Batman: Earth One preview

Title: Batman: Earth One preview

Author: Geoff Johns and Gary Frank

Publisher:  DC Comics 2012

Genre: Graphic Novel; Superheroes

Pages: 27

Rating:  4 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fall into Reading; Mount TBR

How I Got It: iBooks free download

Batman is not a hero.He is just a man.

Fallible, vulnerable, and angry.

In a Gotham City where friend and foe are indistinguishable, Bruce Wayne’s path toward becoming the Dark Knight is riddled with more obstacles than ever before. Focused on punishing his parents’ true killers, and the corrupt police that allowed them to go free, Bruce Wayne’s thirst for vengeance fuels his mad crusade and no one, not even Alfred, can stop him.

In the tradition of the #1 New York Times bestselling Superman: Earth One, writer Geoff Johns and artist Gary Frank re-imagine a new mythology for the Dark Knight, where the familiar is no longer the expected in this long-awaited original graphic novel from DC Comics.

After reading this little preview of the longer Batman: Earth One volume, I might actually read some of the superhero comics.  So far, I’ve stayed away.  But I really enjoyed the idea of The Dark Knight.  While I love Adam West’s slightly zany Batman, the darker side of Batman has held much more pull with me.  Plus this volume is beautifully drawn.  Everything is a bit dark, but very clear and readable.  Enjoyable few moments.

 

The Boys: The Bloody Doors Off

Title: The Boys Vol 12: The Bloody Doors Off

Author: Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson, and Russ Braun

Publisher: Dynamite 2012

Genre: Graphic Novel

Pages: 170

Rating:  5 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Mount TBR; Fall into Reading

How I Got It: J owns it

The war is over and the world is saved. The supes have been beaten down so far they’ll never get up again. So why would anyone want one hundred and eighteen metric tons of the only substance on earth that can kill them all stone dead? Bad days start coming thick and fast, as the Boys are caught in the last throes of the battle they were recruited to fight so long ago. Hughie, all on his own and out of luck, finds himself walking down one last bloody trail – and the truth he finds waiting for him at the end of it will be nothing short of shattering! Billy Butcher’s vengeance comes full circle, in this twelfth and final entry in the story of The Boys.

Wow!  What an ending!  I have to admit that I did not see that coming at all.  Of course there was always something else at play throughout the volumes, but I did not suspect.  It was nice to have an actual conclusion.  No major cliffhangers, not major questions.   Everything doesn’t end happily ever after, but I didn’t expect it would.  Instead, the ending makes sense for the story and the world.  I’ve really enjoyed this series.  Sure it’s violent, but deep down it’s a political thriller, a mystery.  I loved it!

The Boys:

1. The Name of the Game
2. Get Some
3. Good for the Soul
4. We Gotta Go Now
5. Herogasm
6. The Self-Preservation Society
7. The Innocents
8. Highland Laddie
9. The Big Ride
10. Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker
11. Over the Hill with the Sword of a Thousand Men
12. The Bloody Doors Off

 

Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love

Title: Cinderella Vol. 1: From Fabletown with Love

Author: Chris Roberson and Shawn McManus

Publisher: Vertigo 2010

Genre: Graphic Novel; Fantasy

Pages: 144

Rating:  5 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Fables Series; Mount TBR

When supernatural artifacts from the Homelands begin surfacing in the modern world, it falls to Cinderella, Fabletown’s best kept (and best dressed) secret agent to stop the illegal trafficking. But can Cindy foil the dark plot before Fabletown and its hidden, exiled inhabitants are exposed once and for all? Whether she’s soaring through clouds, deep-sea diving, or cracking jaws, Cindy travels from Manhattan to Dubai and hooks up with a handsome, familiar accomplice who may be harboring secret motives of his own. Meanwhile, trouble brews back home in Fabletown when Cindy’s overworked, under appreciated assistant decides to seize control of The Glass Slipper, Cindy’s exclusive shoe boutique.

A spin-off from the regular series, we get to know Cindy the spy just a bit better.  I loved the spy novel/Bond movie feel to the entire series.  Cindy is sarcastic, smart, funny, and down right dangerous.  I love her.  As much as I like Snow White in the regular series, Cindy is a whole new breed of Fable.  And I love how her cover in Fabletown is an affair with Beast and the vapid owner of a shoe store.  Nice cover Cindy!  It makes her real personality so much more fun.  I will definitely be adding the other Cinderella series, Fables are Forever, to my TBR list for next year.

Cinderella:

1. From Fabletown with Love
2. Fables are Forever

 

Sandman Volume 5: A Game of You

Title: Sandman Volume 5: A Game of You

Author: Neil Gaiman

Publisher: DC Comics 1993

Genre: Graphic Novel

Pages: 192

Rating:  4 /5 stars

Reading Challenges: Graphic Novel; My Years — 1993

How I Got It: Library loan

Volume Five of New York Times best selling author Neil Gaiman’s acclaimed creation THE SANDMAN collects one of the series’ most beloved storylines.

