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19th April 2024

Paul Murphy

Motor Crush #1 (review)

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Motor Crush #1
Image Comics, 2016
Creators: Brenden Fletcher, Cameron Strewart, and Babs Tarr

“Motor Crush”# 1 is a debut that showcases high-octane racing. For the colorful participants of these races, glorious victory and fiery death are separated by a very thin line. For readers of this new series by American publisher Image Comics, this first issue has much in common with that do-or-die virtue of racing. As it hurtles toward the final page’s finish line, “Motor Crush” feels like it is veering in a fastlane, poised between succeeding and spinning out entirely. The result is fast-paced debut that stays on track and is undeniably charming in its commitment to world-building.

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Kill or Be Killed #4 (review)

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Kill or be Killed #4 (review)
Image Comics, November 2016
Writer: Ed Brubaker

It is hard to think of a more consistent duo in comics than that of writer Ed Brubaker and artist Sean Phillips. Since their first collaboration as part of 1999’s The Scene of the Crime, the pair have produced a film noir-inspired body of work every bit as lethal as their gun-toting characters. Where they go, readers have proved willing to follow with critical acclaim and consistent sales.

It is a reliability that has paid off as the two have recently signed contracts to create exclusively for American publisher Image Comics. As part of their unique deal, Messrs Brubaker and Phillips are able to create without pitching their ideas for editorial approval. Whatever premise they want to pursue, in other words, is guaranteed to print. This is a rare, remarkable and precious freedom amongst the larger players in the American industry, which so often rejects ideas based on crude demographics and projected sales. If successful, it is the kind of deal that Image, a publisher with a history of empowering creators, would be likely to offer talent in the future.

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Mother Panic #1 and the Rise of Young Animal

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Mother Panic #1 and the Rise of Young Animal
Written by Jody Houser
Published 11/9/2016

When American publisher DC Comics announced the launch of a new imprint earlier this year, it promised to offer something different. The release of Young Animal, fronted by rocker (the lead singer of the band “My Chemical Romance”) and Umbrella Academy scribe Gerard Way, has so far kept to the weird and eclectic side of DC superheroic stock-in-trade. The uninhibitedly promising Doom Patrol, the bizarre Cave Carson Has a Cybernetic Eye, and the psychedelically charming Shade, The Changing Girl have debuted strongly with their creative direction and likably oddball characters.

It is impossible to look at Young Animal’s spark without thinking of another DC imprint, the prominent and groundbreaking Vertigo Comics. In interviews about his new line, Way frequently mentions the personal impact Vertigo had when it launched in the 1990’s to formally offer more mature takes on life in the DC Universe. Previous iterations of Doom Patrol and Shade found a home at Vertigo, along with The Sandman, Swamp Thing, and Hellblazer. A few decades earlier, The Young Animal books would have fit right in with this roster.

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The Flintstones #5 (Review)

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The Flintstones #5 (Review) DC Comics, November 2016 Writer: Mark Russel Early into the fifth issue of “The Flintstones”, Barney Rubble comments that “This all feels familiar, doesn’t it, Fred?” Familiarity is an odd, even paradoxical, description of this relaunch by American publisher DC Comics. Even as the series dramatically reinvents the world and characters … Read more