I Read Comic Books discussion
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What are you reading right now?
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What are you reading right now? (February 2024)
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Good luck with Showtime. I finally ended up giving up on it. It's very repetitive and it's almost impossible to figure out what order to read the text in. It was very frustrating.
Star Trek Year Five is, even for someone like me with no real connection to the series, a spectacular sci-fi book that balances high concepts and character introspection perfectly. Easy recommend to anyone really.
Got a bunch of stuff on the read list, but so far the only Feb “themed” entry is my assigned reading from 12 comics from 12 friends - Elfquest, which I haven’t visited since high school!
Finished grad school in December and now I'm working on catching up on all the comics I've missed over the last several years. I'm currently working through getting caught up on Marvel and then will do DC before moving onto all the creator owned stuff.I finished the first volume of Ryan North's Fantastic Four and thought it was the best Fantastic Four Marvel has published in about a decade. Looking forward to more from his run.
I liked that first trade of North's FF too. I thought Dan Slott's run was pretty good too. Marvel just presented it awfully with all those one shots and they'd release a trade with three comics in it. I think editorial really screwed up that run by continuously sidetracking it. Hickman's run is still my favorite though since John Byrne.
I'm halfway through The Complete Maus, it a tough but rewarding read. I find I can only read a chapter every few days as it's hard to read these horrors knowing that this actually happened.For BOTM I've picked one that has been on my TBR an eternity, V for Vendetta.
I've started picking up the Eaglemoss Star Trek graphic novels and will start reading them before long. I also continue with my DC post-crisis timeline building and reading project. I've completed Crisis On Infinite Earths and have decided to integrate some of the Superman stories to my otherwise Batman exclusive timeline. I started Superman: Birthright - Part 1 last night, enjoying so far.
I think I'll finally read Heartstopper for Feb.
My daughter and I got into comics, me to have something to share with her. Just read Batman Year One, and not sure what the next series is I should read. Like a good entry point for modern Batman.
Tyler wrote: "My daughter and I got into comics, me to have something to share with her. Just read Batman Year One, and not sure what the next series is I should read. Like a good entry point for modern Batman."Just get a subscription to DC Infinite. Then you can just pick a spot with Batman and read straight through. They even have trades on there.
Tyler wrote: "My daughter and I got into comics, me to have something to share with her. Just read Batman Year One, and not sure what the next series is I should read. Like a good entry point for modern Batman."As Chad says, DC Infinite is the cheapest way to carry on. In terms of next read, I'd strongly recommend Batman: The Long Halloween followed by Batman: Dark Victory both by Jeph Loeb and Tim Sale. Christopher Nolan has said he drew inspiration for The Dark Knight directly from these stories.
Dark Victory chapter nine starts with 4 panels spread over 5 pages that I think is the graphic novel medium at it's finest. Not a word of dialogue or narration, the pictures do all the talking and boy do they say plenty. Easily the most memorable sequence I've come across to date.
To help further steer your adventures, check out Comic Book Treasury's guide https://www.comicbooktreasury.com/bat.... They suggest a number of entry points and stories to follow at varying degrees of depth.
If you're going to read the Loeb and Sale books, I'd start at the very beginning. They did 3 one-shots for Halloween first before the longer form stories. They are all collected in Batman: Haunted Knight. All of these are offshoots of the Legends of the Dark Knight series which are all stories that are supposed to take place at the beginning of Batman's career. They can all be safely read without spoiling future stories. All of them are really good. Catwoman: When in Rome is by the same team and would come after these if you like them and are looking for more.The two of them did a a bunch of stuff together if you like these and you can branch out to Superman, the Challengers of the Unknown and then a bunch of Marvel stories in the same vein. They are all pretty good and I dig Tim Sale's art. The nice thing is that they are all stand alone stories that don't require you knowing a ton about any of the characters to enjoy them.
Last week's adventures in comics.Tomahawk Angel Volume 2 ★★★★
I don't get into a lot of manga but this one sucked me right in. It's set 30 years in the future where monsters have taken over the Earth. An amnesiac girl is experimented on and given powers to fight back.
Blessed Be ★★
Hearkens back to old school alt comix. It's about a small town full of Satan worshippers, drug dealers, incels and teenagers. It was alright.
The Hard Switch ★★★★
A pretty cool sci-fi comic about a crew operating a small freighter in a universe that is running out of fuel for interstellar flight. People are getting desperate and someone thinks they may have found something that could change it all.
Kommix ★★★
I was all excited to see a new Charles Burns comic, then I realized it was really just an art book. It's still welcome because I love Burns's art but it's not the same. This is 80 pages of covers for comics that never existed.
