Mike Mignola is a master. His comics are, in my opinion, some of the most beautiful ever drawn. I have been reading Hellboy for years almost entirely at random. Each volume is so elegant and immersive that they stand alone just as well as they read in sequence. In this book Hellboy is troubled by the specter of two destinies- he might be the rightful king of Hell, or else the rightful king of England. Both prospects are equally unwelcome. Hellboy has no desire to weigh down his head with any crown.

This anthology collects fairy tale inspired short comics and original prose fairy tales by a variety of authors. As in any short story collection, some of the pieces are stronger than others, though overall the book is very enjoyable. Nearly all of the tales have a female main character, or multiple female leads. The highlight for me was "Bride of the Rose Beast" by Michelle "Misha" Krivanek, the story of a shepard's daughter who must marry a monster with a wonderful twist ending.

A collection of three previously self-published short comics, "Wolves", "The Mire" and "Demeter". This book is a beautiful example of what an author will come up with when throwing everything they most enjoy drawing and writing about all into one book. Cloonan excels at portraying foreboding castles, sensual ghostly women, bruised and blooded knights and tangles of dark forest. Her stories are dark tales of curses and revenges with bitter endings.

I suppose I enjoyed this book, but I find I have very little to say about it. The art was alright, the writing was alright, it just didn't have much content. The story focuses on Shara Bey, a rebellion pilot and mother of Poe Dameron (though he does not appear in this book). It begins just as the final battle of Return of the Jedi is ending and doesn't contain a whole arc so much as several scenes to establish the characters and set the stage for the launch of several other comic series. I guess I can say it succeeds at this modest goal.

This Star Wars extended universe novel is from the old pre-Disney canon, so if you are looking for hints about the latest set, you will not find them here. What you will find is a silly but highly entertaining adventure set shortly after the end of Return of the Jedi. Luke is exploring the galaxy, searching for records of the old Jedi Masters. Han is a General in the New Republic Army, still mopping up various hold outs of the Empire. Leia is a key member of the New Republic Government and naturally this means she gets a marriage proposal from the blond-haired, blue-eyed, attractive princes of Hapes. It's an offer she can hardly afford to refuse, so naturally Han Solo does everything in his power to prevent her from accepting- including kidnapping her and taking her to the remote world of Dathomir. Meanwhile, Luke has heard hints about the same planet in a fragmented recording in which Yoda warned of "the witches of Dathomir". Before long, all of the key players- yes, Artoo, Threepio and Chewy too- have crash landed on Dathomir into the middle of a witches war. Look at the title of this book, do not take it very seriously, and you will likely enjoy it.

A small but lovely fairy tale of a story. A man knocks at the king's door asking for a boat, in order to sail in search of an unknown island. To say anything more would be too much.

I have not seen the movie version of The Martian but the novel was one of the best sci-fi books I've read in years. Heavily researched and based on a lot of real science, this is the story of Mark Watney who, through a serious of impossible to predict circumstances, is left behind on Mars. Luckily he has a fully functional Hab research/living space, two rovers, six space suits, a bag of potatoes and a very good sense of humor. Mark tackles the challenge of surviving on Mars with a can-do attitude and huge amount of ingenuity.