The Owl #1
Written by J. T. Krul
Illustrated by Heubert Kahn Michael
Lettered by Simon Bowland
Colored by Vinicius Andrade
Cover by Alex Ross
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: July 3, 2013
Cover Price: $3.99

The Owl #1 is the latest entry in Dynamite Entertainment’s pulp heroes line, which has been pretty successful, both critically and financially. Does The Owl measure up to the rest of the books in the line? Let’s take a look..

J. T. Krul gives us a different take on the pulp heroes with this book. It’s got a heavy Captain America vibe, and normally that kind of thing would bother me, but here it doesn’t because it fits both the book and the character so well. Krul avoids all the “poor me” traps that normally would fall under a time displaces hero, and instead, let’s the hero have fun and be aggressive in this “brand new world” that he’s been flung into. He allows The Owl to have some fun here, and while there is some regret about his part, it’s pretty few and far between and doesn’t weigh down the book at all.

The Bionic Woman #10
Written by Paul Tobin
Art by Juan Antonio Ramirez
Colors by Inlight Studios
Letters by Simon Bowland
Cover by Erik Jones
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: July 3, 2013
Cover Price: $3.99

Sadly, The Bionic Woman #10 is the last issue of this highly underrated series. Although it was plagued by many things like lateness and low readership, quality storytelling surely wasn’t the problem.

Writer Paul Tobin ends this series the same way he started it – with some good action, page-turning suspense, and a thrilling story. It’s Jamie and the Fembots versus Russia in this issue, and by the looks of these things, Russia’s chances aren’t looking too great. Once again, Tobin has taken the regular, expected story and flipped it on its ear. There’s some really great hold your breath moments in this issue, as well as some great action and a definite ending to the Fembots storyline. The book also ends with a wink and a nod, just like comic books used to end, but it never goes over the top corny either.

Red Sonja #78
Story by Brandon Jerwa
Pencils by Sergio Fernandez Davila
Letters by Simon Bowland
Covers by Lucio Parillo
Edited by Joseph Rybandt
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: July 3, 2013
Cover Price: $3.99

Red Sonja #78 starts, just how I like my comics to start. In the thick of things and with enough action to fill TWO blockbuster summer action movies!!

Brandon Jerwa continues this five part story line with a middle chapter that is chock full of story and action, and some pretty epic twists and turns. As this issue begins, we’re in the thick of battle between Sonja and her crew are battling the forces of the oncoming Lord Dracula. That’s right, kids. DRACULA. Yes, that one. Now, these two have battled before but never like this. This is a full out all hands on deck throw down between Sonja and Dracula. And it’s EPIC. This is one of the best issues of Red Sonja that I’ve read in a long time, and that’s saying something because I’ve certainly read my fair share of them. Some great story telling by Jerwa, here.

Transformers: Monstrosity #1
Written by Chris Metzen & Flint Dille
Art by Livio Ramondelli
Letters by Tom B. Long
Edited by John Barber
IDW Publishing
Release Date: June 19, 2013
Cover Price: $3.99

Transformers: Monstrosity #1 is the first issue in the definitive origin of the Transformers. And I mean that in every way possible. You can’t go back much further than this in the history of Cybertron.

Writers Chris Metzen and Flint Dille dive DEEP into the past of the Autobots and the Decepticons. Going back to when Optimus Prime was just a security guard and him and Megatron where fighting side by side. Not only do we get an origin story for the two most popular Transformers, we see a lot of familiar faces in VERY different roles, An intelligent Grimlock? Yes, please! What I was impressed by in this first issue is that even though the characters are far removed from what they’ll eventually become, they’re all still the same characters that we know and love. Starscream is still a lying, manipulative bad guy. Prime is a leader at heart. And Bumblebee is still too courageous for his own good. Metzen and Dille have set things up in a way, that, even though we know what’s going to happen, we have no idea HOW they’re going to get there. Plenty of fun surprises in this issue.

Conan the Barbarian #17
Written by Brian Wood
Art by Davide Gianfelice
Colors by Dave Stewart
Letters by Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Cover by Massimo Carnevale
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: June 19, 2013
Cover Price: $3.50

Conan the Barbarian #17 is further proof why it’s one of the 5 books that I wait for every month. There’s only a handful of books that, month in and out, I set my calendar by. This is one of them, and if you’re reading it, I’m sure it’s one of yours too.

In Part 2 of “The Nightmare of the Shallows” writer Brian Wood takes Conan and Belit on the strangest trip that they’ve ever been on. A head trip. It seems last issue, the two young lovers got into some yellow lotus that they maybe shouldn’t have and now they’re both seeing things that, to put it mildly, aren’t exactly there. But, it’s quite a ride for both them AND the audience. Wood has kept these two characters together a lot longer than I’ve thought he would. After all, Conan isn’t known for his lasting relationships. But one of the great loves of his life was Belit, it was always maintained that they spent part of their lives together, but it was never revealed how long and what exactly happened during their time together. Wood has solved that problem, and it’s more entertaining than I couldn’t ever imagined.