laceblade | Entries tagged with comics: saga

Battleworld: Runaways, #1-4 - Written by Noelle Stevenson. It seemed like it would be impossible to capture the tone of the original Runaways series with only a single original character crossing over, Molly Hayes. [I guess Cloak & Dagger count, too.] But Stevenson managed it. The teenagers sound real, Hall Monitor!Bucky Barnes is adorbs, and it's just great. It makes me really wish that the Runaways title would continue once this ~Secret Wars~ Marvel event is over, but I haven't heard anything, :/

Zodiac Starforce, #1-2 - There was a fair amount of excitement online when this title was announced - a group of girls who used to be magical school girls but had left it behind a while ago. I think that all of the major characters of Sailor Moon made cameos in the first issue. The second one has a Totoro hanging on the wall, as well as a Sailor Moon doll & some kind of Luna pillow. Sadly, the references and the creators' constant, "We just really love Sailor Moon and Cardcaptor Sakura!" and repeating these two titles ad nauseum, is not enough to make a captivating read. The teenagers do not sound like real people, let alone teenagers. Two issues in, and I don't really care what happens to anybody, so I think I'll drop. Maybe I'll check it out from the library when it reaches the trade format?

Ms. Marvel #16-19 - Well, that's the end of her first run. And the entire last issue WAS ALL ABOUT FEELINGS. What a great series, an empowering lead, etc. I love Kamala Khan, although I'm doing my best to resist being sucked over to the Avengers title she's going to be joining in the near future. It seems that Ms Marvel will still have her own series, though, of course everything's "rebooting" due to the Secret Wars event. I'll be sticking around to see what happens now.

Battleworld: Siege, #1-4 - I'd noted at comics club that the only ~Battleworld~ events I was reading in Marvel's current catalog-wide event was Runaways, and asked if anything else was worth checking out. Someone suggested Siege, and when I saw that Kate Bishop and Ms America Chavez were featured as characters & also that Filipe Andrade was the artist, I went for it. This is the story about the people defending The Wall, which spans the planet & divides the patchwork Battleworlds in the north from those in the south. People are led by Abigail Brand, a character I hadn't encountered before. There are a handful of two-page spreads that I'd frame and put up on my walls, tbh, they're so pretty. I love Andrade's art, too, and having Kieron Gillen as the writer doesn't hurt either. I'm glad I read this, as it gave me a little bit more context for the huge event I was only seeing glimpses of in Runaways & Ms Marvel.

Gotham Academy, up through #9 - I'm still enjoying these, but feel that I need to reread the first 10 once #10 comes out, as a refresher for wtf has happened so far :[ BUT. MAPS FOREVER! AND OLIVE TOO I GUESS.

Toil and Trouble, #1 - Put out by Archaia, this is a 6-issue mini-series focusing on the three witches from Macbeth. The witches are used to manipulating the wars and people of Scotland, to have a hand in their ruler. One of them is taking a particular liking to a solider named Macbeth after she returns to Scotland - returning after having been exiled by by her sisters due to disagreement.

At some point, I ended up dropping Captain Marvel. I feel kind of bad about it, but am also seeking to cut some titles from my pull list, :[ Mini-series seem to work way better for me, lol. Maybe the only long-term US comics title that works for me is Saga? I think that Vaughan works hard to make it something that narratively can be read one month at a time, in six-month chunks. It's definitely a skill, and not a lot of writers seem to have it.
I also can't stand it when the writers and artists change. Maybe I've been spoiled by Japanese manga? But the stability of Vaughan/Staples is definitely a huge part of the draw for me when it comes to Saga.

Crossposts: http://mystickeeper.livejournal.com/747318.html

I keep not having anything to say about what I've been reading, but since I use this blog to keep track of where I am in single-issue comics, I figured I'd list my progress if nothing else -_-

Saga #24 - Very excited to revisit some old friends in this issue. Sad as always for the hiatus. Still love reading the letters at the end, or moreso Brian K Vaughan's writing surrounding the letters.

A Solitary Blue - I'd forgotten almost everything that happens in this book, and I'm so glad I revisited it. Voigt's writing is such a comfort to me, and I'm glad to be reading the Tillerman Cycle again.

Marvel's 75th Anniversary Celebration - recommended by someone at comics club. Purchased because they specifically said that one of the stories is about Jessica Jones, AND IT WAS!!! I loved the fake covers, and also Kamala's appearance in the first few pages. I was shocked by how many characters I recognized from the various shout-outs? I guess I'm getting comfy in Marvel's universe.

