Venneh

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Everything posted by Venneh

  1. Handmaid's Tale's first three episodes are up, and goddamn, they are not hesitating to go in hard on this.
  2. Mass Effect Andromeda: We were way more into the side missions than we were the main missions too, tbh. Like, I loved the loyalty missions (MOVIE NIGHT), and the little pieces of the world (emails, bulletin boards, KROGAN LARPING). The main story was.... a thing? That ending mission was clearly what they wanted to do originally with ME3 but got overridden. I'd be up for seeing these characters again, and maybe doing another run through to romance someone else (but honestly, I might just look up our other options on YouTube), but as is? I'm alright. Two other major bugs that we ran into, even after the patch that was supposed to fix a lot - our Ryder didn't load in during the final movie night cut scene, which made it look super eerie, and during the final fight sequence, none of the enemies loaded in. Persona 5 on the other hand, we have already agreed that we're gonna purchase this on the PS3 too, and will probably spend a week around Christmas just not going outside and playing the shit out of it again, and we're only about at midgame. The story is absolutely insane, and I have no idea how this is going to turn out, which I really like, tbh. Except for Ryuji, I love our crew. We've got several guides that we're attempting to follow now, but for the most part we're also going in a bit blind for maxing out skills, social links, etc (that's what round 2 will be for in the winter). Persona fusion is pretty much the platonic ideal of what we've been hoping for. The UI is goddamn gorgeous in its flow and sheer stylishness, and the game really commits to the prison/French theme/aesthetic in almost all aspects. The battle system basically is a further evolution of P4, and now adds some fun new magic twists. Dungeon crawling has multiple save points, and isn't nearly so unforgiving (you can restart boss/midboss battles if you lose, and dungeon deaths bounce you to your last save point), and has some pretty solid mechanics this time around (attempts at stealth, puzzle solving). I mean, the camera is still godawful, and the "older gay men are predators" bullshit is still there, but everything can't be perfect. Have picked Overwatch back up a bit with the new event; the PvE mode they have for it is perfect, and I honestly hope it sticks around.
  3. Dusk or Dawn or Dawn or Day, Seanan McGuire: Solid, quick, compelling novella about ghosts, witches, the mechanics of each, and a mystery forming around the disappearance of Manhattan's ghosts. Books read: 27
  4. Secret Weapons 1: More about this on the podcast. Quick summary? HELL YEAH HELL YEAH HELL FUCKING YEAH. Allen and Martin are a team to watch, always. I'm in. Josie and the Pussycats 6: The Frozen jokes were a bit played out, but the Golden Compass and Beastie Boys references are A+. Also a pretty solid family story, while also dealing with a brother sister duo that are basically the Trumps. Art takes a bit of a dive here on some pages, but I get the sense that's because ice architecture and armored polar bears. Batwoman 2: Good solid exposition and setup work, solid art, and enough pieces laid out in terms of past and present that I am very intrigued. Let's see where this goes. (Jim says please get Tynion off the book bc he's guessing he's the cause of some of the really rough dialogue, and I am inclined to agree.) Also: the Bernie tribute in back made me fucking sob on the train, well done. Monstress 11: SANA FUCKING TAKEDA GODFUCKINGDAMNIT HOW IS SHE SO GOOD. The normal gorgeousness combined with great contrasts in the coloring work this issue just fucking nail it. Plus, the story is starting to coalesce in a larger way. Will this probably be better on the trade in terms of making sense? Yeah. Do I care? Fuck no. Bitch Planet 10: Will be talking more of this on the podcast (and necessarily vague bc of spoiler agreements with Image), but you can feel the rage at the election in this issue on so many levels, especially in the back content. Also some really good panel composition work and color work that plays up some very good/interesting choices on the part of the art team. Black Monday Murders 5: As someone who just finished Shock Doctrine, there is a very special glee/dread of seeing Bolivia mentioned in the first two pages of this issue. Some dialogue in here that I am half convinced that people actually have said to Hickman while he was hammering this out. Builds on the last arc and very nicely begins to spin the threads for the next one. Single Issues: 148Trades/Graphic Novels/Anthologies: 39Omnibuses: 1
