The Pancake Trap SC Review

 

The Pancake Trap SC Review

Writer: Stephanie Young

Artist: Allyson Lassiter

Color Flatter: Simon Sheckells

Letterer: Allyson Lassiter

Editors: Grace Scheipeter & Azat Sayadi

Designers: Carey Soucy & Winston Gambro

Publisher: Oni Press

Price: $14.99

Release Date: June 10, 2026

 

As a truck festooned with helium balloons pulls past Dot's Diner, a statue of the founder holding a plate of pancakes rises above the two-story building. Yet as a fire truck and other vehicles pull floats along, drones fly past an immense statue, holding a sign. Why do the drones spell doom for the historic diner? And can the current owners save their beloved business? Let’s leap into The Pancake Trap SC and see!

 

Story

Things get hectic in the kitchen as crowds fill Dot’s Diner. Maple Sanford wants everything to go smoothly on the restaurant’s final day. Then her sister Margaret spills in, distracting Rox at the griddle, and demanding Maple’s attention. Margaret wants her day as the queen of the Hayworth Day Parade to go smoothly. She waits impatiently for the Mythsonian Musuem guards to return with her photographers.

 

As the girls' mother wishes the kitchen would run more smoothly, Maple’s best friend Ozeldi Izaak arrives. She also wonders why the Mythsonian guards have left their posts. They are supposed to be guarding Margaret's crown. Then, Oz upsets Maple by damaging Dot's Recipe Journal.

 

In The Pancake Trap SC, Maple bonded with her grandmother over their mutual love of pancakes. Maple wants to save the diner because it represents their heritage. Yet Margaret wants her mother to sell the diner because she needs money to pay for college. Margaret regards Maple as crying over spilled pancake batter. The diner isn't bringing in sufficient income. Besides, everyone else in town is selling their business to Mark Shields.

 

Stephanie Young’s story follows Maple and Margaret as Oz discovers a mystery surrounding their grandmother's past. As the sisters follow clues and encounter dangers, they take a closer look at their relationship. Along the way, a flying drone also helps them find clues and assists when they encounter danger. Yet the drone is an uncomfortable reminder that the clock is ticking in The Pancake Trap SC. When the day ends, Maple and Margaret's mother will hand Dot's Diner over to the man who created the drone.

 

Art

Signs like "Farewell," "Closed," "Huge Blowout Sale," and "All Sales Final" adorn shops facing the crowds as the parade rolls past. Yellow propellers keep the gray hexagonal drones aloft while also catching people's eyes. The drones hold signs and grab items with gray hooks on their floppy green Creeper Cy-Squid limbs.

 

Photos, newspaper reports, and a ribbon convey the history of Dot's Diner and Maple's relationship with her grandmother. Maple's poofy brown hair evokes Dot in her prime, while Margaret's straight brown hair links her with her mother. Maple dresses in a T-shirt and shorts, while Margaret sparkles in a green dress, white sash, and gold crown. Then their mother bursts into the kitchen, grimacing as she carries platters and plastic bins of dirty dishes.

 

As Allyson Lassiter’s characters depart the busy diner on an unanticipated adventure, Ozeldi Izaak's zest for life inspires them. The red and blue lenses of her 3D glasses link her blue jacket and blue overalls with her red shoes. Yet the gold stars supporting a white banner above her braided hair clash with Margaret's hopes for the day.

 

As Simon Sheckells and Allyson Lassiter fill The Pancake Trap SC with colorful art, black uppercase letters fill white dialogue balloons. White letters in brown boxes ground the reader in the characters and their history. Long brown arrows point out important facts, such as Ozeldi's unlaced shoes, their sometimes-annoying dog, Rox's feelings about Margaret, and the snacks stuffed into their harried mother's apron. For the culinary inclined, each chapter ends with a recipe from Dot’s Recipe Journal. Thanks to Oni Press and Superfan Promotions for providing a review copy.

