Kai's Thoughts

A place for reviews and thoughts form me

[kaithonks]

The Hull (Jul 22nd)

Well, I am still getting my ass kicked at my day job, so I have been crashing a lot after work. Well, crashing and playing Coral Island because I'm nearly finished with the attractions and this is the first time I've done those, as I did a close to a 100% run at that game's launch. Which did bite me in the ass, as the romance mechanics were pretty much nonexistent. Like you could date and marry people, but there was no depth to it. That's been fixed now. Ah, but I've gotten off topic.

The Read:

Dungeon Crawler Carl: The Graphic Novel did have quite a few of the issues I thought it was going to have, so it adds to the pile of "proof web comics don't translate well to print. " But it is still Dungeon Crawler Carl, and while still setting up that world is solid enough on its own. Not that I'm going to recommend that graphic novel over the audiobook. Dungeon Crawler Carl #0 actually was a bit better despite the large borders. I actually like it and almost wish they had done it with the whole comic.

I definitely felt the issue I'd miss with Nightwing #140 and Wonder Woman #35. But honestly, even with Tom King off the reins, Trinity just doesn't work for me. And I'm amazed she got a solo run over literally any of DC's Black heroes.

Batowman #5 and Absolute Green Arrow #3 were pretty solid, though I haven't read a lot of Roy Harper; I'm not sure how I feel about just jumping to his addiction troubles.

Honestly, I have yet to read a Sonic comic that hasn't been just fun. And that didn't change with Sonic the Hedgehog x Godzilla. Eggman and Mechagodzilla weren't a thing I knew I needed, but I did in fact need to see that.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #2 was fun. I don't really have much to say about it.

The Unread:

I did start on Delicious, and Dungeon 3 and 4 are waiting for me, and I am excited because I do own the first two volumes and plan on getting the anime.

Obviously, with Woktakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku 1 & 2 and then Justice League Odyssey 1-3, they are unread as well.

So I didn't end up picking up too much this week. Godzilla vs. America: Godzilla vs. San Diego I felt the need to pick up because I did used to live in San Diego, though unlike Portland, I don't really feel any claim to the place. Corpse Knight #4 is something I am a little more excited for, as this has been a very solid series. Actually, this whole week has some solid runs with Absolute Wonder Woman #22 and Zatanna #4. Green Lantern #37 also came out, and that's a little less exciting for me. I love seeing Kyle again, and there have been good moments, but I don't really think much of the run.

[kaithonks]

The Hull (Jul 15th)

So I have gotten my library books and did make another trip to the library, but as you can tell from my last post my brain has kind of been plagued with Dungeon Crawler Carl. And I might have gotten a couple of Dungeon Crawler Carl things.  The Read: Last week was a week of "mmm" as Barbara Gordon: Breakout #2 & 3, Ben 10 #3 Operation: Iron Coffin #1 and Vampyrates! #1 had me unsure if I really wanted to keep reading them. I don't think anything is terrible about them. They just don't really hit it for me. Supergirl #15 also kind of ended an overarching story, and I am not sure where it is going to go through there. Thought I was a lot happier with that. The Fury of Firestorm #4 not as much, however. But I am a little more willing to give those two a chance. Bleeding Hearts #6 is also really picking up pace now, though I wouldn't be surprised at anyone who dropped it before this point as it has taken a while to really get going. I will openly admit that Zorro's Legacy #1 and The Rocketeer: Infiltrator! #1 probably have me in a bit of rose-tinted glass, but I thought they were both very solid number ones. Finally, the Sonic the Hedgehog: 35th Anniversary Special was a fun little romp, though I haven't been keeping up with Sonic comics. The Unread: A lot of manga with week from my library, as I got Delicious in Dungeon 3 and 4 and then Woktakoi: Love is Hard for Otaku 1 and 2. And then I got Justice League Odyssey 1-3, because the last comic I got with Odyssey in the title worked out so well for me. Then, to my normal pile I got Dungeon Crawler Carl: the Graphic Novel 1 as well as Dungeon Crawler Carl #0 with the Absolute Batman #1 with the second reprint homage to put on my wall. Speaking of covers, I did get the Nightwing Swimsuit cover with Nightwing #140. I did also get other variants for Wonder Woman #35 and New Titans #37. Finally, from DC I got Batowman #5 and Absolute Green Arrow #3. So for anyone following this train wreak might have noticed my growing Godzilla collection, well Sonic the Hedgehog x Godzilla came out this week so I ended up with that in my bag. Finally Mighty Morphin Power Rangers #2 which is probably the lest interesting thing I got. Not that I'm not excited for it was just a very strong week.

