Dirk Gently: The Salmon of Doubt #6
Dirk Gently created by Douglas Adams
Written by Arvind Ethan David
Illustrated by Ilias Kyriazis
Colors by Charlie Kirchoff
Letters by Shawn Lee
Executive Producer: Max Landis
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Release date: March 22, 2017
Print | Digital

In 2015, IDW Publishing launched an ongoing comic book series for Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency, based on the works of Douglas Adams. This was to be a lead-up to the BBC America television series of the same name, which debuted last year. After the first miniseries, the TV show’s executive producer Arvind Ethan David, who had been serving as co-editor on the comic, took over writing duties for the next arc “A Spoon Too Short,” with art by Ilias Kyriazis and colors by Charlie Kirchoff. This next wave also had the distinction of having Max Landis, the television show’s writer and executive producer, on board as executive producer.

The X-Files/Ghostbusters: Conspiracy #1
Written by Erik Burnham
Art by Salvador Navarro
Colors by Esther Sanz
Letters by Shawn Lee
Edits by Tom Waltz & Denton J. Tipton
Covers by Miran Kim, Dan Schoening & Luis Delgado, Joe Corroney & Brian Miller
IDW Publishing
Release Date: January 22, 2014
Cover Price: $3.99

Going into The X-Files/Ghostbusters: Conspiracy #1 I was a bit nervous, because I’ve never watched the X-Files television series. So, I was a bit concerned that I wouldn’t understand what was going on. So, did it make sense to me? Let’s find out.

Thanks to regular Ghostbusters writer, Erik Burnham, I totally understood what was going on in this issue. He gives a great introduction to The X-Files characters, lays out their purpose in this crossover, and has it make total sense, instead of just a big mash-up of the two different properties. Not only that, he actually shows us a different side of the Ghostbusters’ life that we haven’t seen in the regular Ghostbusters title.

Mars Attacks #1
Story & Lettered by John Layman
Art by John McCrea
Colored by Andrew Eder
Editor: Denton J. Tipton
Covers 1-55 by Norman Saunders
Retail Exclusive Cover by John McCrea
Retail Exclusive Cover Colored by Andrew Elder
San Diego Comicon Exclusive Cover by Matt Frank
Box Set Cover art by Zina Saunders
IDW Publishing
Release Date: June 20, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

Mars Attacks #1 was a very different sort of animal. Sure, you can guess by the title that there are creatures from the planet Mars and that they’re attacking, but beyond that, it’s really not like what you’d expect at all.

John Layman takes the old Mars Attacks formula and turns it a little bit askew from what we’re used to. And it works like a charm!! I know you’re sick of my saying this, but I try to NEVER give away spoilers, but this story is told from an unusual point of view. There’s also an unusual narrative within the book, one that makes you want the LAST issue (or close to it) to get here as quickly as possible.

True Blood #1
Created by Alan Ball
Written by Michael McMillian and Ann Nocenti
Art by Michael Gaydos
Colors by Marcelo Maiolo
Letters by Neil Uyetake
Cover by Tim Bradstreet
IDW Publishing
Release Date: May 23, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

With HBO’s Season 5 premiere of True Blood about to “come out of the coffin” on June 10th and now as an ongoing monthly comic series, it is a good time to be a Fangbanger. IDW is back again with True Blood #1 with a ‘Where Were You?’ story arc which lands on the one year anniversary of the Great Revelation aka Coffin Night. Creator Alan Ball teams up with writers Michael McMillian (who shows off another talent playing Reverend Steve Newlin on the show) and Ann Nocenti to bring us a new tale of the dark denizens of Bon Temps. Backstories are revealed from the day vampires informed humanity that not only do they exist, but with the invention of the synthetic blood substitute Tru Blood, the living and the dead can now peacefully coexist. Favorite characters from the show mingle with interesting and mysterious strangers on this strange new holiday which seeks to rival the decadence of Mardi Gras. This issue proves loyal to the world of the True Blood show but diverges from the storyline, making it a must see for Trubies and newbies alike.

Star Trek/Doctor Who: Assimilation 2 #1
Written by Scott & David Tipton with Tony Lee
Art by JK Woodward
Lettering by Shawn Lee & Robbie Robbins
Covers by JK Woodward, David Messina & Joe Corroney
IDW Publishing
Release Date: May 30, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

As the world’s first and foremost NON fan of Doctor Who, I went into Star Trek/Doctor Who: Assimilation 2 #1 expecting to like the Star Trek parts and hate the Doctor Who parts. Well, you learn something new every day, right? While I’m not going to go out and buy one of those weird R2-D2-like trashcan things from Doctor Who, I now have a different view of the franchise than I did before.

What I loved about this issue is that it starts off with NONSTOP action, something that’s not really the norm in the Star Trek universe, but it’s a heck of a lot of fun. This issue, the Star Trek part anyway, takes place in the Next Generation universe. Writers Scott & David Tipton, accompanied by Tony Lee, lay out a really interesting comic here. There’s two big A-List villains teaming up, but we’re not sure how or why – a nice mystery that will come into play later in the series, I’m sure. Then, we switch over to the Doctor Who half of the story. I found this surprisingly entertaining. Again, I know next to nothing about Doctor Who and I came away from this issue actually liking the character of The Doctor. Now THAT’S writing! If you can make a reader interested in a character that they had NO interest in, you’ve done your job and then some.