jim

Oh yeah, Batman/Elmer Fudd was fucking great. I have a lot of thoughts about The Egyptian Princesses, but they boil down to it's another Baranko comic, enjoy the ride. Shutter v1-4: Yes, well done, one of Image's secret successes. Long Walk To Valhalla: Nowhere midwest town person gets found by a valkyrie. What happens next is actually surprising.

God only knows what I've already written about, but I can't sleep because I'm angry at myself for getting half my party killed in Darkest Dungeon. Man Of Many Faces v1, 2 and Clamp School Defenders v1: Apparently you can put the CLAMP name on any old thing and it'll...yeah. A couple fine fourth wall breaking moments but maybe for complete-ists only, if that. Satoshi Kon's Opus: Hyper meta, surprisingly funny. Days Like This: Inoffensive digest sized comic from Oni about a group of black middle school girls getting talented scouted in Motown-era Detroit. Charming. A Bride's Story v8: I cannot remember for the life of me what happened, but I don't care because Kaoru Mori's shit is beautiful. The Black Dhalia (comic adaptation): They got a budget European for this and while his style fits the narrative, it does not quite click in the way they hoped it would. Browse through it to see what I mean. My Brother's Husband v1: An old school Japanese gay porn dude weaves a story of a Japanese man coming to terms with his brother's death and his own homophobia through the vehicle of his brother's husband coming to Japan to see his dead lover's home. One of my favorite things I read this year. Psycho-Pass v2: Above-average/solid sf police/detective serial. Way more backgrounds than I expected. Someone put time and effort into this tie in. Moonshine v1: Here's the 100 Bullets team and it's exactly the twisty plot and pitch perfect dialogue you've come to expect from the team. Steady as she goes, this time with werewolves. MPD-Psycho v11: I bought this because the internet told me there was a Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service crossover. This comic is even more brutal, deranged and terrifying than Kurosagi. I'm happy I read it, but if knew the crossover was so short, I wouldn't have bothered. My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness: Another staggeringly good manga, this one about a lesbian virgin with anxiety. It's the kind of thing I would've loved to see as a teenager and I'm scared I would've found a way to avoid reading it or dismiss it. She puts you in her shoes. Beowulf: DAVID RUBÍN IS A GOD WE ARE NOT WORTHY Black Science HC v1: The art on any Rick Remender project is never the problem. The problem is Remender apparently only has one narrator and that's heavy first person male that hates himself and needs to make up for his mistakes, usually catalyzed by watching his black friends die. This taste of Mr. Remender's work is a sprawling sci-fi multi world thing that resembles a "punk rock" version of wait what was that low budget scifi show where marines go through a portal to other places because reasons? It's like that. I've got a soft spot for Remender, but I prefer the Deadly Class version of his stories. The Fourth Power: Finally, Juan Giménez's other big big work is collected in a massive oversized hardcover and it's jawdroppingly pretty. It's got jarring tonal problems (the first album is space Akira, but with terrestrial dogfights, fighter pilots and maybe some war comic, but mostly also massive fucking tits everywhere. Harrow County v1-3: Cullen Bunn and Tyler Crook get together to make a southern horror comic that seems so precisely up Dark Horse's alley I'm surprised they're not paying their publisher royalties. Tyler Crook shines, and they work in a cool guest appearance by Carla Speed McNeil. Blinded By The Ice: A Yuri On Ice!!! (I don't know how many exclamation points are in that shows title and I'm too goddamned tired to look it up) fan doshinji. Cute. That's about it. Midnighter v1: Steve Orlando nailed the voice of Midnighter, but I could not begin to care about Midnighter or any of his rogues gallery or even Midnighter's friends. I haven't returned to Warren Ellis' Authority, so can anyone tell me if there's a personality to Midnighter beyond "I'm expy Frank The Tank Batman, I wear leather and I quip 'seriously' about rough sex"? ACO's the star here.