Heat Seeker: A Gun Honey Series ★★★
I have to say, I never expected a Gun Honey spin-off. It works OK. It's about a woman who comes up with plans to fake the deaths of those in serious trouble.
The Secret of the Ravens ★★★★
A very good graphic novel for kids. It's about a brother and sister living on the streets in a fantasy world. They are digging through garbage to find things to recycle in order to buy food when they learn that ravens give out out quests that reward them in coins. Their lives continue to improve as the quests get more difficult until they get in over their heads.
Honor: Protect. Serve. Beat. Burn. ★★
Found a bunch of these at the library even though I've never heard of Double Take before. I guess this is what Bill Jemas has been doing after leaving Marvel and before starting AWA. Apparently it's a nod to the original Night of the Living Dead. But the zombies don't follow any rules and act like normal people sometimes until they start to eat people.
Home: Lighter Than Air ★★
Nothing about this Night of the Living Dead homage makes any sense. It's still set in the Sixties even though no one acts like it. This one is about a family living on a farm. Their oldest daughter is in a relationship with a black teenager and no one bats an eye. Same thing with this little girl who is treated like Stewie on Family Guy while she curses up a storm. She's the funniest part of this book that didn't make a lick of sense. The dog is carrying an arm in its mouth at one point and is just told to drop it. At one point the family goes into a barn and takes off in a spaceship. WTF! Was this written by someone with dementia?
Dedication ★
Like the other comics in this line, none of it makes a lick of sense. This is about a grocery store where people break in and ravishly eat all the food. I guess they are supposed to be the zombies even though they look normal. Then some of the people start acting weird and become immortal, I guess. If A.I. ran a comic book company, it would be this one.
Walt Disney's Mickey and Donald: Mickey's Craziest Adventures ★★★★
I like how they built this up as a lost comic with missing pages, tears and water damage. The art's great. The story is fun. Good stuff.
Good: From the Amazon Jungle to Suburbia and Back ★★★
The true story of a man torn between two worlds. His father is an anthropologist and married a woman from a tribe in the Amazonian jungle. After going back and forth between America and their jungle village for a few years, she could no longer handle it and abandoned her family and children. David grew up angry and confused, embarrassed of his heritage especially after seeing himself with the tribe in a documentary. The story is about how after many years he was able to come to terms with things.
Danger and Other Unknown Risks ★★★★
Ryan North and Erica Henderson team up again for this story about a young girl on a quest with her talking dog. Electricity quit working on Y2K and was replaced with magic that people don't know how to use. I can't believe I liked something from Erica Henderson. I threw up in my mouth a little just typing that.
Titans: Beast World ★★★★★
This was really good. It spins out of stuff Taylor set up in the regular Titans book with Brother Eternity. Then Amanda Waller makes her move. She's out to take down all the heroes as well as the villains and is worse than ever.
Loki: The Liar ★★★★
Watters doesn't always hit the mark for me, but he certainly did here. I like when Loki isn't just a mustache twirling bad guy. He's best when he's just looking out for himself or trying to do something good but in the worst way possible. I love how Watters brought more Norse mythology into the story, making this about the ship made of dead men's fingernails, Naglfar.
Mothballs ★★
A story about a woman in Argentina who inherits her grandmother's house when she passes away. The granddaughter then discovers her diary and learns about what a troubled life she led. The art style in this was just plain fugly. Everyone was drawn to look like Lurch from The Addams Family including the women. The story also makes the cardinal sin of using cursive in the lettering.
Mark Twain's The War Prayer ★★★★
Mark Twain's short treatise he wrote at 70 on warmongers who wrap themselves in the flag, now assisted by illustrations from the 93 year old Chwast. It reads almost like a picture book meant for adults as god stands in front of a pulpit praying for the death of his enemies.
Tender ★★
This was strange. It's about a woman who is looking for the perfect mate, the perfect family, the perfect life. The first half flashes back to how they met and fell for one another. Then we get back to now and something really bad happens and her life begins to unravel. Then it just gets strange.
Signals Volume 2 ★★
There's a ton going on in this. It's about a psychic helping the police investigate a woman's disappearance. They somehow get involved in a gang war. There's a lot of people to follow and it's hard to keep them straight. What they are supposed to be investigating isn't much more than an afterthought.
Dead Kingdom ★★★★
This was a nice surprise, even if it is about zombies. Zombies invade a medieval kingdom with the few survivors struggling to remain alive. There's not a lot more than that to the premise but sometimes simple is better.
