Strange Academy, Vol. 1: First Class

Strange Academy, Vol. 1: First Class

Published By: Marvel · Written By: Skottie Young · Art & Cover By: Humberto Ramos

    The Marvel universe has a written history and legacy longer and more convoluted than those of many countries, religions and efforts to reform the goddamn filibuster, and it can be intimidating to try to get into. Just how does one know when it's Clobbering Time, and is it affected by Daylight Savings? Exactly what are those mass-destruction-causing weirdoes 'avenging'? What the fuck is Paste Pot Pete's deal, and who in the Marvel org chart can I punch about him?

KINDER WORDS THAN I WOULD'VE HAD FOR HIM, SPIDO

    That high barrier to entry is one of the reasons that a title like this is a great idea: Strange Academy (the school, not the comic) is the first school for the Marvel multiverse's many magical munchkins, all of whom are new characters but most of whom have ties to preexisting characters like Dormammu, Loki, the Man-Thing, and beloved New Orleanian Ignatius J. Reilly, all of whom readers with a few more issues under their belts can use as anchor-points, but who aren't necessary to know for this story. Also, I just used 'whom' three times in a single sentence, which either entitles me to an award and Hometown Buffet gift-certificate or means I'll die at midnight. Of course, the second might naturally follow the first anyway.

ah, there's the weirdest lighting 1995 could offer, how the hell ya been

    Following the events of The Last Days of Magic and Loki: Sorcerer Supreme, the world's (that is to say, Earth-616's) supply of magic was, in this order, depleted, hijacked, destroyed, rebooted, unleashed, and allowed to go absolutely batshit cuckoo-bananas all over the place. Stephen Strange (the guy, not the school), knowing that one cannot stop a wave but must learn to ride it, has founded his academy as something of an arcane counterpart to Charles Xavier's School for Uninsurable Youngsters, not in hopes of creating his own monster-child army but with the simple aim of preparing the upcoming generation of spooky weirdos for the world in which they will need to survive. To this end, he has assembled a faculty comprised of high-level mojoslingers to educate his paranormal pupils in the way of the weird, including the Scarlet Witch, the Ancient One, a bunch of guys I don't recognize and, last but possibly most interesting, Jericho "Doctor Voodoo" Drumm, DVM (Doctor of Voodoo Medicine). 

His doctoral dissertation was on coats that make me go 'goddamn'

    The first crop of eldritch youngin's represents a wide spectrum of magic bullshit, including a Frost Giantling, a maybe zombaby, a dude whose living jacket that will eat you if you fuck with him, the honestly pretty easygoing son of the ruler of a dimension of dark horror, a really fuckin' cool quiet kid made outta living crystal and, to round it out and give the reader a point of view character, a normal kid that just learned she's magic and conveniently needs all the same stuff explained to her that we do. Funny how there's always one! 

    Look there's a bunch of cool stuff in this book--yes, there's mayhem on a field trip to Asgard; yes, the Parents' Day scavenger hunt goes hilariously wrong; yes, our protagonist comes too close for comfort to releasing the living manifestation of the sum of all suffering that all life has endured since time began--but if you've picked up a Magic Kids Go To Magic School book, you know why you did it, and Strange Academy does too: you wanna watch a bunch of magical misfits slowly form bonds and relationships with one another, then see those undergo tests and come out closer and stronger on the other side, like we all hoped our fellow Americans would after 9/11, except this time it actually works, instead of fomenting twenty years of xenophobic, militant jingoism.

oh wait, I've got one: our longstanding national assumptions of moral, cultural, economic and educational superiority

    HA-HA, HA, sorry, I'm secretly convinced that Simulation Theory is right, Y2K was real and the last score of years have just been us circling the glitch-drain. Anyway, Strange Academy, Vol 1. is a very, strong initial offering that promises plenty of growth, but its nature as a story set in an Academy of Adventure also sets the stage for new additions as subsequent classes arrive, and both are going to be well worth sticking around for.

