Re: comics
Posted: Fri Jul 01, 2011 10:22 pm
from ViewAskew - the graphic novels/graphic novel storylines I've read so far this year:
1 - 100 Bullets vol. 10
2 - 100 Bullets vol. 11
3 - Hellblazer: Bad Blood
4 - Hellblazer Presents Chaz the Knowledge
5 - Madame Xanadu vol. 2
6 - Madame Xanadu vol. 3
7 - Madame Xanadu vol. 4 (or at least what should be in volume 4 when it is published in August)
8 - Fables vol. 15
9 - Cinderella: Fables are Forever
10 - Jack of Fables vol. 7
11 - Jack of Fables vol. 8
12 - Air vol. 3
13 - Air vol. 4
14 - Mighty Samson Archives vol. 2
15 - Logan's Run
16 - Flywires
17 - Devil
18 - DMZ vol. 8
19 - DMZ vol. 9
20 - DMZ vol. 10 - The series is definitely starting to wind down
21 - House of Mystery vol. 4 - I'm losing interest in this series, though I really enjoyed the first three volumes
22 - Sweet Tooth Book 1
23 - Sweet Tooth Book 2
24 - Sweet Tooth Book 3
25 - The Unwritten volume 1
26 - The Unwritten volume 2
27 - The Unwritten volume 3
28 - Tiny Titans: Field Trippin'
29 - Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam! - Back in Black - I love this series and hope it is only on hiatus rather than canceled
30 - Batman Beyond: Hush Beyond - This was a cool miniseries and I'm glad it led to another ongoing series
31 - Batman: The Brave and the Bold - Emerald Knight - a nice collection of team up stories
32 - Archie Marries... - This had a decent pair of what if stories that led to the Life With Archie magazine
33 - Rat Catcher - An FBI safe house gets torched and a mob witness gets whacked. Was it the work of the Rat Catcher? This was a nice story in the Vertigo Crime line.
34 - One Month to Live - Dennis Sykes is a nice guy who just tries to do his job, love his wife and raise his niece. When he tries to act as a Good Samaritan, he is doused with chemical waste. This gives him superpowers, but leaves him with one month to live. He has to figure out what to do with the time he has left. I thought this was an excellent story.
35 - Ender In Exile - Marvel does a nice job with this adaptation of the Orson Scott Card novel which fits between Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead.
36 - The New Avengers volume 1 - The Luke Cage led Avengers do battle with a mystic being from another realm. Doctor Strange and others are along to help as well. This wasn't a bad story, really, but I'm not a big fan of Doctor Strange and the Marvel brand of mystic battles. It had its moments, though.
37 - Avengers volume 1 - The Tony Stark/Steve Rogers Avengers have to deal with Kang, a fractured Time, their kids going bad in the future, Ultron and The Maestro. I wasn't really that impressed with this initial storyline. At one point, I wouldn't have been surprised to see Christopher Lloyd show up as Doc Brown and tell the Avengers that there's a problem with their kids and they need to fix it.
38 - Shadowland - It wasn't too bad, though I've enjoyed many other Daredevil stories more. I didn't pick up any of the side stories and only read the Daredevil title as it came out.
39 - Little Lulu Volume 26 - I love the Dark Horse reprint line of classic material. I was never a big Little Lulu fan, but there are some funny stories here.
40 - Spider-Man Big Time vol. 1 - I like the new direction so far, though I'm not a big fan of Humberto Ramos.
41 - Life with Archie vol. 2 - Archie Loves Veronica
42 - Life with Archie vol. 3 - Archie Loves Betty - The 'what if' futures continue with some entertaining stories. About the only thing that I don't like is how Mr. Lodge is treated as a greedy, dishonest, lowllife businessman. I suppose he was the natural choice for bad guy, but I never saw him in this way.
43 - Millar and McNiven's Nemesis Vol. 1 - This was pretty much what I expected it to be - violent and fun. It was maybe a bit predictable here and there, but still pretty entertaining.
44 - New Mutants Forever - This was a nice 'lost' story in the New Mutants saga. New Mutants was one of my favorite books back during the early part of its run. This story isn't as good as the early years, but it was still good. I enjoyed the first year of the current New Mutants comic, but have lost interest with all of the crossovers with the other X-Men books and just dropped the title today. I don't read the other X-books and wish they had kept the comic more self contained.
45 - X-Factor: Happenings In Vegas - Madrox and the gang head to Vegas to follow up on a job that didn't turn out quite the way they expected. Longshot is almost in heaven with the Vegas lifestyle. As usual, a very entertaining volume. I hope Peter David continues writing X-Factor for a long time to come.
46 - Time Masters: Vanishing Point - A companion title to the Return of Bruce Wayne, though focusing on the search for Batman by Rip Hunter, Booster Gold, Superman, and Green Lantern. For the most part, the series seemed kind of pointless, but I did enjoy it nonetheless. I didn't like Hal Jordan's constant ragging on Booster, but there were nice bits here and there.
47 - Fringe: Tales from the Fringe - Short stories set in the Fringe universe with some of the main characters. Some of the stories were better than others, but overall not bad.
48 - Red Herring - The government has been bilked out of trillions of dollars since the 1950s in a big conspiracy involving aliens and businessmen. Red Herring is out to stop it, but gets involved with a young congressional aide who has a penchant for sleeping around. There was plenty of humor in this series and the covers were great. I thought it was a lot of fun.
49 - Sparta U.S.A - I didn't really enjoy this series very much. The art was okay, but the story was kind of odd. It takes place in a small town of under 10000 people that seems isolated from the rest of America, perhaps because of nuclear war. The residents of Sparta are all involved in football and violence. There are attempts to tie Sparta to the Sparta of ancient Greece as well. I don't think the storyline is very cohesive or interesting so I don't think it's worth checking out.
50 - Tom Strong and the Robots of Doom - Tom's son, Albrecht, decides to mess with time, leading to an alternate present. Tom Strong is always lots of fun and this series is no exception.
51 - Astro City The Dark Ages volume 2 - The story of Royal and his brother continues as they infiltrate a group of bad guys and seek out the murderer of their parents. Not the best Astro City story to date, but good.
52 - Astro City Shining Stars - A collection of Astro City Specials, including Samaritan, Beautie, Astra and Silver Agent. Very nice.
53 - Starcraft - I thought it sounded like it might be a decent science fiction comic. I was wrong. Maybe having a familiarity with the game would help.
54 - Blackest Night Black Lantern Corps vol.2 - I finally got around to reading the miniseries for Flash, Wonder Woman and JSA that were collected in this book. They were pretty good, though I probably wouldn't have enjoyed them as much when they came out since there were too many Blackest Night books.
55 - Monster's Inc. - Laugh Factory - The scare factory is now a laugh factory with Sully running the show. This was a good series.
56 - Wall-E: Recharge - This book does a nice job capturing the feel of the first part of the movie.
57 - Wall-E: Out There - An astronaut lands on Earth and keeps Wall-E company for a while. Not bad.
58 - Finding Nemo: Reef Rescue - Starfish threaten the reef and Marlin, Nemo, Dory, etc. have to find a way to fight back
59 - Finding Nemo: Losing Dory - Dory gets lured away from the group while staying at a campsite and her friends set out to find her.
60 - Cars vol. 2: Radiator Springs - This series tells how several of the main characters first came to Radiator Springs.
61 - Cars vol. 3: Rally Race - Lightning sponsors a race for charity to be held in Radiator Springs. Chick Hicks comes along with his usual ill manners.
62 - Cars vol. 4: Route 66 Dash - A traditional team race along Route 66 results in some fun, especially when Chick Hicks teams with Tow Mater's nemesis, Bubba.
63 - Cars: Rust Bucket Derby - Bubba and Tow Mater get into a contest which includes a demolition derby.
64 - The Incredibles vol. 2: City of Incredibles - Jack-Jack is sick and infects normal people with super powers
65 - The Incredibles vol. 3: Revenge from Below - Dash has his powers taken away as a punishment and has to live life in the slow lane. He comes to suspect that the teachers at his school are really aliens with nefarious plans.