[kaithonks]

So I’ve had some Thoughts about Dungeon Crawler Carl

So this might seem like a bit of a switch up from my normal talks about comics a the occasional game. But last week I saw a few Dungeon Crawler Carl comic things that would be coming out this week and having recently gotten on to the series I was really excited. And well Dungeon Crawler Carl had been the main thing on my mind recently as I really haven't gotten around to rereading Absolute Martian Manhunter, which was my original plan for this week.

I suppose I should start with my general thoughts on the series. I am currently half way through book three and it is a good series great even. It is not without its flaws partly in that well it it very well craft nothing it too complex or gives me a ton to mentally chew on. That doesn't mean the story is without its meat. It is jam pack with action and events all of which mean something to Carl and Donut. And there are plenty of good character bits to chew on, but the good is pretty clear in its intentions and mechanics. It doesn't really give me a lot to really question and I kind of worry that the ending won't be all that satisfying. But I am generally kind of pessimistic and again the narrative is very tightly craft.

Now with that I have seen the graphic novel version and I am very worried that the tight writing just won't translate to a visual medium like a comic. Because we won't be or shouldn't be getting a lot Carl's narration and there is a lot that Carl does in his head. And the audiobooks work so well because Jeff Hayes gives a distinctive voice to Carl and his thoughts and worries.

My second concern is with the art style. I wouldn't call Dungeon Crawler Carl gritty or realistic by any means but it is pretty grounded despite the cat with laser eyes. Everything everyone does is ground in really character and emotions. And let's be really a Syndicate and by extension the Borant are systems to large and convoluted to care about the people with in there systems other then those at the top and that is an extremely real and frightening thing. So the large eyes and cartoonish style of the comic don't totally fit for me. And I'm not even complaining how Donut doesn't look like a real tortoiseshell Persian because a real tortoiseshell Persian would be an ass to draw and keep her coat consistent so that gets a pass.

Finally it is not a comic, comic it is original a web comic publish on Webtoon. And I have mention my issues with the infinite scroll style of paneling before and how I don't think it gives as much impact as the page does. I also think it simply doesn't end up translating well to a print. The Physical copy of Wayne Family adventures has this issue with awkward paneling in place where the large spaces of the infinite scroll.

OK so I still did buy the physical copy dispite all these worried I have mostly because I do have faith in Dinniman's writing as Dungeon Crawler Carl already had some solid medium translation in that fact it is a LitRPG book. Something I never cared for with LitRPG books and light novels is that the stats and 'game mechanics' simply never translated form me in a why that made sense for the world it was in. In Dungeon Crawler Carl is does makes sense because ultimately Dungeon Crawler Carl is about a super advanced show so it would makes sense that the medium so video games and TV would mesh. And even later the fact this is a written book with these elements makes sense and is important to the world and what the book is trying to say about corporations, the entertainment industry, and art.

[kaithonks]

The Hull (Jul 8th)

So a few changes because my workload is a pile: I'll still be doing Hull posts every week, but the bigger thoughts post every two weeks. Just so I can still keep track of my reads and also so I can have more time to really think about things I'm reading. I'd been feeling like I'd been rushing myself and not really writing as well as I could have. I was also not really having a ton of things to talk about despite reading too much. So yeah, I'm giving myself some time and a bit of rest. That being said, I've also gotten into the Dungeon Crawler Carl books recently, and that's just more on my plate.

The Read:

So I didn't go to the library this week, but I did finish my library books, and Beyond the Clouds was a cute little journey that I did have a lot of fun with, but towards the end I couldn't help but feel I was just a bit too old for that. Which isn't really a criticism, because if this is for a younger audience, it doesn't mean older ones can't enjoy them, and it also means that I can't really ask for it to be for more mature audiences. It knew what it was and did what it wanted to do.

Titans: Beast World and Titans: Beast World Tour, on the other hand, kind of did too much. I find, in general, Tom Taylor has good ideas but can never really hit the balance of serious and goofy, and he never really fully explores the idea, so it just ends up feeling so awkward. Beast World was no exception to this. Beast World Tour, as other writers had a go, but honestly, it still really didn't hit.

Milkyway Hitchhiking volumes 1 and 2 were a little like Beyond the Clouds and felt a little targeted towards a younger/general audience with its short stories only connected via the cat Milkyway. But there was a generally more abstract feeling with the disconnected stories of different times and settings. It honestly felt like an older fairytale, and I really enjoyed it.

On to my pulls, I want to do a complete reread of Absolute Martian Manhunter before I speak on it, so I am waiting for that. As for the other absolutes, Absolute Superman #20 is kind of glad to be my last, as it just couldn't keep my interest, and I barely remember what happened. Absolute Wonder Woman #21 is still going strong, however. Batman/Green Arrow/ The Question: Arcadia is another where I plan to reread the whole story before speaking my thoughts on it. Bizarro: Year One #2, Green Lantern #36, Summer of Supergirl Special, and Batgirl #21 were all fine, with Zatanna #3 and DC x Sonic the Hedgehog: Metal Legion #3 being the standout of my DC pulls.

