This was good, I want to give it 4 stars but something is holding me back. I may upgrade to 4 later but for now this is a solid 3.5 star read.
I thinkThis was good, I want to give it 4 stars but something is holding me back. I may upgrade to 4 later but for now this is a solid 3.5 star read.
I think the Tamaki's did a REALLY good job of creating a very realistic summer vacation. As I was reading I felt like I had lived this summer several times. The magic was in those mundane moments. We are following Rose and Windy living their lives at Awago Beach for the summer. They are enjoying the lazy days, swimming, eating, watching movies, bickering a little bit as friends who are in more or less constant contact do. They are at that age where things are just awkward all around. They aren't old enough to party with the older teens of Awago but they're not young enough to be thrilled by spending their time with their parents anymore. They are experiencing and understanding the drama that their parents face more and more as well as understanding the drama that the teens in Awago face but, again, not quite in the age range to be involved with either so they kind of just feel like bystanders to both.
Again, it just so *perfectly* the captures the essence of being in that puberty phase, leaving the old childhood charms behind but not quite fully developed into their older selves yet. As an older reader looking back on this is I now understand and I can say it's ok in that phase but I also remember being in it and how, just, annoyed and frustrated I felt with life at that time, it's such a hard time for those living through it, especially girls I think.
This is marketed as a young adult but I feel like it can really work for everyone. I hope that this would make any young readers feel seen in their emotions. For adult readers This One Summer harkens back to a time that we all lived. Maybe we didn't live the same circumstances but we've all lived through these complicated emotions at that age where we know just enough but not everything (despite what we thought)....more
The first half of this whole entire story was better than the back half but not by any sort of exponential amount. This fourth and final installment wThe first half of this whole entire story was better than the back half but not by any sort of exponential amount. This fourth and final installment was better than the third though so that’s really good as endings are hard and this ending really really worked for me. Each of these deluxe hardcovers was 3 volumes in one so the last volume or two did the same thing that Fonda Lee did in Jade Legacy where we start to get large time jumps over and over and each point in time that we stop is an important life event for our main characters. This style works for me, it makes the scope of the whole story feel massive and very personal to the main character(s) as we see the span of their lives not just a blip in time.
Deadly Class has always been fun but there has also always been a melancholy undertone even in those wild times. The ending had the melancholy more toward the forefront especially in the last handful of issues so that part was a little hard to read but I also tend to agree with some of those blue outlooks on life than Remender throws at us so I could also commiserate.
As I’ve said over and over this story has a large cast of characters but each also has a loving amount of character development behind them which really made me care and kept me invested. For those of them who made it to the final chapters of this story we did get an ending (good, bad or ugly) for each which was great. Nobody was left off in the wings like whatever happened them? This gave the series a lot of closure as a whole in the ending. I personally am also happy with how things turned out for our most main of characters. Revenge is always best served cold and the revenge was so so so sweet in this ending.
One more quick highlight reel of this series for the road: If you like a long running comic book series with high action and high drama, great character development, epic moments/revelations and just enough philosophy as well then Deadly Class will probably be for you.
I didn’t give each volume 5 stars but this series has had a very large impact on me while reading it. I read each volume back to back and so this whole time that I’ve been reading it it’s like it has become my personality. Lots of books and series are really good but it’s not as often that a series sinks into my soul like this so despite not getting glowing 5’s across the board I can still say that I have found a new favorite comic series that has bumped a lot of others out of its way. Deadly Class y’all, read it!...more
While this volume did have a slight lull I am still very much enjoying my time in this series.
I find that these things happen in comics, however longWhile this volume did have a slight lull I am still very much enjoying my time in this series.
I find that these things happen in comics, however long the run is, somewhere around the 3/4 mark there tends to be a dip in the action then right after that things ramp up again for the conclusion. So these feelings are normal in my opinion but the series as a whole has been extremely enjoyable and even this slower volume still had my full rapt attention. At this stage in comics in general we can start to have a lot of what feels like filler. While I think we got just a tad bit of that here, maybe 2 of the 13 issues in here felt like they were take it or leave it. Overall, I'm not mad at it.
