Blade Runner Tokyo Nexus: To Lose is to Win #1 Review

 

Blade Runner Tokyo Nexus: To Lose is to Win #1 Review

Writer: Nancy A Collins

Artist: Mariano Taibo

Colorist: Marco Lesko

Letterer: Jim Campbell

Editor: David Leach

Cover Artists: Junggeun Yoon; Dani & Brad Simpson; Piotr Kowalski

Publisher: Titan Comics

Price: $4.99

Release Date: May 6, 2026

 

After Mead and Stix fought side by side on Kalanthia, the ex-Marine and combat Replicant set up as private investigators in Japan. But while the two former soldiers remade their lives, other military Replicants broke the Tyrell Corporation’s cardinal rule. They illegally immigrated to Earth and established an underground community in Tokyo. After years of trusting each other, Stix doesn’t tell Mead about helping the Replicant community.

 

When a Blade Runner from Los Angeles visits Tokyo and confronts Mead with evidence of a super Replicant assassin who employs Stix’s methods, Mead struggles to stand by her friend. Can Mead and Stix's partnership withstand their recent alliance with the Yakuza? And can Replicants rise from the underground to live peacefully among their Human neighbors? Let’s leap into Blade Runner Tokyo Nexus: To Lose is to Win #1 and see!

 

Story

Mead and Stix forged their friendship on Kalantha, but that doesn't mean that others shared their views on Humans befriending Replicants. And while they knew the trust they shared was real, what the war on Kalantha was about was less clear. But when enemy helicopters attack just as they reach a hotly contested command bunker, it seems more than a coincidence.

 

Caught in an ambush, Mead and Stix activate the Aurora program in Blade Runner Tokyo Nexus: To Lose is to Win #1. Then Stix sets out with the other combat Replicants to protect Mead and Sergeant Major Lancaster. But while Mead watches and advises, the stressful encounter and Stix's actions on the battlefield are destined to haunt her long after the friends leave Kalantha.

 

In 2015, after forging their deal with the Yakuza, Mead awakens from sleep. Her wartime memories have become nightmares. She's in a bad mood and can't stay in their Tokyo home. As Mead stumbles outside to focus on what she can do, Nancy A Collins switches the story to Stix. Replicants have a limited life span, and combat models like Stix burn out more quickly than most. But Alura's Yakuza organization protects the ex-Tyrell scientists who founded Cheshire. She has promised to help him survive his expiration date. And while Stix would do anything for Mead, she also wishes to see her partner live a long and fruitful life.

 

As Blade Runner Tokyo Nexus: To Lose is to Win #1 forces Mead and Stix into another uncomfortable situation, Rumiko likewise faces a difficult task. Ostensibly, the Blade Runner still works for Tyrell. But instead of killing the ex-Tyrell scientists working for Cheshire, she’s hunting for Aurora. Tyrell constructed more Replicants in the Stix series. But Aurora can imbue combat Replicants with the carefully honed skills that made Mead's friend into such an effective killing machine. And like Mead and Stix, Rumiko doesn't want any more people, Replicant or Human, to end up in the garbage bin.

 

Art

As Mead and Stix push through the dense foliage, single-person choppers roar overhead. Sergeant Major Lancaster and his team provide cover fire as the Aurora team rushes inside the bunker. But when cracks race across the ceiling, the team hustles downstairs and exits a tunnel beneath the tree line. Yellow light pierces the leafy canopy like falling stars, as yellow light shines on the silhouette faces of the combat Replicants.

 

As Mariano Taibo gets Blade Runner Tokyo Nexus: To Lose is to Win #1 off to a running start, Marco Lesko adorns the art on Kalantha with a limited palette. Yellow and orange blossom amid the verdant greenery, while red soon follows as Mead watches through Stix's eyes. In her Tokyo apartment, plants surround Mead. As a memory of a wall of green and white evokes natural disasters that struck Japan, a yellow, orange, and red poster recalls the conflict in Kalantha. And a green poster that Mead passes highlights that the same corporations that profited from the war on Kalantha are also helping Japan rebuild.

 

Jim Campbell uses narrative boxes to locate readers in time and space, while also sharing Rumiko and Mead’s reminiscences. While black uppercase dialogue fills white balloons, Stix and Mead’s thoughts fill colored balloons sans arrows when connected via Aurora. Sound effects transmit all the danger and death on Kalantha, and an unwelcome surprise in Tokyo, while an homage to a Blade Runner author greets Mead upon her return. Thanks to Titan Comics for providing a review copy.

 

Final Thoughts

As Japan recovers from natural disasters, it struggles to accept all members of society as equal contributors. Nor are Mead and Stix as close as they once were. Mead may regret taking Sayo’s case, even though Stix suspected Yakuza involvement. Still, the Private Investigators must pay the price for becoming embroiled in the struggle for Replicant equality in Blade Runner Tokyo Nexus: To Lose is to Win #1.

