Graphic novel reviews S

Sandman - Neil Gaiman
Of course I've read these cover to cover, many times.  [5]

Santa Vs. Dracula - Ed Power

 

Savage Avengers - Gerry Duggan

1. City of Sickles - Punisher, Elektra, Dr. Voodoo, Wolverine, and... Conan? are brought together, some unwillingly, to stop Kulan Gath.  It's a nice take on fan service, but no Nextwave.  The high point is Conan trying to exhort a knocked-out Wolverine to fight by saying, "For Pabst!" and then using Logan's body, with claws extended, as a sword to kill zombies.  Lots of gore, a solid take on the various characters' personalities, and true drama.  It's very well done.  [4]-two

Scene of the Crime - Ed Brubaker

Science Comics - various

 

Secret Avengers - Rick Remender

1. A brash and too-cocky Hawkeye is picked to lead a team of mostly loner C-listers (Captain Britain, Toro, Flash Thompson-as-Venom, Valkyrie, Ant Man) to investigate the kidnapping of a Punjabi woman with supernatural abilities and her boy, and discover a city of super-Adaptoids.  Written with wit and an assured hand at the continuity wheel, this is an enjoyable piece of superhero drama slightly classed up by a nod to character development.  [3.5]

Secret Wars - Jonathan Hickman (2016)
Marvel as written by Grant Morrison.  After the events of some other book (Avengers?) in which the end of the multiverse is brought about and in which a cabal of villains goes around destroying alternate earths before their earth can go first, Doom has absorbed the Molecule Man's powers and made the world again.  Although a benevolent dictator, his world isn't real, and the Mr. Fantastic of two different worlds, along with Black Panther and few others, try to stop him.  Amazing thrill ride comic book weirdness, like Galactus' body lit up by Franklin Richards fighting a gigantic Thing, an army of Hulks vs. a world of Thors and an army of cloned Mr. Sinisters, an army of undead, and a lot more craziness.  Great fun.  Read twice. [5]

The Secret of the Stone Frog - David Nytra [Toon Books]
Two children wake up in a lush dreamworld of talking stone frogs, Victorian dandy bears and lions, and large-headed, angry people who command bees or ride rhinos.  Detailed black and white pictures owe a lot to Little Nemo in Slumberland and John Tenniel (as does the story, come to think of it).  Lightweight and simplistic but the silly surrealism is probably fun for kids.  [3]

Set to Sea - Drew Weing  [Fantagraphics]
With one detailed, finely cross-hatched, ink drawing per page, this small and charming book tells of a large, impoverished poet who is press-ganged to sea and becomes an old sea salt despite himself, but never loses his poetic spirit.  With very little speech to mar the elegant Segar-like drawings, this bittersweet musing on life's adventure is a true graphic treasure.  [4]

The Shadow - Garth Ennis

The Shadow, with his retinue and a nosy American intelligence agent, spans the globe in 1938 going after Japanese war criminals and showing the clueless American what the real world is like.  Ennis is in his element here, playing in his military history sandbox, but despite this being two things I really love, Shadow and Ennis, there's no drama to the story.  The Shadow is just an invulnerable, ineluctable spirit of vengeance and death, and there's never any feeling that things might go wrong, and they don't.  I wanted to like this, but didn't.  [3]   

Shark Summer - Ira Marcks

Shazam: The Monster Society of Evil - Jeff Smith
A beautiful homage to the original Captain Marvel mythology, complete with Talky Tawny and some man-eating crocodiles.  But Smith makes everything his own even as he crams in the Easter Eggs to old school Shazam trufans.  Suspenseful and fun for kids and adults (there's just one sly adult-only moment, when a reporter remarks that she can see why he's called Captain Marvel).  Makes you want to share it with others, which is really the point of these colorful myths, isn't it?  [5]

She-Hulk - Dan Slott

1. Vols. 1-5, Dan Slott - Great concept - diffident lawyer has outgoing superhero personality, and both work in the field of superhuman law -handled tongue-in-cheek, almost like an MU "Aly McBeal."  Slott's love for the outlandish in comics and continuity comes through even as he pokes fun at those very things.  He handles disparate personalities with great humor (his Heracles and Spider-Man are great), though his Wolverine is unnecessarily misogynistic.  Hilarious yet sweet.  [4.5]  Keep.

