Stephmo's 75 Book Challenge #2 - Graphic Novels

This is the secondary goal and the one I won't beat myself up over if I don't finish. (Okay, secretly, I will.)

Anyway, I do adopt an ungodly number of lists over at ListsofBests - it's a lot of movie lists, but, of course, there are book lists. For books I've cataloged, you can even search my library for the listsofbests tag if you want an idea of where this list adopting has gotten me.

Anyway, there are some key graphic novel lists I've been working:
Time's Top 10 Graphic Novels (if anyone can source a CHEAP Ed the Happy Clown, you're my best friend - I'm hoping recent movie developments help this!)
Ignatz Award Winners
Paul Gravett's Graphic Novels: Stories to Change Your Life
Steven Weiners 101 Graphic Novels
Gene Kannenberg's 500 Essential Graphic Novels

But here's the issue with these lists - they'll give you one or two out of a series - and then I tend to read the entire series (this is exactly what happened to me with Astro City this year). Plus, I tend to get all compulsive about cleaning up and adding CK to LT on these things, so there's that...this is getting a little rabbit-hole-ish, isn't it?

Ticker:



Alternatively, you can search my catalog for my special 75 Challenge Graphic Novel tag.

January Summary Post
February Summary Post
March Summary Post
April Summary Post
May Summary Post
June Summary Post

Ooh! Starred; I'll be very interested in this...good luck!

I can tell you that the first ones should be either the final two volumes of A Distant Soil - The Aria and Coda by Colleen Doran or Buddha, Volume 3: Devadatta by Osamu Tezuka - all things I owe the library.

After that, I need to get caught up on some trades - The Walking Dead, Vol. 9: Here We Remain by Robert Kirkman and 3, yes 3 volumes of Fables - Fables Vol. 10: The Good Prince, Fables, Vol. 11: War and Pieces and Fables Vol. 12: The Dark Ages by Bill Willingham - all things that won't catch me up on my lists...but the first 3 I started because of the lists (Fables & Walking Dead are on the lists, but I was reading them before they made the lists!).

I have recently developed an interest in graphic novels, so I will be paying a lot of attention to this thread.

Can't wait to see what graphic novels you'll be reading. I've planned to read all the graphic novels I have on my TBR list in February. I'm hoping that's enough time to finish them all.

Oh - you have Blankets to read - lucky you! That one will read fast even though it's awfully thick. And it really did deserve all the praise it got. :)

starred! :)

#6 I hoped that Blankets would be a quick read. I just loved Thompsons Carnet de Voyage. I'm worried about finishing the 3 Age of Bronze books. I started the first book once and it didn't hold my interest.

I will say that my TBR list is growing by leaps and bounds - and it's going to explode shortly. I've got a lot on reserve at the library and will probably end up with more once I hit up the LitGraphic Exhibit at the Toledo Museum this weekend.

I've also decided to add Sandman and Death re-reads after finishing off my collecting of all Absolute Editions for them at Christmas (well, lovely gifts!). With the redone artwork and all the extras and the 10+ years since I've read them, I deserve the re-reads.

#1.

I finished my first one of the year - Ghost World. I saw the movie years ago, and the novel is a lot tighter, focusing primarily on Enid and Becky's relationship. I wrote a review, but it's mostly a quickie trying to explain what I got out of it. Short version - Clowes really gets teen angst - if you don't remember and embrace your angst-y years, you'll hate it.

I did prefer his David Boring to this one, though. Both were still excellent!

I think I will pass on Ghost World since my teenage years were so long ago that I can no longer remember them - nor do I particularly want to :)

I read Stuck Rubber Baby today and it's simply amazing. I did double-check because I thought it wasn't on the lists in my first post, but it is on the 500 Essential List. I can't believe it's not on all the lists.

I saw some of the artwork at the LitGraphic exhibit when it went through Toledo, but it really didn't hint at how amazing this fictional memoir of a closeted Southern man recalling his formative years being involved in the beginnings of the Civil Rights Movement was going to be.

I wrote a review and updated all the CK.