 

Rating 9/10

 

To look inside see my preview of Blade Runner Tokyo Nexus: To Lose is to Win #1.

 

For what happened last time, see my review of Blade Runner Tokyo Nextus: Die In Peace. 

 

Blade Runner Tokyo Nexus: Die In Peace Review

 

Blade Runner Tokyo Nexus: Die In Peace Review

Writer: Kianna Shore

Artist: Mariano Taibo

Colorist: Marco Lesko

Letterer: Jim Campbell

Editor: David Leach

Creative Consultant: Mellow Brown

Publisher: Titan Comics

Price: $17.99

Release Date: February 18, 2025

 

Stix was supposed to meet Mead in a poor Tokyo district. But when he doesn't show, Mead confronts a protection racket alone and gets a meat cleaver in her leg for her troubles. As a gang member flashes a gun, Mead thinks she's finally bought it. But then Stix arrives, claiming the train was late, and helps her survive the battle. Can Mead still trust her replicant partner with her life? Or is her partnership with Stix on the rocks? Let’s leap into Blade Runner Tokyo Nexus: Die In Peace and find out!

 

Story

After tending to Mead's injuries, the two private investigators go out for drinks and dumplings. While Stix rejoices in closing their latest case, Mead is confused. She smelled the beer and dumplings on his breath when he arrived to help her. But before she can ask what troubles him, a young woman requests their help. Mayo accompanies Mead and Stix back to their home. But when she claims her sister is a private investigator, Stix senses Yakuza involvement and bails.

 

In Blade Runner Tokyo Nexus: Die In Peace, Stix ventures into the tunnels beneath Tokyo. Tyrell constructed replicants to live offworld. But like Stix, other replicants have snuck back to Earth after the war. While he assists those in need, Stix also meets someone from his past who warns him about a new model of replicant. Another combat-grade model like him.

 

Perhaps it’s the fact that Stix refused to hear Mayo's story. Or maybe Mead needs something to distract her from worrying about her partner. In any case, the former soldier agrees to help Mayo find her sister. Like Stix, Mead senses that Mayo and her sister hail from a Yakuza family. But in this city rocked by riots, and a world where Humans treat replicants as disposable property, the Yakuza represent just one more type of Human authority.

 

While Mead and Stix hide from their military past, a Blade Runner arrives from Los Angeles. Rumika claims she’s hunting a rogue replicant. But she takes her orders from Tyrell. From working with the refugees in the underground, Stix knows another organization has hired scientists from Tyrell. While Rumika uses her Tokyo police resources and information from Tyrell to search for Mayo’s sister, Stix strives to protect replicants from the scientists experimenting on them in Blade Runner Tokyo Nexus: Die In Peace.

 

Art

Sunlight streams past a crazy quilt of towers to reach those wandering the crowded streets. Nature defies the metropolis, as plants, trees, and gardens fill the spaces between buildings. Plants also cling to balconies like algae, refusing to let the gray structures win. Yet banners hang down as Mead and Stix eat, while cage-like window frames fill the background. Mariano Taibo fills the world of 2015 with bulky computer monitors, brick-sized cellphones, and a '70s arcade game. And despite all the houseplants filling their residence, a maze of lines adorns the top of the walls, enhancing the straight lines of the carpet and window shades.

 

Stix and Mead wear long blue coats over their white dress shirts and black ties. Yet when he leaves Mead, he changes into a gray jacket. Just as on the surface, yellow and green find their way into the underground. With a green experiment table, Marco Lesko suggests a new future for replicants in Blade Runner Tokyo Nexus: Die In Peace. Likewise, the orange hair of Miyuki's girlfriend links with the paper lanterns hanging over the streets, suggesting peace and rebirth. But the scarlet that spills in the opening scene, and the bodies both Private Investigators find, suggest the price Humans and Replicants will pay for their grand new society. 

 

Jim Campbell fills white balloons with black uppercase letters and shares Mead and Stix's lowercase musings in colored narrative boxes. Sound effects emphasize Stix’s enhanced abilities, flying police spinners, high-speed trains, and a doorbell ring as a Blade Runner arrives. Thanks to Titan Comics for providing a review copy.

 

Final Thoughts

Ever since Mead and Stix went AWOL and returned to Earth, everything has been clear. Stay under the radar and work cases together as Private Investigators. But suddenly, Stix is keeping secrets, and Rumiko, a Blade Runner from Los Angeles, wants to work with Mead. Just like in the war, the bodies begin to pile up. And the experimental program Mead and Stix hoped was dead and buried arises to haunt them again in Blade Runner Tokyo Nexus: Die In Peace.

 

Rating 9/10 

 

Watch the trailer for this week's next installment, Blade Runner Tokyo Nexus: To Lose Is To Win #1 at the Titan Comics Youtube channel.

