In short, this issue was a disappointment after the first two. While there are a couple brilliant moments of storytelling, the bulk feels like filler material bridging between the set-up and the climax.

This is a more somber issue, though there are still doses of humor, cute, and glam, mostly in the flashbacks to interviews with the Misfits. Unfortunately, the guest artist, Corin Howell isn't quite up to the challenge of drawing emotional nuance on the characters' faces. The same look of concern frequents each close-up. In the example below, the movement in of each panel fails to offer much other than more space for his interior monologue.

Overall, this felt like a weak link in the arc, but I trust that it's doing its part to build to an outrageous finale.

Jem and the Holograms Outrageous Annual #1 is fan candy. If youre already a reader of the series (and if youre not, you should be), this is a delightful riff on the series you love.

The X-Files: Season 11 #6 does right by fans. It feels true to the show and advances the characters and elements in interesting and engaging ways. This is worth first part to an authentic The X-Files season finale.

Jem and the Holograms #11 lays the groundwork for what is going to be an outrageous but also authentically emotional story arc. Building on the character development of "Showtime" and"Viral", "Dark Jem" promises delicious character reversals. I can't wait to see where Kelly Thompson and Sophie Campbell take it.

As one would expect, Rat Queens #16 mixes classic D&D tropes with humor, heart, and a good measure of bawdy lewdness. While Wiebe writes cracking one-liners and shockingly funny plot twists, Fowler delivers on the visual gags (favorite: Dee reads The Horniest Succubus on the boat home). The issue itself initially seems to return to form but then pulls tricks to relieve the reader of their comfort too.

Satellite Falling charms the reader within the first few pages with its Samantha Spade protagonist navigating a strange new alien-filled world. The lush color palette on an imaginatively constructed setting elevates the engagement and enjoyment, while an action-driven plot makes reading both fast and fun.

Prepped for epic band clash in the wonderful world of Halloween costumes, I cannot wait to see the hijinks Viral! Part 3 brings. It is going to be…wait for it…outrageous.

However, this issue, while having great fun with the romantic pairings and the Misfits'“mucking” antics, also has a dark side. Jerrica is dressed up as Black Swan. This is perhaps the most important costume of the issue. First, it reinforces the anxiety Jerrica feels about being two people and losing sight of who Jerrica is when all around her people clamor for Jem. Thompson presented this same anxiety in a different pop culture homage in the Jem Annual's Teen Wolf dream. The Black Swan costume carries more horror than Teenwolf's comedy. That gothic horror foreshadowsthe dark twists of the ending: Pizzazz's accident and Techrat's discovery in the pool house. It ultimately points an arrow straight at the next story arc: “Dark Jem”.

Finally, Betty explores the marketplace, comes across a tinkerer gnome and can't resist getting herself a modified sled. Violet sees her heading out on a snowbound adventure with the thing and invites herself along in the interest of having Betty's back after the assassin's visit. They hilarious sledding run down the steepest hill directly homages Calvin and Hobbes. What they run into at the bottom of the mountain gives Violet the issue's punchline: “AND THIS IS WHY WE DON'T GO SLEDDING!”

In an already stellar arc, Part 3 delivers on the expectation and ups the ante. This comic continues to be a highlight of my month.

Not having the power to go after Hannah immediately, the Queens stop to make a plan and visit Betty's homeland. Meanwhile Hannah is left in the same void prison we saw Gerard in earlier. She gets a special visitor–her old demon pactmate Hazirel, who offers her freedom (from the prison) for slavery (to him). He also tells her Gerard was executed (though that could easily be a lie). Why is this demon so set on having Hannah under his control? His brief conversation with Senoa lays out the motive of love and suggests perhaps heis part of Hannah's demon side of the family. Maybe even Daddy Demon himself?

Issue #6 fills in the backstory of how Meiko ended up incarcerated at the A.C.O. Although we might have gotten this story prior to her death to give more context, the reverberations backward are even more emotionally devastating.

Combining these elements, the first issue of the "President Bitch" arc hits all the right emotional notes, twists the plot, and continues its scathing critique of societal inequities.

This. This right here is why this title has been celebrated as a best title for teens. Thompson and Campbell handle this scene with empathy and understanding. I was emotionally moved by the display of support Clash gives. First, she tells Blazethat she doesnt have to tell them. Second, she says if she does tell them, and they dont want her anymore, then theyre wankers and Clash and Blaze will burn all their Misfits albums and merch. Blaze feels obligated to tell the band, since theyre an all-girl band and tour spaces are pretty intimate. She shows both vulnerability in their potential responses but also confidence in who she is. She states that if they dont want her, shell understand, theyll be wrong, but shell understand. But the Misfits wave it off–Is that all? Whatever. They say their real concern is punctuality. Yes. A thousand times yes.

The artworkis masterful"gorgeous, evocative, and playful in the form. For it alone is worth buying the issue. Add to that an emotional, compelling story of love, loyalty, and freedom, and Mirror's premiere earns a deserved spot on any discerning comic book reader's pull list.

Kudos to Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff Chiang, and Matt Wilson for creating one of the best first issues of a series Ive read. Im engaged with all aspects: characters, story, and art, and Im anxiously anticipating further reveals of both the girls lives and personalities and the strange science fiction elements. This is just the tip of the Cronenbergian Tardis in the unfinished basement; it's much bigger on the inside.

Whatever answers come in future issues, clearly more questions will be raised. Vaughan and Chiang have moved the story forward a mere hour but have deepened the meanings by miles. Paper Girls is both emotionally and intellectually engaging, and its second issue maintains momentum while continuing to surprise.

Three new tracks added to my Paper Girls inspired Spotify playlist. “Walk the Dinosaur” by Was (Not Was) (1988), “Skating” and “Great Pumpkin Waltz” from A Charlie Brown Christmas.

Three new tracks added to my Paper Girls inspired Spotify playlist. “Time After Time” by Cyndi Lauper (1983), “Don't Believe the Hype” by Public Enemy (1988), and “Arkanoid” by Martin Galway.

Kudos to Cliff Chiang for attending to detail so authentically that I can determine exact generations of Apple tech or models of car. The ability to read the clues in the illustrations is crucial to both understanding and enjoyment. A large part of my satisfaction at the end of the arc was due to having accurately predicted key twists.

In all, this is exactly what I want a lead-in to the arc's finale issue to be. I am fully engaged with the humor and gravitas of the story and desperate to get my hands on the next one.