Posted September 6, 2024 by Nicky in Reviews / 1 Comment
Clear
Genres: Graphic Novels,
Science Fiction Pages: 137
Rating: 
Synopsis: In the not-too-distant future, mankind no longer sees the world as it truly is. The invention of neurological filters has made it so one can view reality however they may choose—Old Hollywood monochrome, zombie apocalypse, anime… the possibilities are endless.
Neo-shamus Sam Dunes is one of only a handful who choose to live without a filter. When the death of an old flame reveals foul play, Dunes is set on a wild and twisting mystery that will take him from the city’s deadly underworld to the even deadlier heights of wealth and power.
Scott Snyder’s Clear is set in a world where the US lost World War III, and all its citizens go around using “veils” to hide reality from themselves. Everybody’s using a different veil, there’s very little shared reality now. It’s unclear how that’s meant to work when people with different veils are interacting: at times it seems like it’s just a visual thing, and then it says that you can go around with everyone in the world desiring you. How? Does it change behaviour, then? Then how does anyone ever interact? How would you ever know what anyone else is doing? And yet people are interacting, throughout the comic.
There’s a twist that makes very little sense, as well. Isn’t it obvious, I mean? If you have to pay to have a veil but you also have to pay — even more! — to have no veil (“clear”), then how does that work? What happens if you don’t pay for anything? I guess the answer is that that only happens if you can’t pay, and then you probably become a “wrk” or something and you’re not able to tell anyone what’s going on, but to me it was obvious that the twist was coming as soon as Dunes said he was paying more and more each year for clear.
The more I think about it, the more it all falls apart. Maybe with a bit more time/world-building it could resolve those issues — and also I’m sure there are people content to just fill in the gaps themselves, take it as read, and not ask “why” too much. It’s also possible there are explanations I missed; I’m not very visual, and graphic novels can be a bit overwhelming in terms of the amount of information they give me. Still, the impression I was left with was one of swiss cheese.
Rating: 1/5
Tags: book reviews, books, comics, Francis Manapul, Scott Snyder, SF/F
Posted August 26, 2024 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
Dominion: The Fist of God
Genres: Fantasy,
Graphic Novels Pages: 50
Series: Dominion #3 Rating: 
Synopsis: A gripping supernatural thriller of biblical proportions...quite literally. When detective Jason Ash arrives on the scene of a particularly strange murder in the suburbs of New Orleans, little does he know that he is about to take on the case of a lifetime. As dead people begin to come back to life, revealing that they hail from a realm where angels fight for power, it becomes clear that an epic battle between good and evil is at play, one threatening the very future of humanity.
This third volume, Dominion: The Fist of God, pulls Thomas Fenton’s comic to an abrupt end. There’s been some development up to now, but it feels like this third act is rushed more than ever: having barely accepted his powers in the previous book, and not really yet understanding them or ready to cope with them, Jason Ash gets a lot shoved onto his shoulders all at once. Nothing less than saving the whole world will do!
I think there’s some interesting setup in the story between the Legion and the Dominion and whoever the Thorn are exactly, but the character design of all the angels is way, way too similar, and it gets really hard to tell who is who and what side they might be on. Combine that with the rushed story, and it feels like half the detail gets left out.
Someone on Amazon did make the comment in their review that this is really the middle of a story: the beginning lies back in the mists of time, alluded to as Jason learns a little more about what’s going on, and the end is in the unknowable future. Jason’s been caught up in a story that began long ago, and will continue; we just see him joining his place in it. That makes a certain amount of sense to me, but I still think there are a lot of gaps in the implementation here.
Rating: 2/5
Tags: book reviews, books, comics, Jamal Igle, SF/F, Steven Cummings, Thomas Fenton
Posted August 8, 2024 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
Dominion: The Sandman
Genres: Fantasy,
Graphic Novels,
Mystery Pages: 50
Series: Dominion #2 Rating: 
Synopsis: A gripping supernatural thriller of biblical proportions...quite literally. When detective Jason Ash arrives on the scene of a particularly strange murder in the suburbs of New Orleans, little does he know that he is about to take on the case of a lifetime. As dead people begin to come back to life, revealing that they hail from a realm where angels fight for power, it becomes clear that an epic battle between good and evil is at play, one threatening the very future of humanity.
The second volume of Thomas Fenton’s Dominion, The Sandman, still has the weird page numbering issue I mentioned with my review of the first volume: some places say 150 pages (ish), while Amazon says 50. The version I read said 50. That said, it picked up from the first volume in a way that made sense, and it doesn’t feel like I’m missing any story, so I guess it’s a weirdness in page-numbering on the Amazon files (or just bad numbering from other places).
The second volume has Jason Ash discovering a little bit more about what’s happened to him, finding that he can read the script of angels, getting unexpected offers of help, and finding himself to be apparently psychic (at least, when he needs to be). It continues to be fairly predictable in its story beats.
