laceblade | Entries tagged with comics: captain marvel

Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir - Weird has written lots of non-fiction about Tudors/British royalty. This was her first historical fiction, & it centers on the life of Jane Grey. Grey grew up in an abusive & politically ambitious home. Her story is pretty well-known in history, but this was still a good read. I enjoyed reading about the Tudors from a fresh perspective, & I'm planning to check out Weir's other historical fiction.

Twelve Kingdoms #4 by Fuyumi Ono - A book that really gets into how to rule, particularly when the king is a teenage high school student from modern day Japan & has no idea what the local politics/life is like for her subjects. She's easily manipulated at first, but Yoko won't stay like that for long, obviously.
As before, basic editing errors make me grumpy at TokyoPop, but I really loved this book. I loved the growth of all three female characters. I really like how protagonists CHANGE in Ono's books.
This is the last one TokyoPop put out in the US, so I'll be switching to fan-translated versions to continue my progression in the series.

Whose Body? by Dorothy L. Sayers - my first Sayers :*) There was a jarring second-person interlude which I really didn't care for, but I'd like to read more.

Ms. Marvel #3 - I continue to like this series, but don't have much to say about it?! I think I'm giving the first three issues to my youngest niece as part of her birthday present.

Captain Marvel #2 - Sort of annoyed by the appearance of Guardians of the Galaxy, who seem like they're only around to promote their movie? idk.

A Stranger in Olondria by Sofia Samatar - Full disclosure that Sofia used to be in book club with me, so I'm probably biased.
I was afraid I wouldn't like this book because a lot of people have described the prose as being "ornate"/etc. in a way that reminds me of Catherynne Valente. While I haven't read all of Valente's work, the parts I have read are things I really don't care for at all.
Not so with Samatar's book - I fuckin' loved this.
It's about falling in love with reading, & also about ghosts, about love, about so many things. I think this will be even better upon rereads. I wish for many more fantasies like this one.

Red Colored Elegy by Seiichi Hayashi - Pretty strongly disliked this, both the nonsensical story & the artwork.

Ultimate Comics Spider-Man vol. 2 by Brian Michael Bendis - This felt like a lot of setup, but I'm still interested in reading more to see what happens to Miles Morales.

Iron Man: The Mask in the Iron Man - graciously lent to me at comics club by

garrideb, unfortunately I didn't care for this one at all, :/ Mid-1990s U.S. comics, WHAT ARE YOU?!

Kaze Hikaru, volume 19 - It is really difficult to jump back into this after being away for a while. I can't keep track of who anyone is in Osaka. I like how much time this series spends on politics. What I REALLY want is to know what's going to happen when shit goes down & everyone dies,

All Our Pretty Songs by Sarah McCarry - I read this because it's on this year's Tiptree Shortlist. It's a modern retelling of Orpheus. WOW at that ending, though. "I'm not a hero, I'm a bitch" - HAVE I EVER IDENTIFIED WITH A PROTAGONIST MORE THAN I DID IN THIS MOMENT?! Just, wow. The ending was glorious. I'm really looking forward to the next installment.

Crossposts: http://mystickeeper.livejournal.com/696813.html

are you two years ago by

timorous_scribe - Reuniting a little threesome called the Unholy Trinity for some Toxic performance practice and one last sleepover before they have to return to their big kid lives (and all the issues that go with) at MIT, New York, and Yale.

i just can't shake this feeling (that i'm nothing in your eyes) by

ratherembarrassing - Santana Lopez. When asked whether they each thought the other would end up at this point, both of them answered decisively. “Of course.”
post-Frenemies fic that's everything I wanted & didn't get from the show.

Here Comes Trouble (Or: the One Where Santana Takes Over Glee Club) by

lookninjas The first thing she does is to put the picture of Finn back in the choir room where it belongs.
The second thing she does is to look right in his vacant, grinning face and say very firmly, “Just so we’re clear? I’m not doing this for you.”

The Way We Were by

crossfirehurricane - An au where Lyanna Stark marries Rhaegar Targaryen & they live as king & queen in King's Landing. I like that neither Rhaegar nor Lyanna are saints, but this was more something for me to read while also gaming. I like the premise of the au.

Kingdom by the Sea by

crossfirehurricane - An au where Lyanna Stark marries Robert Baratheon. Same as above - didn't really like the writing, but like the premise. I need Game of Thrones aus, I think. There are so many possibilities!

Buffy Season 10 #1 (New Rules part one) - Nice reminder of where we've been, plus a new mystery to figure out. Really enjoying the return of [spoiler].

