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tshepiso's Reviews (740)
Coming back to Claremont Uncanny X-Men always feels like coming home and this volume was jam packed with fantastic stories; from the iconic God Loves, Man Kills to the first ever Wolverine solo series and the introduction of the Morlocks and Madelyne Pryor. I loved every single page!
I think its best to tackle this volume in parts so I'll start with God Loves, Man Kills. The seminal graphic novel is... a lot, to say the least. It's brutal in a way that's very out of step with a standard Uncanny X-Men issue with on-page child murder and Professor X on a crucifix. But unlike some darker comic book fair its edge added to the overall storytelling. The book is a mythic tale about the extremes of mutant prejudice. And while some choices (like Kitty using racial slurs to chastise her black teacher) didn't hit the mark, overall it was a powerful story well told. I especially adored the Bent Anderson and Steve Oliff's endlessly striking watercolour art style. There's a stunning expressionism to it that evoked emotion beautifully.
The other standalone graphic novel in the volume was Wolverine solo mini-series. I was hesitant about this story because I didn't know how I'd feel about Frank Miller as an artist and Wolverine as a standalone character, but thankfully my fears were assuaged. Like God Loves, Man Kills Wolverine is tonally distinct from Uncanny but Claremont strong command of voice and razor sharp vision made for a great reading experience. Here we delve into Wolverine's psyche as he attempts to win the hand of his love Lady Mariko. What I liked most about this mini is how we dive in to Logan's perspective on his monstrousness. His pathos is deeply compelling and the tragedy of his circumstances is moving. Frank Miller's art is also just stunning. He has a complete command of effective panelling and effortlessly crafts vivid and striking imagery.
The rest of the volume follows the standard adventures of the X-Men and Claremont really hits his stride here. A major highlight is Storms arc throughout the volume. Seeing her loose her sense of self and reform her identity into something harsher and meaner was so fascinating. Her battle with Callisto is easily one of the coolest moments in the entire series.
I also adored the convoluted and bonkers nature of Scott's relationship with Madelyne Pryor. Falling in love with the identical clone of your dead girlfriend is the exact kind of comic book goofiness I love and Claremont does it beautifully. What's most fascinating about this arc is how well emotions of their relationship are realized. These two get married days after their first meeting but it never actually feels contrived and the mystery surrounding it all is deeply compelling.
Other highlights include the introduction of Paul Smith and Bob Wiacek as the lead penciller and inkers for Uncanny. Their style is graceful and I swear I've never seen comic hair more beautiful than Paul Smith hair. They easily join the ranks of Terry Austin and John Byrne as stellar X-Men artists.
While all of this sounds like a lot of story packed into a relatively scant amount of issues Claremont handles interweaving storylines with the deft hand of a season writer. I'm always in awe of his of endlessly engaging vibrant storytelling and I can't wait to dive deeper into his X-Men stories.
While New Mutants understandably didn't reach the heights of Uncanny X-Men in its first volume it did have sparks of potential. This was a great introduction to a fresh young set of mutant characters. I especially connected to Dani Moonstar the fiery Cheyenne mutant with psychic powers.
The plots themselves weren't the best of Claremont's work. He leaned into tropes I don't love like the fridging of Roberto's girlfriend Juliana for pathos. And elements of characters like Xi'an Coy Manh's backstory weren't as cleanly delivered as I would have liked. But I'm definitely keen to learn more about the New Mutants and dive more into these beloved characters.
The plots themselves weren't the best of Claremont's work. He leaned into tropes I don't love like the fridging of Roberto's girlfriend Juliana for pathos. And elements of characters like Xi'an Coy Manh's backstory weren't as cleanly delivered as I would have liked. But I'm definitely keen to learn more about the New Mutants and dive more into these beloved characters.
The Latch Key was a brief but lovely story delivering into Elias (the Lord Sorcier of Half a Soul) as a father. We alternate between flashbacks of Elias' childhood with his malicious fairy father and Elias's current struggle with fatherhood. I was really drawn in to Elias' childhood. Olivia Atwater is great at invoking that fairytale vibe with trials, fairy logic, and outsmarting evil monsters.