Score: 8.75/10 Breakfast Burritos Prepared By Mindful One, Who Is Apparently The ONLY One That Can Remember Not To Dry The Friggin' Eggs Out

November 2021 Books Read Standouts: Reign Of The Seven Spellblades, Vol. 1 / Maniac Of New York, Vol. 1: The Death Train

Reign Of The Seven Spellblades, Vol. 1

Written By: Bokuto Uno

Art By: Sakae Esuno, Ruria Miyuki

    Okay we all know what comes to mind when Americans think of 'magic boarding school', right? That's right: Neil Gaiman's The Books of Magic, which was about a dark-haired, bespectacled orphan drawn into a world of magical wonder that he's destined to either save or destroy, and which came out almost a decade before a certain belligerent transphobe's career took off. (I'm joshing, Gaiman himself said that he "wasn't the first writer to create a young magician with potential, nor was Rowling the first to send one to school"; She Who Must Not Be Named is a monster that created a Micky Mouse-level property and decided to use that success, power and privilege to hurt people that have no ability to punch back, but she's not a plagiarist.)

    No, of course I mean Hank Ceramicist & The Sudden McGuffin, a thing that was accessible and, to its credit, opened countless young minds to the magic of reading; sadly, it seems they frequently didn't go on to read much else, but this is the war for literacy in America, and we are prepared to take what we can get and call it a victory. ROTSS takes the by-now thin and threadbare Academy of Adventure genre, makes extremely minimal tweaks, and the result is substantially better and more engaging from the very first chapter. How do you feel about:

• A magic school where where children learn mystic arts, which now include swordfighting
• A cast of characters with more than one personality trait, including being from other countries without being huge ethnic stereotypes with names like Seamus Finnegan, Cho Chang and a black guy named 'Shacklebolt', Jesus Christ Joanne what were you thinking
• One character who is not a wizard learning swordfighting, no no my friends, but a samurai learning combat-magics
• Teachers who actually do things! ADMITTEDLY: Some of those things are drinking while running a class, or attacking students with flaming knives in the middle of lessons, BUT STILL

    Obviously it's glib and reductive to describe anything as "Property X meets Property Y", or "Other Property But With This Change", but it's a useful shorthand. That said, ROTSS has a lot to offer on its own merits: an intriguing magic system, the seeds of some pretty interesting political drama involving one of the students who's foreign royalty, the aforementioned samurai clearly having PTSD, and a central mystery involving the titular Seventh Spellblade, terrifyingly powerful magical sword techniques of which there are, we are assured, only six in the world. It lays a LOT of groundwork for storylines to come, eschewing the common (but by no means bad) manga production technique of basically just coming up with something that happens that week. Also, apropos of nothing, their school uniforms are INCREDIBLE Kingdom Hearts-ass robe/hoodie hybrids, and as a renowned slut for a nice coat that definitely tips the scales in the book's favor for THIS citizen.

    Overall, ROTSS, Vol. 1 is a very strong start and found a place on my preorder-on-sight list before the end of the first chapter; I can't wait to see where it goes and how many teachers it has to fight when it gets there.

Score: 8.5/10 Roast Chickens That Were Supposed To Be For EVERYONE, LITTLE MISS BIG HUNGRY SAMURAI

October 2021 Books Read Standouts: The Superior Foes of Spider-Man, Vol. 1: Getting The Band Back Together / Head Lopper, Vol. 2: Head Lopper & The Crimson Tower

The Superior Foes of Spider-Man, Vol. 1: Getting The Band Back Together

Written By Nick Spencer

Artwork by Steve Lieber

        Haaaaaaaaa shit this is a fun book. The name Nick Spencer, at least in this house, is synonymous with Amazing Spider-Man By Nick Spencer and, a brief Wikipedia check confirms, HOLY SHIT BEDLAM WITH GENUINE ART-PSYCHOPATH RYAN BROWNE, WHAT THE FUCK--sorry, I wasn't expecting that; Bedlam absolutely rules, and if given the chance I would personally feed the exec at Image who canceled it to THE UNGUS.

