Bullet Adventures # 2 from Altruist Comics (review)

Elaine Choi is the new Bullet, a legacy speedster hero following in the footsteps of her grandfather. A high school student, she is shown here to have a hard time lying to her friends about her adventures as a superhero, keeping her alter ego a secret. Her mom isn't too keen on her adventures, fearing the job will take her daughter like it did her father.

The villain of the story reminds us as much of Captain Cold as Bullet reminds us of his enemy The Flash. A villain with ice gauntlets versus a hero with superspeed. Not that original, but hey I cannot deny it guarantees a nice superhero fight.

The dialogue by Jordan Alsaqa is pretty fluid and the pacing of the story pretty good. The artwork by Nicólas Carrizo is clear, easy to follow, focusing more on storytelling than flashy splash pages which I like. The story feels as old fashioned as it does new. By that I mean they took everything that made Bronze Age comics cool and put them firmly in the environment of today.

Teen Machine # 1

It is so impressive how Dan Sehn manages to keep turning out superhero comics. Where a lot of publisher fold after a few he keeps going on with his Argo Comics.
This comic holds several short stories featuring Teen Machine, the Teen Titans of the Argo Comicsverse if you will. They are all written by creator Dan Sehn and illustrated by several artists.
The first story seems a bit inspired by old humor comics. The story is kind of fun but the art wasn't as good as I'm used to for Argo. Then there's a story where the heroes meet the Argo equivalent of the Justice Society of America. The last story, which has the best artwork I think, has the team face off against another teen team.
All in all, the stories are fun to read and it's always cool to see new superheroes appearing. Don't expect any deep and dark introspective stuff, just cool heroes doing their thing.
The comic is rounded out by a few pin-ups

Earthling # 4

Earthling has managed to gather some followers who aid him in his animal rescues.
Superheroin Lovechild saves a homeless guy from some muggers and is asked by The Regiment to stop Earthling from hurting people on his mission.  Picking him up when he's on a mission in South Africa he makes him an offer he might not be able to refuse.
I liked this issue the best so far. The writing is getting better, there's more of a story and the art by Jim Jiminez is very solid throughout. The colors are very professional, and the whole animal rights activist thing used very well.
Another hit in a solid series.

Mega Woman #1 & 2 (Godhood Comics)

Keisha Carter is Mega Woman, probably the most badass metahuman (called Superiors in this universe) in the Godhood Comics verse. We watch her kick supervillain Captain-X's behind and are introduced to her police detective dad who reminded me of the Flash's stepfather in the TV show.

Turns out Mega Woman is a goddess as is further explained in the second issue. There we are also introduced to a female villain I would call hot if she wasn't one of those ice-powered ones.
The story is interesting and the designs are pretty cool. What really impressed me though was the DC / Marvel quality of the artwork, both the pencils as well as the coloring. A very professional package.
Mega Woman is a hero for our times and the perfect mix between a black superhero and a female hero that should make it a popular comic. After all, you could call it a mix between Wonder Woman and Black Panther and we all know how they did at the box office.

The White Ribbon Runs the Red Lights (Signal City) by Blake Michael Nelson

I don't like superhero novel that read too much like Young Adult novels or seem like just an excuse for a fantasy writer to sell books on the back of recent superhero blockbusters. This one doesn't fall in those categories, even if the protagonist is a young guy.
What is evident here is that the writer really loves superheroes and comics. Main heroes Skirmish and The White Ribbon may owe just a bit to Robin and Marvel's Cloak but mainly they are pretty original heroes and not the carbon copies of Batman or Superman we often encounter in these books.
Set in Signal City we read how Skirmish, martial arts expert and sidekick to hero Quarterstaff gets involved with the theft of magical weapons and meets the young female mystical hero The White Ribbon. In his investigations he has to face his darker past at an assassin school.
I really loved how fast-paced this novel was. It's not too long and the scenes move along quickly with very well written action scenes.

The Ultimate Agent (Ultimate Agency) by Derek Borne

With this series of novels  I was expecting more or less a book about SHIELD, what I got was way more T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents...
Devon Bertrand is recruited to join the Ultimate Agency, a secret spy organization. There he is gifted with amazing superpowers and assisted by Brett who outfits himself with all kinds of gadgets. Together they fight some superpowered and evil Russians. Along the way they gather some female, superpowered allies. There's also some love stories as subplots.
I thought at times the character development scenes took a bit too long but the action scenes are splash page amazing. The superpowers are impressive and no holds are barred there. The universe is pretty original but absolutely a superhero one even though a bit more realistic than the usual comic book ones. Don't however mistake this for a dark and gritty deconstruction story. It's just plain fun, superheroic spies fighting all over the world.

Like Father, Like Daughter # 1-4 (Short Fuse Media)

These days a lot of my favorite comic book writers are female: Margaret Stohl, Becky Cloonan, etc.
With this series I can add Kathryn Calamia to that list.
Casey is a young girl whose father has left her when she was young. The reason he did was that he preferred his life as the world's only superhero to that of a devoting father. When she gets superpowers herself she enlists the aid of some friends to learn more about her powers. When her dad returns in her life and they try to understand where his powers came from things get dramatic and dangerous.
This is a superhero comic with only a few action scenes and no real supervillains. In this world being a superhero is still unique and Casey's dad, Invulnerable is the only costumed hero out there.There is a suspenseful story, some real emotions and some laughs.
The whole realistic feel, the combination of high school setting and female protagonist, the mysterious plot... These elements would make this a great Netflix series! So I recommend this for people who love the CW shows and stuff like that.