The Blue Fairy's Bookshelf

Big week 9/26, although Sword of Sorcery came out 9/19 American Vampire #31 (The Blacklist, Part Four) Writer: Scott Snyder, Artist: Rafael Albuquerque, Colors: Dave McCaig Oh, the beginning of this issue is nice. It follows from the bombshell at the end of last issue in a way that isn’t too pandering, and feels true to the characters. The rest is super strong too. I’m really loving this story arc. The gang’s all here... Batman Incorporated #0 Story by Grant Morrison and Chris Burnham, Script: Grant Morrison, Art by Frazer Irving Well, that was underwhelming. The art is bleck, the characters are boring. This was an incredibly dull re-cap/re-vamp of Batman Inc. Really, really dull, and just a reminder that they’ve written many of the characters I found interesting out of the series. Captain Marvel #4 Writer: Kelly Sue DeConnick, Artist: Dexter Soy I hope we start getting some answers soon, but I enjoyed this issue. Carol is awesome, and the Banshees are awesome. Th...

Batman: No Man's Land: Volume 2 Greg Rucka, Kelley Puckett, Denny O'Neil, Chuck Dixon, et. al., 2012 Issues originally released in 1999 Premise: Sequel to Volume One . It's winter in the ruin of Gotham. Batman's had enough of the anarchy, and he pulls in his people, old and new, to start bringing order back to the city. At the start of this volume, Batman's attempts to make headway against the criminal organizations currently running most of the city get a nasty set-back. Later we finally get to the part (it's in every Batman epic) where Batman pulls his head out of his ass and says: hey, I have all these great people around me! Maybe I should get some help! In short, there's a lot more Batfamily in this volume, and I loved it. Helena gets a bit shafted in these issues, mistrusted and shoved to the outskirts. Sure, she generally doesn't play well with the big groups, and I know Batman “wants” her to be the wild card, where her strengths are, ...

Silicon Mage (The Windrose Chronicles, Volume Two) Barbara Hambly, 1988 Premise: Sequel to The Silent Tower . Joanna is back home in California, but she might be the only one who knows that the periods of formless depression that seem to strike the entire world are not her imagination, but the machinations of a wizard from another dimension. With an explanation like that who could she tell? Horrified by her part in the events at the end of The Silent Tower and sick with worry, she plans to try to get back across the worlds, to find someone to help her, and try to rescue her love. I liked this book quite a bit. It was full of complicated characters, all both abrasive and likable, who are trying to do their best, but sometimes screw up. And there's two sweet subtle romances, one of two young people both trapped by their choices and their oaths, one of two adults who care about each other beyond all logic, but know they can't promise more than right now. All of that is dea...

Dune Frank Herbert, 1965 Hugo Winner - 1966 Premise:  A classic epic of modern science fiction. Duke Leto Atreides is moving his tactical base and his family to the desert planet Arrakis. He hopes that control over the essential trade of the drug known as 'spice' – found only on Arrakis – will help him in the constant political struggles within the factions of the Empire. But his enemies are moving, betrayal is coming, and his son Paul will be left to seek the truth of the terrible purpose he has foreseen since he was a child. Where can I even start with this book? I read Dune for the first time a dozen or more years ago, and I remember liking it, but not loving it. It's fascinating reading it in the context of its time now, because it is easily the best of the Hugo winners yet, in my opinion. It's a modern, layered novel of politics, alliances, human choices and fate. It takes place in a grand setting: a complex system of planets, factions, families and go...

