Planet Of The Apes: Visionaries
Hardcover | Kindle
Original screenplay by Rod Serling
Adapted by Dana Gould
Art by Chad Lewis
Inks Assist by David Wilson
Colors by Darrin Moore, Miquel Muerto, Marcelo Costa
Letters by Ed Dukeshire
Cover by Paolo Rivera
Publisher: BOOM! Studios
Release date: August 28, 2018

Imagine if Planet Of The Apes‘s Ape City had been a New York City-like metropolis and its simian inhabitants much more technologically advanced. That is what Rod Serling had in mind when he penned a screenplay from Pierre Boulle’s novel for the 1968 film for 20th Century Fox. But the studio felt Serling’s adaptation would be too costly to translate to the big screen, so they hired Michael Wilson (who had previously adapted Boulle’s The Bridge over the River Kwai) to rewrite the dialogue and revise the script to give the apes a more primitive society. Now, Serling’s original vision has been brought to life in Planet Of The Apes: Visionaries, a new graphic novel from BOOM! Studios.

Sons of the Devil #1
Written by Brian Buccellato
Art by Toni Infante
Cover art by Toni Infante, Francis Manapul, and Paolo Rivera
Image Comics
Release Date: May 27, 2015
Cover Price: $2.99

Sons of the Devil #1 is so many things, that it’s hard to put it into one genre. I could say horror, mystery, thriller, crime drama, the list goes on and on. But, the one category that I feel totally comfortable putting it in, is REALLY GOOD.

I’ve come to be a big fan of writer Brian Buccellato over the last couple of years. I’ve enjoyed his work on both The Flash and on Detective Comics as well, so while this might have been a comic that I normally would’ve passed on, his name sold me on this book, and boy am I glad that I took a chance on it.

God Hates Astronauts #4
Written & Drawn by Ryan Browne
Colors by Jordan Boyd
Letters by Chris Crank & Ryan Browne
Designed by Thomas Quinn
Covers by Ryan Browne, Paolo Rivera & Ryan Browne
“Imposiclypse Now” backup art by Alejandro Bruzzese
“Goofin’ with Gnarled” art by Brad McGinty & Jordan Boyd
Image Comics
Release Date: December 3, 2014
Cover Price: $3.50

God Hates Astronauts #4 is the “calm before the storm.” Now, I don’t really mean storm, I mean the COMPLETE AND TOTAL INVASION OF THE PLANET EARTH!!! Yeah, it’s that serious!!! So, this issue is a lot of set-up, and set-up issues can be boring. Was this one? Let’s find out…

This Wednesday, Dark Horse Comics will release Blackout #1, the start of a new 4-issue miniseries from writers Frank Barbiere and Randy Stradley. Colin Lorimer and Doug Wheatley provide the art with Lorimer and Wes Dzioba on colors, along with Micah Kaneshiro and Paolo Rivera on covers.

Ahead of the release, the publisher has made the covers and six pages from the first issue available as a preview, which you can check out here below, along with the official solicitation for the full-color 32-page premiere. Pre-order is up now for Blackout #1, which will be released on March 26, 2014.

The Green Hornet #10
Written by Mark Waid
Art by Ronilson Freire
Colors by Marcio Menyz
Letters by Troy Peteri
Covers by Paolo Rivera and Jonathan Lau
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: March 5, 2014
Cover Price: $3.99

The Green Hornet #10, while a really good comic, made me feel a little bad inside. A little broken-hearted. Why? Because it feels like things are wrapping up for this series (it ends with issue #13). But, that aside, this issue is pretty intense.

Mark Waid loves writing The Green Hornet. But, I think, this issue he loved writing the villains just a little bit more. This issue is VERY heavy on the battle between the bad guy “families” while the Hornet and Kato wait at the sidelines for them each to take out each other, then swoop in for the kill. Now, the story is MUCH more complex than that, obviously; there’s some great twists and turns and a FANTASTIC shock ending. All classic Mark Waid. And all VERY entertaining.

