I read CAIRO in the dark of the night, when I couldn't sleep, and I think this was the perfect time to do so. Having read and loved ALIF THE UNSEEN, CAIRO was like traveling home to a familiar country. I was surprised by the black and white art, but the style was so lovely and emotive all the same. The characters breathed easily to life and the thrills and chills of the plot made me keep reading until I finished. It almost felt like a condensed version of ALIF, though with a change of location. Wilson's deft handling of volitive themes was downright masterful.

Overall, a beautiful story to be read again and again like the fairy tale it is.

A huge caveat to this review is that I am a huuuuuge Gaiman fan, and NEVERWHERE is my favorite of his novels. This comic is an adaptation of Gaiman's work, and it felt like coming to an alternate version of home. The names and places were the same, but now in vivid, 1980s color. The characters kept their lines, but the statue was kicked out of the Marquis' hand and not dropped.

What prevented this comic from getting all five stars then? One, Door was overly sexualized with her clothing. I didn't appreciate the artist dressing a woman coming-of-age while on a revenge quest like a porny, knock off Dr. Harley Quinn. I also noticed PoC reviewers being very uncomfortable with the decision to give the Marquis a black void-face, and I agree that it's racist and creepy. Third, and this is perhaps because of my other two objections, the narrative seemed to lack...sparkle. London Below is supposed to be a gleaming, psychedelic History Channel wonderland, but the comic fell flat. I don't think it was the medium: look at what reality-bending SANDMAN achieves.

In any case, while I did mostly enjoy the comic, I'm not eager to look up any of Carey's other work.

While reading Aphrodite IX, I continuously made an "ehhhhhhhhh" noise. While the art is eye-catching and colorful, the level of detailing is inconsistent. In some places, you can count every scale and feather and fleck of light; in others, there's an almost bizarre generic-ness.

It was the story that docked down my rating count though. The comic began with a frickton of backstory, which would make the world of APHRODITE IX an awesome D&D game, but it's not a very good comic book series beginning. While Aphrodite IX the character may be a super awesome badass, she's literally a tool with a male "handler" pushing some mental buttons to make her do things. The art was also overly objectifying, with a ridiculous amount of bendy butt-and-boobs poses for the women and standard staring-into-the-distance-while-pontificating for the dudebros.

Eh. I'll read more if I bump into the series again, but I'm not going to make a point to find the next issue.

I received this work through Humble Bundle and two words: Worth it.

Despite it's short length, the story encompasses much: All Hallow's pagan rituals, untimely cell phone noises, a stick 'em up, caring cops, and sudden compassion. The reader can sense, if not understand, the undercurrents of mystery and magic flowing under Detective Black's dry humor. Plus: the art. Gorgeous, lovely art.

In short: read, read, read!

While I really like this series, with the intro of the Happosai, that started to get annoyed. While Ranma is still young and into the gender binary ("I wouldn't hit a GIRL!" "You're a macho chick!"), he's kinda young and I'm hoping as the series progresses so do this views. But then, Happosai...WHY. WHY DID WE NEED A WOMANIZING CHARACTER. Why is he ever allowed or tolerated. He is so freaking problematic and gross. Should've stayed stealed in his rock tomb where he belongs, Jesus.

The Romeo and Juliet play saved me though. I loved everything going on with that, from Ranma's use of his gender-switching abilities to his confession that kissing Akane really matters. I'm really reading the series for those two.

I literally scared other bookstore patrons off with the amount of giggles and gufaws I let escape while reading this.

This book was more devoted to martial arts wackiness. You can really tell Takahashi had so much fun creating this series, because it's downright ridiculous and hilarious.

First, I love the premise. It's amazing and lovely and I wouldn't mind if it happened to me. I like the hijinks, fun nature. The art is good, though Takahashi falls into her usual pit of all the females being the same except for their hairstyles. The martial arts is well-portrayed though.

Overall, it's a great read for any middle or high schoolers in your life, so if you're looking for a holiday or birthday gift, grab a copy!