Insider Baseball by Joan Didion Review

Insider Baseball is a selection of pieces from Joan Didion’s book Political Fictions. It’s about her time on the 1988 campaign trail as she followed the Democratic nomination battle which led to Michael Dukakis becoming the candidate to lose against George HW Bush. 

Username: Evie Review (Joe Sugg, Amrit Birdi)

Joe Sugg is a YouTuber whose videos I never saw until after reading his utterly craptastic comic, Username: Evie, but it turns out that he makes unwatchable videos as well as unreadable books!

Ghost Rider, Volume 3: Apocalypse Soon Review (Daniel Way, Mark Texeira)

Johnny Blaze the Ghost Rider briefly suspends his campaign of hunting down all of Lucifer’s avatars to fight Hulk in New York!

Apocalypse Soon is a short one at three issues, two of which are World War Hulk tie-ins. Ghost Rider battles Hulk, there’s plenty of big ‘splosions as the Rider’s chains rips a plane in half, carries a train, and topples a skyscraper - who knew it was that powerful?! But it’s lots of noise over nothing - Johnny rides off in the end and Hulk is fine. Meh. 

Reborn #1 Review (Mark Millar, Greg Capullo)

My latest review for Need to Consume was Mark Millar and Greg Capullo's Reborn #1. Read the full piece here: http://www.needtoconsume.com/comics/reborn-1-review/

The Punisher, Volume 1: On the Road Review (Becky Cloonan, Steve Dillon)

A new drug is about to hit the market turning its users into killing machines – time for Frank Castle to shoot alla the mobsters trying to sell it!

Becky Cloonan teams up with Frank’s greatest artist, Steve Dillon, for her first Punisher story, On the Road. Dammit Cloontang, why’d it have to suck!? 

Black Panther: The Complete Collection, Volume 1 Review (Christopher Priest, Mark Texeira)

I bought this one (thankfully on sale, heavily marked down) three and a half months ago and I’ve since managed to read 202 pages out of 383. That’s after numerous times of stop-start reading, forcing myself on, and I’ve only just now passed the halfway mark! This is a Marvel comic, not War and fucking Peace and yet I’ve read 600 page novels in shorter timeframes! Well, no more - I give up here and won’t torture myself with the remaining 180 pages of this absolute rubbish. 

Moon Knight, Volume 1: Lunatic Review (Jeff Lemire, Greg Smallwood)

Everyone knows Marc Spector is that crazy superhero Moon Knight – or do they? What if Moon Knight has been a delusion only existing in Marc’s troubled mind and he’s been locked up in the loony bin the entire time?

The Omega Men: The End Is Here Review (Tom King, Barnaby Bagenda)

Tom King and Barnaby Bagenda’s The Omega Men: The End Is Here is basically the Second Iraq War... in Spaaaaaaaace! 

Grief is the Thing with Feathers by Max Porter Review

A Ted Hughes scholar and his two young boys grieve over the death of their wife/mother. Enter some magical realism! A Crow appears and hangs out with the sad family as they deal with their loss. 

Batman: Death Mask by Yoshinori Natsume Review

The Japanese are in town and someone’s slicing off people’s faces. Are the two connected? Yes. Time for a slightly mad billionaire to take on the foreigners - Trump Batman to the rescue! 

About the only noteworthy thing about this one is the way Yoshinori Natsume’s drawn Batman: he’s accentuated his dong AND given him a banana hammock to wear! It’s so funny to see Dirk Diggler Batman swinging into action.

Rocket Raccoon & Groot, Volume 1: Tricks of the Trade Review (Skottie Young, Filipe Andrade)

Set eight months after the end of Secret Wars (even though that detail turns out to be irrelevant), the Guardians think Rocket and Groot are dead for some reason but they’re not - Groot’s doing some kind of Memento tribute and Rocket’s ruling over an alien planet?? Oh boy… 

The Arab of the Future: A Childhood in the Middle East, 1978-1984: A Graphic Memoir by Riad Sattouf Review

This is the first part of Riad Sattouf’s childhood memoirs, The Arab of the Future, and it is superb! With a Syrian father and French mother, the small family travels across Europe as his father gets work as an associate professor in Tripoli, Libya, during Gaddafi’s reign, before briefly jumping to Brittany, France, and ending up in nightmarish Syria under Hafez al- Assad.

Cannibal #1 Review (Jennifer Young, Brian Azzarello)

My latest review for Need to Consume was Jennifer Young, Brian Buccellato, and Matias Bergara's Cannibal #1. Read the full piece here: http://www.needtoconsume.com/comics/cannibal-1-review/

Moonshine #1 Review (Brian Azzarello, Eduardo Risso)

My latest review for Need to Consume was Brian Azzarello and Eduardo Risso's Moonshine #1. Read the full piece here: http://www.needtoconsume.com/comics/moonshine-1-review/