Venneh

Rosemary and Rue, Seanan McGuire: The urban faerie PI thing should be so overdone by now, but this isn't. That we are able to almost instantly fall for a character who's a half blood faerie and was a fish for twelve years is a sign of how wonderfully Seanan writes. The characters are great, the small and large scale story of what's going on is wonderful. Starting this series over from the beginning, and it's amazing to see what all she's weaving in this far back with the larger series plot. Even in the mystery for this book, how things are built up, you know what to look for having read it before, and it still holds up. First of about eight or so books in this series. Bring on the rest. (Also! If you like Mira Grant's books, same author, different pen name for different genres.) books read: 62

The Secret History of the Mongol Queens, Jack Weatherford: Interesting read. Anthropologist does a history book. The main problem that I'm finding in this is that while it draws mostly from secondary sources (non-Mongolian history accounts), with the occasional primary source where it exists, but I can't find an academic critique as to whether or not the thesis it pursues (re: Mongolian women in politics and societal power) is in any way accurate. It has the same problem that the Weir novel from earlier in the year had, in that it can't seem to decide whether it's a novel or a popular history book. The book itself is fairly well written, even if it seems to lose itself here and there. Found it remaindered, so definitely worth the $5 I paid for it. Books read: 61

Louise Labe: Love Sonnets and Elegies (translated by Richard Sieburth): From the NYRB Poets series. Female French poet that I've never heard of, but her work is apparently part of the national exams in France. There also seems to have been some argument that she may not have written these poems, but near as I can tell, that seems to have been refuted. Sweet read over last night's commute home and today's commute into work. Again, I don't normally go in for poetry, but there's one sonnet that stood out in particular to me. Definitely worth a page through if you find it. Books read: 60

Veniss Underground, Jeff VanderMeer: VanderMeer's first novel. The boy pitched this to me as cyberpunk Orpheus and Eurydice, I would add The Divine Comedy to that, with a heavy dose of body horror. Having read Misha's Red Spider White Web earlier in the year, you can clearly see the backbone of its influence on this novel, but VanderMeer makes his own riffs on it enough to make it his own. Also follows the first/second/third person progression of povs of some of his later works. The book also includes four short stories/novellas set in the same universe. The first feels super Borges-y, and the rest introduce more of the world and liberally play with zombies and body horror. Not my favorite of what I've read of VanderMeer, but still quite good. Books read: 59

Let's be honest, this is probably Cho talking out his ass.

@The Master, re Riri: Does it feel like Bendis trying to be super deep about racial violence and failing? Timely Comics: Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur: Collects the first three issues for $3. Reread this, it was a fun enough read, and especially in the aftermath of this week. No Mercy 11: Nicely formatted check in with all our characters (like how it starts with a four panel page, one of which is the character's phone, and spins out from there). Only three issues left of this sadly. Casanova: Acedia 7: Okay. I think I have a better idea of what's actually happening now? I need to reread these issues and see if I can get a sense of the narrative arc again tbh. The twins' art is stupidly beautiful as always. Single Issues: 326TPBs/Collections: 111Digital First Issues: 11

Robin 3000 Book 2: Random elseworlds with a sci fi alien conspiracy that happens to have P Craig fuckin Russell on art. The art is the main draw here to be honest. Single Issues: 323TPBs/Collections: 111Digital First Issues: 11

Umbral vol 2 (and also 1): We picked up the second trade at a signing for Johnston and Mittens earlier in October. I read through vol 2, realized I had completely forgot what happened in vol 1, and promptly spent a half hour trying to find the first trade in the apartment. The art and colors on this are gorgeous, but honestly, this took too long to get going story wise, and the fact that I had completely forgotten most of the salient points of vol 1 half a year after reading it is not good. Vol 2 says "to be continued" at the end, but apparently at the end this was selling less than 1k copies, so I'm somehow doubting that. There's the seed of a good plot here, but it's buried under too many plot lines. Single Issues: 322TPBs/Collections: 111Digital First Issues: 11

Saga 37-39: Things seem low key for now, and brings up new threads while touching back on some old ones. Solid read as ever. Old Man Logan 1: The Secret Wars mini, I believe. Green Arrow team does Old Man Logan, and manages to create an interesting time travel thread. Not particularly spectacular, but solid enough. Single Issues: 322TPBs/Collections: 109Digital First Issues: 11

