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Monday, December 7, 2020
Marvel Comics from Diamond Distributors for December 9, 2020
DC Comics from Lunar/UCS Distributors for December 8, 2020
Absolute Transmetropolitan Volume 1 HC (New Printing), $150.00
American Vampire 1976 #3 (Of 9)(Cover A Rafael Albuquerque), $3.99
American Vampire 1976 #3 (Of 9)(Cover B TBD), AR
Arkhamaniacs TP, $9.99
Batman #104 (Cover C Jorge Jimenez Card Stock Variant), AR
Batman Black And White #1 (Of 6)(Cover A Greg Capullo), $5.99
Batman Black And White #1 (Of 6)(Cover B J.H. Williams III), AR
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Dark Nights Death Metal The Last Stories Of The DC Universe #1 (One Shot)(Cover A Tula Lotay), $8.99
Dark Nights Death Metal The Last Stories Of The DC Universe #1 (One Shot)(Cover B Gary Frank), AR
DC’s Very Merry Multiverse #1 (One Shot)(Cover A Ivan Reis & Joe Prado), $9.99
Deadman Omnibus HC, $99.99
Detective Comics #1032 (Cover A Brad Walker & Andrew Hennessy), $3.99
Detective Comics #1032 (Cover B Lee Bermejo Card Stock Variant), AR
Flash #767 (Cover A Clayton Henry), $3.99
Flash #767 (Cover B Hicham Habchi), AR
Justice League Vengeance Is Thine TP, $19.99
MAD Magazine #17, $5.99
Sandman The Books Of Magic Omnibus Volume 1 HC, $150.00
Shazam And The Seven Magic Lands TP, $29.99
Superman Endless Winter Special #1 (One Shot)(Cover A Francis Manapul), $3.99
Superman Endless Winter Special #1 (One Shot)(Cover B Rafael Grassetti), AR
Superman Vs Wonder Woman Tabloid Edition HC, $39.99
Sweet Tooth The Return #2 (Of 6)(Cover A Jeff Lemire), $3.99
Tales From The Dark Multiverse Flashpoint #1 (Cover A David Marquez), $5.99
Wonder Woman #768 (Cover A David Marquez), $3.99
Wonder Woman #768 (Cover B Joshua Middleton Card Stock Variant), AR
Comics, Magazines and Books from Diamond Distributors for December 9, 2020
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Sunday, December 6, 2020
#IReadsYou Review: HAYATE THE COMBAT BUTLER Volume 35
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia
MANGAKA: Kenjiro Hata
TRANSLATION: John Werry
LETTERS: John Hunt
EDITOR: Shaenon K. Garrity
ISBN: 978-1-9747-0567-2; paperback (February 2020); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
192pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK
Hayate the Combat Butler is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kenjiro Hata. It was serialized in Shogakukan's Weekly Shōnen Sunday magazine from October 2004 to April 2017. VIZ Media has been publishing an English-language edition of the manga as a paperback graphic novel series under its “Shonen Sunday” imprint since November 2006.
Hayate the Combat Butler focuses on Hayate Ayasaki. He begins working to pay off his degenerate parents' gambling debts when he is nine. Before they disappear, his parents sell their son’s organs to the yakuza to cover their debts. Hayate is working various part-time jobs to pay off the debts when fate brings Hayate to teenage heiress, Nagi Sanzenin a/k/a “Ojô-sama.” She is the frequent target of kidnapping plots and of various schemes by people trying to get her money. Hayate becomes Ojô-sama’s butler, zealously protecting her, while she falls in love with him.
Hayate the Combat Butler, Vol. 35 finds pop idol, Ruka Suirenji, ready to reveal to Hayate that she has a crush on him, but should she? Ruka asks Ishizawa for advice, but Ishizawa also has a crush on Hayate? So will Ishizawa help a love rival, and if she does, what form will the help take?
