Craniacs #2 Review

 

Creators: Ira Friedman & Joe Simko

Writer: Sholly Fisch

Artist: Joe Simko

Colorist: Valentina Bianconi

Letterer: Dave Lentz

Cover Artists: Joe Simko, Kit Wallis & Mark Ellerby

Publisher: Titan Comics

Price: $4.99

Release Date: November 12, 2025

 

Rocky loves drumming and smashing. Phoebe is an artist and activist. But after winning yet another game of chess by smashing the gameboard, Rocky is bored. So, he accompanies his friend Phoebe to the sight of her next mural.

 

Bo loves competing. His sister Darby, is a thrill seeker. After celebrating Shatterday at Napoleon Bone-Apart Skullastic Middle School, Darby dares Bo to approach the border. What happens when the son and daughter of Futurra’s president venture over the border and get lost? Will the young Retrovian Rocky smash the Futurran foreigners? Or might Phoebe feature them in her upcoming mural? Let’s grab our trading cards, leap into Craniacs #2, and see!

 

Story

When Rocky and Phoebe meet Bo and Darby, everyone hides. But as curiosity overcomes fear, they explore their differences. The kids discover they have similar interests, even if their societies express them in different ways. After a day of playing together, Darby concocts a plan. Rocky will guide her through Retrovia, and Bo will escort Phoebe to Futurra.

 

In Craniacs #2, Darby and Phoebe wear disguises to blend into these different societies. Phoebe discovers that, aside from the technological differences of Futurra, the kids there still enjoy art. Rocky shares his passion for music with Darby. The thrill seeker likes rock music, but the Retrovian concert energizes her like never before. As they discover the differences in their societies, the kids make new friends. And it’s not long before children in each society see Darby and Rocky, and Bo and Phoebe, having fun together, despite Retrovia and Futurra’s proscriptions against intermingling.

 

While Bo and Rocky think of themselves as leaders, Darby instigates the first border incursion. Letting the boys remain in their worlds, she convinces Phoebe to cross the border in disguise. As the girls provide the impetus for exploring other cultures in Sholly Fisch's story, they also inspire other kids to intermingle.

 

While the kids enjoy playing together and exploring each other’s worlds, Rocky’s mother and Bo and Darby’s father eventually notice that their children aren’t following their usual pursuits. Riley and Alex are the leaders of their respective cultures. In Craniacs #2, the Retrovians’ Grand Chieftain and Futurran President Alex wonder what their kids are getting up to.

 

Art

Although the Craniacs’ skin wraps tightly over their skulls, the characters have no trouble expressing their emotions as they discover Retrovians and Futurrans can have fun together. Rocky sports purple skin and carries a club or drumsticks. Phoebe is a blonde with a pink streak in her upturned hair, while a red horizontal stripe crosses her eyes. A blue-and-red racing stripe runs diagonally across Bo's features. Darby wears rollerskates and a helmet.

 

Valentina Bianconi lavishes a beautiful palette of vivid colors on Craniacs #2, while Joe Simko places his engaging characters in eye-catching settings. Vehicles fly through the sky in Futurra, where President Alex strides through the city as a giant hologram. Compared with the Jetsons or the Back to the Future 2 world of Futurra, Retrovia evokes the Disneyland Jungle Cruise. And after rocking out at an open-air concert, no trip to Retrovia would be complete without enjoying a Tiki Tonic in The Shrunken Skull. Operated by a Retrovian boy, the lounge rivals Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room with its enchanting ambiance.

 

Dave Lentz fills white dialogue balloons and colored narrative boxes with black and colored uppercase letters. The letters turn gray and lowercase for lowered voices, while smaller uppercase letters indicate distant voices. Heightened emotions prompt words to swell and change color, deforming balloons in the process. But despite the hovering skull signs that warn citizens of the dangers of crossing the border, sound effects accompany the joys of exploring other cultures in Craniacs #2. Thanks to Titan Comics for providing a review copy. 

 

Now, let's take a look inside:

 

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

The Retrovians teach their children the joys of nature. The Futurrans share their love of technology with their children. Each culture teaches its children to hate and fear the other. Yet the ancient site that marks the forcible merger of their worlds could help the two societies to form a more amicable bond in Craniacs #2.

