Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Volume 1 Review

Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Volume 1. Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Robert Hack. 2016. Archie Comics. 160 pages.

Rating: 4/5

I never expected to enjoy an Archie comic quite as much as I did Sabrina. If you're like me and the only experience you've had with the character is the ABC TV series, you can still get quite a bit out of this book. There are some familiar characters and it expands on Sabrina's story in a unique way.

The premise for this book is that witches like the ones that were persecuted in early America are real and worship Satan. In fact, this is tied into the history of the characters, which made the book stronger to me. There are little things the creators included that tie back to this fact as well. It's not going to change the story if you miss them though.

Anyway, Sabrina's mother and father are out of the picture so she resides with her aunts. Given the nature of the relationship between Sabrina's parents, they decide to move to another area and join a different coven. They prepare her to become a bride of Satan on her 16th birthday. Of course things don't go as smoothly as expected.

As much as I enjoyed the story, I felt conflicted on the art. It fit the time period wonderfully. Sometimes the character faces seemed off and that was a little jarring. The coloring is done well, but towards the end of the book it gets a little sloppy. This may have been intentional to match what is going on. It just didn't work for me. The book is worth checking out to read something different.

Bending Steel Review

Bending Steel. Aldo J. Regalado. 2015. University of Mississippi Press. 288 pages.

Rating: 4/5

Disclaimer: I received a free ecopy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book a lot. It starts out slow and can be a bit dry at times. There is a lot of material that introduces the comic book superhero. Once the author gets through that and into the meat of the book, things get interesting quick.

This feels like it was approached similar to an academic paper to some degree. It starts out by looking at early American adventure stories. He examines character tropes, themes, and cultural influences that shaped these stories and ultimately led to the creation of superheroes. The book benefits from this because it is very thoughtful and thorough. But it has the potential to turn off readers that are more interested in the later periods discussed.

The payoff to this slow buildup is worth it though. The author is able to draw comparisons between those earlier pieces and their creators with the superheroes that came out in comic books and those creators. He does give a good overview of the history of comic books as well. That information might not be as useful to diehard fans that are familiar with it. I felt like it was well presented and gave me a lot of knowledge that I didn't already have.

There is a bit of focus on major comic book series from Marvel and DC. This works well to establish the tone of the books and eras discussed. I would have liked some mention of independent comic books that follow along the path that he creates through the book. Overall this is a great read for anyone that has an interest in comic books, specifically superheroes.

X-O Manowar Volume 1 Review

X-O Manowar, Volume 1: By the Sword. Robert Venditti, Cary Nord, Stefano Gaudiano, and Moose Baumann. 2012. Valiant Entertainment. 112 pages.

Rating: 5/5

During the first issue, I was skeptical of this book. The writing is decent and the art didn't wow me. Things took off quickly with the second issue. By the end of the arc, I understood why this book got so much praise.

It begins in the 4th century with the Visigoths fighting the Romans. Aric of Dacia, who will become X-O Manowar, leads the charge. His people encounter aliens that they believe to be Roman soldiers and are captured. This shift changes the tone of the story.

A lot of time passes and the creators use that to establish the character and create some tension, including some dark moments. The Manowar armor that gives Aric his powers is important during this time, even before he gets it. And then there is his return to Earth, which was fantastic.

I didn't care for the art at first. It grew on me as the story progressed, but I I think it also developed during that time. The characters become a little more defined. Plus the portrayal of the aliens and their ship is great.

This was a great place for Valiant to kick off their new comics. It takes a classic character from the 90s, gives a good introduction to readers, and sets up their universe.

Dream Gang Review

Dream Gang. Brendan McCarthy. 2016. Dark Horse Originals. 120 pages.

Rating: 3/5

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book via Goodreads Giveaways in exchange for an honest review.

The entire story takes place within the dream world of a young man. He is recruited by a group to stop a being that is trying to become real and break out of the dream world.

There are parts of this book that are just weird, which would be okay except it is just hand waived away because of the setting. Part of the storytelling tries to bring the reader into the world. It falls flat in this regard because there is too much telling.

I'm glad I stuck with it though. Once things are set and we learn more about the main character, it gets a lot more interesting. There is some insight into his past, and the way the color is used ties into that really well.

The art takes advantage of the setting. Pretty much anything could show up there. I like some of the off the wall images that are used. There was probably a temptation to go overboard in this regard, but it doesn't drift off too far.

