Book Logging (Graphic Novels/Comics)
Apr. 1st, 2019 09:22 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_rckAmulet book 8: Supernova - I'm looking forward to this series being done so that I can read the books with only weeks between volumes (as opposed to months/years). I remember from volume to volume that I like the series and that the setting and characters interest me. I just can't remember enough of the details to follow the larger plot. I'm pretty sure that the story will reward a closer reading.
Anxiety Is Really Strange - This is very short and succeeds at explaining the biology of anxiety and some things about the psychology of anxiety. I parted ways with the author when they endorsed exposure therapy as the be-all and end-all of treatment in a way that felt boot-strappy to me.
Bungo Stray Dogs 7-8 - I think I want to like this more than I actually do. I'll keep reading the series if the library gets more, but my difficulty with telling the characters apart makes the story extremely confusing. I'm also kind of meh on the names and powers.
Case Closed | Detective Conan 47-50 - I really don't have anything new to say about this series.
Check, Please. Book 1: #Hockey - I had seen a lot of positive comments on this webcomic and put a hold on it when the library got a copy. I think the hockey aspects to the story are incidental to the comic; the characters could be playing any team sport that isn't Big Business at the college level. I liked the characters and their relationships with each other. I expected more serialization than there was. I do not regret having bought a copy for my nephew before I had read it. I was a little worried I would.
Crystal Cadets 1 - Reading this in close proximity to Sailor Moon kind of underlined how much this one is the same basic idea. This book has more diverse characters (a plus) and may well do very different things if the series goes on (comparing v.1 to v.1-- There are only so many ways to start this sort of story).
DeadEndia - The main character is homeless due to having been kicked out by his family because of his gender identity. He gets a job at an amusement park and sleeps there. The place is, effectively, a portal to Hell (and other places). There are a lot of horror elements, but they weren't strong enough to keep me from finishing. The volume ends with a very sharp hook that's obviously meant to make people want a sequel so that they can find out if the problem can be fixed.
Flying Witch 5-6 - This is still very gentle and slice-of-life-y. Nobody's evil or even mean. There are problems to address from time to time, but they're of the learning the job sort rather than the saving the world sort. I really like this series.
Galaxion volume 1: The Jump - I found this one extremely frustrating because reading it was like seeing half of the pilot for a brand new Star Trek show (including in terms of genre). MeLCat doesn't show any further volumes anywhere in Michigan, and I'm not sufficiently interested to pursue it. Nothing hooked me in terms of character or plot.
Goldie Vance 3-4 - I'm kind of invested in Goldie and her girlfriend while still looking at Goldie with slight irritation and a feeling that she's not quite as clever as she thinks she is. (I think that canon events back that up. She's very, very clever, but her assumptions sometimes bite her. She's also-- quite believably for her age-- prone to ignoring social things that aren't relevant to her current case.)
Heavy Vinyl 1 - I really hope there's a v.2 and that the library gets it. The women working at a record store moonlight as crime fighters. This volume is mostly setup, establishing the characters (and getting me invested in them) and introducing hints about the big problem they'll be facing.
Little Pierrot: Get the Moon - This is a short book of stand-alone comics about a single character.
Lumberjanes/Gotham Academy - I think the crossover here was handled well. I haven't read Gotham Academy but could still follow the characters and plot based on what was in this book. Part of that was having the characters from both sources be in a space that wasn't native for any of them.
Lumberjanes: The Infernal Compass - This is a fairly standard Lumberjanes book with weird magic and geography and science. I wasn't 100% with the characterization, but it's comics, so characters change a lot from writer to writer.
Max Hamm, Fairy Tale Detective - I was unimpressed by this one. I don't remember the events or characters particularly now, just that I only finished because it was very short and that I was irritated by it.
Modesty Blaise: Green Cobra - I'm not sure which Modesty Blaise collections I've read and which I haven't, so I'm just running through them. I still love Modesty Blaise and Willie Garvin, so rereading isn't a great burden. Looking at these stories, I wondered a little about whether specific strips/stories actually ran in the US. I know that some of them didn't. I also don't have the sort of distance from these to tell how badly they've aged along certain axes, but I don't think I'd recommend them without caveats.
My Hero Academia 5-10 - It's going to be a long wait for v.11 from the library as there's only one copy and I'm 4th in line. (Also, that one copy has been 'in transit' for at least a week which usually means the book is lost.) I'm a bit worried that I'm going to find canon kind of disappointing simply because I read a very, very compelling longfic prior to reading the manga. There are differences in theme and focus that make that fic more appealing to me than the canon which is doing something fairly different. This is kids at a high school for superheroes in a world where most people have some sort of unusual power.
