I Reads You: Review

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Friday, July 11, 2025

#IReadsYou Movie Review: SUPERMAN 2025

Superman (2025)

Running time: 129 minutes (2 hours, 9 minutes)

Rating: MPA – PG for violence, action and language

DIRECTOR: James Gunn

WRITER: James Gunn (based characters created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster)

PRODUCERS: James Gunn and Peter Safran

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Henry Braham (D.o.P.)

EDITORS: Craig Alpert and William Hoy

COMPOSERS: David Fleming and John Murphy

SUPERHERO/FANTASY/ACTION

Starring: David Corenswet, Rachel Brosnahan, Nicholas Hoult, Edi Gathegi, Nathan Fillion, Isabela Merced, Skyler Gisondo, Maria Gabriela de Faria, Sara Sampaio, Wendell Pierce, Beck Bennett, Pruitt Taylor Vince, Neva Howell, Bradley Cooper, Angela Sarafyan, and Sean Gunn

Superman is a 2025 American superhero, fantasy, and action film from writer-director James Gunn. It is the first film in the new DC Comics cinematic universe known as the “DC Universe.” The character, Superman, first appeared in the comic book, Action Comics #1 (on-sale date of April 18, 1938), and was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, who also created other characters and situations related to Superman. In Superman, the embodiment of truth, justice, and the human way must reconcile his desire to help humanity with a shocking revelation about his alien heritage.

Superman opens threes years after the metahuman, Superman (David Corenswet), revealed himself to the people of Metropolis. His alter-ego, Clark Kent (David Corenswet), works as a reporter for “The Daily Planet,” where he has a relationship with fellow reporter, Lois Lane (Rachel Brosnahan). Lois knows that Clark is Superman. She knows that he is Kal-El, a baby sent from the planet, Krypton, by rocket ship to Earth. Lois also knows that Clark was raised in Smallville, Kansas by his adoptive parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent (Pruitt Taylor Vince and Neva Howell), a fact he has kept secrets from others.

Superman recently stopped the country of Boravia, an ally of the United States, from invading its neighboring country, Jarhanpur. As the film begins, Superman has just received a beat-down from Boravia's own metahuman, the Hammer of Boravia. Things are not as they seem, however, as brilliant billionaire Lex Luthor (Nicholas Hoult) has launched a secret plot to destroy Superman, whom he sees not as a superhero, but as an existential alien threat to mankind. With the help of his lackeys, Ultraman and The Engineer (Maria Gabriela de Faria), Luthor believes that he has the science and technology – the brain power – to beat Superman.

But Superman is not the only metahuman who is a superhero. He occasionally gets help from the “Justice Gang”: Michael Holt/Mister Terrific (Edi Gathegi), Guy Gardner/Green Lantern (Nathan Fillion), and Kendra Saunders/Hawkgirl (Isabela Merced). And Clark Kent will need all the friends he can get; a complete version of the broken message his Kryptonian parents, Jor-El (Bradley Cooper) and Lara Lor-Van (Angela Sarafyan), sent with him has come to light. Now, some of the people of the world are starting to feel differently about Superman just when they need him the most.

Superman is a good film, but not a great film. Overall, I like it, but I found myself rather cool to it as I watched it in a local theater last night. I must admit that I felt the same way about the previous two attempts to reboot the Superman film franchise, director Bryan Singer's Superman Returns (2006) and director Zack Snyder's Man of Steel (2013). Like Superman (2025), the plot and narratives of these earlier films are over-stuffed with subplots, settings, and characters that make the overall plot and narrative struggle to come together. The over-stuffings are like roadblocks that force the central plot and narrative to veer off their most obvious and productive path. I don't think the new Superman is as awkward in these areas as the aforementioned Superman reboots, but I do believe that the new film spends its first half bouncing around ideas, subplots, themes, relationships and conflicts. To me, it is obvious that Superman 2025 borrows the big action set pieces of Man of Steel and also follows Superman Return's veneration of director Richard Donner and star Christopher Reeve's respective work on the Superman film franchise (1978-87).

There are things about the new Superman film that I really like. I think the actors and the way they play the characters, for the most part, are nearly perfect. The best thing about David Corenswet as Clark Kent/Superman is that he is the first actor that I have accepted as a true heir to the late Christopher Reeve (1952-2004), who is the gold standard when it comes to a cinematic Clark Kent/Kal-El/Superman. In a way, Superman 2025 offers its audience a vision of Superman as the quintessential nice guy the way Christopher Reeve and Superman: The Movie (1978) did.

Also, Rachel Brosnahan is a true heir to my favorite cinematic Lois Lane, the late Margot Kidder (1948-2018), Christopher Reeve's co-star. I also got a kick out of Edi Gathegi as Mister Terrific. I liked him in his early roles in such films as Twilight (2008) and X-Men: First Class (2011), and I'd like to see him play Mister Terrific as a lead in either film or television. I like Nicholas Hoult as Lex Luthor, but the character is played way too over-the-top, but I think Hoult as Luther will be a huge benefit to future DC Universe films.

I obviously don't like James Gunn's Superman as much as I enjoyed his work on Marvel Studios' Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, which ended with the fantastic Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (2023). Still, the new Superman is both a fresh start and a start in the right direction.

