Advance Reviews by JoeLovesComics | 27th October
- Joe Kelsey
- Oct 26, 2021
- 6 min read
Curious to know what some of the new Image/Boom!/Vault 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.
Good Luck #5
This was a nice conclusion to a fun series that I haven't seen enough people talking about. If you have a light week when the trade comes out definitely consider picking it up. Every month it has had the fun whimsical nature that reminds me of Saturday morning cartoons. In the days when you can get lost in endless big two crossovers or deep into (fantastic, but sometimes dark) mind bending indie books, this was just such a nice refreshing read. I loved the premise, it was a captivating story and I adored how bright and vibrant the artwork was. It really suited the story and just elevated that overall exciting whimsical feel of it that I mentioned earlier in the review.
Overall a great finale to a nice tight five issue mini series that was a very enjoyable read and worth checking out in the eventual trade if you can!
Gunslinger Spawn #1
On the whole, I did like this. I've been really enjoying Spawn and King Spawn, so I was excited to check this out as I love the design and idea of the character. But I thought this was definitely the weakest out of the three so far. Although what I will say is I thought this issue utilised the oversized first issue much better than King Spawn #1. I did enjoy reading those backups, but ultimately they weren't relevant to the story and just general backups similar to the ones from the Spawn's Universe special from a few months ago.
The backups in here actually featured Gunslinger himself, they were good reads that I would say nicely rounded out the book into the neat $5.99 package that it is. That being said I actually much preferred the art in those backups to the main story. There were a couple set in his original time, which had an art style that really suited that Western setting they took place in, and then one with nice vibrant colours, especially the red of his cape, that I've been loving about the Spawn titles recently. However in the main story the art just wasn't for me. I appreciated it, but it just felt too flat, almost muted and washed out so that I just couldn't get into it. I liked the story so definitely intrigued to see where that goes, but yeah that art wasn't for me.
House of Slaughter #1
I have been loving Something is Killing the Children, and like (hopefully) most readers, I was intrigued to learn more about the House of Slaughter, especially from a fresh perspective that wasn't Erica.
I'm so glad to say this did not disappoint. It's unclear when exactly this takes place, but while Aaron shows up in Erica's origin arc from SITKC #16-20, this feels like a similar timeframe but showing what he's going through and I love that. We've seen Erica's story (and will eventually continue her story) but this is Aaron's story, and I thought he was definitely a compelling protagonist.
The artwork was clearly a different style to Dell'Edera's, but due to Muerto's rich colouring it had the same feeling as SITKC. It was satisfying because it felt visually distinct signifying clearly this was a different character's perspective we were seeing, but similar enough that it still felt like part of the same universe.
Overall, whether you've read SITKC or not and you're intrigued at all by the mythology you have to check this out. I recommend reading SITKC in general because it's one of my favourite series, but you will be fine if you just want to jump straight into this. A very promising first issue with an exciting ending that I loved, check it out if you can!
Human Remains #2
When I read the first issue I hadn't looked at the solicit so didn't know what to expect, I liked it but needed another issue to gather my thoughts on it more.
I did quite like this. The first issue was more set up and an introduction to this brave new world, as you would expect, but this issue properly got into exploring the new world and I thought it was a very interesting read.
I don't know when this was written, but there were some parts in here that felt quite on the nose for experiences from the past 18 months, but the way they were explored with this concept made for a good read. I first encountered Cantirino's art and Kelly's colouring on I Walk With Monsters earlier this year, and there's something about the art style that I like. It's got a textured feel with bold colours not as in they're vibrant but they just feel really rich in their own way. Very intrigued to see where this goes.
Ice Cream Man #26
What do I even say about this book? It's the same every issue, but it doesn't feel like it should work. This was another issue that was absurd in it's simplicity, but in an incredibly and unbelievably captivating way.
I only like to write a review of something if I feel like I've got something to say about it. I don't know what else to say about this issue, but I had to write a review in the hope that more people hear about this series. It's an anthology series so each issue is stand alone, so you can literally jump in at any issue, only pick up just this one or continue picking up the series for as long as it goes. Either way, just check it out, it really is something unique and this issue just showed that yet again.
King Spawn #3
First of all, a moment needs to be taken to appreciate that cover, how absolutely epic. Such a striking and well done contrast between the black and the white and the red perfect I just love it.
In my review of #1, I compared it to the main Spawn title by using an analogy. To use another analogy here, I jumped on the main Spawn title with #300. Since then it has been so off the wall with comic book craziness that at times it's felt like I jumped on a speeding train.
King Spawn has felt like I got on that train at the first stop, and now it's really sped up. Seriously, what an issue. Those first couple issues were steadily moving along, feeling more like a detective story, and then bam this is the issue where that starts to pay off and things get absolutely insane. The art style feels painted at times, and the colours are so strong and vibrant they really stand out, it just makes for such a visually epic treat. What an insane issue, especially with that ending, loved it. So excited for more.
M.O.M: Mother of Madness #3
At the end of the day, I did enjoy this. Issues 1 and 2 were very heavily focused on the backstory of the main character Maya, her powers and all that. While I did enjoy reading about that, I was a bit nervous on whether the actual plotlines that had been introduced would be given enough focus to be neatly wrapped up here. Thankfully they were, this issue was all action, all story and did nicely wrap up what story had been introduced. Like with the previous two issues, it's definitely not going to be for everyone. It's been very on the nose at times and that continues with this issue, but I thought it did it in a fun and engaging way that I enjoyed.
I think overall the series could have been paced better. With having three oversized issues the three act structure becomes very clear, which might work nicely in a collected format, but I think month to month regular issues with a better balance between backstory and action would have worked well. I have to say I did love the artwork, it gave the book a certain charm, very dynamic and the colours were so rich it really suited the story.
Overall, a fun conclusion to this oversized mini run, not going to be for everyone but personally I'm glad I checked it out.
Mirka Andolfo's Sweet Paprika #4
Like I talked about in my review of Ice Cream Man #26, I don't like to write a review unless I have something in particular to say about it. But again, this is more of a review to hopefully make people more aware of this series in the hope that someone will get intrigued and check it out.
It didn't feel like a whole lot happened in this issue but it was still so much fun. The art style is so vibrant and animated, every issue feels like another new episode of one of my favourite cartoons, I love seeing the progression of the storyline and how Paprika is handling it. Often when there's a new issue of this I've read it after all the other, often darker reads of the week and while they are epic and I love them, this continues to be such a breath of fresh air. It is raunchy so if that's not your thing then maybe stay away, but while I might not have originally thought this was my thing it has been such a pleasant surprise for four issues now. If you're looking for a refreshing slice of life comic and I don't mind some raunchiness then definitely check this out.
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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