Tag: comics

Stacking the Shelves

Posted March 1, 2014 by Nicky in General / 41 Comments

I thought I wasn’t gonna have anything this week, but then I won some ARCs from LibraryThing and ended up going shopping as well, so, uh. Whoops?

So, as usual, the Stacking the Shelves meme hosted by Tynga’s Reviews!

ARCs/review copies

Comics

Other

Of the ARCs, I’m more enthusiastic about Long Hidden, but a book on the Normans hits me right in my interests too. Of the comics, Spider-woman! Because I’ve loved her appearances in Captain Marvel. And of the other books, well, Barthes and Derrida come from a feeling of, crap, I have an MA in literature and I don’t know much about literary theory, so they’re kind of a guilt thing. Though a bit of an interest thing too, since I’m TAing a class on Coursera where I’ve ended up talking ‘The Death of the Author’ and so on with the students.

I finished The Book of Imaginary Beings yesterday morning, which leaves only Dying in the Wool — which caught my eye because I’ve been looking for a cosy mystery type series since I ran out of Mary Stewart books, and Dying in the Wool is set in an area I know pretty well: Yorkshire. Also features a just-post-war widow, running about being a detective. Uh, so very sold. Incidentally, my copy happens to be signed, presumably because she’s a local author.

What’s everyone else been getting their grubby little hands on?

Tags: books, comics, Stacking the Shelves

What are you reading Wednesday

Posted February 26, 2014 by Nicky in General / 2 Comments

What did you recently finish reading?
It hasn’t been such a busy week this week, reading-wise. The last thing I finished was The Double Helix, James Watson’s account of the discovery of DNA. God, he has an ego on him, and he’s sexist about it too, at least back in 1968 when it was published. Rosalind Franklin, “Rosy”, would have been much improved by doing something novel with her hair, apparently.

What are you currently reading?
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield and DNA by James Watson. Yes, that same James Watson. It’s better because it’s not focused on himself, and it even includes the account from The Double Helix in miniature, so just… stick to that one. I understand everything in it without a struggle: sometimes I think he does get beyond what most people are used to, like recombination, but heck, I’ve done the math on recombination — if a simple description stumped me, my genetics grade would be in trouble.

The Thirteenth Tale is quite good. It’s reminding me of something else, several somethings, but that doesn’t bother me too much — in some cases, I think the allusions are intentional anyway. It’s definitely better than Bellman & Black. And I love the book-obsessed main character largely because her thirst for books mirrors my own.

What do you think you’ll read next?
The plan is to finish reading Retribution Falls (Chris Wooding) and Augustus (John Williams). But I think everyone’s pretty used to how little my plans relate to what actually happens.

Tags: book reviews, books, comics, non-fiction

Review – Captain America: The Red Menace

Posted February 24, 2014 by Nicky in Reviews / 4 Comments

Captain America: The Red Menace, Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting, Mike Perkins, Javier Pulido, Marcos Martin

Yep, I get the feeling I’m going to love Brubaker’s entire run on Cap. This was a lot of fun, even when it brought in players I’m not terribly familiar with — Crossbones and Sin, Union Jack and Spitfire; actually, they made it more fun. I liked the interactions between Union Jack, Spitfire and Steve, and I actually found myself weirdly rooting for Sin and Crossbones in that messed up way where, well, it’s kinda not her fault she’s completely nuts, and they take such bizarre joy in the destruction they cause.

I also loved how damn happy Steve was when he realised Bucky really was alive and nearby. That bit where he picks Sharon up and twirls her around — just lovely.

The little flashback comic in the middle was good, too, Bucky being Bucky and getting to see the Howling Commandos and more of how Steve was involved with the war.

Tags: book reviews, books, comics, Ed Brubaker, Marvel

Review – Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Posted February 23, 2014 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting, Mike Perkins, Michael Lark, John Paul Leon

The film cannot come out soon enough. I need more Cap in my life. I have a wishlist of things I would like to see directly translated from book to movie — though many things will have to be changed, of course, to fit with MCU canon, there should be room for stuff like the “who the hell is Bucky?” moment. I’m looking forward to Falcon, who I haven’t seen before reading this TPB.

I also have a list of things I don’t want to happen, like that ending where Bucky just disappears leaving Steve believing he might be dead. Aaaah.

