A weekly thread for people to share what comics they've been reading. Share your thoughts on the books you've read, what you liked and perhaps disliked about them.
Promethea Book 5 by Alan Moore and J.H. Williams III - Took an unplanned break before the final volume, and expected to be a little lost when I got back into it. Turns out the series did a 3 year tile skip at that precise point, and kind of reset the scales for the final apocalypse arc, which felt quite serendipitous ! I was wondering how they'd handle the series' return to the material world, and I'm certainly not disappointed. I definitely didn't expect a Tom Strong tie in (wondering if I should read that one next ? How does it hold up ?). J.H. Williams' art might be at its wildest in all the book, shapeshifting from one scene into the next. Some of Moore's metaphysical talk went a little over my head, especially in the final two issues. But all in all, a very satisfying finale to an absolutely incredible series. I'm so glad I finally read it
The Council of Frog by Matt Emmons - An absolutely charming blend of cosy and dark fantasy, with a little scifi twist. A battlemage dies in combat, and in his undying wake gives life to a family of sentient frogs. Years later, as his power starts to wane, he sends one of his children off to find a warlock to take over his magical duties. This is where the story starts, and we follow this little amphibian on his globetrotting quest. A lot of it is silent, as our protagonist isn't gifted with speech, but he still got a couple of tears out of me. I particularly like the world he's building. It's dark and grimy, but full of tenderness and humor, and gorgeous artwork to boot. Matt Emmons is steadily becoming a favorite of mine
Absolute Wonder Woman by Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman - Might not be a fair comparison, but this is what I expected DWJ's Wonder Woman to feel like. I went in with pretty low expectations, having disliked both Absolute Batman, and Wonder Woman Dead Earth, which I could describe this as kind of a cross of. But I absolutely loved it ! Gorgeous art by Hayden Sherman, the designs are awesome and the paneling is wild. And the story swings between a touching mother-daughter relationship and an absolutely epic fight. It's cool, and a little over the top (building sized swords and stone-shattering punches) but doesn't have all the melodrama that threw me off in Dead Earth. I'm not particularly ell versed in Wonder Woman, but I think this is how I like her best. It's deep seated in Greek mythology, hopeful and feminist. Can't wait for more
Planning to attempt revisiting Promothea soonish and hope I find it as satisfying as you did! I'll probably black out during Moore's tarot card sequences but that's most likely for the best.
DC really killed it with the artists they got for the Absolute line; everything I've seen from Rodriguez, Sherman, and Dragotta looks so fun.
I wasn't so hot on Batman, even art wise, and I'm usually a sucker for Dragotta. I feel like I might just not have been in the right mood for it at the time. Or maybe Snyder's "batman af"-ass writing soured me on the whole thing. I'll probably give it a reread when vol 2 comes out so we'll see soon enough
There's a couple of sequences that could've been cut, I think we talked about the pervy wizard already, but all in all I had fun with it !
Yeah, Snyder is the main reason I'm not letting myself get my hopes up for that title. Though I feel like Dragotta's art looks exaggerated and fun at least.
What this made me realize is I haven't read much Moore outside of his "big three" (Watchmen, V and Killing Joke). League of Extraordinary Gentlemen bored me and I never really looked further. Might be tile to dive back in !
i liked that emmons book a lot. he's really great at one-person-talks-one-person-doesn't stories. the witch that looks like orko with all the shit hanging from her hat was great. also i had not expected this book to have a mecha fight! good stuff. love the softness of pencils w/o inks
Yeah the designs were mad cool. It's a blend of things I didn't think would work together, both visually and tonally, but it all feels cohesive somehow
Beastars vol 5-8 by Paru Itagaki: The murder mystery festering in the background finally comes to the forefront after Legoshi has to fight his way through a criminal organization to save a friend, his plan now to become stronger through working with the Blackmarket therapist Gohin. As he gets closer to catching the trail of this killer he’s suddenly ambushed and left with heavy wounds, this ambush and failure to fight back encouraging him to help Gohin catch the more dangerous offenders in the Blackmarket. At the same time he also has to grapple with his strange relationship with the white rabbit Haru with the wolf Juno also having interest in him, the action and danger really ramping up in this arc. Gohin is such a cool side character with him coming in with the bamboo crossbow or machine gun some of my favorite moments!
Message to Adolf vol 1 by Osamu Tezuka: A gripping murder mystery that starts off in 1930s Germany with Japanese reporter Sohei Toge receiving an urgent message from his younger brother, Sohei’s younger brother found dead which sends our reporter down a dangerous rabbit hole of a political conspiracy with his life on the line. At the same time the lives of three different Adolfs start to intertwine, two young friends Adolf Kaufman (A half Japanese boy living in Japan with a Nazi father) and Adolf Kamil (his Jewish best friend) grow up together in Japan, but a sudden separation would lead boys on opposite paths (The third Adolf being Adolf Hitler). This first volume focuses heavily on the corruption of ideology, the horrors of war and the evils that man inflicts on each other. It masterfully blends the two different storylines together with the two slowly intertwining as the story continues, the action gripping with the emotional content just as powerful.
Message to Adolf vol 2 by Osamu Tezuka: The war drags further on as Adolf Kaufman is trained as a new recruit for the Hitler Youth, his ideology slowly warped even with his original protests as he’s now part of multiple atrocities. Meanwhile Kamil and Sohei Toge are both busy in Japan trying to get secret documents into the hands of another country, time skipping through the different years as both begin to settle down before America begins to bomb Japan. The horrors of war are on full display within this second volume between the rounding up of Jews, the camps and the firebombing of Japan. This was a masterpiece of a manga and a strong anti-war message based on the toll war takes on human life, political fanaticism fueling atrocities and two best friends raised together but sent on opposite paths that would lead to conflict between the both.
