Justin Harrison Comic Reviews

Batman: Urban Legends remains a very strong anthology. The ongoing Red Hood and Grifter stories are particularly good.

It is so much fun to have Battle Chasers back. Ludo Lullabi's illustrations are very fine, and Joe Madureira's script carries the energy that made the original comics so much fun alongside some welcome breathing room for the cast to grow. This is going to be fun to follow.

All told, Battle Chasers' 11th issue is a darn fine comic. The action is bold and creative. The character work is strong. The story beats are intriguing. And Lullabi's color work is really, really striking especially a gradual and then sudden shift in primary page colors from a dusky orange to an increasingly supernatural blue one executed in concert with a solidly assembled and exciting cliffhanger.

'Black Magick' is a marvelously constructed comic, one whose illustrations and script work together to create a superb reading experience. Whatever day the next issue comes around will be a very, very good day.

BRZRKR #1 is an excellent comic, and I am thrilled to be following it. The action is creatively vicious. The story is intriguing. The interaction between Reeves' star image and the character he is co-writing and lending his likeness to is downright fascinating. For folks on its wavelength, it's a must-read.

DIE: Loaded's first issue is both a fine return and a strong start. Hans and Gillen are playing with the narrative rules they established in the first run in fun ways, the setting remains rich with possibility, and the new leads make a fine first showing. It's a game worth following and a comic worth reading.

DIE: Loaded continues to excel as Stephanie Hans and Kieron Gillen introduce a new party member whose story promises to be gloriously fraught.

In introducing its comic relief Fool, DIE: Loaded gets to play with the expectations of genre in fun ways while also using its newest party member to establish an interesting contrast with the story it has told so far.

DIE: Loaded has consistently been a pleasure to dig into. Issue #5, with its strong character work and formal creativity, is the best issue yet. This is a comic that demands to be read.

Hans and Gillen move from strength to strength with DIE: Loaded, and close the book's first arc on a terrific, horrifying cliffhanger.

DIE: Loaded is a pleasure to read, a game whose every turn demands the reader turn to the next page. It’s a great comic.

Hans and Gillen expertly introduce the power players who populate the world of DIE. From the explicitly announced to the completely unexpected, they're welcome complications.

Eternals #1 builds on the work that has come before it while setting its own stage. And thus far, the stage commands attention.

Esad Ribi and Kieron Gillen's resurrection of Kirby's all-too-human superhumans weaves a ticking-clock mystery from a titanic brawl.

Eternals remains a darn good cosmic superhero comic. The spiral it's unspooling is one worthy of following.

'Eternals' # 4 is an excellent and intriguing comic, one whose success highlights Ribi and Gillen's strengths as a creative team.

Eternals #7 gets the book's second arc off to a very, very strong start. Whatever happens next, it will not be a reversion to the unacceptable status quo that was.

Stephanie Stalvey's autobiography is beautifully illustrated and thoughtfully written. It's a very, very good comic.

While the second volume of the beloved action manga lacks compelling villains, its hero Kenshiro continues to be a fascinating, compulsively readable protagonist.

Sean Peacock's wonderful art and Tom Scioli's backup story are worthy reasons to check out Romeo & Juliet and Gozilla, but a poor script that's both too loyal to its source material and too haphazard with its deviations drags it down.

Given that the issue is a beat between beats, I cannot recommend it as the best place to start Guardians of the Galaxy, but darn if it isn't a well-crafted comic that will make the next issue shine a bit brighter.

I do not know Hack/Slash as well as I would like. I enjoyed Revival, another series from Hack/Slash's co-creator Tim Seeley, and I'll read just about any comic Thorogood launches. With Back to School, she's got me hooked on her Cassie Hack and curious about the work of those who've come before. Good stuff, this.

Thorogood's dive into the strange, intimate world of indie games makes for a (sorry) bloody good time

Zoe Thorogood is one of the best comicsmakers working today, and Hack/Slash: Back to School continues to be a joy to read. Fun craft, memorable monsters, and effective character workgood stuff, in other words.

