Independent Opinions, News, and Reviews of Graphic Novels, Manga, and Comic Books
A new volume of Yotsuba&! is always a thing to be celebrated! Enjoy its simple pleasures, just as little girl Yotsuba does in all of her daily life. Yotsuba&! volume 12 was particularly interesting to me because at one point, the teen neighbor girls take her trick-or-treating. I’ve been working a project with a Japanese team, and over Halloween, I asked if they celebrate it. They said no, not really, but the kids thought it was fun to wear costumes. […]
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I’m not sure Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has really found its groove yet, but I’m willing to keep giving it a chance. I like Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson, Ming-Na Wen as Wolverine Melinda May (mysterious bad ass with secret past) is terrific, and the British Fitz-Simmons scientists amuse me. (I could really do without more of Agent Beef and the hacker chick, although I suspect that they’re supposed to be the interesting characters to us.) When I think of several […]
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Kerry Callen, talented author of Halo and Sprocket, has posted a two-page comic on his website called “Batman: Hoarder“, capturing the superhero’s fascination with keeping trophies and weapons. Funny stuff! Particularly given Callen’s facility with beautifully aping recognizable historical styles.
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Just in time for Valentine’s Day, if your tastes go that way, Criterion has announced that they will be releasing Blue Is the Warmest Color on Blu-ray and DVD on February 11, 2014. The story of first love and lesbian awakening is adapted from a graphic novel by Julie Maroh. This DVD will be a low-extra release, with a “full special edition treatment” to be announced later. The only features are the trailer and TV spot, new English subtitles, and […]
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Just in time for the finals of Dancing With the Stars, airing this week, I read Love Waltzes In, a romance novel featuring the reunion of a professional ballroom dancer and a Marine. Selena and Bret were teen partners and dance champions, but their relationship broke up when he joined the military. Now, he’s returned to compete against her on Dancing Under the Stars to raise money to benefit the family of a deceased colleague. Will their first love be […]
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I hadn’t heard about this until just now, but with these fine stars, I’m likely to go see it. Guy Ritchie, director of the Sherlock Holmes movies, is currently filming a movie version of The Man From U.N.C.L.E., a remake of the 60s TV show, starring Henry Cavill (Man of Steel) as CIA agent Napoleon Solo and Armie Hammer (The Lone Ranger, The Social Network) as KGB agent Illya Kuryakin. They have to team up to save the world, of […]
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The World’s End continues to impress me the more times I watch it, and as expected, the Blu-ray release contains much more information on the moviemakers’ aims and intentions. I described the premise when I talked about how much I enjoyed watching the movie. In short, five former friends reunite, drawn together by the one of them whose best years really were in high school while the others have moved on and grown up. We open with young versions of […]
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As I predicted when I reviewed the first book, I liked Genshiken: Second Season by Shimoku Kio more on the second try. With the odd fan personalities, it takes a while to get comfortable with them, but more time spent makes them more acceptable, just like having a weird friend. You take them as they are, quirks and all. I should have mentioned, when writing about volume 1, that the internal volume and chapter numbering continues from volume 9 of […]
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