- Superman: That Healing Touch by Greg Rucka, Matthew Clark, et al. The thing that I most remember about this, is that there is an estabilishing shot for one scene that is clearly based on the Everyday Music on Sandy Boulevard. (Checked out of the library.)
- Zombieworld: Champion of the Worms by Mike Mignola & Pat McEown. I wish Mignola had written more of these stories, because this one was pretty good. It felt almost like a twisted version of Tintin.
- Deathnote, vol. 1: Boredom by Tsugumi Ohba & Takeshi Obata. This is the story of a smart, bored highschooler who finds a death god's notebook, which allows him to kill anybody he likes simply by writing their name in the notebook. The death god is a more sympathetic character than the lead human. I'm really enjoying this series, and I should look to see if the writer has had anything else translated.
- Ghost in the Shell by Masamune Shirow. Teena & I have both been enjoying the anime version of this cyberpunk series about a special ops team, so we thought we'd check out the original manga version. They seem to be more variations on a theme than anything else. The characters may have the same names, but they don't act like their counterparts. In fact, there is very little characterization in the manga. It's more like Masamune is just dumping his thoughts about how cyber-technology would affect society, and he makes it visually interesting by including lots of cheesecake poses of the female characters (and an especially large number of panty shots). (Library.)
- Concrete, vol. 2: Heights by Paul Chadwick. This volume continues with the reprints of all the Concrete stories. It's hard to believe it's been twenty years since these were first published.
- Thud! by Terry Pratchett. The latest Discworld novel, this contains the previously mentioned Where's My Cow? I am amazed at how fast Pratchett writes these & how good they continue to be. (Teena's book.)
- Case Closed, vol. 1 by Gosho Aoyama. (Library.)
- Tales of the Closet, vol. 1: One-Two-Three by Ivan Velez, Jr. The comics reprinted here are from early in Velez's career, and the art & storytelling are undeniably rough in places. But there is also definitely strength & passion here. This comic was aimed young gays & lesbians; it tries to show them that they are not alone. Velez clearly believes in what he's doing here. I do hope the rest of the series is collected.
- Teen Titans, vol. 1: A Kid's Game by Geoff Johns, Mike McKone, & Tom Grummett. This wasn't bad, but it left no impression on me.
- Manhunter, vol. 1: Street Justice by Marc Andreyko & Jesus Saiz. I'd heard good things about this series, so I picked up the first collection, but it didn't impress me. I doubt I'll be getting any more collections.
- Baraka & Black Magic in Morocco by Rick Smith. Generally I have enjoyed graphic novel travelogues, but this one isn't as good as the others I've read. I did get the impression that the creator went to Morocco for the drugs.
- Geobreeders, book 1 by Akihiro Ito. Occasionally I will check a manga volume out of the library because they happen to have the first volume of a series available. Sometimes that doesn't work out. This volume was nearly incomprehensible. (Library.)
- Teen Titans, vol. 2: Family Lost by Geoff Johns et al. I picked this up at the same time I got volume 1. Like the first volume, this left almost no impression on me.
- Ghost in the Shell 2: Man-Machine Interface by Masamune Shirow. This seems yet another variation on a theme, because it bears little resemblance to the first book. And because the main character spends a lot of time in cyper-space this time around, the creator has an excuse to draw her "nude" for most of the book. Teena & I will stick to the tv anime series, thank you. (Library.)
- Wolverine, vol. 1: Enemy of the State by Mark Millar & John Romita, Jr. (Library.)
- Y, The Last Man, vol. 6: Girl on Girl by Brian K. Vaughan & Pia Guerra. It's not like the title makes it sound.
- X-Factor Visionaries: Peter David, vol. 1 by Peter David & Larry Stroman. Man, mainstream comic art in the 90s sucked. I blame Image. At least the writing's good.
- PvP, vol. 3: PvP Rides Again by Scott Kurtz.
- Ocean by Warren Ellis & Chris Sprouse. Based on what I read online, I'm glad I waited for the collection on this. Apparently the tpb adds a few lines of dialogue in the final chapter, explaining what's going on. I didn't have any trouble understanding things, so it looks like it worked.
- Deathnote, vol. 2: Confluence by Tsugum Ohba & Takeshi Obata.
- The Legend of GrimJack, vol. 4 by John Ostrander, Timothy Truman, & Tom Sutton. I feel I should say something here, since this was one of my favorite comics, and I am thrilled it is finally being collected, but I don't know what else to say after haveing said some variation of that for the previous three volumes.
- The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror, Version 2.0 by Christopher Moore. Fun, but slight. (Library.)
- Colonia, vol. 2: On Into the Great Lands by Jeff Nicholson.
- Between the Sheets by Erica Sakurazawa. Another manga volume checked out on a whim. (Library.)
- JLA: Strength in Numbers by Grant Morrison, Howard Porter, et al. I've finally gotten around to picking up the last couple collections from Morrison's run on JLA.
- Grendel: Red, White & Black by Matt Wagner et al. If only Dark Horse would collect the later issues from the original run of Grendel.
- Beet the Vandel Buster, vol. 1 by Riku Sanjo & Koji Inada. This feels like it was created with an eye towards a possible video game spin-off. (Library.)
- Man-Thing: Whatever Knows Fear by Hans Rodionoff & Kyle Hotz. Unmemorable. (Library.)
- Bleach, vol. 1: Strawberry & the Soul Reapers by Tite Kubo. Initially I was checking the volumes in this series out of the library, but I liked it so much I decided I wanted to own them.
- Fullmetal Alchemist, vol. 4 by Hiromu Arakawa. This series is excellent, and I wish the manga volumes were released on a faster schedule than they are.
- Fantastic Four Visionaries: John Byrne, vol. 2. I am glad Byrne's run on Fantastic Four is being collected. I just wish the volumes were a little cheaper. I have to admit that they meet my criteria for whether or note a trade paperback collection is a good value (the cost of the book is equal to or less than the cost of buying the individual issues if they were published today), but I'm still not willing to pay full price for them. Instead I've been looking for used copies.
I'm still not done with 2005, but I'm going to take a break now. I may be back later today, but I wouldn't count on it.
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