As it goes with a long running comic or manga series, you get to this point and you run out of things to say that you haven't already said. In an effort to avoid redundancy I am just going to briefly say that everything we know and love about Deadly Class in the previous 2 deluxe volumes is found in abundance in this 3rd volume as well. We have the same amazing character development, lots of action, there is emotional drama and suspense, twists and the same parallels to normal teenaged life that is so fun to behold reading about these badass teens.
Only 1 more deluxe volume left! I am so eager to jump into it but I also know this is going to be a bitter sweet goodbye to these amazing characters. ...more
I. Love. Deadly. Class. I don't know what else to say, this thing is just amazing.
This deluxe volume started off with an EXTREME bang. Everything was I. Love. Deadly. Class. I don't know what else to say, this thing is just amazing.
This deluxe volume started off with an EXTREME bang. Everything was hitting the fan then BOOM the rug got pulled out from under my feet. I didn't know how I would be able to go on. Remender did a thing that I hate where we get, like, a whole new cast of characters right in the middle of a series and that will usually kill a series for me but then the series redeems itself so hard I was literally cheering.
In this volume we get even more character development from the main crew that we've been with since the beginning but not through this long and plot stalling flashback like comics sometimes do. We did get some small flashback segments but Remender will immediately tie the flashback page or two to what is happening at the current moment and keep the pacing of the story moving forward. I commend this style it just keeps the stakes feeling high with no lulls. As I said above we are also introduced to a new handful of main characters and it helps that they are all just as awesome and they all got the same treatment with the character development that we got in the first deluxe volume and I expect they will be built upon more in the third and fourth deluxe.
Again, I love this juxtaposition between these 14-16 year old high schoolers living their lives but also this extreme high stakes, high crime and drama that they are also experiencing. It gives this adrenaline fueled, engrossing experience to the reader (me). I love how badass just everything is about this book.
10/10 recommend Deadly Class. I feel a new favorite comic series brewing here. I can't wait to continue on with the second half of this amazing story and see what kind of trouble our peoples can get into....more
I have seen several people pitch this as Harry Potter but set in a school for assassins. I think that pretty much hits it on the headThis was amazing!
I have seen several people pitch this as Harry Potter but set in a school for assassins. I think that pretty much hits it on the head, except this is NOT a PG story like Harry Potter, this is very much adult content and I loved it all! The setting is 1980's southern California. Our main character 15-year-old Marcus has escaped an abusive orphanage and has been living on the streets. One day he has a run in with the police but gets unexpected help from a group of other kids and once they are clear of the police he is offered a spot in the boarding school called King's Dominion Atelier of the Deadly Arts. With no other place to go Marcus decides to join.
Ok so let's talk about the writing first. Remender just throws you in so it probably took me about a chapter and a half to get myself grounded in the story. I know, I probably sound like a cry baby but I really prefer when I can start reading a comic with no confusion. Thankfully once I was grounded in Remender's writing I didn't need to keep stopping and re-reading panels like it can be with other authors but I am happier if a series has continuity right away. Another thing on the writing on this series, there are many pages with exposition on the sides and art panels running through the middle. I am a prose reader first and foremost so, I always say this, a wordier comic doesn't bother me, I actually like when I don't feel like I'm just flipping through the pages like crazy myself. For people who read comics as their first love, the amount of words in this comic might be annoying.
There are a good amount of characters in this series. Marcus is our main character with 4-5 other students as supporting main characters but despite this I think that Remender did a great job of creating a vast amount of character depth with all of or main characters, not just Marcus whose story is told entirely in his POV (so far anyway). Sometimes in comics it can be hard to get the kind of character development that you get in a prose novel but we got it here. And this deluxe edition first book is only the first 1/4 of the total story so I anticipate even more growth and attachment to the characters before it's all said and done.
The plot in this bind up of these first 3 volumes was WILD! Yea so what if it's completely outlandish? This kind of wild ride is what I love about comics that often times prose novels can't do as effectively. There is also this perfect balance of humanity throughout the chaotic times that the students are going through. Like, yes, they are teenagers in a school for assassins so of course they are killing people and tons of high drama things are happening around them all the time but also there is so much beauty and nuance in the way that Remender didn't forget to remind us over and over that we are also dealing with high schoolers. There were cliques and romance and social drama with our main group of kids too and I loved that so much. We never forgot that we are still dealing with a group of teenagers as our main protagonists.
