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lilli_mack's reviews
5 reviews
Saga: Compendium One by Fiona Staples, Brian K. Vaughan
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
An instant classic. Will make you laugh, will make you cry. Solidly adult-only and worth your time.
I will say, you should probably put the series down for a little bit after finishing this part of the story. Come back after marinating in the ending for a little while, it helps the experience a lot.
I will say, you should probably put the series down for a little bit after finishing this part of the story. Come back after marinating in the ending for a little while, it helps the experience a lot.
Avengers, Volume 1: Avengers World by Jonathan Hickman
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Not only is this run the best thing that's ever been attached to the Avengers brand, it's one of the best stories Marvel has ever published. Imho, I guess.
This is a story about the hubris of self-appointed gods, a search for compromise in a world which has no easy answers left to give, and the last days before the end of all things. Also haha lmao bam pow super hero comic book baybee.
You gotta read this one.
This is a story about the hubris of self-appointed gods, a search for compromise in a world which has no easy answers left to give, and the last days before the end of all things. Also haha lmao bam pow super hero comic book baybee.
You gotta read this one.
House of X/Powers of X by Jonathan Hickman
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
HoX/PoX is the starting point for the last few years of X-Men stories, and holy shit, you couldn't ask for a better book to begin with. On a technical level, it's absolutely masterful. Neither art team ever lets up for even a second, I'd be willing to put any page of this book up on my wall as a poster. Hickman revolutionized this setting overnight, and executes maybe the single strongest retcon I've ever read. If you've never read an X-Men comic before, this is easily as good of a starting point as either Claremont or Morrison, and might honestly be better than either of those. This book never misses a beat. Hard recommend.
Radiant Black, Vol. 1 by Kyle Higgins, Cherish Chen, David Lafuente, Marcelo Costa
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
A massive step forward for independent superhero comics. Accessible for most ages and all levels of familiarity with the superhero genre, and technically extremely well-made. Our main character is immediately so loveable, and the book is very willing to let its characters show us genuine vulnerability. I'm gonna post individual reviews for the later volumes, but I'll say here that the quality has absolutely not dropped off. There's about a half dozen spin-off limited series by the time I'm writing this, and this book is an incredible starting point for its setting.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Addiction
Lovesick by Luana Vecchio
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Western comics spent a long time not getting to tell horror stories. The Comics Code Authority kept that shit tamped down for decades, so any comic from a major publisher in that genre has a sort of elevated importance to me. It feels like we're still building a foundation for that canon.
Lovesick is so good at being horrifying. I read it in a single sitting, and I had to go horizontal several times. The gore in this book is gut-churning. The art, especially on the covers, is stunning. And it's playing in a unique arena, that of dark-web snuff porn and the people who engage with that kind of cursed shit. Lovesick very quickly racks up a deep catalogue of content warnings, and dares you to look away. The first three issues are nearly perfect, and I'd absolutely recommend them to anyone who can stomach the content and is looking for a good horror short story.
However, this trade compiles 7 issues. The second arc focuses on showing us who our main characters really are, and how they got to this point. Issues 4 and 5 have writing and art generally on par with the first arc, but the more time I spent marinating in the subject matter of this book, the more I was left hungry for a "so-what," or any sort of cohesive point that the author was trying to make. It felt like the book was more focused on depiction, rather than discussion. The last two issues sort fall apart a bit. The moment-to-moment quality drops off pretty notably, and the themes become extremely muddled. The ending also feels sorta toothless. By the time I finished reading, I was left entirely unsatisfied. While the story unnerved me in the way it wanted to, it felt like it only pressed those buttons for the sake of pressing them.
TL:DR: Lovesick is impressive as a horror short story but, in my opinion, fails to be worth its content warnings.
Lovesick is so good at being horrifying. I read it in a single sitting, and I had to go horizontal several times. The gore in this book is gut-churning. The art, especially on the covers, is stunning. And it's playing in a unique arena, that of dark-web snuff porn and the people who engage with that kind of cursed shit. Lovesick very quickly racks up a deep catalogue of content warnings, and dares you to look away. The first three issues are nearly perfect, and I'd absolutely recommend them to anyone who can stomach the content and is looking for a good horror short story.
However, this trade compiles 7 issues. The second arc focuses on showing us who our main characters really are, and how they got to this point. Issues 4 and 5 have writing and art generally on par with the first arc, but the more time I spent marinating in the subject matter of this book, the more I was left hungry for a "so-what," or any sort of cohesive point that the author was trying to make. It felt like the book was more focused on depiction, rather than discussion. The last two issues sort fall apart a bit. The moment-to-moment quality drops off pretty notably, and the themes become extremely muddled. The ending also feels sorta toothless. By the time I finished reading, I was left entirely unsatisfied. While the story unnerved me in the way it wanted to, it felt like it only pressed those buttons for the sake of pressing them.
TL:DR: Lovesick is impressive as a horror short story but, in my opinion, fails to be worth its content warnings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Sexism, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Rape, Misogyny, Cannibalism, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Torture, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Trafficking, Physical abuse, Body horror, Stalking, Murder, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Death, and Blood
Moderate: Homophobia and Racism
Minor: Vomit
It's about the making of snuff films. Please be careful.
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