I think the graphic comic called ‘Wolverine: Weapon X’ is a horrific origin story! Omg!
I have copied the comic blurb:
”Wolverine's a lot of things to aI think the graphic comic called ‘Wolverine: Weapon X’ is a horrific origin story! Omg!
I have copied the comic blurb:
”Wolverine's a lot of things to a lot of people, but to one infamous enclave he was nothing but a... weapon. And weapons kill people. They found that out well enough. Find out just how much "X" can cover in this prequel to recent revelations of the murderous mysteries that have mesmerized our favorite mutant! Collects Marvel Comics Presents #72-84”
I feel sorry for what the super antihero Wolverine went through, but frankly he wouldn’t give a damn what I think or what anyone else might think! Wolverine, aka Logan, was never a nice guy before or after his bones were replaced with Adamantium. The physical transformation that was tortuously forced on him by a mad scientist made the mutant whom we know as Wolverine an even stronger, meaner warrior than he already was. In other words, into a terrifying unstoppable unkillable killer!
Weapon X was part of the Canadian government operation called the Weapon Plus Program. They were trying to make soldiers like Captain America. However, the selection of Logan as a test subject was not a wise choice! He was already a hardass tough guy before the operation. Afterwords, he was an ANGRY hardass tough guy!
‘Deadpool vs. Wolverine’ is a graphic comic collection that is a sampling of several comic serials which featured battles between Deadpool and Wolveri‘Deadpool vs. Wolverine’ is a graphic comic collection that is a sampling of several comic serials which featured battles between Deadpool and Wolverine. Most of the comics included in this collection are obviously only one chapter of other continuing story lines which are not included, but enough of the story is summarized at the beginning of each sampled comic for readers to easily pick up the plot. Of course, most of the plots are centered on some misunderstanding or misdirection caused by Deadpool which has antagonized Wolverine into a murderous rage. A few pages at the beginning and end of each comic excerpt are used to explain the plot, but most of the pages between the first and last page are Wolverine killing Deadpool over and over, and sometimes Deadpool killing Wolverine just for fun.
For those readers who are mystified by just how Deadpool and Wolverine can kill each other over and over in lengthy bloody battles, both superheroes possess the power of almost instant regeneration of their bodies. Deadpool is an assassin for hire and he seemingly has no internal moral filter guiding him in the jobs he takes. He does try to establish most of the time that the people he is hired to kill deserve it by doing research. Unfortunately, sometimes the research happens while he is in the process of murdering someone. Plus he is also irrational, a rude motormouth, and mischievous. Wolverine is a reluctant hero with an anger-control problem. Wolverine does not really have a good sense of humor and he tends to face things straightforwardly, mostly reacting to ongoing situations. Deadpool is a master of deception and practical jokes, plus he is absolutely squirrelly. He enjoys putting into motion convoluted plans that create chaos. Deadpool likes to push Wolverine’s buttons intentionally, wanting a fight just for fun. But sometimes, since Deadpool is not easy to figure out, Wolverine thinks he has to kill Deadpool to stop him from doing something nefarious when Deadpool is actually trying to be a hero and save innocent people. Neither of them really want people to think they are heroes. Both tend to prefer people think they are selfish and self-serving.
I have copied the book blurb:
”Deadpool and Wolverine have one of the most heated rivalries in comics, and these are some of their most epic battles!
The Merc with a Mouth takes on the Mutant with the Mutton chops in their greatest battles — and occasional team-ups! Katanas and claws clash in their brutal first meeting — but when someone targets Weapon X survivors, Wolverine must ride to Deadpool's rescue! Doctor Bong tolls for our heroes, then things get hairy over a werewolf! And when a bounty is placed on Logan's head, guess who tries to collect! An assault on a Hydra base will have them at each other's throats, while Wolvie plays straight man to Wade's wisecracker in a showdown with a Shi'ar robot. But things really go off the deep end in the main event — one ultimate, over-the-top, slicing-and-dicing slobberknocker!
WOLVERINE (1988) #88, 154-155; DEADPOOL (1997) #27; CABLE & DEADPOOL #43-44; ORIGINS #21-25; WOLVERINE/ THE DECOY #1; and material from WOLVERINE ANNUAL '95 and WOLVERINE ANNUAL '99”
The comics are uneven in the writing. Deadpool is supposed to be a hilarious joker with a dark murderous sense of humor and insane tricks, but only some of the writers are able to capture this quirky side of Deadpool. I laughed throughout three of the comics that are included in this collection, but I thought the others fell flat in their depiction of Deadpool’s madcap silliness. The artwork is very different in comic after comic, depending on whoever is doing the drawings and colorwork, but mostly very pretty, if readers don’t mind graphic bloodshed and depictions of pulped bodies. ...more
Now that I have been reading the original ‘The Boys’ graphic comics, I think the Amazon Video series is definitely capturing the essence of what the cNow that I have been reading the original ‘The Boys’ graphic comics, I think the Amazon Video series is definitely capturing the essence of what the comic’s creators were doing creatively in thinking about a world of “supes” and how the typical corruptions of Humanity would interact with super-powered beings. Of course, the “supes” and the characters who are controlling/marketing/using them are simply metaphorical comic-book fantasy stand-ins for real-life people who think they are supermen. Like real-life businessmen, leaders of religious cults, politicians, many members of the military services, celebrities, idealogues, tech bros, etc. etc. etc., who believe they not only are above the law and above the masses, but they deserve to be.
I think both forms of the story, comic book and video series, are satirical and apocalyptic, written with a shitload of bitterness and anger about real-life corruption exploding off the pages. The graphic over-the-top violence might seem gratuitous, and maybe it partially is, but it also feels like it’s a statement of rage and hopelessness and horror that such things happen all of the time in the real world. There is very little we can seem to do about it but laugh in wonder at all of the horrible vices of human nature. Bitter wonder.
Yet Hughie, one of the main characters, keeps trying to savor the moments of peace, love and community he finds. Hughie is always opting for that option, to savor those moments of niceness and hope, even when the writers blow it all up a few more pages ahead in the script. He also suffers from a lot of masculine insecurities which make his personal relationships unnecessarily fraught. He still often falls into the trap of feeling women are either saints or sinners, Madonnas or whores, knee-jerk blind to their lack of ability to choose their fates. The men around him fill him with disgust by their displays of hypermasculinity. Yet, there it is in his own heart.