Deadly Class is yet another comic series I am kicking myself for not getting to sooner. If you have been thinking about starting this one I hope this can be your push to do so!...more
I’m not crying, I just have a Y chromosome on my eye.
Y: The Last Man is one of the best comics I’ve ever read. It may just earn the slot for best comiI’m not crying, I just have a Y chromosome on my eye.
Y: The Last Man is one of the best comics I’ve ever read. It may just earn the slot for best comic only over Locke & Key, Vol. 1: Welcome to Lovecraft once it has some time to settle with me some more. Locke and Key was one of the first comics I ever read when I first started reading comics in 2019 and nothing could ever top it even after reading more and more and more comics but this is at least equally as amazing if not better. Y: The Last Man has a more emotional ending which may end up resounding with me over time, we’ll see.
There is so much greatness to talk about when it comes to this comic. First and foremost for me, even as more of an intermediate/advanced comic reader in this time of my life, really prefer to have a readable comic. I don’t want to get lost in the story, I don’t want to have to work super hard to understand, just like a novel I want to sink into the writing style and just be along for the ride. Vaughn and Gurerra created an extremely readable comic in the best way. It wasn’t too simplistic, there were a multitude of plot threads but all managed to be distinguishable and memorable. Even the “first woman” that Yorick ran into was easily recognizable when she showed up issues and issues later. This segues me into the art style. It would be easy to believe that with all but one character being a female that the reader would get lost in the women’s faces. Gurerra was able to create a plethora of women characters and none of them were looking the exact same and all were easy to tell apart. I think this art style used for the comic would be considered more basic but for what it was it was perfectly serviceable and it was also pleasing to my eye personally.
As I said above I haven’t been this emotionally moved by a comic ever, the only thing that has came close to this was Daytripper. For whatever reason I don’t find myself as emotionally moved by comics usually but Vaughn proved me extremely wrong here. I was weeping through the last 2 volumes of this run. Home run for getting me this emotionally invested.
Another note of praise is that all but, like, two issues in this whole 60 issue run felt unnecessary. I fell head over heels for Preacher, Volume 1: Gone to Texas in the first volume and though it remained readable it was like the plot lost its way. We spent too much time in flash backs and side quests and I ended up bored. Almost nothing in Y felt frivolous, this is a longer run and the whole thing felt concise and purposeful.
I think this would be a great comic for first time readers to jump into given everything I said above and of course it’ll be perfect for avid comics readers as well!...more
Minus a star because the traveling theater didn’t need a whole chapter. Maybe it had some philosophical sense in terms of Yorick being named after a SMinus a star because the traveling theater didn’t need a whole chapter. Maybe it had some philosophical sense in terms of Yorick being named after a Shakespeare but it still didn’t land for me.
There was some….wording from Natalya on the last page that really confused me and is making me want more RIGHT NOW. Was it intentional? Am I reading too much into it? Regardless I guess I will find out soon. Probably jump into the third deluxe book in about a week. ...more
What a banger of a first volume! This was another of those stories that I had meant to get to so many times before and was just about instantly kickinWhat a banger of a first volume! This was another of those stories that I had meant to get to so many times before and was just about instantly kicking myself in the ass for not getting to sooner.
Yorick is a true escape artist and that’s all I gotta say about it. Also, the Russian chick wasn’t lying! If you are wondering what all that means you gotta find out for yourself.
I have yet to be anything shy of blown away by a Brian K Vaughn book and the same rings true here. The art is perfect for the story, Pia Guerra has done such a great job of creating a vast array of differing faces for all the various characters we’ve met especially since all but one are female, some artists can’t or don’t do enough variation in faces and make you rely on clothes and hair but we are easily able to identify everyone so far. There is great attention to detail in the settings as well. This comic is getting older these days but it’s not bogged down by lengthy dialogue on each page like some older comics (looking at you Preacher), the whole thing just flows so perfectly. I’m so glad this is a longer run as I really want to spend some quality time with these amazing characters....more
Blankets was a beautifully rendered coming of age graphic novel.
I'm not sure that this is truly classified as, like, a romance. I have seen some peopBlankets was a beautifully rendered coming of age graphic novel.
