Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

This laugh-out-loud novel in cartoons tells the story of a regular guy’s struggle to survive middle school. Here’s what I thought of it:

DweebMeter: 4/5

Links

www.wimpykid.com

Jeff Kinney’s Blog

 

Blood+ 1 by Asuka Katsura (manga)

Saya Otonashi could be a normal high school student living with her family in Okinawa, except that she can’t remember anything about her life before the past year. The only clues about her past come in the form of bloody nightmares, her ravenous appetite and the strange street cellist who seems to recognize her.

Saya likes her uneventful life. But when chiropterans (shape-shifting vampire creatures) attack her, she is forced to face the truth about her past. She is the only warrior alive who can defeat the chiropterans, and she must give up her “family” (including brother Kai) to save the world.

Very much a Buffy set-up, except Saya seems to be even less human, and more invincible than Buffy. Not exactly an original storyline, but this manga does pack some shiny fight scenes and intriguing characters. I will definitely check out volume two just to find out more about Hagi, the sexy cellist, and the evil vampire, Charles, who stalks Saya throughout the story.

DweebMeter: 3/5

Links

Blood+ on Wikipedia

 

Princess Resurrection 1 by Yasunori Mitsunaga

Princess Hime (aka Princess Resurrection) is a demon fighter with the power to resurrect corpses with her blood. But there’s a catch. Once a corpse drinks the princess’s blood, they are reborn as her lifelong servant and co-demon fighter. Enter Hiro, a normal young boy, who happens to get hit by a car and die, just in time to be “saved” by Princess Hime. He becomes her servant, which entails fighting werewolves, vampires and swamp monsters. In the process, he gets killed (and resurrected) about a gazillion times. (It’s actually pretty funny after a while). Mitsunaga also hints at a larger story arc involving the princess’s siblings and their war to win the throne.

This book definitely has its “wow, this is so stupid it’s funny moments,” which I like. The cover is awesome, as are the retro depictions of monsters (especially the werewolf and swamp man). It also has some interesting characters, like Flandre (the princess’s android servant) and Riza Wildman (half girl, half werewolf). Not much else going on here though, except for an annoying dose of pointless jiggling boobs.

DweebMeter: 2.5/5

Links

Princess Resurrection on Wikipedia

 

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8, Volume 15 by Joss Whedon

***SPOILERS***

***SPOILERS***

In this volume, Buffy and the slayers battle a group of Japanese vampires who have stolen Buffy’s magic scythe (and Dracula’s powers). A few subplots going on here. Xander revenges the murder of his brief love interest, slayer Renee. Dracula proves he can be a good evil guy. Buffy and Satsu plan to part ways, but end up having hot break-up sex. Will has issues with a mermaid/goddess ex-lover (not sure what that’s all about). Oh, and giant-size Dawn fights her robot double. Overall, a good episode, though readers don’t learn anything more about Twilight or the overall season arc.

DweebMeter: 3.5/5

 

Preacher: Gone to Texas by Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon

A sacrilegious horrorfest. It doesn’t get much better than this!

The story centers around Jesse, a troubled Texas preacher, who becomes host to Genesis. Genesis is the lovechild of an angel and a demon, a new idea who (because of its novelty) shares a power equal to God. When Genesis takes over Jesse’s body, he gets a piece of this power. Meanwhile, the angels (who have been in charge of Heaven since God quit the day Genesis was born) send the Saint of Killers to track down the escaped Genesis. When Jesse learns of God’s desertion and his place in the unraveling of Heaven, he teams up with his gun-toting ex-girlfriend, Tulip, and moral vampire, Cassidy, to track down God and make him pay for his sins.

All three main characters are extremely moral individuals with a bad habit of killing people. The visuals are horrific and stunning. I couldn’t take my eyes away from the blown off faces. No movie special effects guru could do gunshot wounds this well. Sex, violence, foul language, a thorough direspect for God. This one’s not for the kiddos, but it is super friggin amazing. I know I’ve said this a lot lately, but BEST COMIC EVER!