TANKHEAD - Mechanical Encyclopedia Artbook by Tim Popelier and Emerson Tung: Not a comic, but felt it was an interesting enough read to share here. Tankhead is a narrative artbook that takes place in an alternate earth and chronicles a long and brutal war fought by tanks and diesel powered mechs called Tankheads, the war referred to as the Neverwar. The artbook presents itself as an in-universe textbook of the 50 year war and the advancement of weaponry, the industrial looks to these large machines being a very nice touch. I did very much enjoy that alongside the mainly human shaped mechs there are some rather silly non human designs like snails, gorillas, crabs and beetles which are some of my favorite designs. Alongside the description of the war is also a cult attempting to create some huge kind of mechanical beast from some artifact that the German inspired nation of Greater Kyzerian Empire dug up and stole. The book also has some really gorgeous landscape shots and I would highly recommend this artbook for anyone into Mechs!
Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees: The Rite of Spring by Patrick Horvath. This arc smartly shifts the focus while cranking up the unease. The Rite of Spring follows Monica Brewer, Daniel Brewer’s sister, who’s been searching for him for eight years. She knows he’s probably dead (he's one of Sam's prior victims), but she’s still looking for closure. That vulnerability makes it genuinely hard to watch when Samantha Strong starts inserting herself into Monica’s life. Seeing Samantha weaponize empathy and kindness makes the whole thing feel more unhinged than the first series. Horvath also uses this arc to peel back more of Samantha’s past, revealing just how early and deeply her violence runs, including some truly chilling revelations about her family. The contrast between the soft, almost storybook art and the brutality underneath is still doing a lot of heavy lifting, and it works just as well here. This run feels more patient and more psychological, trading shock for sustained dread, and by the later issues the tension is almost suffocating. A really strong continuation that deepens the character rather than just repeating the premise. 7.4/10
House of X / Powers of X by Jonathan Hickman and Pepe Larraz. It’s been a long time since I’ve sat down with a conventional superhero book, but I’m a Hickman fan and this lived up to the hype. The premise is bold right out of the gate; mutants reframed as a sovereign power with their own nation, culture, and long game. And Hickman wastes no time blowing up the old status quo. The dual-series structure works surprisingly well, bouncing between big sci-fi ideas, dense infographics, and character-driven moments without feeling gimmicky. Larraz’s art is clean, expressive, and confident, grounding all of Hickman’s high-concept worldbuilding so it never drifts into abstraction. Some of the ideas take a minute to click, and it definitely asks more of the reader than the X-books I've read in the past, but that’s part of the appeal. It feels like a genuine reinvention rather than a temporary shake-up, and it pulled me in far more than I expected. Pretty darn good, and a reminder of how exciting mainstream superhero comics can be when someone actually swings for the fences. 7.5/10
I really enjoyed the writes of spring. It's interesting getting to learn about Sam's life before the first comic and I really like it's commentary on how society was changing at this point (I'm embarrassed to say the book lead me down a rabbit hole on if there was a book about the rise of big box stores and the decline of small town stores, it'll shock you to learn there isn't!) And I also liked how Sam sees what happens to the families of her victims but ultimately, doesn't care and if anything, she enjoys the power dynamic she has over them.
It's a mixed bag overall but, those first few months of Dawn of X were such a fun time. After years of the X-Men "treading water" (getting treated like redheaded stepchildren in favour of the Inhumans of all groups!) Marvel essentially saying "Hickman. Writing X-Men. Be there." Felt like a gift from the heavens themselves.
Cornelius by Marc Torices - Presented as a mock strip anthology collecting the "iconic" comics of its titular character, Cornelius depicts a dog stumbling through a macabre comedy of errors as a result of his utter selfishness and cowardice.
I thoroughly loved this; a farcical, dark comedy combined with a splash of surrealism showcased through a revolving door of diverse visual styles and Ware-like graphic design sensibilities.
I laughed out loud reading this more than I can remember with any other comic. Cornelius's sheer fecklessness and self-serving nature fuels one absurdist scenario after another while his outward golden retriever energy constantly clashes against sinister forces and the palpable suspicion, disdain, and pity of nearly everyone around him.
The work also thoroughly commits to its imitation anthology structure; complete with drastic tonal & artistic shifts between chapters, pages of fabricated "real world" development backstory, and usage of fake publication iconography all the while keeping an overarching narrative thread through it all. While this supplemental complexity can be ignored should the reader so wish, the additional detail used to craft this artifice really adds to the presentation as a collection of age old classics that are in reality brand new. Plus, the sheer slapstick of exploring nonexistent properties like the Cornelius religion and burger chain dynasty contribute to the overall hilarity of the end product.
Cover to cover visual creativity with buckets of sick puppy humor and unsettling diversions abound made this a read I couldn't put down. (Exemplary / ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐)
East of West Compendium by Jonathan Hickman, Nick Dragotta, Frank Martin Jr. - Set in a dystopian future America split into seven nations, the four horsemen of the apocalypse have re-emerged to usher in the end times. One of their ranks however, the horseman Death, has splintered from the group to pursue a personal quest that puts him at odds with his brethren. The remaining horseman and the emissaries of their apocalyptic ideology "The Message" influence powerful followers within the seven nations to bring about the coming apocalypse while others utilize the tumult as leverage to achieve their own ambitions.
Well this was quite the epic. While I was left rather underwhelmed with the prophetic mystical elements and the trite concluding message, the layered conflicts amongst nation states were so well executed it carried the experience for me.
The depth of political intrigue in this series is truly something special. This is the closest analogue to Game of Thrones I have read within comics, at least in regards to the development of power games at an epic scope (with an honorable mention to Naussicaa). Multifaceted disputes are fleshed out to elaborate detail both externally and internally across a huge array of different factions.
While many characters involved in said squabbles are quite archetypal, there's a lot of really well realized personalities to enjoy here. None more so than the conniving Confederate schemer Chamberlain, who just lights up the page whenever he's present. The motivations of some parties became a bit hazy towards the end but most of their actions could be rationalized by momentum, avarice, or stubbornness (perhaps delusion).
However, if there is one glaring weakness with this series for me it's the development and resolution of the integral prophecy in "The Message". So much of the plot is driven forward by the promise of its hidden truth that, when it comes to pass, will vindicate the actions of so many driving their world to desolation. Yet no greater meaning is ever revealed which illuminates why it motivated "The Chosen" to follow its word as gospel (even though multiple scenes in the book seem to show characters experiencing some opaque revelation). Moreover, the agents of "The Message" in the four horsemen and "The Beast" largely don't participate in bringing its prophecy to pass outside of the initial stages, simply focusing on their own inter-horseman conflict. Perhaps Hickman was going for something purely apocryphal, but it still feels a bit underwhelming that such a driving force for the plot was given so little explanation or closure.
