Good Samaritan #1
Story and Letters by Mike Luoma
Illustrations by Federico Guillen
Color by Ken Lateer
Earthbound Comics
Release Date: August 15, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

I have watched first issues of comics sit on comic shop shelves for weeks on end without so much as a glance from potential patrons. It would be easy to label those comics as simply being bad comics. The logic behind that thinking is sound enough — for decades we have been conditioned to believe that if a comic isn’t selling then it must be lousy. Marvel and DC move the most units every Wednesday so they must produce the best books, right? As we all know by now, this is rarely the case. The first issue of a comic is typically purchased because of curiosity, promotion, and hype. What really makes a comic impressive is its capacity to make people want to purchase issues 2 and 3 afterwards. Good Samaritan #1 is not a poorly written or illustrated comic by any means. However, when it comes to reeling you in for that next issue, Good Samaritan #1 failed to perform for me.

The Adventures Of Alibi Jones
Written and Lettered by Mike Luoma
Art by Meisha, Federico Guillen, and Rhys Ap Gwyn
Earthbound Comics
Release Date: September 25, 2011
Cover Price: $2.99

It’s not often that you find a standalone issue of a comic whose story is long enough to satisfy. Publishers try this from time to time, but often the stories feel rushed and uninvolved. In issue one of Earthbound Comics’ The Adventures of Alibi Jones, we get not one but three stories in just over 40 pages that not only satisfy, but leave you wanting more.

Sci-fi fans who crave futuristic space epics should definitely check out The Adventures of Alibi Jones #1, where we meet Alibi in the year 2135. He works as a Mediator for the Solar Alliance Interplanetary Force, negotiating treaties between humans and aliens. The stories find Alibi uncovering a heinous plot in “Blind Eye”; meeting his father as a young child in “Father’s Day”; and discovering the perils of time travel in “About Time.”