DweebMeter: 5/5

Links

Preacher on Wikipedia

 

Chibi Vampire 1 by Yuna Kagesaki

High school student Karin is a vampire in reverse. She suffers from a condition that causes her blood to increase once a month (sound familiar?). When this happens, she must either bite a human and transfer her blood into them or let the blood explode from her nose. Because of her condition, Karin is an outcast in her vampire family, but she has managed to maintain a normal school life, until new student, Kenta Usui, turns her world upside-down. Karin’s condition acts up any time she is around him, and she must find out why before her school life is ruined for good.

An interesting twist on a popular concept, this story will appeal most to shojo and vamp lovers. My main problem with this book is the author’s treatment of women. Chibi Karen is an oversexualized girl living in a world where a woman gets fired for being sexually harassed by her boss. Not for me, but worth a quick look.

DweebMeter: 2.5/5

Links

Chibi Vampire on Wikipedia

 

Y The Last Man: Unmanned by Brian K. Vaughan et. al.

“The Y chromosome is an aberration, you’re nothing but a deformed female, a…a monster poisoned by your own hormones.” (Chloe the Amazon, page 96).

When something kills all of the men on Earth, except one, escape artist Yorick and his male monkey, Ampersand, get caught in the middle of a worldwide crisis. The president, vice-president and speaker of the house are all dead. The highways are blocked by the cars of men who died behind the wheel. Yorick is forced to disguise himself as a woman in a gas mask to avoid getting killed by a violent female gang called the Amazons. He goes to the White House to ask his mother, a member of the House of Representatives, for help. Representative Brown realizes the vital role her son must play in the re-population of the human race, but all Yorick wants to do is go to Australia and find his girlfriend. As a compromise, Yorick leaves with agent 355 (a member of the mysterious Culper Ring) to find the only scientist who may be able to discover why Yorick survived.

Now THIS is a comic book. Intense, funny, raw, violent. A loaded concept backed up with rounded characters, spot-on art and an edge-of-your-seat pace. Definitely the best comic I’ve ever read.

DweebMeter: 5/5

Links

Y The Last Man on Wikipedia

 

Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Omnibus 1 by Joss Whedon etc.

***SPOILERS***

***SPOILERS***

The Buffy Omnibus series gathers together the Buffy comics and presents them in chronological order for the first time (according to when the stories took place in relation to the TV show, not when they were published). Everything in this collection takes place before the first season. Volume 1 contains five diverse tales, not only in terms of focus, but in terms of art, voice and overall quality.

The first section presents the complete All’s Fair, which follows Spike and Dru on a bloody jaunt at the 1933 Chicago World’s Fair. They wreak havoc, kill a bunch of people and make a new friend in a mad scientist who opens a portal to a hell dimension. Richly colored art and voices true to the characters make this a standout in this volume.

The next section, The Origin, recasts Whedon’s original Buffy screenplay. I haven’t seen the movie, but I’ve heard it was pretty bad. It’s hard to accept the ultra valley girl Buffy and occasionally green vamps in this story, but it does introduce a few new characters, like Merrick (Buffy’s original Watcher) and Pike (a cool guy who discovers her secret and runs away with her to Las Vegas).

The art improves a lot in Viva Las Buffy (compared to The Origin). Buffy and Pike fight conjoined twins (one vamp, one human), and we learn how Giles got assigned to be Buffy’s Watcher in the first place.

Okay, my favorite part of this volume was definitely Dawn & Hoopy the Bear. The art is really unique and well done. It has a childlike quality, but at the same time manages to capture the characters’ likenesses better than any other art in this volume. Basically, a demon enchants a teddy bear to grant all of the Slayer’s wishes (in the hopes that by fulfilling her unconcious desires, the bear will somehow spell her doom), but the demon’s minion delivers it to the wrong person, i.e. Dawn. Dawn is totally excited (and surprisingly not freaked) when her new teddy bear comes to life (lack of attention, much?). The bear acts on her every whim, killing someone in the process. Dawn remains happily oblivious, until the bear turns on her parents. She screams at Hoopy to stop, and he promptly rips out his own stomach and disappears into an alley to die. Tragic, hilarious, totally awesome. Who cares if Dawn never actually existed when this story takes place?

