New comics

New comics!

DC vs Vampires: World War V: Darkness and Light 1

A one-shot that fleshes out vampire Wonder Woman and Green Lantern Alfred.  The highlight is how Guy Gardner keeps himself alive after being ripped in half.  It’s a level of creativity from Matthew Rosenberg that’s so fun to sink into.  

It’s Jeff: The Jeff-verse 1

More of the same from Kelly Thompson and Gurihiru.  My daughter gets a kick out of these.  

Jupiter’s Legacy: Finale 4

You’d think a five-issue miniseries that took 3 years to produce would have a consistent art team.  But Lee Carter is the third artist in four issues, and in a style totally different from Tommy Lee Edwards.  I can’t remember anything that’s gone on before, and inertia is the only thing keeping me around.  

Once again, Mark Millar has no problem with the wholesale slaughter of main characters.

Absolute Batman 5

This issue suffers so much from poor storytelling.  Nick Dragotta has been splendid on this title, but there are a number of instances here where I have no idea what’s going on, and the story is much weaker for it.  

But the scene where he skewers the dude on his back had me vocalizing in shock and delight.

Absolute Superman 4

Minimal focus on Kal-El and his parents results in a less interesting issue.  This world dominated by a heartless, cruel corporation, complete with vicious stormtroopers, is pretty cookie cutter, and I don’t need to spend too much time with it.

Batgirl 4

Still a good action comic, but I wish I cared more about the plot and Cassandra’s relationship with Lady Shiva.  It should be a no-brainer, but Tate Brombal doesn’t manage to pull it off.  

Batman: Off-World 6

Same thing with this title.  I feel like I should like this more than I do.

New comics

New comics!  With this I’ll actually be caught up for once.

Caravaggio

Milo Manara’s take on the life of the famed artist.  The art is stunning, no surprise there, and the gallery of Caravaggio’s work at the end is much appreciated.  The story is so-so, but when it looks this good…I’ll get the second one when it comes out, I think.  But if I miss it, I won’t be too bent of shape about it either.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 6

After a string of top-notch artists, Juan Ferreyra takes over as regular penciller.  I haven’t seen his work before, but I’m very impressed.  He draws kinetic, exciting action scenes, and it’s good to see Jason Aaron’s main plot start in earnest.  

One Hand 1-5/Six Fingers 1-5

These parallel miniseries were on a lot of end-of-year best-of lists, so I thought I’d check them out.  It’s about a serial killer and the cop trying to catch him, a tale as old as time.  It’s a moody, surreal mix of Blade Runner, Matrix, and Seven, and it largely succeeds.  It got a little too weird for me at the end, but I think another read would only improve the experience.  I’ll see how it goes when I revisit this, whenever that may be.

New comics

New comics!

Frankenstein 1-4

This was an iFanboy recommendation.  Michael Walsh fleshes out the Universal classic with a moody, gorgeous work that’s definitely worth the pickup.

Ultimate Spider-Man 13

Ohhh, so it was the AI that was impersonating Peter at the end of last issue.  I would never have caught that if it wasn’t in the recap page, not a good thing.  This is still so good.  

Black Canary: Best of the Best 3

More fighting.  Batman shows up in the flashbacks.  This really felt like a filler issue, never a good sign, especially in a limited series.

Fantastic Four 28

Prelude to One World Under Doom.  This is pretty filler as well, but I’m still curious to see what Ryan North does with his first (?) Marvel event book. 

Detective Comics 1093

I will always bring up Mikel Janin first on this title.  He’s so fricking good.  But Tom Taylor’s finally kicking it into gear with the plot, and there’s a devastating ending with a rare fail for the Caped Crusader.  

Wonder Woman 17

Sometimes it’s nice to see the good guys kick the crap out of the bad guys.  And the parallel storyline with Diana talking with her baby is sweet and adorable.

Absolute Wonder Woman 4

Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman have something so special on their hands here.  This is pure magic, reminding me of nothing less than Tom King and Bilquis Evely’s Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow.  

Fortune and Glory: The Musical

I was really looking forward to this.  Couldn’t wait to see Brian Michael Bendis’ take on Broadway and his experience on the infamous Spider-Man musical.  If I’d only known that his experience amounted to little more than a meet-and-greet with Julie Taymor and two phone calls, comprising maybe five percent of the graphic novel.  The rest is a biography of Bendis’ early life and how he broke into the comic book industry.  It’s not bad, but not at all what I wanted out of this.  A major disappointment made worse by the false advertising. 

The Class, Welcome to Pawnee

My dad asked why I didn’t review the books I read on this thing, and I had no good answer.  So here we go!

The Class

My reading time is generally limited to whenever I’m eating by myself - lunchtimes, midnight snacks, and the like.  If I have something new to read, that’s when I do it.  If I’m between books, I turn to the volumes that have been on my bookshelf for years.  These are the books that have survived the cullings necessitated by the birth of my daughter and the need to make room for changing stations and art tables.  A lot of Tom Clancy, Star Wars novels, and war histories.  

There’s also Erich Segal’s Doctors, a mainstay since high school.  Super re-readable, and the last time I went through it, I thought I’d check out something else that he’s written.  (I’ve already read Love Story, which made me cry back in college.  Haven’t seen the movie.)  The Class is basically Doctors but with Harvard students, which sounded perfect.

It follows all the same beats as Doctors, but with no females in the main ensemble of characters.  (I think because Harvard didn’t have any female students in 1958.)  It’s engaging enough, and Segal does a nifty trick in making most of the chapters super short.  (Like three or four pages.)  So I was compelled to read “just one more chapter” over and over.  It’s like a gatcha game.  