Take an apartment house, add in a drag queen, a lesbian couple, some talking animals, a talking severed head, a confused heroine and the deadly Cuckoo. Stir vigorously with a hurricane and Morpheus himself and you get this fifth installment of the SANDMAN series. This story stars Barbie, who first makes an appearance in THE DOLL’S HOUSE and now finds herself a princess in a vivid dreamworld.

An all-encompassing storyline told through five chapters.  I loved this story.  I loved Barbie and Wanda and Foxglove and Hazel and Thessaly and all of Barbie’s toys.  The only thing I wanted more of — Dream.  I love him as a character.  I was just upset to not really see him until the last chapter.  Unfortunately I’m all out of volumes for the time being.  I need to get back to the library for the rest.

Sandman
1. Preludes and Nocturnes
2. The Doll’s House 
3. Dream Country 
4. Season of Mists
5. A Game of You
6. Fables and Reflections
7. The Brief Lives
8. World’s End
9. The Kindly Ones
10. The Wake
11. The Dream Hunters (with Amano Yoshitaka)
12. Endless Nights

 

Persepolis: The Story of a Return by Marjane Satrapi

Title: Persepolis: The Story of a Return

Author: Marjane Satrapi

Publisher: Pantheon 2004

Genre: Graphic Novel

Pages: 188

Rating:  5 /5 stars

Reading Challenges: Graphic Novel; My Years — 2004

How I Got It: Library loan

In Persepolis, heralded by the Los Angeles Times as “one of the freshest and most original memoirs of our day,” Marjane Satrapi dazzled us with her heartrending memoir-in-comic-strips about growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. Here is the continuation of her fascinating story. In 1984, Marjane flees fundamentalism and the war with Iraq to begin a new life in Vienna. Once there, she faces the trials of adolescence far from her friends and family, and while she soon carves out a place for herself among a group of fellow outsiders, she continues to struggle for a sense of belonging.

I thought that the last volume pulled at my heart.  This one tops it.  I was right there with Marjane as she struggled to find herself alone in a foreign city.  Every time she she faced another setback, my heart broke just a little bit.  Once she was back in Iran, things didn’t automatically get better.  While I’ve never felt completely out of place, I empathize with her journey.  The two volumes create a beautiful picture an Iranian woman’s life through tumultuous times.  A must read.

 

Sandman Volume 4: Season of Mists

Title: Sandman Volume 4: Season of Mists

Author: Neil Gaiman

Publisher: DC Comics 1992

Genre: Graphic Novel

Pages: 224

Rating:   5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Graphic Novel; Support Your Local LIbrary; My Years — 1992

How I Got It: Library loan

Volume Four of New York Times best selling author Neil Gaiman’s acclaimed creation, with updated coloring and new trade dress. Ten thousand years ago, Morpheus condemned a woman who loved him to Hell. Now the other members of his immortal family, The Endless, have convinced the Dream King that this was an injustice. To make it right, Morpheus must return to Hell to rescue his banished love – and Hell’s ruler, the fallen angel Lucifer, has already sworn to destroy him.

A great pick-up from Volume 3.  I loved Dream’s journey to Hell and all the characters he meets along the way.  We get another appearance from Death (my favorite of the Endless).  And we meet Lucifer again.  He is an interesting character; one that I really can’t figure out.  I also loved the reappearance of his banished love.  We met her in a previous volume. I can’t wait to see what happens next on the journey.

Sandman
1. Preludes and Nocturnes
2. The Doll’s House 
3. Dream Country 
4. Season of Mists
5. A Game of You
6. Fables and Reflections
7. The Brief Lives
8. World’s End
9. The Kindly Ones
10. The Wake
11. The Dream Hunters (with Amano Yoshitaka)
12. Endless Nights

 

Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi

Title: Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood

Author: Marjane Satrapi

Publisher: Pantheon 2003

Genre: Graphic Novel

Pages: 154

Rating:  5/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Graphic Novel

How I Got It: Library loan

Wise, funny, and heartbreaking, Persepolis is Marjane Satrapi’s memoir of growing up in Iran during the Islamic Revolution. In powerful black-and-white comic strip images, Satrapi tells the story of her life in Tehran from ages six to fourteen, years that saw the overthrow of the Shah’s regime, the triumph of the Islamic Revolution, and the devastating effects of war with Iraq. The intelligent and outspoken only child of committed Marxists and the great-granddaughter of one of Iran’s last emperors, Marjane bears witness to a childhood uniquely entwined with the history of her country.

