AD After Death(2017) - The tagline to this comic is "what if we found a cure for death?" and the answer given by this book is so much more valuable and simple than I thought it was going to be. This has so many words that it's more of a book than a comic, but it is a book worth reading. Wonderful story, good characters, great plot. Into it.
The Adam and Eve story by Chan Thomas(1965) - bit of a weird one. confiscated and banned by the CIA for decades, this book technically details what happens in the event of a magnetic pole shift, which apparently regularly occur every few thousand years. It's not good. Megaquakes, mega-hurricanes, lightning storms to melt rock and biblical deluges. This is backed up by simple scientifically proven concepts, and as I write this, our magnetic poles are displacing at an accelerated rate for an unknown reason. So that's terrifying. I enjoyed the book and found the copy online somewhere. Nobody knows who Chan Thomas is, eiher, if you needed another twist. This story actually terrifies me because it basically reinforces the now-established lineage of prior civilizations and details things like pole shifts that are naturally occuring events that do cause these climactic catastrophes that were not exactly mainstream in '65. The whole book just sounds so sincere and almost pedantic in detail while remaining factual that it's difficult to dismiss the apocalyptic tones.
Agony(1987) - Very difficult to read aesthetically, as though the charactersr are always being scraped with sandpaper. Weird. Fine.
Aion(2019) - A time traveler talks to a scientist after she finds his remains. Very nice read. Didn't like the last line. Too purple, as they say. But I loved the artwork and the whole story and everything.
Airboy(2015) - Fun story about not redoing Airboy.
Alice - From Dream to Dream(2018) - A fun, simple story where a girl who can see others' dreams saves her friend in a coma. It was very well done, and I loved the little frills that accompanied the turns in plot. Made me want to go to Chicago, just from a throwaway line. Or I shoud say it reminded me I want to go there. Has nothing to do with the story.
Amulet v1 by Kazu Kibuishi(fantasy steampunk) - I always loved the Copper webcomic and the Flight anthologies Kabu put together, well, pretty much everything he's written. Emily moves into an old house, finds a very powerful amulet, and has to figure out how to save everything she holds hear. It is a vvery emotional and thrilling story, and very surreal. That hyperrealistic sort of thing. It's great. I hope Em can save her mom. The amulet ur website! seems a conniving.
An Unkindness of Ravens(2020) - Fun weird mystery that isn't finished. And it turns out that the main girl is the inexplicably far strongest witch in the whole town, little boring. Things weren't really concluded as much as they just got going.
Animorphs by KA Applegate(science fiction) - Are you kidding me? Child soldiers with the ability to change into animals slowly realizing that their entire life is over and a constant nightmare forever while hordes of parasitic aliens try to take over the world? Good goodness, what a recommend.
Animosity(2016) - Oh, I thought I read this before? But I guess that was a different comic where all the animals wake up. So far, it's great. Well, it was good. And still will be! I didn't realize it was ongoing and I'm 28 chapters in. For fluffs sake.
Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer - Really good, because everything was very surreal and she was losing her mind the whole time but there's still a story going on and it was a very fun ride. I like fuzzy edges.
Apocalypticagirl(2015) - Great. Good characters, fun story, nice ending, good complete little ditty.
Aristotle and Dante Learn the Secrets of the Universe(2012) - This book is great! It's great. Makes me not want to wear shoes anymore.
Ascender(2017) - A great comic about what happens after the Machine War. Probably a good idea to read Descender first, so you'll be familiar with the characters. Not necessary, but it'll definitely be a more interesting ride that way. A litle too short for my liking, the pacing felt pretty tense compared to the first story, but I think I preferred the overall plot of Ascender more than Descender? They're both good.
The Autumnal(2020) - A great story about a mom and her kid who have their own problems and then move into a town with something wrong with it. I liked the creepy realizations slowly being revealed to the mom and it was worrying how quickly the kid fell right into everything. The only thing I didn't get was the ending, where the town was half destroyed. It definitely should have been fully destroyed. If she can destroy half a town, she can destroy a whole town, and she was certainly angry enough to and was justified to. Is Kat keeping the town around just so she can kill future kids? Doesn't really fit in with her personality or the story. The entire ride was fun, I just thought the ending was not as smite-y as it should have been. The way the kids were chosen was great though, the symbol.
Babel by RF Kuang - Interesting story, stumbled upon the suggestion in a Lemmy thread. I don't like historical fiction but do like languages and Hanzi enough that I gave this a go. And it was very well crafted as a story, although certain elements stuck out as unbelievable, even in a story with magic. Not believing he saw Anthony(how tenuous is the grasp on their own mind, so many ghost stories bank on the audience's sympathy with someone not believing their own senses), allowing Letty to walk, alone, out the front of the secret hideout even though nobody trusted her and they literally just revealed their most important plan in any of their lives that she was clearly uncomfortable with? I'm fine with assuming personalities or letting story fudge over a bit of unlikely narrative, but there were several points in this book where the lengths to which many characters ignore basic awareness in service of story was frustrating at points in such an otherwise robust skeleton of plot points. And there were better ways to tie these together. Letty easily could have climbed over the garden wall. Anthony could have been walking out rather than standing and catching eyes with Robin. The magic didn't have very strict rules, but that's okay, it was a very loose plot overall. But told well. And to be fair, at no point did the disbelief compel me to avert my eyes.
Ball and Chain(1999) - Cute short story about a couple who decides to split up and then get hit by a meteor and become superheroes. The marital arguing is very realistic, but I won't keep reading it. Just a bit trite.
The Beef(2018) - Great comic, I hope it makes everyone feel terrible about eating industrial beef and drinking industrial milk.
Birthright(2014) - A great epic fantasy adventure. And such a good opening concept. I would have been interested to find out how Brenann aged later in Terrenos, but I probably would be happy to follow along with everyone's story for a very long time. Using family as the central thesis of this violent war story is fascinating and trite. It's not an uncommon theme, but connectedness and relationships hold so many things under their umbrella. Well, this is a great story. Great characters, great plot for the most part, wildly original at any rate. And always moving, always progressing. It hardly feels right for it to be over.
