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Super cute slice of life that is exactly what it says it is.
This is a lovely take on a Frankenstein story, where the monster is just a girl and Frankenstein is her sister who desperately wanted to bring her back to life. Instead of getting her sister back, Frankie brings back M, who has no memory of her previous life and suddenly has the weight of all of Frankie's expectations on her. M struggles with who she is versus who Frankie expects her to be, and it's lovely all around.
The art is very simple, clear, and the monochromatic color scheme works well for this story. I really love M's character design, and the Talia Dutton is just as good at expressing emotion in the art as she is in the writing.
The art is very simple, clear, and the monochromatic color scheme works well for this story. I really love M's character design, and the Talia Dutton is just as good at expressing emotion in the art as she is in the writing.
This made me fucking cry.
To 14 year old me, who spent hours blow drying and flat ironing her hair, who had everyone say how pretty it was when it was straight but basically ignored the curls, you should never have been made to feel that way. Ever.
To 14 year old me, who spent hours blow drying and flat ironing her hair, who had everyone say how pretty it was when it was straight but basically ignored the curls, you should never have been made to feel that way. Ever.
4.5 stars, half star down from typical ratings I've been giving this series only because of the use of plot tropes I personally don't like. Still a fantastic installment, still wonderfully plotted and intriguing. Absolutely bizarre at times, but in a good way.
On to the next!
On to the next!
A light, cute romance that's just...fine. Nothing really excited me here, and I even started out being annoyed at both characters because their meet cute is that they're both having awful days and are awful to each other and then one of them accidentally curses the other...sure.
The art was nice, it's actually pretty fun and dynamic. I don't understand the solid triangle nose on one of the main characters when everyone else has pretty realistic ones, but I'm not an artist so what do I know.
The art was nice, it's actually pretty fun and dynamic. I don't understand the solid triangle nose on one of the main characters when everyone else has pretty realistic ones, but I'm not an artist so what do I know.
(I'm not giving this a star rating, and that's on purpose.)
Tiananmen 1989 is the story of the massacre from the point of view of a sociology professor who was there and took a very active part in the protests. For someone like me, who grew up in an American school system where the only part of Tiananmen I know about is the picture of the man facing down the tanks, this book was highly enlightening. It provides not only a greater depth of understanding of what actually happened - and it was so much more than just one day! - but it also does its best to provide a historical and cultural context for why the protests were happening in the first place. I learned a LOT from this graphic novel.
Unfortunately, I think the educational aspect of this is where it fell flat for me. This reads more like a proper university lecture than it does an attempt to set this story in a way that would appeal to many. I found no reason whatsoever for this to be in graphic novel format. With so many words and the lecture-like quality of the writing, I don't think having it in image format did anything to elevate the story being told.
Granted, it's a good lecture. It lacks a bit of emotional resonance beyond the fact that so many lives were lost, because it's a lecture. I wish the writing had been a bit pared down, and that the emotional impact was felt more.
If you want a good first hand account of the context of what led up to Tiananmen, then this is a pretty decent starting point. Just temper your expectations a bit, realize this is a lecture that happens to have images attached, and appreciate it that way.
Tiananmen 1989 is the story of the massacre from the point of view of a sociology professor who was there and took a very active part in the protests. For someone like me, who grew up in an American school system where the only part of Tiananmen I know about is the picture of the man facing down the tanks, this book was highly enlightening. It provides not only a greater depth of understanding of what actually happened - and it was so much more than just one day! - but it also does its best to provide a historical and cultural context for why the protests were happening in the first place. I learned a LOT from this graphic novel.
Unfortunately, I think the educational aspect of this is where it fell flat for me. This reads more like a proper university lecture than it does an attempt to set this story in a way that would appeal to many. I found no reason whatsoever for this to be in graphic novel format. With so many words and the lecture-like quality of the writing, I don't think having it in image format did anything to elevate the story being told.
Granted, it's a good lecture. It lacks a bit of emotional resonance beyond the fact that so many lives were lost, because it's a lecture. I wish the writing had been a bit pared down, and that the emotional impact was felt more.
If you want a good first hand account of the context of what led up to Tiananmen, then this is a pretty decent starting point. Just temper your expectations a bit, realize this is a lecture that happens to have images attached, and appreciate it that way.
THE HOT FUZZ CAMEO WAS EVERYTHING
This continues to be absolutely bonkers good fun, and this volume weaves in the Beowulf myth, mixing things up. Loads of gory action and fun as the story progresses. Very curious to see where this is going.
This continues to be absolutely bonkers good fun, and this volume weaves in the Beowulf myth, mixing things up. Loads of gory action and fun as the story progresses. Very curious to see where this is going.