Book Review for the Star Wars Book Club for February: Star Wars: Rebel Heist

Book: Star Wars: Rebel Heist (issues #1-4) by Matt Kindt with illustrations by Marco Castiello, ink by Dan Parsons, color by Gabe Eltaeb and letters by Michael Heisler

Cover art by Adam Hughes

Edition: Trade Paperback

Description:

The Rebel Alliance's newest recruits are teamed with its greatest heroes to hatch a plot and pull off a heist right under the noses of the Empire's finest. Can Han Solo, Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker and Chewbacca live up to their legends, or will they be found to have feet of clay? Or, is it possible, that their most obvious weaknesses might also be their greatest strengths?

Book Review: Aliens/Vampirella

Book: Aliens/Vampirella (issues #1-6) by Corinna Bechko with illustrations and inks by Javier Garcia-Miranda, color by Inlight Studios and letters by Simon Bowland

Cover art by Gabriel Hardman and color by Jordan Boyd

Edition: Digital

Description:

Two iconic horror franchises collide, as Vampirella - the fan-favorite supernatural heroine - faces the most nightmarish creatures ever to appear in cinema: the Xenomorphs from Alien! As the first human colony on Mars digs deeper into the crimson soil, they discover the catacombs of a hibernating civilization, tens of thousands of years old. The evidence suggests that they are Nosferatu, an ancient and sinister species that Vampirella is all too familiar with. Called to the Red Planet to investigate, the monster hunter and her human allies find a chamber with hundreds of ellipsoidal, leathery eggs... and after they hatch, the true horror begins. In space, no one can hear Vampirella scream!

Book Review: Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Rift part 2

Book: Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Rift part 2 by Gene Luen Yang with illustrations and cover by Gurihiru and lettering by Michael Heisler

Edition: Paperback

Description:

The Past Returns!

Avatar Aang and his friends seek answers to the mysteries surrounding a refinery on land sacred to the Air Nomads. As Toph uncovers a startling truth about her father's involvement with the refinery, Aang travels to the spirit world, discovering a secret as surprising as it is dangerous. Soon, Team Avatar realizes they may be facing a threat more dire than they could have possibly imagined!

Book Review: Bandette vol #2

Book: Bandette volume #2: Stealers, Keepers! (issues #6-9) by Paul Tobin with illustrations by Colleen Coover

Edition: Hardcover

Rating: 5 stars

Review:

This second volume of Bandette is ridiculously good fun as the mischievous and daring thief Bandette goes up against her rival Monsieur in a unique challenge. All the while, trying to stay several steps ahead of Absinthe, the head of the criminal organization FINIS and his hired killer, Il Tredici a.k.a The Strangler.

Robin Hood would be so proud of Bandette, she not only has her own band of merry men or the Urchins as she likes to call them. But she also successfully steals from the crooks and kicks butt all with a charming wit. She even helps the grumpy Police Inspector B. D. Beligique from time to time taking down criminals despite the fact that she's sort of one herself.

There were quite a few surprises that I certainly wasn't expecting especially not with how she had managed to undermine Absinthe and bringing about his spectacular capture. But I also wasn't expecting Monsieur to have a plan of his own to help someone escape from Absinthe.

Volume #2 is a well-written, endearingly funny and exciting read that I was hoping wouldn't fall short of the first volume which was amazing. This didn't disappoint, I enjoyed reading every page of it and I love the artwork. This book also includes several short stories which were written by Paul Tobin with illustrations by various artists.

This was fun, I'm going to have the get the third volume as soon as possible.

Book Review: Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Rift part 1

Book: Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Rift part 1 by Gene Luen Yang with illustrations and cover by Gurihiru and lettering by Michael Heisler

Edition: Paperback

Description:

Sacred Land Defiled!

Avatar Aang asks his friends to help him honor Yangchen's Festival -- one of the highest Air Nomad holidays, which hasn't been celebrated in over one hundred years. But cryptic visits from the spirit of Avatar Yangchen herself lead Aang to discover a jointly owned Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom refinery -- operating on land sacred to the Airbenders! Is this simply a case of corporate greed or is something more mysterious happening?

Book Review: Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Search part 3

Book: Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Search part 3 by Gene Luen Yang with illustrations and cover by Gurihiru and lettering by Michael Heisler

Edition: Paperback

Description:

The Fate of the Fire Lord!