 

 

Blade Runner Black Lotus: Las Vegas #4 Review

 

Writer: Nancy A Collins

Artist: Jesús Hervás

Colorist: Marco Lesko

Letterer: Jim Campbell

Editor: David Leach

Publisher: Titan Comics

Price: $4.99

Release Date: March 4, 2026

 

Elle hoped to find sanctuary among her own kind in Las Vegas. Instead, she discovered that the Roman and the Egyptian Replicants had become oppressors. Nefertiti and Cleopatra welcomed Elle to their world. Yet she disliked the way they partied. How will the Queens of Las Vegas reward Elle's defiance? And will Elle meet the Semita, a clan of Replicants who view the Romans and Egyptians as their enemies? Let’s leap into Blade Runner Black Lotus: Las Vegas #4.

 

Story

Cleopatra and Nefertiti made Elle a princess. They threw gladiatorial games to welcome her to their family. But becoming a member of Egyptian royalty comes with responsibility. The Queens planned to wed her to Julius Caesar to cement their ties with the Romans. But when Elle saw Davis among the Human captives in the arena, she couldn't remain in her seat. For her defiance and assisting a Human, Cleopatra and Nefertiti sentenced her to death.

 

Nancy A Collins propels her story with confrontations among the Replicants, competition among two groups for Elle's head, and a Replicant faction opposed to Humans and any Replicants to perpetuate Human traditions. As each character gets a chance to shine, the central drama plays out between Davis and Elle in Blade Runner Black Lotus: Las Vegas #4. Niander Wallace Jr created Elle to kill others. Davis spent her Blade Runner career hunting Replicants. Yet both women want to make their own decisions about what is right, instead of being tools of others.

 

As Elle and Davis fight for their future, they learn more about what set them on this collision course. And when Elle needs help, she learns if she can count on her servant Vanna. As one of the Human intruders not killed or condemned to the arena, Vanna serves at the Egyptians' pleasure. Given how the Replicants welcomed her, Vanna has reason to hate them. But when she looks back on her life before Las Vegas, Vanna realizes that freedom and slavery are not as black and white as they seem.

 

Art

In the Las Vegas Sphere, Elle and Davis are tiny figures on the circular sand floor, about to be crushed between the soldiers' jaws. Egyptian obelisks on the floor and the raised arms of Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe cheering in the stands frame the confrontation. Jesús Hervás immerses us in the action as the Egyptians and Romans leap and lunge, thrust and slash.

 

Up in the royal box, Julius Caesar rages at the Queens in Blade Runner Black Lotus: Las Vegas #4. While both women wear Egyptian usekh, Cleopatra’s golden headdress suggests she is the center of their universe. Adorned with her cap crown, Nefertiti wields an ornamental knife, punishing anyone who disrespects her sister.

 

While yellow light streams into the Sphere, green tinges the cheering crowds. Red splashes across backgrounds amid the fight. The green, red, and gold of the Sphere combine colors from the Italian and Egyptian flags. Marco Lesko adorns Blade Runner Black Lotus: Las Vegas #4 with a restrained palette dominated by green, beige, red, and purple. But when the action moves to the Semita’s domain, where homeless Humans like Vanna once sought sanctuary, red, yellow, and blue glow like neon.

 

Jim Campbell fills white dialogue balloons with black uppercase letters that grow bold for intonation. Davis and Elle share what brought them here with blue and tan narrative boxes. The narrator comments on proceedings with italicized letters in beige boxes. Sound effects accentuate the spectacle in the Sphere, while two groups battle for Elle’s bounty in the streets of the irradiated entertainment capital of the world. Thanks to Titan Comics for providing a review copy.

 

Final Thoughts

Niander Wallace Jr brainwashed Elle. He made her believe that she was in love with him. Then he used her to increase his wealth and power. Blade Runner Black Lotus: Las Vegas #4 reminds us to be careful about who we identify with, who we allow to influence us, and the causes to which we dedicate our lives.

 

Rating: 9/10 

 

 

To look inside see my preview of Blade Runner Black Lotus: Las Vegas #4.

 

For how this series began, see my preview of Blade Runner Black Lotus: Las Vegas #1.

Gehenna: Naked Aggression TP Vol 1 Review

 

Creators: Patrick Kindlon & Marco Ferrari

Writer: Patrick Kindlon

Artist: Maurizio Rosenzweig

Colorist: Matteo Vattani

Letterer: Jim Campbell

Designer: Matt Battaglia

Cover Artist: Maurizio Rosenzweig

Publisher: Image Comics

Price: $16.99

Release Date: November 12, 2025

 

Once, she embraced life. Gehenna enjoyed love, belonged to someone, and looked forward to the future. Now, she dispenses judgment. What sent Gehenna on the road to death and destruction? And what is she fighting for? Let's grab our guns, leap into Gehenna: Naked Aggression TP Vol 1, and find out!