Hawkeye - I'm caught up (unless another one came out today?) but don't have anything to say about these. REALLY enjoyed the trippy Christmas cartoon commentary issue.

Ms. Marvel #2, Captain Marvel #1, Lois Lane #1 one-shot - I liked all of these!

Spider-Woman, Agent of SWORD - I borrowed this from someone in comics club. I had no familiarity with Jessica Drew except that she sometimes shows up in Captain Marvel as a friend of Carol. Despite my lack of familiarity, this was fan-fucking-tastic. I really loved it.

Sarah Canary - I got about 120 pages in before going up. I gave zero fucks about the characters it what was going on :/

Boxers and Saints - These were really great, an appreciated as I'd previously had zero familiarity with the Boxer Rebellion.

Princeless: Get Over Yourself - I still like this story, although I don't feel the same glee as I did over the first volume. I'm happy to keep reading the collected volumes from the library, but I won't be adding this to my pull list.

Story of a Girl - I devoured this. I love Zarr's writing, and it's interesting to see how class plays a role in both this story (where the protagonist comes from a working class family) and the other book I've read by her (where the family is filthy rich).

Revival volume 2: Live Like You Mean It - I think I'm not feeling this series. There's a lot of gore, and this volume introduces way more problems while not solving any raised in the first. I think I'm also not into zombies unless it's an au Glee fic ^^;

An Everlasting Meal: Cooking With Economy and Grace - This is the first book about food that I've read in years that didn't make me feel anxious. As someone with a restricted diet, Adler's suggestions (& variations on suggestions) were easy to take as they applied, & ignore when they didn't. I don't know yet if this will change the way I cook or prepare food for myself, but it could, and I'd like to buy it.

ATLA: The Rift, #1 - Start of a new trilogy by GLL. I've liked all of his comics so far, and this one is no different. It's the exact tone of the show. Toph & Aang clash about their conflicting attitudes toward culture, & it's tied to how the world is trying to move forward after the defeat of Fire Lord Ozai.

I spent time sympathizing with Aang who's trying to reestablished Air nomad practices, but Toph has a good point when she notes that not everybody's past is idyllic as his, & some people can only live by pushing the past firmly behind them. Unfortunately for Toph, she won't have a choice.

Ancillary Justice - I liked this, but perhaps not as much as others in my circle. I liked what it did with gender, liked a glimpse at what long-game politics look like, liked how complicated it was. Didn't really care for the writing :/

Crossposts: http://mystickeeper.livejournal.com/694203.html

• What are you currently reading?
Cold Steel - Picking up right where Cold Fire left off! I’m finding it hard to focus on this one, maybe because I really prefer mass market paperbacks to trades, maybe because I’ve just been kind of busy. BUT still love this trilogy.

X-Men: Curse of the Mutants - I’m reading the first collection of this story arc. As far as I can tell, this precedes the X-Men series I’m currently buying/reading by Brian Wood, & explains how Jubilee became a vampire. So far it’s pretty silly & I barely know who anybody is, but I think it’ll be helpful in figuring out wtf’s going on in the current series. Plus, the current title is doing some “Battle of the Atom” crossover event, of which I only think I have part of the story, so I’m not really eager to catch up until they return to their own story.

• What did you recently finish reading?
Pretty Deadly #1 - Someone posted a nice review on this somewhere on DW, & now I can’t find it but I am still too lazy to write in depth about it. It’s a neat premise, great art.

Saga #15 - That ending, tho!

Sandman Prelude #1 - I never got around to finishing the first run of Sandman, but this one’s okay?! idk. I picked it up but find myself way more into J.H. Williams III’s page layouts/use of color/etc. than I am into the story.

Salvation of a Saint - I got this from the library becaude I’d liked The Devotion of Suspect X. I may have liked this one more, I’m not sure. I wish that more of Keigo Higashino’s books were translated into English. Nobody knows of a place online where to find translated Japanese novels such as these, do they? ;)
In the meantime, I have lots of other novels lying around the apartment by Japanese authors that I need to read.

ATLA: The Search, #3 (final) - I might not have liked this as much as The Promise, but I like them well enough. I know I’ll reread, etc. Anyone know if GLY is planning to write more ATLA? I’ll miss them if he doesn’t :/

Killjoys #3-5 - I caught up on this series & was feeling blergh until issue 5. There are a lot of details that feel lost on me, or like I don’t quite get the plot, which is a thing that annoys me. Hopefully it goes away when I read them all at once.