It's been a treat to read Thorogood's take on Cassie Hack. I'll be there on day one if she makes more Hack/Slash comics. If this is where she closes the book, then it's a book I'm glad to have readone that makes me want to check out what's come before for Cassie and Vlad. Back to School's not for everyoneit's very happily an R-rated violence-and-fanservice filled comicbut for those who'll dig it, there's a lot to dig here.

Heaven has style to burn and strong character work. Katie Skelly frames both with very fine craft. The result is a compelling, grindhousey coming-of-age tale.

Zoe Thorogood's six-month autobiography is an impeccably crafted study of the cartoonist and her life. Thorogood's craft is breathtakingespecially her style-hopping and depiction of sensationand she navigates the fraught art of writing about oneself with care and precision. The resulting comic is unforgettable.

Stiff in script and art, Kamen Rider Zero-One's got the pieces of what make the show it's adapting fun, but fails to assemble them well. It's a clunky disappointment of a comic.

Yudori's insightful character work and sumptuous illustrations make for a fine start to a period romantic drama.

Made in Korea gets off to a compelling start with this impeccably crafted first issue. I'm very excited to see where Schall and Holt will take the book next.

'Madi: Once Upon a Time in the Future' earns its subtitle. Together, the art team, de Campi and Jones have crafted a steel-eyed, bone-cruncher of a tale about how to live in a time where life has been commodified into oblivion.

Night Fever is a very, very fine comic. Acknowledging that Phillips and Brubaker's work is darn near catnip for me, it's an impeccably crafted that sees the team push themselves in exciting ways. In particular, I hope that Sean Phillips continues his exploration of the surreal and experimentation with black pages and their interaction with the classical comics form. It's so, so cool.

Mora, Gillen, and their collaborators continue to be a heck of a team. Once and Future is a blast to read. It's eerie, it's brainy, and it's got a knack for cliffhangers. Issue #15 promises to be exciting.

As a fan of this creative team, I'm thrilled to see that they're a continually solid crew. As a fan of Once and Future, I'm very, very curious to see what comes next. This is a damn good comic. I'm always happy to read it.

Once and Future is on a blood-soaked tear through British mythology, and what a tear it is. Bonvillain, Mora and Gillen are having a ball with this comic, and the results of that dance are a pleasure.

I continue to dig Once & Future. It's a book I always look forward to reading, and I'm really glad that it's back.

Once & Future's 20th uses its gorgeous action set pieces to do intriguing character work, and on a narrative level, it continues to be pretty damn thrilling.

Mora, Bonvillain, and Gillen continue to be one of the most joyously reliable creative teams in comics. Once & Future's 22nd issue has elements that give me pause, but hot diggity the craft and construction and energy this book has.

Once & Future has been a hell of a rideit was one of the first books I reviewed for AIPT, and I remain proud of what I've written about the series. Mora and Bonvillain made the mystical kinetic and thrilling. Kieron Gillen pushed his ongoing exploration of the whys that drive folks in an intriguing direction. It's been a blast and a pleasure to dig into their craft, and I'm delighted that Once & Future's ending matches the fine work this team has done since go.

There's quite a bit of good to Phantom on the Scan. I'd be curious to check it out in trade. As it stands though, there is not enough here for the issue to wholly work on its own.

'Power Rangers Unlimited: Edge of Darkness' adds a bit of history to one of the franchise's long-running question marks, but leans too hard on exposition.

Project: Patron is an excellent comic book. I'm excited to follow it.

Sean Phillips, Jacob Phillips, and Ed Brubaker have made one of the best comics of the year with 'Destroy All Monsters.' It's a thrilling, wise crime story whose protagonist reveals his rarely-seen warmer side in a really compelling fashion.

Sean Phillips, Jacob Phillips, and Ed Brubaker peel back more of Ethan Reckless' long-hardened shell through a bleak, sweet romance of sorts and quality bone crunching. The last third of the book is one of the most affecting sequences of their long collaboration.