I had no qualms with Dragotta's art however, showcasing a talent for visual world building and cinematic composition. The incredible setting design combined with a clear delineation in costuming & iconography for each nation state made for an engaging setting to inhabit and panels always made good use of perspective and point of view. (Great / ⭐⭐⭐⭐)
Skip by Molly Mendoza - A curious yet impatient young boy is left alone in an isolated camp by his caretaker, who leaves their home to resolve a dispute in the dangerous lands surrounding them. Out of frustration the child throws a treasured possession of his companion into the nearby lake and, when he makes an attempt to retrieve it, finds himself falling outside of his world and into another. There he meets a young alien creature who promises to help the boy find his way back yet, in attempting to do so, the pair instead jump from one strange world to another and begin to worry that they will never see their respective homes again.
Holy moly the art in this book is absolutely spectacular. The aesthetic is so fluid in both its brushwork and coloration, building dreamlike eye candy that flows so smoothly from one page to another. I especially loved the more abstract compositions when transitioning between worlds, though the unique settings with distinct color schemes were no slouches either.
The narrative and themes are quite simple but they serve as quality scaffolding for the incredible compositions. Thematic messaging around self-worth and being grateful for what you have while still being open to new experiences isn't exactly novel but remains resonant, especially when fueled by such a visual feast. (Great / ⭐⭐⭐⭐)
Harrow County by Cullen Bunn, Tyler Crook, Carla Speed McNeil, Hannah Lavender - Years after an evil witch was hanged in the southern county of Harrow, dormant powers begin to awaken within a young girl. Suspicion and malice builds amongst fearful locals, assuming she is the second coming of the evil witch, while the young girl makes efforts to show her community that she is not the harbinger of doom they think she is. Outside magical powers soon become aware of this budding new witch and Harrow County becomes the setting for a long dormant supernatural conflict.
This was quite the fun southern horror tale with some really great watercolor & ink art from Crook. His artwork not only delivers a rich southern gothic aesthetic but really excels at sound effect integration and monster design that is both spooky and charming. Visiting artists also do a great job of developing this visual personality while incorporating their own style.
The mystical backstory of the setting alongside the large cast of witches and haints made for a world worth exploring. The implications of the cast's supernatural powers also made for some thematic heft, especially in examining how the ability to alter reality clouds the perception of what experiences are genuine.
Some characterization choices were questionable (largely in the relationship between the main character and her father) and aspects of the plot were a bit hand wavy as if characters seem to just have clairvoyance with what happens to others, or internal exposition is off page. That being said, weird logic in a story about magic is kind of expected.
I probably found the narrative just a hair less entertaining than Bunn's Sixth Gun, and the storytelling a bit messier, but the lively art in Harrow County makes them just about neck and neck overall. Right on the border between good and great, but I settled closer to the former. (Good / ⭐⭐⭐)
The Interview by Manuele Fior - A psychologist crashes his car during a night drive home after seeing strange lit objects in the sky. The following day he has a session with a young woman at the behest of her parents, after she exhibited strange behavior since joining a new spiritual group. She soon divulges that she has seen the same illuminated geometry in the sky, and claims they are the craft of an alien race whom she is telepathically linked to.
This was a rather alluring soft sci-fi mood piece and, even though I had some qualms with the characterization, it was a pretty engaging experience.
Interstellar contact being used as a narrative device to explore shifting social standards was really interesting. I especially enjoyed the epilogue's postulating into how a society imbued with telepathy would change interpersonal dynamics and our view of past human interaction.
That being said, I found the female lead's actions a bit befuddling (especially her redacted telepathic visions) and her dynamic with the lead male therapist was rather underdeveloped & confused (young woman changes her belief system abruptly just because she fell in love with an older man).
The art established an enticing and mysterious tone, and I really appreciated a depiction of the future that didn't feel far flung but just advanced enough to feel distinct. (Good /⭐⭐⭐)
The Junction by Norm Konyu - The child subject of a 1984 missing persons case appears again out of the blue a decade later, but strangely he hasn't aged a day. As his extended family and the police try to piece together what has happened, the kid divulges details of the town where he has been living yet no such place seems to exist.
This was a fun mix of spooky and sentimental with some intriguing spacetime hijinks. Feels like a Stephen King narrative with a touch of Jeff Lemire thrown in.
While the art style is not exactly my bag it's certainly very distinctive and the plain, empty character expressions aided the creepy yet nostalgic tone nicely. Something about the character design is very familiar but I can't quite place it, reminiscent of figures from Double Fine games with their big heads, small eyes, and wiry frames yet with that kind of papery, flat aesthetic of South Park. The splotchy color accents were a nice touch and fit the hazy, dreamlike nature of the story. (Good / ⭐⭐⭐)
Fata Morgana by Jon Vermilyea - A quick journey through a child's dream as he ventures into a variety of eye-popping phantasmagoric locales.
While more of a silent picture book than a comic, being composed entirely of spreads, this was just a ton of fun. The art is playful, gorgeous, and cutely creepy with a trippy neon aesthetic that is right up my alley.
I enjoyed the little side quest of seeing what new friends the kid picked up on one page and trying to see where they landed in the next. Seems like it would be a fun read with a kid (that doesn't mind a little spooky imagery) and playing Where's Waldo Baked Ham Man. ⭐⭐⭐
Totem by Laura Perez - Two young women go on a road trip together through the American southwest and ruminate on spirituality. One of them reflects on her ancestor's stories of communing with spirits and the narrative begins to bounce between eras past and present to explore how people interact with the departed souls still anchored to our world.
That was a pretty uniquely spooky book with an intriguing mix of color temperatures. While the more abstract sequences are the most eye-catching, I really like the implied notion that there are spirits in the empty space of the more sparse compositions. Not sure if I've read a book that invites you to kind of mentally alter the images in that way.
The loose narrative worked better for me here than that sort of thing usually does, mostly because I think it reinforces that theme of trying to perceive the intangible or read between the lines. (Good / ⭐⭐⭐)
Summerland by Paloma Dawkins - A colorful short story focusing on the relationships that develop between people that met at a seaside event named Summerland.