★★★ out of 4 stars

Friday, July 11, 2025

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Wednesday, July 9, 2025

#IReadsYou Movie Review: SUPERMAN III

Superman III (1983)

Running time: 125 minutes (2 hours, 5 minutes)

MPAA – PG

DIRECTOR: Richard Lester

WRITERS: David Newman and Leslie Newman (based characters created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster and on characters appearing in comic books published by DC Comics)

PRODUCER: Pierre Spengler

CINEMATOGRAPHER: Robert Paynter (D.o.P.)

EDITOR: John Victor Smith

COMPOSER: Ken Thorne

SUPERHERO/FANTASY/COMEDY

Starring: Christopher Reeve, Richard Pryor, Jackie Cooper, Marc McClure, Annette O'Toole, Robert Vaughn, Annie Ross, Pamela Stephenson, Gavan O'Herlihy, Paul Kaethler, and Margot Kidder

Superman III is a 1983 American superhero film and comic-fantasy from director Richard Lester. The film is the third in the “Superman” film series, which began with 1978's Superman (also known as Superman: The Movie). The character, Superman, first appeared in the comic book, Action Comics #1 (on-sale date of April 18, 1938) and was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, who also created other characters and situations related to Superman. In Superman III, Superman becomes the target of a greedy entrepreneur and a computer genius when they realize that he will obstruct their plans for wealth and world domination.

Superman III opens at an unemployment office in Metropolis. August “Gus” Gorman (Richard Pryor) has discovered that his employment checks have run out, but by chance he discovers information about a school where he can learn to be a computer programmer. Soon, Gus is working for the conglomerate, Webscoe Industries, where he uses his amazing computer skills to secretly embezzle over $85,000 from the company payroll.

However, Gus' activities do draw the attention of Webscoe's boss, Ross Webster (Robert Vaughn), and his sister and partner, Vera Webster (Annie Ross). Ross is obsessed with the idea of using technology in order to gain financial domination over the world. With the help of Annie and his tawdry mistress, Lorelei Ambrosia (Pamela Stephenson), Ross blackmails Gus into using his fantastic computer skills to begin a series of evil tech schemes.

Meanwhile, over at “The Daily Planet,” Metropolis' top newspaper, Clark Kent/Superman (Christopher Reeve) is preparing to return to his hometown of Smallville for his high school reunion, the Class of 1965. He wants to use the reunion as the subject of a feature article, so he takes Daily Planet photographer, Jimmy Olsen (Marc McClure), with him. At the reunion, Clark reconnects with his childhood friend, Lana Lang (Annette O'Toole), much to the chagrin of Clark's former high school bully, Brad Wilson (Gavan O'Herlihy).

While Clark enjoys his time with Lana and also bonds with her young son, Ricky (Paul Kaethler), Ross and Gus have launched their diabolical plans. Even the Daily Planet's star reporter, Lois Lane (Margot Kidder), ends up being a victim of their moves. When Ross discovers that Superman be an obstruction to his schemes, he forces Gus to find a way to destroy Superman, and those methods of destruction may come very close defeating the Man of Steel.

Superman III was not nearly the box office success that its predecessors, Superman: The Movie and Superman II (1980) were. Some fans and critics blamed the film's shortcomings on having Richard Pryor as a cast member. Some people may remember that Paramount Pictures was considering adding Eddie Murphy as a star of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. Many of the science fiction and comic book fans that I knew at the time insisted that because Richard Pryor “ruined” Superman III, a science fiction film could not have a “Black comedian” in it or it would be similarly ruined. They predicted doom and gloom for the fourth Star Trek feature film, but Murphy eventually passed on it to star in The Golden Child (1986). These early fans that I met were racist and stupid, and, at the time, I thought their opinions about “Blacks” in genre films were racist and stupid. I am glad that my association with them was short-lived.

Anyway, Pryor, one of the most influential American stand-up comedians of all-time, was known for his raunchy, adult-oriented act during the 1970s. Into the 1980s, however, he became a more cuddly figure, appearing in a number of mainstream and even family-friendly films. Although I was surprised that Pryor was cast in Superman III, I thought he was one of the few good things about the film when I first saw it in a theater back in 1983. I still think that.

Superman III is mediocre because the screenplay by David Newman and Leslie Newman, or at least what made it to screen, is awkward and sometimes illogical. Superman III's director, Richard Lester, was a very capable director during his active career; I am still a fan of his 1973 film, The Three Musketeers. Lester is controversial a figure in the annals of Superman cinema because of the production of Superman II, which I don't feel like getting into right this moment. Speaking strictly of Superman III, Lester and the Newmans did get one thing right.

When Superman III focuses on the jovial and genial nature of the film's characters, it is quite lovable. Clark, Lois, Lana, Ricky, Gus, Jimmy, the Daily Planet editor Perry White (Jackie Cooper), and even the film's ostensible villains: Brad, Ross, Vera, and Lorelei all come across as endearing. I enjoyed getting to know them as eccentric characters and character types. When the focus moves to Superman III's conflict/plot, the film turns simply ridiculous.

Almost a day after watching the entirety of Superman III for the first time in 32 years, I'm still thinking about it. And yes, I like Richard Pryor in this film as much as I like Christopher Reeve, the star of four Superman films from 1978 to 1987, returning to play his signature role. I don't mind the comic nature of Superman III, especially as some modern superhero movies are too damn dark. However, it has too many ideas, and too many of them are handled in the most nonsensical manner. Still, I can't help but kind of like Superman III because it is full of nice people.

