While this one slows down in the gross and the violent, it picked up in the story. A lot more background on the whys and history of the Seven and the While this one slows down in the gross and the violent, it picked up in the story. A lot more background on the whys and history of the Seven and the megacorp that owns them. The Boys meet the Seven in a one sided increasingly infuriating (for Homelander) conversation. A lot more happens with Hughie and Star/Annie. ...more
Unfortunately, kinda boring. The art is still good. So much telling, instead of showing. Everything is over narrated in the most purple language to soUnfortunately, kinda boring. The art is still good. So much telling, instead of showing. Everything is over narrated in the most purple language to sound overly profound, but it's just more annoying....more
Hard boiled vigilante except after he's forced retired because of a spinal injury. His past returns and he not only has to deal with the consequences Hard boiled vigilante except after he's forced retired because of a spinal injury. His past returns and he not only has to deal with the consequences but his mental state and potential for redemption as well. Good characterization of a super hero without being really a super hero. Far past his prime and a pretty dark state....more
A better volume. Includes The Curse, The Redeemer origin, an awful lot of crossover with an Angela mini series, the workings of Heaven in a glass toweA better volume. Includes The Curse, The Redeemer origin, an awful lot of crossover with an Angela mini series, the workings of Heaven in a glass tower in NYC, and some pretty great one shots where Spawn gets involved with an abuser and a klan lynching. ...more
I got this from the library and totally missed that it was a Green Lantern book. Turns out, the first time I've read Green Lantern. I'd say this is beI got this from the library and totally missed that it was a Green Lantern book. Turns out, the first time I've read Green Lantern. I'd say this is better than general super-hero fare but it still hits some of those poor points where they are totally unbeatable in anyway, etc. Also, I prefer to read my escapist fantasy/sci-fi as escapist. This includes modern political stuff, including mention of BLM (despite being far future[?] across galaxies) and I just get enough of that from the news already, I'd rather not read it in comics. Not that it's an unusual occurrence, writers have been including politics in comics forever. Maybe I'm just burnt out on it right now. Escapism it was not. Other parts of the book were great. By happenstance I am also reading NK Jemisin's other book, The 5th Season right now, too.
The artwork was really fantastic. [chefs kiss] There were some moments that were hard to parse and the physique of the Lantern kind of varied between fit and THICC. It seemed to matter whether she had casual or Lantern uniform at the time. But overall, very nicely done....more
I'm generally not much on super hero comics but I'll read them occasionally. More often with Batman because I like those better than most. But this waI'm generally not much on super hero comics but I'll read them occasionally. More often with Batman because I like those better than most. But this was a disappointment. Sounded pretty interesting when I got it from the library and I thought it might be a little different than the usual fare since it's from a Japanese manga creator. But the longer it went (and it was longer than it needed to be) the dumber it got. Batman's biggest so-called fan develops a drug to bring people's dreams, which is really just a bait-and-switch to make sad clones of bad guys and then turn himself into a 'new better Batman' with a drug called DNA-bel. It's just...not good....more
This was maybe a 2.5 but not enough to round up. It kind of reads like a fanfic wolverine scenario, because it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The This was maybe a 2.5 but not enough to round up. It kind of reads like a fanfic wolverine scenario, because it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. The plot is seriously weak. Bioengineered monsters that become self-sentient and take over the world, all but eliminating the human race and really anything biological it seems, can only be defeated by destroying a core via adamantium. The monsters did look pretty cool and that they are morphable into various entities is neat. The only other thing good about this is the large bleak landscapes. They are very painterly in an almost abstract way. Most of the characters, if you can even call them that, are pretty boring and forgettable....more
This volume gets pretty goofy at times and I'm not a big fan of those portions, but when it gets serious, it's really good. There is quite the mix of This volume gets pretty goofy at times and I'm not a big fan of those portions, but when it gets serious, it's really good. There is quite the mix of powers for the kids (and adults and villains) which keeps it interesting. Wide variety of character types too. The ending scene was really great and definitely leads me to want to read the next volume....more
This was pretty good, in a silly light-hearted fun way. It's like x-men in that there are all kinds of different super heros with all manner of powersThis was pretty good, in a silly light-hearted fun way. It's like x-men in that there are all kinds of different super heros with all manner of powers/quirks. It focuses on one kid that doesn't have a power, but dreams of becoming a hero. He ends up proving himself to be a hero in that he's the only one to rush in to danger to save someone, when other heros wouldn't. One major hero takes him under his wing and grants him some power, which gets him accepted to super hero high school.
