Marvel Comics from Diamond Distributors for May 22, 2019

MARVEL COMICS

MAR190936    AGE OF X-MAN AMAZING NIGHTCRAWLER #4 (OF 5)    $3.99
MAR190905    ALPHA FLIGHT #1 FACSIMILE EDITION    $4.99
NOV181004    AMAZING SPIDER-MAN OMNIBUS HC VOL 04 CHO VAR    $125.00
NOV181005    AMAZING SPIDER-MAN OMNIBUS HC VOL 04 ROMITA DM VAR    $125.00
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MAR190827    AVENGERS #19    $3.99
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MAR190942    WOLVERINE INFINITY WATCH #4 (OF 5)    $3.99
MAR190945    X-FORCE #8    $3.99

Comics, Magazines and Books from Diamond Distributors for May 22, 2019

COMICS & GRAPHIC NOVELS

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FEB191745    RED ULTRAMARINE HC (MR)    $19.99
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MAR192249    TRINITY SEVEN 7 MAGICIANS GN VOL 16 (MR)    $13.00
APR192018    TRIP TO TOP O/T VOLCANO WITH MOUSE HC    $12.95
MAY181337    UNDERDOG & PALS #1 BLANK SKETCH CVR    $6.99
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APR192020    WHITE SNAKE HC    $16.95
FEB191416    WILLIAM THE LAST FIGHT AND FLIGHT #3    $3.99
FEB191684    YELLOW YELLOW HC    $15.95
MAR192296    YURI IS MY JOB GN VOL 03 (MR)    $12.99

MAGAZINES
MAR192053    BACK ISSUE #113    $8.95
MAR191667    COMIC SHOP NEWS [90CT BUNDLE] #1666    $PI
JAN192163    JACK KIRBY COLLECTOR #76    $10.95
MAR191879    LITTLE SHOPPE OF HORRORS #42    $10.95

BOOKS
APR191837    ABOUT TIME UNAUTHORIZED GT DOCTOR WHO SC VOL 08 SERIES 3    $24.95
APR191838    ABOUT TIME UNAUTHORIZED GT DOCTOR WHO SC VOL 09 SERIES 4    $29.95
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APR192017    COMICS EASY AS ABC SC    $9.99
FEB191908    GOLDEN AGE OF SCIENCE FICTION JOURNEY INTO SPACE 1950S HC (C    $42.95
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MAR192307    KIKANETSU ART OF DAISUKE RICHARD SC    $30.00
MAR192101    NICE & ACCURATE GOOD OMENS TV COMPANION HC    $40.00
FEB191985    SKETCH WITH ASIA MANGA INSPIRED ART & TUTORIALS HC    $34.99
MAR192297    SPARKLING ART OF CHIKA TAKEI SC    $50.00
MAR191730    TOKYO SWEET GWENDOLINE SC (MR)    $49.95
MAR192047    WARLOCK HOLMES MMPB    $14.95
MAR192046    X-MEN DARK PHOENIX SAGA HC (RES)    $24.95

Amazon Announces "Forward" Sci-Fi Short Story Collection

Amazon Publishing Brings Together Bestselling and Award-Winning Authors Blake Crouch, N. K. Jemisin, Veronica Roth, Amor Towles, Paul Tremblay, and Andy Weir for a Sci-Fi Short Story Collection

Coming from Amazon Original Stories in September 2019, Forward will offer readers mind-bending, binge-worthy short stories from some of today’s most acclaimed authors

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--(NASDAQ: AMZN)—Amazon Original Stories, an imprint of Amazon Publishing, announced the forthcoming six-part science-fiction collection, Forward, featuring original short stories from some of today’s most celebrated voices in fiction, including Blake Crouch, N. K. Jemisin, Veronica Roth, Amor Towles, Paul Tremblay, and Andy Weir. Forward will be available for free on September 17th, 2019 to Prime and Kindle Unlimited customers. Readers can download the collection as a Kindle eBook or Audible audiobook.

    “We think of our story collections as reading’s answer to podcasts, and are proud to offer our readers—and listeners—fresh ways to fit binge-worthy narratives into their lives.”

Forward explores a central theme: the resounding effects of a pivotal technological moment. While each author started with this same prompt, readers will discover that each story unearths a unique corner of the sci-fi genre, ranging from intimate to epic, grounded to far future, hopeful to harrowing.

Andy Weir (Artemis, The Martian) imagines a high-tech Las Vegas casino heist; Paul Tremblay (The Cabin at the End of the World) immerses readers in a patient’s mysteriously slow healing process; Amor Towles (A Gentleman in Moscow) explores a fertility clinic’s god-like abilities to alter an unborn child’s life path; Veronica Roth (Divergent trilogy) spins a story of finding connection in the face of our world’s certain destruction; N.K. Jemisin (The Broken Earth series) subverts all expectations when an explorer returns to the ravaged Earth his ancestors fled; and Blake Crouch (Dark Matter) follows a video game designer whose character Maxine unexpectedly “wakes up.”

“Each story in the Forward collection stands alone as a singular achievement in science fiction, imagined by a storyteller at the top of their game,” said Mikyla Bruder, Publisher, Amazon Publishing. “In this ambitious collection, these writers deliver a formidable reading experience that will delight their fans and thrill readers new to their work.”

“I find the theme of the Forward collection particularly exciting,” said Veronica Roth, New York Times bestselling author of the Divergent trilogy. “Sci-fi often skews toward wariness of the future, for good reason, but this collection prompted me to tap into the other side of it, into wonder and imagination. It was a welcome challenge!”

“The short story is one of the hardest, most rewarding forms in fiction, and with Amazon Original Stories, we had the tools to gather together the best of the best in sci-fi, fantasy, YA, horror, and historical and bring these groundbreaking stories to a true mass audience,” said Blake Crouch, bestselling author of Dark Matter and the curator of Forward. Crouch’s Wayward Pines trilogy and his novel Good Behavior, both of which were adapted for television, were also published by Amazon Publishing, under the Thomas & Mercer imprint.

“Amazon Original Stories is all about innovating on what storytelling looks like today, and Forward’s all-star cast of beloved authors is helping us do just that,” said Julia Sommerfeld, Editorial Director, Amazon Original Stories. “We think of our story collections as reading’s answer to podcasts, and are proud to offer our readers—and listeners—fresh ways to fit binge-worthy narratives into their lives.”

Launched in 2017, Amazon Original Stories brings unforgettable short fiction and nonfiction to Kindle. Past collections include the Amazon Original Stories and Amazon Studios joint acquisition The Fairer Sex by Michelle Miller, Warmer by Lauren Groff, Jane Smiley, Jess Walter, and more, and Dark Corners, which features Lisa Unger’s Edgar Award-nominated short The Sleep Tight Motel. Each story is available free to Prime members, as well as Kindle Unlimited subscribers, and is available for download for non-subscribers beginning at $1.99.

www.amazon.com/amazonoriginalstories


About Amazon Publishing
Amazon Publishing is a leading publisher of trade fiction, nonfiction, and children’s books with a mission to empower outstanding storytellers and connect them with readers worldwide. The Amazon Publishing teams based in Seattle, New York, Grand Haven, Luxembourg, London, Paris, Madrid, Milan, and Munich publish emerging, bestselling and critically-acclaimed authors in digital, print, and audio formats. For more information, visit apub.com.

About Amazon
Amazon is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire tablets, Fire TV, Amazon Echo, and Alexa are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon. For more information, visit www.amazon.com/about and follow @AmazonNews.

----------------------

Review: AVENGERS #1 (2018)

AVENGERS No. 1 (2018)
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Jason Aaron
PENCILS: Ed McGuinness
INKS: Mark Morales
COLORS: David Curiel
LETTERS: VC's Cory Petit
EDITOR: Tom Brevoort
COVER: Ed McGuinness and Mark Morales with Justin Ponsor
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Aaron Kuder with Jason Keith; Greg Land and Jay Leisten with Frank D'Armata; Esad Ribic
40pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (July 2018)

Rated “T+”

Avengers created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby

“The Final Host”

In the 1970s and 1980s, Marvel Comics published comic book adaptations of popular and cult science fiction and fantasy films, from the Stars Wars films to movies like Dune (1984) and The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984).  Some of them had beautiful art (Al Williamson's killer work on Marvel's The Empire Strikes Back adaptation), but the script adaptations were often weak.  Reading these film to comic book adaptations was like reading storyboards for a film with some of the boards were missing.  That is when you realize the “motion” in motion pictures makes the medium of film not all that related to the medium of comic books with its static or still graphics.

The Avengers #1 that arrived on Wednesday, May 2, 2018 got me to thinking about comic books that try to capture the sound and vision of films.  We see comic book writers trying to write for comic books the kind of big, loud, special-effects driven stories that only films can tell.  Once upon a time, people said that comic book stories that were written like other comic books were bad things.  Now, we have comic books trying too hard to be like films and television.  That is the real problem, and brother, Avengers #1 2018 has many problems.

