Stranger in the Shogun's City by Amy Stanley Review

Amy Stanley’s history book Stranger in the Shogun’s City is primarily about a Japanese woman called Tsuneno who was born in the northern Japanese province of Echigo (now Niigata) in 1804 and eventually fled the dull rural life for the more exciting city life on offer in Edo (the old name for Tokyo). It’s also about Edo and the radical change that it would experience during and shortly after Tsuneno’s lifetime.

Pandora's Eyes Review (Milo Manara, Vincenzo Cerami)

On the way out of her 18th birthday party Pandora is abducted and taken to meet - her real papa, who’s also a wanted international criminal! But little does she know that she’s being used in a dangerous game of cat and mouse…

Venus in the Blind Spot by Junji Ito Review

Viz Media’s blurb for Venus in the Blind Spot is really weird: it claims this is a “best of” collection of Junji Ito’s stories but, as far as I can tell, only one - maybe two - stories have previously appeared in print before: The Enigma of Amigara Fault and The Sad Tale of the Principal Post possibly both appeared in Dissolving Classroom. So this is a “best of” collection that features almost all-new stories!? The blurb also mentions special colour pages and illustrations from Ito’s latest book, No Longer Human, and it doesn’t. Also, it would’ve been good if the contents page listed in which collections the stories previously appeared, like most “best of” collections do, but seeing as this appears to be nearly all-new material then I can see why it didn’t!

Strange Adventures #2 Review (Tom King, Mitch Gerads)

Adam Strange has just published a bestselling memoir - but there are claims of lies contained within it. Lies that Adam claims not to know but is open to have investigated. Enter: Mister Terrific.

Pizza Girl by Jean Kyoung Frazier Review

Pizza Girl is 18 years old, preggers and working at a pizza shop. Then she meets Jenny, a middle-aged mom with a son who will only eat pizza with pickles on. And so begins a strange friendship…

Batman: The Smile Killer Review (Jeff Lemire, Andrea Sorrentino)

Jeff Lemire and Andrea Sorrentino provide a coda to their miniseries Joker: Killer Smile with Batman: The Smile Killer. And it’s unnecessary, kinda stupid and undermines the story its following!

Undiscovered Country, Volume 1: Destiny Review (Scott Snyder, Charles Soule)

In the not-too-distant future…

For 30 years the USA has been closed off from the rest of the world - they put up the walls and stayed behind them. Now, a pandemic called the sky virus is ravaging the rest of the world and for the first time in decades America is reaching out. A figure who looks uncannily like the Uncle Sam of army recruitment posters claims to have the cure to the virus and invites a select group inside American borders to retrieve it. But what’s happened to the states in those lost years - and what awaits the group behind the wall…?

Spark by Naoki Matayoshi Review

Tokunaga dreams of becoming a successful manzai comedian (a type of Japanese comedy involving a duo, one straight man/one fool) with his troupe, Sparks. Then he meets up with an older manzai comic called Kamiya who takes him under his wing. Will they become the headlining comedians they hope to be?

Negan Lives! Review (Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard)

Nearly a year to the day after the last issue of The Walking Dead was published, Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard return for this unheralded one-shot: Negan Lives!

Just Like You by Nick Hornby Review

Set in the months leading up to the Brexit referendum in 2016, Lucy, a white 42 year old single mother of two, unexpectedly finds love with Joseph, a black 22 year old man of multiple part-time jobs. Just Like You follows the ups and downs of what an interracial relationship with a large age gap is like in a country getting more divided by the week.

Cut Review (Mike Richardson, Todd Herman)

A young woman wakes up in a locked room in a derelict house in the middle of nowhere, her arm cut, with no memory of how she got there. Who abducted her and why? Then she wakes up later and another young woman, also cut, is with her - what’s going on?!

Fangs by Sarah Andersen Review

Elsie’s a vampire and Jimmy’s a werewolf and they’re girlfriend and boyfriend and hilarity ensues and waffle waffle…

Batman, Volume 12: City of Bane, Part 1 Review (Tom King, Tony S. Daniel)

Gotham City is safe - the villains are in charge. Having weaponised Psycho Pirate, Bane controls the villains, as well as Gotham Girl, with Flashpoint Batman at his side. With the Bat broken and the Cat nursing him back to health on their honeymoon-that-never-was, it’s up to Robin to bring the fight to Bane. Should he fail, there is a terrible price to pay. Gotham City is safe - but at what cost?

Mulholland Dive by Michael Connelly Review

Mulholland Dive is a trio of short crime stories by Michael Connelly, none of which were particularly standout. Besides the genre and the lack of quality, the other commonality between them is the twist ending.