Slayer, Interrupted follows Buffy as she enters a mental hospital and questions whether or not she really is the Slayer. An ex-Watcher, posing as a counselor at the hospital, helps her come to her senses and she begins to embrace her true identity. Meanwhile, Giles battles his old self (Ripper) to prove he is worthy to be Buffy’s Watcher.

Well worth the read for Buffy fans, this volume gives readers a glimpse into the back story that never made it into the TV show. While it doesn’t come close to Buffy Season 8 in terms of overall quality or faithfulness to the show, I still plan to check out the rest of the Omnibus series.

DweebMeter: 3.5/5

 

Angel: After the Fall 1-5 by Joss Whedon and Brian Lynch

***SPOILERS***

***SPOILERS***

A lot has changed since Wolfram and Hart sent Los Angeles to hell. First things first, Angel has a dragon. He’s still defending people from the baddies, but that’s a lot harder since demon lords control the city and have enslaved all the humans. Wesley, who died in the TV show, has been brought back (in ghostly form) to serve as Wolfram and Hart’s earthly representative. And, this is a big one, Gunn is now a vampire (he was turned during the big battle) with a major thirst for revenge. Nina (the werewolf/Angel love interest from season 5) returns, along with Gwen (the electro-girl who made a few cameos in the TV show–it took me a while to remember who she was). The major action of volume 1: Angel kills a demon lord and starts a war (that’s a new one ) and Gunn defeats an evil glowy skeleton only to feed on the girls he just saved.

In volume 2, Angel, Connor and Gwen beat up some demons, Gunn tortures a fish (Betta George) for information and we finally learn what Spike’s been up to since the Fall. Ends up he’s gone Hugh Hefner (at least on the surface). Really, he’s been helping hundreds of people while in service to his “lord,” i.e. Illyria.

In volume 3, the demon lords of L.A. make a deal with Angel. He will fight a champion from each lordship. Win, and Angel gets control of all of L.A. Lose, Angel dies, hell gets a little bit worse, the usual. Oh yeah, and big bombshell in this one: Angel is now human!

Some old friends come back in issue 4. Namely, Lorne (everybody’s favorite green lounge singer) and the Groosalugg (Cordelia’s short-time lover from another mother…I mean dimension). Oh, and Gunn blows up Wolfram and Hart headquarters.

The big battle kicks off in issue 5. Angel’s friends break the rules and come to his aid. The cliffhanger? Illyria sees ghostly Wesley for the first time since the Fall, and she turns back to Fred mid-battle.

Like the TV shows, Angel: After the Fall is not as good as Buffy Season 8, but well worth the read for die-hard fans. I know some people will disagree with me on this, but, in my opinion, TV Angel never quite lived up to Buffy. It had a lot of good things going for it, but it lacked the humor and timelessness of the Bufster.

Anyway, my fav part is the whole Illyria/Wesley dynamic, but the Gunn becoming a vamp and plotting to kill Angel is pretty cool, too. As for the Angel is human thing, it seems kind of random (and like too little too late). I mean, I know earlier in the series there was always the hope that Angel would turn human and he and Buffy would live happily ever after. But so much has happened since then. I don’t know if I can even see Buffy and Angel together anymore.

DweebMeter: 4/5

Links

Angel: After the Fall on Wikipedia

 

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season 8, volumes 5-14, by Joss Whedon

If you read my previous post, then you know that I finally picked up Buffy Season 8 last week (after a few months spent living in a cave). Volumes 1-4 rocked. I had to drive to three comic book stores to find all the remaining issues, but it was well worth the trip.