 

Final Thoughts

When Maple thinks of her grandmother, her first thoughts concern the pancakes that made her famous. Yet a notorious gangster lies in Dot's past. While his time with Dot was brief, he had a profound impact on her life. Maple may never have known him. Yet she discovers that Crispy Crueller Nelson could ensure that her grandmother's legacy continues in The Pancake Trap SC.

 

Rating 9.8/10

 

For more info, see my spotlight on The Pancake Trap SC. 

The Pancake Trap SC Spotlight

 

 

 

As a truck festooned with helium balloons pulls past Dot's Diner, a statue of the founder holding a plate of pancakes rises above the two-story building. Yet as a fire truck, and other vehicles pulling floats entertain the spectators, drones fly through the air. The assembled crowd gaze up as the drones fly before the immense statue, holding a sign. Why do the drones spell doom for the historic diner? And can the current owners save their beloved business?

Here's all the info from Oni Press: 

 

THE PANCAKE TRAP SC

WRITTEN BY STEPHANIE YOUNG ART AND COVER BY ALLYSON LASSITER   Join Maple and Margaret Sanford in The Pancake Trap as they learn that differences can be strengths, change can reveal who we truly are, and that love is thicker than batter.   Maple and Margaret Sanford might be sisters, but they couldn't be more different. Ten-year-old Maple is a pancake-obsessed griddle cook determined to save their grandma's failing restaurant, Dot's Diner. Margaret is a college-bound beauty queen who can't wait for their mom to sell the run-down restaurant.    On the last day before Dot's Diner will be sold to the town's multimillionaire mogul, the girls are thrown into a dangerous food-themed treasure hunt, looking for gold left by runaway outlaw Crispy Cruller. Joined by a trusty friend, helpful robot drone, and adorable pup, Maple and Margaret will dive deep into the twisted caves and caverns underneath their town facing one syrup-sticky flapjack trap after another. With nothing more than their grandma's cookbook clues to guide them, will the Sanford Sisters be able to put their differences aside, find the loot, and save Dot's Diner before it's too late?   From the creators of Star Beasts, Stephanie Young and Allyson Lassiter's newest adventure is stacked full of fun foodie hijinks and features ten pancake recipes to make at home.   $14.99 | 232 PGS. | FULL COLOR | ON SALE JUNE 10, 2026     Thanks to Oni Press for sharing this story with us.

 

Mathieu Bablet's Silent Jenny Kickstarter

 

 

Like people and relationships, our planet undergoes changes. The world that we remember is not the one we live on today or will inhabit tomorrow. How will our lives change as global warming continues and Human society evolves? And while embracing the new things that come our way, what will we have to bid farewell to?

Here's all the info from Magnetic and Oni Press:

 

Magnetic and Oni Press Unleash First U.S. Edition of International Comics Luminary Mathieu Bablet’s SILENT JENNY - Now on Kickstarter! 

A Harrowing Exploration of Humanity’s Survival in the Face of the Climate Crisis

 

 

A MASTERCLASS IN WORLD-BUILDING AND A BREATHTAKING VISION OF THE FUTURE FROM AN INTERNATIONAL SUPERSTAR! Oni Press and Magnetic Press – the Eisner Award-winning publisher celebrating prestige graphic novels from around the globe since 2013 – are proud to announce the Kickstarter campaign for SILENT JENNY, by internationally acclaimed comic author Mathieu Bablet (Shangri La, Carbon & Silicon). Fans can support the Kickstarter campaign now. 

SILENT JENNY explores a not-too-distant future, where climate change continues to ravage the planet, and the disappearance of insects has led to the end of pollination, rendering vast areas of land infertile. A survival dynamic has emerged—mobile cities called "monads" have formed, and people strive to help each other; each group with its own customs, traditions, and ways of life.

Jenny is a rather solitary researcher trying to restore the world as it once was. She seeks to recover bee DNA to clone and re-create pollinating insects. However, she will come to realize that this is impossible—the old world no longer exists, and a new one must be built. She will have to make peace with the notion that all things come to an end, no matter how much you may fight the inevitable..