Bitch Planet(2014) - I liked this story a lot, wish it had more issues so everything could get fleshed out more. The essays afterwards are pretty angry, but that's where people are these days. I'm sure that liking people more than I like men, women or trans people is my "privilege," but I was far more interested in everyone's story than assigning blame. Blame runs on auto. It's "the others." The commentary bled through, but who cares, it made the story amazing! I don't care what political opinions my favorite artists have, I listen to their music and read their words because I appreciate their art, done deal. The characters were all great and the story was fun and it CRUSHED me when Meiko
Black Stars Above by Lonnie Nadler(2020) - This was beautiful and eerie. I liked that the main character was not so beautiful she looked like every other heroine, I liked that they spoke different languages, I liked the uncanny world of black stars she journeyed into and its strange populace. This is one of those Lovecraftian tales I could just sink into and really take days to absorb and read.
Blankets by Craig Thompson(autobiography) - Craig Thompson talks a lot about his first love, the impact religion had on his family, dark secrets he and his brother share. Beautifully illustrated, this book helped me realize how much weight image lends to the feel of a story. If body language is ninety percent of comunication, surely the way each person uniquely communicaties one concept should be studied more. This is probably the graphic novel that got me hooked on graphic novels.
Blindsight(2006) - Very opaque prose and narration, but once you get used to what watts is doing, the story itself is extremely compelling. It is hard science fiction, about as hard as granite, but it's still very fun if you can survive all the perspective-driven jargon.The story itself and the characters are comprehensively created. The more I read, the more intense the story got until by the end I was shocked that the book was already over.
Blood Stain(2016) - Not exactly new, but told so charmingly with some of the best art I've seen in a very long time. My biggest problems is that the author is from Croatia and so, even though she is clearly extremely talented, she does not use an editor for her text and the mistakes bring me out of the story. They are slight and rare, but even so. Otherwise, fun and slightly irritating, and I love that it started as a webcomic but unfortunately it is barely halfway over and now I have to wait half a decade for subsequent updates. Good news, hte plot is likely to develop some very interesting thorns from here(April 2024)
Brotherhood of the Scythe by Sam Whittaker(fantasy) - I loved all the characters and am so sad to see them go after investing so much time into them and following along their arcs. I really like the tragic story of the giantess, and thought the main villain was such a great bad guy. It almost seemed rushed, at seven books. I didn't understand the things that set Tag psychologically free. It's like he couldn't decide if he was fightiing for his family or what...but the black whispers were such great foul creatures, and the hunts and battles were all so exciting. The wizard, Zerrin, seemed too powerful for his role, I think we could have done with more explanation of the Source. Was it called the Source? Basically fate as an entitiy. I think Zerrin's reluctance to help coudl have been explained more, or his powers could have been capped from being pretty much unparalleled and all-powerful. The Reppa were wonderful reptilian warriors and goddamn did they make battles exciting. I really wanted the final line of the main bad guy to be more complete. I feel like his arc was building to something, but at the end he couldn't think of anything to say and the climax didn't feel as complete as I had hoped? Idk, I loved how he came about his downfall....maybe Tag just needed to say something more powerful and encompassing. It was too direct a final line? For me. But I shouldn't be listing these faults. I loved the series and recommend it to anyone who enjoys a bit of magic, a lot of emotion and vivid, real characters that you come to care about on an epic adventure.
Capes(2013) - looks like some side-story of invincibles' universe? Idk, new super hero, doesn't do much, lots of inside jokes and 4th-wall-breaking. Anyhoo, not going to finish it.
Coffin Hill by Kaitlin Kittridge: A witch to stop a monster. I liked the weird gothy overtones and the character design. The story was pretty coherent, but I was confused by the very ending chapter. Didn't seem necessary? A look back at what was to come. BUt it isn't like we were confused as to the role of the Coffin Hill witch anyhoo. I get irritated at emo kids, but these emo kids had realy demons to face and didn't spend too much time prattling about the meaninglsessness of life, since they were trying to hang on to their own lives second to second.
Coppenhead(2014) - I like this. It's not quite as Deadwood as the creator wanted it to be, but it's as fun as Firefly and I like the characters. I'm also really interested in the story, I'm surprised there aren't more issues.
Courtney Crumrin(2013) - Fun, but very disjointed, story-wise. I feel like it reset several times.
Darkness(2009) - Okay. Well drawn, although most of the women looked extremely similar. And not one or two, but maybe a dozen of them looked identical. The origin story of the hero is a direct facsimile of Clark Kent. A lot of the plot is clunky, but the writing is good enough, even through translation that it's an enjoyable enough read overall. Weird plot changes that don't make sense aside, there's one very funny part:(spoiler) after the princess loses her face to burns, she laments to Ioen that nobody could ever love her because of her burns. Ioen just looks down like he's bummed out and then the next panel is him having left the room talking to his friend, hahahah. They've already confessed their love and are together, but when she gets worried and insecure, he's just like "yeah...bummer...peace.'
Dark Ark(2017) - I mean, the rhyming really lends iself to a title, I kind of want to see if anyone's every come up with this before? An ark filled with monsters to mirror Noah's Ark when the floods come. I thought the story was great, Kruul is such a real character, it's great. A weird, ancient monster story. I can't help feel like maybe it should have ended with the first arc, but I enjoyed the first arc so much that maybe the second will surprise me. I like that they didn't just stick to one monster, and I liked that we find out how unicorns ended. I liked Echidna and the power of the vampire. I liked a lot about this series.
Darknes Visible(2017) - I'm beginning to wonder if I should be recording all the new books I met or just the ones memorable enough I want to make sure there's a record of them. This comic is okay, but I'm pretty uninterested in these kinds of demons. No story really, you just believe they're classic Christian "demons" although they use a different name. I guess the world isn't complete enough for me to get into.
Descender(2012) - A great comic with a bunch of twists about the Machine War. - Okay, so I'll remember this - Tim-21 is the main android, and the pilot Telsa is very brave and has cool pink hair. Turns out every shred of life in the universe was created by super-advanced AI, turns out even the super-advanced AI are a result of...read it! It's good!
Echopraxia(2014) - Also good, but at this point I just wanted to get back to Siri. But I did like all of it and the vampires again and everything. It's good.
