Oliver Gerlach Comic Reviews

SCORE: 5/5Knights of the Golden Sun #1Writer: Mark LondonArtist: Mauricio VillarealLetterer: Christian OspinaPublisher: Mad Cave Studios

SCORE: 4/5The Ghost ButterflyWriter: Rick QuinnArtist: Martyn LorbieckiLetterer: Rick QuinnSelf-published

Penumbra #1 is a technically perfectly adequate if weirdly dated, comic. However, it fails to do anything of any interest at all. It doesn't have any particularly egregious issues, but neither does it have any feature deserving of recommendation. I've never read anything quite like this, simultaneously such a strong throwback and such an oddly dull read.

Overall, then, Corsair #1 is a book that fails to do anything particularly interesting and feels like a rushed substitute for Hellblazer.

Mitch Hammer #1 is a really fun ride, albeit not much more than that. If you're missing Nextwave, this won't really scratch that itch all that much, but it might tickle it gently. I have high hopes for later issues managing to fix my issues, and there's a good chance that a later re-review once more of the story is available might raise this to a 5/5. It's a beautiful debut issue with a lot of energy, it just doesn't have all that much personality.

Super Robot Mayhem #1 may be a little lacking in the advertised robot mayhem, but it's a fun read that's very technically accomplished, even if it's not necessarily doing anything particularly unique so far. Given the progression from overt influences to novel creativity throughout this issue, I have high hopes for future issues continuing that trend and showing something really bright and engaging.

It's entirely worth reading for Rodenbeck and Belmont's art, despite the frustrating wordiness of the captions, and I have very high hopes for this series continuing and improving as Stark and Garrett learn and develop. Judging by the notes at the back, neither of them have much experience in comics, and this is a very solid start for them. If, in future, they can learn to relax a little and let the art bear the majority of the storytelling, this series could turn into something excellent.