In this week’s Wednesday Comics column, we meet Rafael Garcia: Hechman, we get haunted by a MegaGhost, and more! Plus, The Prog Report!

Rafael Garcia: Henchman #1

Story: Peter Murrieta
Writer: Peter Murrieta & D.E. Schrader
Artist: Ben Herrera
Colorist: Emmanuel Torres
Letterer: Clay Adams
Publisher: Titan Comics

Review by Jordan Jennings

Rafael Garcia: Henchman #1 follows the life of the titular protagonist Rafael Garcia as he navigates life as a low level henchman who decides that he wants more in life and seeks to become squad leader. The comic is a comedic slant on the idea of henching and general office politics. Think Office Space meets Venture Bros. I am aware that Venture Bros is a comedy but Henchman focuses solely on just the henchmen and not on the main villain or even heroes in the story unlike Venture Bros. The premise isn’t exactly unique, but it does lend itself to solid comedic storytelling and it makes for a great sitcom. Something about the people in the margins of the big battles is always interesting and lends itself to self-aware humor but not in a way that often comes off as mocking of the medium. Again, not a shocker I am a fan of Venture Bros. and other comedies of the same vein. 

Peter Murrieta and D.E. Schrader’s writing really carries the book here. There is a naturalistic rhythm and flow  to the dialog that feels like two friends shooting the breeze and not just info dumping about the world. There is a real Kevin Smith quality to the dialog that I appreciate as an elder millennial. That said the characterization is fairly basic as there is a lot of world building in this issue and the characters are threadbare stereotypes of stoner slackers. Nothing necessarily wrong with that, but I would appreciate to see a bit more substance to at least the main character Rafael Garcia. 

Especially when you consider the pacing of the plot of the issue is a bit all over the place. There are scenes that go on for a couple pages too long and the ending is abrupt. It is almost like they intended for the ending to serve as a cliffhanger but it feels more like it’s setting up a reveal on the next page, that just isn’t there. I wonder if this comic wasn’t originally developed with a longer format in mind such as a graphic novel or a webcomic and someone in creative or editorial decided to cut it right there as it served as the best possible ending instead of being written as an ending. 

The line art by Ben Herrera is very stylized and serviceable.There is a level of craft that went into this that I appreciate. Herrera nails the visual gags which are important to the tone of the story. Plus, the character designs are diverse in their body style and silhouettes, and the layouts are varied between establishing shots and camera angles. This comic is very much a talking heads issue but Herrera handles it well. The problem is that  line art is underserved by the coloring of the book. It isn’t often that I find coloring in a comic from a major publisher to be this dated. Colorist Emmanuel Torres doesn’t vary the saturation and hues of the page or scenery. Everything is brightly colored and vibrant no matter the tone or setting. The shading is a mixed bag and utilizes gradients far more than this art style calls for. Herrera’s line work would be better served with flat coloring and harder shadows or cleaner cel-shading instead of the gradients. The coloring makes this book look like a webcomic from 2009 and less like a print comic in 2026. 

Overall, Rafael Garcia: Henchman #1 is an enjoyable read albeit oddly paced and underserved by its art. It is worth a couple chuckles and it may round into form to become a solid comic, but as first impressions go, this comic left me wanting.

Honor & Curse: Eternal #1

Writer: Mark London
Artist: Jamie Infante
Colorist: Fran Gamboa
Letterer: Carlos Mangual
Publisher: Mad Cave Studios

Review by Zack Quaintance

Honor & Curse: Eternal #1 is a new comic from Mad Cave that has a couple of continuity connections, mainly to previous volumes of Honor & Curse, as well as the publisher’s ongoing interconnected Underworld series of comics. But you don’t really need to know anything about either of those to enjoy this book. At its core, Honor & Curse: Eternal #1 is a fast-moving, gritty action-adventure comic.

Fans of Valiant’s Eternal Warrior will absolutely love this book, which feels like that property but with connections to feudal Japan. I think Valiant is an apt comparison as well, because these new Underworld series really do feel like Valiant of the 2010s, when that publisher was putting out a number of loosely-connected must read comics.

Honor & Curse: Eternal is great though, and I really think Mark London deserves credit for how much Mad Cave — as well as the books he writes himself — have grown in the last decade-plus. It’s very impressive.

MegaGhost #1

Writer: Gabe Soria
Artist/Letterer: Gideon Kendall
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics

Review by Tim Rooney

If there is a problem with MegaGhost #1 by Gabe Soria and Gideon Kendall, it is that I had never heard of this book and missed an entire first volume. This is pure delight from start to finish, a satisfying done-in-one story that establishes everything you need to know and never bogs you down with exposition or saddles the fun with rules or lore. This comic about a young man who summons three specters with a magic ring to form a giant ghost robot to battle a music-powered giant rat monster is exactly as fun as it sounds. It reminds me of the heyday of Saturday Morning cartoons, where wild ideas that might look cool in animation or make a kid laugh were the only measure of a good idea. 
 
There’s a looseness and freedom, a throw it at the wall and see what sticks fervor to Soria’s plot and script. Why would ghosts turn into a robot? Why is his enemy a vampire communing with the netherworld? These things are only tangentially related via the supernatural but it’s so much fun. And Soria’s dialogue and narration is filled with clever turns of phrase and lyrical language. It’s just a joy to read. Meanwhile, Kendall, who draws, colors, and letters the book fills every page with visual delights. It looks like a cartoon, with its expressive faces and wide eyed caricatures. There’s a hint of classic Hanna-Barbera hallmarks in the posture and curve of the lines that makes this feel retro without being nostalgic. When you’re signing up for a book about a giant ghost robot you want it to be as over the top or silly as that sounds. And this is exactly what you want it to be. There’s real artistry on display here all in service to pure, undeniable, madcap adventure.

The Prog Report

  • 2000AD 2475 (Rebellion): This week we get a bunch of conclusions ahead of a bumper issue that’s coming next week. First up is Judge Dredd: Climate Crisis by writers Rob Williams and Ned Hartley, artist PJ Holden, colorist Jack Davies, and letterer Annie Parkhouse. And look, this isn’t the most complex Dredd story ever, but it is one of the best action-heavy Dredd comics in a good while, with a great villain (the creative team deploys a fun voiceover from him in this final chapter) who we will hopefully see again. I had a great time with this one, and Holden’s artwork with the Davies colors looked fantastic throughout. In an odd bit of symmetry, the current Tharg’s 3Riller, Who Is Adrian Apollo?, also concludes this week, and — spoiler — it also involves. This story by writer Liam Johnson, artist Steven Austin, colorist John Charles, and letterer Rob Steen was pretty good, with the twist ending feeling like the whole point. Then there’s a Future Shock, most notable for its stellar John McCrea artwork. And finally we get the end of The Discarded by writer Peter Milligan, artist Kieran McKeown, colorist Jim Boswell, and letterer Simon Bowland. While Milligan doesn’t really ever script a bad comic, I thought the ending of this one was fine, leaving my favorite chapter throughout as the opener for this story that seems like it could continue if there’s enough interest. This week’s cover (above) is by Colin MacNeil. As always, you can pick up a digital copy of The Prog here. —Zack Quaintance

Column edited by Zack Quaintance.

Read past entries in the weekly Wednesday Comics reviews series or check-out our other reviews here!

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