Moving on, The Rocketeer: The Island #4 was a fun mix, and Ben 10 #2 was a good twist on a childhood show. Corpse Knight #3 is another strong run. Zorro #2, Power Rangers Unlimited #1, and Godzilla #12 were all fine. The Shaolin Cowboy #1, on the other hand, was just meh. Honestly, the more I kind of think about it, the more I kind of dislike it.

The Unread:

Again, I didn't go to the library and likely will later this week. But I still have comics added to my pile.

I swear nearly all my Supergirl collection is mostly variants, and I got the #15 swimsuit variant mostly for Krypto. As for the recent of my DC stuff, I got 2 and 3 of Barbara Gordon: Breakout as well as The Fury of Firestorm #4 and Bleeding Hearts #6.

But I get a lot more stuff from there. First Ben 10 #3 came out, as well as Sonic the Hedgehog: 35th Anniversary Special. I also got more Zorro and Rocketeer stuff with Zorro's Legacy #1 and The Rocketeer: Infiltrator! #1, and to my surprise, there was a lot of Vampire stuff this week with Operation: Iron Coffin #1 and then Vampyrates! #1. And with a name like Vampyrates! How could I not pick that up?

[kaithonks]

The Hull (Jul 1st)

OK, so I've been living in a dumpster fire the last couple of weeks and haven't really had much time to really keep up with this blog or really keep up with my reading. Which is sad because that honestly means I just haven't had really any downtime because reading is my downtime. That is to say I haven't been read at all. But not as much as I want, and definitely not to keep up with what I've still been adding to my piles.

The Read:

I guess now Pride Month is over; let's start there with Justice League: Dream Girls #2 and 3 and then Batwoman #4. Dream Girls has been an interesting run, and I feel I would have appreciated it more had I read Dream's Secret Six run; ah, but so is life. Batwoman, on the other hand, is really picking up for me.

I guess keeping with the pride theme, Go for It, Nakamura! and Go for It Again, Nakamura! were not as impactful as I thought they were going to be. It's not bad by any means; it does have its moments, and I do generally like Nakamura as a character, but Hirose isn't all that interesting. Kawamura is, though, and I kind of would have liked to see more of a friendship with her and Nakamura form. And I'm also just gonna ignore the teacher character.

So update on my Absolutes: I got and read Absolute Green Arrow #2, Absolute Flash #16, Absolute Batman #21, and Absolute Catwoman #1. I'm not totally sold on Green Arrow, and this definitely will be my last pickup of Absolute Flash and Absolute Batman for a bit, as my interest in both is kind of just dead. Not even the promise of Robins is working for me. And I will be totally honest: I got Absolute Catwoman #1 for the cover because it vaguely reminded me of a young Eartha Kitt. It was fine, though honestly it would have meant more if I had been keeping up with Batman, but I haven't, so it was pretty meh.

To round out my DC reads, Supergirl #14, The Fury of Firestorm #3, and New Titans #36 were all fine. I'm not as in love with the New Titans as I was hoping I was going to be, but The Fury of Firestorm is honestly really good.

Godzilla's Monsterpiece Theatre Presents: Godzilla's The Odyssey #1 Bleeding Hearts #5 and The Muppets Noir #4 and Ghost Pepper #12 were all really solid. Unfortunately that's all I kind of remember of them because at the time I read them, I was stressed about a broken shower, so my memory of them was hazy. I did get someone else to read Ghost Pepper, though, so that's something!

Finally, Beyond the Clouds, volume 4, got read in between moments of panic and the small space between my social obligations, and while not bad, I definitely felt a bit of the "this is for a younger audience" vibe.

The Unread:

I have started on Beyond the Clouds volume 5, but it's not done, and after that I still have Milky Way Hitchhiking volumes 1 and 2 and Titans: Beast World and Titans: Beast World Tour. All of which I am hoping to finish before week's end so I can return them and get some fresh stuff.

And I say that as if I were not behind on my pulls. Because right now I have The Rocketeer: The Island #4, Ben 10 #2, Corpse Knight #3, Zorro #2, Power Rangers Unlimited #1, The Shaolin Cowboy #1, and Godzilla #12 all to read, and that's just my indies!

Back to the Absolutes, I have Absolute Superman #20, Absolute Wonder Woman #21, and Absolute Martian Manhunter #12 all to read. With Manhunter wrapping up, that will likely also be my last Absolute Superman, as again, my interest is just not that.

