Hype
Written by Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray
Art by Javier Pina
Colors by Alessia Nocera
Letters by Bill Tortolini
Cover by Amanda Conner & Paul Mounts
Special cover by Dave Johnson
PaperFilms &
Adaptive Studios
Release Date: January 24th, 2017
Cover Price: $12.99

Scientist Amanda Marr is kidnapped and threatened by the military to understand and humanize their best weapon… HYPE. A superhuman who can only be conscious for 45 minutes per day, Amanda must teach HYPE aka Noah how to be still and feel and learn. His powers are amazing, overwhelming to him. He is so hyperaware, he can hear a fly buzzing in a car in a parking lot below.

Such is the story of Hype, a crowdfunded 65-page full-color graphic novel by Jimmy Palmiotti & Justin Gray that’s now been released to the public.

Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency #1
Written by Chris Ryall
Pencils by Tony Akins
Inks by John Livesay
Colors by Leonard O’Grady
Letters by Robbie Robbins and Shawn Lee
Covers by Tony Akins and Paul Mounts (Regular), Rob Guillory (Subscription), Robert Hack and Stephen Downer (Retailer Incentive)
IDW Publishing
Release Date: May 20, 2015
Cover Price: $3.99

Everything is connected. That’s the long and short of how the title character in Douglas Adams’ Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency #1 sees the world in general and how he works through his mysteries in particular. If you haven’t read any Douglas Adams then immediately following this review, go do so. The man was not only amazing but he should have been sainted for the wonderful work he did in science fiction literature. I applaud anyone who revives or adapts his work for the newer generations. But we are here to talk about this individual issue, folks, so let’s do just that!

As it turns out, the concept of fundamental interconnectedness means that time, space, and reality can all be thrown to the wolves. If the entire makeup of everything is connected to everything else then it’s as if the universe is playing a game akin to the Six Degrees Of Kevin Bacon! In this comic, we see the eponymous Dirk Gently seeking those very same connections! Relying on his wits and wisdom, and a good deal of luck and fate, he somehow manages to find the thread that links it all together.

Red Sonja #100
Written by Eric Trautmann, Roy Thomas, Michael Avon Oeming, Gail Simone and Luke Lieberman
Art by Dave Acosta, Pablo Marcos, Taki Soma, Noah Salonga and Sergio Fernandez Davila
Colors by Valentina Pinto and Salvatore Aiala Studios
Letters by Joshua Cozine
Cover art by Ed Benes & Alex Guimaraes, Robert Hack, Andrew Pepoy & Paul Mounts, Ken Haeser and Pablo Marcos & Austin Janosky
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: February 18, 2015
Cover Price: $7.99

Red Sonja #100 is truly the definition of “jam packed”! Dynamite Entertainment has truly gotten the gang back together, and in doing so, we get just about every single kind of Red Sonja story that there is right here in this single comic. In this giant issue, you get sword and sorcery, horror, action, and even a little heartwarming drama. What’s not to love?

Consisting of five different stories, by legendary Red Sonja writers like Eric Trautmann, Roy Thomas, Michael Avon Oeming, Gail Simone, and Luke Lieberman, you get everything you want and more in this comic book. Roy Thomas pens a truly great old fashioned sword and sorcery tale with a hint of mystery. Current Red Sonja scribe Gail Simone writes a very entertaining story about Red Sonja finally meeting her childhood “idol.” Then there’s Luke Lieberman’s (Queen Sonja) story about Sonja, a companion, and a sorcerer that is thrilling, yet very heartwarming. Out of all five stories, there’s not a bad one in the bunch.

I’m going to try something new today. I’m going to show you a really cool adult themed Kickstarter from Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray but I’m also going to feature some information they provided to me via interview questions. I’ve long since stuck to a basic format for talking these crowdfunding projects up but I’m needing to mix it up a bit. Let me know if you like one style better than another.

As you can imagine from the title, Sex and Violence Volume Two contains two major themes. Sex and violence, duh. Breaking loose from the bonds of everyday comics, these two writers have pushed the boundaries before and they are out to do it again!

Continue reading to see what they had to say and to watch the Kickstarter campaign video.

Sex & Violence
Written by Jimmy Palmiotti, Justin Gray
Artwork by Jimmy Broxton, Juan Santacruz
Color by Challenging Studios
Letters by Jimmy Broxton, Bill Totrolini
Cover by Amanda Conner and Paul Mounts
Paper Films
Release Date: April, 2013
Cover Price: Kickstarter

Kickstarter…what a change it has brought. No longer does a creator have to hope that they get their idea picked up by a major player in the appropriate genre. Truly amazing the way it has changed business for some people. Not that Sex & Violence needed to worry about any of that. No, with Jimmy Palmiotti and Justin Gray leading the way, this one was destined for print regardless. They did, however, do their fans a solid by making this comic exclusive (for the time being) to the Kickstarter backers and for Print On Demand for a few other exclusive folk. It makes this book a lot more rare than the average comic, no matter how it came to life.

Broken into two sections, this graphic novel is all about sex and violence (obviously). But whereas I expected one about sex and another about violence, these are a bit of both. Each weighs in heavier on one than the other to balance themselves out, however. I would say like yin-yang but in this case it’s all dark so I’m not sure that applies here.