Stravaig #1

Bought at the Flywheel Zine Fest in Holyoke MA USA.

Title: Stravaig
Issue: 14
Publisher: Emma Percy
Date: January 2020
Writer: Emma Percy
Artist: Emma Percy

These got out of order in my TBR stack. I reviewed #14 of this series here. This first issue starts out as a very personal journal chronicling the author's move to a different state for the first time in her life. It's a good account of expanding horizons and settling in to a new place.

Along the way, we get a winter soup recipe, a bit of tarot, and a protective spell, along with some discussion of Catholic, Pagan, and Unitarian ritual and tradition, which was of some interest to me, as someone who has had experiences with the Catholic and Unitarian churches, as well as a bit of Pagan tradition. This first issue also explains the meaning of the zine's title.

Rating: 8/10

Heartstopper Volume 2

From my school library.

Title: Heartstopper
Issue: Volume 2
Publisher: Scholastic / Graphix
Date: 2020
Writer: Alice Oseman
Artist: Alice Oseman

The second volume of Alice Oseman's high school romance focuses first on the fallout of the end of the first issue, and then to Nick's growing understanding of his identity and the beginning of his coming out. As with the first volume, the dialogue is great, and the whole story just has a warm and comfortable vibe to it. There is some conflict involving Nick's friends, but the romance continues to be front and center.

The second volume continues the great use of art and layout, and the excellent pacing of the first volume.

Rating: 8.5/10

Heartstopper Volume 1

Bought at my school's book fair in Winter of 2024.

Title: Heartstopper
Issue: Volume 1
Publisher: Scholastic / Graphix
Date: 2020
Writer: Alice Oseman
Artist: Alice Oseman

Romance, or rather, the beginnings of romance, between two boys at a British high school. This is one of the most wholesome love stories I've read, not that there aren't complications and things that go wrong, but just that the author does such a great job of getting the reader cheering for the couple to come together.

And while the supporting cast is small, the author manages to give us an amazing character in rugby coach Mrs. Singh, who shines in spite of only getting a couple of quick scenes.

The pacing is great, allowing for small moments and dialogue while still moving things along. The cliffhanger ending does feel like a bit of an arbitrary place to cut things, but it did it's job of leaving me wanting to read more.

9/10

Spy Family Volume 3

Read at the Merrimack NH Public Library.

Title: Spy Family
Issue: Volume 3
Publisher: Viz Media
Date: January, 2020
Writer: Tatsuya Endo
Artist: Tatsuya Endo

This starts with the surprise visit from Yor's brother Yuri, who is, well, something of a mess, especially considering he is a highly competent member of the Secret Police. Yuri's plan to expose Loid by getting him drunk goes south quickly, and the scene just gets increasingly awkward when Yuri insists that Loid and Yor kiss.

In school, Anya plays dodgeball with the rumor that a coveted honors star is on the line. She later tries her hand at some community service.

Bonus story has Yor and Loid on a date night while Yor is trying to conceal a somewhat embarrassing injury.

The pacing in a few places in this volume felt weird, with scenes being dragged out, possibly in the case of the opening scene just to intentionally prolong the awkwardness. The result was that it didn't feel like all that much happened, although there was some good setup for future plot developments.

Rating: 6/10

Cat Kid Comic Club

The Kiddo bought this at the Spring book fair at our school in Shanghai, China.

Title: Cat Kid Comic Club
Publisher: Scholastic / Graphix
Date: 2020
Writer: Dav Pilkey
Artist: Dav Pilkey
Letterer: Dav Pilkey
Colorist: Jose Garibaldi, Aaron Polk
Editor: Ken Geist

Lil' Petey (AKA Cat Kid) and Molly the telekinetic tadpole (see Dog Man: Fetch 22 for her origin story; my review is here) hold the first meeting of their new comic club. But the other tadpoles are not making things easy. There's the issue of bickering to deal with, but an even bigger problem is that no one has the confidence to get started on making a comic.

The plot here is simple, but the point of this book is more inspiration than story. The message is that there is no wrong way to make a comic, and the Comic Club drama is interspersed with samples and previews of comics in all kinds of styles: Stick figures, b/w, color, collages, photo comics, haiku comics (photo haiku comics, actually!), and comics made with clay, cardboard, and recycled toys.

