Attack on Titan Volume 3

 

Bought from the used book shelf at the Merrimack Public Library in Merrimack NH.

Title: Attack on Titan
Issue: Volume 3
Date: 2012
Publisher: Kodansha
Creator: Hajime Isayama
Letterer: Steve Wands
Editor: Ben Applegate

Through some unknown mechanism, Eren has somehow become a titan, or, at least, has the ability to change into one. Now he has a new problem: His fellow soldiers want to kill him. It's up to Armin to convince them that Eren is still loyal to humanity and that his new abilities can help in the war against the titans.

But a hastily-thrown-together plan to seal a breach in the wall and take back one of the attached walled "towns" runs into immediate problems when Eren's untested powers prove uncontrollable.

This third chapter raises a lot more questions than it answers, and plunges the story into a new cliffhanger. Armin gets the best moments here, and this was a nice spotlight for him. It also introduces a couple of intriguing new characters from the military hierarchy, including the unorthodox Commander Pixis.

The pacing continues to be great, and the complexity of the worldbuilding continues to be built up steadily.

Rating 7/10

Attack on Titan Volume 2

 

Bought from the used book shelf at the Merrimack Public Library in Merrimack NH.

Title: Attack on Titan
Issue: Volume 2
Date: 2012
Publisher: Kodansha
Creator: Hajime Isayama
Letterer: Steve Wands

The story really picks up in the second volume, with a major backstory reveal showing the tragic circumstances of how Mikasa and Eren first met as children and how Mikasa became part of Eren's family.

From there's it's back to the action as a large group of titans swarm a military supply depot, trapping some soldiers inside, and leaving those outside without the ability to replenish the gas they need for their vertical movement gear.

Mikasa, unaware that Eren may already have been killed in action, leads a desperate attack, but help suddenly appears in a most unexpected form.

This was nonstop action with lots of surprising twists and some good character development, particularly for Mikasa.

Rating: 7.5/10

Attack on Titan Volume 1

Bought from the used book shelf at the Merrimack Public Library in Merrimack NH.

Title: Attack on Titan
Issue: Volume 1
Publisher: Kodansha
Creator: Hajime Isayama
Letterer: Steve Wands

Far in the future, the remnants of humanity live in a single city, behind a series of protective walls designed to keep out the titans, nearly indestructible man-eating giants that have overrun most of the world.

When a wall is breached after nearly a century without attacks, a group of young recruits must join the suddenly desperate battle against the titans, which have now produced a colossus capable of breaking through the city's walls.

This was a good introduction to the scenario and I enjoyed the developing relationships between the characters, especially the dynamic between the fiercely protective Mikasa, and the ambitious Eren.

The action sequences are great, the titans more horrifying than you might anticipate, and there is a reasonable attempt to make sense of a scenario of people fighting against human-eating giants.

Rating: 6.5/10

Hellboy: The Wild Hunt

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

Title: Hellboy: The Wild Hunt
Publisher: Dark Horse Comics
Date: October, 2018
Writer: Mike Mignola
Artist: Duncan Fegredo
Colorist: Dave Stewart
Letterer: Clem Robins
Editor: Scott Allie

Hellboy is recruited to join the Wild Hunt to defeat a gang of six giants who have awakened from their tombs. But the battle with the giants leads to betrayal and plunges Hellboy into a rapidly-brewing war between the forces of mythical Britain.

This was a beautifully atmospheric deep dive into Arthurian mythology with Hellboy's own distinctively snarky viewpoint laid over the ancient forces a play.

There is a lot going on in terms of plot and characters, and much of this volume is simply putting pieces onto the board for the game to come, but the setup is lovely to watch unfold.

Duncan Fegredo does a great job with the art, incorporating the mythical elements while keeping the distinctive look of Hellboy.

Rating: 8.5/10

The Stand Volume 6: The Night Has Come

I bought this one here in Shanghai, probably at Boocup, but I didn't make a note when I got it.

Title: The Stand
Issue: Volume 6: The Night Has Come
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Date: 2013
Writer: Stephen King, Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Artist: Mike Perkins
Colorist: Laura Martin
Letterer: VC's Joe Sabino
Editor: Nicole Boose
Cover: Tom Coker, Laura Martin

The sixth volume of the trade paperback collections of Marvel's adaptation of The Stand is the final volume, covering the final confrontation between Randal Flagg and the forces of the Free Zone, plus all of the aftermath of that climactic scene.

This was a very strong adaptation that stuck closely to the source. I thought the look of the characters was great, the selection of dialogue worked, and the pacing was excellent. It felt familiar in a good way, an excellent revisit to a favorite story of mine.

I didn't read the previous volumes of the adaptation, but would definitely give them a look on the basis of this one.

Rating: 8/10

Star Wars: Allegiance

Bought at Boocup, Kerry Parkside, Shanghai, China.

Title: Star Wars: Allegiance
Publisher: Marvel Comics
Date: 2019
Writer: Ethan Sacks
Artist: Luke Ross
Colorist: Lee Loughridge
Letterer: VC's Clayton Cowles
Editor: Mark Paniccia, Tom Groneman
Cover: Marco Checchetto

This was really odd. It's a prequel to Rise of Skywalker, but it's very clear that the writer of this story had been given no information on the plot of Rise of Skywalker, and so in hindsight, it reads like the prequel to what everyone expected Rise of Skywalker to be, rather than the prequel to what we actually got.

No mention of Palpatine, of course, because, well, that would have been a spoiler at the time this was released.

The result is a rather uneven mixing of two separate plots. Finn and Poe (with BB8) try to retrieve some weaponry for the Resistance and end up hunted by bounty hunters. And Leia visits Mon Cala with Chewie, Rey, 3PO, R2, and Rose on a diplomatic mission.