Marvel Comics is just beginning another relaunch of its comic book line, something called “Fresh Start.”  The venerable publisher is returning to its “Legacy” characters after publishing new versions of those classic characters – new versions that some retards described as “black, homo, and freaking female.”  So enter Avengers #1 2018 (Legacy #691).  It is written by Jason Aaron; drawn by Ed McGuinness (pencils) and Mark Morales (inks); colored by David Curiel; and lettered by Cory Petit.  At the core of this old-is-new Avengers are classic (white male) Tony Stark/Iron Man, classic (white male) Thor, and classic (white male) Steve Rogers/Captain America.

Avengers #1 (Legacy #691) opens on Earth, one million years ago and depicts the Avengers of 1,000,000 BC.  Then it moves to present day Earth, where Thor and Steve Rogers are trying to convince a reluctant Tony Stark that the world needs the Avengers to return, and the Avengers can only return the right way with them – the original Thor, Captain America, and Iron Man.  It may no longer be a matter of choice when cosmic beings start falling to Earth.

It is clear to me that Marvel is trying to make the Avengers 2018 comic book series be as close to Marvel Studios' Avengers movies as possible.  Writer Jason Aaron tries to make it seem like there is a story here and not just action scenes, but there is not much of a story here.  This is the Avengers comic book as a Michael Bay movie – if Bay did a mash-up of his Transformers films and the Avengers films.  Avengers #1 is big, loud silent scream, and Aaron squeezes in a few quiet, faux-character scenes, mostly featuring the She-Hulk and the Ghost Rider, in a failed bid at adding substance.

Marvel Comics' problems are not “diversity characters.”  The main problem is the embrace of event comic books and other publishing stunts that are flash instead of story.  DC Comics got the message, and its 2016 “Rebirth” initiative was a return to an emphasis on story, even when those stories may be average at best.  At least, DC and its creative teams are working at giving readers substance in story, plot, and character.

Maybe another problem is that many of Marvel's best writers have moved on from Marvel.  Most of the really good comic book writers that wrote for Marvel over the last two decades (Mark Millar and Ed Brubaker, for example) are now in Hollywood, at Amazon or Netflix, or are producing comic books for Image Comics.  Marvel is left with writers like Jason Aaron and Cullen Bunn who are inconsistent, writing comic books that are surprisingly good or woefully average.  And in his bid to make an Avengers comic book act like an Avengers movie, Aaron delivers woeful with Avengers #1 2018.

Marvel is also constantly recycling pencil artist Ed McGuinness, but as usual, his drawing style is pleasing to the eye, although McGuinness' art looks like a chibi slash lolicon version of the art of flaky comic book creator, Arthur Adams.  David Curiel's colors over McGuinness and Mark Morales' (inker) illustrations are gorgeous, though.  Of Avengers #1 2018's creative team, Curiel delivers the best work.

In about a year or so, the sales of Avengers 2018 will be less than half of what Avengers #1 2018 is now.  Who will get the blame, then?  Marvel Comics' editorial policy?  Marvel's recycled creative teams?  Scapegoat “diversity characters?”

This is an Avengers comic book trying to be event entertainment, when being a good comic book is all that is necessary to please most comic book readers.  And no, Avengers #1 is not worth its $4.99 cover price.

4 out of 10

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


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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Book Review: THE AMERICAN AGENT

THE AMERICAN AGENT – (A Maisie Dobbs Novel #15)
HARPER (HarperCollins Publishers) – @HarperCollins
@HarperBooks

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

AUTHOR: Jacqueline Winspear
ISBN: 978-0-06-243666-5; hardcover (March 26, 2019)
384pp, B&W, $27.99 U.S.

The American Agent is the new novel from author Jacqueline Winspear.  It is the 15th novel in the series starring “psychologist and investigator,” Maisie Dobbs, a former British nurse whose adventures begin during World War I and continue into the decades that follow.  The American Agent finds Maisie investigating the mysterious murder of an American war correspondent in London during the beginning of the Bltiz.

The American Agent opens on September 10, 1940.  It is the time of the “Blitz,” when Nazi Germany unleashes the full terror of its blitzkrieg upon the British Isles.  During this period of intense bombing, German bombers and the Luftwaffe rain death and destruction from the skies on London and other British cities.

