07.Feb.2010 Bone: Treasure Hunters and Crown of Horns (Last 2 Volumes)
Like all good adventure story, Bone is ended with a great battle between good and evil ala The Lord of the Rings (not that I’ve read or watched LOTR). Bone series has been such a fun journey and I’m sad that it has ended, though the ending is pretty open to possibility of a sequel. [...]
31.Jan.2010 Oishinbo: Ramen & Gyōza by Tetsu Kariya and Akira Hanasaki
Oishinbo (美味しんぼ, lit. “The Gourmet”) is a long-running cooking manga published between 1983 and 2008, but only in 2009 it is published in English in thematic compilation volumes, which includes: Japanese Cuisine, Sake, Ramen & Gyôza, Fish, Sushi & Sashimi, Vegetables, The Joy of Rice, and Izakaya: Pub Food (7 volumes so far). Thematic compilation [...]
02.Jan.2010 Can’t Get Enough Graphic Novels
I joined Graphic Novels Challenge in 2009. I read 20 books and achieved the Masters level (18 books required): The Tale of One Bad Rat by Bryan Talbot (finished 02/09, rating 4/5) The Sandman Vol 1: Preludes & Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman (finished 03/09, rating 3.5/5) The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman (finished 03/09, rating [...]
26.Dec.2009 Bayou by Jeremy Love (Vol 1)
Bayou is an online comic by Jeremy Love, which first appeared at Zuda Comics, and later out in print as the first printed book format work to be released by the online website. The story is a mixed of fantasy and reality, reality which is based on the oppressed era for Black people (1930s America). [...]
12.Dec.2009 Bone: Old Man’s Cave and Ghost Circles
The holiday time is coming closer and I find myself just want to indulge in light reading. I came back from the library last week with heaps of graphic novels. I heard a couple of times before how people who never read comics can get confused about where to look on the pages, since there [...]
07.Nov.2009 American Born Chinese by Gene Luen Yang
American Born Chinese is a graphic novel comprised of three interrelated stories: an American-born Chinese boy who tries to fit in at his school, the legendary Monkey King, and an American boy who is extremely embarrassed by his visiting cousin who fits into the ultimate negative Chinese stereotype. The stories come together at the end [...]
12.Sep.2009 Kabuki: The Metamorphosis by David Mack
I first heard of Kabuki from Carl’s blog and picked it up from the library not long ago (a review that makes me run to the library to get a copy is sure one hell of a great review). Somehow my library had only Kabuki: The Metamorphosis, which after halfway reading I found out was [...]
29.Jul.2009 Fables Vol 2: Animal Farm by Bill Willingham
In this second volume of Fables, Snow White and her sister Red Rose goes to visit Animal Farm, a place where all the fables that don’t pass as humans live. It’s interesting to see all the non-human creatures take the stage this time, but I didn’t get how some of them live there, like the [...]
21.Jun.2009 The Sandman Vol 2: The Doll’s House by Neil Gaiman
Gory. Gruesome. Eerie. Made me sick to my stomach. I know now why Neil Gaiman no longer writes such sick stories. Because it’s going to scare his kids to death. (If they can first sneak in to get the book and understand the perversity.) Having said that, I kept reading. Perhaps I do like sick [...]
13.Jun.2009 The Arrival by Shaun Tan
Another lovely book from Shaun Tan. The Arrival has no words, it’s all pictures (must be the easiest book to translate). And I almost have no words to describe it, because it’s so overwhelmingly good. The drawings, the imagination, it’s so out of this world that you feel you are transported to this magical majestic [...]