Book Review for the Book Girl's Book Club for July: 1872 (Marvel)

Book: 1872: Warzones! (issues #1-4) by Gerry Duggan with illustrations by Nik Virella, color by Lee Loughridge and letters by VC's Clayton Cowles

Includes stories: - The Avengers #80 by Roy Thomas with illustration by John Buscema, ink by Tom Palmer and letters by Sam Rosen

- Marvel Comics Presents #170 by Alan Cowsill with illustration by Jimmy Chung, inks by Martin Griffiths, color by Frank Lopez and letters by Pat Prentice

Edition: Trade Paperback

Rating: 5 stars

Review:

Westerns are not my usual genre but I figured you couldn't go wrong with an Avengers story. And I was so right, 1872 was amazing.

Book Review: Copperhead vol #1

Book: Copperhead volume #1: A New Sheriff in Town (issues #1-5) by Jay Faerber with illustrations by Scott Godlewski and color by Ron Riley

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication: Available now

Publisher: Image Comics

Description:

Welcome to Copperhead, a grimy mining town on the edge of a backwater planet. Single mom Clara Bronson is the new sheriff, and on her first day she'll have to contend with a resentful deputy, a shady mining tycoon, and a family of alien hillbillies. And did we mention the massacre?


Rating: 4 stars

Review:

A Sci-Fi western that's actually a good read. In this fast paced first volume, hardened Sheriff Carla Bronson and her son Zeke move to small town Copperhead on the planet of Jasper. They are there for a fresh start as well as the town was in need of a sheriff.

Copperhead is a typical small desert town that has it's fair share of outlaws and malcontents, and as soon as the sheriff got to town she immediately went to work trying stop a domestic situation at the Sewell family home. However, because of Sheriff Bronson's icy demeanor and condescending tone, it took a little bit of time for her and Deputy Budroxifinicus to get along.

While the sheriff and her son were trying to use to their new home, a call came in about a murder sending the sheriff and deputy back out to the Sewells. Nearly all the members of the family had been murdered with one in very critical condition. With the mother already in custody at the police station, they were going to need her help to try figure out who was responsible for it.

This had an interesting mystery and there seems to be a reason that the Sheriff is looking for a fresh start, hopefully that incident will be discussed at a later point. I also like how the sheriff had started to change and not be so standoffish and that she was willing to give someone a chance.

I like the artwork for this, the artist gave this a sort of Star Wars/Tatooine kind of feel to it. Yeah, this wasn't bad, I wouldn't mind reading more from the series.

Book Review: East of West vol #1

Book: East of West volume #1 (issues #1-5) by Jonathan Hickman with illustrations by Nick Dragotta with color by Frank Martin

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication: Available now

Description:

This is the world. It is not the one we wanted, but it is the one we deserved. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse roam the Earth, signaling the End Times for humanity, and our best hope for life, lies in DEATH.


Rating: 2 stars

Review:

A Sci-Fi Western, now that's something different but the story just wasn't there for me. It spent more time showing me large numbers of people being killed before actually getting to the point of the story. Which is about The Four Horsemen: Famine, Conquest and War (well actually three, since Death was acting on his own) along with the Chosen as they try to bring about the end of the world. They are working in accordance to a certain message.

Meanwhile, Death is going after members of the Chosen who have taken something from him that he wants returned. Turns out there were two things taken from him and he will stop at nothing to get them back.

The best thing about this for me were the action scenes and some of the artwork. This was just okay, I applaud it for being different but I do wish the story had more to it.

Book Review: The Lone Ranger vol #8

Book: The Lone Ranger volume #8 (issues #19-25) by Ande Parks with illustration by Esteve Polls and color Mark Rueda

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication: January 6, 2015

Description:

The legend of the Lone Ranger and Tonto lives on, in two-fisted tales from the Old West!