B-

★★½ out of 4 stars

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Tuesday, July 8, 2025

#IReadsYou Review: CONAN THE BARBARIAN #8

CONAN THE BARBARIAN #8 (2023)

TITAN COMICS/Heroic Signatures

STORY: Jim Zub

ART: Doug Braithwaite

COLORS: Diego Rodriguez

LETTERS: Richard Starkings of Comicraft

EDITOR: Chris Butera

COVER: Ashleigh Izienicki

VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Patch Zircher; Greg Broadmore

32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (March 2024)

Suggested for mature readers

“Thrice Marked for Death!” Part IV: “Sacrifice”

Conan the Cimmerian was born in the pulp fiction of Robert E. Howard (REH), first appearing in the magazine, Weird Tales (1932). In 1970, Marvel Comics brought Conan to the world of comic books via the title, Conan the Barbarian. With only a few pauses, Conan comic books have been published for the better part of five decades.

Titan Comics and Heroic Signatures are the new producers of Conan comic books, and they launched a new Conan the Barbarian series in 2023. The current story arc is written by Jim Zub; drawn by Doug Braithwaite; colored by Diego Rodriguez; and lettered by Richard Starkings. Entitled “Thrice Marked for Death!,” the arc finds Conan taking up with a thieves guild known as “The Gloryhounds,” and the target of their latest act of larceny is a fine-cut, dark stone that only Conan realizes is dangerous.

Conan the Barbarian #8 (“Sacrifice”) opens with Conan alone, wandering the streets, and possessed. Only recently, he ran with the thieves guild known as the “Gloryhounds.” They wanted to steal an artifact known as “Tarim's Touch,” but only Conan recognized it as a shard of the cursed “Black Stone,” which he'd once broken with a Pict Blade. Now, all the Gloryhounds are dead, their violent deaths caused by the spirits within Tarim's Touch.

Now, it's Conan's turn. All the spirits of the shard are inside him, and they want him to find the blade he once used against the stone. Because he'd sold it, Conan must now go on a rampage through darkened Shadizar in order to find it. When he finds it, will that bring him peace and freedom or more trouble and damnation?

THE LOWDOWN: Titan Comics has been providing me with PDF copies of their publications for review for several years now. Conan the Barbarian #8 is one of them.

Writer Jim Zub spends the narrative of his script for issue #8 working himself and the story into a corner. “Thrice Marked for Death!” must come to an end, but it doesn't seem that Zub will come up with an end that makes sense in the context of the situations in which he has placed Conan. But, of course, Zub does it. He saves the day and sends Conan on a new adventure, with the kind of tremendous surprise I would never expect.

Artist Doug Braithwaite continues to summon the ghosts of Conan's greatest comic book artist, John Buscema, with strong storytelling. Issue #8 is a sound and fury signifying a storm of trouble for Conan, with powerful, brutal and violent action that boggles the mind even of a longtime Conan reader like myself. The art shines brilliantly under Diego Rodriguez's remarkable colors. All the while, Richard Starking's lettering maintains a soundtrack of doom.

People looking for good comic books should be reading Titan Comics' Conan the Barbarian. This is the real Conan deal, and dear readers, I think you will enjoy this as much as I keep enjoying it.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of Conan comic books will want to try Titan Comics and Heroic Signatures' Conan the Barbarian.

[This comic book includes the essay, “Robert E. Howard and His Ages Undreamed Of,” by Jeffrey Shanks. Although labeled as “Part Six,” it is also the eighth installment.]

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

The CONAN THE BARBARIAN: THRICE MARKED FOR DEATH! trade paperback is available at Amazon.

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Thursday, July 3, 2025

#IReadsYou Review: ELEKTRA VOLUME 2 #1

[This review of "Elektra Volume 2 #1" is one of the early comic book review that I ever wrote for my “Negromancer” blog (which began as a website) way back in the Summer of 2001. For a few years, I wrote my comic book reviews under the column title, "Why I Love Saturn," which I took from Kyle Baker's 1990 graphic novel, "Why I Hate Saturn."

Recently, I was able to recover my files from two 2000s-era hard drives. Beginning with this review, I am going to go back and re-edit all my original “Negromancer” comic book reviews and post these updated versions on here, my “I Reads You” blog. I hope you enjoy the trip back in time.]

ELEKTRA VOLUME 2 #1

MARVEL COMICS/Marvel Knights

STORY: Brian Michael Bendis

ART: Chuck Austen

COLORS: Nathan Eyring

LETTERS: Comicraft's Wes Abbot

EDITORS: Stuart Moore; Nanci Dakesian

COVER: Greg Horn

52pp, $3.50 U.S., $5.25 CAN (September 2001)

"Why I Love Saturn?" Episode 6

In typical fanboy fashion, I salivated at the thought of the return of Elektra, Frank Miller’s sexy, assassin and anti-heroine from his run as writer/artist of Marvel’s Daredevil back in the early 1980’s. But I only wanted Elektra to come back if she were to be guided Miller, or Miller and one of his cohorts, like Bill Sienkiewicz, so I, of course, ignored Pete Milligan and Mike Deodado’s mid 90’s incarnation.