My Hero Academia: Vigilantes 1 - Per Wikipedia, this series has a different writer and artist than the main series does. My impression is that the publisher wanted to capitalize on the popularity of the main series. I enjoyed this. It's about as closely related to the main series as an Avengers comic issue would be to an X-Men comic issue. The focus is on a character whose power is unsuitable for becoming a professional hero but who wants to make the world better/safer anyway. Using his power without a license is illegal, of course (the social and legal reactions to unauthorized power use seems to be like US attitudes to drinking and driving).
The Nameless City 3: The Divided Earth - I think this actually finishes the series. The inner flap on the cover calls it the conclusion, and all of the threads seem to be tied up neatly at the end of the book. I'm not completely convinced by the politics at the very end; there's a bit too much tidiness in terms of not killing the named villains. I'm not sure that any of these cultures would let those two live. Of course, this book is pitched younger than most similar narratives I've read. I thought that this volume spent too much time on fight scenes. The fights needed to happen, and there was some dialogue that needed action between sentences, but... I don't like that sort of story flow in graphic novels. I think it's because I can't get my brain to accept those bits as actually story.
Natsume's Book of Friends 19-20 - I'm still really enjoying this series. I haven't got anything new to say about it at this point.
Phoebe and Her Unicorn 4: Razzle Dazzle Unicorn; Phoebe and Her Unicorn 5: Unicorn Crossing; Phoebe and Her Unicorn 6: The Magic Storm; Phoebe and Her Unicorn: Unicorn of Many Hats - Very Calvin and Hobbes in general spirit. Phoebe's slightly older than Calvin, and other people can see Marigold, the unicorn, but there's the same whimsey. I felt compelled to share some of these with Scott. He didn't find them as funny as I did, so YMMV. Still, I recommend these. There are several volumes that the library doesn't have, and I'm disappointed by that.
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Eternal Edition) 1 - This volume contains seven acts (about 280 pages). I've seen bits and pieces of Sailor Moon over the decades, but this is, I think, my first time reading the manga. I can see why it's popular, and I suspect that Cordelia would really have loved it eight or so years ago.
Royal Tutor 4-10 - The story keeps hinting at conflict, but the strength of the series isn't plot so much as character growth. I think it would still work without the hints of sinister manipulation.
Scarlett Hart Monster Hunter 01 - This volume is all set up. There is a conflict that gets resolved, but most of the book is establishing the world and the villain and character backstory. The title character is an adolescent who's trying to support herself and to keep her home by hunting monsters. The hitch is that she's too young to do it legally and so can only get paid if someone else takes credit and then gives her the money. That leaves her vulnerable to people stealing credit and the bounty.
Anxiety Is Really Strange - This is very short and succeeds at explaining the biology of anxiety and some things about the psychology of anxiety. I parted ways with the author when they endorsed exposure therapy as the be-all and end-all of treatment in a way that felt boot-strappy to me.
Bungo Stray Dogs 7-8 - I think I want to like this more than I actually do. I'll keep reading the series if the library gets more, but my difficulty with telling the characters apart makes the story extremely confusing. I'm also kind of meh on the names and powers.
Case Closed | Detective Conan 47-50 - I really don't have anything new to say about this series.
Check, Please. Book 1: #Hockey - I had seen a lot of positive comments on this webcomic and put a hold on it when the library got a copy. I think the hockey aspects to the story are incidental to the comic; the characters could be playing any team sport that isn't Big Business at the college level. I liked the characters and their relationships with each other. I expected more serialization than there was. I do not regret having bought a copy for my nephew before I had read it. I was a little worried I would.
Crystal Cadets 1 - Reading this in close proximity to Sailor Moon kind of underlined how much this one is the same basic idea. This book has more diverse characters (a plus) and may well do very different things if the series goes on (comparing v.1 to v.1-- There are only so many ways to start this sort of story).
DeadEndia - The main character is homeless due to having been kicked out by his family because of his gender identity. He gets a job at an amusement park and sleeps there. The place is, effectively, a portal to Hell (and other places). There are a lot of horror elements, but they weren't strong enough to keep me from finishing. The volume ends with a very sharp hook that's obviously meant to make people want a sequel so that they can find out if the problem can be fixed.
Flying Witch 5-6 - This is still very gentle and slice-of-life-y. Nobody's evil or even mean. There are problems to address from time to time, but they're of the learning the job sort rather than the saving the world sort. I really like this series.
Galaxion volume 1: The Jump - I found this one extremely frustrating because reading it was like seeing half of the pilot for a brand new Star Trek show (including in terms of genre). MeLCat doesn't show any further volumes anywhere in Michigan, and I'm not sufficiently interested to pursue it. Nothing hooked me in terms of character or plot.
