Chad’s Comments (group member since Mar 22, 2018)

Chad’s comments from the I Read Comic Books group.

Today's trip to the LCS.

Black Widow #13
One Star Squadron #2
Dark Knights of Steel #3
Inferno #4 <--- Jonathan Hickman's last X-Men comic.
Suicide Squad #11
Superman: Son of Kal-El #6
Thor #20
X-Men #6

Adrienne wrote: "Hello! I am Adie from the UK and my favourite comics and Graphic Novels are DC Comics, specifically Batman and anything with the Joker in it :)"

Welcome Adie! How do you feel about current Batman comics? I think they've gone in a poor direction since Future State.

Last week's and last year's adventures in comics.

The Mall ★★★
Goodfellas meets The Breakfast Club.

Solar Flare ★★★
Solar Flare is a The Walking Dead type post-apocalyptic drama that takes place in Florida (Although I think the apocalypse happened there years ago). A solar flare has caused a massive EMP, destroying electronics across the world.

The Dark ★★
There's just too many disparate elements conflicting in this cyperpunk near-future tale. It made the story hard to follow as Sable tried to shove every near-future fear together into one short tale.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The IDW Collection, Volume 7 ★★★★
This era of TMNT kicks butt. Love these oversized editions too.

DC Holiday Special 2017 #1 ★★★★
DC did break out some of its bigger creators for this holiday special.

Funny Creek ★★
Begins with a girl waking up within her favorite TV show. The ending shifts to something much darker which I don't feel was earned.

Stone Star Season Two ★★★
The story of a young man starting a team of fighters to fight in the Stone Star arena continues.

Long Walk to Valhalla ★★★★
A quite good Southern Gothic graphic novel for a debut. Rory comes across a young girl who claims to be a valkyrie after his car breaks down. They proceed on a trip down memory lane while walking through the fields and woods of Arkansas.

Captain America: Heroes Return - The Complete Collection Vol. 1 ★★★
Captain America returns from his one-year Banishment to Heroes Reborn and the dungeons of Rob Liefeld's inability to draw him properly. Ron Garney, Dale Eaglesham, and Andy Kubert make the book look really good.

Ms. Marvel: Stretched Thin ★★★
A solid middle grade version of Ms. Marvel's character. It's very much in the vein of G. Willow Wilson's time with the character, feeling like an untold story.

Jim Henson's The Storyteller ★★★
I'm always a sucker for retellings of fairy tales. These are very well done, even if I've read most of them before.

Luna ★
Maria Llovet continues her trend of being overrated.

Catalyst Prime: Seven Days ★★★
The reasons the meteors fell to Earth two years ago and gave people superpowers is revealed. Eh, it was a reptilian alien preparing the Earth to be transformed (which will of course kill everything on Earth).

JLA: The Tower of Babel - The Deluxe Edition ★★★★★
This new deluxe edition of The Tower of Babel collects all of Mark Waid's fill-in work on JLA during the Grant Morrison era. Ra's al Ghul has figured out a way to stop humans from being able to process language. No one can communicate and it's wreaking havoc across the globe. He's also discovered Batman's files on how he'd take out each member of the JLA.

Olympus ★★★
This Geoff Johns comic snuck by me, coming out of the French publisher, Humanoids. Reminds of those old Lost World / Greek mythology type Ray Harryhausen movies. Some archeology students and some pirates get transported to an island where they encounter all of the major Greek myths.

Pride of Baghdad ★★★★
Inspired by a true story of 4 lions who escaped from the Baghdad Zoo during the 2nd Iraqi war. Vaughan’s dialogue for the lions is smart and snappy. The story is gripping. This was a 5 star book until that crushing ending.

I think this may be my favorite of the many Jinxworld books Bendis has released lately. Gaydos absolutely kills it on the art. The book is gorgeous looking with a muted color palette. Bendis edits some of his trademark verbal diarrhea and it really lets the story shine. This is the kind of Bendis book I dig.

My Review

OK to air

Ed wrote: "I followed it up with Cerebus: Form and Void. But, I wouldn't recommend that course of action to anyone. I'm just committed to finishing the whole Cerebus story whether I enjoy it or not!"

I was a Cerebus loyalist sticking with it for the last several years as it got less and less enjoyable. It's probably a lot better in phonebook form where there's not 20 pages of dave Sim's tirades each issue. Long term you can see the dissent into madness.

This week's trip to the LCS.

