An Even Lighter Week

Went to Stumptown Comics Fest earlier today. It was a lot of fun, especially Larry Marder's panel, in which he announced that Beanworld would be returning soon.

167. Making Comics by Scott McCloud. McCloud's most recent non-fiction book about comics. It seemed a little weird, reading this when I don't really have any intention to create comics, but it's still an interesting & excellently crafted book, even from my perspective as only a comics reader.
     
168. The Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service, vol. 6 by Eiji Otsuka & Housui Yamazaki. More Japanese horror comics. (Checked out of the library.)
     
169. The New Avengers, vol. 6: Revolution by Brian Michael Bendis, Leinil Yu, and Alex Maleev. Meh. (Library.)
     
170. Finder, book 1: Sin-Eater by Carla Speed McNeil. McNeil has collected the first Finder storyline (previously available as two trade paperbacks), along with a previously uncollected issue, into a hardcover. So that gave me an excuse to re-read this fantastic story. She does an absolutely amazing job of world-building. Wonderful stuff, highly recommended.

Light Week

161. Astronauts in Trouble: Live from the Moon by Larry Young, Charlie Adlard, & Matt Smith.
     
162. Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud. It has been years since I read this, but it really holds up well. Excellent study of the comics medium.
     
163. Monster, vol. 13: The Escape by Naoki Urasawa. The thriller continues. (Checked out of the library.)
     
164. New X-Men - Academy X, vol. 2: Haunted by Nunzio DeFilippis, Christina Weir, et al. (Library.)
     
165. Annihilation: Conquest, book 1 by various. (Library.)
     
166. PS238, vol. 4: Not Another Learning Experience! by Aaron Williams. Fantastic superhero stories set in a grade school. (Borrowed from Teena.)

Books, books, books

146. The King by Rich Koslowski. When I checked this out of the library a couple of years ago, I was impressed, so I bought a copy.
     
147. Phoenix, vol. 11: Sun, pt. 2 by Osamu Tezuka. The wrap-up to the final Phoenix story Tezuka finished before his death. Excellent.
     
148. Phoenix, vol. 12: Early Works by Osamu Tezuka. The final volume in the series.
     
149. Bob the Angry Flower: Dog Killer by Stephen Notley. Collection of comic strips. (Checked out of the library.)
     
150. The Punisher, vol. 8: Widowmaker by Garth Ennis & Lan Medina. (Library.)
     
151. Cromartie High School, vol. 4 by Eiji Nonaka. So very strange, but I like it. (Library.)
     
152. DMZ, vol. 4: Friendly Fire by Brian Wood, Riccardo Burchielli, & Nathan Fox. This series continues to impress.
     
153. The Drifting Classroom, vol. 10 by Kazuo Umezu. After all the awful, horrible things that have happened to these kids, I'm surprised any are left alive. (Library.)
     
154. ClanDestine Classic by Alan Davis. Davis's writing is fine, but nothing to get excited over. His art, on the other hand, really works for me.
     
155. Dungeon Parade, vol. 2: Day of the Toads by Joann Sfar, Lewis Trondheim, & Manu Larcenet. I really enjoy these fantasy stories, but each volume is a little too pricey for the content. If they were cheaper, I'd probably buy them. (Library.)
     
156. Sandman Mystery Theatre, vol. 6: The Hourman & The Python by Matt Wagner, Steven T. Seagle, Guy Davis, & Warren Pleece. I wish Vertigo would put out more collections of their early publications.
     
157. American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang. Another library discovery that impressed me enough to buy my own copy. Excellent story about the experience of Chinese-Americans.
     
158. Kissing Chaos, vol. 1 by Arthur Dela Cruz.
     
159. X-Men: First Class: Tomorrow's Brightest by Jeff Parker & Roger Cruz. Very cool stories set in the early days of the X-Men, long before the days of overly-complicated back-stories & Rob Liefeld.
     
160. Yarns and Shanties (and Other Nautical Baloney) by Jim Toomey. Comic strips. (Borrowed from Teena.)

Another Sunday, Another Post

First, I'd like to thank anybody who has used the links from my posts to buy stuff from Amazon. Thanks to you kind folk, I recently received an $11 gift certificate to Amazon.

136. Phoenix, vol. 7: Civil War, pt. 1 by Osamu Tezuka. Still working my way through this series. I tend to prefer the volumes set in Japan's past rather than the ones set in the future. This is one of the former, and is quite good.
     
137. Phoenix, vol. 8: Civil War, pt. 2 by Osamu Tezuka.
     
138. Phoenix, vol. 9: Strange Beings/Life by Osamu Tezuka.
     
139. Phoenix, vol. 10: Sun, pt. 1 by Osamu Tezuka. The first part of the biggest and most ambitious Phoenix story, this book ties the a story set in the past with one set in the future.
     
140. Paris by Andi Watson. This is pretty good, but I'm not sure what Watson was trying to do here, so I'm not sure he succeeded.
     
141. Marvel Adventures Spider-Man, vol. 8: Forces of Nature by Peter David & Pop Mhan.
     
142. X-Factor, vol. 4: Heart of Ice by Peter David, Koi Pham, & Pablo Raimondi.
     
143. Fullmetal Alchemist, vol. 16 by Hiromu Arakawa.
     
144. Ghost Rider: Trail of Tears by Garth Ennis & Clayton Crain. I wanted to like this story, and the writing is fine. But the art is dark & muddy, and it is often hard to tell what is going on or even who is speaking.
     
145. The Stardust Kid by J.M. DeMatteis & Mike Ploog. While I normally like DeMatteis's writing, when he's in mystical mode, his work becomes hit or miss for me. It can be very good, but sometimes it's not. In this case, I can tell it's good, but it doesn't resonate with me, and it falls flat.