I was only familiar with the Black Panther from a) occasional times when he popped up with Storm in X-Men books and b) the recent Civil War movie. But I really liked him in the movie so I figured I'd check out some comics. And, like, these are from the 90s but they still mostly felt super fresh and funny to me. (There are a few things-some mildly homophobic elements, some ~gangbangers in the projects~ that haven't held up quite as well, but a lot of the political talk about the US/UN overlooking Wakanda and black Americans looking for representation, etc still really works.)

The Dora Milaje felt a littttle sketch...mostly like, Ross as narrator admiring T'Challa for not boning his teenage bodyguards, because if Ross had the chance, he'd be all over that...was...well, sketch. But some of that seemed to be intentionally setting Ross up as kind of a sketchy guy? But I think...I thought it was sketchier than the narrative did. I mean I love the concept of badass lady bodyguards, but do they have to be sexy teens? Could they be sexy adult ladies? Like in the MOVIEEEEEEEE. That said: Queen Divine Justice 4eva

But! Anyway! I still really liked this and like I said, it mostly still feels really fresh to me, a great mix of ~political intrigue~ and ~superhero business~ and ~bureaucracy jokes~.

This was only reprinted recently-ish and I'd definitely recommend it as a purchase to libraries btw!

I'm not the biggest DC nor Superman fan, but I am a pretty big fan of Gene Yang so I picked this up. It was pretty fun! I obviously missed some stuff leading up to this but I think I got the gist of it, and I thought the ~human Superman~ (after he uses his Solar Flare power he becomes functionally human, because, sure) at the bar with the Justice League was pretty adorbs. Also

Spoiler

don't fight, Clark and Lois!! AHHH

I would probably read the next volume of this mostly to see how (above spoiler) resolves.

This was gorgeous and hopeful and sad. Really evocative of how important friendship and community are to teens (well, it's important to everyone, but maybe especially teens) and how great it is when you find people to click with. Just...feelings.

Also it's so great that the cover model is a trans girl! So often covers can fail at representing the characters properly, so extra ups to that.

what kind of nerd I am: just posted in the GoodReads librarians group asking someone to please change the title of this to "Ghosts of Cyclops" instead of "Ghost of the Cyclops." C'MON FELLOW NERDS. (update: yesss)

anyway, this was a lot of fun and promises some really interesting directions for the series! literally (because roadtrip) and figuratively!!!!!!

I always thought Laura and Warren's relationship was kinda WTF but also, like, I just want Laura to be HAPPY. But this arc seemed very...plausible for them. But maybe they can grow from it!! Or maybe Laura can find some other path to happiness ;_;

also can't we just let Blob eat. Just let him eat. He's hungry.

PS I STILL LOVE LARA JEAN <333

so sweet and funny and relatable ahhh

I think maybe my expectations were too high? I mean, this was funny of course, but I was expecting it to be like... hysterical. I guess. IDK. Also I think by the time I actually got my hands on the book, I'd already read the best bits on the internet.

But still, funny and a lot of great points about feminism and comedy, etc. Hurrah!

I couldn't put this down! It's so compelling and dark and FUNNY. I loved how complicated Reshma was as a protagonist--how you can totally see where she's coming from, given her surroundings, but also how over the top she is, even for a Silicon Valley very competitive high school.

I also liked the way racism against Asian students specifically was addressed--not something I've seen much in YA fiction.

The whole meta-narrative schtick really worked for me, too--I could see it being a little too twee for some readers but I think a lot of teens especially like that kind of 4th wall breaking. (See: Deadpool's popularity.)

Kids and teachers KEPT telling me that they loved this book and I HAD to read it, and I've been kind of hesitant for awhile because the description sounded a little bit "inspirational disability tragedy porn" to me, but I finally checked it out and it is more than that.

I also wonder how well the technology here will hold up--it's such a big moment when Melody finally gets her Medi-Speak board, and all the kids are very impressed with it, but now text-to-speech is so common (I know there are still specialized products for disabled people but the general concept probably would not be so mind-blowing now as it is to Melody's classmates). BUT that's a pretty minor point. I like that the friendship making doesn't seem as cut-and-dried as, cough, Wonder. It does end on kind of a shitty note for Melody...which is maybe more realistic, but also kind of rough? But, you know, 6th grade is another year.

ALSO extra points to this for being a book about quiz bowl, which is obviously the best of all extracurricular activities ;)

This was fun and charming, like Lando Calrissian himself.

Also are those 2 twin assassins like...space copies of the Black Panther or am I crazy

Spoiler

I feel like I don't remember enough about Lobot (Lando's...friend? in Cloud City) to tell if I'm supposed to be sad about this? Like is it positing that Lobot was turned into like a full-on robot or is this sort of a cliffhanger and he'll be restored to his old personality in further books?? What even is Lobot??

So fun! I love this diverse crew of scrappy Gotham teens (and the Batgirl cameo!!) I really like the trend of superhero comics using social media as part of their storytelling, and I think this does it really well. It also reminds me of what I like best about Ms. Marvel--just these teens determined to make a difference in their town <3

Would enthusiastically hand to all teen (and adult) Batman (and Batgirl) fans!