Goldie Vance 3-4 - I'm kind of invested in Goldie and her girlfriend while still looking at Goldie with slight irritation and a feeling that she's not quite as clever as she thinks she is. (I think that canon events back that up. She's very, very clever, but her assumptions sometimes bite her. She's also-- quite believably for her age-- prone to ignoring social things that aren't relevant to her current case.)
Heavy Vinyl 1 - I really hope there's a v.2 and that the library gets it. The women working at a record store moonlight as crime fighters. This volume is mostly setup, establishing the characters (and getting me invested in them) and introducing hints about the big problem they'll be facing.
Little Pierrot: Get the Moon - This is a short book of stand-alone comics about a single character.
Lumberjanes/Gotham Academy - I think the crossover here was handled well. I haven't read Gotham Academy but could still follow the characters and plot based on what was in this book. Part of that was having the characters from both sources be in a space that wasn't native for any of them.
Lumberjanes: The Infernal Compass - This is a fairly standard Lumberjanes book with weird magic and geography and science. I wasn't 100% with the characterization, but it's comics, so characters change a lot from writer to writer.
Max Hamm, Fairy Tale Detective - I was unimpressed by this one. I don't remember the events or characters particularly now, just that I only finished because it was very short and that I was irritated by it.
Modesty Blaise: Green Cobra - I'm not sure which Modesty Blaise collections I've read and which I haven't, so I'm just running through them. I still love Modesty Blaise and Willie Garvin, so rereading isn't a great burden. Looking at these stories, I wondered a little about whether specific strips/stories actually ran in the US. I know that some of them didn't. I also don't have the sort of distance from these to tell how badly they've aged along certain axes, but I don't think I'd recommend them without caveats.
My Hero Academia 5-10 - It's going to be a long wait for v.11 from the library as there's only one copy and I'm 4th in line. (Also, that one copy has been 'in transit' for at least a week which usually means the book is lost.) I'm a bit worried that I'm going to find canon kind of disappointing simply because I read a very, very compelling longfic prior to reading the manga. There are differences in theme and focus that make that fic more appealing to me than the canon which is doing something fairly different. This is kids at a high school for superheroes in a world where most people have some sort of unusual power.
My Hero Academia: Vigilantes 1 - Per Wikipedia, this series has a different writer and artist than the main series does. My impression is that the publisher wanted to capitalize on the popularity of the main series. I enjoyed this. It's about as closely related to the main series as an Avengers comic issue would be to an X-Men comic issue. The focus is on a character whose power is unsuitable for becoming a professional hero but who wants to make the world better/safer anyway. Using his power without a license is illegal, of course (the social and legal reactions to unauthorized power use seems to be like US attitudes to drinking and driving).
The Nameless City 3: The Divided Earth - I think this actually finishes the series. The inner flap on the cover calls it the conclusion, and all of the threads seem to be tied up neatly at the end of the book. I'm not completely convinced by the politics at the very end; there's a bit too much tidiness in terms of not killing the named villains. I'm not sure that any of these cultures would let those two live. Of course, this book is pitched younger than most similar narratives I've read. I thought that this volume spent too much time on fight scenes. The fights needed to happen, and there was some dialogue that needed action between sentences, but... I don't like that sort of story flow in graphic novels. I think it's because I can't get my brain to accept those bits as actually story.
Natsume's Book of Friends 19-20 - I'm still really enjoying this series. I haven't got anything new to say about it at this point.
Phoebe and Her Unicorn 4: Razzle Dazzle Unicorn; Phoebe and Her Unicorn 5: Unicorn Crossing; Phoebe and Her Unicorn 6: The Magic Storm; Phoebe and Her Unicorn: Unicorn of Many Hats - Very Calvin and Hobbes in general spirit. Phoebe's slightly older than Calvin, and other people can see Marigold, the unicorn, but there's the same whimsey. I felt compelled to share some of these with Scott. He didn't find them as funny as I did, so YMMV. Still, I recommend these. There are several volumes that the library doesn't have, and I'm disappointed by that.
Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Eternal Edition) 1 - This volume contains seven acts (about 280 pages). I've seen bits and pieces of Sailor Moon over the decades, but this is, I think, my first time reading the manga. I can see why it's popular, and I suspect that Cordelia would really have loved it eight or so years ago.
Royal Tutor 4-10 - The story keeps hinting at conflict, but the strength of the series isn't plot so much as character growth. I think it would still work without the hints of sinister manipulation.
Scarlett Hart Monster Hunter 01 - This volume is all set up. There is a conflict that gets resolved, but most of the book is establishing the world and the villain and character backstory. The title character is an adolescent who's trying to support herself and to keep her home by hunting monsters. The hitch is that she's too young to do it legally and so can only get paid if someone else takes credit and then gives her the money. That leaves her vulnerable to people stealing credit and the bounty.
