Woohoo I found a Cullen Bunn book I enjoy! Finally!

So this is Gothic southern horror. What's that you ask? Lots of accents, woods, and creepy shit happening all at once. Emmy is about to turn 18. For a lot of people that just means going into adulthood (in US. I know UK it's like 16. And Japan like 14 or something like that) but what's happening to her isn't the same as usual. 18 years ago the people around the area murdered a young girl who was said to be a witch. She said she would return. Is Emmy that witch? Well...

Good: I enjoyed the art a lot. It's simple, clean, and works well to show off the emotions of characters. I really love the character of the skinless boy, Emmy is a strong main hero, and even the village people are interesting enough. I thought the 2nd half of this was really interesting and the twist (before the final twist which I also like) and turn the story is going are making it a intriguing one.

Bad: I didn't love the first half. Felt very cliche, been done, witch hunt type story. Also, some of the dialog at the start was like "trying" to be south verses natural (see Southern Bastards/Redneck) but once it started to get into groove it fixed itself.

I actually had a lot of fun reading this. I read it all in one go. I'd give it a 3.5 but I'ma go with a 4 because of how impressed I was to enjoy a Bunn comic finally haha.

See? I read novels inbetween the mass amount of comics.

So what's the girl with all the gifts about? Well it's a zombie book. I know I know, there's 500 million of them. Do we need another one? Well this is kind of a new take on it. The world is already pretty much over. The Zombie apocalypse has happened. However, there's a new style of hungries (zombies) evolving. Kids with the senses of regular kids but still want to eat humans when they get too close. So when the main base where humanity is held up is attacked, 3 humans, and one hybrid zombie girl take leave to try and survive to get to Beacon (the other post for humanity) but will they make it?

Good: I enjoyed the start. The set up was intriguing and I enjoyed the idea of kids learning even if they are zombies. The testing of the kids and splitting apart was fucked up but interesting. Also the ending was great and left things in a "oh fuck" situation that I really enjoyed. I thought most of the characters were interesting too, and having a very small cast helped expand their backgrounds and such.

Bad: The middle portion was a bit of a drag. Usually happens when reading a survival story. Also the deaths seemed a bit cliche, and would have liked more surprises.

Overall this was pretty dang good. It didn't cover to much new ground but it gave me a pretty interesting take on the over-saturated genre. A 3.5 out of 5.

After two very strong volumes we fall down a level.

So this volume kind of closes a big chapter. The kids and Snow White leave fabletown to go to the farm. Then we also get into a two part backstory of Bigby. Last but not least we see the fallout of the new mayor, more on the farm, more about snonwhites kids, and then of course ends in a cliffhanger that we have to hope for the best.

Good: Enjoyed the start and the end a lot. Anything with the farm, the kids, snow white, and Mr. Wolf are all great. Also Red is just so fun to read, I love her.

Bad: Didn't care at all for the background story of Bigby, kind of boring, and the stuff with Prince Charming as Mayor is a snooze-fest.

Overall just a decent volume with too much filler. I'm hoping the series picks up again.

Eh...storyline is just a jumbled mess.

Finally got to sit down and read Riri's book after spending a lot of time reading a bunch of comics featuring her or having her in it for a few pages. Verdict? She's pretty damn fun.

So this book does a goodjob of setting up who Riri is and why she's a hero. When she was younger doctors told her parents to make sure to keep an eye on her, remind her she's just a kid, and to basically enjoy life. Why? Because she's so smart she can go any direction. Similar to characters like Reed Richards or Tony, they sometimes come to a line they might tip into the gray area. Riri isn't far behind them.

So once we learn about Riri's past we get to see her on a mission. Well it'll make more sense if read Iron-man volume 1-3 of Tony's (bendis run) to get the enemy and why they chasing this young girl around. So then who teams up with Riri? Pepper Pots herself!

Good: The art is top notch, but should except that on this title. The fights are fun, the designs are great, and the atmosphere works. I really enjoyed Riri. Unlike Miles or Cho, both very smart, she aligns more with the characters I named above. Very logical, to the point that she lacks emotion at times. I also enjoyed her backstory despite it being a little cliche it still hit the emotions well. The pacing worked well, and the bouncing dialog worked when it doesn't always with Bendis.

Bad: I think the plot itself is a bit basic. Just one big chase and backstory thing. I wanted a little more and it wrapped up a little to nicely at times.

Overall very enjoyable first volume. I really enjoyed all the interactions with the characters, character development, fights, and cliffhanger ending. A 4 out of 5.

This has been the best volume in awhile. Least the best in the sense it all flows together in one big story and doesn't feel disjointed.