It’s interesting the writers keep having Hughie returning to his inner centering place of hoping this time a little kindness and love will make a difference despite the dreadful things that happen to him and his friends. Is he a fool? Yeah, he is. As are most of us....more
‘Artie and the Wolf Moon’ by Olivia Stephens is a middle school graphic comic. Artie Irvin, a young Black girl, has a number of conundrums going on in‘Artie and the Wolf Moon’ by Olivia Stephens is a middle school graphic comic. Artie Irvin, a young Black girl, has a number of conundrums going on in her life. She is occasionally bullied by a clique of White kids because she gets good grades. They also harass her over her photography hobby.
But she has new problems after she discovers Loretta Jones, her mom, a forest ranger, unexpectedly changing from a wolf to a human! Artie has so many questions!
I have copied the book blurb:
”After sneaking out against her mother's wishes, Artie Irvin spots a massive wolf—then watches it don a bathrobe and transform into her mom. Thrilled to discover she comes from a line of werewolves, Artie asks her mom to share everything—including the story of Artie's late father. Her mom reluctantly agrees. And to help Artie figure out her own wolflike abilities, her mom recruits some old family friends.
Artie thrives in her new community and even develops a crush on her new friend Maya. But as she learns the history of werewolves and her own parents' past, she'll find that wolves aren't the scariest thing in the woods—vampires are.”
The graphic novel is well drawn and family-oriented. It is written to be appropriate for middle-schoolers to read. It bored me, but I think it entirely a good, and fun, read for young children. It subtly teaches and shows how kids might handle various difficult social situations alongside the vampire/werewolf war. But ultimately, it is about forgiving family members and oneself, and acceptance....more
I am going to buy all of the four graphic novels in the ‘Heartstopper’ series IMMEDIATELY! Author Alice Oseman has created two wonderfully lovable chaI am going to buy all of the four graphic novels in the ‘Heartstopper’ series IMMEDIATELY! Author Alice Oseman has created two wonderfully lovable characters in this unexpectedly complex coming-of-age story. The artwork delivers emotion with surprising depth using only graceful lines, shadows and shapes.
Nerdy 14-year-old Charlie Spring and athletic sixteen-year-old Nick Nelson begin an unlikely friendship when they are seated next to each other in class. The class is called a vertical class, which seems like what we call Homeroom in America.They both attend Truham Grammer School for Boys in England.
I have copied the book blurb:
”Shy and softhearted Charlie Spring sits next to rugby player Nick Nelson in class one morning. A warm and intimate friendship follows, and that soon develops into something more for Charlie, who doesn't think he has a chance.
But Nick is struggling with feelings of his own, and as the two grow closer and take on the ups and downs of high school, they come to understand the surprising and delightful ways in which love works.”
Charlie is enduring some bullying because he came out as gay the year before he meets Nick. Nick sees some of the bullying and he steps in. Nick is larger and stronger than Charlie.
Both are navigating the waters of learning about friendship and sexuality. Charlie was in an abusive and secretive kissing relationship with another boy, but Nick gives him the courage to stand up for himself. Nick is learning courage to face down his older friends when they denigrate Charlie and their friendship. Defending Charlie from bullying is easy for Nick, but he is having more trouble parsing out exactly what his feelings are towards Charlie. Are they just friends? Nick has always liked girls ‘that way’ previously, but he is also experiencing some of the those feelings with Charlie, especially during some hand-holding. What is happening with him?
The story ends on a cliffhanger. Omg!
There is nothing that even a moderately protected middle-school reader would find offensive in this G-rated romance novel, but apparently a conservative minority of mouth-breathing braying jackasses have scared schools and libraries into banning this mild soap-opera.
This is the Netflix trailer to its adapted video series:
I enjoyed ‘The Best of Ray Bradbury’, a comic collection of adapted short stories. It was the different artwork styles and drawings that I liked best I enjoyed ‘The Best of Ray Bradbury’, a comic collection of adapted short stories. It was the different artwork styles and drawings that I liked best in this graphic collection. I don’t think some of these graphic comic adaptions adequately reflect the vitality or depth of his writing, though.
Ray Bradbury was an influential humanist writer who wrote science fiction and fantasy, sometimes using a story as his soapbox. He really had something to say often about the ways that Men were generally cruel, stupidly vindictive and ignorantly murderous to each other without much justification other than a mouth-breather’s desire for power and control. His most famous book is Fahrenheit 451. The novel really summarizes everything Bradbury believed in and how he feared the direction of what we’d call “social media” today was being taken by government control and a public that was dumbed down by both choice and ‘influencer’ misdirection. But he also was a fan of speculative and adventure fiction, loving to read stories by H.G. Wells, Jules Verne, and Edgar Allen Poe.
However, he also was a 1970’s Republican conservative, an admirer of Ronald Reagan when he was President. He had supported the Democratic Party until the Vietnam War was escalated under President Johnson, a Democrat. (For those readers who are young, the 1970’s was a time when the majority of Republicans were somewhat sane, if selfish, businessmen and male entrepreneurs. The Republican Party was not primarily under the influence of Nazis, evangelicals, and White supremacists as they are today.) Women had no constitutional rights back then, as they still do not, and were not allowed to have much social or political weight in science, politics or marriage. Women, because of the passage of a few major laws giving women some equality to men legally, do have more participation in public and private life now than when Bradbury was doing his best writing. To me, he sometimes reflects a lack of foresight in the actual range women could be in his books, but he definitely was on the right side of history more often than not (unintended pun, gentle reader! I noticed it after I wrote it).
Bradbury believed strongly in a liberal education, free libraries and free speech, which was why he hated affirmative action and political correctness since he felt supporters of both concepts restricted free speech. From what I’ve read of him in Wikipedia, he strikes me as someone who strongly believed in “water seeks its own level”, a quote I once heard regarding how people should be allowed to succeed in life. He felt Big Government restricted people too much in rising to their full potential in life, whatever that level of potentiality might be. He liked computers, but hated ebooks because of how their availability to the public are restricted by publishers. He was a big Star Trek fan!
Many of Bradbury’s stories are now considered classics, and they’ve been copied and reframed by many other authors and scriptwriters in and after Bradbury’s lifetime. While he himself was inspired by the golden age writers of science fiction, he in turn inspired many readers. While I disagree with some of his political views, I loved reading his books and stories. The man could write, and he was definitely a creator of terrific science fiction and fantasy ideas!...more
This graphic novel is Volume 2 of ‘The Graveyard Book’ by Neil Gaiman. It continues where Volume 1 stops. If you haven’t read Volume 1, start here: htThis graphic novel is Volume 2 of ‘The Graveyard Book’ by Neil Gaiman. It continues where Volume 1 stops. If you haven’t read Volume 1, start here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Nobody ‘Bod’ Owens has grown into a young teen. The graveyard ghosts continue to watch over him in the graveyard, and Silas is still bringing Bod food and clothes. But he is leaving the graveyard to attend school, which is a welcome change. He has renewed a friendship with a girl whom he had met when he and she were five years old. He was forbidden from leaving the graveyard before, so being in the outside world is exciting! He tries to use his ‘fade’ powers in classrooms because he does not want to be noticed. The murderous strangers, whose identities and motives are unknown to him, are still looking for him.
Unfortunately, he cannot maintain his state of invisibility. People do notice him. He wants to buy a gift for his friend and goes shopping. Soon the bad guys hear about him coming back to the neighborhood, too! Jack, the killer who murdered Bod’s entire family, begins sharpening his knife….
The drawings look great, the story is very entertaining, and all loose ends are tied up. I enjoyed the comic, even the bittersweet ending! I wonder if the regular book is this good?...more
‘Hyperbole and a Half’ by Allie Brosh is hilarious! On an internet blog Brosh began to comment on what she remembered about herself as a child and the‘Hyperbole and a Half’ by Allie Brosh is hilarious! On an internet blog Brosh began to comment on what she remembered about herself as a child and then what has happened to her as a young adult, adding comic drawings to illustrate her autobiographical shorts. She won awards for her work, some of which were given by other people and others that she made up and gave herself. These comments and drawings she posted on her blog are now collected into a book.
I have copied the book blurb:
”Every time Allie Brosh posts something new on her hugely popular blog Hyperbole and a Half the internet rejoices.
Touching, absurd, and darkly comic, Allie Brosh’s highly anticipated book Hyperbole and a Half showcases her unique voice, leaping wit, and her ability to capture complex emotions with deceptively simple illustrations.
This full-color, beautifully illustrated edition features more than fifty percent new content, with ten never-before-seen essays and one wholly revised and expanded piece as well as classics from the website like, “The God of Cake,” “Dogs Don’t Understand Basic Concepts Like Moving,” and her astonishing, “Adventures in Depression,” and “Depression Part Two,” which have been hailed as some of the most insightful meditations on the disease ever written.
Brosh’s debut marks the launch of a major new American humorist who will surely make even the biggest scrooge or snob laugh. We dare you not to.”
The short statements and spot-on drawings about her emotions, her sense of self when she does good or makes awful social mistakes, her dogs, attacks of depression, arguments with her mother when she was a child, her realizations of being wrong, really really wrong, after she willfully disobeyed her mom’s orders or advice, or when her mom made really bad errors of judgement herself, reminded me of the TV show Seinfeld. That is, if Seinfeld writers decided to have the characters in the show go hyperbolically absurb during their ordinary domestic incidents.
I have excerpted some quotes from the book regarding the beginning of a terrible hike in the woods but it is told as an extremely funny incident, especially by the illustrations, of the family and their dog after what was supposed to be a pleasant hike of an hour or so.
”She (Brosh’s mother) tried to be confident and follow her instincts, but after an hour of trudging through unfamiliar, waist-high plants, she accepted that she had no idea where she was going. She was lost in the forest with two young children and she was completely terrified.
She didn’t want to alarm us, so she tried to play it off like it was her choice to still be in the woods—like she was having so much fun that she couldn’t stand the idea of going home yet. But, you know, if she wanted to go home, she totally could.”
More than seven hours later, mom finally told them they were lost. Of course, everyone completely lost it.
“And it must have been especially horrible when my sister panicked and started scream-crying uncontrollably.
Sensing that there was something amiss, Murphy picked up the largest stick she could find and ran loops around the meadow.
Our mother stared at Murphy in silence for a long time. Finally, she spoke.
“”Maybe Murphy knows the way”” She reasoned that, because Murphy was a dog, she would have an innate homing instinct.
She spoke to Murphy in a slow, deliberate voice. “”Murphy…home? Murphy go home? Home? Home, Murphy. Hooooooome.””
We waited for Murphy to seize the heroic opportunity that was upon her.
But Murphy wasn’t like the dogs you see in movies like Homeward Bound. Her chief concern seemed to be treating sticks as violently as possible.
However, she was our only hope.
Murphy’s actions over the next few hours didn’t seem particularly purposeful. But at some point during one of her stick-thrashing sprees, she took off into the woods—presumably to see what it would feel like to run into a lot of objects while holding a small tree trunk in her mouth—and her path of travel happened to intersect with an old logging road.”
And then there is one of Brosh’s most famous and popular blog entry called “The God of Cake” with incredibly hilarious accompanying drawings which couldn’t be more appropriate:
”My mom baked the most fantastic cake for my grandfather’s seventy-third birthday party. The cake was slathered in impossibly thick frosting and topped with an assortment of delightful creatures that my mom crafted out of mini-marshmellows and toothpicks. To a four-year-old child it was a thing of wonder—half toy, half cake, and all glorious possibility.
But mom knew that it was extremely important to keep the cake away from me because she knew that if I was allowed even a tiny amount of sugar, not only would I become intensely hyperactive, but the entire scope of my existence would funnel down to the singular goal of obtaining and ingesting more sugar. My need for sugar would become so massive that it would collapse in upon itself and create a vacuum into which even more sugar would be drawn until all the world had been stripped of sweetness.
So when I managed to climb onto the counter and grab a handful of cake while my mom’s back was turned, an irreversible chain reaction was set into motion.”
And what follows is a hilarious set of thirty drawings which had me ROTF!!
Brosh also includes incidents and commentary on her two dogs in many chapters. Her first dog she refers to as the simple dog because of her blank stupidity. The second one she calls the helper dog. The second dog’s main introductory chapter is called “The Helper Dog is an Asshole.”
”A few months after we adopted the simple dog, we decided that we didn’t have enough dog-related challenges in our lives, so we set out to find a friend for the simple dog.”
The accompanying drawing shows the author as a child with her father. Brosh is saying “This is pretty difficult already…why not adopt the worst dog we can find and make it impossible?” Her father answers, “Yeah! Let’s see what happens!”
What follows is pure delicious hyperbolic insanity.
The chapters on the author’s depression has been noted by many to nail it exactly, as well. Of course, they aren’t funny. They are very very heartbreaking.
I loved this book and I highly recommend it....more
‘The Graveyard Book’ by Neil Gaiman is a very entertaining graphic comic for young readers and the young at heart! It is very mysterious too. I haven’‘The Graveyard Book’ by Neil Gaiman is a very entertaining graphic comic for young readers and the young at heart! It is very mysterious too. I haven’t read the novel this graphic comic is based on, but I enjoyed the story and the illustrations. This comic is volume one. It ends when the main character is ten years old.
Nobody ‘Bod’ Owens is a boy who is growing up in a cemetary. Why and how is a mystery! Silas, a vampire, rescued him after finding him wandering about the cemetary as a baby. Bod had run from his home during the slaughter of his parents and a sibling. The killer, Jack, is still looking for him. Why Bod and his entire family needed to be killed is not revealed.
Bod is a happy boy despite that his only friends are dead people. The ghosts are taking care of him. Mr. and Mrs. Owens are his stepparents. Silas brings him food. All of the other ghosts are teaching him how to read and write. They also are giving him an education, but it is a problematic one, since the ghosts are teaching him what children were taught in the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. Never mind. Bod is alive and healthy.
Silas has given Bod one rule - never leave the cemetary! Bod doesn’t know why. In the meantime, he becomes familiar with many of the dead who are buried and now ‘live’ in the cemetary. He is able to see them, talk to them, touch them.
During visits by the living to the cemetary, who are looking after relatives’ graves, he learns the difference between the living and the dead, the primary one being those who are alive cannot see the ghosts as he can.
But it’s all good. Bod is friendly and very young, and he doesn’t really question his life. He meets ghouls and witches, and has a series of adventures. There is a mysterious woman on a horse who is revered by the ghosts. There is a mysterious dance done every eighty years at midnight by the living and the dead, called the Macabray.
However, Bod obeys Silas and avoids most of the living visitors. Mostly. But. Bod leaves the cemetary once out of curiosity and necessity. It teaches him he definitely is safer in the cemetary!
At the end of volume one, many mysteries remain. Bod is a very appealing kid, the ghosts are fun, kind or mean, depending on who they were when they were alive, and Silas is a dark entity who yet is somehow a good protector of the graveyard. The woman on a horse and the ghouls are strange and wonderous beings who are the opposites of each other on a spiritual spectrum of Good and Evil. Jack, the killer, is still looking for Bod because a group of men continue to want Bod found and murdered. Why? I guess I will have to go on to Volume Two!
The art is always cool in most Deadpool comic issues, but I am always slightly discombobulated by how different artists reinvent all of the charactersThe art is always cool in most Deadpool comic issues, but I am always slightly discombobulated by how different artists reinvent all of the characters’ appearances from one issue cycle of continuing comics to the following issues of new plots and adversaries. Plus, the character of Deadpool is one that naturally lands all over the map since he is supposed to be mentally unstable. Writers keep changing who Deadpool is as a person by increasing the satire or reducing it.
I love Deadpool’s madcap bipolar solutions to his problems, which he himself often creates. For readers, it is the shocking not-pc satire which permeates this particular antihero’s adventures, although sometimes writers don’t seem to get it exactly right from year to year, comic series to comic series.
In collections like Deadpool Classic book editions, which include several months, sometimes years, of issues which were released in numerical order, drawn by different artists and written by different writers, readers see how whatever era’s YA interests affected that year’s comic plots, too.
In this collection, there is a particularly funny comic setup when Deadpool goes back in time. He pretends to be Peter Parker - yes, Spider-Man. What Marvel did was take a real Spider-Man comic from 1963 and insert new panels with Deadpool assuming Spider-Man’s identity. It’s hilarious! The original untouched Spider-Man comic is also included at the back. The moral temperature differences of comics written in the 1960’s vs. the wild free-for-all of antiheroes controlling the narrative are Stark (pun intended). Deadpool is also at his motormouth best, dissing all of those clean-cut 1963 attitudes of most comic characters, ripping up any ideas of decency that present themselves to him in his jaunt into the past that used to be in most comics in these early baby-boomer years. It was a very special rebooted comic of snarky Deadpool attitude taking over what was a clean 1963 Spider-Man Frankie-and-Delores Beach Party movie! I really liked this one.
I’ve copied the book blurb below:
”Betrayals both real and imagined on all sides set Deadpool up for a grudge match with archenemy T-Ray, one that leaves our horrific hero stabbed in the heart both figuratively and literally As low as he's ever been, can he really rise to the challenge Landau, Luckman, and Lake have set up for him? But even as he's recovering from defeat by his worst enemy, his oldest enemy is on the way, cutting through Weapon X alumni Guest-starring Bullseye, Typhoid Mary, and the Heroes Eventually Known as the Great Lakes Initiative Plus: The Merc with a Mouth meddles with a classic Lee/Romita Spider-Man story, with both versions featured here Collects Deadpool (1997) #9-17 and Amazing Spider-Man (1963) #47.
