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nerdinthelibrary's Reviews (926)
This is a book that I find impossible to review or rate because this isn't a book that I would say I read; it's more a book that I flipped through and absorbed. So instead I'll just give it a very big recommendation, whether you care about Florence Welch and her music or not.
Buzzword Readathon #1
I've been meaning to check out the Faith comics for a while, but it wasn't until Julie Murphy was announced to be writing a book of Faith's origin story that I finally decided I should read it. And oh boy, am I glad I did!
This comic is delightful. Faith as a character and superhero is wonderful. She's a classic superhero in that she always wants to see the best in humanity and just wants to save the day, but I love that we also get to see her struggle with being a hero, particularly a solo hero after she leaves the team she was part of. As well as seeing her superhero struggles, we also get to see her normal person struggles with her civilian job and relationship drama. These elements never took away from the main plot, thankfully, and instead added great depth to it.
I want to talk about the art for a second because I absolutely loved it. First of all, I love how Faith herself was drawn. The comics I've read tend to not be great at drawing plus-sized characters well; usually they either end up looking unrealistic or the artist doesn't want to commit to them actually being plus-sized. But Faith is drawn in a way that's both realistic and so that you can never question that she's a plus-sized superhero (I also appreciated the lack of fatphobia because while that's realistic sometimes you don't wanna read that).
Another thing I loved about the art was the way it would change whenever Faith would be imagining a scenario in her head, or explaining a scene of a TV show. The change was incredibly distinct and the style used was one that lends itself to being a sort of dream sequence, and I thought it was a really interesting way to convey that kind of day dreaming.
I need to be real, I only had one flaw and that's Faith referring to Joss Whedon as a wonderful man. Other than that, this was the perfect comic for what it was. While I do wish there were more issues, I know that there are other Faith comics I can continue onto plus a book coming in the future so I'm not too sad about it.
I've been meaning to check out the Faith comics for a while, but it wasn't until Julie Murphy was announced to be writing a book of Faith's origin story that I finally decided I should read it. And oh boy, am I glad I did!
This comic is delightful. Faith as a character and superhero is wonderful. She's a classic superhero in that she always wants to see the best in humanity and just wants to save the day, but I love that we also get to see her struggle with being a hero, particularly a solo hero after she leaves the team she was part of. As well as seeing her superhero struggles, we also get to see her normal person struggles with her civilian job and relationship drama. These elements never took away from the main plot, thankfully, and instead added great depth to it.
I want to talk about the art for a second because I absolutely loved it. First of all, I love how Faith herself was drawn. The comics I've read tend to not be great at drawing plus-sized characters well; usually they either end up looking unrealistic or the artist doesn't want to commit to them actually being plus-sized. But Faith is drawn in a way that's both realistic and so that you can never question that she's a plus-sized superhero (I also appreciated the lack of fatphobia because while that's realistic sometimes you don't wanna read that).
Another thing I loved about the art was the way it would change whenever Faith would be imagining a scenario in her head, or explaining a scene of a TV show. The change was incredibly distinct and the style used was one that lends itself to being a sort of dream sequence, and I thought it was a really interesting way to convey that kind of day dreaming.
I need to be real, I only had one flaw and that's Faith referring to Joss Whedon as a wonderful man. Other than that, this was the perfect comic for what it was. While I do wish there were more issues, I know that there are other Faith comics I can continue onto plus a book coming in the future so I'm not too sad about it.
Buzzword Readathon #2
Okay so objectively this is a 3-star read but I legitimately started crying at the end so it's getting bumped up.
You would be correct in assuming that I haven't read the previous nine volumes of Astonishing X-Men, and frankly it's pretty unlikely I ever will. I'm just here for Northstar and Kyle's wedding, and oh boy did that deliver. The romance was great the whole way through, which unfortunately was a detriment on the plot sometimes but not so much that it was distracting. It's also just nice to see a bunch of superheroes gathering for a happy occasion, something which happens almost never for more than a page.