Sweetie Candy Vigilante Vol. 1 ★★★
It's rare to see an original comic from Dynamite. This was a strange and violent one. It's about a girl who's like a sweeter and much more violent version of Santa Claus. Anyone one who isn't nice dies violently while those who are get candy.
High Rollers ★★★
An OK story about a drug dealer on the rise. The story has a lot of characters in it and can be hard to follow at times.
78 MPH ★
This thing was very poorly translated into English. None of it made any sense. It was supposed to be a future where the sun kills and they have to maintain 78 MPH to stay ahead of it. Mantella forgot about a little thing called oceans though. What happens when you hit the West Coast of whatever continent you are on?
Vengeance of Vampirella Volume 1: Rebirth ★★★
This is not for new initiates to Vampirella lore. It's a continuation of the series Sniegoski wrote back in 1994, in honor of Vampirella's 50th anniversary. It's set 25 years in the future where Vampirella has been dead and Nyx rules the world. Vampirella gets resurrected and attempt to help humanity.
Merlin & Hector ★★
Merlin and a thief become friends as boys and go on adventures.
Tyler wrote: "My daughter and I got into comics, me to have something to share with her. Just read Batman Year One, and not sure what the next series is I should read. Like a good entry point for modern Batman."I don't read much superhero stuff, so no recommendations from me.
I just wanted to point out that you didn't specify the age of your daughter. Not all Batman is appropriate for all ages.
(I did watch part of "Merry Little Batman" on Netflix. That seems child-friendly. A little too kid-like for me.)
Mod
Here's what folks read on this week's episode:
- Mike:
Apocolypse 4 Part 1 (visit https://www.claireconnellycomics.com/) and
BYE PEOW fanzine (at https://sunmiflowers.itch.io/bye-peow).
- Paul: Night Hunters, Action Comics (2016-) #1061
- Dave Baker:
Blood of the Virgin and
The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years: From The Next Generation to J. J. Abrams: The Complete, Uncensored, and Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek
Check out the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts to hear our thoughts on what we read! Or listen now at https://ircbpodcast.simplecast.com/ep...
Check out Mary Tyler MooreHawk: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/bo...
Follow Dave online @xdavebakerx or https://www.heydavebaker.com
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I finished Living Room Matsunaga-San on KManga. I consistency gave each volume four stars. There were some tropes in this series I didn't like, but it was a quick cute read with likable characters. The best panels in the entire series might be in the last volume and are all of one of the roommates holding a cat.
Shadow of the Batgirl ★★★★★
I picked this up after reading Catwoman: Lonely City because I was reminded how much I like the female-led DC OGNs. I love athe found family theme in this and I especially love how this found family is a group of ladies of different ages. It seems like every time I read an elseworlds DC book, Oracle shows up and is something different every time. I don't mind, I just can't tell if DC is having fun with "Oracle" or can't figure out what it should be in canon.
DC no longer knows what to do with Barbara Gordon. Each time she appears it's something different. Currently, she's semiretired as Batgirl and doing Oracle things over in Nightwing as Dick's girlfriend. I just wish they'd make up their minds. I loved the years when she was the baddest hacker on the planet as Oracle. Now it goes back and forth with each new author that writes her.
Today's trip to my LCS.The Devil That Wears My Face #4
Birds of Prey #6
X-Men #31
Shazam #8
Docor Strange #12
Avengers #10
Captain America #6
Thundercats #1 <-- Got sucked into this because Declan Shalvey wrote it.
Last week's adventures in comics.Immortal Red Sonja Vol. 1 ★★★★★
A Red Sonja take on Arthurian legend. Sonja has been cursed with chain mail that restricts anytime she tries to remove it. It talks to her, telling her it can only be removed once the curse on Arthur's land is listed. The chain mail in an unreliable narrator and constantly puts her in danger.
The Rift ★★★
Begins with a strong time travel story that's been done before, with a World War II pilot coming through a rift to the present. But as it goes along it gets needlessly complicated with all these unnecessary side characters and B plots.
Butcher Queen: Black Star City ★★★
Some solid but dark sci-fi about an Earth where aliens are not only treated as second class citizens, but supremacists are kidnapping and experimenting on. There's a lot of this that can be applied to today's society and certain groups' fear of outsiders.
Medic 1: Flatline ★★
These comics continue to fail to impress. It's supposed to still be a remake of Night of the Living Dead still set in the 60s even though everything else about it seems to be current. Black people not only aren't oppressed, they are doctors. I can't stand whitewashing of history. Characters at this hospital drone on in meaningless stories for pages while people are being operated on. There's something going on with NASA here for whatever reason. Plus it looks like some kind of future or alien tech is involved. None of this makes any sense. I can see why this company didn't last long at all. Their comics suck.