From 500 Essential Graphic novels and another one where I saw the original artwork - I read Brian Fies's Mom's Cancer this morning over coffee. He started this as a webcomic when his mother was diagnosed with Stage 4 Lung Cancer without knowing how it would turn out - it's a very good memoir of what a family goes through without becoming one of those overblown "movie of the week" cancer stories where everyone is amazing and learns lessons and looks generally awesome with funky hats. It's funny and sad and shows the various ways his family handled Mom's cancer.

Very moving. If you've had a family member go through this, you'll definitely recognize parts of your experience. It won't be identical, but you'll definitely see parts of it.

Wrote a review and updated CK.

I finished Pride of Baghdad today - based on the true story of the lions that escaped from the Baghdad Zoo in 2003 after American Bombing raids (if you look it up, you'll know how the story ends). Niko Henrichon's illustrations are amazing. Wrote a review and tried to explain my few quibbles as best I could without giving away too much...

I finished another late yesterday - The Golem's Mighty Swing by James Sturm. What's packed into this slim volume is amazing in 100 pages and it's surrounded by a clear love of the game and the small amazing stories of the things men endured just to play the game.

Wrote a review and updated CK.

Hmm. Pride of Baghdad looks like a good one--and Brian K. Vaughan! Definitely going to try to track it down...

A couple more graphic novels for me to track down. Unfortunately, my local library does not have them. Still, into the BlackHole they go!

Oh, Pride of Baghdad sounds right up my alley...

I've finished my sixth graphic novel of the year and a third in a series I started last year - Buddha, Volume 3: Devadatta. This series by Osamu Tezuka is amazing. It may not be the most historically accurate depiction of the Buddha's life, but I've found that Tezuka can open the door to some of the harder to understand concepts of Buddhism in a very inviting and ah-ha! way.

I updated the CK and wrote a review.

I knew this thread would be dangerous for my TBR pile and wishlist. I've already bought Pride of Baghdad and added it to Februarys reading list, plus put all 8 Buddha books on my Amazon wish list.
I loved Ghost World. Have you seen the movie?

>20 VioletBramble: I saw the movie years ago - and it's rather different. Well, the attitude is the same, but the character that Steve Buscemi plays has a very different role in the book vs. film. Frankly, I think fleshing out the character a bit in the movie helped - it would have seemed like a sort of loser version of mean girls in a really sad way instead. And that really wasn't the point of the graphic.

>21 amobogio: Are you recommending? I read it last year and loved it - and wrote a review which you've actually made me clarify two awkward sentences in today. :) Hey - writing a coherent review of Black Hole right after reading it and doing justice was hard!

>22 stephmo: Recommending strongly... Coherent review? Interesting idea - maybe I'll try that.

January Summary

1. Ghost World by Daniel Clowes - 4/5 stars
2. Stuck Rubber Baby by Howard Cruse - 5/5 stars
3. Mom's Cancer by Brian Fies - 4/5 stars
4. Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughan - 3.5/5 stars
5. The Golem's Mighty Swing by James Sturm - 4/5 stars
6. Buddha, Volume 3: Devadatta by Osamu Tezuka - 4/5 stars

I'll need to pick up the pace to hit 75 by the end of the year!

In January, my favorite by far was Stuck Rubber Baby. I can't recommend that graphic enough.

>23 amobogio: :)

What do you do for LibraryThing?

That's very odd. Amobogio—any idea?

I finished A Distant Soil: Aria by Colleen Doran yesterday. Updated CK and wrote a review. This series is really quite a surprise. I'm not much for fantasy or the whole swords and capes thing, but it really works. Doran first conceived the whole thing when she was 14 or 15 - it got off the ground initially with editors and failed. She later did it independently and it worked - with a ton of elements that shouldn't. I guess sometimes it pays to not have folks telling you what to do (although, at times, she could have used a light hand).

I'll be reading the final volume today. :)

#27: I will have to look for that series. Thanks for the recommendation, Steph!

I also finished the last available book in the Distant Soil series - A Distant Soil: Coda. Definitely darker and quite a bit more action. Our rebels are a bit rudderless as their original plan is long-gone, but if you let that go, it all starts to come together. I hope that her final volume sees the light of day someday.

I updated CK and wrote a review.

Have to do the same for the 2 other volumes I finished yesterday...

