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? (November 2022)
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Mod
- Mike: Legion of X #6, Once & Future #25
- Danny: The Riddler: Year One (2022-) #1, A.X.E.: Judgment Day #6
- Kait: Seen: Edmonia Lewis
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.com/episodes/epis...
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I've been making my way through quite a bit of graphic nonfiction from the library. In addition to Seen: Edmonia Lewis mentioned above, I'm also reading I Was Their American Dream: A Graphic Memoir and Sapiens: A Graphic History, Volume 2 - The Pillars of Civilization. The first two were pretty quick reads, but Sapiens contains a whole lot of information! I'm reading a little bit of it every day.
Playing catch up with the reading challenge.BURN THE WITCH 1 and Stranger Planet so far.
Edited to add: The Black Monday Murders, Vol. 1: All Hail, God Mammon and Guts
Mod
- Mike: Aquaman: Andromeda #1, Chilling Adventure of Salem (2022), Forest Hills Bootleg Society
- Paloma: Blink #1
- Nick: Hellboy in Love #1, Galaxy's Deadliest, 波よ聞いてくれ 4 Nami yo Kiitekure 4 (Wave, Listen to Me! vol. 4)
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.com/episodes/epis...
Mod
Started a new job, so I'm reading less
I've enjoyed this run, but there's something missing. Like a pop song with too many writers. The Clone Conspiracy was my only exposure to Ben Reilly before, but I like him.
Started this for spooky time. Art is jaw dropping. Loving the writing.
新装版 ＢＬＡＭＥ！（５）
I'm going to enjoy this book a lot more after I look up what happened on Youtube. Tsutomu Nihei is one of those fascinating cases of an outsider entering the industry and accidently making something original. Nothing is explained in the best and worst way possible.
Figment
This was a nostalgia trip for me. I vividly remember the ride at Disney World with Figment the dragon. Fun
Hawkeye: Freefall
I feel like every Hawkeye thing has been trying to recapture the Fraction/Aja run, which means most of them have been good. I hope this leads to an interesting arc for Clint down the line.
Wizard Beach
Wish I liked this more. Very cute. Art pushes it to 4 stars for me.
Marvel Masterworks: The Uncanny X-Men, Vol. 13
Read as a part of the Masterworks, Longshot is kinda good until it's really good. Art is some of the best I've seen. It takes me a long time to get through the 80s/90s style of writing.
A long list of stuff I've read as I try to get back on a regular weekly schedule. I was off work for a month so I read a ton. I planned on making this list the 2nd half of October but I reached the character limit. Just to the 26th.
Doughnuts and Doom ★★★★A witch who has trouble performing in public and a aspiring singer meet under strenuous circumstances. Will they realize they could be something much more? A light and sassy sapphic romance.
Sacred Lamb ★★A cool idea with poor presentation. It's about a secret town in the middle of nowhere for survivors of slashers.
Night Terror ★★★★Pure nightmare fuel. Images of children accompanied by horrific creatures. All with looks of ennui on their faces.
Spa ★★I didn’t get this. It was just random things happening at this spa. There was no thru line or story to speak of. The characters all had the same doltish, fugly look.
We Have Demons ★★Snyder’s first foray into digital comics is a generic snooze fest set at the end of the world. It’s about a group of people who fight demons.
Snow Angels: Season Two ★★I couldn’t make heads or tails of what was happening with this story. Lots of chasing outside the trench. Didn’t really pick up why though. I expected a lot more out of Snyder and Jock.
Dreams Factory ★★★★Gorgeous art and story. It’s about a young girl working in a coal mine in poor working conditions when her little brother goes missing. She finds him in a factory where the children have forgotten who they are and work as automatons.
I Am Batman, Vol. 1 ★★★There's not much digging into Jace's character here. That was done more in Second Son. Here, he finally becomes a second Batman and operates at the peripherals of Fear State.
Cowboy Bebop: Supernova Swing ★★★★The first comic book miniseries based on the Netflix series. A vest that collects luck has been created and everyone in the solar system wants it after it’s used to rob a casino.
Hawkeye: Go West ★★★★You can rarely go wrong with a Kelly Thompson penned series. This repackaging is actually a couple of series put together.
West Coast Avengers, Vol. 2: City of Evils ★★★★Thompson sort of ties up some of the loose ends from her previous Hawkeye series as we finally get some rushed answers about Kate's mom, although both of her parents' stories (and Madame Masque's) are unresolved.