I do wish there was a touch more of Elias relationship with his ward Abigail, but what we got was sweet. The ultimate message of learning to understand rather than domineering over your child was well received by me.
I do wish there was a touch more of Elias relationship with his ward Abigail, but what we got was sweet. The ultimate message of learning to understand rather than domineering over your child was well received by me.
The Lawrence Browne Affair is more of Cat Sebastian's romance excellence. In it we follow Georgie Turner a rogue making a living scamming the upper crust of London. That is until he crosses his dangerous boss Mattie Brewster. To keep the heat of his back and protect his family Georgie escapes to Cornwall taking a job as secretary to Lawrence Browne a genius inventor and the allegedly mad Earl of Radnor.
This book had Cat Sebastian's signature excellent character writing. I was quickly sucked into Georgie and Lawrence's inner angst. Georgie's arc centres his growing revulsion with the man he has become. He feels inherently unworthy of love because of his lifetime of scamming and he has to overcome that and his fear about where of the rest of his life lays if he leaves his criminal life behind throughout the course of the novel.
Lawrence, in a parallel arc, contends with his alleged "madness". It becomes clear to Georgie and the audience that what Lawrence sees as madness is a combination of some flavour of autism and internalized homophobia. Seeing him break down the lies told to him by his family and society and learn to imagine a full life was beautiful. I loved that Georgie telling Lawrence he wasn't crazy didn't instantly fix his self perception and that the symptoms of his disability like his severe sensitivity to noise, exclusively eating safe foods, and discomfort in social situations weren't magically erased by the power of love.
A lesser author could have taken the easy route, but Sebastian's deft hand in constructing meaningful conflict made Lawrence and Georgie's hard won romance all the more satisfying. Impatient readers might deride Sebastian's use of the miscommunication trope, especially in the back half of the novel, but I loved her character specific understanding of why people don't just say what they feel when they feel it. Another thing that makes this book so great is the excellent tension building. Lawrence and Georgie's instant attraction was sizzling and had me waiting with bated breath at every glance and hand touch.
The Lawrence Browne Affair is a great romance and a great novel. Cat Sebastian's intimate understanding of compelling character writing and deft control of narrative tension and pacing made for an amazing read.
This book had Cat Sebastian's signature excellent character writing. I was quickly sucked into Georgie and Lawrence's inner angst. Georgie's arc centres his growing revulsion with the man he has become. He feels inherently unworthy of love because of his lifetime of scamming and he has to overcome that and his fear about where of the rest of his life lays if he leaves his criminal life behind throughout the course of the novel.
Lawrence, in a parallel arc, contends with his alleged "madness". It becomes clear to Georgie and the audience that what Lawrence sees as madness is a combination of some flavour of autism and internalized homophobia. Seeing him break down the lies told to him by his family and society and learn to imagine a full life was beautiful. I loved that Georgie telling Lawrence he wasn't crazy didn't instantly fix his self perception and that the symptoms of his disability like his severe sensitivity to noise, exclusively eating safe foods, and discomfort in social situations weren't magically erased by the power of love.
A lesser author could have taken the easy route, but Sebastian's deft hand in constructing meaningful conflict made Lawrence and Georgie's hard won romance all the more satisfying. Impatient readers might deride Sebastian's use of the miscommunication trope, especially in the back half of the novel, but I loved her character specific understanding of why people don't just say what they feel when they feel it. Another thing that makes this book so great is the excellent tension building. Lawrence and Georgie's instant attraction was sizzling and had me waiting with bated breath at every glance and hand touch.
The Lawrence Browne Affair is a great romance and a great novel. Cat Sebastian's intimate understanding of compelling character writing and deft control of narrative tension and pacing made for an amazing read.
Superman: The Man of Steel, Vol. 3
Mike Machlan, Karl Kesel, Marv Wolfman, Dick Giordano, John Byrne, Jerry Ordway, Terry Austin
I hate to say it but I think I'm loosing steam with Byrne and Wolfman's Superman run. While this volume has its moments, for the most part the stories didn't grab me enough to stick in my head and didn't didn't introduce anything I'd like to see further explored.
