The Bunker: Volume 1

author: Joshua Hale Fialkov

name: Wayne

average rating: 3.12

book published: 2014

rating: 4

read at: 2014/07/30

date added: 2014/07/30

shelves: graphic-novels, currently-reading

review:

I love comics that mess with my head (Mind MGMT, I'm looking at you), and 'The Bunker: Volume 1 by Joshua Hale Fialkov falls into that category. It's got a little SF, a little horror, and a little drama.



Five friends go into the woods to bury a time capsule. This is the only part of the story that was a bit contrived to me, but it gets the story going, so I'm willing to let it be. While they are digging a hole to bury it, they find a bunker. When they enter it, they each find a letter written to themselves from their future selves. The letters are way too personal to be the prank that they initially think this is. They describe how the world will be destroyed in the near future and what they need to do, or not do, in order to stop it. All is not as it seems as there is some plotting and scheming. The story weaves between past, future and present. If you know the future, can it be changed? Is it a set course or is it malleable?



The art by Joe Infurnari is good. It's a bit rougher than I usually like, but it serves the story well. It makes the story a bit murky, but I think that's intentional. The story is good, but the time capsule thing bugged me. Also the fact that among 5 friends more than one has a huge role to play in the future. It'll be interesting to see how this plays out.



I received a review copy of this graphic novel from 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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Glory: The Complete Saga Hc

author: Joe Keatinge

name: Wayne

average rating: 2.74

book published: 2014

rating: 2

read at: 2014/07/29

date added: 2014/07/29

shelves: graphic-novels

review:

'Glory: The Complete Saga' feels like it starts in the middle somewhere, so the term 'complete' seems like an error. Also, while I liked some of it, most of it felt like kind of a hot mess.



Gloriana Demeter is a character created by Rob Liefeld in the 1990s that has gotten a reboot here. She's got similarities to a certain Amazonian princess from another publisher, but we'll let that go for now. In the 90s, she was more like a typical overdrawn female superhero. Here she is kind of puffy and bloated looking. Other characters include a young girl named Riley who is drawn to Glory, and her fate seems inexorably tied in with her in depressing dreams of a depressing, impending future. I liked her. Glory's sister is a foul-mouthed alien who seems to throw an f-bomb in just about every word panel. Eventually, that just wore on me, and I didn't like her. There are a couple weird alien sidekicks that are kind of interesting.



It all leads up to a big cosmic battle, but not before some weirdly gory battles where arms are wrenched off and people are torn to bits, then stitched back together. You wonder how interesting a battle can be amongst participants who appear to have died, but haven't really. It turns out it's not that interesting at all. The art is uneven, and while some of the story aspects were interesting, it was so over the top and weird looking that I just didn't care. It turns out that this is complete enough for me after all.



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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Surviving Home (Going Home, #2)

author: A. American

name: Wayne

average rating: 4.25

book published: 2013

rating: 4

read at: 2014/07/28

date added: 2014/07/28

shelves:

review:

'Surviving Home' by A. American picks right where 'Going Home' left off. Things become more dire during this novel (with more promised in future installments), and it's still just as much a page turner as the first book.



Morgan is happy to be home with his wife and daughters. They've done okay without him due to his preparations, but things around them start to unravel. The local community is in bad shape. With no food and no social order, things have to be done differently. Morgan's neighbors suspect he might be holding out food on them, but Morgan just wants to take care of his own.



Meanwhile, Thad runs into much worse trouble with the new role that postal carriers are taking on. People are being rounded up into work camps and promised food and shelter, but Thad and his family want nothing to do with it. This eventually leads to tragic and violent consequences.



It advances the storyline, but leaves it off at about the same sort of cliffhanger as the first book. There is less of a 'gear porn' aspect to this book because it's more about the preparations that Morgan and some of his neighbors have done, and how to maintain social order when there is no structured order. I enjoyed it. Maybe not quite as much as the first book, but definitely enough to keep reading to find out what happens.



I received a review copy of this ebook from Penguin Group Plume and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.







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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Utrom Empire

author: Paul Allor

name: Wayne

average rating: 3.73

book published: 2014

rating: 4

read at: 2014/07/27

date added: 2014/07/27

shelves: graphic-novels

review:

'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Utrom Empire' mostly takes place among the bad guys. The turtles take a supporting role, which you could get from the cover. My review copy was only about 2/3 of the entire graphic novel, so this review is only for the first part of this book.