66 - The Incredibles vol. 4: Secrets and Lies - Mrs. Incredible has to team up with Mirage when her old boyfriend pops up.
67 - The Incredibles vol. 5: Truth and Consequences - The Underminer returns to threaten Metroville and the Incredible family has to save the day.
68 - Toy Story: The Mysterious Stranger - A variety of stories, including a mysterious egg, a trip to the science fair and having to make peace with the new dog.
69 - Toy Story: The Return of Buzz Lightyear - Andy gets a present - another Buzz Lightyear - which sets off a competition between the two Buzzes and a trip to the toy store.
70 - Toy Story: Some Assembly Required - Buzz, Woody and the rest compete for a kiss from Bo Peep. Also, a trip to the natural history museum.
71 - Toy Story: Toy Overboard - Andy packs a bunch of toys to take with him on a family cruise. Unfortunately, a few of them end up overboard and have to make their way back to the rest of the toys before it is too late.
Boom did a very nice job with all of these Pixar series. I enjoyed all of them quite a bit. I hope that Marvel does a good job, too.
72 - Irredeemable vol. 1
73 - Irredeemable vol. 2
74 - Irredeemable vol. 3
75 - Irredeemable vol. 4
76 - Irredeemable vol. 5
I've been wanting to read this series for a long time. What happens when the most powerful hero on Earth snaps and starts killing people and wreaking havoc? An excellent and very entertaining series.
77 - Ayn Rand Anthem - This wasn't too bad. It's been a long time since I read the novel itself, though.
78 - Potter's Field - I didn't really care for this one very much.
79 - Incorruptible vol. 1 - When the world's greatest hero turns villain, the world's most powerful villain decides to become a hero, but needs practice. I've been enjoying this series as much or more than Irredeemable.
80 - Incorruptible vol. 2
81 - Incorruptible vol. 3
82 - Incorruptible vol. 4
83 - Farscape: D'Argo's Quest - D'Argo goes in search of his late wife's brother (and murderer)
84 - Farscape: D'Argo's Trial
85 - Farscape: Gone and Back - Crichton gets thrown into an alternate reality in which he never met Aeryn Sun
86 - Farscape: Tangle Roots
87 - Farscape: Red Sky at Morning
88 - Farscape: Compulsions
89 - Farscape: The War for the Uncharted Territories
90 - Farscape: Scorpius vol. 1
91 - Farscape: Scorpius vol. 2
I've really been enjoying the Farscape comics as they continue the story after the Peacekeeper Wars. The art is a bit uneven at times, but the books have been fun.
92 - Geronimo Stilton #1 - The Discovery of America
93 - Geronimo Stilton #2 - The Secret of the Sphinx
94 - Geronimo Stilton #3 - The Coliseum Con
95 - Geronimo Stilton #4 - Following the Trail of Marco Polo
96 - Geronimo Stilton #5 - The Great Ice Age
97 - Geronimo Stilton #6 - Who Stole the Mona Lisa?
98 - Geronimo Stilton #7 - Dinosaurs in Action
The Geronimo Stilton series is an Italian graphic novel series which is translated and published in English by Papercutz. Geronimo is a newspaper editor in a large city. In his world, most of the people are rats, mice or other rodents. The bad guys are the Pirate Cats. Geronimo along with family and friends travel back through time to various historical places and times to keep the Pirate Cats from changing history. It's a fun series.
99 - Rapunzel's Revenge
100 - Calamity Jack
Shannon Hale and her husband have written a pair of graphic novels about Rapunzel and Jack (of beanstalk fame). The first book tells Rapunzel's story and how she meets Jack. The second book tells Jack's story. Both are illustrated by Nathan Hale (no relation to the other Hales) and the books are a joy to read. Rapunzel uses her braids as a lasso and is every bit the talented fighter that Jack is.
101 - Soldier Zero vol.1 - A disabled soldier merges with an alien symbiote to become Soldier Zero. I was pleasantly surprised with this Stan Lee book and found it pretty entertaining.
102 - Starborn vol. 1 - In this Stan Lee series, a man who has dreamed of being a writer since he was a kid is waiting for a reply on his first novel submission when he finds out that the fantasy worlds he writes about are real. The art was a bit more sketchy than Soldier Zero, but the story has been decent so far.
103 - The Traveler vol. 1 - A man dressed like a superhero saves several people, but he hasn't picked these people randomly. I liked this Stan Lee series as much as Soldier Zero and am interested to see where it goes.
104 - Ultimate Comics Thor - This was a pretty nice book telling about Thor, Loki, Balder and others. Hickman's writing is usually entertaining.
105 - Uncle Scrooge: Ducktales - Like a Hurricane - These books are always fun
106 - Melvin Monster volume 3 - The John Stanley Library books are consistently entertaining. Drawn and Quarterly does a nice job with them.
107 - Mickey Mouse on Quandomai Island - A cruise turns into a shipwreck on an island with a secret. A nice adventure book.
108 - Ultimate Comics New Ultimates: Thor Reborn - I didn't really like this much, unlike the other Ultimate Thor book I read.
109 - Phoenix Without Ashes - A nice adaptation of a Harlan Ellison story about a young man in a rural society who discovers that their society actually exists in a dome of a giant spaceship
110 - Stumptown vol. 1 - A very nice series about a female detective in Portland. Plenty of humor and action and a fun story. I'd welcome a second volume.
111 - Sam and Friends vol. 1: Dracula Madness - A nice kids book about an intelligent dog and two girls who investigate a mystery.
112, 113, 114 - The Elsewhere Chronicles vol. 1-3 - When the town wealthy recluse dies, a group of kids and the recluse's granddaughter (who is in town for the funeral) discover a portal to another world inside her grandfather's mansion. They have to find a way back home again while evading a dangerous enemy. A very entertaining series.
115 - Giant Size Little Lulu volume 3 - I never used to be a big Little Lulu fan, but reading these Dark Horse volumes gives me an appreciation for how funny some of the stories are.
116 - Elsewhere Chronicles Book 4 - After a number of months in their own world, the kids find a way back to the other world where they had an adventure. It was a good book, but leaves me wanting the next book sooner rather than later.
117 - superstar - as seen on t.v. - A superhero whose power comes from his level of popularity and fame. It wasn't as much fun as I was expecting, but it was okay. I think I liked it a lot more when I read it a decade ago.
118 - Aaron and Ahmed - An army psychiatrist loses his girlfriend during 9/11 and ends up getting a job at Gitmo working with terror suspects. He tries a new technique on one of the prisoners, but who is actually being influenced is up for debate. The art was good, but I couldn't really get into the story that much.
119 - Archie: The Best of Dan DeCarlo volume 2 - Great art and fun stories makes a very nice package. Definitely worth a look.
120 - Spider-Man: Matters of Life and Death - I'm enjoying Big Time and am happy to see Spider-Man join the FF. The last couple of issues have been especially good.
121 - Peanuts - Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown! - A nice adaptation of the new animated special. A lot of the stuff is pretty familiar, but is still fun.
122 - Irredeemable vol. 6
123 - Incorruptible vol. 4
124 - The Storm in the Barn - A story set in the Dust Bowl of the 1930. It was pretty good.
125 - Casper the Friendly Ghost - Casper's 60th Anniversary Special - It's always nice to see these old Harvey comics reprinted
126 - Lake Monster Mix-Up - Sam, the mystery loving dog, and his friends investigate a mystery at a lake while on vacation.
127 - Chicagoland Detective Agency #1 - The Drained Brains Caper - Megan starts attending the Stepford Preparatory Academy after being kicked out of a number of other schools. She soon discovers that something isn't quite right at the school as the students act a bit like zombies and the school psychologist is a mad scientist. Megan ends up forming a detective agency with her friend, Raf, and his talking dog. A nice and entertaining start to the series.