Vengeance of Vampirella Vol. 3: Ghost Dance ★★★
Vampirella's love of her life returns as Nyx catches a disease. But could there be more to Adam Van Helsing's return from the dead?
Vengeance of Vampirella Vol. 4: After The Fall ★★★
I'm not sure how much this needed to exist since the main villain, Nyx, is now gone. Vampirella goes all hard travelling heroes and hits the road.
Zombies of Mass Destruction ★★
The U.S. government has engineered zombie soldiers to deploy in the Middle East and things go awry. Never could have guessed that. This just isn't put together very well. Not only is there lazy writing but the book needed an editor. One character is referred to as General Dax at one point and Colonel Jax in another.
Birds of Prey Vol. 1 ★★★★
A great start and more grounded into the rest of Dawn of DC than I expected. Black Canary puts together a new Birds of Prey team, one without Barbara Gordon and we don't find out why until the end of the arc. Her adopted daughter, Sin, is in trouble and the team has to go to Themyscira to save her. Good stuff.
Fictionauts ★★★
Packed with heady metafiction. It's about a team who goes into books to fix plots gone awry. There's a lot more to it than that, but dems the basics.
Star Bastard Vol. 1 ★★★★
This was actually a lot of fun. Captain Grieves is a piece of crap that gets his small crew in a lot of trouble, mainly by sleeping with the wrong alien. They're typically on the run from whatever culture they've just visited, typically by someone's father. There's a bigger story about who the Captain really is.
Impossible Jones, Vol. One ★★★★
Karl Kesel mentions in the book that he missed writing Harley Quinn so he basically brought her back and gave her Plastic Man's powers. Jones is a thief who gets powers and is mistaken for a hero. Powers she uses to steal from other thieves when she thinks she can get away with it. This is a boatload of fun.
Dead or Alive ★★★
Three kids go after a killer for the reward money. Unfortunately, said killer also crossed a Comanche who puts a zombie curse on him. So we get what you'd expect for a zombies in the Old West story.
Chasing Hitler Vol.1 ★★★
Two allied officers realize Hitler and Eva Braun faked their deaths and try to track them down. It's actually a neat premise. It wastes a lot of time for a 4 issue miniseries though. This is clearly set up for a future volume that certainly isn't happening.
The Penguin Vol. 1 ★★
This is something of a bait and switch. It's billed as the government forcing the Penguin to work undercover for them after he was kicked out of Gotham by his kids. It's really about how he's setting himself back up to force his way back into Gotham. And what it really is, is very boring. It's the worst Tom King book I've read in a while.
Today's trip to my LCS.Fall of the House of X #2
Beneath the Trees #2
Beneath the Trees #3
Transformers #5
Abbott 1979 #4
Wolverine #43
Outsiders #4
Mod
Notably, if you've tried listening to the podcast before and thought it was too long to subscribe to, we're actively trying to make episodes shorter now.
Here's what folks read on this week's episode:
- Mike: W0rldtr33 (Worldtree) Vol. 1
- Kara: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Saturday Morning Adventures (2023-) #10
- Danny: Thundercats Vol. 1 #1
Check out the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts to hear our thoughts on what we read! Or listen now at https://ircbpodcast.simplecast.com/ep...
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The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity - Kaoru & Rin Vol. 1★★★★
and
The Fragrant Flower Blooms With Dignity - Kaoru & Rin Vol. 2★★★
I'm trying to find my next series to read on KManga. I enjoyed the first chapter of this manga, but I don't think I'm going to keep reading this one. It went from the love interests being two quirky teens to settling into a standard high school romance.
Algériennes: The Forgotten Women of the Algerian Revolution★★★★
This is a fictionalized anthology of stories of women during the Algerian War of Independence. If you read Algeria Is Beautiful Like America this is an insightful look into the history that predates that memoir. This anthology is based on real experiences but isn't nonfiction. I appreciated the little ways that the stories intersected with each other, but sometimes you have to watch the background art to catch those intersections. This stories take place during a war so they can be hard to read.
Last week's adventures in comics.Spider-Gwen: Shadow Clones ★★
Bring in the clones because everything needs to be derivative. Gwen gets crossed with each member of the Sinister Six. Getting real tired of bad Spider books from Marvel. Maybe slow down and work on quality over quantity.