She Hulk - Soule

1. LAW AND DISORDER
2. DISORDERLY CONDUCT - Great lawyer-based weirdness from Soule.  He should have been given a longer run.  [4]

The Shiniest Jewel - Marian Henley [Springboard]
Autobiographical tale of Henley's quest to adopt a little boy in Russia, just as her elderly father starts to deteriorate after an operation.  Black and white drawings with thin lines and minimal shading, but the story fleshes the characters out.  A sweet, well-written tearjerker.  [4.5]

Shirley & Jamila - Gillian Goerz

Silly Daddy - Joe Chiappetta  [Reed]
A semi-autobiographical account of being a single father, with some extended fantastical sequences.  Terrible black and white art, not very intelligent ruminations filled with typos, and a totally unsympathetic narrator.  The fantasy sequences were utterly unreadable.  Bought and immediately given away.  [1]

Silver Surfer: Requiem - J. Michael Straczynski
An absolutely beautiful, poetic send-off to a fictional character.  The Surfer is dying, his protective coating now falling away and killing him.  He takes a last tour of Earth and then heads off to die on his home planet.  It's really wonderfully written, slightly marred by the fact that death means nothing in comics.  Call it an Elseworlds tale.  [4]

Sisters - Raina Telgemeier

Perfect teen drama.  [5]

 

The Sixth Gun (4 volumes) - Cullen Bunn
Supernatural horror western with a female lead, a woman paired with a rather bad man she doesn't particularly want to run with.  Spooky art, spooky characters, slightly out-of-control story.  Fun, and keeps getting better with each volume.  [4]

Sleeper - Ed Brubaker

Smile - Raina Telgemeier  [Graphix]
Eisner-winning tale of a sixth-grade girl who, after a fall, has a long and painful tooth reconstruction involving headgear, braces, and a retainer.  There is also girl drama: boys, friends acting like enemies, and the usual embarrassment at everything.  Cute, cartoony art and a sweet story.  No magical resolution, just a realistic, affecting teen-years slice of life.  [4]  Library.

Sole Survivor - Thomas Martinetti & Christophe Martinolli
Vols. 1-3 (complete) - The sole survivor of a bus crash is obsessed with finding the drunken truck driver who caused it - and finds he's piloting the plane he and his friends are on!  With each new disaster, a new sole survivor emerges who is unkillable until the death count gets higher.  A strikingly original premise with a dark, suspenseful tone.  [4]

Spider-Man/Deadpool - Joe Kelly

Spiderverse - Slott, Gage, David, et al
Three of my favorite writers, telling a multiverse-spanning tale?  I'm in!  A family of immortal energy vampires tear through the infinite universes, finding "spider totems" and killing them in order to live on their energy.  The Superior Spider-Man organizes a band of dozens of Spider-themed heroes, including Spider-Man India, Scarlet Spider, the steampunk Lady Spider, Noir, Spider-Ham, and many more.  The threat is cosmic-level and very deadly; the thrills are real, but lots of light hearted and subtly satirical moments are there as well.  Just a magnificent tale of super heroics, woven by three of the great craftsmen.  [4.5]

The Spirit vol. 1 - Darwyn Cooke
Excellent collection of Spirit stories written in the same snappy, smart tone as the Eisner ones.  Not too gritty, not too silly, but strikes a balance of just the right amount of respect for a masked crime-fighter in a blue suit.  Some gentle tweaking to update the less well-aged bits such as Ebony's role.  Also includes The Spirit and Batman, co-written with Jeff Loeb.  A perfect homage.  [4.5]

Squadron Supreme - James Robinson

Stargazing - Jen Wang

Christine, a Chinese-American girl with a very strict father, meets Moon when Chistine's family takes her and her mother in.  Moon is confident, impulsive, artistic, and dances.  She has visions and says she is from space, watches K-Pop videos, and even paints her toenails!  Moon's visions have an all-too-earthly root, however, and soon Christine's best friend is in the hospital, fighting for her life. Can Christine be the friend Moon needs, when they're actually so different?  This is a beautiful story with impeccable cartoon pictures.  Moon is a very lovable character.  [4.5]