In true clown fashion, I still bought the new series, starting with this first issue, Elektra Volume 2 #1. It is written by way too busy Brian Michael Bendis; drawn by Chuck Austen; colored by Nathan Eyring; and lettered by Wes Abbot. So many have sung Bendis' praises, via the Internet and magazine articles. Even other customers in my local shop heartily recommend him, but I’ve yet to read anything by him that’s really “knocked my socks off,” although I haven’t yet read Torso or Jinx.

Still, I can’t go crazy over a man whose main claim to fame is his reinvention of the early Spider-Man saga in Ultimate Spider-Man. All he is doing is simply retooling for a “modern” audience stories that were very well told when they first appeared in the early 1960’s created by Stan Lee and the amazing Mr. Steve Ditko. Honestly, John Byrne’s modernization of the early Spidey tales in Spider-Man: Chapter One was excellent.

With his “Ultimate” title and, now, Elektra, Bendis has firmly established himself as the writing equivalent of Ron Frenz. Bendis is now the “Super Adaptoid” of comics. However, Frenz version 2.0 is in dire need of repair, as Elektra is the work of an unoriginal and intellectual impoverished mind. Realistically, I can’t expect anything remotely related to characterization in this book; after all, the only important things about the characters are as follows.

Elektra is a scantily clad assassin whose costume includes a loose, flapping towel to cover her genitalia and another piece to cover the crack of her ass. Her breasts are impractically large for someone who must perform many impossible athletic feats. The men in her book are smug 20-somethings with nothing to say, but think that everything that they have to say is funny and/or witty (see Carson Daly or the cast of the American Pie movies). The established Marvel characters who will visit her book, as Nick Fury does this issue, need no characterization because they’re, well, they are who they are. Nick Fury is an icon, right?

Most of the dialogue in the first issue belongs to a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who is the antithesis of interesting and engaging. He is dull and witless, and it’s not just that he talks too much; his conversations amount to the buzzing of flies. The character is undoubtedly Bendis himself – college and pop culture educated – and possessing of nothing of substance worth conversing to another person.

Chuck Austen, this series' “artist,” uses a computer to model and to produce his work. Much of the art in this issue amounts to poor, stiff renderings and copies of Frank Miller’s work on Elektra, the way Rob Liefeld’s drawings are poor, stiff pencil renderings of Miller and Art Adams' work. Austen's drawings are awkward and clumsy; it’s the work of a mentally challenged man who apparently has never seen people. He draws people as if he were an artist with an arthritic hand who bases his figures on the crayon cave drawings of the Neanderthals of La La Land. If you think that I am being harsh, you are wrong. Harsh is the splash page on page 39 of the book, the one with Elektra leaping the table. ‘Nuff said.

0 out of 4 stars

Re-edited: Sunday, June 29, 2025

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Thursday, June 26, 2025

#IReadsYou Review: GREEN ARROW #6

[This review of "Green Arrow #6" is one of the early comic book review that I ever wrote for my “Negromancer” blog (which began as a website) way back in the Summer of 2001. For a few years, I wrote my comic book reviews under the column title, "Why I Love Saturn," which I took from Kyle Baker's 1990 graphic novel, "Why I Hate Saturn."

GREEN ARROW #6 (2001)

DC COMICs

"Why I Love Saturn" Episode Seven

STORY: Kevin Smith

PENCILS: Phil Hester

INKS: Ande Parks

COLORS: Guy Major

LETTERS: Sean Konot

COVER: Matt Wagner

36pp, $2.50 U.S., $4.95 CAN (September 2001)

“Quiver, Chapter 6”: “The Hollow Man”

Every time that I think that Kevin Smith and Phil Hester's current Green Arrow comic book series might slip in quality, it remains good, and often gets better. This is a well-written comic book by a man who knows comic books, their history, their structure, and how to tell a good story. Hester is a strong storyteller who dazzles with a unique graphical style. Clearly, this is an example of how to create a good, long serial – every chapter counts and every chapter engages. You go, boys!

I’ve only seen one of Smith’s movies, the brilliant and funny Clerks. [At the time that I wrote this interview, I'd only seen one of Smith's films.] On the surface, it seemed as if the characters in the movie talked too much. While some writers can use very few words to convey volumes, some use lots of words to tell the whole damn story. Smith is one of those writers; he uses every word to paint his mural. He pours forth the verbiage, to inform and illuminate. If after all that talk, you still can’t get it, dear readers, you’re probably some version of slow.

So what Kevin does best, he does in Green Arrow #6 (“The Hollow Man”). The Oliver Queen Green Arrow returns to the land of the living some years after his death in an aircraft explosion. He remembers nothing of the life we saw him live the last 20 years, which was his life in the hands of writer/artist Mike Grell. Smith weaves a complex, but not complicated, engaging mystery that carries Queen, his cohorts, including Batman, and us along on a whodunit that is the best I have seen in comics in a long time. Here, the Dark Knight Detective is really a detective, and Queen is a simply a man at odds with the time he is in now. The character has usually been at odds with the times in which he lives. Reading this fine magazine can give one the idea that Green Arrow has been around for decades waiting for a balladeer worthy of telling his story, and that is the Kevin Smith-Phil Hester team.

Hester, this series' pencil artist, is a capable draftsman. He seems to understand Smith and lays out panels that interprets the script and turns it into riveting storytelling. Scriptwriter and artist work so well together that they almost seem to be one really good comics creating unit.