Task Force Z #3
The Sword of Hyperborea #1 (Hellboy spinoff)
DC Vs. Vampires #3
Stray Dogs: Dog Days
Once and Future #23
Justice League #70
Swamp Thing: Green Hell #1

I thought this was a nice little addition to a long Southern Gothic tradition of storytelling. Adam Smith's storytelling wasn't so much about answers but the journey itself. I do have some problems with the ending, that Rory would let Joe go with Sylvia. He's protected his older brother all his life. What would that change now? No matter what he's done in the past.

Matthew Fox is certainly channelling some Paul Pope in his art. But he does make it his own. I liked the monochrome color palette as well.

My Review -> https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

OK to air.

Lenny wrote: "but also Sylvia to some extent. It's telling that the book ends with Rory, and not with Sylvia resuming her Valkyrie duties - we don't see her story continue beyond Rory and Joe, nor does she really have an arc. "

I think that was left ambiguous on purpose to leave the reader with their own interpretations on if Sylvia was a real valkyrie or just a little kid who knows way too much about Norse mythology.

I was just thinking about this very thing yesterday. Here are my favorite 20 graphic novels I've read this year in no particular order. Some of these may have come out before 2021 but that's when I read them.

Seven Secrets Vol. 1
This is about a secret society that guards the Seven Secrets. There's another sect that is trying to obtain the secrets. Each secret is contained in a briefcase and protected by a Holder and a Keeper.

Katusha: Girl Soldier of the Great Patriotic War
The story of a young Ukranian girl coming of age during World War II. She's 16 as Germany invades Russia. She and her family must flee their home, becoming partisans living in the woods while fighting Germans guerilla style. Eventually, she enlists in the Russian army becoming part of a tank crew with her sister. I was fully enveloped with her story.

Shadow Service Vol. 1
Spycraft meets witchcraft.

Dungeons & Dragons: Infernal Tides
After a few years, Jim Zub and Max Dunbar return to their heroes of Baldur's Gate. This series is just so much damn fun. It's full of high stakes adventure and Minsc as the hilariously dumb, berserker, comedy relief.

Luisa: Now and Then
A 33-year old single woman meets her 15-year old self and they are both disgusted with one another. The younger by how she turned out, the older by how she used to dress and act. The story turns into one of self-acceptance as it progresses.

Friend of the Devil: A Reckless Book
Brubaker and Phillips tackle the Satanic Panic of the 70's and 80's.

G.I. Joe: World on Fire
This was a brand new Elseworlds type take on G.I. Joe. The series starts off with a bang and with that opening you know this isn't your typical G.I. Joe story. Cobra has taken over the U.S. and G.I. Joe is playing the role of insurgents. It had a Red Dawn feeling to it.

Dreaming Eagles
From the premier writer of today's war comics comes the story of a black veteran who flew fighter planes as part of the Red Tails in World War II. This line sums the book up best, "I went to war with the Nazis and for twenty-five years all I've been scared of is Americans."

Punderworld, Volume 1
I really enjoyed this. It's the tale of Hades and Persephone reimagined as a sweet romance. Retelling this story seems to be a trend for some reason as many versions have popped up recently.

Canto II: The Hollow Men
I enjoy this series about the little clockwork knight, Canto, so much. I see elements of Labyrinth and Middle Earth in the storytelling while this could be set in an undiscovered corner of Oz.

Wynd, Book One: Flight of the Prince
It's about a teenager growing up in a city where magic is outlawed because it's contagious and can cause many adverse affects to humans. He is an unknown magical being with pointed ears who hides them beneath long hair.

In: A Graphic Novel
Will is detached from most everyone, finding it very difficult to make a connection. When he does, the book changes to full color as Will starts to daydream about what it all means. Will's writing is witty and wry, his cartoon skills top notch conveying emotion and meaning with a look.

The Last God: Book I of the Fellspyre Chronicles
Imagine if John Carpenter's The Thing crashed in a heavy metal version of Middle-Earth.

We Served the People: My Mother's Stories
The story of one woman's perseverance as she navigates the "rustification" of China during the Cultural Revolution of the late 60's and 70's.

White Ash
It's about a mining town in Pennsylvania where a mysterious threat from the town's past returns. I'd love to say more but Stickney has created a unique world that I think you should experience for yourself.

The Old Geezers: Volume 2
Three septuagenarians raising Hell in the French countryside. Kudos to Ablaze for publishing this French title in the US.