"I'm thrilled that after Shangri-La and Carbon & Silicon, the American public will finally discover the end of my science fiction trilogy!” Says Mathieu Bablet. “I hope you enjoy this plunge into the underworld, exploring the wastelands, and traveling aboard the monads!"

“SILENT JENNY asks, ‘What remains of our humanity when our tools are gone?’ Through a blend of desert punk aesthetics and dystopic nightmare, the story is about environmental reclamation and the search for meaning in a world that has moved on from us,” Says Magnetic Press’ Director of Publishing, Mike Kennedy. “The book explores how we communicate through action, gesture, and presence — and how meaning survives even when language fails. Like Mathieu’s previous books Shangri-La and Carbon & Silicon, this book packs a powerful punch that really makes you think about where we, as a species, might be heading. If you loved the atmospheric mystery of The Arrival, the haunting wastelands of Nausicaä, or the architectural grandeur of Moebius, SILENT JENNY belongs on your shelf.”

Known for his intricate art and his imaginative world-building, artist and co-director of the renowned Label 619 studio Mathieu Bablet is one of the most thoughtful sci-fi creators working today. In CARBON & SILICON, he explores 300 years of humanity’s collapse from the perspective of two melancholy androids who witnessed the many changes that brought mankind to its knees. In SHIN ZERO, Bablet takes on the modern gig economy in a thrilling, humorous love letter to Kaiju and Super-sentai stories. SHANGRI-LA is a millennia-spanning epic of space exploration, evolution, and what it means to be human. And now the prolific creator is setting his sights on a more grounded tale of science, climate change, and corporate greed in SILENT JENNY. 

Here’s what people are saying about Mathieu Bablet

"Bablet is a master of scale. He captures the crushing weight of dystopia while finding the microscopic beauty in its cracks." — Le Monde

"One of the most significant voices in modern European comics. His world-building is second to none." — Comics Beat

“A visionary talent redefining the graphic novel.” — BD Gest’

“Bablet’s worlds feel lived‑in, mournful, and breathtakingly human.” — ActuaBD

“A master of atmosphere and scale.” — ComicsBlog

 

 

Now, let's take a look inside:

 

 

 

 

 

 Here are more images from the Kickstarter campaign:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In addition to the deluxe hardcover edition of SILENT JENNY, the Kickstarter campaign features a limited boxed edition and an exclusive 24-page 6x9 CODEX ART BOOK, featuring a look at the world of SILENT JENNY. Fans can support Mathieu Bablet’s SILENT JENNY on Kickstarter now.

For more updates on Magnetic Press, visit them on X, Bluesky,  Facebook, and Instagram

 

Thanks to Magnetic Press, Oni Press, and Superfan Promotions for sharing their Kickstarter campaign with us. 

Estuary: A Ghost Story #1 Cover Preview

 

COVER A BY MAAN HOUSE

When rich trendsetters head to Monterey, they converge at Arbues Point. The mission located there is 250 years old, and the chapel is one of the oldest buildings standing. Yet while playing tour guide to their affluent guests, the sisters are surprised to find an outsider kneeling at an altar. Why has Maris Cristobal traveled to the mission? And why does a mysterious woman still haunt this lonely stretch of the Northern California coast? 

Here's all the info from Oni Press:

 

ESTUARY: A GHOST STORY #1 (OF 4)