Star Wars - Jason Aaron

• 1. Skywalker Strikes - Set right after the destruction of the Death Star, this story follows Leia, Han, and Luke as they figure out who they are and how they can defeat the Empire.  Aaron's writing is razor sharp here — no wordplay, no winking at the audience, just pure Star Wars drama.  The most perfect sequel to A New Hope out there, really.  Jabba the Hutt, Boba Fett, and a truly bad-ass Darth Vader.  I'm not ever a Star Wars superfan and I was swept away by the grand mythology of the story and the human struggles within it.  [5]
• 2. Showdown on the Smuggler's Moon - Luke is prisoner of a Hutt and fighting in an arena as "the last Jedi"!  Han and Leia meet... Mrs. Solo?  Aaron again delivers a perfect Star Wars adventure, with the comedy team of C3PO and Chewie as rescue mission backup.  [4.5]
• 3. Rebel Jail - While the boys try to make money for the alliance, Leia tries to save her prisoners from being massacred by a rogue ally.  While these are terrific stories, I don't feel the same sense of grandeur as in the earlier volumes.  As with every ongoing, there's a sense of just going through desultory adventures, not moving through a narrative.  [4]
• 4. Last Flight of the Harbinger - The alliance has a plan so crazy it just might work: steal a star destroyer without the Empire ever knowing it's gone!  Unfortunately a SCAR trooper unit is out to bring Luke to Vader.  This is a great story, with a sense of purpose on the rebel side and an empathetic look at the empire from the bad guys' side.  [4.5]

Stepping Stones - Lucy Knisley

Stickman Odyssey (book two) - Christopher Ford  [Philomel]
In black and white stick figure toons that do not show the charm and skill of Rich Burlew, Ford tells a story based on Greek myths, but using original names and characters, and the non-original characters (such as the gods) are given modern, sarcastic personalities.  His main character, Zozimos, is unpleasant to the point where I almost stopped reading; he's wrathful but also moronic, self-centered, and clueless.  Gradually he gets easier to take, and the end isn't bad at all.  [3]

Stuck Rubber Baby - Howard Cruse [Paradox Press]
The tale of growing up a closeted queer in the 1960s American South.  As the times change and Toland gets to know unabashedly gay, progressive, and black friends who face violence and murder for being who they are, he realizes that he must be true to his ideals as well as to himself.  With intricate black and white illustrations, this is a vivid and moving portrayal of the evil that wraps itself up in patriotism and self-righteousness. Read twice.  [4.5] 

Suicide Squad - Adam Glass

1. Kicked In the Teeth -Deadshot, King Shark, Harley Quinn and some other supervillain lifers are used as top-secret black ops wetwork by (the newly retconned and svelte) Amanda Waller.  Their first mission is to take out an entire stadium and cyber-infected zombies, and it goes on from there.  When Harley learns that Joker is dead, she goes rogue to get his preserved face.  It's all very gory.  There's some gratuitous T&A and fan-wankery when it comes to Harley, who somehow is skilled and crafty enough to run circles around Waller, the police, and the Squad all at once.  This is not very good, but a fun guilty pleasure, the McDonald's of comic books.  [3.5]
2. Basilisk Rising - The team faces off against someone who looks straight out of the Rob Liefield X-treme '90s marvel era, Regulus.  And, the team has a traitor in their midst.  Could it be Deadshot, the main character whom the reader has been sympathizing with since issue one?  Harley, who is the epitome of fanservice?  Or could it be the ninja turned villain killer of the team?  It's not hard to guess.  Gore and corny exposition (gotta mention those nano-bombs every issue!) abounds.  And Deadshot seems die at the end, but come on.  This is the Filet-O-Fish of the McDonald's of comics.  [3]
3. Death Is For Suckers - Joker shows up and fan wankery ensues. Deadshot is alive!  And so is Voltaic, who was shot in the head on-panel a while back.  So maybe the deaths aren't as dramatic as they might be?  Anyway, they go after Regulus and try to recover some guy who takes away superhuman powers.  Yo-Yo makes his return (from an apparent death) and they go after his sister Red Orchid, who has cool wood-generating powers.  And... Deadshot dies at the end, again.  Despite all the melodramatic silliness, this book is the first time I got more than mildly interested; Yo-Yo is actually a pretty fun character.  [4]

Suicide Squad - Ales Kot, Matt Kindt  

• 4. Discipline And Punish - Waller having now teamed up with Jim Gordon Jr, a serial killer (?!), the Squad is sent to stop a rogue agent from getting an African warlord his own super-team.  This collection also includes one-shots about Harley and Deadshot. The former is nothing new; the latter is a bit better.  [3]
  