All books new in stores on 9/12/12 American Vampire: Lord of Nightmares #4 Writer: Scott Snyder, Artist: Dustin Nguyen, Colors: John Kalisz It felt like not much happened in this issue. Felicia and Hobbes and their potential new allies are still on the run and arguing with each other. There’s some back story for Hobbes, but I wish we’d had more time with Felicia or the new guys. Wolverine and the X-Men #16 Writer: Jason Aaron, Pencils and Colors: Chris Bachalo, Inks: Tim Townsend, Jaime Mendoza and Al Vey HA! In the midst of the crossover craziness, we get this weird little side trip to see what the villains are up to. The issue focuses on the recent adventures of the Hellfire kids, and pulls a nice balance between creepy and funny. This series doesn’t disappoint. X-Treme X-Men #3 Writer: Geg Pak, Pencils: Stephen Segovia and Paco Diaz, Inks: Dennis Crisostomo and Paco Diaz, Colors: Jessica Kholine, Beny Maulana and Sotocolor Zany, ridiculous, action-packed, few s...

Catwoman Volume 1: Trail of the Catwoman Darwyn Cooke, Ed Brubaker, et. al., 2011 Original Issues published 2002-2003 Premise: Selina Kyle, aka Catwoman, has been out of town for a while. After faking her own death, she's been laying low, but now it's time to get control of her life again. She needs a big job to get back on her feet, before she can even think about whether she wants to let being Catwoman become part of her life again. Collects Selina's Big Score, Detective Comics (backup feature) 759-762 and Catwoman 1-9.  I adored this collection. The art, mostly by Darwyn Cooke, fits perfectly with the noir tone of the stories, and the mix of mystery, crime, romance and adventure is perfect for Catwoman. The stories are split roughly into three sections, as they were published originally. The first is one complete story: Selina's Big Score. You can see the first few pages here . The second focuses on a private detective named Slam Bradley who's investig...

Legend of Oz technically came out last week, but the shop I went to last week was out of copies. Luckily, I was able to pick it up today! Action Comics #0 Writer: Grant Morrison, Artist: Ben Oliver, Colorist: Brian Reber A lovely first-days-of-Superman story in this issue. Clark being awesome and adorable by turns, Lois kicking ass. Just a sweet, fun ride. The backup by Sholly Fisch was fine with a few intriguing lines, but I’m not that interested in Adam-glowing-eyes-dude, and I don’t care about the origins of the villain I had to google to identify. The Legend of Oz: The Wicked West #6 (of 6) Writer: Tom Hutchison, Artist: Alisson Borges, Colorist: Kate Finnegan Neat! This issue ends the miniseries, but it looks like the adventures of Gale and company will continue next month in an ongoing series! Woo! I really liked this one, from the style of the witches, to the parallels with the original story, to the awesome action scene, to the fantastic ending. If you itch for t...

The Wise Man's Fear (The Kingkiller Chronicles, Day Two) Patrick Rothfuss, 2011 Premise: Sequel to The Name of the Wind . Kvothe picks up his story where he left off, eventually telling of how he left the University for a time to explore the wider world and began to truly forge his legend. There isn't much to say here, honestly. This is more of the same: more brilliant, beautiful prose, more gorgeous blending of epic plots and earthy characters, more mystery, more adventure, more tension back in the “present”... it's not better than the first, but it is just as good. More little observations on the nature of story, like this one on page 8: "Death was like an unpleasant neighbor. You didn't talk about him for fear he might hear you and decide to pay a visit. Except for stories, of course. Tales of poisoned kings and duels and old wars were fine. They dressed death in foreign clothes and sent him far from your door." I was constantly amazed,...

Scott Pilgrim Volume 1: Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life Bryan Lee O’Malley, 2002, 2012, colored by Nathan Fairbairn New Release! I received an e-copy of this book from NetGalley for review. Premise: Scott Pilgrim is a bit shiftless, but his bumbling charm seems to carry him along. And then he meets the girl of his dreams. No, literally. I missed Scott Pilgrim the first time around, although I heard all the accolades. I did see the movie, which covers much of the same ground in the beginning as this volume. Since I knew much of the premise and, more importantly, many of the jokes, it took me a while to get into the book. Once the art started to shine with more inventive panels and splash pages, though, I really began to enjoy it. The strength of Scott Pilgrim is the balance between “real-life” elements, mostly emotional beats and the characters’ down-to-earth attitudes, and fantastical elements, like subspace rollerblading and epic boss fights. It’s a really fun mix. ...