I Read Comic Books discussion
note: This topic has been closed to new comments.
What are you reading right now?
>
What are you reading right now? (February 2025)
date
newest »
newest »
Last week's adventures in comics.Tegan and Sara: Crush β β β β
The second book in Tegan and Sara's fictionalized version of their childhood. If you don't know who Tegan and Sara are and like good music, go check them out. I'll wait.
This book follows the twins as they begin their burgeoning career as musicians while also attending 8th grade. It's clearly intended for middle school readers. It delves a lot into their insecurities and anxiety. It also takes place now instead of in the 90s when they actually grew up.
Free S**t β β β�
I'll just start off with saying I freaking love Charles Burns. I can't get enough of his comics. This reminds me of the set of Charles Burns magnets on my fridge. It's a collection of random sketches he's done over the years. He used to hand them out at conventions back in the day. Now he's put together this little 5x5 inch hardcover book. I'd say this one is for completists only as it's like getting a book of just the backmatter in a collection.
Fear Itself: Journey Into Mystery β β β β
I love Kid Loki. He's the best kind of character. Where adult Loki is often a straight up moustache twirling villain, Kid Loki is trying to do the right thing, just in the worst way possible. And he has to deal with everyone hating him due to all the terrible things his past self did. Here he's manipulating things in the background to help defeat Bor in Fear Itself. It's just a whole lot of fun which are the best kind of comics.
Journey Into Mystery, Vol. 2: Fear Itself Fallout β β β�
These Fear Itself issues aren't as compelling stories as the normal Kid Loki stuff. Mephisto and Volstagg each get issues devoted to them and I want Kid Loki all day, all the time. These work better when read in conjunction with Fear Itself.
Journey Into Mystery, Vol. 3: The Terrorism Myth β β β β β�
This is when this book truly begins to sing. All of the Fear Itself stuff is out of the way. It's just about Kid Loki trying to do the right thing in the most spectacularly wrong way possible. Along for the ride is Hela's handmaiden Leah and Thori, a puppy from Hel. It's so much damn fun. Gillen does a nice job with Hellstrom and the Fear Lords too. Great stuff!
Wanted & Big Game β β β β
The comic that started the Millarverse and its sequel 20 years later. Wanted is very different than the movie. It's about a universe where the villains secretly won Crisis back in 1986 and have been controlling the world ever since. Wesley is introduced to this world and takes to it quickly. You can tell it was written 20 years ago. There's all kinds of triggering language in it that is no longer used today.
The sequel, Big Game, shows how all of the comics from Millarworld are connected. Who would have thunk it. Wesley and crew are back and they are out to kill all the heroes that have sprung up in the last 20 years. There's no way this should work and yet it does very well. Kudos to Millar. I don't like all his stuff but this was a fun read.
Kinky Karrot Presents: Off The Beaten Path β β β�
A young woman goes off to the big city for college where she finds a sex shop and explores her sex life extensively. The art and her character makes her something of an x-rated Disney princess. A lot of the book seems to be educational. One of her caveats is that she overshares but everyone else is well-adjusted and so it's always OK. I know they added all this stuff about how she can't keep a job to make it more humorous, but living in a big city is ridiculously expensive and she never at all struggles even though she's buying expensive stuff for the bedroom left and right. What story there is is kind of all over the place.
Superior Spider-Man, Vol. 2: Superior Spider-Island β β β�
Dan Slott ends this iteration of Superior Spider-Man and it's fine. It's not bad, but not as good as the first go around either. I do like that Otto gets reset to just back to normal Spider-Man villain again.
Green Lantern, Vol. 1: Back in Action β β β�
I like the back to basic approach to this new Green Lantern book. Hal is back on Earth. In fact, he's trapped on Earth. The United Planets have quarantined section 2814 off. Hal's got a new ring with some unknown power. Sinestro is trapped on Earth as well. Hal knows how he's still a manchild incapable of being an adult. Carol needs to just kick him out of her life completely because he's looking very childish at best in this current setup. Adams sets up a lot of subplots in this volume. Enough that they need to start paying off very soon. Those two Knight Terrors issues right after issue #2 completely derail the flow of this. It was a dumb event that I skipped and DC is trying to pull me into it. I hate nightmare stories. They are all exactly the same.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Vol. 7: Dueling Ambitions β β β β
Zayne is free of being framed for the murder of a bunch of Jedi. Now the former padawan and his friends are acting like robin hoods across the galaxy. It's all surprisingly good stuff. I like that Zayne is typically the only human as Star Wars really should be.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Vol. 8: Destroyer β β β β
This new storyline of going after the Crucible, the slaver group who kidnapped Jarael as a kid is working for me. Some good twists and turns here. Bring on volume 9.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Vol. 9: Demon β β β β
These were some damn good Star Wars comics. I like that they were set back in an unburdened era where Miller could do whatever he wanted without editorial stepping in to neuter which is how the current Marvel comics feel. It nicely ties up all the loose ends of the previous arcs and sets them up nicely for the future. I never thought I'd care about this comic and boy, was I wrong.
Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Vol. 10: War β β
Man they should have just left well enough alone and not came back for another miniseries. It's missing all the charm and adventure of the regular series. This is all about Zayne being drafted into the war between the Republic and the Mandolorians. Somehow Zayne ends up on both sides of the war and so do some of the Jedi. It doesn't make any sense. Nor does it that in a war, they allow Zayne to go around without killing anyone instead of throwing him in prison. It's extremely hard to believe this is the same writer as the regular series. It's like he never read the rest of his own series.
Happy Endings β β β�
Three decent low-key short stories. One is about someone posing for an artist on New Years Eve. The next is about two agents stranded in the past after fixing a time paradox with a cat. The final story is about a young man who works in a cemetery and thinks he's seeing a ghost. These were originally in French so there is the occasional grammatical or spelling error.
Black Dynamite β β β�
This is ridiculously over the top trying to ride the line between parody and homage to blaxploitation films. At one point he fights a shark and racist whites who own Slave Island as a tourist attraction. There's some anachronisms since this is supposed to be in the seventies. The stories are all over the place. The Illuminati are in one. People get flung into the sky. As long as you don't take it too seriously it can be fun. There's a lot of artists working on this. I thought they were all decent except for Ron Wimberly. His art sucks.
Batman: Justice Buster, Vol. 3 β β β�
Still unsure where this story is headed. Seems to take a long time for things to happen. Still I'm curious how this reconfigured series winds up. I mean, you'd never expect Jason Todd to be the Joker in this iteration.
Bramble Vol. 2: Neon Flowers β β β�
The story can be hard to follow at times but it's still intriguing. At the very end, we get some exposition that explains exactly what's going on with this detective story / tale of nature versus the city. The art's good but it can contribute to the confusion. The panels are all coming from oft-kilter angles but I still kind of like it.
Bramble Vol. 3: Wilted Foundations β�
With volume 3, this story devolves into an indecipherable mess. I couldn't tell what was going on. The ending meant absolutely nothing to me and felt like a nonending. Like the book was cancelled and that's what we're stuck with. Such a disappointment after such a cool start.
The Lonesome Hunters β β β β
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. Which there is! There's a follow up series coming out very soon.
The Lonesome Hunters: The Wolf Child β β β�
Not very much world building in this one. Our two main characters come across a kid that needs help along with his giant wolf mother. It's a strange, roadside attraction story that doesn't advance the story much at all. Crook, of course, makes it look great. But it does leave me wanting another story with more substance.
Captain America Modern Era Epic Collection, Vol. 1: The Winter Soldier β β β β β�
Ed Brubaker takes over Captain America and it is glorious. If you're looking for a Cap treatment close to Captain America: Winter Soldier, this run is the impetus for that movie. Bucky was always one of the sacrosanct Marvel characters like Uncle Ben who couldn't be brought back. Well, not at least until Brubaker came along. He comes up with a treatment so great that it just works terrifically. This could have been really dumb. Go look at the Clone Saga over in Amazing Spider-Man on how not to do a major retcon. This however is fantastic. Brubaker injects the book with this espionage edge and it is so damn good.
Then you bring in Steve Epting as the main artist. His work has both a dynamic and yet classic look to it. It just works perfectly for something that could look silly with Cap running around wrapped in a flag. This book is where Epting officially declares he is one of the top artists working in comics.
This epic collection collects the first 3 arcs of the smaller collections along with issue #10, a House of M issue which has never appeared with the rest of this run before, getting collected with House of M books instead. There's also a treatment and script for the first issue. A cool letter column where Kurt Busiek writes in, Epting's artwork and a few other odds and ends.
