Master Keaton: Black Forest

I read Master Keaton, Vol. 2

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin, which is seeking donations.  Follow me on Twitter or at Grumble.

Book Review: Neil Gaiman's TRIGGER WARNING

TRIGGER WARNING
HARPERCOLLINS/William Morrow – @HarperCollins @WmMorrowBks

AUTHOR: Neil Gaiman – @neilhimself
ISBN: 978-0-06-233026-0; hardcover (February 3, 2015)
352pp, B&W, $26.99 U.S., $33.50 CAN

Trigger Warning is a 2015 short story collection from #1 New York Times bestselling author, Neil Gaiman.  This hardcover book is published by William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.  This is the third major book of Gaiman's short stories, following Smoke and Mirrors (1998) and Fragile Things (2006).

Trigger Warning includes a never-before published story set in the world of Gaiman's classic novel, American Gods (2001), entitled “Black Dog.”  There is a Sherlock Holmes story, “The Case of Death and Honey.”  There is an ode to a beloved author in, “The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury.”  The story “Nothing O'Clock” was written for the 50th anniversary of “Doctor Who.”  There are more than 20 short stories; plus, there are some poems that can be read even by people who do not like poetry.

I have been reading Neil Gaiman for the better part of three decades.  When I first read a comic book by Gaiman, I thought, “This guy is really good.”  His novel, American Gods: The Tenth Anniversary Edition (2011), is a kind of Bible to me.

Over all that time, I could not tell you why I liked Gaiman's comics and fiction, other than to say, “This guy is really good.”  While reading one of Trigger Warning's short stories, “The Thing About Cassandra,” it suddenly dawned on.  I like Gaiman because he tells me stories.  He's a natural storyteller, and I naturally love stories.

I read a lot of prose fiction.  I have been entertained by writers who are considered to be part of a “canon.”  I have read fiction by writers who are beloved, even if they are not considered literary.  I have enjoyed fiction by writers who are not that good or have been forgotten, relatively speaking.

I open those books and start reading, and I find myself engaged, absorbed, engrossed, etc., all the while I am transported to other worlds.  However, for all the authors that I have read, not all are natural storytellers.  When I open a book written by a natural storyteller, it seems as if that author immediately starts telling me a story.  Sure, I am engaged in the act of reading, but it seems as if the storyteller is the one who is reading.  That author is reading to me, and I am just a listener, enchanted and hypnotized by the words of the storyteller.

I felt myself transported and maybe even trapped in the world of “The Thing About Cassandra.”  I wanted to run away, but I stayed to listen to the storyteller.  Damn, this storyteller Neil Gaiman is really good, I thought.  If you want to feel something like what I felt, buy Trigger Warning.

A

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

Review: DENGEKI DAISY Volume 16

DENGEKI DAISY, VOL. 16
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

CARTOONIST: Kyousuke Motomi
TRANSLATION/ENGLISH ADAPTATION: JN Productions
LETTERS: Rina Mapa
ISBN: 978-1-4215-7771-5; paperback (April 2015); Rated “T+” for “Older Teen”
192pp, B&W, $9.99 US, $12.99 CAN

Dengeki Daisy is a shojo romantic comedy manga created by Kyousuke Motomi.  The series began serialization in Betsucomi, a Japanese shojo manga magazine, in October 2007.  VIZ Media published the manga in North America as a series of graphic novels, and recently published the final volume.

Dengeki Daisy focuses on Teru Kurebayshi, an orphan who lost her beloved brother, Soichiro.  She is not alone, however.  Teru exchanges messages with DAISY, a mysterious figure who can only be reached through a cell phone Teru's brother left her.  Eventually, Teru learns that DAISY is Tasuku Kurosaki, a janitor who is always around when she needs him.

Shadowy government agents abducted Teru and took her to an uninhabited island.  There, a trap is set to lure Kurosaki and their real target, Akira, a mathematical genius who is deemed a national security threat.  Before the trio can escape, the island is detonated...

Dengeki Daisy, Vol. 16 (Final Chapter - “To Our Future”) reveals how Teru, Kurosaki, and Akira escaped.  Who helped them leave the island just in time?  The source of one bit of assistance is obvious, but the second is a big surprise, and only Teru knows the savior's identity.  Plus, what are they going to do with the rest of their lives, and what is Kurosaki's next big career move?

