Star Wars: Darth Vader, Vol. 3: The Shu-Torun War

Star Wars: Darth Vader, Vol. 3: The Shu-Torun War by Kieron Gillen
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Interesting as it was to see how the Empire deals with worlds under it's thumb, a fairly mediocre plot unfolds that introduces characters who don't play that big of a part in much of anything. I will be curious to see if this series ever manages to again capture the magic that was Star Wars: Vader Down.



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Swamp Thing: Darker Genesis

Swamp Thing: Darker Genesis by Mark Millar
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Mark Millar, you're a damn genius. This storyline took me an issue to really get into but man, once I did it was amazing.



Swamp Thing is now the Elemental Champion for the Parliament of Trees, the Parliament of Stones and the Parliament of Waves. All that remains are Fire and Air. Highly recommend to everyone.



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Faith, Volume 1: Hollywood & Vine

Faith, Volume 1: Hollywood & Vine by Jody Houser
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This tries really hard to embrace all of the quirky and lovable parts of Superman as Clark Kent the journalist and Peter Parker the photographer but comes up rather short for me. However, some parts succeed enough that I'm interested in reading the next volume.



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Deadpool Pulp

Deadpool Pulp by Mike Benson
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Even though it's filled with oft-used cliches and wouldn't make my list of top noir books, I liked it okay. The ending was a nice twist.



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Injection, Vol. 2

Injection, Vol. 2 by Warren Ellis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"Education is the art of making man ethical."

Ellis does a great job building on the foundation laid in the first volume. Vivek Headland is a brilliant detective who is sort of a cross between Sheldon Cooper and Sherlock Holmes.



The character depth and broader story at work are the two things that I look forward to most in the next volume.

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Uncanny X-Men: The Birth of Generation Hope

Uncanny X-Men: The Birth of Generation Hope by Matt Fraction
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Once I got past the horrendous rendering of Beast in the first few pages...



This was a decent if predictable story overall. I'm all for the creation of more mutants. Lord knows they seem to suffer loss more than most other factions within the MU. The underlying story of Emma Frost hiding Sebastian Shaw within Utopia seems to be gaining some steam leading into the next volume.



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Sin City, Vol. 3: The Big Fat Kill

Sin City, Vol. 3: The Big Fat Kill by Frank Miller
My rating: 5 of 5 stars



Further proof that Sin City is the truest movie adaptation of comic book source material. This series might be my favorite in comics. Period.



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Angela: Asgard's Assassin, Vol. 1: Priceless

Angela: Asgard's Assassin, Vol. 1: Priceless by Kieron Gillen
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



While this had more twists and turns in the plot than Angela: Queen of Hel: Journey to the Funderworld did, I enjoyed the latter quite a bit more. Maybe it has to do with Sera (view spoiler)[actually being Malekith and not ACTUALLY Sera (hide spoiler)] or maybe I just like Marguerite Bennett's work on the character better than Kieron Gillen's. Either way, this was beautifully drawn and very entertaining.



The team-up with the Guardians and the inclusion of Odinson and Loki were also nice touches. I'm excited to see where Marvel takes Angela and Sera in the future because they have a ton of potential.

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Low, Vol. 2: Before the Dawn Burns Us

Low, Vol. 2: Before the Dawn Burns Us by Rick Remender
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

"When we stop taking pleasure in the basic experience of being alive, beat-by-beat, we lose everything that makes life worthwhile."


Remender's story takes a small step back for me here. The real beauty of this series continues to be the art of Tocchini.



Some of his panels are absolute masterpieces.



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Batman: Year 100

Batman: Year 100 by Paul Pope
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Well. That was...interesting. It took a while for me to get into this but once I did it was a pretty quick read.

The art is a bit of an acquired taste I think. Some of it made me cringe but overall I liked it ok.

The story on the other hand was pretty simple. All masked heroes have been taken down and Batman has become an urban legend until he's spotted by the Federal Police. After that the hunt is on to track him down and find out his true identity. The only person able to figure it all out is the original Jim Gordon's grandson. So basically, just like most other Batman stories just set in a different time with a small twist on the regular characters involved.



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Martian Manhunter, Vol. 1: The Epiphany

Martian Manhunter, Vol. 1: The Epiphany by Rob Williams
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars



"The futures so bright...I gotta wear shades."



Fresh off binge watching Season 1 of Supergirl, I grabbed this from the library to find out more about J'onn J'onzz. This starts of well enough but takes a few weird turns from there.



Basically, the Martian Manhunter was supposed to have been a weapon to wipe out humanity on Earth all along, and now his fellow Martians are coming to do it themselves. To ensure his own survival, J'onn has split himself into several other "human" identities.



The art is excellent and the story gets a bit confusing but finishes well.



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Clean Room, Volume 1: Immaculate Conception

Clean Room, Volume 1: Immaculate Conception by Gail Simone
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is exactly the kind of creeptastic shit that used to keep me up at night as a kid. Hell it still might.

"You have a fine sleepy-sweet night, hear?"

No, I don't think I will actually. This is magnificent and brilliant and psychologically terrifying all wrapped up into one.



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Spider-Gwen, Vol. 1: Greater Power

Spider-Gwen, Vol. 1: Greater Power by Jason Latour
My rating: 3 of 5 stars



More of the same in this volume. Alternate Earth representations of several characters like Harry Osborn and Captain America. Good enough to keep my curiosity piqued for what's next.



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