 

Story

Gehenna intended to kill a mob boss. Instead, she fights for her life. Gehenna scrambles with killers in the street, fighting hand-to-hand and shooting the gangsters trying to kill her. Looking for a way out, she grabs her target's son and heads inside. Gehenna needs help. Stephen doesn't seem surprised to get pulled into the eye of the storm. He has but one question. Why?

 

Patrick Kindlon divides each of the four issues into three chapters, leaving no time for the plot to slow down. When Gehenna shrugs off one opponent, another takes their place. Gehenna narrates most of the acts, while the rest follow her pursuers. Patrick Kindlon’s story is about a plan gone wrong. But it’s also about a life gone wrong. In Gehenna: Naked Aggression TP Vol 1, life is a machine that grinds the little people down, and Gehenna got stuck in the gears.

 

As in Mario Puzo’s famous novel, not all the people working for criminal families are bad. Or perhaps there are levels of evil. Some, like Kamiisa and Linira, treat people like assets and debts. Others, like Isa, are more discerning in who has a right to live. Gehenna plays by rules she won't readily break. Those include not killing children and superheroes.

 

Perhaps that's why young Stephen sticks by her side throughout Gehenna: Naked Aggression TP Vol 1. While she trades in violence like his father, Gehenna's life has a purpose. Gehenna may be bent on killing those she views as evildoers. But unlike his father and those who prop up his criminal empire, Gehenna believes in right and wrong. 

 

Art

Maurizio Rosenzweig introduces each act with two widescreen scenes on double-page spreads separated by a title. Clad in leather, a utility belt, arm wrappings, and boots, Gehenna charges through panels. Muscles and hair are clearly defined, thanks to detailed penciling. Tiny dust clouds indicate rapid movement, while close-ups of weapons and gunfire enhance this die-hard thriller.

 

As Gehenna barrels through the chaos in white and black, Matteo Vattani enlivens scenes with a loaded palette. Isa tracks Gehenna's flight on foot, wearing black and blue. When Gehenna and Stephen take to the road, Isa leaps onto a pink scooter. Her rival, sword-wielding Linira, snears at the "old timer" from her black limousine. Redhaired Kamiisa is all business in her three-piece orange suit. Yellow and orange explosions and red liquid flowing across a blue-gray tile floor reinforce the mob boss’s ruthlessness in Gehenna: Naked Aggression TP Vol 1.  

 

Black uppercase letters in white narrative boxes reveal the narrators' thoughts and off-camera conversations. Like the life Gehenna and her opponents lead, Jim Campbell places dialogue in jagged balloons with razor-sharp edges. White and colored sound effects enhance the action as Gehenna bulldozes through gangsters and superheroes. But then, no one said that erasing her debt to underworld society would be easy. Thanks to Image Comics for providing a review copy.

 

Final Thoughts

Gehenna tried to follow the rules. But when the other players ignored them, she dedicated her life to hurting the people who ruined hers. As Gehenna fights for what is right, the past intrudes on the present, reminding her of what she has lost.

 

Gehenna Naked Aggression TP Vol 1 is an over-the-top revenge tale, filled with whimsical echoes of her past, and lightened by would-be heroes, exotic animals, and salutes to pop culture. An extensive cover gallery concludes this fast-paced tale guaranteed to leave readers panting as they await Gehenna's next adventure.

 

Rating 9.8/10

 

For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch. 

Strange Tales #1 Review

 

Strange Tales #1 Review

Writer: Jeremy Whitley

Artist: Bayleigh Underwood

Colorist: Jim Campbell

Letterer: Joe Caramagna

Cover Artists: Bayleigh Underwood & Jim Campbell; Annie Wu; Gretel Lusky

Designer: Kat Walkington

Editors: Lauren Bisom, Farah Javed & CB Cebulski

Publisher: Marvel Comics

Price: $3.99

Release Date: October 8, 2025

 

Nico Minoru carries her Staff of One and casts spells behind her. Still, she cannot shake her flying, fire-breathing pursuer. Nico doesn’t know why Billy Kaplan transported her to Midtown. But if the dragon doesn’t kill her, she vows to end Wiccan’s life. Why does the former Runaway blame the one-time Young Avenger for her imminent demise? And can anyone prevent Nico from being roasted into a delectable morsel? Let’s grab our dice and character sheets, leap into Strange Tales #1, and see!

 

Story

After sheltering behind a delivery van, Nico bangs on the double doors of a nearby building. After she turns to face her imminent demise on the sidewalk, Wanda Maximoff offers Nico a helping hand inside her Emporium. But Nico is frazzled after her flight from the flying, frying death. So, the Scarlet Witch gets Nico to settle down and explain how all the trouble started.

 

In Jeremy Whitley’s story, it’s dangerous for magic users to venture out on Halloween. So, Nico and her friend, Karolina Dean, spent the evening in Billy Kaplan and Theodore Altman’s apartment. Billy was excited by finding a game he had never seen before. The four friends wrote up their character sheets, rolled the dice, and immersed themselves in the game. But as they played, creatures from their game appeared, and Billy and Nico fled for their lives.

