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? (July 2021)
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My reading week:-Buffy the Vampire Slayer, vol. 5
-Hajime no Ippo, vols. 98-102
-Higurashi: When They Cry omni, vols. 22-24
-Ice Cream Man, vol. 6
-I Love Yuri..., vol. 2
-Kick-Ass vs. Hit-Girl, vol. 4
-Lazarus, vols. 1-2
-My Little Monster, vols. 1-7
-The Old Guard: Tales, #1-2
-Real Girl, vols. 3-12
-Redneck, vol. 5
-Undiscovered Country, vol. 2
-Vinland Saga omni, vols. 2-5
-Waiting For Spring, vols. 6-7
-You Got Me, Sempai, vol. 7
What I've read since my last June update: 
Livewire by Vita Ayala 3.5 ★ - A bit confusing because I didn't know the characters or story before, but interesting nonetheless! Reminds me of mutants in the Marvel universe. Here's my review
Stranger Things and Dungeons & Dragons by Jody Houser ★★★★ - Very cute and makes me miss playing D&D. Here's my review
Singles:
Wonder Girl #1 ★★★★★ - Loved this and the artwork is AMAZING!
Teen Titans Academy #3 ★★★★★ - This is a great series so far!
Last week's adventures in comics.
Rain Like Hammers ★★I've just decided I'm not a fan of Brandon Graham storytelling abilities (or lack thereof).
Invisible Kingdom, Vol. 3: In Other Worlds ★★★An OK ending to a beautiful looking sci-fi opera.
Old Head ★Everything about this was terrible. Poor story, poor art, even poor math. It's about a retired basketball enforcer fighting Dracula's head.
Punderworld, Volume 1 ★★★★★I really enjoyed this. It's the tale of Hades and Persephone reimagined as a sweet romance. The book feels like a Disney cartoon for adults.
Superman: Action Comics, Vol. 5: The House of Kent ★★★Superman, Conner Kent, Jon Kent, Supergirl and Brainiac 5 take on the Invisible Mafia. Eh, like most of Bendis's run, this was just OK.
Spider-Man Noir: Twilight In Babylon ★★★This is more Spider-Man Movie Serial than Spider-Man Noir but that's OK. The Indiana Jones type adventure worked well and Juan Ferreyra's art is superb as always.
Aquaman: Deep Dives ★★★Some decent stand alone Aquaman stories.
Canto II: The Hollow Men ★★★★★Elements of Labyrinth and Middle Earth in the storytelling while this could be set in an undiscovered corner of Oz.
Usagi Yojimbo, Vol. 1: The Ronin ★★★The art's a bit rougher and the storytelling isn't completely there in these short stories from the 80's. I don't think this is the best place to start if you haven't read Usagi Yojimbo before. I'd suggest starting with Usagi Yojimbo Saga Vol. 1 instead.
Miskatonic ★★★This should have been fantastic. A murder mystery set in Lovecraft's fictional Miskatonic Valley.
Batman, Vol. 3: Ghost Stories ★★★Batman is in transition. He's lost most of his fortune. He can no longer afford to 3D print new Batmobiles each week. At the same time, along comes Ghost-Maker, a Batman without emotions.
DCeased: Hope At World’s End ★★★Tom Taylor seems to have turned DCeased into a cottage industry with his 4th miniseries. This one takes place between issues #4 and #5 of the original series, fleshing out some moments that were glossed over initially.
Kaiju Score ★★★Setting up a heist in the middle of a kaiju landfall is pretty ingenious. However the story is just OK. Rem Broo's art is too unfocused and cartoonish for the subject matter.
A big trip to the LCS this week.Clans of Belari #1
Skybound X #1 <--- New Walking Dead, Manifest Destiny, and Ultramega stories.
Wonder Girl #2
Hellboy and the BPRD: The Secret of Chesbro House #1
Geiger #4
Fight Girls #1
Justice League #64
Suicide Squad #5
The Swamp Thing #5
Children of the Atom #5
Fire Power #13
Hellions #13
Serial #5
X-Force #21
X-Men #1
The Next Batman: Second Son #4
Watchmen (almost finished!!)Ms. Marvel, Vol 3: Operation Lightning Storm
Black Canary (1993) #1-12
Batgirl and the Birds of Prey #17-21
RWBY/Justice League #3
Black Canary, Vol 2: New Killer Star
My Hero Academia vol. 1 (boyfriend's favorite series!)
Almost gave up on Watchmen for a while because it is so hard to find enough time/the RIGHT time to read it (ie not before bed!), but I just picked it up again after a few weeks. Finished #8 today.