Captain Marvel - where I left off through #17 (final issue for this arc) - I wish it were possible to read these but drop all the crossover events. I can’t stand those, :/ #17 was fabulous. I still love Felipe Andrade’s art, & I am SO EXCITED for Ms. Marvel. Sad that we have to wait a while for both.

Trillium #4 - The last page said, "The End," & if it is the end, it's kind of sad & pointless. However, there's supposed to be a Trillium #5, so idk what the hell's going on.

Hawkeye Annual & #13 - It was really nice to return to this series. I love the writing. Kate Bishop has the voice of

raanve in my head. The Internet leads me to believe that issue #14 came out, but I can't find it anywhere in my apartment. WOE because if I could read more I'd do it ASAP!

Crossposts: http://mystickeeper.livejournal.com/680976.html

• What are you currently reading?
Unsounded - still love it. I really like the things Cope does with the frames and her websites in dramatic &/or magical moments. Ugh, it's so good. I'm in chapter 6.

• What did you recently finish reading?
Killjoys #1 - IT'S OKAY?! I liked this more than the free comic book day one-shot, although now I'd like to go back & reread both of them.

Avengers Assemble #16 - Meh. Not much to say about this.

Buffy #22, The Core, part 2 - Not much to say about this, either. Annoyed with the final line of the issue recycling a line from the TV show.

Wild Ones 6-10 - I decided to just push forward & finish this series, as it was only 10 volumes & I already had 6-8 in my apartment.
It's still terrible. About one panel of Sachie looking like a yakuza bamf-boss for every 50 pages of her completely lacking agency. I rated volume 6 three stars on Goodreads because a plot point progressed due to Sachie's choices & talents. After that, back to the same-old, same-old.
I finished this to be a completist. Rakuto's love for Sachie was something I didn't find romantic. He would say things like, "I wish I could lock you up," etc. to prove how ~protective he is toward her, which I found gross.
The final volume shows Sachie about to embrace the other female daughter of a DIFFERENT local yakuza boss - WHY COULDN'T THIS HAVE BEEN THE ACTUAL ENDING?
Instead, the ending is predictable except by focusing on a previously unmentioned dramatic problem.
Anyway, with this, I'M FREE. I'M FREE.

Cold Magic by Kate Elliott - I didn't think I was going to get through this in time for book club, but I miraculously did.
As I mentioned last week, I read this in September but had forgotten all the details. This is why rereading books is super rewarding for me! My memory's weird. Certain things = steep trap. Books/etc., though, main plot points totally escape me & I'm usually only left with vague impressions.
Anyway, I like how important lies are in this book, both as part of the society in which Cat lives & also major plot point progressions.
I also still love how strong Cat is, even when so many things about her life are revealed to be lies. It's very much like the finale of Buffy season 2 - "Take away your friends, blah-blah, and what's left?" "Me." /kicks ass/
I'M SO READY TO READ THE ADVENTURES OF CAT AND BEE, BOOK 2 :) :) :)

• What do you think you’ll read next?
Well, I have a pile of manga I've been amassing from the library, so more of that. I'll be picking up Captain Marvel #13 and possibly other stuff at the comic book store tomorrow or soon.

Crossposts: http://mystickeeper.livejournal.com/650792.html

• What are you currently reading?
Nothing.

• What did you recently finish reading?
Young Avengers #5: And so the first arc comes to an end, & everyone is a team & they're going off in a spaceship (?!). I don't really care where they're going or what they're doing, so I guess that means I should take it off my pull list, lol.
I might follow up later, when it's at the library or something.
I REALLY could have used a trigger warning for Billy's pages, too, jfc.

Avengers: The Enemy Within #1: This is the beginning of the Captain Marvel crossover event. This was okay, mostly like reading another of Captain Marvel, with special appearances by Spider Woman & Thor.
Carol coping with a chronic illness is what makes her character compelling to me.

The Last of Us #2: Still really digging this. I love Faith's art. Starting to dread the end of this prequel mini-arc, because the storyline will continue in a PS3 video game and I don't have a PS3 ^^;;;

Angel & Faith #22, What You Want, Not What You Need part 2 - So, the entire season has been leading up to this. ( spoilers )
As the apocalypse is nigh (again) & everyone prepares, I find myself really attached to this group of people. I hope there's more after this season ends, whether in a continuation of Angel & Faith or back with the main Buffy title.

