gotten to spread his wings over at DC. Now with Pearl #1, he launches an imprint of his own “Jinxworld,” which is a world Bendis can pretty much do whatever he wants, (which is good or bad depending on who you ask). I, for whatever reason, love Brian…

I’m going to secede my time in the opening paragraph to the creator/writer/artist of “Hey Kids! Comics” and the King of Comicbook Controversy himself Howard Chaykin. This is from his personal Facebook Page: “HEY KIDS—COMICS! is a fictionalized history of more than a half-century of turbulence and triumph, despair and drama in the comic book racket. Where aspiring artists climbed into business and bed with conmen and clowns, ganefs and gangsters, to create the foundations of today’s biggest entertainment business—or at least, the tail that wags the dog. Much of it really happened, and the names have been changed to protect…

Death Of The Inhumans #1 Marvel Comics Writer: Donny Cates Artist: Ariel Olivetti I’ll be the first to say it: the Inhumans have kind of become a joke. Very recently, as most of you probably remember, there was a plan to phase out the X-Men and replace most mutants with Inhumans. This was, of course, to really hype up what they planned on being a mega-hit ABC series starring the moon-dwelling Inhumans. The oversaturation of Inhumans series did not work out well and there was pretty much immediate fatigue. On top of that, the show was a bonafide stink-bomb. …

The Sentry #1 Marvel Comics Writer: Jeff Lemire Artists: Kim Jacinto, Rain Beredo Psychologically scarred, fallen superheroes. I eat it up like M&M’s. I don’t know why, but I absolutely love it. Especially when someone is able to do it without a cynical sneer (I’m looking at you The Boys and Marshal Law). Being able to balance the heavy toll it takes being a superhero, as well as showing an actual human side to these broken godmen. I want to see someone who was able to crush a car with his bare hands lie awake at night and contemplate…

Bedtime Games #1 Dark Horse Comics Writer: Nick Keller Artist: Conor Nolan When looking at the upcoming releases, I saw the cover for Bedtime Games from Dark Horse, and as soon as I saw it I got a Tales From The Crypt/EC Comics vibe… I was immediately sold. In my mind, the cautionary schlocky B-horror tale is the best the entire horror genre has to offer. The characters are usually colorful, the dialogue is ludicrously over the top, and most importantly it doesn’t take itself too seriously. Nothing takes me out of a story faster than something with an…

Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual #1 Marvel Comics Writers: Chip Zdarksy, Mike Drucker (Back-Up story) Artists: Michael and Laura Allred, Chris Bachallo (Back-Up Story) Chip Zdarsky’s take on Spider-Man has been an extremely zany, goofy, gag-filled romp (as one would expect from Chip Zdarsky, everyone’s favorite comics person on Twitter). But, every now and then (mostly when it comes to J. Jonah Jameson), he explores something, or changes the status quo, in a way you’d never expect, and then you couldn’t imagine it any other way. I absolutely LOVE the fact J.J. is aware of Peter Parkes dual…

Doctor Strange #2 Marvel Comics Written By: Mark Waid Art By: Jesus Saiz While searching for magic totems across the galaxy, Doctor Stephen Strange is a prisoner on an alien planet (A planet that doesn’t even have a word for magic) stripped of his connection to any kind of magic, which, as you can guess, is a pretty awkward situation for the Master of The Mystic Arts to be in. Luckily for us, it makes for a hell of an issue. My last review was a bit harsh on the fact that the story revolves around Strange losing his…

Tony Stark: Iron Man #1 Marvel Comics Writer: Dan Slott Artist: Valerio Schiti In all of my many (many, many) years of reading and buying comic books, for no real reason whatsoever, I’ve never read an Iron Man ongoing. Sure, I’ve read a trade here or there, and I’ve read A LOT of team books with Tony in it (and I absolutely love Stark as a character), but never an extended run of Tony running around Iron Man-ing the town red. So, everything is re-booting and starting from zero (Again. The Circle of Life…..The Marvel Way), and so is…

A Walk Through Hell #2 AfterShock Comics Writer – Garth Ennis Artists – Goran Sudzka and Ive Svorcina Sorry. I’m very sorry I can’t think of some funny or clever way to start this review of A Walk Through Hell #2 by Garth Ennis and Goran Sudžuka released by AfterShock. Mainly because, this is a gravely serious book, pretty much zero levity. Which, is such a shock, when you think about Garth Ennis’s catalog, and yeah there’s a lot of heavy, emotional moments in every single series he has, but also, there is a TON of crude, dumb, vulgar humor,…