The Rocketeer: The Complete Adventures
By Dave Stevens
Coloring by Laura Martin
Lettering by Carrie Spiegle
Volume 1 art assist by Jaimie Hernandez
Co-writers of Volume 2, chapters 2 & 3: Danny Bilson & Paul Demeo
Volume 2 art assist by: Art Adams, Geof Darrow, Gary Gianni, Mike Kaluta, Stan Manoukian, Sandy Plunkett, and Vince Roucher
Volume 2, chapters 2 & 3 covers by: Dave Stevens and painted by Dave Dorman and Paul Chadwick
Edited by Scott Dunbier
Collected Edition by: Justin Eisinger and Alonzo Simon
Cover by Dave Stevens
IDW Publishing
Release Date: March 18, 2015
Cover Price: $19.99

The Rocketeer: The Complete Adventures is essential to your comic book collection. Reviewing a book like this is super hard. It’s all classic material, every bit of it. But, I’ll do my best.

Dave Stevens is a talented writer. He was a HUGE fan of this era of history, and it shows. Even though this material was written decades ago, it still applies and connects with the reader today. In this age where people watch movies and television shows and basically live their lives on their phones, it’s nice to visit a simpler time. One where the world was a lot bigger. People actually used their mouths to talk to other people, having conversations that lasted an afternoon, and were not limited to 140 characters. These adventures of Cliff Secord and the mysterious jetpack that he found will make take you from the edge of your seat, put you through the full gambit of emotions and give you the greatest gift that a story can give you: Hope.

Womanthology: Space
Written by Bonnie Burton, Sandy King Carpenter, Alison Ross and Stephanie Hans, Ming Doyle, Stacie Ponder, Blair Butler, Joelle Sellner, Ellise Heiskell, Robin Furth, Rachel Edidin, Jennifer de Guzman, Jody Houser, Devin Grayson, Christine Ellis, Barbara Randall Kesel, Allison Pang, Laura Morley, Cecil Castellucci, and Kiala Kazebee

Cover by Renae DeLiz
Series Edited by Mariah Huehner
Collection Edited by Justin Eisinger and Alonzo Simon
IDW Publishing
Release Date: June 5, 2013
Cover Price: $24.99

Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem that women receive enough of the limelight within the comic book industry; thankfully, artist Renae DeLiz (The Last Unicorn) came up with a fantastic way to showcase a variety of fantastic female talent and IDW jumped on board. Womanthology: Space is the collected addition of the first five issues of the monthly ongoing series of the same name. Building off of the success of DeLiz’s first venture with the graphic novel Womanthology: Heroic, Womanthology: Space is an amalgamation of short comics with the overarching theme of “space” created solely by established and up-and-coming female creators. Check out my impressions of some of the best and worst that this anthology has to offer!

Judge Dredd: The Complete Carlos Ezquerra, Vol. 1
Illustrated by Carlos Ezquerra
Colored by Carlos Ezquerra
Cover by Carlos Ezquerra
Edited by Justin Eisinger
Designed by Robbie Robbins
IDW Publishing
Release Date: April 23, 2013
Cover Price: $49.99

Confession of a comic book reviewer: I’ve never read a single Judge Dredd comic in my life. *Gasp!* It’s true. It’s never even been on my radar; however, having recently watched Karl Urban’s performance of the toughest Judge out there in the ultra-violent 2012 adaptation, Dredd, I have been clamoring to get my hands on some futuristic police enforcing material. Judge Dredd: The Complete Carlos Ezquerra, Vol. 1 is the perfect introduction to the world of Judge Dredd.

This massive 266-page collection pulls together a fantastic assortment of stories with illustrations by Carlos Ezquerra—the man behind the design of Judge Dredd. What better way to immerse myself into Mega-City One than by reading some of the earliest Dredd stories around, combined with the premiere character interpretations of Judge Dredd and the world he’s sworn to protect? I’ll admit that these comics aren’t the most well written works you’ll ever find. They’re campy, no-holds-barred action comics, but they can be really weird and out there, which is what made me enjoy them. Not only does Dredd issue out justice to wrong-doers and criminals, but he protects Mega-City from alien invasions, disgustingly mutated creatures and viruses, and undead villains, just to mention a few.

The release of the undeniably awesome Dredd last September failed to kick some box office ass. But its tremendous sales on Blu-ray and DVD proved you can’t keep a good masked lawman down for long. You just gotta love Mega City-One’s toughest cop; he’s been blasting his way through absurdly violent – and often just plain absurd – comic book adventures for 35 years and has yet to lose a step, kept alive and charging hard thanks to many top-notch creative teams. One of the artists who made their name on Judge Dredd is getting a very special tribute courtesy of IDW Limited as Judge Dredd: The Complete Brian Bolland will soon be released in a special deluxe hardcover limited edition.