I need to mention Deadpool is not for everyone. He is not a good guy except by accident, and often remorse, because he sometimes has a guilty conscience....more
“This quasi-heroic stuff isn’t an exact science you know…”
Deadpool never spoke anything truer than this in one of the comics included in Deadpool Clas“This quasi-heroic stuff isn’t an exact science you know…”
Deadpool never spoke anything truer than this in one of the comics included in Deadpool Classic, vol. #2. He is an emotionally damaged mercenary who seems to often become confused about what part he wants to play. He releases evil mutants from cells because he’s been hired to do so only to spend the rest of the comic trying to save their souls and sometimes bystanders from the psycho-mutants’ murderous acts. Evil people seem to surprise him when they begin doing more evil he never sees coming. Deadpool also has some difficulty maintaining whatever virtue in himself he is trying to nurture. He loses his temper. Deadpool goes to his dark side when he loses his temper. Like another familiar mutant says, you won’t like him when Deadpool loses his temper…
I have copied the book blurb because it is accurate:
”Landau, Luckman, and Lake want Deadpool to rebuild himself as a hero - but he'll be lucky to pull himself together as his healing factor's down, and the only thing that'll juice it up is a dose of the Incredible Hulk's blood - administered by the Weapon X alumnus who helped make Deadpool what he is in the first place. Not even mad science can mend a torn heart, though, as Deadpool's infatuation with X-Force's Siryn (later of X-Factor) is challenged by Typhoid - who turns heads as easily as she cracks skulls When she sets off on a grudge match against Daredevil, can Deadpool contain a killing machine even more off kilter than he is? Also featuring wily weapon-boy Weasel, hostage extraordinaire Blind Al, and the Taskmaster, later of Avengers: The Initiative Collects Deadpool #2-8 and #-1, and Daredevil/Deadpool Annual 1997.”
The artwork is as gorgeous as the plots are quasi-dark. Being hopeful for Deadpool’s redemption is as futile as being one of his fictional friends. I fear we readers will never see him completely sane and succeeding entirely as a ‘good’ Avenger. Good enough, or good sometimes, is all that we can hope for him. But damn! The Motormouth definitely can quip! Not politically correct. Not ever....more
This paperback, Deadpool & Wolverine, is 1. misleadingly titled; 2. very tame stuff, perhaps aiming at the younger juvenile fans.
The included comics This paperback, Deadpool & Wolverine, is 1. misleadingly titled; 2. very tame stuff, perhaps aiming at the younger juvenile fans.
The included comics do not really showcase any stories with both Wolverine and Deadpool together. Instead, the selections are very tame versions of the superheroes with sometimes S.H.I.E.L.D members working with one of the A-listers; i.e., Spider-Man alone, Spider-Man and Deadpool, Spider-Man and Wolverine, and Wolverine alone.
I was disappointed, but maybe you won’t be, gentle reader.
The collection:
-Marvel Adventures Super Heroes #4 -Marvel Universe Ultimate Spider-Man -Wolverine: Origin of an X-man -Marvel Adventures Spider-Man #3
All of these titles are complete misrepresentations of the content....more
‘Deadpool Classic’ is a graphic comic collection, Vol #1, of the antihero character Deadpool. It is a collection of the appearances of Deadpool, from ‘Deadpool Classic’ is a graphic comic collection, Vol #1, of the antihero character Deadpool. It is a collection of the appearances of Deadpool, from his introduction to the comic universe, where he appeared and was gone after a few pages, to his first starring roles in his own comic.
As Deadpool was briefly introduced in a comic called “New Mutants #98” Feb 1991”, this collection includes only those pages in the New Mutants comic where he first appeared. This means the first few pages are really a sampling, not the entire New Mutants comic. Deadpool’s next appearance was in Deadpool: The Circle Chase #1-4, 1994. It appears to be the entire comic plot storyline. The next is Deadpool #1-4, 1994. Last in this collection is Deadpool 1997 #1.
The earlier appearances of Deadpool were in comics that were drawn in VERY busy visuals with color and huge casts of charmless characters. Each page features action boxes so crammed with action, fighting characters, explosions and exposition, I could barely make out what was happening. The last comic in this collection was drawn by artists with a different ethos, so it is considerably cleaner and clearer in the plot action.
What are the plots? Well, they all are the same plot. Deadpool has taken a mercenary job for money. He seemingly doesn’t care much about the ethics of the job. If he is required to assassinate someone, he does it. If he is to destroy someone’s laboratory or work project, he does it. If he is stealing something, he does it. He has no interest in backstories or whether he is working for evil people or good people. He kills whoever gets in his way.
Except he doesn’t seem to actually work without ANY ethics in practice.
Deadpool is actually not quite so oblivious to ethics as he pretends. If he learns the backstory of a company that he is destroying, or the person from whom he is stealing something or he was supposed to kill, he sometimes changes his mind and allegiances and fights off the bad guys he was hired by.
These merc jobs seem to always mean he encounters only other mutants or sups, so the fighting is spectacularly destructive with a lot of physical damage to bodies of the fighters. Many of the other mutants hate Deadpool because of previous encounters, so it is clear they would kill Deadpool for free even when they are fighting him for a job they were hired to do. A few mutants are Deadpool’s friends. A very few. However, luckily for Deadpool, he possesses the power of miraculous healing. His hands grow back if chopped off for instance.
Deadpool got mutant powers because he agreed to be part of a Canadian government’s (!) military experiment in altering bodies. Wade Winston Wilson, Deadpool’s real name, volunteered because he was diagnosed with cancer and he was dying. But although he survived the experiment and received awesome physical powers along with being cured of cancer, the change left him with his skin covered in scabs, or something like, from head to toe. He is a pebbly-looking monster in appearance. He hates this, and often drinks himself under the table whenever he thinks about it too much. If he hasn’t drunk himself into oblivion, he is always full of rage and feelings of injustice about his appearance when sober. He displays his rage about his looks under the cover of being a motor mouth, constantly spewing biting, non-politically-correct, satirical humor and taunts to whomever.
One of his taunts I liked: “I’m gonna put a few warning shots into your spine.” I was laughing at this and most of his many other rude comments, so, I guess I’m a little, um, off, gentle reader. I like Deadpool. Done....more
The graphic comic book 'The Boys, Omnibus 1' is a gorefest consisting of 14 issues of the comic. It's an extreme horrowshow full of vivid scenes of viThe graphic comic book 'The Boys, Omnibus 1' is a gorefest consisting of 14 issues of the comic. It's an extreme horrowshow full of vivid scenes of violence and sex, hand-drawn and colorized beautifully page after page. The images have become standardized by video games like Mortal Kombat and the darkest M-rated horror movies. Thankfully, there are also several well-written plots and interesting characters filling out the reasons for the violence and deaths and torture.
When I think back to how the movie 'The Exorcist' sickened me so bad when I was eighteen years old that I walked out before the ending, and now when I compare the cheesy effects of that movie to what I watch and look at today, I must sit down and reflect a bit about how jaded I've become...