Eclipse(2016) - Very good, good armor around the Icemen, good new future terminology, good story, little tired of mayor's daughter protagonist and the big bad felt very rushed, but great concept and a fun read overall.
The Empty(2015) - Very fun artwork and characters, I liked the story. I didn't even expect death to turn out the way it did, and usually I see that stuff early. An adventure to change the world back to how it was. Hm. That description makes me like it less. But whatever, it's better than I can describe.
The End of the Fucking World(2011) - I like this writer, he pulls no punches and has pretty crazy sad stories inked in such a simple, childlike drawing style.
The Forgotten Room(2015) - Fine. I think because of my background I guessed the plot a little early, but this book had a few explicit mentions of Richard-Valentin Alkan, this composer of eclectic piano music that I really got into over the course of reading the book and taking breaks while jogging to listen to Alkan. Great music. Worth the book to find the music. And the book was exciting enough.
Fairy Tale(2021) - Huh, King wrote a fairy tale. It seemed very begrudging, almost uncomfortable to tread along with the prose, like King was forcing himself to write it. It was not bad, but it was very long. I liked the ending third of the book, and the beginning maybe ten percent, but I was trudging for a lot of the rest. It was so strange though, because his whole thing is constructing the Other world, but it seemed like he was deliberately trying not to envision a complete world in this instance.
The Flinstones(2016) - Good social commentary with fantastic art. Sharp enough that you can't miss what they're talking about but compelling with the art and the naivete of the "cavemen".
Free Comic Book Day(every comic) there's something pure and beautiful and unrestrained about comics on free comic book day. Whatever story someone wantsto tell, they just tell it and they leave in all the warts(and all). It's great, always fun.
Four Eyes(2008) - Great, and the sequel is great. I like black and white comics, and even though this was set during the depression yawn and about dragons yawn, they really told the story in a new way. Wish they had a concluding act
THe Freeze(2018) - Not very coherent. I don't know, it's like the skeleton was there, but the plot had no idea where to go and took way too long to get there. Everytime Dr. Chandler was like, stop telling me this story, I was like, yeah, stop telling her the history, just get to the point. And then it took four plodding issues that should have been interesting and then cancelled the series when something pivotal finally happened.
Giant Days(2015) - This is one of my favorite comics. First time reading in 2021, but I love it. British comic about three friends starting college together, Esther, Susan and Daisy. It's UK and the humor is very wry and conservative in a fun way, each friend is a completely separate character and they're always getting in scrapes but know that the most important thing is being friends with each other. It made me think about Travis and how strangely reluctant he is to discuss anything that I consider "real" these days. I can't tell if he has other friends he can talk to about religion, or politics, or philosophy, or if, as the evidence points to, he just isn't interested in any of those things. He seems very conservative these days, like he just wants to not do anything until he dies. But I know he mountain bikes and I don't talk to him very often. I just feel like I don't ever get any interesting replies when we do talk and the boy has no strong opinions! There's fifty some issues of Giant Days, and I like how it makes me feel and I'm going to go get back to it. I don't want any more unfinished bits, John Allison, so please have a decent ending. I also like the overexaggerated emotions and animations set in realistic plotlines. Very fun; semicolon not period because I just finished the last issue. I love it even more and am really going to miss everything about it. The art, characters, the stories, the surreality. And the nice friendship. Damn. When I saw how long it was, I thought "oh boy is this" and then I was immediately hooked and loved it. i also like that I didn't understand everything since it's a Britto comic and they have some lovely bahn motts I'm not familiar with. But dang, great read, great feeling, great.
Gideon Falls(2018) - Super strong start, not my favorite ending, but definitely keeps in the spirit of things. I've been reading and watching a lot of Lovecraftian horror lately and that's what this felt like starting out. The Black Barn is a great nexus for evil, and the boy is a doorway, with likeable characters and unlikeable but intriguing characters. And the layout of some of the pages was amazing. The plot itself just seemed to break down a bit halfway when the setting started jumping around. Maybe this series would have benefited from being shorter? Or if they had stopped adding new plot points halfway through the series. I felt like new "maybes" appeared literally every issue. Fun crazy ride, just a little too convoluted and unsettled for me as a whole.
Girls(2005) - Huh. This definitely got a lot wilder than I thought it was going to. And it begins with a misogynist drunken rant, a streaking egg-layer and a cataclysm. I thought that the writing was kind of childish at first, somewhat simple, but I really got surprised by how the story and characters developed. I think it was good that there was only one law enforcement official, otherwise there probably would have been a much simpler story. And the childish portrayal of how people behave became very convincing and discerning. When all the separate runaway guys in their houses took to their own devices, it was fascinating. Great story. Weird.
The Goddamned(2015) - Great story, great characters, great everything. There should be more than two volumes. loved the second volume. Liked the first.
Goners(2014) - A fun story about a couple demon kids stopping the end of the world.
Green Valley(2016) - A very good and surprising take on anachronisms. The Knights of Kelodia! Good characters. Yea, it was good. I liked the dinos as dragons and the whole techonology being magic to anyone not initiated in its digital ways. I wanted more of an introduction to the knights, it was implied that they were absolute heroes, but when the barbarians attacked I didn't realy see them fighting as heroically as I would have imagined.
Heartbeat(2019) - I loved the art and the poetry, but there was something high-school fantasy that I couldn't connect with. Maybe it was because the story was so feminine, coming from such a feminine angle that I couldn't appreciate it like I would have before. Or maybe I'm just tired of people hurting each other in their confusion. It was a good read and made me sad. But that's okay. Definitely impactful.
Help Us! Great Warrior(2015) - A hilarious comic. I like how simple and pouty and funny the great hero is. It reminds me a lot of Bee and Puppycat, and I wish that there were more than five issues of this story, I would read all of them avidly. I love this type of sassy hero, hahah, the first scene where Hadiya asked the great warrior to help fight demons for the kingdom is hilarious, Great Warrior just says "nope" and jumps off a cliff to avoid responsibility. Hahahha.
Hinges(2015) - It's difficult not to like a visually beautiful story without any dialogue. The action is a little hard to follow, but every time I see something explained, it makes me want to write less dialogue in my own stories. But I love writing dialogue. Perhaps I'll simply appreciate the lack of telling in others, since I can hardly avoid it myself at this point.