Thrill to the famous masked man's adventures as he avenges the cold-blooded murder of Abilene marshal Tom "Bear River" Smith, rescues a stranded wagon and its precious cargo from a deadly Colorado blizzard, saves an elderly rainmaker from a lynch mob during a season of drought, pursues a high-strung outlaw after a botched bank heist, foils the train robbery by a war-obsessed Chiricahua renegade, and averts the starvation of an Arapaho tribe after pleasure-seekers hunt their only food source - the American buffalo - to near extinction.

Also, Tonto takes center stage in a origin story that proves that a rider is only as good as his horse, as his escape from Fort Garland leads to a fateful first encounter with his trusty stead, Scout.


Rating: 5 stars

Review:

In this eighth volume, the reader gets seven very well written stories which also includes an origin story for Tonto that shows how his life was anything but great with the settlers taking over their land and killing those who got in their way.

For a person who really doesn't care for westerns, I thought this was really good. The writing was strong and emotional as The Lone Ranger and Tonto set out help those in need or to try to stop those committing crimes especially with robberies increasing and the law unable to stop them.

This doesn't show the romanticized old west but the harsh realities of those who lived back then. You see the turmoil and stress and also the truly awful treatment of the Indians as they were pushed further off their land and their fights between the new settlers.

There is a lot of action and adventure in these stories and you get see why The Lone Ranger and Tonto are heroes.

Book Review: Lady Rawhide vol #1

Book: Lady Rawhide volume #1 (issues #1-5) by Eric Trautmann with illustrations by Milton Estevan and Rey Villegas and color by Dinei Ribeiro

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication: Available now

Description:

Lady Rawhide, the masked heroine of the West, returns in an all-new adventure!

This time, she faces not only the corrupt forces of the government — bent on cowing the populace through privation and cruelty — but also a new team of vigilantes: The Sisters of the White Rose.

The Sisters, inspired by Lady Rawhide's actions, have taken up the struggle against tyranny.

Although she supports the Sisters' aims, Lady Rawhide is forced to stand against their bloody methods!


Rating: 4 stars

Review:

If you can get past that ridiculous outfit that Lady Rawhide (Anita Santiago) wears, there is a good story here. But looking at that costume, I wonder why it hasn't been updated? I get why she wears it, the reason I suspect is similar to Red Sonja's chain mail bikini which she wears to distracts her would be assailants. Which is what this skimpy costume is supposed to do for Lady Rawhide. But this costume is way more tackier than Sonja's and shows far too much boob (or should I say the artist paid a great amount a detail to that area).

Costume aside, this was a well written story. It follows Lady Rawhide who became a masked vigilante to avenge her brother and to help those who can't fight back against the corrupt officials. You get a good sense of why she's out there fighting as well as the code that she goes by.

When her efforts bring her into contact with both a group of revolutionary bandits, The Sisters of the White Rose and a group of hired killers. She will have to figure out a way to keep things from getting out of hand but that's not going to be an easy task.

Book Review: Pretty Deadly vol #1

Book: Pretty Deadly volume #1 (issues #1-5) by Kelly Sue DeConnick with illustrations by Emma Rios and color by Jordie Bellaire

Source: Borrowed from Publisher/NetGalley for an honest review

Publication: Available now

Description:

Kelly Sue DeConnick (Avengers Assemble,Captain Marvel) and Emma Rios (Dr. Strange,Osborn) present the collected opening arc of their surprise-hit series that marries the magical realism of Sandman with the western brutality of Preacher.

Death's daughter rides the wind on a horse made of smoke and her face bears the skull marks of her father.

Her origin story is a tale of retribution as beautifully lush as it is unflinchingly savage.


Rating: 1 star

Review:

I applaud this for being different and unique but I guess it wasn't for me. I really couldn't get into the story.

The story was moving too slow and it was also a little boring. For me, I didn't really quite understand what was going on. While I was reading, more and more questions kept popping up instead of being answered.

This story is being told by a rabbit (well the skeleton of a rabbit) and a butterfly which had something to do with the daughter of death and a few other characters set during a western but as I said earlier it just didn't make any sense to me.

I really wish this story had been so much more interesting because it had a lot of good potential.