Pluto vol. 6, 7, and 8 by Naoki Urasawa
Summary of volume 8 from vizmedia.com
"Atom is back, and the fate of the earth is in his hands! Now that Atom has all the answers to the unsolved mysteries around Pluto, Bora and more, he's prepared to put everything on the line. With the memory of his fallen brethren--Gesicht, Mont Blanc, North No. 2, Brando, Hercules and Epsilon--etched deeply into his heart, Atom is headed for one last battle to save the world!"
This was a fun series. There was plenty of action and intrigue to keep me turning the pages and like most manga the entire series was a very quick read. The author manages to juggle a large cast while giving all of the characters the time they need and a unique voice of their own. The plot was intricate and intelligent though it seemed a little rushed at the end. There are no gaping holes left but it does seem like a few areas could have used a bit more explanation. All in all though, I would wholeheartedly recommend this series for someone looking to read an enjoyable and well written manga.
DMZ vol. 7 and 8 by Brian Wood
From dccomics.com
"Matty Roth redefines his role in the DMZ, rolling with a private security force and self-defined mandate to heal the city. But is this the start of a brand-new day – or will this "Rise of Matty" end with the fall of just another petty warlord? Collects DMZ #42-49!"
With Wood announcing that issue 72 would be the last, these volumes definitely step up the drama on the political scale. While I enjoyed them, I felt like Matty's shift from a non-violent observer to a heavily armed force for good was kind of abrupt. It reminded me of Anakin's sudden shift to the dark side. Volume 8 ends with Matty making a colossal mistake that leaves him in shambles and I'm looking forward to finding out how (or if) he'll bounce back from it.
The Walking Dead vol. 13 by Robert Kirkman
I have to admit, I'm having a hard time staying interested in this series. Now that they live in a gated community of sorts, it feels like the prison saga all over again, minus the convicts. Rick arrives, makes himself useful, goes a little crazy and then sees the error of his ways. I was happy when they left the prison and enjoyed the volumes afterward where they were back on the road, trying to survive. I hope volume 14 makes this community situation more interesting and fast.
King City vol. 1
A weird little American manga, King City does the whole dystopian future with underground graffiti culture quite well. It's very imaginative, well paced and pulls you in early on. It reminded me of Jet Set Radio Future, an XBox game from a decade ago where you ride around on roller-blades, marking your territory and sticking it to the man. There's more of a story to King City though, with spies, assassins and secret hideouts. Fun stuff.
Fables vol. 14 by Bill Willingham
The Fabletown Fables recently defeated the Adversary only to find their town destroyed by Mister Dark, an even more powerful foe. In volume 14, titled Witches, the magical community sets out to find a way to beat him while the rest of the townspeople try to mount a defence and cope with day to day problems such as finances. While it's mostly setup, with the payoff yet to come Willingham manages to keep the story rolling and the suspense building. He has a knack for portraying a micro-society realistically, which, when all of your characters are magical humans or talking animals (and sometimes both), says a lot about his writing skills. Now if only he'd leave his not-so-subtle right-wing messages out of it.
Spider-Man : Fever (unfinished)
I read about this title on a best of 2010 list as an honourable mention and decided to give it a try. Spider-Man has his soul kidnapped by some kind of mystical forager and Dr. Strange has to go into the magical underverse (or some-such) to find him. The art is really cool and trippy, I kind of wanted to get baked and read on, but the story felt like it was dragging on needlessly. Worse still, it felt inconsequential. Nothing new was being done here, and nifty pictures weren't enough to keep me reading until the very end.
N.B. I did skim through the rest of the story though to confirm that I did in fact know what was going to happen.
Never Learn Anything from History by Kate Beaton
I have a confession to make, I didn't actually read this one, BUT, there's a great explanation for that. This particular work is a collection of Beaton's online comic which I've read through in the past month or so. I picked up the trade from the library thinking there would be a few only-for-print comics, which there were, but only a handful. If you have never read Hark! A vagrant!, the online comic, get on it. Beaton is from Nova-Scotia and there's a very Canadian sensibility to her writing. She has a unique and simple drawing style that has got me laughing out loud on more than one occasion, mostly in her depictions of facial expressions. Her comics are history based, so if that's your forte, you're in luck, but even for an ignorant shlep like me, they're great fun.
Batman : Black and White vol. 2
Wow. This volume was miles above the first one. Superstar artists such as Alex Ross, Tim Sale, Gene Ha, Jim Lee and Paul Pope all illustrate a story in this volume, making it worth the read on looks alone. Its heavy on acclaimed writers as well, with stories by Warren Ellis, John Byrne, Paul Dini and Brian Azzarello. My favourite story was the very first, by Paul Dini and Alex Ross, where Arkham Asylum employees find an unpublished report on the Joker which argues that he is in fact sane and in complete control of his actions, meticulously portraying himself as crazy in order to stay out of jail. The explanation is brilliant and the reveal, that the report was written by Dr. Harley Quinn before she herself went insane, were masterful indeed. On the opposite end of the spectrum, I detested "Snow Job", by Bob Kanigher. I can handle a silly Batman story if it's done well but this one had little to no redeeming qualities. All mayhem and slapstick, the story about Batman and his son being attacked during a skiing competition (in costume!)had only one thing going for it, Kyle Baker's art. If you feel inclined to check it out, spare yourself from this one and read his Hawkman story from Wednesday Comics.
Scalped vol. 2 by Jason Aaron
While volume 1 threw you into the action head first, immersing you in the plots, subplots and plot twists, this volume contains 6 issues that basically retell the same 24 hours from the point of view of various characters. The overlap was just enough to keep your bearings while not enough to feel repetitive. Following these different people around meant seeing different aspects of the native reserve and how the construction of a casino was affecting those at opposite ends of the food chain. Through the use of flashbacks, it also served to characterize the relationship between the key players. Master of the cliffhanger ending, Aaron didn't disappoint with an unexpected murder to be followed up in volume 3.
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