I didn't actually expect to be updating tonight, but the regular Wednesday night game fell through, and I didn't feel up to heading over to Michael's for an impromptu Space 1889 game.

258. The Golden Plates, vol. 1: The Sword of Laban and the Tree of Life by Michael Allred. Much as I like Allred's work, I'm not terribly interested in a comic book adaptation of the Book of Mormon, so I'm not buying this series. (Checked out of the library.)
     
259. Hunter X Hunter, vol. 2 by Yoshihiro Togashi. As formulaic as this is, I like it.
     
260. Will Eisner's John Law, Detective: Dead Man Walking by Gary Chaloner. The reprinted Eisner stories in this book are good. Unfortunately, they're something like only a third of the book. (Library.)
     
261. Hunter X Hunter, vol. 3 by Yoshihiro Togashi. More manga.
     
262. Escalator by Brandon Graham. I enjoyed this at the time I read it, but it took quite a while for me to remember it now that I'm posting about it. (Library.)
     
263. Scheherezade: Stories about Love, Treacher, Mothers & Monsters by various. Another not-terribly-memorable graphic novel. (Library.)
     
264. Batman & Superman: World's Finest by Karl Kesel, Dave Tayer, et al. (Library.)
     
265. The Dead Boy Detectives by Jill Thompson. A cute comic in the style of shojo (girl's) manga. I always enjoy Thompson's work.
     
266. Ranma 1/2, vol. 27 by Rumiko Takahashi. I'm afraid I don't really have much left to say about this series. There are enough volumes that I think I've covered it all before. I like these and will keep reading them as long as I can get them. (Library.)
     
267. Fullmetal Alchemist, vol. 2 by Hiromu Arakawa. I'm very happy that Teena also enjoys this manga & anime series about two alchemist brothers.
     
268. Midnight Pulp Presents: Secret Skull by Steve Niles & Chuck BB. I've ranted before about how I think Niles is a sloppy writer. So why do I keep reading his stuff? I think it's because I derive some schadenfreude from the knowledge that I could do a better job of editing his stuff than whoever is doing so. Actually, this book wasn't bad. I didn't notice any gaping plot holes, but it still didn't grab me. (Library.)
     
269. Naruto, vol. 4: The Next Level by Masashi Kishimoto. Even by the standards of ninja stories, this is unrealistic. But it's fun.
     
270. The X-Files, vol. 1 by Stefan Petrucha et al. Actually, this is more like volume 3. Topps (yes, the baseball card people) published a line of comics in the 90s, and they had the license for The X-Files. They published two collections before they folded, and now a new publisher is picking up where Topps left off. Unfortunately, the art is muddy. It feels to me like they didn't have access to the original art and had to shoot from copies of the comic books. Also, they really need a proof-reader. A couple pages are out of sequence, and there is something that should have been printed as a two-page spread but instead ended up on opposite sides of a single page. But my favorite mix-up is on one of the chapter headings. In the book, each issue starts off with a page that reprints the cover of the original comic. On that page, they have put the writing & art credits for the issue that follows. For one of these, the credits read: "Story: Author Name. Art: Artist Name." Lovely quality control there, folks.