DC Comics from Lunar Distributors for February 23, 2021

DC COMICS:

Batman Black And White #3 (Of 6)(Cover A Joshua Middleton), $5.99
Batman Black And White #3 (Of 6)(Cover B Sana Takeda), AR
Batman Black And White #3 (Of 6)(Cover C Khary Randolph Poison Ivy Variant), AR
Batman Gotham Knights Contested TP, $29.99
Batman White Knight Presents Harley Quinn #5 (Of 6)(Cover A Sean Murphy), $4.99
Batman White Knight Presents Harley Quinn #5 (Of 6)(Cover B Matteo Scalera), AR
Catwoman Volume 4 Come Home Alley Cat TP, $19.99
Crisis On Multiple Earths Volume 1 Crossing Over TP, $39.99
DC Connect Checklist Poster #9, AR
Ex Machina Compendium Volume 2 TP, $59.99
Future State Aquaman #2 (Of 2)(Cover A Daniel Sampere), $3.99
Future State Aquaman #2 (Of 2)(Cover B Khary Randolph Card Stock Variant), AR
Future State Batman Superman #2 (Of 2)(Cover A David Marquez), $3.99
Future State Batman Superman #2 (Of 2)(Cover B Arthur Adams Card Stock Variant), AR
Future State Dark Detective #4 (Of 4)(Cover A Dan Mora), $5.99
Future State Dark Detective #4 (Of 4)(Cover B Brian Bolland Card Stock Variant), AR
Future State Legion Of Super-Heroes #2 (Of 2)(Cover A Riley Rossmo), $3.99
Future State Legion Of Super-Heroes #2 (Of 2)(Cover B Ian MacDonald Card Stock Variant), AR
Future State Suicide Squad #2 (Of 2)(Cover A Javi Fernandez), $5.99
Future State Suicide Squad #2 (Of 2)(Cover B Derrick Chew Card Stock Variant), AR
Future State Superman House Of El #1 (One Shot)(Cover A Yanick Paquette), $5.99
Future State Superman House Of El #1 (One Shot)(Cover B Jay Anacleto Card Stock Variant), AR
Future State Superman Vs Imperious Lex #2 (Of 3)(Cover A Yanick Paquette), $3.99
Future State Superman Vs Imperious Lex #2 (Of 3)(Cover B Skan Card Stock Variant), AR
Generations Forged #1 (One Shot)(Cover A Liam Sharp), $9.99
Generations Forged #1 (One Shot)(Cover B Rafael Albuquerque Variant), AR
Joker War Saga HC, $39.99
Nubia Real One TP, $16.99
Superman By Grant Morrison Omnibus HC, $75.00
Swamp Thing The Bronze Age Volume 3 TP, $39.99
Tales From The DC Dark Multiverse TP, $24.99
Teen Titans Volume 4 Robin No More TP, $19.99

#28DaysofBlack Review: ME AND THE DEVIL BLUES Book One

ME AND THE DEVIL BLUES: THE UNREAL LIFE OF ROBERT JOHNSON, BOOK ONE
DEL REY MANGA

CARTOONIST: Akira Hiramoto
TRANSLATION & ADAPTATION: David Ury
LETTERING: North Market Street Graphics
ISBN: 978-0-345-49926-4; paperback; (July 29, 2008); Rated “T Ages 16+”
544pp, B&W, $19.95 U.S.

Me and the Devil Blues is a seinen manga written and drawn by Akira Hiramoto.  It is a fictional biography of legendary blues musician and singer-songwriter, Robert Johnson.  It was first published in Japan in Kodansha's manga magazine, Monthly Afternoon, from 2003 to 2008, before going on hiatus.  When Hiramoto resumed the series in 2015, it moved to Young Magazine the 3rd Magazine.  Del Rey Manga published an English-language edition of the first four book collections of the series in two two-volumes-in-one paperback graphic novels.