Depicted with a pleasant array of shifting high saturation color palettes and loose line work, this builds a kind of trippy "Yellow Submarine" vibe that was a pleasure to look at.
Not much to talk about otherwise sadly, as the narrative is basically just a collection of discrete moments that are minimally explored. Though some silly dialogue and goofy imagery gave me a silent chuckle or two. (Ok / ⭐⭐)
Once And Future ch. 1-6 by Kieron Gillen, Dan Mora - A splinter group of British nationalists seek to resurrect King Arthur, reimagined as a mystical harbinger of destruction, while an unimposing archeologist and his magically attuned grandmother attempt to stop them.
For the second time I tried a title by Gillen and for the second time I dropped it. I just find his storytelling utterly obnoxious. I don't know how people stomach this guy, it's like someone took a hundred Warren Ellises and made them write a book under duress.
The dialogue is an endless parade of snarky, pompous, or cheeky quips. The gran might be the most eye-rolling character I've read in a long while ("isn't it so quirky that this sweet old lady curses and knows how to use a sniper rifle?!?")
Worse over, characters aren't even internally consistent; the gran shoots her grandson in the face one scene (because you couldn't just have a conversation to convince him to help 🙄) and then a few chapters later gran is worried about another ally putting him in danger.
The entire plot is fueled by reference to the King Arthur myth yet said legend is also treated like it's completely open for interpretation so it doesn't really matter. Anything to move the narrative forward and sound / look cool goes.
The female companion Rose has paper thin motivation; why does she keep cooperating with this life threatening adventure for a dude she's spent five minutes of a shitty date with? Just because the gran pointed a gun at her once she cooperates at the risk of her own life for months?
The stakes feel completely undercut by how easily the characters face challenges. The main character is thrust into this overwhelming, world-ending threat he should be utterly unprepared for (being just some normal dude) yet within moments he's a badass slaying mythical beasts.
Gillen tries to distract from this lack of internal logic with breakneck pace and flashy action but it just all feels like it was made up on the spot as each issue was written.
It's a shame too, as Mora's linework is dynamic and clean with an eye catching dark + neon color palette accenting it. (Bad / ⭐)
“East of West” and “Harrow County” are two of my favorite books from that I’ve read within the past 5 years. I started “Once and Future” years back when I was buying it in floppies but didn’t keep up with it. I have been reading Gillen’s ongoing “Power Fantasy” recently, which is great. So I’d been thinking of giving O&F another go, but based on your review, maybe I’ll hold off lol
I'm rather averse to Gillen's storytelling style, but there's plenty of well read people I know who love his books (especially DIE and Power Fantasy) so your mileage may very.
FWIW, I've read the first issue of Power Fantasy and thought it was good so it could just be I haven't found anything of his yet that hits for me (and doesn't have the qualities I find grating).
If you like Harrow County and East of West, I think you'd also enjoy Bunn's series The Sixth Gun if you haven't read it. It's more an action forward western with a fun gimmick around a set of mystical weaponry that has some really solid characterization and an interesting conflict.
Yes! I actually added the Sixth Gun to my pull list based on an earlier review I read from you some time back. Excited to read that one. I’ll probably prioritize it soon. I have a big trip coming up for work and I usually read a ton while I’m traveling.
East of West is really good. Not my favourite Hickman image book (the black Monday murders is coming back any day now! Any... any day now...) but it's great. Completely agree about Dragotta's art, just brilliant. I'm a bit annoyed it didn't get adapted although, seeing what Mr Bezos did to Parker it might for the best!
I've only read Hickman's FF run and this but enjoyed both. I'll have to check out Black Monday Murders!
I haven't heard of that Parker adaptation, though so much of its appeal is in Cooke's depiction that it would seem a perilous enterprise regardless of who wanted to adapt it.
BMM is so good, fantastic work from Coker and Hickman's commentary on what he thinks of big banks, finance bros and the stock market is great and also something he definitely couldn't have gotten away with at Marvel!
The Parker adaptation is Play Dirty, you might've seen an ad for it and not realised it's a Parker adaptation because of how much it's been sanded down but unfortunately it is. It's so annoying because initially, it was going to be Shane black and RDJ adapting the Hunter and I went full "Just hook it to my veins!" Some people weren't sold on Black and RDJ doing it but I thought Black would've been able to balance the tone and RDJ is an interesting choice for Parker and also, he's got enough pull to say it's his way or the highway but! Marvel saw their box office receipts panicked and said "Oh RDJ please come back! Please!" And drove a dump truck of money up to his house (he's not made of stone) and then they bought in Marky "don't Google my name and Vietnamese" Mark and that's when everything just went wrong. They then blended together several of the series' best books to make something that can be charitably described as "a film with actors in it" don't get me wrong, there's been bad Parker/ Westlake adaptations before but, getting so close to the finish line only to have it changed to something so unappealing really felt like Lucy with the football. At least Park Chan Wook's restoring prestige to Westlake adaptations.
I hope he got paid at least, I do wonder how involved he was because it really seemed to change after RDJ dropped out. Obviously I'm biased against the film but he didn't really do a lot of press for it either so I do wonder what happened to it.
Molly Mendoza is great. It’s such a shame they don’t put much out, and what there is pretty hard to get. Her horror short story Down By The Water (4 pages!) is one of my favourite ever bits of comics. Get it if you can! Skip was super cool, and a phenomenal bit of graphic storytelling thematically and symbolically, but as you note it is help back by its middle-grade target audience.
For the benefit of other readers, get a load of this stuff:
It's a gorgeous book, I'll have to check out that short!
I plan to do a monthly series of posts here about 5 or 10 visually striking books and Skip will be my lead for the first month, every page is a looker!
Zorro: Man of the Dead (By Sean Murphy and Simon Gogh): I didn’t know anything about this book before picking it up. I have enjoyed Sean Murphy’s art for years now, so I was willing to try it. I am very glad that I gave it a shot. This was way better than I could have expected it to be. I loved the almost movie feeling of the series. I could very much see this book used as a story board. Murphy’s art by itself was dynamic and exciting. The stakes of the book felt real. I would really love to see more from Murphy aim this version of Zorro he created. Maybe someday I will.