***SPOILERS***

Volume 5 tells the story of a nameless slayer who sacrifices her life to protect Buffy. It explores the whole chain of slayers thing, and reveals more about what Giles has been doing since Season 7. This is also the first time I remember seeing fairies in the Buffyverse. But that’s the cool thing about the Buffyverse: pretty much any magical creature you can think up fits.

Volumes 6-9 are told from Faith’s point of view. Six opens as Faith bails out Robin (former principal of Sunnydale High), only to be forced to stake a bunch of recently-turned vamp kids. Understandably freaked out by this encounter, she’s ready to accept Giles’ offer to grant her early retirement in exchange for one more job: to take out a rogue slayer.

The slayer, Gigi, happens to be a royal, so Giles and Faith have to go all My Fair Lady to prepare for the big ball (where Faith will assasinate Gigi). As it turns out, Faith goes native (at least for a while), keen on Gigi’s plan to kill the queen of the slayers (i.e. Buffy). But in the end, “faithful” Faith comes around to the good side.

Uber pissed, Gigi and her warlock puppetmaster turn on Faith. She holds her own for a while, but when she gets in trouble, Giles swoops in for the surprise rescue. I loooove the evolution of the Faith/Giles relationship here. Giles is like a less evil (sexier) version of the Mayor.

Volume 9 also reveals the identity of the big bad behind the whole Twilight thing. Well, okay, readers get a glimpse of a guy in a mask, but it’s a start.

The flying scene that opens volume 10 is very cool. Buffy and Willow head into the mysterious layer of Sephrilian, a reality-bending giant dragony demon. He explains that Twilight will mean the final triumph of humans over demons. Good, right? Not really, because if the demons die, all magic in the world will die with them. The slayers, witches, sexy vampires with souls would all die if this Twilight thing came to pass (okay, I’m elaborating a little here, but that’s what the text seems to suggest). In the end, Buffy and Will kill Sephrilian and live to see another day.

In volume 10, Buffy learns that her best slayer, Satsu, is in love with her, and she meets the new bad guy face to face (or face to mask). Yeah, so this guy can definitely fly, and, more importantly, he makes Buffy question her moral certainty. There’s a really hilarious (and frustrating scene) in which baddie almost takes his mask off…but, alas, no such luck.

The apparently infamous volume 12 is awesome. Yes, the Buffy/Satsu sex scene is the best part, but Andrew also returns, readers meet some well-dressed Japanese vamps (who steal Buffy’s scythe) and Dracula makes a reappearance.

The best part of 13 is definitely the whole Xander/Dracula dynamic. Readers also learn what the Japanese vamps plan to do with Buffy’s scythe, i.e. use it to kill all of the slayers with one blow.

Aw, 14, why did it have to end so soon? Anyway, 14 opens as Buffy discovers the body of a slayer hung from an office building with “Welcome to Tokyo” written in blood at her feet. Renee (Xander’s new love interest) plays decoy to bring the vamps out. It works. Satsu and Buffy have a fight, Renee and Xander finally kiss and Dawn goes Godzilla on the streets of Japan. Things look good, but of course, it’s a trap. The last panel shows a vamp running Renee through with a stake.

***SPOILERS***

These comics are so friggin shiny! I can’t wait to find out who this Twilight dude is. Is it just me, or does he seem kind of Wolfram and Hartish? (I seriously need to read Angel: After the Fall). Anyway, I’m trying not to read spoilers, but it’s so hard. I was reading the series breakdown on Wikipedia the other day, and I caught some stuff about a future arc involving Buffy and Fray! OMG, I really wish I hadn’t seen that! But after I did, the Twilight/Fray theories I also stumbled upon made a lot more sense. I mean Fray takes place in a future where the line of slayers has died out and all of the demons have supposedly gone extinct (okay, not really). This would make sense if the whole Twilight thing really went down.

Anyway, nice slow breaths, I can’t wait for 15 to come out. Is it June 4th yet?

DweebMeter: 5/5

Links

Season 8 Discussion on the BuffyBoards

Season 8 on Wikipedia