Centerfield, The Short Term and Weekly Wanderlust

I’ve had a recent flurry of review writing activity. There are three more reviews I’d like to write this week before I take a week or two off. I’m taking a break so I can focus on short fiction and comic writing endeavors. I have a couple of projects on the go in each and would like to finish those off. Reviews keep distracting me from those projects.

Here’s a list of the books I’ve reviewed in the last couple of weeks:

Centerfield: This autobiographical take by Nick Jeffrey features a cartoon style of art that captures the awkwardness of teen years thus painting both an unflattering and yet realistic, sympathetic picture of its young characters. (read more)

The Short Term: Also from Nick Jeffrey, The Short Term is a psychologically dark journey into the life of Rick, a drug addict and alcoholic that tries to kick both habits so he can donate part of his liver to save the life of his dying mother. (read more)

The Exterminators #29, The Man With No Name #1 and The Mummy: The Rise and Fall of Xango’s Ax #1 are covered in the May 7 edition of Weekly Wanderlust. (read more)

Jack of Fables #22 and the Free Comic Book Day Edition of Hellboy are covered in the April 30 edition of Weekly Wanderlust. (read more)

The Goon #20, Jack of Fables #18 and Scalped #13

I have short reviews of The Goon #20, Jack of Fables #18 and Scalped #13 in the latest edition of Weekly Wanderlust at ComicReaders. Check it out.

Summer Reading Specials

I took a summer vacation from writing comic reviews, but I certainly didn’t take a vacation from reading comics, which is why I decided to publish a series of Summer Reading Specials now that holidays are over. Check ‘em out:

The Walking Dead Edition
All in all, the summer months haven’t been particularly kind to The Walking Dead. I’ve taken issue with storytelling elements in each. The underlying issue is that Kirkman has jammed too much into these issues. (read more)

Mainstream Edition
In the mainstream realm, I stayed clear of DC and Marvel’s core books and kept my focus on books that dare to be different: The Exterminators #20, Faker #1 (of 6), Faker #2 (of 6), The Goon #19, Jack of Fables #13, Okko: Cycle of Water #4 (of 4). (read more)

Small Press Edition
I’m proud to say I found the time to check out some small press books: Grant Morrison: The Early Years, Graphic Classics volume 14: Gothic Classics, Lenore #13, Mouse Guard: Winter 1152 #1 (of 6), Snapfood.  (read more)

Outnumbered #4, Invincible #41, Jack of Fables #10, The Killer #4, Okko: Cycle of Water #3, PvP #32, The Secret History #2

I have a shwack of new reviews over at comicreaders.com:

Invincible #41, Jack of Fables #10, The Killer #4, Okko: Cycle of Water #3, PvP #32, The Secret History #2 can all be found in the May 9 edition of Weekly Wanderlust. (read more)

Outnumbered #4 (of 6)
The storytellers of Outnumbered take a risk with a ballsy experiment in this latest issue. A little less than halfway through this issue, the four protagonists go their separate ways, and yet the comic follows each of them, dividing the pages into three rows of panels. (read more)