[UNGUS not pictured for your safety]

    Look, Fred Myers--some-a-time called Boomerang--is a supercriminal (provided a laissez-faire definition of 'super'), washed-up baseballer, world-class sonofabitch and Class 3 Australian. He's a low-stakes semi-regular enemy of various Spidered-Men; I for one, do not care for him, and you may quote me. In f--wait, Fred Myers? Like the--hold on, I have to look this up--

Ohhhhhhh, okay

    Sorry to stop for two research breaks in the same chunkle, that was gonna bug me, BUT NOW WE KNOW THE STUPID TRUTH.

    Anyway Fred's a hilariously incompetent con-man who manages to convince an incarnation of the Sinister Six who only number five to come together for One Last Job; the only problem is that he's promised the spoils not only to his partners, but to at least one powerful, murderous mobster in whose debt he sweatily rests. The item in question? As if you hadn't guessed yet, it's the undying cyborg head of the mob family's leader, which has been missing for years, and would bestow control of the New York mafia upon anyone who found it. How are you supposed to split a living, probably racist head between the mob and your crew, and then further divide it amongst the latter? THAT, my friends, is a problem for Future Fred, and that motherfucker is on his own. Further complicating matters is that one of his crew is the latest incarnation of The Beetle, who happens to be the daughter of the POSSIBLY UNKILLABLE TOMBSTONE, YET ANOTHER MOBSTER. And finally, yet another classic Spidey villain, Norman Osborn, has joined up with organized crime as the Mobgoblin, and--no, I made that one up, but now I wish it was real, and we all have to go home a little sadder because it isn't.

    TSFOS-M is a hell of a lot of fun, especially given a pretty self-awarely watered-down Sinister Six, a deeply unlikeable protagonist who is nonetheless pretty good at keeping a lot of plates spinning and a lot of people looking where he wants them to look, and a real humanization of some one-note villains who have frankly gotten used to being first-act wall-crawler punching bags in stories about more engaging and dramatic enemies. It's also, and I'm trying to find a way to say this without sounding unkind, a hell of a lot funnier than I expected a Nick Spencer book to be. His main Spider-Man title is great, but it's not a funny book, because Spider-Man needs to be a stand-outingly funny character in it; because this is an ensemble story, no one character needs to shine on that wavelength and good goofs are just all over the place from antiheroes and bartenders and mobsters and food-cart vendors and severed robot heads. Although in retrospect, his work on Bedlam with Ryan Browne makes a lot of sense because that book is way funnier than a story about a mass murderer has any right to be.

    This is a very strong first volume, and there are only three total, so these jackasses won't wear on you too much and overstay their welcome, and the limited nature of the series lets the story really bounce around in some bonkers ways while staying in the same general area, so by the time the dust settles you feel like you really know this weird, stupid little slice of the world. I recommend you visit, and get the hell out when your time is done.

Score: 8/10 Heist-Crew Recruitment Scenes Attempting To Enlist THE UNGUS

Books Read 2021

R: Re-read

RTD: Read To (my wife) Deej (at bedtime)

JANUARY

1st. 

1. Lumberjanes, Vol. 5: Band Together (R)

2nd

1. Dragon Ball Z Full Color: Freeza Arc, Vol. 3

9th

1. Dragon Ball Z Full Color: Freeza Arc, Vol. 4
2. Dragon Ball Z Full Color: Freeza Arc, Vol. 5

10th

1. Dragon Ball Z, Vol. 12

13th

1. Dragon Ball Z, Vol. 13

16th

1. Dragon Ball Z, Vol. 14

17th

1. Dragon Ball Z, Vol. 15

18th

1. How To Break Into A Hotel Room - Stephen Graham Jones (Short Story, Nightmare Magazine Vol. 100)
2. Dragon Ball Z, Vol. 16

