Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Defenders Of The Lost Temple
Script by Justin Aclin
Art by Ben Bates
Colors by Michael Atiyeh
Cover Art by Mike Hawthorne
Dark Horse
Release Date: March 26, 2013
Cover Price: $7.99

While many fans are mourning with the winding down of The Clone Wars animated series, Star Wars fans can still delve into the wealth of expanded universe material that focuses on the famous conflict that dominated an era of the in-universe history, and saw the rise of an empire.

And as we advance into a new epoch in which the sequel trilogy will dominate our attentions, Dark Horse seems to be also beginning to wind up their Clone Wars coverage, with the release of Star Wars: The Clone Wars – Defenders Of The Lost Temple.

Kirby Genesis: Silver Star #6
Written by Jai Nitz
Art by Johnny Desjardins
Colors by Vinicius Andrade
Letters by Simon Bowland
Cover by Alex Ross
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: June 27, 2012
Cover Price: $3.99

In Kirby Genesis: Silver Star #6 there’s a LOT going on. Unfortunately, I didn’t like much of it, to be honest. While it was a good effort, I found myself SO lost in this comic, that I almost gave up reading it. But for you, dear readers, I stuck with it.

Writer Jai Nitz had me SO confused with this issue I don’t know where to start. This comic is ALL over the map, it seems there’s more than a handful of Silver Stars and a number of his villains (who are also all the same person), that I really had a problem knowing just who was who and who I should be routing for. There’s also a little girl, that I THINK turns into a love interest in the end, but I honestly don’t know. I’m afraid this comic falls victim to some VERY confusing storytelling. A narrative or re-cap paragraph would’ve helped immensely here.

Fear Agent, Vol. 6: Out of Step
Story by Rick Remender
Pencils by Mike Hawthorne and Tony Moore
Inks by John Lucas
Colors by Lee Loughridge
Letters by Rus Wooton
Covers by Tony Moore
Trade Cover by Jerome Opena and Matt Wilson
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: April 18, 2012
Cover Price: $16.99

Rick Remender‘s redneck space opera Fear Agent has drawn to a close, all that’s left to do now is read the obituary, close the casket, toss the flowers into the grave and call it a day.

Remender (X-Force, Punisher) has been teaming with an array of comic book talents, most notably artist Terry Moore (Walking Dead) since 2007 on this colorful ode to rocketships and ray guns. Heath Huston, formally from Ennis, Texas, is now roaming the galaxies seeking adventure, excitement, and a handle of whiskey…

[Minor spoilers begin] at least on the surface. What he’s actually searching for is a place in the universe. He’s the last of the Fear Agents, a battalion that unsuccessfully fought an alien occupation of Earth that wiped out most of the population, including much of his family. [Minor spoilers end]

Conan Road of Kings #12
Written by Kevin Eastman and Tom Waltz
Script by Roy Thomas
Pencils by Mike Hawthorne
Inks by John Lucas
Colors by Dan Jackson
Letters by Richard Starkings and Comicraft
Cover by Aleksi Briclot
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: January 18, 2012
Cover Price: $3.50

All good things must come to an end and Conan Road of Kings #12 is no exception. For the past year, we’ve had the good fortune of reading this great title, but sadly, this is the last issue. Now, Conan is not going away, it’s got another series with a different creative team coming up, and if they do half as good as this one, it’ll be amazing!

Conan Road of Kings #11
Script by Roy Thomas
Pencils by Mike Hawthorne
Inks by John Lucas
Colors by Dan Jackson
Letters by Richard Starkings & Comicraft
Cover by Alexsi Briclot
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: December 21st, 2011
Cover Price: $3.50

Conan Road of Kings #11 is a “breather” issue. It’s the issue in between grand adventures that slows down the pace for a minute and let’s you explore some of Conan’s character traits and lets his personality do most of the heavy lifting, story-wise. Hey, it’s Roy Thomas writing Conan. Thank you again, Dark Horse!

Fear Agent #31
Out of Step Part 4 (of 5)
Written by Rick Remender
Pencils by Mike Hawthorne, Tony Moore
Finishes by John Lucas
Colors by Lee Loughridge
Letters by Rus Wooten
Cover by Tony Moore
Dark Horse Comics
Released October 5th, 2011
Price: $3.50

Fear Agent has always been a series that I think would appeal to a lot of Geeks of Doom readers who maybe don’t read comics. It doesn’t deal with any of the standard superhero tropes of other comics, instead focusing on sci-fi action with smart writing and excellent art. Fear Agent has been chugging along for a few years, and is coming to an end next issue (at least for a while), so it is amazing to see that Fear Agent #31, part four of the Out of Step mini-series, is the best issue of the series so far.

There are a lot of great comic book art blogs out there, beyond the deviantart pages of the world, and if you’re a comic book fan, these are webpages that you should be checking out on a daily basis. All this week, I’m going to highlight a few that I think are worthy of your attention or are just pages for some of my favorite artists.

Today, we look at a collective webpage, Comic Twart. Comic Twart was started in early 2010 and features work by nearly 20 different artists, who generally tackle a theme each week and show their different takes on that week’s theme. The artists involved include Mike Hawthorne, Chris Samnee, Mitch Breitweiser, Tom Fowler, and Dave Johnson. The theme is generally a specific character, but it could be a more general concept. Recent themes have included Giant Monsters, Power Girl, The Flash, and Space Ghost.