What I read - January 2020

So, January is over and, boy, what a month!!

With a return to the daily grind that is my day job, making and implementing family related plans and trying to stick to my recently made resolutions, I have to confess January has been an overwhelming month.

This is before we get into the comics which I've read in the first 31 days because, in trying to stick to the whole '1 comic a day (or equivalent)', that has made things just a little bit more stressful (although, contradictionally, it's also made it more enjoyable).

But anyway, I figured I'd do something different to accommodate this new reading plan and so, behold, a few thoughts on EVERY comic read in January.

Heist (or How to Steal a Planet) #1 - The first comic I read for the year as well as the first review for Pipedream Comics, I found myself in two minds with Heist. From a truly objective point of view it's a good book. I enjoy the art, which has this the grimy, overcrowded look which (I think) really helps to sell the issue. Meanwhile, The character of Glane feels well written and I think his story is more of a redemption story than a heist story. However, the problem I had with this comic was that it felt like nothing more than set up, moving a bit slow and making little progress. Overall, I'm intrigued by Heist and am tempted to check out the next issue, but for the whole series I'd have to see how it went.
 

Superman Smashes the Klan #2 - The second issue of a three issue series (which was actually released in 2019 but I didn't get chance to read it last year whereas I succeeded with #1) which sees the Man of Steel helps the Lee family, newly arrived in Metropolis, tackle the local chapter of the Klan of the Fiery Kross. Presumably based on a radio episode of the same name, I have to say that I absolutely adored this issue and series so far as Gene Luen Yang and Gurihiru provide an inspirational, stylised, incredibly golden age-esque look at Superman. I'm now a little tempted to talk further on this series once the third issue comes out but, for now, this was a terrific read and I'm counting the days until I can pick up that final instalment.

Black Stars Above #1 - Another read for review purposes, I found Black Stars Above to be something of a struggle. Now, there is nothing inherently wrong with it, but it felt very slow in the first half as it set the story's foundations. However, once the mid-way point hit, it was easier to stay engaged as it got underway. Meanwhile, I struggled to read the lettering used, although I enjoyed the art which reminded me of Ghost of the Gulag. All in all, this was an ok book, but I'm not entirely sure this is my thing (although a horror fan might dig it).

Breaks Vol. 1 - Read as part of my great re-read as well as for review purposes, I'm not really sure there's much I can add that I haven't said before. I will admit that the first issue read a little slow, making me think I'd outgrown this series. However, by the end I'd remembered why it was so great, with it's gorgeous art and fantastic writing. It also reminds me about how I need to catch up on where I left off.
 

Star Wars: Princess Leia - Another title that I have already previously read, but felt the need to re-read. Princess Leia by Mark Waid and the Dodsons tells the story of everyone's favourite Princess as she travels the galaxy to rebuild her home of Alderaan, in its people if not the actual planet. I'm a big fan of Marvel's Star Wars series to varying degrees but until now, while I enjoyed this series, I never realised how much I enjoyed it. I feel Waid tells a beautiful story befitting the character while the Dodsons visualise this with equal style. In fact it solidifies Waid's place as one of my favourite writers and makes me more excited in seeing the Dodsons work in next month's Fantastic Four/X-Men mini series opener.

Ancient Noise #1-4 - Another Pipedream review and possibly the most frustrating of the month. This was a fun adventure story and I liked both the concept and the art, which enhanced that fun vibe. However, I did feel that this series was riddled with niggles like lack of character development, limited exposition and confusing scientific explanation that just bothered me a bit and stopped me from fully appreciating this story. Nonetheless, I still enjoyed this series and would be interested in seeing how the last issue wraps things up.
 