[Since the publication of this book, Del Rey Manga ceased operations in 2010.]

Me and the Devil Blues mixes myths and legends and mythological and legendary figures.  Likely because of the stories told by fellow blues legend, Son House, the story of Robert Johnson says that he made a deal with the devil to become an expert blues guitarist and singer, with the cost being his soul.

Me and the Devil Blues: The Unreal Life of Robert Johnson, Book One begins in 1929.  It is set deep in the impoverished Mississippi Delta where a nigga’s life ain’t worth crap and lynching is a community event much like a church social.  This is where we meet Hiramoto’s stand-in for Robert Johnson, RJ, a poor farmer who just doesn’t want to spend his life hoeing a field.  Despite the protestations of his pregnant wife, the former Virginia Travis, her family, and his friends, RJ wants to learn to play the blues.

Fate brings him into contact with the popular traveling bluesman, Son House, and his partner, Willie Brown.  House insists that understanding and playing the blues is about more than a guitar technique, but RJ ain’t hearing it.  As far as RJ is concerned, all he needs is someone to show him how to make his fingers work guitar magic, so his stubbornness leads him to a fateful night at an abandoned church.  [This tale co-stars Clyde Barrow.]

THE LOWDOWN:  There’s some powerful mojo in Me and the Devil Blues manga.  Akira Hiramoto’s manga sparkles with wild magic and sets the imagination afire.  What drives this superb manga is not just the excellent contents of the word balloons (OK, dialogue), but the stunning visuals, which Hiramoto composes using a variety of styles, techniques, and media.

Me and the Devil Blues: The Unreal Life of Robert Johnson, Book One is the story of an individual African-American.  However, it tells the story of the struggles of Jim Crow-era black people in a way that has rarely been told in such passionate and astonishing pictures outside of cinema and fine art.  I would say this manga belongs with the few great comics about black people like Ho Che Anderson’s King, Kyle Baker’s Nat Turner, and Sue Coe’s X, which like Me and the Devil Blues are works by cartoonists or writer/artists.

Imagining a Japanese man drawing such beautiful and beautifully-human African-Americans in a story that captures the Black American experience with such authenticity seems unreal.  It’s not that Hiramoto presents black people as a noble, oppressed people.  It’s simply that he made me believe that these cartoons, these comic book characters really lived.  They haunt me, yet I want to share the trials and tribulations of RJ and his people, as seen in this special work.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  People who read great comics will want to read Del Rey Manga's Me and the Devil Blues.

A+
10 out of 10

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


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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#IReadsYou Review: GREY Chapter 4

GREY. CHAPTER 4
THE GREY ROOM

[This review was originally posted on Patreon.]

STORY: Kris Hornett
ART: Ardee Arollado
SPECIAL PROJECTS ART: Kenet Guevarra
EDITOR: Lisa Taylor
COVER: Nicholas Sen
28pp, B&W, $10.00 (November 2020)

Act 2. Chapter 4

Grey is an independent comic book series from writer Kris Hornett and artist Ardee Arollado.  Published by The Grey Room, Grey is a hybrid, a combination of an American comic book format and Japanese manga.  Grey is similar to what was once called “OEL manga” or “original English language” manga.  These were American graphic novels in which the storytelling borrowed or mimicked the aesthetics and sensibilities of Japanese manga (comics).

Grey is set in the realm of Ketiyama (apparently an archipelago) and takes place some time after an event known as “the Sonoma Incident.”  This outbreak of the lethal “Moon Virus” on Nacirema, one of Ketiyama's islands, led to chaos, destruction, and division.  As a sign of good faith and as a last attempt to restore order, the ruling Board of Officials allowed the people to elect a team of highly trained tactical agents, known as “the Bureau,” to serve and protect them.  Within the Bureau is an elite unit known as “Nimbus.”  This team of five agents are sworn to maintain moral balance and to enforce the law.  The agents of Nimbus are also able to manipulate their “prana” (“life energy”).