Scout's Honor
After a nuclear war, the survivors who emerge from a bunker are Boy Scouts. Now 260 years in the future, the Boy Scouts are badass warriors living by their code of honor protecting those left in the badlands filled with mutated animals and Mad Max types. David Pepose has quickly become one of my favorite new writers.

Trese Vol 3: Mass Murders
Trese is basically a Filipino Constantine and that's really all that's needed to make the concept work. I'm looking really forward to checking out the Netflix anime after reading these.

Beasts of Burden: Occupied Territory
For those of you not familiar with Beasts of Burden, you should be. It's about a group of dogs who protect humanity from the supernatural. Dorkin and Dyer take a serious approach to the stories with just enough humor to put a smile on your face.

The Dreaming: Waking Hours
Finally, a worthy successor to Neil Gaiman's Sandman. I love how Wilson incorporates pieces of the Sandman mythos while crafting a new story.

Honorable mentions for ongoing series that continue to be great:
Once & Future
Something Is Killing the Children
Daredevil (Chip Zdarsky's current run)

Lenny wrote: "Ragman (Volume 2) Issues 1-8 - a strange DC superhero got even weirder in this volume. I have a particular interest in Jews and comics, Jewish superheroes etc, which led me to this Ragman arc, and it's...it's just...a lot."

This was the Pat Broderick run from the 90's? I remember really liking this series. I thought Broderick drew a great Ragman too.

Last week's adventures in comics.

The Hellbound Volume 1 ★★
So the director of Train to Busan wrote a comic. Unfortunately, it's boring.

Tremor Dose ★★
Begins as a story about students at a college who all have the same man appearing in their dreams. The second half dissolves into dream within a dream with a dream ad infinitum to the point where you've never really sure what the truth was.

Immortals Fenyx Rising: From Great Beginnings ★★★
An irreverent take on the Greek Gods based on the video game.

She Could Fly Volume 3: Fight or Flight ★★★
Finally, a straight forward story in this final volume of a girl with mental problems and a jet pack.

Stealing Home ★★★★
A historical graphic novel for middle school aged children about how Japanese-Canadians were forced into Relocation Camps after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor.

Marvel Meow ★★
Captain Marvel's alien cat, Chewie, wreaks havoc in wordless one page strips across the Marvel Universe.

Halo: Legacy Collection ★★★★
Reprints the first 3 Halo miniseries from Marvel.

CREMA ★★
A ghostly, lesbian romance.

Sin City: The Hard Goodbye ★★★★★
Good god, that art! Miller is a master of using negative space. These pages are just gorgeous and so original looking. Doing a re-read with the new editions of Sin City Dark Horse is releasing.

I Walk With Monsters ★★★★
This was terrific. It's about a girl and a shapeshifter who seek out and kill serial killers.

Witches Unleashed: A Marvel Untold Novel ★★★★
Ghost Rider teams up with three witches (Satana, Jennifer Kale, and Topaz) to hunt down Lucifer in this latest Marvel prose novel.

Swamp Thing: Dark Genesis ★★★★
Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson lay a terrific foundation that Alan Moore would one day build off of. Bernie Wrightson's art is sublime.

Tis The Season To Be Freezin' (2021) #1 ★★★
DC's Holiday special for 2021.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The IDW Collection, Volume 6 ★★★★
This era of TMNT kicks butt. The final battle between Shredder and Splinter.

A Very DC Rebirth Holiday Sequel ★★★★
DC's Holiday Special from 2017 along with some Christmas related stories from the regular titles to fill it out.

Adora and the Distance ★★★
I certainly didn’t expect this to go where it did, but I had a good time getting there. It’s about a young princess in a fantasy world who is plagued by dreams of The Distance. Marc Bernardin has spoken about his personal life many times in his podcasts and I thought this was a wonderful tribute to his daughter.

Paul wrote: "
Highly recommended anyway, make up an excuse. (I see all the single issues in Hoopla if you still have borrows to burn before end of the month. 😉 )."

...or just wait two weeks for the trade to come out on Hoopla and just use one borrow.

Mike wrote: "Holy smokes these are serious contenders.

I’m torn between Daredevil by Zdarsky and The Many Deaths of Laila Starr.

I just a reminder: we need to pick a book by December 31!"

Well if it makes it easier the Many Deaths of Laila Star hasn't been published yet in trade. According to GR, it doesn't come out until January 11th.

This week's trip to the LCS.

