By Courtney Ryan and Justin Sawyer. Our Week In Review sums up our weekly comic book coverage while taking time for a new review or two before it’s all over. Did we miss your favorite books this week? Well. This is where you need to be.
Bug! The Adventures of Forager #3
DC Comics/Young Animal/$3.99
Written by Lee Allred.
Art by Michael Allred.
Colors by Laura Allred.
Letters Nate Piekos.
JS: Bug! the Adventures of a Forager tells the story of one of the lesser of Jack Kirby’s New Gods. Things can only get weird from here, as one should expect from a book published under Gerard Way’s Young Animal imprint. With Bug!, action, near escapes, and pulpy super science ensues.
Michael Allred has been coming out with some of the most imaginative, exciting comics for the better part of two decades. The artist wears his influences proudly on his sleeve, marrying the sleek, clean design work of Alex Toth with the staggering power of Jack Kirby to create his dynamic, yet wholly classical comic book art. Laura’s colors pop, lending a layer of energy to her collaborator’s clean style.
For this project Allred is joined by his brother, science fiction novelist, Lee Allred. It must be great to have a family legacy that involves creativity. Some of us get farming or drywall hanging in our blood. These lucky few get to make funny books for a living. With this series, and issue #3 particularly, Lee plays to his brother’s strengths, providing Michael a high-flying adventure with plenty of humor, action, and otherworldly locales to flex his pulpy artistic muscles.
The issue is a fun romp through a new dimension. Bug! continues to be a solid comic that delivers on the promise of its Kirby-crackling origins.
8 out of 10
Catalyst Prime Accell #2
Lion Forge/Catalyst Prime/$3.99
Written by Joe Casey.
Art by Damion Scott.
Ink by Robert Campanella.
Colors by Sigmund Torre.
Letters by DC Hopkins.
CR: Catalyst Prime: Accell #2 revisits the universe’s youngest and perhaps most upbeat superhero. A juvenile, though certainly affable, young man, Daniel DosSantos acquired his ferocious speed skills quite by accident after sleeping with a piece of meteorite under his bed. He’s since embraced the chance to take on the role of a hero, though it turns out he needs a bit more time to figure out what he’s truly capable of.
In the grand tradition of comic book speedsters, DosSantos’ Accell doesn’t seem interested in pushing the genre beyond the tropes already established by Barry Allen and his ilk. At least not yet. His fiery sprints challenge the bonds of reality and he even flirts with mysticism and an extraterrestrial demon, but Accell #2 does little to move the plot forward for both DosSantos and the broader Catalyst Prime saga. Still, if author Joe Casey is going to slow down and focus on character development, it’s fitting to use his swiftest character’s experiments in speed to do so.
The stars of this installment, though, are artists Damion Scott and Robert Campanella, whose psychedelic art pops across every panel, paralleling DosSantos’ trippy journey as well as mirroring the character’s youthful sensibilities. Thanks to their electrifying details and surreal imagery, the momentum never lulls and DosSantos is painted in varying shades of vitality.
Though it’s not revolutionary and certainly not the strongest outing in the Catalyst Prime universe, Accell #2 has ample pages of vivid imagery to take in while getting a closer look at one of Lion Forge’s newest players.
7 out of 10
From earlier this week —
Preview: With a bold new season upon us, now is the time to jump on ‘Kaijumax’
‘Loose Ends’ a boozy whirlwind of sin, regret, and brilliance
‘Calexit’ spikes the veins of our discontent with a dose of fury
SDCC Delirium — CASUAL WEDNESDAYS WITH DOOMROCKET
Even with a strong grasp on its subject, ‘The American Way’ grapples with nuance
As a prelude to ‘Metal’, ‘Dark Days: The Casting’ is an expository slog
What books did YOU read this week? We want to know! Tell us about those feelings of yours in the comments section below.