It's not deep by any means, it's just a lot of fun. There are some pretty bizarre powers, alongside pretty typical things. The artwork is fairly good, with a lot of the weird silly faces typical to manga that I'm not usually a fan of. But the rest is enjoyable. It's clear, usually, even in fight scenes. ...more
A vulgar trashy profane prostitute gains super powers via alien intervention. League of Honor wants her to join, but she's not really their type (inclA vulgar trashy profane prostitute gains super powers via alien intervention. League of Honor wants her to join, but she's not really their type (including parodies of Superman/The Saint, Batman/The Knight with loincloth chainmail, his Robin/Squire - a prepubescent boy that is always clasping his bare legs, Wonder Woman/I forget her buxom name, Green Lantern/Lime who was incredibly annoying and I'm glad he was killed off, and Flash/Speedo who wears a thong thing like Borat). If you can stand the crass and vulgar, this is a pretty funny book. She ends up using her super speed to make money in her current profession at record breaking speed hand jobs. She blows the Saint and his jizz knocks an airplane out of the sky. The League eventually realizes she's not really their type. The artwork fits perfectly....more
Maybe I'd go up to 3.5 stars, but it was just ok. I picked it up from the library because the back said the origin story of x-23, but x-23 barely playMaybe I'd go up to 3.5 stars, but it was just ok. I picked it up from the library because the back said the origin story of x-23, but x-23 barely plays a part in this book at all. Just checking the Wikipedia page, apparently this is the first comic introduction of X-23, but she already has her claws and whatnot, so I wouldn't call it an origin story. Anyway...
Had some fairly stereotypical inner city troubled teen/pimp&prostitute/gang writing. The artwork was well done. It definitely tries to be a more grown up comic.
This was a pretty short run series, so I'd read part 2, but if it was on-going I probably wouldn't bother....more
This has to be the darkest Batman book I've ever read. It was interesting to read this as I am sure it had a huge inspiration for the Arkham Asylum gaThis has to be the darkest Batman book I've ever read. It was interesting to read this as I am sure it had a huge inspiration for the Arkham Asylum games (this is MUCH older). The artwork in this is really what stands out to me. It is so incredibly dark and mysterious. It looks like something out of 1990s grunge horror aesthetic, like for a Nine Inch Nails or Marylin Manson album. It is a mix of altered photography, painting, mixed media and a number of different things. It's weird and cool and horrifying. And REALLY hard to parse. Batman is hardly visible at any time, which kinda sorta makes sense, since it's Batman, he works in the shadows and all that. But it makes it difficult for a story. It's interesting to read Morrison's script and notes in the back of this collectors book. I personally think this would have been a far better book with a different artist. Also, the artist for this, Dave McKean, is a bit of an elitist. The notes in the back say how Morrison wanted to include Robin as well, but McKean put his foot down and said something to the effect of him barely being able to stoop so low as an Artist to draw Batman and he's definitely not doing the Boy Wonder. That alone kind of makes me hate him. The blurry depictions are another. BUT, his Joker is freaky as hell and fantastic. His alternative depictions, based on Morrison's direction, of some of the other characters are interesting. Zeus, in particular. His head was connected by wires to electronics. Clayface I had no idea was Clayface until I read the script, so I don't know that that was a success. It made him more of a putrescent tiny thing. Croc was done well. There were a couple others.
Now, for the story. It was, well, it was confusing. Overall, it was good. Behind the scenes, it was superb. There is so much symbolism by Morrison that you can't go two panels without tripping over it. The problem was, more than half the time you can't see it due to the art. (why i think it would be a better book with a better different artist) On the surface it was a story of Batman coming to his personal demons and blasting through that and becoming a stronger hero. This is parallel to the story of Amadeus Arkham falling into madness and building his asylum. Skimming the script in the back (after the comic proper) and reading the subscript notes, you realize he had stuff that alluded to religion and architecture and classic archetypes and hag/mother/virgin and on and on and on. But the problem is, A) I couldn't see most of that and B) symbolism only works when it's fairly common. Some of that would have been fine, but some of it was incredibly obscure stuff. Off the top of my head, I can't recall if I've read anything by Morrison before, but he mentions a lot of these themes are common to his work. Maybe he is working through some of his issues himself. I'm not going to now, with this first reading, but I'd like to buy this book (I got it from the library) and tackle it a little slower, reading the script at the same time as the artistic version and really delve into it. Then I can determine how much is really just in Morrison's head and how much actually came through in the book. I kind of think it will be a lot of the former.
