Blog Archives
Comics Picks For 19.02.2014
Another very slow week, mostly due to traveling again. And now I’m in India for a cousin’s wedding, so I have big doubts that I will be able to read all that much in the next two weeks at least. Its certainly going to be quite a challenge.
Still, there were some really good entries this week, and I’d recommend almost all of them, barring like two of the issues. Definitely check out Kings Watch #1 if not anything else. More Phantom goodness? Hell yes, please!
Anyway, here’s another edition of this new feature. Full reading list, as always, is available here and all my comics reviews are available here.
Curse #2 (Comics Review)
Boom Studios debuted a new title last month, the supernatural horror tale Curse which features a werewolf among other elements. For a title that I’d picked up on a whim and thus didn’t really have any expectations for, it was surprisingly good with its debut issue. I enjoy a good werewolf story now and then so reading the same in comics form is quite a thrill. But that wasn’t all with the first issue, for it had a lot more going for it than I initially realised, and I had wondered then if the second issue would keep up with that and continue to develop the same.
I really shouldn’t have worried since the second issue, released earlier this week, did in fact build on every single plot element from the first issue. There is a mystery developing here that I find very intriguing and that can’t be said for most other such stories that I read. They often have quite a singular focus so its nice to see that the writers here have branched out to do a whole bunch of different things together. And of course, the art was just as impressive as in the first issue. I love all the contrasts in the backgrounds and the snowy landscapes that we get here.
Twilight (Breaking Dawn Part 1): The End Begins
I saw the first three Twilight films for the first time some time in the summer of 2011, having borrowed them from a cousin. I had no idea what they were about, other than the fact that the covers had Kristen Stewart on them, as well as Robert Pattinson, the dead guy from Harry Potter: Goblet of Fire. I saw them, and I thought they were decent enough. They could be boring at times, and even outright dreadful, but they were okay nonetheless.
I get why a lot of people hate on the books and the adapted movies, but its not really bothered me all that much. They came, I saw them, that’s it. That’s one of the reasons why I eventually saw the final two films as well. Plus I was interested to know how things would eventually fall out with the characters. I suppose that the best thing that can be said for the books, and the movies, is that they marked a sort of revival for vampire/werewolf fiction everywhere. That’s fine with me.
Anyways, here’s a review of the fourth film in the series, which I saw at the theater, thanks to my curiosity.
Comics Picks of The Week 15.01.2014
Once again, a very light reading week, with no graphic novel reading at all. I took a trip to India and back over the weekend, mostly because preparations for a cousin’s upcoming marriage and mom’s treatment, so reading time was extremely limited. I’m even behind on my novel reading at the moment, so I’m generally not doing well on that front at all.
Some really fun titles launched this past week, such as Night of the Living Deadpool, so it was an entertaining week at least, for the most part.
Anyway, here’s another edition of this new feature. Full reading list, as always, is available here and all my comics reviews are available here.
Curse #1 (Comics Review)
Its been a good long while since I’ve read a BOOM! Studios title. I started sometime in 2012 with Hypernaturals, penned by Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning, and drawn by Brad Walker and Tom Derenick. It was a fairly good series, but I dropped off somewhere in the middle and haven’t gone back. There was Polarity last year by Max Bemis and Paulo Coelho but that’s really it. With all the stuff that comes out from the Big 2, its tough to keep up with titles from other publishers, unless they are really good. With the publisher’s new mini-series Curse however, I think I have a series that I can stick with it.
Its only recently that I’ve really started reading (or getting back to) some horror/supernatural comics, and its mostly been a really fun experience. Coffin Hill, The Darkness, Witchblade etc have really rekindled my interest in the genre. And Curse slots in really nicely with that reading. Its got some really good writing and some good art. And it has supernatural monsters. What could be more fun than that?
NANP: The Name Game
Joining me today on Names: A New Perspective is Amanda Carlson, author of the fantastic urban fantasy debut from last year, Full Blooded (Review), the first in her Jessica McClain series. As another novel with a rather contemporary setting, at first it might appear that there can’t be much to talk about in this post relative to the idea behind the series, but Amanda does a good job of showing that is not so. The basics still apply, and I’m looking forward to seeing how she progresses on that front in the upcoming sequel Hot Blooded (due April). Here’s what she has to say.
51 Most Anticipated Releases For 2013
With regards reading, 2012 was a fantastic year for me. It was the year that I stepped out of my comfort zone and read in genres that I normally would not read, such as urban fantasy (involving angels, vampires, werewolves etc) and historical fiction. It was also the year that I read more than the traditional fantasy, and tie-in fantasy at that. My experiments seem to have mostly been successful as I’ve started to really like reading these kind of books.
My goal for this year is to continue on that same path and read as widely as I can. Which is why this massive list is so huge in scope, with tons of variety. I went through the catalogues for most of these publishers and picked out things I liked,and which caught my eye. Getting through the entire list this year will probably not happen, but then again, never say never!
Shadowhawk's Shade 