Book Review: Heroine Complex

TITLE: Heroine Complex
Book 1 in the Heroine Complex series
AUTHOR: Sarah Kuhn
CATEGORY: Adult
PUBLISHED: 2016
GENRE: Urban Fantasy, Romance, Superheros
PREMISE: An assistant to a superhero struggles with new found super powers...
MY REVIEW: I've been meaning to read this forever. I don't know why it took so long for me to get to it. It just did. I enjoyed this one a lot. I will warn, there's actually a lot of sex scenes in this. Way more then I was expecting, actually. I don't mind sex scenes, but I know that can be an issue with some readers.
This was actually more romance focused then the summary let on. If you're a romance reader, you actually should probably like this. It follows a lot of the romance genre beats. There's some good character stuff in it as well. I love that it wasn't afraid to make all its characters flawed.
If you want a really serious urban fantasy...this probably won't be for you. It's more character/romance focused then it is on world-building. But the character stuff is great and is what is going to keep me reading the series. The next book goes into another character and her romance and I actually am really looking forward to that. I found the character really interesting.
WHO SHOULD READ: superhero fans, romance fans, Marvel fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five kick-ass women with powers

Graphic Novel series Review: Patsy Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat

TITLE: Patsy Walker, A.K.A. Hellcat
AUTHOR: Kate Leth
ARTIST: Brittney L. Williams
Volumes: 1: Hooked on a Feline
2: Don't Stop Me-Ow
3: Careless Whiskers
PUBLISHED: between 2015 and 2017
GENRE: Superhero
PREMISE: Patsy Walker, fresh from returning from hell itself, tries to adjust to life again.
MY REVIEW: I started this series about a year or so ago after falling in love with the Jessica Jones TV show. Trish was my favorite, and this does involve her in...a slight way. Be warned, this Hellcat is very very different from TV Trish Walker (and yes, I have...feelings about what season 2 did with her. Lots of feelings. Not all of them positive). Honestly, if you're going to delve into the comics for any of the Defenders shows, just know they're all pretty different. Accept for Daredevil. He is as much of a disaster in the comics as he is on the show.
This series is a very light and fluffy series and honestly, I kind of love it for that. You don't need to have much comics knowledge going into it. It's pretty separate from the Marvel comics. You might want to know who some of the side characters such as She-Hulk or America Chavez are, but it is not necessary to understand the story.
This was a sadly short-lived series. Though really these days, a year and a half is a pretty good run for solo titles that are not A-listers like Captain America and such. If you're looking for a cute all-ages type of comic to dive into that doesn't require much vast knowledge of the Marvel universe, this is a good one to start with.
WHO SHOULD READ: Jessica Jones TV show fans, Marvel fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five cute series that I miss

Book Review: Renegades

TITLE: Renegades
Book 1 in the Renegades series
AUTHOR: Marissa Meyer
PUBLISHED: November 2017
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Superhero, Urban Fantasy
PREMISE: In a world where superheros and villains are all over the place, Nova infiltrates the superhero group known as The Renegades, with the hopes of taking them down from the inside...
MY REVIEW: When I heard that Meyer was doing superheros, I was both really excited and super nervous. This was different then her usual retelling thing, so this would be a test to see if she can do other things and I'm happy to say: she absolutely can. Renegades was a highly enjoyable read.
This has all of the things I've come to associate with Meyer: lots of action, fun characters, snappy dialogue, interesting setting, and just a nice breezy pace. The set-up for the world is nicely done. The characters...could use some work, but it's a first book so I'm expecting that we'll get much more development for things down the road. There's twists galore and even a romance I actually don't mind because it's actually realistic about the chances of the romance in this world and the circumstances that the characters are in.
Personally, I loved this one. Meyer completely sold me on it and I can't wait for the next books in this series. It does what it set out to do: entertain. No, it's not ground-breaking or super duper unique. But not every book has to be that. I honestly think people have forgotten that things don't have to be super amazing to be a enjoyable read. Sorry, I made the mistake of reading Goodreads reviews again. I really have to stop that. They just put me into rant mode.
WHO SHOULD READ: Marissa Meyer fans, superhero fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five fun books