Finally, of my normal mainline DC, I have Bizarro: Year One #2, Green Lantern #36, Summer of Supergirl Special, Zatanna #3, DC x Sonic the Hedgehog: Metal Legion #3, Batman/Green Arrow/ The Question: Arcadia #4 and Batgirl #21 are all waiting in the wings.

As you can tell, I am very far behind, and I haven't actually organized any of my comics, so my short boxes have just been sitting out on my floor waiting for me to put all my shit away. Thankfully, things have finally died down, so maybe I'll get some time to do that.

[kaithonks]

So I’ve had some Thoughts about Cheating Men Must Die

So I didn't mention this in my Hull post mostly because I'm sort of rereading this. For those who don't know, Cheating Men Must Die, or Wàn Zhā Cháo Huáng, is a story of a woman named Su Lüxia, who is essentially a super spy with a side character transmigration system that sends her into different stories with the goal of settling the side character's grievances. And it is probably one of my favorite web manhua.

Now, please do not confuse my liking for it with its overall quality. It's a transmigration/isekai sort of deal going down the power fantasy/revenge road. So it's not doing much new, but the ideas were probably not as stale as they are now back when this first came out. And Su Lüxia is still pretty refreshing as far as manhua female leads go. Often it feels like she's only super smart and one step ahead more because her opponents are total idiots rather than her being a genius. But to me, what makes her is her dedication to these characters' wishes and her general intolerance of bastards. Su Lüxia stands on business and means it. It also gives her a nice dynamic with her system, with them occasionally bickering about how to do the job, with Su Lüxia often winning those fights.

I also like that while Su Lüxia's antagonists are often idiots, they do try to fight back, and I often find one or two members of the supporting cast enjoyable. Gu Chen and Qi Ling are both really fun love interests for Su Lüxia, though I know Agent Zero will likely come back and be the endgame. But I enjoy that she does care about these characters and even gives Qi Ling a hint to try and eventually find her again. And on that I also like Jing Chen and hope he comes back.

I feel the need to say I currently am like 200+ chapters behind. I still have read up to about 240! So that's a lot of chapters, and I stopped there partly to let the story build up again, as this story doesn't really have much leg to stand on while waiting for updates. It's kind of something I just like binging. The story itself is really junk food adjacent, and that's not helpful with the repeated use of art and assets. Particularly in Arc 6: Cultivation and this Feng Wushuang and Arc 3: Vampire's Lost Feelings. Actually, Vampire's Lost Feelings kind of makes me laugh quite a bit because one of the antagonists, Wei Na, is often drawn in that beginner artist "I can't draw hands yet" pose. And yes, that could be a complaint, but honestly, it adds to the charm to me. And as the story goes on, the art does get nicer. At least up to the point I have read.

Again, this comic is not something I'm reading because it's something that's really saying something or pushing comics forward as a medium, but more so because it's fun, and while I think that later chapters focus too much on defeating female rivals and not killing cheating men, it's still an interesting twist on its genre.

[kaithonks]

Sorry no post again this week as I deal with some maintenance happening in my home.

[kaithonks]

The Hull (Jun 10th)

Well, things have finally settled down in my life; I can catch up on my reads and readings.

The Read:

Let's speedrun this. I finally got Tamon's B-Side 6-7 and Apothecary Diaries volumes 6 and 7. I also got my library books, so Beyond the Clouds volumes. 2-3 Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee volume 2, Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: The Comic volume 1, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Pink Ranger and DC Finest: The Demon: Birth of the Demon is all read. Now to my comic pulls. Deathstroke: The Terminator #1-3 are already the most boring shit it could have been. Absolute Flash #15, Batwoman #3, New Titans #35, Absolute Green Arrow #1, Sirens: Love Hurts #4, and Zorro #1 were all fine.

For the things I got in between these two weeks Green Lantern #35, Justice League: Dream Girls #1, Absolute Wonder Woman #20, Zantanna #2, Corpse Knight #2 The Rocketeer: The Island #3, Universal Monsters: Phantom of the Opera #4, Batgirl #20, DC x Sonic the Hedgehog: Metal Legion #2, and Godzilla #11. Where all read and mostly bangers are. With most Green Lantern, Batgirl, and Universal Monsters: Phantom of the Opera at the bottom of that pack.

Edit: I can't believe I for got Adventure Time Pride Special: PB & Marcy's Infinite Mixtape which was great and I even got a small meeting with the writer who was absolutely darling and signed my comic.

