Advance Reviews by JoeLovesComics | 15th September
- Joe Kelsey
- Sep 14, 2021
- 5 min read
Updated: Sep 15, 2021
Curious to know what some of the new Image/Boom! issues releasing this week are like? Look no further than the latest edition of this segment!
The issues covered this week are:
All reviews will be spoiler free.
Home Sick Pilots #9
Loved this as always, one of my absolute favourite books at the moment every month. Of course it's a joy every time a new issue of a book I like comes out, but every new Home Sick Pilots week feels particularly like a treat. I don't know how much more I can say about this series that I haven't already said. This series has had some stellar colours, I love the design theme and the overall aesthetic of them, this week's one is one of my favourites. The sheer fluidity, craziness and colour to it is such a joy to look at. That goes for the art style in general in this book, it's so vibrant and just really pops I love it so much.
This is the penultimate issue of the arc, and so the two storylines from this arc are coming together in spectacular fashion for what is hopefully going to be an action packed conclusion. This series has been so much fun, and I'm so excited to see where it goes as we head into the end of this arc and the start of the third one.
Primordial #1
If you're liking Department of Truth at all, you have to give this a try. I can't personally say "If you liked Lemire and Sorrentino's other work together you have to try this" as I haven't read Gideon Falls yet (going to eventually get that new deluxe hardcover coming out) but I'm sure that's true as well.
In my opinion some of the best comics can be described in one sentence, because it means you can get someone easily hooked on a book, for them then to realise it's so much more than that. For Primordial, it's "What if the animals sent in space didn't die in orbit, but were taken". There's something so chilling and captivating about their premise, and I love how well it's executed in this first issue. Maybe because it doesn't feel too fantastical, it feels very grounded in reality and I think that's due to the artwork and colouring by Sorrentino and Stewart and the atmosphere they create. It's very murky and unsettling and dark but not in a messy way, but in a way that means when colour is used, it's impactful. There's a couple of splash pages in here that are just insane and take a moment to soak in and appreciate. This was just in general an awesome read, with enough mystery to get people hooked and coming back for more, really intrigued to see where this one goes.
Seven Secrets #12
So.
Trying to review this without it just being incoherent shock and awe at the ending to the last issue and what goes on in this issue and spoiling both for everyone. But I'm going to give it a go.
Man that ending to the last issue was really something! Tom Taylor has proved countless times he knows how to write a great cliffhanger that leaves you desperate for the next issue, and these past couple of issues have proved that again. But it's not just a twist for shock's sake, he always manages to follow it through really well and I love the way the ending to #11 gets fully explained here. It was just so neat and satisfying to see for a couple of reasons I really liked that. Then man the ending to this issue??!?! It's going to be a long few months till the beginning of the third arc but hopefully it'll be worth it.
Anyway, I loved the art in this issue! Daniele Di Nicuolo's artwork can make any panel seem energetic and dynamic, and then Baiamonte's excellent colouring just tops it all off to make the book seem so bright and animated I love it. A great fun book and an awesome conclusion to the second arc.
Time Before Time #5
I'm going to be honest, I was starting to lose interest in this series over the past couple of issues. I was initially intrigued by the idea of Tatsuo and Nadia being stuck somewhere in time, but I felt like after spending most of the arc there l wasn't feeling the focus on the gangs and spys and whatnot, albeit set in the future, at the expense of the time travel stuff.
Saying that, I appreciate what gets brought up in the letters page at the back of this issue about having time travel as a concept, but not letting it get in the way of the story or characters. I agree with that, I'm not saying it should be lots of flashy time travel with no substance, but there was something about the first issue that was just missing to me with the last few.
BUT! The ending of #4 gave me hope. Tatsuo got back to his relative present (time travel is confusing) and the cliffhanger was a promise of closure to the storyline from #1 and bringing the arc full circle. Something I hadn't been thinking about, but was a neat idea when it was brought up. Love things like that.
Anyway, my point being, I'm so glad to say that this issue really delivered on that cliffhanger ending to #4! I really liked this issue. Everything I liked about #1 but thought was missing from these past few issues was back. Neat time travel, there was some great emotional moments in this issue linked to said time travel. Took me a moment to realise what was happening but one of those "OH." moments when I did. You'll see. I do like the characters and the world here, and despite feeling like it dipped in the middle I think this was a good conclusion to the arc and I'm definitely interested to see where it goes from here. Love that cover, with the pose on Tatsuo and the colours in the background feels so dynamic like you're in the pod with him charging through time trying to hold on. I'm still not the biggest fan of the interior art style but for this book I think it really works. One final thing I will say is I love the general design and aesthetic of the book with the logo and the trade dress in general along with the back cover design especially. So clean, has that futuristic sci-fi feel and I love the way it has the years visited down the left side.
This article was written by JoeLovesComics, who you can follow over on Twitter for (albeit shorter) thoughts on comics he loves.
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