Twenty Days Of Turin-Giorgio de Maria (translated by Ramon Glazov) Did not click. A couple cool moments, but a wait, this is what y'all made a fuss over? Maybe you had to be there. The Topless Tower-Silvina Ocampo My understanding of Silvina Ocampo from 2/3 or 3/4 of her NYRB collection is that she's like Borges, but more cruel. She apparently wrote a lot of children's stuff, and this I think is one of them. Maybe it's a fable about growing up and seeing the fullness of a human life while maybe the Devil watches? I didn't expect it to end so sweet. The Honey Month-Amal El-Mohtar Bought at WisCon on a gamble. I echo Hannah's thoughts. Recyclopedia-Henryette Mullen Hyper language gamey poetry. It skated a thin line dexterously. Bear-Chrissy WIlliams Skated that thin line less well. A little too precious (that can't be the word) for my tastes. Currently working through The Invention Of Morel by Adolofo Bioy Casares, the husband and lover of Silvina Ocampo. Interesting note: There's a character in Topless Tower and a character in The Invention Of Morel with the same name. I choose to believe it's the same person, written by wife and then husband.

The Last Quarter Of Bad Company: A tacked on existential sequel that actually ends with the character literally becoming what he hates and murders. It's still good, if it's a radically different flavor from what preceded it.

Day Men v1, v2: It's a fun vampire romp elevated by Stelfreeze's work, who does no showy tricks but makes every five or six page vampire conversation interesting through perspective and a lifetime of draftsmanship. The writers wisely get out of his way. Bug! The Adventures Of Forager #1: I have only a little better idea than Hannah what's going on here, but look, this is the Allred family explicitly working on a Kirby creation in what I take as a respectful update of the man's themes and stylistic quirks. This is a joy. Batwoman #3: I'd love to know what's going on behind the scenes. The end result feels generic, with occasional moody, perfectly suited Epting pages. Three Quarters Of Bad Company: Goodbye, Krool World: A 2000 AD classic where the team slowly peels back the horrors of war. I hope this ends with Milligan updating the Kubert Make War No More. Monsters shooting monsters and dying.

Bloodshot Reborn v2, v3: v2 is a great followup from v1, v3 is a harmless Mad Max nod.

Shutter v2, v3: What a deranged, fun adventure comic. Del Duca does dope drawing. Southern Bastards v3: This comic is so tense, so often I take it for granted. They made a football game feel absolutely apocalyptic. East Of West v6: Speaking of tense comics. Hickman's voice is unmistakable and Dragotta sells it effortlessly. Black Hammer v1, 2017 Annual: An obvious in retrospect premise executed well. It's Justice League gets stuck in a small town, with nods to the classic comics of old. Characters named Len and Bernie make an appearance. Yeah, I'm here.

Excited to get my copy. It's exactly what you expect from this, for better and for worse.

Mass Effect: Andromeda. Allegedly, this is the work of the multiplayer team from ME3, and it shows. The combat's improved by an order of magnitude and no longer feels like a chore. There's some hilarious bugs in the game (shooting an enemy that spawned floating on air dropped two corpses, a critical path boss spawned in the ceiling forcing a 20 minute restart of a section, and the game spawning a seperate copy of Jaal that floated in zero g tripping balls, which even appeared in Important Cutscenes). There's some really goddamned stupid choices (do you want the red idiot ball or the blue idiot ball) but the writing's solid where it counts, in the loyalty missions and romance options. It's the first Mass Effect game I've played that's good and not great. Persona 5. I've played enough Persona to see the formula but I still feel compelled to play this iteration. The way the camera interacts with the stealth mechanics is garbage and makes combat harder not because of enemy strength or weakness but because you need to rely on the minimap not what's on the screen to figure out where the enemies are. With that out of the way, it's everything a Persona game's been thus far, but tweaked and improved. If you haven't played a Persona game, start here. Predatory older gay men make a reappearance here, I believe their names are Gay and Panic. Persona's back and it's good to play another one of these.

Caravaggio v1: Dark Horse released the first graphic album of Manara's biography of Caravaggio. MANARA DRAWS PRETTY, news at 11. Yes, Roya: An erotic story involving a love triangle, cartooning and the politics of the 50-60s. Well done. Princess Princess: A short story about little girls saving each other and family strife. Cute and kind.