The Unread:

On to my fresh books and pulls. Absolute Catwoman #1 I mostly got for the pretty cover, which also works because I got Justice League: Dream Girls #2. So happy Pride Month to me! Supergirl #14, The Fury of Firestorm #3, and Bleeding Hearts #5 all came out this week as well. And finally, I got The Muppets Noir #4, Ghost Pepper #12, and Godzilla's Monsterpiece Theater Presents: Godzilla's The Odyssey #1.

On to my library books again. With Pride Month in mind, I picked up Go for It, Nakamura! and Go for It Again, Nakamura. Something I've seen around but haven't read myself. I am not a big BL reader, as much of a surprise as that might come to people, but that's mostly because I'm not a big romance reader. I also end up picking up the last two volumes of Beyond the Clouds as well as Milky Way Hitchhiking volumes 1 and 2.

So a pretty manga-heavy week for me, but as I've been reading more Titans stuff, I also ended up picking up Titans: Beast World and Titans: Beast World Tour. Way? Honestly, I couldn't tell you.

I know I didn't give a lot of my thoughts here, but I wanted to catch up on all my reading. As even when I'm going through it, I do read. Mostly because it's the only thing that really keeps me sane.

[kaithonks]

So I’ve had some Thoughts about Universal Monsters: Phantom of the Opera

Well, it's been a minute since one of these, mostly because for the last couple of weeks my life was on fire. Metaphorically and almost literally.

Anyway, when the last issue of Universal Monsters: Phantom of the Opera came out, I was decently excited to see where they were going to go with this version of the story, but I ended up mildly disappointed.

Look, I have been a POTO fan for a good long while now. I've seen pretty much every movie version as well as read the original book and Susan Kay's novel Phantom, so I'm not against a re-imagining of POTO. Hell, the 1990 POTO mini-series is pretty different in how it treats Erik, but it's one of my favorites. And this comic pitched itself as something new, but this Erik ends up as a pretty standard version. Granted with 4 issues the comic doesn't really have the time to really dig into his character or Christine's, which are typically the best parts of a new POTO adaptation. Instead focuses on hitting the standard POTO story beats, the major change is that Erik here is Christine's father. While they don't explain his face, I'm guessing it was due to the war they mention Christine's father dying in. The major problem with this twist is that it doesn't really give any new weight to Erik deciding to live under the opera and haunt it. And while it definitely gives him more motivation to protect Christine, it again doesn't really connect to the opera and the music, and it all sort of gets jammed into a monologue about legacy. And then Christine has some words about living your own dreams, but neither character was really fleshed out enough for this to really have any impact.

What does make an impact is the art. Oil painting-like art makes every panel feel like its own little painting and really emphasizes the art of opera. It also gives Erik a most truly phantom-like presence. Though this does lead back into some criticism of the story. Also, I love Erik's design here; he does turn out to be just a man, and he never explains some of his more ghostly appearances, particularly the smoke hand when he talks to the Maestro. Other than that, I can accept most of his Phantom appearance, as the art is just expressing Erik more than a realistic showing, if that makes any sense. It's the same with how Christine will soar to shine when she sings. Again, I do love this, and I really like all of the art. The story is just kind of one of the weakest versions of POTO, and considering it sold itself with "THE HORRIFYING NEW VISION OF THE STORY YOU ONLY THINK YOU KNOW!" is a big promise that it didn't really live up to.

[kaithonks]

So think are a little bit better but there still will be no post this week as I stomp out that last bits of the fire that has been my life this past week.

[kaithonks]

Meant to post this earlier but oh well.

No posts this week due to things literally and metaphorically being on fire.

[kaithonks]

The Hull (May 20th)

So it's not been my week; I broke two nails and left a light on while I was gone, my milk spoiled, and my favorite character in this D&D thing I've been watching just died. But hey, new comics, I will be speed running this shit a bit because honestly, I'm in need of a nap.

The Read:

Honestly, The Fury of Firestorm #2 is really hitting me. It's a character I don't know much about, but this really has me jonesing for more about Firestorm. Ghost Pepper #11 is also really starting to cook as well. I should talk about it soon, but I want to see where this new turn takes us first. Though I do feel like I've been saying that a lot about Ghost Pepper. Barbara Gordon: Breakout #1 was also better than expected, and Absolute Martian Manhunter #12 and Bleeding Hearts #4 were keeping on their every peak status. All I have to say about Absolute Batman #20 is that my Jason Todd cover is very pretty. Then Supergirl #13 is peeking up again, and Godzilla vs. Texas was funny. And finally, D'Orc #1-4 was about as generic comedy fantasy as you could get.

The Unread:

All my manga and trade paperbacks are still not read, and I did start on Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee volume 2 but haven't finished. So with that, Beyond the Clouds volumes 2 and 3, Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: The Comic volume 1, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Pink Ranger and DC Finest: The Demon: Birth of the Demon are also all unread.