Avatar Aang travels to the spirit world to parlay with an ancient power, bringing Fire Lord Zuko ever closer to discovering the truth about his mother's fate -- and his own past. Yet Zuko's sister Azula is becoming increasingly dangerous, threatening to ruin everything that Zuko Aang, Katara and Sokka have struggled to achieve on their search!



Rating: 1 star

Review:

This third and final part of The Search was even more disappointing than the first two. It's so poorly written and rushed. This part of the story opens with the Gaang still in the forest while showing yet again another fight with Zuko, Katara and Sokka against Azula. Meanwhile Avatar Aang returned from trying to find the spirit Mother of Faces to help Misu and Rafa, a sister and brother who had been waiting for years for the spirit's help.

Mother of Faces only grants one request a season and add to that it's hard to pinpoint where she will be to find her. Which makes it so important that when you do find her, you make your request in a timely manner. While Misu was in the process of stating her request, Azula interrupted to ask where her mother Ursa was. It may be a surprise to the characters where Zuko and Azula's mother is but not for the reader. Not only was it easy to figure out but the backstory for Ursa pretty much unveils everything leaving no surprises left for the reader. The question of whether Ozai is Zuko's father was also solved. I don't even see why this issue of Zuko's parentage was written into the story to begin with other than to add unnecessary drama for this lackluster story.

Disappointing is all I can think of in regards to this story and finding out how and why Ursa chose to disappear was truly anticlimactic. The way it's written, it not only makes her look awful but also as a bad parent. The first two parts already showed readers that she left supposedly to ensure Zuko's safety but fans of the series know he was constantly mistreated by his father so her leaving didn't really help him at all. And her actions in this third part makes it impossible to give her any sympathy for her choices. I don't want to spoil anything but Ursa made a decision that made it easier for her to move on with her life with absolutely no real consideration to her children.

In the end The Search was an extremely mediocre and rushed story that made me wish that Ursa's disappearance had remained a mystery. This story does a complete disservice to all the characters and not one of them received an ounce of character development. They were so out of character that they felt like nothing more than caricatures. I think Azula's poor treatment throughout all three parts was awful. Not only was she shown as extremely unstable and weakened but it was Zuko who got to have closure with Ursa. Azula may have been favored by Ozai she still suffered without her mother in her life, so it would have been nice if they had some sort of mother daughter bonding.

This was not a good read and with the artwork still being the best part, I'm hoping that the next three part arc The Rift will be an improvement for this series.

Book Review: Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Search part 2

Book: Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Search part 2 by Gene Luen Yan with illustrations and cover by Gurihiru and lettering by Michael Heisler

Edition: Paperback

Description:

Enter the Forgetful Valley!

As Fire Lord Zuko continues his quest to uncover his mother's fate, a shocking revelation causes him to question everything he knows. It's an opportunity that his sister, the deadly and insane Azula, will not fail to take advantage of as she joins Zuko and his friends Aang, Katara, and Sokka on their journey into a mysterious forest from which some people never reemerge...



Rating: 2 stars

Review:

After reading part 2 of The Search, I'm still not enjoying this arc of Avatar: The Last Airbender. I was hoping that this second part would add more to the story but it continues to rely on the use of shock value instead of good story telling.

Part 2 continues with the Gaang and Azula still on their quest to find Zuko and Azula's mother Ursa and Zuko dealing with the discovery that Ozai may not be his father. The story does not progress very much in this second part, when they were not putting out Azula's randomly set fires, the Gaang and Azula manage to go to Ursa's former village where they met Noren and his wife Noriko and their daughter Kiyi. From speaking with the couple they were able to find their next clue in search of Ursa. The clue led them to a mysterious forest where they met yet another duo who explained why they were in the forest and the importance of why they needed the help of a spirit.

This was not a very good read, even though I didn't enjoy The Search part 1, at least the reader was shown a somewhat interesting backstory for Ursa detailing how she wound up in an arraigned marriage with Ozai. However in this second part, the backstory in a rushed attempt at trying to line up with the scenes from the animated series made absolutely no sense especially in explaining the reason behind Ursa's banishment.

