A Monster Calls

Another not-quite-a-comic-in-the-traditional-sense entry. This is an illustrated novel, where the illustrations are an integral part of the experience of the story. From my school library.

Title: A Monster Calls
Date: 2011
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Writer: Patrick Ness, Siobhan Dowd
Artist: Jim Kay

Thirteen-year-old Connor O'Malley bears the burdens of his mother's serious illness, the bullies that have targeted him at school, and a recurring nightmare that he will do anything to avoid facing. When he is visited by a monster. the ancient Green Man of Celtic mythology, Connor assures the monster that he's seen worse. But the monster is determined to make Connor face the truth that he hides.

There are some mythical elements to this book, and a sprinkling of snark, but mostly it is the raw emotion of trying to hold together in the face of death at its most unfair. This was intensely powerful, and the writing it beautifully enhanced by Jim Kay's haunting illustrations.

Rating: 9.5/10

The Way (of Yahweh)

Webcomic that I was invited to review via Instagram.

Title: The Way (of Yahweh): Ty's Story 01 & Liv's Story 01
Publisher: The Way Saga (Group Lore)
Writer: Jason S. Tucker, Andie Rugg, Robert Ramos
Artist: Jason S. Tucker
Editor: Shana Murph

This is an interactive webcomic, featuring essentially two different pathways through the story from each from the point of view of a different lead character. The preview that I got a look at included the opening part for each character, and while the two character's don't meet in these initial segments, that is clearly the direction that the story is heading in.

The navigation on the site took a bit of getting used to, but was fine once I had the basics down. There are some interesting uses of the technology, including links to background information on objects, and planned interactive decision-making as the story progresses.

The setting is post-apocalyptic, with the surviving human population occupying the floating city of Halcyon, hovering over the Atlantic Ocean after a century of devastating earthquakes. The city is held aloft by magnetic levitation technology, called Ferrotech in the story. The secrets of Ferrotech have been lost following a destructive event known as the Anomaly, which shattered portions of Halcyon into floating islands called the Hanging Ruins.

Now, Ty, a prisoner, works scavenging lost tech in the Hanging Ruins, forced to do the Halcyon's most hazardous work.

Meanwhile, high school student Liv leads a double lift as a conspiracy journalist, sneaking into restricted areas and capturing video of ongoing magnetic anomalies that could threaten Halcyon's very existence.

This is a story loaded with potential. I liked both characters, and the story succeeded at making the setting interesting and building anticipation for how the plot threads will bring Ty and Liv together.

The technological elements felt like they needed a bit more development, especially the issue of the magnetic anomalies. They are presented as a threat, and one that is covered-up by the government, but it's not made clear what the full implications are. Is is simply that the Ferrotech could fail completely, destroying Halcyon, and the government is trying to avoid a panic? The anomalies are treated as very mysterious, but these opening chapters don't give much in the way of clues as to what direction those mysteries will develop in.

I liked the supporting casts for both storylines, with Liv's mother standing out as particularly intriguing. I also enjoyed the dialogue between Liv and her A.I. companion. The flow of Ty's dialogue with his scavenger crew was a bit hindered by the need to infodump, but a flashback sequence involving Ty was excellent, and gave the best real picture of what the original Anomaly was all about. Because of this scene, I'd recommend reading Ty's Part 01 first, although both really do stand alone.

The Way (of Yahweh) is presented as Christian-themed, but these opening segments were certainly never preachy or judgmental. God is namedropped once in Liv's story, but otherwise the Christian elements do not come to the forefront in these opening chapters. That will change as the story moves on, but what I read here felt true to the creators' goals of presenting an engaging science fiction story.

Rating: 8/10

Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?

First comic purchase and first review of 202!
Bought at Boocup, Kerry Parkside, Pudong, Shanghai, China.

Title: Batman: Whatever Happened to the Caped Crusader?
Date: October, 2010
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Neil Gaiman
Artist: Andy Kubert, Scott Williams, Simon Bisley, Mark Buckingham, Mike Hoffman, Kevin Nowlan, Bernie Mireault, Matt Wagner, Alex Ross
Colorist: Alex Sinclair, Nansi Hoolahan, Tim McCraw, Joe Matt
Letterer: Jared K. Fletcher, John Costanza, Augustin Mas, Todd Klein
Editor: Scott Nybakken, Maggie Howell

The title feature of this trade paperback is the two-part story that spanned Batman #686 and Detective Comics #853, which were the last issues of those series before they were renumbered as part of the New 52. The title is a tribute to the classic Alan Moore two-parter, Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow, which was published at a similar moment, marking the division between the Pre-Crisis (On Infinite Earths) and Post-Crisis DC Universe.

