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Sex Criminals, Vol. 1: One Weird Trick
Sex Criminals, Vol. 1: One Weird Trick by Matt Fraction Illustrated by: Chip Zdarsky Published: 2014 Publisher: Image Comics Series: Sex Criminals #1 Length: 128 pages Collects: issues #1-5 Suzie is a normal girl, a young librarian trying to save her library from going under, but when she has an orgasm time literally stops. She has, quite rightfully, been trying to learn more about this since it began happening, and one night she comes across a man with the same power. What would someone do with a power like this? Rob a bank, of course! It seems silly to compare this with Saga, but my brain arbitrarily combines vaguely similar…
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Relish: My Life in the Kitchen
Relish: My Life in the Kitchen by Lucy Knisley Format: Original Graphic Novel Originally Published: 2013 Publisher: First Second Length: 176 pages I love food. I love eating. I love cooking, when I get off my ass and actually do it. I love browsing markets and discovering new and interesting ingredients. I love travel writing and documentaries but can’t stand it when the local food isn’t featured. I love cooking programs that aren’t just gimmicky game shows. I don’t understand complaints about George R.R. Martin describing meals in too much detail. I don’t understand complaints about people using Twitter or Facebook to post photos of their lunches. More lunches and…
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Saga, Volume 4
Saga, Volume 4 by Brian K. Vaughan Illustrated by: Fiona Staples Published: 2014 Publisher: Image Comics Length: 144 pages Collects: issues #19-24 Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples know how to open a volume with a bang. You’re off running right from the first page with a close-up of an alien birth in action. They’re excellent at having little shocks in their books in an age where it’s difficult to shock anyone. I love that I just don’t know what I’m going to get when I open these pages. The story jumps ahead a bit here. The crew is somewhat settled now, and it turns into an odd slice of…
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Aquaman, Vol. 1: The Trench
Aquaman, Vol. 1: The Trench by Geoff Johns Illustrated By: Ivan Reis Format: Trade Paperback Collects: Aquaman #1-6 Published: 2013 Publisher: DC Comics Length: 144 pages I bought this for my girlfriend quite a while back, and I have to admit it was strange picking this up at my local comic book store. The character has been a joke for years now, and it felt oddly shameful, as if I was buying a copy of Fifty Shades of Grey or a Bill O’Reilly book. I always assumed Aquaman comics were underwater harlequin romance with occasional stabbings. I couldn’t find it on the shelf, so I had to call over an…
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Chew: Omnivore Edition, Volume 4
Chew: The Omnivore Edition, Volume 4 by John Layman Illustrated By: Rob Guillory Format: Hardcover Comic Collects: Chew #31-40 Published: 2014 Publisher: Image Comics Length: 272 pages Finally, the fourth omnibus of Chew has been released. The wait between these editions can be torturous, but at least there’s no chance of getting burnt out on them. Not the ideal way to read through a series, but I actually don’t mind too much. I like having an annual release to anticipate, and these oversized editions are just too nice to ignore. I’ve really liked the last couple of books for the humour and the creative ideas, particularly around the invention of…
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Seconds
Seconds by Bryan Lee O’Malley Format: Original Graphic Novel Originally Published: 2014 Publisher: Ballantine Books Length: 336 pages I’m a huge fan of Scott Pilgrim, so when I saw that Bryan Lee O’Malley had released a new stand-alone graphic novel I had to pick it up. It’s also loosely about food and I love food. I’m what’s referred to as an easy sell. Katie is in a frightening, exciting, and stressful point in her life. She’s transitioning from being head chef at a popular restaurant that she helped open four years ago to opening and co-owning a new restaurant. Her partner and her had to decide between two locations, and…
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Saga, Volume 3
Saga, Volume 3 by Brian K. Vaughan Illustrated by: Fiona Staples Published: 2014 Publisher: Image Comics Length: 144 pages Collects: issues #13-18 This series has been consistently fantastic since the first issue. That makes for excellent reading but also boring blogging, so I’ll keep this fairly brief. It’s just great, plain and simple, so I’m afraid this will mainly be gushing. In this trade, Vaughan went back and explained what was happening behind the scenes during the end of the last story arc – the same scene but expanded and following other characters. Similar in concept to the time overlap that George R.R. Martin used in book four and five…
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Saga, Volume 2
Saga, Volume 2 by Brian K. Vaughan Illustrated by: Fiona Staples Published: 2013 Publisher: Image Comics Collects: issues #7-12 There’s always a bit of a worry when picking up the second volume of a comic, particularly when the first was such a nice surprise. Crushing disappointment is always a potential, but I’m happy to report that this was as good, possibly even better, than the first. Alana and Marko are still running from…everyone, really, but the story is also interlaced with flashbacks showing how the two met. This is more about fleshing out the story and building on relationships rather than shocking us with more insane aspects of the universe.…
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Saga, Volume 1
Saga, Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan Illustrated By: Fiona Staples Published: 2012 Publisher: Image Comics Collects: issues #1 – #6 This is a space fantasy, I guess, which is actually a fairly unique genre for me. I’m not sure I’ve read much that involves space travel, magic, aliens, and swordplay. I guess it’s a little Star Wars in that regard, but more on the fantasy side. It’s also a little Romeo and Juliet, having two star-crossed lovers from opposing races in a long-running war. She was a jail warden and he was a prisoner, but now they have a newborn together and are trying to avoid the armies of…
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The Complete Essex County
The Complete Essex County by Jeff Lemire Format: Graphic Novel Published: 2011 Publisher: Top Shelf Productions Essex County comes up on a lot of must-read lists, and it’s touted as the quintessential Canadian comic, so I’ve been meaning to read it since getting back into comics a few years back. I’m a naughty Canadian, though, and I don’t really follow hockey, so I thought a lot of it might be lost on me. While hockey is a large part of many of the characters’ lives, I wouldn’t say it’s central to enjoying any part of this. This is a collection of three main stories and two shorter stories, and it’s…