 

While Nico gets Strange Tales #1 rolling, Wanda Maximoff proves to be the game master. The mystical investigator forces the story to follow her as she uncovers clues. Billy bought the game for a lark. Teddy, Nico, and Karolina came along for the ride. Wanda discovers that someone laid a trap for her son and his friends. Like Sherlock Holmes, Wanda isn’t afraid to embrace danger. Nico may not be a doctor, but she proves an able sidekick as the duo brave goblins, dragons, and more. And both women wield more effective weapons than a Webley revolver or a walking stick.

 

 

 

 

Art

As Bayleigh Underwood shows an explosion rocking Midtown, Jim Campbell reveals a green-clad witch fleeing the orange storm in Strange Tales #1. White ice erupts to chill the dragon's yellow and orange breath, while a glass door reflects the flames and the gray-blue street. Then, a red wooden door with a metal knocker appears before hands emerge from a white field to capture the witch.

 

The primary characters in Strange Tales #1 reveal an impish quality that shows the joy they find in being together. Wanda Maximoff radiates confidence and assurance as she welcomes her visitor and returns to the scene of the crime. Pastels dominate Billy and Teddy’s apartment when monsters appear. But while Karolina fills the room with a rainbow swirl, the other heroes cast white magic that radiates a unique color. 

 

Joe Caramagna fills white dialogue balloons with uppercase black letters. The letters shrink for lowered voices and enlarge for raised voices. The narrator speaks ivory words into black boxes, while Wanda confronts someone who speaks white words into black balloons. Sound effects fill the pages with all the crash, bang, and boom of a multiplex cinema showing Reign Of Fire. Thanks to Marvel Comics for providing a review copy. 

 

 

 

 

Final Thoughts

Strange Tales #1 launches an involving mystery that reminds us of the addictive power of games, the importance of reading instruction manuals, and the dangers of entering thrift shops.

 

Rating 9.4/10

 

To look inside see my review at Comic Book Dispatch. 

Minky Woodcock: The Girl Called Cthulhu HC Vol 3 Review

 

Writer, Artist, Colorist & Cover Artist: Cynthia Von Buhler

Letterer: Jim Campbell

Publisher: Titan Comics

Price: $3.99

Release Date: July 9, 2025

 

When Howard Lovecraft travels to the Providence Opera House on October 4, 1926, he gets an eyeful. He wants to confer with Harry Houdini on the book they are writing together. Instead, he finds Harry in flagrante delicto with the delectable Minky Woodcock.

 

Minky compliments Howard on the unpublished manuscript for his story, “The Call of Cthulhu,” which Harry had shared with her. But even after she wraps herself in a towel, Howard averts his gaze while speaking with her. How will this chance meeting affect Howard Lovecraft and Minky Woodcock? Let’s grab the latest issue of Weird Tales magazine, leap into Minky Woodcock: The Girl Called Cthulhu HC Vol 3, and find out!

 

Story

Sadly, Harry Houdini died before the month was out. The following year, Howard Lovecraft writes to Minky Woodcock. Despite Minky's participation in Harry's unfaithfulness, Bess Houdini speaks highly of her. Howard asks Minky to approach the widow on his behalf. But before Minky can respond to Howard Lovecraft's plea about finishing The Cancer of Superstition, a man steeped in the supernatural bursts into her New York office.

 

The sign on the door may read Woodcock & Son, but Minky’s father is on a golfing trip, and her brother spends his days auditioning. In their absence, Minky runs the private detective agency. Although she doesn't know him, Aleister Crowley has a long association with Minky's family. He requests her aid in getting a guttersnipe off his back. A woman named Betty May is writing a tell-all memoir, and it doesn't paint Aleister in a positive light. The scandalous Tiger Woman is generating headlines by portraying Aleister as the wickedest man alive. He appeals to Minky to get the feisty tiger off his back.

 

In Minky Woodcock: The Girl Called Cthulhu HC Vol 3, she investigates Aleister's claims. Minky also gets to know the man who inspired W. Somerset Maugham's 1908 novel The Magician and Rex Ingram's 1926 film. Aleister Crowley is a talented author who writes supernatural detective novels, poetry, and nonfiction. Yet, he is a scoundrel who also influences world-shaping events. Perhaps due to his occult ceremonies, Aleister enthralls people, and governments seek his aid.

 

While beginning her story in the 1920s, Cynthia Von Buhler advances the latter half to 1943. Once again, the world is marching toward war. On a trip to England, a friend requests Minky’s aid. Like Houdini, Howard Lovecraft has long since died. Yet, his memory lingers. While seeking to help her friend, Minky helps prevent the spread of the Third Reich. Ironically, for a woman who bonded with Howard Lovecraft over her fear of the sea, Minky Woodcock will become synonymous with one of his immortal creations in Minky Woodcock: The Girl Called Cthulhu HC Vol 3.

