Old City Blues Vol. 1 Review

Old City Blues, Volume One. Giannis Milonogiannis. 2011. Archaia Entertainment. 120 pages.

Rating: 2/5

Unfortunately, this one was a miss for me. I like the noir-ish tone to the book and having the story set in Athens. It is set in the future and contains some sci-fi elements. The CEO of a robotics company is found dead and this police group investigates.

The detective subgenre can be a lot of fun to read. This one felt boring to me though. The main character didn't grab my attention and I never felt like it mattered what he was doing or what was happening in his world. There is a push to paint this corporation as evil and then nothing really comes of it.

I didn't care for the art much either. The lack of color wasn't a problem, but the illustrations themselves weren't terribly exciting. The story really could have been set anywhere in this future world. It reminded me more of an anime than something set on the European continent.

Rust: The Boy Soldier Review

Rust: The Boy Soldier. Royden Lepp. 2016. Archaia. 128 pages.

Rating: 3/5

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

So, this is a prequel to the Rust series. It tells the story of Jet Jones during the war prior to the opening of the series. The portion collected here is part of the other four volumes, but presented chronologically. Jet discovers that he has a weapon built into his body and struggles with what that means for him as a person.

I like the way this book is put together. It is mostly told without words, which makes it a quick read. But the harshness of the war and Jet's reaction to it are presented very well through the images alone. The art is excellent at capturing those elements. The illustrations are in sepia tone to play on the idea that this takes place a long time before the main chunk of the series.

As much as I liked these portions, I felt a little lost reading this volume. It raised a lot of questions for me about who Jet is, what caused the war, and some of the technology involved. I think this would be better having more familiarity with the overall story and world. It definitely piqued my interest about Jet and his tale. I'd recommend reading the first volume and circling back to this one.

Jim Henson's The Storyteller: Witches Review

Jim Henson's The Storyteller: Witches. Jim Henson and various. Archaia. 112 pages.

Rating: 5/5

First of all, I picked this up on a whim. I saw it at the library and grabbed it because it had Jim Henson's name on it without really knowing anything about it. Second, I won't say that this is necessarily better than the books I've been reviewing lately at 4/5. I enjoyed it immensely though and that's good enough for me.

Witches is a collection of stories based on folk and fairy tales. Each of the four stories features a witch in some way and has a different writer. Some of these are adapted quite a bit from their original format because they are being told in a different medium. Despite the difficulty of adapting them, I thought they worked very well. The setting for the stories is varied, as is the artwork associated with each one.

The illustrations are absolutely what enamored me about these stories. They are beautiful pieces that evoke multiple emotions. The different approach to the illustrations sets them apart in a great way. I'm not sure if it was purposeful, but each story seems to represent one of the four seasons. It's a subtle aspect to them that helps tie them together, aside from the obvious witch connection. I would definitely read this one again.