Rogue wondering whether her mother's would have wanted to get married was what initially made me start to get a little teary, but then just seeing two male superheroes getting married really pushed me over the edge. The ending is a cliffhanger setting up the next volume that I'm almost 100% sure I won't be reading.
This is my first Marjorie M. Liu comic and it makes me very excited to read more of her work in the future. I also really enjoyed the art style. There were a few panels in issue 49 that genuinely took my breath away with how beautiful they are. While this comic is fairly lightweight in terms of plot, it is by no means disposable and is still an enjoyable read.
Okay so objectively this is a 3-star read but I legitimately started crying at the end so it's getting bumped up.
You would be correct in assuming that I haven't read the previous nine volumes of Astonishing X-Men, and frankly it's pretty unlikely I ever will. I'm just here for Northstar and Kyle's wedding, and oh boy did that deliver. The romance was great the whole way through, which unfortunately was a detriment on the plot sometimes but not so much that it was distracting. It's also just nice to see a bunch of superheroes gathering for a happy occasion, something which happens almost never for more than a page.
Rogue wondering whether her mother's would have wanted to get married was what initially made me start to get a little teary, but then just seeing two male superheroes getting married really pushed me over the edge. The ending is a cliffhanger setting up the next volume that I'm almost 100% sure I won't be reading.
This is my first Marjorie M. Liu comic and it makes me very excited to read more of her work in the future. I also really enjoyed the art style. There were a few panels in issue 49 that genuinely took my breath away with how beautiful they are. While this comic is fairly lightweight in terms of plot, it is by no means disposable and is still an enjoyable read.
Buzzword Readathon #4
So I understand why certain choices in this comic were made but that doesn't mean I need to like them. On the whole I found the experience of reading this pretty insufferable, and I know that may sound like an overreaction but once you read this you'll know what I mean.
The Venom in this comic is a post-Peter Parker, post-Flash Thompson Venom who is much more into being the hero nowadays. Unfortunately, Lee Price is the next person to find the symbiote and he is very much into the whole villain thing. Now, as I said, I understand the choices made here; I understand that Lee is meant to be unlikable. But the problem is that he isn't even a fun kind of unlikable. He's the kind of unlikable where you want his mere existence wiped from your brain.
My other big issue ties in with my hatred of Lee; this comic is stuffed to the brim with dark, angry men, and it got extremely tiring after a couple volumes. The story and art unfortunately aren't anything to write home about, either.
Then, suddenly, at the end of issue 5 there's a beacon of hope in the form of one Mr. Eddie Brock. And, spoilers I guess, by the end of the volume we've gotten rid of Lee and Eddie's back with his darling. Honestly, if you're interested in Mike Costa's Venom run I would recommend just skipping to volume 2 because this really functions more as a prologue so we know how Eddie and the Symbiote came together.
So I understand why certain choices in this comic were made but that doesn't mean I need to like them. On the whole I found the experience of reading this pretty insufferable, and I know that may sound like an overreaction but once you read this you'll know what I mean.
The Venom in this comic is a post-Peter Parker, post-Flash Thompson Venom who is much more into being the hero nowadays. Unfortunately, Lee Price is the next person to find the symbiote and he is very much into the whole villain thing. Now, as I said, I understand the choices made here; I understand that Lee is meant to be unlikable. But the problem is that he isn't even a fun kind of unlikable. He's the kind of unlikable where you want his mere existence wiped from your brain.
My other big issue ties in with my hatred of Lee; this comic is stuffed to the brim with dark, angry men, and it got extremely tiring after a couple volumes. The story and art unfortunately aren't anything to write home about, either.
Then, suddenly, at the end of issue 5 there's a beacon of hope in the form of one Mr. Eddie Brock. And, spoilers I guess, by the end of the volume we've gotten rid of Lee and Eddie's back with his darling. Honestly, if you're interested in Mike Costa's Venom run I would recommend just skipping to volume 2 because this really functions more as a prologue so we know how Eddie and the Symbiote came together.