Insexts 10: I'm still marginally interested in Insexts because even though I nitpick the hell out of this thing, it remains full bore strange in a way that a lot of its contemporaries aren't. There's a beat in the comic where there's a full page splash, a normal page, into a double page splash into yet another full page splash. It's a choice that's jarring that could've been improved by either a) the team giving up one of the splashes for story or b) Aftershock giving the team another page, since there's already house ads in the back of the issue. Wic/Div 28: There's some killin'. Shouts out to the Baphomet beat, too. There's some really heavy spoilers, so what I'll say is it's a genius use of those ridiculous Andrew Eldritch glasses Baphomet wears.

America 2: This comic reads like a parody of a hyper excited Tumblr comic. The writer continues to overwrite two great art teams and ugh. To be optimistic, this is a writer's first comic and the transition between mediums is difficult. As a thing that I'd spend money on: LOL NOPE. All-Time Comics 1: In what is actually a parody and is also bad, All-Time Comics. A bunch of comix dudes get together and take old, old potshots in a traditional style. These points were made years ago in alternative comics, back in the day and also Marshall Law and also in Top 10, two of those things recently reissued by the parent company of what's being parodied here. This is as obvious as Coachella. Ugh.

Divinity III, issue four: I'm running out of good things to say about Divinity. Still fantastic. Whenever it comes out, we're here. I'd love, love, love to see more of the Stalinverse heroes, because those backup features were not enough.

Bernie Wrightson's dead. Fuck life.

I'll have to look at Empress. I ignored it because Millar, but that sounds really good. Batwoman 1: Batwoman as James Bond, I suppose. I'm only reading this because Hannah's buying it. Reliably above average, but the voice feels wrong to me. Casanova Acedia 8: Cycle goes three Moon issues, one flashback Bá issue. In this case, the flashback centers around the other team looking to kill Cass' employer. Bá's fantastic, and Moon coloring him is a joy. They got five great pinups, too. Risso, Ward, Latour, Zdarsky and Gerard Way. Ether 5: Turns out this is an ongoing now. Rubín's art + Kindt's ideas are a goddamned home run. Harrow County two issues: Dark and twisty. It makes me want to read the series.

Turns out I'm missing important context and scheduling for my comments about Christine/Victoria. From J. E. Sawyer's blog: I cannot speak for Chris Avellone (who wrote and directed Dead Money), but I believe we were limited by time/scheduling. Veronica was written and recorded for the base New Vegas game with (IIRC) only a few hooks for Dead Money. I think reactions to Dead Money content itself would have required a more comprehensive level of (way) advanced planning, i.e., we would have needed to know exactly what Veronica was reacting to in Dead Money at the time that we recorded her for New Vegas. Either that or we would have needed to book Felicia Day for more studio time during the development of Dead Money. That can also be difficult and expensive, especially since voice actors and studio time are generally booked in multiple hour blocks. It’s difficult to justify if the character is only saying two or three new lines.

Fallout: New Vegas is so good and so staggeringly broken. I avoid Freeside because two of five times I go there, it crashes. The bigger my save file gets, it crashes. I ignored the Great Khans area entirely because, well, it crashes. In terms of main plot, it's okay, the choice isn't much of one (baby liberal democracy protected by kill 'em all and let god sort 'em out generals versus literal sexist slavery versus crazy brain in a jar guy who rules Vegas with an iron fist versus you, maybe, but you've never run anything before in your life and at best you make deals) I'm planning on baby liberal democracy protected by generals who commit war crimes. The characters and setting draw me in and what keep me invested in the game, even when it crashes regularly enough for me to make dinner, take out the trash, or start reading 77 Dream Songs. The lore's a strong point. If the team tied up the Christine/Veronica storyline at the final moment, F:NV could reasonably stand next to Mass Effect 2 in terms of committing and succeeding on character arcs. If. What's there for the PC at this point (I'm assuming modders fixed most of the problems) is probably an amazing game. No idea about the 360 version. What's there for PS3 is broken but glorious, just like a piece of Old World technology you might find in the Waste.

Josie and the Pussycats 5: Comedy's difficult and the team continues to nail it. Archie got the right team for this comic. Hopefully it continues and gets an off period so Ms. Mok can continue to draw it. Archer And Armstrong Escape From Gulag Whatever Number: ...not remotely what I expected from an Archer & Armstrong comic, given that the first three pages involve Russian soldiers (most of whom have a Stalin mustache) burying Archer alive. Not sure how I feel about it quite yet. The Matt Kindt/Juan Jose Ryp backup is so good it makes me want a Imperium style mini featuring the Stalinverse "heroes."

