I Love Trouble #1
Written by Kel Symons
Art by Mark Robinson
Colors by Paul Little
Letters by Pat Brosseau
Image Comics
Release Date: December 5, 2012
Cover Price: $2.99

The debut issue of Image’s new ongoing full color series I Love Trouble is a flashy non-stop thrill ride made up of enough intricate elements to catch long term attention. Writer Kel Symons‘ first foray into comicland comes by way of Hollywood and it shows. This book reads more like an action film with lots explosions, sound effects of the Rrrunk!, Boom!, Aaaahhhh!, Bam! variety, stylized violence, and sexy stuff.

New Orleans as a backdrop never fails to create intrigue either. Symons effectively creates a mini-urban universe populated with seedy underworld types like gangsters, thieves, prostitutes, and slackers. And at the heart of it all there is a booty-kicking, tattooed, bisexual, young grifter type by the name of Felicia Castro. Felicia is introduced fleeing from the mob (she apparently flees from all kinds of things quite often) when she is thrust into an even wackier situation where her would-be escape plane to the Midwest crashes inexplicably bestowing upon her the supernatural power of teleportation. As if that were not enough to make for an exciting plot with oodles of potential routes to explore, I am leaving out half of the event-laden plot.

Bomb Queen #4
Story & Art by Jimmie Robinson
Colors by Paul Little & Mike Meier
Cover by Jimmie Robinson
Image Comics
Release Date: May 30, 2012
Cover Price: $3.50

Bomb Queen #4 is the first issue of this title that I’ve read. It’s nice to go into something with no preconceived notions or expectations. And, I have to say, I was pretty pleasantly surprised by this comic.

Writer Jimmie Robinson crafts a really…different kind of comic here. It’s the perfect blend of sci-fi and super heroes, one mash-up that I’m normally not too big a fan off, but I have to say, Robinson pulls it off IN SPADES. He’s created a great version of the future that’s not really post-apocalyptic, but it’s not all hoverboards and flying cars, either. The weird thing is, and this might be a TINY spoiler – Bomb Queen is hardly in the book. However, there’s a great deal of Shadowhawk and what Robinson did here is genius. While not interrupting his normal story, he’s made me want to know more about Bomb Queen AND Shadowhawk! Now that’s a job well done! You definitely get your money worth in this issue, as it’s NOT a quick read at all. There’s a lot going on in the issue, and make sure you pay attention to the backgrounds and captions!