The Fifth Season (The Broken Earth, #1)

Post apocalypse fantasy with mutant Earth Benders and underground aliens/magic monsters with diamonds for teeth? Sure, let's do this.

Jemisin does an excellent job weaving together the three pieces of narrative in a way that is satisfying even as you start to figure out how they interconnect. The plots build together, and while there are things that take on new meaning in retrospect, there's not really any "twist," so there's no eye rolling moment of "really?" but, rather, a series of "Oh, I think I see where this is going... ah, yes, that makes sense..." There's a lot of interesting things being explored here. Not just how far you can push people before they break--although there's that, too--but fear, how we adapt to and accept dehumanizing situations, loss, family, how catastrophe brings out the best and worst in us. For a book about an extinction level event, the story stays surprisingly grounded in the personal tragedies and experiences of a very small number of people.

I can't wait to jump into the second book, now.

Immortal Hulk, Volume 1: Or is he Both?

This reminds me of Morrison's run on Batman; take one of the oldest comic characters still knocking around, push that character in a new direction while finding a way to include all of that character's long and complicated history, and make the whole thing interesting. Nicely done. Ewing takes Hulk back to basics, in some ways. He's the embodiment of Banner's rage? Okay: make him a monster. Hulk is scary, here, and better for it. Definitely worth checking out, and the first time I've been particularly interested in the Jade Giant.

Provenance (Imperial Radch)

As a fan of the Radch trilogy, I went into this expecting deep world building and an emphasis on interpersonal relationships (I think I called one of the last books "Sense and Sensibility in Space"?); I got exactly that, plus a heist, political intrigue, fun and interesting characters, a tense standoff, and weird robots. I'm sure there's perhaps a little too much "beings in charge learn a lesson about family" for some readers, but the one time it felt off to me was so minimal that it barely registered. Hoping to see more of the weird universe Leckie has created.

The Best Lies

This is one of those books where you know where things are headed really early on, but the interesting thing is seeing how long it takes the character to catch up with what you already know or suspect. Still not sure what the weird melting lollipop is all about...

Two Can Keep a Secret

A small New England town. A disappearance. Then, over a decade later, another girl is murdered, and, a few years later, another disappears. What, if anything, connects these crimes?

I liked this. The characters felt very real, and I appreciate that it avoids certain tropes that always stretch my suspension of disbelief. This ends up feeling as much about how secrets stunt emotional growth as about the murder and disappearances. Not quite as twisty and shocking as One of Us Is Lying, but a worthy follow up.

Carrier Wave

Once again, I find myself reading a book I don't remember anything about. I guess this must have been on some list or other, and I'm 99% sure that I thought it was a first contact sci-fi story. Spoiler: It is not. It is not really sci-fi at all, it's pretty much cosmic horror. That's not a bad thing, but, past Roybot should really have paid more attention to that fact.

Other reviews have made the comparison to World War Z, which is totally fair. Told in a series of short stories that eventually coalesce as a number of characters from earlier stories end up in the same place dealing with the same danger, it would be hard *not* to make the WWZ comparison.

That said, I liked WWZ, and the formula mostly works here, as well. Not perfectly; there are a few segments that feel a little slow or where there are "twists" that are pretty obvious well before they actually come up, but if you want a creepy horror story that comes from a weird direction that I, at least, haven't seen before, this is a solid selection.

The Old Guard, Book One: Opening Fire

Basically: Highlander but they become mercenaries and don't have some vague obligation to kill each other. Solid enough.

Uncanny X-Men Masterworks Vol. 12 (Uncanny X-Men (1963-2011))

This is a four star book bumped up to five for being just overflowing with Nightcrawler extras, from his four issue mini, to the black and white story presented in the larger magazine format special, there's lots of cool Nightcrawler stories. This volume also includes a huge amount of Loki ridiculousness (which is maybe a little wordy, but still a treat), and some major progress on the Nimrod front. A very solid volume that brings a lot of threads together and pushes the book ever closer to the Mutant Massacre volume.

