Conan/Red Sonja #4
Written by Gail Simone & Jim Zub
Pencils by Randy Green
Inks by Rick Ketcham
Colors by Dave Stewart
Letters by Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Cover art by Dan Panosian
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: April 29, 2015
Cover Price: $3.99

Conan/Red Sonja #4 is the perfect ending to what, in my opinion, was the perfect example of a inter-company crossover. For the past three issues, two of fantasy’s most popular characters have fought, loved, and been comrades in arms. Now, with the fate of the entire universe at stake, can even they protect it?

Writers Gail Simone and Jim Zub continue their excellent tale of Conan and Red Sonja. What I’ve loved most about this series, and this issue in particular, is that it was more of a team-up than a crossover, and that both characters get equal billing and “page-time.” Each has their share of story to carry and each has their own weight to pull when it comes to the overall adventure. This issue is a fitting end to the series. I won’t spoil the ending, but it’s perfect.

Conan Red/Sonja #3
Written by Gail Simone & Jim Zub
Pencils by Randy Green
Inks by Rick Ketcham
Letters by Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Colors by Dave Stewart
Cover art by Dan Panosian
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: March 25, 2015
Cover Price: $3.99

Conan/Red Sonja #3 takes a big swerve from the first two issues of this series, and it’s a total surprise for the reader. We’re used to the past two issues that skipped around during different times of the lives of Conan and Red Sonja, and it was great and fun, but now that the narrative has changed, is it still good? Let me tell you what I think…

Conan/Red Sonja #2
Written by Gail Simone & Jim Zub
Art by Dan Panosian
Colors by Dave Stewart
Letters by Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Cover art by Dan Panosian
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: February 11, 2015
Cover Price: $3.99
Kindle Edition: $3.19

Conan/Red Sonja #2 is the second installment in this way too long in the making crossover. We get a follow-up on the first issue’s first meeting between the two most recognizable characters in the fantasy comics genre, but in many ways, it’s also a first issue. Confused? Let me straighten things out for you.

The Witcher #1
Script by Paul Tobin
Art by Joe Querio
Colors by Carlos Badilla
Letters by Nate Piekos of Blambot
Cover by Dave Johnson and Dan Panosian
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: March 19, 2014
Cover Price: $3.99

Welcome, my friends, to the dark and deadly world of Geralt. Known as a Witcher, he hunts and kills monsters as a profession. Based on the highly successful stories by Andrzej Sapkowski, The Witcher #1 is the first in a five-part mini-series from Dark Horse Comics. There are even a series of video games, a movie, and a television series in this franchise, but we are here to talk about the new comic series so let me get back on track.

Our story opens with a lone huntsman, Jakob, fishing for his dinner when Geralt rides into his camp. Making a bit of small talk and sharing food and drink, the hunter is startled when the Witcher jumps into the river and slays a monster with ease. Settling in for the night, Jakob tells Geralt the story of how he “sort of” became a widower. It seems Jakob and his wife Marta were traveling when they were attacked by a marauding band of evil creatures. And while his wife was taken from him, she never quite left him. Sometimes sensing her near, he has no fear. Though he is definitely haunted by the loss of his wife for whom he cares so much.

Grindhouse: Doors Open At Midnight #6
Written by Alex de Campi
Art by Federica Manfredi
Colors by Federica Manfredi
Cover by Dan Panosian
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: March 5, 2014
Cover Price: $3.99

Years ago, taking a comic book with you out in public was a sure-fire way to invite criticism and shame from a fairly large percentage of average adults. Sure, if you’re a kid or early teen it was fine, but should you try to do it as someone in their early 20s or, Odin forbid, your middle 30s”¦ it was like you were somehow dropping a deuce in the Wheaties of the great literary minds. Surely Poe or Hemingway themselves would show up, throw a bag over your head, toss you in the back of a van, and torture you for enjoying something other than one of “the great works” (which BTW I’m pretty sure actually happened one time in Key West).

Those days, thankfully, are gone. Yesterday I decided to venture out into the world and bring along a few issues so that I could enjoy them while drinking a large cup of coffee. Not a frapathingy or a mochawhatsit, but coffee. Simple ol’ coffee-flavored coffee, as Denis Leary puts it. In my backpack I put a few issues that I’ve been meaning to read and one of those was Grindhouse: Doors Open At Midnight #6. In hindsight, that may have been a faux pax and I would rather have taken the hood/van/car battery to my nipples scenario.