CMYK Reviews

I don’t always have time to do full reviews for comics, so here’s some quick hitters.

Chachu #1 (Writer: Iman Vellani, Artist: Marianna Ignazzi, Colorist: Jordie Bellaire, Image Comics) – Pakistani-Canadian Leila looks for, and finds, her uncle in California. Unfortunately, her uncle’s new movie star wife just ran away and her manager/father is holding a gun to unc’s head. The two generations team up to find her. 1979 California & Vegas is represented tremendously in the art, and the writing is whip smart. This has Tarantino vibes, and I mean that in a good way. I can’t wait for the next issue. 5 stars

Fort Psycho #1 (Writer: Matt Kindt, Artist: Brian Hurtt, Colorist: Bill Crabtree, Oni Press) – Singapore has been sunk into the ground by terrorist group The Seven Seals, and the United Nations formed a counter-terrorism group SAW. SAW went too far and killed too many people, and both groups ended up being detained in superprisons. One member of SAW is responsible for finding a mole among the SAW prisoners. Generally, the art is very good, but the first few pages are a bit tough to follow due to its in medias res start. It took me reading it three times to piece the majority of it together. It’s a really cool story, though, and I found the writing & presentation very engaging. 4 stars

Hellboy In Love: Obsidian #2 (Writer: Mike Mignola & Christopher Golden, Artist & Colorist: Alex Nieto, Dark Horse Comics) – The conclusion to this two-parter, we pick up where Anastasia was kidnapped by the Obsidian Danse. This is great pulp writing with art that perfectly matches the tone of the story. I love the interplay between Hellboy and Anastasia. I thought this little story was a blast. 4.5 stars

Mary Jane: Face It, Tiger #1 (too many to name, Marvel) – A collection of four brief stories on Mary Jane, her relationship to Spider-Man, and her life within that frame. These are all solid, but it’s not essential reading. The highlight is the J. Michael Straczynski/Luigi Zagaria story, “Soft Words at Midnight,” which is essentially a What If…? looking at Mary Jane after the death of Peter Parker in a quite sweet story. 3 stars

The Smart Division #1 (Writer: Zack Kaplan, Artist & Colorist: John Pearson, Dark Horse Comics) – A grizzled FBI veteran and rebellious, new age addition to the force pair up to solve a murder, and then another murder. The gimmick is that these crimes were designed by an AI system that the first victim worked on. The protagonist is extremely world weary, raising the question if the author is just expressing absolute nihilism in the face of real world problems. 4 stars

Wade Wilson: Deadpool #7 (Writer: Benjamin Percy, Artist: Alex Lins, Colorist: Alex Sinclair, Marvel) – So we have little mini-Deadpools forming off of parts Deadpool has lost in various fights because of his healing power. Lins really shines with his designs for these creatures. This is the second arc of Percy’s ongoing Deadpool, with the first also focusing on Deadpool’s self loathing, just more in a “letting himself get hurt” way. This is an enjoyably scripted issue. 4.5 stars

X-Men: The Hellfire Murder #1 (too many to name, Marvel) – A pretty good mystery wrapped in “look at all these outfits we came up with.” The whole “Jubilee & Wolverine hang out again!” thing is a fake out, as Jubilee’s barely featured. I guess the victim’s just dead, oh well! I did enjoy the equivalent of a post-credit scene with Wolvie and a character I’m not specifying. 3.5 stars

Zatanna #4 (Writer (& 1 page of art): Jamal Campbell, Artist: Edwin Galmon, Colorist: Andrew Dalhouse, DC Comics) – Magnificent art in this issue, unsurprisingly. The story is a deeper investigation of the history of the Prime Magus, and just how Zatanna came to having this title. This sets up the question of what exactly will be Zatanna’s purpose as Prime Magus. 4 stars