Venneh

Kommandar Bloodshot: Oneshot in the Stalinverse. Lemire + Crain = holy fucking shit damn yes. Also has a good Kindt/Ryp backup introducing a character I'm sure we'll be seeing more of soon. Out next week. Do the thing. Tokyo Babylon omnibus 1: Prequel series of sorts to X1999, focused on a twin brother and sister, their vet friend, and oh also the brother is the highest ranking onmyoji in Japan, and they're fighting the spiritual weight of Tokyo, who is essentially a character in this, and a corrupting force (and possibly tied to one of our characters). Also the sister keeps trying to set up the vet and the brother. One of my favorite CLAMP series, and often overlooked. Single Issues: 349TPBs/Collections: 124Digital First Issues: 11

The Dark Forest, Cixin Liu (translated by Joel Martinsen): I am really not sure what to think of this book. I'm not sure how much of this can be pinned on the translator changing (seriously, why would you get a different translator for the middle book of a trilogy), and how much is Cixin Liu just throwing too fucking much at the wall and trying to see what sticks. Because on the one hand, there are some seriously good moments in here. On the other hand, most of it is buried in pretentiousness and unnecessary exposition. There's one particularly egregious section in the later part of the book that's a solid hundredish pages describing the rise of a spaceship based society that eventually nukes most of itself and cuts its ties with humanity that probably could've been reduced to twenty pages tops? It manages to make the destruction of a space fleet via nuclear firebomb courtesy of a tiny probe boring at one point. It's also best described as unrelentingly depressing and pessimistic, which is probably not what I needed at this precise moment. This book has been trying my patience, but I wanted to finish it to say that I at least tried it. I have finished it. Honestly questioning if I should try to finish out the trilogy or not. Anyone here read Death's End? Books read: 73

One Salt Sea, Seanan McGuire: We get a kidnapping plot with a ticking time limit, undersea fae, and several past plot lines being bought to bear. Probably my second favorite in the series next to An Artificial Night. Books read: 72

Planetary omnibus: Jim picked this up cheap as a part of Amazon's Black Friday sales and I just got through this. (Took me about three different sessions.). Warren Ellis does BPRD with comics meta, except with a larger overarching mystery and up against the Fantastic Four (I fully expect Jim to disagree with that description, fight me, etc). It's pretty fucking sweet, and just a good ride in general. Cassaday does wonderfully on the art, as does Martin on the colors (particularly the palette use on the drug trip issue). Also of note: the crossover issues, particularly the Batman one. Great read. Single Issues: 348TPBs/Collections: 123Digital First Issues: 11

Blue Monday vol 1: Cute story about a UK schoolgirl who tries to live her life and get tickets to an Adam Ant concert. It's not anything that's gonna win awards (and I'm super surprised that this got recollected), but it's cute and fun and worth your time. They're Not Like Us vol 1: This feels like this only got published because it's one of the dudes spearheading Image writing it. Shitty rip off of X-Men that gives us the wild idea that Maybe Xavier is the Bad Guy, and What If The X-Men Were Bad. Like, great work on the art and coloring, but the story is just sub basement bog awful. I've only read one other thing of Stephenson's (Long Hot Summer with McKelvie), and I couldn't even finish that. Single Issues: 348TPBs/Collections: 122Digital First Issues: 11

Slipping: Stories, Essays, and Other Writing, Lauren Beukes: A collection of previously published short stories (and a few essays) by one of my favorite authors. There are some short stories in here that are a precursor to one of her novels for sure (Moxyland), along with an essay that explain one of my favorite novels from her (The Shining Girls), so it's interesting to see how the development of those stories happened. The essays are a bit hit and miss for me (though the one that explains her motivations for The Shining Girls and her letter to her five year old are real standouts), but all the short stories are incredibly well done, and even those that aren't as amazing still sit in the back of your head. Favorite five from the collection are Unathi Battles the Black Hairballs, Princess, My Insect Skin, The Green, and Unaccounted. Just came out at the end of November (this is an ARC), definitely worth your time. Books read: 71

c2e2 boop - I've been approved for a press pass, so I'm definitely on.

Hinges Book 1: Mostly silent YA clockwork fantasy webcomic that's done in three times and shades. The good: I like the coloring and the decision to stick with making our protagonist silent. The bad: you can tell that this was a webcomic, and that this was inspired by a certain Tumblr aesthetic. It's not my thing, but for $5, I'll page through it. Star Wars: Rebel Heist: Aka that book that you can tell Kindt took because he needed a paycheck. Oof. We found this for a buck fifty. Hipira: Otomo does a children's book about vampires. Adorable and a pretty read. Thought Bubble Anthology: Collects four years of the one to two (max six) page comics that TB releases every year. You can tell that some of these were meant for a larger sized paper, so I almost wish they'd printed a slightly larger edition. Especially because my eyes were killing me by the end of some of these comics. All fantastic and a wonderful showcase of comics' range. Battleword: Thors: Jason Aaron does a cop Thor book. You can tell he's having fun with all the variants and the internal mythos and just straight up mashing it with a Law and Order episode or 10. Missed that artists changed for two issues the first time around. For $5, definitely worth a read. Single Issues: 348TPBs/Collections: 120Digital First Issues: 11

Late Eclipses, Seanan McGuire: I keep forgetting how Seanan continues to raise the stakes each book. To wit: we are now at book four, and our main is now more fae than she is human, one of our big bads is officially dead, and the daughter of one of the mains has been revealed to be capital E Evil. Like I told the boy, this is never going to win any awards, but this is still a fun series to read. books read: 70

Comes out on Weds, I believe. (We're on Valiant's review copy list.)