Unity #1
Written by Matt Kindt
Illustrated by Doug Braithwaite
Colored by Brian Reber
Covers by Doug Braithwaite, Bryan Hitch, J.G. Jones, Travel Foreman, Paolo Rivera, Clayton Crain, Neal Adams
Valiant Entertainment
Release Date: November 13, 2013
Cover Price: $3.99

The universe’s most powerful weapon must be brought down! But how can the devastating X-O Manowar be defeated? The time-displaced keeper of the X-O Manowar armor has declared Romania his kingdom, but the world isn’t going to let this invasion happen without a fight. As the Russians plan for a nuclear attack, the world’s most dangerous man, Toyo Harada puts together a ruthless team to take out the armor in Unity #1.

I am exhausted with massive crossover events in comics. Occasionally they deliver on their promises to be a game-changing event with spectacular storytelling, but most often they end up resetting the status quo of all the characters and telling a mediocre story.

The Occultist #1
Created by Mike Richardson
Written by Mike Richardson and Tim Seeley
Art by Mike Norton
Color by Allen Passalaqua
Letters by Nate Piekos of Blambot
Covers by Steve Morris, Paolo Rivera
Dark Horse Comics
Release Date: October 2, 2012
Cover Price: $3.50

I’ve got a confession to make here, I chose to review this comic based solely on the title. I love horror comics and when a book is entitled The Occultist #1, I immediately think of Lovecraft, Cthulhu, and the like. So I dove in with some preconceived expectations, most of which never presented themselves. But hey, can’t blame a guy for trying…right?

Now, I don’t want you to get the wrong impression here. This wasn’t a bad book, quite the contrary. It just wasn’t what I was expecting. The main character, Rob Bailey, is in possession of an ancient artifact called The Sword. He’s described as a “mild-mannered college student,” but that just made me think of a certain super man masquerading as a newspaper reporter. I assume this was done purposefully, sort of tongue in cheek you might say. But Rob is a young man trying to unlock the secrets to this cryptic power he has been given. He’s not flying around saving the world…he’s saving it one haunted house at a time.

After one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns EVER, Image Comics is teaming with God Hates Astronauts creator Ryan Browne to bring the beloved web comic to comic shops everywhere this October!

Check out the full press release below.

The Green Hornet #5
Written by Mark Waid
Illustrated by Ronilson Freire
Colored by Marcio Menyz
Lettered by Troy Peteri
Covers by Paolo Rivera and Jonathan Lau
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: August 28, 2013
Cover Price: $3.99

In this issue of The Green Hornet, we see Britt Reid go through the aftermath of The Voice debacle. The board is furious, Kato is gone, and everyone blames Britt for Mills attempted suicide.

I wasn’t that familiar with The Green Hornet before reading this series. Though I know this character was around during the radio serials, I was only really familiar with the property from the movie, which I wasn’t really able to get into. This comic is different.

The Green Hornet #2
Written by Mark Waid
Art by Daniel Indro
Colored by Marcio Menyz
Letters by Troy Peteri
Covers by Paolo Rivera & Jonathan Lau
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: May 15, 2013
Cover Price: $3.99

The Green Hornet #2 easily holds up the standard set by Mark Waid and company in the first issue, and in some respects, surpasses it. This book is the perfect gateway to get people introduced into Dynamite’s excellent Pulp Heroes world that they’ve spend so much time setting up.

Is there any comic that Mark Waid can’t write? I mean, seriously. After spending years reading his work on super hero books, and loving them, I expected something TOTALLY different from what’s he’s given us with this book. The result? I couldn’t be happier. And neither will you, when you start reading this. What surprises me most about this comic is that Waid makes the the Green Hornet an ACTUAL villain. Not a “let me confuse the police and then do the right thing,” no. He’s an actual, honest to God villain. Villains are normally not very pleasant people, but most gangsters had a certain gentleman’s code that they lived up to. Not so for the Green Hornet. He’s the baddest of the bad. And he spends the majority of this issue proving it.