Holllow heart(2021) - a really tragic story of a frankenstein type cyborg created so heartless scientists can conduct research on it and how awful its life is. There were other stuff, but who cares? Goddam I felt bad for El.
Horizon(2016) - Okay, this is insanne. I keep reading comics that are reputed to be "completed" and then I find out in the last half of the final arc that he creator has passed, or the coronavirus necessitated a hiatus, or... I don't even know why the HELL Horizon isn't being finished. But I am bummed out about it. I love this story. I don't think eveyrthing was explained, but I don't think everything had to be. The pacing is very fun, the action is amazing, the art is perfect, absolutely perfect, and the story itself is the most fun I've read in a long time. It's an amazing story. That is incomplete. Augh.
I Am Not Okay With This(2017) - Great. I was surprised and eager to see what was happening next the whole time. It's great. and simple.
I have no mouth but I must scream(1967) - great, weird science fiction stories.
Illusions by Richard Bach - At one point, there's a moment where Donald throws a wrench into the air and it stays suspended there for a while before dropping back down. After I finished this book, I tried throwing it in the air to test if I could keep the book suspended in air as long as I disbelieved in gravity well enough. It never worked, and I tried often. I still try to use the Force sometimes. No telekinesis, but using the Force as a test to determine whether or not I am dreaming became a helpful lucid dreaming tool. The first time the Force worked, I tried to close the fridge door with a wave of my hand and it snapped shut. And I realized I was dreaming. Very cool.
Infidel(2018) Really good story, good themes of what racism actually is and how it evolves or develops alongside paranoiia paired with great classic horror.
Injection(2015) - Great story, really bummed it ended so soon. I could have read that for years. Very clever writing. Haven't enjoyed Warren Ellis like that in a good long while. Geez I feel like the story just got a sense of itself and then ended. Great nonetheless.
Intersect(2014) - If you want to explicitly know what it's like to lose your mind, here's your book.
Joe vs Elan School(2020) - Great, in-depth personal look at the horror of Elan School and the troubled teen industry. Worth reading.
Kill or be Killed(2016) - I don't usually like neo-noir illustrations and Brubaker wraps up stories a little formulaicallyl for me, but I really got into this story. It was so down to earth, like just a guy who is maybe insane, and I liked how it ended up. Very compelling read, little sloppy organizationally and narration-wise, but fun to read and exciting enough to keep you going. Didn't like the ending, but the story and pre-ending was satisfying enough that it doesn't matter, particularly the point where Dylan sometimes forgets there ever was a demon in the first place. I'd like to continue the story there, but then I expect the violence is simply for its own sake rather than in the service of some greater story. I would have liked some violence for its own sake, though, there was so much hemming and hawing and contrived complexity to the storyline(was the constant admonition to the readers supposed to be a young adult trait?) that I got anxious the story would start to plod. It never really did, it just always seemed like everything was going to solidify into an unmoving mass while this college student whined about how the reader was so innattentive. STILL. Good story.
King of Nowhere(2020) - A fun ride through an irradiated landscape. I thought the relationship between the bird dad and fish mom was very nice. They cared about each other, you could tell. And the fuckup son. and the sheriff. What a well-constructed world. Although it's good the story was only five issues. Finite stories is a very powerful attribute of the comic medium and it is almost always beneficial to the story, whereas any tv show or even movie that makes its point and then doesn't get out of the way is...lost. I don't usually like watercolors, but I didn't mind the art in this specific context, where everything is a weird, irradiated dream anyway. I finally know what a bell jar is too. How did I not look that up after watching 10 Things I Hate About You fifty times? OH! and I'm very curious about the cover of the first issue, with Denis holding a goldfish floating on a string in the air, since it's so similar to the goldfish illustrations in farel dalrymple's pop gun war. Derivative? It's a good look!
Last Book You'll Ever Read(2021) - retelling of In the Mouth of Madness. Was that Lovecraft? No, just based on it. Movie. Alright. Well, I liked this much better, in any case. Felt more genuine, the world acknowledges that all it wants to do is tear itself apart because of a book someone wrote that allows everyone to admit to themselves how corrupted they've become.
The Last Dragon by Jane Yolen(fantasy) - pretty standard as far as story skeletons go, but that is to be expected. Yolen likes convention, and dresses it up in poetry. The art is fantastic. I liked this story more than I usually like the stories of Yolen, maybe because it is a slow day today and I felt like I had the time to roll around in rhetoric and poetry. I especially liked fighting a dragon with a kite.
Lazarus(2007) - A fun yet unsatisfying short story about a guy who can't die. Taking down the big bad corporation.
Looper(2012) - The opening sequence of this movie with Paul Dano is still one of the most disturbing scenes I've ever seen. I liked the story, yea. Probably won't watch it again, but I'm glad I've seen it.
Loose Ends(2017) - Crazy enough I could barely follow the threads I did find. I liked it, wanted more, but appreciate its brevity and non-stop madness
Lovf(2016) - This guy goes off his meds and sort of loses his mind in a quest to escape himself. He's from Portland. Y'know. It's good though. Very very convoluted and messy, but I've been wanting to read it ever since I heard about it. But it was so messy that it made me tired, because there's so much going on. It was a fun story.
The Man Who Heard Voices(2006) - A look into M Night Shyamalan's personality and professional process, especially with regard to the production of Lady in the Water, a movie I like. I can't say this book is amazing, and the author is weirdly critical of Night's physical features, but it did feel like I was a fly on the wall while this movie was being made and I read it in two sittings. Easy to read and engaging.
Mechanism(2016) - Good, but too many elements and too many pages without enough plot progression. I come across this problem a lot, so I have to be sure that when I write further stories my plot and characters progress. Something needs to be happening and moving forward, preferably toward a goal. Necessarily toward a goal. Without a goal, nothing that occurs really matters. in Nameless, it didn't seem lke there was a goal happening, but a sense of ultimate plot was occurring, meaning that the plot does not need to be in-story, but it does have to be there and everything has to be pulling toward it. And the number of issues or chapters is never too small, you can always create a story. "Used baby shoes for sale."
