DC<\/b><\/p>\n
Astro City, Vol. 9: Through Open Doors<\/i> (Vertigo) Standard Kurt Busiek \/ Brent Anderson goodness, episode tales with a broad thematic and framing sequence; good super-hero stuff without Big Two editorial to screw up the vision. (4\/5) [https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/review\/show\/1090501300<\/a>]<\/p>\n Astro City, Vol. 10: Victory<\/i> (Vertigo) More of the same, here focusing on Winged Victory, Astro City's Wonder Woman analog. (5\/5) [https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/review\/show\/1090538865<\/a>]<\/p>\n Secret Six, Vol. 4: Cats in the Cradle<\/i> – Man, I miss this series, in its pre-New52 glory, so freaking badly. Making second-tier villains the protagonists, and having them still be bad people but sympathetic characters, without glorifying their evil, is a tricky task, but Gail Simone pulls it off. (4\/5) [https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/review\/show\/1088428795<\/a>]<\/p>\n Secret Six, Vol. 5: The Reptile Brain<\/i> – Not one, but two villain teams clashing, with subtle gradations between the protagonists and the monsters. More Gail Simone and John Ostrander goodness. (5\/5) [https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/review\/show\/1088465104<\/a>]<\/p>\n Marvel<\/b><\/p>\n All-New X-Factor, Vol. 1: Not Brand X<\/i> – Peter David (with spiffy Carmine Di Giandomenico art) plays with a new group of legacy X-characters, this time in a corporate-sponsored team. Fun. (4\/5) [https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/review\/show\/1090550411<\/a>]<\/p>\n All-New X-Men, Vol. 3: Out of Their Depth<\/i> – Good Bendis dialog, good Immonen art (for most of the collection), and a wildly complex mix of characters that are still identifiable and relatable to. X-Menny goodness. (4\/5) [https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/review\/show\/1088420698<\/a>]<\/p>\n Image<\/b><\/p>\n Alex + Ada, Vol. 1<\/i> – A robot love story (sort of) should be too cliched for words, but Jonathan Luna and Sarah Vaughn are doing something really spiffy here. (5\/5) [https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/review\/show\/1088469122<\/a>]<\/p>\n Brilliant, Vol. 1: Brilliant<\/i> – Decent Brian Bendis story and Mark Bagley art, but the downward spiral of college genius creating superheroes descending into tragedy and madness and betrayal seems all too predictable. (3\/5) [https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/review\/show\/1088425643<\/a>]<\/p>\n FBP: Federal Bureau of Physics, Vol. 1: The Paradigm Shift<\/i> (Image) When the laws of physics become flexible, the Feds step in. Sort of. Crazy writing by Simon Oliver, expressive but difficult art by Robbi Rodiguez. (3\/5) [https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/review\/show\/995058495<\/a>]<\/p>\n The Fuse, Vol. 1: The Russia Shift<\/i> – This police procedural on a massive space station is good worldbuilding and storytelling. Stor by Antony Johnston, art by Justin Greenwood. (4\/5) [https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/review\/show\/1088487568<\/a>]<\/p>\n Lazarus, Vol. 2: Lift<\/i> – Fine dystopian intrigue and action by Greg Rucka and Michael Lark, in a thoughfully-crafted world. (5\/5) [https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/review\/show\/1090558736<\/a>]<\/p>\n Rocket Girl<\/i> – Fun concept by Brandon Montclare, lovely art by Amy Reeder, with timebending dramedy, but it goes from something truly wonderful over the first few issues to something that gets a bit too complicated for its own good. (4\/5) [https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/review\/show\/1088443282<\/a>]<\/p>\n Sheltered, Vol. 2<\/i> – "Lord of the Flies" in a pre-apocalypse survivalist compound continues. Good story by Ed Brisson and Johnny Christmas. (4\/5) [https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/review\/show\/1090623965<\/a>]<\/p>\n Thief of Thieves, Vol. 3: Venice<\/i> – I should like Andy Diggle's art thief \/ mobster \/ caper writing here than I do, but I found it something of a slog (though better collected than by individual issues). (2\/5) [https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/review\/show\/1088456883<\/a>]<\/p>\n Umbral, Book 1: Out of the Shadows<\/i> – Passable but pedestrian fantasy realm, focused on a young thief who inadvertently nabs a valuable artifact, ho-hum. Story Antony Johnston, art Chrstopher Mitten. (2\/5)[https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/review\/show\/1090566374<\/a>]<\/p>\n Velvet, Vol. 1: Before the Living End<\/i> – Gritty Bondsian spy drama with a gender twist. Typically glorious stuff from Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting. (5\/5) [https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/review\/show\/1088449551<\/a>]<\/p>\n Other<\/b><\/p>\n Courtney Crumrin, Book 6: The Final Spell<\/i> (Oni) Ted Naifeh give us the final chapter in the tale of young witch Courtney Crumrin, wrapping up plot threads from across her series. Sorry to see her go … (4\/5) [https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/review\/show\/1088490850<\/a>]<\/p>\n Earthward, Book One<\/i> (Kickstarter\/Regent) Bryan Q Miller pens a fun but mostly-by-the-numbers SF tale with kids, a cute robot, imperial conspiracies, vanished parents, and the mystery of the stolen Earth. I'd read another volume. (3\/5) [https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/review\/show\/1088423082<\/a>]<\/p>\n Questionable Content, Vol. 4<\/i> (Topataco) The next chunk of Jeph Jacques' twenty-something web comic is just as fun as the others, in a convenient new size. (4\/5) [https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/review\/show\/1090635824<\/a>]<\/p>\n Revelations<\/i> (Dark Horse) Politics, murder, and evil stalk the Vatican, and a atheist London detective has to figure it out. Paul Jenkins' story takes a lurch at the end, but Humberto Ramos' art is surprisingly fitting here. (3\/5) [https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/review\/show\/1090541536<\/a>]<\/p>\n Rover Red Charlie<\/i> (Avatar) Garth Ennis pens a post-apocalyptic story starring three dogs. And, if you like Ennis, it's triffic stuff. Some violence, a bit of sex, shockingly little profanity, and strange, tragic, funny drama. (5\/5) [https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/review\/show\/1088479633<\/a>]<\/p>\n The Sakai Project: 30 Years of Usagi Yojimbo<\/i> (Dark Horse) A well-deserved benefit book to help with Stan Sakai's wife's medical issues. Yeah, it's a lot of UY pin-ups, but a lot of them are excellent. (4\/5) [https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/review\/show\/1088473622<\/a>]<\/p>\n Wasteland, Book 1: Cities in Dust<\/i> (Oni) Antony Johnston's post-apocalypse latter-day Earth has too many cliches (and too sketchy art by Christopher Mitten) to really make me come back for Book 2. (2\/5) [https:\/\/www.goodreads.com\/review\/show\/1090544935<\/a>]<\/p>\n It's interesting, looking at the above, the proportion of Image (and other) published works, vs the Big Two. In part, that's because I buy a lot of monthlies from Marvel (though little has risen to the level of wanting a permanent collection, esp. since I can pull up copies from ComiXology to reread whenever I want), and I buy very little these days from DC. A number of the Image and Other books I bought as<\/i> colletions, rather than as monthlies first. That does lead to some misses along with the hits, but that's the nature of the publishing world.<\/p>\n—<\/del><\/p>\n
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