Early April graphic novel reviews:
Apr. 13th, 2011 04:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
terrikoAs promised, here's the graphic novels:
Ōoku: The Inner Chambers. Vol. 4
An alternate history of Japan where disease has eradicated many of the men in the population, leaving the power in the hands of the women. I suspect this would be even more interesting if I knew more about the shoguns, but my Japanese history is quite weak (A strange side effect of French immersion in Canada: history books typically started with French explorers and stopped around where the French started losing, so I have very little history after the Plains of Abraham, and basically no world history). I enjoyed it despite the fact that it's vol 4 that I picked up off the shelf, but I'm not sure if I should pick up the other volumes or go find some Japanese history primers to read first. (Anyone got any recommendations?)
Sublife, vol 1
Sometimes I really like this sort of tone-poem of a graphic novel, which feels more about emotion than plot. This one, however? Meh.
Rosario+Vampire, Vol. 9
A single human boy accidentally enrols in a high school for monsters, but somehow winds up staying and fitting in. I picked this off the shelf without reading the other volumes, but it was enjoyable enough on its own. Normally I find harem manga (one guy, many love-interest girls) a bit tiring but this one was kinda fun since the girls were distinct and had the potential to be independent, and the art made it easy to tell them apart even though I didn't know them already. Cute and might be worth reading more, but I probably won't get around to it unless I happen to see the other volumes on the shelf.
Top Ten - Book 02
Superhero cops in a superhero filled city. Interesting characters, and I gather if you're more of a comic book historian there's a lot of hidden gems in the artwork and stories. Sadly, I don't have that kind of background, but I found it enjoyable nonetheless and have already ordered the first volume to catch up.
Echo: Collider (vol 4)
Okay, I'm going to admit it: I didn't like Strangers in Paradise, which is probably Terry Moore's best known series. But this one looked less soap-opera-y so I figured I'd give it a try, and I wasn't disappointed. The is the story of a woman who somehow (I missed the first few books) gets infected with an alloy that could change the world... or destroy it. At this point, she's figuring out what happened while trying to stay alive. I'm intrigued enough to look up the rest of the series.
Gunnerkrigg Court Volume 2: Research
Still enjoying this. Volume 2 delves a bit further into the parents' pasts, the girls' futures, and there are more robots. What's not to love? I should probably just start reading Gunnerkrigg Court online now since there don't seem to be more printed volumes, but I like the collections so much!
The Quest for the Missing Girl
When Mountaineer Shiga gets a call telling him that a friend's 15 year old daughter has gone missing, he leaves his mountain refuge to find her, stirring up old feelings and new revalations in the process. I found the story and characters compelling enough to read this all in one day, but it's in many ways a tonal piece: more about feelings and memories than the obvious driving plot. The combination is a bit strange, but still enjoyable.
Astonishing X-Men Volume 1: Gifted
I was recently reading a link that suggested some more modern places to start when entering various comic universes. (I can't find the link or remember who provided it now... maybedollarbinblues? Thanks whoever it was!) This was the suggested starting point for X-men, which has long seemed like one of the more compelling comic universes to me. No surprise, if you ever heard about my gifted high school, that I'd identify with a bunch of genetic freak teenagers who can barely fit into society. ;) Upon opening it, I found that apparently I've read the first issue, but not the further ones, which is awfully strange since I only rarely get individual comic issues. Maybe it was offered up for free comic book day? Susan says she got the whole volume out, so maybe I just read part of it when it was in her apartment? Anyhow, seems like what I wanted: a place to start so I can slowly work my way through some longer stories in order rather than grabbing random volumes off the shelf and seeing if I can figure out what's going on. ;)
Ōoku: The Inner Chambers. Vol. 4
An alternate history of Japan where disease has eradicated many of the men in the population, leaving the power in the hands of the women. I suspect this would be even more interesting if I knew more about the shoguns, but my Japanese history is quite weak (A strange side effect of French immersion in Canada: history books typically started with French explorers and stopped around where the French started losing, so I have very little history after the Plains of Abraham, and basically no world history). I enjoyed it despite the fact that it's vol 4 that I picked up off the shelf, but I'm not sure if I should pick up the other volumes or go find some Japanese history primers to read first. (Anyone got any recommendations?)
Sublife, vol 1
Sometimes I really like this sort of tone-poem of a graphic novel, which feels more about emotion than plot. This one, however? Meh.
Rosario+Vampire, Vol. 9
A single human boy accidentally enrols in a high school for monsters, but somehow winds up staying and fitting in. I picked this off the shelf without reading the other volumes, but it was enjoyable enough on its own. Normally I find harem manga (one guy, many love-interest girls) a bit tiring but this one was kinda fun since the girls were distinct and had the potential to be independent, and the art made it easy to tell them apart even though I didn't know them already. Cute and might be worth reading more, but I probably won't get around to it unless I happen to see the other volumes on the shelf.
Top Ten - Book 02
Superhero cops in a superhero filled city. Interesting characters, and I gather if you're more of a comic book historian there's a lot of hidden gems in the artwork and stories. Sadly, I don't have that kind of background, but I found it enjoyable nonetheless and have already ordered the first volume to catch up.
Echo: Collider (vol 4)
Okay, I'm going to admit it: I didn't like Strangers in Paradise, which is probably Terry Moore's best known series. But this one looked less soap-opera-y so I figured I'd give it a try, and I wasn't disappointed. The is the story of a woman who somehow (I missed the first few books) gets infected with an alloy that could change the world... or destroy it. At this point, she's figuring out what happened while trying to stay alive. I'm intrigued enough to look up the rest of the series.
Gunnerkrigg Court Volume 2: Research
Still enjoying this. Volume 2 delves a bit further into the parents' pasts, the girls' futures, and there are more robots. What's not to love? I should probably just start reading Gunnerkrigg Court online now since there don't seem to be more printed volumes, but I like the collections so much!
The Quest for the Missing Girl
When Mountaineer Shiga gets a call telling him that a friend's 15 year old daughter has gone missing, he leaves his mountain refuge to find her, stirring up old feelings and new revalations in the process. I found the story and characters compelling enough to read this all in one day, but it's in many ways a tonal piece: more about feelings and memories than the obvious driving plot. The combination is a bit strange, but still enjoyable.
Astonishing X-Men Volume 1: Gifted
I was recently reading a link that suggested some more modern places to start when entering various comic universes. (I can't find the link or remember who provided it now... maybe
dollarbinblues? Thanks whoever it was!) This was the suggested starting point for X-men, which has long seemed like one of the more compelling comic universes to me. No surprise, if you ever heard about my gifted high school, that I'd identify with a bunch of genetic freak teenagers who can barely fit into society. ;) Upon opening it, I found that apparently I've read the first issue, but not the further ones, which is awfully strange since I only rarely get individual comic issues. Maybe it was offered up for free comic book day? Susan says she got the whole volume out, so maybe I just read part of it when it was in her apartment? Anyhow, seems like what I wanted: a place to start so I can slowly work my way through some longer stories in order rather than grabbing random volumes off the shelf and seeing if I can figure out what's going on. ;)
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Date: April 13th, 2011 09:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: April 14th, 2011 03:16 am (UTC)First Class sounds good too. Have to keep an eye out for that one!