Side note: Still so proud I got Batgirl & BoP vol. 1 voted as one of 2020's BotM's!! This was my first favorite comic book series and it was so cool to see other people experiencing it. I recently got my hands on all the last single issues of volume 3 and am enjoying finishing the series issue by issue.
Last week's adventures in comics
The Flutist of Arnhem ★★★The fictional story of the lone British spy who has remained uncaptured in the Netherlands. He has all of the German troop positions but is trapped behind enemy lines.
Djeliya ★★Juni Ba brings us a modern fantasy story based on West African folklore. The art is heavily inspired by 90's Cartoon Network.
Batman: Gotham Knights: Contested ★★★For the most part, this is a series of one and done stories. A lot of them feature Nightwing and Devin Grayson does a wonderful job of exploring Dick and Bruce's relationship.
Black Terror: Dark Years ★I don't really understand the point of this as a whole. Each issue is a vignette of a possible future of Black Terror, I guess. None of it is tied together. Like a lot of Max Bemis's writing, it's very obtuse.
Future State: The Next Batman ★★Every one of these stories is the same. A private contractor has taken over policing in Gotham and The Magistrate is out to kill all "masks".
Future State: Justice League ★★★Better than Future State: The Next Batman. At least some of these stories have a beginning, middle and end. Too many of these Future State seem to just be the middle of the story leaving you feeling lost. There's no explanations why things are happening or even an ending. I loved the Aquaman / Aqualass story. The rest were hit and miss.
Planet of the Apes: After the Fall Omnibus ★★★Some solid stories set between each of the new trilogy of movies.
The Flash: The Death of Iris West ★★★This is one of those famous pre-Crisis stories I've always wanted to read but could never find it. Now that I've read it, It's OK.
M.A.S.K.: Mobile Armored Strike Kommand, Volume 1: Mobilize ★★The author should have read some of the MASK comics that came with the toys or watched the cartoon.
Superman: The City of Tomorrow Vol. 2 ★★★This run is more lackluster than I remembered. The main thrusts of these stories are that Lois and Clark are having marital problems and Superman gets sick and Steel, Supergirl, and Superboy have to save him Fantastic Voyage style.
Fantastic Four by Dan Slott, Vol. 5: Point of Origin ★★★★The best volume of Slott's FF run I've read to date. Slott comes up with an original look at the F's origins. I'm surprised no one has come up with this before.
Green Arrow 80th Anniversary 100-Page Super Spectacular ★★★★Mike Grell, Phil Hester, Benjamin Percy & Otto Schmidt, and Jeff Lemire & Andrea Sorrentino all return for new stories set during their runs on the book. My favorite story though was by Tom Taylor and Nicola Scott where we find out the origin of the boxing glove arrow.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Annual 2014 ★★★Kevin Eastman returns to draw the Turtles in gladiatorial combat when they get transported to the future. It's funny to see how many people complained about Eastman's art when he created the Turtles in the first place.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Volume 8: Northampton ★★★★★In almost every iteration of TMNT, the Turtles have retreated to Northampton after a major defeat.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Utrom Empire ★★★Krang's backstory is kind of cool, but this Dimension X stuff is the least interesting part of the TMNT universe to me.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Turtles in Time ★★★★Renet, the time traveler from the 2014 annual, returns to hurdle the Turtles throughout time again. There's nothing more you need to know than that.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Volume 9: Monsters, Misfits, and Madmen ★★★★This transitional volume as the boys head back to NYC is really good.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Volume 10: New Mutant Order ★★★★★Loved the meeting of Krang and Shredder. Then we get a slobberknocker between all the Mutanimals and Bebop and Rocksteady.
My reading week:-Higurashi, vol. 25
-I Hear the Sunspot, vols. 1-5
-Lazarus, vol. 3
-My Little Monster, vols. 8-13
-Nozoki Ana, vols. 9-12
-Our Dreams at Dusk, vols. 1-4
-Ran the Peerless Beauty, vols. 1-6
-Shortcake Cake, vol. 8
-Wolfmund, vols. 1-8
Now that Goodreads seems to be working properly again, here's what I read last week. 
Scales & Scoundrels Definitive Edition Book 1: Where Dragons Wander ★★★★A sword and sorcery book topped with a twist of Studio Ghibli.
Magical History Tour #3: Hidden Oil ★★★A kids' primer on the history of oil.
Hellboy Universe: The Secret Histories ★★★These spinoffs from Hellboy answer some small questions that were left open in the main story.
My Begging Chart ★★A very droll and deadpan slice of life graphic memoir from Keiler Roberts.