  5. Southern Bastards v3: I'd seen some of the individual issues of this volume, but it's been a while since I read them, so doing this all again in one go was a good idea. The structure of this v3 is similar to Descender's v3, in that there are individual stories that tie into the greater whole. And man, they manage to make a highly dramatic comic about a single game of football. Special props to Chris Brunner for the absolutely nuts art stuff he does in issue 12. Roberta finally shows up on the scene in the last issue, and oh man, I can't wait to see where this powder keg goes now that she's landed. Boke Expressway: When this gets its head out of its own ass about music, it's a real good 70 pager about chasing a song you heard in a club with some really amazing visuals at times. Unfortunately, its head is in its own ass about 30% of the time about "What happened to old school trance?" and "why is it so hard to find ANY decent music these days?". There are several DPSes here that I think work better as prints than they do sequential storytelling, but you can tell there's improvement over the period of time he did this. East of West v6: I spent most of this issue trying to remember who all was who and what was going on last time I read this (it's been a while since I read v5, sue me), but this continues to be interesting. Could probably use a recap page, though. The last two issues were probably my favorites this time around. Let's see what all goes down here. Bloodshot Reborn v2: Guice isn't my favorite artist among the Valiant stable, but still does some real good stuff. Lemire does real good at unravelling the mystery, and the final twist to it. I was also able to pretty easily pick it up from having read the last volume... almost a year ago, I want to say, so that's a good point in its favor. Zodiac Starforce v1: (Now designating this as v1, since there is a confirmed v2 coming out this summer.) Good to be able to read this all in one go (the original had some pretty severe delays towards the end), and it's great to see some of the extras in the back (process work, some of the old stuff, extra covers, etc). Solid magical girl vein story, and sets up some good stuff for future volumes. Also, just a nice, fun, fluffy thing to read in the morning here. (Also, Paulina is amazing at this kind of stuff, and she sneaks fun cameos/easter eggs in without it being annoying.) XO-Manowar 2: *vigorous nodding, thumbs up* Continues with gorgeous art and transitions into a "war hero leads a squad of doomed compatriots on a suicide mission" type story, still very much my thing. Brittannia: We Who Are About To Die 2: To quote Jim, "they got the GOOD Peter Milligan". Ryp continues to be gorgeous, I managed to jump into this without having read any of the last series yet (I know). Single Issues: 142Trades/Graphic Novels/Anthologies: 39Omnibuses: 1
  6. Yes, Roya: Short erotic comic that combines m/f/m femdom, the 60s, cartoons, and a really well done plot centering on our main character. Got this at the recommendation of the writer, and it's one of my favorites of the weekend. Shutter vol 2-3: First off: Del Duca does some absofuckinglutely amazing things with process and deconstruction over these volumes. Second: think I'm getting the shape of the story, but not entirely sure, and I can live with this. Well done, looking forward to seeing how this continues to play out. Princess Princess Ever After: Think I remember when this used to be on tumblr. A twist on the standard princess formula that deals with toxic family, lesbians, and standing up for yourself. Would give this to various female relatives as youngsters. The binding kinda sucks though. Descender vol 3: Impressed with this; half to two thirds of the issues are flashbacks that fully flesh out our characters, and the last third or so moved the plot forward. Well done. From Under Mountains: Collected volume of what's come out so far; apparently after this it's changing teams bc Marian and Brandon broke up. I still can't entirely tell what's going on, but Sloane Leong is gorgeous on this, and I'm sad she won't be coming back. Single Issues: 140Trades/Graphic Novels/Anthologies: 34Omnibuses: 1
  7. And Nova's cancelled at issue 7, so *shrugs* Im waiting to see how these next few issues turn out re: Deadly Class, immediate follow up feels like it got derailed by that last issue.
  8. Buy her a drink later. in all seriousness, gently commiserate with her, because she probably puts up with that a lot from him.
  9. The Girl on the Train, Paula Hawkins: Warning up front: if you've ever been gaslighted/abused, take care of yourself while reading this book. A murder mystery about an alcoholic, the woman she sees every day from the train she takes to pretend she's going to work, and her ex husband's new wife, and how they all end up tying together, and gaslighting and lies. I ended up mainlining the back half of the book tonight. Very well written, and unsettling. Found this at the free little library by my train stop, glad I picked it up Books read: 26
  10. Thumbelina is my sentimental fav, Anastasia is probably his best.
  11. Black Cloud 1: Edited by a friend. Basically an urban fantasy thing that does amazing work with colors (Matt fuckin' Wilson y'all), and has my attention. Godshaper 1: Spurrier is having fun with this one. Alt history that's a blend of the 50s and 30s with magic, to quote him from the back matter, "a super-visual form of our existing capitalist system, based on metaphysics instead of physics". Art's gorgeous too. Motor Crush 5: Interesting twist, and good way to keep raising the stakes. Babs is having so much with the art on this, and she really gets to show off this issue. Well done, kids. Single Issues: 140Trades/Graphic Novels/Anthologies: 28Omnibuses: 1
  12. Your Name: Fuck you Makoto Shinkai for making me bawl multiple times in public. It's a body switch story, but the twist is so deftly and wondefully done.
  13. WicDiv 28: FUCK. That's an end of arc issue for sure. Single Issues: 137Trades/Graphic Novels/Anthologies: 28Omnibuses: 1
  14. The Fate of the Furious: I have not seen one of these films since Tokyo Drift. As such, at least a third of this was probably lost on me. That said? Big, dumb, macho man fun, and some absolutely nuts stunts. Great cameos, too.
