Reviewed this week, in ascending order of awesome:
Umami #1
The Wild Storm: Michael Cray #2
Tales From The Hyperverse
Jessica Jones #14
Runaways #3
Star Wars #38
Unbeatable Squirrel Girl #26
Rock Candy Mountain #5
Mister Miracle #4
-A RARE MISS
Panel Syndicate has been a wonderful source for great comic stories that otherwise may not have seen the light of day. The Private Eye was an amazing concept and Brian K. Vaughn and Marcos Martin executed it masterfully. Universe has been a beacon of creativity and cleverness every time an issue drops. Even Barrier, while harder to follow because I can only understand half the dialogue, is fascinating and beautiful. Umami is none of these things.
Umami read like a Free Comic Book Day story from a smaller company that specializes in kids’ offerings. It’s harmless but unexciting. But like a FCBD comic, all I have to spend is my time. I’ll read more but I’m less hyped about it than any of the other Panel Syndicate books to date.
(NOTE: I have not yet read Blackhand Ironhead. It somehow snuck under my radar and I forgot to download it when the emails rolled in. It looks killer, but I was looking forward to reading Umami as well so it’s possible that Panel Syndicate would’ve let me down earlier if I was on my game.)