mysteriousmre's Reviews (1.22k)

Still good, but I think this is my least favorite volume of the series so far. Mostly because Snyder starts to get more wordy and monologue heavy, a common issue in his recent writings that wasn’t present earlier in the series. I also have mixed feelings about Pearl’s story in this volume and her relationship to Skinner Sweet. Her one night stand with Skinner felt a little out of character, especially given her history with Skinner and how the series has emphasized the love and devotion she and Henry have towards one another. The tease with the mysterious “Grey Trader” has me intrigued. Perhaps we’re delving into zombie territory? Interested in what Snyder has planned.

If you're familiar with dystopian stories, this wont be anything new, but what is here is really well done, with gorgeous art, and an interesting revamp of the Hawkman character.

Writing a review now that I had time for it. I picked up this book mostly for Murphy's art. I'm not always a fan of Morrison's super meta ideas. To my surprise not only did Joe the Barbarian not have any crazy insane ideas, but the main character is pretty mundane and boring! Joe doesn't learn or grow much as a character. For the most part he just gets dragged along by the whims of the shallow supporting cast. The art did not disappoint in the slightest, I love Murphy's style and the way he lays out a scene, but the story did nothing for me.

An anthology of stories told in the AV universe by a wide variety of authors. The quality of the stories and art varies from story to story, and none of them seem to move the main plot forward, but I have to admit this was a nice refresher from Snyder’s monologue-heavy dialogue from the previous volumes. There’s some PHENOMENAL stories here (shout-outs to Gail Simone’s empathetic origin for Hattie Hargrove) but there’s also some duds that don’t stand out much. Not essential reading, but a decent investment if you’ve got the cash to spare.

If the first story in this volume wasn't so repulsive, this would have been another 4-5 star book. The themes and ideas in Calliope are great, but the graphic and repeated rape of the the title muse are deeply troubling in modern times.

Campy, psychedelic, sci-fi pulp that has some interesting ideas for character arcs that are done a huge disservice as the story’s progression becomes less linear and more chaotic and hard to follow. Still, that’s not the main draw of the book. The main draw is the absolutely mind-bending neon art that gets even more bonkers as the series progresses. Worth a read depending on your tastes.