Today's trip to the comic book store.Thundercats #12
Book of Cutter
Absolute Superman #4
Avengers #23
Birds of Prey #18
Rocketfellers #3
Spectacular Spider-Men #12
Ultimates #9
Justice League: The Atom Project #2
Gatchaman: Only One Earth
Mod
This week we read:
- Blow Away #1 through #5
- One for Sorrow #1
- Crimson Fall: The Shore Tower / Crimson Fall: Lambs of God
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
---
Restaurant to Another World, Vol. 3 β β β β β�
Restaurant to Another World, Vol. 4 β β β β β�
I really enjoy this manga series about people from multiple worlds gathering in a restaurant to enjoy their favorite foods. Volume 4 is the last volume translated to English.
Big Mushy Happy Lump β β β β β�
This is the second collection of the Sarah's Scribbles comic. I find this comic very relatable. I love Anderson's facial expressions.
Man I hate those oversized DSTLRY comics. Just make them regular size so they'll fit in a comic box with normal bags and boards.
kaitlphere wrote: "... This is the second collection of the Sarah's Scribbles comic. ..."I recently read the most recent of the Sarah's Scribbles. It was good. But it was supposed to have a sticker set. I read a copy from the library. Someone had taken the sticker set. What kind of monster would do that?
Mod
I recently read the most recent of the Sarah's Scribbles. It was good. But it was supposed to have a stick..."
Heinous behavior! I remember there was some ARG book when I was in like junior high and people stole all the extras that come in a pouch with the book...which renders it unplayable - so lame!
Last week's adventures in comics.Incredible Hulk Epic Collection, Vol. 9: Kill or Be Killed β β β�
Hearken back to the days when comics were only 35 cents and your mom would buy you one off the spinner rack every time you went to the grocery store. It surprised me how simplistic this is. There's a little bit going on with Betty, Thunderbolt Ross and Doc Samson but they all quickly disappear and it's just the Hulk travelling across the Americas. Maybe they were trying to emulate the TV show a bit, because that's plastered across the cover of each issue. Even Bruce Banner takes a back seat to the Hulk speaking in third person all the time and jumping to a different location with each story. The main villains are Master Mold, Moonstone (who is kind of awesome), some shadowy organization called The Corporation and these clowns called They.
John Byrne draws an annual with the Angel and the Beast in it and it's awesome. The main artist on all of it is Sal Buscema. He and his brother sure were prolific back in the 70s. His art is much better here than when he drew Spectacular Spider-Man in the 90s and I couldn't stand how angry everyone looked.
Disney Villains: Cruella De Vil β β
It's alright. It's about what happens to Cruella after 101 Dalmatians. Cruella is struggling to hang on to her fashion empire and, of course, every dog in town is out to get her. So she teams up with another thief to go after the crown jewels. It's fine, but I think Sweeney Boo is better off doing her own thing.
Girl Rebels β β β β β�
Five true stories of young girls in the 21st century making a difference, rising up against all odds to make their voice heard. Malala, the youngest winner of the Nobel Peace Prize to stand up against Taliban oppression of women. Greta Thunberg, the young Swede who spoke out at U.N. assemblies against climate change. Yusra Mardini, the Syrian swimmer who swam at the Olympics as a refuge. Emma Gonzalez, one of the survivors of the Parkland Massacre, who fought for gun control legislation. Melati and Isabel Wijsen, who fought to get plastic bags banned in Indonesia. They are truly inspiring tales. Ones that can hopefully inspire others to rise up and make their voices heard in what currently feels like a very ominous time.
We Are Not Strangers β β β β β�
I'm not going to lie. This story made me bawl like a baby. There's something about it that's so touching, that these immigrants from completely different parts of the world would look after one another and keep it pretty much secret. It's about a Jewish man from Turkey who immigrates to Seattle in the 1930s. Meanwhile, he also becomes friends with some people of Japanese descent who also immigrated to Seattle. World War II breaks out and everyone of Japanese ancestry is hauled off to camps. Well, I'll let you read the rest of the story from there when you're up for a case of the feels.
This is based on family stories the author heard told about his grandfather. He always wondered why his Papoo would go to downtown Seattle to go to the fish market and run his errands even though they lived in the suburbs. And everywhere they went, they all knew his Papoo and welcomed him warmly. Just a wonderful and touching story.
Dean Koontz' Fear Nothing Volume 1 β�
Well, that was terrible. It's only part one of an adaptation of a Dean Koontz novel. It ends in the middle of the story and it came out 15 years ago so I don't think we'll see it finished. Two big thumbs up Dynamite. (This part was sarcasm.)
