Adam

Read for Library YA Reading Challenge

I really like Mark Waid. I really like Chris Samnee. I absolutely loved their run on Daredevil. I came into this title knowing that the popular opinion was split as to how good this was.
One man's opinion: Black Widow is already a decisive title. There are people on both sides of the isle who love/hate her with such strong conviction it's almost amusing. A good Black Widow book is one of the best things Marvel has to offer. A mediocre Black Widow book gets people riled up.

This book is like pizza: even if it's not great, you're still eating pizza! You're welcome. Spy books are better than humdrum hero books because they start with more interesting potential. I'll certainly come back to see what happens in the next volume, but I'm not waiting for it to be Earth shattering. I just really love Chris Samnee's work & that alone is worth the price of admission.

Read for Library YA Reading Challenge

B000000000!!!!!



wtf. I understand that this is written for a younger audience, but it's like Raskin just quit in the last quarter of the book. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out if I liked this. The second star in my rating is because this story starts with enough intrigue that it pulls you along. Early on you're thinking “ok, someone is playing with these people and while most of them are caricatures, I'll see where this is going” and then, in the end, it goes no where.

ZERO STAKES here. Nothing is on the line, nothing has consequences and we clearly think very little of YA readers if there is no challenge waiting for them at the end. ugh.

Now, if you'll excuse me I have to get taste of this book out of my mouth.

I know there are some out there who just don't like Deadpool comics. I get that.



This book had the jokes of a Deadpool title, the one liners of a Spider-Man and the mysterious villainy of any good Joe Kelly book.

This comic isn't reinventing the genre or pushing the limits on what we know of either character. It is, however, a completely satisfying cross-over for 2 characters who shouldn't (on paper) make a great team. I really enjoyed it and am going to get my hands on more of these soon. The ending of this one has a big enough reveal to make it so you need to know what happens next.

Read for Library YA Reading Challenge

This was a charming mystery book about some kids who found friendship, family, and courage through one another. This was recommended by a friend (thanks Kelly) who I knew could steer me in the direction of some YA fiction that wouldn't make me regret signing up for the library's reading challenge. Sure enough, this book has plenty of heart and adventure while also helping it's readers get a taste of mystery books.

There are plenty of reviews already that rehash the plot, so I'll skip that to say: it was really nice to read this book for kids where it's called out that adults don't always listen to children. That it can be frustrating, but perseverance is important and so is having faith in yourself.

When my daughter is a little older I look forward to reading this with her. Well worth your time.

Read for Library YA Reading Challenge
This is a pretty great book that may have some trouble aging. The protagonist is a rather angry young lady that is fighting herself as much as she's fighting giants. There is some problematic language and violence from someone this young, but I'm willing to forgive Barbara most of that because she is young and angry. I won't go into great detail because it gets spoiler-y fast, but the reality of her story became apparent to me early enough that my heart went out to her. In some ways Barbara is any of us who have lost someone close, or seen them suffer.

I liked this book quite a bit and after I've had some time to live with it I'm sure I'll re-read and see what it's like a second time through. It's not prefect, but it does a good job showing us what it's like to be young and not feel like you have control when there are giants all around.

Read for Library YA Reading Challenge

I genuinely enjoyed this book, cover to cover. The tone, the characters, the pace, the style of split narration: all these things really won me over. After reading several self-important, serious YA books this was a refreshing change of pace. Bartimaeus is a fantastic character and a wonderful storyteller. The footnoting he provides gives this book an extra something that will make it stand out for me for a long time.

This could have been a pretty formulaic story and there are all sorts of pitfalls for a “sorcerer's apprentice” tale, but this was unique and fun in a way that makes it an easy recommendation. The human protagonist, Nathaniel, isn't my favorite person or character, but he sure made a great counterpart to Bartimaeus and his worldly wisdom.

There should be plenty of appeal for a variety of readers here. Younger readers will identify with it differently than those of us coming to it later, but there is a lot to like about this book for everyone.

Read for Library YA Reading Challenge
Of all the “Star Wars” graphic novels that popped up in the wake of Disney purchasing the franchise, this is the one I've enjoyed the most. I give a lot of that credit to Kieron Gillen as a straight ahead Vader series is more problematic than it sounds on paper.