It was surprising to me how swiftly the various abduction sub plots are wrapped up, and yet I’m really not sure how Jason’s story can be wrapped up satisfactorily with just one more volume of this length. I guess that remains to be seen; I remain curious enough to continue.
Rating: 3/5
Tags: book reviews, books, comics, Jamal Igle, mystery, SF/F, Steven Cummings, Thomas Fenton
Posted August 1, 2024 by Nicky in Reviews / 2 Comments
Love Everlasting
Genres: Fantasy,
Graphic Novels,
Horror,
Mystery,
Romance Pages: 136
Series: Love Everlasting #1 Rating: 
Synopsis: Joan Peterson discovers that she is trapped in an endless, terrifying cycle of"romance" -- a problem to be solved, a man to marry -- and everytime she falls in love she's torn from her world and thrust into another tear-soaked tale.
I really loved the art in volume one of Tom King and Elsa Charretier’s Love Everlasting. It’s stylised and expressive, with well-differentiated characters and designs. It’s a fun race through a bunch of different styles of love story, with the main character Joan Peterson always dying just as soon as she’s declared her love for someone.
The fact that Joan — and a weird masked cowboy — are the only constants does mean that there’s not really much character-building, especially as Joan herself isn’t really exactly the same in every single scenario. The concept is the most interesting thing there, rather than the character (though Joan’s approach to her problems is, ah, entertaining).
By the end, it’s getting a touch too repetitive without any explanation, but it’s a really fun concept, and I am itching to know a bit more. I hope the second volume will explore the plot stuff from the fifth issue and deepen the story a bit.
Rating: 4/5
Tags: book reviews, books, comics, Elsa Charretier, horror, Matt Hollingsworth, romance, SF/F, Tom King
Posted July 25, 2024 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
Dominion: The Resurrection of Jason Ash
Genres: Fantasy,
Graphic Novels Pages: 49
Series: Dominion #1 Rating: Synopsis: A gripping supernatural thriller of biblical proportions...quite literally. When detective Jason Ash arrives on the scene of a particularly strange murder in the suburbs of New Orleans, little does he know that he is about to take on the case of a lifetime. As dead people begin to come back to life, revealing that they hail from a realm where angels fight for power, it becomes clear that an epic battle between good and evil is at play, one threatening the very future of humanity.
I’m not entirely sure what’s going on with the page numbering and so on with Thomas Fenton’s Dominion, as the versions of each volume on Amazon have only around 50 pages, though elsewhere they consistently get shown as 150 pages. The cover images match the cover images for the versions with 150 pages, so… it’s just weird.
So hopefully what I’m reading isn’t just a fragment missing the last two thirds, but I can only read what’s available, in any case. Volume one of Dominion feels fairly typical: the beginning is a little confusing, but then it switches to the point of view of a young cop, who quickly gets drawn into a conflict involving angels (and gains strange powers as a result).
That’s about as far as this first volume goes, with the conflict wrapped around the story of child kidnappings that gets the cops involved. I’m curious where it’s going, but it feels like I’ve seen this story around before… several times.
Still, I’ll be picking up the next volume to see what the author does with the setup, so though I’m fairly lukewarm, it’s not that the story was bad.
Rating: 2/5
Tags: book reviews, books, comics, Jamal Igle, SF/F, Steven Cummings, Thomas Fenton
Posted July 14, 2024 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
Foxes in Love
Genres: Graphic Novels Pages: 114
Series: Foxes in Love #3 Rating: Synopsis: This is a simple comic about simple foxes. Come join Green and Blue once again for their simple adventures through everyday life in the third heart-warming volume of Foxes in Love.
Toivo Kaartinen’s Foxes in Love is an adorable comic with a simple format. It doesn’t really have a story, it just follows two foxes (Green and Blue) and their daily lives, their quirks, their problem-solving techniques, their silly conversations, etc. I don’t know how many times I’ve seen one of their comics and thought, “yep, this is just like me and my wife.”
I feel like the strips are really best experienced one at a time, or a few at a time, rather than in a book like this — I like having the collections, because the internet for sure isn’t forever, but because there’s no story and the character development is more cumulative than chronological, it’s not so much one for sitting down and reading straight through.
If you’ve never given Green and Blue a try, then I recommend it! Take a look.
Rating: 4/5
Tags: book reviews, books, comics, Toivo Kaartinen
Posted June 23, 2024 by Nicky in Reviews / 1 Comment
Foxes in Love
Genres: Graphic Novels Pages: 114
Series: Foxes in Love #2 Rating: 
Synopsis: This is a simple comic about simple foxes. Blue and Green continue their simple adventures in the second volume of Foxes in Love. This series is a heartwarming and humorous collection of comics exploring family, life, and relationships, told by two foxes living their lives together.
