Review: Something is Killing the Children Vol. 1

Being a fan of the horror genre and comics in general I am always on the lookout for new horror comics to check out. This one came up as a recommendation on an app that I read some comics on, and I will admit I was intrigued. Also seeing that a writer I have enjoyed reading was the writer for this series also convinced me to want to read this. I was already familiar with Tynion's work on Batman for DC comics.

This series kind of reminds me of the Netflix Stranger Things series, as it's about a couple of "kids" seeking out monsters in the woods. The story starts with a group of boys playing truth or dare and one of the boys mentions that he saw a monster. Of course, his friends think he is making this up. Only kids can see the monsters.

It also has a bad-ass female lead named Erica Slaughter. Not only is she bad-ass but she is a part of a secret monster hunter society. She goes from town to town cleaning up the spread of monsters before they can get out of hand.

The scene where she goes shopping for supplies reminded me of Ash of Evil Dead fame buying his power tools. You know she means business and gore and mayhem will happen. She recruits the survivor from town to show her where the monster can be found. But I will not spoil this for you you have to read it for yourself.

This was a fun and action-packed story one in which I will definitely have to keep up with. I rated this 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads, and recommend this to any horror fans. Or fans of Stranger Things. I do suggest reading this in physical format as the ebook was somewhat problematic with the splash pages. But the art was great and really made the story more enjoyable. This will be available on May 26,2020. Get your copy down below -

Review: Abe Sapien Vol. 1 The Drowning

I've read a ton of Hellboy trades and a few BPRD books but I had never read this miniseries featuring one of my favorite HB sidekicks. Of course being that it's the merman, Abe Sapien this was Aquatic themed from the start, and he goes on a special mission that requires his aquatic abilities. The mission takes place in a small fishing village off the coast of France, and one that has a dark past. It turns out as do all of these Mignola tales that something sinister is afoot.

This was my first time reading an Abe solo story and wasn't sure how it would go, and the funny thing is that the title character feels and has similar doubts because he usually tags along with HB.

This read like a movie and it flowed beautifully. There were no dull moments with this first volume. I do not regret checking this out and honestly was not aware of this series until recently. Like I said it was action packed and of course paranormally packed too. I rated this 4 out of  5 stars on Goodreads and would recommend this to any fan of the Hellboy series.

                                                              

Review: The End of The Fucking World TV Miniseries (Netflix)

I knew when I saw the title of this miniseries that I would be interested in watching this. Before I even watched the trailer for it.

I started watching the first episode and was hooked. Two teens with bad home lives meet and decide to go on  "Bonnie and Clyde" type road trip. What other reason would you need to watch this? They not only find comfort in each others company but quickly things go bad quickly. I will not give any details as to spoil this, but this has to be one of the best series I have watched in a very long time. After I binge watched all 8 episodes I did some research on this series. It's from the UK's Channel 4 and based on a graphic novel of the same title which I had never heard of until now. I really enjoyed this series and cannot wait to read the graphic novel it is based on. Although the last episode ended on what seemed like a cliffhanger I do not know if that was the end or if another series is due. I'm assuming that this is the whole series in its entirety. 

Journey Into Mohawk Country Graphic Novel Review

For those who didn't already know I worked in my college library for the spring and summer of this year. I would process and shelve many books during this time. I discovered many books that I wanted to read, and was told by a few of the librarians that this was an "occupational hazard".  One such book I found was this one in the history section.  The title on the spine interested me as I know the Mohawks are a nation located within the Central New York region. So of course I was interested in reading this as I have always been fascinated by Native Americans, and my part of the world. Upon seeing that it was a first hand account(based on journals from a Dutch trader) and a graphic novel I knew that I had to read this.

I know that a few people on Goodreads had given this poor ratings, and I think that these people were anticipating a prose/narrative type graphic novel, and not a literal journal entry text. I think this is better than a narrative story, because this was what a real person had seen and documented. I found it amazing that these people had walked from Fort Orange( which is modern day Albany, NY) to the CNY region. THEY WALKED! They didn't travel in wagons or by horseback...they walked. What takes us a few hours to drive these men walked that distance on foot, and through snow. That in itself is amazing. I know that the artist tried to best portray as accurately as he could the people of this region, so it may not be spot on, but it's pretty damn close. It was interesting seeing the different nations that these men came across, and how they traded wampums for beaver pelts. It was also interesting how the culture was shown in such things such as comunal living(long houses), diet,songs, medicine, religion, war, and peace relations among the different nations. I wonder if the big lake that they talk about if it is Oneida lake, as I tried to look at a map and approximate where they had traveled. As someone who lives in this region I found this to be a very fascinating account of people who lived here some 400 yrs ago. While it is not the best graphic novel it is a very good one that I rated 3 out of 5 stars on Goodreads. Whether you are interested in a different type of graphic novel or history of Native American peoples you may too enjoy this book.

