Manga and Comic Reviews
Getting new manga from Naoki Urasawa after years of nothing over here should’ve been a reason to celebrate. Except that “Mujirushi” was a flawed attempt at telling a heist story with some nods to other media and politics that fell flat. His short story collection “Sneeze!” was par for the course for these kinds of […]
I don’t want to say that the existence of this series is proof that we’re living in the worst timeline. It’s just that if we were in a better timeline then I’d be writing about the fourth volume of writer John Layman and Afu Chan’s “Outer Darkness” instead of mourning its demise in this one. […]
John and I have gone back and forth at one time or another about the idea of representation in comics. I’m all for seeing diversity in stories regardless of the setup. Which is why you’re reading a review of a new series about female pirates. John isn’t against the idea of diversity at all. He’s […]
These are the penultimate volumes in Bendis’ tenure on the Man of Steel. It wasn’t supposed to play out this way, but after the massive changes at DC parent company AT&T/Time Warner, the writer might just be feeling lucky to still have a job there writing “Justice League.” Still, it has to sting. Especially […]
“The Entertainer” arc wraps up in this volume as everyone involved gets what’s coming to them. Kuroko finds out who the Comedy Writer is and clues them in on one of the basic rules of storytelling. Meanwhile, Hinako trails a possible second perpetrator to their lair and winds up getting more than she bargained for. […]
Above-the-Board Recommendation: The Nice House on the Lake #1 (of 12) You know that friend you have who’s just a little bit annoying, but not annoying enough to stop being friends with? Walter is “that friend” in this series and he has just come through for his friends big time. He’s invited all of his […]
Above-the-Board Recommendation: Seven to Eternity vol. 4: The Springs of Zhal Garlis Slum may have lost his kingdom, been betrayed by family, beaten within an inch of his life, and be down one eye, but that remaining eye is still on the prize. He’ll be on the road to getting it all back if he […]
Above-the-Board Recommendation: Steeple vol. 2: The Silvery Moon Well, this is a pleasant surprise! I thoroughly enjoyed John Allison’s miniseries about young curate Billie who came to the English coastal town of Tredregyn only to get involved with its weirder side. The parts that involved sea monsters, windmills calling forth the rapture, and the local […]
Above-the-Board Recommendation: King in Black/Venom by Donny Cates vol. 6 When I started reading Cates’ run on “Venom” I was just expecting it to be good. What I was not expecting was a retcon of the character’s history that tied it to an Old God of the Marvel Universe, who was now awake and coming […]
Mika and Cujo’s face-off against Sahaquiel makes for an invigorating start to vol. 6. The former even manages to inspire fear in the latter with his reckless dragon-slaying technique. Unfortunately, things fall into an all-too-familiar groove for the rest of the volume as Cujo convinces Mika to help him take out the dragon that took […]