Volume 2 contains 9 exclusive comics which were never released online as well as 8 colorized comics which were previously only released in black and white.
I absolutely adore Toivo Kaartinen’s Foxes in Love comics. I’ve read most of them, over time, but I was glad to get a copy of this as well to keep on my shelf and support the author. The comics are sometimes just funny, sometimes really romantic, sometimes a little bit profound… it’s a mix.
It’s perhaps best not to read the whole thing in one sitting: charming as the comics are, they don’t have a storyline or anything, and it can get a little “samey”. I picked up volume 3, but I’ll give it a little time before I read it.
Obviously you can also just follow the comic online in various places if you want to see if it’s to your taste.
Rating: 5/5
Tags: book reviews, books, comics, Toivo Kaartinen
Posted May 31, 2024 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
We Only Kill Each Other
Genres: Crime,
Graphic Novels,
Historical Fiction Pages: 136
Rating: Synopsis: With World War II on the horizon, Nazi sympathizers and fascists have taken root on American soil in alarming numbers, intending to push the U.S. towards and alliance with Germany.
When the lone hope of stopping the American Nazi movement falls to Jewish-American gangsters currently entrenched in a violent turf war, the gangsters find that there’s only one thing they hate more than each other: Nazis.
We Only Kill Each Other is set during the run-up to World War II, featuring two Jewish characters who are asked to use their skills (beating people up, intimidation and other forms of violence) to defuse the Nazi presence in their city in the US. They’re at loggerheads, however, and make unlikely allies.
It’s not a period I read much about, and as the narrative makes clear, there are no heroes here — these guys are not upstanding normal citizens, but a thug and a gang boss who happen to be Jewish. I read it more because it was there and I could read it for free than out of interest in the story based on the summary, so it’s worth keeping in mind that I’m not exactly the target audience.
And indeed, I found it mostly just… alright? The characters bonded in the end (because of course), and they did indeed manage to beat the Nazis (good) at least in this limited way (thwarting an assassination that would’ve been great for them). The art and writing were okay, but nothing that stood out. I admit to very little knowledge about the quality of the representation of the Jewish characters and whether it plays into any stereotyping.
Rating: 2/5
Tags: book reviews, books, comics, crime, graphic novels, historical fiction
Posted April 29, 2024 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
Oddball
Genres: Graphic Novels Pages: 112
Rating: Synopsis: In addition to their honest and insightful humor, Sarah's Scribbles comics also contain a social conscience, touching on different issues of personal and societal importance. When it comes to humorous illustrations of the awkwardness and hilarity of millennial life, Sarah's Scribbles is without peer.
I’ve always been quite fond of Sarah Andersen’s style and work, and seen a fair bit that’s relatable in it, so having realised that I never picked up Oddball, I was eager to dig in. To say I was disappointed wouldn’t quite be right: as ever, I liked her style and enjoyed her sense of humour.
That said, it’s a collection of loosely connected one-page comics, connected largely by Sarah Andersen’s personality — and knowing her work pretty well, even the ones I’d seen before felt pretty familiar.
I think ultimately, at least for me, it’s a bit one-note, and of a muchness with her other collections.
Rating: 3/5
Tags: book reviews, books, comics, Sarah Andersen
Posted April 22, 2024 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments
Breaklands: The Chase
Genres: Fantasy,
Graphic Novels Pages: 120
Series: Breaklands #1 Rating: Synopsis: One hundred and fifty years after the end of the civilization, everyone has powers. Some big, some small, but you need them just to survive in the new age. Everyone except Kasa Fain. Which is a problem when her little brother, who has the potential to reshape the world, is kidnapped by people who intend to just that.
Breaklands Season One is the start of a three-volume journey that struggles a bit to really differentiate itself from the crowd. It’s enjoyable enough in an uncritical, “hey-ho let’s read a quick adventure” way, but most of the details are going to blur into the aether for me within a week or two more. A boy with mysterious powers gets separated from his older sister (who has no powers), and she chases after him, assembles a ragtag crew to help her find him, and of course gets into trouble along the way. Don’t hurt her brother, or she’ll hurt you!
Oh, and she does, after all, have powers. Etc, etc.
There are things I wondered about a bit with this, and it was mostly about the supporting cast and how they came to be where they are. Ruth in particular, I felt like he spent a lot of time being beaten up (and beating others up), but in the end all we know is that he’s indestructible. But what drives him? The book doesn’t care much.
Technically I’ve read all three volumes, but I don’t think I’ll review the other two: it goes where you would expect it to, pretty much how you’d expect it to. Maybe for younger readers (or less prolific readers), it’d come as more of a surprise, and I’m sure there are readers out there who’d love the series.
Rating: 2/5
Tags: book reviews, books, comics, Justin Jordan, Rachel Deering, Sarah Stern, SF/F, Tyasseta