Time for some more catch up! Another Castle 5: Wheeler tries to say big things as he wraps up the arc, and doesn't always succeed. The story wraps up nice enough, though. And Paulina's art continues to be fantastic, and have some great Easter eggs. Insexts 8: A bit of a time jump, but I don't mind it so much. Ariela seemed a bit crunched for time here on some pages, but things are still gorgeous. Nice interlude to the new arc and establishing the new status quo. The Vision 12: One of the best things Marvel out out recently. Bet they're kicking themselves over not signing Tom King exclusive while they could. Great that they got Walta back for this, too. No Mercy 10: Carla Speed McNeil gets to draw a drug trip, and shut continues to be horrible and great. Bless you, DeCampi. Monstress 7: Goddamnit Takeda stop making the tigers hot by putting them in suits. Interested to see where the next arc here goes. The Ultimates 11 - 12: There's some real obvious, real rough fill ins on 11, but they try to hide it as best they can. Ward fully takes over for 12, and while you can tell that he had a bunch of time on some of the splashes, some of his sequential pages look a bit rough. Plus, 12 necessarily has to tell stuff about a series that isn't finished yet, while carrying its own story, which is a bit difficult. Ewing carries some great moments with Chavez though, and crests a hell of a hook for the sequel series. The Mighty Thor 12: Aka that time they got Frazer Irving to fill in for an issue. Mjolnir's backstory, and what looks to be an interesting precedent going into next arc. I Hate Fairyland 9 - 10: Goes back to the more one off, off the wall insanity, contained adventures. Not gonna pick this up regularly anymore I think, but still gonna be fun to page through when I need a good laugh. Gotham Academy Annual and Second Semester 1-2: Continuing boarding school detective club shenanigans. Feels like it's kinda fallen into a holding pattern, so I'm gonna drop this for now and pick it up occasionally on the trade. Deadly Class 23: More interestingness as we get to know the new class through a high D+D game, as well as Saya's mysterious backstory starting to assert itself fully. Craig has a great time with the D+D session especially. WicDiv 23: The combination of some goddamn gorgeous Wada layouts, a fun experiment with the issue as an in world magazine, and some really great pairings (aka Laurie Penny doing a piece with the character who's kind of a Milo parody) for writer and character. Plus, for those who've followed Jamie and Kieron long enough, some real cute throwbacks to some of their earliest work. Bring on the new arc. Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service omnibus 4: So remember how I said that the series started experimenting around omnibus 2 and 3? Now they've got the perfect timing of longer arcs and some straight up demented shit as the characters start to come into their own. Next omnibus won't be out for a while, but it's one I'm willing to wait for. Single Issues: 318TPBs/Collections: 109Digital First Issues: 11

I still want to believe that Cho misrepresented himself to Manara and that's how he got Manara to do that (or commissioned him or some shit), because Manara is WAY better than any of this. Good news, though, my generation is going to outlive Cho, and he's already boxing himself out of opportunities at the main 2.

Finally, something we can agree on. Semiautomagic vol 1 and Childhood's End: Collected edition of the stuff from Dark Horse Presents, and as I understand it, a few Kickstarter exclusive stories (Childhood's End). Ordway does some good stuff with the incredibly fucked up shit Alex comes up with (great way to get a seat's berth on the CTA during rush hour, btw). Solid nightmare fuel, and a good quick commute read. Weirdworld vol 0: Aka the mini from the latest Secret Wars. Like Jim said, it's like they gave Del Mundo a stack of Conan, a sheet of acid, and told him to go nuts. Aaron's story, while fun, takes a backseat to Del Mundo doing some amazing, beautiful crack. I continue to be sad that this basically got sacked after this and one more trade. Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service omnibuses 2 and 3: So it's right about here that you can tell that they've figured out they're not going to be cancelled, and as such, they feel free to start experimenting. Volume 2 is heavy on the nightmare fuel (most notably about Body Works type exhibits, yikes), and vol 2 and 3 starts moving towards longer serializations (while still keeping the occasional one off). You get a great balance between some genuinely funny, creepy, and poignant stories, while also developing our characters. Definitely worth a look if you find them. Single Issues: 303TPBs/Collections: 108Digital First Issues: 11