128 - Chicagoland Detective Agency #2 - The Maltese Mummy - A popular singer comes to town and Megan is all set to interview him when she notices that his manager seems suspiciously familiar. Book two was pretty good, too.
129 - Zita the Space Girl - Zita travels through a portal in space in search of her friend and ends up on a planet destined to be destroyed in a few days by a rogue asteroid. This book has a fun story and very nice full color art from a creator who published stories in the Flight series. I loved the book and am looking forward to the second book.
130 - Tron Betrayal - A decent bridge between the first movie and the Tron Legacy.
131 - Puppy Sister - An S.E. Hinton story about a young puppy who turns herself into a human girl. It was okay.
132 - Takio - A new Bendis/Oeming collaboration for kids about two girls who superpowers through an accident. The younger sister insists that they become superheroes. I enjoyed the first entry in the series. Plenty of fun to be had.
133 - Foiled - A young girl has a real talent for fencing, but doesn't fit in with any of the groups at her school. Then the handsome new boy shows an interest in her. Elements of fantasy enter the story late in this volume and I assume will be further explored in volume 2. The art was very good and the story was also good, but seems to be setting things up. I like the character of Aliera.
134 - Indiana Jones Adventures vol. 2 - A decent Indy adventure.
135 - Star Wars Adventures: Princess Leia and the Royal Ransom - Han, Leia and Chewie inadvertantly rescue a princess while on a mission for the Rebellion
136 - Star Wars Adventures: The Will of Darth Vader - A humorous adventure with Vader as he undertakes a mission for the Emperor.
137 - Star Wars Adventures: Luke Skywalker and the Treasure of the Dragonsnakes - A story from Luke's training days under Yoda.
All of the Star Wars Adventures books were fun.
138 - Star Wars The Clones Wars: Slaves of the Republic - The entire population of a planet is missing and is being sold into slavery.
139 - Star Wars The Clone Wars: The Colossus of Destiny - Mace Windu tries to aid a friend keep his planet away from the Separatists.
140 - Star Wars The Clone Wars: In Service of the Republic - A Jedi mission to destroy a Separatist fortress on an ice planet.
141 - Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Hero of the Confederacy - Anakin and Obi-Wan travel to a planet to try and stop a planet from selling starship engines to the Separatists.
142 - Star Wars The Clone Wars: Deadly Hands of Shon-Ju - A covert mission to end the career of a mercenary and war profiteer takes a turn sideways when Aayla Secura comes across a former Jedi student with plans of his own.
143 - Dr. Horrible and Other Horrible Stories - The world of Dr. Horrible is expanded upon in stories by Zack Whedon. 'twas okay.
144 - Serenity: The Shepherd's Tale - The story of Shepherd Book is told Memento fashion. It was okay, but not as good as I was expecting.
145 - yoko tsuno 3: The Prey and the Ghost - Yoko and Pol are in Scotland when they come across a young lady who may be suffering from delusions - or maybe somebody is trying to drive her out of her mind.
146 - yoko tsuno 4: Daughter of the Wind - Yoko secretly returns to Japan to try and aid her father, a scientist who has created the means to form artificial typhoons. However, a corrupt businessman is trying to steal his invention.
147 - yoko tsuno 5: The Dragon of Hong Kong - While in Hong Kong, Yoko, Vic and Pol come across a giant reptile while out boating. It turns out that the giant creature was enlarged artificially and Yoko tries to track down the source.
148 - Solomon's Thieves - The story is based on the downfall of the Templar Knights in the early part of the 14th Century. The Templars were turned upon by the king of France and by the church. Their lands and wealth were confiscated and many of their knights were tortured and slain. In this book, a few survivors plan to steal the vast Templar treasure, which was hidden shortly before the betrayal. It was pretty entertaining and I look forward to book 2.
149 - The Professor's Daughter - In Victorian England, a professor's daughter falls in love with Imhotep IV. The only problem is that he's a mummy and has been dead for 3000 years. He's still ambulatory somehow, though, and his father shows up as well. It was a bit silly in premise, but is a fun book nonetheless.
150 - Koko Be Good - Jon is an aspiring musician in his early 20s whose life isn't really going anywhere. He's planning to move to Peru with in a month in order to be with his girlfriend. Then he encounters Koko, a girl who scams her way through life, having fun and few attachments. This chance encounter starts altering life for both of them. Koko starts trying to be a better person with sometimes humorous results, though her intentions are good. Jon starts to rethink his plans for the future. All in all, an excellent slice of life tale with plenty of humor and poignancy.
151 - Garage Band - A group of young adults get permission to clean out a garage and use it for their band to practice in. The group has to deal with family issues, replacing equipment and each other. I thought it was good, but could have been better.
152 - Cat Burglar Black - K is a teenage girl who was orphaned at a young age and raised in a home that trained her to steal. After that home is broken apart, her aunt sends for her to come live at the Boarding School she runs. However, there only seem to be three other girls at the Academy at the moment and the people who work there are kind of strange. I loved this book and would welcome a sequel. I plan to check out some of the other work that Richard Sala has done as well.
153 - City of Spies - A touching story about a young Jewish girl growing up during World War II. Evelyn's wealthy father is getting married again (for the fifth or sixth time since her mother died) and she is being sent to live with her eccentric aunt in an apartment in New York City. Her aunt is an artist and doesn't know much about raising kids. There is only one other kid in the building - a boy named Tony. Evelyn and Tony become friends and try to root out the Nazi spies that they are sure are roaming about the city. I loved this book, too. Very well done.
154 - Missouri Boy - The book tells snapshot tales from the author's life as he was growing up. This was the least interesting of the First Second books that I read.
155 - Life Sucks - I like the line one person wrote where they thought of this book as Clerks with Vampires. I think it is an apt comparison. Life Sucks for Dave Miller who is stuck working the night shift at a local convenience store for his vampire master. He's constantly broke and is stuck in the dead end job when he becomes interested in a goth girl who stops into the shop one night with her friends. It also sucks that Dave was a vegetarian before he was turned and is now stuck drinking expired blood from a blood bank since he refuses to go out hunting for live food. You get quite a different look at what unlife might be in modern day LA as the vampires act pretty much like everybody else, except that they are dead, have vampiric abilities and drink blood. Some people might not like the ending, but I thought it was very appropriate and I liked the book a lot.
156 - A.L.I.E.E.E.N - The book is purportedly a comic book for alien children that was found on Earth. It is a strange little book and doesn't use any human words, but you can still follow the story.
157 - Witches' Brew - The fourth Sam & Friends mystery has three women moving in next door and Jennie and Sam are convinced that they are witches who use animals in their potions and spells. A fun investigation ensues.
158 - Robot City Adventures #1 - City in Peril - Robot City is a city where humans and robots coexist. This book focuses on Curtis, a giant light house robot who has to deal with an oil spill and a giant sea creature which threatens Robot City. It was a decent story.
159 - Robot City Adventures #2 - Rust Attack! - A noirish tale about two private investigators who search for the villain behind a fake body wax that is causing robots to start rusting. This was better than the first book and was fun.
160 - Midnight Sun - This is loosely based on the true tale of the Italia, an airship that crashed on its way to the North Pole and the rescue attempt that was made to save the crew members who survived. Overall, a pretty good story.
161 - The Return of King Doug - Doug was an eight year old boy who abandoned his favorite fantasy land when he discovered that they expect him to lead a revolt against the Dark Queen. He returns 25 years later in search of his son, who has wandered into the land through a well at the family's vacation home. Lots of humor and a decent story.
162 - The Good Neighbors: Kind - The conclusion to the faery story told by Holly Black and Ted Naifeh. It was a good story, though best read in conjunction with the first two books. I love Naifeh's art.
163 - Whiteout - I'd read this tale of murder in Antarctica before and I enjoyed revisiting it. A body is discovered near the American base and it is up to the marshal there to track down the killer and the reason behind the killing. It becomes much more involved and costly than she initially expected.