WRITTEN BY TIM DANIEL & D.B. ANDRY ART BY MAAN HOUSE COVER A BY MAAN HOUSE COVER B BY VANESA R. DEL REY COVER C BY TIM DANIEL FULL ART VARIANT (1:10) BY VANESA R. DEL REY B&W VARIANT (1:20) BY MAAN HOUSE OUT OF THE BLOODSTAINED PAST OF OLD CALIFORNIA . . . A DIFFERENT KIND OF DEVIL IS RISING WITH THE TIDE! From rising stars Tim Daniel & David “D.B.” Andry (Crush Depth, Morning Star) and modern horror virtuoso Maan House (Mine is a Long Lonesome Grave) comes a chilling tale of secrets buried deep beneath the surf of the idyllic California coast . . .  Atop a rocky cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean sits the Mission at Arbués Point, a 400-year-old Spanish mission made infamous as one of California’s oldest and most haunted historical sites. But beneath its crumbling, tourist-trap facade, a reclusive nun has spent decades within the Mission’s walls, honing her prayers and practice in pursuit of a secret long-buried beneath the majesty of the chapel, and under the dark waves of the tidal estuary below. When marine archaeologist Maris Cristobal accepts the nun’s offer to begun excavating a fabled shipwreck lying in wait beneath the Mission’s turbulent waters, she’ll soon discover that the sins of past and present are about to wash together into a harrowing surge of a vengeance that can no longer be contained . . . $4.99 | 32 PGS. | FULL COLOR | ON SALE APRIL 8, 2026

 

Here are more cover options:

 

COVER B BY VANESA R. DEL REY

 

  

COVER C BY TIM DANIEL

FULL ART VARIANT (1:10) BY VANESA R. DEL REY

B&W VARIANT (1:20) BY MAAN HOUSE

Thanks to Oni Press and Superfan Promotions for sharing this cover preview with us.

Spirit of the Shadows #3 Review

 

Spirit of the Shadows #3 Review

Writers: Daniel Ziegler & Nick Cagnetti

Artist & Colorist: Nick Cagnetti

Letterer: Ferran Delgado

Designer: Winston Gambro

Editor: Karl Bollers

Cover Artists: Nick Cagnetti & Grey Williamson

Publisher: Oni Press

Price: $4.99

Release Date: March 25, 2026

 

Helena Hextress blames Erik Leroux for her sister's death. But by the time she finds Dr. Hyde Perkins, Erik has slipped through her grasp. The "Spirit of the Shadows" has died, and the Clerical has taken Erik to the Spirit Realm.

 

After a beast tears apart the book of his life, Erik has a brief window of time to reassemble it. But even if Erik can bring the book to the Hall of Judgment and convince the Realmkeepers that he deserves to reunite with his beloved Katrina in the Sacred Realm, Helena Hextress is determined to stop that. Why does Helena hate Erik? And is her sister Elizabeth, slowly turning into a beast in the Spirit Realm, truly beyond saving? Let's leap into Spirit of the Shadows #3 and see!

 

Story

When he found Elizabeth in peril, Erik rescued her. Then, she helped him collect his scattered pages. But Helena's magic interrupts their search when she resurrects Erik. As she gives the disoriented Spirit a truth potion, Erik tries to answer her questions. But just as his memories of life faded after he died, Erik's memories of his search through the Spirit Realm slip away before he can share them with Helena.

 

In Spirit of the Shadows #3, Helena grows frustrated. She yearns for the satisfaction of revenge. Yet the circumstances surrounding Elizabeth's death are complicated. Still, what Erik can tell her arrests her attention. It seems that Dr. Hyde Perkins was far more than he seemed. So Helena Hextress flies off to investigate the relationship between the disgraced doctor and the dead musician.

 

While Daniel Ziegler & Nick Cagnetti follow Helena's search for the truth, they also follow Elizabeth's search for Erik's scattered pages. Erik Leroux, Dr. Hyde Perkins, and Helena Hextress may be more complicated than they seem. Yet Elizabeth seems as loving and pure as Erik's beloved Katrina. Like Erik, a beast tore apart her book before Elizabeth could read it. While Helena seeks someone to punish for her sister's death, Elizabeth risks her future in the Spirit Realm to protect Erik from degenerating into a beast. But what she discovers on those pages may change her mind in Spirit of the Shadows #3.