Smith undoubtedly is a man that could help revitalize comics if he did more work. His clear, straightforward stories, unadorned by intellectual pretensions, could entertain and enthrall comic book novice readers and aficionados alike. However, we must respect his wishes to produce movies. My greedy ass will content myself with what I can get, while hungering for much, much more.

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

Kevin Smith and Phil Hester's run on "Green Arrow" is collected in GREEN ARROW: ARCHER'S QUEST OMNIBUS, VOL. 1 with available at Amazon.

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Wednesday, June 25, 2025

#IReadsYou Review: AKIRA VOLUME 1

AKIRA, VOL. 1

KODANSHA COMICS

MANGAKA: Katsuhiro Otomo

TRANSLATION & ADAPTATION: Yoko Umezawa; Linda M. York; Jo Duffy

LETTERS: David Shmit/Digibox, Editions Glenat, Digital Chameleon, Dark Horse Comics

EDITORS: Koichi Yuri (original); Naoto Yasunaga; Takeshi Katsurada

ISBN: 978-1-935-42900-5; paperback (October 13, 2009)

368pp, B&W with some color, $24.99 U.S., $29.99 CAN

Rating “OT Ages 16+”

First published in Japan in Young Magazine (December 1982 to June 1990), the manga Akira, created by Katsuhiro Otomo, is not unfamiliar to American audiences. Many are probably familiar with the animated film adaptation of Akira, co-written and directed by Otomo. After a short theatrical release beginning in 1988, the Akira anime has been available on VHS, DVD, and later Blu-ray.

Marvel Comics, under its Epic Comics imprint, first published the Akira manga in English as a 38-issue, full-color comic book series, and later reprinted those issues in 10 trade paperbacks and also in six hardback volumes. Dark Horse Comics would later publish a new translation of Akira in six volumes (2000-2002), similar to the Japanese six-volume tankoubon (book collection of manga) series.

Kodansha Comics, the American subsidiary of Japanese publisher, Kodansha, the original Japanese publisher of Akira, is bringing the series back to North American readers. Akira, Vol. 1 once again welcomes readers to Neo-Tokyo, the new city built upon the ashes of Tokyo, which was destroyed by the massive blast that would start World War III.

Akira Volume 1 opens 38 years after the blast (2030 A.D.). The lives of two juvenile delinquents, friends Shotaro Kaneda and Tetsuo Shima, are about to change forever when paranormal abilities begin to awaken in Tetsuo following a motorcycle accident. After a shadowy agency snatches Tetsuo, Kaneda is plunged into a shadowy world of terrorists and soldiers, and the young leader of a motorcycle gang is forced to go on the run from the law. Kaneda meets a young terrorist resistance fighter named Kei, and he becomes the target of The Colonel, the head of a secret organization conducting research on psychic test subjects. Kaneda’s fiercest battle may be his face off with Tetsuo and his monstrous new powers.

THE LOWDOWN: Akira was not only one of the most important manga of the 1980s; it was also one of the most surprising comic books of that decade. Although American readers had already been exposed to visionary science fiction comics in the form of Howard Chaykin’s American Flagg!, Akira was something so much larger, both in terms of the story and visuals. Akira was a lengthy serial narrative, and the structure of the story line not only supported a large cast of characters and numerous sub-plots (which American Flagg! had), but also extended action sequences.

Katsuhiro Otomo was able to take battle, chase, and fight scenes and extend them over several pages and even shift the scenes in which they take place from one setting or environment to another. For instance, there is a chase of Kaneda by The Colonel’s forces that begins on an above ground staging area and moves into a series of tunnels; then a cavernous area, before going back above ground. This all takes place over nearly 30 pages. Although manga is told through a series of connected static (or still) images, Akira’s decompressed, graphical storytelling mimics the sense of movement of film or animation. Readers may also experience the heightened sense of emotions and excited feelings that film can evoke.

Akira’s art also suggests the intense emotions, sensations, and passions of the characters. These can pass onto the reader, which makes reading Akira feel like a wild ride – the kind of ride advertisements for action movies promise audiences. Welcome back, Akira.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of Akira and of great manga will want to find Kodansha's 2009-2011, six-volume paperback editions of Akira

A+

10 of 10

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

AKIRA VOLUME 1 is currently available in a paperback edition and also can be preordered in a hardcover edition, which arrives August 2025, via Amazon.

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Tuesday, June 24, 2025

#IReadsYou Review: NIGHT CLUB II #1

NIGHT CLUB II #1 (OF 6)

DARK HORSE COMICS

STORY: Mark Millar

ART: Juanan Ramírez

COLORS: Fabiana Mascolo

LETTERS: Clem Robins

COVER: Juanan Ramírez with Fabiana Mascolo

EDITORIAL: Sarah Unwin

VARIANT COVER ARTIST: Jae Lee with June Chung

32pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (August 2024)

Rated M / Mature

Night Club created by Mark Millar at Netflix

Night Club II is a new six-issue miniseries written and created by Mark Millar and drawn by Juanan Ramírez. A Dark Horse Comics publication and a Netflix production, Night Club II is a sequel to the 2023 miniseries, Night Club. Both series focus on a teen boy who is bitten by a vampire and decides to make the best of his new condition. Colorist Fabiana Mascolo and letterer Clem Robins complete Night Club II's creative team.

