Jinx: A Cursed Life #1

Bought from cover artist Jay Kennedy, who had a table at Zombie Hideout in Springfield MA USA for Free Comic Book Day 2025.

Title: Jinx: A Cursed Life
Issue: 1
Date: July, 2023
Publisher: Archie Comics
Writer: Magdalene Visaggio
Artist: Craig Cermak
Letterer: Jack Morelli
Colorist: Ellie Wright
Cover: Jay Kennedy
Editor: Jamie Lee Rotante, Vincent Lovallo, Stephen Oswald

This is from Archie's horror line, putting the familiar Riverdale gang into horror scenarios. Jinx, rumored to be the daughter of the Devil, just wants to be a punk rock musician and for everyone to leave her alone. But when Archie shows up seeking help for a demonically possessed Jughead, Jinx and her friend Danni spring into action. After a sufficient bribe, that is.

This felt a bit more like dark comedy than horror, and it was having some trouble figuring out if it would rather lean into the comedy side of things or the dark. Demonic Jughead was presented as a serious threat, even if rotting-meat hamburgers was a big part of his gimmick, but he ended up getting defeated relatively easily once Jinx started using her not-all-that-well-defined superpowers.

The best parts of this were the characterization of Jinx and Danni, who were both great and full of snarky dialogue. Archie was fun too in his supporting role. This provided a good introduction to this version of Jinx, but didn't lay the groundwork for much ongoing story.

Rating: 5.5/10

Little Cat's Big Adventure

From the 2025 Flywheel Zine Fest.

Title: Little Cat's Big Adventure
Publisher: My Monster Hat
Date: May, 2020
Writer:Anne Thalheimer
Artist: Anne Thalheimer

A cat goes on a quest to find the sword Excalibur! Along the way, there are birds, turtles, and a final test of worthiness. This was a fun and cute minicomic. The quest turns out to be not exactly epic, but it is definitely adorable. Will there be more adventures of this once-and-future cat?

Rating 6.5/10

The Warden #2

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Title: The Warden
Issue: 2
Date: 2025
Publisher: Ironclad Comics
Writer: David Timm Jr., Cody Karamol
Penciller: Mathieu Pereira
Inker: Mathieu Pereira
Colorist: Roman Stevens
Letterer: Jimmy Greenhalgh
Cover: Jonny Wise

Somewhat surprisingly, the kidnapping plotline from the first issue gets resolved off-screen. This is one of those things that shouldn't work, but it does, as we go straight to the reactions of the various cast members as it becomes apparent that a (possibly superhuman) vigilante is fighting crime in Detroit. There's also another flashback sequence as the origin of our vigilante begins to take shape.

Emma Summers is back with her newspaper as she senses that the vigilante story might be just the thing she's been looking for. Henry Hunt confesses his sins, and Detective Cabello is in full uptight-cop mode.

The final action sequence is really good, and a nice look at what we can expect as we see more of the Detroit vigilante in future stories. 

All the storytelling here was nice and tight, without too much new being introduced. Instead, we got a bit more time to get to know the main characters, which was nice. The story is developing nicely, but still needs to find what distinguishes it from similar tales of masked vigilantes that have been a standard of comics since the 1930s (and the pulps before that). The story also is now seeking a new villain, as the vigilante can't just stick to beating up random robbers forever. That being said, this  issue laid some very necessary groundwork delivered a bit of a plot twist up front, and kept the pacing while still developing characters.

Rating: 6.5/10

The Spectre #39

Bought this from a back issue bin at Most Excellent Comics and Games in Enfield CT USA when I visited for Free Comic Book Day 2025.

Title: The Spectre
Issue: 39
Date: March, 1996
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: John Ostrander
Artist: Tom Mandrake
Colorist: Carla Feeny
Letterer: Todd Klein
Editor: Dan Raspler, Peter Tomasi

Nicodemus Hazard puts on his totem armor for a big fight with Shadrach and... it doesn't help. Shadrach is a (checks notes...) legal entity, which apparently means that he no-sells lethal damage. Hazard runs away, and it's up to the Spectre to save the day, which he does with, less than minimal bystander casualties. Really, that fits with Spectre's vibe, though.

