Following the Niobe series has been a challenge. The reading order on the website is a bit of a mess and it's hard to know what's new, plus Jones habitually releases flashbacks. So it's a little easy to jump into the story, it's hard to know where exactly it is going. Stranger comics didn't publish much during the pandemic but the company continued with StrangerCon and other events, so I knew the line wasn't dead. Haven't heard anything about the cartoon on HBO but with restructuring there I'm giving up on it. However, today's comic came my day due to their Free Comic Day promotion.

We return to the world of Asunda by looking at Niobe and Dura #1. Here, Niobe's village is attacked and she is pursued by a hostile named Vastar, an agent of the Untamed. Vastar knows Niobe's father and wants to take her back to him as part of the end-of-the-world threat but Dura, one of the creators of Asunda, comes to the rescue.

The art remains a good selling point of this series. While it's not super glossy or detailed, it retains a solid polish and refinement you typically see in the series. The paneling works with the story really well, and the character art remains top-tier. Fans of the previous issues will be pleased with this one.  

The storyline for this one is not too complicated but I suggest reading Essessa and Morka Moa first to get the background of this story. Though in future issues, he might cover more background of Asunda and Niobe's origin. I just hope it doesn't clash.

You can find Niobe & Dura #1 for free at The Stranger Comics.

A continuation of a sci-fi historical retelling by the minds behind Hawi. We find ourselves in the African alliance after the signing of the treaty between the Mero aliens, but there were some hidden costs. Just like in real life, the Mero were not fully honest about what they wanted and Zufan was in a hurry to sign it.

Part of the story is told months after the signing and part is told not long after the signing, when the Mero deception has been found out. Lurking in the background are the cunniving leaders of the CMWA out of Mali, who lost to Zufan in the election. There is an important lesson here on the nature of trust vis-a-vie national interest. Something that Kofi and Nkem learn the hard, painful way.

The art showed a bit of improvement though I liked the art in #1 more, especially the key scenes.  But in other scenes I found it lacking. Not that I expect every scene to get the artistic treatment. Yet I think some scenes could have been better with greater lighting emphasis. Ah well- they'll improve next time.

And it seems like there will be a next time. Lots of backers for this one, which is always a good sign. I think this will be a series I can follow to start to finish. And so should you.

Look for Zufan on Kickstarter and their website here.

One of my favorite yet frustrating series is finally back. I wrote about this series in 2019 and while I wasn't a big fan of issue #2, I was pretty psyched when I heard #3 was coming out. But is it any good?

This issue continues the storyline of the zodiac...people? They look like people. Anyway, we learn of a dangerous conspiracy that seeks zodiac relics, like the one in Shim's possession. In the aftermath of the break-in, the company's in chaos and Shim is forced to confront his CFO, who now has his relic box. Can he unlock the relic and save Naomi before the monster slays her? Can he square his love triangle before all 3 sides learn of each other? What other drama will come his way?

The art team changed since #1 first came out and I certainly notice the difference. The characters are drawn better and the action is crisper, plus the framing looks much less blocky. There's a lot more CGI effect in this issue, which you'd expect in an exposition scene. An overall improvement.

Story-wise, I feel it's a bit too short and without a followup message regarding the next issue, I worry that this might be the last issue. I liked the ending and the way it built suspense. Robinson's always had good worldbuilding skills and it shows in this issue, especially with the ending. It's not a deeply flawed series, and while it doesn't have the depth of Saga or the clout of Niobe, it's still an interesting read.

I'll update this site when the issue hits the stores. Until then, check Kickstarter.

Odina is one of the signature Konkret characters, and likely their star character, but can she carry the franchise? Let's find out. I read issues 1-4 to answer that question.

The art, especially the covers really pops out of the screen and the issues have that glossy new-comic look. The first issue had some art erorrs and mistakes in plotting that were corrected in future issues. But we don't really get the origin of Odina we could use. We get some hints, like her demon-based powers. Her origin seems related to the main threat she's fighting with the Kush gods to defeat the evil hybrid queen. But will she survive against Lady Tiye to find out? She got some training but Lady Tiye is a powerhouse.

Odina's a bit of a snarky jerk which is different from other woman-power comics. It's a little off-putting considering her age, but there's some charm to it. Don't let it put you off from her comic, though.

You can find Odina and others at https://www.konkretcomics.com/ 

It reads like a Wonder Woman copy, but it isn't. It reads more like a mix between Black Adam and Malika, to be honest. But is it a fun read, or serious historical critique?

Amani Renas, the last surviving Kandake warrior of the ancient kingdom of Kush, starts the issue wandering the ruins of the capital. Her kingdom destroyed, she was in purgatory, but it doesn't quite show that in the issue. She stumbles across a village being attacked by a new enemy- the militia. 

She has some sort of magically enhanced strength though its range is not clear. She's part of the Konkret universe but is not certain of what her role should be. She needs to find herself in this modern world of new heroes and forgotten gods. 

The art of the comic is pretty impressive. The framing, the action moves, the stills all give the comic a polished, semi-modern look. The way they draw is very 90s and pre-heavy digital era look. I think fans of that era of comic (the good ones not the bad ones) would like the artistic spread and angle of this one. Fans of African focused comics will like the focus on Kush and other ancient kingdoms.

There are other comics in the Konkret line that I've covered before. I've covered Akolyte on Talk About It Tuesday and liked it enough that I might buy more in the series. I'm not 100% this will be as successful as their other comics, but they're treading new ground with her, so we'll see. Odina's been around for awhile too so we'll see how they separate her from Kandake. 

