Welcome to the weekly rundown of comic book reviews from Major Spoilers. There is a lot of stuff on the site, but this is your one-stop post to find all of the comics we’ve reviewed this week.
BONE PARISH #1
Writer: Cullen Bunn
Illustrated: Jonas Scharf
Colorist: Alex Guimaraes
Letterer: Ed Dukeshire
Cover Art: Lee Garbett
Variant Covers: Rod Reis & Tyler Crook
Publisher: Boom Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 25, 2018
If you like a little noir with your mysticism, Bone Parish #1 with not disappoint. Bunn and company lead you into a world of drugs and family, with a major twist. This first issue takes a well-used story and turns it on its head, delivering genuine surprises and drama. The story of the Winters family has the potential to be a major league tale. – Stacy Baugher
CHARLIE’S ANGELS #2
Writer: John Layman
Artist: Joe Eisma
Colorist: Celeste Woods
Letterer: Taylor Esposito
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 25, 2018
Charlie’s Angels #2 is still fairly light-hearted, but there actually is a decent amount of plot to mine, and there is something kind of fun about a setting which is modern, yet lower tech than the present day. It isn’t quite so over-the-top as the first issue, but for settling into the plot, it is comfortable and it moves along nicely. – Ingrid Lind-Jahn
DC’S BEACH BLANKET BAD GUYS SUMMER SPECIAL #1
Writers: Various
Artists: Various
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $9.99
Release Date: July 25, 2018
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An anthology is, by definition, gonna be a mixed bag, but the recurring theme in these stories is darkness, a bleak outlook and a lot of cynicism. I kind of liked the Giganta story, but I also don’t ever want to read it again, and it’s the best part of this book. I don’t recommend this, it’s just over-the-top disturbing, what the kids call “edgelord”, I believe. – Matthew Peterson
The idea behind this book is fantastic, as it offers a number of stories to keep reading again and again. On the downside, there are some very dark and disturbing stories here as well. – Stephen Schleicher
EDEN #1
Writer: Eric Henson
Pencils: Eric Henson
Inker: Michael Babinski
Colorist: Steven Downer
Cover Art: Eric Henson
Publisher: Alterna Comics
Cover Price: $1.50
Release Date: July 25, 2018
Eden #1 (of 4) is a great read. Its action packed and the strong female lead is refreshing. If you can give it time to percolate, it looks like it will be a great story that will entertain on multiple levels. – Stacy Baugher
FUTURE QUEST PRESENTS #12
Writer: Jeff Parker
Artist: Alain Mauricet
Colorist: Hi-Fi
Letterer: Carlos M. Mangual
Editor: Marie Javins
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 18, 2018
Future Quest Presents #12 is a fun, exciting bit of action-adventure which finally gets Buzz and Frankie to the status quo of their 1960s cartoon adventures, but does so in a way that makes perfect story sense and looks really great doing so, earning 3.5 out of 5 stars overall. Like a wise man with white skin once said, if ya gotta go… Go with a smile! I just hope this isn’t the last we see of the world of Future Quest. – Matthew Peterson
HIT-GIRL #6
Writer: Jeff Lemire
Artist: Eduardo Risso
Colorist: Patricia Mulvihill
Letterer: Clem Robins
Editors: Rachael Fulton
Publisher: Image
Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 5, 2018
It’s not often you come cold to a story arc as I did and immediately submerge into the storyline, but Hit-Girl #6 hit all the right buttons for me. I’m looking forward in eagerness for issue 7. – Robert Mammone
ICE CREAM MAN #5
Writer: W. Maxwell Prince
Artist: Martin Morazzo
Colorist: Chris O’Halloran
Letterer: Good Old Neon
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 18, 2018
When I read the first issue of Ice Cream Man, I knew we’d be talking about it for a while, and while I’m still in the dark on the title character’s true nature, the build-up is worth reading every month. Ice Cream Man #5 is a horror comic in the old E.C. tradition, with bleak humor throughout and a really shocking moment on the final page that raises tons of questions and makes me want to read next issue RIGHT NOW, earning 4 out of 5 stars overall. There’s something about a really well-crafted, inexplicable story of the unknown bringing terrible things, and this is an excellent example of contemporary horror with a strange metatextual edge. – Matthew Peterson
THE IMMORTAL HULK #3
Writer: Al Ewing
Penciler: Joe Bennett/Leonardo Romero/Paul Hornschemier/Garry Brown
Inker: Ruy Jose
Colorist: Paul Mounts/Paul Hornschemier/Marguerite Sauvage
Letterer: VC’s Cory Petit/Paul Hornschemier
Editor: Tom Brevoort & Wil Moss
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 18, 2018
Here’s the thing: It’s hard to do multiple artists in a single story and make it all coherent as a single story. The Immortal Hulk #3 not only pulls off that difficult trick, it manages to inject a little humor, a little pathos and a little more of the ongoing mystery into a clever, well-balanced issue that earns a solidly impressive 4.5 out of 5 stars overall. This book’s run of excellent, thought-provoking tales continues, and the promise of Sasquatch next time has me wondering what else is up this creative team’s sleeve. – Matthew Peterson