The highlight the volume is definitely John Byrnes and Jerry Ordway's art. They both really are masters of their craft in terms of crafting consistently iconic imagery, clean composition, and dynamic art overall. Unfortunately, the lowlights include things like very of the time Bloodsport story, the consistently convoluted cat people storyline and lack of engaging character moments overall
Honestly I don't think there's anything particularly bad about this comic run, and I'll definitely give volume 4 a chance to see if anything hooks me, but overall nothing about the storylines here really grabbed me.
The highlight the volume is definitely John Byrnes and Jerry Ordway's art. They both really are masters of their craft in terms of crafting consistently iconic imagery, clean composition, and dynamic art overall. Unfortunately, the lowlights include things like very of the time Bloodsport story, the consistently convoluted cat people storyline and lack of engaging character moments overall
Honestly I don't think there's anything particularly bad about this comic run, and I'll definitely give volume 4 a chance to see if anything hooks me, but overall nothing about the storylines here really grabbed me.
Spinning Silver completely sucked me in. I fervently read most of this book in the span of 12 hours and loved every minute of it. The book is a fairytale-esque Eastern European inspired fantasy following three interwoven narratives. We primarily follow Miryem, an uncompromising moneylender trapped in a deadly bargain with the fae-like Staryk to turn silver into gold. We also see Wanda, Miryem's maid, and the daughter of a drunken brute who uses the opportunity employment provides to build a better life for herself and her brothers. And finally Irina the plain daughter of a duke ensnared in a marriage with a demon possessed prince attempting to kill her.
Everything about Spinning Silver is utterly engrossing. Novik blends fairytale trials, political machinations and interpersonal drama perfectly. As a lover of East of the Sun West of the Moon retellings I was most captured by Miryem's time in the Staryk kingdom. Novik prose captures endless winter kingdom beautifully and the bizarre almost nonsense logic of the long lived magical people. But even though I adored our time spent in the faerie realm I was also hooked by the wider political plot of Irina's point of view and the small town social tensions more anchored in Wanda's. Despite our POVs often following very different people in wildly different circumstances Novik managed to tell a cohesive gripping story that kept me frantically turning pages until the end.
What I loved most about this book is how thoroughly Novik engages in feminist themes. Most feminist fantasy I encounter is often shallow and unnuanced but here Novik richly explores the ways the lives of women in this pseudo-medieval Eastern European-inspired setting are controlled by the circumstances of patriarchy. Novik starkly presents the ways men and misogyny dictate the fates of the women in the story and also demonstrates Miryem, Wanda, and Irina's cleverness and ingenuity in navigating a world that wasn't built for their emancipation. Plus Novik never feels the need to anachronistically transplant modern sentiments into the perspective of our leads and even admirably complicates the 'women-good, men-bad' framework as the story progresses.
Spinning Silver is also the first fantasy book I've read with an explicitly jewish protagonist that unpacks antisemitism and its impact on-page. And wonderfully Novik never shies away from the joy of community Miryem has and the strength her faith provides her in her hardest moments.
Overall, Spinning Silver is just a stunning book. Novik's prose is elegant and transportive and she crafts a wonderfully rich endlessly enthralling tale.
Everything about Spinning Silver is utterly engrossing. Novik blends fairytale trials, political machinations and interpersonal drama perfectly. As a lover of East of the Sun West of the Moon retellings I was most captured by Miryem's time in the Staryk kingdom. Novik prose captures endless winter kingdom beautifully and the bizarre almost nonsense logic of the long lived magical people. But even though I adored our time spent in the faerie realm I was also hooked by the wider political plot of Irina's point of view and the small town social tensions more anchored in Wanda's. Despite our POVs often following very different people in wildly different circumstances Novik managed to tell a cohesive gripping story that kept me frantically turning pages until the end.
What I loved most about this book is how thoroughly Novik engages in feminist themes. Most feminist fantasy I encounter is often shallow and unnuanced but here Novik richly explores the ways the lives of women in this pseudo-medieval Eastern European-inspired setting are controlled by the circumstances of patriarchy. Novik starkly presents the ways men and misogyny dictate the fates of the women in the story and also demonstrates Miryem, Wanda, and Irina's cleverness and ingenuity in navigating a world that wasn't built for their emancipation. Plus Novik never feels the need to anachronistically transplant modern sentiments into the perspective of our leads and even admirably complicates the 'women-good, men-bad' framework as the story progresses.