The War of the Realms: Journey Into Mystery ★★★★Doesn't play much into the actual War of the Realms but it sure is a lot of fun. Turns out Thor has a baby sister and Sindr wants her. Enter in a bunch of c-level heroes to go on the run with her across America.
Gyo ★★★★★Gross-out horror at its best. A couple on vacation come across a fish walking on legs. The smell is beyond awful. The next thing you know, there's a shark with legs attacking. It's terrifying in its simplicity.
Deserter: Junji Ito Story Collection ★★★★One of Junji Ito's elder horror anthologies. But being older, doesn't make it any less scary.
Heroes Reborn: America’s Mightiest Heroes Companion, Vol. 2 ★★These alternate world one-off stories aren't very interesting.
Jessica Jones: Purple Daughter ★★★★The Purple Man was thrown into the sun. So why did Luke Cage and Jessica Jones's daughter turn purple two days later?
Godlings and the Gates of Chaos ★★Feels like it's trying to be the next big property. It's about the Gods of old having returned as teenagers.
Wolvenheart, Vol. 1: Legendary Slayer ★★★The Blade / Wolfman / Van Helsing mashup never lives up to it's potential, but it's all right and the art is solid.
Fuck Off Squad ★★★A slice of life comic about three teenagers in a band in San Diego.
Captain America Epic Collection: Sturm Und Drang ★★★★After an adventure in an alternate future with Dreadlok, we switch focus to the Falcon miniseries, consisting of a shelved Marvel Fanfare story and a 3 part story with a local gang kidnapping President Reagan. Then it's almost all build up to the return of the Red Skull for issue 300 along with Mother Superior and Baron Zemo.
Justice League Infinity ★★★A Justice League adventure set in the animated universe. Crisis is even taking place there.
The Lords of Earthly Vengeance (Avengers Forever, #1) ★★★This book is fine. Completely unnecessary but fine. It tries to be its own thing after the events of Avengers #750 which surprised me. It's about Robbie Reyes and some alternate universe Avengers trapped in a doomed universe.
Deadpool: Samurai, Vol. 2 ★★if you prefer speed lines over backgrounds and a story, this may be for you. These Marvel Viz comics are terrible.
The Agency ★★Sex positive but somewhat incoherent vignettes.
Hendrix: Electric Requiem ★★A flyover approach to Jimi's life.
Pearl of the Sea ★★★This was shown more than told. It's about a young girl and her down on his luck dad in a small town. They are going to need to move because he can't find a job. She comes across a sea monster in her times at sea.
Empty Eyes ★★★★A short and creepy graphic novel about 3 kids left alive and alone in a orphanage after a typhus outbreak during World War I.
Cinderella Speaks Up: An Untraditional Graphic Novel ★★★★A modern version of the Cinderella story where Cinderella makes a friend who stands up for her.
Behind the Curtain ★★The rare World War 2 comic that didn't really go anywhere. It's about 2 preteen half-Jewish girls living in France.
Masks, Volume 1: The Mask without a Face ★★★A lot of this hasn't really been explained yet. There's these masks that give certain teenagers powers. A kid who gets in trouble with a Mexican Cartel is the focus of this story.
Welcome to Pandorient (The Music Box #1) ★★★★A sweet little world about a girl who discovers her recently dead mother used to visit another world in a music box called Pandorient.
Abyss (Batman, #6) ★★★Williamson knew he was only writing Batman for a short time and so gives us a short arc. Gotham City is celebrating after the end of the Magistrate. Batman end up heading to a third world country where Batman Inc has apparently murdered this Abyss character.
RWBY/Justice League ★★★I know nothing about the world of RWBY except what I read here. You don't need to know anything about the Justice League. This is definitely an Elseworlds with all the JL characters set within the world of Remnant.
Batman: The Imposter ★★★★this is a standalone Elseworlds tale where Batman grew up without the influence of Alfred and Gordon was ran out of Gotham for helping Batman. It's also a real-world approach to Batman where he was actually making a difference until someone started impersonating Batman and killing criminals
Superman '78 ★★★★Playing hard on nostalgia vibes, Superman '78 is set after Superman II when Richard Donner was replaced as director. It sets its sights firmly on Braniac giving the standard 80's version of the character.