The character development or the lack there of for Aang, Katara, Sokka, Zuko and Azula is really disappointing. All of the characters were so one-dimensional and the writing for them seemed to have taken a step back especially for Zuko. He has worked too hard to become a confident and self-assured person by overcoming the hardships he endured to have unfortunately turned into this milksop version in this arc. I was disappointed with how the Gaang kept getting upset or annoyed by Azula starting fires yet they made no mention or acknowledgement of her deteriorating mental state. Azula is getting worse, she's paranoid and keeps seeing images of her mother who in her mind believes is plotting against her.

In the end, the artwork is the best thing about this slow moving story that continues to fail in trying to unravel this supposed mystery of what happened to Ursa. For some reason, I get a sense that Noren and Noriko are of some importance to the overall story. Perhaps I will get my answer once I read the finale part of this story. I'm not exactly looking forward to it but I do hope it will be an improvement over the first two parts.

Book Review: Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Search part 1

Book: Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Search part 1 by Gene Luen Yang with illustrations by Gurihiru

Rating: 2 stars

Review:

This was not a good read. It was poorly written almost to the point where I was starting to wonder if the plot was even really thought out. Most of the characters seemed to have lost all of the development they gained from the animated series and The Promise story. 

In The Search part one, Zuko still trying to find his mother made a deal with his sister Azula. He wanted to see if she could get information from their father Ozai about where they're mother Ursa could have gone after she was banished. The story also featured flashbacks of Ursa, her arraigned marriage to Ozai and a moment that hinted at a secret she had been hiding.

Now that they have a clue to where Ursa may be, Zuko and as part of the deal plans to bring Azula along with him to find their mother. Going with them is Avatar Aang, Katara, Sokka, Appa and Momo. The teams first destination is Hira' a, which is the small town in the Fire Nation where their mother grew up.

Azula still unstable caused plenty of problems during the travel even more so once she leapt from Appa causing the gang to have to go after her. While trying to stop Azula the group ended up getting into a fight with a giant wolf spirit but Azula was the only one to be able to get rid of it.

While Zuko was guarding the group as they slept through the night, he noticed a piece of paper hidden in Azula's boot and found out a devastating secret.

As much as the Avatar: TLA and The Legend of Korra series had been touting the "What ever happened to Zuko's mother?" question. I would have thought the first part of The Search would have been more interesting. This was a total let down.

It was slow moving and the story was too focused on trying to build up this clichéd secret Fire Lord Zuko's mother Ursa had been hiding. The secret that completely overshadowed this story, whether it is or isn't proven to be true, feels as if it was written in just to add some unnecessary drama. The secret if it's true, pretty much ruins Zuko's entire character development in the animated series.

With the way the first part of this story was written it may have been better to have let the mystery of Zuko's mother stayed a mystery. Hopefully, the second part will make up for this one and be a better read.

Book Review: Pop (miniseries)

Book: Pop (issues #1-4) by Curt Pires with illustration by Jason Copland and color by Pete Toms and lettering by Ryan Ferrier

Edition: Single print issues

Rating: 2 stars

Review:

Pop was okay, reading it felt as if a good portion of the story was missing. There was not a lot of information given to the reader to make this a more interesting and complex story. It went from one scene to another without giving much detail or backstory.

The story centers around Elle, one of the soon to be celebrities who had escaped from her growth pod. While running away from the factory she met Coop, a guy who didn't think he had much to live for, who ended up trying to help her figure out what was going on. The company wanting Elle back sent two assassins after her.

Some time later, after a little trouble acquire their target they were able to get both Elle and Coop, taking them to the factory. Later on several predictable things happen with this story ending on a predictable note.

Sorry to say there's not much to this story, it's dull and boring. The artwork wasn't bad but the story didn't do anything to enhance it. I guess I was expecting more from this. I wanted to know why were they manufacturing these pop stars and what happens when they are no longer popular? Instead all I got was more questions than answers and certainly not anything interesting to read.

This wasn't a good read for me. This had a lot of potential but unfortunately the story didn't go anywhere.

Book Review: Itty Bitty Hellboy

Book: Itty Bitty Hellboy (issues #1-5) by Art Baltazar and Franco with illustrations by Art Baltazar

Edition: Single print issues

Rating: 3 1/2 stars

Review:

This was so cute and adorable. Hellboy, his friends and enemies go from one wacky and zany thing or adventure to the next. Which is probably great for kids who will find all the antics amusing.