XIII Vol 21 - Return to Green Falls ★★★Finally, we find out what is the Mayflower Project's deal. It's not very interesting though and involves even more of XIII's family history going back to the Mayflower.
XIII Vol 22 - The Martyr's Message ★★★XIII heads to the Netherlands to find the original contract from the Mayflower.
XIII Vol 23 - Jason McLane's Inheritance ★★★This is probably the most ridiculously complicated comic I've ever read.
XIII Vol 24 - 2331 Yards ★★★★I went through 24 volumes of this comic and of course the last volume (25) hasn't been translated into English yet!
Batman by John Ridley: The Deluxe Edition ★★★90% of this is in Future State: The Next Batman. I would just read one or the other.
Red Sonja: Worlds Away, Vol 3: Hell or Hykania ★★★A solid Red Sonja comic as Sonja ends her time on modern day Earth.
Red Sonja: Worlds Away, Vol. 4: World's End ★★OK, now Dynamite is just milking this out to 25 issues as Red Sonja seeks out the previous owner of her sword.
Red Sonja: Worlds Away, Vol. 5: End of the Road ★★★Sonja fights a shark in a moat while finishing the Skath storyline from the previous volume. Then some stand alone stories to pad this out to 25.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles/Ghostbusters ★★★The Turtles get transported to the Ghostbusters world. I did like that IDW incorporated this into both of the comics regular continuity.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Volume 11: Attack on Technodrome ★★★★★The battle for the Technodrome is on.
Suicide Squad: Casualties of War ★★After Our Worlds at War Sgt Rock has taken over running the Suicide Squad now that Amanda Waller is a cabinet member of President Luther's.
M.A.S.K.: Mobile Armored Strike Kommand: Riding V.E.N.O.M.'s Trail ★★Man this could have been so much better than it was.
The Spider, Volume 2 ★★★Some modern day noir vigilante goodness, ala The Shadow.
Dungeons & Dragons: Forgotten Realms Classics Omnibus, Volume 2 ★★★Some decent stories of a D&D party adventuring through the Forgotten Realms.
Dick Tracy Forever ★★★Dick Tracy vignettes from different time periods that Michael Avon Oeming tries to connect at the end.
Red Sonja & Vampirella Meet Betty & Veronica ★★★Red Sonja and Vampirella come to Riverdale to investigate some vampire related murders. They meet up with Betty and Veronica, them go undercover at Riverdale High to catch the culprits as it's faculty and students that are being killed. It's ridiculous but fun.
My reading week:-A Condition Called Love, vols. 1-7
-After the Rain omni, vols. 1-5
-Defying Kurosaki-kun, vols. 1-15
-I Fell in Love After School, vols. 1-8
-Lovesick Ellie, vols. 1-3
-Mikami-sensei's Way of Love, vols. 1-8
-Nozoki Ana, vol. 13
-Prophecy, vols. 1-3
-Ran the Peerless Beauty, vols. 7 & 8
-Vinland Saga omni, vol. 6
Today's trip to the LCS. New comics and a discussion about how Loki wasn't very good.Bermuda #1
Black Hammer: Reborn #2
Blue and Gold #1 <-- about 30 years too late but finally a Booster Gold and Blue Beetle miniseries
Superman and the Authority #1 <-- Grant Morrison and Mikel Janin's new miniseries
Skybound X #3
Justice League #65
Nightwing #82
Alien #5
Marauders #22
New Mutants #20
X-Men Legends #5
Mod
I can't believe you managed to read that much XIII! We read it awhile ago on the Discord Book Club and it wasn't my vibe - if I recall the art was pretty though! :)
Erin wrote: "I can't believe you managed to read that much XIII! We read it awhile ago on the Discord Book Club and it wasn't my vibe - if I recall the art was pretty though! :)"It's all these extra borrows now we're getting through Hoopla since the pandemic began. Between mine and my wife's account, that's 30 borrows a month. I'm running out of content on there.
Last week's comic book light reading.
Penultiman ★★★A Superman from the future comes to 2019. In the far future he's considered a neanderthal and was exiled here. Now he's a neurotic trainwreck.
The World of Black Hammer: Library Edition, Volume 3 ★★★★★Two very good origins stories for members of Black Hammer.
Grandville Integral ★★★★★Grandville is an anthropomorphic, steampunk world where Napoleon conquered most of Europe 200 years ago and England has just recently regained its independence. Detective Inspector LeBrock of Scotland Yard is a cross between Sherlock Holmes and James Bond. Talbot has created an inventive original setting for his stories of mystery and adventure.
Harrow County: Omnibus Volume 2 ★★★★★Two creators at the top of their game combine for this rural horror story of a reborn witch who wants to help everyone, including the haints created by her predecessor.
Poison Ivy: Thorns ★★★A very YA Gothic romance. The characters are very one dimensional in this f/f romance.
The Princess Who Saved Herself ★★★★★Greg Pak and Takeshi Miyazawa write and illustrate this picture book based on Jonathan Coulton's song.
Van Helsing vs The League of Monsters ★★★A newly returned Dracula and his daughter gather the traditional monsters (albeit updated versions) of the Wolfman, the Mummy, and Ms. Hyde to take on Van Helsing's daughter and Robyn Hood while they try to resurrect Dracula's wife.
Wynd Book One: Flight of the Prince ★★★★★This was great. 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. I also like how Wynd is gay but no one cares. Even though there are still discriminatory undertones, it's because of magic not sexual orientation.
In: A Graphic Novel ★★★★★My book of the year so far.
Wake: The Hidden History of Women-Led Slave Revolts ★★★★Wake is a graphic memoir about Rebecca Hall's research into slave revolts led by women.
The Flash by Mark Waid: Book Eight ★★★★DC finishes out the Mark Waid era of Flash by collecting the The Dark Flash Saga for the first time.
Batman: Earth One, Volume 3 ★★★Well, after waiting 6 years since the excellent Batman: Earth One, Vol 2 I felt a bit let down by this. I think everyone who reads this will instantly know where it's headed.
The Spider, Volume 3 ★★The Spider loses his fortune and has to learn to fight without his network of operatives.
Superman, Volume 4: Mythological ★★These issues of Superman just fell really flat. It's all big bombastic battles with voiceovers from Lois or Lana Lang as they try to get to Superman's truth when he can't really be bothered after revealing to the world that Clark Kent is Superman. I honestly felt cheated, that Bendis dropped that bombshell and then just kind of ignored it in typical Bendis fashion.
Tom Strong's Terrific Tales, Book 1 ★★★★A fun anthology of pulpy sci-fi tales featuring Tom Strong with a 1950's science fiction vibe.
Tom Strong, Book 3 ★★★★I love when Alan Moore does science heroes.
Future State: Dark Detective ★★★I can easily say these are better than the stories in Future State: The Next Batman which were pretty awful. These at least have beginning, middle, and an end to them.
My reading week:-Beware the Kamiki Brothers, vols. 1-3
-Can I Kiss You Everyday, vols. 1-4
-The Dorm of Love and Secrets, vols. 1-4
-Higurashi, vol. 26
-Lovesick Ellie, vols. 4-12
-Men's Life, vols. 1-4
-My Boss' Kitten, vols. 1-7
-My Sweet Girl, vols. 1-12
-Perfect World, vol. 1
-The Prince's Black Poison, vols. 1-10
-Sadako at the End of the World
-Stray Bullet Baby
-Those Summer Days, vols. 1-5
-Vinland Saga omni, vols. 7-8
This week's trip to the LCS.The Other History of the DC Universe #5
Superman: Son of Kal-El #1
Wonder Woman: Black and Gold #2
Black Widow #9
Cable #12
Eternals #6
Grendel: Devil's Odyssey #8
Shadow Service #10
Something Is Killing the Children #18
Strange Adventures #11
SWORD #7
Wolverine #14
Skybound X #4
Chad wrote: "Last week's comic book light reading.Penultiman ★★★A Superman from the future comes to 2019. In the far future he's considered a neanderthal and was exiled here. N..."
I loved Harrow County! Now I want to read In.
Nancy wrote: "I loved Harrow County! Now I want to read In."In was such a pleasant surprise. I thought it was going to be a fluffy memoir about living in New York but it was so much more. Plus fantastic artwork that enhanced the story.
After recently finishing season one of the awesome animated series Invincible, I decided to read further into the book series, as I read Volume One (Ultimate edition) back in 2016 but never read further. Invincible: Volumes Two, Three, Four & Five. It's a fun superhero series that has a lot of plot threads to follow.
X-Men: Days of Future Past- a classic early 80s story that had Kitty Pryde time traveling. One of the movies was based on this story.
Covid Chronicles: A Comics Anthology- 60+ creators were given chances to recount their experiences or share commentary about the pandemic to varying degrees of success.
Treasure in the Lake- a sweet middle-school story about friendship that I reviewed for the School Library Journal magazine
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I Read Comic Books
Books mentioned in this topic
Penultiman (other topics)The Spider, Volume 3 (other topics)
Harrow County: Omnibus Volume 2 (other topics)
Penultiman (other topics)
The World of Black Hammer, Vol. 3 (other topics)
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Tell us all about what you've been reading this month - any new series coming out that you're excited about?
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