The Immortal Iron Fist, Volume 1 Review

The Immortal Iron Fist, Volume 1: The Last Iron Fist Story. Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, and David Aja. 2007. Marvel. 160 pages.

Rating: 4/5

I was skeptical about reading an Iron Fist book, but it came highly recommended. The only exposure I've had to this character before came from the Ultimate Spider-Man cartoon series. This take on the character is quite a bit different. And the creative team assigned to this book is amazing.

Basically, Danny Rand is the Iron Fist, but he isn't the first one. In fact, there have been quite a few people to take up the title before him. This book reveals that the previous Iron Fist is still around. Together, Danny and this other Iron Fist must fight off a group that is trying to kill the holder of the Iron Fist title.

This book feels complete because it isn't really about Danny Rand. It is about this other guy, but he has to get to Danny to pass on what he knows. So, we get to see his story unfold from how he became the Iron Fist and tried to step down to the present day. There are some cool uses of the Iron Fist powers that he gets to show off that readers probably haven't seen before. The story can get a little cheesy at times, but it is well done overall.

David Aja did the art on Hawkeye (written by Matt Fraction). The style here is very different. The coloring plays a part in that, but even the way the characters are drawn makes it distinct. I like what he does here a bit more and I can appreciate it better having seen an alternative. The style and coloring is much darker to fit the tone of the story. Compared to other Marvel titles it is pretty dark, but not when held up to some other books I've read.

I recommend this for anyone that likes stories with mystical elements. Plus, it feels like a good prep for the upcoming Netflix series.

The Fuse, Volume 1 Review

The Fuse, Volume 1: The Russia Shift. Antony Johnston and Justin Greenwood. 2014. Image Comics. 160 pages.

Rating: 4/5

I liked this a bit more than Codename Baboushka, which is the other book by Antony Johnston I've read. The Fuse has sci-fi elements, it takes place on a space station orbiting Earth, and combines those with a police drama, the protagonist, Dietrich, is a homicide detective.

It kicks off with a bang when a woman is found dead outside a dock on the station shortly after his shuttle arrives. The nice thing about this book is that the reader and the protagonist get to experience the space station for the first time together. So the implications of her death and people's reactions to it come about naturally within the story. This lets the creators explore the setting in a way that I found engrossing.

Yet, the story does unfold slowly at times. I felt like the pacing was good, but there were things that could have been tightened up a little bit. The way it is written actually works well for foreshadowing events and developing the characters. And the art sucked me in. It may not be the prettiest, but it has a grittiness that complements the story perfectly. Part of what made the characters work so well for me is the illustrations.

Fans of police procedurals will definitely want to check this out. I say bring on more.

Malice in Ovenland, Volume 1 Review

Malice in Ovenland, Volume 1. Micheline Hess. 2016. Rosarium Publishing. 128 pages.

Rating: 3/5

Disclaimer: I received a free ecopy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If the title didn't give it away, this is a play on Alice in Wonderland. Lily Brown is forced by her mother to do chores, which includes cleaning out the oven. She discovers a hole in the back of the oven and falls down a hole into a fantastic realm full of creatures that live by eating the grease and other bits that collect at the bottom of the oven.

Since Lily's mom decided to change their eating habits, these creatures have been starving. They capture Lily and put her on trial for the lack of food. She goes on a roaming adventure through this strange place. Ovenland and the creatures that populate it are the best part of this book. They are well crafted. I was amused by the whole structure of their society and how the impact this one family had on their lives.

Most of the characters are pretty flat though. This doesn't make them bad, but I do like to have characters that are a bit more dynamic. They are fitting for the audience, so there probably wouldn't be any complaints there. The art style didn't work for me either. I think a younger audience will like it, but it was too cartoony for me at times.

Homecoming, Volume 1 Review

Homecoming, Volume 1. David Wohl, Emilio Laiso, Brett Smith, and Josh Reed. 2016. Aspen MLT. 120 pages.

Rating: 3/5

I received this book in the August 2016 Comic Bento box. They stretched the theme, which is animals, to include this book. It features animals of a sort, but they are aliens. Once again, Aspen provided a variant cover for the trade in the Bento box.