Buzzword Readathon #5
Look, I get it, objectively this is below average. I didn't give a shit about the plot, ignoring the pages that were solely focused on the villain, and the entire conflict was painfully meh. But I love this dumb symbiote and their dumb boyfriend so much, and their relationship really made up for it. The conflict between them was great, and I wasn't expecting their relationship to be so explicit, so that was a happy surprise.
I truly don't have anything else to say about this. There was some cool imagery, Eddie and Venom are the best couple in the history of comics, and the plot was Nothing. I'm gonna go read the third volume and probably love that as well.
Look, I get it, objectively this is below average. I didn't give a shit about the plot, ignoring the pages that were solely focused on the villain, and the entire conflict was painfully meh. But I love this dumb symbiote and their dumb boyfriend so much, and their relationship really made up for it. The conflict between them was great, and I wasn't expecting their relationship to be so explicit, so that was a happy surprise.
I truly don't have anything else to say about this. There was some cool imagery, Eddie and Venom are the best couple in the history of comics, and the plot was Nothing. I'm gonna go read the third volume and probably love that as well.
Buzzword Readathon #6
Look, I just really love Venom and Eddie, and their relationship, plus the art in this one was really nice.
Look, I just really love Venom and Eddie, and their relationship, plus the art in this one was really nice.
Buzzword Readathon #7
This comic was a pleasant surprise after seeing so many 1 and 2-star reviews. It reminds me a bit of The Authority (one of my favourite teams) but with younger characters and the waaayyyy more explicit politics.
I'll admit, the plot and characters took a couple issues for me to get used to as you're just thrown into a situation and have to pick up everything along the way, but by the time the volume was finished I found myself really invested in what was happening. This is a comic that weaves its politics into its plot and characters in a way I found pretty seamless.
The titular team are so diverse and wonderful, and I just loved them all. Virtue is a sapphic black woman who can "ride" emotions; Tremor is an asexual Indian woman with the ability to create vibrations, and therefore things like earthquakes; Katharsis is a Laotian immigrant with artificial wings; Mouse is a former street kid with the ability to talk to and control rats; Burden has unclear, MCU!Scarlet Witch-esque powers that made him think he was possessed by the devil; and Vengeance Moth is a wheelchair user who can become a giant green moth-thing.
Something that reminded me a lot of The Authority while reading this is the complex moral code all the main characters have. While they're not villains, or even anti-heroes really, they also ultimately aren't afraid of having a bit of collateral damage if it means saving the day.
If you're looking for a fun, well-written and well-drawn comic with lots of political overtones then this is definitely one you should check out.
This comic was a pleasant surprise after seeing so many 1 and 2-star reviews. It reminds me a bit of The Authority (one of my favourite teams) but with younger characters and the waaayyyy more explicit politics.
I'll admit, the plot and characters took a couple issues for me to get used to as you're just thrown into a situation and have to pick up everything along the way, but by the time the volume was finished I found myself really invested in what was happening. This is a comic that weaves its politics into its plot and characters in a way I found pretty seamless.
The titular team are so diverse and wonderful, and I just loved them all. Virtue is a sapphic black woman who can "ride" emotions; Tremor is an asexual Indian woman with the ability to create vibrations, and therefore things like earthquakes; Katharsis is a Laotian immigrant with artificial wings; Mouse is a former street kid with the ability to talk to and control rats; Burden has unclear, MCU!Scarlet Witch-esque powers that made him think he was possessed by the devil; and Vengeance Moth is a wheelchair user who can become a giant green moth-thing.
Something that reminded me a lot of The Authority while reading this is the complex moral code all the main characters have. While they're not villains, or even anti-heroes really, they also ultimately aren't afraid of having a bit of collateral damage if it means saving the day.
If you're looking for a fun, well-written and well-drawn comic with lots of political overtones then this is definitely one you should check out.