Oh well. I do still feel sickened by extremely over-the-top violent visual effects or graphic comics. 'The Boys' crosses into that territory for me. I was appalled. But. 'The Boys' is definitely witty art, a dark dark social satire and a sophisticated comedic snarky noir commentary. Perhaps perversely, I pick up, and sometimes only skim, these horribly graphic works despite that I have actually lived through some real-life shit. These fictional dark fantasy stories are exaggerated and hysterical, yet they mirror real life daily violence in the real world so artfully and compellingly. I have had years of therapy and I no longer have PTSD, I think. No worries, gentle reader. One of the methodologies of psychology is normalizing the experience of whatever is causing fears one may have, like of seeing spiders or using elevators. No psychologist would recommend reading this kind of pulp pop-culture fiction, though. But why I'm drawn to read or watch these dark tales of fictionalized horrors, idk. I see and admire the wit, the acid sarcasm, and the bitter bitter burning rage of the writers and artists. Maybe that's why.
I have copied the book blurb below because it is accurate:
"All-new printing collecting the first 14 issues of the critically acclaimed series, now heading to live-action on Amazon Prime! This is going to hurt!
In a world where costumed heroes soar through the sky and masked vigilantes prowl the night, someone's got to make sure the "supes" don't get out of line. And someone will! Billy Butcher, Wee Hughie, Mother's Milk, The Frenchman, and The Female are The Boys: A CIA-backed team of very dangerous people, each one dedicated to the struggle against the most dangerous force on Earth - superpower!
Some superheroes have to be watched. Some have to be controlled. And some of them - sometimes - need to be taken out of the picture. That's when you call in The Boys! After the opening story arc introducing Hughie to the team (issues 1-6), Dark avenger Tek-Knight and his ex-partner Swingwing are in trouble (issues 7-14). Big trouble. One has lost control of his terrifyingly overactive sex-drive, and the other might just be a murderer. It's up to Hughie and Butcher to work out which is which, in Get Some.
Then, in Glorious Five-Year Plan, The Boys travel to Russia - where their corporate opponents are working with the mob, in a super-conspiracy that threatens to spiral lethally out of control. Good thing our heroes have Love Sausage on their side.
Featuring some ever-so-slight tweaks the creators have meticulously restored, The Boys Omnibus Volume 1. It also features bonus art materials, the script to issue #1 by Garth Ennis, a complete cover gallery, and more! "
Of course, viewers of all ages can watch bloody movies and TV shows every day, with commercial breaks advertising munchies, on the SyFy and the FX channels among many other 'regular' cable-TV channels. We have choices of fictionalized bloody, bloodier, and bloodiest movies and TV shows. This kind of stuff, believe it or not, used to be only obtainable in specialty S&M shops in red-light areas of big cities. Even if you yourself ARE only watching the Hallmark channel or family dramedies, many others are watching the now normalized everyday viewing of S&M plots, undisguised except by appearing without being spoken and named out loud by the actors, scriptwriters and producers. Adults can watch even more graphically uncensored violence and visually-imagined S&M deaths and voyeuristic explicit sex acts on the elite, commercial-free, subscription channels. The only thing I've noticed that is still out of bounds unless it is an X-rated show, is real sex penetration. Fake penetration (of mouth or nether regions) is good to go for an R-rating.
Mainstream CBS, NBC and ABC and Fox channels have supposedly PG shows showing graphic simulated operations of people having surgery with doctors smeared in blood squirting out of abdominal cavities or open chests, along with sound effects, such as of saws on skulls or limbs, with sometimes a discreet sheet or having the camera swoop into a close up of the surgeons to 'hide' the seemingly act of cutting that is happening. Not to mention the many many many scenes and sounds of breaking bones in fights.
Quite amazing, really, what visual effect artists and sound engineers can do with their life/education skills and imagination. But of course, even if talented visual and sound artists have been in a war, or are serial killers or American-city police officers, or have seen or done surgeries, most of the rest of us have seen smashed up roadkill, and some of us hunt deer. We all, well, most of us, cook meat for dinner.
'The Boys' is rubbing our noses in what violence looks like without gauzy subterfuges. A case can be made for 'The Boys' series having artistic values besides that of simply salacious sadism because: 1. beautiful and realistic artwork (argumentatively, right?); 2. witty social satire on the having of power over others in all of its rawest, most obvious forms; 3. the moral and psychological corruptions of fighting fire with fire to defeat genuine Evil. Absolutes of being only Good means dealing with the Bad Guys as always a Good person results in the Bad guys winning a lot, even all of the time.
Doctor Who occasionally realized genocide and murder was a necessity, as did Frodo Baggins (The Lord of the Rings books). The problem is in not being taken over by the darkness of moral depravities and human evils. Hughie is that kind of Goodness and somewhat walking-in-the-Light anchor for 'The Boys' team, much like Doctor Who's human companions are for the Doctor or how Sam was for Frodo. Books are an excellent Goodness anchor through vicariously feeding readers justice, too, even if only in a fictional story....more
I really enjoyed the updating of these wonderful fable characters! The new new Snow White and Rose Red, transformed into mBeautiful art, cool stories!
I really enjoyed the updating of these wonderful fable characters! The new new Snow White and Rose Red, transformed into modern New Yorkers, trying to keep the lid on a wild bunch of misfits and strong-minded people, magical creatures and talking animals who are refugees living/hiding in plain sight in New York, is very engaging! The writers and the artists have outdone themselves in a creative noir reboot....more
'New Kid', a graphic comic for young teens, maybe for kids in the 6th to 8th grades, by Jerry Craft, is an excellent read! Any child who is new to a s'New Kid', a graphic comic for young teens, maybe for kids in the 6th to 8th grades, by Jerry Craft, is an excellent read! Any child who is new to a school will be familiar with the both the insecurities and joys that seventh grader Jordan Banks has.
The best experiences for Jordan are with the new friends who become close. He did not expect to make friends, particularly at a private school in a White upper-class neighborhood. The kids are mostly rich White kids with very few of color. He meets the arty and the science-oriented, as well as others like him who are attending on a scholarship or grant - the dreaded stigma of financial aid! He also meets children who are odd, so odd the other kids either ignore them or despise them. Some teachers are snowflakes, others have stereotyped images of different races seemingly burned into their retinas so much that they can't really 'see' a student for who s/he is. Jordan learns that he himself has some prejudices, strengths and blind spots of his own of which he was unaware. By the end of the school year, he has grown as a person, become more flexible, and forgiving, in his world views.
