Tag: Graphic Novel

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Lady Mechanika: The Tablet of Destinies by M M Chen, Joe Benitez, Martin Montiel & Mike Garcia

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If the first volume of Lady Mechanika’s adventures The Mystery of the Mechanical Corpse had Sherlock Holmesian undertones, this second volume is channelling Lara Croft in a big way. Returning from a hunting trip, Lady Mechanika finds a young friend of hers, Winifred, waiting with news of unusual goings-on that have her worried for the safety of her Grandfather, Professor Henry Thomsen, who is currently on an expedition in Africa. No sooner has the continent been mentioned than Nika and Fred are making their way there with the help of the mysterious Mr Jabir. Adventure ensues. This story has some … Continue reading Lady Mechanika: The Tablet of Destinies by M M Chen, Joe Benitez, Martin Montiel & Mike Garcia

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Lady Mechanika: The Mystery of the Mechanical Corpse by Joe Benitez & Peter Steigerwald

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  Just take a look at the cover of this graphic novel for a moment. The kind of overt femininity seen here usually puts me right off, (mostly, it’s the boobs. I am suspicious of boobs). So when my husband received the first two volumes of Lady Mechanika as a Christmas gift I was absolutely uninterested. Took one look at the covers and made all sorts of judgements, the conclusion of which was that this series would not be for me. However, during lockdown, when I was struggling to read, I went foraging through our comics shelves and dug out … Continue reading Lady Mechanika: The Mystery of the Mechanical Corpse by Joe Benitez & Peter Steigerwald

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Saga, volume 2 by Brian K Vaughan & Fiona Staples

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So I’m trying to space out my reading of Saga because I think it would be all too easy to binge the nine currently published volumes of this awesome series and then pout, sulk and bemoan the lack of new chapters. Still, reading this has just gone and reawakened all my enthusiasm for this story and the family at its heart. At the very end of volume one Alana, Marko, baby Hazel and Izabel had just received a surprise visit from Marko’s parents, and this volume picks right up where it left off.   What struck me most reading this second … Continue reading Saga, volume 2 by Brian K Vaughan & Fiona Staples

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Monstress: The Blood by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda

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Holy cow! Just … … yeah … … wow. I think I made it pretty clear when I wrote about the first volume of Monstress here just how impressed I was with both the incredible artwork by Sana Takeda and with the pulls-no-punches story by Marjorie Liu. If it’s possible, I am even more invested now. This second volume has fewer light moments (and there weren’t that many in Awakening) and continues its descent into the way-dark pasts of both Maika Halfwolf and her world, but, like some sort of complex puzzle box, the story keeps opening out in a … Continue reading Monstress: The Blood by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda

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In Real Life by Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang

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Before I begin: This is the last of my pre-prepared posts (because The Slump is nowhere near over … *sigh*) which I wrote back in August. After this anything I post will be me winging it – for which I apologise in advance!   Even if you were to glance at this and think it’s not your kind of thing, I can recommend reading Doctorow’s introduction. In it he talks about economics, how the internet is changing ways of doing things, the importance of knowing where your stuff comes from and the power of protest. In the story that then … Continue reading In Real Life by Cory Doctorow and Jen Wang

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Saga, volume 1 Brian K Vaughan & Fiona Staples

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Oh the glee! Don’t you just love that feeling when you read (or watch) the first in a series, enjoy yourself thoroughly and get to anticipate everything you have still to read (or watch)? I’m wallowing in that feeling right now. After finally buying volume one of Saga at the end of last year (thanks to Dragons and Zombies making it sound exactly like something I’d want to read – you can read her thoughts here, here and here on the first three volumes) and being all in a hurry to get on with it, I only picked it up … Continue reading Saga, volume 1 Brian K Vaughan & Fiona Staples

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Six-Gun Gorilla by Simon Spurrier & Jeff Stokely

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  If you see something entitled Six-Gun Gorilla you buy it, right? Of course you do! It doesn’t matter that you don’t know what it’s about. I mean, you notice that it’s by Simon Spurrier of 2000AD fame, so you know your brain is gonna love it. And the artwork is by Jeff Stokely, so you know your eyes are gonna love it. But, and I may have mentioned this already, it’s called Six-Gun Gorilla for Pete’s sake! What more do you need? Six-Gun Gorilla is a graphic novel about an ex-Librarian, a gun-slinging gorilla (obviously) and a future in … Continue reading Six-Gun Gorilla by Simon Spurrier & Jeff Stokely

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Monstress: Awakening by Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda

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  You know how it is, you fall in love with the cover of a graphic novel sometimes only to find that the work inside doesn’t live up to your expectations. It’s difficult to buy comics online because of this. You just don’t quite know what you’re going to get and when the artwork is as important as the story, that matters. So when I saw the sumptuous cover art for Monstress: Awakening online, I didn’t get too excited. But open this book at any page (as I did in a Birmingham book store before Christmas) and Sana Takeda’s utterly … Continue reading Monstress: Awakening by Marjorie Liu & Sana Takeda

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Rat Queens by Kurtis J. Wiebe

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February was a hellish month so as this was my first weekend off in ages I went on a mini splurge to reward myself for surviving it. I’d like to say I felt guilty for spending so much money on so few books (new, shiny, good-smelling books … Mmmmm), but I just don’t.     I’m too excited by everything I bought. Not only had I completely missed (how???) that Neil Gaiman had written a new Sandman last year, I also didn’t realise the next instalment of Rat Queens was available. These two things just made February a distant fuzzy … Continue reading Rat Queens by Kurtis J. Wiebe