Sunny Side Up - Jennifer & Matthew Holm

Superior Spider-Man - Dan Slott

1. My Own Worst Enemy - Otto Octavius, having taken control of Parker's body, vows to become the superior hero by doing things better than Parker could.  And... he does!  Creating patrolling spider-bots, allying with the police and the mayor, and even forging a satisfying social life, Otto seems to be handling it with aplomb.  But will he go mad with power?  Dramatics and a heavy dose of humor make this terrific reading and proves yet again that Slott is one of the bets writers of super-heroics around.  [4.5]
2. A Troubled Mind - Otto-Spidey continues to expand his control of the city, fooling the Avengers and apparently ridding himself of the last vestiges of Parker's personality and memories.  However, his cleaning up of the city is creating a power vacuum that a (new?) Green Goblin aims to fill!  As usual, a wonderful blend of comedy and action, with Slott masterfully switching between Peter and Otto's speech patterns.  [4.5]
3. No Escape - Otto-Spidey oversees the Spider-Slayer's execution, gets into more trouble with the Avengers, and continues his control of the city, leveling Kingpin's compound and outing the second Hobgoblin by taking over the airwaves.  Meanwhile, the Goblin "king" keeps expanding his reach.  [4.5]
4. Necessary Evil - While Parker's colleagues try to help save Horizon labs by going back in time, Spider-Man 2099 comes through the portal they build to save the very person Otto-Spidey wants to destroy. (It's a bit complicated.)  Meanwhile, Otto finishes his thesis, wraps up some loose ends, and makes a whole lot of enemies (including the Black Cat).  Carrie the detective who senses something wrong, finally gets some evidence of Otto's involvement, only to full prey to the Goblins.  Dan Slott continues to knock it out of the park with this imaginative story arc.  [4]
5. Superior Venom - Slott & Christos Gage - Otto's hubris begins to catch up to him as he seeks to impose his genius on everyone in both facets of his life. When he's taken over by Flash Thomson's symbiote, he becomes the "Superior Venom," but quickly loses control.  Post-rescue, the symbiote provides a convenient excuse for his past behavior, and he becomes more vicious than ever in secret.  But is Parker's consciousness back?  Meanwhile the Goblins go to war -- with each other.  [4.5]
6. Goblin Nation - Slott & Gage - While Otto grew complacent and arrogant, the Green Goblin took over the entire city, and now knows Otto's secret and all the people in his life!  But Parker's consciousness is growing stronger.  Can he and Spider-Man 2099 put the city back to right?  This is a wonderful conclusion to one of the best Spidey storylines ever.  [4.5]
   

Supermen! The First Wave of Comic Book Heroes 1936 -1941 - Greg Sadowski, ed.

Collects several appearances of about a dozen Golden Age heroes, from the Clock to Blue Bolt.  Some of the reprints are somewhat disappointing, as they end on cliffhangers or are not the best introduction to the character -- but perhaps that's the best appearance they could find.  Toward the end of the book, as the comic medium improves in writing and art, the excerpts are more fun to read.  I particularly enjoyed the sophisticated humor of Silver Streak, the plot and clean lines of Skyman, Basil Wolverton's insane Spacehawk and the short 'n' sweet Face story.  [3.5]

Sweet Tooth - Jeff Lemire
Post-apocalyptic fantasy. Intriguing mystery-style presentation (what happened to the world?) combines with highly suspenseful action (what's going to happen to Gus?).  Not high in re-readability but compellingly page-turning.  [4]

Graphic novel reviews T

Team-Ups of the Brave and the Bold - J. Michael Straczynski
Collecting #27-33 of The Brave and the Bold.  Terrific super-heroics, well written, aimed exactly at the nostalgia gland of old nerds like me.  Digging through the vault to feature lesser knowns like Dial H for Hero and Brother Power the Geek, JMS uses DC's heroes to tell very human stories of hope and joy and despair and love.  That's really the key to how powerful and well-done this is: the human qualities he explores, in the principals and in the normals that are touched tangentially by the heroes and villains.  The last story, featuring Zatarra, Wonder Woman, and Batgirl, is an honest-to-God tearjerker.  [4]