 

Art

Nick Cagnetti splits a panel to reveal Helena's cottage and her conversation with Erik inside. As steam rises from the glass she hands him, Erik pulls his mask up to expose his lips. When he sits beside Helena and recalls a memory, a corpse with a wound in the back sprawls before the bench. Yet in the Spirit Realm, Elizabeth climbs a tree stretching over a river. Risking her existence, she hooks her legs around the limb, hanging down to reach pages caught on rocks amid the raging waters.

 

While Helena's red hair finds echoes in her attire, Erik's skin is green like his outfit. Nick Cagnetti lavishes a palette of bright colors on Spirit of the Shadows #3, making the Spirit Realm glow with fluorescent hues. As Elizabeth climbs a purple and pink tree, her green and yellow dress links her with Erik, her blonde hair evokes Katrina, while her red claw links her with her sister.

 

Black uppercase letters inhabit white dialogue balloons and colored narrative boxes. The letters grow bold for intonation, and swell for raised voices. Strong emotion or heightened volume deforms dialogue balloons, while blue letters in blue balloons signal an unexpected change. Sound effects heighten magical spells and scientific experiments, as a muffled noise in a cloudlike balloon foretells tragedy. Thanks to Oni Press and Superfan Promotions for providing a review copy.

 

Final Thoughts

“Death cannot stop true love,” Westley told Buttercup. “All it can do is delay it for a while.” In life, Erik and Katrina wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of their lives together. But one's actions after death threaten to divert the course of true love in Spirit of the Shadows #3.

 

Rating 9.8/10

 

For how this series began, see my review of Spirit of the Shadows #1. 

Spirit of the Shadows #3 Cover Preview

 

Helena Hextress blames Erik Leroux for her sister's death. But by the time she finds Dr Hyde Perkins, Erik has slipped through her grasp. The "Spirit of the Shadows" has died, and the Clerical has taken Erik to the Spirit Realm. 

After a beast tears apart the book of his life, Erik has a brief window of time to reassemble it. But even if Erik can bring the book to the Hall of Judgment, and convince the Realmkeepers that he deserves to reunite with his beloved Katrina in the Sacred Realm, Helena Hextress is determined to stop that. Why does the witch hate Erik? And is her sister Elizabeth, slowly turning into a beast in the Spirit Realm, truly beyond saving?

Here's all the info from Oni Press:

 

SPIRIT OF THE SHADOWS #3 (OF 5)

WRITTEN BY NICK CAGNETTI, DANIEL ZIEGLER ART BY NICK CAGNETTI COVER A BY NICK CAGNETTI COVER B BY GREY WILLIAMSON FULL ART VARIANT (1:10) BY NICK CAGNETTI Outrageously otherworldly creators Nick Cagnetti (Pink Lemonade) and Daniel Ziegler (Elodi) continue the superhero horror sensation of 2026 with a brand-new chapter that raises the stakes—and raises the dead! Erik Leroux has been plucked from the spirit world and thrust back into the land of the living. Haunted by memories of his death and the strange forces that led to his untimely ending, Erik now finds himself at the mercy of the vengeful witch Helena. But what dark thread ties their fates together? $4.99 | 32 PGS. | FULL COLOR | ON SALE MARCH 25, 2026

 

Here are more cover options:

 

COVER B BY GREY WILLIAMSON

 

 

FULL ART VARIANT (1:10) BY NICK CAGNETTI

 

Thanks to Oni Press and Superfan Promotions for sharing this cover preview with us.

 

 

Skullkickers Compact Attack Edition Vol 2 SC Spotlight

 

 

"Shorty" and "Baldy" make friends wherever they go. Usually, their antics prompt friends to band together and attack them. They've been hired as investigators and branded as murderers on their travels. Now, as a ship crosses the sea, the duo sneak aboard, and seek a quite place of safety. How will the crew react when they discover the stowaways? And will the mis-adventurers get keelhauled, me hearties? 