Over the weekend, I finished Will Eisner's A Contract with God - the first in his trilogy. Four stories that follow individuals living in a tenement on Droopsie Avenue during the depression. More importantly, this is the birth of the graphic novel - no one had really done it before. Comics were serials...they were in the papers and they followed heroes and adventurers. They didn't tell stories. And what I really love is that this is your life-gets-you-down story - the thing we love to do now and call groundbreaking. As if older generations somehow missed out on the passions of life and getting kicked around just for wanting a little bit more. Yeah, that totally wasn't invented until the 1990s or so...

I updated the CK and wrote a review.

I'm reading Will Eisner's New York: Life in the Big City. One of the stories is related to the stories in A Contract with God. I'll have to see if I can find the book. Thanks for the review.

One other weekend read - Mark Kalesniko's Mail Order Bride. I'd seen some of the original sketches at the exhibit in January and was still not prepared for how amazing this story would be...and how raw.

I wrote a review and updated the CK.

>23 amobogio:, >26 timspalding:
Me, not a clue...
Member in good standing?
All around nice guy?
Captain of LT basketball team?

Just read and loved Identity Crisis. More here...

amobogio

#31: My local library has A Contract with God so I am putting it on hold. Thanks for the recommendation, Steph.

February Summary

1. A Distant Soil: The Aria by Colleen Doran 4/5 Stars
2. A Distant Soil: Coda by Colleen Doran 4/5 Stars
3. A Contract with God by Will Eisner 4/5 Stars
4. Mail Order Bride by Mark Kalesniko 4/5 Stars

I'd also started Cerebus Volume 1 by Dave Sim.

Even though the ratings were all similar, I'd have to give the nod to Mail Order Bride for my favorite. Kalesniko's story was really well done.

I finished Cerebus Volume 1 yesterday - and I really enjoyed it, even though it's obvious that this is the beginning of something that's trying to go somewhere, but has only just started to find its footing. I updated the CK and wrote a review.

#38: Nice review, Steph. 300 issues? I am not sure I can find all of them.

Volume 1 was actually the first 25 issues - so it's a huge chunk. Then there are 14 Collected Volumes.

My library has all but 4 volumes of them - which I used my 4 submission requests this month to nudge them in the right direction. Fortunately, the other volumes all appear to get some decent circulation (most had a volume out and requests) - and they tend to feel pretty guilty in their purchasing department about missing things in the middle of series.

Well, I checked and my local library has none of them. *sigh*

Read 30 Days of Night: Return to Barrow by Steve Niles. I'd enjoyed this series when I started it last year, but this installment was rather flat. I updated the CK and wrote a review.

Will start on Paul Aster's City of Glass today...

#42: I think I will pass on the 30 Days of Night series. Horror is just not my thing. Nice review though, Steph.

I started reading them because they were on some lists and the first two weren't so bad...this one, meh.

I saw in my other thread you picked up 500 Essential Graphic novels - I've started reading through that list here and there - I have a tag in my catalog. :)

Read Paul Auster's City of Glass - the graphic novel adaptation of his novel. Surreal and amazing. Metafiction, pulp fiction and just plain great illustrating all rolled into one. Very well done.

I got my incorrectly combined version out of the novel and into the graphics, updated the CK and added some professional reviews. I also wrote my own review.

#45: That one sounds intriguing. I will have to look for it. Thanks for the review and recommendation.

>46 alcottacre: It really was interesting. I want to actually read the novel now - although one of the professional reviews said the graphic novel did a better job of introducing certain story elements than the original work. :)

*****


I've also finished another in my Walking Dead series today - Walking Dead, Vol. 9: Here We Remain. This was a nice breather after the last two and their rather difficult story arc. At the same time, a lot of good stuff happens in very quiet moments. I wrote a review and realized that I probably should go back and review from the beginning of the series one of these days. I also updated the CK. :)

#47: OK, so I should check out the graphic novel, then the book. Got it.

BTW: I see that David Mazzucchelli is in on the Auster book. If you have not read his Asterios Polyp, I highly recommend it.