*popcorn dot gif*

Catch up time! Gotham by Midnight vol 1: Jim picked this up for cheap, and I read this on a train ride back to his place. Very atmospheric? Like, interesting look at supernatural ass shit in Gotham, adjacent to Batman, interesting art, but I can see why this didn't make it past two collected volumes. Polar vol 3: No Mercy for Sister Sarah: Part of the conceit of this series is that each volume is only done in one or two colors; this is the first volume where we actually get a fair amount of color, though the way it's introduced is stylized and amazing. Gun fu story focusing on the wife of a mobster who's hiding out in a nunnery, until her location is leaked and the bounty on her head draws a bunch of mercs, hit men, and mobsters. Fun as hell read. Crecy: Warren Ellis and Avatar joint, read this while getting drunk as hell at the second debate. It's a short graphic novel about the battle of Crecy, from the pov of a fictional longbowman. Crude and crass and bloody, not anything particularly spectacular, but still a fun read to distract from the shitshow that was the debate. Probably going to read this again while, y'know, soberish. Back for More: Three words: Bernie. Wrightson. Artbook. It sold for $3 back in the day, cheapest I can find now is $22. Again, beautiful, macabre, even more darkly humorous while drunk during the presidential debate. Dive in the Vampire Bund vols 1 and 2: The series that this is a spinoff of is one of those loli bait vampire series. Surprisingly, this manages to be a well paced, incredibly well plotted story about a half Japanese half Brazillian immigrant who gets swept up in his idiot friend's attempt at vampire tourism. Described by both me and Jim as "better than it has any right to be given the source material". Codename Baboushka: The Conclave of Death vol 1: Anthony Johnson's spy book that he did for Image last fall, with the Russian femme fatale as our lead. It's on pause for now, but the double crosses and banter and spy heists are fun enough, and for $15, you could do a lot worse. You can tell that the artist was rushed towards the end of the arc, because the art takes a hard nose dive in the last few issues. Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service omnibus 1: Five students at a Buddhist university use their special talents to help the recently departed fulfill their last wishes. Switches between one off stories and longer arcs, like the Nire Ceremony arc, which is amazing in its fucked upness. (Basically: a company has a girl that allows them to bring the recently dead back to life. They use this service on criminals who are on death row and who have been executed, and for a fee, allows the families of the victims to take out their anger on the criminals. The Service intersects with them by chance through the mistaken possession of a criminal's corpse, and through one of their members being contacted for such a ceremony.) Dark Horse is releasing this in omnibus format, and it's definitely worth your time. Single Issues: 303TPBs/Collections: 103Digital First Issues: 11

Binti: Home, Nnedi Okorafor: ARC, so I'm not sure if there's an embargo on reviews just yet. Not going to say anything just yet, as such, except: very good, builds on the arc from the last book and does great worldbuilding and builds to what's looking to be a very interesting conclusion. Books read: 58

Moon, because I like those version exclusives more. And night mode. played through the demo last night, really liked it.

Everything Belongs to the Future, Laurie Penny: A Tor novella that I blazed through in about an hour and a half. It plays like classic SciFi, in how it takes one idea and follows it to a logical horrific conclusion. Gender politics, the extension (and rapid aging) of lives, and infiltration of activist communities by way of their women, all wrapped up in a neat little package of allegory and prediction and pain. It's available and cheap on Kindle, go for it.

I'm in town and can provide coordination, and if y'all want to get out of the hotel and come uptown to little Vietnam and a crazy ass gothic house, you are more than welcome

(Yo. Still haven't read 2 yet, but 1 was intriguing and I'm looking forward to seeing how it plays out.) Deadly Class 22: Prom issue, with the fallout of last arc among the survivors and the introduction of the new freshman class. Basically, an introduction for the new normal, and an according shift in the focus of the book. Apparently we're finally going to get Saya's backstory in a few issues, which, after how this last arc played out, I'm incredibly interested to see. The music commentary's pretty hilarious too. Read this half in a fever haze last night, probably gonna reread it again tonight. Single Issues: 303TPBs/Collections: 95Digital First Issues: 11