So in short, Brubaker is an amazing writer for Captain America — there are some moments where he just nails everything Steve is. The art’s good, too, and it all comes together really well in terms of pacing.

I don’t really get people who don’t like Steve. I mean, I can see plenty of reasons not to like the character, but the nobility and drive of him… It gets me right in all my feels.

Tags: book reviews, books, comics, Ed Brubaker, Marvel

What are you reading Wednesday

Posted February 19, 2014 by Nicky in General / 0 Comments

Mmm, a pretty busy week reading-wise since I last checked in!

What did you recently finish reading?
Taking “recently” as “today”, a fair few things. I read Invisible Cities, by Italo Calvino, which… hmm, it’s pretty, but I don’t love it. Review coming up on the blog tomorrow. Also Anatomies by Hugh Aldersey-Williams, which was okay but more a cultural history than anything scientific. And then also Nextwave: Agents of H.A.T.E. which is just nuts and I’m still not sure what I read, but it was pretty fun.

Monica Rambeau for the win, anyway, even if Carol Danvers is my Captain Marvel.

What are you currently reading?
A lot of things, as usual, but the one at the head of the queue is The Origins of Virtue (Matt Ridley). I’m trying to focus on the dead tree books I’ve brought with me from Cardiff or bought while I was here, or left here on previous occasions, so I don’t have to drag them back there with me when I get the train. Looks like I’ve also got a bookmark in Augustus (John Williams) and Dreadnought (Cherie Priest).

What do you think you’ll read next?
Let’s be realistic, I hardly ever answer this question accurately. I’m gonna guess that comics-wise I’ll dig into some of my Captain America comics, and maybe read Marjane Satrapi’s Persepolis. Otherwise, I’m focusing on books acquired in 2014, because for the first time in years I’m sort of keeping up with my purchasing rate. So eyeballing that list, I’m probably going to go for the one I’m least interested in right now and try and get myself interested, so that’d be Michael Stackpole’s A Secret Atlas.

Other than that, maybe Liliana Bodoc’s Days of the Deer, because Ursula Le Guin thinks she’s the best thing since sliced bread and I meant to read it in January.

Although on the other hand I should probably just work on some of the books I’ve got started already. Katharine Beutner’s Alcestis has been giving me accusing looks for months.

Tags: books, comics, Marvel, non-fiction

Review – Batgirl: The Darkest Reflection

Posted February 19, 2014 by Nicky in Reviews / 7 Comments

Batgirl: The Darkest Reflection, Gail Simone, Ardian Syaf, Vincente Cifuentes

I very much enjoyed my first foray into Batgirl — certainly much more than I did the volume of Batman I choked down a while back for a class. Barbara Gordon is fun, and I have a thing for redheads anyway, I liked the art and her interactions with Bruce Wayne, and it’s a good introduction for someone new to DC.

I had two nitpicks. One, I didn’t think terribly much of the villains. They seemed almost too easily dealt with, like Gail Simone was starting Batgirl out soft because of the point I’m about to get to. It kind of makes sense, since she is being reintroduced and she is portrayed as needing to get back into the game here, but. Eh. I didn’t really care about the villains, put it that way. It felt a little bit rushed, too, though when I flipped back through it didn’t seem too bad. Maybe because the villain I was more interested in, Gretel, had less space.

The other thing was, well… why did we have to have a miracle cure for a disabled character? I don’t know much about Barbara Gordon or how prominent she might have been as a disabled character, so maybe there have been other issues building this up, but just jumping right in and finding that she was completely paralysed and then got better “miraculously” (as several people point out), it just didn’t feel right. I thought I was okay with it at first, given the way she talks about the time in a wheelchair and insists she’s not delicate now she’s out of it, but it didn’t quite add up for me.

Still, enjoyable, and I’ll pick up some more Batgirl when I get chance.

Tags: book reviews, books, comics, DC, Gail Simone

Review – Avengers: The Enemy Within

Posted February 18, 2014 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Avengers: The Enemy Within, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Scott Hepburn, Matteo Buffagni, Filipe Andrade

Avengers: The Enemy Within is basically the conclusion of the storyline in Captain Marvel: In Pursuit of Flight and Down, so I expect that if you haven’t read those, you won’t like this one. I’m not actually reading current Avengers, but that didn’t seem to spoil this crossover event. I have no idea how to keep track of all the timelines and so on, so I just throw myself in at the deep end every time and sink or swim. In this case, Carol’s background would help with the swimming, but Avengers background wasn’t necessary.