In the original trilogy, Vader has this sense of heft and stability. You don't think of him as being quick or agile, he's instead strong, grounded and powerful. The comic doesn't have to worry about an actor being able to see or move around in that costume, so here Vader and leap and dive. It's a little thing, but it really stuck out to me there is a real difference in what this version of Darth Vader is able to do.

He's a man living with the destruction of the Death Star and an emperor who is blaming his apprentice for the chaos that's ensuing. He now knows that Obi Wan found someone important, but he just stuck down his old mentor. He also is coming to terms with his power being questioned for the first time in decades.

All in all, an interesting proposition and this book does a good job delivering. Looking forward to the next volume.

Read for Library YA Reading ChallengeFor me, this was the best book of the series. The story here builds quicker and moves along at a pace that lets you know this is really it, game time. There is enough tragedy and the stakes are high enough that the ending feels merited. At the same time [a:Leigh Bardugo 4575289 Leigh Bardugo https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1437274413p2/4575289.jpg] doesn't alienate the audience in the home stretch. I think most readers will get what they want from this conclusion. There were some nice character moments from most of the important people in Alina's life and, for me at least, this was a satisfying ending. Having read the [b:Six of Crows 23437156 Six of Crows (Six of Crows, #1) Leigh Bardugo https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1500689111s/23437156.jpg 42077459] books first, the world makes more sense and I don't feel like the characters from this story that show up there are too spoiler-y. I know book 1 was kind of a grind for me, but I'm glad I stuck with it and certainly recommend this series.

Read for Library YA Reading Challenge

This was an awfully self-important book. There were times it was trying for subtly and other times where it was swatting you over the head. I can imagine that there are “Hunger Games” parallels drawn to this and possibly “Steelheart” comparisons. Both of those books moved at a faster clip than this did. I don't know, maybe I'm frustrated that the author was making such a big deal out of the Apollo, Mars, Venus, Jupiter, et al of it. Most of this book felt like it was trying to be something grandiose, but I don't think I bought it. There were time Darrow was simply devoid of the humanity that made someone like Katniss such a compelling heroine. There were times when you felt for him and times when you hoped he'd win, but there were many times you simply wished that he wasn't such a petulant teenager “trapped” in the hard life of an older man. Or something like that. I don't know, maybe it's me.

There are all sorts of great things about this book. It's a great “Spider-Man” title, even if there is no Peter Parker (ps: there's a little Peter Parker.) There is plenty of dialogue about representation and it's nice to see that it's a multifaceted conversation they are starting. It feels like a more “today” title and story. Ms Marvel shows up, there's some Avengers action and plenty of worried parents.

I enjoyed this quite a bit. Little asides, jokes, funny conversations between characters, trouble for a very young hero trying to keep his secrets, complex family life, etc. I'm really excited to keep reading this series and I am genuinely sorry it took me so long to get to pick this up.

This is a pretty dense book and it reads much longer than the page count would lead you to believe. Tetu makes a great foil for this story line because he poses a physical threat, sure, but he poses a much bigger emotional and spiritual threat. Ta-Nehisi includes a couple of pretty great cameos, one which isn't a huge surprise, and it's a really fun moment that really ramps up the story.
T'Challa certainly is acting like a man with a plan, but I'm still not entire sure which direction the story is headed. I am hoping that it can live up to the energy and intensity of this book, but time will tell. There is a lot hanging in the balance and I'm genuinely curious and excited for what's next.

Read for Library YA Reading Challenge

Meh.

I'm a big Jason Aaron fan and I understand that it was a pretty big task to set up in this medium what happens directly after “A New Hope” rolls credits. My problem is that for everything that happened in this book, not much actually happens. There is a part of me that supposes the issue is really just world building here and trying to set up what else needs to happen in this series, but I was still left pretty uninspired.
As someone who enjoys Jason Aaron and Star Wars, I'll come back for volume 2. I want to believe that it will all pick up and find better footing now that things are actually established, but time will tell.

Read for Library YA Reading Challenge[a:Leigh Bardugo 4575289 Leigh Bardugo https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1437274413p2/4575289.jpg] really won me back with this book. I hadn't loved [b:Shadow and Bone 10194157 Shadow and Bone (Grisha Verse, #1) Leigh Bardugo https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1339533695s/10194157.jpg 15093325], but some of that was that I picked it up right after finishing the [b:Six of Crows 23437156 Six of Crows (Six of Crows, #1) Leigh Bardugo https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1500689111s/23437156.jpg 42077459] books. This one brought back for me some of the things I really enjoyed about that series: ragtag group of people relying heavily on one another against a much more powerful opponent, questions of what really is the greater good, flawed people who want to be better, and a magic system and world that feel fully realized by the author. I found Leigh's work last year during our library's YA reading challenge and look forward to finishing her series this year.