Sounds interesting - my library has it, so I'll put it on reserve...not that this on-line reserve system is some sort of cyber-crack for me or anything. :)

#49: not that this on-line reserve system is some sort of cyber-crack for me or anything. :)

Yeah, right. I can quit any time too.

Over the weekend, I did finish two more volumes of The Walking Dead - updated CK and wrote reviews for both:

The Walking Dead Vol. 10: What We Become review
The Walking Dead Vol. 11: Fear the Hunters review

These are definitely taking a turn down the whole, "maybe the lucky ones are those that died early" route - which is the normal progression. He's got a good eye towards the dark and what people would find themselves resorting to without relying on some band of super do-gooders in a world of people gone mad.

I did see that AMC not only ordered the pilot for the series, but they ordered six episodes of a series - so I'm really excited to see these characters come to life in a series.

March Summary

I finished 6 graphic novels this month and am caught up on my Walking Deads for now (GREAT series if you're not reading it!).

1. Cerebus, Volume 1 by Dave Sim 4/5 Stars
2. 30 Days of Night: Return to Barrow by Steve Niles 3/5 Stars
3. Paul Auster's City of Glass by Paul Auster 4/5 Stars
4. The Walking Dead, Vol. 9: Here We Remain by Robert Kirkman 4/5 Stars
5. The Walking Dead, Vol. 10: What We Become by Robert Kirkman 4/5 Stars
6. The Walking Dead, Vol. 11: Fear the Hunters by Robert Kirkman 4/5 Stars

Even though I gave high marks to almost everything (let's not discuss 30 days, my review said it all), my favorite was City of Glass - it was a really fantastic story and it made me want to check out the novel it adapted. You know, when I'm caught up on my other reading (yes, everyone can laugh). Fantastic drawing for as simple as it looks at first and a bizarre story.

It's been a while since I've picked up a new graphic novel! I finished Richard Matheson's I Am Legend which is Steve Niles (of 30 Days of Night) take on the story. It is a fairly faithful adaptation with really good artwork. I updated the CK and wrote a review.

I'll be starting Strangers in Paradise next!

#53: I read I Am Legend a couple years ago, so I will check out the graphic novel version. Thanks, Steph!

I tore through Strangers in Paradise and loved it - soap opera, the beauty and the awfulness of the heart wanting what the heart wants and action and intrigue. I've already reserved the 2nd pocket book - because I absolutely need yet another series to finish off now. :)

I updated the CK & wrote a review.

A super-quick read snuck in today. I've been watching the DVDs of ABC Family's now-canceled Middleman on DVD. I love it - it was funny, clever and just flat-out fun to watch. The original creator of the graphic novel that the series was based on wrote a final edition based on the series story-line to serve as a series finale. So that's what I read today - I wrote a review and I really do mean that folks should watch the series!

#55: I know exactly what you mean about needing another series :)

Ooh, I have been meaning to check out The Middleman, either version really, and just haven't gotten around to it yet.

April Summary

Not a lot of movement in the graphic novel department this month only 3 read this month.

1. I Am Legend by Steve Niles 4/5 Stars
2. Strangers in Paradise by Terry Moore 4/5 Stars
3. The Middleman: The Doomsday Armageddon Apocalypse by Javier Grillo-Marxuach 4/5 Stars

My favorite was definitely Strangers in Paradise. I don't really need another series, but I want to know what happens to everyone.

Of course, this is yet another pitch for me to encourage people to check out The Midddleman - the comic only makes sense if you check out the TV Series first!

Here's to a May with more graphic novels. I do have a few that the library will be demanding, so there's always that threat...

#59: I can fully sympathasize with the library threats!

Bah, I checked out the graphic adaptation of Anita Blake's Guilty Pleasure's on a whim, and that was not a good idea. I know that there's a huge trend to throw a ton of horror/sci-fi into graphic novels, so there are bad ideas...and this was one of them. Clearly, someone figured vampire + comic = success regardless of quality.

I still updated CK and wrote a review. Obviously, I won't be reading the rest (this wasn't even the whole novel, just the first half or so!).

Onto better things!