It's about a guy who has a disease that makes him hypersensitive to light. His father dies and he falls into some conspiracy happening in his small town. There are murderous, smart monkeys around and everyone else in town appears to know what's going on. We never get an inkling. Did I mention that the art and coloring are both horrible? Because they are awful. The whole thing feels like I went to ChatGPT and said "Draw me a comic about the novel Fear Nothing.", but only the first part.
Silence - tome 1 β β β�
A French manga of all things. It's a dystopian future where the sun no longer shines. Snow is everywhere and resources are scarce, plus the countryside is filled with monsters. Everyone speaks in sign language so as to not attract the monsters. I didn't realize this for awhile though. The sign language is presented as regular word balloons and I just thought they were talking until I figured that out. So when they actually talk as opposed to using sign language I was typically confused because the art isn't always reflective of it. One of the group meets a woman that is able to easily defeat a monster with some kind of stew that turns her into a monster. The group decides to follow her to a monastery where they will be safe and that's where this first volume ends.
It's a solid first volume and I'll probably read the next one when it gets translated. These Kana translations are weird though. The pages read left to right. The panels though read like a typical manga, right to left. Every time I get one of these I get confused until I figure that out as there is no indication in the book of how that works. It's the most confusing scenario they could have come up with and I really wish they'd stop it.
Star Wars: Blood Ties - A Tale of Jango and Boba Fett β β β β
Back in the day, Tom Taylor worked his magic on Star Wars. He takes what was a weird concept of Jango Fett with all these clones and makes the Fetts threatening again. It's a simple quick read. Chris Scalf's painted art looks great. Good stuff.
Star Wars: Blood Ties - Boba Fett is Dead β β β β β�
Boba Fett is dead? Yeah right! We all know where that's headed just from the title. Taylor and Scalf put together a terrific sequel to their Boba Fett mini. Boba Fett's dead and his clone Conor Freeman gets dragged into the whole thing. Taylor does what he does best, make awesome comics. Scalf's painterly style makes the book look fantastic.
Deep State Complete Collection β β
A completely more confusing version of the X-Files. The first arc is fine. It's 2 agents investigating a case where something alien crashlanded from the moon and is taking over a town. But the last 4 issues try and pack in about 3 years of conspiracy mythology into them. It's all just a jumbled mess. It's completely dissatisfying. This story is so unmemorable that I actually read this before when it came out as 2 trades and remembered absolutely nothing about it.
American Cult β β β β
A really interesting look into cults that have operated in the U.S. going back hundreds of years. Who would have thought that Louisa May Alcott grew up in a cult or that Oneida was founded by a failed cult. Then you have the heavy hitters, Jim Jones, Heaven's Gate, NXIVM, etc. This was extremely interesting. And who would have thought the founder of Cheesecake Factory was a cultists?
Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The Old Republic, Vol. 3 β β β�
The regular series is really good. It's about former Padawan, Zayne Carrick, and his friends. He's no longer wanted for murder after being framed by some Jedi. Now they are acting as a roguish element saving people across the galaxy. One of Zayne's friends is a former slave and they get involved trying to put an end to the slave group, the Crucible, who abducted her as a child. There's some real nice twists and turns here. But the regular series ends with issue #50 and this also included the War miniseries that took place afterwards. Even though it's by the same author, it is awful. It feels like someone ghost wrote it under his name because everything about it just kind of feels like a betrayal to what had been a really good series.
Loki Modern Era Epic Collection, Vol. 1: Journey Into Mystery β β β β
I love Kid Loki. He has this way of doing the right thing in the worst way possible. He's so much better than mustache twirling Loki. The beginning of this run gets a bit derailed with the Fear Itself event. To get the most out of it, you'd want to read both in conjunction with one another. Nothing bad but not nearly as good as the book gets once it's unfettered by events.
Today's trip to my LCS.Absolute Batman #5
Feral #10
Geiger #11
Immortal Thor #20
Bitter Root: The Next Movement Ashcan --> I had no idea ashcans were even still a thing
Transformers #17
X-Men #11
One World Under Doom #1
Aquaman #2
Deadpool / Wolverine #2
Mod
This week folks read:
- Fantastic Four Omnibus Vol. 1
- Dark Spaces: Wildfire
- Adrift on a Painted Sea
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
Mod
The Gigantic Beard that Was Evil β β β�
A semi-lyrical absurdist story about how life is a little messy. The black and white art worked well for the theme of tidyness in the book and leant to the contrast of the dark beard once it entered the story. There was occasionally white lettered on a light background, which was difficult to read. There was a fairly long epilogue to the main story. I appreciated that it showed how the events of the story changed the society but I felt like also introduced other mysteries that the book just left me with.
