PINE & MERRIMAC (Starks / Galán; Boom Studios, 2024)

(***+ / *****): Would’ve easily been a 5/5 had the plane not skidded off the runway into a fiery inferno in the final issue. While Starks’s writing in the first four issues and Galán’s art across the board saved it, it’s maddening that the fifth and final issue was so unworthy of the previous four. That said, P&M is well worth reading (and was at the top of the stack each month) – though prepare to be heartbroken for more than the reasons in the story.