laceblade | Entries tagged with comics: hawkeye

Moon Child, volume 1 by Reiko Shimizu - I checked this out because the two co-authors of Anime News Network's House of 1,000 Manga column are finally ending the column, after a hell of a run. Each made a post with their own top-10 posts/series, and one of Shaneon Garrity's was their column on Moon Child. I never thought I'd find a weirder manga than Kaori Yuki's stuff, but here we are. Dumbfounded by the heinousness. But also 90s brooding, like, EPIC. Having to request these from outside the library system, so it'll likely take a while to get through the series. I really miss the publisher CMX, :/ I wish I'd been older when they were still around, & I had more disposable income and could've better supported their series. They released a lot of great stuff.

Faith and Treason: The Story of the Gunpowder Plot by Antonia Fraser - Following up my run of Tudors! fiction/non-fiction, I wanted to read this because I never really "got" what this historical event was/its significance/whatever. It was SO FASCINATING. Clandestine Catholics disillusioned by a king who's not as Catholic as they thought he would be, Jesuit priests grappling with whether they can break the seal of the confessional to save lives vs. trying to argue with the would-be perpetrators and prevent the crime themselves, & also a tiny dude who went around building secret hiding places into the homes and properties of Catholics who hid Jesuits and other Catholics on the run. SO INTERESTING. OMG.
After this, I think I'm going to be jumping back in history to read some War of the Roses fiction/non-fiction. Although maybe also first some Mary Queen of Scots stuff.

Arata the Legend, vols. 16-22 by Yuu Watase - Lots of people lost their clothing for various "plot" reasons in a number of these volumes, :p
This series is at its best when it's balancing both of the two worlds, as opposed to focusing on the fantasy world of Amawakuni. The dread that Arata and Oribe feel as they're dealing with the horrors produced by Harunawa is palpable, and makes me connect with the characters' fear in a way that never quite happens with the characters in Amawakuni, save for the ways in which Arata and Kadowaki grapple with their feelings about each other/their friendship, as well as Mikasa's realization about her ~origins~. I'm about caught up to the English release of this series, which is also caught up the point where Yuu Watase had her hiatus. I'm really interested to see where this story goes, now that she's free from her abusive editor.

Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson - A selection from the Sirens list. This was fan-flipping-tastic, like I was blown away by how great it is.

Strange Fruit: Uncelebrated Narratives from Black History by Joel Christian Gill - This has been making the rounds at comics club, and I really enjoyed the art while reading these true stories about real people from black US history that I'd never heard before. From people's reactions to that other comic series called "Strange Fruit," I'd say this one is much better, :p

Truth: Red, White, and Black by Robert Morales - or, The first Captain American wasn't Steve Rogers. I've heard of this before, but I think I requested it (not in our library system, :[ ) after some tweets by

sparkymonster. In a country where Tuskegee happened, it doesn't take much of a stretch of the imagination to think that the government would have created the super soldier serum by first testing it on black men. Morales pulls a lot of truths from history to tell a powerful story that leaves you reeling. The list of books about human subject experimentation & ethics in the back was obviously of great interest to me, so I added a lot of those to my to-read list on Goodreads.

How to Understand Israel in 60 Days or Less by Sarah Glidden - Checked out from the library after

jesse_the_k was talking this up in comics club (I think?). Glidden goes on a birthright trip to Israel, despite feeling a little awkward about it because she has some serious issues with a lot of Israel's actions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. She's very upfront in describing the the trip that she & her group go on - what they see, learn, & feel.

Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire - SO FUN. Like, wow what a universe. I ended up rating this three stars, due to a truly absurd climactic battle that leads up to Ultimate Climax, as well as due to wayyyyy too many over-explain-to-the-reader moments. I wish McGuire would trust her readers to make their own logical conclusions once in a while. Like - "the store was locked, that's because someone just died, so that makes sense" - are the sort of things I write out when I'm logic-feeling my way through a scene that I'm writing? But then I rip out during editing, :p
That said, I <3 Dominic, I like the IDEA of a family of ~~Slayers~~ cryptozoologists who have broken away from ~~the Watchers' Council~~ the Covenant to stop killing all demons & instead figure out which ones deserve it, and study/protect the rest.
I suspect I'll like other POV characters more, so I'm eager to read both the other novels and the short stories set in the same universe that deal with her grandparents & great-grandparents.

Hawkeye #22 by Matt Fraction & David Aja - Sad to see this one end, even if it was a good ending. I kind of want to reread the whole thing. Mostly, I wish it weren't over.

Crossposts: http://mystickeeper.livejournal.com/744461.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

SO...after my HP reread, I had a lot of stuff due back at the library.
Then I went to comics club & borrowed lots of stuff from people. SO THIS IS A LONG LIST, is what I'm saying.

Cold Steel by Kate Elliott - Great conclusion to a trilogy I've loved. I LOVE CAT AND BEE. CAT AND BEE FOREVERRRRRRR. Also I now want to read a bunch of other Kate Elliott stuff. Good thing I've been buying her novels wherever I find them used/cheap.

Kaze Hikaru, volumes 14-18 - Things are getting a little more intense! I loved the foreshadowing when the doctor came to visit - listening to Okita's chest, when the reader knows he's going to end up dying from consumption.

Saturn Apartments, volumes 6 & 7 - The end of this series! It got a little more intense than I thought it would. Anyway, I can't remember any manga or comic focusing so much on class issues as the central theme of the plot. I'm glad I read this - great sf/f ideas, and a great entry manga, if you're looking for something.

Tears of a Lamb, volume 2 - Didn't like this volume as much as the first - almost the entire thing was about the school's sports festival. I did enjoy meeting Kanzaki's sisters, though.

Dengeki Daisy, volume 2 - I loathed the first half, where Teru was a "slave" doing domestic tasks for Daisy (although she doesn't know he's Daisy).
I LOVED the second half, though - where it's about hackers & the work Teru's brother did while he was still alive. I really hope that Teru goes & lives with Riko.
I'll keep reading FOR NOW.

Very Vicky, issue #? & The Very Vicky Junior Hepcat - This was described to me as a fashion magazine, but idk if I agree? Anyway, Vicky dresses in black cocktail dresses & oversized black hats, & is going to visit her aunt & uncle down in the South (she lives in NYC). She hangs out at the beach although she tries to stay out of the sun. She makes friends. The pages are filled with references to old fashions & alcohol. One of the side character meets God on the beach, & he walks around & tries to meet people. I think I didn't read enough to get a full picture. Overall, it seemed kinda weird. I didn't like it enough to seek out more, I don't think.

Dykes to Watch Out For, vols. 1 & 2 - borrowed from

jesse_the_k - I've heard about these for years but never read them before. Strip comics about the lives of lesbians! Just people living life. I really like "mundane" comics like these - it happens more often in manga than in US comics, I think. I'm glad there's lots more to read. The references to late-1980s politics make me happy. The errant transphobic comment does not.

Pretty Deadly, #1-4 - Glad I went back to reread #1 & then reread everything that's been released through now. It all makes sense again! I love the writing & the art. I'm excited to see where this goes.

Saga #18 - Decent wrap-up to this arc. Loved the final panel. Thirsty for more, but the next arc won't start 'til May!

Hawkeye #16 - I spent an embarrassing amount of time searching my apartment for #15 before complaining on Twitter & being told that Marvel skipped #15! Weird, but yay for more Kate Bishop!

Crossposts: http://mystickeeper.livejournal.com/690596.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?
Parable of the Talents by Octavia Butler. This is my first time reading this book; I read Parable of the Sower back in Summer 2012 I think.
While the story is still mostly told through Lauren's journals, there's now also some reflections by her daughter Larkin, writing way off in the future. Larkin's bitter about her mom caring more about Earthseed than about her, so she spends a lot of time criticizing her mother's decisions.
I'm torn with this as a writing method. On the one hand, it seems like kind of a lazy way to complicate your character/make the reader question their motives & decisions? But it also makes me really interested in Larkin.
I'm about halfway through, so [spoiler] just happened and things are sad.

• What did you recently finish reading?
Saturn Apartments, volume 5 - It's been a while since I read 1-4, but I still really love this series. IN THE FUTURE people have abandoned Earth & live in rings surrounding Saturn. The protagonist, Mitsu, washes windows separating liveable ecosystems from SPACE. He himself lives in a dark under-city where there are no windows - he can't afford to live by them. Washing windows in space suits is a dangerous job.
I <3 this series a lot. This would be a nice series for those just beginning with manga, I think. For locals, I've read all the volumes from our local library system.

Hawkeye #11 - PIZZA DOG I LOVE HIM

X-Men #2 - As I said on Twitter, idk who the fuck anyone is, but I'm enjoying this just the same. Are there any gr9 stand-alones about Kitty Pryde or Jubilee out there in the world?

Angel & Faith #23 (What You Want, Not What You Need part 3) - UMM I'm really digging everyone and it's all apocalypse-y now. GILES' AUNTS FOREVER.

• What do you think you’ll read next?
Hopefully more manga, as I have a pile of it checked out from the library ^^;;;

Crossposts: http://mystickeeper.livejournal.com/654222.html

• What are you currently reading?
Nada. I finished IBTTRY (described below) on my bus ride home from work.

• What did you recently finish reading?
Hawkeye #8 &9: Still a knockout series.

Young Avengers #3: I think I'm going to remove this from my pull-list. It's fine, but it's definitely not good enough/entertaining enough for me to be buying it in single-issue format.

I've Been Trying to Reach You by

thememoriesfire - This is the 25-chapter AU fic I've been reading for some time now. After getting pregnant & having her baby, Quinn Fabray becomes a "loser," & transfers to Carmel High School. Rachel Berry is co-captain of Vocal Adrenaline there, & also the most popular girl in school.
Quinn starts a band with Sam, Puck, Santana, and Blaine. Everyone from the show is in this fic, even Holly Holiday and Shelby and etc. Obviously, due to the AU-ness of the fic, people's personalities & defining features are changed.
I remain impressed by how well

thememoriesfire can handle so many characters, so many issues PER character, how her plots are complicated & her endings are EARNED, & there are still moments of humor throughout.
As with

wintercreek, it's really nice to read a fic by an author who is clearly just as in love with music as her characters are.
This is a fic I'll come back to reread over and over and over again, just like Eyes Closed to Fingers Crossed & Assured of Certain Certainties.
The plot-twist in chapter 22 was totally unexpected for me, even though it was foreshadowed a lot.
I just...OMG. Even if you're not familiar with Glee canon, I know that a lot of people in the same boat who love her stuff.
I'll be thinking about this for days. I know that her outline for the planned sequel is available on the tumfslove dropbox, so I'll probably be reading that all evening.
I've put it on my list of recommended Glee fic in the Faberry section, which is a pretty short list! Believable Faberry is hard to find, imo.

• What do you think you’ll read next?
I'm still feeling rebellious about book club obligations, so I'll likely be reading more comics & fanfiction, although maybe some shorter fics because longer ones like IBTTRY can be a little emotionally draining, ^^;;

Crossposts: http://mystickeeper.livejournal.com/636065.html

• What are you currently reading?
Returned to I've Been Trying to Reach You by

thememoriesfire, a Glee AU where Rachel's the leader of Vocal Adrenaline & very popular at her high school. After having a baby & then facing bullying, Quinn transfers to Rachel's school & is very much an outcast.
I like it a lot. I keep trying to analyze what it is that makes her writing so perfect. Haven't figured it out yet.

• What did you recently finish reading?
Hawkeye #4-7 - Still loving it.

Cyteen: The Betrayal by C.J. Cherryh. Cyteen is a huge book, but for book club we just read the first third, aka the way the author DOESN'T WANT YOU TO READ IT.
Ahh, so cloning & lots of ethical problems. It's hard to talk about stuff without giving away the plot?
Also FUCK my edition, because it spoiled 3/4 of the book on the back cover! wtfffff
I would really like to know where this society's ethical review boards are that oversee research. How did their society get to this stage?! idk.
I'm finding Cyteen pretty dense. I want to read the rest, but it's all a little too much for me right now.

Bunch of Glee fics:
You're the nicest thing I've ever seen by

skintightsocks - Tina/Mike, after 2x17

How to Be a Doper Person (The Answer: Puppies) by

skintightsocks - During/after 2x17. Puck gets a Pomeranian puppy. Puck/Lauren. It's tiny and fluffy and has giant eyes and Puck falls pretty much instantly in love.
He's a badass, okay, but he's been learning that he can be a badass and still have feelings, and, well, Puck's always been a sucker when it comes to animals. Which is why he tucks the dog under his arm and scales the fence behind the pound while he's having a "getting to know you" session with her.

Kiss With a Fist by

skintightsocks - Finn/Puck/Blaine, PG-13
"I like football," Blaine says desperately. "We can talk about football."

Not Far To Go by

skintightsocks - NC-17. Santana had spent a lot of time searching her soul and embracing her feelings and all that bullshit, which really just meant that she had spent the first few weeks of summer trying to get her ya-ya sisterhood on. She'd gotten bored like four movies into the list of lesbian films she'd found, gotten pissed when But I'm A Cheerleader hit a little too close to home, and then had given up and just gone back to watching a lot of porn while decidedly not thinking about Brittany.

The Heat of the Moment by

skintightsocks - Hummelberry. Hypothermia. (sex content, for those who avoid that with this pairing)

• What do you think you’ll read next?
More fic.
I am feeling rebellious against book clubs. I WANT TO READ WHATEVER I WANT.
More importantly...I'd like to get back to writing my fic.

Crossposts: http://mystickeeper.livejournal.com/635162.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.