I'm not sure that this is truly classified as, like, a romance. I have seen some people say that and some say otherwise. The love story wasn't the thing that stuck out to me. I think the biggest thing that stuck out to me was how various lifestyles can be so damaging to children even if the parents aren't trying to do so. Both Craig and Raina were abused. Craig was abused by his parents through religion. They were constantly beating him over the head with his sins. He was in this constant turmoil over the multitude of sins he had done and he was a shy boy so he was just living with all this guilt on his tiny soul. Raina was abused by her parents through neglect. In ways Raina's story was even more heartbreaking than Craig's. Here is this 17 or so year old young women tasked with taking care of her two mentally disabled siblings and her older sister's baby all while her parents are getting a divorce and her mom is using Raina as a middle man to communicate with her estranged husband. Raina is unsure if she is even going to graduate because she is drowning by her family. I understand this is a reality for some kids and that's what breaks my heart even more. It's no wonder Raina latched onto Craig the way that she did.
A first love can look like so many things. There is no formula for how a first love has to go down so though this did look more like a first lust on page, we weren't living in Craig Thompson's body with him so we can't say that he didn't feel that he was in love at the time. I think we can all easily agree that it was very unhealthy on both sides and that Craig's isolated upbringing probably stunted his ability socially to deal with the situation AND that Raina used him unfairly but we just can't put words in Craig's mouth and say that this wasn't love for him.
I think Craig Thompson's shining star in this story was his ability to takes us through all the moods of growing up and really makes the readers feel some things. I think my favorite parts of this tale were the antics of Craig and his brother when they were still little kids. I was literally laughing so hard that I was crying during some of those little kid scenes. I don't know that a comic/graphic novel has had me rolling that hard ever before. Aside from that, the melancholy that Craig was going through at the end finding his path into adulthood had my eyes stinging. Letting go of the comfortable things from childhood and moving on on your own into the world is such a strange time in life and the feeling of those pages just hit me straight in the soul for how I also felt at that age.
This is one of those that I think if I ever reread it I'll be trash because I'll also be revisiting some serious emotions while reading it. Craig Thompson just so beautifully and accurately portrays growing up in this. For the handful of people who haven't read this wildly popular graphic novel yet it's not one you'll want to sleep on much longer....more
Instantly regretting picking this up even though it’s not complete! Here is where my series binger personality is kicking myself in the ass because thInstantly regretting picking this up even though it’s not complete! Here is where my series binger personality is kicking myself in the ass because this was so goooood and all I want to do right now is finish out this series and the third and final volume is definitely not out and isn’t going to be out this holiday season like the first two were. I guess I just need to look at it in the light of I’ll be able to do a reread and pick up on alllll the clues when the final volume comes out.
If anyone enjoyed the first volume but weren’t in love or are on the fence if they should continue, 100% you need to do it! This second volume kicks everything up a notch or two from the previous installment. Friday is such a badass and I love her and her aesthetic so so much.
It seems like often times comic books will be like a three volume run but by the time you get to that third and final volume it all feels rushed. As of right now anyway, the pacing for this series if perfect and the way I am imagining everything we are at a perfect point to end act three, the final act, with the same perfect pace. I think Brubaker is going to be able to achieve what many comic authors cannot and end this thing in a satisfactory way without feeling hurried through.
This Friday series has been such a treat, I hope once it’s done it gets the omnibus treatment as I will 100% buy it to go along with my trades. In the mean time I will be telling my comic friends about this one so they can get on the wagon with me and we can all eagerly await and binge the final volume together once it comes out! ...more
I really enjoyed this and I wasn't sure if I would. This has the smaller YA size and the smaller YA pricYou see the name Ed Brubaker, you pick it up!
I really enjoyed this and I wasn't sure if I would. This has the smaller YA size and the smaller YA price but this really isn't YA. Ed Brubaker said in the back matter that this was to be read as "post-YA" and I can get behind that but this is certainly not an all ages book. The biggest thing that ages this up is the language. There is some other mature content as far as death and some implied sexual orientation subject matter but those are more subtle, the main thing is the language.
I loved the mix of Brubaker's use of mystery but also a paranormal type aspect. It felt true to Brubaker but not just like a repeat over and over.
The art of this book is perfection. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the way that Friday looks. I love the whole vibe of King's Hill, the town that Friday grew up in, it felt so authentic and cozy and I just loved it all.