The story is okay. A girl named Celeste that disappeared years ago returns to her childhood home, which is now occupied by another family. The young man, Hunter, that lives there takes her in while she tries to figure out her purpose. In the days leading up to the local high school's homecoming, a group of aliens attacks, targeting Celeste. Hunter's friends are injured and end up being transformed by Celeste. Together they are set to fight off an alien invasion.

I really liked the art on this book. Sometimes the Aspen books can have art that is over the top or just objectifying to women. There are some elements of that here, but the art makes sense within the story so it didn't bug me as much. Plus, the elements tied to the aliens are pretty cool.

I can see this book appealing to a teen audience, specifically young men.

Batgirl, Volume 4 Review

Batgirl, Volume 4: Wanted. Gail Simone, Fernando Pasarin, and Jonathan Glapion. 2014. DC Comics. 192 pages.

Rating: 4/5

It's been a while since I read the previous volume of Batgirl. I put it off because I just wasn't that impressed with the last two volumes. This one turns things around in my opinion and does a great job of bridging the various storylines together. I recommend reading the rest of the series first to get the most out of this book.

Jim Gordon is on the hunt for Batgirl after witnessing her killing a bad guy. At the same time, Barbara is struggling with the privilege of being Batgirl due to her actions. Meanwhile, Knightfall continues her battle against the criminals of Gotham City, which ultimately draws Batgirl back out.

There are some side stories here, but they don't stick out quite as much as those in the other volumes did. One features a villain called the ventriloquist. This one is pretty dark, but is put together superbly. The other looks back at Barbara's first steps toward becoming Batgirl during a disaster in Gotham. Interesting on its own. I felt like it was unnecessary for the character as a whole though.

Not surprisingly for a DC book, the art is great. There is quite a range within this book and it all works really well. This showcases Gotham at its darkest in a nice complement to where Batgirl is at throughout. I tend to focus on characterization when I'm reading, and that was done fantastically here. The struggle Batgirl goes through during this arc feels real. The other characters are interesting and help move the story along too, although the bad guys used in the big fight at the end aren't developed much.

This book moves away from the crossover events that the previous books fell into, and it is stronger for that. Batgirl takes center stage and stays there throughout.

Jurassic Strike Force 5

Jurassic Strike Force 5. Neo Edmund, Matt Rogers, and JL Giles-Rivera. 2013. Zenescope. 172 pages.

Rating: 1/5

This book came in the August 2016 Comic Bento box. The dinosaur characters fit the theme. I had a hard time getting into this one though.

The story and the way this is told reminds me of the cartoons I used to watch on Saturday mornings. It features five anthropomorphized dinosaurs and their human companion battling a villain with his own dinosaur troupe and bent on taking over the universe. It is pretty over the top at times. A group of humans find the bad guy locked away in the artic and open his prison to accidentally unleash him on the world. The good guys show up to stop him and much fighting happens.

There were a number of elements that made this book not for me. The drawings of the dinosaurs were cool. It was nice to see a range of different species represented. The humans felt off to me though, both in the art and the characterization. I could have done without them entirely. The plot is ridiculous, which usually doesn't bother me. My biggest problem came with the characters though. There are at least a dozen different characters featured and I feel like I learned nothing about them. This book is all about the action. I would have preferred more information on the characters and their relationships.

Xoc Review

Xoc: The Journey of a Great White. Matt Dembicki. 2012. Oni Press. 120 pages.

Rating: 5/5

Xoc was included in the August 2016 Comic Bento box. It fit the theme really well with a shark as the main character. The book follows Xoc on her journey beginning off the coast of California to her destination about 2,000 miles away. There are some very educational moments sprinkled throughout the book, even though they aren't called out as such.

The art is just beautiful and the colors bring everything to life. There are a few different interactions between Xoc and humans, though a couple are indirect. These can be sort of horrifying when you realize the impact we are having on the oceans.

There is a lot more going on here than I would have expected at first. It is worth picking up for the art alone.

The Battling Bands Review

Knights of the Lunch Table: The Battling Bands. Frank Cammuso. 2011. GRAPHIX. 128 pages.

Rating: 2/5

This isn't a bad book, but it really wasn't for me. I picked this up extremely cheaply, and I knew going in that it was meant for a younger audience. I think it works well for that demographic too.

The art leans a little more to the cartoony side, which fits the books pretty well. There isn't anything about the art that stuck with me though.