In between all of that there's an interesting conversation between Jim Corrigan and a spiritual advisor of sorts about subjective and objective reality.

We end with the cult of the National Interest bringing back Shadrach for another round, and the beginning of a quest for a series of "American Talismans", which seems to be a sort of supernatural take on the ideas behind the National Treasure films.

I wasn't really thrilled with Shadrach as a villain, although he did have a pretty cool sequence where he reassembles himself in an interesting fashion after being cut up with a sword. The dialogue was more interesting than the action in this one, but what it sets up in the end has potential.

Rating: 5.5/10

Fantastic Four/Giant-Sized X-Men Free Comic Book Day 2025 #1

Picked this up at Most Excellent Comics and Games in Enfield CT USA on Free Comic Book Day 2025.

Title: Fantastic Four/Giant-Sized X-Men Free Comic Book Day 2025
Issue: 1 
Date: 2025
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Writer: Ryan North, Jason Lanzing, Collin Kelly, Chip Zdarksy
Artist: Humberto Ramos, Iban Coello
Colorist: Edgar Delgado, Brian Reber
Letterer: VC's Joe Caramagna, VC's Clayton Cowles
Editor: Martin Biro, Annalise Bissa, Tom Brevoort

Free Comic Book Day freebie just in time for the upcoming FF film. The Fantastic Four story is adorable, featuring alien children engaging in some very familiar spooky fun and accidentally "summoning" the Fantastig Four from Earth. Johnny has... a mustache, apparently? Anyway, this was adorable.

The second story was a reboot of the New X-Men, previewing a, well, reboot of Giant-Sized X-Men #1. This was just Cyclops beating everyone else up in the Danger Room, and is probably the kind of thing that will generate a lot of outrage on the internet because Scott makes everyone from Logan to Ororo to Thunderbird (remember him?) look like jobbers. Oh, and Ms. Marvel is in it, just to give it a bit more of an update, I guess. She's apparently already made the team, so is saved the indignity of getting beat up by Cyclops.

The last story is Wolverpool and Deadverine, and it's just trying so hard to be even more meta than meta. This story has never "meta" fourth wall it didn't want to break. Nice to see a two-panel appearance by Ox, though. 

Rating: 5.5/10

The Warden #1

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Title: The Warden
Issue: 1
Date: 2025
Publisher: Ironclad Comics
Writer: David Timm Jr., Cody Karamol
Penciller: Mathieu Pereira
Inker: Mathieu Pereira
Colorist: Roman Stevens
Letterer: Jimmy Greenhalgh
Cover: Nate Wells

This plays as an ensemble crime drama with some hints of moving into superhero territory. We begin with a flashback to 1978 Detroit, and the violent and chaotic birth scene involving a pregnant woman wounded by gunfire and rushed to the emergency room. We then jump ahead to the early 00's with a girl kidnapped off the streets, and then the introduction of three main characters.

Henry Hunt is a prison guard with possibly some kind of extraordinary abilities. Emma Summers is a crime reporter just beginning her investigation of the recent kidnapping spree. Her boyfriend, Matt, is a cop working the same case.

This had a good, gritty noir feel. The publisher is going for something of a throwback vibe and it generally works well. The dialogue was solid, especially the relationships between Emma and Matt, and between Emma and her editor at the newspaper where she works, as we see them on the edge of a possible transition in their lives. Henry Hunt is a bit more of a mystery, which is intentional, and the slower rollout of his introduction is effective.

The villain felt generic. The story made references to human trafficking, but this the kind of human trafficking you see in James Patterson novels or in those well-intentioned email forwards that warn people to beware of kidnappers in white vans. We did only get a few scenes with the villain, so there is room to make him a bit more compelling. And it's not a bad idea to keep the first storyline pretty straightforward, even if falling back on tropes a bit.

This had a lot of potential, with a good set of interesting characters set up, art that does a nice job of capturing the action and the mood, and lots of room for the plot to expand from here. I have the second issue, so I'm looking forward to checking out more of this series.

Rating: 7/10