The first volume of Friday didn't disappoint!...more
High Crimes did something to me you guys! I have never become so engrossed in a book's source material as I did with High Crimes. As I was reading I rHigh Crimes did something to me you guys! I have never become so engrossed in a book's source material as I did with High Crimes. As I was reading I realized I knew little to nothing about Everest but by the time I finished the book I had this burning desire to learn more about the highest place on Earth. I fell down a rabbit hole and quite honestly I haven't yet emerged. Everest has SUCH a rich history it's nearly impossible not to become engrossed with the mountain.
Now that I'm basically an expert on Mount Everest (lol) I can say that Sebela and Moustafa did their research. In the intro and outro of this book the authors did comment on how engrossed they also became in the mountain and therefore the book is very geographically, biologically and economically correct. Obviously the thriller aspect of the story is imagined but everything that has to do with the mountain and what it takes to climb the mountain is very accurate according to my now also extensive research.
The thriller aspect of the story was entertaining but I am removing a star for the extremely unlikable characters, specifically Zan. You'd think that a character like Zan in a situation like this would end up with some serious redemption but at the end of the day she still had me rolling my eyes.
This is a wordy comic. To me that is not a con, I am a prose reader at my core so when comics have too little dialogue and I'm just blowing through the pages I can start to feel like the book was almost a waste of money (I know, it's not the most sound logic but I'm only human). So, I like a wordier comic, I like being forced to have my eyes on each page longer to read everything. I realize this may not be a positive for everyone but for me it is.
The art in this one wasn't anything special but it was perfectly serviceable. For me, so long as the art isn't bad pretty much anything goes. I'd call the art here somewhere in "standard" for a comic. When you look at pictures and footage of a clear day on Everest its some of the most majestic sights to behold and I imagine it would be extremely hard to capture that majesty in each panel working at a quick pace and not just drawing one real life painting so I'm not saying it's a bad thing, I'm just saying.
I have been telling everyone about High Crimes as it just captured my attention in a way that a comic never has before this. I'm definitely not ready to commit to Everest but I've been looking into some local mountains I can summit that aren't so risky. I've already told my family that if I decide to climb Everest and I die up there to leave my body so it can become a landmark. I'm telling you, this thing has just consumed me. the majority of books don't just completely captivate me this way so I have to give an extra cheers to Sebela and Moustafa for writing this awesome comic. ...more
I've sat on me feeling for this one for a few days now and my heart wants to give this 4 stars but my head is telling me 3. This time I am going to liI've sat on me feeling for this one for a few days now and my heart wants to give this 4 stars but my head is telling me 3. This time I am going to listen to my head.
The beginning of this was great. That set up and build up was superb. I loved the use of the panels where intermittently you could see the creepy crawlies lurking in the background and the main characters became the secondary focal point.
I think with all types of books pacing can be a challenge but I find in comics it is harder to find that sweet spot than in novels especially when the comics are miniseries like this one. I'd rather have a comic run a little long in the tooth and have a well paced ending that feel cut short. Night of the Ghoul suffered for pacing as well which is what brought down my overall rating. Like I said, the build up was really nice, there were a lot of questions asked and a great overall very creepy vibe. I loved the long lost movie reels being used as an intriguing way to give information and a change of style to keep me interested in the story but the way we went from all that good to "oh, time to wrap it up quickly" in the last issue and a half was just jarring. I say this all the time with these one and done style miniseries but I think Night of the Ghoul would have been better served if we could have had 1-2 more issues to wrap it up. ...more
I picked this up on a whim from a recommendation off Jess and Kristen's Omnidog and Omnicat live chat not really knowing whAHHHH this was PERFECTION!
I picked this up on a whim from a recommendation off Jess and Kristen's Omnidog and Omnicat live chat not really knowing what to expect but, hey, it's Spooky Season and anything with the word Halloween in the title is fair game at this point. The Last Halloween turned out to be everything I wanted plus some.
The synopsis, cover and general style of art made me think this was probably going to be a middle grade or maybe young adult book and I was ok with that, YA graphic novels tend to work where novels are starting to slip away from me more often than not. Don't be fooled though friends, this book is definitely not middle grade, it's not even really young adult, there is a plethora of adult subject matter within the pages of this delightful work. Yes, the main character Mona is 10 years old but that's about it for the kid stuff. We get a lot of social commentary for the times along with plenty of blood and guts.
