Superman: Action Comics, Volume 2: Welcome to the Planet

author: Dan Jurgens
name: Wayne
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2017/06/29
date added: 2017/06/29
shelves: graphic-novels
review:
'Superman: Action Comics, Volume 2: Welcome to the Planet' by Dan Jurgens will make you feel really confused if you haven't read Superman for a while, but come on in. The water is fine.

Superman is dead. Clark Kent is alive. Lex Luthor is Superman now. Also, there is a new Superman who is married to Lois Lane and has a son named Jon. That's just the beginning.

The new Superman wants to check out Clark Kent to make sure he isn't Superman in hiding. Lex Luthor really wants Superman's cape so he gets it the way only the super wealthy can. The new Lois Lane is on a mission from this world's counterpart to finish a book on the life and death of Superman. Did I mention that there is a SuperWoman too?

This collects Justice League 52 and Action Comics 963-966. It tells a pretty interesting story and sets things up for future stories fairly well. It will be interesting to see how Superman, Clark Kent, and Lex Luthor all play things out, and how Lana Lang fits into everything.

This volume has pretty decent art. There is also a cover gallery with some pretty striking covers. I like the one featuring alternating ribbons showing Superman and Clark Kent. There are also some pencil breakdowns for some covers and splash pages.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from DC Entertainment and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.


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Infinite Seven: Volume 1

author: Dave Dwonch
name: Wayne
average rating: 2.69
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2017/06/29
date added: 2017/06/29
shelves: graphic-novels
review:
'Infinite Seven: Volume 1' by Dave Dwonch, Arturo Mesa, and Geraldo Filho is kind of a mess both in writing and in art style. It's an interesting concept that gets sidelined by constantly leaning on pop culture and stereotypes.

There is a secret team of assassins called the Infinite Seven. They are infinite because when one team member gets killed, the person who killed them takes their place. That is what happens here. When eyepatch wearing Smash Brannigan is killed somehow by a young nerd, that inexperienced nerd gets to take his place. That involves danger room type training, harassment from fellow agents and being sent on dangerous missions. Rather than rely on new team members, this team seems to send them out to die.

The team has had many members over the years, and they have taken out many bad guys. The drawings of these will show lots of familiar looking faces like the Terminator and Sherlock to Chuckie and Jason. The team itself is a collection of stereotypes. An Asian guy in a yellow jumpsuit who is good at martial arts. A scantily clad female lucador. A gay British detective.

There are plot holes aplenty here, and things that just feel like they are thrown at the reader. I spent time being pulled out of the comic to look at the drawings of past members, but it didn't really matter for the story. The big reveal at the end felt pretty obvious to me from the start. The art style is cartoonish and caricatured and messy, but so is the story. I hoped I would like it more than I did. It was disappointing.

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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New Super-Man, Volume 1: Made in China (New Super-man Rebirth, #1)

author: Gene Luen Yang
name: Wayne
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2017/06/29
date added: 2017/06/29
shelves: graphic-novels
review:
'New Super-Man, Volume 1: Made in China' by Gene Luen Yang is a different take on superheroes, this time from China. I liked the perspective it took, but I didn't love it.

Kenan Kong is kind of a jerk. He bullies a rich kid for lunch money because the kid's parents own an airline that Kenan's mom was killed on. When Kenan makes a heroic act (against his own nature), he gets selected for a superhero program and his life changes. He joins two other young people who will make up a new Justice League for the nation of China. The two other heroes are takes on Wonder Woman and Batman. Kenan finds his powers come and go, and he needs to figure out how to make them work. Additionally, he finds himself at odds with his father. Can Kenan learn to be a hero, mend his relationship with his father, and figure out who is behind this new superhero initiative?

Kenan is a pretty unlikable character at the beginning of the story, and he stays that way for quite a while. He is arrogant and a bully. By the end of the story, things have happened to help move him towards being a hero, but it takes quite a few chapters before I liked this character much. I really liked the Wonder Woman and Batman characters and I hope they have more to do in the future. This is a very different take on DC superheroes and I liked the cultural shift in perspective that it takes.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from DC Entertainment and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.


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Anne of Green Bagels

author: Jon Buller
name: Wayne
average rating: 3.21
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2017/06/29
date added: 2017/06/29
shelves: children-s, graphic-novels
review:
'Anne of Green Bagels' by Jon Buller and Susan Schade is a great graphic novel for middle schoolers. The subject of abnormal families is the subject keeping the story both funny and a bit sad.

