Wren McDonald’s SP4RX is pretty damn cool. I wish I had gotten to it sooner considering it was sent to me early, but I was traveling and every time I opened it my young son thought it was a book for him. None of that is the main reason it took so long. No, the main reason was the news broadcast bubbles on the first page. I’m serious, that’s the main reason.
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This is probably going to be one of my shorter reviews for a graphic novel based on a few things. The first being that if you don’t like time travel stories, then you shouldn’t bother reading this one. It’s a brilliant homage to the genre, and while creator Matthew Loux manages to tweak everything just enough to be its own, it’s hard to ignore the influences completely… but then that’s also what’s fun and entertaining about The Time Museum.
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Often when I’m reviewing a comic, it’s an intricate dance of scales. Whatever side ends up with the most weight on it effects the review the most and ultimately decides the score. Decelerate Blue sat in the middle for most of my reading. For everything cool or interesting it did, it managed to do an equal amount of disinterest.
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Find out why First Second Books’ Demon made our “Best of 2016” list!
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Find out why First Second Books’ Mighty Jack made our “Best of 2016” list!
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Find out why Nobrow Press’ Fantasy Sports no. 2 made our “Best of 2016” list!
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Find out why First Second Books’ Tetris made our “Best of 2016” list!
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Find out why Pantheon Book’s The Art of Charlie Chan Hock Chye made our “Best of 2016” list!
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It’s been an interesting ride with Doctor Muscles. Perhaps the most interesting thing about this series has been the creator’s ability to capture a past era’s storytelling, without making it feel dated. I have said in my last two reviews that Doctor Muscles looks and feels like a story that would have been extremely popular in Heavy Metal Magazine back in the eighties. The setting and look play heavily into this, but the key thing is that it doesn’t read like an 80s comic. I recently read a comic that was attempting to read and feel like a 60s TV show and accomplished that goal. The problem was, it was fucking terrible for it. That is why Doctor Muscles succeeds because it doesn’t try to be an 80s comic.
Read MoreI don't care about Beowulf at all. It's one of those stories we all read and some people love it and I don't. Mainly because I don't need to see or read everyone's version of it. Then I saw this cover and David Rubin's name on the cover and I couldn't get over how incredible the art was. I'm a huge fan of Rubin's work. I've suffered through some stories just to look at his art. I hope that's not the case here, but with that art, I'll be checking this out regardless.
Read MoreI honestly didn’t expect much from Echoes. I got the gist of the story quickly, and it’s somewhat predictable in its execution and outcome, but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the story. Let’s tackle that cover because I’m sure some of you are curious as to what type of story this is based on that cover alone. It is a story about abuse, but it doesn’t glorify it or show it outside of one pinnacle scene. In this day and age of comics, I feel that it’s important to point this out first because I would hate for people just to pass on this book because of the interrupted subject matter coming from the cover.
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Mean Girls Club is a mini-comic in a way. It’s a stand-alone story that begins and ends within the pages of this book. The narrative isn’t that strong, but then I don’t think that’s the point. It reminded me of other Nobrow Press books that I’ve checked out this year that felt short and sweet. Mean Girls Club is a quick read. Much quicker than the other books (click here to see more from Nobrow), but in a way more enjoyable. It knows exactly what it’s doing and what it wants to do. The story begins with a cabin in the middle of the woods and a woman tied up with her head through a wall and sticks out of one of those animal trophy plaques. She’s crying, and her tears are also producing ice. A second woman fills up her glass with the tears and ice. This woman, who we learn is named Pinky, calls to order the 113th secret meeting of the Mean Girls Club. We meet the five other women that make up the club, and they decide to pay tribute to the ghosts of their founders.
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