BOOM! Studios has a history of publishing books with amazing premises and sometimes disappointing execution. I have bought at least four of their titles, and three of them have been purchases that I regretted. Freelancers, however, is light-hearted fun from beginning to end. Val and Cassie, like a lot of twenty-somethings, are trying to grow their brand in L.A. Unlike the usual actors, writers, and bloggers, they’re freelance fixers/bodyguards/bounty hunters. It’s a different skillset, but one that they grew up developing. Chapter one lets you […]
How to tell meaningful stories
Out on the Wire is a must read for anyone who does creative work, even if it’s just as a hobby. I guess it’d be helpful if you listen at least occasionally to podcasts or NPR-type radio too, just so you have context. Abel basically spent a year interviewing and observing the creatives at 99% Invisible, The Moth, Planet Money, Radio Diaries, Radiolab, Snap Judgment, and This American Life. Somehow she took all that information about the process of telling stories via radio and distilled […]
She can shapeshift into a shark with boobs!
4.5 stars Because I have a lot of reviews to catch up on, thanks to my clumsiness which caused my brain to get rattled and shook up, I’m once again resorting to plot summary via Goodreads: Nimona is an impulsive young shapeshifter with a knack for villainy. Lord Ballister Blackheart is a villain with a vendetta. As sidekick and supervillain, Nimona and Lord Blackheart are about to wreak some serious havoc. Their mission: to prove to the kingdom that Sir Ambrosius Goldenloin and his buddies […]
When Superheroes Use Tinder for Good!
It’s a good time for comics, especially for comics with younger protagonists. Marvel’s Ms. Marvel is a fun book, Morning Glories is Image’s hellish but entertaining read set in a prep school (I can speak to the first volumes), Gotham Academy is DC’s take on Harry Potter meeting The OC, and the Waid/Staples Archie reboot is my favorite comic in print. Then, there’s the recent Batgirl update. The new Stewart/Fletcher/Tarr team places Batgirl in college and in Burnside, which I think is Gotham’s Brooklyn. (By the way, comics with younger sidekicks have traditionally […]
It just keeps being awesome, you guys
Saga is my favourite comic book of the last few years and I feel like I do nothing but spend my days waiting for a new trade paperback to come out. I managed to save volume five for an unprecedented nine days from buying it until I actually read it, because I know that it’ll probably be another six months at least until I get more. The writing is flawless, the art is breathtaking. The plot is never, even for a second, predictable. The six […]
The Best Part of this Pirate Comic was the Aaaaaarrrrrt
I wanted to love Stokes’ and Herman’s Galveston. I am a die-hard Texan, so a Texas-set graphic novel based on the real life meeting of legendary Alamo defender Jim Bowie and pirate Jean LaFitte seemed like a definite winner. Unfortunately, the story just didn’t work for me. The wise-cracking, sassy characters seemed pretty one dimensional (or Jack Sparrow-y), weird misspellings took me out of the book (“Commanches” and “Comanches”, its vs. it’s), and not a lot seemed to happen in the story. Additionally, in real […]