Author: Victor Benito

Astro Hustle #2 Dark Horse Comics Writer: Jai Nitz Artists: Tom Reilly & Ursula Decay The first thing you should know about hustle is that it’s aggressive, it can’t stop. If you’re gonna hustle, you need to be ready to push constantly. Even when Astro Hustle #2 has downtime, it keeps going, moving characters forward without losing its touch. I can only compare my hype for this series alongside that which I have for Bitter Root. This book works in the same vein, taking a genre and remolding it, adding to the visuals and mythos. If there’s one series you…

Bitter Root #5 Image Comics Writers: David F. Walker & Chuck Brown Artist: Sanford Greene Bitter Root is beyond storytelling; it’s a chronicle of resilience and strength in the face of adversity. Each issue of this series holds so much to say about the roots of hate and ways it shows itself. Layers of impact from the Black experience in America shine through its characters who face these struggles daily. I don’t have enough praise to give to this team or enough critical analysis to go through every imaginative piece. Instead, all I have is utter love for this series.…

The Magnificent Ms. Marvel #1 Marvel Comics Writer: Saladin Ahmed Artists: Minkyu Jung Ms. Marvel is a character at the forefront of the best stories in comics. Kamala Khan’s main book is always a reinvigoration of the classic Marvel formula but with better representation. There’s kooky antics, a great supporting cast, a lively world outside the window, and a hero making ends meet. G. Willow Wilson and Sana Amanat’s creation is one of modern Marvel’s gems that will continue well beyond this generation. It is with these thoughts in mind that it’s easy to worry about what happens when Wilson…

Vader: Dark Visions #1 Marvel Comics Writer: Dennis “Hopeless” Hallum Artists: Paolo Villanelli & Arif Prianto Modern storytellers often paint sympathetic villains in hopes of creating a dynamic character which audiences strangely relate to. It’s an effort to show understanding in what leads a villain to an ideology many fundamentally disagree with. Then there’s the old school villain, tyrants full of power and rage who will cut down anyone in their way. Darth Vader tiptoes the line between these two depictions and it makes for fantastic stories. The Dark Visions series promises to peel back more layers of Vader from…

Astro Hustle #1 Dark Horse Comics Writer: Jai Nitz Artists: Tom Reilly & Ursula Decay Exuberantly silly movies and other content of the 80’s sold itself by making the most insanely designed covers in existence. One glance at Astro Hustle #1’s cover and my mind’s eye streams the craziest 80’s underground VHS tapes. The fast-paced stories, the excessive amounts of purples, reds, and blues, the ridiculous over-the-top characters, they all hit at once. Astro Hustle is a brilliant love letter to the high-octane and rambunctious stories of the 1980’s. Identifying itself as a spiritual successor to UK comic stories…

Batman Beyond (2016-) #29 DC Comics Writer: Dan Jurgens Artists: Brett Booth, Norm Rapmund, Andrew Dalhouse Being an avid fan of the Batman Beyond cartoon, I follow the comic series to get my fix. Since Rebirth, Terry McGinnis is back in the role of Batman and falls back into it with ease. I’ve been having fun reading the stories Dan Jurgens comes up with and The Final Joke is no different. The Joker is alive once more, hunting “the pretender” Batman, and seeking to relive his highlight reel. This issue is outrageous, action-packed, and downright thrilling. Having Matt in his…

Death Orb #5 Dark Horse Comics Writer: Ryan Ferrier Artists: Alejandro Aragon & Chris O’Halloran Death Orb is a series with great ideas, fun action scenes, and genre-defining artwork to hold it all together. Every issue feels better than the last and its ramp-up is always reasonable without faltering. That is, until issue 5, the last of the series. I know it’s a miniseries and not made to be a long story, but its wrap up could be better. Somewhere along the way, the issue loses its steam and starts tying up loose ends without care for earning them. There…

Todos Lo Saben (Everybody Knows) Director: Ashgar Farhadi Starring: Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, Ricardo Darín, Bárbara Lennie Rating: R Runtime: 132 minutes It’s not often that there’s a thriller I can really get behind. Whenever I sit through a thriller, it plays up absurdities in the plot and trades its genre for action mid-film. Todos Lo Saben (Everybody Knows in English) goes far against these annoyances, proving itself a true thriller that forces you to observe and question. I spent the movie piecing together clues, rethinking what characters were saying, and trying to solve the central mystery. The movie is a refreshing…

Champions #2 Marvel Comics Writer: Jim Zub Artist: Steven Cummings The new Champions book is off to a rocky start and it seems simple to me as to why. The last volume of the series is cut off mid-story and this book is moving forward with two goals. The first is to continue that previous tale which now has a weird break between volumes. The second is to reintroduce these characters to new readers while bringing in the next layer of the original plot. This issue works hard to move beyond the previous one’s need for exposition, but there’s some…

James Bond 007 #3 Dynamite Writer: Grek Pak Artists: Mark Laming & Roshan Kurichiyanil My first reaction when seeing the cover of James Bond 007 #1 was “Pak writes two of the best IPs?” This writer is truly living a charmed life with Bond and Firefly on his docket. The more of this series I read, the more I trust in him the way his publishers do. This issue stands out as breaking from the typical James Bond formula as his adversary turns into a hesitant ally. Laming and Kurichiyanil’s action looks great and doesn’t miss a beat with its…