Hype
Written by Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray
Art by Javier Pina
Colors by Alessia Nocera
Letters by Bill Tortolini
Cover by Amanda Conner & Paul Mounts
Special cover by Dave Johnson
PaperFilms &
Adaptive Studios
Release Date: January 24th, 2017
Cover Price: $12.99

Scientist Amanda Marr is kidnapped and threatened by the military to understand and humanize their best weapon… HYPE. A superhuman who can only be conscious for 45 minutes per day, Amanda must teach HYPE aka Noah how to be still and feel and learn. His powers are amazing, overwhelming to him. He is so hyperaware, he can hear a fly buzzing in a car in a parking lot below.

Such is the story of Hype, a crowdfunded 65-page full-color graphic novel by Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray that’s now been released to the public.

Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files: Wild Card #4
Written by Jim Butcher and Mark Powers
Art by Carlos Gomez and Sean Izaakse
Colors by Mohan
Letters by Bill Tortolini
Cover by Carlos Gomez and Mohan
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: July 13, 2016
Cover Price: $3.99

Before I even begin this review, where the hell is the new Dresden Files book, Jim? Enough with all this waiting crap! Okay, with that out of the way, let me just say how nice it is to have the comics to tide us over until each new book is released. All new, original stories in comic form? Take my money! Wonder why I’m so thrilled about it? Keep on reading and I’ll be happy to inform you why I am so excited for Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files: Wild Card #4!

Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files: Down Town
Written by Jim Butcher & Mark Powers
Pencils by Carlos Gomez
Colors by Mohan
Letters by Bill Tortolini
Cover by Stjepan Sejic
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: October 15, 2015
Cover Price: $24.99

I’m a huge fan of The Dresden Files. If you know me at all, you know this already. So it comes as no surprise to anyone involved that I never hesitate to review anything even remotely related to the series. Jim Butcher’s The Dresden Files: Down Town is a brand new story and takes place between the novels White Knight and Small Favor.

Harry Dresden is not just a private detective, he’s also Chicago’s only professional wizard. So when the local police call him in, it’s going to be something supernatural, you can bet money on it. Sergeant Karrin Murphy is usually the one asking him to consult on cases, since she’s the one that historically gets the weirder assignments. This particular case is no different, murder and mayhem abound and it’s painfully obvious from the get go.

The Dresden Files: War Cry #3
Written by Jim Butcher and Mark Powers
Art by Carlos Gomez
Colors by Mohan
Letters by Bill Tortolini
Cover by Stjepan Sejic
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: August 6, 2014
Cover Price: $3.99

How do you take what is arguably the best urban fantasy book series ever written and make it better? Well, you create a comic series to help tell some of the other stories that didn’t make it into the books, that’s how! The Dresden Files: War Cry #3 marks the center of this story which takes place directly after the novel Dead Beat. And as usual, Harry Dresden is in a pickle, only this time he’s not completely to blame.

in the first two issues we see Harry and his three proteges en route to defend a group of scholars in the Midwest. Arriving on the scene a little late, they are almost immediately set upon by Red Court vampires. Hundreds of them, as a matter of fact. Harry being Harry, he notices that the scholars, the White Council’s Venatori Umbrorum allies, are adamant in their refusal to retreat. Upon searching the building, they discover why: there is a Shoggoth in the cellar. The supernatural equivalent of nuclear armament, this creature exists to feed and destroy and is outlawed on pain of death. And that’s where this issue picks up, with Harry changing his game plan just a tad.

Forager
Written by Justin Gray and Jimmy Palmiotti
Illustrated by Steven Cummings
Colored by Challenging Studios
Lettered by Bill Tortolini
Cover by Darwin Cooke
PaperFilms
Release Date: January 2014
Cover Price: $6.99 (Digital)

Humans are a curious species. We continually look to the stars and wonder what else might be out there. In Forager, a broken family not only ponders this concept, but is thrust into a situation that forces them to discover the answer. From Jimmy Palmiotti‘s production company, PaperFilms, comes an extraordinary graphic novel that delves into the heart of human nature and our longing for change and knowledge.

When a young, troubled married couple take their six year-old daughter, Ellie, on an outer-space cruise ship in hopes of working on their relationship as a family, Ellie begins to hear peculiar “singing” within her head. As a massive alien spacecraft — the first new race that humanity has ever encountered — hovers above the cruise ship, all on board soon realize that Ellie has become the vessel for the aliens to speak through. The events that proceed span almost a millennium as a handpicked crew of Earth’s finest travel galaxies in search of a viable new habitat.