20th

1. Dragon Ball Z, Vol. 17
2. How Long Til Black Future Month? - N.K. Jemisin

21st

1. Dragon Ball Z, Vol. 18
2. Dragon Ball Z, Vol. 19

23rd

1. Dragon Ball Z, Vol. 20

25th

1. The Only Good Indians - Stephen Graham Jones (R) (RTD)

29th

1. Dragon Ball Z, Vol. 21

31st

1. Dragon Ball Z, Vol. 22

FEBRUARY

9th

1. The Stormlight Archive Book One: The Way of Kings - Brandon Sanderson (R)
2. Dragon Ball Z, Col. 23

11th

1. Dragon Ball Z, Vol. 24

13th

1. Dragon Ball Z, Vol. 25
2. Dragon Ball Z, Vol. 26

14th

1. Giant Days, Vol. 1 (R)

15th

1. Giant Days, Vol. 2 (R)

16th

1. Giant Days, Vol. 3 (R)

18th

1. Giant Days, Vol. 4 (R)

20th

1. Giant Day, Vol. 5 (R)

24th

1. Giant Days, Vol. 6 (R)

26th

1. Giant Days, Vol. 7 (R)

27th

1. Giant Days, Vol. 8 (R)

28th

1. Giant Days, Vol. 9 (R)
2. Giant Days, Vol. 10 (R)

MARCH

1st

1. Giant Days, Vol. 11 (R)

2nd

1. Giant Days, Vol. 12 (R)

3rd

1. Giant Days, Vol. 13
2. Giant Days, Vol. 14
3. The Way Of The Househusband, Vol. 1

4th

1. The Way Of The Househusband, Vol. 2

5th

1. The Way Of The Househusband, Vol. 3
2. The Way Of The Househusband, Vol. 4

7th

1. The Empty Man

9th

1. Chainsaw Man, Vol. 3
2. Lumberjanes, Vol. 6: Sink Or Swim (R)
3. House Of Sand And Fog (RTD)

10th

1. Lumberjanes, Vol. 7: A Bird's-Eye View (R)
2. Lumberjanes, Vol 8: Stone Cold (R)

14th

1. Batman (2016), Vol. 1: Their Dark Designs

16th

1. Batman (2016), Vol. 2: The Joker War

17th

1. Ice Cream Man, Vol. 5

18th

1. Immortal Hulk, Vol. 8: The Keeper Of The Door

22th

1. Deep Roots
2. Borne - Jeff VanderMeer

24th

1. The Scumbag, Vol. 1: Cocainefinger
2. Lumberjanes, Vol. 10: Parents' Day

25th

1. Fire Punch, Vol. 1

27th

1. Fire Punch, Vol. 2

28th

1. Fire Punch, Vol. 3

29th

1. Fire Punch, Vol. 4
2. Fire Punch, Vol. 5

30th

1. Stillwater, Vol. 1: Rage, Rage
2. Fire Punch, Vol. 6
3. Fire Punch, Vol. 7
4. Fire Punch, Vol. 8
5. Cannery Row - John Steinbeck (R) (RTD)

31st

1. Lumberjanes, Vol. 11: Time After Crime (R)
2. Lumberjanes, Vol. 12: Jackalope Springs Eternal (R)
3. Lumberjanes, Vol. 13: Indoor Recess (R)
4. Lumberjanes, Vol. 14: X Marks The Spot

APRIL

3rd

1. Lumberjanes, Vol. 15: Birthday Smarty
2. Lumberjanes, Vol. 16: Mind Over Mettle
3. Lumberjanes, Vol. 17: Smitten In The Stars

4th

1. Heterogenia Linguistico, Vol. 1

6th

1. Heterogenia Linguistico, Vol. 2

8th

1. Reincarnated As A Sword, Vol. 1
2. Reincarnated As A Sword, Vol. 2

10th

1. The Department Of Truth, Vol. 1: The End Of The World
2. Drugstore In Another World: The Slow Life Of A Cheat Pharmacist, Vol. 1
3. Reincarnated As A Sword, Vol. 3

