Star Wars: Han Solo

This was a Christmas present I bought for the Kiddo at Boocup, Kerry Place, Jingan, Shanghai, China.

Title: Star Wars: Han Solo
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Date: January  2017
Writer: Marjorie Liu
Penciler: Mark Brooks
Inker: Mark Brooks, Dexter Vines
Colorist: Sonia Oback, Matt Milla
Letterer: VC's Joe Caramagna
Editor: Jordan D. White, Heather Antos

This exceeded all expectations, in spite of the story being a tiny bit contrived.

Trade paperback collection of a limited series. Taking place between A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back, this has Han recruited by Leia to infiltrate a high-stakes spacecraft race while smuggling several rebel spies, at least one of whom may be a traitor.

What made this great were the original characters introduced for this series, something that can often be a weak spot in these adaptations. In this case the supporting cast was excellent, especially the mysterious space-racing veteran Loo Re Anno, who absolutely steals the show. Several other rival racers are fun characters, and there's also some good interactions with the various rebel spies and operatives that Han encounters.

There's good consistent character development for Han, as well. Nothing shocking, but a lot of little insights in his internal monologue that runs through much of the story.

Chewie and Leia get good moments as well, and the artwork is excellent, with some clever page layouts especially in some of the racing sequences.

This is a fun adventure perfectly suited to Han's character.

Rating: 8.5/10

Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid

Bought at Boocup, Kerry Place, Jingan, Shanghai, China.

Title: Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid
Publisher: Amulet Books (a division of Abrams; series website at wimpykid.com)
Date: 2019
Writer: Jeff Kinney
Artist: Jeff Kinney

Such a disappointment.

I haven't been that big a fan of the Wimpy Kid books, but my son loves them, and the series had had its share of funny jokes. I was looking forward to this one a bit more than others in the series because of the prospect of hearing Rowley's point of view, but almost everything in this book was still focused on Greg.

And it was all Greg at his worst, basically being abusive toward Rowley. Jokes that were actually funny were few and far between here, but what I really missed was character development for Rowley. There was hardly any.


We also barely got to see Rowley's parents or anything about Rowley's life outside of his (toxic) friendship with Greg. What little focus there was on Rowley also kept coming back to his uncomfortable crush on his math teacher.

This felt like the author was trying too hard to make the book too similar to the rest of the series and missed out on a rare opportunity to do something that could have been different and, well, awesome.

Rating: 2/10

Detective Comics: The Complete Covers Vol. 3

Bought at Boocup at the Kerry Place Mall Jingan, Shanghai, China.

Title: Detective Comics: The Complete Covers
Issue: Volume 3
Publisher: Insight Editions
Date: 2019

Insight Editions makes pocket-sized collectible artbooks. This one collects the covers of Detective Comics, starting with issue #600 in 1989, through the re-numbering with the New 52 in 2011, and up to #17 in the renumbered series.

There is a ton of absolutely gorgeous artwork in this volume, not to mention a nice look at the recent history of the Batman. Included are such classic stories as Knightfall, No Man's Land, the Batwoman run in Detective Comics, Greg Rucka's three-year writing run, and Neil Gaiman's "Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?". Characters introduced in the issues covered include Bane, Stephanie Brown, Anarky, and the Parliament of Owls.

I've read Batman comics on and off during the time period covered here, so there was plenty of nostalgia looking through these covers, as well as some ideas for issues I should seek out.

As always with something pocket-sized, the size can never truly do the artwork justice, but in terms of presenting a shear number of classic covers, in order and complete, this book was a delightful treat.

Rating: 7.5/10