This is a very interesting volume with a whole lot of trouble crashing in around our hero T'Challa. I've not read a ton of solo Black Panther books, but my understanding is bringing in author [a:Ta-Nehisi Coates 1214964 Ta-Nehisi Coates https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1300129823p2/1214964.jpg] means that this isn't most Black Panther books. I've enjoyed this character a lot when I've read him in different Avengers, Fantastic Four or even X-Men books, but there is something different here. I don't have a great comparison for this story either. The closest I can come up with is watching Thor struggle find his place as a ruler and king:something more than just a blunt instrument. There is a certain gravity to most of this book. There is a plenty of “heavy is the head that wears the crown” talk, but there is also a lot to understand about who Damisa-Sarki, or The Panther, is to the people of Wakanda. The idea of a great protector who guards the people and there by the country. There is a great deal of internal struggle for the kingdom itself and that is probably my favorite part of this story line. The threat here isn't Dr Doom or Namor or aliens, etc. The threat is no more Wakanda, or at least not the nation as it is now. Political revolution or civil war seem to be creeping in from more than one side and T'Challa must reconcile who he is in this landscape and how to keep his country from fracturing. I'm really excited to read the next volume... so excuse while I do that right now.

Read for Library YA Reading Challenge

So. Many. Bear. Puns.

This is more like a 3.5 star read for me. It was beary silly and funny, but a little thin otherwise. The jokes were broad, but this is the sort of book that can support it. Plenty of action movie and buddy cop cliches early on. There were all kinds of bears for him to fight, but two of my favorites were the Chicago Bears and the San Francisco “bears.”
I read this as part of a YA reading challenge our library is doing, but I wouldn't recommend it for younger readers. Lots of innuendo and plenty of pixelated wangs.

If I could rate this 3.5 stars I would. There were times I really enjoyed this comic and other times where it got a little esoteric for me. There is plenty to enjoy in this grounded world that happens to have superheroes from another...realm?... in it. It has some classic [a:Jeff Lemire 543719 Jeff Lemire https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1300396580p2/543719.jpg] humanity sprinkled throughout and some truly pitiable characters who cannot catch a break. All of that is to it's credit and so the times when it sort of meanders, you're likely to forgive it. Volume 1 ends on a pretty good cliff hanger for scope of this series and I certainly look forward to reading the next volume.

Last O-P Man review for a while as none of the libraries in my area have volumes 13 on up. This was a fine note for me to leave the series on for a while though. The martial arts tournament is heating up and the world outside the arena is still in chaos. This volume is action basically start to finish as there are more monsters and heroes all over than we've really seen before.

Look for some fantastic standout stuff from Genos and Blizzard, but the real surprises were getting to see PIG GOD and WATCHDOG MAN in action (finally.)

This is maybe the most cliffhanger-y ending yet, but it feels earned.

This was kind of a weird volume, the “bonus” manga at the end was like 1/3 of the book. It's always nice to have Spring Mustachio and Mumen Rider show up, but there wasn't a lot happening. This seemed to be laying ground work for how difficult Garo will be to take on, but even that was sort of convoluted.

Metal Bat gets some good fight time and the best move here is THREE-TON PHILOSOPHICAL COMPENDIUM!!!

It wasn't that this was all terrible, I just think I have high expectations for this series now. It was sort of an expository volume and that's just fine.

Holy Scrap Pile robots, it's going down in this volume.

It's difficult to talk about this volume at all without getting into SOMETHING a little spoiler-y, so all I'll say is that Lemire and Nguyen do not disappoint. The actions keeps this thing moving quickly, we revisit basically everyone at some point, and the climax at the end will be infuriating. It's the sort of cliff-hanger that will drive you to your local comic shop to pick these up in individual issues.

This series is awesome.

Ok, see now we're ramping up to something bigger. The introduction of a larger, nefarious organization makes sense of all the monsters popping up all over the place. The art in this issue is also great as it has both scale and detail that are really satisfying.

