On The Run In Ancient China

I bought this in, well, modern China, at the Foreign Languages Bookstore in Shanghai in June of 2022.

Title: On the Run in Ancient China
Publisher: Kids Can Press
Date: 2003
Writer: Linda Bailey
Artist: Bill Slavin
Editor: Valerie Wyatt

Short educational graphic novel for kids, part of the Time Travel Guides series. The general format has the fictional comic story at the top of each page, while the bottom half has a writeup of the relevant historical and cultural facts.

In terms of plot, this resembles Mary Pope Osborne's Magic Tree House series. Three kids, Emma, Josh, and Libby, enter a magical (time-) travel agency and are transported back in time to Han-dynasty China. Mayhem ensues when the youngest is found by a traveling nobleman and taken to the Emperor's court. Meanwhile, the two older siblings accidentally stumble on the secret of silk-making and quickly become wanted fugitives.

The story whisks the kids through an array of scenes, showing life and culture during the time period, while the kids get into more and more trouble as they go.

The illustrations looked good, but the story was mostly about the older two siblings trying to reunite with Libby and escape, and the frantic pace of it loses some of the sense of wonder. The story comes to its expected reset, without much more than superficial character development, and some of the historical prose felt a bit dry. Libby, who actually enjoys most of her adventures, is the highlight of the story, but her plotline gets excessively silly at times.

Rating: 5.5/10

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

Unearthly Volume 1

From the books I unpacked out of storage.

Title: Unearthly
Issue: Volume 1
Publisher: Seven Seas Entertainment
Date: September, 2005
Writer: Ted Naifeh
Artist: Elmer Damaso, Paolo Aguasin
Letterer: Nicky Lim
Editor: Jason DeAngelis, Adam Arnold

This is set up as a high school love triangle romance, and very quickly turns into something else entirely. Bookish student Ann has a crush on Jem, a sensitive boy who also has the attention of volleyball captain Rae.

Enter Star, an alien shapeshifter on the run. A fair amount of mayhem ensues before we get a final shift into space opera mode.

I liked that the characters are deeper and more complex than they first appear, especially Rae, the popular girl/jock. She's loads of fun with a surprising emotional range and a more real vibe than I expected when she was introduced. She's the real highlight of this initial volume, but I enjoyed the interactions between Ann and Jem as well.

The second volume looks to have a very different flavor, and I'm interested to see where the story goes.

Rating: 7/10

Death Note Volume 3

From the shelf of unread books unpacked from storage.

Title: Death Note
Issue: Volume 3
Publisher: Viz Media
Date: November, 2006
Writer: Tsugumi Ohba
Artist: Takeshi Obata

I read the first two volumes of this series quite a while ago, and I remember enjoying them, but not quite seeing what the hype was about. The premise is intentionally ridiculous: A death god lets a human (teenager Light Yagami) take possession of a notebook with the power to kill anyone whose name is written in it. There is a whole series of complex and arbitrary rules that go along with the notebook, and Light's plan to rid the world of criminals puts him up against the mysterious L, a young genius detective.

This volume is where the two main characters meet, and it's also where I began to buy into the hype. The intricate game of second-guessing, third-guessing, and beyond plays out like an elaborate version of Who's the Werewolf/Mafia, with increasing levels of duplicity.

Then a series of events at the end of this volume introduce a massive additional plot twist, further complicating an already-tangled story. This was loaded with tension. It does require a bit of suspension of disbelief to accept the premise of the story, but the author then takes that premise to all sorts of logical extremes, adding layer upon layer of intrigue. I wasn't sure I'd be interested in reading more Death Note after the first two, but this one hooked my right back in.

Rating: 8.5/10

Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #3

Bought at Bob's Hobbies & Collectibles, Springfield MA USA.

Title: Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong
Issue: 3
Date: 2024
Publisher: DC Comics / Legendary Comics
Writer: Brian Buccellato
Artist: Christian Duce
Colorist: Luis Guerrero
Letterer: Richard Starkings, Comicraft's Jimmy Betancourt
Editor: Ben Abernathy, Robert Napton

This was back to being a bit of a setup issue, with quick and relatively indecisive conclusions to the giant monster attacks on Central City and Themyscira. In fact, the destruction of Iron Heights Prison and the escape of most of the Flash's Rogues Gallery causes more problems than the titan Scylla does (Hey, look! It's Captain Cold!).

Meanwhile Superman appears to be dead as a result of taking a direct hit from Godzilla's atomic breath. Well, dead in the DC Universe, anyway... I mean actually, this isn't in regular continuity, so I suppose it could go either way. But it still lacks impact much in the same way most deaths or apparent-deaths in alternative continuities lack impact.

Supergirl's scene with Kong doesn't end up amounting to much either, and by the end of this, we're left with an ominous Lex Luthor bit and something of a pause in the action.