This is a beautifully constructed autobiography of life in a tumultuous time period.  I must admit that Iran’s history is not one of my strong points.  However, Satrapi weaves her story in such a way that I understand all the sides of the conflict.  Even through black and white drawings, I feel the pain and confusion Satrapi felt through her childhood.  I sped through this volume wanting to find out what happened to her.  We end with a cliffhanger, but thankfully there’s a second volume.

 

Sandman Volume 3: Dream Country

Title: Sandman Volume 3: Dream Country

Author: Neil Gaiman

Publisher: Vertigo 2010

Genre: Graphic Novel

Pages: 160

Rating:   4/5 stars

Reading Challenges: Graphic Novel; Support Your Local LIbrary

How I Got It: Library loan

The third book of the Sandman collection is a series of four short comic book stories. In each of these otherwise unrelated stories, Morpheus serves only as a minor character. Here we meet the mother of Morpheus’s son, find out what cats dream about, and discover the true origin behind Shakespeare’s A Midsummer’s Night Dream. The latter won a World Fantasy Award for best short story, the first time a comic book was given that honor.

This volume includes issues 17-20 of the original series and features completely new coloring, approved by the author, of issues 17 and 18.

Hmmm…  So I didn’t like this volume as much as the first two.  We get appearances by Dream, but the stories are stories of others.  I did enjoy the story featuring Death.  She is fast becoming my favorite character in the series.  Her spunk is a great contrast to her job.  I think my favorite part of the volume was actually the extras at the back.  We get an actual manuscript from Gaiman detailing the stories to be included.  They read like a play script with stage directions and character descriptions.  I find the journey from story to comic to be an interesting one.

Sandman
1. Preludes and Nocturnes
2. The Doll’s House 
3. Dream Country 
4. Season of Mists
5. A Game of You
6. Fables and Reflections
7. The Brief Lives
8. World’s End
9. The Kindly Ones
10. The Wake
11. The Dream Hunters (with Amano Yoshitaka)
12. Endless Nights

 

The Boys: Over the Hill with the Swords of a Thousand Men

Title: The Boys Vol 11: Over the Hill with the Swords of a Thousand Men

Author: Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson, and John McCrea

Publisher: Dynamite 2012

Genre: Graphic Novel

Pages: 144

Rating:  5 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Graphic Novel; Mount TBR; Read Your Name — O

How I Got It: J owns it

The first of The Boys’ two concluding stories is collected here, in “Over the Hill with the Swords of a Thousand Men”. By now you should know that The Boys is one of Dynamite’s most popular and critically acclaimed series, and that it’s coming to an end very soon. Don’t miss this 2nd-to-last collection, featuring issues #60-65, along with a complete cover art gallery by Darick Robertson.

OMG!  I knew this was going to be a nail biter and it didn’t disappoint.  I started to question why the people were a few issues ago and my questions have been partially answered.  I don’t want to give away the twists, but let’s just say that not all is what it seems.  I am on pins and needles for the last volume of the series.  The carnage is undeniable in this volume.  Be forewarned.

The Boys:

1. The Name of the Game
2. Get Some
3. Good for the Soul
4. We Gotta Go Now
5. Herogasm
6. The Self-Preservation Society
7. The Innocents
8. Highland Laddie
9. The Big Ride
10. Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker
11. Over the Hill with the Sword of a Thousand Men
12. TBR

 

The Boys: Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker

Title: The Boys Vol 10: Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker

Author: Garth Ennis, Darick Robertson, and John McCrea

Publisher: Dynamite 2012

Genre: Graphic Novel

Pages: 144

Rating:  5 / 5 stars

Reading Challenges: Graphic Novel; Mount TBR; A to Z — E

How I Got It: J owns it

The story of Billy Butcher, the Boys” mysterious leader, is told at last! From the backstreets of London”s East End to the carnage of the Falklands War, from the heights of love to the depths of tragedy, the most violent man in comics reveals the terrible nature of the forces that drive him. And when he”s done, he”ll be ready – to finish things once and for all! Collects the hit 6-issue mini-series of 2011, along with a complete cover gallery and bonus material.

All through the series I have wondered how Butcher became Butcher.  What makes him the way he is?  I know that Hughie has always wondered.  And know at the eve of the end, we finally get his story.  I loved it.  Now I understand.  I see why he is the way he is now.  I don’t know if I would have made the same choices, but it’s his life.  Look at me talking like Butcher’s real.  This series has really gotten under my skin.  I want to see how all of this will be resolved.  I know it won’t be pretty or happily ever after, but I have to know.

The Boys:

1. The Name of the Game
2. Get Some
3. Good for the Soul
4. We Gotta Go Now
5. Herogasm
6. The Self-Preservation Society
7. The Innocents
8. Highland Laddie
9. The Big Ride
10. Butcher, Baker, Candlestickmaker
11. Over the Hill with the Sword of a Thousand Men
12. TBR