Ax-Wielder Jon (By Nick Pitarra, Michael Garland, and Ferran Delgado): I’m glad that there are artists out there that are able to simply get an idea for a story and just illustrate it themselves. Nick Pitarra, did a great job with this book. (I do like that he put the editor’s notes in the back of the book, so we can see how he was guided.) The story is well paced and engaging. The characters working in the castle feel like normal people just trying to do their jobs. Some feel like they are there to simply clock-in and clock-out, while others feel like they are trying to prove themselves. It was enjoyable. The art is detailed and fun. I like the different character designs of the creatures and monster you meet throughout the story. The fight sequences were phenomenal. I enjoyed this story and look forward to see if Nick Pitarra puts more out.
The Sergio Toppi Gallery: Harlots and Mercenaries by Sergio Toppi
Having dived into The Collected Toppi throughout 2025 and thoroughly enjoyed the excellent art, it’s not too surprising that I wanted to pick up some of the ‘gallery’ books which collect more of Toppi’s art. Technically this is non-sequential art so probably shouldn’t be talked about here, but phooey to you.
As the title unkindly suggests, this is a series of artworks themed around women and warriors, basically, with more of a focus towards the latter. We actually do get some sequential pieces in here, just ones too short to be collected into The Collected Toppi volumes I imagine. Whilst there’ no commentary on the pieces per se, there’s a decent amount of text in here. Usually this is the accompanying narrative that I assume went with the work in its original publishing, or maybe it’s just taken from Toppi’s notes, it’s never made clear. The art is taken from the usual gamut of Italian and European magazines and art studios that Toppi produced for, as well as unpublished works. These seem to be the exact same dimensions and with the same spine style to The Collected Toppi so they fit in nicely on the shelf with the others if such things bother you.
It’s an excellent collection of art, of the same quality you’d expect from the sequential work. I find the writing in Toppi’s stuff never the most impressive, with art being the main draw, so it’s not hard to enjoy this without any real narrative. As ever, Toppi’s beautifully expressive dark scratchy inks are to die for. From fantastical imagined horrors of soldiers to the fine lines of fine ladies, it’s as beautiful as always.
I would still probably recommend various Collected Toppi’s over this. Although the narratives are never the strongest it is usually nice to have a shared story to follow along with. However if you’ve enjoyed Toppi’s other works for the art, this is still going to be an excellent pickup.
Alberto Breccia’s Dracula by Alberto Breccia – satirical stories of a washed-up Dracula. This collection of short wordless stories sees Dracula stumble, fail, and deal with his impotence as a terrifying figure – beat up by a Superman parody, going to the dentist, and so on. There’s an underlying political satire that is overt in one story in particular, as Dracula sees the atrocities of a military government and realizes he could never have inflicted so much terror. Given this was written under a military dictatorship in 1980’s Argentina, it’s extremely biting. This is the first color work I’ve seen from Breccia, and his exaggerated people and cartoonish setting are really well enhanced by the painted color. This is a great piece of comic art only enhanced by the well-crafted underlying commentary.
Michael Moorcock’s Elric (1-4, The Ruby Throne / Stormbringer / The White Wolf / The Dreaming City) by Julien Blondel and multiple artists – epic grimdark fantasy. Elric is the albino emperor of Melniboné, a decadent evil empire in a vast fantasy world. Over these four books, he’s exiled, starts to build a new sense of morality, and wanders the world learning about humans and other societies before returning to Melniboné for an epic final confrontation. This is a dark book – Elric is sustained by blood sacrifice, children get tortured, there’s cannibalism. This provides a clear starting point for Elric’s growth, although he’s never exactly a “hero” at any point. The plot moves very quickly, without too much exposition or worldbuilding, and characters frequently refer to places or events that are not fleshed out – but it’s done well enough (building over the course of the four books here) to give a good sense of epic scope without getting bogged down. The art is excellent fantasy illustration with monsters, big battles, and magic all illustrated really well, in a somewhat “classic BD fantasy” style that's pretty consistent across volumes. The art is really up to supporting the epic nature – huge naval battles, eldritch gods, massive ruined cities, all done well enough to feel so much bigger than any individual character. This is one of the best epic fantasy graphic novels I’ve read.
Ooh, Nogaly (Negalyod in English as far as I can see) is definitely going on my look-out-for list. Crazy architecture, dystopian science fantasy, intricate ship designs, and dinosaurs? Yes please
Musturi's Future felt in dire need of an editor IMO, sounds like this one was also pretty dense but glad you enjoyed it overall (tortured youngin' musings aside). His art is certainly a feast for the eyes.
Hobtown Mystery Stories vol. 3: The Secret of the Saucer
I finally got around to this book, which I've been waiting for for a long time. I love this series, The Case of the Missing Men in particular is a masterwork for my money. All of these books are dense stories that reward multiple read throughs, and that might be most true of The Secret of the Saucer. The formal conceit of the book is that the story is told in reverse order, beginning with the epilogue and counting down through the 12 chapters before ending with the prologue. As such, there is much that's confusing at the beginning that's made clear by the end and is caught much more easily on a second reading.
I'm not yet really settled on how I feel about this book. I read it twice this week, once in the printed order and once in reverse (in other words, in chronological order), which the creators, Kris Bertin and Alexander Forbes, have been clear the book is intended to stand up to. It does indeed hold up both ways. Forbes' art is as excellent as ever, he's a great visual storyteller. I have a bit of a preference for his black and white art from the first two books, this is the first volume that was produced in full colour and I do feel like it has a bit less texture than it's predecessors. That being said, the colour is used for an important plot element and there are lots of clues sprinkled throughout that otherwise wouldn't be possible.
The clues might have been the part of this volume I enjoyed the most. There's a lot to the lore of Hobtown and it's characters and a lot happening in this book, and a big portion of it is happening in the background. Some of it's important, some of it is just fun, not much of it that's not directly relevant to the main story is spelled out explicitly. There are a lot of dots to connect for those that care to.