Book Review: Batman-Nightwalker

TITLE: Batman: Nightwalker
DC Icons series Book 2
AUTHOR: Marie Lu
PUBLISHED: January 2nd, 2018
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Media tie-in/Superhero, Mystery
PREMISE: A young Bruce Wayne gets caught up in a mystery....
MY REVIEW: I have deep fondness for Batman. One of the first superhero things I ever got involved in was the Batman: The Animated Series. I got hooked on that show, then the Superman animated show and JLU and soon, I was checking out the comics they were based on. Nowadays, I am more of a Marvel girl. But Batman and his neverending angst will always hold an important piece of my heart. He is basically what got me into comics.
So I went into this cautiously. I wound up actually really enjoying it. Like the Wonder Woman book by Leigh Bardugo, it ignores comic continuity. So if you're hoping for teenage Bruce in the seventies or whatever, this will not be your thing (which is sad, I'd really like to see an historical take on Batman and how historical events may have shaped Bruce). But it is a believable look at Bruce as a teenager. One of my particular favorite parts was Alfred. But this is not surprising. Alfred is always my favorite. As far as I'm concerned, he's MVP in the Batman family. I'm pretty damn sure Bruce does not pay him enough for the shit he puts up with.
If you're looking for a absolutely amazing Batman story...this one isn't really up there. There are better ones in the comics. But if you like the Gotham TV show and want to see more angsty teenage Bruce Wayne. This one absolutely delivers. Plot wise it's a little meh (especially in the unnecessary romance part) but overall, this felt like a teenage Bruce Wayne and at the end of the day, that's kind of my only expectation with these DC Icons books: that they at least feel like the teenage versions of the characters they're supposed to be. For those wondering: the next DC Icons book is going to be Catwoman, written by Sarah J. Maas. I'm...not certain how that will work out (I have mixed feelings about Maas, to be honest). But I will still be checking it out.
WHO SHOULD READ: Batman fans, fans of Wonder Woman: Warbringer
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five angsty teenage caped crusaders

Graphic Novel Review: Batman/Superman/Wonder Woman-Trinity

TITLE: Trinity
AUTHOR: Matt Wagner
ARTIST: Matt Wagner
PUBLISHED: 2003
CATEGORY: Comics
GENRE: Superhero
PREMISE: Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman all team up for the first time as Ra's al Ghul plans an attack that will destroy the planet..
MY REVIEW: So I have still been reading comics here and there. I just have been reading ones that are part of a series, so I haven't reviewed them here. My rule now is to only review series comics if I am either completely up to date on it, or finished with it, or am five volumes in. With things like DC and Marvel...that takes awhile. Hence, no reviews.
But this graphic novel is a single story arc, so I feel comfortable reviewing it by itself. First thing I'll go over is the art: um...yeah sorry, Wagner, it's bad. Anatomy for characters is inconsistent, and in the case of Diana, outright bizarre sometimes. The faces are awkward and...I'm sorry, I just don't like it. Normally, I don't make a big deal out of art style in comics. Especially for DC and Marvel. Because the way the business works, the style is usually constantly switching around anyway. Seriously, if you read superhero comics, don't get attached to the art style. Especially if it's a long series. My only requirement for art in superhero comics is that it at least be consistent, doesn't do weird things with anatomy, and doesn't do gross sexual poses with its female characters. Wagner was not consistent, had weird anatomy things going on all over the place, and there were lots of strategically placed sexual poses of Diana. So yeah, I hated the art in this.
Story wise...I liked it. It's a fun look at how Bruce, Clark, and Diana all came together for the first time. There's some fun scenes with Bruce not playing well with others. Aquaman makes a surprise cameo. There's good character insight and the plot moved along fairly well. I recommend picking this one up if you're new to DC. It's a self-contained story, that doesn't require loads of knowledge of other comics. If you know the basic back story of these three heroes, you should be able to read this just fine. So I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand: ugly art. On the other hand: decent story.
GOOD FOR NEW DC READERS?: Yes.
WHO SHOULD READ: DC fans, those that have seen the Justice League movie
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five good stories with bad art

