Once & Future, Vol. 4-5

[cornerofmadness]

Once & Future, Vol. 4: Monarchies in the UK by Kieron Gillen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is the muddiest volume so far but that's only because it's gotten so complex. All of Britain has been sucked into the Other World, existing now in The Story. Fairies and dragons are real and present dangers. Worse now every story version of Merlin/Arthur/Lancelot are playing out for control of the story.

Bridgette, always on top of her game, makes an unlikely allegiance with the oldest version of a folktale that likes to foil kings and the rich. Rose, on the other hand, pulls on her heart strings and gets Bridgette to okay going to Bath after her parents (Bridgette has already housed her retirement community friends and their nurse in her ancestral estate which is partially magic proof) and bring them there.

I'm glad they did because it brought up a tale of a male gorgon in Bath which I had to go look up (cool stuff right there). And did I mention dragons? There are dragons.

This story remains fun and the art is outstanding I want to hang it on my wall.



View all my reviews

Once & Future, Vol. 5: The Wasteland by Kieron Gillen

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This is a conclusion worth the having. Yeah it borrows a bit from Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them there are the end but it made sense. It's about the only thing they could have done and it worked logically within the confines of the story's folklore roots.

Bridgette, Rose and Duncan have come up with a way to end The Story and get Britain back to the real world. Time, however, is against them. They need to survive nearly a year in the Other World and not only do they have all of the Arthurs working against them, there's Mary.

If I had one gripe about this series it's Mary. We get why she doesn't trust her mother but it doesn't justify why she treats Duncan as she does. In her head (and in her trauma) I suppose she considers him more his grandmother's child than hers but what is really lacking is Duncan's reaction to all of this. I get it. It would slow the frantic pace down, make it uneven but it still felt like more was needed, even if it's a 'I don't see her as my mother' from him.

Still, over all a solid ending. I adored these characters and I'm glad there's a happy for now open ending on it. I wouldn't mind revisiting them. The art was lush and gorgeous up to the last panel. Kudos. I see there are two hard cover editions. I might need to buy them.



View all my reviews

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic

[cornerofmadness]

Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


One of those stars is in acknowledgement that a) this is well awarded b) I hate memoirs c) this wasn't written for me. I mean it's not bad. The art is very nice but I just couldn't have cared less. This felt like she was working through something in therapy, coming to terms with a distant father who was at best a closeted gay man and at worst a groomer, preying on his students.

Given the title I thought their funeral home business would have played a larger role but this whole thing could have been told without it even being mentioned and nothing would have changed. It's also repetitive, hitting the same beats again and again as she deals with her father's potential suicide (did he jump in front of the truck or simply stumble, no one will ever know).

I'm not even sure how to deal with how pretentious it was as well, with everything compared to great literature. To a point that made sense as it was something she shared with her dad, a love of literature. But how often we went back to that (and to the whole looking things up in the dictionary cliche) made it seemed forced.

But make your own conclusions and don't base whether or not you read this queer memoir based on the cranky review of someone who only read it because of a reading challenge prompt. I wouldn't have looked at a memoir otherwise.



View all my reviews

Miles Morales: Shock Waves

[cornerofmadness]

Miles Morales: Shock Waves by Justin A. Reynolds

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I'm glad to see stories for Miles out there because I find him endearing. The art in this was fun. I would have loved to have rated it higher but there are some stumbling blocks for me in this story. Mostly it felt rushed and there probably were page count restrictions on it.

An earthquake has devastated Puerto Rico, Miles's mother's homeland and a place where much of their family still lives. He wants to help by organizing a fundraiser but there is something hinky about the biggest contributor. Worse, Miles has gotten tangled up with a young lady that he's attracted to but she has a secret.

And honestly that's more what the story is about, this floundering love story. The attention to sub plots and pacing felt off. The runs down the usual well trod paths adding to the issues. Still I'm glad I read it. It's worth the time.



View all my reviews