As someone who absolutely adores Layman's Chew I figured I'd pick this up and my first thoughts are there's promise - this didn't hook me in like when I started reading Chew, but there's enough mystery and intrigue here to keep my interest for at least the next few issues. Worth purchasing.

This title is my introduction to AWA, a publisher I've been HEARING a lot about but have never actually read anything from, it's also one of about half a dozen #1s I've read this week, so I've been inundated with plenty of new worlds and mythologies. Basically, biker gangs and white trash have a pact with something that lives in a cave and it has to be fed or else they can't make a bunch of money selling weed, or something. Like Lonely Receiver, it has moments of promise; and at only 4 issues long, I'll definitely finish it, but I can't help but feel like this will end on a flat note providing no sense of satisfaction for taking the time to finish the story. Here's to hoping for the best with this.

I'm a cat person, can't lie. Cats don't listen, they do whatever they want, and they don't care. So, what if there was a cat that possessed all kinds of magic powers, and still didn't care? Also, the cat accentuates various forms of "mow" to express how it feels! That's basically what this first issue seems to be setting us up for; multiple realities or universes or something, and the cat can go to all of them, but just wants to nap. This is a "few more issues to see what happens book"; here's to hoping it picks up.

I can't for the life of me, try to find reasons thought I might, give this anything higher than a 6. There's glimpses and flickers of promise, but at this point I feel like the idea of buying a piece of AI that eventually becomes sentient and decides "this sucks, peace out" and the aftermath that follows (Her or Ex-Machina come to mind) is a bit tired and lacking any ability to hit on any level other than "oh, another one of these; robots r h00man 2." The sincerity is there in the writing, but the execution just seems so impersonal. I'll finish the series, since it's apparently only 5 issues, but I have to say I'm not expecting much.

They should really just rename this series, for the time being, Pissing Off Comic Purists 'Cus It's So Easy. y'all are sad.

Donny Cates needs to just be fired from everything he's writing; the guy is the most unoriginal and boring voice this side of Jeff Lemire; this arc so far has been absolutely predictable and complete trash.

The only other Al Ewing I've read is Immortal Hulk (recommendations, anyone?), but I can safely say the man knows how to leave you hanging at the end of an issue. The world building within this issue was just enough to wet my taste buds and keep me coming back for more; I feel like Malik has the ability to become one of the more interesting Ahab-esque characters in modern comics. Definitely interested in seeing where this goes from here.