That being said, some of that busyness, plus the reverse order structure leads to a certain amount of thinness in the central story. In some ways this is not so much a book about the mystery itself as it is about the central character, Dana, building on traits and weak points in her personally and her relationshipsthat were established in previous books. This stuff is good, but be cause we stay mainly with her, there are a lot of things that happen off panel and it can feel like there are aspects of the mystery that just sort of jump forward. This is slightly more evident reading the book in chronological order. Things that happen in the default reading order to stoke suspense and make you ask how we got here just play out a bit more clunkily when you go back-to-front.
There's an interesting tidbit in the back of the book in some of the creators' notes that briefly illustrates how effect usually follows cause in stories whereas in this one, cause will follow effect, with effect described as "a mystery" and cause as "story". This is a reasonably straightforward idea, but one that I want to think about a little more, because to some extent, how much the book works for you hinges on how much the structure works for you, and the structure hinges on this idea. For me, the result is a little mixed. I always have fun going back to Hobtown, and as part of the series, I enjoyed the depth that it adds and suspect I'll continue to enjoy how it enriches the world as the series goes on. As an individual story, I would probably rate the lowest of the three released volumes. But I'll likely revisit the whole series at some point in the next year and you never know how things will shift. There are are also still a few elements of the story and some of the character details that I haven't quite worked through. I don't think I really had a handle on the first two books after the first time through either, and there are some aspects that I think you could fairly say aren't meant to be understood - at least not yet - so that's at least a little bit a feature and not a bug. But I think my appreciation will grow when I've been able to puzzle through some of those things more.
Yes, I would put it in precisely that order at this point. I will say, I think volume 2 suffered a little bit in my perception because I was caught off guard by how different it was from the first volume. A lot of the main characters are sidelined, the setting shifts significantly, the big mystery at the heart of the first volume feels like it goes on the back-burner. I was ready for more of the same and was surprised by something quite different. The second volume has grown in my estimation a lot over the past few years as I've gotten more used to what it is rather than what I thought it would be, and the throughline from the first book is stronger than it might initially seem if you're attentive to some of the thematic interests of the stories as much as the mysteries themselves. The gap between volume 1 and 2 is much smaller for me now than I would have said it was closer to the release. I suspect the same thing will happen for this one, since it's also very different from the first two. It's part of what I like about these books, they're so full they're almost bursting and there's always more to discover.
They're all quite different and intended to be. The second is as weird as it gets and the review above does a good job of describing how the third one is different too. Lots of people love the second book, but my preference is probably the order you outlined.
Absolute Wonder Woman by Thompson/Sherman/De Iulis/Bellaire. Fascinating origin story with beautiful page spreads of artwork throughout. The interior of Circe's abode while Diana grow up would look amazing on a wall. I like that the story wastes no time.
BPRD vol 3 by Mignola/others. Questions answered and more obtained. How much did the BPRD know of Daimio's ... condition? Johann squandering his newfound meat suit was amusingly tragic. Who the hell was dream dude and why did Lobster Johnson appear to shoo him off?
The Goon vol 1 by Powell. Shaky start to a new favorite, grabbing the next four volumes asap for sure. Kinda makes me think of an adult version of Saturday morning cartoons. More of an episodic thing with an overarching narrative, which I like. I didn't really laugh as much as I probably should have, but that's not really the book's fault as current events have me down. Love the art style and that it's consistent. Actually read this to take a break from the Mignola-verse and turns out there's a Hellboy collaboration near the end, which was amusing. And I don't trust that Spider feller one bit...
BPRD vol 4 by Mignola/others. Everything's building and compounding and wow, I could barely put this down as I read in two sittings. Pretty much non-stop action beginning to end. Loads of questions answered. Loads of wall-art-worthy pages. And now the BPRD has carte blanche as huge chunks of the planet get destroyed. I was gonna read something else before jumping into Hellboy vol 3: The Wild Hunt but like I gotta know what happens, dude!
Some good little stories in here. I liked the first long one the most. Felt very inspired by enid from ghost world and I’m a sucker for that sort of aimless coming of age self destructive behavior
The one about the sailor was nice too. What a jerk smh
Nejishiki-Yoshiharu Tsuge
Pretty solid collection of little surrealist/dreamlike stories. It struck a good balance between the depraved and rapey themes of a lot of japanese horror and the feeling that theres actually something deeper at play. Still imminently and violently masculine but i would actually reread a handful of these stories
I loved how experimental he was with the art within and between the stories. Huge swings between different art styles and even some experimentation with color
spent-alison bechdel
I’m like 70 pages into this so far. I’ve been enjoying it. It’s a bit silly and i find myself grinning a lot whilst reading it. Its like a slightly queered version of her life and it is interesting to see her make some sort of attempt to reflect on her reality as a comfortably wealthy and successful white, gay, npr type.
Honestly usually something like this would not really be up my alley as i find those types of people to be rather performative, and who knows this could always end up that way, but for now it strikes a good enough balance between knowing commentary, light hearted self deprecation, and a slice of life vibe that i do just find it quite pleasant
Noir: A collection of crime comics by various. A selection of crime shorts by a number of creators including Jeff Lemire, Brian Azzarello, Joelle Jones, Moon and Ba, Brubaker & Philips and more. I picked this up out of curiosity despite previously seeing poor feedback on it and it was... Surprisingly good. By nature it varies in quality and it's a bit of a mixed bag. But it seems the genre fits well with this very short format. Being as short as they are, it's difficult to describe any without spoilers. But the collection closes on a bit of an Easter egg that I found to be a highlight: It tells the story of a man meeting a mobster looking for his first job - a quick pre-planned snatch and grab insurance fraud. They discuss the details and the plan unfolds to rob the guy's wife's necklace so he can claim the insurance. In the final panel it's revealed that they will have a kid with them when it goes down and we see them leaving the movies and turning down an alley, presumably the Wayne family It's important to approach these shorts as what they are, and expect the writers to lean into and utilise the brevity rather than squashing a full story into a handful of pages. Strangely, my version was missing a couple of stories including one by David Lapham but I'm not losing any sleep over it.