Catherine Saxon, an American correspondent reporting on the war in Europe and on the Blitz from London, is found murdered in her London apartment.  News of her death is concealed by British authorities, because of the sensitivity of Ms. Saxon's work and because of her position as the daughter of an influential and powerful United States senator.  Robert MacFarlane, who is acting as a linchpin between Scotland Yard and the American Secret Service, asks Maisie Dobbs to investigate the murder of Catherine.  MacFarlane also asks Maisie to work with Mark Scott, an agent from the U.S. Department of Justice.  Scott is also “the American agent” who helped Maisie escape from Hitler’s Germany in 1938 (as seen in the 2016 novel, Journey to Munich).

In addition to this case, Maisie is a volunteer with the London Auxiliary Ambulance Service with her dear friend, Priscilla Partridge, helping to rescue people after the German bombs have done their damage.  With all this going on, Maisie must also protect Anna Mason, the young evacuee girl she has grown to love and wants to adopt.  Soon, Maisie must go before the Ministry of Health and seek its approval for her to adopt the six-year-old girl, but Maisie worries that she will not be approved to be the child's mother.  Maisie also faces losing her dearest friend.  She finds herself entangled in a murder investigation linked to the power of wartime propaganda and to American political intrigue.  And now, Maisie, a widow, must also face the possibility that she might be falling in love again.

The American Agent is the fourth Maisie Dobbs novel that I have read.  It is also the third novel in the series that is set during Great Britain's involvement in World War II, going back to 2017's In This Grave Hour, which introduced Anna Mason, the girl Maisie wants to adopt.

I thought 2018's To Die But Once was the most personal Maisie Dobbs novel I had read.  By “personal,” I mean that of the Maisie novels I had read up to that time, it seemed the most linked to Maisie's connection to her family, to her in-laws, and to her dear fiend, Priscilla Partridge, and her husband and three sons, who are practically Maisie's family, also.

The American Agent is also deeply personal, but I find that in this novel, Jacqueline Winspear focuses on the character of Maisie Dobbs.  The case of the murder of Catherine Saxon, including the late young woman's history, career, ambitions, and her complicated family relationships bring out Maisie Dobbs ethical approach to investigation, which includes her desire to heal many of the people involved in a case.  In turn, Winspear uses the case to reveal the internal workings of Maisie as she deals with the life-threatening injury to a friend and comes to understand how her life and that of Anna's will change with the decision on whether Maisie can adopt the child or not.  And we get to see the process of Maisie falling in love in spite of herself.

Jacqueline Winspear makes The American Agent a riveting character study of a wonderful character whom readers cannot help but love.  As always, Winspear authors a novel that ends in a way that has us eagerly awaiting the next installment.  Thus, The American Agent is a winning novel, and it turns out to be a perfect starting point for new readers.

10 out of 10

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


The text is copyright © 2019 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for syndication rights and fees.

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Review: STAR WARS: The Last Jedi Adaptation #1

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI ADAPTATION No. 1 (OF 6)
MARVEL COMICS – @Marvel

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Gary Whitta
ART: Michael Walsh
COLORS: Mike Spicer
LETTERS: VC's Travis Lanham
EDITOR: Heather Antos
COVER: Mike Del Mundo
VARIANT COVERS: Joe Quesada with Richard Isanove
36pp, Color, $4.99 U.S. (July 2018)

Rated “T”

“The Last Jedi” Episode VIII, Part 1

Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) is the second movie in the Star Wars “sequel trilogy” (which began with 2015's Star Wars: The Force Awakens).  Marvel Comics is producing a comic book adaptation of the Oscar-nominated film, entitled Star Wars: The Last Jedi Adaptation.  It is written by Gary Whitta; drawn by Michael Walsh; colored by Mike Spicer; and lettered by Travis Lanham.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Adaptation #1 opens on Ahch-To, the oceanic planet where Luke Skywalker has been hiding for several years.  Hoping to find an end to things... alone... Skywalker suddenly realizes that someone has found him.  Meanwhile, the First Order launches an attack on D'Qar, where the Resistance has a base.  As General Leia Organa directs the evacuation from the planet, Poe Dameron leads an attack against the First Order.  However, as the various players make their moves, events are being set in motion that will shock everyone.

I did not like Star Wars: The Last Jedi the way I really liked Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  However, I think that I might end up liking the comic book adaptation Star Wars: The Last Jedi more than I liked the comic book adaptation of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which I was surprised I liked.