I copied the book blurb below as it is accurate:
"A graphic novel about starting over at a new school where diversity is low and the struggle to fit in is real.
Seventh grader Jordan Banks loves nothing more than drawing cartoons about his life. But instead of sending him to the art school of his dreams, his parents enroll him in a prestigious private school known for its academics, where Jordan is one of the few kids of color in his entire grade.
As he makes the daily trip from his Washington Heights apartment to the upscale Riverdale Academy Day School, Jordan soon finds himself torn between two worlds—and not really fitting into either one. Can Jordan learn to navigate his new school culture while keeping his neighborhood friends and staying true to himself?"
Jordan's parents also have issues - they disagree on the educational direction Jordan should be on. Jordan's dad doesn't want him to forget the neighborhood or Black culture, and Jordan's mom wants him to fit in White culture as easily as he does in Black culture. The neighborhood kids are somewhat disconcerted by Jordan's new activities and friends, too.
Jordan is "light", and his peers at the school are mostly White, but the book is about many of the difficulties all new kids have when starting classes at a new school. Kids who are in the minority, whether of class and/or skin color or because of physical abilities or talents, in any school endure a few more social problems. Others have problems because they are of a very different culture. All of these issues are examined in a somewhat airbrushed, but clearly age-appropriate, manner, but the feelings involved are spot on. Code switching is explored, too.
Jordan has a lot to navigate! Since I have no kids and it has been a long time since I was a kid, I found 'New Kid' VERY interesting! It also is an award-winning comic, and I highly recommend it!
Note: this is a book currently being banned from many schools and libraries in the American South and Midwest because the Republican Party thinks the comic unjustly represents White characters as being guilty of racial prejudices. I thought ‘New Kid’ represents the real world, where indeed racial prejudices exist....more
'Something Happened in our Town' by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins and Ann Hazard, who all have PhD's, is a children's book about racial prejudice.'Something Happened in our Town' by Marianne Celano, Marietta Collins and Ann Hazard, who all have PhD's, is a children's book about racial prejudice. It is a picture book that discusses the shooting of Black men by police officers. It also mentions White people are treated better generally by police. The two elementary school kids, Emma, who is White, and Josh, who is Black, are curious because they heard older kids talking about a shooting. Their parents give them advice on how they should conduct themselves at school as well as what prejudice is.
Emma, for example, doesn't understand why Black people are called Black (people have different skin tones), or about slavery. Josh wants to know why people are talking about a Black man who got shot. Their parents discuss fairness, societal fears about Black men, and the need to work together to make changes. The parents model appropriate feelings, and discuss with age-appropriate explanations.
I have copied the book blurb:
"Something Happened in Our Town follows two families—one White, one Black—as they discuss a police shooting of a Black man in their community. The story aims to answer children's questions about such traumatic events, and to help children identify and counter racial injustice in their own lives.
Includes an extensive Note to Parents and Caregivers with guidelines for discussing race and racism with children, child-friendly definitions, and sample dialogues. Free, downloadable educator materials (including discussion questions) are available at APA's website."
The book is designed to be read to children ages 4-8. It is short and can be read through by an adult in 20 minutes. Adults should read the Note to Parents and Caregivers in the back of the book. The illustrations are cool, and the subject material is very much age-appropriate.
Why am I, a childless mature adult, adding this book to "my books", and why have I made an effort to check it out to read it? Because it is a book being banned in many American states in the South, Midwest and Texas despite that it is an excellent book for parents to read to toddlers and youngsters....more
“Moon Knight’, currently a new video series on Disney+ I recently watched, intrigued me enough to check out a collection of the ‘Moon Knight’ graphic “Moon Knight’, currently a new video series on Disney+ I recently watched, intrigued me enough to check out a collection of the ‘Moon Knight’ graphic comics from my local library. I could not find the right book on Goodreads, so I am using this cover for my review. The collection I checked out apparently includes the first five comics which introduce Moon Knight. Or rather it is a collection of one of the many ‘first five comics’ that have been created to introduce, and re-introduce, Moon Knight. Moon Knight has been around since 1975 and has had his character/series killed off and brought back with a rebooted backstory seemingly thousands of times or so, according to the history of the series on Wikipedia, link below (don’t go there if you don’t want to see possible spoilers, though).
So. In MY current collection of the ‘first five comics’ graphic comic book, Moon Knight is in a mental hospital and having delusions. He is under the care of people who obviously don’t care about him at all. He has been in the hospital since he was twelve years old. He does have a few friends among the other mental patients. His guards are abusive shits who secretly give him electric shock therapy whenever they are annoyed by him. They also beat him on occasion. Moon Knight doesn’t entirely know who he is as his memories show him to be one of the following people: Steven Grant, billionaire businessman; Mr. Knight, consultant; Marc Spector, black ops; Jake Lockley, cab driver; and Moon Knight, servant to Khonshu, maybe an Egyptian god, who continuously goads and advises him.
All of the delusions Moon Knight are having are related to Egyptian myths and gods. He believes an entity called Seth is working against him and the world, trying to destroy everything. Khonshu, Moon Knight’s overlord, presents like an Egyptian god, but he really is some sort of entity who exists in the Othervoid, which appears to be an inner-psychological place, maybe a universe, of non-corporeal beings.
Anyway. The Moon Knight escapes from the hospital with the help of his friends, also patients. Some of them seem to see what the Moon Knight sees - the city (Chicago?) is transformed into buildings being swallowed up by sand, and the pursuing guards and psychiatrist are really beings from the Othervoid who have taken over the bodies of humans.
Is Moon Knight a DID (disassociative identity disorder) personality? Is the Othervoid and Khonshu real? Are both statements true at the same time -Moon Knight is suffering from DID and he really is a servant of Khonshu, a being living in another universe called Othervoid? Are the enemies Moon Knight fights real monsters, or is he boxing with delusions created by his damaged brain?
I. Don’t. Know. At least, so far, it is unknown if Khonshu and Seth and the Othervoid are real in the comic collection I read. But there is no question Moon Knight is a DID personality.