164, 165 - I Was an Eighth-Grade Ninja #1,2 - Hana is a Japanese girl who moves to San Francisco to live with her grandfather after her mother dies. She continues her martial arts training with her grandfather and attends the local school, but there is more to her grandfather and his pet than meets the eye. A nice pair of volumes, though it looks like the series was discontinues after these two came out.
166 - Brain Camp - Lucas and Jenna are chosen for a special summer camp that turns losers into winners when a couple of spots open up unexpectedly. They soon find that something strange is going on at the camp. The camp counselors drug the campers in the food and with injections in part to make them smarter, but there is more going on. I thought this was a pretty good book overall.
167 - American Born Chinese - Three seemingly unconnected stories eventually intertwine to give a bit of a picture about what it is like for some to be a 'foreigner' in the U.S. One story deals with a monkey king in the heavens. Another deals with Jin, the Armerican born son of two Chinese immigrants. The third revolves around Danny and his cousin, Chin-Kee, who visits once a year and embarrasses Danny so much with his behavior that he has to change schools. A very entertaining book and a one with a message as well.
168 - Tubby vol. 3 - Another collection of Tubby comics from the 1950s. Very funny.
169 - Ultimate Comics Avengers: Blade vs the Avengers - Lots of vampire action. It was okay, but not great.
170 - Red: Better Red Than Dead - A collection of one shots that came out before the movie. Some were better than others, but overall it was a good volume.
171 - Invaders Now - The Invaders are brought back together to combat a threat from the past. The art was good, but I thought the story was weak.
172 - Die Hard Year One volume 2 - More adventures of John McLane's first year on the force. Not bad.
173 - Slow Storm - kind of boring
174 - Scalped volume 1
175 - Scalped volume 2 - I gave this series a try since it has been recommended by a few people. I thought it was okay, but it didn't really interest me enough to keep reading the series. I don't think I'll check out volume 3 any time soon.
176 - Locke and Key - Welcome to Lovecraft
177 - Locke and Key - Head Games
I'm loving this horror/suspense/supernatural series quite a bit so far. I should be picking up the third volume tonight.
178 - Brightest Day volume 2 - not a good series, even with Geoff Johns writing it
179 - The Last Unicorn - A good adaptation of the Peter S. Beagle novel
180 - Little Lulu volume 27 - I'm still loving these classic humor tales
181 - The Stuff of Legend Book 2: The Jungle - I didn't like this book as much as the first book in the series
182 - Mighty Samson Volume 3 - A decent collection of stories set in a distant future that has largely reverted to primitive ways
183 - Ultimate Doomsday - In the wake of Ultimatum, somebody takes a shot at various heroes and their families and Spider-Man. Thing, Human Torch, Sue Storm, Nick Fury and Rick Jones are among those trying to track down the villain. The story was okay. I think I would have been kind of perturbed if I'd bought the first couple of miniseries, though, since it is all one story and there isn't much resolution at the end of each segment.
184 - Ultimate Comics Captain America - Cap heads over to Asia on reports that someone there is working on a super soldier serum. The art was good and the story was so-so.
185 - George RR Martin's Doorways - I liked this graphic novel, which takes a failed tv pilot about parallel worlds and turns it into a graphic novel. There are definite similarities to Sliders, though the story predates Sliders by a few years. Of course, I'm sure others had done variations on the theme even earlier.
186 - Ultimate War - Magneto vs the X-Men and the Ultimates. Bleh. I didn't think it was very good.
187 - The Adventures of Dr. McNinja: Night Powers - The solicitation looked pretty cool, but the humor and 'story' just don't work for me. It ain't my cup of tea.
188 - Locke & Key: Crown of Shadows - more keys, more mayhem, more supernatural fun. The third volume was a lot of fun and I'm ready for volume 4. I'm not much of a horror fan, but this is a pretty good series.
189 - Kingdom: The Promised Land - This 2000AD graphic novel takes place in the distant future where dog soldiers patrol Antarctica, the last outpost of humanity after the Earth has been taken over by insects. This book focuses on one dog soldier, an alpha male named Gene. I enjoyed the book a lot.
190 - Turok Son of Stone Archives vol. 8 - This book collects Turok #44-50. I've always liked Turok and while the stories may seem a bit repetitive after a while, I still like them quite a bit.
191 - Incognito vol 2: Bad Influences - Zack Overkill is now working for the government and trying to maintain a secret identity. He gets sent on a mission to recover a government agent who may have turned rogue. Another excellent volume in the series from Brubaker and Phillips.
192 - Superman: The Black Ring vol. 2 - I thought this Lex Luthor oriented story was good at times, but overall I didn't think it was much better than average.
193 - Superman/Batman: Sorcerer Kings - This was an okay story arc. I had my doubts early on, but it was better than I initially thought it would be.
194 - Gotham City Sirens: Strange Fruit - Catwoman, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy make an interesting group. Plus Zatanna and Talia al Ghul in this arc. Not bad.
195 - Birds of Prey: The Death of Oracle - The Calculator is gunning for Oracle and ends up being responsible for her 'death'. We also get the aftermath and an appearance by Catman. I like the team of Huntress, Black Canary, Dove, Hawk, Zinda and enjoyed this volume quite a bit.
196 - Batman Streets of Gotham: The House of Hush - I liked Paul Dini's stint on Batman and the story of Hush here was pretty good.
197 - DC Universe Legacies - I thought the series was going to focus on Legacy heroes and how they have to live up the name established by their predecessors. However, this series is a retelling of the history of the DC Universe from the early 1940s-present and the emergence of super heroes as told through one man's eyes. I enjoyed the series, though not as much as I had hoped since much of it was very familiar to me since I am a long time DC reader. I thought that the golden age segments and the non super hero parts were the best parts of the story.
198 - Batman: Knight and Squire - The British version of Batman and Robin live a much different life from their American counterparts. The villains aren't nearly as villainous and a number of ordinary people seem to know their identity. Things turn a bit more serious toward the end, but there is plenty of humor in this series and a rather fun tale overall.
199 - Jonah Hex: Bury Me In Hell - Jonah Hex has been consistently awesome for a long time and this book was no exception. I'm glad Jonah will continue in All Star Western after the reboot.
200 - Justice League Generation Lost vol.2 - The confrontation with Max Lord continues. I enjoyed this series a lot, though I don't care for the Omacs as villains and I think Max Lord needs a bit of a rest now.
201 - Justice League: Omega - I'm not really a big fan of the Crime Syndicate and didn't think it was that great. At least it wasn't Eclipso...wait, that's in the next arc? sigh.
202 - JSA All Stars vol. 3 The Puzzle Men - This series didn't start out very good, got better, and then didn't finish strong. The art wasn't very good and the story wasn't very good either. I won't miss the series.
203 - Justice Society of America: Super Town - I like the main Justice Society book. The art and story are much better than the All Stars series. It may not be quite as good a title as it was in the previous series, but it is still pretty good.
204 - Legion of Super Heroes 2: Consequences - I've been enjoying the Legion stories since Infinite Crisis, so I hope that the reboot doesn't change things up too much. It doesn't seem like it will.
205 - R.E.B.E.L.S. vol. 5: Starstruck - I enjoyed this series quite a bit. I was a fan of L.E.G.I.O.N. back in the day, too.
206 - Secret Six: The Reptile Brain - This series was awesome for a long time. It is still pretty darn good.
207 - Wonder Woman Odyssey vol. 1 - It took me a while to get acclimated to the 'all-new' Wonder Woman, but I've been enjoying this storyline so far.
208 - Zatanna: Shades of the Past - Creepy puppets from Zatanna's past come back to haunt her. This series has been a lot of fun. I wish that it had sold better and am sorry that it is a casualty of the DC reboot.
209 - The All New Batman: Brave and the Bold - This isn't my favorite Batman book from the Johnny DC line, but it has been pretty entertaining so far. I liked the Sugar and Spike cameo.
210 - Tiny Titans vol. 6: The Treehouse and Beyond! - Aww, yeah!