Now to the new stuff. Well, this might not be new, but it's new to me, Deathstroke: The Terminator #1-3 got picked up because, well, I don't like Slade Wilson, and I like to be an informed hater. Absolute Flash #15, Batwoman #3, and New Titans #35 were all picked up, and really shouldn't be a surprise to anyone following this blog. I also got Sirens: Love Hurts #4, but the exciting stuff this week was Absolute Green Arrow #1 and more personal excitement from Zorro #1.

So some really good stuff this week, and I am going to go take that nap now.

[kaithonks]

So I’ve had some Thoughts about D'orc

Instead of talking about Absolute Batman, I am going to let that cook a little more because, honestly, the Robins are a sort of B-plot and it needs it. Instead, let's talk about something else I read last week called D'orc.

D'orc is bad!

Yeah, there is no beating around that bush. The thing is that it really isn't bad, but it commits the cardinal sin of being boring, so it's a different kind of bad than, like, it just being garbage. Like the art is fine, even really good and interesting in places. The writing is also technically fine. The real meat and the potatoes of why this comic is bad. The first red flag was there was a generic fantasy setting with "light" vs. "dark." The second was the protagonist being a special chosen one thought in this case to be destined to destroy the world. However, this is a comedy, and both the light and dark sides are essentially the same and over the top and zealous. And of course the main character, D'orc, is born of both light and dark and thus has his chosen one status. Oh but he doesn't care about either side and just wants to live his life and be kind. And he's really good at fighting and has a DEATH SHIELD, and his companion is a chicken he beheaded, but its head is how a GHOST.

So yeah, you can see there really isn't an original idea in this comic's head, save maybe the character's mix of dwarf and orc. But that fails a bit because they translated that as essentially a smart goblin. Dwarfs and Orcs are both hearty races known for being stout, so why is their hybrid so skinny and agile? Going hungry might be a reason, but then why is he so strong? He literally could have been anything, and the outcome would have been the same. Hell, he could have just been a goblin, and nothing would have changed because the namesake of the comic doesn't really mean anything. A counter to that might be because he's a mix of the light race and dark race, thus being the start of the story, but that also could have literally been anything. Him finding the shield could have been how he got attached to the prophecy, and again, nothing would change.

The foundation of this comic is so very boring and generic that really the only place it had to go was to be a comedy, but it's not even funny. It might have been fun like in the 2000s when a violent sentient Death Shield would have meant something, and that's kind of the bulk of the humor. There really isn't much funny here other than its big over-the-top scenarios. Now humor is subjective, and someone might find this funny, but I don't. Again, everything about this is so generic that even the humor is generic.

Honestly, I don't think there is any more criticism I could give this thing; it wouldn't be beating a dead horse that is a very comic fantasy story. Because it isn't even unique in how generic it is. There is nothing that stands out about it, but that also doesn't mean there is no value here. After all, for there to be cream, there must be the crop.

[kaithonks]

The Hull (May 13th)

Well, it's been another busy week for me, and honestly, a lot more comic stuff this week, I expect. Not only did I do a library trip, but instead of my order for manga trickling in, they all came in at once, so my wallet was not happy about that.

The Read:

Honestly, I really should talk about Booster Gold: Future Lost, but I was a little more worried about Absolute Batman. But I did really enjoy my time with Booster. He's a fun character by himself and sort of in a way to see other people treat all this superhero stuff that goes on in this world.

Batman: Detective Comics: Gotham Nocturne: Act II and Wonder Woman: Evolution were both good. Nightwing #135, Godzilla #10 The Muppets Noir #3 and Ben 10 #1 were also good. Though I was a bit surprised that Ben 10 is starting at the beginning, not that I'm complaining.

Batgirl #19 was towards the weaker side, and I think I will do another thought on it, but honestly I'm not sure how much of that post would boil down to "God, Tenji is such a bad character, and I hate him." Absolute Superman #19 was also fine; nothing really to say there.

But gosh, am I glad DC x Sonic the Hedgehog: Metal Legion #1 came out, because it's still such a fun series, and I'm looking forward to seeing more.

The Unread:

Again, I'm still behind on The Monkey King and The Three Kingdoms: The Alliance, and at this point I think I might be until my physical copies come in.

But onto the new stuff. Those orders I talked about were Tamon's B-side volumes 6 and 7 along with The Apothecary Diaries volumes 6 and 7.

So while I am nervous about Absolute Batman #20, I did get the Jason Todd variant, and speaking of being nervous, Barbara Gordon: Breakout #1 still not really sure what to expect here. Also, I picked up D'Orc #1-4 because, well, I've been watching a lot of D&D stuff recently. Also in my basket were Supergirl #13 and Godzilla vs. Texas because I am down for watching Texas getting its shit rocked. I had one layover in Dallas/Fort Worth, and that was enough for me.

