Venneh

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind 1-4: Viz did monthly releases of Nausicaa installments back in the day (like, very late 80s), and Jim found me some of them (including one with the Moebius poster intact!!) for Christmas. It's interesting to see how translation was handled back in the day, and always fun to see Miyazaki on art. It's very different from the movie, so it's great to see how the original take on it was. (Plus, Miyazaki and Moebius conversation in the back in the first issue, which is just fucking adorable.) Single Issues: 114TPBs/Collections: 52Digital First Issues: 10

The Thackery T. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities, edited by Jeff and Ann VanderMeer: A short story collection where each entry is an account, be it personal, academic, folklorish, or any other number of things, of an item in a fictional collection of curiosities. Includes Alan Moore writing about Jerusalem in a weirdly meta thing all the way back in 2011 (lol, sure, it'll be finished in 2013), art by Mike Mignola, entries from China Mieville, NK Jemisin, Garth Nix, and many others. Great anthology to go through at your own pace, and some really haunting entries within.

The Delinquents: I expected an Archer/Armstrong and Quantum/Woody team up to be way funnier than this ended up being. I don't know if it was the cowriting, but while there were some great moments, it just didn't stick. Also Kano decided to try and pull a Hawkeye with some 20 pages panels - worked well for the first few instances, but it got real old after a while. Ivar, Timewalker vol 1: So this is kinda just off brand Dr. Who, isn't it. Like, great that Neela calls Ivar out on his crap, and there's some neat stuff being set up here, but, ehhhhh? Single Issues: 110TPBs/Collections: 52Digital First Issues: 10

Another Castle 2: Continues the A+ writing from last issue, along with the gorgeous art, and continues to be a great ride. Might have to add this to my pull. Batgirl 50: The last issue with the Stewart/Fletcher/Tarr team. Almost 50 pages of story for $5. Some good fight scenes for Babs to show off with, and manages to wrap things up well enough. Sad to see this team go, but I'll follow them over to Motor Crush at Image. Black Widow 2: Again, probably switching to the trade on this one, but the story work here was necessary after last issue, and Samnee still gets to show right the hell off, which is great. Vision 6: One word summary of this issue: FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU-. I'm gonna miss King when he leaves, the way the narration frames things this issue and the actual events are absolutely amazing. Bellaire does some great color work here, too. The Fix 1: Again, gonna have to add this to my pull, on simple basis of me having to actively work not to laugh out loud paging through this at work. Spencer and Lieber do amazing with each other, there's some real great wordless storytelling on Lieber's part, and the story of these two asshole cops trying not to fuck up as they do crime in order to cover how much in over their heads they are is just... yes. Yes yes yes yes yes. Here for this. Weirdworld 5: Fucking gorgeous, and again, you can tell that right about now is where they got told "oh btw you guys are cancelled, wrap this shit up". Still not saying it out loud, but, at this stage, it's obvious. Gotham Academy 17: Second to last issue of the Yearbook arc, and some of my favorites so far - Fletcher and Wu visit to cross over with Black Canary, Klarion shows up briefly, and David Petersen writes and illustrates a short following a Dungeons and Dragons group from the school's past. YES. Single Issues: 110TPBs/Collections: 50Digital First Issues: 10

Quantum and Woody vols 1-3: Best fucking book I've read from Valiant so far, second only to Rai in terms of quality. Actually had me and the boy almost falling off the couch laughing at some points. Deadly Class 20: Well fuck me, I didn't think it could get worse. I was wrong. Some great stuff from Wes this issue, art-wise. Writing here is absolutely brutal, and I'm looking forward to seeing the climax. Pretty Deadly 9: Yeah, long term, this will probably work better as a trade series than a month to month series, I keep losing the thread of what's going on. But by fucking god it's gorgeous. Monstress 5: Again, the recap page helps immensely. Things come together nicely for the end of the arc, and they leave it at a pretty damn solid cliffhanger, all things considered. Also, still one of the prettiest goddamn books I'm reading. Single Issues: 103TPBs/Collections: 50Digital First Issues: 10

Spider-Man: We're Coming for You Fox

Damn right you should. Fuck the plot of Scarlet Witch, just go for the rotating artists, especially when they're real good.

