Lost Nova: Altar Stone

Second review of the night. This is the second of two consecutive Lost Nova issues that I bought from the artist last summer at ConnectiCon. I reviewed the first of these here.


Title: Lost Nova: Altar Stone
Publisher: Lost Nova
Date: 2014
Writer: Stephanie B.
Artist: Stephanie B.

Fourth issue of this series, reprinting the webcomic. As mentioned in the previous review, the main webcomic site was down, but the comic is available at a mirror site.

The plot gets thickened quite a bit in this issue, as Vera's ship arrives in port, carrying Pyrena, the young runaway. Vera wants to get a look at a newly installed altar stone at the elvish city's church, but a racist priest is having none of letting any of the crew near the altar.

Vera resolves to get the look she wants the hard way: by breaking into the temple.

Pyrena has some great moments in this issue, including a hilarious reaction to the proposed act of breaking-and-entering, and a highly amusing argument on the merits of a salmon-roe crepe (I'm with Pyrena on this; salmon-roe crepe sounds awesome!).

Good worldbuilding in this issue, and a nice picking up of pace as far as the plot goes.
.

Rating: 7.5/10

Lost Nova: Euryale

It's crunch time. We head back to the US for five weeks, leaving in eleven days. If I'm going to get through this stack of unread comics, I'll need to pick up the pace, so I'll be having some multiple-review days coming up.

This book and the one that follows were purchases I made at ConnectiCon last summer. I reviewed the previous installment of this series here.

Title: Lost Nova: Euryale
Publisher: Lost Nova
Date: 2014
Writer: Stephanie B.
Artist: Stephanie B.

This is the third volume, collecting the webcomic of the same title. As of this writing, the main webcomic site was down, but the comic is available at a mirror site.

Pyrena continues to adjust to shipboard life, helping with the cooking and attempting to help with the ship's magical navigation, while Vera and her crew plan their next move.

Pyrena's awkwardness is on full display as she tries to find her footing among the rough company she's fallen in with, and has to deal with their possibly-unrealistic expectations of her.

This was definitely a transitional story, but the character development continues to shine.

I also absolutely loved the cover art. Just gorgeous.

Rating: 7/10

Dinner Ditz

I bought this minicomic last summer at Connecticon.

Title: Dinner Ditz
Publisher: Sparkler, Chromatic Press
Date: 2015
Writer: Alexis Cooke
Artist: Alexis Cooke

Manga-style gay romance minicomic about a divorced dad who is has a bit of a hangup about cooking. He meets a culinary instructor who offers to help solve his tendency toward disaster in the kitchen, but he fears that he might be just too hopeless a case. Will his kid ever get a decent home-cooked meal when he's cooking? And did I mention there's romance (only romance; the book carries a 13+ rating).

The comedy around the kitchen disasters was good, but nothing too original, but the characters were great, especially considering the relatively short length of the story. Every cast member had a distinctive and interesting personality that hinted at a lot more depth.

The romantic aspect of the book was sweet and adorable, and had a pretty natural flow to it. The artwork was quite good. It might have benefitted from a larger format than this minicomic edition (I should point out that the book is also available in digital format).

Overall, a very nice feel-good romantic comedy.

Rating: 7.5/10 

Rasgal #2

Here's a full-format comic that I picked up from writer/artist Liz Ortiz at ConnectiCon.

Title: Rasgal
Issue: #2
Date: 2009
Publisher: Immortal Gothic
Writer: Liz Ortiz
Penciler: Liz Ortiz
Inker: Liz Ortiz
Colorist: Albie Luciano

The world of Rascal has a full-scale demonic apocalypse going on, and things are not looking good for the remaining "fresh meat" (which is what the demons are referring to humans as).

Writer/artist Liz Ortiz gets things started fast and furious with a fun aerial battle sequence. Winged hero Zarn carries a mysterious and badly injured girl to safety while his allies provide cover. From there we get a bit more of the big picture before jumping right back into the action.

