World Comic Book Review

27th March 2024

Godshaper #1 (Review)

Godshaper #1 Boom! Studios, April 2017 Writer: Simon Spurrier “Godshaper” is a new fantasy comic book series from American comic book publisher Boom! Studios and British writer Simon Spurrier, set in a fictional version of our reality in which the laws of physics have unexplainably gone awry in 1958, resulting in electricity and, as a … Read more

Joyride” #1 (of 4) (review)

“Joyride” #1 (of 4) (review)
Boom! Studios, April 2016
Writer: Jackson Lanzig and Collin Kelly

On the face of it, this title is an adolescent science fiction story, a heist, a youthful expression of defiance. It is almost shallow. But there are some shadows amidst the stardust.

A young girl named Uma convinces a boy named Dewydd to get her past the fascist gatekeepers manning a weapon on the moon which is aimed at the world. All citizens of the planet are in an Orwellian yoke where happiness and calm are mandated. Uma has made contact with an alien who has agreed to collect her and her friend from the dark side of the moon. The alien turns out to be a slaver. But she has subverted the alien’s enforcer, a black shapeshifting robot called D.Bot. The evil alien is jettisoned into space, presumably to his death, and Uma is left with the universe to explore and the means to do it. The three are actually a foursome, for there is also a fascist soldier, named Catrin, who has inadvertently joined the crew and is in the early stages of Stockholm Syndrome as a consequence of exposure to free-thinking.

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Weavers #1 (Review)

Weavers #1
Boom! Studios, May 2016
Writer: Simon Spurrier
Review by Neil Raymundo, May 12, 2016

The cover to the first issue of Simon Spurrier’s “Weavers” makes it easy to discern the premise of the comic book. It features a man dressed like the typical modern gangster, surrounded by silhouettes of similarly-dressed people with arachnid-like eyes. The spiders are not symbolic. The comic is about gangsters and spiders. A key issue in the premise of the story is the kind of spiders, and what role they play in the story.

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Under New Management

Turncoat #1 (review)
BOOM! Studios, March 2016
Writer: Alex Paknadel
Review by Neil Raymundo, 25 March 2016

“Turncoat” on the face of it is a run-of-the-mill detective story with a female protagonist. Marta Gonzales is a down-on-her-luck retired policewoman trying to make ends meet as a private investigator. Her latest case involves a rich kid who ran away a decade ago and fell in with the seedy underground.

What differentiates this title from routine detective tales is that the case is actually a minor detail in a much bigger, and more interesting story, and further, “Turncoat” is a science fiction story with a fascinating backdrop.

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