XO-Manowar vols 2 and 3: Best described as big, dumb fun. It's not gonna be winning any Eisners anytime soon, especially on the art front (early Lee Garbett, and some godawful stuff on the third trade), but we've got your alien conspiracies, Aric taking the fight to the aliens, and him also freeing the slaves in what I now realize is a horridly done Moses metaphor. Something I'd pick up if it were for free or cheap (like in the Humble Bundle it came in). Single Issues: 100TPBs/Collections: 47Digital First Issues: 10

Art wise, or just concept wise? Image Expo Previews: of the ~20ish books that they announced at the Expo, they had previews ready to go for about six of them. First one is the Azzarello/Risso moonshine gangsters werewolves book - looks intriguing, I don't want to add it to my pull just yet, but yeah, I'm definitely interested. The book that they're bringing Berger back on as editor looks like a brilliant merge of Black Jack and Repo the Genetic Opera, so I'm definitely interested. The Remender/Opena fantasy thing looks fucking gorgeous, will probably pick that up on the trade. The Esad Ribic and Ivan Brandon do gladiatorial robots thing looks gorgeous as you'd expect, Lake of Fire looks like good dumb fun (Christians and Muslims in the middle of the crusades have to fight alien invaders). Hickman is doing some crazy thing with Wall Street murders and magic and shit, it'll be interesting to see how it plays out. Saga 35: The stakes continue to be raised as the issue moves toward the arc finale. *shrugs* Like I said, still like this, but I'll let the boy buy it rather than me. Survivors Club 7: I think right about here is when they got the notice that they were getting cancelled, as they're starting to kick it straight to endgame. TBH, I might just drop this and pick up the eventual trade, as I'm starting to suspect it's going to work better that way. Ninjak vol 1: What if Batman was raised by an abusive Alfred, was PTSDed all to hell, became James Bond for a bit, and then, after tragedy, attempted to infiltrate and take down an evil corporation? The more I think about this, the more I like it. The artist isn't exactly fantastic, but he doesn't fuck up what Kindt is giving him, so I'll take it. (Also, calling it now: Angelina is going to turn out to be Roku, isn't she.) XO-Manowar vol 1: This is just straight the fuck up ridiculous, in a fun way. Celtic soldier fighting the Romans gets kidnapped by aliens, leads a slave revolt, gets their sacred armor, and goes back to Earth - which is now in the 21st century. It's fun, it's dumb, the art doesn't do it any favors, but if you're choosing a book to relaunch your line with, you could do worse. Single Issues: 100TPBs/Collections: 45Digital First Issues: 10

Mind you: I've only read the first three volumes of Harbinger, and she just now got her first big character development issue where I was at in that read through. She was one of my favorites in Harbinger, and I'm happy to see her get a solo. Where I was going next in that was that there's clearly been some stuff I haven't seen yet over in Harbinger that's happened, but I love who she is, and what she's doing these first few issues. It's not strong enough for me to pick it up month to month, but I'll definitely be following it on the trade. (I'm a little eh on the main artist, whose name I forget, and like Sauvauge on the fantasy sequences. Another Castle 1: Pretty typical set up - Princess is kidnapped by a Dark King, a Hero is sent to save her - except the princess wants to fight for herself, tries to get out, and realizes that by trying to do so, she will actually cause more harm, and decides to work within the kingdom to weaken the dark king and when her hero gets there, destroy him using the sword herself. A great take on a pretty genre story with interesting characters, good humor and some real gorgeous art from Paulina. (Look closely at the legendary sword.) haven't been able to find it anywhere around me, might need to add it to my pull.

Heartthrob 1-2: Nick Filardi had issue 1 and a copy of issue 2 that he literally printed on normal copy paper at his booth, I decided to page through. The concept and execution feels like a 70s weird science movie? And like it's been done. Idk. I'll at least page through the inevitable trade, but I don't need it. Faith 1-3: Paged through 2 and 3 at the Valiant booth, and got #1 for free for going to a Valiant panel. They're moving her away from the lol fat fangirl characterization to being a complex person, I like it. (More to come, passing out rn)

Beyond that, we don't know, as it hasn't gotten that far in the solicits. King promised he'd be on till issue 12.

