BoooOOOooom Box Halloween Haunt 2016

From a past Free Comic Book Day.

Title: BoooOOOooom! Box Halloween Haunt 2016
Date: October, 2016

Publisher: Boom! Studios (Boom Box)
Writer: Shannon Watters, John Allison, James Tynion IV, Hope Larson
Artist: Carey Pietsch, Max Sarin, Rian Sygh, Brittney Williams
Colorist: Maarta Laiho, Whitney Cogar, Walter Baiamonte, Sarah Stern
Letterer: Aubrey Aiese, Jim Campbell
Cover:  Rian Sygh
Editor: Dafna Pleban, Whitney Leopard, Shannon Watters, Jasmine Amiri

Ashcan format freebie with four stories: Lumberjanes, Giant Days, The Backstagers, and Goldie Vance.

The Lumberjanes story is an excellent short, featuring Mal giving a mix CD to Molly and Molly enlisting April's help to reciprocate. The interactions were adorable, and it has the typical Lumberjanes weirdness where no one even raises an eyebrow at a dance club inhabited by deer. Artist Carey Pietsch does a great job with the expressions and body language of the characters, especially Molly.

The other stories are more teases/introductions. They're effective, but don't do much beyond introducing characters and setting up the basic scenario for each book they are previewing. Giant Days caught, which is a college-life drama/comedy, caught my interest the most out of the three. The Backstagers and Goldie Vance both could have used a bit more pagecount to give a better sense of what they were all about.

Rating: 6/10

Brave

From my school's library.

Title: Brave
Date: 2017
Publisher: Yen Press
Writer: Svetlana Chmakova
Artist: Svetlana Chmakova
Colorist: Svetlana Chmakova, Melissa McCommon
Letterer: JuYoun Lee

Constant Daydreamer (and future astronaut hero) Jensen struggles to navigate middle school, figuring out his place as he finds his chance to help the school newspaper and begins to drift apart from his art club friends. 

This is a sequel to Awkward (reviewed here), with a new focus character, and an examination of bullying, particularly the idea that the victim of bullying may not always understand that that is what is happening to them. The addressing of the topic is realistic without anything being taken too extreme. There is some justice in the end, but it is realistically incomplete, and the author does a good job of showing that there are not easy solutions to complex problems.

The characters are diverse and nuanced (even the most of the teachers who get screen time), and it was fun to see the same setting from Awkward from a completely different set of eyes.

Rating: 7/10

Anatomical Botanical

From last Spring's Flywheel Zine Fest in Holyoke MA USA.

Title: Anatomical Botanical

Uncredited minicomic/zine featuring artwork of common wildflowers and other plants growing among and within human bones. The pen/ink art and simple labeling ("Hip primrose") make for a quirky and slightly creepy vibe.

Rating: 6.5/10

Heartstopper Volume 3

From my school library.

Title: Heartstopper
Issue: Volume 3
Publisher: Scholastic / Graphix
Date: 2021
Writer: Alice Oseman
Artist: Alice Oseman

I really liked the idea that formed one of the major themes in this volume: Coming out isn't something that just happens once. Charlie and Nick are now dating, but they need to figure out who to tell and how to do it. As exams bring an end to the school year, they find themselves off to Paris on a school trip with classmates, some of whom are in on their semi-secret and some who are not.

Lots of school-trip things happen, including the beginning/deepening of some new romances among their friends group, and we get some good character development in the supporting cast, along with some more revelations about Nick's family.

There are also some revelations about Charlie's mental health struggles. as well as the continuing progress of he and Nick's relationship.

As has been the case through the series, the author does a great job of giving the scenes the time and space they need, and the positive support that the main characters receive from friends is a welcome element of the story.

Rating: 8/10

Bio Booster Armor Guyver Volume 3: Dark Masters

From the tbr shelf. Not sure where I got this one.

Title: Bio-Booster Armor Guyver
Issue: Volume 3: Dark Masters
Date: 1995
Publisher Viz Media
Writer: Yoshiki Takaya
Artist: Yoshiki Takaya

Chronos has captured members of Sho's family, and they proceed to do a bunch of villainsplaining to reveal some of their evil schemes. Betrayals, rescues, escapes, and more rescues follow. The hyperzoanoids have a big fight with two versions of Guyver, leading to a brief reprieve for the heroes. Then Chronos comes up with a new plan: Using Sho's father as a weapon against him. More battle and shocking cliffhanger follows.

I was at a bit of a disadvantage jumping into the story here, but the father/son drama was good, and the ending with its emotional impact worked well. The villains felt really generic.

Rating: 4.5/10