Refrigerator Full of Heads #3
Avengers Forever #1
Joy Operations #2
Black Hammer: Reborn #7
Batman/Catwoman #9
Batman Vs. Bigby #4
Hellboy: The Silver Lantern Club #3
House of Slaughter #3
Nightwing #87
Serial #9
SWORD #11
Venom #3
Wolverine #19
The Trial of Magneto #5

Last week's adventures in comics.

Resonant Vol. 2: Spiraling ★★★
The premise and setting is very similar to The Walking Dead. Just instead of zombies, we have bouts of The Wave where everyone goes crazy violent while they are happening.

I Will Not Die Alone ★★★
A series of daily affirmations brought to life with some humorous illustrations of anthropomorphic animals realizing an asteroid is headed to Earth.

Headless ★★
The creators tried to mash too many concepts together and turned this into a muddled mess. There's the Headless Horseman, the Salem Witch Trials and The Knights Templar in this along with some demons. This felt like it was written by two fifteen-year-old boys fueled by heavy metal covers and energy drinks.

The Lost Girl ★★★
A young woman meets a werewolf in the woods and together they fight his pack who attempt to force him to return to his clan.

Heathen, Vol. 3 ★★★
Unfortunately, this closing volume of a badass, lesbian viking seeking justice from Odin didn't stick the landing.

Truth & Justice ★★★
A tryout anthology series for new writers from DC.

Lupina Book One: Wax ★★
Could have used some more world-building to flesh this out more and less time foraging in the woods.

Deadpool: Invisible Touch Infinity Comic ★★★★
Deadpool teams up with the Invisible Woman to get a flashdrive back that contains prototypes of Reed Richards's and Tony Stark's. It was nice to see Gerry Duggan return to write Deadpool.

Ghost Tree ★★★★★
Brandt, like his Grandfather, is the one family member of his generation who can see and talk to ghosts. The story is packed with love, loss and things left unsaid. I loved everything about it, from the fantastic, simple storytelling to the melancholy art.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo ★★★★
A very close adaptation of the book. Be warned, there are some extremely violent scenes of a sexual nature.

The Girl Who Played with Fire ★★★
A much more personal story of Lizbeth Salander. It spins out of what happens to her in Dragon Tattoo. She's made a lot of enemies over the years and that comes to bite her here when she's framed for a crime

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest ★★
The book is about Lizbeth being used as a scapegoat by a rogue cabal within SAPO, the Swedish version of the CIA. Her friends band together to uncover the conspiracy and defend her in court. I wouldn't recommend this to anyone who hasn't read the book first. The art does a terrible job of conveying the story.

Eduardo Risso's Tales of Terror ★★★
Eleven tales of terror in the tradition of EC Comics.

Walter Hill's Triggerman ★★★★
Triggerman is adapted from an unproduced screenplay by famed screenwriter and director Walter Hill who made The Warriors and 48 Hrs. Triggerman has got everything you want to see in a noir story.

The Shepherd ★★
A father loses his son to drugs and falls apart. He has a feeling his son is still lost on the other side and so kills himself to find him. I mean, what the hell? The guy abandons the rest of his family, not even caring about what his suicide will do to them.

Joker/Harley: Criminal Sanity ★★★
A reimagining of the Joker and Harley dynamic. Harley is now a profiler working for the GCPD. She's been chasing after the Joker for years, who has been twisted into a serial killer out of a movie, posing his victims as tributes to famous works of art. The story is the basic plot of a 100 different thrillers you've seen at the movies.

Batman: Detective Comics (2016-) Vol. 5: The Joker War ★★★
This is labeled as The Joker War but it really could have been called Hodge-Podge of Filler until Mariko Tomaki and Dan Mora take over the book.

Lords of Mars, Volume 1: The Eye of the Goddess ★★★
Tarzan and Jane are transported to Mars where they cross paths with John Carter in this crossover of Edgar Rice Burroughs properties.

All My Friends Are Ghosts ★★★
A graphic novel for middle schoolers about a girl who loves to write but feels no one is hearing her. Then she comes across a school for ghosts in the woods and makes some new friends.

Swamp Thing: The Bronze Age, Vol. 1 ★★★★
Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson lay a terrific foundation that Alan Moore would one day build off of. Wrightson's art evokes the best of EC Comics like Tales from the Crypt.

Small week at the LCS today.

