A Boy and a Girl

author: Jamie S. Rich

name: Wayne

average rating: 3.82

book published: 2013

rating: 4

read at: 2014/02/28

date added: 2014/02/28

shelves: graphic-novels

review:

Boy meets girl. Boy doesn't get girl's name. Boy finds girl again. Girl is leaving town tomorrow morning. It sounds pretty standard, but the setting is the future when along with people there are lifelike androids.



Travis and Charley have just met and they like each other. Charley is leaving on assignment in the morning. Travis just wants to get to know her before she leaves. They are both hiding something from each other. Travis sells term papers and he's being hunted by Russian gangsters. Charley may actually be one of the lifelike androids.



It all feels like a wacky comedy from the 80s mixed up with Richard Linklater's film Before Sunrise. There is madcap comedy and escapes, and there are sweet moments where two people are just learning about each other. It's fun and sweet.



I was given a review copy by Diamond Book Distributors and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for letting me review this graphic novel.





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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Villain Micro-Series Volume 1 (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Micro-Series)

author: Joshua Williamson

name: Wayne

average rating: 4.09

book published: 2013

rating: 3

read at: 2014/02/27

date added: 2014/02/27

shelves: graphic-novels

review:

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Villain Microseries Volume 1, collects 4 issues that tell the back story to some of the turtle's foes. An issue each is devoted to Krang, Baxter Stockman, Old Hob and Alopex. Three of the stories are tenuously linked, the fourth one is not.



We learn about Krang's conquest and the history of the body he uses. We learn how Baxter Stockman works for Krang, and wants to overthrow him. We learn how Old Hob went to Baxter for help and ended up being used by him. They all hate the turtles, but they all hate each other as well. The fourth story is about mutant fox, Alopex and his dealings with Shredder.



They are all standalone, with very little crossover, so it's not a cohesive story, but it is interesting to learn about some of these villains. I'm not sure I knew much back story about a couple of them. Recommended for turtle fans, and I like the direction that IDW has taken with the newer turtle universe.



I was given a review copy of this graphic novel by Diamond Book Distributors and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for letting me review this graphic novel.





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Big Fat Beautiful Head

author: Stu Heinecke

name: Wayne

average rating: 1.00

book published: 1

rating: 4

read at: 2014/02/26

date added: 2014/02/26

shelves: graphic-novels

review:

Stu Heinecke is an author, cartoonist and marketer whose cartoons appear regularly in The Wall Street Journal. Big, Fat Beautiful Head is a collection of 50 of his comics with a short bit of creator commentary to explain where the idea came from.



It's a fairly short book. The commentaries are about a paragraph, and the cartoons are all one panel. At 122 pages, it makes for a pretty quick read.



But the treatment is really good. It's nice to have the artist's insight into the creative process, and the cartoon's are presented simply and cleanly.



I was provided a review copy of the book by CartoonLink, Inc. and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for letting me review this book.





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Old City Blues Volume 2

author: Giannis Milonogiannis

name: Wayne

average rating: 3.43

book published: 2013

rating: 3

read at: 2014/02/25

date added: 2014/02/25

shelves: graphic-novels

review:

Old City Blues Volume 2 by Giannis Milonogiannis feels like a reprint from the 90s. It's got a retro cyberpunk feel that throws me right back into those days, but it's a new series that harkens back to the comics and stories of that time.



The story takes place in New Athens which is built on the country once known as Greece. Solano is a hard-hitting cop who is harder on sleek patrol cars. He has a crew of Espers and computer hackers helping him stop crime. The enemies are high tech criminals using robots and cybersuits. There are corrupt criminals, corrupt cops, mech smugglers and drug dealers. Standing in their way is Solano.



Volume 2 contains two story arcs. The art is black and white, but has a lot of cross hatching and textures to it, so it's a bit busy and sometimes hard to figure out what is going on. I liked it and it made me feel nostalgic and want to find my old William Gibson novels.



I was given a review copy of this graphic novel by Diamond Book Distributors and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.





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City of Light, City of Dark (Orchard Paperbacks)

author: Avi

name: Wayne

average rating: 3.44

book published: 1993

rating: 4

read at: 2014/02/24

date added: 2014/02/24

shelves: graphic-novels

review:

This is a reprint of a 1993 graphic novel by Avi. It involves a kidnapped girl, a blind schemer who talks to pigeons and a mysterious subway token.



In a preface that is more text than pictures, we learn about the creatures that supply power to the city of New York, the Kurbs. In a sort of game they hide a token in the city that must be found and returned to the Kurbs, or they turn off power to the city. A scheming man named Underton attempts to steal the token and ends up blinded. The story then begins years later when a young boy finds the token. He is pursued by Underton, a young girl named Sarah and Sarah's mother, who has been looking for the token and Sarah for years.



There are the mysterious discoveries around the token, a hair-raising flight over the streets of New York, and the possibility that the Kurbs won't get the token back and put the city into a deep freeze. I liked it, and the art was good, but Sarah and her mother look a bit alike and it's easy to get them confused.



I was given a copy of this graphic novel by Scholastic and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for letting me review this graphic novel.





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Star Wars: Legacy II, Vol. 1: Prisoner of the Floating World

author: Corinna Sara Bechko

name: Wayne

average rating: 3.80

book published: 2013

rating: 4

read at: 2014/02/23

date added: 2014/02/23

shelves: graphic-novels

review:

Star Wars: Legacy II, Volume 1: Prisoner of the Floating World takes place about one hundred and thirty eight years after Star Wars: A New Hope. It stars Ania Solo, a young girl, who has an assassin droid for a companion and has found herself a bit of trouble.



When Ania finds a lightsaber and a broken communication droid, she suddenly finds herself being pursued by someone looking for the missing items. There is a mystery to unravel, and Ania seems to have some of the traits of her great grandfather Han Solo as she seems to embrace the kind of chaos that this adventure throws her in. I found her to be a good character and I wouldn't mind reading more stories starring her.



I've read a few of these spinoff graphic novels, and while some have left me a bit cold, I enjoyed this one. The story is good, the art is quite nice. I enjoyed it.



I was given a copy of this graphic novel by Diamond Book Distributors and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for letting me review this graphic novel.





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The Burgess Boys

author: Elizabeth Strout

name: Wayne

average rating: 3.51

book published: 2013

rating: 3

read at: 2014/02/22

date added: 2014/02/22

shelves:

review:

Jim and Bob Burgess remain victims of the accident that took their father's life. The accident affects Bob's twin sister Susan. She stayed in their hometown in Maine, but Bob and Jim left for New York City and law careers, and not wanting to look back at their past.



They are pulled back to Maine when their nephew commits what seems like an unspeakable hate act against a group of Somalian refugees. Themes of family loyalty, the guilty secrets we keep and the wrecked relationships we drag along behind us all surface. Susan is a single parent raising a son who is checked out. Bob has a broken marriage and is heading towards alcoholism. Jim is the most successful, but he's far from a happy person. In fact, Jim is really kind of a jerk.



The book definitely went in unpredicted directions, but when it was all said and done, I'm not sure I really cared. I kind of wish it had gone more the direction I thought it might, even if that had been more standard and predictable (and I can't believe I'm saying that). It's well written book and I look forward to reading more by Elizabeth Strout.



I was given a review copy of this book by Random House Publishing Group and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for letting me review this book.









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