When the housemates discover that Katsura Hinagiku was once an aspiring guitarist and singer, how will they get the dispirited talent to take up her dreams again? Then, Maria-san decides to take Nagi to a family restaurant … because it is the perfect place for Nagi to work on her manga. Or is it? Finally, everyone is worried that Ruka is too stressed, which is manifesting via physical ailments. But she isn't the only one in need of a break from work. So is Hayate. When they find themselves alone, what will they do to relieve the stress?
[This volume includes a bonus manga, four-panel comics, and art.]
THE LOWDOWN: I have managed to read the Hayate the Combat Butler manga four times this calendar year. I am always happy to return to this manga and anime parody series.
Hayate the Combat Butler Graphic Novel Volume 35 is the reason I keep coming back, just as Vol. 34 was. Vol. 35 is one of the series' best entries, making the previous two-volumes a dynamic duo, and the final story page of this volume surprised me. I noticed the theme of “in love with Hayate.” After all, creator Kenjiro Hata has made just about every female character in this manga in love with Hayate. So everything goes along as normal, with each chapter being, more or less, self-contained. Then, BAM! goes the shocker, and it is something that Hata does so well when he does present it – the Hayate the Combat Butler cliffhanger. Dear readers, we gotta come back for more.
Also, I must mention John Werry, who provides a sparkling translation that captures the freshness of Vol. 34. Then, there is letterer John Hunt's spry fonts that capture the romantic fun and games. So, let's get to the next volume.
I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Readers looking for comedy can find laughs in the “Shonen Sunday” manga, Hayate the Combat Butler.
A
9.5 out of 10
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
https://www.viz.com/
https://twitter.com/VIZMedia
https://www.instagram.com/vizmedia/
https://www.facebook.com/OfficialVIZMedia
https://www.snapchat.com/add/vizmedia
The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
-----------------------------------
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Saturday, December 5, 2020
#IReadsYou Review: TWIN STAR EXORCIST Volume 17
TWIN STAR EXORCISTS, VOL. 17
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia
MANGAKA: Yoshiaki Sukeno
TRANSLATION: Tetsuichiro Miyaki
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Bryant Turnage
LETTERS: Stephen Dutro
EDITOR: Annette Roman
ISBN: 978-1-9747-0949-6; paperback (February 202); Rated “T” for “Teen”
200pp, B&W, $9.99 US, $12.99 CAN, £6.99 U.K.
Sōsei no Onmyōji is a shonen manga series written and illustrated by Yoshiaki Sukeno. The manga has been serialized in the Japanese manga magazine, Jump Square, since October 2013. VIZ Media is publishing an English-language edition of the manga as a series of paperback graphic novels, entitled Twin Star Exorcists. VIZ released the series first under its “Shonen Jump Advanced” imprint, and then, under its “Shonen Jump” imprint, beginning July 2015.
Twin Star Exorcists focuses on Rokuro Enmado. He did not want to be an exorcist, but he met a mysterious girl named Benio Adashino. This 14-year-old was serious about being an exorcist, and she wanted to fight the monstrous creatures called Kegare. Because their destinies are intertwined, Rokuro and Benio are called the “Twin Star Exorcists.” They are fated to marry... and to conceive the “Prophesied Child.”
As Twin Star Exorcists, Vol. 17 (Chapters 61 to 64) opens, the “Yuto Punitive Expedition” into Magano continues... going badly. Rokuro has led his Enmado family into battle against the vicious “Basara,” Hijirimaru. Now, Arima Tsuchimado, the chief exorcist of the Associated Exorcists, attempts to stop two powerful Kegare from entering the human world. But can he be in several places at one time once he has to rescue Rokuro and company? And just what were the Kegare really plotting when they struck out at the expeditionary force?
[This volume includes bonus drawings.]
THE LOWDOWN: The Twin Star Exorcists manga continues to deliver on this really intense current story arc. This series is in a constant state of flux … until it focuses in on a singular moment in time, which is what it is doing now.
