Rin-ne: Homestay Training

I read RIN-NE, Vol. 8

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has FREE smart apps and comics).

I Reads You Review: THE STRANGE CASE OF MR. HYDE #3

THE STRANGE CASE OF MR. HYDE #3 (OF 4) DARK HORSE COMICS

WRITER: Cole Haddon
ART: M.S. Corley
COLORS: Jim Campbell
LETTERS: Richard Starkings & Comicraft
32pp, Color, $3.50 U.S.

Published by Dark Horse Comics, The Strange Case of Mr. Hyde is a four-issue comic book series from writer Cole Haddon and artist M.S. Corley. The series connects Jack the Ripper with characters from the novella, Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, by author Robert Louis Stevenson, to create a riveting suspense thriller and Victorian murder mystery.

The narrator is Inspector Thomas Adye of Scotland Yard who is trying to catch the Whitechapel Murderer (Jack). He seeks the help of Dr. Henry Jekyll, who is also Mr. Edward Hyde, because the man who is Jack the Ripper is apparently using the same formula that turns Jekyll into Hyde.

As The Strange Case of Mr. Hyde #3 opens, London is made aware that Leather Apron, the man whom Inspector Adye arrested for the Whitechapel murders (in the second issue), is not the culprit. Jack the Ripper dares Adye to attend a party at the Griffin House, the London residence of Lord Griffin, a personal advisor of the Prime Minister.

Certain that he will need help handling the monstrously strong Ripper, Adye brings Dr. Jekyll with him to the party. However, Adye comes to believe that the Ripper has tricked him or has he? And the Ripper’s identity is revealed.

The third issue of The Strange Case of Mr. Hyde is practically a Victorian buddy movie and action comedy. The bawdy humor is as smooth as it is salacious. The action comes in novel set pieces that are bloody, but equally inventive.

Many readers probably saw the results of the big reveal that comes at the end of this issue at least earlier in this issue. Writer Cole Haddon seems to believe that the fun of reading is in getting to revelations rather than picking through clever tricks to hide the truth. Artist M.S. Corley’s quirky graphics and solid storytelling bring this fun to life in a way that makes you want to read your favorite passages over and over again.

A

Psyren: Dragon

I read Psyren, Vol. 3: Dragon

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has FREE comics).

Leroy Douresseaux Reviews: UGLIES: Shay's Story

UGLIES: SHAY’S STORY
BALLANTINE BOOKS/DEL REY

CREATOR: Scott Westerfeld
WRITERS: Scott Westerfeld, Devin Grayson
ART: Steven Cummings
TONES/LETTERS: Yishan Li
ISBN: 978-0-345-52722-6; paperback
208pp, B&W, $10.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN

Scott Westerfeld is an American science fiction author who has written several book series aimed at the young adult market (YA). One of them is the Uglies series, a quartet of science fiction and fantasy novels that began in 2005 with the publication of Uglies (Simon Pulse). The Uglies is set 300 years in the future in a time in which everyone is turned “pretty” by extreme cosmetic surgery. The Uglies’ central character is Tally Youngblood, a teen girl who rebels against this forced conformity.

Uglies: Shay’s Story is the first of two original graphic novels set in the world of the Uglies and tells new stories through the eyes of Tally’s friend, Shay, another teen girl. Uglies: Shay’s Story is scripted by Devin Grayson from a story by Scott Westerfeld and is drawn by artist Steven Cummings.

As Uglies: Shay’s Story begins, Shay is a few months shy of her sixteenth birthday, the age at which one undergoes “the Surge,” which is the rite-of-passage surgery that will transform her into a “Pretty.” Currently, she is an “Ugly,” an ordinary human who has not had the surgery. Shay befriends “the Crims” (criminals), a group of fellow teens who say they don’t want to have the surgery. She joins the Crims: Zane, Croy, Astrix, and Ho by exploring past the monitored borders and going into the forbidden, ungoverned wild. This journey makes her think about her future. Shay must decide the path she will choose: become a Pretty or remain one of the Uglies.

Like the source material (the Uglies novels, of course), Uglies: Shay’s Story deals with adolescent themes of emotional and physical change. What really drives Shay’s Story is conflict. The central conflict is a personal one: preservation of one’s personal will versus the longing to conform. The other line of conflicts pits a dystopian society’s need for uniformity against the Uglies’ rebellious urges.

The conflicts play out in the most interesting ways because the players are teenagers about to enter adulthood, but who are also about to enter a world of choice and responsibility. Is becoming a “Pretty” about evolution and accepting adulthood? Are the teens who runaway just afraid to grow up? Uglies: Shay’s Story is a pop concept tailor-made for Hollywood, but the narrative plays out as a coming-of-age story that wants to be more complicated than the latest hot thing. It’s exciting and edgy, like our teenage years.

B+

La Corda d'Oro: Three Young Men and a Lady

I read La Corda d'Oro, Vol. 15

I posted a review at the Comic Book Bin (which has FREE comics).

DC Comics from Diamond Distributors for February 22 2012

DC COMICS

DEC110262 ALL STAR WESTERN #6 $3.99

DEC110316 AMERICAN VAMPIRE #24 (MR) $2.99

DEC110193 AQUAMAN #6 $2.99

DEC118131 BATMAN #4 2ND PTG $2.99

DEC110224 BATMAN THE DARK KNIGHT #6 $2.99

NOV110193 BATMAN VS BANE TP $12.99

DEC110263 BLACKHAWKS #6 $2.99

OCT110243 DC UNIVERSE SECRET ORIGINS HC $39.99

DEC110197 FLASH #6 $2.99

DEC110201 FURY OF FIRESTORM THE NUCLEAR MEN #6 $2.99

DEC110243 GREEN LANTERN NEW GUARDIANS #6 $2.99

DEC110246 I VAMPIRE #6 $2.99

DEC110247 JUSTICE LEAGUE DARK #6 $2.99

DEC110307 MAD MAGAZINE #514 $5.99

DEC110269 RAY #3 (OF 4) $2.99

NOV110233 SANDMAN TP VOL 08 WORLDS END NEW ED (MR) $19.99

DEC110206 SAVAGE HAWKMAN #6 $2.99

DEC110213 SUPERMAN #6 $2.99

DEC110267 TEEN TITANS #6 $2.99

DEC110261 VOODOO #6 $2.99

Marvel Comics from Diamond Distributors for February 22 2012

MARVEL COMICS

DEC110603 AVENGERS ACADEMY #26 $2.99

DEC110619 AVENGERS SOLO #5 (OF 5) $3.99

DEC110609 CAPTAIN AMERICA AND BUCKY #627 $2.99

DEC110737 CAPTAIN AMERICA PRISONER OF WAR TP $19.99

DEC110679 DEADPOOL #51 $2.99

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DEC110608 MIGHTY THOR #11 $3.99

DEC110706 MMW INCREDIBLE HULK TP VOL 02 $24.99

DEC110707 MMW INCREDIBLE HULK TP VOL 02 DM VAR ED 39 $24.99

DEC110687 NEW MUTANTS #38 XREGB $2.99

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DEC110673 UNCANNY X-FORCE #22 XREGG $3.99

DEC110642 VENOM #13.3 $2.99

DEC118115 WOLVERINE #300 2ND PTG KUBERT VAR (PP #1007) $4.99

DEC110751 WOLVERINE AND CAPTAIN AMERICA TP $14.99

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DEC110730 X-MEN FF PREM HC $19.99

DEC110680 X-MEN LEGACY #262 $2.99