Review: The Sculptor by Scott McCloud

I first came across this book just shortly after it's release. I was processing it to be put on the shelves at the college library I work in. I had glanced at this book more than a few times, and it piqued my interest.  I had not heard of the author at the time, and now realize that he is the writer of Understanding Comics. I now wonder if he took what he learned while writing that and applied it to this work.  Of course a few months had gone by before I finally decided to pick it up and read it.

My first impression upon delving into its pages I was thinking that it might be just another overly hyped book that everyone is raving about but not really worthy of the high ratings that everyone seemed to give it.  The artwork is not that impressive, and is minimally colored in Shades of blues and greys. The scenes are almost cinematic in the way they are laid out and the story is quite fast paced.  Even though the beginning was slow, and it had some silly parts I decided to push on just so I could see what all the fuss was about. It wasn't till I got about halfway when the main character meets Meg that I started to see just why this book had charmed so many.

This book made me feel a variety of emotions upon reading it. I will admit that it is very emotionally charged, and can see why so many have become speechless by the power of this book. It is a read that is intended for mature audiences, and I would not recommend children viewing it, as it does contain graphic scenes, and ideas. A song by the Rolling Stones seemed to some up a theme that I got from this graphic novel, and I will link the video below. This is a very poweful story about the hunger, and drive of a struggling artist, and how he wants more than anything to be remembered and to make his mark in the world. I did get the feeling that  the author was writing about himself and people in his life( if you read the afterword it reveals how some of the characters were developed). I rated this book 5 out of 5 stars on Goodreads, and if you want to read a thought provoking and emotional story then this is the one for you.  Even if you don't usually read graphic novels, and don't let the size of this intimidate you I read it rather quickly in just a few days.

RASL Review

When I uploaded this video...I was experiencing trouble with my camera, and had to film a very quick review of this graphic novel. I didn't get to say all that I wanted to say about this great story. I do have another camera coming in the mail, so in the meantime I decided to supplement this video review with this blog post.

I rated this graphic novel by Jeff Smith (the creator of Bone) 5 stars on Goodreads.  I thought this was a very strong suspenceful scifi story. But I didn't really like the artwork. Sometimes the characters looked like real people and then other times they looked too cartoony. This was my only negative about this book. Aside from that I found this story to be a page turner that I read in a very short time. The talk about Tesla, and alternate dimensions had me intrigued, and make me want to do my own research into these topics.

Mignola's Vampires

There are so many varieties of vampires in fiction nowadays. From sparkly Twilight vamps to vicious rip your throat out 30 Days of Night by Niles. I have read so many books about vampires, and some have rather impressed me while others were just okay.

One book series that has impressed me by being different, but remaining entertaining are Mike Mignola's take on the vampire myth.  I will admit that I read the sequel first before I read the starting book to the series.  I liked the classical feel that he used to tell the tale of a vampire hunter set during the early 20th century.  Mignola's vamps are not just undead who drink blood, but are shape shifting ghouls who also feast on the flesh of the dead, and near dying. He describes them as carrion creatures.

The volume shown above is a graphic novel, and is drawn very similar to the style that Mignola is known for in his Hellboy comics. So when I picked up which I later discovered to be the start of the series I expected it to be a graphic novel too. The starting book to the Baltimore series is actually an illustrated novel that he had co written with another author. This book tells the story of how Lord Baltimore came to be a vampire hunter, and also reveals some other supernatural mythology as told from the point of view of a few people that know him. Even though it was different than I had expected I still found this to be a very good read, and one that I would recommend to others who enjoy the vampire genre.

I have also written a list of vampire books that I feel are worthy of being read found here - Best Vampire Books

Ideas lead to Revolution

I just recently finished reading the first volume of a series written by Grant Morrison. In this book the notion that writings of several authors over the course of time have shaped our world in ways that we tend to overlook. I had never really thought of this before and I would have to agree that it is right. Ideas from people such as John Lennon, Mary Shelley, Marquis De Sade, and some others I cannot recall at the moment have changed the way society as a whole views the world.  Morrison used these ideas as the main tool to explain how his secret society called The Invisibles have created revolutions versus the ones who would seek to enslave us. This team almost seem like outcasts, as it consists of some homeless people, and one is a transvestite. Legends, and old forgotten religions, and a little bit of surrealism made up another part to this book. It is a unique book that at one point reminded me of The Clockwork Orange, as the juvenile prison was brainwashing boys. It was an average read for me one that I didn't really think was great , but didn't suck. I think I may finish reading the whole series at some point.