War of the Bounty Hunters (Star Wars: Darth Vader, #3) ★★By far the worst of the War of the Bounty Hunters volumes. Vader has been humbled and back in he Emperor's graces, but he's sent of to do ancillary things during the crossover.
The Ghoul Next Door ★★★A kids' graphic novel about making friends in the strangest places. One day while cutting through the cemetery, Grey sees a ghoul, although he thinks he must be crazy. Eventually, the two become friends which set off all kinds of warning bells with the other ghouls.
Mezek ★★★The story of foreign mercenary pilots in Israel right after the end of World War II.
Superman: Action Comics, Vol. 2: The Arena ★★★★★Superman does epic sci-fi fantasy. Superman and this new version of the Authority head to Warworld where they get their asses kicked.
The week before last's comic book reading.
Trial of the Amazons ★★A pointless crossover. It begins with a major character dying that never satisfactorily get resolved. The murderer eventually gets revealed without any reasoning behind it and then is forgiven, just because.
DC Horror Presents: Soul Plumber ★This was billed as horror. However, the creators of the Last Podcast on the Left confuse horror with just being gross. The story doesn't make a lick of sense. It's more concerned with showing, feces, urine, vomit, etc than any kind of comprehensible story.
Batman: Bruce Wayne, Murderer? ★★★★Bruce Wayne and Sasha Bordeaux come home from a night of crime fighting to find Bruce's ex-girlfriend, Vesper Fairchild, murdered in Wayne Manor and take the blame.
Teen Titans Academy, Vol. 2: Exit Wounds ★★This was finally released and I don' even know why I bothered.
Black Panther Legends ★★★A middle grade version of the Black Panther's origins.
Spider-Ham: Hollywood May-Ham ★★★★I thought this was a fun children's book featuring one of my favorite goofy characters. Spider-Ham follows Mary-Jane Waterbuffalo to LA when she picks up a role on a movie about Spider-Ham.
Snake Eyes: Deadgame ★★Exactly what you'd expect when Rob Liefeld writes G.I. Joe.
Wonder Woman: Evolution ★★★Wonder Woman gets wrapped up in a battle where she doesn't know what's real.
Batman: One Dark Knight ★★★Batman is escorting a new villain E.M.P. across town from Arkham to Blackgate. E.M.P. wakes up and knocks out all the power in the city. Now Batman was to take E.M.P. across the city on foot while avoiding gangs and someone with ulterior motives to make sure he doesn't make it.
Spider-Man: Round Robin ★★★Moon Knight thought his old partner, Midnight, had been murdered by the Secret Empire. Turns out thy rebuilt him as a cyborg and twisted him into working for them. Now Spider-Man, Moon Knight, Night Thrasher, Nova, the Punisher, and Darkhawk all team up to try and take both Midnight and the Secret Empire down.
Vuzz, L'intégrale ★★★Comics from a simpler time. Vuzz had few goals in his barren wasteland world. To fight. To eat. To have sex. The comic is that simplistic, with long wordless passages and big, battle scenes.
M Is for Monster ★★★★A different take on the Frankenstein story.
Avatar: The High Ground, Volume 2 ★★★This was written by James Cameron as a prequel to the new movie coming out at Christmas. It's surprisingly pretty good considering how the original movie is all flash with little substance.
Witchy Vol. 2 ★★★not as good as the first volume but more focused
Verse Book 1: The Broken Half ★★★★A book set in a fantasy world where magic has went away. What is left is controlled by mindless creatures called the Vel.
The Last Halloween: Children ★★★★★A very long and enjoyable read about 10 year old Mona, who is humanity's only hope to stop the destruction of the world on Halloween. Mona and her nightmarish friends are mankind's last hope to find out and stop what's happening.
Maze ★★★★A story about a hero and his boy transversing insane worlds. But when the boy stops coming, the world begins to fall apart leaving Goreck alone.
The Collector: Unit 731 ★★A story about an immortal who collects objects from people. He was a prisoner in a real-world prisoner camp in China during World War II.
Blitz T01 ★★None of these sports-type manga have ever done much for me. This one isn't any different.
Titan ★★A sci-fi graphic novel about an aging colony on Titan where the Titans have been engineered for over the last 100 years for a low gravity environment to work in this factory.. The regular terrans come in for shorter spans as management. Da Silva is the new plant manager trying to keep things going in this aging plant that time has passed by.
