Greetings, humans, and welcome to Comic Book Quick Hits! Every week I’ll be writing a “Quick Hits” review piece to give some brief highlights to a handful of great comic books that have come out in the last week or two, so you can swing by your local shop and snag an issue or two while they are still hot on the shelf. I’ll also be writing “Comic Cluster” reviews, which will be focused on 3-6 consecutive issues of one specific title, so that you can get a more in-depth feel for an over-arching storyline, art, etc., to see if you’d like to commit to a specific series for a longer haul. Here are your Quick Hits for the week of June 1!
Independence Day #4
Publisher: Titan Comics
Release Date: June 1, 2016
Physical Cover Price: $3.99
Digital Price: $3.99
Quick Hit: In a very cool series that is designed to bridge the gap a bit between the first ‘Independence Day’ film of 20 years ago and the upcoming ‘Independence Day: Resurgence’ due to hit theaters this Summer, it should surprise no one that this book has read just like the original film: exciting and a little hard-to-believe from a plot standpoint, but in all the deliciously-enjoyable ways. Some of the more peripheral characters from the original film get their chance to shine in this series, as a still-functional alien ship is found deep beneath the Atlantic Ocean, shortly after the events depicted in the first film. To say any more would spoil you of the guilty pleasure of reading this series yourselves; it’s a five-issue mini-series, so the conclusion is nigh!
Dark Souls #2
Publisher: Titan Comics
Release Date: June 1, 2016
Physical Cover Price: $3.99
Digital Price: $3.99
Quick Hit: Based loosely on Namco-Bandai’s video game of the same name, ‘Dark Souls’ has quickly thrust readers into a world chock-full of sci-fi and fantasy at its trope-iest: you’ve got time travel crossed with the undead menace, evil Everlords menacing brave warrior guys and gals, and a spooky dark forest to boot. It all sounds like it could be a mish-mashed mess, but it’s incredibly effective comic-book fun. The series is written by ‘Doctor Who’ scribe George Mann and beautifully drawn by Alan Quah; now is the perfect time jump on this series and hold on for the ride of your fantasy life!
Fu
ture Quest #1
Publisher: DC Entertainment
Release Date: May 25, 2016
Physical Cover Price: $3.99
Digital Price: $3.99
Quick Hit: Few things hit old-school fans’ nostalgia centers harder than the Hanna-Barbera characters, and in this regard, ‘Future Quest’ is going to blow a lot of people’s minds! It’s essentially a modern-day crossover vehicle for all of HB’s more “exciting” (read: not-too-kiddie-cartoonish) properties; the first issue alone sees Johnny Quest and his crew cross tracks with Space Ghost, all while Birdman gets ready to jump into the fray as well. Heck, even Gloop and Gleep from ‘The Herculoids’ make a brief cameo, and The Mighty Mightor appears on the cover of this issue. Can Shazzan and Moby Dick really be far behind? Not since the days of Toonami and Adult Swim has the Hanna-Barbera crew enjoyed such a renaissance.
Paper Girls #6
Publisher: Image Comics
Release Date: June 1, 2016
Physical Cover Price:
Digital Price: $2.99
Quick Hit: Notoriously described as “Stand by Me” meets “War of the Worlds,” this Brian K. Vaughan-scripted series really does live up to some of the early hype thrown at it. A quartet of pre-teen paper-route girls (think less pink bikes & streamers and more hockey sticks & spitting) are out on their delivery routes on the day after Halloween, 1988, when they are frustratingly interrupted – first by juvenile bullies, then by time-travelling mutants! It sounds funky, but when it’s from the hands of the man who created ‘Y: The Last Man’ and ‘Saga,’ you know it’s got pedigree to spare.
The Walking Dead #155
Publisher: Image
Release Date: June 1, 2016
Physical Cover Price: $3.99
Digital Price: $2.99 (at time of posting)
Quick Hit: Lost in all the hullabaloo of the TV series – which don’t get me wrong, is amazing in its own right – is the fact that the original ‘The Walking Dead’ comic series is still going as strong as ever, well into its 12th year of continuous publication. The series has spawned not only the TV show – two of them, actually, if you include ‘Fear the Walking Dead’ – but also video games, a line of novels, action figures, and more. The comic features many faces and scenarios that are largely familiar to viewers of the AMC show; in this issue, the folks in Alexandria are still dealing with Negan, as well as a new and ominous threat called The Whisperers. The series is currently giving off the vibe that it’s building towards something massive, so now is a great time to hop on board and get ready for the ride!
Tony Schaab yearns to see the deleted scene from the ‘Thundercats’ cartoon in which Snarf is forced to do his monthly cleaning of the giant litterbox behind the Cat’s Lair. A lover of most things sci-fi and horror, Tony is an author by day and a DJ by night. Come hang out with Tony on Facebook and Twitter to hear him spew semi-funny nonsense and get your opportunity to finally put him in his place.
