Things I've Read Recently (85): I'm running out of comic titles

If you're new around here, Things I've Read Recently is a series of posts I do that are basically mini-reviews of books that I either forgot to review, didn't have enough to say for a full review, or just didn't want to do a full post about for whatever reason. Sometimes I also realize I posted TIRR with volumes 2 and 4 of certain series, but skipped 3 by accident.

Oops.

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Commercial Suicide (The Wicked + The Divine, Volume 3) by Kieran Gillen, Jamie McKelvie, Matthew Wilson, and Clayton Cowles, plus a whole bunch of guest artists

Published: February 3rd, 2016 by Image Comics
Genre: Adult Fantasy Comic
Binding: Paperback
Page Count: Goodreads says 200. There was a bunch of bonus material in this one.
Part of a series? This collects the Wicked + the Divine issues #12-17
Got via: The library.
Amazon / Book Depository / Indiebound

Summary (from goodreads): After the detonation of FANDEMONIUM the gods-as-pop-stars of THE WICKED + THE DIVINE try living in the long dark shadow.

Team WicDiv are joined by a stellar cast of guest artists to put the spotlight on each of the gods. The multiple Eisner Award nominated series continues in the only way it knows how: darker, weirder, faster. Don't worry. It's going to be okay.

Thoughts: So for reasons I won't tell you because spoilers, after two volumes mostly following the same narrator with only occasional pops over to other POVs, this has a sudden and drastic POV change. It's expected due to events at the end of volume two, but also manages to be surprising with how they handle that, and I really liked it.

Basically each issue (or so, I didn't exactly count it or match names or whatever) has a different guest artist, and obviously that changes the art style. I find that art shift incredibly effective in creating very distinct, different POVs. It makes you feel disoriented, and with the stories being told, that's great. They feel like they're all working in the same direction, but at the same time, they're separate as you learn more about the other characters. One of the best ways to use an art shift I've seen, honestly.

The team really knows how to work with how the issues will be divided when collected, which I really appreciate as someone who doesn't read solo issue and relies on the library for her comic book reading. It's kind of a pet peeve of mine when the division is really bad and leaves you halfway into a plot arc, and then you have to wait like six months until the next one comes out. This works with the breaks and leaves you just enough on a cliffhanger. It teases about what comes next, while not having things be left super unfinished.

I will make two other notes. One, this one has a bit more nudity/sexual content than the previous volumes have had. Two, there's a page where one of the goddesses' Twitter mentions are shown. They're... not surprsing if you know anything about Twitter harassment, but they're hard to read. It's a full two-page spread, with a ton of content, and I couldn't read them all. If you've any experience with Twitter harassment, it could hit you hard. It's easy to skip most of it and get the gist, but it's better to know going in.

All in all, though, I'm growing to like this series a lot more than I expected. I'll be ordering more.

Paper Girls, Volume 3 by Brian K. Vaughan, Cliff Chiang, Matt Wilson, Jared K. Fletcher

Published: August 8th, 2017 by Image Comics
Genre: YA Science Fiction Comic
Binding: Paperback
Page Count: Goodreads says 128
Part of a series? This volume collects issues 11 through 15 of Paper Girls.
Got via: The library.
Amazon / Book Depository / Indiebound

Summary (from goodreads): The multiple Eisner and Harvey Award-winning series from BRIAN K. VAUGHAN and CLIFF CHIANG continues, as newspaper deliverers Erin, Mac and Tiffany finally reunite with their long-lost friend KJ in an unexpected new era, where the girls must uncover the secret origins of time travel... or risk never returning home to 1988.

Thoughts: Yeah, this is definitely the best one yet. I'm really liking the way this is going, and the way they play with timelines and things being all weird and time-travel-twisty. I do kind of hope that something big happens soon, so we get more of a sense of the plot and where it's heading, but overall I'm enjoying this and I think it's picking up.

Trigger warnings for antisemitisism, implied rape, and the r-slur, plus a little homomisia which this volume continues to lead me to believe will be addressed eventually. On a non-trigger warning note, props for including a period in this. Like it makes sense that one of the girls around their age would get it at some point, and not just implying it but actually showing it? Nice. Although the drawing of it... makes me believe that the person who drew it has never actually had one. I don't particularly believe that's how it would work in that situation.

