Buffy The Vampire Slayer #1
Written by Jordie Bellaire
Art by Dan Mora
Colors by Raúl Angulo
Letters by Ed Dukeshire
Covers by Matthew Taylor, Kevin Wada, Royal Dunlap, Becca Carey, Jen Bartel, Miguel Mercado, Kaiti Infante
Boom! Studios
Release Date: January 23, 2019
Cover Price: $3.99

It seems only fitting that I should make this comic my first review of 2019. I have been absent due to a new job that was far more than I could have anticipated but I wanted to make my comeback this week and start writing again. To that point, Buffy the Vampire Slayer #1 is the perfect vehicle for this as it is also a reboot of epic proportions!

I haven’t written anything about Buffy Summers since 2011, so I would definitely say it is about time. So without any further jabbering on my part, let me get to it!

Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor #0
Single Issue | Digital
Writer: Richard Dinnick
Artists: Mariano Laclaustra, Georgia Sposito, Ariana Florean, Claudia Ianniciello, Iolanda Zanfardino, Neil Edwards, Pasquale Qualano, Rachael Stott
Inker: Fer Centurion
Colorists: Color-Ice, Carlos Cabrera, Adele Matera, Dijjo Lima, Enrica Eren Angiolini
Letterers: Comicraft’s Sarah Jacobs, John Roshell
Titan Comics
Release Date: September 26, 2018

Beginnings, they are such tenuous times. Except on Doctor Who, where nearly every beginning is also an ending. In less than two weeks, the Doctor returns to our television screens with a new face: Jodie Whittaker. To celebrate a moment that’s only happened a dozen times in the last 55 years, Titan Comics assembled Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor #0 with an intriguing premise.

Petals
Written and Illustrated by Gustavo Borges
Colors by Cris Peter
KaBOOM!, An Imprint of BOOM! Studios
Release Date: September 25, 2018
Cover Price: $16.99

Comics are an amazing media form, folks. And while usually they create a story through a blending of words and art, this is not always the case. In fact, Petals is a prime example of masterful storytelling through art alone.

The emotion that is conveyed through sequential art is both deep and heartfelt. It reminds me of silent films and how they had to take such pains to ensure the audience was hooked in, though this is decidedly more difficult due to the lack of motion to accentuate the feelings of the characters.

Black Badge #1
Writer: Matt Kindt
Illustrator: Tyler Jenkins
Colorist: Hilary Jenkins
Letterer: Jim Campbell
BOOM! Studios
Cover Price: $3.99
Release date: August 8th, 2018

When I was growing up, being a Boy Scout was pretty fun. I enjoyed the camping, the fishing, the marshmallows, learning things that I didn’t learn in my regular classes. Sadly, I never advanced far enough in scouts to be recruited into the wing of the BSA that trained young men to become black ops field agents. That actually may not be such a bad thing.

Black Badge #1 is a fairly standard first issue in that it sets up the basic premise of four Boy Scouts going into the woods in North Korea and then everything goes kooky. In all honesty, there’s not that much that happens in this issue beyond setting up the premise and setting up the cast and getting us to ask a few questions, which is fine. Writer Matt Kindt knows how to set up first issues for these types of series, and he works well at establishing all the elements you need to hook you into the series.

Judas
Paperback | Kindle
Created and written by Jeff Loveness
Art and cover by Jakub Rebelka
Letters by Colin Bell
BOOM! Studios
Release Date: September 4, 2018

I recently had the pleasure of reading the new graphic novel Judas. I was curious what sort of spin this comic would take, but was astounded when I actually did get to read it in its entirety. Thought-provoking, emotional, complicated. Those are probably the most apt words I could use to describe this release. Curious? Well then, read on, friends!