The Batman's Grave #1 Review (Warren Ellis, Bryan Hitch)

The creative team behind The Authority, Warren Ellis and Bryan Hitch, reunite for a maxi-12 issue Batman series, The Batman’s Grave. In this fairly decent first issue, Batman investigates the unexplained death of a man who was seemingly obsessed with the Batman - but why and who killed him?

The Dwarves of Death by Jonathan Coe Review

William is a young keyboardist in London trying to make it in the music biz. But on the night of his first rehearsal with a new punk band (it’s the ‘80s), he witnesses the lead singer getting murderized by two dwarves. Could William be next - and whydunit?!

Superman: Up in the Sky Review (Tom King, Andy Kubert)

A little girl is alien-abducted and taken somewhere… Up in the Sky! Only Superman can save her. But if he leaves Earth to go rescue her, how many more will die without his protection? But he’s gotta Saving Private Ryan-it because Plot he’s Superman! Eh…

Strange Skies Over East Berlin Review (Jeff Loveness, Lisandro Estherren)

Berlin, 1973 - a city divided by a wall thanks to the Cold War. An alien probe crash lands in Soviet territory so an American spy heads over to check it out. He find alien. Alien bad. Zzz...

One Summer: America 1927 by Bill Bryson Review

Bill Bryson’s written another fantastic book though this time it’s not about his ramblings across our planet but a very specific point in history where numerous astonishing and world-changing events took place: the summer of 1927 in America.

Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami Review

Like a lot of novels I started reading Mieko Kawakami’s Breasts and Eggs not knowing much about it but hoping it would be a good ‘un. And I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was actually really good - up to a point. That point would be after the episode where the main character’s older sister and her daughter come to visit. All that stuff after - about the main character Natsu trying to get pregnant artificially - was ass!

The Question: The Deaths of Vic Sage #2 Review (Jeff Lemire, Denys Cowan)

So I didn’t read the first issue and I know very little about The Question, besides knowing that he views the world with a black and white morality and Rorschach is partially based on him, but it ain’t that hard to figger out what’s going on. Jeff Lemire’s sent the character on a time-travel journey and this is the Wild West portion of it.

The Harpy by Megan Hunter Review

Lucy is a married mother of two who finds out her husband Jake has cheated on her with an older woman. Distraught, they agree that Lucy can cause harm to Jake three times, whenever she wishes, without retaliation, to make up for the infidelity. Yeah, this marriage will go the distance…

Jessica Jones, Volume 2: The Secrets of Maria Hill Review (Brian Michael Bendis, Michael Gaydos)

Someone’s tryna off Maria Hill, former head honcho of SHIELD - but who?! Jessica Jones is on the case.

This second book in Bendis/Gaydos’ second Jessica Jones run is a marked improvement on the first yawner but I still wouldn’t call it a great book.

Wonder Twins, Volume 1: Activate! Review (Mark Russell, Stephen Byrne)

I’m British so I didn’t grow up with the Super Friends cartoon and only tangentially know about the Wonder Twins from Family Guy references, so I’ve no real nostalgia for these characters nor much prior knowledge about them. So the twins are aliens called Zan and Jayna who activate their powers when they bump fists: Zan can turn into water and Jayna can turn into any animal. Hmm. They also has a monkey! …

Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler Review

Life is simple for middle-aged Micah Mortimer. He has his steady job as a handyman/Tech Hermit, his steady relationship with fourth-grade teacher girlfriend Cass Slade, and his steady routine. Occasionally he’ll be reminded of family by one of his four older sisters and their sprawling families. A quiet, straightforward life. And then 18 year old Brink arrives on his doorstep claiming to be his long-lost son. Wuh-oh!

November, Volume 1: The Girl on the Roof Review (Matt Fraction, Elsa Charratier)

Dee is a disabled ex-junkie night owl who is paid vast sums of money to decipher code from a newspaper and broadcast it from a radio on her rooftop. Coming back from a grocery shop, a lady finds a gun in a puddle. An alcoholic 911 operator goes back to the bottle after a stressful shift. A fat cop rises through the ranks to a position of power where he hires Dee to do what she does. Whuzzit all mean?!

Strange Adventures #1 Review (Tom King, Mitch Gerads)

Adam Strange: war hero - or war criminal? On a tour promoting his autobiography, Adam is confronted with questions about his past - questions he doesn’t have answers to. So begins his journey towards the truth. A Strange adventure… with a Terrific companion.

Fantastic Four, Volume 1: Fourever Review (Dan Slott, Stefano Caselli)

I remember at the end of Jonathan Hickman’s loud mess that was Secret Wars, Reed Richards and his weeny son Franklin going off to remake the Marvel Universe, or something ridiculous like that, and apparently they’re still doing that but Ben and Johnny think they’re dead or gone forever or something dumb?