Princeless, Vol. 2: Get Over Yourself β β β β β�
There are two very different storylines happening in this volume. The one with the king is very serious. The other is goofy princess hijinks. Both storylines are immersive for different reasons. Similar to the first volume, this one ends on a cliffhanger.
The Shadow Over Innsmouth β β β β
This adaptation is by Simon Birks, Lyndon White, and R.H. Stewart and is available on hoopla. I read part one of three on hoopla. The art worked well to set the tone. I liked the use of shadow and perspective to make the main character seem eerie himself. The use of color was interesting--mostly sepia tones with reds thrown in. It made the setting feel old with a threat of violence.
Mod
I may be asking for too much nuance out of a Marvel book, but why do their more 'political' books have to slam you in the face with the message? No thought needed, everything is spelled out over and over. I noticed this with Spider-Punk: Battle of the Banned as well. Read a review for Twilight that said it was 'as subtle as a hammer blow to the face' and I couldn't have said it better myself!
Still enjoyed it well enough though :P
Last week's adventures in comics.Cyanide & Happiness: Twenty Years Wasted β β β�
A twenty year retrospective of the very funny webcomic. Some of it's really funny. Some of the themed weeks just try and be as depressing as they can with no other payoff. Then there's lots of pictures of the creators that I could care less about. I do really like that they provide commentary for all of the strips in here. That's pretty funny.
Jim Henson Presents #1 β β β�
Three fluffy stories set in the worlds of Fraggle Rock, Farscape and The Dark Crystal. I thought this was supposed to be a one-shot but The Dark Crystal story was too be continued so apparently there will be more. The art in The Dark Crystal story can be hard to follow, especially the conflict at the end.
Briar, Vol. 1: Sleep No More β β β�
A re-imagining of Sleeping Beauty where Prince Charming left Briar to sleep while he foundered away the country. Briar wakes 100 years later to a dystopian world on its last legs. She meanders around this world, trying to figure out what's going on while being chased by the minions of one of her fairy godmothers. I found the dialogue really stilted. I know it's a choice, but it's one I didn't care for. This reminded me some of Coda. It has some potential, we'll see how volume 2 goes.
Briar Vol. 2 β β β�
I found this 2nd volume of darker Sleeping Beauty kind of rudderless. It all feels like meaningless side story until some deus ex machina with some cranes bails everyone out at the end. Hopefully volume 3 gets back on track. I'm also hoping for a different artist as Alex Lins just wasn't doing it for me.
The Innkeeper Chronicles: Clean Sweep The Graphic Novel, Volume 1 β β
I really hope the book this is based on is better than this. Ilona Andrews is a big time author duo but this book is not good. It's overly long. 320 pages for the first half of a graphic novel adaptation? It's not presented well, considering all of the goofy concepts like werewolves and vampires from outer space. There's no introduction to the characters. It took me a long time to settle in on the setup here. The art is crappy manga house style. It's a by the numbers approach with all of the short cuts that implies.
Cyanide & Happiness: Stab Factory β β β β
A bunch of very funny but very dark cartoons. I like their sense of humor. It's funny stuff. There's 30 new strips plus a bunch of twisted nursery rhymes.
Farscape 25th Anniversary Special #1 β β β�
A nice little one shot for the 25th anniversary. There's not much introduction to the characters in these 4 stories so I don't know how much new readers will enjoy this. Fans of the show certainly will though.
Secrets of Camp Whatever Vol. 1 β β β β
This was a great book for kids. It's about a girl who moves to a new town and is almost immediately dropped off at camp where things are more than a bit weird. Willow has hearing aids but it never defines her. I love how parts of this get pretty spooky but it never gets overly scary. It's the perfect balance for kids.
Batman: Year One β β β β β�
The parallel stories of Batman's first days and Lieutenant Gordon's first year after transferring to Gotham. It's interesting in that the bad guys are Gotham's crooked cops. Catwoman is getting started in this as well. I think a lot of the Catwoman stuff has ben retconned as Miller had her starting out as a prostitute who changes careers to become a cat thief. I really like how Gordon's and Batman's stories run in parallel until they eventually cross. This go around I did notice a panel that was backward of Bruce Wayne skiing while doing a flip. He was facing the wrong direction for how he lands in the next panel.