THOR SON OF ASGARD #1: THE WARRIORS TEEN - Akira Yoshida
The somehow teenaged Thor, Sif, and Balder have adventures, bicker, and reconcile.  Teen Loki is unequivocally bad-natured, which is boring.  Lots of punching and smashing; very little cleverness.  Characters are fairly one-dimensional: Thor is hot-headed and brash; Sif is constantly trying to prove her worth as a female warrior, etc.  Juvenile and mostly uninteresting.  [2]

The Three Thieves - Scott Chantler [Kids Can Press]

1. Tower of Treasure - The adventures of a young girl acrobat, a goblin-type juggler, and a giant strongman on the run, trying to find out more about Dessa's past and her murdered family.  Exciting, vibrant, detailed color art that brings to mind Bone and Tintin; a stirring, suspenseful plot with many twists and turns.  Truly excellent.  In this volume Topper the juggler has his sights on the queen's treasure, locked in a tower set with traps.   [4.5]
2. #2 THE SIGN OF THE BLACK ROCK - The three thieves take shelter from a storm in an inn where the queen's dragoons have also come.  Hiding from them proves difficult, as the innkeeper, a smuggler, tries to use them to his own advantage, while his scarred wife holds some secret that links to Dessa's past.  [4.5]
3. #3 THE CAPTIVE PRINCE - The three thieves rescue a kidnapped prince; Dessa falls in love with him, but the king scorns her common heritage, and they must run again when their past is made known.  [4]

T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents - Phil Hester

1. Vol. 1 - Agents NoMan, an android with multiple bodies, and Lightning, a super-speedster who ages quickly, have been captured by the mysterious armored Iron maiden.  A new recruit, Dynamo, is chosen to put on the gravity belt that grants strength and durability, but causes pain.   Things are complicated by a race of underground dwellers who want to resurrect their ancient god to judge humanity.  This is standard superhero stuff with nothing new to add to the genre, but it does the superhero stuff quite well, and is refreshingly positive in outlook; I enjoyed it.  [4]
   

This Was Our Pact - Ryan Andrews

Trashed - Derf Backderf
The fictional memoir of a young garbageman in a small town.  Absolutely hilarious, quite gross, and also quite informative, with B&W pictures extremely reminiscent of Joe Sacco and R. Crumb, and I guess shades of Peter Bagge. "There's no one left in this town I don't loathe." Also, "Think of the economy as a giant digestive tract.  And we're here at the rectum of the free market to clean it all up." Just perfect. [5]

Tresspassers - Breena Bard
Gabby Woods and her family are going to their lake house, possibly for the last time, since her father seems to be having job woes.  While her siblings love all the things that come with the lake, Gabby would rather bury herself in a mystery novel than make new friends. When she meets Paige, a snarky kid from Chicago, and they get caught up in a local mystery: the sudden disappearance of a glamorous couple and the extravagant lake house they left behind. To gather clues about the missing couple, Paige and Gabby break into the house, while Gabby writes an imaginative story about what may have happened.  But was there really a murder?  Is the murderer still around? And is Paige a jerk, or a friend?  Really well-done teen drama.  [4.5]

Trio - John Byrne [IDW]

Tune (1 volume) - Derek Kirk Kim [First Second]
Very well told tale of a young art-school dropout recruited to be an exhibit in a zoo in another dimension.  The first volume, which is quite funny, shows his boring and stressful life until he is offered the "job."  Cute pictures.  [4]

Turtle in Paradise - Jennifer Holm

The Twelve (2 volumes) - J Michael Straczynski 
An homage to several pre-Marvel WWII heroes, now largely forgotten, brought back to glorious life with a sympathetic eye.  Part Watchmen-like murder mystery, part rumination on how the past shapes our present, and how some react to being taken out of their element, and a glorious reimagining and integrating of public domain characters.  Also a tribute to war heroes and the war comics.  One of JMS' best works.  [4.5]-two