On Stasia's recommendation (#48 up there), I reserved Asterios Polyp. FANTASTIC. Much better way to finish out my Sunday Graphic. Amazing drawings, fantastic story and real character development. I updated the CK, added a ton of the glowing professional reviews and wrote my own review. I'm sure in another few years, this one will be making all sorts of "must read" lists.

#62: I am so glad you liked that one!

I read Joe Sacco's The Fixer. This is a story of the man that gets Joe the story behind-the-scenes - The Fixer. The one with access because he says he has it. It's fascinating on its own, but also gets you thinking about the hundreds of other Fixers being used by journalists that end up as sources behind any number of exposes, movies, specials and books today...

I updated the CK, added professional reviews and wrote a review.

#64: Adding The Fixer to the BlackHole. Nice review, Steph!

>65 alcottacre: Thank you! I did really enjoy it - I'm not sure if the message I got was the one Sacco intended, but I figured it's not like Anderson Cooper's really going to be talking about his crazy Fixers until he writes his memoirs during retirement. ;)



I also finished Acme Novelty Library 19. Chris Ware is fast becoming one of my favorite graphic artists - Jimmy Corrigan was a favorite from last year. And he just does these quiet really involved things. Acme is where Jimmy started and this portion was the end of a series (or near end?) on Rusty Brown - so I'll look forward to anything collected on this bunch as well. I updated the CK and wrote a review.

I really wish my local library had more graphic novels. *sigh*

I can't lie - I'm fortunate enough to live with the Number one Ranked Library System in the country. Those 4 missing volumes of Cerebus that I mentioned in post 40? They ordered and shelved them already...

I give them money, I promise. ;)

I'm with you there. Howard County, Maryland, was 4th in the 250K category this year. In years past, they've been at the top of the list. It's wonderful living in a place with such a great resource. We *do* pay for it in taxes, though...8^}

I am beyond jealous (OK, what is beyond jealous called anyway?)

May Summary

Not quite as active as I would have liked, but some progress! 4 books read:

1. Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli - 5 stars
2. Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter: Guilty Pleasures, Volume 1 by Laurell K. Hamilton - 2 stars
3. The Fixer: A Story from Sarajevo by Joe Sacco - 4 stars
4. Acme Novelty Library 19 by Chris Ware - 5 stars

Okay, so to pick Chris Ware's story or Asterios Polyp as my favorite...it's not really fair! But the truth is that I know Asterios Polyp was a 10-year labor of love, so I'll give it to him, but he's got to realize I have a thing on the side for Chris. I don't ever recall a conversation about exclusivity. (I'm a horrible graphic girlfriend!)

I'm probably going to have to have a month of nothing but graphics with Anna Karenina for lunchtime reading this summer to get totally caught up. ;)

#71: If you are having a month of nothing but graphics, I will look forward to all those recommendations!

I read Peter Kuper's adaptation of Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis. Definitely the dark, deadpan humor adaptation. I saw some of the original drawings at the LitGraphic exhibit in Toldeo earlier this year - they were incredible. I updated the CK and wrote a review.

I received Belle Yang's Forget Sorrow as part of the Early Reviewer program - if I could have split this in half, I would say the first half was fantastic and the second half was "meh." Basically, these are the stories Belle's father told her during the years she lived with her parents to ensure her safety while avoiding a dangerous stalker. Her father's stories of the family are vivid for a certain number of years, but as the family separates and goes their different ways, the pieces become very difficult to piece together - but Belle wants to end the story in a very specific place, so we get these incomplete and rushed parts as well. I wrote a review and updated the CK.

#74: Too bad about the second half of that one! Nice review once again, Steph.

June Summary

Only 2 read thanks to a backlog of books due at the library. I due have some that will be due this month, so good for me. I've decided it will be either August or September that will be the month of graphics with the rest of Anna Karenina on the side - it will all depend on how the library books look (I'm being super good!).

June:

1. The Metamorphosis by Peter Kuper - 4/5 stars
2. Forget Sorrow by Belle Yang - 3/5 stars

Peter Kuper wins, but not just by default. It really is a brilliant adaptation and seeing the work in person at the Toledo Art Museum didn't hurt.