Issue 12.

and it's all gonna go downhill the moment King leaves so get it while the getting is hot

High Crimes: And I just realized the punning of this title goddamnit. A secret agent on the run takes his secrets to Everest and dies there. His body is uncovered by body scavengers, which starts a chain of events that leads to an ex-Winter Olympic contender who's also an addict playing a game of cat and mouse with a secret government agency on the mountain. Yes, it's complicated as shit to explain, but the ride is so worth it. Great art, great story, and just a fun ride. Spider-Man: Fever: Brendan McCarthy does a Ditkoesque trip mini with an actual Ditko backup to pad it out. Trippy as hell, but worth reading for the experience. Sandman: Overture: Gaiman returns to Sandman after 20 years, to tell a prelude story that tbh it feels like he wrote down between other stuff so no one could try to Before Watchmen it. JH Williams III is as always a goddamn wizard. Black Panther 1: First things first: this is $5 for 22 pages of story and ads. Marvel, that had better be goddamn going to a higher page rate for Ta Nehisi and Stelfreeze. Art is gorgeous, no surprises there. Ta Nehisi is trying his best to both establish current continuity in the wake of Secret Whatever and bring in his own ideas about Wakanda (well fucking done on the Dora Milanje). I can see stuff moving here that is narratively up my alley. Here's the thing though. I can't justify it monthly at that price; I'll gladly get the trade and all, but even with high preorders for issue 1, we don't know if that will continue for issue 2. I wanted to be going FUCK YEAH about this, but right now, I'm only interested, and the price is making me balk. Maybe my expectations were too high for a first issue from a guy who's used to prose. Still. No Mercy 9: Alex was selling her advance copies at her table. She'd been saying that this was a rough one. She isn't kidding. We get to see how one kid's parents deal with him being trans, through a troubled teen program of questionable legality in Mexico. In a series including kidnapping, a girl's eye being torn out by a hawk, drug cartels, and coyotes, this is the roughest issue that I've read. It's just an ugly, brutal issue, which is countered in a great way by some of the gentle beauty of McNeil's art for this. Two of the pages are a partial list of teens who have died in these kinds of programs. That alone should let you know what you're in for here. It's a great read, but jeeeeeeeesus. The Wicked and the Divine 18: And we're back kids. In some very literal ways for some characters. Great fight scenes that you can tell McK and Wilson fucking loved doing, good laying out of beats for the arc, and some gorgeous designs for characters during the six month gap between 17 and 18. Kieron's called this the Bad Blood/pop crossover arc, and I'm alright with that. Bring it on, or, take me on. Single Issues: 91TPBs/Collections: 43Digital First Issues: 10

Every Heart a Doorway, Seanan McGuire: Seanan McGuire does a novella about a boarding school for kids who come back from their other worlds, adds a dash of murder mystery, and just lets it run. Also, asexual and trans mains handled with respect and not like a quota. Great novella, something I'd be happy to see more of. Broken Monsters, Lauren Beukes: Lauren Beukes does urban fantasy involving Detroit and a dark something moving through the city that just wants to open a door, by way of a cop, her daughter, and the city's art scene. Definitely more gruesome than she's gone before, comes together in an interesting way. Also uses modern social media interludes well without being preachy. Worth a read when you can find it.

(Placeholder for Black Panther review. This is $5 for 22 pages of story. My expectations are high. Also that had better be going to a higher page rate for Ta-Nehisi AND Stelfreeze.) (also paged through Batgirl 50, same price, think it had more pages? Seems like a good wrap to the run. Black Widow 2 too, switching to the trade on that, feels like it's gonna work better in one read.)

Promethea Absolute vol 2, tpb 4 and 5: Alan Moore is Alan Moore and gives us a six issue or so tour of the Sepirot, and also the end of the world, and just generally being a crazy wizard. JH Williams III does even crazier. It's a great ride. Wayward Hardcover vol 1: Contains issues 1-10, manages to bring in Japanese folklore in an intriguing way and not be super weaboo about it. Wanders a bit at times, but the end of the volume has me real interested to see where it goes. Zub also does the coloring, which is amazing. Art is pretty solid, doesn't rely overly much on manga tropes. Definitely worth a read. Single Issues: 88TPBs/Collections: 40Digital First Issues: 10

Sabrina.