1 - 100 Bullets vol. 10
2 - 100 Bullets vol. 11
3 - Hellblazer: Bad Blood
4 - Hellblazer Presents Chaz the Knowledge
5 - Madame Xanadu vol. 2
6 - Madame Xanadu vol. 3
7 - Madame Xanadu vol. 4 (or at least what should be in volume 4 when it is published in August)
8 - Fables vol. 15
9 - Cinderella: Fables are Forever
10 - Jack of Fables vol. 7
11 - Jack of Fables vol. 8
12 - Air vol. 3
13 - Air vol. 4
14 - Mighty Samson Archives vol. 2
15 - Logan's Run
16 - Flywires
17 - Devil
18 - DMZ vol. 8
19 - DMZ vol. 9
20 - DMZ vol. 10 - The series is definitely starting to wind down
21 - House of Mystery vol. 4 - I'm losing interest in this series, though I really enjoyed the first three volumes
22 - Sweet Tooth Book 1
23 - Sweet Tooth Book 2
24 - Sweet Tooth Book 3
25 - The Unwritten volume 1
26 - The Unwritten volume 2
27 - The Unwritten volume 3
28 - Tiny Titans: Field Trippin'
29 - Billy Batson and the Magic of Shazam! - Back in Black - I love this series and hope it is only on hiatus rather than canceled
30 - Batman Beyond: Hush Beyond - This was a cool miniseries and I'm glad it led to another ongoing series
31 - Batman: The Brave and the Bold - Emerald Knight - a nice collection of team up stories
32 - Archie Marries... - This had a decent pair of what if stories that led to the Life With Archie magazine
33 - Rat Catcher - An FBI safe house gets torched and a mob witness gets whacked. Was it the work of the Rat Catcher? This was a nice story in the Vertigo Crime line.
34 - One Month to Live - Dennis Sykes is a nice guy who just tries to do his job, love his wife and raise his niece. When he tries to act as a Good Samaritan, he is doused with chemical waste. This gives him superpowers, but leaves him with one month to live. He has to figure out what to do with the time he has left. I thought this was an excellent story.
35 - Ender In Exile - Marvel does a nice job with this adaptation of the Orson Scott Card novel which fits between Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead.
36 - The New Avengers volume 1 - The Luke Cage led Avengers do battle with a mystic being from another realm. Doctor Strange and others are along to help as well. This wasn't a bad story, really, but I'm not a big fan of Doctor Strange and the Marvel brand of mystic battles. It had its moments, though.
37 - Avengers volume 1 - The Tony Stark/Steve Rogers Avengers have to deal with Kang, a fractured Time, their kids going bad in the future, Ultron and The Maestro. I wasn't really that impressed with this initial storyline. At one point, I wouldn't have been surprised to see Christopher Lloyd show up as Doc Brown and tell the Avengers that there's a problem with their kids and they need to fix it.
38 - Shadowland - It wasn't too bad, though I've enjoyed many other Daredevil stories more. I didn't pick up any of the side stories and only read the Daredevil title as it came out.
39 - Little Lulu Volume 26 - I love the Dark Horse reprint line of classic material. I was never a big Little Lulu fan, but there are some funny stories here.
40 - Spider-Man Big Time vol. 1 - I like the new direction so far, though I'm not a big fan of Humberto Ramos.
41 - Life with Archie vol. 2 - Archie Loves Veronica
42 - Life with Archie vol. 3 - Archie Loves Betty - The 'what if' futures continue with some entertaining stories. About the only thing that I don't like is how Mr. Lodge is treated as a greedy, dishonest, lowllife businessman. I suppose he was the natural choice for bad guy, but I never saw him in this way.
43 - Millar and McNiven's Nemesis Vol. 1 - This was pretty much what I expected it to be - violent and fun. It was maybe a bit predictable here and there, but still pretty entertaining.
44 - New Mutants Forever - This was a nice 'lost' story in the New Mutants saga. New Mutants was one of my favorite books back during the early part of its run. This story isn't as good as the early years, but it was still good. I enjoyed the first year of the current New Mutants comic, but have lost interest with all of the crossovers with the other X-Men books and just dropped the title today. I don't read the other X-books and wish they had kept the comic more self contained.
45 - X-Factor: Happenings In Vegas - Madrox and the gang head to Vegas to follow up on a job that didn't turn out quite the way they expected. Longshot is almost in heaven with the Vegas lifestyle. As usual, a very entertaining volume. I hope Peter David continues writing X-Factor for a long time to come.
46 - Time Masters: Vanishing Point - A companion title to the Return of Bruce Wayne, though focusing on the search for Batman by Rip Hunter, Booster Gold, Superman, and Green Lantern. For the most part, the series seemed kind of pointless, but I did enjoy it nonetheless. I didn't like Hal Jordan's constant ragging on Booster, but there were nice bits here and there.
47 - Fringe: Tales from the Fringe - Short stories set in the Fringe universe with some of the main characters. Some of the stories were better than others, but overall not bad.
48 - Red Herring - The government has been bilked out of trillions of dollars since the 1950s in a big conspiracy involving aliens and businessmen. Red Herring is out to stop it, but gets involved with a young congressional aide who has a penchant for sleeping around. There was plenty of humor in this series and the covers were great. I thought it was a lot of fun.
49 - Sparta U.S.A - I didn't really enjoy this series very much. The art was okay, but the story was kind of odd. It takes place in a small town of under 10000 people that seems isolated from the rest of America, perhaps because of nuclear war. The residents of Sparta are all involved in football and violence. There are attempts to tie Sparta to the Sparta of ancient Greece as well. I don't think the storyline is very cohesive or interesting so I don't think it's worth checking out.
50 - Tom Strong and the Robots of Doom - Tom's son, Albrecht, decides to mess with time, leading to an alternate present. Tom Strong is always lots of fun and this series is no exception.
51 - Astro City The Dark Ages volume 2 - The story of Royal and his brother continues as they infiltrate a group of bad guys and seek out the murderer of their parents. Not the best Astro City story to date, but good.
52 - Astro City Shining Stars - A collection of Astro City Specials, including Samaritan, Beautie, Astra and Silver Agent. Very nice.
53 - Starcraft - I thought it sounded like it might be a decent science fiction comic. I was wrong. Maybe having a familiarity with the game would help.
54 - Blackest Night Black Lantern Corps vol.2 - I finally got around to reading the miniseries for Flash, Wonder Woman and JSA that were collected in this book. They were pretty good, though I probably wouldn't have enjoyed them as much when they came out since there were too many Blackest Night books.
55 - Monster's Inc. - Laugh Factory - The scare factory is now a laugh factory with Sully running the show. This was a good series.
56 - Wall-E: Recharge - This book does a nice job capturing the feel of the first part of the movie.
57 - Wall-E: Out There - An astronaut lands on Earth and keeps Wall-E company for a while. Not bad.
58 - Finding Nemo: Reef Rescue - Starfish threaten the reef and Marlin, Nemo, Dory, etc. have to find a way to fight back
59 - Finding Nemo: Losing Dory - Dory gets lured away from the group while staying at a campsite and her friends set out to find her.
60 - Cars vol. 2: Radiator Springs - This series tells how several of the main characters first came to Radiator Springs.
61 - Cars vol. 3: Rally Race - Lightning sponsors a race for charity to be held in Radiator Springs. Chick Hicks comes along with his usual ill manners.
62 - Cars vol. 4: Route 66 Dash - A traditional team race along Route 66 results in some fun, especially when Chick Hicks teams with Tow Mater's nemesis, Bubba.
63 - Cars: Rust Bucket Derby - Bubba and Tow Mater get into a contest which includes a demolition derby.
64 - The Incredibles vol. 2: City of Incredibles - Jack-Jack is sick and infects normal people with super powers
65 - The Incredibles vol. 3: Revenge from Below - Dash has his powers taken away as a punishment and has to live life in the slow lane. He comes to suspect that the teachers at his school are really aliens with nefarious plans.