The story has the Batman attending his own funeral, held in the back room of a Crime Alley bar, where Joe Chill serves as bartender, and all of the Batman's rogues gallery is in attendance as mourners, along with some more respectable members of the supporting cast. All of them are telling stories of the Batman's death while the Batman himself looks on unseen, with a mysterious woman as his guide.

And the stories are all contradictory.

This was an interesting examination of the symbolism of the Batman, and something of a reversal of the typical tale of transition into an afterlife. The fully-realized stories told by Selina Kyle and Alfred Pennyworth read like reasonably decent "What If?" tales, and artist Andy Kubert does a great job of evoking the styles of classic Batman artists. There are also some interesting stories that are just told as fragments from characters like Detective Bullock and Clayface.

The ending is a strange and surreal variant on (of all things), Margaret Wise Brown's Goodnight Moon, that should never have worked, but which Gaiman somehow manages to just about pull off.

Backup stories in this volume include a miscellany of Gaiman's Batman writing from Batman: Black and White and Secret Origins. The Black and White piece is an amusing bit of fourth-wall breaking. Of the Secret Origins stories, the Riddler story was the best of the bunch, a loving tribute to the Silver Age, and a lament against the turn toward darker fare that followed.

None of this is anywhere Gaiman's best work in terms of writing, but it's a nice look at his relationship with comics in general and the Batman in particular, and it has a decent number of stand-out moments.

Rating: 7/10

Updated All-Time Top Rated Comics

Here is my updated list of all of the comics I've rated a 9 or above. Four new books (all rated 9) were added to this list in 2020.


9/10

All In The Family Part Two: Angel
Amulet Book Two: The Stonekeeper's Curse
Amulet Book Seven: Firelight
Boxers
Dog Man And Cat Kid
Dog Man: Grime and Punishment
The Flutter Collection
Ghosts
Guts
Life With Archie #16
Lumberjanes Volume 3: A Terrible Plan
Lumberjanes Volume 4: Out of Time
Lumberjanes Volume 5: Band Together
Machiavelli
Rival Angels Season 3 Volume 2
Understanding Comics
Warriors: Graystripe's Adventure
We Won't Be Erased
With the Light Volume 2

9.5/10

Amelia Rules: When the Past is a Present
The Arrival
Castle Waiting Volume 1
I Kill Giants
The Prince and the Dressmaker
Vietnamerica: A Family's Journey

10/10

Bone: The Complete Cartoon Epic In One Volume

Looking forward to reading more great books in 2021!

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)

Warriors: Tigerstar & Sasha Volume 2: Escape from the Forest

 Christmas gift for the Kiddo, bought at Foreign Languages Bookstore, Shanghai, China. This is my last comic review for 2020. I've been mostly focusing on graphic novels lately, but I still have about have of the current Random Stack of Unread Comics to get through, so I hope to make that last me until travel restrictions are lifted and I can get back to the US to buy some new comics.

Title: Warriors: Tigerstar & Sasha
Issue: Volume 2: Escape from the Forest
Date: 2009
Publisher: Tokyopop / Harper Collins Childrens
Writer: Dan Jolley, Erin Hunter
Artist: Don Hudson
Letterer: Michael Paolilli
Editor: Jenna Winterberg

This story is a spin-off from Erin Hunter's Warriors novels, featuring the adventures of kittypet-turned-forest-cat Sasha, after she refuses to be part of Tigerstar's plan to rule the four clans.

Sasha tries to seek out her former owner among the housefolk, but instead finds herself on a tour boat, helping out the captain in some surprising ways.

This was a nice self-contained story (in spite of being the middle chapter in a three-part series), that resolved several plot points. It also featured a lot more interaction between cats and humans than most Warriors stories do,  and it was fun seeing some of the story from the human perspective.

This is a solid addition to the Warriors canon of stories, with some tender moments and some fun bits of action.

Rating: 8/10

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

Rival Angels Season 3 Volume 2

Part of a Kickstarter reward package.

Title: Rival Angels: Season 3 Volume 2
Date: 2018
Publisher: Rival Angels
Writer: Alan Evans, Justin Riley, Cale Ranots
Artist: Alan Evans, Cale Ranots
Colorist: Aaron Daly, Mabel Lim, Kay King

After 10 years without missing an update, the pro wrestling webcomic Rival Angels wrapped up with a massive cross-promotional storyline, collected in this final trade paperback volume.

Although multiple backstage storylines are wrapped up here, the wrestling really takes center stage, with a classic wrestling angle in the style of Kenny Omega's current cross-promotional reign in AEW, AAA, and Impact.

In the Rival Angels world, this kicks off with all four of the Upstarts buying front-row tickets when Japanese promotion BRA does a Chicago stop on their US tour. This serves to reignite storylines that were left behind when Sabrina Mancini left Japan at the end of Season 2, Volume 1.