The agents of Nimbus are Samara Asuhara, Kouken Masimuto, Shuyin Hagamuri, Manu Yagyu, and Kale Schaefer.  Belisia Asuhara is their handler and the creator of Nimbus.

Grey. Chapter 4. opens in a hospital as 13-year-old Asuka Yagyu faces questions, but she only wants to speak to one particular person.  Meanwhile, Shuyin and August try to find normalcy in their lives, but Shuyin's mind and memories keep playing tricks on him.  Elsewhere, Belisia, Kale, and Kouken, continue their deep dive into the past of Willow Marius in order to uncover her accomplices and to unravel the larger mystery that surrounds her.

THE LOWDOWN:  Grey continues to prove how conceptually well-developed it is.  From the beginning, readers discover that the world in which Grey is set has a complex history.  As readers, we get to watch the authors build a world in front of us.  The other exciting element is that Grey is full of mystery, so the readers can always enjoy the sense of discovery.

Grey Chapter 4 sees the characters trying to unravel the mystery that is Willow Marius, and I see her as something of a gift.  Each time I read Grey, I want to know more about her, which I can also say about many of the characters in this series.  Still, she is the beautiful enigma that is driving the unknown in this series – at least, so far.

Each issue, Kris Hornett takes time to give us a view of multiple characters.  I think that makes readers curious about the other characters, and I know that it makes me want to read the next issue as soon as possible.  Meanwhile, Ardee Arollado's art gets stronger; he brings more subtlety and delicacy to the characters' personalities.  Now, Arollado's graphical storytelling engages the reader to give more consideration to the characters' motivations and goals; ignore nothing in this storytelling.

I heartily recommend Grey, and there is still time for you, dear readers, to get in on Grey's intriguing ground floor.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of manga-inspired comic books and of good science fiction comic books will want to read Grey.

[This comic book includes two pages of additional informative text pieces.]

8 out of 10

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


Get Grey at comiXology or here: https://www.comixology.com/Grey/comics-publisher/20880-0

https://thegreyroom.org/
https://www.instagram.com/thegreyroom_/
https://twitter.com/Hornett_
https://www.instagram.com/kero.beroz/?hl=en


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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#IReadsYou Review: YONA OF THE DAWN Volume 5

YONA OF THE DAWN, VOL. 5
VIZ MEDIA – @VIZMedia

MANGAKA: Mizuho Kusanagi
TRANSLATION: JN Productions
ENGLISH ADAPTATION: Ysabet Reinhardt MacFarlane
LETTERS: Lys Blakeslee
ISBN: 978-1-4215-8786-1; paperback (April 2017); Rated “T” for “Teen”
192pp, B&W, $9.99 U.S., $12.99 CAN, £6.99 UK

Yona of the Dawn is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Mizuho Kusanagi.  It has been serialized in Hakusensha's shojo manga magazine, Hana to Yume, since August 2009.  VIZ Media has been publishing an English-language edition of the manga as a paperback graphic novel series since August 2016 under its “Shojo Beat” imprint.

Princess Yona is living an ideal life as the only princess in the Kingdom of Kohka.  Her father, King Il, dotes on her, and her faithful guard, Son Hak of the Wind Tribe, protects her.  Yon even cherishes the time spent with the man she loves, her cousin Lord Su-won of the Sky Tribe.  However, everything changes on her 16th birthday when the king is killed and Hak is blamed.  Soon, Yona is on the run with Hak, but she is determined to reclaim her throne by finding the Four Dragon Warriors.

As Yona of the Dawn, Vol. 5 (Chapter 24 to 29) opens, Yona, Hak, Yun, and Gija the White Dragon leave the Village of the Blue Dragon, after they escape from an earthquake.  Yona gives the Blue Dragon a name, but will he leave with Yona and company?  Next, Gija senses the presence of the Green Dragon, which takes the small band to Awa Port in the land of the Earth Tribe.  Although his presence is strong, the Green Dragon proves hard to find.