She-Hulk, Volume 1: Deconstructed

A very different take on the character from what I'm used to, but I enjoyed this a lot. It's always interesting to see a new twist on a character, especially one that adds depth. Jen is dealing with (or, more accurately, refusing to deal with) her grief and trauma. Being punched into a coma and finding out that one of your friends killed your cousin is some heavy stuff for anyone. This book explores how that trauma changes Jen and her Hulk persona. Looking forward to volume 2.

Network Effect (The Murderbot Diaries, #5)

Murderbot continues to impress. Kidnapped by hostiles, unknown, and taken to parts, also unknown, and stuck trying to figure out how to keep the stupid humans safe, find a way home, and get some new shows in the feed. Just another day for Murderbot.

X-Men: Mutant Massacre Omnibus

I've been making way through the entire run of Uncanny X-Men (mostly through the Masterworks), and this is the first big omnibus that I've hit. To get it out of the way: Yes, this collection is a little uneven, in places, but that's pretty par for the course with any of this longer Marvel omnibus collections. This was the very first big Marvel Crossover event, with parts of the story playing out in Daredevil, Thor, and.... Power Pack? Sure. Why not? It's actually a pretty impressive feat, given that they were doing everything over the phone and by mail. This crossover is more impressive for introducing a number of significant shake-ups that actually mattered. After the attacks in the tunnels, Angel is radically changed, Nightcrawler and Kitty are so badly wounded they're eventually dropped from the book (during the later, Fall of the Mutants story arc), we introduced to the rivalry between Sabretooth and Wolverine, and Ice Man is kidnapped by Loki and has his powers messed with, and the attack on the core group by the Maurader, Malice, sets the X-Men down a path that will eventually lead them to the Australian Outback. New characters are introduced to the team (Psylocke, Dazzler, and Longshot all join the team during this event, although some of that, weirdly, happens either in other books or off panel). That's just off the top of my head.

The artwork is typical of comics at the time, which, admittedly, makes it a bit of a mixed bag, but the presentation here is beautiful. There are some sections that really reveal some of the excesses of this era (e.g. pages that are needlessly overflowing with expository text), and there are some character inconsistencies (Sabretooth's depiction in Daredevil, for example, is *wildly* different than his other appearances), and the actual motive for the massacre is never discovered (nor, for that matter, who ordered it), but, if you're interested in the X-Men, this is kind of a must-read event. It also has what is easily one of my favorite story arcs, wherein Storm gets captured by Crimson Commando, Super Sabre, and Stonewall, who mistake her for a thief/arsonist, and she has to escape, using only her wits, since she, at that point, has lost her powers.

Great stuff!

Review: The Doom Patrol Omnibus

The Doom Patrol Omnibus by Grant Morrison
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I don't know anything about the guy, but, reading Doom Patrol, one gets the sense that Grant Morrison is one weird dude. Probably a lot of fun at parties, but weird.

This is an older run of comics collected in one massive tome heavy enough to brain a panda with, certainly. I mostly know the Doom Patrol as "that DC group that is always compared to the X-Men." I can understand why that comparison comes up, but the differences between them seem more significant here than the similarities.

This is definitely an interesting read. There are times where it feels like the page is overwhelmed by the sheer number of bizarre concepts Morrison is throwing at it, which leaves some of the story arcs feeling a little patchwork, but, overall, this was a pretty cool run that explores some interesting spaces. It also has some of the most memorable antagonists I've seen in a comic book. There are a few sections in the middle that go so far out into uncharted territory that I'm still not sure what actually happened, but when the book hits the mark--which is does, often--it's really something to see.

All in all, I'd say this is flawed, but groovy.


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Review: The Walking Dead, Vol. 24: Life and Death

The Walking Dead, Vol. 24: Life and Death by Robert Kirkman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

While there's nothing specifically wrong with this or the last volume, I can't help but feel like maybe I'm just burned out on tWD; I'm bored. I'm bored with Rick. I'm bored with Carl. I'm bored with whatever the new horrible group out to kill them is. While the whisperers are at least different from the other groups Rick and co have met before, they're still yet another in a long line of "people are bigger monsters than the walkers".

