Cimarronin: The Complete Graphic Novel Review

Cimarronin: The Complete Graphic Novel. Neal Stephenson, Charles C. Mann, Mark Teppo, Ellis Amdur, Robert Sammelin, and Dean Kotz. 2015. Jet City. 160 pages.

Rating: 4/5

I thought this was a pretty cool book. It tells the story of a fallen samurai who travels to Mexico with a Jesuit priest and a Chinese princess. They each have their own motivations for making this trip, but they end up crossing paths in a very interesting way. As someone who likes history, this was a really strong story. It mixes in just enough of some seemingly disparate elements to give it the feel of something that could have happened.

While this isn't a humor book by any means, there are some nice moments that amused me. Mostly these involve the copious amount of brothers that the Jesuit priest has. The relationships between the characters bolster the story a lot too. That combined with the historical details made it enjoyable even though it might not appeal to everyone.

For the most part I enjoyed the art. The coloring and lettering are both done well. There is more action in this book than I initially expected. The only downfall to this is that sometimes the action didn't flow well from one panel to the next, making it difficult to understand how certain scenes unfolded. I was drawn in by Neal Stephenson's connection to the book and it didn't disappoint.

Britannia, Volume 2 Review

Britannia, Volume 2: We Who Are About to Die. Peter Milligan and Juan Jose Ryp. 2017. Valiant Entertainment. 112 pages.

Rating: 3/5

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

There are two major plotlines in this book. The first involves a slave woman who is sent to the gladiator pit after killing her owner. The second follows Antonius Axia, the protagonist from volume one, as he investigates the strange deaths of the children of the Roman elite.

The like Achilla, the slave turned gladiator, a lot. She is a strong character and acts as an inspiration for the other women in the book. Antonius Axia is an interesting take on the detective archetype and is labeled as a "detectioner". He is more passionate in this book as events strike a lot closer to home than the previous volume, both literally and figuratively. Taken as a whole, I like the story. There is a bit of a mystery that seems to work out pretty well. The person behind all of this is pretty interesting too.

The supporting characters that reappear from the previous volume weren't as interesting this time around. The Vestal Virgins show up, but play a much smaller role. Their main tasks are to introduce the problem for Antonius and act as a scapegoat for Nero, who was wholly uninteresting in this volume.

I feel a bit mixed on the art. Some of the character faces seemed oddly proportioned to me, but otherwise seemed fine. There wasn't much that stood out to me in terms of the art. The coloring is well done though. This series is a bit different from the other books that Valiant puts out and can serve as a good place for new readers to come onboard.

Rasputin, Volume 1 Review

Rasputin, Volume 1. Alex Grecian, Riley Rossmo, Ivan Plascensia, and Thomas Mauer. 2015. Image Comics. 184 pages.

Rating: 3/5

The stand out element of this book is the art, hands down. It is absolutely gorgeous at times and it's worth checking out for the art alone.

This is the about the life of Rasputin. Or more specifically his death. It jumps around a bit, but the story leads off with the final moments of his life and then goes back to examine how things built to that point. I didn't know much about Rasputin going into this book, so I was excited to get some insight into the man even with the fictional/fantastical elements mixed in.

So I loved the art and liked the premise, but the execution held this one back for me. There was too much movement between different time periods to get a good feel for the characters. Since this ends with the title character's death, I would have liked some more build up to why it mattered for the other characters. My favorite character aside from Rasputin seemed to have dropped out of his life without an explanation. There is so much more that could have been developed, such as the references to Russian folklore, that I would have enjoyed.

This is a decent book. I liked it and would consider reading the next volume, especially to see more of Rossmo's art.

The Good Earth Review

The Good Earth. Pearl S. Buck and Nick Bertozzi. 2017. Simon & Schuster. 144 pages.

Rating: 4/5

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

This is a review of the graphic adaptation of The Good Earth rather than the original novel. The story is about a poor family in rural China that receives a change in fortune. It progresses through the life of Wang Lung with some great insight into the hardships these families face and ending off with the rise of communism.

I love how unapologetic this book is. It shows some of the difficult decisions that people face and doesn't shy away from the negative aspects. There are positive moments as well, so it isn't all depressing. I found myself disliking Wang Lung for some of the things he does, but the writing kept me interested in what would happen next. The events that shape the story are significant,  but don't always get a proper introduction.

As a graphic adaptation, the art is the very important. It adds an element to the story that makes it more visceral. The art is simplistic and doesn't really follow current trends in comics, which is perfectly fine. It uses a lot of exposition and supplements it with poignant images. They are not over the top and match the tone of the story well. Often it is an image of the characters with some background details thrown in. Reading this adaptation is a nice way to discover the story.

Pachinko Review

Pachinko. Min Jin Lee. 2017. Grand Central Publishing. 496 pages.

Rating: 3/5

Pachinko is an epic tale about one Korean family living in Japan. I loved seeing the family grow and face challenges throughout the book. There are a lot of hardships, but that isn't the central focus  of their story. Selflessness, love and hope are intertwined with the difficulties.