THE LOWDOWN:  The Yona of the Dawn manga is part Chinese historical romance (or at least a Japanese version of it) and part quest-adventure.  Over the last ten years of reading manga, I have come to enjoy the particular shojo spin on historical fiction/romance/adventure.

Yona of the Dawn Graphic Novel Volume 5 offers more of the elements of this series that have become familiar to readers.  This is, however, not more of the same.  In the six chapters contained in Vol. 5, creator Mizuho Kusanagi shifts the focus away from her star Yona, and delves into the personalities, goals, and trials and tribulations of the rest of her cast, especially focusing on Hak.  This volume might make the reader believe that he is the star, and Hak does have a star quality.  He could be the lead of his own manga, which is one more reason to read Yona of the Dawn.  Yona and Hak give this series two excellent leads.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of historical romantic adventure will want to try the Shojo Beat title, Yona of the Dawn.

A

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


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

BOOM! Studios from Diamond Distributors for February 17, 2021

BOOM! STUDIOS

DEC201068    ABBOTT 1973 #2 (OF 5) CVR A MAIN    $3.99
DEC201069    ABBOTT 1973 #2 (OF 5) CVR B ALLEN    $3.99
DEC201058    EXPANSE #3 (OF 4) CVR A MAIN    $4.99
DEC201059    EXPANSE #3 (OF 4) CVR B WALKER    $4.99
OCT200925    JIM HENSON DARK CRYSTAL JOURNEY INTO MONDO LEVIADIN HC    $24.99
DEC201073    ONCE & FUTURE #16    $3.99
DEC201050    POWER RANGERS #4 CVR A MAIN    $3.99
DEC201051    POWER RANGERS #4 CVR B LEGACY DI NICUOLO    $3.99

Dark Horse Comics from Diamond Distributors for February 17, 2021

DARK HORSE COMICS

DEC200253    BARBALIEN RED PLANET #4 (OF 5)    $3.99
OCT209228    BARBALIEN RED PLANET #4 (OF 5) CVR B FRANQUIZ    $3.99
OCT200341    BLADE OF IMMORTAL DLX ED HC VOL 02 (MR)    $49.99
DEC200256    STRANGER THINGS D&D CROSSOVER #4 CVR A GIST    $3.99
DEC200257    STRANGER THINGS D&D CROSSOVER #4 CVR B DITTMANN    $3.99
DEC200258    STRANGER THINGS D&D CROSSOVER #4 CVR C TAYLOR    $3.99
DEC200259    STRANGER THINGS D&D CROSSOVER #4 CVR D BECK    $3.99
DEC200249    YOUNG HELLBOY THE HIDDEN LAND #1 (OF 4)    $3.99
OCT209016    YOUNG HELLBOY THE HIDDEN LAND #1 (OF 4) CVR B MIGNOLA    $3.99