You can find Kandake and others at https://www.konkretcomics.com/ 

Here's something markedly different. Not a single human character in this story. Think of "origins" as the origins of human life on Earth. The characters are wood-spirits(?) I think, assigned by the god Ashari to prepare the Earth for humanity. However, Barkuzu the elder decides not to ascend and wants to control Earth for himself. The new chosen and his friends must learn the secrets of the power system and stop Barkuzu's invasion before the biosphere collapses. It's a wild fantasy adventure, no doubt about that.

The art reminds me a lot of cosmic series like Silver Surfer and Guardians, especially of Groot the tree alien. The colorful creatures clash with the dark setting of the bad guy's lair, thus heightening the contradictions. Some of the animals are drawn in a cute way to give younger readers something to be excited about, besides the talking tree people of course. 

As far as the story goes, in some ways it's interesting and in others it's a bit long and slightly boring. The characters are pretty well written but the villain went from purporseful to Skeletor halfway through the story. I think the plot could have used a bit more polish. I liked the references to Yoruba and Igbo culture in this comic, giving it a cultural life of its own.

If you're interested, or have young advanced readers who are, then you can find it on pre-order at their site here. I got it on Kickstarter 2 weeks ago so it might be a minute or two before it's on sale.

Another great work from YouNeek studios finds its way to my blog! I was quite happy with this sequel to Volume 1, though the art was a bit lacking at times and I wasn't a big fan of some framing. Still we got a lot of good story to complement the art and give us an idea as to what the hell is going on in Yorubaland and how the Corrupted animals got that way. Iyanu gets the obvious student choice: Complete the mission or save the beloved master? But first, she needs training at the hands of Biyu's village matriach. Answers will fly out of the page in this issue, but it isn't a lot of infodumping like other works. 

You can find Iyanu at the links here. In fact, you might even see it on TV soon.

Haha! Spotted a continuity error! There's no train to Vicksburg! Let's just say I'm proud of my Amtrak knowledge!

Anyway, Kisha has two parts- a prologue which introduces the demon Kisha and the main story which introduces Kisha. They are not the same person, and then they are. It's not that complicated. 

Basically, Kisha the human goes with her friends into a demonic portal and she accidentally gets possessed by Kisha the demon. Now she must fight against the evil demons and demon hunters while trying to figure out her own powers and spirituality. 

Is this a New Orleans story? Yes, in fact it is. It's kinda set in the same world as the Crescent City monsters. The Grunch monsters are in the story and there's some mention of characters but the mains of both have yet to interact. That might happen in Vol 3, whenever the Dream Fury crew gets around to it. Vol 2 will certainly have our Nawlins schoolgirl killing machine fighting for her life in Kansas,

I found the art to be great in quality and framing. The mix of color in some pages really helps the scenes in which it appears. I'm not sure as to why they only colored some objects and not others but it did not distract from the story. This comic reads like a Big 3 produced work in terms of art. I hope they can keep up their high quality in future works.

You can find Kisha and Crescent City Monsters at this link

This is the comic I talked about last time I wrote a review. It's quite large, at 128 pages, which gives the reader a lot to work with. Some people dislike B&W comics but I find the lack of color highlights the mystery and "off-ness" of a story. 

We start off with Jonas, a talented young musician playing the guitar in a blues band in Crescent City in the 1950s. I think it's the 50s. He has some magic powers but those powers go a bit out of control and then he gets captured by the Grunch- some sort of magical creature that lives in the hidden recesses of the city. There's a lot of those in the Crescent City.

We jump to present day and follow two kids Brittany and Box, two magically gifted kids who play the trumpet for cash on Bourbon street. They want to contact their long-dead parents but instead get to go on a magical adventure which leads to Jonas' escape. Missing for 50 years and zombified, Jonas must find himself again in Volume 2.

There's a lot going on and the artistic direction enhances the scariness and magical realism of the setting. Having lived around New Orleans, there are lots of superstitions I've heard over the years, most of which are nonsense BTW but it overlaps with some of the real-life horrors people have endured there. Life the racism, especially the racis cops. 

I think most anyone into horror comics would like this. 4.5 out of 5 stars. You can find a physical version on Blerd-ish

As I mentioned last week, some of my Kickstarters were coming out. This comic Zufan #1 came from the Hawi #1-3 set that just came out. I haven’t gotten to Hawi yet since I’ve been busy. But a quick #1 issue fits my budget for this week and so I took a look.

Set around 150 years in the future, an African republic faces a stark challenge- partner with aliens to get weapons tech that matches the other nations around them, or be left behind and become easily conquered. Unfortunately, this is the plan of the colonial aliens.

Think of the story as a futuristic take on the early “Scramble for Africa” that the continent went through after the 16th century, with a better focus on the 1885 Berlin Conference. This shot here represents the conference in a Sci-Fi setting. If you’ve got 3 hours to spend on learning about the Scramble, I suggest this video from Jabzy. This is the playlist to all of his Scramble history videos. Instead of a dry historical telling, this comic is more of a history-thru-the-news and history-thru-character story. Zufan is a rising politician who recognizes the risks to her republic if they don’t get alien arms. Her husband rightfully recognizes that the aliens are no different from colonialists in the 1880s and partnering with them would make the republic a puppet state or worse. Zufan wins the election but signs a treaty with one of the alien races, the last one to sign with a human race. Think of the this part of the story as how African kingdoms must have felt when budding European powers started showing up with new weapons. The art was pretty good, though the cover doesn’t quite match what the point of the story is. I think the second image I shared is the more accurate cover of what is to come. I wasn’t the biggest fan of the paneling because it made reading difficult.

I give Zufan a hopeful rating of 4 out of 5 stars. An interesting concept meets historical realities. You can find it on sale here at https://etancomics.com/shop/