Done

My Year of Meats, Ruth Ozeki: Ozeki's first novel, found this remaindered at Unabridged. Story of a documentarian working for a beef interest to promote American beef in Japan shortly after the import ban was lifted, and the unsavory side of the American beef industry she uncovers, and the wife of the ad executive that makes the documentarian's life hell. Their stories overlap in odd ways about fertility, meat, and this documentary and develop in parallel, only intersecting very briefly towards the end. It's a great novel, well paced and beautifully written, but real fucking rough at times (to the point where there were just chapters where I would put the book down in the middle of a chapter (I usually try to finish a chapter before putting a book down) and just go do anything else for a while. It's quick and worth the read, though. I saw a review accusing this of being a self insert on the part of the author (documentarian who uncovers a conspiracy, has a great lover, etc), but with all that Takagi-Little goes through in this book, I really question that judgement. For $5, this was a great read. Probably going to find A Tale for the Time Being, which I've had pretty unanimously recommended to me. Books read: 56

Muppets

The Vision 11: Again, taking the origin story and twisting it while bringing it to the present day... oh man. This clearly has nothing to do with what's going on in Civil War II (thank god), and I'm really looking forward to seeing how this all wraps. God bless you Tom King. And woe to Marvel for not jumping on an exclusive contract sooner. Jordie kicks it out of the park with colors again. The Mighty Thor 11: Yeah, Russell Dauterman + Matt Wilson teaming up just continues to be godfuck gorgeous. Like the wrapup here, and the sheer insanity of how everything ends up going down. Also apparently next issue they get Frazer goddamn Irving to tell a story about Mjolnir's origin?? WicDiv 1831: I rarely get to see Hans do a full issue these days, so to see her on the romantic poets god cycle doing a take on the infamous party that led to the creation of Frankenstein's Monster is just great and has some jaw dropping moments. Potentially interesting implications for the main story, if I understand exactly what happened correctly. You can tell this was Gillen just having a ton of fun with the entire setup, too, taking Byron, Shelley et al and the facts of their lives and putting it into the god cycle. This won't be collected any time soon, so go find it and get it. Civil War II 5: Paged through this, as I paged through the other four issues about a month ago. I didn't think this could get dumber. It did. It really did. Bendis, please stop trying to tell socially edgy stories, you're failing hard. Art's pretty though. Single Issues: 302 TPBs/Collections: 95Digital First Issues: 11

Mr. Fox, Helen Oyeyemi: Oyeyemi is definitely someone I need to read more of. This novel is basically a duel and three way flirtation between a novelist who tends to kill of his female characters, the muse who's come to life and doesn't like what he does, and the wife who tries to figure out what's going on with her husband. In between are stories that all of them write, and half the fun of the novel is figuring out who's writing, and about who, and how it all reflects and refracts back on the triad at the heart of the novel. This is about the narratives that people make up to understand their lives, with a dash of fairy tales (the Bluebeard archetype) that is again a jumping off point for the larger narrative. It's dense and quick and wonderful and worth your time. Also: meta as fuck, so if that's not your thing, probably avoid this. Books Read: 55

Perdido Street Station, China Mieville: I've been reading this in fits and starts since sometime last year at minimum, and I finally got over the three chapter hump (at which I either got notice that a kindle preorder had landed or got into another book I was reading concurrently usually) and really got into this. I love the world building and the absolute horror terror of the moths and most everyone Issac surrounds himself with. My main issue is that I figured out a third of the way in that I didn't really like our main character, and that the few female characters we did get in the novel were basically subsumed in the needs of the plot (Lin disappears about halfway through and only shows up in the last few chapters basically tortured because of Issac and then is reduced to effectively half dead for those remaining chapters, and Dekharn is ultimately only focused on when she becomes relevant to Issac's plot). I'm willing to chalk up what happens to the female characters as this being only his second novel, hoping this doesn't get to be a pattern in his other stuff (third book of his that I've read). But once you get past the main character and into the plot of the book (happens right around when the caterpillar shows up), the book really takes off. Beautiful and terrifying imagery and lines, and I'm interested to see more of this world. Books Read: 54