11th

1. Reincarnated As A Sword, Vol. 4

13th

1. Rainbringer: Zora Neale Hurston Against The Lovecraftian Mythos - Edward M. Erdelac

15th

1. Reincarnated As A Sword, Vol. 5
2. Shadow Service, Vol. 1

19th

1. Chainsaw Man, Vol. 4: The Gun Is Mightier
2. Ring Shout - P. Djèlí Clark

20th

1. Manifest Destiny, Vol. 7: Talpa Lumbricus & Lepus

23rd

1. Superman For All Seasons

24th

1. Tinfoil Dossier, Book 1: Agents of Dreamland - Caitlin R. Kiernan

26th

1. Tinfoil Dossier, Book 2: Black Helicopters - Caitlin R. Kiernan

28

1. Frankenstein: Junji Ito Story Collection

MAY

2nd

1. Tinfoil Dossier, Book 3: The Tindalos Asset - Caitlin R. Kiernan

3rd

1. Abbott

7th

1. We Only Find Them When They're Dead, Book One: The Seeker

8th

1. Once & Future, Vol. 1: The King Is Undead

9th

1. Once & Future, Vol. 2: Old English

12th

1. The Secret History Of Twin Peaks - Mark Frost
2. Witch Hat Atelier, Vol. 1
3. Animeta, Vol. 1
4. A Dead Djinn In Cairo - P. Djèlí Clark

15th

1. Dragon Goes Househunting, Vol. 1

16th

1. The Haunting Of Tram Car 015 - P. Djèlí Clark

17th

1. MIND MGMT Omnibus, Volume 1: The Manager And The Futurist (R)

18th

1. The Way Of The Househusband, Vol. 5

22nd

1. MIND MGMT Omnibus, Vol. 2: The Home Maker And The Magician

24th

1. The Murderbot Diaries #1: All Systems Red - Martha Wells

26th

1. A Witch's Printing Office, Vol. 2
2. MIND MGMT Omnibus, Vol. 3: The Eraser And The Immortals

28th

1. Crossover, Vol. 1: Kids Love Chains
2. A Witch's Printing Office, Vol. 3

29th

1. Home Sick Pilots, Vol. 1
2. Beneath The Rising - Premee Mohamed

JUNE

3rd

1. Gideon Falls, Vol. 1: The Black Barn

4th

1. Invincible: Compendium One

8th

1. Invincible: Compendium Two

9th

1. Something Is Killing The Children, Vol. 3
2. A Witch's Printing Office, Vol. 4
3. Gideon Falls, Vol. 2: Original Sins (R)
4. Gideon Falls, Vol. 3: Stations Of The Cross (R)

10th

1. Gideon Falls, Vol. 4: The Pentoculus
2. Gideon Falls, Vol. 5: Wicked Worlds
3. Gideon Falls, Vol. 6: The End

12th

1. Reincarnated As A Sword, Vol. 6
2. Chainsaw Man, Vol. 5: Minor

15th

1. Witch Hat Atelier, Vol. 2
2. One Piece, Vol. 1
3. Wolf & Parchment, Vol. 1

18th

1. Perestroika In Paris - Jane Smiley (RTD)
2. Power Pack, Vol. 1: The Powers That Be

24th

1. Invincible: Compendium Three

25th

1. Welcome To Japan, Ms. Elf!, Vol. 1
2. Kaiju Score Vol 1: A Monster Affair

26th

1. Seven Secrets, Vol. 1
2. Otaku Elf, Vol. 1

27th

1. Black Hammer: Doctor Andromeda And The Kingdom Of Lost Tomorrows
2. Mapping: The Trash-Tier Skill That Got Me Into A Top-Tier Party, Vol. 1

30th

1. Black Hammer: Colonel Weird: Cosmagog
2. Black Hammer: Barbalien: Red Planet
3. Drugsore In Another World: The Slow Life Of A Cheat Pharmacist, Vol. 2

JULY

1st

1. Black Hammer: Skulldigger + Skeleton Boy
2. Mapping: The Trash-Tier Skill That Got Me Into A Top-Tier Party, Vol.1

5th

1. Black Hammer: The Quantum Age

7th

1. The Immortal Hulk, Vol. 9: The Weakest One There Is
2. Berserker, Vol.1

8th

1. Redneck, Vol. 1: Deep In The Heart (R)

9th

1. Redneck, Vol. 2: The Eyes Upon You

10th

1. Redneck, Vol. 3: Longhorns (R)
2. Redneck, Vol. 4: Lone Stary
3. Redneck, Vol. 5: Tall Tales

13th

1. DCeased

14th

1. Black Hammer '45

15th

1. One Piece, Vol. 2

17th

1. Quality Assurance In Another World, Vol.1

21st

1. Miskatonic
2. Otaku Elf, Vol. 2

24th

1. Hellboy Omnibus, Vol. 1: Seed Of Destruction (R)
2. One Piece, Vol. 3

28th

1. Uncle From Another World, Vol. 1

AUGUST

3rd

1. Chainsaw Man, Vol. 6: Boom Boom Boom
2. Time Paradox Ghostwriter, Vol. 1

4th

1. Hellboy Omnibus, Vol. 2: Strange Places (R)

6th

1. Time Paradox Ghostwriter, Vol. 2
2. Uncle From Another World, Vol. 2
3. The Lord Of The Rings, Part One: The Fellowship Of The Ring