Twin Star Exorcists Graphic Novel Volume 17 is a scary read. Creator Yoshiaki Sukeno has practically not only put the series' leads in mortal danger, but he has also put the entire good-guy paradigm at risk of annihilation. For long time readers, this current arc is an excellent payoff for sticking with the series. Actually, it is easy to keep reading Twin Star Exorcist because it is so good.
Tetsuichiro Miyaki's translation and Bryant Turnage's English-language adaptation are yeoman's work because of all the spell-casting featured in these chapters. Kudos to Stephen Dutro for lettering those many, many spells in the perfectly-sized word balloons.
I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of action-fantasy, shonen manga will want to try the “Shonen Jump” manga, Twin Star Exorcists.
A
9 out of 10
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
https://www.viz.com/
https://twitter.com/VIZMedia
https://www.instagram.com/vizmedia/
https://www.facebook.com/OfficialVIZMedia
https://www.snapchat.com/add/vizmedia
The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.
-----------------------------
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Friday, December 4, 2020
#IReadsYou Review: SERAPH OF THE END Volume 18
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia
STORY: Takaya Kagami
CARTOONIST: Yamato Yamamoto
STORYBOARDS: Daisuke Furuya
TRANSLATION: Adrienne Beck
LETTERS: Sabrina Heep
EDITOR: Marlene First
ISBN: 978-1-9747-1065-2; paperback (February 2020); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
184pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 U.K.
Seraph of the End is a Japanese dark fantasy manga written by Takaya Kagami and illustrated by Yamato Yamamoto, with storyboards produced by Daisuke Furuya. It has been published in the manga magazine, Jump SQ, since September 2012. VIZ Media has been publishing an English-language adaptation of the manga as a paperback graphic novel series, entitled Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign, since June 2014.
Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign is set in a world in which the trumpets of the apocalypse proclaimed the fall of humanity in the year 2012. Vampires rose from the shadows and began their reign over the Earth. A mysterious virus killed almost all adult humans, sparing those younger than 13 years of age. The children were subsequently enslaved as livestock for vampires. In 2016, the orphan, Yuichiro “Yu” Hyakuya, stepped forward, seeking revenge; his goal was and is to kill each and every vampire.
As Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign, Vol. 18 (Chapters 70 to 74) opens, Lt. Guren Ichinose leads his team back to Shibuya, Tokyo. There, he has a meeting with Kureto Hiragi, who is the cold, cruel, and ruthless heir to the Hiragi family. But the high-and-mighty Kureto has a problem. He led a coup against his father, Tenri, and defeated him, but the godlike being, Shikama Doji, that possessed his father now possesses him. Kureto needs Ichinose's help, but in what way does he need it?
Meanwhile, Shikama has his eye on Yu and the demon in his sword, Asuramaru, and he won't be easily stopped. After all, Shikama also has his eyes on possessing someone else in the Hiragi family!
[This volume includes an “Afterword,” miscellaneous text, and a full-color mini-poster insert.]
THE LOWDOWN: The Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign manga is a dark fantasy series that features lots and lots of vampires. I like vampire comics.
Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign Graphic Novel Volume 18 pairs with Vol. 17, so that creators, writer Takaya Kagami and illustrator Yamato Yamamoto, can initiate major changes in the narrative. This is a pivotal point in the narrative, but the authors make the story clear and clean. The internal mythology and back story don't clutter so much as they illuminate.
Adrienne Beck's translation is clean and straight to the point. Letterer Sabrina Heep offers steady lettering and emphasizes subtle sound effects. So, like Vol. 17, Vol. 18 is certainly one of those payoff volumes for longtime readers.
I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of vampire manga will want to try of the “Shonen Jump” series, Seraph of the End: Vampire Reign.
A
9 out of 10
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
https://www.viz.com/
https://twitter.com/VIZMedia
https://www.instagram.com/vizmedia/
https://www.facebook.com/OfficialVIZMedia
https://www.snapchat.com/add/vizmedia
The text is copyright © 2020 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.
