Making slow progress — but discovering that some of the books I pulled for review I’d already done. Yay, I guess. 🙂
Plowing onwards. I’m going to have to take a “break” post pretty soon, though.
Review code format (ranked 1-5, blah to faboo): [writing / art / new reader? / non-comics reader?]
Courtney Crumrin and the Night Things (Vol. 1) (Oni) [4/4/5/5] (collects #1-4)
w/a. Ted Naifeh
Classic tale of a little girl, her parents oblivious to her problems, discovering that her life is now involved in various bits of magic, witchcraft, and dark goings-on, all told with a sassy sensibility and wicked imagination. Think of it as a hip and cynical Harry Potter, with Courtney showing more balls than Harry ever has. Suitable for kids age 10 to 100. Truly spiffy stuff.
Courtney Crumrin and the Coven of Mystics (Vol. 2) (Oni) [4/4/3/5] (collects #1-4)
w/a. Ted Naifeh
Now aware of the dark world around her, as embodied by her mysterious Uncle Aloysius, Courtney find that bureaucracy the world over is the same, as she’s force to square off against the town’s elder mystics in protection of her friends amongst the night creatures. A bit more complex than the first collection, but still engaging. Courtney’s great, independent and strong while still having a strong internal sense of right and wrong. Again, a great book to buy, read, and pass along. Maybe to the local library (which would no doubt give some folks fits).
Courtney Crumrin in the Twilight Kingdom (Vol. 3) (Oni) [4/4/4/5] (collects #1-4)
w/a. Ted Naifeh
Courtney discovers to her disappointment that kids at magic school can be as much jerks as the kids at her old school. Hogwarts it’s not, but there’s plenty of good stuff going on, as pranks with forbidden spells, suspicions about her past actions, and the dangers of the goblin realm give Courtney and her classmates plenty of opportunity to show how few of them have read The Book of Ballads. Again, great stuff, and seriously worth reading and sharing. I’d love to see movies of these books, but I shudder to think of what Hollywood would do with them.
Empire (Marvel) [4/4/5/2] (collects #0-6)
w. Mark Waid; a. Barry Kitson
A marvelous limited series from 2003. Lord Golgoth (think of a less shrill Dr. Doom) has nearly conquered the world, having defeated the world’s mightiest super-heroes years ago. But despite his best efforts, his empire is threatened by the internal plots of his own nefarious followers, and his own ingenious scheme to keep them loyal through a mysterious drug may be about to backfire. And then there’s his innocent daughter, the only thing he really cares for, and thus is vulnerable to. It’s sort of Dallas meets Darkseid, and it looks good and reads well.