You can check out images from the book here below.

Memorial
Written by Chris Roberson
Art by Rich Ellis
Colors by Grace Allison
Letters by Neil Uyetake, Robbie Robbins, and Shawn Lee
Edits by Mariah Heuhner
Cover by Michael WM Kaluta
Collection Edits by Justin Eisinger & Alonzo Simon
Design by Neil Uyetake & Robbie Robbins
Introduction by Bill Willingham
IDW Publishing
Release Date: September 26, 2012
Cover Price: $24.99

It’s always a safe bet to trust your gut. Way back in February I wrote a lukewarm review of the new Fantasy book from Chris Roberson (Superman, co-publisher of Monkey Brain Comics) Memorial #3. I said, in essence:

What I just read is the middle of a larger story. It was ok, but it’s too early to say if the bigger book will be any good just yet.

I suspected it would deliver, but I’m kind of a coward sometimes. Add to that, for whatever personal reasons Fantasy is not a genre I’m usually drawn to. I have massive respect for your Elf Quests and Conan The Barbarians for their craftsmanship, but for as far back as I can remember it’s never been my bag, y’know?

G.I. Joe: Roots of Retaliation Trade Paperback
Written by Larry Hama
Pencils by Larry Hama, Mike Vosburg, John D’Agostino, Frank Springer & Marshall Rogers
Inks by Randy Emberlin, Andy Mushynsky & Steve Leialoha
Colors by George Roussos & Bob Sharen
Letters by Rick Parker
Original Edits by Denny O’Neill & Bobby Chase
Collection Edits by Justin Eisinger & Alonzo Simon
Collection Design by Chris Mowry
Cover by Jonboy Meyers
Cover Colors by Anthony Washington
IDW Publishing
Release Date: June 27, 2012
Cover Price: $14.99

Collected in this trade paperback, G.I. Joe: Roots of Retaliation, are 5 different stories all dealing with characters that are (I’m guessing here) featured heavily in the upcoming movie. Yes, we all know that G.I. Joe: Retaliation has been pushed back until Spring of next year, but know that you have all that extra time, it’s a great oppertunity to take a look back at these classic G.I. Joe issues and find out just how these characters made their debut back in the day.

This collection runs the gambit of classic G.I. Joe stories, all from the classic Marvel Comics run written by Larry Hama. It’s a great blast from the past, as we get a look back at the introduction of the Red Ninjas, Roadblock, Duke, Flint, Lady Jaye, and the original Joe, Joe Colton. Over the years, these characters have changed quite a bit, and that doesn’t even include all the different incarnations of the characters like in the cartoons, other comic series, action figure bios.

Locke & Key, Vol. 5: Clockworks
Written by Joe Hill
Art by Gabriel Rodriguez
Colors by Jay Fotos
Letters by Robbie Robbins
Series Edited by Chris Ryall
Collection Edited by Justin Eisinger
Collection Designed by Robbie Robbins
IDW Publishing
Release Date: July 24, 2012
Cover Price: $24.99

Right off the bat I’m putting a light spoiler warning at the top for Locke & Key Volumes 1 – 4. If you haven’t read them yet, get on it.

Remember reading that issue of Locke & Key where they play with the head key for the first time? The key that goes into the back of anyone’s neck, makes the top of your cranium disappear like you’re the Kool-Aid Man and allows you to remove memories and emotions and oddly allows you to peer into your own mind? And that, best of all it’s a magic that only kids can see? It’s one of my fondest memories reading the series so far. It cemented that while the book would also feature edge-of-your-seat terror with truly warm characters you feel like you know, there’d also be space for a particular form of magic: an enchanted, childlike sense of magic. If you’re like me and you wait to read the book in those handsome trades, well, ta-da, Locke & Key Volume 5 Clockworks is here.

Kill Shakespeare, Vol. 2: The Blast Of War
Created and Written by Conor McCreery, Anthony Del Col
Art by Andy Belanger
Colors by Ian Herring
Lettering by Chris Mowry, Neil Uyetake, and Shawn Lee
Collection Cover by Kagan McLeod
Collection Design by Chris Mowry
IDW Publishing
Release Date: November 9, 2011
Cover Price: $19.99

Imagine if you will, all of Shakespeare’s creations brought to life and populating one world, interacting with one another and thinking of him as their (rightfully so) creator. That’s exactly what Conor McCreery and Anthony Del Col did in their graphic novel Kill Shakespeare, Vol. 2: The Blast Of War. It had been quite some time since I read the first volume, but I caught back up pretty quickly.