A prequel/tie-in to the landmark Jedi: Fallen Order video game, Dark Temple gives us Eno Cordova's backstory. It's a classic Jedi mediation scenario where it may be impossible to find a peaceful way out of conflict between rival factions.

A prelude to the awesome revival of the '90s animated series, this mini-series just sets up what the team was doing right before episode one. Nothing too crazy, but it's always nice to see Wolverine and Sabretooth.

A fun little intra-dark side skirmish between Darth Sidious, Count Dooku, and General Greivous, on one side, and Darth Maul and Mother Talzin on the other. The only thing that bugged me is that Greivous speaks nothing like he does in Revenge of the Sith. The dark side eats its young.

In this mini-series, comics veteran Louise Simonson takes us on a whirlwind tour of Jean Grey's most pivotal decisions. What if Jean had acted differently? This was really fun and you can read it even if you aren't caught up on X-Men.

Rearranged this shelf of prize-winning authors

Hmm, I'm not sure what the point of this was besides self-loathing and nihilism.

The dialogue in this arc sounds like someone who just got out of their Philosophy 101 class. Remender tackles big themes--marriage, parenting, free will--but doesn‘t have incisive answers. The story is at its best in pure adventure mode. Scalera's art, though, remains so stylish.

Donatello, after meeting the most evil-looking mad scientist ever, "Let's be friends!"

The tour through different universes was exhilarating, but Batman's time in exile in another universe was pretty boring. The biggest problem is that back-up artist Mike Hawthorne's art just isn't very good.

It's generally a bad idea to flesh out the Joker's origin story, but Chip Zdarsky really pulls it off. Jorge Jimenez's art is always stellar. This arc is a little bit of a transition from Failsafe to Joker as the dual antagonists.

Sampere's art is awesome. King continues his story of elevating Wonder Woman to the pinnacle of the DC universe while introducing her daughter Trinity.

Issue 105 is drawn entirely from Nightwing's POV, which is a cool visual trick, but narratively, I found this whole underworld arc pretty low stakes.

You know you're in hell when your desktop is full of icons.

I love almost everything by Kieron Gillen, but this volume of Immortal X-Men is badly hampered by the need for lots of exposition explaining stuff from Sins of Sinister. Also, Mother Righteous is a terrible charactet. I did like the scenes between Sinister and Xavier.

I really like the fairy tale elements with Doxta the witch woven into the sci-fi story. This arc had a great twist and cliffhanger.

The action reaches new heights as multiple extinction-level threats collide on earth. This arc is less soaked in remorse than the previous one. Scalera's art is marvelous.

I think I need to give up on whatever Greg Pak thinks he's doing with this Darth Vader series. It's just a lot of people running around with no real suspense or character development. Ochi's dialogue is utterly cringe worthy.

It's not a terrible idea to stitch together the prequels with the sequels by sending Vader to Exegol, but there's nothing particularly interesting about this story. The art is equally meh.

New God's meets the Coen brothers. King often writes mini-series about obscure characters, but these guys are *very* obscure. The best part is the Helmet of Fate being the narrator

It took me 11 months, but I finally finished this! Really great book about cybersecurity: accessible to non-specialists while including lots of detail. Shapiro writes in a highly informative yet slightly sardonic voice that I enjoyed.

A book so acidly cynical that your fingers smoke from flipping the pages. Can't put it down, tho.

I don't know what Rick Remender was going through when he wrote this, but he seems to be dealing with a lot of regret about being a workaholic and a bad dad. It's rare to read a comic that so endlessly crucifies its protagonist.

Can Tom Taylor make me cry with an emotional scene between Dick and Bruce? Is it smart to make the antagonist a foil for Nightwing? Does Taylor get a little carried away treating Nightwing as the purest superhero ever?

Yes to all

Saga is probably the most addictive ongoing comic book series. I love Hazel and Squire so much.

"Project Shield was established to protect dissidents against repressive governments. Brian Krebs, however, needed protection from three teenagers."

The Christmas issue was really good. Peter and Harry developing different attitudes toward being super heroes is interesting, too. Hickman's pacing is good, even as he leans into a much more grounded story than he normally tells. There is a lot more journalism than I was expecting.