Night Club introduces 17-year-old Danny Garcia, who had ambitions to gain fame and fortune as a YouTube star. After being turned into a vampire, he passed his new found powers unto his friends, DJ Sam Huxley and Amy Chen. Now, they're the superheroes: Starguard (Danny), Thundercloud (Sam), Yellowbird (Amy). But jealousy has broken up this vampire-superhero trio...

Night Club II #1 opens with Danny and Amy, now a couple, still playing superheroes and filming it for their lucrative YouTube page. They are actively attacking the drug empire of Rufus Tee, much to the chagrin of the police. Meanwhile, former “band mate,” Sam is using his vampire powers to ball hard, and now, he's gotten an attractive offer from a man who should be his enemy.

THE LOWDOWN: This is the second time that I have been on any kind of list that provides PDF copies of titles published by Dark Horse Comics. The latest received is Night Club II #1.

Reading this first issue of Night Club II, I suddenly remembered how much I really liked the first series and how much I really missed it. I'd love for Night Club to be an ongoing series, but I know that Millarworld doesn't really work that way. Night Club will have a beginning, middle, and end, but I feel like, as far as a vampire-superhero hybrid goes, it could be like DC Comics' Teen Titans.

Instead of offering big surprises in this return, writer Mark Millar and artist Juanan Ramírez build on the narrative that began in Night Club #1 and came to a head in Night Club #6. Millar provides the character drama, and Ramirez spreads it out in big panels and in widescreen storytelling. I think this means that there will be a lot of force applied by various interested parties to other interested parties in this second installment, and I think we'll like it, dear readers.

If you have ever seen the 1987 vampire film, The Lost Boys, you might have wondered what it would be like if the vampire boys got to play to their own interests. Maybe, Night Club II is that story.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of Mark Millar and of vampire comic books will want to be bitten by Night Club II.

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

https://twitter.com/mrmarkmillar

https://twitter.com/netflix

https://www.mrmarkmillar.com/

http://www.millarworld.tv/

https://www.darkhorse.com/

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This series is collected in the trade paperback, NIGHT CLUB VOLUME 2, which is available at Amazon.

Thursday, June 19, 2025

#IReadsYou Review: BETTIE PAGE and the Alien Agenda Volume 6 #2

BETTIE PAGE AND THE ALIEN AGENDA VOLUME 6 #2
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

STORY: Ani-Mia
ART: Celor
COLORS: Farah Nurmaliza
LETTERS: Carlos M. Mangual
EDITOR: Matt Idelson
COVER: Joseph Michael Linsner;
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Joseph Michael Linsner; Josh Burns; Stephane Roux, Jimmy Broxton, Ani-Mia; Celor; Ken Haeser
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (April 2022)

Rated Teen+

Bettie Page (1923–2008) was an American model who gained notoriety in the 1950s for her pin-up photos. She is still referred to has the “Queen of Pinups,” and her shoulder-to-armpit-length jet-black hair with its trademark bangs and her blue eyes have inspired generations of artists, illustrators and comic book artists.

In 2017, Dynamite Entertainment made Bettie Page the star of her own comic book miniseries. The latest is Bettie Page and the Alien Agenda Volume 6. It is written by Ani-Mia; drawn by Celor; colored by Farah Nurmaliza; and lettered by Carlos M. Mangual. The series finds Bettie searching for answers concerning an alien conspiracy.

Bettie Page and the Alien Agenda Volume 6 #2 opens at the Saqqara Necropolis, Egypt. Bettie and her team, Professor Sofia Villannueva and Kim Young-Ja, arrive via helicopter at the pyramid of Djoser. There, they meet their guide, Reynolds, and his associates, Ahmed and Karim, who will provide protection during the journey inside the pyramid.

They will need it, as Djoser is filled with treasure and deadly traps. But Bettie and company have to be here to find the clues that will take them to their next clue location … if they survive Djoser.

THE LOWDOWN: In July 2021, Dynamite Entertainment's marketing department began providing me with PDF review copies of some of their titles. The latest is Bettie Page and the Alien Agenda Volume 6 #2, which is the fifth issue of a Dynamite Bettie Page comic book that I have read.

Writer Ani-Mia previously wrote the miniseries, Bettie Page and the Bigfoot Bandits, which I did not read. Bettie Page and the Alien Agenda has an easy pace, but Ani-Mia uses that pace to trick readers. This series is sedate until it turns to lightning and this issue as some explosive moments.

Celor's calm and smooth art belies the fierce nature of this series. Celor captures the spirit of fictional grave robbers and treasure hunters like the beloved cinematic archaeologist, Henry “Indiana” Jones. Celor draws a page turner – an irresistible page turner, and the best thing that colorist Farah Nurmaliza does is accentuate the mood while staying out of Celor's way.

Dear readers, if you are into the legends surrounding the Roswell crash, you may be interested in trying Bettie Page and the Alien Agenda. I, for one, love this comic book. I am ready for the third issue.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of Bettie Page comic books will want to try Bettie Page and the Alien Agenda Volume 6.

★★★★½ out of 4 stars

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

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The text is copyright © 2022 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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This comic book miniseries has a trade paperback collection, BETTIE PAGE: ALIEN AGENDA, and it is available at Amazon.

Amazon wants me to inform you that the affiliate link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the affiliate link below AND buy something(s).