Midnight Nation(2000) - great story about a long walk to reclaim a soul. It all fit together, and although there were a few angels and it kept being referred to as a religous comic, you wouldn't know it until the last couple issues and the focus is about the journey and relationships and choices. It just so happens that a couple secondary characters are divine. The story itself was very good and very satisfying.
Minimum Wage(1995) - In one of the columns I was reading, an author said this was one of the comics that helped set his mind around the art form. I read the definitive edition, so far as it goes, called *Maximum Minimum Wage* and it is great. Very real. If you want to convince anybody that comics are literature, they should read this series. Friggin' goofballs, think words are less important if they have pictures next to 'em. It's great, highly recommended.
Monstrumologist series by Rick Yancey(horror) - What an amazing series. A young boy goes to live with his uncle to discover a world of monster-hunting. Or monster examining. Or monster extracting. This is not a typical tale, and the horror is as captivating and burdensome as Lovecraft could hope of. How the apprentice deals with these monsters, all of them, was chilling. The characterization of the Wendigo is terrifying. There are so many ways I would like to praise this series. But as far as horror goes? I haven't read much better.
Mutant Message Down Under by Marlo Morgan - A mystical, allegedly true autiobiographical account of Marlo's travels with an indigenuous Australian tribe around the desert. There are a few supernatural points, but several interesting messages about the aboriginals that focus on their absolute knowledge of the land they inhabit and have continuously inhabited for at least 50,000 years. The concept that grabbed me most in this book deals with the title. According to Morgan, aboriginals view foreigners, especially white foreigners, as mutants. we lost our way from the land that gives us life and have biologically changed until we severed that connection with the land and our history almost entirely. Cited as evidence is how easily we burn, how thin the soles of our feet are, how pathetic non-aboriginal coordinaiton and physical prowess overall is. I have always thought it was weird that I am a human animal that developed on Earth, and our species has been developing for so many years, but my skin blisters on contact with the Sun we see every day? 'Sup with that? I also agree with the assessment of how weak non-aboriginals are. I am no great athlete, but I have walked for thousands of miles across many countries simply by putting one foot in front of the other. I am convinced anyone can do this. Your feet get thickke, your back gets stronger, your legs become lean and comfortable. Walking simply gets easier the more you do it. And in Western culture, particularly in the United States, we have eschewed walking in favor of conveyance. A lot of these messages hit home, and the book is very exciting overall and a good read, even if I did find myself scrutinizing the more supernatural accounts of aboriginal Australians.
My Teacher is an Alien(1989) - Wow, the new covers for the 2005 reissue are dogshit compared to the originals. Anyway, this series has always stuck with me. Once the first couple of antics-books are over, the main kids are taken to space and let known that Earth flunked, time to destroy us. We're too spiteful, too petty, too violent. All very true. And the kids are like "but Barney is cool!" or some shit and then the alien teacher shows them all the horrors of the twentieth century, including this African mother trying to feed her child, but her teat is dry. It's heartbreaking. And the kids are like, "yea, I guess we did fail." And they're right. We did.
Nameless(2015) - Goddam, that's great. Terrifying, body horror mindflaying hell. Like Event Horizon meets magick Hellraiser.
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern - I love this book. It reads so smoothly and beautifully, with enough obscurity to allure without putting one off. Every line is a joy to read, and the story is extremely satisfying. I'm starting The Starless Sea now, and every time I read a chapter of her work it's like enjoying all the best parts of a good glass of wine. I can slow down and sort of ride the natural ebb and flows of her prose poetry. Wonderful wonderful wonderful.
Octopus Pie(2016) - Huh, I would've guessed it was from the 00s. I like it. All the characters are full enough but not too complex, it's not a tricky story, it's pretty fun, there's really nothing wrong with it. It isn't insanely horrific or anything and it isn't meant to be. It's a good coming of age story with good characters.
Only Lovers Left Alive(1964) - This book is great. Apparently my entire review, one of the longest I've typed on here, has been deleted. Which is frustrating. This goes beyond the few weeks of gathering tin cans and facing rival gangs, it goes all the way from before society collapses to society really beginning again. And the insightful glances and fidgets of so many of the characters are fascinating. It is a great story. I think I liked it in part becaues I really had a difficult time understanding what was going on, so many of the characters seemed just to understand something about the others they were with, and I'm not sure if it's because culture was so much less fragmented than it is now or the way he wrote things or what but it seemed that so many characters had such a deep understanding of the world around them and the motivations of their friends. I'll have to read it again just those parts to study, because I can't tell if the characters were inorganically insightful or if they understand each other so well that they are able to read group dynamics and character dynamics well enough to understand and navigate situations they should not be able to. It seemed naturally written. Well, I'm just going in circles here.
Paradiso(2017) - Interesting enough story without an ENDING agian. Thanks brubakes. I'm waiting for gena to wake up to take her to windward mall, trying to catch up on all the comics I'm interested in. It's funny, wwhen I saw the names of the characters and how tossed-off they were, it rang a bell and then I realized it was a Brubaker man. There's a guy named glitch who causes glitches, honeybad(ger) who fights ferociously and recklessly, hazard who is a hazard, kryznan(christ-man?) who is the savior of those below. Haha, his names are so on-point it is a little silly.
Powerless(2004) - An interesting story based on what life would be like if superpowers weren't real for some of the most popular superheroes. It was a very well crafted story, but difficult for me to really enjoy since I don't like superhero comics much anyway and so seeing superheroes cast against lesser versions of themselves was not very compelling. Still an interesting book, just not my flavor.
Pride of Baghdad(2006) - A story about the fall of Baghdad told from the perspective of zoo animals whose enclosures were destroyed. It's pretty insane and depressing. A good read.