The art style fits the whole style of this book so perfectly too. Abby Howard gives us a black and white comic on all black pages which instantly provides an ambiance to the book as most comics, black and white or color, are printed on a white background. It just creates this Halloween night gone rogue vibe even more strongly than if it were printed on white background. Each panel is beautifully rendered. So so so many panels were so beautiful besides just the splash pages I can't even imagine how long this took Howard to put together. I also loved how a different "font" was used for each of the characters talking so I didn't even have to looks where the speech bubbles were coming from because I learned to recognize the font style per character which, again, was just a super nice touch and something I haven't seen regularly in reading comics and graphic novels.
My only problem with this amazing story is that it's not finished. I picked this up thinking it was a one and done type graphic novel and it is not, the story is not complete on the last page and I want it all now! I don't know how I'm going to survive until the second volume comes out, someone send help! ...more
Wah wah, this ending was a tad bit of a letdown. At the end of the day, the reports of so many others ended up being true for me as well and I agree tWah wah, this ending was a tad bit of a letdown. At the end of the day, the reports of so many others ended up being true for me as well and I agree that the ending felt rushed. I think this is a common pitfall for the comic medium especially where the build up tends to be great and the ending doesn't quite live up. I think it's hard to finish a story in general but this seems to afflict comics even more than novels. There were still parts of this last deluxe edition that were really great but this whole story would have benefitted greatly from another 5 issues minimum. ...more
This was just as good as I anticipated it to be! We are still in the “build up” phase of the comic and so far everything has been done right. I have sThis was just as good as I anticipated it to be! We are still in the “build up” phase of the comic and so far everything has been done right. I have seen many reviews stating that the ending feels rushed especially for having to wait years for the ending, we will see how the ending fares for someone who is able to binge the series. ...more
I loved this! It was the perfect mixture of seriousness but also bright colors and a little bit of silliness to go with the fact that these charactersI loved this! It was the perfect mixture of seriousness but also bright colors and a little bit of silliness to go with the fact that these characters all have a preschool children in common.
It was only 4 issues but due to the fact that it was a wordier comic it felt longer and more fleshed out. As my first love is prose I’m almost always ok with a comic with a lot of dialogue, I have only met one comic that I thought was too wordy so far (looking at you Preacher) so that is a good thing to me.
When I got to the ending I was like huh…? But turns out this wasn’t meant to be a 4 issue, 1 volume miniseries, this is meant to go on and I REALLY hope it does as I would love to see what happens next with these characters and their kiddos. This released in collected edition in August 2021 and as of right now, September 2023 nothing more has been published so I’m going to have to just keep my fingers crossed. ...more
I hear tell this is an old old work of Cullen Bunn’s that was reprinted in, like, 2016 so seeing that reaffirms my overall rating. This wasn’t on par I hear tell this is an old old work of Cullen Bunn’s that was reprinted in, like, 2016 so seeing that reaffirms my overall rating. This wasn’t on par with a Harrow County, which makes sense as that was an ongoing series and this is a 5 issue miniseries but was some great, short work for a young new author. It was a perfect mix of fun and spooky. I’m reading some horror comics this Labor Day weekend to kick off the “ber months” and this hit the spot for that horror/fall/spooky season craving I have been having. I loved the narrators voice throughout just adding the the southern fried vibe, I literally found myself reading with a southern accent in my head, so you know it was good.
I honestly might have given this all 5 stars if it weren’t for this sudden dip in the art quality in the middle of the book. Idk how new the artist was as well at this time, was this an early early work for him as well? Did he not know how to budget his time drawing and was forced to provide a faster, choppier and more unpolished look half way though? I guess I’ll never know but this is a large pet peeve of mine I’m comics, especially miniseries. I understand for long runs an artist’s style may evolve over time and if you’re reading the whole long run at once you’ll see that more than someone reading as the singles or as the trades come out but if an artist can’t even been consistent for 5 issues that makes me think they ran out of time. This didn’t ruin the story for me, I had a ton of fun but it maybe could have even been a 5 for me if not for the art....more
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