66 - The Incredibles vol. 4: Secrets and Lies - Mrs. Incredible has to team up with Mirage when her old boyfriend pops up.
67 - The Incredibles vol. 5: Truth and Consequences - The Underminer returns to threaten Metroville and the Incredible family has to save the day.
68 - Toy Story: The Mysterious Stranger - A variety of stories, including a mysterious egg, a trip to the science fair and having to make peace with the new dog.
69 - Toy Story: The Return of Buzz Lightyear - Andy gets a present - another Buzz Lightyear - which sets off a competition between the two Buzzes and a trip to the toy store.
70 - Toy Story: Some Assembly Required - Buzz, Woody and the rest compete for a kiss from Bo Peep. Also, a trip to the natural history museum.
71 - Toy Story: Toy Overboard - Andy packs a bunch of toys to take with him on a family cruise. Unfortunately, a few of them end up overboard and have to make their way back to the rest of the toys before it is too late.
Boom did a very nice job with all of these Pixar series. I enjoyed all of them quite a bit. I hope that Marvel does a good job, too.
72 - Irredeemable vol. 1
73 - Irredeemable vol. 2
74 - Irredeemable vol. 3
75 - Irredeemable vol. 4
76 - Irredeemable vol. 5
I've been wanting to read this series for a long time. What happens when the most powerful hero on Earth snaps and starts killing people and wreaking havoc? An excellent and very entertaining series.
77 - Ayn Rand Anthem - This wasn't too bad. It's been a long time since I read the novel itself, though.
78 - Potter's Field - I didn't really care for this one very much.
79 - Incorruptible vol. 1 - When the world's greatest hero turns villain, the world's most powerful villain decides to become a hero, but needs practice. I've been enjoying this series as much or more than Irredeemable.
80 - Incorruptible vol. 2
81 - Incorruptible vol. 3
82 - Incorruptible vol. 4
83 - Farscape: D'Argo's Quest - D'Argo goes in search of his late wife's brother (and murderer)
84 - Farscape: D'Argo's Trial
85 - Farscape: Gone and Back - Crichton gets thrown into an alternate reality in which he never met Aeryn Sun
86 - Farscape: Tangle Roots
87 - Farscape: Red Sky at Morning
88 - Farscape: Compulsions
89 - Farscape: The War for the Uncharted Territories
90 - Farscape: Scorpius vol. 1
91 - Farscape: Scorpius vol. 2
I've really been enjoying the Farscape comics as they continue the story after the Peacekeeper Wars. The art is a bit uneven at times, but the books have been fun.
92 - Geronimo Stilton #1 - The Discovery of America
93 - Geronimo Stilton #2 - The Secret of the Sphinx
94 - Geronimo Stilton #3 - The Coliseum Con
95 - Geronimo Stilton #4 - Following the Trail of Marco Polo
96 - Geronimo Stilton #5 - The Great Ice Age
97 - Geronimo Stilton #6 - Who Stole the Mona Lisa?
98 - Geronimo Stilton #7 - Dinosaurs in Action
The Geronimo Stilton series is an Italian graphic novel series which is translated and published in English by Papercutz. Geronimo is a newspaper editor in a large city. In his world, most of the people are rats, mice or other rodents. The bad guys are the Pirate Cats. Geronimo along with family and friends travel back through time to various historical places and times to keep the Pirate Cats from changing history. It's a fun series.
99 - Rapunzel's Revenge
100 - Calamity Jack
Shannon Hale and her husband have written a pair of graphic novels about Rapunzel and Jack (of beanstalk fame). The first book tells Rapunzel's story and how she meets Jack. The second book tells Jack's story. Both are illustrated by Nathan Hale (no relation to the other Hales) and the books are a joy to read. Rapunzel uses her braids as a lasso and is every bit the talented fighter that Jack is.
101 - Soldier Zero vol.1 - A disabled soldier merges with an alien symbiote to become Soldier Zero. I was pleasantly surprised with this Stan Lee book and found it pretty entertaining.
102 - Starborn vol. 1 - In this Stan Lee series, a man who has dreamed of being a writer since he was a kid is waiting for a reply on his first novel submission when he finds out that the fantasy worlds he writes about are real. The art was a bit more sketchy than Soldier Zero, but the story has been decent so far.
103 - The Traveler vol. 1 - A man dressed like a superhero saves several people, but he hasn't picked these people randomly. I liked this Stan Lee series as much as Soldier Zero and am interested to see where it goes.
104 - Ultimate Comics Thor - This was a pretty nice book telling about Thor, Loki, Balder and others. Hickman's writing is usually entertaining.
105 - Uncle Scrooge: Ducktales - Like a Hurricane - These books are always fun
106 - Melvin Monster volume 3 - The John Stanley Library books are consistently entertaining. Drawn and Quarterly does a nice job with them.
107 - Mickey Mouse on Quandomai Island - A cruise turns into a shipwreck on an island with a secret. A nice adventure book.
108 - Ultimate Comics New Ultimates: Thor Reborn - I didn't really like this much, unlike the other Ultimate Thor book I read.
109 - Phoenix Without Ashes - A nice adaptation of a Harlan Ellison story about a young man in a rural society who discovers that their society actually exists in a dome of a giant spaceship
110 - Stumptown vol. 1 - A very nice series about a female detective in Portland. Plenty of humor and action and a fun story. I'd welcome a second volume.
111 - Sam and Friends vol. 1: Dracula Madness - A nice kids book about an intelligent dog and two girls who investigate a mystery.
112, 113, 114 - The Elsewhere Chronicles vol. 1-3 - When the town wealthy recluse dies, a group of kids and the recluse's granddaughter (who is in town for the funeral) discover a portal to another world inside her grandfather's mansion. They have to find a way back home again while evading a dangerous enemy. A very entertaining series.
115 - Giant Size Little Lulu volume 3 - I never used to be a big Little Lulu fan, but reading these Dark Horse volumes gives me an appreciation for how funny some of the stories are.
116 - Elsewhere Chronicles Book 4 - After a number of months in their own world, the kids find a way back to the other world where they had an adventure. It was a good book, but leaves me wanting the next book sooner rather than later.
117 - superstar - as seen on t.v. - A superhero whose power comes from his level of popularity and fame. It wasn't as much fun as I was expecting, but it was okay. I think I liked it a lot more when I read it a decade ago.
118 - Aaron and Ahmed - An army psychiatrist loses his girlfriend during 9/11 and ends up getting a job at Gitmo working with terror suspects. He tries a new technique on one of the prisoners, but who is actually being influenced is up for debate. The art was good, but I couldn't really get into the story that much.
119 - Archie: The Best of Dan DeCarlo volume 2 - Great art and fun stories makes a very nice package. Definitely worth a look.
120 - Spider-Man: Matters of Life and Death - I'm enjoying Big Time and am happy to see Spider-Man join the FF. The last couple of issues have been especially good.
121 - Peanuts - Happiness is a Warm Blanket, Charlie Brown! - A nice adaptation of the new animated special. A lot of the stuff is pretty familiar, but is still fun.
122 - Irredeemable vol. 6
123 - Incorruptible vol. 4
124 - The Storm in the Barn - A story set in the Dust Bowl of the 1930. It was pretty good.
125 - Casper the Friendly Ghost - Casper's 60th Anniversary Special - It's always nice to see these old Harvey comics reprinted
126 - Lake Monster Mix-Up - Sam, the mystery loving dog, and his friends investigate a mystery at a lake while on vacation.
127 - Chicagoland Detective Agency #1 - The Drained Brains Caper - Megan starts attending the Stepford Preparatory Academy after being kicked out of a number of other schools. She soon discovers that something isn't quite right at the school as the students act a bit like zombies and the school psychologist is a mad scientist. Megan ends up forming a detective agency with her friend, Raf, and his talking dog. A nice and entertaining start to the series.
