Top Ten Tuesday: Ten Comics for Readers who would LIKE to try them

Top Ten TuesdayTop Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme hosted by the Broke and the Bookish. For today’s theme we had to choose a topic and give ten books for readers who liked that topic (Ten Books For Readers Who Like _________). I’ve decided to put a little spin on this and I’m going with:

Ten comics for readers who would like to try them

I know it’s kind of cheating, but as I did my freebie TTT post on Reasons to Read Comics, I thought I’d actually give you some comics to read! Please note that I have only been reading comics for approximately seven months, so my list is obviously not exhaustive nor am I say I’m an expert comic reader. If you have more suggestions, please feel free to leave them in the comments! I’m always looking for more to read. I’m going to link to some of my reviews, but I kind of cringe at them now – my comics reviews have improved as my reading and understanding of them have grown. These are in the order in which I first read them:

Saga Volume 1Saga – When I first told my branch manager at the library (who is a HUGE comics reader) that I wanted to try comics, he shoved the first trade of Saga at me. The very first line was “Am I shitting?” and I cracked up. Saga is a huge, sweeping fantasy about a war between a planet and its moon and the consequences of two people falling in love when they shouldn’t. But it’s also offensive, hilarious, weird, and super awesome. I know have Saga on my pull list at my comic book shop. [volume 1] I [volume 2] I [volume 3]

The Walking Dead – I love TWD so much that it had its own reason on that TTT post I linked to above. I devoured all 20 (at that time) trades – including buying several that were not in my library’s system because some jerk stole them – and I’m pretty sure it was the first comic I added to my pull list. It’s incredible, you guys. [volume 1] I [volume 2] I [volume 3]

Batman: Arkham Asylum – This is one of those books that as you read it, you feel as if you’re going crazy with the characters. I’m still (six months later) not really sure what I even read, but I love it. It’s also illustrated by the absolutely amazing Dave McKean who creates dark, bizarre, incredible illustrations. My super newbie review is on WPR.

Batman and Robin #39Batman and Robin – Okay, I’m going to attempt to tone down the obsession here because I could go do a whole post about how much I love Damian Wayne, you guys. In case you weren’t aware, that’s Bruce Wayne’s son, and he’s the focus of this Batman and Robin series I’m talking about. He’s such a sassy, stubborn, smug little punk, but he also just wants to live up to his dad and he loves his dog and…ugh. I love him. And not in a weird way. Just in a “I completely love this character and Patrick Gleason draws him SO perfectly” kind of way. He’s such a fun character to read each month.

Bodies – This mini-run from Si Spencer and Vertigo just ended and I’m still a little sad because of that, BUT this series is a whirlwind of craziness, timelines, open-mindedness, and I would highly recommend it. Seriously, the trade comes out soon and you need it. You can read all of my reviews for all eight issues (as well as my interview with Si) on WatchPlayRead.

Chew – So I’ve only read the first ten issues of this one (waiting on my hold to come in!), but it’s so freaking weird but totally awesome, you guys. It’s about a guy who can tell where ANYTHING came from and what happened to it right before it died – so when he eats chicken he can how it died. Doesn’t that sound sucky? Yeah. BUT then he gets recruited to work in this special police department where he takes “samples” of PEOPLE to find out how they died. EW. But it’s so funny and odd too.

Wild’s End – Marketed as a mix of War of the World and A. A. Milne. If that doesn’t sound like something you want to read, just move on to the next one. If you stuck around, WHAT?! Doesn’t that sound amazing?? It was. It was only a six issue mini run but it was full of so much Britishness and I just love it.

Through the Woods coverThrough the Woods – I reviewed this one on the blog. It’s creepy and dark and so so good.

Thor – The new Thor is a freaking woman, ladies and gentlemen (mostly ladies)! If that doesn’t sound appealing to you, boo on you. It’s a really cool story so far and I’m enjoying seeing new Thor and male-Thor who’s no longer worthy of Mjolnir duke it out.

Superior Iron Man – Tony Stark’s mind has been messed with and his already present arrogance and intelligence have been amplified. He believes he needs to make the world a smarter and more beautiful place – by hooking SanFran’s residents on a drug that makes them smarter and prettier. Fun times.

Do you read comics? What other books would you recommend? If you are interested in seeing more comics I’ve read, you can head over to WatchPlayRead to read my reviews

First Monthly Link Up for My WatchPlayRead Reviews! – January 2015

I was supposed to be (according to my own schedule, not anyone else’s) posting a review of Jasmine Warga’s debut My Heart & Other Black Holes today, but for several reasons I can’t. I haven’t been able to write it because I will probably be sucked up into my own black hole if I try to write about it this week (not in a great place this week) and because I just haven’t had time. SO instead, I’m going to do a link up for WatchPlayRead. Some of you might know that, in addition to my blog, I write comic reviews over on WatchPlayRead. I know a lot of you aren’t interested or don’t read comics, so I don’t post many of them here, but for those of you that do, I decided to start a monthly link up to all the reviews I’ve done on WPR that month. Feel free to check them out and any other posts on WPR – we do a mix of books, comics, video games, movies, and nerdy products. 🙂

WatchPlayRead.com logo

Feathers #1I started off the year with a review of Capture Creatures #1, a quite young all-ages comic featuring barely any creatures in the first issue but lots of exaggerated fun!