Now on to the stuff I am excited for this week: Ghost Pepper #11, where shit gets real. Then the shocker from last month, The Fury of Firestorm #2. Then it's also a camp week, as I have Absolute Martian Manhunter #12 and Bleeding Hearts #4.

A lot of good stuff came out this week, but I also made a library trip where I got Beyond the Clouds volumes 2 and 3 and Tegami Bachi: Letter Bee volume 2, and a friend has been trying to get me into danmei for a minute now, and I saw Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation: The Comic volume 1, so that got added.

The last two books of my library trip there are DC Finest: The Demon: Birth of the Demon, which on first glance I thought was going to be a Ra's al Ghul thing, but unsurprisingly it's actually Etrigan. Seeing Kiby's and Ditko's names on the bottom I am very intrigued to give it a read. Finally, in the new books where I saw Etrigan's book, I also saw Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Pink Ranger. And while as a kid I was more of a Yellow Ranger person (which honestly looking back feels like a sign), this really intrigued me, as in the last Mighty Morphin Power Rangers book I read, I really liked where they took Kimberly's character.

Well, that's a lot for me to read this week, but a lot of good stuff I'm really looking forward to.

[kaithonks]

So I’ve had some Thoughts about Absolute Batman (Again, sort of.)

Again, I really don't have an excuse for the lateness other than I have been quite busy this week, and while I did read quite a bit last week, nothing I read stuck in my head. Though I have been thinking about comics, and something in particular has been rumbling around in my head, and that is what is happening with Absolute Robin.

To be fair, I have not been keeping up with Absolute Batman, in short because I think it's kind of regular Scott Snyder writing, i.e., good ideas that never really have more depth added to them. But I have recently decided to try the run again with the Robins coming into the story, and I will say the idea of them using mechs is fun. But again, Snyder's writing is often a good idea that doesn't really do anything with that idea, and here is sort of my read on what I saw out of #19. The idea here is that in this sort of reverse where the Joker is rich and Batman is poor, the Robins were also sort of raised by the Joker. But this falls at the first hurdle because it forgets that the Robins, all of them, are their own characters. And this is made worse by the fact Slade is here. I have never gotten why Slade is so popular, or I'd understand it more if more people treated him as the villain he is. And look, I get on a level why he is here leading the Robins; he's a tactician and manipulator, so it makes sense in some ways. But again, we are treating the Robins not as their own character but as a group that collectively should belong to Batman.

Here is another point. Why are they called Robins here? Robin originally was a play on Robin Hood, which made sense because Batman was supposed to be a Zorro-esque character, but the name eventually evolved into something more personal for the character of Dick Grayson. And it eventually became something more as it passed down from person to person. I honestly find Duke's We are Robin is an really good peek of the identity of "Robin" is in and outside of the universe. Robin is supposed to be a child, standing up and fighting for themselves and bringing in hope. Dick Grayson getting justice for his family; Jason Todd, a homeless child, becoming something more; Tim Drake saving the hero who's been a stable fixture of his life; Stephanie Brown, a way to prove herself and again be more than her father; and Damian Wayne, a way to find himself outside of his "destiny" as an heir. Robin is personal to all these characters, but it still brings each of them hope. Robin is a counterpart to Batman but does not depend on or need Batman the same way that Batman needs Robin, especially as over the years Robin has acted more as a foil to balance out a bit of Batman's grim dark development. So going back to my question, Robin, while a collective title is personal, so why on earth are they called Robin here? Well, it's simple. It's totally just for the recognition. There is no real understanding of what makes the characters of Robin work or care. But that's nothing new. Robin in general has been written off for a long time as a "support" to Batman and a potential heir to take up the mantle. But that's not what Robin is.

As issue 20 comes out today, I am very worried that we are going into another Robin Lives situation with this storyline. I would happily be wrong, though, with the Robins getting the respect they deserve.

[kaithonks]

The Hull (May 6th)

Well, my week has been interesting, and between planning for some event my family wants to do and taking up a sewing project I've put off for like two years. I'm not joking about that, but I'm fixing a homemade blanket that had pretty bad fraying. Anyway, on to the comics.

The Read:

As people might be able to tell from my last post, I didn't really have anything stick out to me last week. Well, I mean, the new Zatanna run started off strong, but I won't be talking about that till it wraps up. and Swamp Thing reprint, All In Special, and Justice League: Intergalactic Special were all fine. Though Batman / Wonder Woman: Truth #1 was weirdly more about Wonder Woman sticking her nose in Batman and Catwoman's relationship than anything else, which was fine, but ya know, not uncharted territory.