Sh*tshow ★★
A demon came 10 years ago and killed off this world's superteam. Only the Superman character is left. Now he's a drunk at a circus with the next generation of heroes when the demon returns. Meh.
Sengi and Tembo ★★★
Something of Animal Farm set in Africa. An aging elephant and a mouse became friends in the Savannah while being beset by lions, hyenas and lizards.
Baba Yaga's Assistant ★★★
Masha's mother passed away ten years ago and her father has been remote and distant ever since. She was mostly raised by her grandmother who passed away more recently. One day, her father comes home and tells Masha he's getting remarried and her new step sister is an evil little brat. Feeling abandoned she answers an ad in the paper to become Baba Yaga's assistant. That's where the real fun begins as she goes through a series of trials to get the job.
Scarlett Couture: The Munich File ★★★
There's quite a bit to be reminded of for this modern day, spy version of Charlie's Angels. Taylor's animation style art really works for me. I see Archer every time I see it.
The Cold Ever After ★★★
This is a really messed up queer fairy tale story every bit as dark as the Grimm fairy tales. It's about a captain of the guard who was banished for the last 12 years. Her queen and lover recalls her when the princess disappears from her tower and her betrothed gives the kingdom a week to find her or he'll raze it all. I was shocked at how dark this got.
CAPTAIN MARVEL: THE SAGA OF MONICA RAMBEAU ★★★
Some solid stories from the 80s and 90s featuring Captain Marvel, well the Monica Rambeau version that is. She never really had her own book so this collects most of her appearances and one shots outside of the Avengers.
Conan the Barbarian: Bound in Black Stone, Vol. 1 ★★
Hearkens back to the old school Conan comics of the 70's which I thought would be a good thing. But this thing is packed with so much overwrought prose that it drags and drags. I'm really surprised because Zub's wrote a bunch of good fantasy comics. De La Torre seems to be channeling some John Buscema on art too. But this thing was a stinker.
The Nightmare Brigade #2: Into the Woods ★★★
An Inception like comic. It's about these kids and their scientist father who go into people's nightmares and try to fix them. The stories can get confusing into what the root story is and if you're actually still in a dream or not.
The Hunger and the Dusk, Vol. 1 ★★★★★
Not the most original fantasy story, but a very well done one. Orcs and humans have been fighting over dwindling resources for generations. When a third race, the Vangol, comes to their shores, they'll need to put aside their differences and create an alliance to stop the Vangol threat. I love how different the races are and that the Orcs aren't just dumb warriors. They have their own society that's actually better off than humanity.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Vs. Street Fighter ★★★
Your standard crossover affair from IDW. The Turtles head to Atlantic City to fight in a tournament and meet up with some of the Street Fighter folks.
Rise: Sister’s Keeper ★★
Another one of these Night of the Living Dead remake comics where it's hard to tell what's happening because they make no sense. A brother and sister are attacked in the cemetery and wind up at the hospital. There for some reason all the patients are put outside in the grounds of the hospital where they are fenced off. They don't seem to be zombies but seem to be converted almost like a cult by kissing and band together to escape. Meanwhile there's interludes with the President that seem to have very little to do with all of this. God, these books are terribly written.
Remote: Dead Air ★★
Another one of these Double Take books that goes off the rails. A woman runs a radio station while zombies are all around and she puts them to work. Meanwhile her boss keeps showing up in different places in the Western Hemisphere partying and telling the same story. Over the course of one day, he's partying it up everywhere from California to Machu Pichu. Then at one point, the DJ turns into the 50 foot woman.
Z-Men: All the President's Men ★★
This almost begins coherently with 2 Secret Service agents being sent to Pennsylvania to investigate the rumors of zombies. Half way though things go off the rails again though with people getting turned by a kiss into something other than a zombie and then they are all working together to take out a power plant.
Cat Fight ★★★
I think the blurb fails this book. It is in no way "John Wick meets Kill Bill meets Cats". But it is an entertaining story about a notorious thief whose grandmother is killed and he's framed for her murder. And almost everything having a cat motif just seemed silly.
Degas & Cassatt: A Solitary Dance ★★
The visuals are much better than the tedious, droning words. You'll certainly get that Degas was surly and hard to be around, if you're like me to the point of wanting this to be over.
A Guest in the House ★★★
Emily Carroll gets a longer form story and doesn't seem to completely know what to do with all that extra page count. This book seems to be in a holding pattern for a long time. It's something of a ghost story. A plain woman in a small Canadian town has recently married a dentist in town who is a widower with a child. She begins to be visited by the dead wife and things are maybe not all they seem.