JIM HENSON’S LABYRINTH: CORONATION #5
Writer: Simon Spurrier
Artists: Daniel Bayliss, Irene Flores
Colorist: Dan Jackson
Letterer: Jim Campbell
Publisher: Archaia
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 25, 2018
Jim Henson’s Labyrinth: Coronation #5 is definitely not a jumping on point, but I find it rather darkly satisfying. We know where the plot is going, and now we can start wondering more how we get to the end point. (Remember – we already know Jareth get stuck here and becomes the Goblin King.) But now we also find out that the book as something to say about human emotion which makes it ever so much more interesting. – Ingrid Lind-Jahn
JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #1
Writer: James Tynion IV
Pencils: Alvaro Martinez Bueno
Inks: Raul Fernandez
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Cover Art: Alvaro Martinez Bueno
Variant Cover: Greg Capullo, Jonathan Glapion, FCO Plascencia
Publisher: DC Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Despite some issues, both in the writing and the art, Justice League Dark looks like it will most likely evolve into a must buy. Right now, there are just a few issues you may want to know about going it. However, the portrayal of several characters, Detective Chimp and Kirk Langstrom especially, is a treat and worth your time. Hopefully, the rest of the book will catch up with them. – Stacy Baugher
MAGE BOOK THREE: THE HERO DENIED #10
Writer: Matt Wagner
Artist: Matt Wagner
Colorist: Brennan Wagner
Letterer: Dave Lanphear
Editor: Diana Schutz
Publisher: Image Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 18, 2018
Reading Mage Book Three: The Hero Denied #10 is watching a master artist engaging in a labor of love, making the quiet preparations for the third act of this tale into compelling reading, introducing important elements (and a couple of mysteries) and looking really good doing so, earning a well-deserved 4 out of 5 stars overall. (I only hope that Kevin’s third arc ends as well as the first two, because I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but ‘The Hero Denied’ is a really ominous title.) – Matthew Peterson
REAL SCIENCE ADVENTURES: The Nicodemus Job #1
Writer: Brian Clevinger
Artist: Meredith McClaren
Colorist: J. N. Wiedle
Letterer: Tess Stone
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 25, 2018
What an interesting setting for a heist! And based on the books that the team is looking for, there are distinct hints of interesting things to come. I loved Real Science Adventures: The Nicodemus Job #1, and applaud the creative team’s decision to go for 11th-century science fiction. I can’t wait to see what they‘ve got in store for us. – Ingrid Lind-Jahn
THE REALM #8
Writer/Artists: Jeremy Haun & Seth M Peck
Colorist: Nick Filardi
Letterer: Thomas Mauer
Editor: Joel Enos
Publisher: Image
Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 25, 2018
I really wanted to like The Realm #8. The cover, by Jeremy Haun & Nick Filardi is intriguing and monstrous. There are elements in the issue that with just a bit more…something could’ve worked really well. The coloring just didn’t do it for me. Of course, my opinion is exactly that. I’m sure there are readers out there who have lapped this series up from issue one, and for that, I can only salute you. And, if you’re wanting a hit of the really good stuff, you’ll excuse the cross-promotion, but Major Spoilers has this fantastic gaming podcast called Critical Hit you really should have a listen to… – Robert Mammone
RUNAWAYS #11
Writer: Rainbow Rowell
Artist: Kris Anka
Colorist: Matthew Wilson
Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Editor: Nick Lowe
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: July 18, 2018
If there’s a failing in this issue, it’s that the focus on internal turmoil and emotional moments can make it feel like nothing of importance happened, but there’s important moments for Gert, for Chase and especially for Victor which seem designed to set up what will happen next. Runaways #11 has lovely art, some strong character moments and finally an answer about Klara (with the added bonus of her not coming back to the team), earning a better than average 3.5 out of 5 stars overall. It’s the kind of comic that makes for a charming palette cleanser before the next big fighty-fighty mess, but here’s hoping Victor gets a body again soon. – Matthew Peterson
STARCRAFT: SCAVENGERS #1
Writer: Jody Houser
Illustrated: Gabriel Guzman
Colorist: Michael Atiyeh
Letterer: Steve Dutro
Cover Art: Gabriel Guzman, Michael Atiyeh
Variant Covers: Timothy Greene II & Wei Wang
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Cover Price: $3.99
A solid beginning to a behind-the-scenes story that shows you a part of the Starcraft Universe where you are not immediately fighting off a Zerg rush. If you are a fan of the sci-fi, check it out. If you are a fan of the game, it is a no-brainer pick-up. – Stacy Baugher
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