I did read Tegami Bachi, which was good, but it did give me a few reminders of "Oh, this is a weird Shonen Jump thing," especially when Niche joins in. On the sort of other side, I also read Princess Jellyfish #8, and when I finish the last volume, I will be getting around to talking about that.

The Unread:

From the library I still have Batman: Detective Comics: Gotham Nocturne: Act II, Wonder Woman: Evolution and Booster Gold: Future Lost. All of which are currently sitting under my sewing kit. I also am still behind on The Monkey King and The Three Kingdoms: The Alliance.

Now on to my comic pulls for this week. I finally have Nightwing #135, as I missed that the week it came out, and it was the only Nightwing issue of the Dan Watters run I was missing so far. I also got Batman #9, and when I got it, I was asked if I was excited for the new Barbara Gordon run, which made a big "eeeeeeeh" because I have seen the whole prison arc, and I'm not sure what to make of it, and apparently this is the prologue to that or something, which again has me going "eeeeeeeh."

I got my standard Batgirl #19 and Absolute Superman #19, but more importantly, I got DC x Sonic the Hedgehog: Metal Legion. And I got the variant with Rouge and Catwoman on it. So you know two bad bitches.

Finally, I have Godzilla #10 and The Muppets Noir #3, but also new this week is the Ben 10 comic, which has me in a bit of a nostalgic mode as I watch the original show back in the day and was really into it up to the live-action movie. And as a side note, I also really enjoyed Generator Rex, which was from the same people. Anyway, I'm a bit excited for this but am not sure what to expect out of it.

[kaithonks]

So I’ve had some Thoughts about The Adventure Zone

I have no excuse. I got distracted by a sewing projoects I've been puting off for like a year now. And I didn't really have much to say about what I've read. But I have been considering picking up The Adventure Zone graphic novel, which my library has the first few volumes of. And I have been relistening to the original podcast. I first started listening back in about 2017ish, somewhere before Story and Song came out, and I planned to listen to Amnesty but never got around to it. I have also been more into other D&D-focused YouTube videos and streams; mainly YouTube Shorts got me into the World of Io, and while this is not my typical content given the very different mediums we are working in here, I do have some thoughts about this and some thoughts about how The Adventure Zone will have some translation issues into a comic.

First things first, I had never played a tabletop RPG when I listened to The Adventure Zone originally, so as the McElroys learned the game, I sort of did too. I have now played myself (mainly Spire: The City Must Fall, I am still on the hunt for a D&D group0 and understand the game and its workings better. With that, I don't think that The Adventure Zone would have been as popular in a post-COVID world. I will still argue it's still a very good and emotional story; I just don't know if it's a great D&D story. Again, I am not devaluing how good I think The Adventure Zone actually is, especially once we get to the 11th hour arc; it's just you can tell in quite a few parts that the story being told is mostly for the audience and not necessarily the players.

I'm not really assigning any merit to that observation, but I think because the McElroys started in a place of "this is a podcast" when starting The Adventure Zone, they were thinking more about the listeners than those playing that game. Yes, Griffin sort of has a few moments of "This is obviously the way forward," but Travis and Justin both have moments where they force the rest of the party to follow in. With Justin often making out-of-character comments or having Takko get bored, Travis's character Magnus' whole "charges in" bit really railroads the story, more then I think Griffin actually does. And I might be biased because Magnus is my least favorite character of the bunch, kind of for the reason. Especially when towards the end he doesn't tell the others about the void fish or the Red Robe helping them in the Suffering game. But looking back as a whole, the story is still good, and I feel it uses its audio medium really well, especially as Griffin gets more comfortable with adding sound effects and music.

Now let me backtrack to the comment about being for the audience and not necessarily the players. As I've been watching World of Io, particularly the Devil's Due campaign, which is a beta test for a new system, I feel the players have a lot more control over the story, and the DM, Brett, is writing this for them and not for people watching. This can really be seen in how the player Tomato has added so much to the story. Brett made a whole side quest around the gambling debate Tomato's character had, which was mentioned in an offhand comment in season one. Granted The Adventure Zone really shifted its story after episode three, but again, that felt less like it was because the character and players made choices and more because Griffin found a story he wanted to tell.

Again, I am not really assigning any merit to either property or the way they tell stories. They are simply different, and I enjoy both quite a lot. With that, they are both very tied to their mediums, with The Adventure Zone being a podcast and the World of Io YouTube videos. And going into the graphic novels, The Adventure Zone is going to lose a lot, as I'm imagining the brothers' conversations and arguments will be cut out, and I have no clue how it will deal with Griffin's monologues, which are some of the best parts of the show. So I'm expecting the graphic novel to lose a lot of what really makes The Adventure Zone really work as a story.