  15. Conan and the Jewels of Gwahlur: P Craig Russell does Conan. That's all that needs to be said. Descender vol 2: Well shit, Lemire and Nguyen have my attention. Nguyen does gorgeous watercolor here, and the story keeps unfurling in a wonderful way. Well done. Single Issues: 136Trades/Graphic Novels/Anthologies: 28Omnibuses: 1
  16. No Mercy 14: A really nice place to end for now for the comic. Does neat stuff with dialogue and lettering because the main character is partially deaf, and does capture the feel of a small town super well, especially in those desperate last days of summer. Sad to see it on hiatus for now, but would recommend folks picking up the trades. Deadly Class 27: (Odds are high Jim and I are going to hash this out further on the podcast.) Okay, so. On the one hand, good to see the Saya background we were promised last issue, and his portrayal of the Yakuza/Japan in general isn't as tropey as he did with Tokyo Ghost, thank god. Chainmail Bikini: Anthology of comics from women/women identified cartoonists about games. Great read earlier in the week. Single Issues: 136Trades/Graphic Novels/Anthologies: 26Omnibuses: 1
  17. America 2: Yeah, uh, I take back the positive stuff I said about this last issue. Oof. Shade the Changing Girl 2-7: This, on the other hand, is amazing. Alien girl gets knee deep in an awful teenage girl's life, tries to make sense of it all, and also has to fight her off from coming back to the body, with a dash of what I'm guessing is continuity from the previous series? Wonderful art (especially for the most recent one - Marguerite Sauvage!), great story, one of the stronger entries from Young Animal. Plus, three page backups of other series (Dial H, Elemental Girl) by awesome artists/writer combos (Paulina Ganucheau, Chyna Clugston Flores) that I would love to see expanded on, and what now appears to be a running thing with a 50s TV series that made it to the alien's part of the universe. Single Issues: 134Trades/Graphic Novels: 25Omnibuses: 1
  18. Elric of Melnibone: So, for whatever reason, someone decided to sell their copy of what, as far as I can tell, is one of the only collections of this series (back when it was called First Comics), and Jim found it in AlleyKat's $5 trade bin. P Craig Russell gets to do a high fantasy adaptation, and it is fucking insane and glorious. If you somehow manage to find it, it's worth your time. Single Issues: 126Trades/Graphic Novels: 25Omnibuses: 1
  19. Insexts 10: Interesting issue. Lots of long speeches on feminism by characters, some weird panel logic/page progression choices that lead to some confusion as to what happened at times, but building towards an interesting climax. Also, not sure who's doing the colors on the covers, but woof. Mayday 5: Perfect wrapup to the mini. Sets the stage nicely for the next one (so long as trade sales justify it, hint hint.) Good action scenes, great stuff with sound effects, definitely worth your time. If you haven't followed the mini, go get the trade. Single Issues: 126Trades/Graphic Novels: 24Omnibuses: 1
  20. Yeah, people love Hanzo and Widowmaker and Ana but can very rarely play well with them.
  21. Picked up Nier Automata. Still very early on (just finished the desert zone boss battle), but the level of detail in this game (all your weapons have a story behind them, the side quests are sweet and devastating - oh thanks for getting me the parts to repair my leg, but I don't know if I'm actually going to do that because that's the last original part of me I have left, and I'm not sure what it's gonna do to me when I replace it lololol) is amazing. It takes you a bit to find the rhythm of the combat if you haven't been playing it for a while, but once you do you figure out what to do pretty quick. And all the customization of the chips is fun to do. There's also a super neat feature where if you enable internet connectivity, you can use the corpses of other players either as battle companions for a short time, or salvage their bodies for new chips and items and money, and when you die, after salvaging your body in game, it can still be uploaded to the network for others to use. There's a huge standout moment to me, and this is still pretty early on in just the first route. This cutscene happens and transitions into this music for the boss fight, and I legit got shivers. I haven't been able to play this as much as I want, but I am really looking forward to getting more into this, as I know there's at least two more routes, and something like five to seven major endings (along with all the joke endings - don't eat the mackerel). Mass Effect Andromeda: Jim really likes the updated combat, I like how fucking pretty the world is and all the little side pieces (emails, individual squad interaction, some of the side missions, ambient dialogue you pick up on). We pretty much played it starting immediately when he came over on Friday night, and through late Sunday. Play pattern has been do a main story mission, get so frustrated at not being able to manually save for long sections/various happenings therein that we decide to go side missions for a few hours, and then circle back to the main mission. Gonna be marathoning again this weekend. That said, there have been times where I'm pretty sure we may have disturbed the downstairs neighbors (thank god they don't have kids or easily excitable pets) with how loudly we were yelling at some of the idiocy of the game's writing (I might need to make them apology cookies). (Most notably: that bullshit First Murderer outcome option, the AI mission on ice hell world, and some of the interactions we have with the Moshae during some of the Angara missions.) Options on some of the main quests seem reductive. Also: there are some pretty major bugs, at least on the PS4 version. At last count, we had Drack somehow ascend into the walls of the Tempest after talking to him, a respawn in an area of the game where we technically shouldn't have been able to respawn in, and a mission where Ryder died and a game over should've been triggered, but the game kept running and we couldn't do anything (had to quit out and restart). Most notably has been what I've affectionately come to refer to as the Jaal rave bug. He followed us like this for an hour, through several cutscenes/interactions, and continued through him being as a battle member in our party. I finally had to close out and restart it on the PS4, because it was starting to interfere with combat.