I was nonplussed by every character’s inability to stay faithful to their wives.  It made it really hard to feel sympathy for any of them, despite the struggles that they each had to go through.  And the book somewhat arbitrarily ends with their 25-year reunion with a bit of a whimper.  

Not as good as Doctors, but not a waste of my time, either.  

Regret reading: No

Would read again: Yes

Would buy: No

Rating: Nice  

Welcome to Pawnee

Jim O’Heir, Jerry on Parks and Recreation, writes about his experience on the show.  Parks is one of my favorite tv shows ever, so this was an easy pickup from the library shelf.  (Shout out to libraries, it’s how I read most of my books.)

This is pretty run of the mill.  It doesn’t really add to my appreciation for the show; O’Heir loved his time there, everyone was a great big happy family, yadda yadda.  Which is great to hear, but I didn’t need to read a whole book to learn that.  

Regret reading: No

Would read again: No

Would buy: No

Rating: Fine

New comics

More new comics!

Battle Action v3 2

I don’t know why I can’t quit Garth Ennis war stories.  By this point, they all blur together, and it’s really hard for one to set itself apart from the crowd.  (Including this one.)  But I’ll keep buying them for as long as he puts them out.

Jupiter’s Legacy: Finale 3

Just playing out the string.  That’s all I’m doing.

Batgirl 3

Some really nice action from Takeshi Miyazawa.  Still don’t know what Shiva’s motivations are, which is how it should be.

Absolute Batman 4

Scott Snyder continues to kill it as we get a little more of Bruce’s origin story.  It’s too bad Nick Dragotta isn’t here to do the art.  Gabriel Walta is fine, but it’s just not the same.

Absolute Superman 3

More origin material, and Jason Aaron’s finally sunk his teeth into me.  He provides a sympathetic, engaging portrait of Kal-El and his parents  on Krypton, which will surely make their inevitable separation all the more heartbreaking.  Great stuff.

DC vs Vampires: World War V 6

Darkseid shows up in the middle of a major throwdown.  Matthew Rosenberg keeps tossing in more elements, and he continues to make it work.

Question: All Along the Watchtower 3

Wow, I lost enthusiasm for this rather quickly.  I really wish I liked this more, the potential is certainly there with Renee and Batwoman.  But the Eradicator, Cyborg Superman, a mystery I don’t care about - it’s not happening for me.

Birds of Prey 17

I gave it another story arc, but this still doesn’t have it.  Kelly Thompson is always pushing up against the awesome barrier, but more often than not fails to break through.  (She does have her moments, though.) 

New comics

Always catching up w/ new comics.

Black Canary: Best of the Best 2

Black Canary continues to get her ass kicked by Lady Shiva as we flash back to her training regimen for the bout, mentored by her hard-as-nails mother.  Solid, straightforward storytelling from Tom King.

Question: All Along the Watchtower 2

This is comfort food comics.  Nothing I’ll remember after it’s over, but something I’ll enjoy coming back to years from now.

Absolute Wonder Woman 3

Holy crap is this good.  The thing with the arm!  This feels so new and special, I love it.

Wonder Woman 16

Tom King is having so much fun w/ Detective Chimp here, and I’m right there with him.  Detective Chimp.  Someone I did not expect to see in this comic.

Absolute Batman 3

Almost up there with Absolute Wonder Woman.  This feels old and new at the same time, some magical alchemy of Dark Knight Returns drawn by Batman: Year One’s David Mazzucchelli with another topping of Elseworlds.  Can’t wait to read more.

Plastic Man No More! 4

I so regret getting this.  Will keep it around, but full expect to cut this next time around.

Birds of Prey 16

Cassandra Cain die-harding it up is a fun read.  I think I’ll keep getting this w/out a sub, flip through it first in the store.  

Ultimate Spider-Man 12

An old-school “the good guys get a month off to celebrate a holiday with their loved ones” issue.  WIth a final twist that completely worked on me.  Jonathan Hickman continues to outkick his coverage.

Battle Action vol 1, 2

War story anthology collections, led by Garth Ennis.  I got these mostly for his Johnny Red stories.  They’re fine.

Conclave, Furiosa, Grand Maison Tokyo

Conclave

Lots of fun intrigue with a top notch cast.  A worthy diversion for an evening, but nothing more.  

Worth watching: Yes

Would watch again: Yes

Would buy on DVD: No

Rating: Nice

Furiosa

I thought I wanted this a lot more than I really did.  Mad Max: Fury Road is a true masterpiece, but I rarely want to rewatch it.  (Though I never regret it when I do.)  It’s such an assault on the senses, and it’s emotionally exhausting to watch.  (Something I never thought I’d say about an action flick.)  

So with Furiosa, I found myself weary of the despair and bleakness of the world, and found it a lot less enjoyable than its predecessor.  I thought Anya Taylor-Joy made for a fine Furiosa, really liked Tom Burke as Praetorian Jack, and found Chris Hemsworth too campy of a villain.  The action scenes were pretty good, the one w/ the flying contraptions was spectacular.  

Worth watching: Yes

Would watch again: Yes

Would buy on DVD: No

Rating: Pretty good

Grand Maison Tokyo

A super, super cute show where a ragtag bunch of top-notch chefs form a restaurant with the aim of earning a Michelin star.  This is a delightful, heartwarming show that I’ll definitely come back to at some point in the future.

Worth watching: Yes

Would watch again: Yes

Would buy on DVD: Yes

Rating: Really good