Motor Crush 1: the next step in the Batgirl team's story telling. You can tell that they actively sought Babs' input this time around on what kind of story she wanted to tell, and most of this issue is her kicking the hell out of these action scenes while drawing the punk biker comic she's always wanted to draw. Story's got an intriguing set up, I'll probably follow it on the trade. Monstress 8: I'll follow this on the trade, I keep saying. And then it gives us a gorgeous cover like this months, and Sana Takeda kicking all the ass on the art and the littlest things, and I pick it back up anyways. Also willing to bet a significant furry contingent follows this. Arclight 3: Glad that this got salvaged from 8House's cancellation/Marian and Brandon's breakup. Just hope we don't have to wait another year for the next issue. Continues to be hella gorgeous. Couldn't tell you what the hell is going on story wise, but it's pretty enough that I don't care. Wrath of the Eternal Warrior 14: Sweet, kickass (what looks like the) end to the series for now. Again, not nearly as hardcore as the preceding arc, but it didn't need to be. Divinity III 1: Establishes the new Soviet status quo and introduces the first bit of resistance. This should be fun, if a bit too real with all the shit going down with Russia irl currently. The World of Edena (Moebius Library Edition): This review could just be me shouting MOEBIUS for 500 words and it'd still be legit. Weird binding (kind of similar to what Jim's seen on the Hellboy Library Editions he mentions) means that the pages curve slightly, and this is freshly unwrapped. Either way? Moebius continues to be unfairly fucking gorgeous. Got this for Jim for Christmas (we have a tradition of getting each other books/comics to read Christmas Eve/thereabouts, this is one of those). The Prince of Cats: One of Jim's Christmas gifts to me. The reprinted/redone Image rerelease that they put out this year, a limited signed printing. Romeo and Juliet transported to 80s Brooklyn with a bit of the absurd thrown in, and just a great fucking ride. Definitely worth a read if you find it. Single Issues: 348TPBs/Collections: 115Digital First Issues: 11

This isn't perfect, but I think this is on the same level as Empire, tbh. Lava planet was Mustafar, same design as from Revenge of the Sith. I get the sense that there was more in a longer cut with Forrester's character/splinter militia, but they chose to forego it for the run time. Would be interested to see how that goes in the extended edition that's inevitably going to be released. Snarkbot and Donnie stole the entire movie. Would watch just for them again.

An Artificial Night, Seanan McGuire: Third book in the series, and when things really jump off. The stakes are raised higher on almost all levels, the first major shift of the series comes, and what is probably her most ambitious narrative to date (what do you do with a Firstborn who kidnaps children and plays strictly by the rules of Faerie). Probably my favorite book of the series. books read: 69

Saga 40: Welp. I think we're about to lose another one of our long standing recurring characters. Pretty and stunning as always. Deadly Class 24: And now that we've had a good amount of introduction to the new class, Saya's past is rearing back up. This should be some good shit. WicDiv 24: Sets the new baseline, is gorgeous as ever. Willing to bet that last panel is a fakeout. Single Issues: 343TPBs/Collections: 113Digital First Issues: 11

Yuri on Ice: Went into this show thinking, "there's no way this is what I think it is". It proceeded to smash past all my expectations. Good ice skating, adorable mains, and even has actual ice skaters (Johnny Weir most notably) tuning in.

Uprooted, Naomi Novik: okay. So. This won the Nebula last year. The good: I blazed through this in three train rides and most of an evening of reading. It's fast paced and well written. The characters are compelling. It's a Polish inspired setting, which isn't the norm in fantasy. The bad: THAT SAID. This is steeped in genre, and I could see most of the twists coming ten to twenty pages before they happened. The fact that the author chose to took the far more believable bond that the main character had with another woman and railroad it into a romance with the mentor was kind of enraging. It's a well written novel, but compared to what it was nominated against (Ancillary Mercy and the Fifth Season off the top of my head), it isn't even on the same level. It's a good first original novel from the writer of the historical dragon AU series (yes this is her). This is not anything that should've gotten an award. books read: 68

