Comic Bento Elementals Box Review

Comic Bento is a blind subscription service for graphic novels. Each month at least four graphic novels are selected based around a theme. The theme for April 2016 is Elementals. As usual, there is a card introducing the theme and each of the books.

I was excited for this theme. There are a lot of possibilities that go along with it. I was a little disappointed at first to see a Fantastic Four book in the box because it seemed like too obvious of a choice.

This one looks really good though. Never really being a huge fan of the Fantastic Four, this will give me an opportunity to read a retelling of their origin story. After flipping through the book it looks like it contains more than a rehash of that original plotline. Despite my initial misgivings it looks pretty good. Each of the characters represent one of the four principal elements. Cover price: $24.99 (hardcover).

The next one that caught my eye is Surface Tension by Jay Gunn. The cover made me think of a Japanese influence, and the description on the back drives this home.

Water is the major element present for this book. The vast majority of humanity was drawn to the sea and never returned. Two people wash up on the shore of a small island and immediately create tension. The sea creatures look fantastic. This book immerses itself in the water theme from the cover to the plot to the art. Cover price: $16.99.

The Book of Death from Valiant Comics initially seems out of place. For a box centered around the elements, including a book about death feels wrong.

The description given by the Comic Bento team, and the back of the book itself, clues into the reason it is included though. It follows the last of the Geomancers, who protect the Earth. She has powers to help achieve this goal. I would place this one within the element of earth. I'm hoping it is as good as the Valiant book from the Powerless box. Cover price: $14.99.

The last of the books included in the box is Four Points: Horsemen from Aspen. Like the Fantastic Four book, this includes characters in touch with the four elements. The take on these characters is a bit different though, and they must protect the world from the Four Horsemen.

It is really cool that there is an exclusive Comic Bento cover for this book. It kind of plays off the Book of Death as well with the appearance of the Four Horsemen. Cover price: $12.99.

For those keeping track, the cover price of these books comes in at $69.96. This is well over the box price of $20 plus shipping. I probably wouldn't have picked up any of these books on my own, which is part of the appeal of the box.

There is a lot of variety in this month's box, but the theme still feels well represented. I will be posting reviews of the individual books over the next month.