Mr. Lovenstein Presents Failure ★★★★Some fun but dark web comics about anxiety and the struggle to try. I liked how they had a punchline and then you turned the page for a second punchline.
Elle(s), Vol. 1: The New Girl ★★Everyone else seemed to love this book but me. I did like how each different color hair she has in a panel is a different personality. I just didn't think it ran true to how Dissociative Identity Disorder works.
Naughty List: The Complete Series ★★★This had the potential to be fantastic but suffers from being all exposition. It's about Santa Claus if it was a curse.
Little Monsters, Vol. 1 ★★Not the most original comic these two have come up with. It's about child vampires in a post-apocalyptic future playing games with one another and reduced to eating rats until they come across their first human in centuries.
Venus in the Blind Spot ★★★This is labeled as a best of the best collection from Juni Ito but I'd only read "The Enigma of Amigara Fault." and the really short insubstantial story following it before.
American Vampire, Vol. 1 ★★★★★It's not too often that good vampire comics come out. That's probably why I decided to re-read "American Vampire" now that it's finally over.
Shiver: Selected Stories ★★★★A curated collection of some of Ito's better stories along with some short commentary for each one.
American Vampire, Vol. 2 ★★★★★We've moved from 1925 to 1936. There's two main stories, one with Skinner Sweet, the other with Pearl Jones.
Smashed: Junji Ito Story Collection ★★★★★This was the best short story collection of Ito's I've read out of the last few.
Green Lantern: Alliance ★★★This sequel to Green Lantern:Legacy was really done well. It's mainly another generation of Green Lantern and Flash team up as Tai meets and teams up with the Irey, Wally West's daughter and the latest Kid Flash.
American Vampire, Vol. 3 ★★★★★The third stop on my American Vampire re-read. This time we've moved to the 1940's after a one issue Skinner Sweet flashback. It's an extra long volume that contains a miniseries in addition to the regular run.
American Vampire, Vol. 4 ★★★★★Continuing along in my American Vampire re-read as we head to the 1950's.
Last week's adventures in comics. Lots of Halloween leftovers still.
Aquaman/Green Arrow - Deep Target ★★★The two switch places during a bunch of time travel nonsense.
Verse Book 2: The Second Gate ★★★★A Gate is opened and it's bad news for the world. Civilization seems to be on its last legs unless something can be done.
Spider Man: Hobgoblin Lives ★★★Back in the 1980's, Hobgoblin's identity was a big mystery that went on for years. Only Roger Stern knew his identity. Then Stern left Marvel for DC without divulging said identity and Tom DeFalco and Ron Frenz took over, blaming Ned Leeds in Spider-Man vs. Wolverine. For years, he was the first Hobgoblin until Roger Stern finally returned to set the record straight in the mid 90's.
Spirits of Venom ★★★\Spider-Man, Johnny Blaze, Ghost Rider, and Venom end up in the sewers trying to protect a priest.
John Carpenter's Night Terrors: The Coffin Road ★★★Your standard ghost story set in the woods of Maine. A tow truck driver has to get this dead girl off the Coffin Road before dawn hits and she's stuck there forever.
Nottingham Vol. 2: A King's Ransom ★★★★A way more complicated and violent take on Robin Hood than I've seen before where the Sheriff may actually turn out to be the hero.
John Carpenter's Night Terrors: Sour Candy ★★★★Solid comic book horror based on a novella by Kealan Patrick Burke. It's about a guy who witnesses a crazy kid and crazier mother freak out in a Wal-Mart. He ends up becoming the kid's new dad when the mother kills herself.
John Carpenter's Night Terrors: Second Nature ★★★★Denis Calero writes and draws a murder mystery in a town full of werewolves.
American Vampire, Vol. 5 ★★★★★The last of the truly great Vertigo titles. In volume 5, we get two concurrent stories. In the first one, Agent Hobbes is in Europe with Felicia Book and Gus trying to stop the return of Count Dracula. Then over in the main book, Henry and Pearl head back to Hollywood when they are attacked.
John Carpenter's Night Terrors: Black Sparrow ★★★★You had me at Supernatural Western.
John Carpenter's Night Terrors: 13 Horsemen ★★★Non stop fighting demons that mostly seemed like vampires. No exposition or reasons why all these bikers have turned to demons.