Six Gun Gorilla 1: Spurrier and Stokely's first collaboration. Retro future war that has some neat commentary on embedded reporters to start, and closes the issue on a sentient gorilla with a gun. Alright. I am intrigued. Batman/Superman 74: From the ancient DC days, before Brightest Day. Cute little one shot by Levitz and Ordway featuring Lex fucking with Batman and Superman, and it going about as well as you're thinking it does. Deadly Class 22: Reread this now that I'm not in a fever haze. Interesting to see the fallout of the last arc, juxtaposed against the new class and Saya coming to the forefront of the story. Also, continue to love the music banter here. AD: After Death Book One: I remember this being announced a fair while ago, and they've apparently decided to shift to a monthly ~90 page oversize issue. I also had to look up the general premise of the series, as what we get is... Esoteric, at best. Still, Lemire is gorgeous, and what we get hinted at is intriguing. Not sure how big of a fan I am of the random mostly pages of prose from Snyder, but I'm interested to see how it plays out next book. Single Issues: 340TPBs/Collections: 113Digital First Issues: 11

It's Our Turn to Eat: The Story of a Kenyan Whistle-Blower, Michaela Wrong: A nonfiction book I found in the neighborhood little free library. Focuses on one of the recent major embezzlement/procurement scandals in Kenyan History (the Anglo Leasing scandal), and the man who broke it. Does a good job of providing historical and social history to give the context the reader needs, and thank god, the white lady writing it doesn't make it all about her. Worth a read if you're looking for one. books read: 67

Afterlife with Archie: First trade. As good as everyone's been saying it is. Francavilla plus Aguire-Sacasa for some wonderful moments, especially the We3 reference with Vegas (FUCK YOU). The trade is a good size to digest things, and more than this would frankly be kind of too depressing to read without putting it down several times? There are apparently a few spin offs out of this around Sabrina, too, so that might be worth following up on. Adventures of Archer and Armstrong 5: The date issue with Archer and Faith (and tbh, I skipped all but the backup where that hapened). It's cute and tooth rottingly sweet, and definitely worth a read through if you find it cheap. Generation Zero 1: Not anything too spectacular, tbh. Van Lente does not do as good as he thinks he does at writing teenagers. Portela's art is servicable. Ninjak 22: Kindt and Cafu do a silent issue. Frankly, it's great ot see their collaboration growing out of Rai, and seeing Matt essentially give what was likely a loose layout to Cafu, but trust him to do all the little details that you see. Wrath of the Eternal Warrior 7-13: There's a decent chance that you've been hearing hype about the Labyrinth arc (issues 7 to 10). The hype is real. Allen and Martin go full David fuckin' Aja on this. Probably the best thing Valiant put out this year, and yes, that does include 4001. Goddamn. The follow up arc (11 to 13 so far) isn't particularly spectacular (and is a bit of a step down on the art from Gill, but is still a sight better than early Gill on XO Manowar), but still has some real goddamn awesome moments. There's a Valiant Comixology sale on right now, go get Labyrinth. Single Issues: 336TPBs/Collections: 113Digital First Issues: 11

A Local Habitation, Seanan McGuire: Second of the October Daye books. This time we get a neat blend of technology, and a locked room mystery in a world that bends around its ruler. Fun read, especially as the mystery starts to unfold. Not anything particularly spectacular, but still good times. books read: 66

Flowers and Mishima's Illustrated Biography, Mario Bellatia (translated by Kolin Jordan): hell of an interesting collection, still parsing how I feel about this. Two short stories that are kind of interconnected. One uses flowers for its chapters and tells the story of four vaguely connected individuals in a city (and apparently used the language of flowers in the chapter titles, which the translator chose not to include, you might want to have that with you when you read this). The other is an illustrated biography of Yukio Mishima post death. The narration jumps around, and it's Avant guard as fuck. There's some interesting book design stuff too - both the translations and the Spanish original are included, though the illustrated biography gets caught at the halfway point, which means you have to flip halfway through to get the full biography, which is a bit awkward. We picked this up at a indie book fair, and if you find this by you, it's definitely worth your time. Books read: 65

Runaways (Warzones): The trade collecting Noelle Stevenson's and Sanford Greene's mini run from the Secret Wars event. Fan of Noelle's story - would love to see her get a proper run on it. Not the biggest fan of Sanford Greene's art at times, but it's still fun. Also contains the short stories from the Secret Love anthology, which is always worth it for the Anka/Bennett short piece. Single Issues: 326TPBs/Collections: 112Digital First Issues: 11

The First Collection of Criticism By A Living Female Rock Critic, Jessica Hopper: What the title says. I don't typically delve deep into music criticism, but the opening piece (on women in emo and a girls place as the subject in songs) hooked me hard. My favorite of the stuff seems a bit front loaded, but honestly, it's all well written and has an eye to multiple elements/angles within a piece. Worth reading if you find it. Me, I need to read more of her. Mainlined this in 24 hours. books read: 64

Thanks so much, guys!

Daughter of Heaven: The True Story of the Only Woman to Become Emperor of China, Nigel Cawthorne: I went into this hoping for a decently researched book about Empress Wu. What I got was a secondary source heavy book that was at least half ancient Chinese sex speculation and horrible euphemisms for genitalia, that only occasionally remembered it was about an Empress, and not just her sex life. Ugh. books read: 63