Fairy Tale Comics: Classic Tales Told by Extraordinary Cartoonists ★★★
A bunch of comics creators do their little versions of fairy tales.
Today's trip to my LCS. Got a surprise when I got there that there was an author there signing copies of his new comic so I had to pick that up.Zorro: Man of the Dead #2
Animal Pound #2
Cobra Commander #2
Rise of the Powers of X #2
Ultimate Spider-Man #2
World's Finest #24
Fire Power #30
G.O.D.S. #5
Incredible Hulk #9
Justice League Vs. Godzilla Vs. Kong #5
Nightwing #111
The Crying Boy #1 <-- signed by the author
Titans #8
X-Force #49
Chad wrote: "Today's trip to my LCS. Got a surprise when I got there that there was an author there signing copies of his new comic so I had to pick that up.Zorro: Man of the Dead #2
Animal Pound #2
Cobra Com..."
Nice list
Mod
Here's what folks read on this week's episode:
- Mike: Blue Is the Warmest Color
- Kait: Algériennes: The Forgotten Women of the Algerian Revolution
- Nick: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Ultimate Collection, Vol. 1
Check out the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts to hear our thoughts on what we read! Or listen now at https://ircbpodcast.simplecast.com/ep...
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Women Discoverers: Top Women in Science ★★★★
This is an anthology of comics about women who have worked in math and science over the last two hundred years. It was an insightful book with some women I haven't heard about. However, only a handful of them were given a multiple-page story while most of them were given a one-page overview, which didn't sit right with me.
Medalist, Vol. 1 ★★★★
I read this on KManga. I'm trying to find my next series read and while I enjoyed this volume, I'm not sure the subject is going to keep my attention. It's about a young man who has failed at his figure skating goals but finds a young prodigy to train with a similar backstory to his. The opening color pages were very beautiful.
Go with the clouds, North-by-Northwest, Vol. 1 ★★★★★
I recently got the first 5 volumes of this in print. Volume 1 was a re-read for me and I still loved it. It follows a Japanese man who lives in Iceland with his grandfather. The protagonist runs errands for people, so the reader sees a lot of the Iceland landscape in the beautiful art. I'm leary about the way the book treats its only female character (CW: nudity) but I'll be reading all five volumes in any case, since I own them. Also, electronic objects speak to the protagonist and his car seems to be high best friend.
In/Spectre, Vol. 1 ★★★★
This is another KManga read. There are two characters in this who can see yokai (spirits) for different reasons. One character is asked by yokai to try to fix their problems, so I expect that's what most of the series will be about. However, this first volume is very focused on the two characters getting to know one another and the female character being pushy about her crush on the male character. I want to give this series another volume at least.
Berlin, Vol. 1: City of Stones ★★
I bought this book about a decade ago on someone's suggestion and only just got around to reading it. It's about the social unrest in Germany that leads up to the creation of the Nazi party. That pre-war period is an area of history I know nothing about, since most war stories start a few years later. There are multiple timelines and protagonists in this, which was hard to follow because a lot of them look very similar. I would have benefitted from a glossary of terms as well. I really struggled to follow this book. However, chapter 4 stood out to as very good, as you saw the different ways that the different political parties educated their youth, and that was very insightful.
kaitlphere wrote: "Berlin, Vol. 1: City of Stones ★★I bought this book about a decade ago on someone's suggestion and only just got around to reading it. It's about the social unrest in Germany that leads up to the creation of the Nazi party. That pre-war period is an area of history I know nothing about, since most war stories start a few years later. There are multiple timelines and protagonists in this, which was hard to follow because a lot of them look very similar. I would have benefitted from a glossary of terms as well. I really struggled to follow this book. However, chapter 4 stood out to as very good, as you saw the different ways that the different political parties educated their youth, and that was very insightful.."
I'm sorry Berlin didn't do it for you Kate. A collected edition of the entire series came out in 2019. Jason Lutes started it back in the 90's and didn't finish it for 22 years. He's a professor in his day job so I'll cut him a break. I loved Berlin, his first comic, Jar of Fools, and Houdini, the Handcuff King. I should dig those up out of the basement and read them again.
Last week's adventures in comics.The Banks ★★
Neat premise but doesn't execute all that well. It's about 3 generations of women in the Banks family. The family business since Grandma's day has been being a high end burglar. Now these 3 generations are on to one big score. The problem is Roxone Gay in no way did her homework on how anything technological works. She just waves her hands like Obi-Wan Kenobi to tell us "These are the not the hackers you are looking for." She doesn't have the first clue about how any of it works and doesn't even try and explain it. It's just "Oh, I put the thing on the thing and I'm done."
