Comic Review: Star Wars: Shattered Empire #1

• Writer: Greg Rucka
• Artist: Marco Checchetto
• Colors: Andres Mossa
• Letterer: Joe Caramagna
• Publisher: Marvel Comics

In the new Star Wars universe, this is the first of the comics to cover ground after Return of the Jedi. In fact, it starts almost immediately after that, starting to move the story forward in the immediate aftermath of the battle of Endor, but despite finally moving things forward, there are a few issues with how it handles moving the story forward.

Comic Review: The Shrinking Man #1

This was originally posted as a review for Word of the Nerd. Reposted here with slight modifications.

• Adaptation: Ted Adams
• Art and Design: Mark Torres
• Colors: Tomi Varga
• Letters: Robbie Robbins
• Publisher: IDW Publishing

Shrinking Man #1 is the first issue in IDW's adaptation of the Richard Matheson novel, which even if you haven't read it, you likely know from reputation. True to its name, it follows a man who is shrinking a little bit every single day, and despite their best efforts, scientists have no idea why it's happening or what they can do about it.

Comic Review: Transformers: Combiner Hunters One-Shot

This was originally posted as a review for Word of the Nerd. Reposted here with slight modifications.

• Written by: Mairghread Scott
• Art by: Sara Pitre-Durocher
• Colors by: Yamaishi
• Letters by: Tom B. Long
• Editor: John Barber
• Publisher: IDW Publishing

Transformers: Combiner Hunters One-Shot starts off with an idea that I can really get behind. There is the possibility of combining some Transformers together to create a much larger one, and while that is happening, there are other Transformers hunting them down. As a high concept premise goes, it's pretty good. Also, despite this being a one-shot, it's not surprising that this is part of the Transformers comic universe; IDW has built a strong universe with those comics, and one of the strengths of a shared universe is the opportunities to tell a small story within that universe.

Comic Review: Valhalla Mad #3

This was originally posted as a review for Word of the Nerd. Reposted here with slight modifications.

• Writing: Joe Casey
• Art and colors: Paul Maybury
• Letters: Rus Wooton
• Design: Sonia Harris
• Flats: Chuck Knigge
• Publisher: Image Comics

This is an odd comic series that I'm really not sure what to think about. When I read and reviewed the first issue of the series on my own site, I was in the same spot, but three issues later, I'm still not sure what to think about it. When I first picked up Valhalla Mad, I recognized the writer and artist from Catalyst Comix, a series that I loved despite barely knowing what it was half the time. I'm still trying to work out what I think about this series, but for some reason, I'm compelled to keep reading.

Comic Review: Transformers: Robots in Disguise #1

This was originally posted as a review for Word of the Nerd. Reposted here with slight modifications.

• Writer: Georgia Ball
• Artist: Priscilla Tramontano
• Letterer: Tom B. Long
• Cover: Priscilla Tramontano
• Alternate cover: Travis Sengaus and Josh Burcham
• Publisher: IDW Publishing

I've never been a Transformers fan, mostly because I was born about 10 years too late for it to be a large part of my early life. In fact, all I've seen are the Michael Bay movies, but those are another discussion for another time. I do know a lot of it by osmosis, and with the launch of a new ongoing series based on a cartoon series, this issue of Transformers: Robots in Disguise (not to be confused with the previous series of the same name) felt like a place I could jump in and just have some fun with the series.

Comic Review: Poseidon IX #1

• Writer: Tini Howard
• Artist: Phillip Sevy
• Colorist: Jeremy Colwell
• Letterer: Troy Peteri
• Publisher: Image Comics

At risk of spoiling my opinion, I am just confused by this comic. I know that Poseidon IX is somehow connected to the Aphrodite IX series, which I am vaguely familiar with buy haven't really read myself. Without that knowledge, this book left me more confused than anything else, and does not make sense as a jumping on point for the rest of the series. From my perspective, little about it really makes sense. 

Comic Review: Plutona #1

• Story by Jeff Lemire and Emi Lenox
• Script by Jeff Lemire
• Art by Emi Lenox
• Colors by Jordie Bellaire
• Letters by Steve Wands
• Published by Image Comics

Plutona is being sold as a comic about superheroes, but it's really only about it using a wide definition of the term. There are superheroes in the world, and they interact with the story, but they're not the main thing that it's about. In the end, none of that really matters, as it's in the areas other than basic premise that this story sticks out.