Wednesday, June 18, 2025

#IReadsYou Review: BONE #43

[This review of "Bone #43" is one of the early comic book review that I ever wrote for my “Negromancer” blog (which began as a website) way back in mid-Summer of 2001. For a few years, I wrote my comic book reviews under the column title, "Why I Love Saturn," which I took from Kyle Baker's 1990 graphic novel, "Why I Hate Saturn."

BONE #43

CARTOON BOOKS

"Why I Love Saturn" Episode Five

CARTOONIST: Jeff Smith

COVER: Jeff Smith with Steve Hamaker

28pp, B&W, $2.95 U.S., $4.50 CAN (July-August 2001)

“Prayer Stone”

For the unfamiliar, Bone is a delight hiding in wait for you to discovery it. Begun in 1991, Bone is best read in one of its seven collected volumes, which are available in comic book shops and bookstores, both the brick and mortar versions and online versions.

But for those in the know, who follow the semi-regularly published individual issues, it is one of the truly great comic books of the modern era, and one of the best since it began publication. Like Cerebus before it, Bone has become much more than what it seemed to be in the beginning of its run. What began as a fine all-ages, adventure tale has become an excellent epic fantasy, or, at least, as good as a comic book can be as an epic fantasy.

Bone #43 finds Gran'ma Ben, Thorn Harvestar, and the Bone cousins (Fone Bone, Phoncible P. “Phoney” Bone, and Smiley Bone) having finally reached the sacred walls of the old capital, Atheia. There, they hope to discover a way to save “the Valley.” So what will they find there?

In this work, cartoonist Jeff Smith is a master yarn spinner and fine comic book creator. He understands how to arrange panels on a page and how to arrange pages to tell the most effective stories. Smith's art skills are strong, and like Jamie Hernandez of Love and Rockets fame, he is one of the few modern comic book artists who plies his trade in black and white as a master illustrator and storyteller. Both Smith and Hernandez's comics approach the power and skill of past black and white masters such as Alex Toth and Wally Wood.

If you stopped reading Bone in the last few years, it’s just as good, if not better than before. It’s calling you home. New readers, try one of the seven trades; the story is entertaining and coherent no matter where you start.

★★★★ out of 4 stars

Original date: September 4, 2001

Edited with a rewrite: Tuesday, June 17, 2025

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The entire run of Bone has been collected in a single paperback collection, entitled BONE: THE COMPLETE CARTOON EPIC IN ONE VOLUME at Amazon.

Tuesday, June 17, 2025

#IReadsYou Review: JAMES BOND: Himeros #3

JAMES BOND: HIMEROS #3
DYNAMITE ENTERTAINMENT

STORY: Rodney Barnes
ART: Pierluigi Minotti
COLORS: Adriano Augusto
LETTERS: Social Myth Studios
EDITOR: Joe Rybandt
COVER: Francesco Francavilla
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Butch Guice; Francesco Francavilla
32pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (December 2021)

Rated T+

Based on the characters and stories created by Ian Fleming

“James Bond” is a fictional British Secret Service agent created by Ian Fleming, a British writer and novelist. Fleming introduced James Bond in the 1953 novel, Casino Royale, and featured the character in 12 novels and two short-story collections. Of course, most people know Bond because of Eon Productions' long-running James Bond-007 film series, which began with the 1962 film, Dr. No.

Over the past 50+ years, Bond has made sporadic appearances in comic books, but Dynamite Entertainment has been steadily publishing James Bond comic books since early 2016. Their latest James Bond comic book is James Bond: Himeros. It is written by Rodney Barnes; drawn by Pierluigi Minotti; colored by Adriano Augusto; and lettered by Social Myth Studios. In Himeros, 007 finds himself caught in a web of powerful people who will kill to keep their child sex trafficking secrets from coming to light.

James Bond: Himeros #3 opens in James Bond's memory – Thailand, three years ago. He has dealt with sex traffickers in the past. Now, he must uncover new horrors via billionaire financier and notorious sex trafficker, Richard Wilhelm, who was killed in Her Majesty's Prison Belmarsh, London. But Wilhelm's secrets did not die with him.

Now, Wilhelm's right hand man, Sarah Richmond, is the target of arms dealer, Anton Bates, who enjoyed the sex services Wilhelm provided and wants Richmond dead. Bond is very good at what he does, including protection, but Bates' assassin Kino is proving hard to shake and more than capable of killing Richmond … and Bond.

THE LOWDOWN: Dynamite Entertainment's marketing department recently began providing me with PDF review copies of some of their titles. One of them is James Bond: Himeros #3, which is one of several Dynamite James Bond comic books I've read.

Writer Rodney Barnes has been slowly building this series. In Himeros #3, he moves the story off simmer and throws some gasoline on the fire of that story. From the rumbling volcano of a back story to the the race to escape Miami, Barnes deals in hot, hot, hot.

Last issue, artist Antonio Ruso's art and storytelling came at the readers like lightning-quick punches, capturing all the surprising kinetic action. Now, the new artist, Pierluigi Minotti, comes with a can of gas to add to Barnes' fuel. I like this change; it does not disrupt the story and Minotti's art has a style similar to the great Eduardo Risso's (100 Bullets). Adriano Augusto's colors fit right in with the new artist, capturing both the moods of traditional James Bond fiction and the story's new heat. “Himeros” is the Greek god of sexual desire, and after reading James Bond: Himeros #3, dear readers, I desire that you desire it.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of James Bond comic books will want to try James Bond: Himeros.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

https://twitter.com/DynamiteComics
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The text is copyright © 2021 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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The trade collection for JAMES BOND: HIMEROS can be purchased at Amazon.

