Disquiet by Noah Van Sciver Review

Disquiet is a pretty decent anthology collection of Noah Van Sciver’s comics, some of which have been published before as single comics. Like The Lizard Laughs, the best story here, about a young man reconnecting with his estranged, deadbeat dad who abandoned his family years ago. 

George's Marvellous Medicine by Roald Dahl Review

I don’t remember much about George’s Marvellous Medicine from when I read it as a kid except that I didn’t love it. So I was curious to find out exactly why I thought that and whether the book might be better now that I’m older and (barely) wiser.

Well: I think George’s Marvellous Medicine might be Roald Dahl’s worst book! 

Hobo Mom Review (Charles Forsman, Max de Radigues)

A homeless woman returns to the husband and daughter she abandoned in an attempt to make things work - will she succeed or has too much time passed? 

Charles Forsman is one of the most interesting cartoonists working today so anything by him is an immediate must-read for me. His collaboration with Max de Radigues, Hobo Mom, though is just ok. 

Koshchei the Deathless Review (Mike Mignola, Ben Stenbeck)

Mike Mignola and Dark Horse continue to desperately milk the Hellboy franchise for all its worth, this time focusing on an obscure supporting character from the series, Koschei the Deathless. And, like most Hellboy-related stuff published these days, it’s absolutely boring! 

The Immortal Hulk, Volume 1: Or Is He Both? Review (Al Ewing, Joe Bennett)

Hulk “died” recently, he’s back (that title’s accurate - he’ll never be “dead” for long!) and he’s now wandering the Earth, righting wrongs, but only on a small scale for some reason. He takes out drug dealing bikers, a mad scientist experimenting with gamma radiation, and tangles with Sasquatch, the strongman from nobody’s favourite superhero team, Alpha Flight! 

James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl Review

Magic beans transforms an ordinary peach into a gigantic piece of fruit and its surrounding insect populace human-sized, before going on to rescue James Henry Trotter from his sad life with his evil aunts, Spiker and Sponge. 

I remember not really liking James and the Giant Peach all that much when I was a kid but I still thought it was an ok book. On re-reading though, eh, no - it’s not very good at all! 

Superman Volume 1: The Unity Saga: Phantom Earth Review (Brian Michael Bendis, Ivan Reis)

Oh Brian Bendyman, the rule is that you start titles well and then taper off into forgettable dross after a few good books - you’re not meant to begin crappy! 

Superpants is sorta looking for Lois and Jon, whom his dead/hologram (I can’t keep up anymore) dad has taken on a great space coaster or something, before suddenly winding up in The Phantom Zone - along with Earth whaaa! 

The Twits by Roald Dahl Review

Who doesn’t love a good villain? And Mr and Mrs Twit are a delightfully nasty pair! When they’re not having a go at one another - she mixing in live worms into his spaghetti, he trying to send her off into space with balloons - they’re trying to eat children, actually eating the local bird populace and torturing a family of monkeys. Then one day the monkeys decide to push back… 

The Magic Finger by Roald Dahl Review

I remember not liking The Magic Finger as a kid despite being a huge Roald Dahl fan but I couldn’t quite put my finger (ahhh!) on why, so I thought I’d re-read it to see if maybe my view on it has changed - and it hasn’t! 

A girl - who’s such a non-character she doesn’t even have a name; if she did it’d be “Plot Contrivance”! - has a magic finger that does magic when she gets angry and points it at people. She points it at a local family who enjoy duck hunting, turning them into ducks to be hunted by ducks with guns. 

Criminal #1 Review (Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips)

Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips recently completed their five year exclusive deal with Image and - tremendous news for everyone - they’ve re-upped for another five! And what better way to start their second five years at Image than with a new arc of their signature series, Criminal, featuring their recurring character, Teeg Lawless! 

Cold Spots Review (Cullen Bunn, Mark Torres)

Little girl controls ice ghosts because horror. Them ghosts is up to no good because durrr. Her deadbeat dad suddenly cares about her despite having never seen her before because plot. Somewhere in that mess is a “story” that’ll make you wish you were an ice ghost so you wouldn’t feel boredom on this scale! 

Sweet Bean Paste by Durian Sukegawa Review

Sentaro is an ex-con working off a debt in a dorayaki shop (dorayaki is Japanese confectionery where two pancakes sandwich sweet Azuki red bean paste). But business is slow. One day a mysterious elderly woman called Tokue appears with her own recipe for dorayaki - and suddenly business is booming! But who is Tokue really and why are her hands so gnarled… 

Maid-sama! Volume 1 by Hiro Fujiwara Review

Authoritarian high school student council president Misaki Ayuzawa may lord it over the students at her male-dominated high school but she has a secret after-school job: cosplaying as a maid at a bar! Takumi Usui stumbles across her secret shame - will he reveal it to the school, undermining her position, and what will Misaki do to keep him from spilling? 

Blissful Land, Volume 1 by Ichimon Izumi Review

You ever read books that are just - niiiice? Definitely not page-turners but something about them keeps you going? Not boring, not that interesting, just - niiiice? That’s how I felt about the very blissed-out Blissful Land, Volume 1: niii - alright I’ll stop that!