The main character finds his dad's old guitar and decides to learn how to play. This leads to him being roped into his school's battle of the bands competition by the school bully. He also has to deal with being forced to work on a lab project with a girl that he doesn't like. There is a moral at the end of the story, but the whole thing felt a little predictable

I haven't read the other books in the series and I felt like it was easy to pick this one up without missing anything. Fans of the series will probably enjoy this one too.

Wayward, Volume 1 Review

Wayward, Volume 1: String Theory. Jim Zub, Steven Cummings, John Rauch, Tamra Bonvillain, and Zack Davisson. 2015. Image Comics. 144 pages.

Rating: 5/5

I loved this book. Unintentionally, I read the whole thing in one sitting. The artwork is just beautiful, and the characters were interesting to me.

The main character, Rori Lane, is a half-Irish, half-Japanese teenage girl who just moved to Tokyo to live with her mom. It wasn't clear what happened with the father, but that will probably be touched on later in the story. Rori's isolation is shown really well though. Her situation begins to change when she realizes she is seeing things that other people don't. It is equal parts about this young woman finding a place to belong and learning about her family, which appears like it will be important down the road.

I already mentioned the fantastic artwork. The other great thing about this book is how it taps into Japanese culture and mythology. The foreword describes how the creative team brings Tokyo to life, but that is really only one part of what is going on here. Rori's abilities and the creatures she encounters tie into the long history of Japanese stories. These elements mixed with a bit of action kept the book moving at a great pace. It was cool to see how the creator's interpreted these elements, especially in the illustrations.

The colors made the pages pop for me. Sometimes they are used subtly, particularly near the beginning of the story. I feel like this book sets the stage really well for the whole series. I will be reading more of this one.

The Basque Book Review

The Basque Book: A Love Letter in Recipes from the Kitchen of Txikito. Alexandra Raij, Eder Montero, and Rebecca Flint Marx. 2016. Ten Speed Press. 304 pages.

Rating: 4/5

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book through Goodreads Giveaways in exchange for an honest review.

I don't know too much about Basque culture, so I was pretty excited to receive this book. It is a really beautiful book too. The hardcover binding is fantastic and feel like it will hold up really well to use. A lot of the paperback cookbooks I  have get beaten up after even a few uses due to the binding, so I appreciate the hardcover format quite a bit.

The pictures are terrific. There is a nice mix of photographs featuring various recipes from the book and ones showing off the Basque countryside and people. I feel like the writer made a real effort to capture the feel of the culture and what makes it unique. This is present from the introduction of each section through to the ingredients used in the recipes. Sometimes the chapter theme and the ingredients coincide, such as when eggs or fish are the topic. Throughout the book she drives home how important simple quality ingredients are to Basque cooking. There are many elements here that are similar to Spanish culture, but the writer does a good job of keeping this book distinct.

This book as a whole feels directed more toward experienced cooks, though not necessarily professionals. It does give guidance on some techniques and anyone could probably pick out a recipe and follow it easily enough. There are points where the writer is speaking to the reader assuming they have some knowledge of cooking that could be off-putting to less experienced cooks. While there are quite a few pictures of the end results, not every recipe receives this treatment. It seems like less experienced cooks want that photo to show them what the end result is supposed to be.

Anyone with an interest in Basque or Spanish cooking should pick this up. There are some great authentic recipes here and the presentation is phenomenal.

Comic Bento September 2016: As Seen on TV

The September 2016 Comic Bento theme is As Seen on TV. All of the books in this box are related to a TV series, so there are a ton of books they could have chosen. I'm actually a little surprised there wasn't an Image book since a bunch of theme have been adapted to TV. Only one of the books in the box is connected to a show that I've watched, although I am familiar with all of them.

First up is The Blacklist, Vol. 1: The Gambler (Nicole Phillips and Beni Lobel; Titan Comics). The FBI is framed for a public murder and a special taskforce needs to find the person behind it and bring him down. I enjoy police dramas like this. Although I've never watched the show, I think this could be pretty entertaining. It is written by one of the show writers too, so it has a lot of potential there. The art looks great based on my initial scans. I am looking forward to reading this book.

The second book is Garbage Pail Kids (Too many creators to list here; IDW). I'm not really sure what this one is about aside from featuring a group of irreverent kids. Honestly, this doesn't look too appealing to me, but I'll still give it a shot. It appears to poke fun at a few different comic and TV series, which might be amusing. There is a bit of range on the illustrations, though I could see some commonality throughout. This is essentially an anthology, so the quality may not be consistent.