The lettering is another thing to mention. While Batman's bubbles are white on black and are generally easy enough to read, some of the other characters are difficult. Amadeus was usually fine, black on white but his letters are squiggly and sometimes not easy to read. A lot of the other characters were okay. Joker, on the other hand, I really had to squint with the paper close. They were red on whatever background (generally very dark, but sometimes not flat colored), the letters were chaotic, and the lines were not straight, and sometimes they even included splatter effects. It was a chore to read his lines and sometimes I wasn't even sure if I read them right. It fit the character well enough, but I should not have to try so hard to read a comic, no matter how dark and brooding this book is.
One thing I want to point out - The Hieronymus Bosch homage as Arkham Asylum was opened/revealed - that was an awesome touch....more
A short collection of random Spiderman and Deadpool crossover comics. Bit of a mixed bag. Art is all pretty standard spiderman/super hero marvel fare,A short collection of random Spiderman and Deadpool crossover comics. Bit of a mixed bag. Art is all pretty standard spiderman/super hero marvel fare, so not much to comment on. It's good, certainly, professional, nothing stands out I guess.
1 - Comic basically hyping the Deadpool movie. It was okay, kind of read like a long advertisement though. Ryan Reynolds knock off is Salmon Stunt Man as a villain, that dumb.
2 - fake 60s era (with art to match, including fake offset print colors) as if it's the first deadpool comic. Mysterio as the villain. Again, okay. Kind of neat for nostalgia's sake.
3 - Featuring Penn & Teller, written by Penn. Villain was Tarot. Didn't care for this one, though there were good parts.
4 - Saturn (the God) comes to terrorize Christmas as Saturnalia was the precursor. This one was pretty good. More gruesome, though a lot of it is semi-obscured.
5 - Canadian girl's school coven unleashes monsters. This one was pretty good.
Overall it borders on 3, but turns out I rather like deadpool. I really liked the movie. I'm not much of a super hero comic, and especially spiderman fan, so Deadpool really saves it. I'm bumping it up to 4 star as a result.
Ultra violent vengeful mystery anti-hero. It was okay. Sometimes the writing was downright bad, but overall it was passable. I don't regret reading itUltra violent vengeful mystery anti-hero. It was okay. Sometimes the writing was downright bad, but overall it was passable. I don't regret reading it. I'd like to read one more volume to really give it a proper rating.
The art was decent. Sometimes not great, but overall was above average. It was pretty gross sometimes. This book is seriously violent. In one scene, X kills a guy by shoving a flat pry-bar through his head. Another (pretty stupid) instance, a bad guy gets his tortured (by X) face replaced by a legit (allegedly) plastic surgeon with a pig's face, snout and all. He then can no longer feel anything in his head, so apparently falling from one rooftop to a lower rooftop onto his face causes no damage because he can't feel it. WUT? Like I said, sometimes it's really stupid writing.
The end of the book revealed the face of X to the bad guy and the reporter lady, but it's off screen. Their reactions are all "oh my god, it's him!!" except nothing is revealed and it seems like such a lazy cop out at a cliffhanger. Irritating, really. ...more
This concludes the Empirikul arc. It was alright, not great. Art, like the last volume, was okay except I still didn't care for Strange's no eyes. TheThis concludes the Empirikul arc. It was alright, not great. Art, like the last volume, was okay except I still didn't care for Strange's no eyes. There were a couple instances of guest artists (or at least different art) when it had cameos. I didn't totally understand if "normies" just didn't at all know this was going on in the middle of New York. I kind of think it was only in the magical realm. There were some really really bad lines like "I am this powerful because of Super Science!" and others that I don't recall that were even worse. Just super cheezy.
And then Dr. Strange doesn't want to request help from Iron Man &co because....pride? Even though magic is about to be 100% wiped out and the end of the world apparently, who wants to ask for help in a dire need. Not this guy! Stupid.
I do really like the cover at least. This volume really bordered on 2 stars....more
This is the first Dr. Strange story I've ever read, so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect (I also have not seen the recent movie). I'm also not mucThis is the first Dr. Strange story I've ever read, so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect (I also have not seen the recent movie). I'm also not much on super hero comics, but this was recommended by a friend. It was okay, but I'm not a new-found fan.
The story was decent, though expectedly light. Some other dimension technology baddie is holding an inquisition to destroy all magic from all dimensions. Torturing and burning his way through until he gets to Earth in the final issue in this volume (not really satisfying an arc across this volume either). Dr. Strange deals with the increasing levels of minor weirdness that doesn't usually come to this realm including mind maggots and magic eating slugs, and travels around across a few dimensions trying to figure out what's going on. He realizes magic is dying somehow, but not sure why.