I am  torn on the writing though. It is beautifully written to the point that it drew me into the lives of these characters. On the other hand, it seemed  to plod along, drawing things out. It would also take unexpected turns in the middle of a sequence. Surprises in a story are a good thing, but this involved shifting gears between events or points of view with little transition. These sorts of interruptions didn't happen a ton, which made them bearable.

The author does a fantastic job of portraying the harsh realities for Koreans living in Japan. Not knowing a lot of details on how they were treated, it was fascinating to read about the policies in place to keep Koreans separate. It influences the choices that many of the characters make, especially in the latter half of the book. I wholeheartedly recommend reading Pachinko in spite of my issues with the writing style.

Divinity III: Stalinverse Review

Divinity III: Stalinverse. Matt Kindt, Trevor Hairsine, Ryan Winn, and David Baron. 2017. Valiant Entertainment. 112 pages.

Rating: 5/5

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

What would the world be like if the Soviet Union had won? Not just the Cold War, but if they were successful going back to the end of WWI, it might look something like this book. It reimagines the Valiant universe in a Soviet dominated Earth.

To begin with, this isn't particularly friendly to new readers. It does give some background on the Divinity storyline, which has the most impact on this one of the other Valiant books. They fail to introduce most of the characters though. For someone already familiar with them, this book was perfectly fine. Others might find it off putting or hard to follow.

I love what they do with the traditional Valiant heroes, both in terms of characterization and art. The groundwork for the conflict was laid out in the previous Divinity books, so it is satisfying to see what happened to the third cosmonaut. The art is great. It captures the setting perfectly. Divinity III is a blast to read.

Britannia Review

Britannia. Peter Milligan, Juan Jose Ryp, Raul Allen, and Jordie Bellaire. 2017. Valiant Entertainment. 112 pages.

Rating: 3/5

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

Britannia follows Antonius Axia, a Roman legionnaire, during the reign of Nero. After saving one of the Vestal Virgins, his fate becomes entwined with theirs. He also gains the ability to see what others can't, sort of like Sherlock Holmes. I would not be surprised if the great detective was an inspiration for this character.

I like that this book takes a step away from the traditional Valiant characters. It allows the company to explore different eras and locations without messing with their core series. Heading to ancient Rome is a fun choice, especially with the supernatural elements that are brought into the story.

The art is gritty. I'm not sure if it was a conscious choice, but it made me think of an old manuscript that was recently discovered. Whose pages are brittle and cracking while remaining legible. It does take on some darker tones to match the plot of the story. Jordie Bellaire does a fantastic job with the colors.

This book didn't wow me the way that other Valiant books have. I appreciate the risk they took on this book by going outside their normal elements. It could have used a more charismatic protagonist though.

FUBAR: By the Sword Review

FUBAR: By the Sword. Jeff McComsey, Steve Becker, Chuck Dixon, and Jeff McClelland. 2015. Alterna. 296 pages.

Rating: 4/5

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

There are tons of zombies in this book. The creators reimagined various historical events (i.e. wars) that feature zombies. Some of them I was able to pick out what they were related to immediately, while others were more elusive. At first I was a little uncertain how this would play out because it seems like a riff on adding supernatural creatures to certain novels. The gamble paid off though.

Most of the stories are pretty short. There isn't a huge investment in any of them so a weaker story doesn't drag the whole book down. The art is great though. Again, some of it is stronger than others, but for the most part it is really good. I particularly enjoyed the illustrations connected to medieval Japan. It would have been nice if the stories gave some more information to clue the reader into where and when the story is set. Some of the stories felt generic because they lacked this sort of detail.

It's definitely worth reading for fans of zombie and alternative histories.

Black Road Volume 1 Review

Black Road, Volume 1: The Holy North. Brian Wood, Garry Brown, and Dave McCaig. 2016. Image Comics. 136 pages.

Rating: 3/5

I really wanted to like this book. I've read some previous stuff from Brian Wood that was fantastic, and the premise seemed interesting. However, the implementation just wasn't up to my expectations.

So the story is about a man in England known as Magnus the Black. He does odd jobs to get by, which include protecting members of the Christian church as they expand their influence in England. A member of the Vatican is killed under his care and he becomes a hunted man.

Magnus straddles the realm between pagans and Christians in this story. This lets him be a guide to the reader into the series, but his indifference left him a little wanting as a character. By the time the story explains how he got to this point as a wanderer I didn't much care about his background. It could have made him a bit more likeable, yet it might do the opposite. He's more of an antihero without the charisma. The side characters round things out a bit, but not enough to want me to keep reading. Some parts of the story didn't mesh well with the others. It made it feel less cohesive than it could have.

The art is really good. It is quite dark, which matches the story fantastically. Something brighter just would not have fit as well. There were aspects of the art that I didn't care for, particularly the shading over the character faces. It strays a little toward the abstract in the art, but not enough for it to be real noticeable.