Book Review: Miles Morales

TITLE: Spider-Man-Miles Morales
AUTHOR: Jason Reynolds
PUBLISHED: 2017
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Media Tie-In, Superheroes, action
PREMISE: Miles loses his abilities and starts to question his life as Spider-Man and other things in general...
MY REVIEW: I fully admit, chances are...I had too high of expectations for this book. Miles Morales is one of my favorite Marvel superheroes. I was pumped to hear he was getting his own book. Even more excited to learn it was going to be written by Jason Reynolds, who everyone raves about (I have not read his other stuff yet, but I've heard really good things). Also Reynolds was on The Daily Show the other day and seems like he's a pretty classy dude.
I did like some aspects of this book. Ganke was awesome as always. I loved that it talked about privilege. The character stuff with Miles and the students and all of that was seriously great. But...the superhero stuff...sort of fell flat. There was a plot of sorts in it but...it sort of fizzled out at the end and became very anti-climatic.
So I'm a bit torn. On one hand it got character stuff absolutely right and I loved what it had to say message wise. But on the other hand....the superhero plot, which is why most kids are going to want to read this, was a bit of a let down.
WHO SHOULD READ: Miles Morales fans, superhero fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five I wish the plot was better feelings

Graphic Novel Review: Gwenpool Vols. 1 and 2

SERIES TITLE: The Unbelievable Gwenpool
Vol 1: Believe It (issues 0-4)
Vol. 2: Head of M.O.D.O.K. (issues 5-10)
AUTHOR: Christopher Hastings
PUBLISHING HOUSE: Marvel
STARTED: April 2016
GENRE: Superheroes, humor
PREMISE: A girl from our world gets dropped into the Marvel comics universe...
MY REVIEW: If you've looked around at fanfiction, you probably took one look at the above premise and went NOOOPE. Before you do, hear me out, because...it actually works. Somehow Hastings found a way to take a popular fanfic trope and do it in a great way.
Part of it is, the comic does not take itself seriously at all. It's very much a humor type of comic like Squirrel-Girl and that goes a long way for me (I adore Squarrel-Girl, in fact, a review of vol. 4 is coming soon). Gwen is also just charming and it really helps that she doesn't get superpowers or anything. She's just a normal person who got dropped into this wacky universe and being a huge comic book nerd, knows all the heroes secrets. A lot of time this hinders her, more then it helps her (superheros do not like it when you know their identities).
Marvel, more books like this. Less events like Civil War II please.
WHO SHOULD READ: Marvel fans, Squirrel-Girl fans
MY RATING (for first two vols.): Four out of Five fangirls living the dream

Graphic Novel Review: Spider-man-Miles Morales Vol. 1 and 2

TITLE: Miles Morales
Spider-man-Miles Morales Vols. 1 and 2
AUTHOR: Brian Michael Bendis
Series Start: 2016
PUBLISHER: Marvel
COLLECTS: vol. 1 collects issues 1-5, vol. 2 collects issues 6-11
PREMISE: Miles Morales deals with his growing complicated life as Spider-man.
MY REVIEW: It's really funny, when it comes to Spider-man I've always been sort of a shrugger. But Miles? I love Miles. I discovered him sometime last year and it's taken me awhile to get caught up but it's been so worth it.
I will say, I have a bit of a issue sometimes with Bendis as a writer. Like some stuff he does, I love (he writes some of the best dialogue ever), but then there are scenes where...I just want to bang my head against the wall. Like that scene in one of the early issues that is clearly taking potshots at girls online who dare to care about things like representation. Writers, don't insult people that read your stuff, okay? We tend to notice you're making fun of us and sorry, it's not going to stop us from criticizing you. It might make us stop buying your books/comics though.
Second volume unfortunately got bogged down with Civil War II stuff. As I've been getting caught up on the Marvel comics from last year, I've been getting bits of info here and there about Civil War II and I have to say...it looks like it was just as much of a mess as Civil War was. On the bright side though, we got to see Luke Cage and Jessica Jones meet Miles and that was the best.
So...this series is ultimately good, but has some issues as usually happens when Bendis is involved. It is still a great start to read if you're curious about Miles Morales.
WHO SHOULD READ: Spider-Man fans, Miles Morales fans
GOOD FOR NEWBIES: Er...sort of. If you have some idea of who Miles Morales is, you should be okay. Would probably help to read his older books first though.
MY RATING: Four out of Five web-slingers