[This volume includes two bonus features:  “To the Tip of the Nails,” and “New Year's” and two Bonus Chapters: “Daisy Special Episode Part 1,” and “Daisy Special Episode Part 2.”  This volume also includes Kyousuke Motomi's debut short story, “No-Good Cupid.”]

The Dengeki Daisy manga comes to an end.  Dengeki Daisy Volume 16 brings the series to a close, although only one chapter in this volume is part of the main story.  The rest is bonus material, which includes creator, Kyousuke Motomi's debut manga, the short story “No-Good Cupid.”

Vol. 16 is a bit anti-climatic, but it has a feel-good ending.  I am so used to on-going American comic books, which don't end so much as they restart, that I am still adjusting to the fact that manga end.  They are finite comics narratives.  In my final analysis of Dengeki Daisy, I would recommend it to new readers, because it is different.  It is odd in that it is an off-kilter high school shojo romance and in that it also has a dark side in which death plays a prominent part.  In fact, romance in bloom and the specter of death are equal partners in Dengeki Daisy.

A-

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.

Read Webcomic Grumble: Chapter Two - Page 2

Grumble Chapter Two, Page 2 is here: http://www.comicbookbin.com/grumbletwopage002.html

NOTE:  Last year, I printed some promotional copies of Grumble: Chapter One through a POD printer.  I will sign and number a copy of this "rare" comic book for $5 post paid, which you can purchase here or http://ireadsyou.blogspot.com/p/i-reads-shopping.html

I Reads You, Avengers... err... I Reads You, May 2015

Hey, it's May.  It starts off with "Avengers: Age of Ultron" Day.  Go see it!

Welcome to I Reads You, a ComicBookBin web and sister publication (www.comicbookbin.com).  We write about the things we read:  mostly comic books, comics, and related books.  Sometimes, we’ll write about or link to other topics.

All images and text appearing on this publication are copyright © and/or trademark their respective owners.

Naruto: Path

I read Naruto, Vol. 68

I posted a review at the ComicBookBin, which is seeking donations.  Follow me on Twitter or at Grumble.

Review: WAYWARD #7

WAYWARD #7
IMAGE COMICS – @ImageComics

STORY: Jim Zub – @jimzub
ART: Steve Cummings – @stekichikun
COLORS: Tamra Bonvillain – @TBonvillain
LETTERS: Marshall Dillon – @MarshallDillon
COVER: Steve Cummings with Tamra Bonvillain
VARIANT COVER: Sie Nanahara
28pp, Color, $3.50 U.S.

The latest issue of Image Comics' Wayward is in comic book shops today (Wednesday, April 29, 2015).  The comic book, which launched late last summer, is set in Japan and features those creatures of Japanese folklore, yokai.

Wayward is the creation of writer Jim Zub and artist Steve Cummings.  Wayward focuses on Rori Lane, a half-Irish/half-Japanese teen girl, who is trying to start a new life in Japan with her mother, Sanae.  Instead, Rori finds herself connected to the magic and ancient creatures that lurk in the shadows of Tokyo.

Wayward #7 (“Chapter Seven”) continues the focus on Ohara Emi, a high school girl to whom most people pay little or no attention.  Now, she does have people paying attention to her, Ayane and Nikaido, two teens who are part of Rori Lane's little monster-hunting band.

With the arrival of Obon, the Japanese festival of the dead, Ayane wonders what has happened to Rori and Shirai, who were lost during a battle with several powerful creatures.  Meanwhile, these “corrupted children” are the subject of a meeting between Nurarihyon and other yokai, who are themselves in for quite a surprise.

In a bid to keep the word going about his comic book, Wayward writer/co-creator, Jim Zub, sent out an advanced review PDF copy of Wayward #7.  I like this comic book and support it by buying copies, even after reading it for free.

Recently, someone said that Wayward is the next Saga.  I wouldn't know, as I have yet to read Saga, but if it is as good as Wayward, then, I must read it immediately.  This seventh issue of Wayward is, so far, the best issue of the new story arc.  Sometimes, comic books about magic don't feel very magical.  Like The Sandman, this series has a sense of enchantment about it that is... well, enchanting.  I heartily recommend... Oh, the hell with it.  Read this, dammit!

A

[Wayward #7 contains another engrossing essay, “Obon – The Festival of the Dead,” by Zack Davisson (@ZackDavisson).]

Reviewed by Leroy Douresseaux


The text is copyright © 2015 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog for syndication rights and fees.