The word “Portensia” is circling around in my head for no apparent reason. I have no idea what it is or what it means.

Minus One
So it’s a series where ordinary people gain extraordinary powers. And I love those. In this case, he does a nice job of telling three different stories all at once and not losing anyone (or me, at least) in doing so as each of them discover their powers and learn to kind of but not really deal with them. They take down a sand creature and pretend like it never happened, anyway. Oh, and apparently they’re all also going to die, but they don’t know that. It’s delightful!

As for the little Easter eggs, there’s a kid reading Hero High! You know, that one I reviewed last time? That’s pretty damn cool. And Blake Undying is in theatres. And Deustchmaschine on television. Damn, I’m sure I missed some, but nice going on the subtle shout outs.

The Mix
Uh… what happened? So there’s a turf war going on. Someone wants to buy a piece of turf for a damn lot of money and they pride themselves on their turf and say no. And it turns into a gun fight. And there’s people who are not reporters because that’s a handicam, and they’re watching the whole thing. Oh, and there’s a bum who turns out to be the most awesome backup gun slinger ever. Well, the action was a lot of fun. The characters and plot are a bit of a question mark, but the action was fun. Would have liked stronger colours and less busy artwork, though.

Rip Current
*gasps for breath* God that beginning was wonderful. It feels like a female wrote it (Wait, MtD is a chick…) and it’s just so natural that the girls would do that. Seriously, the gender flip on the whole thing, it’s great. And it’s not even the best part. The pacing was excellent. I had the feeling of a lot happening with room to breathe between scenes, got a feeling for the characters and it left off with a great touch of mystery at the end there that hints towards the larger storyline. And the dialogue… I’m going to go read that scene where they first meet the new guy again. It was great.

Slaughter Inc.
For some reason, it’s not up yet. Damn.

Solar Flair
You know, job crisis and life crisis are a little odd in comics. Especially when it’s set in the future and it’s an action comic. I like the main character decently enough and the pacing is nicely done. I just… don’t really have very much else to say about it though. Weird.

Supremacy: Dawn of Heroes
Tee hee! A jackass superhero! In fact, a whole world run by jackass superheroes! I am in so much love with the concept. Mostly because I enjoy seeing them play their power, but anyway. The story focuses around a team of humans as they plot to overthrow their super powered overlords. It feels like how I imagine a GI Joe story would feel if it were for a primetime audience, and I liked it. Mostly because the characters are genuinely outmatched and, well, the heroes are jackasses in spandex!

And more!

Deutschmaschine
Very nicely done. The art matched the story really well, I have to say, and the story itself was nicely done. Not really my genre, but I gotta love any girls kick ass series that come my way on principle, I think. She’s a cold, hardened operative that’s part machinery that’s, thankfully, not questioning her humanity for once. So very refreshing to not see a conflict of who you are. Also nice to know that she knows the score on the whole matter right off the bat without any delusions, any depression over her position and, well, none of the other annoying character things they do to women in stories to give them depth. I am happy. Even if I still can’t figure out how the hell to pronounce her name.

Gustav Hayes
First off, the singer being the most dangerous and badass character of everything? The BARD is the most kick ass character of them all? Sweet. That he’s also washed up, depressed and doesn’t want to do it anymore despite zombies-er, zomboids- taking over the world is a pretty nice thing too. Good sense of suspension of disbelief and a hell of a lot of unanswered questions. Very nice.

The use of colour is confusing the crap out of me, though. It’s mostly black and white with tones (I think that’s what it’s called) rather than a grayscale and it switches periodically to colour when he sings, then back again a little after I presume the effect of his song is done. I dunno, it bugged me a bit.

Hero High
The main character looks like Deadpool. This gives me mixed feelings. Probably on the side to be a little more critical of it because I loves my Deadpool. Although I have to say my biggest complaint of it is that he just out and tells random kid he meets on the first day that he’s a hero and spoils the secret identity as if it were nothing at all. I mean, I know it’s a kid’s comic kinda sorta, but really. One day and he trusts the random geek enough. My head to the desk. Several times.

As for the rest of it, I liked it. Even given how easy it is to ID who is behind most of the masks (Main character is actually the hardest) and all, it was a fun read and the story seems interesting. Kid moves to a boring, safe town after a super villain attack on his school. Gets put into classes. Turns out his classmates are also costumed fighters. And he, as the new kid in town with no clear loyalties, gets beaten up and chased down. Pretty fun.