 

Rating 9.8/10

High On Life Vol 1 TP Review

 

Writer: Alec Robbins

Artist: Kit Wallis

Colorist: JP Jordan

Letterer: Dave Lentz

Cover Artist: Sean Monaghan

Publisher: Titan Comics

Price: $19.99

Release Date: January 15, 2025

 

The G3 Cartel, led by the merciless Garmantuous, devastated Gatlian civilization. After using biological warfare to transform most of the sentient guns into zombies, Garmantuous captured the survivors for medical experimentation. (Not content with that, he executed the Human rock band Radiohead. What a creep!) How have the Gatlians fared since the Human Bounty Hunter brought peace to the Gatlus? Let’s grab our friendly talking guns, leap into High On Life Vol 1 TP, and find out!

 

Story

Harper lost her family during the G3 attack on her planet. Thankfully, Colonel Smithon Wesson took her in. From his underground compound, Wesson led the Gatlian resistance, training the survivors of his talking gun species to combat the blobby invaders. Along with Professor Creed Turian, Colonel Smithon Wesson forged his ragtag group of survivors into an effective fighting force. But they didn’t kill Garmantuous and defeat the murderers. That honor fell to the Human Bounty Hunter and his band of talking guns.

 

In High On Life Vol 1 TP, Colonel Smithon Wesson burns with rage. Garmantuous took his wife and family. After love blossomed with his new partner, the leader of the cartel army took away Professor Turian. When the Human Bounty Hunter killed Garmantuous, he left Wesson with nothing to live for. Stripped of his purpose and the people he loved, Wesson vowed to kill the person who took away everything that he built his life around. Wesson would kill the Human Bounty Hunter. Heck, he would kill all Humans!

 

Unlike Colonel Smithon Wesson, Harper discovered a better way forward. She befriended the man who freed her planet from the invaders. Now, she travels the spaceways with her friends and rescues people from kidnappers like Vardagan. Harper found a new home with their friend Gene and a traumatized Gatlian war hero. And they have a place they enjoy going to when they want to share their tragic backstories. Unfortunately, they never order anything except water, which angers the waiter because they take up the booth for hours. But hey, you can’t please everybody, right?

 

Art

Kit Wallis fills High On Life Vol 1 TP with colorful characters. Aside from Harper and the Human Bounty Hunter's other talking guns, there is Creature. He gives birth to tiny monsters that scurry off and devour their enemies. Knifey is a talking knife who briefly wrests the story from Alec Robbins and makes it his own. Then there is the Human Bounty Hunter, who never speaks and hides his appearance behind a spacesuit and helmet. Is he the Karma Police, or just a Man Of War?

 

Into this lushly painted world walks Steve Buscemi. The Human actor becomes our viewpoint character as Harper travels to her home planet aboard the interstellar taxi service Haul & Otis. Steve bonds with his colorful companions amid the eye-catching backgrounds of JP Jordan. The actor who voiced Starscream in Transformers One learns how Professor Turian replaced Harper's equine mechanical walker with an Iron Man-like suit. 

 

Perhaps Steve is at his best when he remains with purple Gene and red Knifey to help his new friends evade Colonel Smithon Wesson. Unlike the red, blue, white, and silver Bounty Hunter and the yellow and red Creature with his tiny, toothy blue children, Harper and Colonel Smithon Wesson share the same skin color with the Human actor Vardagan stuffed in his burlap bag.

 

The dialogue proves as colorful as the characters in High On Life Vol 1 TP. Harper speaks with blue letters, Creature utters wobbly red dialogue, Humans and the three-eyed waiter speak black letters, and Colonel Wesson Smith speaks green. Dave Lentz uses a mix of uppercase and lowercase letters that enlarge, grow bold, and rarely shrink to convey the gripping drama and excitement of this down-to-Gatlus story. Sound effects help us hear gunfire, Creature giving birth, Harper hopping through a Targit store (They're like Earth Targets, only different), and Colonel Smithon Wesson squashing an enemy like Monty Python’s giant foot.

 

Final Thoughts

High On Life Vol 1 TP is about how grief and loss can transform us into monsters, and we can forge new lives through friendship. The story promises we can do extraordinary things if we believe in ourselves, whether relaxing at home, leaping through portals, fighting aliens on distant war planets, or hanging out with friends at the Space Applebee’s in Uptown Blim City.

 

Rating 9.5/10

 

To look inside see my preview of High On Life Vol 1 TP.