Substantial Reviews of Substantial Comics
Ratings: Bad, OK, Good, Magic. Links:reviewed on GraphicNovels.com. Content: Action, Fun, SF, Fantasy, All Ages, Beyond, Gay, Smut.
Pedro and Me - Judd Winick (the friendship between "Real World" stars Winick and Pedro Zamora) Journeyman - Brandon McKinney (a nameless solitary hero roams an alien world) JLA: The Nail - Alan Davis (What if little Kal-El hadn't been rescued by the Kents?) The Crimson Avenger - Roy & Dann Thomas, Greg Brooks (a 1938 adventure of the early costumed hero) You Are Here - Kyle Baker (an ex-hoodlum's rural girlfriend innocently follows him into the city) Amy Unbounded - Rachel Hartman (an irrepressible pre-teen girl in a medieval setting) Star Crossed - Matt Howarth (an ill-fated romance between a space-adapted human and an asteroid) Young Hoods In Love - Ho Che Anderson (a voyeur's-eye-view of people's unusual lives) The Enchanters - Steven Gellman (a team of magical gay/lesbian superheroes) Superman: Distant Fires - Gil Kane, Howard Chaykin (Supes survives nuclear holocaust without powers) Prisonopolis, Infochameleon - Ben Adams & co. (stories with something to say about our future) Iron Man - Scott Lobdell & Jim Lee, Kurt Busiek (two recent relaunches of a classic hero) The Invisibles - Grant Morrison, Phil Jimenez (what if those occult conspiracies were all real?) Gordon Yamamoto & the King of the Geeks - Gene Yang (a bully encounters a brain) Atlantis Chronicles - Peter David, Esteban Maroto (the epic of Aquaman's kingdom and people) Strips #1 - Chuck Austen (a fun but thoughtful story of love and sex in college) Another Day - Mario E. Miranda (an ordinary young man discovers he can do extraordinary things) Crisis on Earth Prime - Gerry Conway, Roy Thomas (a mondo Multiverse multi-team crossover) DESTROY!! - Scott McCloud (32 pages of meaningless violence and mayhem, plus one naughty word) Finger Filth - Bob Fingerman (a mixed selection of erotica by a talented alternative cartoonist) A Touch of Silver - Jim Valentino (a disarmingly realistic story of a boy escaping abuse through his comics) Superman Adventures #11,12 - McCloud, Burchett (Superman - and Lois - face a threat to his life) Anarky - Alan Grant, Norm Breyfogle (an anarchist anti-villain schemes to save the world) Cell - Derek Kirk (a very good, but unfinished mystery) Smith Brown Jones - Jon "Bean" Hastings (a dryly funny story of an alien accountant on Earth) Soulwind - C.Scott Morse (a tale of fantasy and adventure in another world) Blood Pack - Charles Moore, Christopher Taylor (a hip made-for-TV superhero team) Keyhole, Billy Dogma - Josh Neufield, Dean Haspiel (off-beat, clever anthology; off-the-wall action hero) An Accidental Death - Ed Brubaker, Eric Shanower (two teenage boys deal with a deadly secret) Modern Grimm - Andrew Dabb (anthology of thoughtful illustrated stories) Bull's Balls - Ralf König (outside temptations spell trouble for a committed gay couple) Green Lantern/Green Arrow - O'Neil, Marz, Dixon (hard-traveling heroes: then and now) DreamWalker - Jenni Gregory (a young woman learns to visit people's dreams) Coley Running Wild - John Blackburn (a seductive male model's adventures) Reality Check - Rosearik Rikki, Tavisha Wolfgarth (a boy and his cat/VR-girlfriend) Leave It To Chance - James Robinson, Paul Smith (an adolescent girl tries following dad's footsteps) Tempest - Phil Jimenez (the former Aqualad explores his past and makes a new name for himself) Dancin' Nekkid with the Angels - Howard Cruse (underground comix by a veteran gay cartoonist) A History of Violence - John Wagner, Vince Locke (an ordinary guy is confronted by a secret past?) Birdland - Gilbert Hernandez (surreal, sexy stuff by the Love & Rockets creator) Wandering Star - Terri Sue Wood (a woman recounts her pivotal experiences in an interstellar war) Roswell: Little Green Man - Bill Morrison (a hapless Zootian crashes near Roswell in 1947) The Spectre - John Ostrander, Tom Mandrake (the wrath of God joined with a dead cop) Galaxion - Tara Jenkins (the maiden voyage of an experimental hyperdrive vessel) Gemini Blood - Christopher Hinz, T.L.Edwards (mercenaries vs. creatures with 2 bodies but 1 mind) Time Breakers - Rachel Pollack, Chris Weston (What if time paradoxes were necessary for life to exist?) XXXenophile - Phil Foglio & co. (sexy, funny short stories in a universe of settings) Jet #1 - Jonathan Hong (manga-influenced masked kid urban adventurer) Scare Tactics #1-5 - Kaminski, Williams, Lanning (horror meets humour meets human interest) Our Cancer Year - Pekar, Brabner, Stack (a year in the life, and the struggle for life) Spümco Comic Book #1 - John K & co. (immature comics from the creator of Ren & Stimpy) StrangeHaven #1-5 - Gary Spencer Millidge (Twin Peaks in Southwest England) Vampirella Lives #1 - Warren Ellis, Amanda Conner (one of the original "bad girl" characters) Oktane - Gerard Jones, Gene Ha (a 10-foot oil-guzzling post-apocalyptic enigma) Handjobs - Julius (erotic fiction featuring "daddy" and "son" types, with lots of sex) Turok #1 - Fabian Nicieza, Rafael Kayanan (an irresponsible stud[ent] becomes Turok the dinosaur hunter) Troublemakers #1 - Fabian Nicieza, Kenny Martinez, Anibal Rodriguez (adolescent superkids) Heroes - Matt Wayne, ChrisCross, Prentis Rollins (Milestone's first "public" superhero team) Chiaroscuro - McGreal, Rawson, Truog (speculative biography of da Vinci and his ward Salai) Buddha on the Road #1 - Colin Upton (a Canadian ex-punk, ex-soldier returns home) Green Arrow #0-109 - Dixon/Puckett, various artists (Ollie Queen's son follows in his father's footsteps) Nine Panel Grid #1-5 - James Pyman (slice-of-life/experimental English indie) Glitch #1 - Timothy Piotrowski (slice-of-life from a mainstream-alternative gay perspective) The Worst Thing I've Ever Done! - Ted Rall & 24 confessors (true stories of wrong-doing) Eradicator - Velez, Robinson, Lowe (the last "pure" Kryptonian looks for his humanity) End Of The Century Club - Ilya (London punks getting by in 1999) Steven's Comics #3 - David Kelly (the bittersweet life of a gay kid) Oh... - various artists (comics by women, about women who love women) Gon #1 - Masashi Tanaka (a dwarf dinosaur's adventures in the modern world) The Tale of One Bad Rat - Bryan Talbot (a homeless girl, her rat, and Beatrix Potter) Prez - Joe Simon / Ed Brubaker ("the first teen president", in 1973 and 1995) What They Did to Princess Paragon - Robert Rodi (what if DC made Wonder Woman a lesbian?) Wonder Woman #1-46 - George Pérez, & co (an Amazon brings her message of equality and peace) CyberZone #1-7 - Jimmie Robinson (future adventures of a street-tough woman and her sentient Gunn) Hardthrob - John Blackburn (a seductive male model upsets the life of a young man and his sister) Leatherboy - Craig Maynard (a gay sex-toy superhero fights a super-powered-sex menace) Manhunter #0 - Steve Grant, Vince Giarrano (some dude with kewl shoulder pads and a scowling attitude) Primal Force - Seagle, Hooper/Choles, Kaalberg (heroes from the fringes of the DC Universe) Starman #0-20 - J.Robinson, Harris, Von Grawbadger (the son of the first Starman reluctantly takes the job) Fate #0,5 - J.Moore/Grant/Kaminsky, Williams, Lanning (Dr. Fate is replaced by a sword-wielding ruffian) Xenobrood - Moench, Coker/Hunter, Aiken/Lowe (a team of "genies released from a bottle") Seven Miles A Second - Wojnarowicz, Romberger (autobiography of former child prostitute with AIDS) The DC Challenge! - the 1986 DC creative staff (round-robin mini-series featuring DC's superheroes) The Jam #1-11 - Bernie Mireault (a guy who wears a suit and fights crime... but isn't a superhero) The Foot Soldiers vol.1 - Kreuger, Oeming (a group of kids become heroes in an oppressed future) Prime vol.1 - G.Jones/Strazewski, Breyfogle, etc. (flagship title of the original Malibu Ultraverse) Age of Reptiles: The Hunt #1,2 - Ricardo Delgado (wordless miniseries from Dark Horse) Powers That Be / Star Seed #1-4 - Jim Shooter & co (superhero series from Broadway Comics) Ragmop #1-3 - Rob Walton (comedy featuring dinosaurs, the pope, aliens, capitalists, etc.) V for Vendetta - Alan Moore, David Lloyd (a masked anarchist takes on fascist Britain) The Copybook Tales vol.1 - J.Torres, Tim Levins (growing up, pursuing dreams, and friendship) The Narrative Corpse - various artists (surrealist collaboration of alternative comics creators) Akiko on the Planet Smoo - Mark Crilley (a 4th-grade girl's adventures on another world) Stuck Rubber Baby - Howard Cruse (a gay white man coming of age in the racist South of the 60's) Solstice #1 - Steven Seagle, Justin Norman (a man and his obsessive father's search for the Fountain of Youth) Avant Guard #2 - Stephen Conley (old-style superheroes drawn using modern computer tools)
Go to the Beek's Books main menu, for reviews of all kinds. Learn more about the reviewer. Send me mail.

Keyword Title Author

© Todd VerBeek, Radio Zero^TM