7th

1. Mama Akuma, Vol. 1

8th

1. Delicious In Dungeon, Vol. 1

12th

1. Animeta!, Vol. 2

16th

1. Hellboy Omnibus, Vol. 3: The Wild Hunt (R)

18th

1. Hellboy Omnibus, Vol. 4: Hellboy In Hell (R)

23rd

1. Delicious In Dungeon, Vol. 2

28th

1. Headlopper, Vol. 1: Headlopper & The Island, Or, A Plague Of Beasts

30th

1. Welcome To Japan, Ms. Elf!, Vol. 2

SEPTEMBER

1st

1. Call To Adventure! Defeating Dungeons With A Skill Board, Vol. 1

2nd

1. BPRD: Plague Of Frogs Omnibus, Vol. 1 (R)

3rd

1. DC: The New Frontier, Vol. 1
2. One Piece, Vol. 4

4th

1. DC: The New Frontier, Vol. 2

5th

1. Delicious In Dungeon, Vol. 3

6th

1. The Devil Is A Part-Timer!, Vol. 1
2. Zodiac Starforce, Vol. 1

7th

1. Reincarnated As A Sword, Vol. 7
2. BPRD: Plague Of Frogs Omnibus, Vol. 2 (R)
3. The Devil Is A Part-Timer!, Vol. 2

8th

1. God Hates Astronauts, Vol. 1: The Head That Wouldn't Die!
2. The Devil Is A Part-Timer!, Vol. 3

10th

1. The Devil Is A Part-Timer!, Vol. 4

14th

1. The Devil Is A Part-Timer!, Vol. 5

15th

1. Delicious In Dungeon, Vol. 4

17th

1. One Piece, Vol. 5

20th

1. The Devil is A Part-Timer!, Vol. 6

22nd

1. BPRD: Plague Of Frogs Omnibus, Vol. 3 (R)

23rd

1. Dragon Ball Super, Vol. 1

24th

1. Scout's Honor

31st

1. Percy Jackson And The Olympians, Book 1: The Lightning Thief (R)

OCTOBER

3rd

1. The Superior Foes of Spider-Man, Vol. 1: Getting The Band Back Together

6th

1. East Of Eden - John Steinbeck (R) (RTD)
2. Chainsaw Man, Vol. 7: In A Dream
3. The Superior Foes Of Spider-Man, Vol. 2: The Crime Of The Century

7th

1. The Devil Is A Part-Timer!, Vol. 7

8th

1. Kingdom Come

10th

1. BPRD: Plague Of Frogs, Vol. 4 (R)

11th

1. God Hates Astronauts, Vol. 2: A Star Is Born

13th

1. Delicious In Dungeon, Vol. 5

14th

1. The Low, Low Woods
2. Head Lopper, Vol. 2: Head Lopper & The Crimson Tower

17th

1. Percy Jackson And The Olympians, Book II: The Sea Of Monsters (R)

19th

1. The Devil Is A Part-Timer!, Vol. 8

24th

1. The Superior Foes Of Spider-Man, Vol. 3: Game Over
2. The Devil Is A Part-Timer!, Vol. 9

NOVEMBER

4th

1. Uncle From Another World, Vol. 3
2. Delicious In Dungeon, Vol. 6
3. Green Lantern: Far Sector

5th

1. Helm Greycastle, Book One
2. Percy Jackson And The Olympians, Book III: The Titan's Curse (R)

7th

1. Deep Beyond, Vol. 1

8th

1. Proctor Valley Road
2. Maniac Of New York, Vol. 1: The Death Train

10th

1. Ice Cream Man, Vol. 6: Just Desserts

11th

1. BPRD: Hell On Earth, Book One (R)

14th

1. BPRD: Hell On Earth, Book Two (R)
2. The Mystery Of The Meanest Teacher: A Johnny Constantine Graphic Novel
3. The Way Of The Househusband, Vol. 6