The Seven Sagas of Silverbeard - Now this was a title Alex suggested I look at (though not necessarily review) and, I must confess, I rather liked it. Supposedly based on an old Silver-Age character now in the public domain (P.S. It isn't, more like the Sentry), The Seven Sagas of Silverbeard delivers a couple of stories from the eclectic history of Descended God-turned-Gorilla Silverbeard. This was a really fun comic to read, looking like vintage silver age in terms of how its pages were drawn but reading with a real British humour that was nice and easy going. I don't know what I expected from this comic, but I'm glad I got the chance to read it and hope I get the chance to read more.

Spider-Man: Life Story - Probably the only new trade that I read this month. Spider-Man: Life Story was a fun enough title, with a good concept and gorgeous art, but I'm not sure if it was as terrific as the internet implied. I wrote a full post about this series in more detail but, suffice to say, I'm still glad I got the chance to read it as it was still a lot of fun, if not the greatest read in the world.

Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme #1 - A free issue on Comixology, Doctor Strange and the Sorcerers Supreme was a Marvel Now series which saw Doc Strange team up with past and future Sorcerers Supreme to beat an ancient evil at original Wizard, Merlin's, behest. Unfortunately, this comic just wasn't my thing because, while the art looked nice enough I just really struggled to get into the story and find it at all interesting. Thankfully, this issue cost me nothing because I don't think I'd return to pay for the rest of the series.

Smacks & Guzzlers #1 - I might have struggled with the review of this one, but not because it's a bad comic. I actually think that it's a really good comic, funny, beautiful looking. Annoyingly,  I just has very little to say on it beyond that. However, with the main review I've tried to be a little more in depth but at the end of the day, it's a nice, simple comic that I think everyone should read once.

The Rose Society #1 - Another review and this one I really, REALLY enjoyed. I felt that Rose Society, as a story, was really engrossing and it feels much more layered than other comics I've read which tell the same story thanks to the relationship of its main characters Adam and Marcus and the early emotional nature of Adam in particular. Meanwhile, the art is different (it took me a few minutes to think of an example it was similar to) but it looks really good thanks to the work of the colorist Jimmy Greenhalgh, whose work gives so many different but fitting looks at various parts of this issue. I'd be seriously interested in seeing where the next issue leads, and the one after that and so on.

Fear Itself: Youths in Revolt #1 - Another freebie from Comixology, Youths in Revolt was a mini series opener about c-list superheroes coming together during the events of Fear Itself. Funnily enough, while I'm not a great fan of event tie in's (and had little to do with this event), I certainly found Youths in Revolt intriguing and not once getting bored as I read it. The art, meanwhile was solid but the story appealed to me and the ending with it has me pondering about getting the whole run.

Fantastic Four #18 - The penultimate issue of the current Point of Origin arc saw the consequences of the last issues big reveal as chaos ensued and the Thing sought revenge. Unfortunately, probably due to the 11th hour retcon of the FF's origin at the end of the previous issue, I struggled to get invested in this. I've stated/ranted and complained about a lot of Dan Slott's run before, but, while there didn't appear to be anything terribly wrong with this issue, I just didn't enjoy it. I think it's time to let go of my hope on this run turning around but I'll talk about that more another time. For now, I'll simply say that this issue was a non starter for me.

Odyssey #1 - Another review-related read (try saying that three times fast), Odyssey was a zombie-esque sci-fi story that reminded me so much of various zombie/end of the world tv/films I'd recently seen. That said, that didn't make it a bad thing, in fact this was such a captivating read with art that perfectly matched what was being written that I'm kind of glad I got to be the one to review it. I hope I'll get a chance to see more issues in the future.

Final read count: 31

So, that's the first month of 2020 finished and, I've got to admit, I found it a bit of a tough achievement (given that I also read a book about aspergers called Living in a Bubble). However, regardless of its difficulty, I'm happy that I managed a comic a day, leaving me already on track for the entire year (as far away as that is).

For the more immediate future though, I'm looking forward to February's reading selection with a larger pull list not to mention a nice haul from True Believers and the a large unread pile to choose from.

I do wonder if it'll give me an opportunity to 'get ahead of the curve' in future months.