Next is Agents of Shield, Vol. 1: The Coulson Protocols (Marc Guggenheim and German Peralta; Marvel). I've watched the first three seasons of Agents of Shield and enjoyed them for the most part. I know enough about the characters for this book to be interesting to me. Phil Coulson is reunited with his long lost love, Lola. There are also appearances by some big time Marvel heroes. Marvel tends to put out very high quality books, so I don't have much to say about this one. The art looks amazing, which is no surprise.

Lastly, we have Rick and Morty, Vol. 1 (Zac Gorman, CJ Cannon, and Marc Ellerby; Oni Press). This book is based on the adult swim show. It sounds pretty crazy as this family travels across time and space. The art looks to match pretty closely to the show, but neither is terribly appealing to me. I think this has the potential to be really fun though.

I'm not as excited about these books as I have been compared to other Comic Bento boxes. I  have been surprised in the past though, so I will reserve full judgment on these until I get a chance to read them. As a bonus, the box included a book mark designed like a remote control. Each of the number buttons uses the outline of the head of a comic character rather than a number. I can always use more bookmarks and this one fits the theme very well. As always, full reviews on each of these books will be forthcoming.

Birthright, Volume 1 Review

Birthright, Volume 1: Homecoming. Joshua Williamson, Andrei Bressan, and Adriano Lucas. 2015. Image Comics. 128 pages.

Rating: 4/5

Birthright hooked me pretty quickly. It begins simply enough with a father and son playing catch. Things quickly go wrong when the boy disappears and we see the family break down over the next year. The twist comes in when a man claiming to be that boy is found in armor with a mess of weapons.

This book features two worlds, our own and a fantasy realm connected to it. I enjoyed the way the two worlds are connected. The boy, Mikey, is believed to be the savior of the fantasy realm when he is taken and trained to fight. The fact that Mikey aged more in comparison to the rest of his family reminds me of fairy tales. Not everything is what it appears to be though. This holds true for both worlds. It is interesting to see Mikey approaching his "destiny" in the past and the present.

The art is great too. The two realms are distinct, but it feels natural when they come together, particularly toward the end of the book. Everything connected to the fantasy realm is drawn with care and enthusiasm. Something about the character faces put me off at times though. It isn't something that affected the way I read the book, just a personal preference I guess.

All in all, I liked this book a lot. The story is good and kept me engaged all the way to the end. I'm looking forward to reading the next volume.

Voltron Year One Review

Voltron Year One. Brandon Thomas and Craig Cermak. 2013. Dynamite Entertainment. 144 pages.

Rating: 4/5

This is the fourth book I received as part of the July 2016 Comic Bento box, which had a theme about robots. This one is a bit of a stretch for the theme. Voltron itself is a giant robot, but this book chronicles what happens before the team acquires Voltron. It is called Year One, although I'm not really sure that it follows a full year of events. The pacing of the story is good, there just isn't much to tie it into the title.

All of that said, I enjoyed this book a lot. Space Explorer Squadron 686, which becomes the Voltron team, is an elite group. They take on some of the most difficult missions without a problem. Until they are fed some bad information from their superiors. After that they are put through the ringer in an attempt to force them to fail. The group is cohesive at the beginning, yet they are still shown to come together in a really interesting way.

The book focuses on Sven, who is the commander of the group in this book. We get to see the struggles he has with the leadership position, and the support that others in the group, specifically Keith, provide for him. His story is the story of SES 686. It is handled so well and the end wrapped things up perfectly for both Sven and the group. The team dynamics are pretty good too. There is less focus on the other characters though.

The art is good. I wouldn't say great because I don't remember it really wowing me at any point. One thing that I liked about the art is that the backgrounds are fleshed out. I've seen a lot of books where the backgrounds are just a single color with no details, so what we have here is quite good in comparison. This bolsters the feeling of the setting too. To tie things back in, there is a teaser of Voltron at the end of the story.

I definitely recommend this book to fans of Voltron or science fiction. My only previous experience with the franchise is the old cartoon series. This book makes me want to read more.

BubbleGun, Volume 1 Review

BubbleGun, Volume 1: Heist Jinks. Mark Roslan, Mike Bowden, David Curiel, and Josh Reed. 2016. Aspen MLT, Inc. 136 pages.