The Authority, Vol. 2: Under New Management
Frank Quitely, Warren Ellis, Mark Millar, Bryan Hitch
Buzzword readathon #11
Fuck Mark Millar.
I'm tempted to just leave that as my review but I need to rant so... let's go. Starting with the positives, the first half of this (the Ellis/Hitch half) is just as wonderful as the volume that came before. With the end of the century and Jenny's impending death there are some really great character moments, and they kill god which is just pretty cool. I forgot to mention this in my review of the first volume so even though it's less relevant I'll do it here: Bryan Hitch is very good at drawing action, which not a lot of comic book artists can say.
The second half... sigh. So, the second arc of this was written by Mark Millar and drawn by Frank Quitely. Lets deal with the art first because I have less to say about it. It's bad. Everyone's face looks (in the words of a comment I saw) like a wrinkly testicle, Apollo and Jack faring the worst, and judging by the way he draws Jenny I'm going to guess that Quitely has never seen a baby in his entire life.
Moving onto the Millar of it all. It's no secret that I think Mark Millar is a bad writer who confuses edginess with depth, and this may be one of his worst offences. Putting aside the just boring plot where the villains are faux Avengers and that whole mess because we need to talk about an even bigger mess. I unfortunately forgot that part of Millar's edginess concerned his rampant sexism, ableism, homophobia, etc. Honestly, this page can probably sum up the sexism in this pretty well. It's not "women are awful" levels of misogyny, it's slightly more subtle than that and Midnighter's first line of dialogue written by Millar just made my skin crawl. And no, Quitely doesn't get a pass on this front because what the actual hell is that position Angie's in.
There's also just an underlying meanness and cynicism to Millar's writing, and not to say that the Authority wasn't cynical and mean, it was just those things in a different way. Millar's writing of the team doesn't make them seem close; at times, it makes them seem like they hate each other. Ellis' banter would be biting and playful whereas Millar's is all bite, no play.
He also has one of the two gay characters raped by faux Captain America for no reason. And we all know Millar's issue with rape in comics.
The Ellis/Hitch half is a five-star and the Millar/Quitely half is minus a million, so I figured a three was fair. I'm just really disappointed. So, I'm going to end this review the way I started it.
Fuck Mark Millar.
Fuck Mark Millar.
I'm tempted to just leave that as my review but I need to rant so... let's go. Starting with the positives, the first half of this (the Ellis/Hitch half) is just as wonderful as the volume that came before. With the end of the century and Jenny's impending death there are some really great character moments, and they kill god which is just pretty cool. I forgot to mention this in my review of the first volume so even though it's less relevant I'll do it here: Bryan Hitch is very good at drawing action, which not a lot of comic book artists can say.
The second half... sigh. So, the second arc of this was written by Mark Millar and drawn by Frank Quitely. Lets deal with the art first because I have less to say about it. It's bad. Everyone's face looks (in the words of a comment I saw) like a wrinkly testicle, Apollo and Jack faring the worst, and judging by the way he draws Jenny I'm going to guess that Quitely has never seen a baby in his entire life.
Moving onto the Millar of it all. It's no secret that I think Mark Millar is a bad writer who confuses edginess with depth, and this may be one of his worst offences. Putting aside the just boring plot where the villains are faux Avengers and that whole mess because we need to talk about an even bigger mess. I unfortunately forgot that part of Millar's edginess concerned his rampant sexism, ableism, homophobia, etc. Honestly, this page can probably sum up the sexism in this pretty well. It's not "women are awful" levels of misogyny, it's slightly more subtle than that and Midnighter's first line of dialogue written by Millar just made my skin crawl. And no, Quitely doesn't get a pass on this front because what the actual hell is that position Angie's in.
There's also just an underlying meanness and cynicism to Millar's writing, and not to say that the Authority wasn't cynical and mean, it was just those things in a different way. Millar's writing of the team doesn't make them seem close; at times, it makes them seem like they hate each other. Ellis' banter would be biting and playful whereas Millar's is all bite, no play.