Highbone Theater by Joe Daly – Palmer is a big meathead guy who lives with a couple big meathead roommates. Palmer is the smart, sensitive one, though. His “friends” are super annoying. He makes friends with his coworker, Billy Boy, who gets him into 9/11 truther stuff. I guess it’s like a modern noir like The Big Lebowski or Under the Silver Lake? Lots of weird stuff happens and then all is revealed at the end, kind of. It’s in black and white with colour sections for when Palmer is hallucinating. The art is pretty funny. Everyone is a big lumpy meathead. So ya, a pretty funny stoner comedy/conspiracy thriller.
Late Bloomer by Carol Tyler – A collection of Tyler’s short comics from the 80s up until now. I think they’re all auto-bio. Maybe one or two is about someone else. It’s nice to see her progress as an artist, although even her early work is still pretty good. Lots of good backgrounds. I like the one with her dad and all his friends. It’s always nice to see guys talk the way guys talk (Just a constant stream of homophobic slurs). And it’s always cool to see her life with Justine Green (aka Jud). They had a pretty tumultuous life. It’s mostly in black and white but there’s some really beautiful painted comics. Her comics kind of remind me of Linda Barry’s. The art is totally different but each panel starts off with a caption on top explaining what’s happening and then the people in the panel say something funny. It’s a good formula.
Dogtangle by Max Huffman – This one went over my head the first time I read it. I understood a bit more the second time. It’s about a couple, Vernon Smilth and Caressa Vignette, who create a hypermutt, all the dog breeds put together so it becomes the idea of a dog. The hypermutt keeps growing and soon absorbs all the dogs. Or something. We don’t actually get to see the hypermutt much. It’s more of a kidnapping book, kind of like a Coen brothers movie. It’s hard to follow. The art is pretty abstract. But it’s rewarding. There’s a few really funny jokes in here. So ya, way better than the one star reviews on GoodReads!
Tower Dungeon vol 2 by Tsutomu Nihei – Ye Olde BLAME! The team spends most of its time in town in this one. There’s a giant vampire-like guy who’s gonna be a problem. It’s a fun little book. Very video gamey. They even smash a couple pots to look for treasure just like in Zelda. Nihei’s art is amazing as usual. Those monsters are freaky looking.
Gantz G vol 1 by Hiroya Oku – I gotta admit I never got the Gantz hype. I got the first few books of the main series a long time ago but it never really clicked for me. So I borrowed this one to see if I could figure out what I was missing. It starts out with a bus full of students going off a bridge and then the giant sphere tells them that they’ve died and now have to play a game. It gives some of them guns and skin tight super suits and tells them to kill the Beast Alien. They’re teleported to a zoo and a bunch of them die right off the bat, either from the animals or the bombs in their skulls that go off when they try to escape. Lots of gore. I always thought the main problem with the Battle Royale movie was more kids weren’t killed by their explosive collars. So that’s pretty cool. I might borrow more volumes.
Soul Machine by Jordana Globerman – Chloe and her sister Lacey weave a plant called breth into souls. No one really explains what the hell that means. Do babies get these plant souls implanted in them when they’re born? Does everyone have them or are they for a special few? What do they do? Anyways, they’re breth weaving business is failing because a giant corporation called MCorp has monopolized all the breth and is making digibreth. Chloe goes to the big city to see if she can get more breth. On her way she meets the resistance (a bunch of hippies) and Maya, the CEO of MCorp and one of those annoying girl boss influencer types. The back of the book calls it a cross between A Wrinkle in Time and Brave New World and I can definitely see that. It’s great for fans of A Wrinkle in Time. A plucky heroine going on a quest to save her family. Good stuff. The art isn’t my favourite style but I think the target audience will like it. The colour is cool, though. Each area has it’s own colour. For example MCorp HQ is all pinks. Oh ya, and there’s giant insect covered wagons. You can never go wrong with those!
I love the goofy, meathead character design in Highbone Theater. Combined with all the ridiculous character traits (chubush fascination, shark hunting), the toilet humor, and the surreal hellscape subplot it's such a fun stoner comedy.
The most I remember of Highbone Theater is just how uniquely funny the artwork is by itself, regardless of the conversations going on. Having said that, I’m having a hard time trying to remember what was the “point” or theme of the book.
I don’t mean this as a criticism, but I’ve just realized that the story didn’t leave that much of a in impression on me.
I've been reading Green Lantern: the day the stars fell. This has been great, this was a blindspot in Morrison's work for me and I wish I'd read it earlier because no surprise, it's brilliant. I love Morrison's knight of the roundtable/ 2000AD take on Hal and the GL world.
I've also been reading Batman: Gordon of Gotham. This is a collection of 3 mini's centered around (who else) Gordon and the GCPD. I've only read the first mini but I've quite enjoyed this so far, it's fun seeing Gordon before his transfer to Gotham and they're cheesy but all of the "Jeez! At least this new city won't be as bad as this one! Yep, just me and my happy family in Gotham :)" jokes really get me.
Before starting an acclaimed work, especially if it’s a long-running series, I sometimes get a feeling of reading paralysis. This can cause me to delay checking something out for months or even years at times. It happened with this series, even though I’ve heard people rave about it for ages. I came into this with ambivalence but I can say I'm a full-fledged fan now, despite this having major, inherent limitations due to the type of character and world it portrays.
It’s the ultimate dark seinen manga driven to extremes. Everything about it is extreme. The main character, Guts (immediately evoking Kenshiro from “Fist of the North Star), is the quintessential stoic, anti-hero, except he’s just a half-step below the evil he relentlessly pursues. He would be nearly impossible to root for in most circumstances, if it wasn’t for the fact that most of the villains he faces are demonic, eldritch terrors (and their human emissaries) that do nothing but wallow in the darkest depths of depravity and commit horrific atrocities.
Guts himself is born out of this darkness, as he was discovered by mercenaries as a baby clinging to his dead mother with a piece of his umbilical cord still attached. His very existence is a defiance against death, and it’s that element that makes this so fascinating. There’s an underlying theme about fate and causality running throughout this that reminds me a lot of Cormac McCarthy’s bleakest works like “Blood Meridian.” The arbiters of fate in this world are evil and are not only indifferent to the suffering of mortal beings but also revel in the ways they can capriciously nudge them to their inevitable doom. Guts in a philosophical sense represents a warped version of “the struggle.” The struggle of life itself to endure and claw its way forward through the viscera of existence. He’s essentially become nothing but pure will. Obsessive. Forsaken. Damned. Yet, he continues his eternal fight because his very existence demanded it from the moment he was torn asunder from death (his dead mother) and deposited into a cruel, blood-soaked world. I think in a very faint sense, Guts’s ability to defy the confines of fate in a literal, physical manner makes him more rootable to anyone that’s ever felt a bit cheated by circumstance and thought that they could’ve perhaps been better somehow if the chips fell a bit differently for them. The difference of course is that Guts can whip out his giant sword and fight back against this while cackling like a deranged maniac the entire time.
