Harley's Little Black Book HC.
I barely made it through EoW. To me, this was Hickman at his extreme. Conspiracies. Prophecies. Factions. Time jumps. Grand pronouncements!! Characters with not much heart. The only people I cared about were Death and his family situation, because well he's like the Wolverine of the comic so ya gotta love him. Most of the rest of the characters were... and I know this criticism of Hickman is cliched at this point... mechanical. It's why I didn't care for Black Monday Murders or Red Mars or Red Wing or Decorum (sheesh Emma Frost meets Kingsman, boring) or Secret. Like, yeah fascinating on a plot level but nothing I'd read twice and no characters that will stick with me or make it into my top 10 favorites or whatever.
Like, I'm reading Decorum or Manhattan Projects or Dying and the Dead (back when it was coming out, like Black Monday) and yeah super fascinating. But my rule for whether i read a book twice or watch a movie again is Do I care if this character dies right now? And I don't care about any of these people in 99% of Hickman' s indie work. Not saying the books are badly written (though at this point there is definitely a recipe he follows. As i said, prophecies and grand pronouncements!!!); just not my taste on any sort of a lasting level. Character over plot every time. The difference between a Tenet vs an Inception, as it were.
When you were reading EoW, did you care-care if a non-Death character died? I'm sure you cared how it impacted the plot, but would you have sat there for a minute like a gut punch? Like say Saga 54 (if you like Saga)?
Last edited by newparisian; 02-02-2021 at 06:00 PM.
Just started the "Legion Five Years Later Omnibus".
Man, what a beast... (size, weight)... can't say too much about the story, yet. Still trying to work out what's going on
Just read Karl Kesel's Kickstarter book Impossible Jones. It was pretty good (not great). I like the general universe and will probably get the next offering to see where it goes. Not sure what's on tap next. I'm behind on every project I want to finish.
Blue text denotes sarcasm
Currently reading Criminal Volume. 5: The Sinners.
Pull List: Daredevil, Radiant Black, Rogue Sun, No One, Time Before Time
“We never lose our demons. We only learn to live above them"
Invincible Ultimate collections - Have read the first 5 volumes a couple of years ago, but will now go over the whole thing.
After that i plan to read X-men AofA omnibus. Is there anything required to read before it or i can go directly into it? I want to read old stuff but lack the patience/love for online reading. So far I haven't read anything x-men before House of M.
Kageki Shoujo: the curtain rises:
Manga about an all female theatre group. This was a zero year volume about the girls applying to the training school and getting to know each other, which I wasn't aware of, I thought this is the whole series, so now I've tricked myself into buying the actual series when it's coming out in a few months oops
So yeah, I liked it, kinda slice of life school drama with focus on Japanese theatre. Good stuff.
Blue Giant 2 in 1 vol1:
Manga about a high school kid who quits the basketball team to become the best jazz saxophone player ever.
Music is always hard to depict in comics but I think this one did a good job dancing around with showing emotions and people describing what's happening. Good art, fun story, can't wait for the next volume.
Dragon hoops:
Autobiographical graphic novel about a high school teacher who decides his next graphic novel is gonna be about the basketball team in the high school where he teaches, even tho he doesn't care about sports.
Gene Luen Yang (these days mostly known for Sluperman smashes the Klan) does an excellent job of getting the reader invested in the sport, the drama, the history of basketball and even his own life.
Simple but effective cartoony art and a genuinely engaging story.
Highly recommended, I would even gift it to people who are into basketball (the hardcover is a nice package).
The Boys Omnibus Vol. 2
There are definitely story arc/plots that havent made it into the tv series as of yet (if they plan to use them at all). And some of the character relationships not being even remotely the same as the show surprised me, too.
Currently reading Criminal Volume 6: The Last of the Innocent.
Pull List: Daredevil, Radiant Black, Rogue Sun, No One, Time Before Time
“We never lose our demons. We only learn to live above them"
Just finished Miller's The Man Without Fear, Batman Year One, and now I'm about a quarter of the way through The Dark Knight Returns.
Just completed the first 4 (of 6) of Loeb and McGuiness's Red Hulk trades.
Why? Your guess is as good as mine... -_-