Next up was Feathers #1, another all-ages comic from BOOM! Studios (probably my favorite comics publisher – or at least closely tied with Image). Feathers (cover to the left) is a fun adventure comic for fans of Peter Pan or fairy tales.

Bodies issue 6 CoverThen I reviewed Bodies #6 – I’ve been having a love affair with Bodies for six months now and it’s coming to an end soon. I’m not sure how I feel about this as I mostly don’t want it to end but I can’t wait to see how it all comes together. (Bodies #6 cover to right)

After Bodies #6, I reviewed the Cutter mini-series from Image and it wasn’t that great. Mostly like a bad slasher film.

Reyn #1I reviewed the Memetic run from BOOM! Studios (do you see a pattern?) next. It’s all about a killer meme, you guys. How could you not want to read it? I also posted this review on the blog, so you might’ve seen it.

Reyn #1, from Image Comics, is an accessible, fun fantasy comic with a self-sufficient, awesome female character and some lizard men. Also, it has lizard dudes. (Cover to left)

And finally, I posted a review of Creature Cops #1 yesterday. It wasn’t for me but it might be good for you.

I usually post 2 reviews per week, sometimes more but sometimes less. I love being able to talk comics, and I’m sure you’ll find my reviews are just as passionate as they are here. If you are interested in reading comics or already do, make sure you head over to WatchPlayRead to check out my reviews (and everyone else’s! We are all pretty cool over there).

I hope you all have a wonderful Friday (TGIF!) and I’ll see you tomorrow. 🙂

Revisiting John Green’s Novel The Fault in Our Stars

This was originally posted on WatchPlayRead, for which I am a contributor. You should definitely check out the site, because it is awesome! See my other posts on the site HERE.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————

With the upcoming release of The Fault in Our Stars movie starring Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort, I think we should have a little revisit of the 2012 novel it’s based on. You know, to refresh readers and prepare them for the ugly crying they’ll be doing in the theater. I mean, I teared up just watching the trailer.

The Fault in Our Stars

The Fault in Our Stars

Author: John Green

PUBLISHER: Dutton Books

RELEASE DATE: January 2012

GENRE: YA

LENGTH: 318 pages (Hardcover)

John Green’s prose is gorgeous: it’s smart, quirky, charming, devastating, and everything you could ever want in a YA novel. It’s full of profound thoughts on the human condition, but it is also really funny and sweet. It will pull at your heartstrings one second and make you cackle with laughter the next. There wasn’t a single character or sentence that was unnecessary, each word carefully placed to pull you in and never let you go.

Hazel Grace Lancaster is 16 and she has terminal cancer. At 12 years old, she was ready to die, but a medical miracle saves her life. She’s alive but clinically depressed, so her doctor sends her to a kids-with-cancer support group. Here, she meets Augustus Waters, a fellow cancer survivor. They are both highly mature, intelligent, charming; they’re kindred spirits. And of course, they fall in love. Together they face life head-on, and the result is both beautiful and devastating.

As you can probably guess from a novel about two kids who fall in love and who both, sadly, have cancer, this novel will make you cry. But it will also make you laugh and I fell in love with these characters just as they were falling in love with each other. Hazel Grace and Gus are two of the most mature characters in a YA novel that I’ve ever read. Some people didn’t like them because they don’t act like normal teenagers, but I think it’s safe to say that being 16 and fighting cancer makes you officially NOT normal. These characters are real, like you-could-meet-them-in-real-life real, and this is part of the reason this novel is just so hard to read at times (Make sure you have at least one box of tissues with you when you start reading). I thought the way they confronted the questions of the human condition (Will I be remembered? Does my life have meaning?) to be both genuine and relatable. I’ve definitely contemplated these questions, but I can’t say I’ve ever faced death while doing so. I will never forget this book for reminding me to never give up, to live my life to the fullest, and to love like I was dying. This is a story that deserves to be read, and I am so glad I did (every time).

If you haven’t read TFiOS, please do it. For me. For yourself. For Hazel Grace and Augustus Waters. And then get prepared: buy some boxes of tissues and get ready to ugly cry with the rest of us on June 6. Okay? Okay.

 

Three other titles TFiOS is similar to:

The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Just Listen by Sarah Dessen

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon

You can buy The Fault in Our Stars from a variety of vendors on Penguin’s website: http://www.penguin.com/book/the-fault-in-our-stars-by-john-green/9780142424179

Also, check out the trailer for the movie adaptation here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ItBvH5J6ss

(Cover design by Rodrigo Corral)