Fugitoid is back and he wants to take down Krang's Technodrome. Before Fugitoid can get too far, he is captured and finds himself face to, er, face with Baxter Stockman. Fugitoid is a little concerned because he betrayed Baxter the last time they met, but this time around Baxter doesn't seem to remember him. Baxter also has his own plans for the Technodrome, so he and Fugitoid team up. This all happens among flashbacks about Krang on his home planet Utrom. There are cool mutated dinosaurs that start a rebellion. Back on Earth, the turtles finally look at Fugitoid's notebook, and realize they have to also destroy the Technodrome.



It was okay. I've read more interesting Turtle books lately, and I always prefer a turtle story to most with the bad guys, but Fugitoid is cool, and it's always fun to see Baxter and Krang trying to undermine each other. The Krang backstory was okay, but I tended to like the rest of it better. The art was pretty good.



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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Star Wars: Jedi Academy, Return of the Padawan (Book 2)

author: Jeffrey Brown

name: Wayne

average rating: 3.76

book published: 2014

rating: 4

read at: 2014/07/27

date added: 2014/07/27

shelves: children-s

review:

'Star Wars: Jedi Academy, Return of the Padawan' by Jeffrey takes us back for Roan Novachez's second year. In the last book, we learned, humorously, about how he didn't fit in and was afraid he wouldn't make friends.



This time around Roan has lots of friends and he's excited because he's going to learn how to be a star pilot. He's also going to learn what happens when you neglect your friends and hang out with the wrong people. There is lots of humor like the first book, and there are lessons that are subtly made. All the original characters are back along with a new school chef who likes to serve up mushrooms and eyeballs from lunch. Also new, is a version of social media for the school and the lessons to be learned there. Master Yoda is along for the ride serving up wisdom and humor in equal doses.



I liked this one almost as much as the first one. It's got good lessons about being loyal to your friends and not getting in with the wrong crowd. The humor is great for kids and grown ups. I ended up getting copies of the last one for kids I know last Christmas. I'm sure I'll do the same this year. Jeffrey Brown has created another winner.



I received a review copy of this ebook from Scholastic and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this fun ebook.





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Anomal

author: Nukuharu

name: Wayne

average rating: 2.67

book published: 2014

rating: 2

read at: 2014/07/26

date added: 2014/07/26

shelves: graphic-novels

review:

'Anomal' is a series of seemingly disconnected stories about ghosts or spirits. Overall, it was a kind of uneven collection, and I liked some of them more than others.



The stories are read from beginning to end, Western style, but the panels are read right to left, manga style. This is explained up front, so they get kudos for that. The cover is pretty striking and it's why I picked up the book. The character in the cover image is in the first story, then no more. Which is too bad because I liked that story the best, about a woman who regains her sight only to sacrifice it again later. The stories have to do with the supernatural. Primarily ghosts, hauntings and spirits. There are people enamored with ghosts, and detectives trying to solve hauntings. There is a character who only gets good ideas when he is hit, so he tries to get a ghost to move in with him so she can hit him every day. Some of the stories seem to end abruptly.



It wasn't my favorite. The art was okay for the style and the humor wasn't too bad. I didn't like how the stories just ended and I felt like some stories were better than others.



I received a review copy of this graphic novel from 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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The Strain, Book One (The Strain, Volumes 1-2)

author: David Lapham

name: Wayne

average rating: 3.80

book published: 2014

rating: 4

read at: 2014/07/26

date added: 2014/07/26

shelves: graphic-novels

review:

'The Strain Book 1' collects volume 1 and 2 of the graphic novel series. It's a good story, although the character names are all a little strange, and the art is good. I'm not familiar with the book or television series, but I believe this is the same plot and I liked it.



When a Boeing 777 lands at JFK and is dark on the runway, CDC specialist Ephraim Goodweather (see what I mean about the strange names?) is called in. The plane is dark and all shades are drawn except one. When he boards the plane, all the passengers are dead except for three, but none have any particular trauma. As he unravels this mystery, he finds he is not alone. He soon begins assembling a group of people to fight this new menace as it reveals itself, including a holocaust survivor named Professor Abraham Setrakian, a pest control specialist named Vasiliy Fet and his partner Dr. Nora Martinez. There are also different people discovering things along the way, and I think most of them will all team up against this threat.



I found it to be an engaging story. I do want to read the books at some point and they are on my reading list, so I don't know how faithful the adaptation is. I also have the advantage of not picturing what the characters should look like, and then being disappointed by the artist renditions. The art is good. The covers are terrifying. The parasites are just gross and I found this to be a good way to create a truly terrifying version of the creature. Good stuff.



I received a review copy of this graphic novel from 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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