Fiction

G. Willow Wilson’s Invisible Kingdom. Credits: www.darkhorse.com Invisible Kingdom. G. Willow Wilson; Christian Ward. www.darkhorse.com . www.hoopladigital.com . 2019. Accessed Dec 3, 2022. Snapshots [Vess] But what if… What if you found something here that seemed wrong? That seemed out of place? [Krikko] I would go straight to Mother Proxima and ask for guidance. That’s why she’s here. [Vess] And… If the something wrong had to do with Mother Proxima herself?...

Vision Vol. 1: Little Worse Than a Man. Credits: marvel.com Vision Vol. 1: Little Worse Than A Man. Tom King; Gabriel Hernandez Walta. www.marvel.com . www.hoopladigital.com . Jun 29, 2016. Accessed Feb 5, 2023. Snapshots Most of the Visions' neighbors worked downtown, and they talked often about the traffic on 66 or Lee highway. On the weekends they tended to stay in Virginia, though they often lamented that they should go into the city....

A collection of notes/impressions from titles where I didn’t find enough to necessitate a dedicated page. Usually short works of fiction. Unknown Number Unknown Number. Blue Neustifter. twitter.com . genderdysphoria.fyi . Jul 27, 2021. Accessed Sep 6, 2022. tells the story of a person who has gender dysphoria. In an alternate universe, they never transitioned but went on to become an established physicist who could communicate across parallel universes....

The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey. Source: apple.com The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey. Walter Mosley. en.wikipedia.org . www.apple.com . 2022-03-11. Accessed Feb 4, 2023. Snapshots [Ptolemy] Well, what I always tell Reggie he got to do? [Reggie] Uh, I got to take care of my kids. I got to go to the doctor if I run a fever. And… And, uh, I got to put in at least ten dollars in the bank every time I get paid....

Doom Patrol (1987 - 1995). Image from www.dcuniverseinfinite.com Doom Patrol (1987-1995). Grant Morrison; Richard Case; John Nyberg. www.dcuniverseinfinite.com . www.hoopladigital.com . 1987. Accessed Dec 23, 2022. Snapshots Father McGarry has long since ceased to believe in miracles. Saturdays, he trudges out to the dump, looking for God among the debris. Saturdays are always the longest days and, in the winter, chilly....

Issues #18 to #23 didn’t have moments that made me think/pause. Mostly free-flowing; similar to how Monstress is turning out. Maybe the series is tapering out? Or the novelty has faded. All the more impressive that Sandman kept me hooked through +70 issues. Will give it one more shot by reading Book 3 (#24 - #36). Plot Points [Christopher] I don’t get it. I mean, off the record, I understand fighting for equal pay and all that garbage… But I thought you feminists were pacifists, too....

Bitter Root. Eisner Award for Best Continuing Series (2020, 2022). Credits: imagecomics.com Bitter Root. David F. Walker; Chuck Brown; Sanford Greene. imagecomics.com . www.hoopladigital.com . Snapshots [Dr. Sylvester] I am not the devil. It was the devil that made me what I have become, and the devil I am here to destroy. Look around you, Enoch Sangerye. You’ve seen this before – cities and towns burned to the ground....

Batman: Vol. 1: Their Dark Designs. Credits: dc.com Batman: Vol. 1: Their Dark Designs. James Tynion IV; Guillem March; Tomeu Morey. www.dc.com . www.hoopladigital.com . Tynion IV’s Department of Truth is entertaining in its treatment of truth. Coming in with a bit of bias for Tynion IV’s writing. Snapshots [Batman] It happened in the little moments. I’d sketch on the edge of a napkin, or at the corner of a page in an old casebook....

Outcast. Robert Kirkman; Paul Azaceta. imagecomics.com . www.hoopladigital.com . 2014. Accessed Dec 11, 2022. Snapshots [Rev. Anderson] I know… How completely I failed you. You brought me face to face with the Devil himself… And I didn’t have the strength to confront him. Am I no longer worthy to do your work? Is that why I have no power over these demons?...

The Joker in ‘Batman: White Knight #1’ Batman: White Knight. Sean Murphy. www.dc.com . www.hoopladigital.com . 2017. First time encountering a comic where the same person wrote, pencilled and inked the work. The panels should be truer to what the writer intended. Snapshots [Joker] Admit it – I gave you Gotham City! This corrupt war zone is the home we created together....

Thematic similarities with DC’s Injustice storyline that divides the heroes into two camps, with some questionable decisions along the way. Snapshots [Mrs. Sharpe] Goliath knew what he was doing. He was breaking a law designed to save people’s lives. If he’d only gone legitimate. He’d still be alive. This is no more your fault than a cop could be blamed for shooting a punk who pulls a gun on him....