Some of the weird stuff was pretty neat, but some of it just seemed weird for weirdness sake. The art did a nice job of separating the weird from the normal and took a lot of cues from things like Wonderland and LSD inspired imagery mixed with not-quite-Lovecraftian horror. Colors were great, a lot of the illustration was great. Dr. Strange though I didn't quite care for. My biggest complaint was that he looked as if he never had any expression. You never (except on rare occasion) see his eyes or mouth at all. His head is almost always turned down and angled, so his eyes are shadowed and all you see is a moustache. He leaked like this weak sprig with too thin arms (well, everything really), more like a thin teen than a super hero. The eyes and mouth were the most irritating though.
I am moving right into volume 2, hopefully that will close out this arc....more
Iron Fist is a asian mystical super-duper-fighter. Well, except he's not Asian. This book has two men with the Iron Fist power. One a seriously old grIron Fist is a asian mystical super-duper-fighter. Well, except he's not Asian. This book has two men with the Iron Fist power. One a seriously old grizzled American WWI vet and the other a super-billionaire young man (gosh there are a lot of super-heros like that). This is the kind of super powered bare handed fighter that can take out a million billion machine gun toting baddies and not break a sweat. There is an appearance by Luke Cage (presumably) and a couple female heros that I don't know. It talks a little about the history of Iron Fist.
The story is okay, kind of weak. It just seems a vehicle for fight scenes more than anything. The artwork is okay, a bit scratchy-rough. Some of the shading seems muddy. It's fairly dark overall.
The book was okay, but I'm not rushing out to get another one....more
With Spider-Man, I think you have to kind of expect a few things. Unfortunately for this book, I'm not a big Spider-Man fan to begin with. This book cWith Spider-Man, I think you have to kind of expect a few things. Unfortunately for this book, I'm not a big Spider-Man fan to begin with. This book could have been a lot better. The characters were pretty weak, the dialogue was terrible and rather cheezy. The plot was really quite weak. Overall, I would skip this one....more
Second Reading in audiobook format. Still great, especially the second half. --------------------
This book takes place one year after the events of booSecond Reading in audiobook format. Still great, especially the second half. --------------------
This book takes place one year after the events of book one. Things in Luthadel have only slightly settled, but the new kingdom quickly realizes new major problems. With 3 armies knocking on their walls, Elend's lack of leadership experience, and Vin's teenage self-doubt, and the increasing pressure of the return of the Deepness, there is plenty of tense moments in this book.
Much of it focuses on the politics of the new kingdoms and the strife that result of the power vacuum of an all powerful emperor God. Vin's character arc is less pronounced in this one, though it's certainly there. She gets pretty damn powerful, too. She has some pretty serious fights, but her real battles are more internal. Elend's character arc is the major one in this book. The rest of the crew, besides the kandra, kind of take a back seat compared to before, though I guess they weren't hugely prominent before either. Sazed continues to be one of my favorite characters for multiple reasons.
The magic system continues to grow and is super interesting. I like the limitations, the different types, and how it all works. There was one fight scene that got a little convoluted with the Push and Pull constantly when two Mistborn duke it out, but otherwise it's usually pretty good. The action scenes in general are very well written and very exciting. Especially toward the end, I was reading this very fast because of all that was going on.
I'm not sure whether I liked this book more or less than the first one. This one dragged occasionally, but didn't have as much of the goofy cliches as the first one. There were some though I think, but they didn't stand out quite as much. Overall, absolutely loved this book. I look forward to reading the rest of the series (not just this trilogy, but everything in this universe) and would read it again in the future....more
Wow, COWL has some, if not THE best artwork in any comic I have ever seen. Absolutely astounding. The writing was also top notch. The break up of a suWow, COWL has some, if not THE best artwork in any comic I have ever seen. Absolutely astounding. The writing was also top notch. The break up of a super hero league that works for Chicago much like a police department. Includes scandal, political/contractual discussion, as well as other things that city politics deals with. This book takes place in the early 60s so even super-heroines have to deal with sexism, black heros deal with racism (though there wasn't much in this volume, I expect there would be more in following volumes), and other shitty stuff that happened in that era. Really really good. Will definitely be getting the next volume....more
![僕のヒーローアカデミア 2 [Boku No Hero Academia 2]](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1681825921l/24481293._SX50_.jpg)
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