Reckless by Ed Brubaker - I liked the first one, fine, but the second basically fixed all the problems I had with the first one(why was an FBI agent helping a disgraced FBI agent illegally, telling not showing) and absolutely loved the second one. Friend of the Devil is my favorite Brubaker book so far, and something that made it so much more alive than the first one was how things were described by the characters. Whenever they reminisced about the seventies, there was always a splash image that really threw you right in there, and I fell back into the 70s I had never seen. It was a very alive story, and surprising because of the romance I wrongly assumed would not come up in an emotionless book. Oh, actually, his last name is still reckless? Which is ridiculous. I'm very excited for the rest of the Reckless books regardless. I liked the third part a lot because Anna is so cool, but was irritated by how hard Brubaker pushes Ethan's emptiness and inability to form connections and instead of acknowledging that Anna is a friend, he says "well Anna is different." Yea. She's different than the story you've been building up, since she's a friend. Felt more fragmented than the second story, and he foreshadowed Anna's death, which...he loves deliberate foreshadowing, like "But I didn't know that at the time" which is such an irritating way to tell a story. The merit of the story is the story, but I want to live the story, not be told that in ten minutes I'm going to find out what the red scarf meant and then ten minutes later find it out? What the fun is that. "I never thought that she would turn out to be my girlfriend." And then they're kissing three pages later? Your story can tell the story, you don't have to tease your story when I am in the middle of reading your story?!? Just read Follow Me Down, and that one was about as flawless as a Brubaker story gets. Great.
The Red Mother(2019) - Very good comic about puzzles and old gods and losing your mind, or everyone else having lost theirs. Daisy is such a real character too. I like that the monsters were not too flashy, just a bolt of unncanny fangs and shadows.
Red Rising(2014) - 95% of people on goodreads liked it. It would be difficult not to. Has a whole Ender's game thing going on. With racism front and center. I loved it, then loved the second and third book. I'm taking a break, but I'm sure I'll read the next thing as well. I like all the characters, I like all the humanity, I like all the desperate loneliness. But man am I glad I don't feel that American desperation any more.
Runlovekill(2015) - Big gamble in media res with so much unknown, could have paid off but didn't, I believe becaues the colors were unalterably muted and constant. Yes, someone in a darkened room would be dark, but that isn't perception, you need some sort of contrast to tell a story, especially with such a dynamic plot. Instead, we had a pink background, pink flesh tone, cerulean blue clouds, cerulean blue flesh tone. Yawn. Second, they couldn't keep the issues going so we get the almost start to a story. I think they should have gone a different way in the plot, because now we don't have a beginning or an ending, just a bunch of uncolorful explosions from the middle.
Sheltered(2013) - Survivalist kids kill all their parents, convinced by one kid that it's the only way the colony will survive. Doesn't really work out that way. It was really good. I usually get irritated listening to survivalist rants, but the issues that come up all seemed very organic and real. Really good series.
Sidekick(2013) - A really good story of how heroes come about. I'd recommend it, f'sho.
Skyward(2018) - A really fun comic that did have a good ol' fashined deus ex machina that turned out to be just as surprising as the rest of the story! Gravity abandons Earth one day, or rather, floats away, and everyone gets used to floating around and rebuilds society now that nothing is holding them back. Or down. Each chapter was surprising and I'm very happy it ended when it did. Because I want more but I feel like the story is complete. I love that people in this world didn't have to wonder about flying under their own power, everyone had to worry about flying too high.
Skyward by Jeremy Dale(2013) - a very fun story without an available ending - A boy and his dog have to escape death and destruction while an invading army attacks the reigning sovereign. There are some warrior rabbits that I enjoyed as they were more realistic than goofy. Unfortunately, Jeremy Dale passed away before realeasing issue #10 and the series ends on a cliffhanger. There is an omnibus somewhere thanks to a kickstarter by his wife. Jeremy Dale passed away at 34. And I'm 34, idly reading comic books all day. Thank you for helping the world by adding some hope and adventure and compassion, Jeremy.
Strange Girl(2005) - This is one of those books thot nothing really gets spoiled by knowing what's happening. The rapture happens, a goth girl is left behind, and she fights against demons and angels, with the help of a little magic, to get to the christian god and try to talk some sense into him. she has a good point that we were made in his image, so it's very likely god is as fallible as his creation. I liked the book, and it seems very unpolished to me. not the artwork necessarily, which fits into the grime of a post-rapture world, but the looseness of the plot and characters and arcs while still being so emotionally vivid. I didn't think the story was very compelling, to be honest, but I still like it in the same way that I enjoy a group of three drunk mohawk-heads on stage screaming and banging away on instruments. The ending is conventional and almost lazy if you look at it on paper, but the "was it all real or wasn't it" felt very approrpriate for this ending and made me happy. Good series. I read the omnibus, I don't know how much different the individual issues feel.
Ten Grand(2013) - Really good story, really wish the original artist frorm the first four issues had stayed on, but oh well. Still great. The storyline is so abstract and often convoluted that it benefited from the coarse and beatiful touch of the original artist. The further iterations look too polished to fit the storyline for my liking. I still read the whole thing and loved it, great story, great concepts. Great.
Trent(2017) - I was looking for Dino Stamatopolous' work Trent and instead came across this Canadian mountie period piece. It was fun, but I always get a bit bored with stories of Old-West justice. I'm going to try out the second issue as well, see if it hooks me or we're at a dead end. Okay, I read the second issue and will continue on with the series. The Old-West justice slant is not my cup of tea, but I do like how they mixed in Rimbaud telling the story of a madcap murderer and the Mountie pursuing him. Maybe I just liked the poetry. 3 will tell me! - Okay, I've finished the series, which surprised me. Historical fiction always seems a bit disingenuous to me, like we're propping up these people who are not as noble or savage as we would like them to be. They just aren't real enough to enjoy. Not complex enough. The art was very good, and the story was nice, and I'm glad I read the whole story, but Trent was rigid. Everyone was rigid. Or crooked. But not in-between. Sorry, historical fiction. This is the first example I've read through, but still hasn't convinced me the value of reading historical fiction vs. history. Maybe I should try Master and Commander, everyone loves that book.
Maestros(2017) - Really great take on the creation myth with absolutely fantastic drawings and pretty funny dialogue. About a dynasty of wizards. I also appreciate that it was written and illustrated by the same guy. I guessed the twist at the end but still liked the elements of the human world that remade the fantasy world. And the strongest force acting against the good-ish guy is a great villain. Mardok. Welp! See you later.
The Mantle(2015) - A good take on supervillains. And heroes. I liked it. Good art, good story. Check it out. Not very long.
The Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle(science fiction) - Sound scientific notions concerning space travel and interworldly diplomacy wrapped up in a fascinating an shockingly realistic alien species. This is another book I discovered young and have reread multiple times. It starts out with what becomes known as the "Crazy Eddie" probe, a satellite encountered by humans conducting a light-sail propulsion test, with a "Motie" in it, an alien species from the area of space dominated by a nebula known as "God's eye," and specifically, from the world dubbed the "mote in God's eye." We follow Roderick Blaine as he discovers more and more about the incredibly advanced and prolific aliens who offer help with human design and material science. Roderick and his crew, over a long period of time, realize that the Moties are hiding something, and their secret is so appropriate and horrifying that I don't want to give it away. I can't recommend this story enough. All of the characters are very engaging and likeable, of any species, and the story buttressed by sound science is wonderfully immersive.
Nuclear Winter(2018) - Fun story about a courier living in a nuclear winter.
Octopus Pie(2016) - Great long story, very unique characters, easy punchline pages but with a good overarching story. It's coming of age, but very organic, people don't explosively change because of a single thing happening, they're just who they are and adjust to the world around them as they come to terms with themselves. And it's funny and fun a lot and the artstyle is very simple and attractive. I did like when they finally added color toward the end. I didn't think the story needed it, but the colors did look great. I'm not sure if they added anything though. Hmmmm. Which I feel like, you should add colors if they add something to the story, but unnecessary otherwise, especially with such a clear art style. BUT. Maybe it would be different if the colors were there from the beginning? Anyway it's fun.
Outcast(2014) - Oh geez, is walking dead finally over? Can I finally finish reading that? I liked this comic. Didn't love the art, the lines were a bit too thick, but it did fit in with the heavy, somewhat overly familiar tones of religion. I'm very glad it was kept vague and nobody turned out to be right or wrong. For sure, anyway. And it really did evolve well from an intriguing opening issue.
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Pisces(2015) - Agh! How frustrating. Two good issues, a third brilliant one and nothing else for 6 years. Guess something happened. What a good opening to a series though. Bummer. Great opening, if you can stand the story ending before its time.
The Plant that Ate Dirty Socks by Nancy McArthur(children's fiction) - I guess I've always liked absurdity. These children's novels are that. Stanley and Fluffy are two plants that eat dirty socks. They belong to a couple of brothers. Hm...not much to tell here. The brothers go to school and get in wacky situations becaues of their plants that eat dirty socks.
Pop Gun War(2003) - One of the first comics that made me realize why some people insist on calling them "graphic novels" instead of "comics". I did that too for a while, but they're all comics to me now. Graphic novel is too interpretive. Like calling *It* a novel and *A Tale of Two Cities* literature. They're both books. Get over yourself. Anyway, Pop Gun War is all about poetry and abstroct symbols creating a story that I still can't understand but am happy to follow in a less rosy fantasy setting that I'm used to. The boy has wings, and everyone is immortal, and everyone is missing something and looking for something and figuring out what they need to survive as the entity they want to be. It's a very good book.
Postal(2015) - Great. Thought the Asperger's was going to get irritating, but it was an important element in the story without being jokey or offensive or boring. I liked the characters, I liked the arcs, the endings were always frustratingly rushed or cut off, but I would keep reading that series for another hundred issues if they made it.
Prism Stalker(2018) - I see why this didn't get a continued run, but I enjoyed the first five issues. It was a little too psychedelic, but the setting and story were compelling, if not very new. I feel like most stories follow the trope of thrusting someone into a situation where theey almost die and then discover their hidden power. And by "I feel like" I mean "I've read." That moment has to be so organic, or it just feels artificial. I think it was done alright in this story, but I'll never get to find out any further character development.
Rattler(2016) - great creepy revenge? story, good characters, solid action, visceral horror. And really scary. Good art, good all over.
Reckless(2020) - The plot was all over the place, but I like this guy because he talks about how he used to be someone else and was unwillingly disassociated from the "more" he used to be, and I can willingly dissociate from life pretty easily, or maybe being alone and traveling helps me do that. But while certain plot points seemed initially lazy(his former FBI handler giving him all the information he needs to murder someone), overall I really liked the comic, the pacing, the main character and the little theater sidekick. Brubaker makes so many decisions that turn me off(FBI so easily giving someone they don't like full, complete important information that incriminates themselves, the punk theater chick not caring that the punks are destroying the theater, extra dialogue thtat lessens emotional impact), but sometimes his work does get to me
Saga - A very fun fantasy stories with aims to edumacate you about war and fucking without taking itself too seriously. I highly recommend it.
Sandcastle(2013) - Heard it was the inspiration for the movie Old, which it very obviously is. Old is almost a direct adaptation. He really shouldn't have added the pharmaceutical twist at the end, the surviving baby making a sandcastle is a much better ending. The ink was a little busy for me, too many broad strokes made some of the pictures difficult to follow. I liked the movie, and I liked this novel it was adapted from a little better as a full story.
Shogun(1975) - A great book. The first historical fiction novel I've been interested in finishing. And then the ending cuts off! I guess it wouldn't have been as much fun for Clavell to write, but I do feel like the ending was a bit rushed. We find out that Toranaga is after the Shogunate after all, but it's told to us instead of being shown to us, like the entire rest of the book. There isn't a sequel or companion novel and I'm just frustrated for no reason, right? Ah, of course there is. But it doesn't wrap up things from the first book. Oh, I think it was enough of an ordeal getting to know everyone the first time, I don't want to meet the all new cast. Okay, enough complaining, this book was a fantastic adventure, and I especially liked the cultural appreciation at a sword's point that Blackthorne is forced to experience. Changes his whole life. Changed mine. The attitude that the Japanese are the civilized ones after all and the Europeans are the backwater tribe that I discern between the lines of Shogun is a little narrow-minded, but then I suppose it sits well with the arrogance of all the cultural pride from every character anyway. In terms of baths, though, the Japanese definitely have the upper hand, ya filthy European eters.
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Slam!(2016) - Fun story about roller derby. I'd like to see some roller derby. Sounds fun.