15th

1. Alien, Vol. 1: Bloodlines
2. Fearscape

16th

1. Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Vol. 1: Secrets And Rumors

17th

1. My Heart Is A Chainsaw - Stephen Graham Jones (RTD)

18th

1. Reign Of The Seven Spellblades, Vol. 1
2. Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Vol. 2: Hostile Takeovers

19th

1. The Scumbag, Vol. 2: Moonflower

21st

1. The Alchemist Who Survived Now Dreams Of A Quiet Life, Vol. 1

23rd

1. Campfire Cooking In Another World With My Absurd Skill, Vol. 1

24th

1. The Alchemist Who Survived Now Dreams Of A Quiet Life, Vol. 2

25th

1. Campfire Cooking In Another World With My Absurd Skill, Vol. 2
2. Campfire Cooking In Another World With My Absurd Skill, Vol. 3
3. Campfire Cooking In Another World With My Absurd Skill, Vol. 4
4. Campfire Cooking In Another World With My Absurd Skill, Vol. 5

27th

1. BPRD: Hell On Earth, Book Three (R)
2. BPRD: Hell On Earth, Book Four (R)

28th

1. Drugstore In Another World: The Slow Life Of A Cheat Pharmacist, Vol. 3
2. Ascendance Of A Bookworm, Vol. 1

29th

1. BPRD: Hell On Earth, Book Five (R)

30th

1. BPRD: The Devil You Know, Vol. 1: Messiah (R)

DECEMBER

1st

1. BPRD: The Devil You Know, Vol. 2: Pandemonium 
2. BPRD: The Devil You Know, Vol. 3: Ragna Rok

2nd

1. Ascendance Of A Bookworm, Vol. 2
2. Ascendance Of A Bookworm, Vol. 3

5th

1. Rascal - Sterling North (RTD) (R)

7th

1. Ascendance Of A Bookworm, Vol. 4
2. Superior Spider-Man Complete Collection, Vol. 1

8th

1. Call To Adventure! Defeating Dungeons With A Skill Board, Vol. 2
2. Call To Adventure! Defeating Dungeons With A Skill Board, Vol. 3
3. Kaju No. 8, Vol. 1

9th

1. Immortal Hulk, Vol. 10: Of Hell And Of Death
2. Chainsaw Man, Vol. 8: Super Mess
3. Immortal Hulk: Great Power

11th

1. Daredevil, Vol. 1: Know Fear

12th

1. Daredevil, Vol. 2: No Devils, Only God

13th

1. Daredevil, Vol. 3: Through Hell

14th

1. Daredevil, Vol. 4: End Of Hell

15th

1. Daredevil, Vol. 5: Truth/Dare
2. Daredevil, Vol. 6: Doing Time
3. Ascendance Of A Bookworm, Vol. 5

16th

1. Harley Quinn, Vol. 1: No Good Deed

17th

1. Ascendance Of A Bookworm, Vol. 6

20th

1. Strange Academy, Vol. 1: First Class

22nd

1. Komi Can't Communicate, Vol. 1

24th

1. A Wrinkle In Time - Madeleine L'Engle

25th

1. Spider-Man & The X-Men
2. Strange Academy, Vol. 2: Bright Side

26th

1. Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls - David Sedaris (R) (RTD)
2. The Devil Is A Part-Timer!, Vol. 10

29th

1. Delicious In Dungeon, Vol. 7

30th

1. Otaku Elf, Vol. 3

playing the end against the middle and losing every time

September 2021Books Read Standouts: DC: The New Frontier, Vol. 1 / The Devil Is A Part-Timer! , Vol. 1

DC: The New Frontier, Vol. 1 

(Written And Illustrated By Darwyn Cooke)

    DC:NF is an exercise in what TVTropes calls reconstruction, which I will let a for-real comics author, and so has the edge over your humble blogsman in that he actually knows what the hell he's talking about, explain:

"It strikes me that the only reason to take apart a pocket watch, or a car engine, aside from the simple delight of disassembly, is to find out how it works. To understand it, so you can put it back together again better than before, or build a new one that goes beyond what the old one could do. We've been taking apart the superhero for ten years or more; it's time to put it back together and wind it up, time to take it out on the road and floor it, see what it'll do."