John Carpenter's Night Terrors: Graveyard Moon ★★★A simple, short story from Steve Niles about a Earth in the future where there is nowhere left on Earth to bury the dead so the rich ship their dead to Jupiter.
Shuri and T'Challa: Into the Heartlands ★★A middle school aged graphic novel featuring T'Challa and Shuri as children. The two bicker constantly and it gets the land in trouble when a techno-organic virus is introduced.
Batman: Shadow War ★★★★A surprisingly good crossover of Batman, Robin, and Deathstroke Inc plus some special issues.
Deadman Tells the Spooky Tales ★★A DC Halloween anthology for children.
Miles Morales: Stranger Tides ★★★Fine for kids but lacking for adults. It's about the Stranger coming to Earth to take over the world through a video game.
Titans United ★★★This was a bit odd just because it clearly wasn't set in the current DC Universe or in the TV show. It's more of an evergreen story I guess with most of the core Titans plus Superboy and the Red Hood.
American Vampire, Vol. 6 ★★★★Two one-shots that bridged the gap while American Vampire was on hiatus.
American Vampire, Vol. 7 ★★★★★The Second Cycle begins as we head into the 60's. Pearl is back on her family farm operating an underground railroad for vampires.
Days of Sugar and Spice ★★An OK story about a woman in Paris whose father dies and leaves her his small town bakery.
Future State: Gotham Vol. 2: The Next Joker ★★★I liked this better than the first volume as it felt more focused. It's about a new but boring Joker coming on the scene and all of the Bat-Family trying to stop him.
John Carpenter Presents Storm Kids: Hyperbreed ★★An uninspired sci-fi comic about three hyperbreed long-haulers in space who are framed by the corporation they work for.
John Carpenter’s Tales of Science Fiction: Redhead ★★★★A girl who has felt unseen uncovers a power to blow people's heads off if they come too close to her.
The Marvels, Vol. 1: The War In Siancong ★★Kurt Busiek's attempt to bring Astro City into the Marvel Universe.
John Carpenter Presents Storm Kids: Monica Bleue A Werewolf Story ★★★Something of a bare bones werewolf story about a teenager who gets turned into a werewolf and discovers the wolf who turned her is murdering children.
I am currently rereading Something Is Killing the Children. After that I will read House of Slaughter, vol. 1 + the recent issues. I really love this series!
Mod
- Mike: Clive Barker's Hellraiser Omnibus Vol. 1, Fantastic Four (2022-) #1, Gospel #1
- Paul: Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands, Batman Special #1, Batman: Year Two: Fear the Reaper
- Kara: Makeup is Not (Just) Magic: A Manga Guide to Cosmetics and Skin Care, Big Ethel Energy, 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.com/episodes/epis...
I Read Comic Books also has an active Discord community that discusses comics, manga, adaptations, podcast episodes, and more. Join at https://discord.com/invite/vGar5wmpPy
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Re: Max: Good luck with the new job! I hope you can find a good work/life balance that lets you read as much as you want!
Re: Chad: You read SO MANY books! I added a number of these to my to-read list. I do most of my reading through the library, but I really might just buy Dreams Factory after your glowing review.
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I read Lore Olympus: Volume One and Lore Olympus: Volume Two. Volume Two slows down the story a bit in comparison to the fast pass of Volume One, but I'm still loving the dynamic between Persephone and Hades. There are a few different art styles employed in these books, between smooth gradient digital art and a few black and white manga-style panels. Somehow it all works together to be incredibly effective storytelling.
I expected Dancing After TEN to be something like Lulu Anew based off the cover, but I found it to be more similar to The Impending Blindness of Billie Scott. An artist slowly loses her sight and life falls apart around her. As much of a bummer as most of the story is, the story ends on a high note in multiple ways. The art in this book is a little hard to follow, since some of it is art the writer created before she went totally blind, and the rest is from a second artist.
kaitlphere wrote: "Re: Chad: You read SO MANY books! I added a number of these to my to-read list. I do most of my reading through the library, but I really might just buy Dreams Factory after your glowing review."Having to take a month off to relax and recuperate was very good for my book backlog. I went from over 100 books out at the library to less than 12 now. I'm back to work now. Today makes a week.
Today's trip to the LCS.
Stargirl: The Lost Children #1 - Geoff Johns returns for a Stargirl miniseries.