The examples are lots of fun, and the message is a great one for young comic creators who might not be ready for something like Understanding Comics (my review of that one is here).

There are some funny moments, but it's the creator's obvious love for comic creation that really shines through in this book.

Rating: 7.5/10

2020 Comic Review Recap

We never left Shanghai in 2020, aside from a brief trip to Nanjing right as the lockdowns were starting. As with lots of folks, adapting to things like distance-teaching and the general stress of living in a pandemic, even in a place that has not been badly hit, resulted in a lack of creative focus. In terms of reading, a lot of my focus shifted to prose reading, as well as some graphic novels. So in spite of all the home time, I didn't make much progress on the traditional comics in the Random Stack of Unread Comics in 2020. The bright side of that is that in spite of not having the chance to visit the US to restock, I still have a decent-sized stack left to read in 2021, as well as still having access to some graphic novels in bookstores here.

I did pretty well on prose writing, and you can check out a list of my 5 favorite prose books read in 2020 here.

I read and reviewed a total of 32 comics in 2020, which is way down from previous years. Hoping to do better in 2021.

Highest Rated Comics Read In 2020

Amulet Book Eight: Supernova (8.5)
Chainbreaker #1 (8.5)
Saints (8.5)
Sandman Special #1: Orpheus (8.5)
Spill Zone Book 1 (8.5)
Star Wars: Han Solo (8.5)

Boxers (9)
Dog Man: Grime and Punishment (9)
Guts (9)
Rival Angels Season 3 Volume 2 (9)

Lowest Rated Comics Read In 2020

Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid (2)

Rowley Jefferson's Awesome Friendly Adventure

Bought at Foreign Languages Bookstore, Shanghai, China.

Title: Rowley Jefferson's Awesome Friendly Adventure
Publisher: Puffin Books (a division of Penguin; series website at wimpykid.com)
Date: 2020
Writer: Jeff Kinney
Artist: Jeff Kinney

This was clear away my favorite book in the Wimpy Kid series, and a great comeback after I was really disappointed by the first Rowley Jefferson solo book, Diary of an Awesome Friendly Kid (my review is here).

This book has a very different format from others in the series, with the first half of each chapter being the fantasy adventure that Rowley is writing about his heroic alter-ego Roland, and the second half of each chapter consisting of Rowley and Jeff interacting after Jeff reads the chapter.

The result is a multi-layered story with a fantasy quest, the meta-plotline of the conflict between Rowley and Jeff over the direction the story is going to take, and a huge pile of snark directed at everything from the fantasy genre to pop culture tropes to fandom culture as Jeff envisions the eventual marketing of Rowley's epic.

The fantasy story is intentionally ridiculous, but actually features a surprisingly good ending with several excellent plot twists (amusingly, these come one chapter after the "shocking plot twists" that Jeff talks Rowley into adding, resulting in a double dose of red herrings). The story does a great job of pulling together a bunch of references and plot threads while managing to bring in Sherlock Holmes, Medusa, a sulky vampire with lycanthopy, narwhals, and "a little mermaid, but not the Disney one".

In the "real world" story, it was great to see Rowley resist Jeff's badgering and decide to write the story he wants to write. Even earlier in the story, his ability to twist Jeff's suggestions into his own story ideas is a refreshing change from him just being pushed around by Jeff as seems to happen in the rest of the series. It also helps that Jeff's obnoxiousness it toned down a bit, and he actually has positive reactions to some of Rowley's ideas.

As for the satire elements, it's a bit of a mixed bag. Author Jeff Kinney is spot-on with some of his observations, although a few of his targets feel like he's punching down a bit. Still there was enough here that was genuinely funny, and it was layered over a surprisingly engaging epic fairy tale quest story.


Rating: 7.5/10

Dog Man: Grime and Punishment

The Kiddo borrowed this one from a friend at school.

Title: Dog Man: Grime and Punishment
Publisher: Scholastic / Graphix
Date: September, 2020
Writer: Dav Pilkey
Artist: Dav Pilkey
Colorist: Jose Garibaldi

This is the most serious of the Dog Man books so far, with a surprisingly deep examination of loss and forgiveness as the story explores the relationship between Petey and his father.