#73 I have a bit of a bug phobia so although that one sounds good I'm not sure I could cope with it, especially with pictures (shudders)

>77 souloftherose: Ah - I don't really have that issue, but if he'd turned into a snake, I'd probably be right there with you - I had a pretty hard time getting through some parts of the Reptiles & Amphibians episode of Life for that reason. But, just like that particular documentary series, it is worth the end result to take a few deep breaths and get through the graphic novel!

I finished Buddha: The Forest of Uruvela yesterday. I really love this series. Sure, it's not the most historically accurate depiction you'll find, but it's probably one of the easier introductions to the philosophy that you'll ever find (you won't even know it!). I wrote a review and updated the CK. Looking forward to future volumes, but I only get 4 more now...

I finished Strangers in Paradise Pocket book 2 yesterday. I enjoyed it, but it started with a flash-forward ten years in the future where Francine and Katchoo hadn't seen each other in years and David was nowhere to be found. After that the book had nothing to do with why that would have happened - in fact, it should have had everything in the world to do with why it would have never happened. So I'll read the next one and find out why...and hope that my library orders the next 3 Pocket Books (they only had 1-3) so I can finish them.

I updated the CK on volume 2 and wrote a review.

July Summary

Only 2 read this month, but once the great overdue issue is done with, evenings and weekends will be devoted to graphic novels. So look forward to that. :)

1. Buddha: The Forest of Uruvela by Osamu Tezuka 4 stars
2. Strangers in Paradise Pocket book 2 by Terry Moore 3.5 stars

Buddha really was my favorite. Sad but uplifting and I have actually tried to put into practice the lesson of considering the suffering of those that you perceive as causing your suffering - or just trying to at least shift my perception of suffering. You know better person stuff. Mostly I do a good job of trying to offer this advice to others. But, hey, it makes me sound all philosophical. No one ever says, "what, did you read that in a comic?"

#81: the great overdue issue

I know how that goes!

The new trade - The Walking Dead Vol. 12: Life Among Them - came out this week. I kind of got the issue I wanted, but I was given the reality of what that would mean. Who knew that the zombiepocalpyse would have so many deep trust issues, psychological issues and pretty much leave you not wanting the old version of civilization? Okay...pretty much everyone. But I still say that awesome picinic is deserved...

I updated the CK and wrote a review.

Now to remember exactly which trade I left off with on Fables...

I must have started Fables 9: Sons of Empire a while ago, but I never finished it...so I'm glad I finally got back to it. This volume is a bit of a hodge-podge, but had a lot of good fun and definite setup to a major war - although it won't be as easy as the Adversary had once hoped. Although I do hope Pinocchio can get past his enchantment...it's really not fair. :(

I wrote a review - I'll likely be getting through the other 3 volumes that I've had waiting for a bit, so get ready for those. Of course...I do have all month (and then some others to order!).

I finished Fables 10: The Good Prince and loved it. Not only are we starting to get to the conflict at hand (only 10 trades in!), but we had a trade almost completely devoted to Flycatcher. Yay! I did see Amazon sent my my pre-order of Vol. 14 today - so I'll probably be cracking on Vol. 11 tonight. I did update the CK and wrote a review for Vol. 10.

#85: I am glad that you are continuing to enjoy the series, Steph.

#85 I need to get back to the Fables series, I've only read Vol 1, 5 & 6 so I still have a fair way to go!

2 more Fables - and only 2 more trades left in the series that I have, so I promise there will be new stuff very soon. ;) But, yes - it's something everyone should at least give a try! I'm now past the war and into the aftermath with Fables 11: War and Pieces and Fables 12: The Dark Ages. I really want to get to the next one, although since I don't really follow Jack of Fables, I'm kind of not looking forward to the parts of the crossover issue that will deal with those story lines...

I did add CK and write a review for volume 11 and did the same CK and for volume 12.

I'll be curious to hear how much sense the crossover makes if you haven't been reading Jack all along. I read them monthly rather than trade so it feels like a while ago, but from what I remember, it would be rather jumbled.

The Cinderella mini is now out in trade. Since you're reading via the library, it's probably worth the hour. Not so much to purchase.

>89 kristenn: Fables is actually one of my purchases - for better or for worse. :) And Walking Dead too.