Some issues are definitely more gripping than others, but I like what Deniz Camp is doing with Marvel's re-launch of the Ultimates. My favorite issue by far was Doom's origin story.

"The internet tidal wave would be followed by a hacking tsunami"

Bilquis Evely's art is extraordinary. A wonderful story about grief, family, and imagination. I can't wait to read more.

These stories perfectly capture the melancholy and often tragic tone of many of the side quests in the game. Although they are all stand-alone episodes, these stories revolve around how Geralt interprets the world.

Tom King said that this was the best he's ever written. This arc follows Joan through an entire lifetime of domesticity. My one complaint is that the cliffhanger at the end of this volume is basically the same as at the end of volume one.

A truly bold new take on Zatanna from Mariko Tamaki and Javi Rodriguez. Super stylized pop art with a heavy dose of the surreal. Electric colors. Zatanna is a small-time Vegas magician--or is she? A great story about claiming your power with a surprising villain even if the ending isn't that suspenseful. Would absolutely read more of this.

Gerry Duggan wanted to write a romance comic but wasn't sure it would sell, so he made it about a gun slinger and a samurai in a fantastical purgatory. Hell yeah

My book is out in paperback!
https://www.liverpooluniversitypress.co.uk/doi/book/10.3828/9781949979916

The second arc of Bitch Planet was a bit weaker than the first. It felt a bit transitional to the next big story beat, and it definitely ends with a bang.

While I enjoyed the double helix structure--Thrawn and Vader in the present interwoven with Thrawn and Anakin in the past--something was off about the pacing. In four issues, they do a lot of detective work, but it wasn't that suspenseful.

Soule is extremely deft at weaving new stories into existing Star Wars lore. This volume covers the period before Return of the Jedi.

Logged my 700th book, baby!

Kieron Gillen takes the basic premise of Watchmen--what if super-powered beings were real--and updates it for our modern era. After writing X-Men, Gillen created original characters with powers similar to Xavier and Magneto. This first trade really just introduces the characters and lays out the stakes (the end of the world).

Ryan North's Fantastic Four takes an episodic, case-of-the-week approach. North has a lot of fun making Reed talk like a scientist.

Charles Soule keeps trucking along. This volume features a fun Lando arc, as well as another step toward Luke building his iconic green lightsaber.

Great comics need concepts that allow the artists to flex. Thompson, Pina, and Bellaire elevate a gimic--traveling through portals into different worlds with their own styles--into an art. This volume has so much wit, panache, and physical comedy. Bellaire is an astounding colorist.

One part star-crossed lovers, one part episodic supernatural mystery, G.O.D.S. has all of Hickman's signature devices--non-linear chronology, cosmic conflict, and character-driven story. This is about as weird as Marvel will let Hickman get.

A fresh take on Spiderman from Jonathan Hickman: what if Peter Parker didn't get his powers until he was a middle-aged dad? The pacing is very deliberate. This is a much more street-level story than Hickman's usually more cosmic/occult fare.

An homage to romance comics, Love Everlasting puts an ominous spin on all the classic tropes, as its protagonist Joan cannot escape an endless cycle of true love.

Compared to Hickman's usually impressive standards, this was fairly mediocre. My guess is he was spread too thin working on G.O.D.S. and Ultimate Spiderman, as well as his creator-owned projects. Whatever the reason, this story, which re-launched Marvel's Ultimate universe, was lackluster. The Maker is a great villain, but his master plan was kind of boring.

Incredibly fun book featuring an incredibly fun team. Romero's super stylized retro art is excellent, and Jordie Bellaire's muted electric pastel colors are perfect. Thompson balances action, humor, and emotion really well. This book is all about contrasts: Barda is physically bigger than everyone else; Harley is quippy, while Cassandra is nearly silent.

A Hickman trifecta for the holiday weekend

I really enjoyed Trust, which is kind of Faulkner-lite. A meditation on money in/as fiction.

In this arc, Mark Waid returns to his landmark work Kingdom Come (1994), which itself was a nostalgic return to an earlier era of more humane super heroes during the ultra-violence of the Image boom in the early '90s. Seeing Dan Mora draw the Kingdom Come character designs alone is worth the price of admission. Seeing the origins of Magog is interesting, though a little forced.