Complications of the usual sort arise in both scenarios, and there are a few good moments for some of the characters, along with a fair amount of wasted potential. I'm always here for Rose getting to be part of the action, and was happy to see her shine in a few places, but much like in Rise of Skywalker itself, she still spent too much time standing around with nothing to do. I also thought there was a bit too much playing into the hothead side of Rey's persona. Leia came off as a good diplomat, but we expect brilliance out of Leia.

The story also leaned a bit heavily into tired cliches. Trial by combat? Really?

The crew of bounty hunters introduced in the Poe/Finn subplot were the most interesting people in the story, although that was due in some respect to novelty.

Rating: 4/10

White Bird

Bought at the Foreign Languages bookstore in Shanghai, China. Christmas gift for my son.

Title: White Bird
Date: 2019
Publisher: Alfred A Knopf
Writer: R.J. Palacio
Artist: R.J. Palacio
Inker: Kevin Czap

This graphic novel companion-piece to Palacio's prose novel, Wonder, takes place in the same continuity, telling the story of Julian's Grandmere and her story of survival in Nazi-occupied France during World War II.

Sarah tries to live a normal life, doing her best to put the horrors of the war far from her mind. It's not too difficult at first, as life in the "free" region of France has not changed much. But the horrors are coming faster than Sarah imagines, and in a single terrible day she is separated from friends and family and forced into hiding, depending on the support of a fellow student and his family to care for her and hide her.

White Bird mixes historically-accurate reality that holds back none of the terrible details of Holocaust, and punctuates it with fairytale moments of magic realism that are highlighted by the beauty of the artwork.

The story takes a big step toward redeeming Julian, the "villain" of Wonder, without ever making his present-day situation the focus. The story is full of moments of tragedy and acts of selfless courage, and it does a great job of incorporating small details through both words and art.

Rating: 9/10

Doomsday Clock Part 1

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

Title: Doomsday Clock
Issue: Volume 1
Date: 2019
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: Geoff Johns
Artist: Gary Frank
Colorist: Brad Anderson
Letterer: Rob Leigh
Editor:Brian Cunningham, Robin Wildman

Hardcover collection of the first six issues of Doomsday Clock, a DC-Universe/Watchmen crossover.

So first of all, The Watchmen did not need a sequel. It stands very well on its own, and the self-contained story and universe of the Watchmen is in some ways part of the point of why it is so good.

That being said, a lot of this was entertaining, even if in places it felt a bit like reading Watchmen fanfic.

We get a new Rorschach, and he's a pretty interesting character. We get a new pair of costumed criminals from the Watchmen universe with a solid backstory and pretty interesting chemistry between them.

We also get the return of a number of key Watchmen players, including (of course) some brought back from the dead).

And we get Superman, the Batman, the Joker, and a bunch of DC heroes and villains. The Watchmen world (I'm sure it's been given an Earth-Number, because of course it has, but I don't know which it is and whether it's a number between 1 and 52) is descending into nuclear war after Adrian Veidt's attempt to force world peace has, to the surprise of no one as Lex Luthor snarkily points out, collapsed under the weight of human nature.

And things aren't much better on Earth, um, is it 1 or 2 these days? Anyway, in whatever slightly-off version of the standard DC Universe this is, there is a conspiracy theory that claims that almost all superheroes and villains are actually government agents simply playing their roles while the US government, well, controls them.

This conspiracy has taken hold of the public consciousness and the result is anti-superhero (dare we say, anti-mask?) sentiment in the streets and rising international tensions. In short, similar circumstances that the Watchmen world faced in the original story.

And somewhere, Doctor Manhattan is manipulating things from behind the scenes.

This collection covers six issues and spends a lot of the time introducing the new characters, which is fine because they're pretty interesting. The rest of it alternates between a fairly intriguing plot with many moving pieces, an assortment of bits that are just violence for the sake of showing that various characters are violent, and bits from a series of Nathaniel Dusk noir films that play a similar role in this series to Tales of the Black Freighter.

Overall, this was an interesting enough story to keep me entertained. It's certainly no Watchmen, but that may be an unfair standard of comparison. A lot of attention to detail went into this, it's visually effective and introduces new characters that hold their own in the company of some iconic creations.

Rating: 6/10

The Sands of Time: Accidental Time Machine

First review of 2022. Second volume of this ongoing series by students at my school.

Title: The Sands of Time: Accidental Time Machine
Date: 2022
Publisher: Knowledge Sprout
Writer: Intisar Alkhatib, Carl Wasing
Artist: Kitty Li, Koki Kin, Airi Iyama, Annyka Ma, Gyeonga Seo, Yewon Jeong, Maxon Jin

Picking up where the first volume (reviewed here) left off, this story continues the adventures of a group of young friends sent back in time and looking for a way home. Amy, Chelsea, Brandon, Frank, and James find themselves in Old Kingdom Egypt, where they contend with desert heat, unfamiliar cultures, the hazards of the Nile river, and a hidden maze beneath the Great Pyramid.

This story had a lot more going on than the first volume, which focused heavily on Amy and the setup for the unintended time-travel. Here, there is more room for the characters to shine individually, and more plot twists. The character of Isis, who helps guide the kids to their destination, was a fun addition to the cast.

The artwork does a nice job of blending Egyptian imagery with anime-influenced style.

Rating: 8.5/10

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 (3 9's and a 9.5) were added to this list in 2021.


9/10

All In The Family Part Two: Angel
Amulet Book Two: The Stonekeeper's Curse
Amulet Book Seven: Firelight
Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide to the Fantastical World Around You
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
Saga Compendium 1
Small Town Type #1
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
A Monster Calls
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 2022!