 

Art 

Cynthia Von Buhler’s art portrays Minky and Houdini as uninhibited, in love with life, and cruelly parted by fate. Minky has a soft side, as revealed by her white rabbits, Agatha and Miss Marple. And when Crowley enters her office, she pulls away. Then Minky retakes her seat, smiles demurely, and allows the bald man Betty May paints as Dr Evil to treat her like a lady. Aleister Crowley doesn’t say, “Throw me a frickin bone here." Still, he convinces Minky to take his case.

 

The primary colors of red, blue, and yellow energize Minky Woodcock: The Girl Called Cthulhu HC Vol 3. Buhler adds a touch of orange to enhance Minky's hair, wooden furniture, Betty May's cat and tiger costume, and Crowley's cravat. Yellow dominates as Crowley retells his history with Betty May and her husband Raoul at the Abbey of Thelema in Sicily. Green enters Minky's story when she meets Gladys. And that night, green tinges her dreams.

 

Block letters place readers in space and time. Music notes accompany song lyrics. Delicate black uppercase letters in dialogue balloons and narrative boxes relate Minky’s efforts to protect people from danger, uncover mysteries, and learn more about her late mother. Handwritten letters, typed correspondence, and sound effects accompany invocations and symbols drawn in blood. Thanks to Titan Comics for providing a review copy.

 

Final Thoughts

Every man and woman is a star, whether well-known like the famous magician and writer Harry Houdini, the author and occultist Aleister Crowley, a globe-trotting Tiger Woman, or a British Intelligence officer with literary aspirations. Yet the star we most worry about flaming out is the stalwart and fearless private detective in Minky Woodcock: The Girl Called Cthulhu HC Vol 3.

 

Rating 9/10

To look inside see my preview of Minky Woodcock: The Girl Called Cthulhu HCVol 3.

Gehenna: Naked Aggression #1 Review

 

Creators: Patrick Kindlon & Marco Ferrari

Writer: Patrick Kindlon

Artist: Maurizio Rosenzweig

Colorist: Matteo Vattani

Letterer: Jim Campbell

Designer: Matt Battaglia

Cover Artists: Maurizio Rosenzweig, Anand Ramcheron, Atsuji Yamamoto, Maria Llovet & Matteo Scalera

Publisher: Image Comics

Price: $3.99

Release Date: July 2, 2025

 

Once, she embraced life. Gehenna enjoyed love, belonged to someone, and looked forward to the future. Now, she dispenses judgment. What set Genhenna on the road to death and destruction? Why did she adopt a new name? Let's grab our guns, leap into Gehenna: Naked Aggression #1, and find out!

 

Story

Gehenna had a plan. She was supposed to kill a mob boss. Instead, she fights for her life. Gehenna scrambles with killers in the street, fighting hand-to-hand and shooting the gangsters trying to kill her. Looking for a way out, she grabs her target's son and heads inside. Gehenna needs help. Stephen doesn't seem surprised to get pulled into the eye of the storm. He has but one question. Why?

 

Gehenna: Naked Aggression #1 unreels in a breathless rush. Gehenna narrates the first two acts, while the third follows her pursuers. Patrick Kindlon’s story is about a plan gone wrong. But it’s also about a life gone wrong. Perhaps Stephen understands what Gehenna is going through. He knows what his father does. And Stephen is old enough and smart enough to know that's not how everyone lives.

 

Gehenna: Naked Aggression #1 reminds us how often society disregards transgressions if the perpetrators have money and influence. But the story also holds out hope that Gehenna will turn her life around. Because when you keep wondering why you’re doing something, it’s time to move on.

 

Art

Maurizio Rosenzweig introduces each act with two widescreen scenes on double-page spreads separated by a title. Clad in leather, a utility belt, arm wrappings, and boots, Gehenna charges through panels. Muscles and hair are clearly defined, thanks to detailed penciling. Tiny dust clouds indicate rapid movement, while close-ups of weapons and gunfire enhance this die-hard thriller.

 

As Gehenna barrels through the chaos in white and black, Matteo Vattani enlivens scenes with a loaded palette. Grounded by purple-gray shading and brown fallen leaves, the autumn colors red, orange, and yellow suggest the end of an era in Gehenna: Naked Aggression #1. The extravagant gold stairs in her target's home and the opulent furnishings contrast with Gehenna's past. Once, she dressed far more casually amid panels featuring limited colors. But those are just memories now, as faded as a photograph left in the sun.

 

Black uppercase letters in white narrative boxes reveal the narrators' thoughts and off-camera conversations. Dialogue appears in balloons with straight lines and razor-sharp edges. White and colored sound effects enhance the action, as yellow erupts from wood in a fearful symmetry, and fools rush in where detectives fear to tread. Thanks to Image Comics for providing a review copy.