Have you tried Cry Havoc at all? Also, this month's WicDiv is a good jumping on point. Black Panther starts this week, too. Uhm. Are you looking for monthlies or trades? That will help.

Deadly Class 7-19: Things continue to escalate, and tbh, I like this a lot more than the other Remender stuff I've read. It's dark, but manages to be off the walls fun, and Wes Craig is a real good fit to the series. I'll pick up new issues when the boy buys them monthly, but I don't feel the need to pick it up on a regular basis. Prometheia vols 1 and 2: Basically Alan Moore does a masterclass on women's studies and myth in the form of a comic that happens to be drawn by an early JH Williams III. Crazy gorgeous, only goes completely insane every two or three issues, a fun ride. Single Issues: 88TPBs/Collections: 36Digital First Issues: 10

Zodiac Starforce 4: A bit late, but a beautiful wrap up to the miniseries, both story wise (even if some of what happens is a bit magical girl hand wavy towards the end) and art wise (sucks that Paulina was late but holy god the art was worth the wait). They've kept a nice angle to keep it going if they want to, but if it doesn't, it's still a solid 4 issue mini. Worth grabbing the trade when it comes out, especially on sale. Patsy Walker, Hellcat 1-4: Okay. So. Kate Leth has this way of both being able to hit and not hit the mark. There's a few bits of this that hit for me, but the parts that miss miss hard. Brittney's art isn't quite my bag, but it's fun enough. (As near as I can tell based on when this got released, this has nothing to do with the Patsy over in Jessica Jones, and was probably pitched without the knowledge of her being in that show.) She's got Will Moss behind her, who fought for Marguerite over on Angela, but with how hard the sales are dropping, I don't know how much longer they'll give this series. I'll stick to reading through this here and there, but it's just not my thing. Lucifer 1-4: As far as I know, this is Holly Black's first comic, and if you look at it without any of the context, she's doing a great job! The problem is that they try to sell it as a direct continuation of the Carey Lucifer run, which... doesn't work so well. (ELAINE MELDED INTO ALL OF CREATION, DIDN'T FUCK OFF INTO THE VOID, WHERE THE HELL IS SHE KIDS.) But the new characters she's developing are wonderful, and the times where it doesn't refer to what came before it, it does beautifully. Also, Garbett gets to do some neat stuff, and Lucifer grows beyond the shorthand Loki references that he starts out with. In short, we've got some potential here, kids, don't fuck it up. All-New Wolverine 3-6: Oh hell the fuck yes. A story that reads like the best kind of X-Men fanfic, with crossovers from other characters that aren't obtrusive, and just generally awesome writing and great art? I might have to put this on my pull. Single Issues: 75TPBs/Collections: 34Digital First Issues: 10

Adventures in families taking public transport: My dad and sister came down to Chicago yesterday. They made it out to the Evanston-Davis stop in time to catch the last Metra train up to Kenosha. However, in their unending brilliance, they waited on the wrong side of the station, and thus missed the last train out, making it so that they had to catch a taxi to Kenosha.

Rai vol 3: ....I am actually interested in a summer event comic. This is what Valiant is doing to me. Also, we went to get this day/date of trade release, at full price. Crain again does some beautiful fucking shit here, and Kindt briefly shows his Mind MGMT roots in some of the stuff he writes, while also giving everyone on cast shit to do, and continuing to move the story along what could've been an arc of fill in. Great build up for the 4001 event, while still managing to keep plot focus on the story as it is currently. Single Issues: 62TPBs/Collections: 34Digital First Issues: 10

Finished Life is Strange last week. A few thoughts there. Also I hate the stealth sections with a burning passion. Great ride, though. Jim finished up Dishonored last week too. He did a low chaos playthrough, and I'm surprised at how quick/abrupt the ending was? We're both very interested in the sequel, though. And the game actually made him like steampunk, which is a minor miracle.