Batman: Year Two β β β�
This book is full of great art from Alan Davis and Todd McFarlane but the story isn't great. The Reaper is kind of a joke. I did like how Bruce finds love and is ready to give up being Batman. But Batman with a gun and working alongside Joe Chill, even undercover? Give me a break.
Cyanide & Happiness: A Guide to Parenting by Three Guys with No Kids β β
A bunch of Cyanide and Happiness comics that can be found in other collections, interspersed with horrible advice on parenting. The "advice" got real old and too long real quick. I guess I'm just here for the funny cartoons, most of which were not new.
Mod
I was on this episode and talking to Ben was a ton of fun!
This week we read:
- Superman, Vol. 1: Supercorp
- Navigating With You
- Bugs War #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
---
The Moon on a Rainy Night, Vol. 1 β β β β β�
I read the first 4 chapters of this manga on KManga. It has a well-paced exposition and introduction. I like the inclusion of different methods of communication for hard-of-hearing people. I also like the overlap with music in this story. I hope more is done with that combination of story elements. The friendship/possible romance is very cute so far.
Mr. Muffins: Defender of the Stars β β β β β�
This is targeted to kids. It's a quick, cute, fun read about a corgi who is imbued with the powers of a galactic hero. There are funny little asides throughout that added a lot to the journey of reading this book.
Given, Vol. 1 β β β β
Given, Vol. 2 β β β β
Given, Vol. 3 β β β β
This manga has well-paced exposition and relationship-building. This is another manga that I'm reading that is very music focused. In vol. 2 there is a concert scene was well really done. It captured the close community feeling and enthusiasm of a small music venue.
Navigating With You β β β β β�
Between this book and the Princeless series I'm becoming a big Jeremy Whitley fan. Also, the guest I recorded with on the show this week actually knows him, which was an exciting small world moment we caught on the recording.
Navigating with You is about two girls who are dealing with some heavy challenges in their life. They bond over their shared nostalgic love of an out-of-print manga. Pages of this manga are seen throughout this story. The plot and relationship in the manga builds alongside the plot and relationship in the main storyline. These girls are so supportive of one another and close with their families. I really appreciated the way this story ended.
Last week's adventures in comics.Animal Pound β β β β
An updated Animal Farm for our current political system. This is set at a pound instead of a farm but picks up a lot of the same beats until the animals are all led astray by a charismatic and foolish dog. I'll let you draw whatever conclusions you will. This is Tom King so don't expect a happy ending.
Wingborn β β β�
This series is one I think kids will get a kick out of. I have some issues with the art, mainly the coloring being too dark, making the panels hard to see. The ending was different. I think there will be another one, but it could end here on a bit of a downer too if sales don't warrant another book.
DC Finest - Batman: Year One & Two β β β β
This is more than just Batman: Year One and Two. It's all of the Batman comics published for the first year after Crisis. There's some great stuff in here. Alan David draws the majority of the Detective issues and then he leaves Todd McFarlane takes over. Max Allan Collins of Ms. Tree fame (If you don't know what that is, they are really good detective comics with a female, tough as nails protagonist.) writes most of the regular Batman title outside of the Year One issues that Frank Miller wrote. Alan Moore writes a crazy Clayface 3 story for the Detective Annual in here.
This thing is a monster. This was my first trip into DC's Finest line. It's DC's answer to Marvel's Epic Collections. It's 640 pages so you definitely get your money's worth.
Star Wars Legends Epic Collection: The Empire, Vol. 7 β β β�
This starts off real strong with the two Boba Fett miniseries by Tom Taylor. Those would be 5 stars. But then this falls off a cliff. The rest of it is pretty much trash which is a real shame.
Star Wars: Empire, Vol. 1: Betrayal β β
Cool idea but poor execution. It's about a group of moffs and admirals who want to see a change at the top of the Empire. They don't trust the Sith and are looking to take out the Emperor and Darth Vader. This was really hard to follow though. There's too many characters involved and the scenes would flip back and forth between each panel to multiple battles. I couldn't keep any of it straight or keep track of who was on what side.