Phonogram #1 - Purchased because issue #1 was on sale for $1. Didn't really grab me? idk.

Wayward #1-3 - Someone at comics club was looking to offload #1 and 2, and I bought #3 before reading any. A teenage girl who's half-Irish, half-Japanese relocates to live with her mom in Japan. I liked the art quite a bit, and some of the concepts are interesting. Appreciate the Japan in the background. Less enthusiastic about how none of the characters seem to interact how I'd expect them to interact, in uh, any situation? & when the kids decided to "team up" & discussed naming themselves, it really felt like it came out of nowhere to me.
In the letters at the end, the creators make it sound like they're trying to emulate Buffy but also going for their own thing entirely. Lots of splainy stuff for ~3 pages per issue about monster folklore or life in Japan.
Also a trigger warning for some very sudden & vivid self-harm, :(

Ultimate Comics: Spider-Man Volume 5 - This volume explains how Miles picks up his suit again. It was also fun to see him dating Kate Bishop!
This book got a little full, as it gave back stories to four other characters: Spider-Woman, Bombshell, and Cloak & Dagger. I still liked it quite a bit, and am actually interested in all four of these characters, Gwen Stacy, Ganke, and of course Miles. This is what comes next. Too bad the library doesn't have it.

Thor: The Might Avenger, vols 1 & 2 - Borrowed from comics club. Overall this series was a good jumping in point for someone with zero context for Thor aside from his appearance in the Avengers movie. This art style was refreshingly consistent for a Western comic. I was pretty bored to the point of feeling insulted by Jane Foster. The creators' feelings were confirmed when I got to the end and saw her cup size listed on her initial sketch page. Appalling.
Grateful that Thor's first appearance was included in the could one time - nice to see at least two origin stories.

Late Eclipses - 4th October Daye book. I still love these quite a bit. I think I liked #3 slightly more than this one?

Heaven Under Earth - I just read this online, but apparently it's now been published in an Electric Velocipede anthology and taken offline since then!
Actually read this a few weeks ago as part of my quest to read all of the 2013 Tiptree list, but then forgot since I don't log short stories on Goodreads & there was no physical reminder lying on my couch ^^;;
I loved this quite a bit, and found myself thinking, "Why isn't there more fantasy like this?" [This is a thought that I've had a number of times this year.] I really look forward to reading more by Aliette de Bodard.

Crossposts: http://mystickeeper.livejournal.com/725236.html

Avengers Assemble, vol. 1 - I believe this was intended to be a jumping off point from the "Avengers" Whedon movie.

While it's a crossover event with Guardians of the Galaxy, I was able to follow the plot decently well despite being unfamiliar with the GoG.

This book is high on action but low on characterization, making me feel kind of "meh" about it. Clint Barton constantly cracking jokes about his own stupidity, Hulk did nothing for me, etc.

I don't regret having read it, but I'm glad I got this from the library & didn't buy it. The art didn't do much for me, either. I have higher hopes for DeConnick's run, which I believe follows this one.

Anne of Green Gables - I know I read this at some point in my childhood, but it was never a favorite series for me, even though my sister had them on the shelves.
It was my sister's copy that I borrowed; I picked it up while sitting in her living room during some family function.

I loved it, all of it. Anne herself is a critique on the silliness of Victorian society, & she also grows up into an understanding and gracious woman.

I'm really excited to read the next books in the series - I can't remember ever having read them, & I'm eager to see what Anne & Marilla do next.

The Kingdom of Gods - I'm having a hard time figuring out why I disliked this book so much, especially considering that I enjoyed the first two books in this trilogy quite a bit.

The dialogue, the endless exposition, all of it - I got two-thirds of the way through & just cannot stand it, cannot finish it. I think it's the pacing that's throwing me off, or perhaps Sieh's voice, I'm not sure.

Saga #21 - I miss Lying Cat.

Crossposts: http://mystickeeper.livejournal.com/708992.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?

Kitty Goes to Washington - WOW BOOK OF MY ID?! It's a continuation after the first Kitty book, obvs, EXCEPT NOW WITH CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS AND NIH RESEARCH AHAHAHA!!!! I cackle with glee when I read this :*)

• What did you recently finish reading?

Very! Very! Sweet, volume 1 - I bought volumes 5-8 of this manhwa back when Borders was going out of business, & they’ve sat on my shelf ever since. UNTIL NOW, when I finally figured out how to obtain books through my library’s outerlibrary loan system. I really, really enjoyed the first volume of this series, & I hope it only gets better.
Tsuyoshi is a spoiled brat from a Japanese family who’s always gotten whatever he wants. In volume one, his grandfather reveals that their rich/powerful family actually comes from a Korean ancestor who moved to Japan hundreds of years ago.
Tsuyoshi is unimpressed with this - reflecting on whether pouring a bottle of Coke into a swimming pool makes the liquid no matter water? - but his insolence gets his grandfather to spend the rest of his school years in Korea, where he’d like Tsuyoshi to meet a stubborn & badass Korean woman to be his wife.
Enter Be-Ri, the awesome girl who lives next door to Tsuyoshi’s newly built house.
Be-Ri likes to collect junk (aka: people’s garbage) & make things like cat trees or whatever else she can with it. I LOVE BE-RI AND HER GIVE-NO-FUCKS-ATTITUDE AND ALSO HER ENTIRE WARDROBE!!
Be-Ri and Tsuyoshi loathe one another upon first sight, so they clearly must be the series’ OTP!
Another wrench in this love story is that Be-Ri’s in love with the high school tenant who lives with Be-Ri & her family…& is also dating Be-Ri’s sister ;_____;
POOR BE-RI, ILU AND HOW AWESOME YOU ARE! So yeah, I'm excited to read more, even though 2-4 are going to take forever to arrive via outerlibrary loan system -_-

Polite Lies: On Being a Woman Caught Between Two Cultures - This was written by Kyoko Mori. idk if other people read Shizuko’s Daughter multiple times in adolescence, but I did. I’m not sure if it’s because her YA is ubiquitous in the US, or because she taught creative writing at St. Norbert’s, which is basically in Green Bay (where I grew up).
I loved this collection of essays, which makes up the memoir. For those who don’t know her story, Mori’s mother committed suicide when Mori was 12 years old. Her dad was abusive also, so there are several trigger warnings that come with this book :/
Her writing about the differences between US Midwestern & Japanese cultures is very well-done & sometimes amusing. I should probably note that as someone who relocated to the US because she never really felt like she belonged in Japan, or could ever express herself there, Mori holds pretty negative views of Japanese culture.
She lived/grew up there, so it’s not like I can fault her perceptions, although some things seem like they could happen in any culture (choosing to hide an illness from your family members) or are actually just wrong (referring to all manga as violent pornography).
Mori’s prose makes it worth it, though. I’d kind of like to reread Shizuko’s Daughter now since it’s been a while, and track down some of her other things, too. Looking back, I know she’s always been one of my favorite writers.

some songs that aren’t about love by

jan - This was a Chihayafuru fic that I think

littlebutfierce linked me to? Short & great - perfect snapshots of the characters, & I think it really captures the mood of the show, as well.

Revival #1 - Read this because

were_duck kept talking it up. Zombie series that’s taking place in/around Wausau, WI. If not for the local bits, I might not be as interested, but for now I am. I’ve gotten the first trade from the library since reading issue 1, but haven’t read it yet.

Trillium #2 & 3 - Just as good as the first issue, not much else to say.

Saga #14 - This was a great issue. The scene with Lying Cat & Sophie was touching. I’m always excited for more Saga!

Dawn of the Arcana, volumes 4-8 - I’m getting a little bored with this series, but not enough to stop reading? The lack of detailed backgrounds feels lazy to me, and the political intrigue that first attracted me to the book forever seems like a carrot dangled in front of me instead of something I actually get to see :/ I also really don’t care for any of the characters, so that’s a pretty big :(

Kitty and the Midnight Hour - I ended up liking this a fair amount?! Or at least enough to continue with it. Kitty is a bamf, & I’m glad she’s able to upset some of the power structures in her life. Excited to see where things go.

Of Love and Other Demons - This was something I’d started a long time ago & finally finished by plowing through the second half. I love Marquez’s prose, but the premise here (priest commissioned to exorcise a 12-year-old girl with(out) rabies but falls in love with her instead) was pretty uncomfortable. I need to read Love in the Time of Cholera & also 100 Years of Solitude.

Alphonse Mucha - collection or art by Mucha. Last year at the end of the Laura Ingalls Wilder road trip I took with my mom & my sister, we stopped at the Czech Museum in Iowa. 30 minutes before closing, we only had time for their main exhibit, which was all Mucha. LOVE. I'm 50% Czech & am woefully uninformed about this part of my cultural history. I'd love to read more about the politics & history of Czechoslovakia (which I know is now two countries, but that's how it's always been referred to in my family).

• What do you think you’ll read next?
I have now given up predicting! Likely lots of training materials/etc. as I start a new job on Monday!! Maybe something for comfort since starting new jobs always = scary.

Crossposts: http://mystickeeper.livejournal.com/675457.html

• What are you currently reading?
Constantine's Sword by James Campbell, - Still chipping at this. Campbell's tendency to talk about his personal life (including really creepy fixation on his mom?!?!?) is aggravating & frequent.

The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith/aka JK Rowling. I snagged this from the library & it's due back next week because I think they all have 14-day limits due to so many people checking them out.
The chapters are short & manageable. As with The Casual Vacancy, I actually just LIKE Rowling's prose, & this one seems a little less doom/doom/doom-focused than TCV.

• What did you recently finish reading?
Soul Eater, volumes 6-9 - As I mentioned last time I blogged about this series...I think I've decided I'm only in this for the art style. The plot does absolutely nothing for me, & Maka is the only character who feels like actual person.
Once I finish with the series I'm on right now (Soul Eater, Cross Game, Basara), I'm going to need to find some manga I really love (maybe some of the ones I own & haven't read yet, sob). Of the ones I'm reading right now, I only have a lot of love for Basara. idk if it's me having a rough time or manga. It seems like a lot of manga publishers in the US keep rereleasing older stuff in larger omnibus formats. Have we exhausted all the good stuff from Japan?!
I doubt it, I guess. Many manga companies have gone under, & others are struggling. Rather than gamble on new shit, they'd prefer to release things they know will sell well -_-
AH WELL. I know I haven't read every good series ever. I'm looking forward to wrapping these series up (I have a thing about completion) so I can move on to other things, more interesting characters, etc. (again, Basara excepted)

Pantomime by Laura Lam, read for

beer_marmalade. This is the first book I've read about an intersex person. The protag, Micah, is complex and really fun to read about. The prose is not great, & the dialogue is often awful. I liked the way the story was told: present-as-Micah, past-as-Iphigenia. I might be interested enough to pick up the sequel, whenever it comes out.
I really wish I'd known this WASN'T stand-alone when I picked it up, as it made for a really unsatisfying ending.

Saga, #13 - This finally came back from hiatus! I am behind on all my other comic series, but I devoured this immediately after purchasing it. As before, I just love everything about this series. The art, the lettering, the story, the characters, the writing, just - GAH, SO GOOD.

• What do you think you’ll read next?
I'll be focusing on The Cuckoo's Calling, as I hope to read all of it before it's due back at the library.

Crossposts: http://mystickeeper.livejournal.com/665850.html

• What are you currently reading?
Nothing, really? About to start Young Avengers #4

• What did you recently finish reading?
Killjoys comic preview from FCBD: This was really fast-paced, I think too much so?? mergh. Maybe I need to reread it :[

ATLA FCBD short: "Rebound," featuring Mai on the cover, :D after her breakup with Zuko, Mai's depressed & hanging out working in her aunt's flower shop, in the Fire Nation.
I am continually impressed by Gene Luen Yang's ability to write the ATLA characters true to form (here, in The Promise, & now in The Search), and also honestly look at how the political aftermath of the events would leave these kids, their families, & their societies. I see these comics as the true successor to the original show, rather than the slapped-together & sometimes irresponsible Legend of Korra.
(PS: Gene Luen Yang tweeted at me?!?!)

Saga #11 & #12 - lots of emotions in these two issues! I still love the dialogue, the art, ad the pacing. I'm sad this is going on hiatus for a while so they can build up a backlog. Does anyone know how long the hiatus is supposed to last?

Star Wars: The Assassination of Darth Vader, another short from FCBD. This was the flip side of the ATLA one about Mai. This takes place shortly before movie IV. Written by Brian Wood, basically a Vader monologue about what a badass he is, as we watch him kill his would-be assassins. Forgettable.

Willow: Wonderland, #5 (final) The end, by which I mean the final page, was great. I'm not sure I'll ever want to reread this, though.

Buffy Season 9, #19 (Welcome to the Team #4) - ( Spoilers )

Angel & Faith (& Spike) #20 - Working through some heavy shit in this issue. I still like it so much. I very much appreciate Spike's presence, & sort of wish he'd shown up earlier rather than having his own 5-issue spin-off. Buffy comics are pretty dialogue-heavy. It's a thing that irritates me a little when I compare them to other series.

Buffy Season 9, #20 (The Watcher) - a POV of Xander's manpain, but at least in the end I felt very justified by my disgust with him.

Angel & Faith #21 - I didn't think that the mission that started off the premise of this series would remain its focus, & now I'm just afraid to see what happens! We're now in the final arc. I'm scared/excited to keep reading, ;_; ( Spoilers ) With this, I'm now caught up on Buffyverse comics! \o/

Wild Ones, volume 2: There was a great triumphant moment at the end of this volume. So, obviously Sachie & Rakuto are working to keep their yakuza-ness a secret from their high school classmates. Due to some strange turns of events, this secret is basically threatened to be revealed. And in this AWESOME scene, Sachie is a total badass, and basically says, "Yeah, so I'm yakuza. What of it? You wanna go?" OMG THIS BAMF RN.
They walk it back a little by having Rakuto tell her classmates, "Oh, she was just acting for this school event, isn't she a great actress?! Hahaha."

Wild Ones, volume 3: More of the same. It's like...there's not a lot going on in this series that's special? Mostly the same shoujo. I'm a little creeped out by how much time Sachie's grandfather & Rakuto spend talking about who Sachie should/shouldn't be spending her time with, instead of allowing her to make those decisions herself. ("I don't want my granddaughter to grow up to be with someone in the yakuza...") Also some typical shoujo things, where a dude with strong feelings for a girl ends up in awkward body positions where he's directly over her body, etc., in images that look a little disturbingly like a prelude to sexual assault (but it never goes there).
There's a satisfying moment in this volume, too. Rakuto is asked to perform a pointless rescue mission of Sachie. He's being "tested" & there are a lot of arbitrary rules to follow. In the end, he's about to miss rescuing her by the certain time limit, but then Sachie stands up to her captor, says, "There's no rule saying that I have to wait to be rescued," & jumps out the window (into Rakuto's arms). Immediately afterward, the captor says something about Rakuto always saving her, and Sachie is defiant, saying, "No! We save each other."
MANGA, YOU ARE WORKING MY WAY INTO MY HEART.
Thus far, the series has not really addressed the seedy work performed by all of the men surrounding Sachie's life. I'd like to know way more about their ties to their community, whether they actually kill people, etc.

Wild Ones, volume 4: The feature of Sachie shooting a fake gun at a festival GIVES ME LIFE. STOP TEASING ME, MANGA. I want Sachie going on missions with her yakuza crew, pwning people.
Anyway, Sachie leaves her home to go to a festival WITH SOMEONE ELSE. Even though she'd rather be with Rakuto, SHE CAN'T SAY NO.
Back at her grandfather's place, all the men bemoan her absence, & remember how before she came to live with them, they ate instant meals every day. THANKS FOR ESTABLISHING THE ONLY GIRL IN THIS SERIES MAKES EVERYONE'S MEALS DESPITE GOING TO CLASS AT HIGH SCHOOL. Has anyone ever made a list of all manga in which girls provide food FOR EVERYONE?
This is a reason why I like xxxHolic - Watanuki is the one doing all domestic tasks (he's the dude protagonist).
It turns out that Sachie can't stay away for a single night. Rakuto shows up in Okinawa to essentially kidnap her home. (He literally picks her up and steps directly back on to the train he came from, sending both of them farther away from home instead of towards it.)
The end of the last chapter epitomizes what I both love & hate about this series. Sachie drops her wallet & then gets into an altercation when one dude tells her to step off because he's part of a yakuza clan.
Sachie's face turns angry & bamf-like, and she yells, "Turns out that we're part of the same world!" But then you turn the page & Rakuto shows up to say, "I told you so many times to go straight home. What am I going to do with you, Sachie?" UGH.

Venus Capriccio, volume 2: I'd forgotten that Akira is a little exoticised for his "beauty" (whenever the word "beautiful" is used, Takami, the narrator, makes sure to say "even though he's a guy"). He is beautiful in part BECAUSE he is part European, apparently.
Anyway, Takami gets a job at a restaurant, so Akira gets one there, too, to "watch her." Takami's grumpy about this. When she accidentally serves people the wrong salad, he intervenes to apologize on her behalf & also serve the correct food.
He arranges his schedule to match hers to walk her home & calls someone else to do it when he is unavailable.
One night, some hoodlums show up in the restaurant & hit on her. Takami is handling it, but there's no need because Akira shows up to spill water on their heads.
They leave, and he berates Takami. "You're still a girl, Takami. Wake up and recognize that. You're too vulnerable. It's dangerous for you to be walking the streets alone at night..."

It's so gross. I feel like Venus Capriccio and Wild Ones are both communicating the same message: It's romantic for a boy to step in & control a girl's life: Who she sees, where she goes. There isn't room for any men in a girl's life except for her romantic interest. And any misfortune she experiences for daring to [exist outside the shelter of home after sunset / talk to men / etc.] is absolutely her fault.

If anyone's wondering why I prefer series with just girls & no men lately (i.e., K-On!, AKB0048, etc.), this is a huge reason why.
The volume picked up a little after that - I still enjoy watching Akira and Takami play the pinao. I enjoy this series' art. I just still had some smoldering rage going on.

Some Glee fics:
drowning in your dizzy noise by

timorous_scribe - Santana and Rachel, three fail-starts and one take-off. Assumes events up to 4x17 'Guilty Pleasures.' (NSFW)

Mixed Media by

parsnips - Cooper Anderson lands a role on a show called White Collar, & so obviously the entire Glee Club becomes involved in the White Collar fandom. Blaine-centric, which I usually don't enjoy, but this fic is HILARIOUS & I loved every part of it.
He's a professional. He knows about pointing.

• What do you think you’ll read next?
idk. Likely more comics. I don't want to knock on comics b/c they can be super important & meaningful, but I'm still feeling not up to the emotional complexity of novels.
The Anna Karenina book club next meets during WisCon, & I had to return my copy to the library a while. I am not feeling compelled to finish it, especially as someone mentioned that more [redacted] happens.
I also stopped reading Kokoro for that reason, too.
I have more Wild Ones manga waiting for me at the library.

• 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

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

Well, you can tell I've gone back to work, I think.

• What are you currently reading?
Working on finishing Radical Reinvention by Kaya Oakes, which is basically about someone coming to terms with their own Catholicism in spite of the Catholic Church's fail. I suspect I will have a post's worth of thoughts on this book when I'm done (at least, I have about 15 different pages marked with slips of paper), so I'll just hold off 'til then.

• What did you recently finish reading?
Willow #3, This is still meh for me. WHY IS WILLOW BORING? Excited for a new issue of the main Buffy title to come out...wait, it came out today!

Saga #8, bought back in December & not read until now. This series is so good, I cannot. I think what I like most is that when people talk, it feels like real people talking, which is something super hero comics are not so great at! I love this title.

Young Avengers, volume 2: Family Matters by Allan Heinberg, Jim Cheung, Andrea DeVito. Not quite as great as the first volume, for me.
It's hard for me to keep track of everyone's powers & also their parental reveals, as I am new-ish to the superhero Marvel-verse.

I feel betrayed and let-down by the one-page back-story of Kate Bishop, which seemed incredibly unnecessary & cheap.

The spreads where everyone's running all at once (and also the fight scenes in general) seem really cheesy and like shounen manga. I guess I'm not used to the cheese of "Avengers Assemble!" & etc.

More Kate Bishop & Cassie, please. I'll be reading more.

The Comfort of Strangers by Ian McEwan. The plot was a little disturbing for me, and none of the characters sympathetic.
While the writing was fantastic, there's some unfortunate imagery that isn't going away from my mind any time soon.
Adding this to my "sell" pile.

• What do you think you'll read next?
I'd like to keep reading more Gokinjo Monogatari, I kind of stopped doing that after returning home from my parents' place over the holidays.
As for books/etc., I don't care :/
I'd like to read some more Glee fic or maybe return to "The North Remembers" (GoT fic) again.

I need to figure out which Young Avengers comics come next. I gather from Wikipedia that Young Avengers Special #1 happened some time during the issues I already read but idk how to get "just" that issue. US comics are really annoying, you guys. Manga would never do this to me.

I'm not clear on what comes next - I know it's part of the multi-title "Civil War" event, but it seems like some issues happen before Young Avengers Presents & the Runaways/Young Avengers mini-series.
If anyone can help me figure out what these are, & if they were included in any bound editions, that would be useful! I'm trying hard to get these from the library because I find downloads really annoying ~~also b/c I don't even know where to find comics downloads~~.

I like Kate Bishop enough that I'd like to check out the currently-running Hawkeye title, but maybe I'll wait to catch up with Young Avengers first?

The WisCon 37 Anime/Manga Programming Idea-Generation Fest post is still open. Please jump in on existing threads, or start your own. WisCon attendance/interest is unrequired.

Crossposts: http://mystickeeper.livejournal.com/615943.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