The library finally had it! Nnedi Okorafor's Shuri!!!!! Building on Shuri's character from the MCU, the Shuri comic is a fun, nerdy adventure with plenty of black power and feminism. There's science, space, and jokes aplenty. This was such a fun read and I can't wait for the next volume!

When I picked up (H)afrocentric off the library shelf, I did not know I was picking up a bomb beyond language. Juliana "Jewels" Smith's writing, Ronald Nelson's art, and Mike Hampton's colors don't hold back, and together they're quite the knockout.

The plot is pretty simple, with typical comics silliness popping up as needed. Naima, her best friend Renee, her brother Miles, and his best friend El are some of the very few students of color at Ronald Regan University in Oakland, CA. A self-proclaimed black radical feminist and great admirer of the activists of by-gone days, Naima wants to do something to fight Oakland's gentrification problem. With her upbeat attitude and fiery ideals, she puts together a block party to save an older resident from being pushed out and to fund a new website idea, mydiaspora.com, as a social media meeting place for black and brown folks to get away from crushing, racism-riddled reality. In the second arc, RRU requires internships for its students to graduate, and Naima & co. struggle to find employment that is meaningful but doesn't compromise their ideals.

When I first read (H)afrocentric, I was a little lost. This comic is not introductory material. It references and assumes readers already know the basic overview of black history/activism, black feminism, and black queer thought. Elizondo “El” Ramirez is Chicano and brings Mexican nationalism into the story, while another character, Kwame, brings hotep tendencies to the page. I felt like I was back in undergrad again, where I knew I was in the presence of wisdom, but did not yet know how to understand it.

And so I went to the (H)afrocentric website. Came back to the comic. Went back to Google. Downloaded a QR reader so I could get the links embedded in the art. Listened to (H)afrocentric's soundcloud. Listened to this brain explosion of an interview with Dr. Frank Wilderson. Thought some more until something shifted, and now, I think, I know a fraction. Daaaaaaaaaaaaaaamn, this comic put me back in school. I loved every second.

Like other reviewers have noted, (H)afrocentric is not a light read: it's here to make the reader think about American society's current limits, visceral struggles, and betterment through grassroots activism. I definitely recommend it to everyone who has either already studied the aforementioned topics or is willing to put the effort in to educate themselves. This comic is full of power and change.

I stumbled upon Moonstruck by random at a comic book shop, and I have zero regrets about picking it up. Honestly, it had me the "soft lesbian werewolves" aesthetic and only got better from there.

In a colorful, vibrant world where magical creatures live side-by-side with humans, anxious werewolf Julie works with her best friend Chet at a coffee shop, dreams of being a ghost writer for Nancy Drew-esque mystery series, and has finally asked the cool girl Selena out. Julie's nerves get the better of her though, and Chet comes along on their date to a mysterious magic show. During the show, disaster strikes Chet, and the bulk of the comic deals with the consequences.

While Moonstruck did not shy away from themes like racism, micro-aggressions, and love vs fear, reading the story felt like being wrapped in a warm, fuzzy blanket with a cup of tea and soothing music playing. Almost like...a sleepover in a coffee shop, haha. The casual racial, gender, and body diversity made the book a portable safe space, and I came out of the experience feeling very loved. My girlfriend reports that I made a lot of incoherent happy noises while reading, and I believe her.

If you're looking for a happy comic, a dollop of cotton candy feel-good fluff, read Moonstruck. The storytelling is great, the characters leap off the page, the art is adorable, and nothing hurts.

Like many other patrons of my local library, I saw the Wonder Woman movie and was like "I'd read the frick frack outta that as a comic" and browsed the library shelves. This is what I found and daaaaaaannnngggg this is pretty sweet.

Picoult's introduction hit the nail right on the head for what her story is about: it's about Diana struggling to be a mortal, when she's immortal, and trying to figure out if trying to fit in is a worthwhile endeavor. She always has her past and the Amazons to fall back on, but her undercover position presents an opportunity to be someone entirely new and human. The motif of love & murder being the two traits that unite Amazons and humans just tickles me pink.

While these are worthwhile and interesting themes, I feel like a few plot beats are missed, probably because this is Picoult's first time comic writing. Circe and Diana as characters are fantastic and dynamic, but Circe's plan makes little sense in its convolution. It seems like Circe just wants to stir the pot and have a bunch of fit ladies fight each other because...why not when you're 5,000 years old. Diana's attraction to Nemesis didn't super make sense either, unless there's a lore point I'm missing where Diana has an attraction to lawful neutral blondes. The resolution was also unclear, though the fighting ended. Because of these problems, I dropped the review star count.

However, if you want great characters, beautiful art, and kickass ladies being kickass, this book is just good enough to keep me coming back for more.

A solid adaptation of this deeply creepy story! It felt like a Gaiman book, and kept a lot of the original narration. The art hit the exact spot of "cute childhood comic" and "horrible childhood nightmare." Overall, a great way to revel in the CORALINE universe.