And can we talk about how utterly absurd the border thing was?

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Review: Noir: A Collection of Crime Comics

Noir: A Collection of Crime Comics by Diana Schutz
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Noir: A Collection of Crime Comics is a very thin volume of short crime stories, written by a variety of authors, well known and less well known. As with many anthologies, the results here are a mixed bag. While several of the tales here are pretty traditional pulp stories, most of them add some kind of spin to the genre, for better or worse. Unfortunately, in too many of these tales, the twists and tropes are very easily spotted. A number of the stories contained within have a strong science-fiction bent, which isn't bad, but was decidedly not what I was looking for or expecting from a book called Noir. The end result is a book of stories that are readable, but ultimately forgettable.

While the stories are generally all pretty middle of the road, the artwork is a more varied; with so many different visual styles involved, there's almost bound to be at least one that works for a particular reader. Of course, that also means there's almost certainly a story or two that just don't work.

While this is far from the worst crime comic I've picked up, there's not very much to recommend this. If you're looking for noir or crime comics, there's a lot better fare out there than this.

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Review: The Devil's Home on Leave

The Devil's Home on Leave by Derek Raymond
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

In The Devil's Home on Leave, Derek Raymond's unnamed detective sergeant in the Unexplained Deaths division takes on a cruel and twisted killer who boils a body to prevent the police from identifying the victim. As the detective closes in on a suspect and digs into the possible motives, he starts to wonder if this case isn't a lot bigger than it first appeared.

In this, the second book in the "Factory" series, readers are treated to more British slang, another sordid case, and more information about the jaded but dedicated detective.

While this entry is less introspective than the first book--the detective doesn't have hundreds of cassettes and journals from a philosophical writer to muse about this time--it's no less engaging. Raymond even manages to sneak in a quite a bit of humor. The interactions between the detective and his bosses and superiors area almost always at least chuckle-worthy; it helps when you've written a character who isn't just disinterested in promotion, but actively hostile towards the prospect.

Another solid entry from Derek Raymond.

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Review: He Died with His Eyes Open

He Died with His Eyes Open by Derek Raymond
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

He Died with His Eyes Open, by Derek Raymond, is the story of an unnamed police officer working in the small and under-funded "Unexplained Deaths" department of the British police force. In this, the first book in the series, he is brought in an apparently drunk, possibly homeless, old man is found brutally beaten to death. Over the course of the case, the narrator digs into the man's past and discovers his passions and fears. The further the detective digs into the case, the harder he finds it to maintain any professional distance from the crime.

Raymond's neo-noir mystery really captures the world-weary but driven detective character; the unnamed narrator hints at a dark or troubled past, but also displays a passion for uncovering the truth and providing justice to the people least likely to see it.

The sections dealing with the old man's writing are perhaps a little overly long at times, but this is still a really good entry.

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Review: Meteor Men

Meteor Men by Jeff Parker
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Meteor Men, by Jeff Parker, Sandy Jarrell, and Kevin Volo, is essentially a first contact/alien invasion story focusing on a lonely teen, Alden Baylor. Alden is an orphan, and when a series of strange meteors strike the planet, Alden finds one of them in a field he inherited when his parents passed away. It doesn't take long for Alden to figure out that there's more to the meteors than most people thought, and for the government to start investigating the reports of strange beings showing up across the globe.

This is mostly fun, but fairly predictable, YA sci-fi romp. The inevitable conclusion is obvious a long way off, and when the government types start butting in, it's not any big surprise how they react. Jarrell and Volo do a fine job making sure that the young characters actually look like young characters, and their approach to the aliens and alien speech works well. This is an entertaining enough read, but there's not much to make it a strong recommendation.