Knightcap: November’s Song
I like this main character. A lot. He seems together, perfectly ready to do everything and has no problems until he actually gets into a fight and screws up. And ruins his secret identity. And, you know, admits to being a rank amateur thanks to a good edit by the local news. The heroine is pretty headdesk worthy, though. Completely disconnected, seems to have people’s best interest at heart but despite knowing what is best for them, she doesn’t really consider the person themselves. For example, “I want you to be my charity case this month!”

I laughed. And enjoyed the wide margins on the page because full screen doesn’t get rid of that sidebar cutting off the little corner of the pages.

Lotus
The story features the most down on his luck guy I’ve seen in a while. Evicted from a POS apartment and fired from the night shift at a porn store. And inexplicably being shot at and, well, a series of events that happens at the end that are left to the next issue to explain. It spends most of it’s time telling you just how shitty his life is, showing rather than telling, which is excellent though I think one of the three things could have been cut or cut back on to let some of the main conflict develop a little more in the book. It was nicely paced, though, and I started to… well, no. I didn’t really feel for him. But I’m an evil bitch that thinks if you can work one kind of retail, you can work another kind with better pay. And the art is so busy. But aside from that, I’d probably pick up a second issue, if only for an explanation.

Mind Crimes
This was well done. Good pacing throughout, not lingering too long without explanation or without something happening. A guy decides to rent his body to a rich man, who frames him for murder and he’s completely unable to do anything about it. And so, instantly, and in a very futuristic city that isn’t beyond belief just yet, he’s on the run from just about everyone and trying to… well, I suppose clear his name. But it seems like a bit of a vendetta too. The touch of mysticism felt off in the cyberpunk-ness of the rest of it, but otherwise it was fun.

So Z2H released it’s comic over the weekend and I’ve been busy, but I wanted to review them anyway. So here’s part one. More… later.

Abigail’s War
A little abstract and at times I wasn’t quite sure what was happening, but it was fun. Dark, mysterious Abigail appears from the woods and befriends a family who believes she might be a spy. It’s historical, back in the days of the witch hunts and when France wants the new country. And this first issue leaves you wondering a lot about who many of the characters are and rather hoping they make a second issue so that they can clear up a few lingering questions. And maybe do some more than just show flashes of back story and do some actual character exploration with Abigail. Or, you know, character development with all of them.

I have to say that the art on it was a perfect fit, though, oddly enough. It’s an odd style, but it feels right with the rest of the story. Although Abigail speaking in the blue on blue was annoying the hell out of my by the end.

Alma: The Jumbo Elephant
It starts out with a sceptical man of facts attending a far too convincing summoning. Or perhaps it was an exorcism, I wasn’t sure. Step back, and it shows the man and how he came to this place and the oddities that have put him there. Namely, a giant elephant that derailed a train which caused him to start butting into everything until he’s invited to a woman’s college.

How it all works together, I have no freaking clue. Namely, I don’t know what she wanted with him. She just showed up. Maybe it’s because our main man is so delightfully British and obtuse. And Scully-sceptical on everything that comes his way. It just makes you wish he’d get eaten by a dragon just to see him explain his way out of that one.

Black Jack O’Breen
Let’s start this one off with the genre. Fantasy western. Off the bat, what the fuck? The first few pages feel very disjointed from the rest of the story and a lot of secondary characters show up that feel like they probably won’t be doing very much during the title, but it’s hard to tell with a couple of them. It feels, overall, like this is just the start of something and the glimpse of the first villain at the end was nice to see.

Overall, though, it was a bit of fun. Felt like he was trying to cram too much story into too few pages with the randomness of some of them and it could have worked with a more cohesive lead in teaser and without the glimmer of enemy at the end, but I’d probably pick it up.

Blake Undying
Just as good as I hoped it would be! I was with this one from the pitch and it’s just as good in comic form. There’s a lot that happens, though, and I wonder if it couldn’t do with a little more breathing room. First off, it’s not a vampire story. Blake is a man who recently lost the ability to die and he is very annoyed. After all, he’s been trying very hard to kill himself. And I was laughing my ass off when he slit his own throat in the doctor’s office, then asked for a note for work while the doctor was mortified.

The art seemed a little out of place in spots, though. It’s gorgeous, but something about the realistic style in this sort of subject matter seems a little unnerving. Not sure why that is.

The Brothers McElroy
You know, I didn’t like this one as much as I’d hoped. It felt off. Like it was a lot of tell and no show or something. There was enough in there that, with the proper pacing, it could have been a fun buddy comic. But they just skipped over the action sequences, there was no mention of proper motivation and I really was hoping for a little depth of character that shows up in the tell stories, but that seemed to be absent. Ah well, one in five ain’t half bad.