Star Wars: Underworld - The Yavin Vassilika β�
Jeebus, this was awful. The art was some of the worst I've seen in a Star Wars comic or any comic for that matter. It tried to make the book look like some kids' cartoon. I couldn't tell what was happening most of the time, it was so overly busy. The story didn't really make much sense other than every roguish character in Star Wars trying to get a macguffin. I like a lot of Dark Horse's Star Wars output but this should have stayed collecting dust on a shelf somewhere.
The Innkeeper Chronicles: Clean Sweep The Graphic Novel, Volume 2 β β
This was pretty much plain awful. This 2nd half of the adaptation needs a bunch of diversions to keep the page count up. The story is just all over the place. The art is terrible. Just go read the book instead.
My Riot β β β β
I really liked this. But then again I was the same age as Valerie when this took place in 1991 and it really brought me back to that age. Even though I'm not a girl I liked where this headed and the subjects it touches on. It's about a high school ballerina trying to keep her weight down so she can perform in Swan Lake. Then she goes to see a local rock band with a new friend, becomes completely enthralled and decides to start a band. That becomes her new focus as she begins to discover there's more to life than she initially knew. There is some triggering things that were real both back then and now. Struggles with smoking to keep weight off and struggles with body issues and not handling it properly. But there's also acceptance about who she is as she gets into her band more and more and I get that.
Generation X Classic, Vol. 1 β β β β
I thought this was better than Lobdell's normal X-Men stuff. Maybe he just enjoys writing about younger mutants maybe? Full of great art and good stories. I really dig Chris Bachalo's stuff in here.
Essential Judge Dredd: Origins β β β�
For a book called Origins, I would not consider this a good jumping on point for Judge Dredd. It's about the 100+ year history of how the Judges came about. To be honest, It dragged in parts with the pages and pages of exposition. The story taking place in current time was much more intriguing. Still, it was cool to see the creators of Judge Dredd return to tell this story, especially now that Carlos Ezquerra has passed away.
Song of a Blackbird β β β β β�
Just terrific. It's about a young woman in Amsterdam and her grandmother. Her grandmother gets sick and finds out she's not biologically related to her siblings. The young woman, Annika, begins to research these prints that her grandmother owns and finds a story about the Resistance against the Nazis in World War II. The story begins to be told in two time periods, one about this young woman who resisted as a printmaker and helped her grandmother when she was a child. The other is the current story about Annika trying to rediscover her grandmother's past while also trying to find a donor match for her grandmother's leukemia. The two stories eventually dovetail perfectly into one another.
The art was really interesting. In the flashback scenes during the war, van Lieshout took actual period pictures of the buildings and then drew her characters on top of them. It was a really interesting way to immerse oneself into the time period.
While the story itself is fictionalized, all of the characters are based on real people. The last 20 pages are so delve into the real characters everyone was based on.
Little Monarchs β β β β
A near-future, dystopian, all-ages comic that doesn't hide any of what that might entail. All of the bad stuff is there, just maybe not presented in such a way that a middle schooler or older couldn't read it. In 2101 most of humanity is gone after 70 years where the sun's rays kill people. Elvie is 10 years old, living with an adult woman scientist who has created a temporary cure that allows them to be out in the daylight. The cure revolves around monarch butterflies. While they are trying to find a permanent cure, they migrate kind of like the monarchs, harvesting what they need while avoiding people. The beginning of the book is written from Elvie's point of view and sometimes includes her observation in her journal as prose. It can be a little much at times but you can also skip some of it if it loses your attention. I thought the rest of the book was kind of great.
Fire Starters β β β β
A story of racism and history of intolerance towards the indigenous people of Canada. It's about 2 First Nation teenagers who are left to take the fall when someone sets a gas station on fire even though they had nothing to do with it. It kind of reads like a morality play.
Nemesis: Rogues' Gallery β β
Did we really need a third volume of nihilistic Batman? This was so uninteresting. BTW, how is Nemesis not dead after Big Game? If nothing else, Hit Girl would have for sure put a bullet in his head instead of letting him live, paralyzed or not. Anyway, Nemesis makes a comeback and gets a paper thin evil Robin for a sidekick.
Circle of Death (The Shadow #2) β�
This is actually a prose novel but it's about The Shadow so I included it. The longer this book went on, the worse it got. The Shadow is so overpowered that I don't even know why they bothered to make this. Not only does he have the power to cloud men's minds, he can turn invisible even to cameras which makes no sense. He's 10,000 years old, can shapeshift into any kind of animal and instantly control the abilities of that animal as is he's lived his entire life as an owl for example. The impetus for the plot keeps changing as if it has ADHD. I had a hard time believing this was a James Patterson book, it's so bad.
