The Neurospicy Bean

       First off, the color palette of this one is absolutely gorgeous. It conveys a really distinctive energy that allows for darkness without things getting too muddy. Some of the panels are really sharp and vibrant, while others are almost dreamlike. Overall just really nice to look at.      As far as story goes, it’s exploring some really interesting dynamics – how should the power to return the dead be used? And how does the privilege experienced by different mutants fit into that? The privilege dynamic was actually the part I found most interesting. One of the several plots in this collection is a storyline about the conflict between some young mutants with Krakoan society. Some young mutants with more visible traits don’t embrace them the way that they’re sometimes expected to in Krakoa, and adults are unreceptive to their requests for help changing their appearance. There are some explicit conversations about how embracing one’s power is much e...

  This is another one I have honestly no feelings about. I found it chaotic and confusing to actually read, and the color palette made the images a bit difficult to follow. There was also very little characterization at all; all the story really did was follow the big cumulative battle against Knull. Admittedly, that’s probably partially because the prior comics did a lot of the character legwork, and I was just missing out on that. But regardless, I still sort of felt like the emotional core of this one was missing, and it was sort of a slog to get through. I found what I read of King in Black: Wiccan and Hulkling much more compelling.

       This book was so irritating on so many levels. I’m genuinely shocked that this was released (in its collected form) in 2021. First of all, there was nothing terribly compelling about the story in the first place. Second, I didn’t like the art at all. Someone please explain to me why Asgardian women are tall, skinny, and hypersexualized while the men have lumpy cubes with faces for heads? I didn’t find it at all appealing to look at, and while that could certainly be forgiven or even appreciated if it interacted with the story appropriately, but it didn’t. It was just there. But by far my biggest problem with the book is the way it dealt with Loki having a female form (note: I’m going to refer to Loki with he/him pronouns in this review due to him expressing continued identification with maleness, something I’ll discuss in a moment). I can’t really explain my problems with this without getting into spoilers, so: you’ve been warned, spoilers ahead.    ...

  I love the Runaways characters, and I particularly love how they’re conceptualized in this revamp. This volume does an awesome job covering how the characters are handling their respective traumas and emotions, how their lives have changed, and how they’re trying to cope. It brings the characters together in a way that feels natural and lays groundwork for future stories, not sacrificing characterization for flashy plot moments. That being said, it does mean that not a ton happens in this volume, but I’m looking forward to seeing more of the characters and the story as it progresses. Overall just a fun story that’s a bit different from a lot of the Marvel comics out there.

  The premise of this is really really cool. Basically in an effort to stop an Eternal war (or genocide depending on how you slice it) against mutants, members of the Avengers work with people from both groups to create a new celestial god that will stop the Eternals. Only it fails spectacularly, and the new celestial decides its job is to judge humanity collectively, and if it finds the majority of people lacking it will destroy the world. Because of course. So then this group has to defeat the god they created. It’s very flashy, very dramatic, everything you’d expect from a comic hero event like this one. My favorite element was a series of panels throughout the book following a selection of random people from around the globe. Every segment or so we’d get an update on what was happening to these people, from their response to the war against mutants to their reaction to the impending apocalypse, and so on. Just generally really fun and a compelling read, if a bit hard to follow ...

       This is part of a really cool project that Marvel has been doing the last couple of years where they compile work by creators of a certain identity about characters of that identity – in this case, queer characters. It includes original segments, selections from comics dating back decades (including Northstar coming out as the first openly gay Marvel hero in 1992), and essays by queer Marvel creators. As anthologies tend to be it was a bit hit or miss for me, probably partially depending on the amount of context I had for each character. Interestingly, the two I found most compelling were the two pre-2000 segments included.      One is the Alpha Flight one mentioned above, in which Northstar comes out. It’s intensely emotional and in my opinion, shockingly compassionate for early gay representation. It deals with Northstar adopting a baby girl born with AIDS and then being confronted by a man who blames the media obsession with this so-called ‘i...

  Ah, the eternal struggle of I want to get into superhero comics but where the heck am I supposed to start?? This was my first foray into Marvel comics, at the recommendation of a friend, and it was definitely a new experience. It’s been quite a while since I’ve read any graphic novels at all – probably close to seven years. And I think it’s a kind of reading that you definitely need to get into the habit of to really enjoy properly. So I think a lot of my issues with the book came from 1) not being in the right reading habits to follow it properly and 2) my brain desperately needs to understand character backstories fully if they’ve been covered in another book, and since this is sort of the second installment of these characters (as far as I can tell), I felt like I was playing catchup quite a bit. Not to mention, of course, that most of the characters also have tie-ins to other series and their stories are picking up from those. Like I said, kinda just how comics tend to opera...