Sherlock: A Scandal in Belgravia Part 1 ★★
I just don't understand the purpose of this. It's a straight up adaptation of an episode of the TV show, beat by beat. The manga adaptation didn't add anything at all new. It's like the artist just watched the episode and then drew it. Just go watch the show instead. It's great. This is not.
Speak: The Graphic Novel ★★★★★
A powerful story about a girl who is raped the summer before her Freshman year in high school and can't find the words to speak to anyone about it. Carroll takes Anderson's words and gives them a voice with her art.
Soul: No Saint’s Day ★★
This is the first of these to actually have something to do with "Night of the Living Dead". It takes place right after the end of the movie. There is a long scene in the cemetery that's directly lifted out of one of the other comics and never pays off why it's even in here. Otherwise it starts off fine but then does this Groundhog Day thing with Ben getting killed over and over that's never explained. The dead people in the basement who'd been shot in the head wake up and have their full faculties and again isn't at all explained.
Spring: Sink or Swim ★
Another day, another Double Take graphic novel that makes absolutely no sense. There's no zombies here at all. It's about a bunch of people at a lake, telling stupid stories that drone on and on and serve no purpose. Then some swimmers disappear and they surface somewhere else that's more jungle like with toucans and stuff but no one seems to notice. Then there's somehow a spaceship from Venus. blah. blah. blah. None of it makes any kind of sense anyhow. I can't believe no one at this company ever said, "Hey, none of these comics about Night of the Living Dead make a lick of sense. Maybe we should consider rewriting this instead of having monkeys banging away on typewriters to write the script."
Slab: The Doctor Is in ★
Thank god I'm finally done with these turkeys. This one should probably be read last even though they are supposed to be able to be read in any order you want. It's about a doctor experimenting on the dead in order to discover a vaccine. But he's killing live dogs on TV to see if they return from the dead. WTF! Half the book is college kids partying it up and covering themselves in ketchup as a joke. There's some Venusian aliens here behind the scenes helping with the cure too. I still think all of these Double Take books were written by aliens trying to pass themselves off as human.
The Mystery Boxes ★★★★
A bunch of really good short comics for kids who are into slightly darker stories. The Emily Carroll story was terrific. So were a bunch of the others. They all had to do with a kid finding a mystery box.
Curses ★★★
A collection of short stories of various quality. The opening story really dragged on. It was a Victorian story about a man who saw visions of a monkey that wanted him to kill himself. It droned on and on. My favorite was the story about a man from Michigan who was trying to get pregnant with his wife. Nothing was working so he sought out the feather of an ogre to make them pregnant.
Storm King Comics Dark & Twisted: Long Haul ★★★
Bunn's horror is hit and miss but I thought this was pretty solid. It's about a trucker family whose sister has went missing. Now her brothers are trying to find her as they come across a group of serial killers called the Nine who are all truck drivers. It's the kind of thing where people can easily disappear and never be seen again so it's a perfect setting. My only complaint really is that it wasn't longer.
Fire Power, Volume 6 ★★★★★
That was excellent. Things are looking really bad. This freaking huge dragon is destroying cities around the world. Meanwhile, our kung-fu fighters are trying to level up to the point they can fight it and win. I especially loved issue #28. That issue just about wrecked me.
Tokyo Rose - Zero Hour (A Graphic Novel): A Japanese American Woman's Persecution and Ultimate Redemption after World War II ★★★
This was interesting. It's a true but dramatized story about the woman scapegoated as Tokyo Rose during World War II. (Tokyo Rose was actually several women. It was a radio broadcast from Japan made towards American sailors.) She was an American that was trapped in Japan while visiting family when Pearl Harbor was bombed.
Incredible Hulk Epic Collection, Vol. 13: Crossroads ★★★
This is alright. I find the brutish Hulk completely uninteresting and a Hulk that's basically the universe's most powerful pet dog is even less interesting. Dr. Strange is forced to banish the Hulk to the Crossroads where he randomly goes to a different world each issue before something goes wrong and he returns to the Crossroads. These issues take place between Secret Wars I and II.
Suzy Samson: The Gorgon and the Basilisk ★★★★
This was terrific. It takes place in a city full of super beings and a police force willing to use excessive force to stop them. Suzy Samson was the premiere superhero 10 years ago but gave it all up to get married. Now she's hit forty and her husband just asked for a divorce. When one of her friends does something really bad, she has to get back in the game.