This was a funny and cheerful fast read and I think Art Baltazar and Franco have managed to take the serious world of Hellboy and given it a makeover that's fun for readers of all ages.

I wouldn't mind if there was another Itty Bitty Hellboy miniseries, I enjoyed reading this one.

Book Review: Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Crash Course

Book: Star Wars: The Clone Wars: Crash Course by Henry Gilroy and Gary Scheppke with illustrations by The Fillbach Brothers (Matt and Shawn) and color by Ronda Pattison

Description:

The search for a separatist spy leads Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan, Ahsoka Tano, to the Mon Gazza system, where one of the biggest Podraces in the galaxy is about to begin. The Jedi must enter the races to uncover the secrets of a spy network that they believe is much larger than just a single agent and his contract. With Ahsoka as the racer, and Anakin, Artoo-Detoo, and the Clone Commander Rex as her pit crew, things seem to be well in hand for a successful mission -- but Ahsoka's never driven a Podracer before...

Rating: 4 stars

Review:

I thought the story was pretty good. Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and Padawan Ahsoka Tano along with Captain Rex and R2-D2 attempt to follow a traitor who has stolen Republic secrets with plans to give them to the Separatist.

The Republic group were not able to quickly acquire the stolen information and they found themselves having to go undercover by having Ahsoka enter a Podrace to see if they can find out who the traitor passed the information to.

This was a fast paced story that had Ahsoka trusting her instincts especially when she disagrees with Anakin about another racer and whether or not he is involved with the Separatist.

The artwork was okay but the story was certainly the better of the two. The authors did a good job with keeping the characters in characters which can be hard with some of these media tie-in books but the dialogue and everything else felt just like you were watching an episode of Star Wars: The Clone War.

Book Review: Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Promise part 3

Book: Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Promise part 3 by Gene Luen Yang, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko

Rating: 5 stars

Review:

It can not be easy for the Avatar to try to bring about peace and that's exactly what he was trying to do in this last part of The Promise. Things were getting out of hand between the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom in regards to the Harmony Restoration Movement. It was starting to look like there was going to be another war between the two nations, if the Avatar couldn't figure out a solution.

But what should he do? Is it right for the Fire Nation to continue to have their citizens within the Earth Kingdom following the end of the Fire Nations reign? Or is the solution to have the Fire Nation citizens immediately evacuated or face imprisonment if they chose to stay? Or is there a solution that could benefit everyone?

Despite the delicate situation, Team Avatar showed up ready to put an end to the fighting including Aang ready to hold up to his promise he made to Zuko if needed.

I thought the first two parts made Zuko seem out of character but I think this one makes up for it. Zuko finally started to see that he didn't need to be anything like his father but he needed to trust himself and also check in with family from time to time. He doesn't have to be alone.

Aang and Katara's relationship is still adorable but you can see it's starting to grow out of that cutesy phase into something stronger.

Sokka continues to be the ideas guy and came up with a good one to slow down the invading Fire Nation army. He got some help with Toph and Suki to carry out his plan. And some of Toph's students also helped by showing off some of their new lessons.

This was a very well written final part to the story which also sets up the next story arc with Zuko trying to find his mother. However, to do that he's willing to take a chance with getting help from his sister Azula.

Book Review: Murder Mysteries

Book: Murder Mysteries by Neil Gaiman and illustrations by P. Craig Russell

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication: May 27, 2014

Description:

Neil Gaiman and P. Craig Russell venture into the world of myth and angels in this new edition of their noir-fantasy tale.

Constructing and maintaining all of heaven and earth is an immense task, which God has divided up amongst the various ranks and stations of angels.

As with any huge effort, there are bound to be casualties.

Lights is shed on the lords behind creation as one lonely man in Los Angeles hears the story of one particular unspeakable crime: a murder in Paradise.


Rating: 2 1/2 stars

Review:

This was two stories (or mysteries) in one and was adapted from a short story by Neil Gaiman. This opens with a guy telling readers of a time in his past when he had visited Los Angeles and went to go visit a female friend and her daughter. He was also dealing with a sort of lapse of memory. After returning back from visiting his friend, he ended up meeting an older gentleman. The two sat down on a park bench where the older gentleman started to tell the younger guy a story.