Rating: 3/5

I received this book in the July 2016 Comic Bento box. The version included in this box came with a variant cover on the trade, which is pretty cool. It seems like Aspen does this regularly for Comic Bento. The books in the box featured robots, but this book really only has cyborgs, which are closely related I guess.

Anyway, Heist Jinks is about a group of thieves, sort of like Ocean's Eleven or the Italian Job, with high tech gadgets. They steal a mysterious package for a client, beating out a rival team along the way. With added interest in the package, they ask for more money, but things quickly unravel for them.

This is a pretty fast paced book with plenty of action. The story isn't wholly original, but the package itself and why each of the different factions want it is well thought out. Sometimes the characters fall into certain stereotypes, which isn't bad in and of itself. It just might not be appealing to some readers.

The illustrations didn't thrill me. There are some cool sequences, but there is also some objectification of women. Two things about the book excited me though. The first is the colorist. The colors used for this book are amazing. They capture the tone and setting perfectly. It can be a bit over the top, but that is exactly what this book needed. The second thing I liked came from the letterer. Instead of using the traditional expletive symbols, there were images to convey what the speaker meant without using the curse words. I don't know if this is something he just decided to do or if it's something Aspen does in general, but I thought it was really clever.

I do recommend this book to anyone that wants an action packed, cyberpunk story and doesn't mind that it might be shallow.

Diesel Sweeties Volume 2 Review

Diesel Sweeties, Volume 2: Bacon is a Vegetable, Coffee is a Vitamin. R. Stevens. 2014. Oni Press. 136 pages.

Rating: 5/5

I received this book in the July 2016 Comic Bento box. It is a collection of strips from the Diesel Sweeties webcomic. I've mentioned before that I don't typically like webcomics. There is something about the format that just doesn't work for me.

This book was great though. As the title suggests, the strips are focused on either bacon or coffee. These range from slightly amusing to hilarious. There is a bit of repetition in these, but that didn't bother me at all. I did read this in small chunks, which may have helped, but it lends itself to being read in one sitting. The continuity of the jokes throughout the book was perfect for me.

The characters are funny. There are human hipsters, deranged robots, and violent appliances. I enjoyed the pixelated art. It made it feel sort of like I was reading an 80's video game. Plus, the facial expressions are more varied than I expected at first.

This volume is a nice, full color collection. Fans of the comic that want a physical copy won't be disappointed.

Outcast, Volume 1 Review

Outcast, Volume 1: A Darkness Surrounds Him. Robert Kirkman, Paul Azaceta, and Elizabeth Breitweiser. 2015. Image Comics. 152 pages.

Rating: 3/5

I really like the idea behind supernatural horror. Unfortunately, these types of books are often hit or miss with me. Outcast is weird because it falls somewhere in the middle.

The book is about a loner named Kyle Barnes that has dealt with demonic possession his entire life. As we learn more about his past, it makes sense that he keeps to himself. Two people work to break him out of that situation though. The first is his sister, who seems to be the only person he really has regular contact with, and the other is a priest that seeks out his help exorcising a demon from a young boy. Kyle's general attitude makes him a bit unlikeable. This changes a little by the end of the arc. It will be interesting to see whether he falls back into his dour attitude or continues along the path started here.

I felt like the demonic possession was overdone in this book. There are at least five characters that we see with this affliction. This made the story repetitious, although the creators do handle each situation well enough to make them distinct. As Barnes digs into these possessions, he begins to learn how he relates to them. That question is never answered fully though.

The art is pretty good. It is dark and gritty to match the story. There are some interesting choices for panel layouts too. Boxes will be inserted into panels to represent zooming in on a character or other detail. For the most part these are used well, but there were times where it felt unnecessary.

The story builds slowly, so it can take a while to get into. I enjoyed it because it is very detailed. Fans of supernatural horror or Robert Kirkman's writing should pick this up.

It Came! Review

It Came! Dan Boultwood. 2014. Titan Comics. 88 pages.

Rating: 5/5

It Came! from the depths of the July 2016 Comic Bento box. This book is very tongue-in-cheek. The entire thing is set up like a B horror/sci-fi movie from the 1950's. The cover page proudly displays that it was "directed" by Dan Boultwood, the characters are introduced as actors, and there are mock advertisements, which are quite funny.