“The Mighty”. Credits: imagecomics.com The Mighty. Peter J. Tomasi; Champagne Keith; Chris Samnee; Peter Snejbjerg. imagecomics.com . www.hoopladigital.com . 2022. Review Similar back story to Invincible , also published by Image Comics. Like Omni-Man, Alpha One comes from a distant civilization of advanced humans. However, his ambitions weren’t shared by his people, and crashed into Earth by mistake while being transported to a prison in Venus....

Eternals (2006) by Neil Gaiman. Image from marvel.com Eternals Vol. 3 (2006). Neil Gaiman; John Romita Jr.. www.marvel.com . www.hoopladigital.com . 2006. Eternals Vol. 5 (2021). Kieron Gillen; Esad Ribić. www.marvel.com . www.hoopladigital.com . marvel.fandom.com . Snapshots Origin of Life Mark Evanier: Can you prove that ancient civilizations weren’t visited by space travellers and heralded as gods?...

“Monstress” by Marjorie Liu. Credits: imagecomics.com Ms. Liu notes that Monstress is a creator-owned comic book series. Why is “creator-owned” significant? While creator ownership has been common in fiction writing, it’s more the exception in comics, recorded music, and motion pictures, where the work is sold to the publishers, or produced as work-for-hire. Prominent outfits for creator-owned comics include Image Comics (founded by prominent Marvel artists), DC’s Vertigo imprint (now Black Label), and Dark Horse Comics' Legend imprint....

The Swamp Thing. Image from dccomics.com Motifs Love and Loyalty Their master gone, the un-men pause, uncertain of what to do… They must among themselves for a moment – and, at least, a decision is reached. For all their existence, they have followed their master blindly – wherever he might lead… And there seems no good reason to change that situation now. [Liz] He’s kept her safely shut away for years....

Imaginative literature primarily pleases rather than teaches. It is much easier to be pleased than taught, but much harder to know why one is pleased. Beauty is harder to analyze than truth. On the fiction’s importance, phrases it nicely: But we could not live in this [real] world if we were not able, from time to time, to get away from it. We do not mean that imaginative literature is always, or essentially, escapist....

The Sandman (1989 - 1996) by Neil Gaiman. Image from Sandman #36. Path to comic: Lucifer (Netflix) -> Lucifer (Comic) -> The Sandman (Comic) Netflix is also adapting the comic, so interested in how it deviates from the source. Ser Brienne of Tarth will be Lucifer. Hype! Love Dream: Sister – you know how I felt for Nada one. What I feel for her still....

Premise: Orr can have “effective” dreams that retroactively change reality for everyone else, except those who are aware of him dreaming. See for a refresher on the plot. Notable Plot Points Prodded by Haber to dream of the end of overpopulation, Orr dreamt of a plague that killed 6B people. But Orr tries to convince himself that the world that was was fiction in his head, so he didn’t really kill anyone....

Stories of Your Life and Others. Ted Chiang. 2010. ISBN: 9781931520898 . Tower of Babylon Story focused on Hillalum, who lived during the construction of the Tower of Babel . notes that the Hebrew school version was more elaborate than the Old Testament account, e.g. the tower is so tall that it takes a year to climb, and when a man falls to his death, no one mourns, but when a brick is dropped, the brick-layers weep because it will take a year to replace....

LaGuardia. Nnedi Okorafor; Tana Ford; James Devlin. 2019. LaGuardia (2019) by Nnedi Okorafor. Image from nnedi.com Winner of the 2020 Hugo Award for Best Graphic Novel, and the 2020 Eisner Award for Best Graphic Album - Reprint. Aliens exist (first landed in Nigeria); human-alien in the world. Main character: Future, a Nigerian-American doctor. Future sneaks in LetMeLive, an alien, into America to escape a genocide (largely imperceptible to humans) on LetMeLive’s kind....

Blood Is Another Word for Hunger. Rivers Solomon. seattle.bibliocommons.com . 2019. Plot Points Sully slays slavers' family after their patriarch dies in battle. She did not feel any remorse nor relief. The etherworld thrived on the impermissible. A young and tender girl murdering a family, and maintaining her rage after the fact, was so impermissible that it cut a path between dominions. The etherworld births a teenage Ziza (died 200 years prior) through Sully, and then later births four more revenants, for the five kills that she’d committed....

Volume 9 was nominated for the 2020 Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story or Comic. However, not very stoked after Book One (Vol 1 and 2). Maybe it gets better? Only Volume 9 has been nominated for a Hugo Award, so maybe check that next time before committing? The Wicked + The Divine. Image credits: wicdiv.com ​​The Recurrence. Every 90 years, 12 gods reincarnate on earth for 2 years....