Sean Phillips, Jacob Phillips, and Ed Brubaker continue their excellent mystery/neo-noir graphic novel series with a refreshing shift in protagonist and tone.

As a newcomer to the series, I am reminded of David Robert Mitchell's zonked-by-design late-2010 mystery whatsit Under the Silver Lake, a film I'm fond of. I'm intrigued, dig the craft, like what I've read so far, and want to read more. I'm excited to follow Snotgirl. Allergies be damned.

O'Malley, Hung, and their team make Snotgirl hooky and intriguing.

Getting into Snotgirl has been a much-needed joy over the past few months. Hung and O'Malley's weird noir comedy romance is a superb comic, one I'm glad to return to when a new issue drops.

Snotgirl is a continual showcase for Leslie Hung's mastery of comic-making, a prime example of weird noir, and a funny, funny comic. Reading it is one of the highlights of my month.

Part of what's made "Weekend II" so much fun to read is its cliffhangers and abrupt tonal changes, both of which use the monthly publishing format to their advantage. For now, though, this is a strong conclusion to a strong story in a strong comic. It's well worth a read for mystery lovers, romantics, people who dig the strange, and anyone who's ever had their world rocked by allergies.

Werther Dell'Edera and James Tynion IV build 'Something is Killing the Children's history with consummate skill and strong mood work.

There is potential in Stray Dogs, potential that it may yet realize. But this first issue is a disappointing, hollow comic that spends too much time chasing its own tail.

While it may not have been meant as Grant Morrison's final farewell to DC Comics, Superman and the Authority's first issue suggests that it'll make a worthy capstone to their time with the company. Mikel Jann's illustrations and Jordie Bellaire's colors are stupendous. The work this team is doing with Manchester Black is as exciting as it is intriguing. I cannot wait to see where this goes.

While the limited space and some frustrating storytelling decisions keep Superman and the Authority's second issue from matching its debut, it remains a welcomely dense comic.

Mikel Jann, Travel Foreman, Grant Morrison, and company offer up joyously sharp, beautifully illustrated commentary on certain trends in contemporary cape comic writing and reading that is as funny as it is insightful.

Mikel Jann and Grant Morrison wrap Superman and the Authority with a terrific brawl and the same thoughtful craft that has made this miniseries such a pleasure to read.

The Woman with Fifty Faces' subject is an intriguing one (and the difference between how people are perceived and how they are has made for terrific comics over the years). Its comicscraft is impressive, but a combination of limited information to draw from and the narrative choices made in presenting it means it ultimately does not come together. It's disappointing.

'They Fell From The Sky' has promise, especially in its character work. But this first issue handles metafiction clumsily and relies on the well-worn parts of its genre, rendering it a disappointment.

Kaito ‘84 is a promising start to an intriguing Usagi Yojimbo side story. I’m looking forwards to seeing where it goes, and by and large, I’m optimistic.

Kaitō '84 has proven itself a worthy, interesting interpretation of Usagi Yojimbo, but hopefully its cast get the space they need to make the book their own, particularly given that they're sharing a book with one of the main series' arch-villains.

Cullum and Rosenberg strike a winning balance between past and present, emphasizing their creative strengths while managing what had been the series' Achilles' heel.

'The Tower' is a prime example of Stan Sakai's storytelling mastery, and Ronda Pattison's colors are a worthy addition to a classic comic.

Victor and Nora: A Gotham Love Story is frequently a pretty good comic. That makes its failings all the more frustrating. Mr. Freeze fans will dig it. For other folks, I'd suggest reading up on his history beforehand.

While Where the Body Was sees Sean Phillips, Jacob Phillips, and Ed Brubaker shift into a lower key mode, the resulting comic is as beautifully constructed and thrilling as ever.

WildC.A.T.s #1 is a solid start. I'm looking forward to seeing where Segovia and Rosenberg take things.