He also has one of the two gay characters raped by faux Captain America for no reason. And we all know Millar's issue with rape in comics.
The Ellis/Hitch half is a five-star and the Millar/Quitely half is minus a million, so I figured a three was fair. I'm just really disappointed. So, I'm going to end this review the way I started it.
Fuck Mark Millar.
I think we all know that I only read this for the angsty Apollo/Midnighter romance, and it definitely delivered on that front. As I read I was kind of surprised that it actually ended up delivering on pretty much every front, which is a nice change of pace.
Unsurprisingly, I haven't read any of the comics that precede this so I have no context for the event taking place, but I'm used to jumping into comics in media res. Basically the Earth's gone to shit and the Authority are at an all-time low. Apollo needs to stay above the clouds to get sunlight, Jack is wheelchair-bound and miserable, and Angie is more or less human. Everyone's sad and angsty, and it actually really works. There's some good character stuff in here and the plot is pretty engaging considering how generic the premise is.
As usual, I come to a crossroads with the art style. I think that Simon Coleby's work is incredible when it comes to wide shots and action; there were a couple panels of Swift flying that genuinely took my breath away. But as with far too many comic artists, the face work is... not great to say the least. Definitely not the worst these characters have had to endure (cough Frank Quitely cough) but still has serious room for improvement.
I actually really enjoyed this story and will probably continue onto Rule Britannia because this left the storyline in a really interesting place. It also has no r*pe which is a serious upgrade from the last Authority comic I read!
Unsurprisingly, I haven't read any of the comics that precede this so I have no context for the event taking place, but I'm used to jumping into comics in media res. Basically the Earth's gone to shit and the Authority are at an all-time low. Apollo needs to stay above the clouds to get sunlight, Jack is wheelchair-bound and miserable, and Angie is more or less human. Everyone's sad and angsty, and it actually really works. There's some good character stuff in here and the plot is pretty engaging considering how generic the premise is.
As usual, I come to a crossroads with the art style. I think that Simon Coleby's work is incredible when it comes to wide shots and action; there were a couple panels of Swift flying that genuinely took my breath away. But as with far too many comic artists, the face work is... not great to say the least. Definitely not the worst these characters have had to endure (cough Frank Quitely cough) but still has serious room for improvement.
I actually really enjoyed this story and will probably continue onto Rule Britannia because this left the storyline in a really interesting place. It also has no r*pe which is a serious upgrade from the last Authority comic I read!
I expected nothing and I'm still disappointed. This isn't egregiously bad in any ways and I definitely understand why someone would really enjoy this, but it did very little for me. It's basically just where a bunch of Marvel's anti-heroes end up in the Savage Lands and team up to fight an evil wizard.
The plot was more or less nonexistent and the characters ranged from fine to barely characters. Venom in particular spent basically the whole volume just being used as a prop to make sure other characters didn't die.
If it were just all of that then this would easily be a 2-star, but the art was really what pushed this up to a 3. As I said, this isn't an overly plotty comic and it focuses mostly on action, which Mike Deodato clearly excels at. I've never read anything with his art before but now I kind of want to because he's fantastic at drawing action and gore in a way that a lot of other comic artists think they are.
Unfortunately, other than the great art style, this really had nothing going for it. Nothing bad but not much good either.
The plot was more or less nonexistent and the characters ranged from fine to barely characters. Venom in particular spent basically the whole volume just being used as a prop to make sure other characters didn't die.
If it were just all of that then this would easily be a 2-star, but the art was really what pushed this up to a 3. As I said, this isn't an overly plotty comic and it focuses mostly on action, which Mike Deodato clearly excels at. I've never read anything with his art before but now I kind of want to because he's fantastic at drawing action and gore in a way that a lot of other comic artists think they are.
Unfortunately, other than the great art style, this really had nothing going for it. Nothing bad but not much good either.