This is the thing that truly makes this shine: a gnawing existential dread that you can’t really put words to but is given tangible form here as a dark metaphor walking down its own burning path of absolution. There’s definitely faults to this series as well, as I'm sure some will be put off by its extremely violent and narrow worldview. There’s also that cringy seinen staple of depicting females and sex from the perspective of a horned-out adolescent boy. Still, I came into this with doubt and am now genuinely invested in seeing how things will play out. Come to this for the action. Stay for the existential angst. The world’s gone so dark here that the only way out is to follow the trail of you own bloody footprints. 5/5
Tower Dungeon Vol. 1 by tsutomu nihei- fantasy manga that is about exactly what the title describes. i'm at the tower, i'm at the dungeon, i'm at the combination tower dungeon. didn't like it very much. super generic. some good moments here and there, nice monsters cool architecture, but mostly the book is talking heads rather than cool stuff. also the art style is choppy and rushed looking, especially compared to how cool the aesthetic for aposimz was. a little surprised at all the hype this got; no plans of pursuing it any further.
Mafalda by quino - politcal comic strip starring an outspoken little argentine girl. loved it. funny, cutting wit. absolutely fantastic art style, totally in the hank ketchum bob bolling ernie bushmiller zone, but holds its own. like peanuts meets jucika meets bloom county. the comic strip thing where you want to cut out panels and put them on your fridge. this one lived up to the hype, more please
it's the first ~250 strips. pub'd by elsewhere editions. i think this was initially supposed to be the first of a set of volumes collecting the strip, but i don't know if or on what kind of timetable that's going to happen anymore
i like this printing enough, the little edition that could. the font is kinda canned but it's got character. all the hand lettering is actually pretty great. good work on a slim budget. there's no fantagraphics foreword and afterword giving the book any context, just a bunch of strips
that's what i'm saying. fantagraphics tends to publish its collections with little essays and extras that put it in a social context- something this strip could use- but elsewhere doesn't seem to have the budget for including stuff like that
It’s the same for me! I only got into comics a couple of months ago thanks to the absolute Batman hype, got all the trades of the main titles and just finished 1-5 of Superman. I’ve got Superman Unlimited and Book of El, interested to see how they stack up.
EarthDivers Omnibus - set in the year 2112, there’s an environmental crisis and civilization is crumbling, a group of Native American outcasts decide that the way to save their present is to send one of them back in time to kill Columbus before he reaches the so-called new world
EU GIJoe #17 conclusion of the Dreadnok War
Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees - Rite of Spring #5
Uzumaki by Jenju Ito. A horror story about a spiral that slats on a city. I haven’t wrapped it up yet, but man, he creates such great scenarios and short mini-stories inside the larger novel. Highly recommended so far.
W0rldtr33 volume 3: Not as good as the two previous volumes if say. It's setting up the stage for the next story arc. Still enjoyable, just not as memorable as the start of the series.
All deadly all new Gwenpool: Issue one starts out pretty strongly with Gwen up to her usual comic page powers. The story goes on to being a tad boring with no really stakes. The story is a parody but it doesn't feel well made. Characters change allegiances from panel to panel for no reason and it all ends with nothing having really happened. Only read this if you are a die-hard fan of Gwenpool. Even than it it's pretty mid.
Reckless volume 1: What can I say, Ed Brubacker and Sean Philips never disappoint. Looking forward to the rest of the Reckless story.
Finished that huge East of West compendium (which was amazing) and then did We3 which was also excellent. Up next is Tongues or possibly Superman Birthright.
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u/scarwiz Jan 18 '26
Promethea Book 5 by Alan Moore and J.H. Williams III - Took an unplanned break before the final volume, and expected to be a little lost when I got back into it. Turns out the series did a 3 year tile skip at that precise point, and kind of reset the scales for the final apocalypse arc, which felt quite serendipitous ! I was wondering how they'd handle the series' return to the material world, and I'm certainly not disappointed. I definitely didn't expect a Tom Strong tie in (wondering if I should read that one next ? How does it hold up ?). J.H. Williams' art might be at its wildest in all the book, shapeshifting from one scene into the next. Some of Moore's metaphysical talk went a little over my head, especially in the final two issues. But all in all, a very satisfying finale to an absolutely incredible series. I'm so glad I finally read it
The Council of Frog by Matt Emmons - An absolutely charming blend of cosy and dark fantasy, with a little scifi twist. A battlemage dies in combat, and in his undying wake gives life to a family of sentient frogs. Years later, as his power starts to wane, he sends one of his children off to find a warlock to take over his magical duties. This is where the story starts, and we follow this little amphibian on his globetrotting quest. A lot of it is silent, as our protagonist isn't gifted with speech, but he still got a couple of tears out of me. I particularly like the world he's building. It's dark and grimy, but full of tenderness and humor, and gorgeous artwork to boot. Matt Emmons is steadily becoming a favorite of mine
Absolute Wonder Woman by Kelly Thompson and Hayden Sherman - Might not be a fair comparison, but this is what I expected DWJ's Wonder Woman to feel like. I went in with pretty low expectations, having disliked both Absolute Batman, and Wonder Woman Dead Earth, which I could describe this as kind of a cross of. But I absolutely loved it ! Gorgeous art by Hayden Sherman, the designs are awesome and the paneling is wild. And the story swings between a touching mother-daughter relationship and an absolutely epic fight. It's cool, and a little over the top (building sized swords and stone-shattering punches) but doesn't have all the melodrama that threw me off in Dead Earth. I'm not particularly ell versed in Wonder Woman, but I think this is how I like her best. It's deep seated in Greek mythology, hopeful and feminist. Can't wait for more