World's Finest #9
By the Horns - Dark Earth #6
Worlds without a Justice League: Batman
DC Vs. Vampires: ll-Out War #5
Gambit #5
Immortal X-Men #8
Junkyard Joe #2
Nightwing #98
Something Is Killing the Children #26
Batman: One Bad Day: Mr. Freeze
Mod
SiKtC was so creepy! I read the first 3 volumes and noped out. Very good, but gave me nightmares. Curious how you like House of Slaughter.
Mod
BURN THE WITCH 1 and Stranger Planet so far.
Edited to add: [book:The Black Monday Murders, Vol. 1: All Hail, God Mamm..."
Yay Guts! How did you like it?
Black Monday Murders V1 is sitting on my shelf right now. I've heard it's fantastic. What did you think?
Mod
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FA...
Thanks :D
(This will also be sent in our next Goodreads BotM message for December)
Edit: Fixed the authentication issue, sorry!
Last week's adventures in comics. Winding down with the Halloween leftovers. Back to work now so the list is much shorter.
Sacred Six V. 2: War of the Roses ★★★I didn't know quite what was going on a lot of the time but I still liked it. Priest's nonlinear storytelling got too nonlinear in this.
John Carpenter's Tales of Science Fiction: Vault ★★★Falls into the trapped on a spaceship trope, ala Alien or Event Horizon.
American Vampire, Vol. 8 ★★★★The series is still fun but it's getting pretty outlandish. I mean "Vampires... in space, really?!"
John Carpenter's Tales of Science Fiction: Civilians ★★★Not one of Swierczynski's best stories. It's about people randomly going nuts in L.A. and people can't figure out why.
Constantine: Distorted Illusions ★★★As with most Kami Garcia comics, this is fine. It's a YA version of Hellblazer. It's way more focused on John's new girlfriend than the basic demon possession story.
750cc Down Lincoln Highway ★★Everyone seems to be doing travelogues these days. Which is fine when they serve a point.
John Carpenter's Tales for a Halloweenight: Volume 5 ★★★★A really good Halloween anthology series, much better than most.
Spider-Man: The Return of the Sinister Six ★★★The title pretty much says it all. The Sinister Six gets together and makes their play in the 2nd half.
John Carpenter's Tales of Science Fiction: Hell ★★★A lot of these John Carpenter stories follow traditional tropes from horror or monster movies. This follows the trope of an underground world filled with reptilian people and monsters.
John Carpenter’s Tales for a Halloween Night Volume 6 ★★★★If you actually want scary stories for Halloween, this is the place to go.
John Carpenter's Tales of Science Fiction: Vortex ★★★★At this point, there's rarely original stories set in space, especially horror ones. So it's important to do the tropes very well if you are going to do them. And that's what this is. It's The Thing set in The Expanse.
John Carpenter’s Tales for a Halloween Night Volume 7 ★★★★This annual Halloween anthology is consistently good. I do skip the one-page cat interstitials as they make no sense to me but the stories themselves are fantastic.
Today's trip to the LCS.Dark Crisis: The Dark Army #1
DC Vs. Vampires #11
Image! #8
Parker Girls #3
X-Force #34
X-Men #17
Once Upon a Time at the End of the World #1
Mod
- Mike: A.X.E.: Judgment Day Omega #1, Kroma by De Felici #1, Barbaric Vol. 2: Axe to Grind
- Nick: Star Wars: Hidden Empire (2022-) #1, Home Sick Pilots #1 through #8, Kaya #2
- Brian: Deadpool: Samurai, Vol. 2
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.com/episodes/epis...
I Read Comic Books also has an active Discord community that discusses comics, manga, adaptations, podcast episodes, and more. Join at https://discord.com/invite/vGar5wmpPy
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How is everyone doing with the reading challenge? Of the books I hadn't read before, I think my favorite read was either The Good Asian, Vol. 1 (Zander's pick) or Cryptid Club (which I read for October's theme).
I read The Weirn Books, Vol. 1: Be Wary of the Silent Woods recently, which had familiar YA fantasy elements of a magic school and haunted woods. It was a fairly predictable story but I still really enjoyed it. There are different species of people and some of them have spirit familiars that reminded me of the daemons in The Golden Compass.
Kate wrote: "Whitney wrote: "I am currently rereading Something Is Killing the Children. After that I will read House of Slaughter, vol. 1 + the recent issues. I really love this series!"SiKtC was so creepy! ..."