Josie and the Pussycats 5: Lots of casual leaning on the fourth wall (literally in some cases with panel structure, well done), the fun jokes continue, and just a lovely, pleasant read on a Friday afternoon after a long two weeks. Harrow County 17-18: Carla sent this as freebies with some original art. No fucking idea what's going on, we apparently hit some major plot revelations, but most of it is a flashback, and real gorgeous, so I'll take it. Might pick up the first trade at some point. The Gods Lie: Quick one volume manga about two kids who are trying to keep it together, one of them moreso than the other. Young love and kids willing to protect each other and some fairly telegraphed twists, but still heart wrenching when it comes out. Worth a read. The Coldest City: As a graphic novel, the better kind of labyrinthine spy story. As the basis for Atomic Blonde.... well this is certainly going to be an adaptation isn't it. EDIT: oh hey this is Hannah on Jim's account hi guys Single Issues: 112Trades/Graphic Novels: 23Omnibuses: 1

Harbinger v4: The most mixed Harbinger yet. Some of the most "ugh, seriously" moments and some beats where I could only shake my head ruefully and applaud. I still think Imperium is the comic Drysart does best at, but there's some beats in the back half of here that play for me better than the good moments in the first three.

Limbo: Hella meta intrigue set in voodoo New Orleans. Great work, another Image gem. (Also, maybe the first time I've seen EyeHateGod get a nod in a comic.)

America #1: Hannah and I talked about this on the podcast. There's a lot of growing pains (Ms. Rivera uses too many word balloons and occasionally narrates action on panel [page five, panel two is particularly egregious]), and its aesthetic is Not For Me. That's good, not every comic should be aimed in my direction, but I didn't care for the end result. Case in point: Ms. America's girlfriend flies a gay pride flag out of her apartment, visible from the street. In the foreground, Joe Quinones draws the two lovers flirting and moving closer to each other. In the background of a panel where the two almost kiss, the background is the gay pride flag. They don't need to have the gay pride flag in the background when the foreground is the two women kissing, have some faith in your readers, team. Maybe I'm missing something. I get the impression the team (Rivera, Quinones, Joe and Paolo Rivera and Villarrubia) designed this for readers new to comics generally. Good lookin' out for commissioning what looks like an all latinx creative team on this, and one with so many Eisners too. I enjoyed the hyper compression. No scene felt too short. I wish it luck. The direct market is unreliable at the best of times and outright cruel at the worst.

Kill Or Be Killed issue one: Yawn. It's Brubaker and Phillips and Breitweiser, so it looks gorgeous, but it's the most boring premise I've yet seen from the team. Rumble v1: Arcudi and Harren and Stewart do off-brand BPRD, which makes sense, given they made BPRD for years. Hell yeah. Weird combination of teams doing what they're known for. In Kill or be Killed, I disliked it, in Rumble, I loved it. Maybe I haven't read enough of Arcudi and Harren and Stewart to see the strings yet? Maybe Harren and Stewart get more rope from me because they've got a wider palate? If I dislike it in one place (and assuming everything else is equal), I ought to dislike it in another place.

House Of Binding Thorns by Aliette de Bodard: Exactly what I wanted from this book. More intrigue, more brutal post-apocalyptic Paris. The Last Days Of New Paris by China Miéville: Hell yes. A short (padded out with an unnecessary afterword) novel about a surrealism bomb detonating in WWII Paris, where Parisians and Nazis fight each other and also manifestations of surrealism. There's one awesome HOLD THE FUCKING PHONE moment in there, and the rest is breakneck fun. Think of an art-damaged, berserk Mignola-verse spinoff and you're about there. An unchained Dial H, perhaps? I haven't read one of his in a while, and damn, I miss his work.

Dr. Strange: The Oath: Yes. It warrants the phrase instant classic. Marvel repackaged it in a bigger size, with lots of extras. It's $40, though my LCS had it marked down to $20 because ain't no one playing that game.