The characters are Dr. Boy Brett, his sidekick Doris Night, and an alien robot. It begins in the British countryside and the action eventually moves into London, with the British army trying to stop the killer robot along the way. This portion of the story reminded me of War of the Worlds. The majority of the book follows Boy and Doris through their adventure. It quickly becomes clear that Boy is incompetent and a misogynist. His hapless nature kept things light though.

I loved the art. It's more green and gray than black and white, but it doesn't come out as ugly. The coloring tied in really well with the overall theme to the book. There is a bit of stereotyping for the characters in appearance, speech, and attitudes that plays up that theme as well. The book did drag a little bit in the middle. It came back to provide a satisfying end though.

Comic Bento August 2016

The theme for the August 2016 box from Comic Bento is Animal Planets. All of the books in this box feature an animal of some sort.

First up is Xoc: The Journey of a Great White (Matt Dembicki, Oni Press). Clearly this book is about a shark. It follows the creature on its journey from California to Hawaii. I tend to enjoy books that flirt with educational material like this. The art is beautiful too. Comixology has a free preview for anyone on the fence about this one.

Second is Homecoming, Volume 1 (David Wohl, Emilio Laiso, Brett Smith, and Josh Reed, Aspen Comics). I'm a little torn on this one for a couple reasons. The books I've read from Aspen have been middling at best, but I'll try to keep an open mind on this one. The other reason is that the "animal" featured in this book is an alien. Feels like a little bit of a stretch. This book is centered around a high school coming up to homecoming. The premise reminds me of the movie The Faculty in a way. I like the look of the art on this one, so if the story works out this might be my favorite book from Aspen. And like the last couple books that Comic Bento included from Aspen, this one has an exclusive variant cover for the trade. Even though I've seen it before, it is a nice touch for the Comic Bento customers.

The next book is Jurassic Strike Force 5, Volume 1 (Joe Brusha, Neo Edmund, and JL Giles-Rivera, Zenescope). The title alone is ridiculous. The actual concept takes things to the next level. A group of dinosaurs battle an evil alien that is trying to conquer the universe. The colors look great and the book is full of dinosaurs. Enough said.

Last up is Sam & Fuzzy Fix Your Problem (Sam Logan, Blind Ferret). Fuzzy is the connection to the animal theme for this box. This was originally published as a web comic, but it looks to be a lot more cohesive than the web comics I'm used to seeing. The character pairing looks to be pretty entertaining, so I am hopeful for this one. The edition included in the box is actually printed by Blind Ferret, which is the same company that sells Comic Bento. I don't see a problem with this, but figured I'd include the information for disclosure.

So the real final point relates to the picture above. Every box for this month included one of three Pokémon prints. I feel like this is a nice addition to the box. I wouldn't want to see Comic Bento move toward including more items like this because the real draw for me is the graphic novels. There are other boxes out there that include comics and miscellaneous items that someone could subscribe to if that's what they wanted. Anyway, I'm glad I got this print because it was my favorite of the three. Next month the theme will be As Seen on TV!

Pretty in Ink: North American Women Cartoonists 1896-2013 Review

Pretty in Ink: North American Women Cartoonists 1896-2013. Trina Robbins. 2013. Fantagraphics. 200 pages.

Rating: 3/5

Pretty in Ink is a history book about women who have drawn comics and comic strips. The content is well researched, and there are a lot of great examples for each of the eight time periods covered. It was nice to see how the drawings progressed over time, and in some cases how things have stayed the same.

The book took me a couple chapters to get into it though. This is because a lot of the early works are comic strips and the subject matter in them doesn't particularly appeal to me. Plus, I got a couple of the artists mixed up. That wasn't a huge problem though. As the book progressed through the different time periods, it was clear how events shaped the creators and their pieces.

The later chapters presented a different problem for me: the writer brought in her own works and experiences. This isn't necessarily an issue, but it signaled a change in objectivity to me. I think that could have been handled better. The chapter covering the most recent time period felt stunted to me. There are so many female artists working in comics now that it is difficult for all of them to be included, but the last chapter felt lacking on artists and really important works. Even a listing at the back of the book covering some of these items would have been great.

Despite the few things that didn't work for me, I enjoyed this book. It gives another perspective on the development of comics. There are a wide range of creators included, most of whom have at least one example of their art included. I was impressed by the skill of the artists and some of the content they were able to get away with.