Spinning Silver is also the first fantasy book I've read with an explicitly jewish protagonist that unpacks antisemitism and its impact on-page. And wonderfully Novik never shies away from the joy of community Miryem has and the strength her faith provides her in her hardest moments.
Overall, Spinning Silver is just a stunning book. Novik's prose is elegant and transportive and she crafts a wonderfully rich endlessly enthralling tale.
Honey & Spice was the perfect squee-inducing, toe-curling, heart-palpitating romance. Here we follow self-confident college radio show host Kiki Banjo who is certain she has no interest in engaging in the romantic games of her fellow Blackwellians partake in. Until she meets the devilishly handsome and unbelievably smooth Malakai Korede. A series of unfortunate circumstances leads them to engaging in a fake relationship to boost ratings for Kiki's radio show and improve Malakai's wasteman reputation around campus. And as expected the two quickly fall for each other despite their initial animosity.
Honey & Spice is an excellent romance. Equal parts funny, steamy and sincere. Bolu Babalola is great at diving into the nuances and hidden depths of her characters. And I loved peeling back the layers of Kiki's stone cold facade and Makakai's playboy antics. I also adore how unapologetically black and British this book is. While I'm not Nigerian like Kiki and Malakai as a fellow African immigrant and someone close to a lot of West Africans I adored how Bolu Babalola steeped this novel in black British culture with no need to water down or overly explain it for unfamiliar audiences.
Honey & Spice was a great romance. Babalola perfectly teased out the flaws and vulnerabilities of our two leads and completely sold me on their romance. I highly recommend it.
Honey & Spice is an excellent romance. Equal parts funny, steamy and sincere. Bolu Babalola is great at diving into the nuances and hidden depths of her characters. And I loved peeling back the layers of Kiki's stone cold facade and Makakai's playboy antics. I also adore how unapologetically black and British this book is. While I'm not Nigerian like Kiki and Malakai as a fellow African immigrant and someone close to a lot of West Africans I adored how Bolu Babalola steeped this novel in black British culture with no need to water down or overly explain it for unfamiliar audiences.
Honey & Spice was a great romance. Babalola perfectly teased out the flaws and vulnerabilities of our two leads and completely sold me on their romance. I highly recommend it.
Just Friends was a sweet manga. It definitely fits the mold of teen coming of age comics and I was especially charmed by its slow building romance. Ana Oncina is great at capturing the messy feelings of adolescence and that first real relationship and the big feelings involved.
I will say I wasn't quite as fond with the overall frame narrative that scaffolded the story. While seeing our protagonists older and picking apart their messy years long situationship was occasionally interesting it felt too tonally distinct from the main story thread.
While Just Friends wasn't perfect I'd recommend it to anyone fond of tender queer coming of age narratives and fans of authors like Mariko Tamaki.
I will say I wasn't quite as fond with the overall frame narrative that scaffolded the story. While seeing our protagonists older and picking apart their messy years long situationship was occasionally interesting it felt too tonally distinct from the main story thread.
While Just Friends wasn't perfect I'd recommend it to anyone fond of tender queer coming of age narratives and fans of authors like Mariko Tamaki.
I think Fine Print Vol. 2 is where Stjepan Šejić has really hit his stride in the series. I'll be honest I'm mainly reading this comic for the demon sex but I do enjoy well rendered characters, well structured plot and interesting worldbuilding in my smut too. I've become more and more gripped by the world of Fine Print. The overall lore of the underworld and the overarching political machinations of various groups really captured me in this volume. I'll definitely be keeping up with the rest of this series!
The Fire Next Time was a dense but engaging read. I'll admit it took me much longer than expected to get through this book and I'm sure I've missed some things but what I grasped was fascinating. Here Baldwin weaves personal essay with examinations of race, adolescence, and religion. I most connected with Baldwin's descriptions of the discomfort of finding your identity as teenager and the various forces attempting to suck you into predetermined path. I'm definitely going to be picking this one up again in the future and I'm sure to gain new and deeper insights on a reread.