Book Review: Dreadnaught

TITLE: Dreadnought
Nemesis Series Book 1
AUTHOR: April Daniels
PUBLISHED: January 24rth, 2017
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Superheroes, Urban Fantasy
PREMISE: A trans girl gets not only the body she's always wanted, but superpowers as well. With the superpowers comes all sorts of new problems...
MY REVIEW: I don't know about anyone else, but I wanted to read this one the minute I heard about it. For the most part it did not disappoint. I will put a bit of a trigger warning on this one though: Danny faces a LOT of transphobia in this book. She gets it from her parents, her supposed best friend, and there's even a gross TERF on the superhero team that tries to recruit her. The author makes it very clear this transphobia is wrong and whatnot. But it's still quite a bit and I imagine it might be triggering for some. So I'm going to just let people know before they dive in.
If you think you can handle that though, this is a great read. It does deal with Danny and her going through the pains of coming out as trans and how that effects her life, but you then also have the superhero plot and that's also very interesting. It's a bit meta at times actually and I really love that aspect of the book.
All in all this was a good read and a very strong debut. At times the writing felt a tad...juvenile, like it was maybe meant for middle-grade originally. But overall, this was exactly what I wanted from this book. It looks like we're getting a sequel in July and I have to say, I look forward to it.
WHO SHOULD READ: those looking for more trans representation in their books, superhero fans
MY RATING: Four out of Five capes

Book Review: Red Vengeance

TITLE: Red Vengeance
Book 2 in the Black Widow series
AUTHOR: Margeret Stohl
PUBLISHED: October 2016
CATEGORY: YA
GENRE: Adventure, Superhero, Media tie-in
PREMISE: Natasha and Ava continue their adventures together...
MY REVIEW: Here's the thing about these Marvel/DC books that I've kind of learned: they're never really going to be ground breaking. Also, don't look for any kind of continuity, because on one hand I thought this series took place in the MCU but then suddenly Captain Marvel is there so honestly...I don't know. I think maybe it's some random Marvel AU verse where both the comics and the MCU events exist.
But the important thing about these tie-in novels is that they at least get the feel of the characters right and that, they do well. This definitely feels like a Black Widow type of adventure. It's incredibly fast paced like most Marvel things. There's lots of action and it tries to give some character stuff in between.
Ultimately, this book series is probably going to mostly appeal to hardcore Black Widow fans. If you're a fan of her comic book series, there are going to be lots of easter eggs in here that you'll probably enjoy. If you're only a fan of Black Widow through the movies...you might want to try her comics first.
WHO SHOULD READ: those that have read the first book, Black Widow fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five snarky Tony Starks