Metal Bat gets his best feature yet and displays: KILLER MOVE: PUMPED UP... DRAGON PUMMELIN'!

It will be interesting to see who gets to Genos and Saitama first, this group of monsters or the Hero Hunter Garo.

I found this volume to be more interesting and better at progressing the overall narrative than the last. There is a more interesting bad guy introduced, there is plenty of backstory for him teased here and all kinds of heroes are brought into the mix. We meet HELLISH BLIZZARD and The Blizzard Bunch in this volume and the roster of Tank Top heroes grow as well.

There is a new KILLER MOVE: SERIOUS SERIES from Saitama as Speed-O'-Sonic simply won't go away and must be dealt with. Also, I think they may have been reading some “Cathy” comic strips because at one point a characters full page reaction is GACK!!

I won't spoil it other than to say Saitama and Genos finally get hero names from the Association and it's as satisfying as you'd hope. The main story is the entire book as well, no bonus needed. All killer, no filler.

This volume was just ok for me as there wasn't a lot happening overall. It's a pretty good story arc for Genos and we learn all about Class-S Rank-7 hero KING the Earth's strongest man.

I get that this story does show us another side of hero-dom and there some funny moments on the way there, but this felt like a lot of filler to me. The best line goes to bad guy Tongue Stretcher
with “What's this... intense vibe?” Best new hero name is hands down HEAVY TANK LOINCLOTH who has a gigantic mustache growing directly out of each nostril somehow.

The bonus manga is longer in this volume and totally entertaining.

SAITAMA VS BOROS!!!

The best word to describe this volume is EPIC. The scale of the fights, the destruction, the collateral damage, and on and on. Epic. There is more outstanding artwork here that gives a wonderful sense of scale and detail. Even the background aliens all feel different from one another and it's impressive.

There are some great moves from Saitama here, like my personal favorite CONSECUTIVE NORMAL PUNCHES! We're also introduced to what he calls his “Finishing move. Killer Move: Serious Series!” SERIOUS PUNCH

This series has lighter moments and funny lines scattered through out. The protagonist is sometimes the least detailed drawing on the page, simply an egg shaped head on unadorned shoulders. How then, can he evoke actual pathos? I had an honest reaction of sadness for him in this book and I am somehow surprised when that happens, even though the author has pulled this off before. It's a cool thing in what should otherwise be a book that's hard to take too seriously.

PS: all of these volumes have some “bonus manga” included at the end in the form or short stories that help fill out this world. This volume has a couple of especially good ones.

The 5 stars for this volume are thanks in large part to some outstanding artwork. The holy-crap-that's-a-freaking-GIGANTIC-spaceship introduced here and it's labyrinth-like interior are something special. There are also a lot of new characters, both good and bad, introduced who show a wide range of design and concept.
This volume opens with an “Emergency Summons of all Class-S Heroes!” With the introduction of a bunch of new (and mostly hilarious) class-S heroes we get an appropriately crazy and over-the-top fight for the better portion of this volume. It's a nice showcase for some of our newly introduced heroes (who I won't spoil because the introductions are silly and great) and several are held in reserve, presumably for future books.
There is also what I believe to be the most interesting bad guy we've seen yet in Melzargard. The design is well thought out, he poses a real threat to the heroes, and it makes for a longer fight scene.

Sorry for the barrage of One-Punch Man reviews, but they keep getting better and I'm powering through them all now. I find I have several categories worth of favorites every time, i.e. best “attack”, best new hero name, best joke at a villain's expense.

Puri-Puri Prisoner is FaBuLoUs here. Genos shows again he's all heart (and massive arm guns) and really one of my favorite parts of the story. He gives it balance and clarity, as well as the opportunity for some laughs. He's not the hero they deserve, but he's the hero they need.

Sing it with me now MUMEN RIDER!!!clap clap clapclapclap He is one of my favorites characters in this series and it's nice to see him featured here. My favorite attacks in this volume are his: JUSTICE CRASH and justice... tackle.

Saitama becomes a better hero and a better protagonist with every new book, which is, you know, sort of what you'd hope for from an ongoing series. Without spoiling anything he once again shows he's the better man and has a better sense of the world at large than he's given credit for.

PS: You should start by reading the bio from the author and artist. Always the first joke of the book.