As the Last I May Know. Shi Lian Huang. www.tor.com . Accessed Dec 4, 2021. won the “Best Short Story” Hugo Award in 2020. Memorable Points Background: Sere missiles can wipe out a city completely. Nyma’s nation has been the only recipient of a seres strike. They’ve since acquired their own seres stockpile. They’re engaged in war with an state that lacks seres weapons....

Saga. Brian Vaughan; Fiona Staples. imagecomics.com . www.hoopladigital.com . en.wikipedia.org . Saga (2012 - present) by Brian Vaughan. Image from imagecomics.com Volumes 1, 2, 3, 6, 7 and 9 have been nominated for the the Hugo Award for Best Graphic Story. A 6/9 nomination rate implies that the comic is pretty good! Themes (Mostly War) Planet Landfall (Alana’s) and Wreath (its moon, Marko’s) have been in conflict as long as anyone can remember....

The Department of Truth | Image Comics. James Tynion IV; Martin Simmonds. imagecomics.com . Accessed Feb 18, 2022. Department of Truth (2020 - present) by James Tynion IV. Image from imagecomics.com Expecting a modern take on 1984, which I didn’t finish because I lost interest. Plot Points [Lee Harvey Oswald] The more people believe in something, the more true that thing becomes....

Parable of the Sower. A Graphic Novel Adaptation (Original by Butler, 1993). Damian Duffy; John Jennings; Octavia E. Butler. www.abramsbooks.com . www.hoopladigital.com . 2020. ISBN: 978-1-4197-3133-4 . Parable of the Sower. Credits: www.abramsbooks.com Notable Plot Moments “A pessimist if I’m not careful.” She did not just reject pessimism once and become a Pollyanna thereafter. It was an impulse that she had to quell over and and over....

Snow, Glass, Apples Stumbled onto from Hoopla’s recommendations. flips the script and tells the story from the step mother’s perspective, and she is also the protagonist. Snow White is a vampire. She fed on her father (consensually?), the King, to the point of him being a shadow of a man. Her stepmother, the Queen, was only 18 when the King died. The Queen had witnessed Snow White’s vampirism, and so she had a servant kill her by carving out her heart and dump her in the forest....

Crime Drama Ozark’s highlights are Ruth Langmore’s 90s' hip hop playlist, Wendy Byrde’s sociopathic ambition, and Del Rio’s suave. The show follows the Byrde family that has to launder money for the Navarro Cartel. The writers use shortcuts as the show proceeds, and grant excessive plot armor for the Byrde family in subsequent seasons. ’s Bill Dubuque also wrote The Accountant (2016 Film) , which follows a CPA with high-functioning autism who makes his living by uncooking the books of criminal organizations experiencing internal embezzlement....

Inspired to read this comic by the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder film. Motifs [Gorr] As I stand here now, witnessing with my own eyes the first awkward fumblings of life in the void, I see no weeping god. No tears except those shed by the misshapen creatures around me, minutes old and already begging for death. I see no grand plan at work. No benevolent omnipotence at display....

House of M. Source: Marvel Plot Points [Xavier] Wanda, put the world back now! [Wanda] No! [Xavier] Put it back! [Wanda] But my children! [Xavier] Never existed! Wanda’s overarching desire to have a family to the detriment of others has been explored in the films WandaVision, and Doctor Strange: Multiverse of Madness. First time seeing it in comic form. [Logan] Someone do the math for me… How many more of you does she have to kill before you snap out of it?...

A spin-off from Gaiman’s Sandman , featuring the reincarnated Lord Dream. Notable Plot Points [Morris] Professor Dunbar… The reason I asked you to be my advisor is because I thought you of all people would understand what it’s like to be a woman in academia. [Professor Dunbar] You mean you thought I’d cut you a break. But I never got a break. I was the only woman in my class at Oxford who left with a PhD, and for my trouble, I’m teaching at a no-name university in New Jersey....

Plot Points Her mind swells: mine, mine, mine. She pounds the pavement with her feet, pointing, shouting, but no one tries to stop the thief; no one wants to have a knife in the gut… And then the other things that anger her in a distracting and grinding way, things she can do nothing about because she is a coward, and she will not get tear-gassed, clobbered, and arrested over an uncertain revolution: the barely-out-of-teenagehood Kianjokoma brothers dead at the hands of the police and no one arrested; the billions the President says are vanishing from the national Treasury every day; DJ Evolve shot and maimed in a club by a sitting MP who is still sitting quite comfortably; the countries far away hoarding vaccines while their citizens brandish guns over masks and personal freedoms....