Dynamite Entertainment from Diamond Distributors for February 17, 2021

DYNAMITE

NOV200729    DIE!NAMITE #4 PARRILLO LTD VIRGIN CVR    $50.00
NOV200730    DIE!NAMITE #4 SUYDAM LTD VIRGIN CVR    $50.00
DEC200851    DIE!NAMITE #5 CVR A PARRILLO    $3.99
DEC200852    DIE!NAMITE #5 CVR B SUYDAM    $3.99
DEC200853    DIE!NAMITE #5 CVR C ROBSON    $3.99
DEC200854    DIE!NAMITE #5 CVR D HOLLON COSPLAY    $3.99
DEC200855    DIE!NAMITE #5 CVR E LORRAINE COSPLAY    $3.99
DEC208291    DIE!NAMITE #5 CVR F SUYDAM HOMAGE ZOMBIE    $3.99
DEC208293    DIE!NAMITE #5 CVR H PEANUTS HOMAGE    $3.99
DEC208294    DIE!NAMITE #5 CVR I DR SEUSS HOMAGE    $3.99
DEC208295    DIE!NAMITE #5 SUYDAM HOMAGE FOC BONUS VAR    $3.99
AUG191225    DYNAMITE ART OF LUCIO PARRILLO RMRK ED HC    $199.99
AUG191224    DYNAMITE ART OF LUCIO PARRILLO SGN ED HC    $75.00
MAR201312    LINSNER COLLECTIBLE GOLD COIN A    $19.89
MAR201313    LINSNER COLLECTIBLE GOLD COIN B    $19.89
NOV200832    RED SONJA #23 LEE LTD VIRGIN CVR    $50.00
NOV200833    RED SONJA #23 LINSNER LTD VIRGIN CVR    $50.00
NOV200855    RED SONJA PRICE OF BLOOD #2 GEOVANI LTD VIRGIN CVR    $50.00
NOV200853    RED SONJA PRICE OF BLOOD #2 GOLDEN LTD VIRGIN CVR    $50.00
NOV200856    RED SONJA PRICE OF BLOOD #2 LINSNER CRIMSON RED LINE ART CVR    $100.00
NOV200857    RED SONJA PRICE OF BLOOD #2 LINSNER CRIMSON RED LINE ART VIR    $300.00
NOV200854    RED SONJA PRICE OF BLOOD #2 LINSNER LTD VIRGIN CVR    $50.00
NOV200852    RED SONJA PRICE OF BLOOD #2 SUYDAM LTD VIRGIN CVR    $50.00
DEC200923    RED SONJA PRICE OF BLOOD #3 CVR A SUYDAM    $3.99
DEC200924    RED SONJA PRICE OF BLOOD #3 CVR B GOLDEN    $3.99
DEC200925    RED SONJA PRICE OF BLOOD #3 CVR C LINSNER    $3.99
DEC200926    RED SONJA PRICE OF BLOOD #3 CVR D GEOVANI    $3.99
DEC200927    RED SONJA PRICE OF BLOOD #3 CVR E RAY COSPLAY    $3.99
NOV200683    RED SONJA THE SUPERPOWERS #1 PARRILLO CRIMSON RED ART CVR    $100.00
NOV200760    SACRED SIX #7 CVR A PARRILLO    $3.99
NOV200761    SACRED SIX #7 CVR B ROUX    $3.99
NOV200762    SACRED SIX #7 CVR C CHATZOUDIS    $3.99
NOV200763    SACRED SIX #7 CVR D DALTON    $3.99
NOV200764    SACRED SIX #7 CVR E CHEW    $3.99
NOV200716    VAMPIRELLA DARK POWERS #2 LEE CRIMSON RED LINE ART VIRGIN CV    $300.00
NOV200712    VAMPIRELLA DARK POWERS #2 LEE LTD VIRGIN CVR    $50.00
NOV200717    VAMPIRELLA DARK POWERS #2 LINSNER CRIMSON RED LINE ART CVR    $100.00
NOV200718    VAMPIRELLA DARK POWERS #2 LINSNER CRIMSON RED LINE ART VIRGI    $300.00
NOV200713    VAMPIRELLA DARK POWERS #2 LINSNER LTD VIRGIN CVR    $50.00
NOV200714    VAMPIRELLA DARK POWERS #2 YOON LTD VIRGIN CVR    $50.00
DEC200822    VAMPIRELLA DARK POWERS #3 CVR A LEE    $3.99
DEC200823    VAMPIRELLA DARK POWERS #3 CVR B LINSNER    $3.99
DEC200824    VAMPIRELLA DARK POWERS #3 CVR C ROBSON    $3.99
DEC200825    VAMPIRELLA DARK POWERS #3 CVR D YOON    $3.99
DEC200826    VAMPIRELLA DARK POWERS #3 CVR E VANTA BLACK COSPLAY    $3.99