A cross-promotional PPV is quickly organized, headlined by Olympic medalist Camille Cote challenging Yvonne Carmichel for the Rival Angels World Championship. And that's just the beginning of the final push that results in the emergence of a powerful new faction, and completes the journey of the Upstarts to the main event level.

The wrestling angles and matches are pretty much spot-on perfect here, and the interactions between Sabrina and Sun are a highlight, although all of the Upstarts get their moments.

There are also a few nice epilogues bits that take a look into the future, as well as a backup story by Cale Ranots that goes into the technical aspects of BJJ and catch wrestling in a training session.

Considering the epic journey of this series, this was a great conclusion that really showcased the creator's love of pro wrestling, and sent the fans home happy.

Rating: 9/10

Thor: Who Holds the Hammer?

Bought at Boocup, Kerry Parkside, Pudong, Shanghai, China.

Title: Thor: Who Holds the Hammer?
Issue: Volume 2: Who Holds the Hammer?
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Date: 2016
Writer: Jason Aaron, Noelle Stevenson, CM Punk, Don Glut
Artist: Russell Dauterman, Timothy Truman, Marguerite Sauvage, Rob Guillory, Rafael Albuquerque, Rick Hoberg, Dave Hunt
Colorist: Matthew Wilson, Frank Martin, Marguerite Sauvage, Rob Guillory, G. Gafford
Letterer: VC's Joe Sabino, Carol Lay
Editor: Wil Moss, Jon Moisan

This collection reprints Thor #6-8 from 2014, plus Thor Annual #1, and a classic What If? story from 1977.

The major story point covered here is the revelation of the identity of the new female Thor, which follows a battle between the Destroyer and Thor, who is joined by Odinson, Freya, and a whole crew of female superheroes from the list of people that Odinson thought might be Thor.

Destroyer, unfortunately, is not a terribly interesting villain, and the drama between Freya and Odin during the fight only helps matters minimally, as most of the action is just Destroyer no-selling everyone's attacks.

I did like the new Thor, and the revelation of her identity was a great scene, even if it followed a not-too-convincing red herring.

The rest of the book is the very definition of "mixed bag", with three stories from the Thor annual showing Thor in different eras. The future-Thor story was clever, if a bit simple. Noelle Stevenson's rendition of the present Thor was sweet while still capturing the flavor of some of the more humorous Norse myths. The story set in the past, penned by former wrestler CM Punk was a bit less subtle on the humor front, with Mephisto taking on Thor in a drinking contest, but it did have some funny bits.

The last feature is this collection was the reprint of the 1977 story What If Jane Foster Had Found the Hammer of Thor? This had a surprising number of plot twists, including one dubious one that attempts to give a satisfactory ending to the story's romantic elements and ends up just seeming... weird. But I did like Jane Foster as Thordis, who comes off as smart and serious in the superhero role.

Rating: 6/10

Lumberjanes: The Shape of Friendship

Bought at the Foreign Languages Bookstore, Shanghai, China.

Title: Lumberjanes: The Shape of Friendship
Date: November, 2019
Publisher: Boom! Studios (Boom Box)
Writer: Lilah Sturges
Artist: Polterink
Letterer: Jim Campbell
Cover:  Alexa Sharpe
Editor:Jeanine Schaefer, Spohie Philips-Roberts

The Lumberjanes find a cave full of friendly pooka, who proceed to shapeshift into perfect-camper versions of the girls while leaving the real troop trapped in a maze of tunnels (possibly full of cave snakes!).

While the escape and the reclaiming of the girls' identities provides the plot, the real conflict is April and Jo struggling to figure out their friendship, and where Barney fits into the dynamic between them.

Everything about this book gets better as it moves along. The opening scenes are a somewhat blatant crash-course for new readers on who the Lumberjanes are and what to expect from their world, and it feels a bit hurried and heavyhanded.

Likewise, at first the drama between Jo and April is pretty standard afterschool-special fodder.

The main plot gets immediately better once the pooka are introduced, and features some amusing moments along the way to wrapping multiple threads up very satisfactorily.

The resolution of Jo and April's story gains a lot of depth in the end, and is genuinely touching.

As always, Lumberjanes does a tremendous job of featuring trans and nonbinary characters and generally celebrating the differences that make each member of the cast unique and awesome.

The duotone artwork by P:olterink is understated but beautiful.

Backup feature is a preview of The Avant-Guards, a comic about a basketball team at a decidely non-sports-oriented arts college by Carly Usdin and Noah Hayes, which was a fun start to the series and looked like it had great potential.

Rating: 8/10