Currently reading
A Walk Through the Wheatfields: The Missing Journals of Vincent Van Gogh
Progress:
45/214 pages
Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library (Mr. Lemoncello's Library #1)
The Children of Húrin
The Fall of Arthur
Blood's Pride
Backlash
hidden
Magic's Pawn
Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants, and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us About Being Human
Black Amazon of Mars and Other Tales from the Pulps
The diagrams and instructions were confusing and frustrating. There are better demonstrations online.
X-Men/Steve Rogers: Escape from the Negative Zone
I don't know which made the first annual in this collection worse: that all of Bradshaw's characters had horrifyingly lumpy faces or that Hope Summers is an unpleasant person and not at all fun to read about. Fortunately the rest of the book is respectably decent with redeeming artists and a witty Doctor Nemesis.
This book was good fun, but what was up with Hawkeye? The first few issues also employed some of the most appropriate uses of bold lettering.
The writing is terrible, but it's the art that takes the prize this time with some very embarrassingly questionable clothing choices.
I didn't care much for the stories; they were fairly unmemorable for me. But I did enjoy Cloonan's art and was impressed with her ease in which she changed styles throughout the collection.
In and of itself, the story was alright. But the dialogue was a nightmare to read. I felt like my brain had developed a stutter as every character seemed to repeat at least one word per every sentence. I also had to re-read pages over and over, trying out different combinations of speech bubble patterns until the pages made sense. And then there were those odd discussions where the main detective's partner of all-of-two-hours demanded the guy's life story. She definitely didn't charm her way into my heart.
I guess I misunderstood the age group this was written for, but regardless, nothing can change the fact that it's too simplistic and entirely lacking in charm for a book based on fairy tales. Colfer's grandmother should have written this book. Her quote in the dedication was very charming.
I don't know, the dialogue was really bad which pretty much wrecked it for me. It's been a few years since I've read anything from Pierce, but I was certain she wrote better than this. I did enjoy the individual cover art for each issue; I'll give it that much.
I initially believed this book was about female Doctor Who fans celebrating their fandom solidarity by sharing their individual stories of love for the television series. But it quickly turned to disappointment as each woman's story was neither unique nor varied. I read through many stories in which the women professed their undying love for the original Doctor Who but most discussions about the current doctors and their shared love were overshadowed by their criticisms of how the modern female companions failed to match their own ideals of feminism. So much for solidarity.
The stories in this collection were fairly interesting, but I confess I don't know where Snyder was going with them. I particularly enjoyed the last story, but it, too, was as unsatisfying as the rest of the collection.
The architecture theme is fascinating to read, and the designs looming in the background are impressive, but Batman-- and worse, Bruce Wayne-- is not convincing. Bruce Wayne's interaction with the one female character is so cringe-worthy and awkward, I was embarrassed to read it. The woman initially presented herself as intelligent and well-spoken but she quickly retreated to an inner-voice in which she regarded Wayne as 'cute' and used words like 'duh'. Lastly, Batman is uncharacteristically forgiving towards a fellow costumed vigilante who had few qualms about murder and attempted it several times over the course of the story. I understand that perhaps this Batman was likened more to the lighter, classic Batman but his darker, grim side poked through occasionally, leaving me confused.
The story is a little rushed, but the art is really beautiful and the sci-fi world is a fitting setting.
I almost hate myself a little for reading this book. It's fairly typical and ordinary as far as romances go, but the 'heroine' was especially loathsome. She was obnoxiously clueless, and just plain stupid at times, and the book was a 400-page pity party held in her honor.