X-Men #1 - This is the new series that Brian Wood is writing, which caused a stir a few months ago when the cover just showed six women. ONLY WOMEN HOW CAN IT BE?! Anyway, my familiarity with the X-Men universe is pretty minimal. I saw the X-Men movies maybe once each, like a decade ago? (or whenever they came out lol)
This issue includes Rogue, Storm, Jubilee, Kitty Pryde & some other people, but I don't really know who any of them are.
THAT SAID, I love the art, I'm interested in the story, & I think I'll be sticking around for a while.

Lifelode by Jo Walton - I really liked this. I wish I was in a better headspace & able to say more about it.
It's the first time I've finished a novel in a while. And just...yeah. I love Taveth.
Still a little uncomfortable with the concept of a "lifelode," but overall I really loved it.

• What do you think you’ll read next?
idk.

Crossposts: http://mystickeeper.livejournal.com/647514.html

• What are you currently reading?
Batwoman #15

Of Love and Other Demons by Gabriel García Márquez - I'm still feeling really moody about books & reading. Grabbed this out of my bedroom because it's short. I haven't yet read a Márquez novel, just some short stories. I can't even remember whether the stories I read were in Spanish or English translations.

• What did you recently finish reading?
Young Avengers #4 - so I wanted to stop reading this, but a new issue came out before I could tell my comics guy, so I bought it & read it. AND THEN IT ENDS ON A CLIFFHANGER?! LOKI WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! So I guess I'll at least be buying the next one.
Kate feels like a totally different character in this series than she does in Hawkeye. While she originated in Young Avengers, I think I like her more in Hawkeye ^^;

Hawkeye #10 - this might be my least favorite so far? Stylistically interesting, the narrative did not budge forward at all.

this is not (a love song) by

thememoriesfire - one-shot I hadn't read yet. Faberry with Quinn as a serial killer. Haunting, painful, yet still believable in its own way. Mind the tags.

Captain Marvel #12 - Still digging this. I think I'm going to be sad when they switch artists from Filipe Andrade. The current style is just...really grand. I should find some Captain Marvel icons. Before the next in the Captain Marvel line, there's going to be a crossover event called "The Enemy Within." I'm excited to see Carol interact with other Avengers (especially after seeing the Iron Man 3 movie). I'm hoping it'll be more interesting than her appearance in Avengers Assemble, which didn't do much for me (and I dropped after about two issues).

Mara #4 - There's a really epic story going on here, but unfortunately I don't really feel emotionally connected to the protagonist. At all.

Free Comic Book Day (FCBD) Rurouni Kenshi: Restoration - This was okay. It's like a retelling of the original Kenshin manga?? idk why they're redoing it, but the art is pretty great. For those unfamiliar, Rurouni Kenshin is the story about an assassin from the Bakumatsu who was fucking epic during the rebellion at the end of Japan's Edo period, getting rid of the emperor & taking shit over. However, Kenshin felt remorseful for having killed so many people, & at the start of the manga uses a reversed sword so that he can't kill anyone. His guilt/journey is appealing to me, & maybe I should read more some day? When I read it the first time, the endless battles with people never changing/etc. bugged me. Which is what bugs me about most shounen. Still, the manga is sort of a huge anti-war message, & I should probably read it.
Anyway, there doesn't seem much point in reading a retelling when I haven't read the original!

FCBD Dragonball: Harmless, but pointless, which is how I feel about all of Dragonball.

Buffy season 9 #21: "The Core" part one. We're finally in the final arc of the season! And shit is intense. ( spoilers ) There are lots of moments that I like in this, down to Andrew's Akira poster hanging on the wall.

FCBD: Mouse Guard offering - I don't buy single issues of Mouse Guard, but I do like reading the graphic novel versions when they come in at the library. Anyway, this was fine but mostly forgettable.

Glee fic, The Loneliest Number by

lazarus_girl - Set between 4.16 and 4.18. Restless and struggling to adjust to life as a single girl in New York, Santana finds an unlikely ally in Rachel. (NSFW)

Batwoman #7-11 (To Drown the World) - I've been neglecting Batwoman comics for a year, so my goal was to catch up & decide whether to keep buying or drop it. I just find this all pretty dull? idk. I like Batwoman as a character, & really liked her intro-book. But I'm just bored by this. -_-

Batwoman #12-14 (World's Finest I: Blood Tides) - This is a crossover with the new Wonder Woman series. The layouts & etc. got way more interesting in this arc, what I'd expect from Batwoman.
Batwoman's dealing with Medusa in her city, so that's why she gets Wonder Woman to team up with her. Wonder Woman's inner narrations are almost lyrical, and the way the two of them interact with & respect one another is pretty nice to read.

Lullabye for the New World Order: just gonna get my feet wet (until i drown) (aka: part 2) was posted on Sunday, by

synecdochic and this is just...OMG FIC OF MY ID. AU where Tifa meets up with Tseng prior to the start of the game, & he gets Tifa and Rufus to talk and just OMG.
In this part, they go off to Nibelheim & find the things one would expect them to find in Nibelheim and just OMG. The Nibelheim flasbacks/etc. are my favorite parts of the game, so just seeing another set of things happen there is so great, so meaningful to me.
And OMG THESE CHARACTERS. It's

synecdochic and

traxits who have gotten me to care about the Turks & Rufus & Reeve AND NOW I CARE SO MUCH?!
But Tifa especially, my favorite character of all time, and she is just SO FUCKING COMPETENT in this fic, I love it so much.
I'll be reading & rereading this forever, I'm sure. A fantastic addition. I'm so looking forward to where this story goes, and I don't care how long it takes to get there, because in the meantime I can pour over this forever.
As this all takes place before the game begins, I think people could read it without FF7 knowledge.
I'm also seriously happy to be involved in group plays of FF7 with people in town. I did that one summer in middle school & it was like, the best summer of my life. I LOVE THIS GAME SO MUCH I WANT TO SHARE IT WITH EVERYBODY OMFG.

• What do you think you’ll read next?
Well, WisCon is in a week and a half so mostly I'm thinking about a billion emails that don't actually require action on my part.

Crossposts: http://mystickeeper.livejournal.com/640368.html

• What are you currently reading?
Cyteen by C.J. Cherryh. This is the first thing I've ever read by this author. We're reading the first 1/3 of the book for

beer_marmalade.
I'm grumpy that the back cover of my copy ruins a major spoiler that hasn't happened yet in the first third of this book :[ I'm glad I powered through the first multi-page info dump. I HATE STRAIGHT-UP INFO DUMPS IN SCI-FI NOVELS UGH. I probably retained nothing.
Aside from the info dumps, this novel is dense-but-great. Lots of politics & trying to outmaneuver people. PARLIAMENTARY PROCEDURE. Also huge ethical issues to think about, like human cloning and etc. It's a great intersection of interesting things for me, & I sort of feel like this book was written specifically for me.
I wish my brain were a little more with it right now, because I feel like I'm missing stuff.

Anna Karenina - need to finish part 5 today. This book club meets in a bar tomorrow, instead of someone's apartment (ty baby jesus).

• What did you recently finish reading?
Captain Marvel #11. I just love this current story arc so much, & I want Filipe Andrade to do the artwork for this series FOREVER. Captain Marvel talking to her cat. Using assistive technology! Dealing with medical bullshit and mundane life stuff in addition to being a superhero. I <3 it.

The Last of Us #1 of 4. By Faith Erin Hicks & Nick Druckman. FEH is one of my all-time faves. I've been reading her stuff since Demonology 101 was being posted online (it's a web comic). This 4-part series is a prequel to a PlayStation 3 game that's coming out in June. I don't have a PS3 unfortunately, but this game looks really good. As for the comic:

It has been nineteen years since a parasitic fungal outbreak infected and wiped out the majority of the world's population. In Boston, one of the last remaining quarantine zones, a young girl named Ellie is being transferred to the military prep school that all orphaned teenagers must attend upon turning thirteen.

So, yeah. Post apocalyptic society with a group of freedom fighters in the background. Ellie fights hard, and also seems to be suffering PTSD. I loved this so much I immediately reread it. Very excited for the next issue, & sad it won't come out 'til May 29th. And now I want to buy a PS3 so I can play this game :3 (and Final Fantasy XIII, I guess)

Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Search, part 1. This picks up right where The Promise left off. (The Promise picked up right where season 3 ended.) Gene Luen Yang did a great job with the first one, & is still killing it.
We start off with a simple premise: as the gaang try to lead the Four Nations with a bunch of adults, one of the adults says that families are like nations. Zuko worries about his ability to lead the Fire Nation, given that his dad's in prison and Azula has been institutionalized. He decides to focus on his missing mother.
I'm down with finding out what happened to Ursa (his mom), but I'm a little annoyed that Zuko is at the center of the super serious plot like last time.
This series also tells Ursa's story in flashbacks, while Zuko tries to find her in the present. Grateful that Ursa is getting a lot of screentime in her own right.
Disappointed that Toph isn't around for this arc. I still feel that everyone's characterization is spot-on, as is the humor. It's like watching the show.