Book Review: Squirrel Meets World

TITLE: Squirrel Meets World
Part of the Marvel book series
AUTHOR: Shannon Hale and Dean Hale
PUBLISHED: February 7th, 2017
CATEGORY: Middle-Grade
PREMISE: Doreen starts at a new school while trying to figure out her squirrel powers and this whole superhero thing..
MY REVIEW: I adore the Squirrel-Girl comics. Marvel has had its ups and downs lately in the comic side of things, I freely admit this. But Squirrel-Girl has been one of the most delightful ups. So needless to say, I was thrilled when I heard there was going to be a Squirrel-Girl book.
This one is like most of the other Marvel written books out there. It has a great feel for the character, it gets the tone right, I definitely feel like this is a teenage Doreen. It's just plot wise...the book is a little all over the place. Which I notice is a thing for these comics to written book things.. Sometimes characters do better in other mediums and I suspect Squirrel-Girl is one of those. Because while the book definitely had the fun Squirrel-Girl vibe...it's not what I would call a brilliant book.
This is one I would mostly recommend to fans of the comic. If you never have read Squirrel-Girl before...this is not a good introduction, instead do the first volume of the recent series. That will give you a much better intro to the delight that is Doreen.
WHO SHOULD READ: young Marvel fans, Squirrel-Girl fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five the comic is better feelings

Comics Review: Superman-Lois and Clark

Series: Superman
Arc: Lois and Clark (Road to Rebirth)
Writers: Dan Jurgens
Artists: Lee Weeks and Neil Edwards
PUBLISHED: 2016
COMIC HOUSE: DC
GENRE: Superhero
PREMISE: Alternate versions of Lois and Clark hang out in the New52 verse hiding their identity and raising a kid.
MY REVIEW: So, I've been continuing my toe-dipping into Rebirth. I thought I'd start with some of the Road to Rebirth releases. This one...was actually a pleasant surprise because I'll be honest, I haven't been thrilled with the Superman comics as of late, particularly where they screwed over the character of Lois Lane because...honestly it mostly felt like they just did it so they could have an excuse to have Clark date Diana. As a Lois Lane fan AND a Wonder Woman fan who thinks it's nonsense that these two need to compete for whatever reason...it was irritating and I honestly haven't picked up a Superman comic in quite awhile as a result.
This new start to Superman...has me cautiously excited. Lois is back to the Lois I know and adore. Father Superman is quite frankly a delight. There are some easter eggs in here I probably missed due to not being completely into the Superman mythology, but I managed to make sense of most of it. If you know the Superman movies/Supergirl TV show, you should be able to get the gist of this.
The art...was all right. I've seen worse. I've also seen better. All in all, this is a good introduction to the start of Superman in Rebirth. Highly recommend reading this before you start Son of Superman.
WHO SHOULD READ: Superman fans, DC fans, those who have read Rebirth Omnibus
MY RATING: Four out of Five

Graphic Novel Review: DC Universe: Rebirth

TITLE: DC Universe-Rebirth, Deluxe Edition
AUTHOR: Geoff Johns
ART: Gary Frank, Ethan Van Sciver, Ivan Reis
STARTED: May 2016
COLLECTING: Rebirth arc
PREMISE: The DC universe gets another reboot with the return of Wally West who has been lost in the speedforce and needs someone to remember him to get out.
MY REVIEW: This collection is...a bit tricky to review. It's not the entire launch of Rebirth for one. It's just the main issues explaining why the new universe is happening. Spoiler alert: it's Flash's fault. If you watch CW's The Flash, you are probably not at all surprised by this.
As far as explanations go...I guess it makes sense. The explanation of Wally's past was appreciated as I'm...not terribly familiar with the Flash family to be honest. Most of my info about it comes from my time reading the Impulse comic book back in the day (who I mostly became a fan of through the Young Justice comic run), animated Justice League, and CWs The Flash.
Now the big question I've been hearing: Can you read this as new fans? Eh...maybe? If you've been watching The Flash TV show and have minor comic book knowledge...you should be good to go. The Watchman reference at the end might go over your head though.
Now is Rebirth good? Hard to say. Honestly, I think judging how successful Rebirth is will be hard to judge until the story has been going on at least a year or so. The thing with Marvel/DC arcs is a lot of their stories tend to unfold slowly and over 12 issues or so depending on the arc/writer's run. All I can judge is this bit here and this bit here is...a decent beginning. It's far more accessible then New52 was, so that's something.
WHO SHOULD READ: DC fans, CW Flash fans
MY RATING: Three and a half out of Five new beginnings