128 - Chicagoland Detective Agency #2 - The Maltese Mummy - A popular singer comes to town and Megan is all set to interview him when she notices that his manager seems suspiciously familiar. Book two was pretty good, too.
129 - Zita the Space Girl - Zita travels through a portal in space in search of her friend and ends up on a planet destined to be destroyed in a few days by a rogue asteroid. This book has a fun story and very nice full color art from a creator who published stories in the Flight series. I loved the book and am looking forward to the second book.
130 - Tron Betrayal - A decent bridge between the first movie and the Tron Legacy.
131 - Puppy Sister - An S.E. Hinton story about a young puppy who turns herself into a human girl. It was okay.
132 - Takio - A new Bendis/Oeming collaboration for kids about two girls who superpowers through an accident. The younger sister insists that they become superheroes. I enjoyed the first entry in the series. Plenty of fun to be had.
133 - Foiled - A young girl has a real talent for fencing, but doesn't fit in with any of the groups at her school. Then the handsome new boy shows an interest in her. Elements of fantasy enter the story late in this volume and I assume will be further explored in volume 2. The art was very good and the story was also good, but seems to be setting things up. I like the character of Aliera.
134 - Indiana Jones Adventures vol. 2 - A decent Indy adventure.
135 - Star Wars Adventures: Princess Leia and the Royal Ransom - Han, Leia and Chewie inadvertantly rescue a princess while on a mission for the Rebellion
136 - Star Wars Adventures: The Will of Darth Vader - A humorous adventure with Vader as he undertakes a mission for the Emperor.
137 - Star Wars Adventures: Luke Skywalker and the Treasure of the Dragonsnakes - A story from Luke's training days under Yoda.
All of the Star Wars Adventures books were fun.
138 - Star Wars The Clones Wars: Slaves of the Republic - The entire population of a planet is missing and is being sold into slavery.
139 - Star Wars The Clone Wars: The Colossus of Destiny - Mace Windu tries to aid a friend keep his planet away from the Separatists.
140 - Star Wars The Clone Wars: In Service of the Republic - A Jedi mission to destroy a Separatist fortress on an ice planet.
141 - Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Hero of the Confederacy - Anakin and Obi-Wan travel to a planet to try and stop a planet from selling starship engines to the Separatists.
142 - Star Wars The Clone Wars: Deadly Hands of Shon-Ju - A covert mission to end the career of a mercenary and war profiteer takes a turn sideways when Aayla Secura comes across a former Jedi student with plans of his own.
143 - Dr. Horrible and Other Horrible Stories - The world of Dr. Horrible is expanded upon in stories by Zack Whedon. 'twas okay.
144 - Serenity: The Shepherd's Tale - The story of Shepherd Book is told Memento fashion. It was okay, but not as good as I was expecting.
145 - yoko tsuno 3: The Prey and the Ghost - Yoko and Pol are in Scotland when they come across a young lady who may be suffering from delusions - or maybe somebody is trying to drive her out of her mind.
146 - yoko tsuno 4: Daughter of the Wind - Yoko secretly returns to Japan to try and aid her father, a scientist who has created the means to form artificial typhoons. However, a corrupt businessman is trying to steal his invention.
147 - yoko tsuno 5: The Dragon of Hong Kong - While in Hong Kong, Yoko, Vic and Pol come across a giant reptile while out boating. It turns out that the giant creature was enlarged artificially and Yoko tries to track down the source.
148 - Solomon's Thieves - The story is based on the downfall of the Templar Knights in the early part of the 14th Century. The Templars were turned upon by the king of France and by the church. Their lands and wealth were confiscated and many of their knights were tortured and slain. In this book, a few survivors plan to steal the vast Templar treasure, which was hidden shortly before the betrayal. It was pretty entertaining and I look forward to book 2.
149 - The Professor's Daughter - In Victorian England, a professor's daughter falls in love with Imhotep IV. The only problem is that he's a mummy and has been dead for 3000 years. He's still ambulatory somehow, though, and his father shows up as well. It was a bit silly in premise, but is a fun book nonetheless.
150 - Koko Be Good - Jon is an aspiring musician in his early 20s whose life isn't really going anywhere. He's planning to move to Peru with in a month in order to be with his girlfriend. Then he encounters Koko, a girl who scams her way through life, having fun and few attachments. This chance encounter starts altering life for both of them. Koko starts trying to be a better person with sometimes humorous results, though her intentions are good. Jon starts to rethink his plans for the future. All in all, an excellent slice of life tale with plenty of humor and poignancy.
151 - Garage Band - A group of young adults get permission to clean out a garage and use it for their band to practice in. The group has to deal with family issues, replacing equipment and each other. I thought it was good, but could have been better.
152 - Cat Burglar Black - K is a teenage girl who was orphaned at a young age and raised in a home that trained her to steal. After that home is broken apart, her aunt sends for her to come live at the Boarding School she runs. However, there only seem to be three other girls at the Academy at the moment and the people who work there are kind of strange. I loved this book and would welcome a sequel. I plan to check out some of the other work that Richard Sala has done as well.
153 - City of Spies - A touching story about a young Jewish girl growing up during World War II. Evelyn's wealthy father is getting married again (for the fifth or sixth time since her mother died) and she is being sent to live with her eccentric aunt in an apartment in New York City. Her aunt is an artist and doesn't know much about raising kids. There is only one other kid in the building - a boy named Tony. Evelyn and Tony become friends and try to root out the Nazi spies that they are sure are roaming about the city. I loved this book, too. Very well done.
154 - Missouri Boy - The book tells snapshot tales from the author's life as he was growing up. This was the least interesting of the First Second books that I read.
155 - Life Sucks - I like the line one person wrote where they thought of this book as Clerks with Vampires. I think it is an apt comparison. Life Sucks for Dave Miller who is stuck working the night shift at a local convenience store for his vampire master. He's constantly broke and is stuck in the dead end job when he becomes interested in a goth girl who stops into the shop one night with her friends. It also sucks that Dave was a vegetarian before he was turned and is now stuck drinking expired blood from a blood bank since he refuses to go out hunting for live food. You get quite a different look at what unlife might be in modern day LA as the vampires act pretty much like everybody else, except that they are dead, have vampiric abilities and drink blood. Some people might not like the ending, but I thought it was very appropriate and I liked the book a lot.
156 - A.L.I.E.E.E.N - The book is purportedly a comic book for alien children that was found on Earth. It is a strange little book and doesn't use any human words, but you can still follow the story.
157 - Witches' Brew - The fourth Sam & Friends mystery has three women moving in next door and Jennie and Sam are convinced that they are witches who use animals in their potions and spells. A fun investigation ensues.
158 - Robot City Adventures #1 - City in Peril - Robot City is a city where humans and robots coexist. This book focuses on Curtis, a giant light house robot who has to deal with an oil spill and a giant sea creature which threatens Robot City. It was a decent story.
159 - Robot City Adventures #2 - Rust Attack! - A noirish tale about two private investigators who search for the villain behind a fake body wax that is causing robots to start rusting. This was better than the first book and was fun.
160 - Midnight Sun - This is loosely based on the true tale of the Italia, an airship that crashed on its way to the North Pole and the rescue attempt that was made to save the crew members who survived. Overall, a pretty good story.
161 - The Return of King Doug - Doug was an eight year old boy who abandoned his favorite fantasy land when he discovered that they expect him to lead a revolt against the Dark Queen. He returns 25 years later in search of his son, who has wandered into the land through a well at the family's vacation home. Lots of humor and a decent story.
162 - The Good Neighbors: Kind - The conclusion to the faery story told by Holly Black and Ted Naifeh. It was a good story, though best read in conjunction with the first two books. I love Naifeh's art.
163 - Whiteout - I'd read this tale of murder in Antarctica before and I enjoyed revisiting it. A body is discovered near the American base and it is up to the marshal there to track down the killer and the reason behind the killing. It becomes much more involved and costly than she initially expected.