Of course there's also a giant animated lunchbag destroying the city, a subplot about Dog Man being fired and returning to work in a cat disguise, and all of the usual silliness, but it's the quiet beauty of the ending pages that will stick with me.

The promotional pages at the end suggest that the author is moving on to a Cat Kid comic series. If so, then this was a lovely and satisfying conclusion to a series that really delivered far beyond its roots as a side joke in Captain Underpants.

Rating: 9/10

The Digital Pools #1

Review copy from the publisher.

Title: The Digital Pools
Issue: 1
Date: 2020
Publisher: DW Comics
Writer: Alex Robnett
Artist: Matt Stevens

Cyberpunk noir set in 2035 with Boston detectives investigating a crime that took place in virtual reality space. The mystery plays out in pieces, with a flashback sequence that starts things off. The opening is a bit hard to follow, but by the end of the issue I had a pretty good grasp on who the characters were, how the cyberpunk tech worked, and where things were going. There was some good foreshadowing of a larger conspiracy that may have the newly established and underbudgeted Boston virtual crimes unit in way over their heads.

An extended fight scene early on seemed unnecessary as there wasn't much reason given for it, and the way it played out didn't make a lot of sense, but it worked well in terms of the visuals of the action, which bodes well for action sequences as the series continues.

Of the characters, the one that really stood out was Rico Teller, a disabled veteran who works as a consultant on virtual crimes. We got a little bit of his backstory, and it will be interesting to see more.

I had to read this a couple of times to get pick up on everything that was going on, as the story doesn't immediately take the time to explain everything, but what it did give was interesting enough to make me to know more.

Good start to a story that has a lot of potential.

Rating: 7.5/10

The Crude Knight #4

Review copy from the publisher.

Title: The Crude Knight
Issue: #4
Date: 2020
Publisher: Ryan Little / Plastic Sword Press (current Kickstarter for Crude Knight #4 is here)
Writer: Ryan Little
Artist: Yusuf Idris
Colorist: Nick Warner
Letterer: Nikki Powers
Editor: Cody Coloumbe

The zombie-like Avalon warriors of Merlin have control of the oil fields are besieging Jonathan's family home as they prepare for a final assault.

Much of this issue is setup for that upcoming final battle, but there is some good character development and a bit of extra backstory revealed by Jonathan and his father.

There is also a huge plot twist, with some excellent visuals and what is sure to be a gigantic impact on the conclusion of the story.

The story continues to be relatively contained and straightforward, and the pacing never lets up. This definitely had me excited to see how things will go down in the conclusion.

Rating: 8/10

The Manifested Rise #1

Review copy from the creator.

Title: The Manifested Rise
Issue: 1
Publisher: Alikat Comix (Alikat Comix on Facebook, Alikat Comix on Deviantart)
Date: 2020
Writer: Alison McGlone, Jeremy Harper
Artist: Alison McGlone

This story is written in the style of a superhero team book, but with a traditional fantasy flavor. It opens with the introduction of Rune, a young apprentice wizard on the run from a crew of plague knights, as they encounter the vigilante known as the Tatterdemalion.

From there we meet Shadow, a girl traveling through the countryside who is not as alone as she appears.

And finally, a group of what seem to be former gladiators or something along those lines, also on the run from their past.

All of it is framed through the storytelling of a young bard, who served to tie the story together while the three plotlines remain separate for the moment

Tatterdemalion's scene is great with some awesome action visuals, and a good amount of worldbuilding crammed into what is essentially a fight scene. Rune and Tatterdemalion had enough chemistry in their first scene to leave me wanting more interaction between them.

Shadow's introduction relied a bit unnecessarily on rape threats from some generic villains (disposed of in short order), before getting to Shadow's true inner conflicts, which should be more interesting as her story moves on. The visuals for Shadow's powers were very nice.

The last sequence felt like it could have used a few more pages, especially given that it was really introducing four characters in a very short space. Hopefully they will be given more development in the second issue.

Overall this achieved its objective. I'm eager to see what's going to happen when these people are all together. There is a lot of great story potential here.

Rating: 7.5/10