House of Slaughter vol 1 was great. It was less gore and more romance. I really liked it since it shows what life’s like in the House. I don’t think it’s nightmare inducing hehe.
I’m reading vol 2 and it’s a different side story. More gore since it’s more in line with the SiKtC story. Different characters.
I'm going to a graphic novel right now.
Last week's adventures in comics.
John Carpenter's Tales of Science Fiction: Vortex 2.0 ★★★★It's 20 years later and somehow Dixon has reappeared. Turns out the monsters from the first series have been integrated into people as prosthesis but appear to be benign. Yeah, right. Like that will last.
John Carpenter’s Tales for a Halloween Night Volume 8 ★★★★The 2022 edition of the annual Halloween anthology. I do skip the one-page interstitials (They finally switched from cats to an Egyption theme.) as they make no sense to me but the stories themselves are fantastic.
Scurry ★★★★★Fantastic art. Great story. It's about a starving mouse colony after humans have all disappeared. Highly recommended.
Godzilla vs. the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers ★★★A by-the-numbers crossover of the two properties.
Batgirls Vol. 1 ★★★Most people seemed to like this more than I did. It was fine, just nothing special. Each of the Batgirls all had series previously that I enjoyed more than this.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Reborn, Volume 5 – Mystic Sister ★★★First up is a kind of pointless silent Christmas issue. Then Pablo Tunica illustrates most of the Punk Frogs story.
Red Lightning ★I got through this, but just barely. I thought about quitting several times. It's about a young man who finds out David Bowie died and is transported 200,000 years in the future, just because.
Lastman, Volume 1 ★★★A French comic that reads like a Manga. It's about a martial arts tournament in Medieval times. A young man named Adrian who isn't very good is not going to be able to compete in the tournament until a stranger, Richard Aldana, shows up at the last moment who is fantastic. He's clearly somehow from the future, but one of the few people in the tournament who doesn't use magic.
New Masters ★★★★A story soaked in Afrofuturism. Hundreds of years in the future, the Earth is seen as a planet with dwindling resources while Jupiter is the jewel of the solar system. The only two gates off planet are in Africa. A young girl and her parents are the main characters. They get embroiled in a scheme that could remake Earth as a go-to world again.
Ava's Demon, Book One: Reborn ★★★This is a long-time webcomic that Image is now re-releasing. There's an enormous amount of exposition and standing around talking in this. It's about a girl in a sci-fi universe that is plagued by a demon who turns out to be the reincarnation of a past galactic ruler who is looking to get the band back together. There's some multimedia stuff that is missing from the physical release since it's no longer a webcomic here.
My new job is going well, but I can't read as much.
Young Avengers ★★★★★
This book is great. The art is great. The writing is great. I wish I read this when it came out, but I was 8.
Avengers by Jason Aaron, Vol. 9: World War She-Hulk ★★★
Jason Aaron's Avengers step-upped to average quality. I think what helps is has stayed on task so far. The art pops when they're invading the widow's nest and fighting their red scare counterparts. I skipped an event or something called Heroes Reborn that didn't seem to matter. The only change I see is the super space baby is now a super space toddler.
Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Vol. 1 ★★★★
It's noticeable not as good as the Ultimate run. Art is still good tho.
新装版 ＢＬＡＭＥ！（６） ★★★
Blame continues to be itself. Individual chapters are more interesting with Killi going through a real character arc.
Hunter X Hunter, Vol. 10 ★★★★
Going back through the series, it's fascinating how much more character and heart was lost in the 2011 adaptation. It's also clear Togashi's a bit self indulgent with this series. There's 4 whole chapter dedicated to the lower auction.
One Piece, Volume 52: Roger and Rayleigh ★★★★★
Oda's art is right between the crowded artwork of the New World and his old style. Saboady remains the best arc of the series.
ぼくらの血盟 2 Bokura no Ketsumei 2 ★★★
It's almost a shame this series decided to be exciting right before it got the axe. It's still generic as hell both in story and artstyle. Not bad art, but not enough to survive Shonen Jump.
I liked Young Avengers quite a bit. The Keiron Gillen / Jamie McKelvie series is really good too although it's a different team.Jason Aaron's Avengers is big, bombastic and rarely makes sense. It may be his first Marvel stuff I haven't really liked. Heroes Reborn was a complete waste of time.