164, 165 - I Was an Eighth-Grade Ninja #1,2 - Hana is a Japanese girl who moves to San Francisco to live with her grandfather after her mother dies. She continues her martial arts training with her grandfather and attends the local school, but there is more to her grandfather and his pet than meets the eye. A nice pair of volumes, though it looks like the series was discontinues after these two came out.
166 - Brain Camp - Lucas and Jenna are chosen for a special summer camp that turns losers into winners when a couple of spots open up unexpectedly. They soon find that something strange is going on at the camp. The camp counselors drug the campers in the food and with injections in part to make them smarter, but there is more going on. I thought this was a pretty good book overall.
167 - American Born Chinese - Three seemingly unconnected stories eventually intertwine to give a bit of a picture about what it is like for some to be a 'foreigner' in the U.S. One story deals with a monkey king in the heavens. Another deals with Jin, the Armerican born son of two Chinese immigrants. The third revolves around Danny and his cousin, Chin-Kee, who visits once a year and embarrasses Danny so much with his behavior that he has to change schools. A very entertaining book and a one with a message as well.
168 - Tubby vol. 3 - Another collection of Tubby comics from the 1950s. Very funny.
169 - Ultimate Comics Avengers: Blade vs the Avengers - Lots of vampire action. It was okay, but not great.
170 - Red: Better Red Than Dead - A collection of one shots that came out before the movie. Some were better than others, but overall it was a good volume.
171 - Invaders Now - The Invaders are brought back together to combat a threat from the past. The art was good, but I thought the story was weak.
172 - Die Hard Year One volume 2 - More adventures of John McLane's first year on the force. Not bad.
173 - Slow Storm - kind of boring
174 - Scalped volume 1
175 - Scalped volume 2 - I gave this series a try since it has been recommended by a few people. I thought it was okay, but it didn't really interest me enough to keep reading the series. I don't think I'll check out volume 3 any time soon.
176 - Locke and Key - Welcome to Lovecraft
177 - Locke and Key - Head Games
I'm loving this horror/suspense/supernatural series quite a bit so far. I should be picking up the third volume tonight.
178 - Brightest Day volume 2 - not a good series, even with Geoff Johns writing it
179 - The Last Unicorn - A good adaptation of the Peter S. Beagle novel
180 - Little Lulu volume 27 - I'm still loving these classic humor tales
181 - The Stuff of Legend Book 2: The Jungle - I didn't like this book as much as the first book in the series
182 - Mighty Samson Volume 3 - A decent collection of stories set in a distant future that has largely reverted to primitive ways
183 - Ultimate Doomsday - In the wake of Ultimatum, somebody takes a shot at various heroes and their families and Spider-Man. Thing, Human Torch, Sue Storm, Nick Fury and Rick Jones are among those trying to track down the villain. The story was okay. I think I would have been kind of perturbed if I'd bought the first couple of miniseries, though, since it is all one story and there isn't much resolution at the end of each segment.
184 - Ultimate Comics Captain America - Cap heads over to Asia on reports that someone there is working on a super soldier serum. The art was good and the story was so-so.
185 - George RR Martin's Doorways - I liked this graphic novel, which takes a failed tv pilot about parallel worlds and turns it into a graphic novel. There are definite similarities to Sliders, though the story predates Sliders by a few years. Of course, I'm sure others had done variations on the theme even earlier.
186 - Ultimate War - Magneto vs the X-Men and the Ultimates. Bleh. I didn't think it was very good.
187 - The Adventures of Dr. McNinja: Night Powers - The solicitation looked pretty cool, but the humor and 'story' just don't work for me. It ain't my cup of tea.
188 - Locke & Key: Crown of Shadows - more keys, more mayhem, more supernatural fun. The third volume was a lot of fun and I'm ready for volume 4. I'm not much of a horror fan, but this is a pretty good series.
189 - Kingdom: The Promised Land - This 2000AD graphic novel takes place in the distant future where dog soldiers patrol Antarctica, the last outpost of humanity after the Earth has been taken over by insects. This book focuses on one dog soldier, an alpha male named Gene. I enjoyed the book a lot.
190 - Turok Son of Stone Archives vol. 8 - This book collects Turok #44-50. I've always liked Turok and while the stories may seem a bit repetitive after a while, I still like them quite a bit.
191 - Incognito vol 2: Bad Influences - Zack Overkill is now working for the government and trying to maintain a secret identity. He gets sent on a mission to recover a government agent who may have turned rogue. Another excellent volume in the series from Brubaker and Phillips.
192 - Superman: The Black Ring vol. 2 - I thought this Lex Luthor oriented story was good at times, but overall I didn't think it was much better than average.
193 - Superman/Batman: Sorcerer Kings - This was an okay story arc. I had my doubts early on, but it was better than I initially thought it would be.
194 - Gotham City Sirens: Strange Fruit - Catwoman, Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy make an interesting group. Plus Zatanna and Talia al Ghul in this arc. Not bad.
195 - Birds of Prey: The Death of Oracle - The Calculator is gunning for Oracle and ends up being responsible for her 'death'. We also get the aftermath and an appearance by Catman. I like the team of Huntress, Black Canary, Dove, Hawk, Zinda and enjoyed this volume quite a bit.
196 - Batman Streets of Gotham: The House of Hush - I liked Paul Dini's stint on Batman and the story of Hush here was pretty good.
197 - DC Universe Legacies - I thought the series was going to focus on Legacy heroes and how they have to live up the name established by their predecessors. However, this series is a retelling of the history of the DC Universe from the early 1940s-present and the emergence of super heroes as told through one man's eyes. I enjoyed the series, though not as much as I had hoped since much of it was very familiar to me since I am a long time DC reader. I thought that the golden age segments and the non super hero parts were the best parts of the story.
198 - Batman: Knight and Squire - The British version of Batman and Robin live a much different life from their American counterparts. The villains aren't nearly as villainous and a number of ordinary people seem to know their identity. Things turn a bit more serious toward the end, but there is plenty of humor in this series and a rather fun tale overall.
199 - Jonah Hex: Bury Me In Hell - Jonah Hex has been consistently awesome for a long time and this book was no exception. I'm glad Jonah will continue in All Star Western after the reboot.
200 - Justice League Generation Lost vol.2 - The confrontation with Max Lord continues. I enjoyed this series a lot, though I don't care for the Omacs as villains and I think Max Lord needs a bit of a rest now.
201 - Justice League: Omega - I'm not really a big fan of the Crime Syndicate and didn't think it was that great. At least it wasn't Eclipso...wait, that's in the next arc? sigh.
202 - JSA All Stars vol. 3 The Puzzle Men - This series didn't start out very good, got better, and then didn't finish strong. The art wasn't very good and the story wasn't very good either. I won't miss the series.
203 - Justice Society of America: Super Town - I like the main Justice Society book. The art and story are much better than the All Stars series. It may not be quite as good a title as it was in the previous series, but it is still pretty good.
204 - Legion of Super Heroes 2: Consequences - I've been enjoying the Legion stories since Infinite Crisis, so I hope that the reboot doesn't change things up too much. It doesn't seem like it will.
205 - R.E.B.E.L.S. vol. 5: Starstruck - I enjoyed this series quite a bit. I was a fan of L.E.G.I.O.N. back in the day, too.
206 - Secret Six: The Reptile Brain - This series was awesome for a long time. It is still pretty darn good.
207 - Wonder Woman Odyssey vol. 1 - It took me a while to get acclimated to the 'all-new' Wonder Woman, but I've been enjoying this storyline so far.
208 - Zatanna: Shades of the Past - Creepy puppets from Zatanna's past come back to haunt her. This series has been a lot of fun. I wish that it had sold better and am sorry that it is a casualty of the DC reboot.
209 - The All New Batman: Brave and the Bold - This isn't my favorite Batman book from the Johnny DC line, but it has been pretty entertaining so far. I liked the Sugar and Spike cameo.
210 - Tiny Titans vol. 6: The Treehouse and Beyond! - Aww, yeah!