— Kurt Busiek, Astro City

    So basically, what if the Justice League and everyone in it were actually what we remember them being in our collective cultural heart and mind? Not as laced with sexism, racism and homophobia as they were in the Golden Age? Not as artificially perfect, bland and two-dimensional (largely because they were bein strangled by censors and moral guardians) as they were in the Silver Age? And the less said about the Dark Age, the better, although it did lay the groundwork for a lot of good stuff, introducing the concept of the graphic novel and making Aquaman cool. (The Bronze Age is generally agreed to be Pretty Okay, as far as I've been able to discern.) What IF the heroes we know and love were Good and True but also capable of moral nuance, and aware that real problems require more than just punching and that sometimes there's just no good solution, but that you have to try anyway?

    You get New Frontier, is what.

    Combining extremely strong artwork, humanized versions of heroes it's previously been very difficult to empathize with, and origin stories for the Green Lantern and the Martian Manhunter that make them actually interesting, New Frontier is a chance to take what we love best about these characters and let them use those traits to ask some hard questions: is Superman a war criminal for following orders and supporting a possibly* unjust war**, is Wonder Woman right in her assertion that there's no point following the made-up 'rules' of war that make them feel better but don't actually do any good for the people they're supposed to be helping***? Does the Aqua-Man (BADASS BEARD DANCING LIKE KELP IN THE CURRENT) actually have any obligation to help a crisis threatening the dry-landers who are actively destroying his kingdom with pollution, and if so how in Davy Jones' ass is he supposed to when he's already responsible for the safety of an undersea empire more than twice the area of the entire surface world? DINOSAURS!, which is not a question but still very important? Has Captain Cold considered that he might just have a hypothalamus disorder, and maybe that's why he's always wearing a damn parka? SOME OF THESE AND MORE, because I actually just remembered Captain Cold was in this book before I remembered The Flash is; WHAT CAN I SAY: I'm a Snarter at heart. Also at heart? A guy who's gonna root for a black man forging twin sledgehammers and using them to singlehandedly murder an entire chapter of the Klan. I don't have any jokes for that one, it was just extremely upsetting and satisfying; 0/10 that it had to happen, 10/10 that it did.

    New Frontier isn't perfect--the Big Bad is a thing that's super cool unto itself but makes negative 6,000% sense in this story for my money--but it isn't trying to be; it's trying to show that we were always right to care about these characters and their stories, and it doesn't matter if they're going through a gross gritty phase, or they've got a writer with upsetting and obvious personal politics this year, or if three company-wide continuity reboots in the span of 24 months may actually have made it literally impossible for J. Jonah Jameson not to have been Uncle Ben. What matters is that when we read these, the make us want to be our best selves; that's not often easy or simple, and it helps to know that it isn't for Hal Jordan, either, and he's got a friggin' magic ring and he doesn't even have to deal with that absolute chudguncher Deborah In HR who still hasn't set up your direct deposit even though that's her whole goddamn job, DEBORAH, we all know you're just playing Angry Birds and pretending to know how NFTs work over there.

Score: 9/10 Times J'onn J'onzz Turned Into Columbo Before Realizing He Wasn't Real, But That The Litigious Estate Of Peter Falk Very Much Is 

*Definitely
**Yes
***Absofuckinglutely yes (in context)

August 2021 Books Read Standouts MANGA TRIPLE-FEATURE! Time Paradox Ghostwriter, Vol. 1 / Mama Akuma, Vol. 1 / Delicious In Dungeon, Vol. 1

August 2021 Books Read Standouts MANGA TRIPLE-FEATURE! Time Paradox Ghostwriter, Vol. 1 / Mama Akuma, Vol. 1 / Delicious In Dungeon, Vol. 1