Sunday, January 19, 2014

A Sunday Review

DCBS
Here are reviews of the DCBS comic books that I've gotten around to reading and reviewing, sorted by the original shipping date:
  • Dec 18th
  • Trinity of Sin: Pandora #6 - Pandora isn't all that bad a character, but this issue really didn't do much for me. I'm just not sure about the whole trinity of sin thing.
  • Green Lantern: New Guardians #26 - Well, that was mostly one big boring fight, with a little bit of story thrown in for good luck. Bleh.
  • Batman Beyond Universe #5 - I'm not sure what to make of the Batman story, except yay, Max! The Justice League tale is starting good, but I still wonder about Zod. Or Bob. Or whatever his name ought to be.
  • Batman '66 #6 - There's not really a lot I can say about this. It's a let loose book about the campy Batman. I can hear Adam West as I read it.
  • Teen Titans Go #1 - That's very nearly too silly for words. Mini-golf. Right.
  • Mr Peabody and Sherman #2 - Puns... too... painful... must... flee... (no, not flea. I don't care that he's a dog, I wasn't making a pun.).
  • Sergio Aragones Funnies #11 - Great story about King Kong. And all the little stories were fantastic as usual. If you like Sergio's work, you ought to be getting this book.
  • Peanuts V2 #14 - All the cute little Santa references. And now I want some hot cocoa like Linus and Lucy.
  • Department of Monsterology #3 - The storylines split again, and I'm afraid there was one too many to keep track of... still, maybe the last issue will clear it all up.
  • Steam Engines of Oz V2 #1 - It's diverting further from the "real" Oz, but it's still entertaining. I'll give it that.
  • Itty Bitty Hellboy #5 - Totally goofy, totally fun. It's a pity this is the last one.
  • Dec 25th
  • Forever Evil #4 - I wonder who will tell Batman that Ultraman actually likes kryptonite? Ah well, this issue ends in an almighty mess at least. Some untangling to look forward to.
  • Justice League #26 - So the bit of Cyborg that got ripped away is off searching for something even while it helps the Crime Syndicate. That has some potential.
  • Doctor Who Special 2013 #1 - The Doctor hits a hole between universes that takes him to... a version of Earth on which they are filming the adventures of the Doctor. This was a fun nod to fans mixed with a nice little story about how to fight your own battles. Good stuff. Sad to see Doctor Who leaving IDW.



My library book this week was Dragonbreath #7: When Fairies Go Bad by Ursula Vernon. When Danny trips over a mushroom in the family garden, his mother ends up being taken by fairies. This one has a bit more about the whole concept of fairies in it with a bit of an educational twist, and I liked seeing some of that. Wendell's book of fairies was great, and the fox was a nice character. Christiana not believing what she was seeing was a nice touch. As was the return of the bus system! I think the stopover was one of those moments I'll cherish because I immediately took the book to Eric and made him read the section. I still think the book with the bats was the high point of the series so far, but this was a good one, with quite a bit of educational material about fairy lore.



My mystery book this week was Nine Lives Last Forever by Rebecca M. Hale. As she struggles to maintain her late uncle's antique shop, a woman and her two cats run across a surprisingly large number of frogs. I read the first book, How to Wash a Cat on the recommendation of a co-worker, then jumped in and tried this one next. I think this one holds together better than the first book, which was just plain strange at times. The annoying character, while still annoying, isn't quite as bad. The first-person narrative that jumps to a third-person narrative is oftentimes very hard to adjust to. The cats are pleasant, even though neither of them is very much like my own cat. The frogs... the frogs are another strange addition. Overall, it's a lot of fun. I may have to hunt down the sequels.



0 comments: