Rapid Reviews - 21 September 2005 - Part IV

I'm catching up again. But then, I'm always falling behind...

Samurai Executioner Vol 5: "Ten Fingers, One Life": This volume starts out with a few short stories. The first is about how hands close after a person dies. The second is the story of a former sumo wrestler who left the sport to pursue a life of crime. The third is about a woman who wants a smoke while she is executed. All the stories were good, and the fact that the first few were nice and short made it easier to read this book quickly. As usual, the book is brutal in both imagery and in subject matter, but if you can get past that, this is an incredible book. Wiki.

PS238 #12: The tricky thing about time travel in an on-going story is that if you don't drop hints of it early on, then it makes no sense to have it happen later. For a really good example of dropping early hints, look at Girl Genius*. And, while this may not be as thought-out or detailed as that**, PS238 manages to do the job nicely. The cover was, naturally, a delight to me as a Doctor Who fan. And it ties in nicely with the story. As for the story itself, well... this was a fun adventure into time and space with one of the more fascinating kids at the school. While Tyler was not the focus of the book in the first couple of issues, since his introduction he's become the best character around. His logic in the face of chaos combined with his resolute acceptance of his near-impossible situation makes for a great story... especially in the cases where he ends up being the only sane character around. Trust me, this one is just great. And it's part one of two... with the second issue out right on the heels of the first. Go get it. It's highly recommended. Wiki.

Nodwick #29: This was freakin' hilarious. I used to play those awful games, but seeing a full comic done in that style was almost too much. And the jokes were simply horrid. I loved it! This one is definitely recommended, but only to people who lived through that particularly computer age and remember the old eight-bit games. Wiki.

* Particularly, this page.
** In Girl Genius, the act of time travel actually sets the story in motion.