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Review: Batman: Odyssey

Batman: Odyssey by Neal Adams
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Batman: Odyssey is apparently the magnum opus of Neal "easily in the top ten greatest Batman artists who ever lived" Adams. Find me a list of the best or most influential Batman artists that doesn't include Neal Adams, and I'll show you a list made by someone who doesn't know what they're talking about. Adams helped define the character in a way that few other artists can claim, and his work is still amazing to see.



His writing, on the other hand... well...

Batman: Odyssey has, in a way, very similar aims to Grant Morrison's run on the Dark Knight. It's an attempt to reconnect with Batman's roots and tell a story grounded in the ways that Batman has changed over the years. Where Morrison tried to find a way to reconcile decades of continuity, though, Adams is looking at thematic slices. We see Batman as he was at the beginning of his career, before he had Robin by his side, and we see Batman as he is now, much later. Adams is interested in exploring some of the quirkier aspects of the character, and he wants to tell a story, I think, about what makes Batman, Batman.

Whether he's successful is... a matter of some dispute.

Let me just say, up front, that artist Adams is still at the top of his game. Mostly. There are certainly a few panels that stand out as being perhaps a little bit overdone and border on parody. If nothing else, you can't accuse his version of Bruce Wayne of being understated.



That aside, you can definitely see why Adams is listed among the greats. His depictions of Batman in action have an amazing amount of energy and motion, and he has a tremendous imagination. There is an incredible sequence wherein Batman is flying a giant bat, avoiding shotgun fire from an oil prospector riding a dinosaur. Which is probably something you wouldn't expect to see in a modern Batman book, but there it is, looking not ridiculous, but ridiculously awesome.



I particularly like the subtle touches he uses to show how Batman has evolved over time. In the scenes of his early adventures, you always see his eyes, but in the later years, he has protective shields that create the "white out" effect modern readers are used to. The early costume's "horns" wrinkle and bend when he climbs atop the train, as well. These little touches are a visual treat.

The problem is that Adams just doesn't write this particularly well. The plot, to put it mildly, is a mess. At the start of Batman: Odyssey, Bruce Wayne is telling an unseen audience the story about the time he told Robin the story of the time he stopped a train robbery but got shot in the process. Adams makes liberal use of flashbacks and time jumps throughout the story, but never to a particularly clear purpose. The use of the frame story seems mostly there to help drive home that Batman underwent an Odyssey (which is also drive home by Adams repeatedly having the character explicitly say that he went on an Odyssey) and to provide the opportunity for Batman to infodump.

Comics are a visual medium. While there are obviously times that you need to infodump for plot purposes, if you find yourself doing large infodumps at the beginning of every issue (or, in some cases, several times throughout an issue) you're probably doing something wrong. Despite his capable skills as an artist, Writer Adams does a lot of telling instead of (sometimes in addition to) showing, and it's painful.



Sadly, his command of dialog isn't any better. Characters repeat themselves, repeat text from the narrative boxes, or repeat each other with alarming frequency. They pause or stop mid-sentence more often than the complete full thoughts. On one page, I counted 14 ellipses in eight dialog bubbles. I doubt there's a page in the book with fewer than six sets of ellipses per page.

I don't want to spend too much time beating up on Writer Adams, though, because the fact is, despite, or perhaps because of the writing, this is actually a pretty fun book. It's not a good book, but it's a lot of fun to read, and it's a visual treat. When is the last time you got to see Batman throw a tank like a bowling ball or straight-up punch an Egyptian god in the jaw? How often does Batman fight dinosaurs these days? Have you ever seen Batman shoot an old man in the back or threaten to murder innocent people?



