I wrestled between 2 and 3 stars for this story for the longest but a few things put it over the edge. I love superhero stories or anything that explores humans with powers. In particular, I liked Iron Phantom’s powers and their limitations, the theme of grief and regret, the familial relationships, Rylan, and the general light-heartedness. I thought the opening with how crime had increased in Morriston city was great and set the tone well. The main villain had a believable motive too. Unfortunately, this book doesn’t deliver on the supervillain angle, it’s more so a misunderstood hero, and the dialogue is corny at times.

Also, it’s super obvious who Iron Phantom is from day one, but it was not too grating to wait for Abby to figure it out. Predictable (at times) but still fun!

2.5

Wholesome. A cute story that illustrates you can’t be afraid to let your friends leave and the person you may never expect could be your truest friend.

The audience felt very young (like preschool - early elementary), but some older readers might still enjoy it.

Going back to its roots after the weird, jumping-the-shark mess from the last volume. This volume reminds me of why I enjoy this stupid story! Takane is insufferable and hilarious all at the same time. He’s going to badger her into submission/love. That love confession in the hospital room, man! Lol
There’s not much progression here, but the antics are still fun.

The Lost Path really lost me. I enjoyed the illustrations (Flechais is talented with ink and color), but the story confused me. I had to reread it twice. The magical-whimsicalness that I love was there, but the execution was not good to me. I thought we were going to learn more about that cool-looking fox, but then it changed to whoever had the bowler hat had control over the forest. The ending was funny in the sense that as soon as the big showdown is about to happen, we get shooed away.

I liked the prideful main character and his banter with his more cautious friend. I’m not sure if the MC’s little brother had an over-active imagination or was somewhere on the spectrum. Either way, the characters, in general, were not too bad besides being snarky. My overall impression of this is the story would work better as a short animation.

Honestly, this was pretty dry, but I might have thought differently if I had read this when it first came out. I’m not going to make comparisons, but I have seen other series do this premise more entertaining. I’m not all shoujo-ed out, but I just did not find anything that stood out to me in this volume. I might watch the anime instead because I do not see myself continuing to read this.

there's something endearing about these comic strips. The whole book was simple and charming.

I enjoyed the artwork and whimsicalness.

Well, it is real and rough. I liked the continual symbolism of fire throughout the story. On two occasions, the female characters are given such over-exaggerated features that it’s weird and almost ugly. I only point it out because they were such an awkward change from the usual, cute dot-eyed style.

Anyway, the story is not pretty, but the author acknowledges his growth like his relationship with women, so that is good. I am not trying to applaud the bare minimum, but it’s always good when we can be self-reflective. From seeing his childhood experiences, it is easy to make connections to why he felt he had to fight to just survive.

It is hard to rate autobiographies/biographies, but this one did a great job of coming full-circle. The story is definitely violent with harsh language and the n-word felt overused to me, but real life cannot be censored. Still, a solid read for older readers.

3.5

The slightest bit confusing but with breath-taking, gorgeous artwork. Just beautiful. The color direction just sweeps you away to some ethereal, timeless world. This is the typical warrior/soldier/knight protecting the royalty they (love (?)) story.

[5 stars for the artwork!]

I want Moongirl/Lunella Lafayette to get the Spideyverse treatment, y’know make her more likable. She’s super-smart with a dinosaur-pal (who she can uncontrollably switch consciousness with), which could spin-off into a bunch of fun, different stories. Right now, she’s a little too know-it-all-ish and rude. Don’t get me wrong I love those “I’m so above these plebeians” characters, but Moongirl needs a soft side too. As she is now, she’s too bratty. Moon girl needs a character overhaul.

I thought the last story with the brain/battle of the egos between Mr. Fantastic and Moongirl would have been some much-needed character development but nah. Disappointed.