Orcs in Space β β β�
To be honest, I expected more when I saw Justin Roiland was involved. Rick and Morty is one of the funniest things I've ever watched. This was just OK. It's more for younger readers and if you're a 10 year old boy, you'll probably love this. Otherwise, this play on Star Trek where 3 dumb orcs steal the Enterprise gets old pretty quick.
Jonna and the Unpossible Monsters Vol. 1 β β β β
A really fun, all-ages comic about a family who gets separated when kaiju appear in the area. A year later Rainbow is looking for her missing family. She finds her sister, Jonna, in the wilderness living feral and apparently super strong. I really like how Samnee tells this story visually for the most part. It reminded me of his series Fire Power in that regard. Just really good stuff. I immediately put the rest of the series on hold at the library.
Soul Taker β β β�
A story about an immortal psychic vampire who is hunted by the Venatori, an ancient Catholic sect of warriors. I've seen a variation of this story a lot of times before. It's fine. I hate how it ended in the middle of the story though. With these new titles from smaller publishers you need to have a series of well-defined arcs in case of cancellation so you have a complete story. This ending was pretty frustrating.
Into the Sun (The Underfoot #2) β β β�
This 2nd volume felt like it skewed more to younger readers. It's still exciting but egads, there are a lot of characters to follow. These smart hamsters start off on their heels trying to figure out what's happening as the wasps and iguanas reveal their plans (somewhat). I do hope we see more as there is clearly meant to be more and this is left in media res.
Dimwood β β β β
Richard Corben's final work. It's a tale of gothic horror. Corben died before he could quite finish it, leaving Jose Villarubia to color the final 20 some pages. It's about a woman who returns to her ancestral home after her mother's death. We soon find out there is a monster roaming the countryside killing people. It's solid stuff and unlike a lot of artists later in life, Corben never lost a step in his art. It still looks the same as it did 50 years ago.
You're Not a Real Dog Owner Untilβ� β β β β
Dog owners are going to identify with this book a LOT. If you're not a dog owner, I'm not sure why you'd be reading this in the first place. There were certainly pages where I just said to myself, "Yup!"
Daredevil: Fall from Grace β β
This should have worked much better than it did. It features the return of Elektra for the first time since the Frank Miller days. But the storytelling is really obtuse, especially between issues. Every time a new issue starts it felt like I was missing pages.
Mod
This week we read:
- V for Vendetta
- Batman: Year One
- Chew, Vol. 1: Taster's Choice
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
---
Given, Vol. 4 β β β�
Given, Vol. 5 β β β β β�
Given, Vol. 6 β β β β β�
Given, Vol. 7 β β β β
This is a queer manga series that focuses on a band. The story in this series is building at a nice pace. Some volumes frustrate me because everyone's communication is bad. But other volumes are really uplifting because everyone is doing their best. I'm glad my library has this entire seires.
The Moon on a Rainy Night, Vol. 1 β β β β β�
The Moon on a Rainy Night, Vol. 2 β β β β β�
The Moon on a Rainy Night, Vol. 3 β β β β β�
I found this on KManga and read everything that was free (plus tickets). This is another queer manga series about music. One girl has lost most of her hearing and the other girl is learning piano.
Hello,Hope everyoneβs doing well.
Iβm currently reading, well started βThe Girl Who Flew Awayβ� and in between dividing by nights the shorts stories in βThrough The Woodsβ�.
This topic has been frozen by the moderator. No new comments can be posted.
I Read Comic Books
Books mentioned in this topic
Given, Vol. 5 (other topics)Given, Vol. 4 (other topics)
V for Vendetta (other topics)
The Moon on a Rainy Night, Vol. 3 (other topics)
Chew, Vol. 1: Taster's Choice (other topics)
More...
It's also National Goat Yoga Month, but I'll leave that to others to celebrate. :)
What are you reading this month? Maybe a romance comic by Black creators from the library? Tell us all about what you're reading this month in the thread below!
Also, The IRCB 2025 Reading Challenge is Live!
Head on over to the Progress Thread to start up your tracker, and talk about the picks at the Discussion Thread!
If you'd like to check out what the IRCB crew is reading, take a peek at the Top of My Pile posts over on Patreon: