Dave Roman

So I got this book for Christmas finally (I've wanted to read it since it came out in 2013). But I've got to say it didn't really tell me much for a prequel. Also it was based on the movie, not the show which I didn't know about until I opened it up and Uncle Iroh wasn't Uncle Iroh. I didn't see the movie but I've heard that the character design is based upon the atrocious movie characters instead of the awesome show characters. I never adjusted to Iroh's design, but it was an interesting show more read. At least Azula, Mai, Tylee and Pathik all looked the same. Seeing Pathik again was actually pretty great. show less

Brian Reyes is a normal kid, until he grows a unicorn horn, and his best friend is taken into the underworld. Friendship, loyalty, belief in oneself, plenty of magic, and a dash of humor.

SLJ: Brian Reyes is "totally normal" for the first few years of his life…but then he grows a unicorn horn, meets a talking muffin that is actually a cursed wizard, and his best friend Avery is taken by the Skull-King. Comics-loving, nonbinary Avery has always been a staunch friend, so naturally Brian has show more to travel to the underworld with a black cat to rescue them. Fortunately, Mandrake Maggie and Lorraine, the Gran Reaper, are on Brian's side. Brian's unicorn horn provides a soundtrack to the adventure (it sings), and along the way, he learns to believe in magic and in himself and use his powers to help others. His actions as narrated omniciently into a volume called "The Legend of Unicorn Boy" (a la Seven-Day Magic by Edward Eager), and with a lot of blank pages at the end, there's room for a sequel. Most pages have five panels, with vibrant colors, except for the Skull-King's backstory, which is sepia-toned. Brian has brown skin and dark brown hair; Avery has pale skin, blond hair, and earrings. VERDICT With the humor of Meggie Ramm's Batcat and the layered hero's journey of Ben Hatke's Things in the Basement, this is a true hero of a tale. show less

A fantastic re-imagining of the X-Men with all the right themes, stylistic renderings and motifs from manga coupled with the things that make X-Men stories interesting - being an outcast, the social dynamics of a school setting and cool powers.

I never thought I'd read/pick this up. Not because I'm a X-men purist or enthusiast (the opposite really, I'm rather indifferent to 95% of the Marvel universe's inhabitants), but because it just never made me 'Need have now'. It's pretty and I really like the artwork and I've been a fan of Dave Roman's since Jax Epoch (Flannel Sorceress, you know you want to read it now), but I have already so much I collect that I thought I'd let it go until I had extra money.

Oh well I make mistakes show more sometimes.

Prompted by an urge to pick up Deader Still by Anton Strout, for him to sign at the upcoming Brooklyn Book Festival this weekend, I had a little time left over and decided to read a graphic novel or two. But I've caught up on all my series (yes I spend that much time in the bookstore) so I browsed and came upon Misfits. Kitty Pryde is a character that I like only sometimes--not in the movies, but in X-Men Evolution and Wolverine & the X-Men I like her a lot. In the comics...meh.

This is definitely a shoujo lover's dream--reasonably attractive girl gets sent smack into the middle of a *special* school filled with ultra-hot guys who fight to gain her attention. They fight often too. I wouldn't say that Kitty doesn't have some redeeming qualities--she is smart, loyal, a good person who believes in helping people, but I think that if she had been transferred into a school with a more even ratio of girls to guys, she wouldn't have been latched upon so quickly.

Her admirers include: Pyro, Angel, Forge, Quicksilver, Havok and Nightcrawler, with appearances from Gambit, Cyclops, and Iceman. To be fair, really only Pyro and Angel make any sort of 'serious' play for her (with Pyro by far leading that charge), everyone else has varying degrees of friendship interest. Except maybe Iceman. But he plays things very close to the chest.

The shoujo re-imaginings of some of my favorite X-men (and not so favorite) was interesting to say the least. Um Xavier walks. Magneto is...amusing more then menacing. Storm is rocking a mohawk (so anyone who remembers Storm from the 90's X-Men episodes in the future? Yeah that's her), Jean is a professor but currently off looking for people to recruit, Cyclops is a STUDENT. I liked how a lot of the re-done character traits became more 'shoujo' hero like. I think the fit was pretty good for the most part. I'm not as keen on Iceman's re-imagining, because I don't remember him being so...aloof and isolationist in the comics, but I'll forgive them. They had Gambit. And he was hot. And he cooked. I can't ask for nothing more.

Closer to the end Roman and Telgemeier work in a more serious conflict, slowly percolating a romance that develops between Kitty and one of the other guys and then channeling that into the conflict at the end. There isn't a lot of outside intrusion, since the story is set at the Xavier Institute, but when there is it goes...BLAMMY. Also some of the comic elements made a crossover--Cyclops and Havok being brothers for instance, Havok's wonky sudden power surge, Magneto's fanaticism in regards to Mutant Rights and Xavier's Pacifist approach, Magneto's Hellfire Club (though in this its more of an elite clique at the school).

I thoroughly enjoyed Misfits. A lot. I want an art print of Gambit now. Please? Anyway (back on topic) the end gives us a brief summary of what volume 2 will be like in light of some of the...changes at the end of volume 1. More girls (please please please Rogue. Please. Pretty please. And Jubilee. Pretty pretty please), drama and angst abounds in volume 2...with no actual tentative due date. Ah well. I'll be in line for it anyway! show less