Artist Michael Walsh does not offer pretty illustrations, and he draws somewhat unattractive faces on characters.  However, his graphical storytelling is strong, and I find that The Last Jedi's story moves faster and smoother in words and pictures (graphics) than it did in motion pictures.

Screenwriter Gary Whitta, who wrote the story for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, has previously written for comics.  His comic book script for Star Wars: The Last Jedi Adaptation #1 is good storytelling.  For some reason, Whitta makes The Last Jedi seem almost new, as if it were a story not already introduced in another media.  Together with Michael Walsh, Whitta offers a first issue of a Star Wars comic book adaptation that is quite nice, which is not something readers always get.

7 out of 10

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


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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Review: BITTER ROOT #1

BITTER ROOT No. 1 (OF 5)
IMAGE COMICS – @ImageComics

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: David F. Walker and Chuck Brown
ART: Sanford Greene
COLORS: Rico Renzi and Sanford Greene
LETTERS: Clayton Cowles
EDITOR: Heather Antos
COVER: Sanford Greene with Jarreau Wimberly
VARIANT COVER ARTISTS: Mike Mignola; Denys Cowan and Don Hudson with Rico Renzi; Brittney Williams; Sanford Greene with Jarreau Wimberly
28pp, Color, $3.99 U.S. (November 2018)

Rated M/Mature

Bitter Root created by David F. Walker, Chuck Brown, and Sanford Greene

Bitter Root is a new comic book miniseries from Image Comics.  It is created by writers David F. Walker and Chuck Brown and artist Sanford Greene.  It follows a family of monster fighters who are based in 1920s Harlem.  The rest of the creative team is composed of Rico Renzi who colors the book with Sanford Greene and Clayton Cowles who provides lettering.

Bitter Root #1 opens in New York City of the 1920s.  The Harlem Renaissance is in full swing, and at one of Harlem's hottest spots, “Sweet Pickin,” people are shaking their tail feathers.  But all is not well.  Supernatural forces are threatening humanity, and only the Sangerye Family can save New York and the world from the demon... the monster... the “Jinoo.”

Ma Etta does the root work to create the curing serum.  Blink assists her, but the young woman wants to be out in the field fighting monsters with the boys.  The burly and loquacious Berg puts young Cullen through his paces.  The family, however, is not as large in number as it used to be, worn down by tragedy and conflict.  They must heal and recover or watch the world be destroyed.

Black science fiction and fantasy – in film and television, in prose, and in comic books – is in full bloom.  Comic books like Black Panther, House of Whispers, and Jook Joint provide a regular and consistent view of black and brown faces in speculative and fantastic fiction.  Writer David F. Walker has been at the forefront of “Black Comics” thanks to his work on titles like Cyborg, Luke Cage, and Nighthawk, to name a few.

Walker and co-writer Chuck Brown, in Bitter Root, deliver a concept with quite a bit of potential.  Even after one issue, it seems that five issues will not be enough to contain what they have created.  I like the idea of hate being a thing that creates monsters, but Bitter Root seems to want to explore evil in ways that are layered if not complex.  Plus, there are the dynamics of the Sangerye Family.  They are four strong individuals, each one truly unique from the others, and all with glorious black and brown faces.

As an comic book artist and illustrator, Sanford Greene is bold and dynamic.  The influence and manga and anime on Greene's graphical storytelling is evident, even in Bitter Root.  Characters emote with kinetic ferocity and the suggestion of figures in motion here makes the characters move like a cat on a hot tin roof.  Green's storytelling is alive and hypnotic.  Is it okay to say that this is like crack for the comic book readers' eyes.  Greene's coloring, done with Rico Renzi, is equally heady and kinetic.

The ever reliable letterer, Clayton Cowles, also goes shaka zulu with his lettering.  A nervy story needs nervy lettering in order to be a nervy read, and Cowles work here is quite nervy.  Bitter Root keeps the black gold flowing in our “Golden Age” of “Black Comics.”  I recommend it and can't wait for the second issue.

9 out of 10

[This comic book includes text pieces by David F. Walker and Chuck Brown (“Bitter Truths: That ain't nothing but the Devil!”); Toni Morrison (excerpt from Beloved); and John Jennings (“Deep Roots / Rich Soil: Race, Horror and the Ethnogothic”).]

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


The text is copyright © 2018 Leroy Douresseaux. All Rights Reserved. Contact this blog or site for reprint and syndication rights and fees.

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