Something is Killing the Children(2021) - Title is amazing. I really like Erica Slaughter's character design, not just aesthetically but her personality also. And it's a good, full world. Great comic, I'll read the house of slaughter when it's finished and I remember it.
Southern Bastards(2014) - Great story, amazing characters, huge twists, just crazy fuckin' everything and then it ends after what seems like the penultimate arc of issue 20. Dang. More than worth reading up until that point. It's like diving into a culture I've never experienced, I'm going to have to visit the SE US at some point.
Starve(2015) - Simple, beautiful, twisty drama with some tasty food in it. Very well constructed, I liked the panel by panel emotionless recipe alongside Gavin's musings. And all the SE Asia fun, of course. Timeline was a little wonky and the plot changed entirely twice, but that's fine, it was a good read.
Stowaway to the Stars(2018) - A fun, small adventure that I almost didn't continue reading. It's interesting in that there's an escape, a stowaway, a fight to the death, and then she's just sent back home after everything. But it hasn't changed her because she made the initial move to stow away in the first place.
The Strange Talent of Luther Strode(2011) - Very fun retelling of the nerd who discovers he has power. Really wish the story progressed.
Stumptown(2009) - I really like this story, Parios is a good private eye without being silly unbelievable, she can fight but has limitations, Ansel is a good brother, and the artist really captures the atmosphere...for the first two volumes. Justin Greenwood, I have to bring up now, is falling far short of the work Matthew Southworth. In the third anud fourth volume, in which Greenwood has taken over illustrations, all of the characters now look similar. And their smiles are all the same, their entire facial expressions are all the same, all the smiles look devious regardless of the situation or conversation. The writing and story are all still there, it's this bizarre artistic style. People are all bowlegged, there's no sense of action in any of the panels, there's no perspective! In a scene with two people lying on the ground, it looks like they're both floating above the street and there's almost no detail or consistent lines, it's a shocking and disappointing turnaround from the gritty, visceral, differentiated, sarcastic, funny, exciting art of Southworth. So there!
Symmetry(2015) - Fun enough opening, but this entire section should be the prologue for a book or series. It doesn't seem like it has much direction, or a very strong take on racial division, its apparent main focus. I understand that's a difficult topic for many people to speak about, but if you don't have much to say, I doubt it's worth sayng.
Ultramega(2021) - Wow. I've only read the first issue so far. This story is banananaaaaaas. Very, very good, very wild and creative. I am so sad that the first hero is dead. He is a great damn character. Very morose, but resigned. Willing to plod along until....until his Kaiju son ate his foot and then punched off his son. And the head staying out of proportion after his fight when he shrank back down. And then the blood flood! Geez. I can't believe there are only four issues. Only the first arc is out and finished, it was a very satisfying read. This is probably one of my new favorite comics. Now I just have to wait YEARS for the story to complete. See, this is why I don't start ongoing series. But man, ultramega is good.
Umbrella Academy(2008) - I've read the first three volumes. I think I followed the story, but with all of the time travel and new everything every issue and double families and multiple timelines it's often difficult to tell what's going on. I like the series, but I can't tell what it is that makes this series so beloved. If it is. Is it? I'm going to read some fan letters and see what I've missed...looks like the appreciative fans applaud the cohesiveness of the story. Which I missed. Anyway, fun enough action and quirky characters. I am curious how close the Netflix adaptation came to the comics, which would require an obsecene budget if recreated faithfully.
Velvet(2013) - This is my first Brubaker comic I really got into and was why I gave Kill or be Killed a chance after, but I really liked this. Velvet is a superb character and could easily translate into any other media. Her elegance, the complexity but logical pinning of plot points, plenty of details but no overbearing and unnecessary obscurity, surprise events at every turn. It was very good.
Walkabout by James Vace Marshall(fiction) - A white Australian sister and brother become stranded in the Outback and encuonter a tribal aboriginal going on his walkabout. It's a fascinating look into the cultural interplay between European and aboriginal Australians. The part that really hit me was when an argument occurs and the sister tells the aboriginal that he can go die. He sits down, then lies down, and for days, just waits to die. And he does. This is a documented fact, that Australian aboriginals can will death to take them. Not necessarily by starvation or thirst, but aboriginals have the ability to stop living if they believe their life is over. It is a fascinating book.
Wasteland(2006) - Really cool style, good story, good writing, grand ending. Fun story.
Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman(inspiration) - I probably literally read this book cover-to-cover ten times. It helped me identify the traits that helped a person be healthy and gave me a role model to admire. I had been looking for someone to listen to for a long time, because growing up in the United States is crazy and my parents were wackos. This helped define for me how to eat, how to present yourself, how to treat others, and most importantly, how to enjoy life. I used the quote "Be happy now, without reason, or you will never be at all" as my high school yearbook quote and
Wayward Pines(2012) - I like this book, but it does have a "written on a phone" feel to it. Still, the story is very exciting and original and just fun to go through. and the abbies are good creepy little mountaain monkey mutants. I am liking the second book as well and will certainly finish the trilogy. Okay, finished. I want to say that I enjoyed the story, but was very surprised to find out that the writer is established. It definitely felt like an experimental foray. A lot of words bent into shape rather than free-flowing. I liked the third option the townies took at the end of the book, dead-heading until they wake up in a more advantageous time. Much more sensible than trying to survive further winters at Wayward Pines or eking out a new existence somewhere else. I'd like there to be further books, and am not very interested in reading more about Pilcher creating Wayward Pines in the prequel. It's such a stilted style of writing, to my delicate sensibilities, though. I'll have to check out some other books by Blake Crouch and see if they sound the same.
We Stand on Guard(2015) - Super fun and worryingly realistic portrayal of the near future when Americans sully their water supply to the point they invade Canada to take what they want. Terrorist/freedom fighter? Amber. Les Lepage. The Gorilla. This is a fantastic book.
Who Goes There(1938) - Pretty good, Carpenter really translated the feel of the novel well into The Thing. The book conveys the paranoia, helplessness and desperation very well.
Wool(2011) - A great series...trilogy? about living in underground bunkers. You aren't allowed to leave. But sometimes you can get kicked out. I feel like there were many interesting ideas here I'd like to revisit. Maybe I'll read it again. Very good, I remember that.