Hulk #2
Excalibur #26
Strange Academy #14
X-Force #26
Eternals #8
Demon Days: Rising Storm
Tis the Reason to Be Freezing (DC's Holiday Special)

Lenny wrote: "Runaways, Vol. 6: Come Away With Me, thanks to Marvel Unlimited I've been able to put off finishing this volume for months. SO many big things happen in this volume, it is an absolute crime that Marvel cancelled it for no conceivable reason. I seriously doubt we'll find resolution in other titles."

Rowell has a new She-Hulk series coming out in Feb (I think). Maybe you'll get some resolutions there.

Last week's adventures in comics.

Four-Fisted Tales: Animals in Combat ★★★★
Short tales of how animals helped in various war efforts throughout history. Some are common knowledge such as war horses and carrier pigeons while others are thing like how slugs were used to detect mustard gas and rats were trained to sniff out landmines in Vietnam.

Project MK-Ultra: Sex, Drugs and the CIA ★★★
A story with art just as trippy as its subject matter. It's the story of a journalist investigating the CIA's involvement with the proliferation of LSD as part of the MK-Ultra project.

Gung-Ho Vol 2 ★★★★
Lots of great drama and action in this German comic set in a post-apocalyptic future where ape-like creatures have killed off most of humanity.

The Cimmerian Vol 3 ★★★
Lots of great drama and action in this German comic set in a post-apocalyptic future where ape-like creatures have killed off most of humanity.

The Sleepover ★★★
A spooky story for kids about a new nanny who is really a witch. It's got a Stranger Things vibe to it.

Resident Alien Volume 6: Your Ride's Here ★★★★
After years, Harry's finally been signaled that his ride home is here. But will he go or does he enjoy his life on Earth too much?

X-O Manowar Book 1 ★★
I was really underwhelmed with this. All of the things that make Aric unique are missing. That's he's a man out of time. He's basically Conan in the Iron Man suit. That's all glossed over and replaced with a homeless Aric living in NYC trying to help people and screwing up royally each time until he gets some PR help from a billionaire.

Enigma: The Definitive Edition ★★★★
Michael is a very mundane gentleman begins to awaken when characters from his favorite comic book come alive and start murdering people until each time they are stopped by The Enigma. Is Michael somehow causing this? Is it the writer of The Enigma?

Catwoman, Vol. 5: Valley of the Shadow of Death ★★★★
Ram V. capably takes over the writing from Joelle Jones full time while Fernando Blanco remains as the main artist.

The Dreaming: Waking Hours ★★★★★
Finally, a worthy successor to Neil Gaiman's Sandman. I love how Wilson incorporates pieces of the Sandman mythos while crafting a new story. The story does work without having read the original, but if you have read the original you will see some familiar characters that makes the story so much more.

Fantastic Four: Infinity Comic ★★★
Reed, Sue, Ben and Alicia go on a double date at an interdimensional restaurant when someone decides to rob the joint.

Magic Vol. 1 ★★★
Some of this was intriguing, some of it confusing. Mackay could have done a better job of introducing this world. I mean it's based on a card game, you can't expect everyone to know the worldbuilding and history aspects of the game.

Dune: House Atreides Vol. 2 ★★★
Continues to be a solid prequel for Dune. I do recommend reading Dune before this or it will lose a lot of its impact.

A Very DC Rebirth Holiday ★★★★
A solid set of warm holiday stories featuring DC's characters. There's a lot of unlikely characters teaming up in some of these stories which makes for some fun.

Hulkling & Wiccan Infinity Comic ★★
Wiccan and Hulking get sucked into separate realities where they are with other people. The writing is all very slight with little substance.

Daredevil Epic Collection Vol. 15: Last Rites ★★★★
Nocenti's writing is ham-fisted and overshadowed by her politics shining through. DG Chichester takes over in the 2nd half and the book is immediately better.

Captain America: Von Strucker Gambit ★★★
Baron Strucker returns from the dead to take over Hydra and sends some new genetically modified agents to study Daredevil, the Punisher, and Captain America.

Canavan wrote: "The Down River People (with Matthew Fox again doing the artwork) looks promising."


Down River People is not good. The end is a complete mess. I couldn't even explain to you what happened after reading it. It's incoherent.

This week's trip to the LCS.

Black Hammer Reborn #6
What's the Furthest Place from Here? #2
Dark Knights of Steel #2
Superman: Son of Kal-El #4
Superman: Son of Kal-El 2021 Annual
Crossover #10
Hellions #18
Inferno #3
Suicide Squad #10
X-Men Legends #9
Swamp Thing #10
One-Star Squadron #1
AfterDark: A Horror Anthology
Tales of Mother F. Goose