The story was about the murder of an angel and when the older man was in his younger days (and also an angel). He had been instructed to find out who did it. As he investigates, he finds out that it's connected to love and death.  

The story then goes on with the older guy telling his story trying to unravel the mystery and when it's over the reader is shown a rather ambiguous scene with the young man perhaps possible murdering someone but it's left up to the reader to determine. Or someone else murdered them (like the angel) and the younger guy witnessed it, again it's not really clear who actually did it. Because either way the ending still makes no sense when it comes to this story.

The best part of this book was the mystery of the angel being murdered however I found the writing to be flat and boring. And the modern mystery didn't add anything to the story especially when it was so vague. The characters were a little stiff and wooden, they didn't really have much of a personality but perhaps that's the way they were supposed to be.

I thought the artwork was okay, nothing really impressive.

Overall, the story is not as engaging or interesting as it should be because of the boring writing and slightly boring artwork. The only women (the younger guy's friend, her daughter and her friend) in this story were used as props they had no real purpose what so ever. Which is really weird. But anyway, this story could have been so much better.

Although this is a comic book it's is truly Not For Children. It's dark and deals with murder and other topics that are not suited for young readers.

Book Review: Tomb Raider #1

Book: Tomb Raider #1: Survivor's Guilt by Gail Simone with illustrations by Nicolas Daniel Selma and color by Michael Atiyeh

Rating: 3 1/2 stars

Review:

I thought the first issue was off to a good start it had a few slow moments but all in all it was a pretty good story.

The story follows as Lara wakes up from a horrible nightmare. After surviving a terrible boating accident it has left her dealing with the after effects. But she's not the only one suffering, her two friends Sam (her roommate) and Jonah were also having those same nightmares.

But those haunting nightmares just might be the key to what's going because after Lara went to check on Jonah (she had received a desperate and frightening call from him) Lara found him in a awful state. It seems they may have taken something from an island they were searching and in doing that may have conjured something that might going after them. While she was trying to talk with Jonah a weird flash storm happened and as Jonah was helping her get away he told her to "beware the four guardians".

As I said it's starting out good, but I do hope there will be a bit more going on in the second issue. I know this might sound weird but I think this book might need a British consultant because even though Gail Simone is a very good writer, Lara doesn't quite seem British. It's easy to over look but American English is different from British English.

I thought the artwork was good, I love how bright and colorful it was. I enjoyed reading this and look forward to reading the second issue.

Book Review: Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Promise part 2

Book: Avatar: The Last Airbender - The Promise part 2 by Gene Luen Yang, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko

Rating: 4 stars

Review:

What I like the most about part 2 of The Promise is Sokka trying to help Toph with the students at her metalbending school. For some reason, the three students were having a difficult time trying to metalbend but Sokka came up with some interesting ideas.

Toph and her students also had to deal with a Firebending teacher trying to take their school. They agreed to a challenge with the winner being able to have the school.

I also enjoyed reading about Aang and Katara as they went to speak with Earth King Kuei. Before they visited the King, Aang and Katara ran into some Avatar fans. It was cute and funny seeing all the girls being total fangirls over Aang.

But once they reached the King, I found it interesting that the usual kindly King decided he was tired of being a doormat especially since Fire Lord Zuko has broken his promise to help with the Harmony Restoration Movement.

King Kuei has been taken advantage of for so long that it was slightly amusing seeing the good natured King finally deciding to stand up not just for himself but also for his Kingdome which has been invaded and conquered for years by the Fire Nation. It was time he stopped being a King in name only.

The part I really didn't get was Zuko continuing to seek advice from his father. Why wouldn't he go speak with his Uncle Iroh instead? Especially since Zuko has said that Iroh was more like a father to him than his own dad. So far, The Promise parts 1 and 2 have seemed to undo all the effort that Zuko went through to not be like his father. They have him turning into this useless puppet who can't think for himself.

Unfortunately with both King Kuei and Fire Lord Zuko being unable to figure out a solution, War is inevitable.