The book alternates between text chapters and wordless dream chapters. In the first, we see Anne chasing after flying bagels. It's a premonition of the name she is going to get at her first day of school because of the healthy bagels her parents send her to school with. Fortunately, she meets a kid named Otto and they strike up a friendship based on playing music and their love of a show called The Blimptons. Anne's dad is a crackpot inventor who is out on the road somewhere testing a new invention called the Pedestrian Mobile Home. Anne and Otto decide to enter the talent contest and along the way, they discover that there may be a connection between Anne's father and the creation of their favorite show. Could this be why Anne's father is away so much?

I liked this book a whole lot, and there is a lot to like about it. From the surreal dream sequences to the not so normal characters, this story offered a lot. These are characters who don't fit in, and they are all fine with that. I loved the illustration style. It's got almost a woodcut feel to parts of it.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Papercutz and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.


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Pop Gun War: Gift

author: Farel Dalrymple
name: Wayne
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at: 2017/02/08
date added: 2017/06/22
shelves: graphic-novels
review:
'Pop Gun War: Gift' by Farel Dalrymple was one of the more unusual graphic novels I've read lately. That means I liked it quite a lot.

In a very unusual city (called The City), there are a very different group of people. A young boy named Sinclair finds a pair of discarded wings and uses them to fly. His sister Emily is in a rock band. There's a down on his luck guy named Addison, and a floating goldfish with glasses named Percy. There are others and they come and go in the series of stories here.

It's hard to describe this comic. The stories take place in a city like we know, but there are fantastical elements also which remind me about things like Little Nemo and Oz. There is wonder and sadness, compassion and anger. There is a story about Emily's band being pursued by someone who wants to make them famous, and one about the children of the city being taken and mesmerized. The stories are strange and wonderful as is the art. There are characters in bow ties and top hats. The city is grimy and dirty and somehow magical.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Image Comics, 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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Kid Beowulf and the Blood-Bound Oath

author: Alexis E. Fajardo
name: Wayne
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2017/06/19
date added: 2017/06/19
shelves: children-s, graphic-novels
review:
'Kid Beowulf and the Blood-Bound Oath' with writing and art by Alexis E. Fajardo is the start of a fun new series for younger readers. The story veers from the Beowulf that I was familiar with, but I liked the story that got told here.

In the traditional tale, and a nice rhyming introduction to this book, Beowulf kills the monster Grendel, and becomes a hero in Daneland to Hrothgar. Beowulf is then pursued by the monster's mother.

This story uses the same characters and covers warring tribes and a few generations. The mistakes of the fathers are borne by the sons. Human Beowulf, and monster Grendel are born to the same mother, then separated. Years later they meet. Will Beowulf fulfill the prophecies of his birth?

There is a world map for the story, a character glossary, an essay about the origins of the epic poem, and more.

The art in this graphic novel was colorful and light. Never very serious or gory, even though the subject has it's violent elements. The author's passion for the subject comes through in the supplemental material. I look forward to the next installment. I'm sure any young fan of myths and legends will have fun reading this.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Andrews McMeel Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.


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Hugo Broyler

author: Mike Kennedy
name: Wayne
average rating: 3.00
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2017/06/19
date added: 2017/06/19
shelves: graphic-novels
review:
'Hugo Broyler' is a future noir type story about auto racing and organized crime. It's got potential, but feels pretty by the numbers at this point.

Prior to this story, Hugo Broyler has been in an accident. He's a race car driver in static-levitation racing. The doctors put him back together, including an unusual chip in his head. Now Hugo hears voices in his head, and the chip seems to want to take over at the wrong time.
This down on his luck driver gets approached by a man under police supervision to help him out. There may be other reasons that Hugo Broyler has been approached. One might be sitting in his head.

The story is only about half of the 144 pages. Then there is some world building articles, and a roll-playing game based on the racing in the story featuring the world and characters.

The book starts with a race with Hugo against his daughter. She never shows up again, but maybe that's for future issues. The rest of the story feels like a pretty standard noir story. Things aren't what they seem to be. The evil people really are evil. The writing is ok, and so is the art.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Magnetic Press, 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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