So the truth is out. Trust is broken. Who the fuck is a Skrull? Secret Invasion is on the way (Which I might re-read because hated it the first time but it might be better now that I'm reading stuff around it). Also the bad guys have had enough. One in particular known as "The Hood" decides to round of the villains and hunt the heroes, and does he ever. A full blown out attack, betrayals, big fucking magic showdowns. Shit goes down.

Good: The art is good throughout which is nice change. The fights are big and fun. The banter still hits well. The trust issues, who is real, and the internal struggle is great. The ending leaves up to a lot of interesting possibilities, and how great was that Spider-man moment when he saves Jessica's baby? A true spider-man moment.

Bad: Some long drawn out talking scenes with the villains dragged it down a little too much, and some fight scenes went on too long.

This was my favorite volume since 2 though so that's saying something. It's about a 3.5 but I'll bump it to a 4 because I was enjoying the entire time mostly.

This was a great volume overall. It's hard to keep it going when inbetween there's a crossover. Luckily I read Messiah War.

So just as Logan and his X-Force pals save their targets they are transported to a different dimension. So then of course they deal with the Messiah War stuff, and when they come back. Well let's just say a ton of shit goes wrong. The X-Force team all begins to get split apart and it's their job to come back together. With X-23 being taken, Logan trying to save a ticking time bomb, and two werewolf people fighting Ice Giants shit is about to go down.

Goods: Everything to do with Logan, X-23, and agent Morales was great. The art seems to improve, or maybe I'm getting used to it, but the brutal fight scenes are great. It's amazing how insane and vicious everyone is and the ending really is building towards something bigger.

Bad: The stuff with Renee and the Ice Giants felt a bit out of place.

Overall this was great. Fast paced, sad, violent, everything I want in my comics just about. If it wasn't for the boring Ice Giant stuff this would be perfect. So going with great, a 4 out of 5.

There's parts of this series I LOVE and other parts that I just...find boring.

So this chapter we get Rin into being more comfortable about people, especially family. She's also going into first grade. She's a big girl now so she has to be "cool" which means a lot in that age group! Also Daikichi is trying his best to balance it all but he decides to find out who Rin's mother is and well...things go in a interesting turn.

Good: I love all the stuff to do with Daikichi and Rin. It's cute, heartfelt, and works real well to show how kids and adults can raise each other in a way. I also really enjoyed Daikichi slowly coming to terms of how to adult.

Bad: The stuff with Rin's mother is kind of boring. I didn't find any of it interesting and sadly that was about 40% of the story here.

Overall this is a cute and funny story. It has it's slow parts that really hurt the pacing but overall I'll probably finish it or stop at volume 4 (that's where I hear to stop) but for now it's solid funness.

I like these stories, and love most f Kurt Busiek stuff, but these story feel VERY long.

So this is about Steeljack. After years of being in prison he is finally released and decides to try to do good. Try to live a normal life. He's done being a bad guy, or fully bad anyway, and wants to fix his life up. However, when small time villains begin to get picked off they hire him as some type of private eye to help them figure out what's happening. Will the villain turned hero be able to figure it out or make it worse?

Good: I liked the mystery behind it. All the people, superhero or not, feel like regular people which is great. I also like Steeljack and his views and the way he wanted to fix himself up. I also thought the idea of him fixing himself up and the way he was going on about it was pretty neat.

Bad: The mystery behind it all wasn't really that interesting or hard to guess. I also thought the pacing had some serious issues. I think these are written almost like novels where the pictures are hardly needed because it's so heavily narrated.

Overall this was a solid mystery with a cool main lead. It didn't blow me away, none of these volumes (except 2 was really interesting) blew me away. I think might take a break for a bit on this series and come back but this still solid, a 3 out of 5.

Damn! I thought this series was slightly stumbling in the last volume and was getting ready but then BAM volume 4 kicked it into high fucking gear.

Right off the bat we're given a sweet bitter story about a scientist trying to save a robot puppy. When the "owner" comes to visit it comes to a surprise of what his true nature and intentions are. A showdown goes down once more against the Tornado beast as we lose another member of our robot heroes and down to 3 left. Then, when think things are slowing down the series ends with a HOLY SHIT moment that'll make you want to grab volume 5 right away.

Good: Everything. I mean this is jampacked with great suspense moments, scary moments, badass fighting moments, and a ending that'll leave you needing more.

Bad: Nothing.

This is the best volume of the series and that's saying a lot. While 3 felt a little weak for this series it came back in a huge way. I can see why Pluto is top 20 manga of all time now. A 5 out of 5.