Something else that I noticed, is that I think Suki is up to something because I believe she knew exactly what would happen when she told Mai that Zuko had been speaking with his father. She knew they would get into an argument and possibly break-up. Until the story shows me other wise, I don't trust her. I thought Mai's reaction to Zuko seeing his father is understandable even if I think it was instigated by Suki. I really hope they don't try to work in some kind of romance between Zuko and Suki.

The second part was funny and you got to see more character development and interaction than in the first part. The Harmony Restoration Movement continues to be the underlying cause of all the tension and it give the reader a chance to think about the movement. Is it a bad idea for the Fire Nation colonies to have to leave the Earth Kingdom? Or should the Earth Kingdom finally reclaim the land that was stolen from them?

I forgot to mention the artwork which has a total feel of the animated series. They did a really good job with that.

Despite being a children's geared comic there is a lot of things to think about. And hopefully in part 3, there will be a solution to this. As well as Zuko's self doubt will no longer be a problem for him so he will start trusting himself again. There should also be more Appa he was barely shown in this story.

Book Review: Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Promise part 1

Book: Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Promise part 1 by Gene Luen Yang, Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko

Rating: 4 stars

Review:

I finally got around to reading this. And I was not disappointed at all.

I thought this was just as good as the TV series, in the first part Avatar Aang, Fire Lord Zuko and Earth King Kuei devised a plan to restore balance to the four nations by first relocating Fire Nation citizens who have been living in the Earth Kingdom.

Things seemed to be going along as scheduled until an assassin attempted to kill Zuko. After he defeated the would be killer, the Fire Lord returned the assassin back to the Fire Nation colony, Yu Dao in the Earth Kingdom. After speaking with the assassin's father, Zuko had changed his mind about the restoration process. That was the beginning of the problem that now has the Avatar trying to figure out if he has to fulfill a promise he once agreed to regarding Fire Lord Zuko as well as trying to come up with a reasonable solution. This ended with Zuko visiting his father in prison seeking advice.

In this Zuko seems to be having self confidence issues. He want to be a good leader for his nation and doesn't want to make any mistakes. However, he seems to be losing focus for the reason of why they needed to end the Fire Nations reign of the world. He's even disassociating himself away from the group. It will be interesting to see how everything works out to see if a good solution can be made without another war starting up.

Although this was short (76 pages) it still brought the feeling of the TV show to the pages and not to mention it was full of action and humor. You also get to see how Aang and Katara's relationship is fairing that is if Sokka doesn't continue to get in their way. Toph is still the greatest Earthbender in the world.

This was a fun read and I'm definitely looking forward to reading the second part.

Book Review: Bandette vol. #1

Why do I keep forgetting to add this: I borrowed a copy from NetGalley for review.

Book: Bandette volume #1: Presto! (issues #1-5) written by Paul Tobin with illustrations by Colleen Coover

Expected Release Date: November 19th

Rating: 5 stars

Review:

I can see why this is an award winning comic book. It was delightful and fun to read. Bandette is like a modern day Robin Hood. She even has her own band of merry men or the Urchins as she likes to call them. They are the young people of Paris. From time to time she even helps Inspector Beligique who begrudgingly calls her for assistance. But mainly she's out to have a good time enjoying the treasures of the city.

I couldn't help reading this with a French accent. This lighthearted yet action packed comic features the first five issues of the Bandette series. It also includes eight short comics focusing on several characters in the series as well as one short story about Daniel (who's also one of the Urchins).

It's so refreshing to read a comic that not dark and dreary and overly serious. Bandette is a fun and cheery comic that focus on thief extraordinaire Bandette as she goes after one elusive prize after another. The artwork is also quite cheery. And when Inspector Beligique isn't asking Bandette for help like with a hostage situation, he's trying to apprehend the young criminal to bring her in for justice. The inspector isn't the only one she's crossed paths with the others are: master thief Monsieur and the international organization Friends In Need Improvement Society (FINIS), as well as her nemesis Matadori.

However, when Monsieur while out attempting a little thievery, he overhears the leader of FINIS declaring to put an end to Bandette once and for all. Not liking the sound of that, he decides to give his young rival the heads up. This resulted in a really funny moment with Bandette fighting with Matadori.