I think Miles in this universe is just as good, at least while Bendis was writing it. It just takes some time to adjust to the changes.
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I finally got some time to put in some serious work on the reading challenge over the holiday weekend.
I read:
The Book Tour - as someone who assumes I'm in trouble (with who?? I'm 30 years old?? lol) constantly, I kinda wish I had 1/10 of the chill this guy seems to have.
BURN THE WITCH 1 - it was fine - nothing to write home about for me (and what is with the panty obsession? i feel like the lol so random horniess ruins a lot of shonen jump titles for me)
Blue Box, Vol. 1 - loved it! I've been reading this one for a bit and think it's so cute!
The Impending Blindness of Billie Scott - I picked it for the challenge so I better have liked it (I did!)
Algeria Is Beautiful Like America - this one was a re-read for me, I bumped it up to 5 stars from the previous 4 I had it at.
The Many Deaths of Laila Starr - so so good!
Star Wars: Jango Fett - Open Seasons - i'm not a huge star wars person (other than baby yoda and bb-8) and this one was just so-so for me.
Incredible Doom - crying screaming throwing up about this book, i absolutely LOVED it.
The Black Monday Murders, Volume 1 - I'm simply not going to pull out a notepad and take notes while reading a comic, but I was able to follow it well enough. I stayed up til 4am to finish it so it must not be bad! 4 stars from me. :)
"Incredible Doom - crying screaming throwing up about this book, i absolutely LOVED it."This makes me sooooo happy! ❤️
My recent books of note:Follow Me Down Finally got my preorder copy from my LCS (initial shipment was damaged). Like the other Restless books, there aren't really fireworks but a slow burn that once again I love.
M Is for Monster Excellent recommendation about personal identity and living according to others' expectations. Bought a physical copy as xmas gift for my 11yo.
Dissonance, Vol. 1 Had bookmarked in Hoopla for so long, what the heck. 1 star, hated it. Yet another one-volume "just getting started" book that focused on a nonsensical world it just expected you to like, while also disliking all the minimally-developed characters.
Alone Massive book (did not know that before reserving from library) that reads quickly since there's little dialog and large panels. Would have been nice, but overstayed its welcome with a repetitive "draw pages of what an isolated person would imagine a dictionary definition to describe" which ended up feeling like watching a collection of writer's exercises.
Stages of Rot Bought (digitally) on Mike's recommendation. Think I will give this another chance, but I had a hard time following the panels: Is this sequence zooming in? Out? Passage of time or just different things each panel? Maybe I'm missing out on a physical fetish of it since I read a PDF, but I didn't see a story there to latch on to, other than one bookend connection.
Manu wrote: "Reading Klaus as part of my annual getting into the holiday spirit theme."That's a good pace to start. There's some smaller one-off adventures that are solid too.
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Re: Chad: Scurry looks great! I'll have to check that out. It sounds like it could be similar to Cottons: The Secret of the Wind.
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The Strange Tales of Oscar ZahnI finally checked out a few things on Web Toon after years of saying I would. I read the first arc of Oscar Zahn and really enjoyed it. I love that the protagonist is a skeleton, and I really enjoy the way he's drawn. The mysteries are dark, but the story isn't a (huge) bummer, and a lot of story is told without much dialogue. I imagine I'll keep going with this.
The Leaning GirlI read The Leaning Girl, which is part of the Obscure Cities series by the creators. It's been days and I still can't tell you if I liked this book. It was an experimental sci-fi bande dessinee where two timelines use art that look like it was prints off wood blocks (and might be), and one timeline that was actual photographs.
kaitlphere wrote: "Re: Chad: Scurry looks great! I'll have to check that out. It sounds like it could be similar to Cottons: The Secret of the Wind."I'll let you know when I've read it. I just put it on hold at the library.
A small 5th week at the LCS today.Nightwing 2022 Annual
Strange Academy: Finals #1
Strange Academy: Finals #2
Justice Society of America #1
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Books mentioned in this topic
The Leaning Girl (other topics)Ice Cream Man, Volume 7: Certain Descents (other topics)
Cottons: The Secret of the Wind (other topics)
Klaus (other topics)
Alone (other topics)
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What are you reading this month? Any new series coming out you're excited for? Wrapping up the reading challenge?
As always, 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: https://www.patreon.com/ircbpodcast