Advance Review: Jupiter’s Legacy #1 – A Brave New World
An intriguing beginning, containing a single panel that is worth the cover price alone.
Mark Millar is, of course, the master of hype. From the headline-grabbing The Authority to the more recent Superior, Supercrooks, and Secret Service, Millar has taken the screen success of Wanted and Kick-Ass and turned himself into a one-man media machine. With any hype there is the very real danger of a project failing to live up to its massively projected expectations, and Jupiter’s Legacy is no exception with fans ready to turn a harsh eye on what is offered. The writer has drawn parallels with some of the biggest stories in pop culture – Lord of the Rings and “this is my Star Wars” – a very ambitious benchmark to say the least.
Read the full review at The Beat!
Review: Action Comics, the Grant Morrison Edition
Grant Morrison’s run on Action Comics has been met with both high praise and no small measure of bewilderment. But this is a legendary run – you just need to think five dimensionally.
When Morrison was announced as the writer of Action Comics #1, back in 2011, there was a great deal of excitement within the comics community. The man who had given us one of the greatest Superman books of all time, All-Star Superman, seemed a poetic choice as the architect of this brand new history. Morrison spoke of his love for the original Golden Age character, his socialist roots and desire to do good in the world; Superman as a folk tale, before he became the centrepiece of our modern mythology. The young Kal, standing proud and over-confident in his American jeans and self-branded t-shirt, cape flying behind him as he raced from one adventure to the next...
Read the full review at The Beat!
Mini Marvels: Fearless Defenders, Cheesecake for Women!
Marvel continue to tempt me with their extraordinary cover designs that are leaving many other publishers in the shade. Coming to Fearless Defenders blind of recent continuity, I had high hopes for this all female line-up, and was promptly swept off my feet.
...Yes there are tits. There is indeed ass. But for the first time, I get the sense that this is cheesecake that isn’t being aimed primarily at the male readers. There is a whole other demographic out there that loves reading about smart, sassy women who happen to be fantastically gorgeous without being objectified for the male gaze.
Read the full review at The Beat!
Review: The Adventures of Superhero Girl
Sometimes a book comes out that I’m so ridiculously excited about I get paranoid that I’m going to be disappointed in some way. And then it arrives and turns out to be even better than I hoped for. It becomes the book I take everywhere with me to thrust in people’s faces and say, “READ”. That book is this book.
The Adventures of Superhero Girl is a strip you may have heard of already. It’s a webcomic by the fantastically proficient cartoonist Faith Erin Hicks, who has a whole host of graphic novels to her name (Friends with Boys, Brain Camp, Zombies Calling and the upcoming Nothing Can Possibly Go Wrong). I say webcomic, but although it is all available to read online for free, it was actually created for a local newspaper. And it is fabulous.
Read the full review at The Beat!
Comic Reviews: Happy, Batman Incorporated, Hawkeye, Lost Vegas
I seem to have accidentally become a fairly regular reviewer over at The Beat, which is great as it is a really fantastic comics website, but doesn't really fit in with my plan to trim down my workload in favour of academic demands! That said, I really love doing short little reviews and find that it often gives me the spark I need with my research. So, win win!
My recent reviews include a review of the complete Happy by Grant Morrison and Darick Robertson, that issue of Batman Incorporated (including spoilers), a look at Matt Fraction and David Aja's Hawkeye, and a spoiler free review of the brand new Lost Vegas from Jim McCann and Janet Lee.
All of which I highly recommend! The Hawkeye review is part of a new series of smaller reviews I'll be working on - Mini Marvels. Recently of course I cut down my number of DC reads, and I've been experimenting with more Marvel titles as a result. And I have to say, so far I'm pretty impressed!
Do check out my reviews over at The Beat - comments and suggestions are welcome as always :)
Review: Batman Incorporated #8 – The Boy Wonder Returns
The Beat: The Pulp Fiction of The Spider
Over at The Beat I've reviewed one of my current favourite comics, The Spider by David Liss and Colton Worley. And I stand by my claim that it is the best crime-fighting title on the shelves!
The first trade collection has just been released, The Curse of the Zombie Queen, so check out the (spoiler free) review and then go treat yourself :D
The Beat: Review - The Pulp Fiction of The Spider, Terror of the Zombie Queen
About a Grrrl
Freelance writer. Comic geek, film addict, metal head, book worm, gamer. I sell books and write. I'd prefer to write books and sell.
This is a collection of my writing, thoughts and interesting links about my geeky interests.
Oh, and I'm not a guy. A woman reading comics still surprises some people...
Recent Tweets
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@johnreppion I am indeed! I shall schedule up a review on The Beat next week - it deserves the love ^_^
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Interesting shakeup (and redundancies) at W's RT Major restructure for Waterstones management staff | The Bookseller http://t.co/SID67918WW
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@douglasnoble @haverholm when guinea pigs attack? #getyourpanpipes