Here's all the info from Oni Press:

 

SKULLKICKERS COMPACT ATTACK EDITION VOL. 2 SC

WRITTEN BY JIM ZUB ART & COVER BY EDWIN HUANG If you love swords, sassery, and a touch of black-hearted violence, then Skullkickers is the book for you! A trio of hard-headed mercenaries kill monsters and cause havoc in their endless search for money, fame, and adventure, from the lauded and ludicrous team of Jim Zub (Dungeons & Dragons, Conan the Barbarian) and Edwin Huang (Street Fighter), now in a book-friendly format perfect for new readers! Skullkickers: Compact Attack Edition Volume 2 collects issues #12–23 of glorious, skull-kicking action! $17.99 | 304 PGS. | FC | ON SALE MARCH 18, 2026

 

Thanks to Oni Press and Superfan Promotions for sharing this spotlight with us. 

Frankie and the Curious Cocoon Quest HC Review

 

Writer, Artist, Colorist, Letterer & Cover Artist: Caitlin Rose Boyle

Publisher: Oni Press

Price: $12.99

Release Date: March 11, 2026

 

When Frankie Fairy returns home, she calls out to her mom as she flops down to rest. As Frankie takes off her shoes, her mom asks how her day at school went. When she enthuses about making crafts, her mom promises to look at her latest masterpiece. But first, she asks her daughter to walk Tuna.

 

Frankie calls out for her pet. But she can't find her anywhere. Where has Tuna gone? And can Frankie find her? Let’s grab our art supplies, leap into Frankie and the Curious Cocoon Quest HC, and see!

 

Story

Frankie looks in all the places she would expect to find her pet. The pet bed on the lower shelf of the coffee table is empty. Frankie peers among the stems of a potted plant. Tuna isn’t sleeping on a stack of towels in the closet, or nuzzling into the fibers of the bathroom rug. When she approaches her mom, Frankie explains that she's looked everywhere in the house she would expect to find Tuna. When her mother gazes through the window, she wonders if Tuna might have ventured outside. Despite Frankie's reluctance, she accompanies her mother outdoors.

 

After inviting readers into Frankie’s world, Caitlin Rose Boyle gives Frankie’s mother the reins of her story. Initially, Frankie felt in control of her world in Frankie and the Curious Cocoon Quest HC. But outside, her mother becomes Frankie’s guide. Frankie resists her mother’s notion that Tuna may be changing. But as her mom shows her how change occurs in the world, Frankie grows more comfortable with the notion that growth involves adapting to the changes that life brings our way.

 

Art

Frankie's pointed ears poke out of her bouffant hair as she regards the world through big, expressive eyes. Her love of animals shows in her backpack, stuffed toys, and bedroom clock. Key rings, a fridge magnet, and her mom's sweater show where Frankie gets her love of nature from. Photos of her mother and Frankie adorn every room. And like Frankie, her mother lavishes her attention on a spiral-bound notebook adorned with numerous colored tabs.

 

Caitlin Rose Boyle fills Frankie and the Curious Cocoon Quest HC with a palette of bright and inviting colors. Frankie's blue hair turns red as the yellow and orange cocoons in the tree outside incite her fear of change. Yellow and orange also link the mother and daughter's clothes with their love of art and learning. Faces of Frankie and her mother, surrounded by orange, evoke stickers in Frankie's journal, as a Ladybug's life cycle illustrates their discussion.

 

While Frankie and the Curious Cocoon Quest HC is a children's book, Caitlin Rose Boyle designs her tale like a comic. Black uppercase dialogue fills white balloons. The lettering and balloon shapes express the character's emotions, while music notes illustrate the family's love of music. Sound effects accompany Frankie and her mother as they explore the world around their home, while letters on the colored panels reveal Frankie’s thoughts and anxiety about her missing pet. Thanks to Oni Press and Superfan Promotions for providing a review copy.

 

Final Thoughts

When Frankie arrives home, the art she created at school hints at her teacher's lessons. Frankie's mother translates the teacher's ideas into concrete terms and helps her daughter embrace the consequences of change in Frankie and the Curious Cocoon Quest HC.

 

Rating 9.5/10