Tears of an Afghan warlord

author: Pascale Bourgaux
name: Wayne
average rating: 3.40
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at: 2018/04/29
date added: 2018/04/29
shelves: graphic-novels, non-fiction
review:
'Tears of An Afghan Warlord' is a true story by Pascale Bourgaux and co-written by Vincent Zabus with art by Thomas Campi. It details a trip to Afghanistan in the early 2010s.

Pascale Borgaux is a Belgian journalist who has been travelling to Afghanistan for years. She has been there when things are more prosperous, but this time, there is some poverty and belt tightening. Her host is a resistance fighter named Mamour Hasan who is feeling the pressure from those around him to let the Taliban regain control. It seems that much of the aid money hasn't made it to his province. Pascale and those helping her document their trip find themselves in a bit of danger and have to leave the country.

The art is quite good and fairly colorful. The story is compelling and shows what can happen after your country has a war and some of the combatants leave. It's an ongoing story, so there is no resolution here, but I found it very interesting.

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


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Superman Vol. 5: Hopes and Fears

author: Peter J. Tomasi
name: Wayne
average rating: 3.18
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at: 2018/04/29
date added: 2018/04/29
shelves: graphic-novels
review:
'Superman Vol. 5: Hopes and Fears'by Peter J. Tomasi and many others consists of three shorter stories. They all feel a bit disconnected from each other.

In the first story, the Kents rent an RV and take a long overdue vacation, which turns into a civics lesson for Jon. The story has moments, but overall has the feel of an educational comic and is just a bit too wordy. The bits with the family work fine, but the exposition just comes across as preachy.

The second story deals with Parallax and Sinestro and the yellow lantern power of fear as Superman tries to rescue some children as is forced to face his own fears.

The final story has Lois Lane interviewing Deathstroke. Deathstroke then gets a contract to kill Lois, but who is behind this contract?

There are different creators and artists, so the art and stories vary in consistency. I liked the latter two stories, but the first one just kind of left me wishing they'd taken a different approach to telling it.

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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Tosca (Tosca, #1)

author: Teresa Radice
name: Wayne
average rating: 3.67
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2018/04/28
date added: 2018/04/28
shelves: graphic-novels
review:
'Tosca #1' by Teresa Radice with illustrations by Stefano Turconi is a story where the title character is a supporting character, but it's still a good one.

Lucilla is a princess with a destiny. Her destiny would seem to be to get pushed around by servants and to marry someone she doesn't care for. When a young thief runs away from a royal banquet, Lucilla chases her and finds herself outside the castle for the first time. She meets orphans Tosca and Rinaldo. Rinaldo wants to be a poet and Tosca is an adventuring Robin Hood. Back in the castle, Lucilla overhears plans to overthrow her father's kingdom. Can her new friends help her?

I really liked this story, and the art was full of color and was really very nice. I found out afterwards that Tosca is the star of this series, and I liked her character a lot, so I'd love to read more of this series.

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


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Infernal Parade

author: Clive Barker
name: Wayne
average rating: 3.36
book published:
rating: 2
read at: 2018/04/28
date added: 2018/04/28
shelves:
review:
'Infernal Parade' by Clive Barker is a title I was initially excited to read, as I've been an occasional fan of his work. What we get here is a series of short stories that were originally written for a line of Todd McFarlane action figures.

The book is a collection of 6 linked stories about the formation of a gruesome parade of strange people with weirdly obvious names. Tom Requiem is a murderer who has been hanged and buried, and he is rescued from his coffin. Mary Slaughter kills babies and has a collection of dangerous swords. There is the unfortunate golem who finds himself without a master and Bethany Bled who is made to be tortured for the amusement of the crowd.

These are all stories of terrible people or victims of terrible people who find themselves grotesquely transformed, but we never learn the overarching reason for this. These are not very nice people and when they get their comeuppance, I just found myself not caring at all. If you are looking for the Barker of 'Books of Blood' or 'Hellraiser' fame, I'm afraid you'll have to look elsewhere.

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


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Captain Canuck, Vol 02: The Gauntlet

author: Kalman Andrasofszky
name: Wayne
average rating: 2.40
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2018/04/28
date added: 2018/04/28
shelves: graphic-novels
review:
'Captain Canuck, Vol 02: The Gauntlet' by Kalman Andrasofszky is a much better volume than the first one I read. I like seeing this title trend toward better.

Mr. Gold is still at large, and Captain Canuck and his team are going a bit rogue searching for him and missing Marla Ritchie. Meanwhile, a new member joins the team, but he may not be hiding something. Add to that a team up between Captain Canuck and Blue Fox and it all seems to be a story that seems like it's moving towards chaos.

I felt like this volume's story was much more cohesive and didn't suffer from the confusing flashbacks of the first issues. The art is still just ok. Nothing spectacular and it isn't really something I like, but the storytelling is quite a bit better.

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 White Sultana

author: Pierre Christin
name: Wayne
average rating: 3.33
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2018/04/22
date added: 2018/04/22
shelves: graphic-novels
review:
'The White Sultana' by Pierre Christin with art by Annie Goetzinger is a beautifully illustrated graphic novel about how one decision can change our lives.

The book goes back and forth between two women. One is Emma Piggott a woman who has just died in London after a life of being a schoolteacher at St. John's. Her story is told in black and white. The other is the story of Lady Sheringham, who answers and advertisement to be a governess and finds her life changed forever with wealth and adventure. She sometimes dreams of Emma, and she finds it troubling.

The art is some of the best I've seen lately in a graphic novel. There is depth and detail that show that great care was taken in the art of this book. On the art alone, I would give it 5 stars.

But the story feels like a forced morality tale where it seems obvious which choice we should take. Lady Sherinham's life is full of color and wealth and privilege. We don't get much detail in Emma's life, but she must have made a difference in the life of a student or had very loving reasons for living her life. Those are never shown. Instead, we see the medical "professionals" who pick over her belongings, leading us to believe it's better to be rich than dead. I'd prefer to make my own choices and not have them made for me.

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


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Starry Skies: Learn about the constellations above us

author: Samantha Chagollan
name: Wayne
average rating: 3.91
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2018/04/21
date added: 2018/04/21
shelves: childrens
review:
I love the night sky and constellations, so when I saw 'Starry Skies: Learn about constellations above us' by Samantha Chagollan with illustrations by Nila Aye, I grabbed a review copy to check out. Unfortunately, I was a bit disappointed with the end result.

It's a picture book for young kids, which is fine. And it does give some pictures and names of constellations. It fails to give any sort of location for children or their parents to look for these in the sky. Some are easier to find for the unfamiliar, but there isn't a lot of information given here on where to look.

That might have been nice in an informative afterword for adults or older children. Even a sky chart might have been useful. I did really like the illustrations with their white on black lines.

I received a review copy of this ebook from Quarto Publishing Group-Walter Foster Jr., and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this ebook.


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