Going into this, it felt like it shouldn't be a transitional issue, but that's what we ended up with.

Rating: 5.5/10

The Deep

This was a gift from a friend when we moved back to the US.

Title: The Deep
Date: 2023
Publisher: Penguin Workshop (an imprint of Penguin Random House)
Writer: Lindsey Leigh
Artist: Lindsey Leigh

This is an illustrated survey of the creatures of the deep ocean, full of some amazing biology mixed with a lot of goofy humor. The author does a great job of highlighting some of the most interesting adaptations to life in the ocean depths, organizing most of the book by the different zone of the deep sea. There are also some special topics such as chemosynthesis and whalefalls that get a bit of extra coverage.

Some really alien-looking creatures come off as quite charming, and the range of deep sea life that is included is impressive, given the size of the book.

Rating: 7.5/10

Fullmetal Alchemist Volume 1

Bought at Goodwill in Davis Square, Somerville MA USA.

Title: Fullmetal Alchemist
Issue: Volume 1
Publisher: Viz Media
Date: January, 2005
Writer: Hiromu Arakawa
Artist: Hiromu Arakawa
Editor: Jason Thompson

This story introduces Edward and Alphonse Elric, two brothers who suffered a terribly fate when they tried to use their alchemical powers to resurrect their mother. Edward lost an arm and a leg, replacing them with robotic prosthetics, while his brother's mind was entirely trapped in a living suit of armor.

They seek the legendary Philosopher's Stone in the hope of restoring their bodies, while having a series of adventures across a vaguel-steampunk nation.

The first volume is told in three distinct vignettes. In the first, the brothers deal with a religious demogogue who has used alchemy to convince the people of his town that he has miraculous powers. The second story concerns a remote mining outpost run by a thoroughly corrupt military official. And the third is a more action-oriented story about the brothers intervening in a hostage situation aboard a train.

This is a solid introduction to the main characters, with a few small hints as to where the long-term plot is heading, and plenty of worldbuilding. The alchemical magic is cleverly done, with a concept of "equal exchange" as its central premise. I enjoyed the interactions between Edward and Alphonse, and the fight scenes were well-constructed with some good surprises.

Rating: 7.5/10

Tears of a Lamb Volume 1

From the books I had in storage.

Title: Tears of a Lamb
Issue: Volume 1
Date: 2008
Publisher: CMX
Writer: Banri Hidaka
Artist: Banri Hidaka
Editorial Director: Jim Lee

High school romantic drama that starts light and builds into more serious issues as it goes. Kei Hasumi only wants one thing from her classmate, Kyosuke Kanzaki. She wants to get into his apartment. She's lost something, and she believes the apartment, when it was rented to a previous tenant, is where she misplaced her treasure.

It begins as something of a silly argument, with Kanzaki reluctant to show Hasumi his place because it was previously rented to his sister and still has all of her feminine decor. But as the story continues, additional layers of drama and misfortune are revealed about the two lead characters and their families.

The romantic direction is clear, but it's on slow-build, and the lead characters don't start off with much chemistry between them. The relationship between Hasumi and her older twin brothers does more for character development than here interactions with Kanzaki do.

This had a slow start, but it does do a good job of building some tension and complexity. Possible trigger warning: An eating disorder is a major plot point, and it's not always handled as sensitively as it could be.

Rating: 5.5/10

Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #2

First review of 2024! Bought at Bob's Hobbies & Collectibles, Springfield MA USA.

Title: Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong
Issue: 2
Date: 2024
Publisher: DC Comics / Legendary Comics
Writer: Brian Buccellato
Artist: Christian Duce
Colorist: Luis Guerrero
Letterer: Richard Starkings, Comicraft's Jimmy Betancourt
Editor: Ben Abernathy, Robert Napton

With all of the preliminaries out of the way, we get right to the mayhem in this issue. Godzilla takes on Superman, Hawkgirl, and Captain Marvel (you know, the Shazam one), while the Batman and a bunch of Bat-family members go after um... okay, I need to look up a list of members of the Monsterverse B-team... Camazotz, who is attacking Gotham City. Two other Titans, Scylla and Behemoth, are attacking Central City and Themyscira respectively, but those battles will wait until next issue. No problem with that; this issue packs plenty of action.

The Justice League characters all get some good moments, and writer Brian Buccellato does a nice job of keeping them true to their characters while delivering fun interactions, including a feel-good moment of Batgirl knocking out Jason Todd.

Godzilla no-sells pretty much everything thrown at him. looking like a Doomsday-level threat to the Man of Steel by the end of this.

This was a fun issue that delivered on what it promised.

Rating: 7.5/10

Updated All-Time Top Rated Comics

Here is my updated list of all of the comics I've rated a 9 or above. Only one book (White Bird, with a 9), was added in 2022/2023.


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
White Bird
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 2024!