The particular reboot of the comic series I checked out is wonderfully drawn with a coherent, easy to follow plot. However, the Disney+ series is much more intent on showing the weirdness of DID time loss, putting the main character in the center of the chaos of never knowing what he has done and where he has been. As far as he knows, he is only an employee at a museum. But he keeps jumping from scene to scene, missing the scene which clearly happened in-between his jumps of awareness in his timeline. He also is having delusions of another ‘him’ talking to him, a doppelgänger, who keeps begging him to let him out to handle the dangers he is in. The time loss is sort of Big Clue, but to what, I don’t know yet. Only episode one has been released as I am writing this review.
Btw, it’s interesting so many movies and series are suddenly featuring main characters, heroic characters!, with DID. Somehow, this disorder has changed in social media from being a disreputable and scary mental condition, possibly faked, which is also easily manipulated by unscrupulous doctors who are gaming insurance companies, to an awful and real personal tragedy that heroic personalities have to deal with.
edit April 30, 2023: WARNING: LIBRARIANS WILL BE CONVICTED OF A FELONY IN FLORIDA, PERMANENT POLICE RECORD, IF GENDER QUEER IS IN THE LIBRARY.
Originaledit April 30, 2023: WARNING: LIBRARIANS WILL BE CONVICTED OF A FELONY IN FLORIDA, PERMANENT POLICE RECORD, IF GENDER QUEER IS IN THE LIBRARY.
Original review:
The author and artist Maia Kobabe’s graphic comic ‘Gender Queer’ is enlightening to read whatever our sexual identity, but those who are still struggling to figure it out will LOVE this memoir! The personal journey of the author in discovering eir sexuality is told. While doing so, e also discusses all of the varieties of gender and sexuality people explore in learning about their bodies and identities.
I have copied the book blurb:
” In 2014, Maia Kobabe, who uses e/em/eir pronouns, thought that a comic of reading statistics would be the last autobiographical comic e would ever write. At the time, it was the only thing e felt comfortable with strangers knowing about em. Now, Gender Queer is here. Maia's intensely cathartic autobiography charts eir journey of self-identity, which includes the mortification and confusion of adolescent crushes, grappling with how to come out to family and society, bonding with friends over erotic gay fanfiction, and facing the trauma of pap smears. Started as a way to explain to eir family what it means to be nonbinary and asexual, Gender Queer is more than a personal story: it is a useful and touching guide on gender identity—what it means and how to think about it—for advocates, friends, and humans everywhere.”
I highly recommend this read!
Edit April 27, 2023:
Unfortunately, ‘Gender Queer’ is now number one on the list of books banned in Florida and Texas, and in other midwestern and southern American states.
“What is the new law in Florida about books? The law known as HB 1467 requires media specialists to undergo training to make sure library materials are not harmful to minors, and warns that violators face a third degree felony charge. Mar 6, 2023” -Google
Meanwhile in Texas:
“Books at issue include “Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent” by Pulitzer-winner Isabel Wilkerson; “Being Jazz: My Life as a (Transgender) Teen” by Jazz Jennings; and books related to sex education and bodily functions, including “It’s Perfectly Normal: Changing Bodies, Growing Up, Sex and Sexual Health” by Robie Harris.”
“Texas bill proposes jail time for teachers providing 'obscene' books A Dallas-area state representative wants police to investigate cases of obscenity in books at schools.”
Gentler reader, many of these same American states go insane with heterosexual female sexuality, full stop. “Purity balls” are encouraged where preteen girls dance and exchange promise rings with their dads, swearing on Bibles to keep themselves “pure” for dad. Frankly, many of the girls don’t even know what their vaginas look like, much less how a baby is made. They only know their vaginas are a filthy impure part of their bodies. Penises are not filthy or impure, but are celebrated in all areas of culture all over the world, gentle reader - with the exception of those of pedophiles (at least in Western countries). Apparently fathers who exchange purity rings with their daughters are also good to go. The Purity Myth: How America's Obsession with Virginity is Hurting Young Women
Many women are not able to convince conservatives to let them alone no matter what their sexuality. Full stop.
In case you are thinking this banning of books about sexuality is a choice school districts have, it isn’t. Schools and many local libraries are pulling all books with lgbtqia authors or characters off of their shelves because of tough laws that have been passed by state legislatures or local communities that by law forbid young people from learning that some people are not heterosexual from books.
School librarians and teachers may be fired from their jobs, losing their teaching credentials, if they recommend reading materials that have been banned, or discuss sexuality or possess any book in their classroom or school library discussing sexuality. Public library librarians in the South and Midwest have also become fearful of having ANY books written by lgbtqia authors or books on any shelves that include lgbtqia characters. There have been stories of librarians in Florida and Texas pulling books about queer sexuality from public libraries, not just school libraries.
These are the same states that are also banning every book conservatives can identify that are about the American history of the enslavement of Black people by White people, including books about the Civil War that discuss slavery. Some librarians, especially school librarians and teachers, are also getting rid of ANY books with Black characters because they are afraid of losing their jobs if books about Black people, or written by Black people, are in the libraries.
The same American states above mentioned also encouraged public schools during the second President Bush’s administration to cut all or most of their science classes, unless they use textbooks that described how God created the Earth in six days, as an alternative to evolution. Science textbooks needed to include statements emphasizing that evolution was only a theory, inferring the six-day creation by God was not. Public schools in the Midwest and South in the past and currently are still fighting over rules that Homerooms must start the day with Christian prayers (when school boards sometimes lose this regulation in the South or Midwest, they usually put in place a non-denominational prayer) along with the Pledge of Allegiance.
These same states are banning or have banned abortion rights. Doctors or health professionals can actually be arrested, charged, convicted, and sent to prison if they don’t force women to have their babies, no matter how sick the baby or mother may be from the pregnancy. Bleeding to death or dying from some other cause from a pregnancy gone bad is the inferred preferable outcome in the public statements made by some state and federal legislators. Already there have been cases of doctors standing by helplessly while mothers and newborns lose their lives during or shortly after a birth because of these new State laws, even if the laws banning abortion include provisions that it is ok for a doctor to do an abortion if the mother’s life is endangered. Like many of the librarians and teachers, many doctors have become scared to death to do their jobs, any of their jobs, when it is about pregnancy or lady parts at all in the South or Midwest....more
aPriL does feral sometimes
>
Books:
comic-graphic-book
(56)
Loading...