Squirrel, You Really Got Me Now (Squirrel Girl, Volume 3) by Ryan North and Erica Henderson

Published: March 24th, 2016 by Marvel Comics
Genre: YA Science Fiction Comics
Binding: Paperback
Page Count: Goodreads says 168, and it was definitely a decent chunk longer than usual.
Part of a series? This is the part where comics are annoying. I guess there was a reboot thing? I don't know, read the wikipedia. It says 8 issues of the series, and then reboot so. This is why I just go by collected volumes. There's also an issue of Howard the Duck as they crossover.
Got via: The library.
Amazon / Book Depository / Indiebound

Summary (from goodreads): New series, New Avenger! With her unique combination of wit, empathy and squirrel powers, computer science student Doreen Green - aka the unbeatable Squirrel Girl - is all that stands between the Earth and total destruction. Well, Doreen plus her friends Tippy-Toe (a squirrel) and Nancy (a regular human with no powers).

So, mainly Squirrel Girl. Then what hope does the Earth have if she gets hurled back in time to the 1960s and erased from history? At least Nancy will never forget her friend, but what invincible armored Avenger can she call on to help, through the magic of social media? Decades apart, can they avert doom, or will everything go wrong forever? Howard the Duck hopes not...he has an appointment for a crossover!

Thoughts: Okay, frankly, I'm not a big Howard the Duck fan. I find him mostly annoying and a little creepy. Sorry, Howard the Duck fans. Don't worry, my mom likes him. Like she even liked that movie in the 80s or whatever. Luckily for me, there's only two issues with him in this and they were better than I expected. Still not my favourite, but a decent cross up, with a solid premise, and a gag at the end that made me crack up.

I also really liked the whole of issues one to five in this, so it definitely made up for the parts that weren't my best, and I continue to really enjoy this series. I like the forth-wall breaking, I like how it's taking its time to build character relationships without rushing them, I loved Doreen's mother and the stories about her childhood.

I've already ordered more and I hope my holds hurry their butts up and get here!

The Smartest There Is (Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur vol. 3) by Amy Reeder and Brandon Montclare

Published: July 11th, 2017 by Marvel Comics
Genre: MG Science Fiction Comic
Binding: Paperback
Page Count: Goodreads says 136 pages.
Part of a series? This collects issues 13 to 18.
Got via: The library.
Amazon / Book Depository / Indiebound

Summary (from goodreads): That's right, the rumors are true: Lunella Lafayette is the smartest there is!

Tony Stark, Victor von Doom, T'Challa, Amadeus Cho...the greatest minds in the Marvel Universe all have one thing in common: they're not smarter than a 4th grader! Now it's time to put her unrivaled intellect to the test against some of Marvel's finest--with Devil Dinosaur adding the brawn to her brains! The Thing drops by to defend his missing best pal Reed Richards' pole position! Riri Williams, a.k.a. Ironheart, proves there's room for two young gifted gals in the MU! Doctor Strange wants to see what's so magical about Lunella! Storm and the X-Men come to Yancy Street! And all of them and more will join Lunella as she proves herself once and for all against an enemy that can't possibly be Doctor Doom!

Thoughts: I thought I was only going to take a couple notes since I was almost at the end of the page (comic books, I can generally fit a few on one page of notes, to save paper) and then I took a bunch and it's all squished lol. Anyways, I have a question. So, you have Ironheart, possibly the other Iron Man as well, Thor, Captain America, Spider-Man (possibly, again, more than one), the Hulk, Ms. Marvel, several X-Men, a few Fantastic Four, probably a bunch more, and they all live in New York.

How does New York have any crime? Who looks at a city with at least a good twenty superheroes and decides they're going to be like, "I wanna cause trouble here!" Why isn't there like a big crime ring in Minnesota or something where there aren't any superheroes?

Anyways, I liked this one. It's a bit of a filler arc, but it's lovely and I really like watching Lunella's inner growth. There was also a lovely little scene of Lunella's mom doing her hair, and it was a small moment, but it showed a little bit of how much her mom loves her and wants the best for her.

I want more of these and now I have to wait and I'm sad XD

What comics do you y'all recommend I get into?

Peace and cookies,
Laina