Graphic Novel reviews U

Uncanny Avengers - Rick Remender

• 1. The Red Shadow - Captain America taps Havoc to lead a group of X-Men and Avengers as a show of racial unity after Professor X's death.  Fast-paced, with intriguing new characters (villains).  Remender does a good job juggling all of the characters' motives and actions so everyone gets a time to shine.  Unfortunately the book is marred by some over-the top exposition and narration, bringing to mind Stan Lee at his most hyperbolic. [3]
• #2 THE APOCALYPSE TWINS - even faster paced, with a story arc that sweeps across timelines and alternate realities.  The narration is dampened down, thank goodness.  In its place is some fairly strong dialogue about how each character sees the human-mutant issue.  The scope and frenetic pace of the story, gods trying to avert the end of everything, is Gaiman-esque.  [4]
• #3 RAGNAROK NOW - the team is still trying to stop Archangel's twin sons, raised by Kang to hate humans, and things do not go well.  I was riveted, unable to guess what would happen next, and wanted to see how the heroes could possibly recover from a great deal of character death.  [4]

The Unwritten (4 volumes) - Mike Carey
A love letter to the power of literature, wrapped in a mystery story with horror elements.  A bit abstruse at times; needs to be read in one sitting, and I need to get further in to suss it all out.  I'll give Carey the benefit of the doubt that this will be brilliant, however.   [4] 

Usagi Yojimbo - Stan Sakai

• Book One: Ronin - A collection of mostly stand-alone stories about the wandering samurai rabbit (although some of them set up long-term plots to come).  Yojimbo works with a rhino bounty hunter, an affable scoundrel; revisits his old village and his old love to fight a band of mole ninjas; encounters a blind swords-pig; and gets embroiled in some court intrigue.  Exquisitely drawn, well researched and witty.  [5]
  

Graphic novel reviews V

 Velvet - Ed Brubaker

1. Vol 1: Before the Living End 
2. The Secret Lives of Dead Men 

Superb captivating spy story, about a secretary who was once a superb field agent.  When one of her former lovers dies in the field, she investigates, only to find a very complicated web of betrayals and former Cold War movers and shakers... not to mention the unwelcome memory of her ex-husband, whom she terminated for being a double agent. [5]

 

Vice Squad - Zidrou [Dargaud] 

1. Up Against the Wall 
2. Nine-Month Protector

Aimé, a cop on the vice squad, is sitting around with a German and some townsfolk as Allied bombs explode around them.  He remembers how he started on the Vice Squad as a newbie.  His father was a defrocked priest who went insane; his apartment's concierge has a crush on him, but he frequents prostitutes and obsesses over an exotic sex worker who has animal shows.  Later, the Germans start rounding up Jews, but Aimé does nothing.  In the present, the girl he's been talking to gives him some empty words of comfort.  It's beautiful and quite philosophic, but rather grim.  [3.5]

 

Vision - Tom King

1. Little Worse Than a Man - Vision moves into a house in suburban Virginia with his android wife and two android children, Viv and Vin, which he made.  It is just as creepy as it sounds; Vision's cold logic and apparent disdain for humanity is at odds with the image of him wearing a tie, kissing his housewife goodbye, and sending "kids" off to school.  When the Grim Reaper appears, calling them imposters and copies, the fiction of the Visions' home life starts to unravel.  What won't Vision do to maintain the facade?  Extremely intelligent writing creates a grim dystopian scenario leavened with some black humor.  [4.5]

Vision and the Scarlet Witch - under Avengers: Vision and the Scarlet Witch

Graphic novel reviews W

The Walking Dead (15+ volumes) - Robert Kirkman
Good solid horror storytelling with lots of raw human emotion, but unrelentingly bleak.  Like getting repeatedly hit in the gut.  Makes you feel masochistic for reading.  Begs to be devoured, but not much  re-readability.  I stopped around vol. 17 or so.  Too much of the same.  [4]

War Of the Realms - Jason Aaron

The dark elf Malekith has teamed up with the Enchantress, Dario Agger, the frost giants, and a few other major bad guys to bring vicious and bloody war to all ten realms.  Midgard, home to the heroes, fights back.  Over six issues, this is a little thin to convey the true epic weight of such a global-scale invasion by several enchanted armies, but perhaps the event was fleshed out by other title's tie-ins.  Here, with just a few sparks of black humor, Aaron presents some strange and interesting team-ups: Punisher and machine gun-wielding light elves; Wolverine and the Warriors Three; Balder driving Ghost Rider's hell car; Iron Man and the War Machine dwarves; etc.  Despite the limitations of its length, it's very well done super-mythic adventure.  [4]

