Uhhhh surprise of the year?

The Fable tells the story of a Hitman who is a ace killer. He's also sometimes kind of dumb as fuck, and laughs at really dumb tv shows, but when it comes to killing and surviving? He's a pro.

This is some prime black comedy, dark ass shit at times, with laugh out loud moments and some really unique and solid art. Love the story of Akira (the pro) who goes to try and live a normal life with Misaki, basically his helper but now under new identities has to become his sister. This is a story of starting a simple normal life, including even adopting/buying pets?

If like darker, but still funny, stories with a fresh feel check out The Fable. Worth every penny.

It's not awful but this is mid-shonen anime battles. All flash, no bite. Basically all the captains fighting baddies, get hurt really bad, but somehow always survive, leaving the bad guys feeling like big old boring filler instead of a actual threat. I know Bleach was around the time they just didn't kill big/main characters off but it's so hard to read when no stakes to make me worry about characters.

Lackluster characters once more. It seems to plague the second Omnibus volume of Predator. However, the predators? The kills? This some good stuff. I like how this feels more like a hunting game for them and wished we got more of that with characters I gave a shit about.

Another short story collection! I'm starting to really enjoy these. Anyway, as all collections, some bad, some good, some great! Let's go!

Two Talented Bastids - 3/5 - A solid enough story with cool ideas. Basically two famous people, one becomes a artist, one a author, and they may or may not have been given these gifts to become famous people by...aliens? Interesting characters but not one I fully got invested into.

The Fifth Step - 4/5 - Very short, but effective. A Man going through the steps to get away from drinking but maybe he has a darker secret?

Willie the Weirdo - 4/5 - Another dark tale with a really effective "wonder what that ending really is" end that I enjoyed.

Danny Coughlin's Bad Dream - 5/5 - This is Stephen King at his best. A Man reports a crime that he saw in his dream. But of course he went there in person first to make sure there was a actual body. Now the police think it's him. One detective will do ANYTHING to prove it's him. Intense, reminded me of The Outsider, but much tighter told.

Finn - 3.5 - 2/5 - A okay ending can't save this otherwise forgettable story.

On Slide In Road - 3/5 - Sometimes a man needs a bat and nothing more. When a family gets stuck up by a bunch of losers, grandpa has to decide his next steps. Solid enough if not a little silly.

Red Screen - 4/5 - Aye....love the zinger ending and weird feel throughout this very short story.

The Turbulence Expert - 4/5 - A cool grim reaper like take but people who protect others when on a flight. I really dug it.

Laurie - 3/5 - A cute tale of a man and a dog who meet a very angry croc. Nothing special but solid enough.

Rattlesnakes - 4/5 - One of the best in the collection. The worst part of this story is I felt the supernatural element was just decent. But Vic's life (From Cujo) and him dealing with the aftermath of the loss of his son and wife years and years and years after Cujo was amazing and Stephen King does a great job getting the human element down.

The Dreamers - 3/5 - Dark but also didn't really care about the characters at all. Their ends here were bleak, which is a nice twist. But the whole venom symbiote thing at the end didn't work for me.

The Answer Man 5/5 - Oh my oh my. If you can have the answers to anything, what would you ask? Will I be rich? Will I be happy? Will I DIE? The questions we want to know but sometimes don't want answers. But when a man called the Answer Man promises he can give you that will you be able to turn away? A Dark tale into life and death, two sides of the same thing we call life. Everything must come down when it's up but maybe through life you can go back up. A really good tale, and my second favorite of the bunch.

Not as strong as volume 1-2 but still great. Basically we see Inori grow within a year. All her practice and hard work pays off as she tries her best to showcase her abilities. The time skip is nice and helps move the series forward. I also like how we get more into Hikaru and also Rioh. Excited to see how they all evolve.

As always, super enjoyable. I liked the one story about childhood friends going one more time together to see dinos before one moves. Learning about dinos too, ones I know about but never researched much, and the way they act, eat, and sleep is all great. Art is really good to boot. Very enjoyable manga so far.

We got these characters getting closer and closer.

Yamada plays a "I'm dumb" game but we all know what she wants. To get closer and closer to Kobayashi. It's so obvious she likes him and she showcases it more than ever in this volume. From when they almost sit next to each other, to meeting in a room way to small for both of them, to him being sick and her visiting him, get all cute/fun moments.

It's really nice to see two people actually admit they like each other early on in a series.

This time we get to see the girls help Ogami pick out a bathing suit. It's pretty cute volume with the showcase of woman being kind to each other, and not a "jealous so much I hate them" bullshit they try to pull. The sister is also Hilarious. Some good stuff all around.

Messy yet still great.

The stuff with Ally and Alan is fun, because them learning about BDSM is kind of how we're learning about it too. Makes for a fun time and situations that can be scary but also super spicy. But the main star of this volume is Anne relationship. An abusive partner, broken one, who puts all her blame and past faults on you is always hard to watch but it's handled well here.

Overall another great volume of Sunstone as always.

Obviously I'm not in the majority with this one but I felt the pacing was super off (wayyyyy to quick) and the magical elements are just...there? Like they happen and we're supposed to be like "oh yeah that makes sense". I mean the message is nice, and dealing with getting ousted as gay I'm sure is rough, but this story felt disjointed and not well told.