 

Final Thoughts

Gehenna tried to follow the rules. But when the gamemasters ignored the rules, she dedicated her life to hurting the people who ruined hers. As Gehenna fights for what is right, the past intrudes on the present, reminding her of what she has lost. Gehenna Naked Aggression #1 is an over-the-top revenge tale. But perhaps it's a story that will lead to redemption.

 

Rating 9.8/10

 

To look inside see my review at Comic Book Dispatch. 

The Graveyard Club: Fresh Blood #1 Review

 

Writer: R.L. Stine

Artist: Carola Borelli

Colorist: Francesco Segala & Gloria Martinelli

Letterer: Jim Campbell

Cover Artists: Miguel Mercado, Dan Mora, Tula Lotay & Zu Orzu

Designers: Becca Carey & Grace Park

Editors: Caroline Butler, Sophie Philips-Roberts & Mark Gagnon

Publisher: Boom!

Price: $9.99

Release Date: April 30, 2025

 

Parker, Patti, Trip, and Rhonda live in Graves End. A cemetery surrounds the town, and shrieking bats fly overhead every night. Patti is jealous of Trip, who has already secured a job for the summer. But Parker and Rhonda have more on their minds than summer jobs. The friends still wonder what happened to their fathers. Can Patti get a job to give her a sense of empowerment? And will Parker and Rhonda learn why their fathers disappeared after a poker game at the Dockside Inn? Let’s grab our flashlights, leap into The Graveyard Club: Fresh Blood #1, and find out!

 

Story

Patti has approached all the businesses in Graves End, but no one wants her. Her last shot at a summer job is Fenkman’s Pharmacy. She doesn't want to work for him, so Parker accompanies her inside for emotional support. But the pharmacist says No. If he hires anyone, it won't be a teenager. He has spent enough time running his pharmacy to know that teenagers are always up to no good. Despite their protestations, the pharmacist insists Patti and Parker let him search their backpacks before they leave his store.

 

Thankfully, the friends have another opportunity to make money in The Graveyard Club: Fresh Blood #1. Their school is competing with South Valley in a robotics competition. The winning entry will win $5,000. Unfortunately, the local bully has a beef with them. When Billy Roy catches them working on their robot in the art classroom, he sabotages their efforts. Parker doesn't brook insults or attacks lightly. So when Mr Wesson finds them fighting, he lets Billy-Roy go but threatens Parker and his friends with suspension unless they clean up the classroom.

 

There is a reason why the art teacher doesn’t punish Billy-Roy in R.L. Stine’s story. The town bully is the son of Sheriff Ray-Ray Higgins. The sheriff is always alert for trouble and anxious to turn misdemeanors into felonies. Like Mr Fenkman, Sheriff Ray-Ray has decided that Parker, Patti, Trip, and Rhonda are always up to no good. He intends to catch them perpetuating their evil schemes.

 

Unfortunately for the inhabitants of Graves End, greater evils than teenagers threaten them. A mystery surrounds the Dockside Inn in The Graveyard Club: Fresh Blood #1. Although his grandmother begs Parker to stay away, he and Rhonda are determined to learn why their fathers never returned from the poker game five years ago.

 

Art

Parker and Patti hold hands as they walk between the historic buildings lining the street to Fenkman’s Pharmacy. While Trip smiles, Patti looks around, her muscles tight, as she prepares to enter Mr Fenkman’s shop. Although Parker is never afraid to show his emotions, Rhonda wears a perpetual frown. Her black hair, lipstick, and clothes suggest that her father's disappearance has soured her on life and links her with the bats that appear each night to menace the populace.

 

Carola Borelli's inked shadows heighten the darkness surrounding Parker and his friends in

The Graveyard Club: Fresh Blood #1. Gray surrounds Francesco Segala and Gloria Martinelli’s limited colors, suggesting the bats are symptoms of a larger malaise afflicting the town. The green pharmacy suggests Mr Fenkman’s medicines are incapable of battling the disease and links with the green poker table where Parker and Rhonda's fathers once played. Red accompanies actions and signifies threats. It glows like burning coals from a mysterious cloaked figure with a menacing, inhuman face. The colors shift in moments of intense action and drama, forming auras that warn of a dark transformation.

 

Jim Campbell scares uppercase black letters into white dialogue balloons and colored narrative boxes. The letters grow bold for intonation, swell for raised voices, and convey laughter and sobbing. While music notes soar over the best party ever, sounds rise above attacking animals and swarming bats to herald a discovery that changes Parker and Rhonda's understanding of what happened to their fathers. Thanks to Boom! Studios for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

Parker and his friends struggle for meaning in a town clinging to life. While addressing generational change and prejudice, The Graveyard Club: Fresh Blood #1 symbolizes the dangers threatening the vibrancy and future of small towns everywhere.

 

Rating 8.5/10

 

For more cover art see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.

