Comics

Almost a month without updating this time... have I really been that busy? I guess so.

Either that, or I haven't been watching a lot of interesting movies to write about. This month I mostly re-watched some bad movies with my boyfriend Cosmic (I made him do it... I think it's important to see some crap once in a while, so you value good movies even more), but the ones I watched I already talked about in older posts so it's not worth doing it again. I could talk about Wolverine, but that was a disappointment, and, funnily enough, I don't feel like ranting today, for some weird reason. So, what can I possible update on? Let's see... comics. I'm going to let you know what I've been reading these days. Hopefully you find one or two good recommendations.

1. Wolverine: Logan

So, since I mentioned the Wolverine movie, I'm starting out with this one, penned by Y: The Last Man's Brian K. Vaughn (also writes some stuff for Lost, but I've totally fallen out with that show... but Y: The Last Man is awesome, though) and with art by Eduardo Risso, this isn't exactly a groundbreaking Wolvie story (it's hard to make one these days, because it seems like every angle of his misterious past as already been explored...), but it's very interesting anyway. It's set on World War II, and Logan was captured by the Japanese army while serving on the Canadian parachute batallion (or something along those lines). There he meets and american soldier and a japanese woman what will change his life. The writing is solid, but what especially caught my attention was Risso's art, that I though was absolutely kick ass. I never read 100 Bullets (the comics he's most famous for) but I just might have to look it up after this, because the guy kicks ass. 3.5 out of 5

2. Scott Pilgrim Gets it Together


Ah, Scott! These books are always a little bundle of joy to me. Scott and his gang had me on the first volume, and it's just been getting better. I love both Bryan Lee O'Malley's writing and his art, that while apparantly simple, is very dynamic and endearing. Scott's journey is filled with bumps on the road that we all can relate too, and his relationship with his friends, his girlfriend, his band, is a pleasure to follow and it almost makes you feel like you know those people (stupid thing to say, I know). His combination of slacker/hero is one of the things that makes this comic so great, and little things like a pannel showing him melting in the heat of his house playing Nintendo and still being too lazy to get up and get some water really make me smile. Plain and simple, these books make me smile and I'd recommend them anytime, anywhere. Can't wait to read number 5... I'm just delaying the pleasure a little, and trying to make the wait for number 6 less excruciating. 4.5 out of 5

It had been a while since I read a manga of any kind, but since this book was recommended to me and my boyfriend by someone who knows his comics (working in a comic shop kinda comes with that, I guess), he bought it and I read it first, because I'm a little leech like that :B Anyway, this was a pretty good surprise. And I really mean surprise, because I had no idea what this book was about. Turns out it was a cleverly written sci-fi/mistery story, that deals with a group of childhood friends, now adults, that must dig deep into their memories to try and stop the impending end of the world. It was a very enjoyable read, and it was pretty cool to see the storyline jumping back and forth from the 60's to the 90's. The childhood bits almost reminded me a little of Stand By Me... which is good. The characters were well-developed and endearing, the story was suspenseful and... well, I have to know what happens next. This definitely has my attention, and I'll try to get my hands on volume 2 soon. 4 out of 5

Mark's already a familiar face around my comic book shelves, and it's great to see he's still able to keep my interest fueled after all this time. It never ceases to amaze me how good the story is (and considering it's Robert Kirkman who also writes The Walking Dead, well, it's amazing how the guy keeps such consistent quality writing on such different styles...), how incredible the art is and how with each volume I just wish I had the next one to pick up and read right after. Invincible is one of my favorite comics ever, it has rightfully earned that spot, and if you're not reading it, you're missing out terribly. 4.5 out of 5

Last but not least, the best zombie comic to ever see the light of day is up to it's 9th TPB and keeps all the intensity that we're used to. After volume 8, this felt a little bit slow and uneventful, but it was pretty unrealistic to imagine that every book after 8 would keep that pace - I think people would die from art attacks just reading it. Don't get me wrong - this book still is rich in emotional intensity and action. The story is progressing on a very interesting direction, and I can't wait to see what comes next, because I feel like this was almost the calm before the storm. But sadly, the next volume will probably take a while to hit the shelves.

Besides this, I've been reading a lot of Sin City issues and other miscelaneous comics that my boyfriend awesomely lent me, so I can't complain about my comic life at all.

And I won't complain about movie life either... after all there are some decent movies coming out these next weeks.

What have you guys been reading? Any recommendations?