The Tribute ★★
Apparently this was a major influence on Avatar and I get it. It has some of the same basic story. The storytelling is kind of obtuse considering these are also the guys who created Snowpiercer.
DC/RWBY ★★
Even though this was set in the DC universe this time, this was much more a RWBY comic because I had no idea what these girls were talking about half the time. The worlds were merging and people were getting powers for some reason along with these random animal things running around. Meghan Hetrick's art is always welcome but she only sticks around for the first 2 issues. Then Soo Lee takes over. Her art always looks sooty, like everyone has part time jobs as chimney-sweeps.
The Marble Queen ★★
340 pages long and hardly anything happens in it. It moves SOOO slowly. It's about a princess who becomes betrothed to the princess of another land in order to bail her own made up country out of debt. So you've got something of a Sapphic love story, just not a very interesting one.
Blood Oath ★★★
Vampires vs. gangsters? I'll allow it. During Prohibition, vampires had a difficult time finding alcohol to preserve the blood they drink, so they created a truce with the gangsters of New York.
Bad Dreams in the Night ★★★★
I quite liked these short stories with a darker bent. I thought they worked both for adults or teenagers. I was surprised at how good the art was too. I've never heard of Ellis before and his illustrations were quite good.
Once Upon a Workday: Encouraging Tales of Resilience ★★
A little Dr. Suessian book for adults about dealing with anxiety, self doubt, etc. If you like self-help books you may be into this. I was not.
The Last Session ★★★
A group of diverse friends who have been playing role-playing games since high school get together one last time before they all graduate college, move away and get jobs. The DM now has a girlfriend who wants to play and she disrupts the group dynamics during their last campaign. It's a story that's been told before, probably because it's happened so many time before. It's really difficult for someone to join these types of close D&D cliques after so many years of playing together. I still remember what a disaster it was when our girlfriends asked if they could play with us in high school.
Cowboys by Gary Phillips ★★★
An FBI agent and a cop both go undercover in two different organizations to take down the bad guys. Both of them are cheaters with families. Their individual cases are on track to meet for a bloody end. Some decent crime fiction but no real surprises here.
The Lonesome Hunters ★★★★
The rare artist turned writer who succeeds at doing both. With this new series, we've got this scared old monster hunter who has been hiding for years. We also have a teenage girl who has lost all her family and is quite brave when thrown into the fire while also being terrified. We kind of step right in the middle of this, so at 4 issues, there is still a lot to learn. But I'm sure as hell looking forward to more.
Today's trip to the LCS.Punisher #4
Dead X-Men #2
Duke #3
Beneath the Tees #1
Avengers: Twilight #3
Immortal Thor #7
Invincible Iron Man #15
Resurrection of Magneto #2
Wolverine #44
Fire and Ice: Teegra <-- Bill Willingham's current comic. Not sure when it will become public domain.
Mod
Here's what folks read on this week's episode:
- Mike: Naruto chapters 24-40, roughly Naruto, Vol. 03: Dreams
- Paloma: The Cabinet #1
- Brian: Solo Leveling, Vol. 1
Check out the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts to hear our thoughts on what we read! Or listen now at https://ircbpodcast.simplecast.com/ep...
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ショーハショーテン! 1 Shouha Shouten! 1 ★★★★
This is René's pick for the Reading Challenge this year. A high school kid who wants to break into comedy but is too shy to be a stand-up befriends a child actor who has the stage skills but not the writing skills. They team up. I didn't find any of the jokes funny, but the friendship is heartwarming.
In Limbo ★★★★★
I heard about this book long before it came out and I'm glad I finally got a chance to read it. It's a memoir about a first-generation teen with self-image issues who struggles to manage relationships with the people in their life. It's not an easy read but I still found it very bingable and I want to see more from this fairly new creator. This was printed in blue instead of black ink, which I thought worked well other than it seemed to be printed a bit too light.
In/Spectre, Vol. 2 ★★★
I gave this series another volume to see if it chilled out at all. I want to like this because I find the spirit/yokai aspect interesting. A third character I like has become more involved with the plot. I'm never sure how many volumes to give a story like this before I give up. Sometimes the first few volumes of a manga are quite a bit different than the rest of the series, and I'm hoping that's the case here in regards to the protagonist's jealousy.
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I Read Comic Books
Books mentioned in this topic
ショーハショーテン! 1 [Shouha Shouten! 1] (other topics)Solo Leveling, Vol. 1 (other topics)
In Limbo (other topics)
The Cabinet #1 (other topics)
In/Spectre, Vol. 2 (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Jeph Loeb (other topics)Tim Sale (other topics)
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