Love Carol and Jessica’s banter, love the appearance of characters like Thor, Hawkeye, Black Widow and the Wasp, love great lines like Carol and Thor’s exchange here:

Carol: You like hitting stuff with that hammer of yours?
Thor: It is an act of which I am singularly fond.

I’m not a huge fan of the art — I preferred the issues that Dexter Soy illustrated — but that’s personal taste and most of the art here does what it needs to do perfectly. All in all, I’ve really enjoyed Kelly Sue DeConnick’s run of Captain Marvel even when I didn’t enjoy the art so much. The writing is very satisfying. I love how many female characters she highlights — I’d have liked Widow to have more to say, but that’s just because she’s the character I know best.

The ending here… without spoiling it, eh, I didn’t find it that original, but I think a lot can be done with it in the right hands.

Tags: book reviews, books, Captain Marvel, comics, Marvel

Review – Captain Marvel: Down

Posted January 25, 2014 by Nicky in Reviews / 6 Comments

Captain Marvel: Down, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Christopher Sebela, Dexter Soy, Filipe Andrade

As with the first Captain Marvel book, I liked half the art (Dexter Soy’s work) and then hated the latter half. More so in this one. Carol just looks deformed in half of this. But story-wise, this is another good volume: Carol as Captain Marvel is rash, determined, unstoppable, and the latter half of the book with the worries about her health kept me interested. It doesn’t matter that I’m lacking some of Carol’s backstory — and the Helen Cobb story from the first volume seems to be playing a bit into this, too, which I enjoy. I’m even a bit anxious about Carol and how exactly this will play out.

I love her interactions with the people around her. I haven’t read anything with Monica Rambeau as Captain Marvel — actually, I haven’t got round to anything with her in it at all — but I loved her back and forth with Carol. I enjoyed the inclusion of Spider-Woman, too, and Captain America and Tony Stark’s brief appearances.

Really need to get hold of The Enemy Within, pronto.

Tags: book reviews, books, comics, Marvel

Review – Steve Rogers: Super Soldier

Posted January 24, 2014 by Nicky in Reviews / 0 Comments

Steve Rogers: Super Soldier, Ed Brubaker, Dale Eaglesham

I have a soft spot approximately two miles wide for MCU Steve, before he gets the serum. It’s probably something vaguely maternal about wanting to protect him, but either way, I think he’s precious. There’s a bit of that here, but not that much. It’s a fun little story, even disconnected from the other stuff going on around it (like the issues of Steve’s death/resurrection, Bucky as Cap), but it isn’t very substantial. There were some bits of Cap canon that I wasn’t aware of — Anita Glass, mostly, but also the villain, Machinesmith.

It is fun to see Steve without his powers, to see that he’s more than his powers, that what made Steve happened before he was ever injected with the serum. I love the “phantom” shield that they’ve drawn in, so it’s clear he’s using the same tactics he learnt as Cap. It just seems right.

This title definitely isn’t a must, though.

Tags: book reviews, books, comics, Marvel

What are you reading Wednesday

Posted January 23, 2014 by Nicky in General / 0 Comments

What did you recently finish reading?
The last thing I read was the Ultimate Hawkeye comic, I think. Not a big fan. And before that, J.G. Ballard’s The Atrocity Archive, which again, not a big fan of. Before that, though, it was Emilie & the Hollow World (Martha Wells), which makes a great girl’s own adventure story.

What are you currently reading?
Fiction: Emilie & the Sky World (Martha Wells), the sequel to the book mentioned above! It’s an ARC and I’m very much enjoying it. I wanted to finish it today, but work got in the way…

Non-fiction: Through the Language Glass: Why the world looks different in other languages? (Guy Deutscher). It’s fascinating to read a longer explanation of the issues like the Ancient Greek epithet for the sea, the “wine-dark sea”, and why that arose from seeing colour differently.

What do you think you’ll read next?
Black Dog (Rachel Neumeier), as she’s stopping by my blog on her blog tour (post coming up on 31st January, if I remember rightly), from my ARCs. I also want to start on Stolen Songbird (Danielle L. Jensen).

And then there’s also What Makes This Book So Great (Jo Walton), which I will be buying in the morning. (Not now, I don’t need another excuse to procrastinate and get distra

Tags: books, comics, Jo Walton, Martha Wells, Marvel