Author: Victor Benito

Bitter Root #1 Image Comics Writer: David F. Walker Artists: Chuck Brown, Rico Renzi, and Sanford Greene Calling it now, Bitter Root will be optioned for the silver screen. If it continues on its current path, this will wind up on a ton of must-read lists. This first issue has the job of propping itself up to wrestle with issues which still plague society today. We open on a lively theater in 1924, people dancing along to jazz, in the midst of the Harlem Renaissance. Leaving the festivities, walking in St. Nicholas Park, a couple is attacked by an…

Outlaw King Director: David Mackenzie Starring: Chris Pine, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Florence Pugh, Billy Howle, Tony Curran, Callan Mulvey, Stephen Dillane Rating: R Runtime: 121 Minutes History shapes the ways we tell stories, providing blueprints for conflict and genre. Movies centered around true events intrigue me. They’re all about distilling down the bare bones of incredible tales we weren’t part of, making us witness to them. Now streaming on Netflix, Outlaw King is part of that canon, placing itself in medieval Scotland and following Robert the Bruce played by Chris Pine. This film dives right into one of the most…

Death Orb #2 Dark Horse Comics Writer: Ryan Ferrier Artists: Alejandro Aragon and Chris O’Halloran I think it’s safe to say Death Orb’s creators are George Miller fans. The story feels like an alternative version of Mad Max 2: The Road Warrior if Max’s family had been kidnapped instead of killed. Being only the second issue of the series, there’s a heavy focus on painting the world and setting up characters to collide in conflict later on. Rider, an ax-wielding punk in a leather jacket, is traversing the wasteland on a stolen motorcycle searching for his wife and unborn child. Father, dark-hooded leader of…

The Last Siege #6 Image Comics Writer: Landry Q. Walker Artists: Justin Greenwood & Brad Simpson Intrigue and mystery, story devices that need to be revisited differently to have a sustained effect on the reader. Revisiting a point with a new spin holds readers’ interest in a plot thread as long as it isn’t confusing. The Last Siege’s character work falters in the amount of repetitive mystery it shrouds the Stranger in. Revealed last issue, his path isn’t interesting because none of it actually matters to the current story. When talking about the Stranger, characters say “we can’t trust him”…

Shanghai Red #5 Image Comics Writer: Christopher Sebela Artist: Joshua Hixson Entering the American lexicon in the mid-1800s, being “shanghaied” or “crimped” means being forced to work as a crew member aboard a ship; the city of Shanghai is a typical destination by those ships. Through coercion or kidnapping, crimping fulfills a demand for sailors on ships. Shanghai Red is the story of Red/Jack, a person who was taken from a bar in Portland to work on a ship for years. They seek vengeance on the people who put them on the ship and re-connection with their remaining family. From…