Amazon wants me to inform you that the affiliate link below is a PAID AD, but I technically only get paid (eventually) if you click on the affiliate link below AND buy something(s).

Wednesday, June 11, 2025

#IReadsYou Review: NEMESIS: ROGUES' GALLERY #2

NEMESIS: ROGUES' GALLERY #2 (OF 5)

DARK HORSE COMICS

STORY: Mark Millar

ART: Valerio Giangiordano

COLORS: Lee Loughridge

LETTERS: Clem Robins

EDITORS: Sarah Unwin; Daniel Chabon

COVER: Valerio Giangiordano with Lee Loughridge

32pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (August 2024)

Age range: 14+

Nemesis created by Mark Millar and Steve McNiven

Nemesis: Rogues' Gallery is a five-issue comic book miniseries from writer Mark Millar. It is a sequel to the miniseries, Nemesis Reloaded (2023) and Big Game (2023). Published by Dark Horse comics, the new series finds the super-killer, Nemesis, on a mission of revenge. Rogues' Gallery is drawn by Valerio Giangiordano; colored by Lee Loughridge; and lettered by Clem Robins.

Nemesis: Rogues Gallery finds Nemesis, once the world's greatest super-villain, with a plan to be just that, again. Now, bent on a mission of revenge against everyone who wronged him, Nemesis must rebuild his empire and his fortune.

Nemesis: Rogues Gallery #2 opens in the Tribunal de Justica in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Six counts of murder; 27 counts of aggravated assault; 3 counts of burglary, and four counts of antisocial behavior: that is Pedro Hernandez. He has been in and out of detention centers since he was six years old, and he shows no signs of rehabilitation or remorse. This is the day of reckoning for Pedro.

Or this is the day he can become Nemesis' new partner-in-crime, “Rookie.”

Meanwhile, Andy, the security guard betrayed by Nemesis, is a new man... and a new weapon of vengeance.

THE LOWDOWN: This is the second time that I have been on any kind of list that provides PDF copies of titles published by Dark Horse Comics. I mark my return with Nemesis: Rogues' Gallery #2.

Mark Millar continues to deliver the ultimate modern super-villain comic book. The Nemesis line of comics offers something like Batman as a deranged killer. However, I must point out that when it comes to Nemesis: Rogues' Gallery, the artist drives the narrative with the most power.

The artists of the earlier series, Steve McNiven (Nemesis) and Jorge Jiménez (Nemesis: Reloaded), offered art and graphic storytelling that emphasized the crazy, the sexy, and the cool of showy super-villain. Nemesis was a bad ass and a murderer, and the storytelling of the earlier series captured the exhilaration of Frank Miller and Klaus Janson's Daredevil and Batman: The Dark Knight Returns. In the first series, Nemesis was like the Batman of DKR, and in Nemesis: Reloaded, Nemesis was like Daredevil's killer dude, Bullseye.

Valerio Giangiordano of Rome, Italy takes Nemesis: Rogues' Gallery down a different path, both visually and graphically. No longer is Nemesis a sexy killer. Valerio captures all the darkness, vileness, and evil in Nemesis and places him at the heart of some nasty, hard-hitting storytelling. In a way, Valerio turns Rogues' Gallery into something like one of those gritty 1970s crime movies. Tonally, all three Nemesis series are different, but in this third series, Valerio takes charge and takes Nemesis down a more sinister and edgier path than any comic books that feature Nemesis have previously done.

Colorist Lee Loughridge, who knows how to deal with “the dark,” perfectly accentuates Valerio's storytelling with colors that suggest murder, both muted and glaring. Letterer Clem Robins captures the darker wasteland of this new series.

Nemesis: Rogues' Gallery promises to be a good time. It may also end up being the best evil Batman comic book in ages.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS: Fans of Mark Millar's comic books and of Valerio Giangiordano's art will desire Nemesis: Rogues' Gallery.

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux a.k.a. "I Reads You"

The NEMESIS: ROGUES' GALLERY trade paperback is available at Amazon.

https://www.mrmarkmillar.com/

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I Reads You

Friday, July 11, 2025

#IReadsYou Movie Review: SUPERMAN 2025

Wednesday, July 9, 2025

#IReadsYou Movie Review: SUPERMAN III

Tuesday, July 8, 2025

#IReadsYou Review: CONAN THE BARBARIAN #8

Thursday, July 3, 2025

#IReadsYou Review: ELEKTRA VOLUME 2 #1

Thursday, June 26, 2025

#IReadsYou Review: GREEN ARROW #6

Wednesday, June 25, 2025

#IReadsYou Review: AKIRA VOLUME 1

Tuesday, June 24, 2025

#IReadsYou Review: NIGHT CLUB II #1

Thursday, June 19, 2025

#IReadsYou Review: BETTIE PAGE and the Alien Agenda Volume 6 #2

Wednesday, June 18, 2025

#IReadsYou Review: BONE #43

Tuesday, June 17, 2025

#IReadsYou Review: JAMES BOND: Himeros #3

Wednesday, June 11, 2025

#IReadsYou Review: NEMESIS: ROGUES' GALLERY #2

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