War Stories, Vols. 1-4 - Garth Ennis [Avatar Press]
Military historical fiction.  Tales of WWII, the Spanish Civil War, and other modern battles.  An homage to the heroism on the grand scale, as well as the sad sacks, schemers, angels, and idiots who went out and put their lives on the line in the face of unimaginable horror.  [4]

Watchmen - Alan Moore
Superheroes are outlawed, and someone's killing them off.  Who knew too much, and what did they know?  This is what started the grim-n-gritty fad, and it has much to answer for in that respect, but is impeccable as a work of art.  [5]

The Way of the Hive - Jay Hosler

Whatever Happened To the World Of Tomorrow? - Brian Fies

When Stars Are Scattered - Victoria Jamieson and Omar Mohamed

Whiteout: Melt - Greg Rucka  [Oni]
Carrie Stetko, badass, is called back to the Antarctic to chase down some Russians who have stolen nuclear warheads.  A tense potboiler, with the usual Rucka trademarks: tough woman agent toes the line between daring and unrestrained, who cares more than she lets on.  He really makes the dangers of the setting seem close and terrifying.  Read twice.  [4]

William and the Lost Spirit - Bonneval & Bonhomme  [Graphic Universe]
Apparently called "William, the lost spirit" in French, so already I wonder about the quality of the translation.  A boy in a medieval setting tries to track down his sister, who has gone after their apparently dead father.  He meets bandits and is protected by a strange knight.  They find a goat which William forms a strange bond with.  Then he wakens in the land of Prester John and meets all manner of odd beings: talking fish, dog-men, and Blemmyes.  Unusual and interesting, but not very weighty or affecting.  [3.5]

Winter Soldier - Brubaker
Typically gritty spy superhero drama from Brubaker.  The first half is somewhat thin, with a vague resolution.  The combination of Bucky and Dr. Doom is enticing but maybe it just doesn't work; Bucky telling Doom to "shut your metal face" doesn't ring true, somehow.  In the second half of the series, Brubaker takes the Soldier to his roots, bringing back sleeper soldiers, KGB agents, Cold War weapons caches, brainwashing, and the Black Widow.  Excellent super-spy drama.  [4]

Wolverine - Greg Rucka

The best Wolverine.  [4.5]

Wolverine: Enemy Of the State - Mark Millar

With the help of god-tier mutant ninja Gorgon, Hydra captures Wolverine and brainwashes him into attacking and kidnapping superhumans.  With some implanted abilities such as teleportation, he is virtually unstoppable.  Once they have some plans for Reed Richards inventions, they are intent on terraforming and reshaping Earth.  This is a grim and very bloody story, and while it's very well told, it just doesn't sit right with me.  Over the course of this story, Wolverine and Elektra kill literally hundreds of SHIELD agents, as well as one or two well-known superheroes, but not once does anyone voice anything but the briefest thought that either should feel remorse or pay for their crimes, brainwashed or not.  If someone kills their coworker because of a brain tumor, we still take steps to remove them from society.  This kind of desultory body count just doesn't fit the 616 Marvel world.  [3.5]

Wolverine and the Black Cat: Claws - Palmiotti & Gray
The two heroes get kidnapped by Kraven, who has sold the rights to hunt them down and kill them to a bunch of clueless mercenaries.  Or is it Kraven?!  Silly fun, mostly.  A terrible portrayal of Spider-Man as a fool mars the first few pages.  Lush art.  Decent superhero stuff.  [3]

Wolverine Weapon X (3 volumes) - Jason Aaron
Superhero drama, with black humor and a bit of human pathos.  Nowhere near as good as Aaron's epic Scalped, but he tries to carve a flesh-and-blood, sympathetic Wolverine out of the disparate elements of the Marvel U.  For example, Aaron has the character's over-saturation in books present itself as Logan driving himself to exhaustion in order to forget his brutal past.  He also gives Logan a girlfriend.  In the end it's still a superhero book with its usual limitations and superhero logic, but damn if it isn't the best Wolverine this side of Rucka.  [4]