I Heart Skull-Crusher #8 Review

 

Writer: Josie Campbell

Artist: Alessio Zonno

Colorist: Angel De Santiago

Letterer: Jim Campbell

Cover Artists: Alessio Zonno & Fell Hound

Designer: Grace Park

Editors: Kenzie Rzonca, Elizabeth Brei & Matt Gagnon

Special Thanks: Dafna Pleban

Publisher: Boom!

Price: $4.99

Release Date: March 26, 2025

 

When no teams would accept Trini, she founded Podunk Lil' Team and convinced Coach Blood-Bone to train them. Her team of wastelanders disgraced the professionals in Queen Mob's contest. While this delighted Queen Mob, it angered the Bubble City tyrants. Queen Mob isn't looking for sycophants. Nor does she want someone who kowtows to others. Even Trini’s idol caved to the system. So Queen Mob disowned her son Marcus and made things harder on Trini by splitting up the Podunk Lil' Team.

 

Trini plays on Team Skull Crusher. Marcus Mob is her captain. Queen Mob will use her new Bubble Cities Tournament to find her successor. Everything is in play, and everyone hates Trini. While Queen Mob holds Team Skull-Crusher to Trini’s No Killing vow, the other teams chomp at the bit to take advantage of triple murder points. Will her new teammates kill Trini for making their lives difficult? Can Team Skull-Crusher survive the Bubble Cities Tournament amid the fierce power struggle? Let's get our heads in the game, leap into I Heart Skull-Crusher #8, and find out!

 

Story

When Team Skull-Crusher arrives in Alaska, they get a cold reception. They don't get lavish digs. Trini's captain, Marcus Mob, blames her for losing their sponsors. She may be their star rookie and the apple of Queen Mob's eye, but the former heir wants to kill her. But then, Trini shamed him when they played on opposing teams.

 

In the wasteland once called Phoenix, Skull-Crusher threatened to kill Trini. But Trini's idol seems to warm to her in their cold barracks at Iceberg Dome. Their former sponsors liked Skull-Crusher’s teammates because they stayed out of her way and let Skull-Crusher win by murdering the opposition. This approach made her a champion but soured Skull Crusher on Screaming Pain Ball. So, in I Heart Skull-Crusher #8, Trini's idol conceives a bold new strategy. Instead of exploiting the rules, why not play the game?

 

Screaming Pain Ball may have always been a blood sport. But in Josie Campbell’s story, it has devolved into little more than deadly gladiator contests. Trini couldn't see that growing up because she adored the sport and idolized Skull-Crusher. But with the other teams studying Trini's playbook and anxious to reap the rewards for killing her, Trini and Skull-Crusher realize they must embrace the game's spirit and reject the exploitation of death and destruction it has become.

 

Art

Outside Iceberg Dome, a billboard promises spectators that the Iceberg Dome Fighters will kill Trini Wastelander. Faced with little more than barren mattresses and toilets, Marcus and her teammates surround Trini in the empty hall. Skull-Crusher breaks through the thin wall to pull Trini onto the practice court. Then, she demolishes another wall to reveal Coach Blood-Bone drinking away his problems in I Hate Skull-Crusher #8.

 

Angel De Santiago applies a series of limited palettes to Alessio Zonno’s fanciful characters, fraught action scenes, over-the-top caricatures, and silhouettes. Intensity and emotion heighten the colors while treating Trini and Skull-Crusher's cold welcome as little more than a charcoal drawing. The green and magenta bandit twins seem at home amid the purple-shaded dome, while a white seat amid purple spectators reveals Cutter Dan's absence. Attended by her penguin servants, Tyrant Tasha looks resplendent in her white parka while seated on her ice block throne. As Team Skull-Crusher enters the arena, Trini's memories of training for this bout receive mauve, orange, and brown.

 

Jim Campbell fills white dialogue balloons and colored narrative boxes with small uppercase lettering that grows bold for inflection and enlarges for volume. Tyrant Tasha speaks shaky lines of lowercase letters with increased spacing into dialogue balloons. Giant letters and music notes accompany storybook depictions of Dave The (Mutant) Bear-Man's latest exploits in I Hate Skull-Crusher #8. Sound effects enhance a training session and tournament match as deceptive holograms crackle, and the spectators shout their desire for broken bones and dead wastelanders. Thanks to Boom! Studios for providing a copy for review.

 

Final Thoughts

When Queen Mob announced her second Bubble Cities Tournament, the other tyrants objected to her bringing new blood into the sport. They could accept Skull-Crusher because the crowds adored her, and she won. However, allowing other wastelanders to join their ranks will dilute the purity of their society. As Queen Mob threatens to break the culture that uplifted her, Trini wonders who she can trust with her life in I Heart Skull Crusher #8: her former teammates or idol.

 

Rating 9/10

 

For more covers see my review at Comic Book Dispatch.