This little comic would go well with the Inspector from the Pink Panther cartoons or the Batman TV series from the sixties that starred Adam West and Burt Ward. It's just so campy and fun. Especially with such funny dialogue as this: from Bandette: Ahhh! These jerks! How dare they shoot at me! I will write a nasty letter to the President! or from Inspector Beligique: Ahh, damn this day and damn this underwear. I really enjoyed this. It was cute and funny. I'm quite interested to see how Bandette will continue her adventures now that FINIS is out to get her.

This comic might not be for some who are looking for something dark or serious but if you like lighthearted funny comics this might be for you.

Book Review: Bad Houses

I keep forgetting to add that NetGalley let me borrow a copy to review.

Book: Bad Houses by Sara Ryan and with illustrations by Carla Speed McNeil

Expected release date: November 12th

Rating: 4 stars

Review:

This is why I like to read independent comics because they can take more risk than the big two. There are no monsters, super villains or mad scientists in this book. Only everyday regular people dealing with life. At first glance, it may seem like a simple story but instead it's actually really deep.

I thought this was a funny yet heartbreakingly honest tale about six residents living in the small town of Failin, Oregon. The story focused mainly on teenagers Lewis Gilbert and Anne Cole but everyone in the story, lives connect throughout.

The story opens with Lewis helping his mother Catherine as they prepare for another estate sale. Lewis thinks of himself as his mother's business partner and would like more responsibility but his mother is a bit of a control freak and doesn't quite treat him as her business partner.

Catherine owns and runs a successful estate sales business called Cat's Matchless Estate Sales. Despite the hardships happening within the town, her business seems to be doing really well. Why not? People can't resist an estate sale, the chance to see how someone else lived. To see what stuff once filled their home and maybe see if they can perhaps find something amazing hidden in all the stuff.

Anne is a shy girl who is interested in photography and lives with her mother, Danica a nurse working at a senior living facility. Anne's home is anything but normal. Her mom is an extreme hoarder, the house is filled with everything imaginable. Things that her mother feels that they will somehow need or can use later. The only place in the house that Anne can go to for a little peace is her bedroom. It's the one place the clutter hasn't been able to get to. 

Despite living in the small town, Lewis and Anne first noticed each other at the estate sale. But it wasn't until the next estate sale that they actually meet. Things progress from there but not just with their story, with the rest of the characters as well. You get see how they all connect. The past and the present.

This is an interesting story about people and their relationships be it with people or stuff. The characters felt real, no one was perfect or had perfect lives. Just normal everyday stuff, some did bad things and treated people poorly while others were just trying to find something that made life worth living and trying to be happy. Each of the characters seem to be hiding something be it hoarding or family secrets.

I thought this was a good read. Although this is a comic, I wouldn't recommend it to younger readers, it's more for teens and adults. It was well-written and the artwork enhanced the story. I enjoyed reading this and I especially love the ending with Anne and Lewis, it felt like a new beginning for them.

Book Review: Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Lost Adventures

Book: Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Lost Adventures by various writers and artists

Edition: Paperback

Description:

One of America's hottest shows returns. For three years, millions of eager fans tuned in each week to watch Nickelodeon's hit animated series, Avatar: The Last Airbender. Ever since, fans have been hungry for more - and now their wait is finally over. This volume collects the long-out-of-print, fan-favorite comics previously published in Nickelodeon Magazine and with the Airbender DVDs, plus over 70 brand-new comics pages. That's over 26 stories set in Airbender continuity, by a host of top-notch talent, many of whom worked on the original animated series itself




Rating: 4 stars

My Review:

Reading this felt as if I were watching the TV series. Like the series, the stories were a blend of action, drama and humor. There were a couple of stories that felt a little sad such as "Relics" from the Book One: Water chapter. In "Relics", Aang searched the mountains to see if maybe there were any airbenders secretly hiding out but instead all he found was a trap set by Admiral Zhoa. In the end, he still had to deal with the fact that he is still the last airbender.

Another story that I really enjoyed was "No Benders Allowed" from Book Three: Fire chapter. In the story, Sokka and the other non-benders (The Duke and Teo) decided to create a club just for themselves since they are usually excluded from certain activities because they don't have any bending abilities. Sokka and the guys made their club seem so appealing and fun that it was making Aang (and secretly the other benders) envious to join.

I really enjoyed reading this book and as a fan of the show this was great. Now, I can't wait to read Avatar:TLA: The Promise trilogy.