Wonder Woman - Brian Azzarello

• 1. Blood - A woman named Zola carrying Zeus' child is hunted by Hera, while Hermes, WW, and a stone man named Lennox try to save her.  With Zeus missing, Hades and Poseidon (in decidedly non-traditional forms) vie for the throne, with other gods interfering as they do.  It's at times a bit confusing because of the way Azzarello tweaks the mythology, and his trademark street-level banter is off-putting in this format ("I could care less" coming from Hera?  No, not acceptable).  Gorgeous art by Cliff Chiang and a pretty decent story.  [4]
• 2. Guts - The contest for Zeus' throne continues, and Hades tries to win WW for his queen.  This is suspenseful and darkly comic stuff, but Azzarello is really very much a one-note writer, and I don't think he's helping build up the WW legacy and mythos so much as retconning and rebooting it.  This is "100 Bracelets" maybe.  Still, fun!  [4]
• 3. Iron - WW tracks down more of Zeus' children in her quest to recover Zola's baby.  Meanwhile, a mysterious giant with a mission is brought to life by some researchers in Antarctica.  Gangsta Greek!  [4]
  

Graphic Novel reviews X

X-Men Blue - Cullen Bunn

1. Strangest - Continuing from the All-New X-Men, the young original X-men, transplanted to the "modern" 616 world by the furry blue Beast, have found a mentor of sorts in the reformed Magneto, although they don't fully trust him.  Bobby has embraced his homosexuality, Beast is studying the mystic arts, and Angel has wings of cosmic fire for some reason.  They meet a few new enemies and others, including Bastion, who wants to save mutantkind so he can get on with his original programming of destroying it, the Marauders who want Wolverine's alternate-universe son back, and the Raksha, a violent mutant rescue gang on Genosha. It's a wonderfully written book, with humor and adventure, weaving together lots of the more bizarre threads of X-Men history.  [4]
2. Toil and Trouble - Hank's foray into mysticism garners him more trouble than he imagined, as he has made a deal with the Goblin Queen, who brings out some alternate reality versions of the X-Men (the "Hex-Men") to take over their hideout.  Meanwhile, Angel and Wolverine's alternate reality son investigate Miss Sinister's evil doings involving secondary mutations.  The resolution of the conflict is a bit abrupt, but that doesn't matter; the enjoyment here is in seeing what Bunn does with all the convoluted loose ends of X-Men lore.  [4]  
   
3. Cross Time Capers - The Blue team, now including a vampire Storm from an alternate dimension, are suddenly sent by Magneto on a time-hopping mission which takes them to meet the X-Men 2009 in a dystopia based on their own ideals, an alternate team called Generation X, and more, until facing their old enemies the Brotherhood (led by alternate dimension Xavier Jr).  More excellent X-craziness, with the most amazing mass battle scenes!  And Polaris comes to stay as well. [4] [this continues in X-Men + Venom: Poison X]
4. Cry Havok - With the main team in space with Venom, Magneto enlists Jimmy and Bloodstorm, along with the exiled Marauders, to try to stop Emma Frost and Havok's alliance with Miss Sinister and Bastion (the fusion of Master Mold and Nimrod) to quadruple the mutant population and take over the earth.  Whew!  The alternate earth, time-jumps, and decades of overlapping lore make this a sometimes confusing read even though I've read it from the beginning and know a fair bit about X-Men stuff. But it's a fun ride all the same; where else do you find a bad guy wanting to save mutants so he can fill his prime directive to kill them?  [4]
5. Surviving the Experience - Magneto is out to kill (again?) in order to protect mutants, starting with his main target Emma Frost.  The team tries to protect her and convince him to change his ways.  He time jumps to yet another grim alternate reality, and the Magneto of today tries to prevent it?  I don't know, it's a little confusing.  Also, Daken and the Poisoned Jimmy, both laternate universe songs of Wolverine, fight it out.  X-Men lore is so convoluted.  This is the last volume, and a good thing, because for me the "youngsters out of time, trying to find themselves" conceit is pretty played out, replaced with the more typical X-battles.  [3.5]
   

X-Men + Venom: Poison - Colleen Bunn

When some symbiote-enhanced mercenaries capture Cyclops' dad and the Starjammers, the Blue team shanghais Venom to come help rescue them. It's a promising set-up, but there's not much fun in it.  Not exactly gory, but it reminds me of the '90s "extreme" vibe, especially when the Blues get attached to symbiotes of their own.  [3.5]

 Xoc: The Journey of a Great White - Matt Dembicki  [Oni]
An only slightly anthropomorphized look at a shark's migration to spawn, a journey fraught with natural peril and many signs of humanity's despoiling of the oceans.  Decent art, minimal dialogue, somber narration.  Well researched and depressing.  [4]