Ortiz does a nice job of conveying the hopeless battle against the overwhelming demonic forces, and there is plenty of potential for twists and turns in the complex plot.

I was a bit confused by the physical scale of some of the characters, but part of that is probably from picking this up in the second issue where characters and their respective species have already been established.

The dialogue falls back a bit too easily on cliches. There was even a "You'll never get away with this!". To some extent, this is part of the fun. Epic fantasy can use a bit of over-the-top dialogue.

Overall, this was a fast-paced story with plenty of action and was entertaining from start to finish.

Rating: 7/10

Benny & Fritz

Connecticon had a lot of minicomics for sale as anime conventions go. This one is a sampler from a webcomic.

Title: Benny & Fritz: A Story of Death in the Trenches of World War One
Publisher: Cory-June Vigants
Writer: Cory-June Vigants
Artist: Cory-June Vigants

Three ghosts, one American soldier, one German soldier, and one civilian, are trapped in a purgatorial No-Man. In this sample minicomic, the ghosts are entertaining each other with poetry with varying levels of success. Good moody art style, and a quirky style of humor to go along with the rather existentialist scenario. This only gives a quick glimpse of the webcomic it's based on, but it's a fun segment.

Rating: 7/10.

Science Project Gone Wrong

Here's another minicomic I picked up from an artist I met at ConnectiCon.

Title: Science Project Gone Wrong
Date: 2011
Publisher: Kristilyn
Writer: Kristilyn Stevenson
Artist: Kristilyn Stevenson

Fifteen year old scientist Maddy grows her cat, Dark Matter, to giant-size. What do you do with a giant cat? Lots of things, it turns out. I particularly liked racing the bus.

Then she sets out to breed a giant carnivorous plant. Things don't go quite as planned, and she ends up with a giant herbivorous plant.

This is a very cute minicomic with a whimsical art style and a fun lead character.

Rating: 7.5/10

Sky Pirates of Valendor Series 2 #3

Well, lack of working internet access at our hotel killed the plan to do live reviews, but otherwise Connecticon was a great show. I picked up about six comics to review. Here's the first of those.

Title: Sky Pirates of Valendor
Issue: Series 2 #3
Date: 2011
Publisher: Jolly Rogue Studios
Writer: Everett Soares
Penciler: Brian Brinlee
Inker: Alex Rivera
Tones: Jet Amago
Letterer: Steve Kuster
Editor: Amy Haley, Elizabeth Tramonti

Gearz and Shyni don't like each other. They're pretty incompatible just on a personal level, but when you add in the fact that they are rivals for the affections of one Captain Tobin Manheim you've got a powder keg that's ready to explode.

Which is pretty much what this issue is. A bit of setup, followed by a six pages of brawl between Gearz and Shyni.

Then the real fun starts. Gearz and Shyni need to work together to deal with an assassin who has been slowly poisoning a prince. As you might imagine, it's a shaky alliance.

There were a few minor problems with this issue. The "story so far" text that opens the piece is more complex than it needs to be, and the story indulges in a bit of a cliché by not having the fight between the rivals reach a real conclusion. It felt like too easy a solution for the writer.

But what really stands out in this issue in the amount and the quality of the action. It's almost non-stop, and it's really good, convincing action that flows well.

This is definitely the best installment in the Sky Pirates series in terms of just plain fun, and it does a great job of delivering the swashbuckling action that the setting was made for.

Rating: 7.5/10

Reviewing Live From Connecticon This Weekend

I've really been slipping on keeping up with the daily reviews, but I got one tonight, and I'm hitting the road early tomorrow morning for the ConnectiCon convention in Hartford CT.

Over the next few days, look for some reviews of my ConnectiCon purchases. Several of my favorite local creators will be there and I'm looking forward to checking out some new comics.

If your're attending, stop by and say hello. Dandelion Studios is at Table 36B in the Artists Colony.