Mara #3 - We got a little more explanation here, but mostly I really think it'd be better to read these issues all in a row. It's getting hard to keep track of wtf is going on. This series really isn't written to be read one issue at a time. Makes me grateful for things like Saga and Hawkeye, which definitely are.

Hawkeye #1-4 - W O W. I don't even know whether I can be coherent about it.

• What do you think you’ll read next?
More Cyteen, more Anna Karenina, more Hawkeye comics.

I'll need to go buy the new issue of Saga that just came out today. The Internet says Apple won't allow people to buy it through its store due to its depiction of gay sex. They seemed to have no problem with the het sex in previous issues!
Anyway, this makes me glad to buy physical issues of comic books from the brick & mortar store a few blocks from my apartment, instead of big corporations through the Internet.

Crossposts: http://mystickeeper.livejournal.com/633615.html

• What are you currently reading?
Wolf Hall by Hillary Mantel - I got to page 88 before I had to return this behemoth to the library. idk if I'll buy my own paperback copy, or what.
Basically, Thomas Cromwell POV during Henry VIII's reign.
I like this book quite a bit overall BUT I find it very confusingly written, sometimes?? It's like Mantel is hesitant to use Thomas's name, so the over-use of "he" makes it almost impossible to figure out who the fuck she's talking about. There were a few passages that made me set the book out in disgust when I got to the end & figured out she'd been talking about Thomas Cromwell instead of Cardinal Wolsey or whomever.
Still thirsty for some women POV during this time - I might read some of those Alison Weir books yet.

• What did you recently finish reading?
Moon Called by Patricia Briggs. I think this is the first urban fantasy that I've actually finished, & didn't bug the fuck out of me. We read it for

beer_marmalade. I like how capable Mercy is. As with some of the anime I've been watching recently (& some of my favorite fic), I like the focus on the mundane. Actual mentions of Mercy making/eating food, etc.
I liked this. I'm not sure I liked it well enough to read more in the series, but I guess we'll see.

Angel & Faith #18/Death & Consequences #3: This was okay. Basically a set-up: "This is what the Big Bad is," & an explanation of how to kill it.
Grateful for Spike showing up at the end, free of his own pointless spin-off.

Willow: Wonderland #4: It was fine! Not much to say.

Buffy Season 9 #18/Welcome to the Team #3: WHAT A CLIFFHANGER AMIRITE?! I like how s9 is ratcheting up.

Angel & Faith #19/Death & Consequences #4: Giles's grandma is a bamf, but I'd rather have more of his aunts! UMM. Holy shit, a lot happened in this one & I'm not sure how they're going to fix things ;_; Very eager to read the next issue!

Captain Marvel #10: Some people have complained about the change in art direction, but I like it! Carol learning how to cope with a medical diagnosis! I am still loving the shit out of this arc. I'm not sure how invested in this series I am beyond this arc, though, :3
I was extremely annoyed by this ad, which appeared in the middle.

• What do you think you’ll read next?
Ugh, idk. I haven't read ANY Anna Karenina since that book club last met, & since we were supposed to read sections 3 & 4 for Sunday, I guess that means I won't be going?!?! Phale.

idk what I'm reading next, I feel stressed at the moment. The Female Man at some point, b/c that's next at (other) book club.

Crossposts: http://mystickeeper.livejournal.com/625585.html

The other day I ran into

heyfoureyes and we were talking about how doing this reading meme has made us realize how much we actually read week-to-week.
Sometimes when I'm focusing on single-issue comics or fanfiction, it doesn't seem like much has happened (at least not according to my Goodreads profile), so I'm just...really liking this meme.
I love seeing what other people are up to, too!

• What are you currently reading?
Young Avengers Presents - Thanks to everyone who commented telling me the order of the YA comics, I've been able to continue, still getting everything from the library thus far! (Yay, my city's library!) I really appreciated having this volume of character development one-shots, because it's helping me be able to tell everyone apart! Previously, I knew Cassie and Kate, & Patriot, but everyone else's real identities/Avengers identity kind of blurred together, so I'm glad I did track this down to read it.
Hulkling's civilian name of Teddy Altman throws me every time, because there was a doctor on Grey's Anatomy for a few seasons with the same name.
Hulkling's interaction with Captain Marvel is the first time I've ever read/seen the male (aka: original) Captain Marvel in comics form. Carol Danvers seems way cooler.
I really dislike the way the women are drawn in this series, sometimes. In certain panels, the detail around Kate Bishop's nipples (when she is fully clothed) makes me feel like I'm looking at pornography.