I finished Fables 13: The Great Fables Crossover yesterday and while I finished the CK and wrote a review, I'm now going to pretend it never existed. I also read Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love which has likely gotten an inflated rating from me due to a bad reading incident I no longer remember, but I really did enjoy it. She's always been a badass spy and this was a fun volume for her - and it involved shoes! I wrote a review as well.

I'm tapped out on Fables, so there will be new volumes later today. :)

Goldfish by Brian Michael Bendis is a hybrid film noir and graphic novel set in the early nineties. Maybe it's because he's also from Ohio, but I've always been a fan of Bendis and it was great seeing a story set in Cleveland with so many great little details. I updated the CK and wrote a review. (Truth be told, his Torso is still my favorite, but this one is nipping at its heels.)

#91: That looks like one I would enjoy. Thanks for the recommendation, Steph.

August Summary

I realize that the last graphic I showed as being read was August 18th, and that might look like I abandoned my "month of graphics," but I didn't. I'll explain a bit more in the "In Progress" section - and my need to get 2 books (!) read for Book Club sort of interfered a bit.

Anyway, this was 8 graphics officially read, but a realization that I just need to carve out the time. I'm past the 50% mark for my 75 goal - it's a stretch, but it could still happen by 12/31.

1. The Walking Dead Vol. 12: Life Among Them by Robert Kirkman 4 stars
2. Fables Vol. 9: Sons of Empire by Bill Willingham 3 1/2 stars
3. Fables Vol. 10: The Good Prince by Bill Willingham 4 stars
4. Fables Vol. 11: War and Pieces by Bill Willingham 4 stars
5. Fables Vol. 12: The Dark Ages by Bill Willingham 4 stars
6. Fables Vol. 13: The Great Fables Crossover by Bill Willingham - wait, I thought this one never existed...
7. Cinderella: From Fabletown with Love by Bill Willingham 4 stars
8. Goldfish by Brian Michael Bendis 4 stars

In Progress:

1. Frank Miller's Sin City Library I by Frank Miller - of which I've actually read The Hard Goodbye already! See, but it's a boxed set, so 3 more full volumes to go.
2. High Society by Dave Sim

My favorite? I know, all that Fables, which I adore, but I gotta give it up to the Ohio guy - Brian Michael Bendis and go with Goldfish. Graphic Noir and tons of Cleveland references I know.

Boy, I wish my local library had that Sin City set!

This is where you start to hate me - the Sin City boxed set is all mine. Valentine's Day gift. As was volume 2.

This probably isn't the best time to mention the Absolute Sandman's that were Birthday and Christmas gifts, is it?

;)

#95: I do not care about the Absolute Sandman ones, but I am not forgiving you for the Sin City set :)

This is the part where I'd try to say something bad about the sets, but I really can't...they're too pretty. They smell glue-y? Yeah...even that's great.

Well, library renewals kept me from the last 3 volumes of Sin City - so there was punishment! (ha!)



High Society by Dave Sim. 50 more issues in the epic tale of Cerebus. Did you ever have one of those adventures where you just wanted to rest for the night but you ended up running for Prime Minister of a country instead? Cerebus did. And it was fantastic. I updated the CK for the book and wrote a review.

September Summary

September was a rather slim month for graphic novels. If I'm going to come up short, December is going to officially be graphic novel month again.

This month.

1. High Society by Dave Sim - 5/5 stars.

The good news? Awesome graphic novel. The presence of two of the Marx brothers is no accident, but it doesn't make it any less funny or relevant.

#98: Well, rats. The local library does not have that one. I do not know why I am surprised, given the dearth of graphic novels from that source. *sigh*

I received this as an Early Reviewer book and was thrilled to read it. Two Cents Plain: My Brooklyn Boyhood is a memoir of Martin Lemelman's boyhood in 1950's Brooklyn, but it's much more than a simple look back at childhood. This is his attempt to understand how his parent's survival of the Holocaust shaped what they were as a couple and as parents and how they choose to own and operate a candy store in Brooklyn. His drawings are mixed in with old photographs and memorabilia which all come together to make an amazing family history anyone should be proud to share, even if it is not always happy. I wrote a review.

Nice review, Steph. I will have to look for that one!