---------------------------------
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Thursday, December 3, 2020
#IReadsYou Book Review: SURVIVOR'S SONG
SURVIVOR SONG: A NOVEL
HARPERCOLLINS/William Morrow
[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]
AUTHOR: Paul Tremblay
ISBN: 978-0-06-267916-1; hardcover; 6 in x 9 in; (July 7, 2020)
320pp, B&W, $27.99 U.S.
Survivor Song: A Novel is the latest novel from author Paul Tremblay (A Head Full of Ghosts). A suspense novel, Survivor Song follows two women, longtime friends, on a journey across an epidemic landscape to save one of the women... or, at least, her unborn child.
Survivor Song opens in the present or the near-future. An insidious rabies-like virus, commonly called “super-rabies,” that is spread by saliva, has overrun Massachusetts. Unlike rabies, this new disease has a short incubation period of an hour or less, and the infected quickly lose their minds and are driven to bite and to infect as many others as they can before they inevitably succumb to the infection. Massachusetts has tried to limit the spread of this outbreak by putting the entire state (commonwealth) under quarantine and by initiating a curfew, but society is starting to break down, and the sick and the dying are inundating hospitals.
One evening during this outbreak, Dr. Ramola “Rams” Sherman, a soft-spoken pediatrician in her mid-thirties, receives a frantic phone call from Natalie “Nats” Larsen, a longtime and dear friend who is eight months pregnant. It seems that an infected neighbor viciously attacked and killed Natalie's husband, Paul. The super-rabies-infected neighbor also bit Natalie as she fought to save Paul.
Natalie's only chance of survival is to get to a hospital as quickly as possible in order to receive the super-rabies vaccine. And she needs Ramola's help getting to a hospital. The clock is ticking for Natalie and for her unborn child, and Natalie’s fight for life becomes a desperate odyssey as she and Ramola make their way through a landscape turned hostile by the outbreak. Terrifying, strange, and sometimes deadly challenges push Nats and Rams to the brink, so will they make it in time to save Nats... or at least, her unborn child?
THE LOWDOWN: Back in 2015, while looking through a list of review copies that publisher William Morrow's marketing department was offering to reviewers, I came across a book entitled A Head Full of Ghosts, written by Paul Tremblay. I loved the title, and I was intrigued by the book's premise. Although I thought it was well written, I really did not enjoy reading A Head Full of Ghosts, so the next time, William Morrow offered a novel by Tremblay, I passed.
When Survivor Song was offered, I was intrigued by both the title and the premise, especially the latter. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, I have been interested in books, movies, and television programs about epidemics, pandemics, and outbreaks – either as works of fiction or non-fiction.
Even in the well worn genre of the “riveting novel of suspense,” Survivor Song manages to be fresh and surprising. The novel is not like any other viral outbreak story. It is detailed in a way that sets the reader in the scene, but without robbing readers of the right to fill in a scene or a setting with their own imagination. Survivor Song is viscerally frightening, but the narrative is equally deeply emotional in a way that will make it resonate with readers.
Survivor Song is also something else. It is timely and prescient. Although I clearly understood this novel to be a work of fiction, I found myself often feeling that I was reading a long feature article about our current, environmental mini-apocalypse, the kind one would find in The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, or any number of progressive magazines... or perhaps, a non-fiction book expanded from that kind of feature article. Paul Tremblay has fashioned in Survivor Song a novel that is so chilling because it is so much about us and our times. He is not afraid to sprinkle witty social and political asides that are obviously about President Donald, his cult, and sadly, about the rest of us who would turn into monsters the minute things (like society and comforts) start to break down.
Survivor Song is all too plausible because a version of its dark fairy tale is already happening. Yes, it is a wonderful tale of friendship and commitment told as a road trip through insta-dystopia that will reassure you, dear readers, about humanity... but. Damn, Paul Tremblay, what a wonderful novel you have written in Survivor Song. Damn you, Tremblay, for telling the awful truth.
I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of Paul Tremblay and fans of scary, but all-too-plausible novels will want to read Survivor Song.
10 out of 10
Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"
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