• What did you recently finish reading?
Captain Marvel, #8 & #9: I'd been really bored by the most recent storyline & was actually ready to drop this title, but I'd already bought #9 and I read it AND IT WAS SO GOOD. The art style changed again in this issue, but it grew on me. This issue is about Carol Danvers's personal life, but then she also fights some dinosaurs in the middle of the issue.
I <3 her relationships with everyone. I really hope that Wendy Kawasaki sticks around.
I had bought the first issue of Captain Marvel hanging out with the cast of the Avengers movie in "Avengers Assemble #9," but it didn't do much for me because SHE didn't do much. It also read like fanfic?! idk. I don't care A LOT about Iron Man/Thor/Hulk/Captain America/etc.
Anyway, her interactions with Tony Stark in this issue were fine to me, because it was ABOUT HER.
I'm also really interested to see how [spoiler from the end of the issue] plays out.
So. Well played, writers. I was about to drop this title, but based on issue #9, I'll be sticking with it. Maybe this is how mass superhero titles always are? They kind of groove all over the place to hang on to all kinds of readers? idk.

I am used to manga & indie US comics. I'm still waffling on whether superhero comics are for me, as-they-are-released.

Saga #9: Lying Cat is the best character, y/y? And seriously, BKV answering letters at the end of each issue is basically the best thing ever. I love the lack of advertisements. Still love the storytelling & the art.
Randoms aside, this was another solid issue & I don't have much else to say about it.

Here We Cross, a collection of queer & gender fluid poetry.
The collection was put out by Stone Telling, "a speculative poetry quarterly dedicated to showcasing multi-perspective work of literary quality."
They put their stuff online for free - here's a link to their most current issue, from August.

My book club

beer_marmalade decided to read this for January because most of us had never read sf/f poetry before. I have a tendency to dislike most poetry. This volume didn't really do much for me. The few standouts were The Changeling's Lament by Shira Lipkin, Hair by Hel Gurney, & The Gabriel Hound by Samantha Henderson.
From our discussion, I have a few poets written down, as recommended by

jesse_the_k & Sofia. Although poetry isn't generally my thing, Sofia and I mostly liked the same poems from this volume, so maybe her recs will do me good!

• What do you think you’ll read next?
Anna Karenina - I didn't get a hold of it until yesterday due to various library mishaps, but I need to try & get through part I by Sunday for this impromptu book club I'm joining!
I'm sure I'll be looking at some other stuff too, but this will be my primary focus for most of the week.

Once I finish YA Presents, I hope to read more of it. The new Young Avengers #1 drops today too, so I'll be swinging by the comic bookstore after work to pick it up.

I've gotten a lot of stuff at the library - Moto Hagio's The Heart of Thomas, a bunch of acid reflux cookbooks, and that stack of books I'd already accrued in the last month or so.

Crossposts: http://mystickeeper.livejournal.com/618048.html

What are you currently reading?
I'm a person who's often in the middle of a bunch of things - I never read just one thing at a time.

The Rescuers by Margery Sharp/illustrated by Garth Williams. Because this weekend I realized Netflix streaming had The Rescuers Down Under & so I re-watched it and then

jesse_the_k tweeted at my squee and was like, "There are books!" SO THEN I PUT IT ON HOLD.
The books are way more sexist than the movie, although I'm much more familiar with the Down Under sequel than the original Rescuers movie.
INTERESTING DEVIATIONS: In the book, the organization = "Prisoners' Aid Society," not "Rescue Aid Society." From the first page: "As everyone knows, mice are friends of every prisoner."
No mouse can entertain this poet who's stuck in a hella secure prison, so the mice decide to spring him.
Bernard is way more paternalistic, and Bianca seems to faint willy-nilly & is kind of a sheltered moron. UNFORTUNATE.

God's War by Kameron Hurley - reading this as an e-book. We're discussing it at

beer_marmalade on Monday. I'm not sure I'm quite as enamored with it as a bunch of other people are? The premise is neat, but "cool premise" is not as effective a hook on me as it is on many other sf/f fans. Hoping that the characters will grow on me a little more.

I've Been Trying to Reach You by

thememoriesfire - this is a Glee fanfiction AU. After having her baby, Quinn transfers to Carmel High School, where Rachel Berry is the lead singer in the elite competitive Glee team, Vocal Adrenaline. Basically, Rachel is popular and Quinn is not. Faberry endgame (I think), but Quinn also starts a band with Santana, Sam, and Puck and I <3 this as I <3 all fic written by

thememoriesfire. Still sad that she had to leave fandom, but glad for all of the fantastic writing she left behind.
It's kind of disturbing to see a well-adjusted Quinn Fabray with loving parents.

The North Remembers by

Silverblood - hella long Game of Thrones fanfic continuing right where A Dance With Dragons left off. This author remembers ALL OF THE PLOT POINTS and her pacing is much better than George RR Martin's has been of late. There are already 80+ chapters, and this author intends to wrap everything up before she's done.
The writing is similar to Martin's. She highlights some character POVs that Martin has yet to do, including Val, Meera Reed, Jeyne Westerling, Sandor Clegane, etc.
I'm ~30 chapters in, I think. I highly recommend this, even to people who don't normally read fanfiction. I suspect that in the end, I might prefer this to George RR Martin's ending, if the future books turn out anything like DWD did.
SANSA STARK HAS AGENCY. It's awesome.

Stuff I'd started but is now on backburner:
Kristin Lavransdatter: The Wreath by Sigrid Unset - I'm in this for the longhaul, but needed to drop it for a little bit.

What did you recently finish reading?
For the last couple of weekends, I've been trying to catch up in the single-issue comic series I get from the comics shop. I'd like to decrease my pull-list if possible.
In general, I still seem to prefer manga to U.S. comics. In particular, I don't really care for the superhero genre, and even though I enjoyed the Avengers movie, I'm not into that fandom and can't seem to care much about the big titles.
"Saga" by Brian K. Vaughan/Fiona Staples - I love everything about this series & it's staying on my list.

"Captain Marvel" by DeConnick - I like the art style the more recent issues way more than I did in 1-3. Carol Danvers seems pretty cool, and at the advice of

coffeeandink I also checked out Avenging Spider-Man #9 and #10 (where Captain Marvel makes her debut) and Avengers Assemble #9 (which she's hanging out with the movie!Avengers). Avengers Assemble #9 reads very much like a fanfic! I don't care much about Iron Man/Hulk/Captain America/Thor, though, so. This is a series that's fine to read, but I'm not sure I care enough about it to keep it on my pull-list. I could just get the collected volumes from the library as they're released, on a delayed schedule. SOMEHOW I NEED TO DECIDE.

"Buffy Season 9" / "Angel & Faith" - Firstly, I find both of these much more enjoyable than Buffy Season 8 (and I liked most of Buffy season 8). Buffy season 9 has made a few weird choices, but I'm still here for it.
Angel & Faith is all about Catholic guilt and redemption and doing good things every day to try & make up for the bullshit you've pulled. The writing is fantastic imo, and I really, really, really love this series.
I'm not 100% caught up with these yet, and I'm about to start the new Spike and Willow spin-offs.

What do you think you’ll read next?
I'm not great at planning this shit out in advance.
After Monday, my book club will be reading Here We Cross, a collection of queer sf/f poetry for our January meeting.
Historically, I loathe poetry but I've never read any sf/f poetry. Most members of our book club haven't, so we're kind of excited to try this.
I should be getting a copy of Chris Colfer's Struck by Lightning soon, which is a supplement to his movie of the same name. I'm hoping to like this a lot more than I liked The Land of Stories: The Wishing Spell.

Still need to catch up on the Buffy/etc. comics. I also need to catch up on all the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comics being pulled for me rn to determine whether I'll continue reading them. I had really liked the first 8 comics of the main series and the one-shot spin-offs of each turtle.

Crossposts: http://mystickeeper.livejournal.com/610626.html

I really need to cull the comics series I'm following right now, but I just bought a pile of them & am happy to read what I've got right now.

I'm most excited about the new issue of Saga (I fucking love this series), but I also picked up the first two issues of Captain Marvel at the advice of sheisbatwoman.

ALSO got two volumes of Young Avengers from the library (along with Scissor Sisters albums bwahaha).

Overall, I like comic books but I am much more used to manga. It still feels weird to buy individual issues instead of waiting for the collected volumes. Still undecided which is best.

ETA: LOL at this note at the back of Captain Marvel issue #1 detailing all of the progressive changes they made in the reboot of this series, they say that they wanted a less sexy costume in part b/c her previous was not "a costume most fathers would want their daughters dressing up in."

(x-posted to Tumblr)