Review: Valiant High

Valiant High by Daniel Kibblesmith
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I enjoyed the alternate take on the Valiant characters by placing them into a high school setting. It allowed the characters to interact in different ways while keeping the core of each one intact. There are some humorous moments that take full advantage of the history of these characters.

The story didn't wow me though. I felt like this existed solely for the purpose of throwing the characters into this idea and to draw in a younger group of readers. It seemed to lack a real conflict that would have made me feel more invested in the book. I did like the art. It fit the story pretty well. And the color choices were superb.

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Review: The Grey Bastards

The Grey Bastards by Jonathan French
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Disclaimer: I received a free ecopy from Penguin's First to Read in exchange for an honest review.

I had a lot of fun reading this book. It is filthy, violent, vulgar, and downright mean at times. It's also smart, funny, and well crafted.

The characters are great. They have personality and the things the want actually matter to the story being told. Now, the book does tend to focus on just a few of these characters. The potential exists for some great stories down the road. And that is part of what I liked about the Grey Bastards so much. This book is self contained and yet it can develop into something more with additional stories in the same setting. It is believable and interesting. I wanted Jackal to succeed and want to see more from him.

I think this book was able to set itself apart from other fantasy books while utilizing elements that can draw in fans of the genre.

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Review: Unity, Volume 2: Trapped by Webnet

Unity, Volume 2: Trapped by Webnet by Matt Kindt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This book is a little bit of a challenge to review because it's a little different from other Valiant books. For a second volume, it has one less issue than most. On top of that, one of the issues is a reprint from another series featuring the first appearance of Ninjak. I decided to give this book a pass on these two points. The reprint issue was disappointing to see, but it is so enjoyable and readers that haven't picked up any of the X-O Manowar books might appreciate seeing more of these characters in a slightly different context.

The main story centers around Dr. Silk, who specializes in cloning and more specifically transferring the mind between bodies. He is a pretty dark character who has been around for a long time. It is refreshing to see another antagonist in the Valiant stories since so much has been piled on Toyo Harada.

Altogether, I enjoyed this story. It gives more of the team dynamic for the hero characters. I like how they get pulled into Silk's story and deal with him. An extra issue wouldn't have necessarily been a benefit to the story. Solid character art throughout.

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Review: X-Men: Grand Design (X-Men: Grand Design

X-Men: Grand Design (X-Men: Grand Design by Ed Piskor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I liked the setup to this book. It begins with the standard origin of the X-Men and runs through much of the early material until around the Phoenix Saga. Piskor does a wonderful job streamlining this period of the X-Men history. Some of it I already knew, some felt familiar despite being new to me, and some was just weird. Which seems to capture the spirit of the early X-Men books pretty well.

The art is interesting. It emulates the style of the early X-Men books, and other comics really. That isn't my favorite, but it is done well and works with the story that is laid out in this book. The big curveball for me was including the Watcher as the conveyor of X-Men lore. His presence gives an opportunity to tell this sweeping history, but I also felt like it was unnecessary. Grand Design can be a good primer for X-Men in general, but the early stuff in particular.

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