The wild mood shifts (one minute, Batman is welcoming a character like an old friend, literally the next panel he's screaming at him like a maniac), horrible dialog, amazing visuals, and incomprehensible story make this fun to read in the same way that a lot of the classic B movies are to watch. There's heart, here, even if it doesn't seem like Writer Adams quite managed to pull off the story in the way he wanted to. If you can laugh off bad writing and appreciate the roller coaster ride for what it is, this might be worth a read.
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Review: Pretty Deadly, Vol. 1: The Shrike

Pretty Deadly, Vol. 1: The Shrike by Kelly Sue DeConnick
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

DeConnick and Rios's Pretty deadly is an Old West fairy tale about Death, as told by a dead rabbit to a butterfly (that, I think, isn't dead. Yet. Probably). A long time ago, or so the story goes, there was a man who loved a woman more than anyone in the world, but let his jealousy get the better of him. He locked her away from the eyes of other men, and she slowly died inside. When, at last, she could take no more, she sought the final sleep of death. But, alas, when Death came to her, he coveted her beauty as well, and he took her deep into his kingdom, never to see the light of day.



Eventually, she bore death's child. Death's child resented the man who loved her mother so much that he locked her away, and sought revenge on the man. Death, who knew her rage would be mighty, sought to use her as a pawn in an audacious scheme.

And so the story starts...

As you can see, there's a lot going on in Pretty Deadly. I haven't even touched on some of the subplots or minor characters, yet. For the most part, the plot focuses on death faced Ginny, the daughter of Death, and a young girl in a vulture cloak. DeConnick clearly has a love of fairy tales and myths, and I like the way that she's crafted a new mythology that feels true to the traditions that came before. The characters are larger than life and have an intensity to match the high stakes of the story. If anything, the story moves too fast in spots; this feels like it wants to be at least an issue or two longer. There are several characters who aren't given enough time to breathe, and there are a couple of plot points that are passed over without enough explanation. If you're like me, these points won't distract overly much during the initial read-through, but will nag a bit later.



I really like Rios' work, here. The color palate is perfect for the book, and she's created a visually compelling cast of characters. Her depiction of death is particularly well done, and the strange and surreal way that his lair is depicted fits the mythology of the story. There are a number of really cleverly done splash pages, too. I don't have a bad thing to say about the visuals, in fact. They're exactly right for this story; Rios has a good eye for the dramatic touches.



I hope that DeConnick is able to unpack future stories a little more and to tighten the plot up in future volumes, but for anyone who likes myths and Westerns, I wholeheartedly recommend taking a peak at this. This book does contain some graphic violence and has strong sexual themes and some brief nudity, so it's probably not a great selection for younger readers.



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Review: Deadly Class #1

Deadly Class #1 by Rick Remender
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It's 1987, and Marcus Lopez is a teenage orphan on the run from his past. Living on the streets after his parents die in a freak accident, he spends his time avoiding the police, trying to scrounge up enough money and food to survive, and trying to forget his past. When he's offered an opportunity to attend the incredibly exclusive Dominion High School, he has to decide whether this is a killer opportunity, or just an opportunity to be killed.

Deadly Class, by Rick Remender, is part of legacy extending, I assume, back to the almost the beginning of all high schools everywhere. It doesn't take long for anyone who ever attended a public high school (and, I assume, most private high schools) to realize that... well... high school sucks. Obviously, there are some great moments, and the amount of free time that many kids have during high school is obviously the envy of most adults working the 40 hour week, but high school is also fraught with dangers. There are bullies and cliques to worry about. There are budding, fragile relationships forming, both platonic and romantic. Friendships form and dissolve with alarming frequency. The whole thing is so incredibly intense. Add to that the chaos of puberty and out of control hormones and teens natural tendency towards risk taking, and you have a recipe for one messy, awful time of life, especially if you're just a little bit weird or different.

And while I'm sure that there are people who don't have that experience, and who view high school as the best time of their life, there's a certain segment of the population who really connect to stories like Heathers or, now, Deadly Class. Here's a book that takes all of that hostility and frustration and the politics of youth, and turns it up to 11. A high school for the deadly arts, where every clique and in-group is a different type of homicidal maniac? Interesting.

It's a bizarre take on a long-standing tradition, and it was a ton of fun to read. My only concern is how long can Remender keep the protagonists interesting *and* likable in a world where they're being trained to murder people.

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