Blacksad

Hard-boiled detective stories with a anthropomorphic animals.  It's odd but it totally works.  Guarnido is able to give the characters very human expressions while still retaining their animal characteristics.  Wherever Blacksad starts a fight it looks like he's just going to tear into them tooth and claw.  There are three stories in this volume.  I liked them all and they left me wanting for more.

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

I have the free Kindle classic for this one and my only complaint on that is that the special symbols (French accents and the British pound symbol) don't work in this edition.  It's still readable, just a little off in a few places.

I was expecting this to be in more chronological order than it is.  One story mentions the case of another story that I hadn't read yet.  In some ways it makes the volume more organic - as if Watson were presenting his notes from each case but collected in the way he found most interesting.  In other ways it was a little jarring as I didn't know what the characters were talking about until I had read further in the volume.

The stories are all enjoyable though, some more formulaic than others and some easier solved (if only because the answers have become very cliched).

Superman for All Seasons

I'm not a big Superman fan. There's just so little that can actually affect him. It doesn't feel like he really needs to work for what he's got, it's all been given to him. The hard part about writing Superman is making him human. Even though he's an alien, Superman has always come across as someone who was doing his best to be human. This volume examines who he is through the eyes of others.

Superman's Smallville is the quintessential small town America. With Tim Sale's art that comes through. He's put this volume together with a clear nod to Norman Rockwell. Even the color pattern is evocative of that era. Spring and Winter bookend the volume and they're appropriately narrated by his Smallville connections because Superman is really defined by his small town roots. Why else would someone who could do all that he can do choose to help people and expect nothing in return?

Summer and Fall are his Metropolis connections. The people that only know him as Superman and see him only as the hero; be that for good or ill. These sections weren't as strong. It felt like Loeb was just moving the story in a direction to send Clark back to Smallville. Lois was written as an actual reporter and not just a love sick colleague but Lex was just a one-dimensional villain. There can be more to his hatred of Superman and his tactics than Loeb chose to highlight. I find Luthor can be one of the most interesting villains because his sphere of power is so much different than his nemesis. That Superman's main villain is essentially a business man is interesting to me.

I did like how Loeb worked that catch phrases into the work. "More powerful than a locomotive", "faster than a speeding bullet", "able to leap tall buildings in a single bound", even the "it's a bird, it's a plane" reference. They're not all in the same story, but they are all there.

The Sign of the Four

I'm classing this one as a mystery because it's Sherlock Holmes and there is a crime committed and a case solved but it's really more of a romance.

First, I'm not really sure what the case is. Holmes and Watson are asked to accompany a young woman to a meeting where she hopes to learn more of her father. That turns into a murder.

Second, I don't know how anyone but Holmes could have solved this case. Doyle certainly doesn't lay a trail of clues for the reader to follow. Most of the detecting happens off screen while Watson moons over the lady.

And that's why it's a romance. Watson is very sweet in his affections and he's almost rooting for Holmes to fail. If they never find the murderer then she never gets her fortune and remains within his means.

A Study in Scarlet

I've been meaning to read Sherlock Holmes for a long time. I've read The Hound of the Baskervilles but when I saw the movie it reminded me that these classics have been on my "to do" list for a while.

A Study in Scarlet is the introduction of the character. While I don't usually enjoy first person perspetive I do like Watson's voice. Doyle is able to keep the story moving at a brisk pace, as well as dropping little hints to come to the same conclusions as Holmes.

The second part of the book made little sense when I first started it. They'd just captured the murderer and Holmes was about to reveal how he got the man to appear in 221b Baker Street when suddenly the narrative switches to third person and in America. However, this was Doyle building motive for the murder. I suppose it was better than having the suspect reveal all but I found it jarring.

In the end, only Holmes could have deduced the crime. Not only because of his skill, but also because Doyle chooses not to reveal a telling clue. And that seems a little unfair.

Justice League of America: Team History

I found this volume tried to do too much. It's probably a symptom of publishing. They'd just finished Cry for Justice and then had to tie into the Blackest Night event so they story they really wanted to tell (or at least the one I wanted to read) was shuffled to the back.

I wanted to read the start of the Dick Grayson as Batman leading the JLA. It got there eventually. I found it interesting that when Diana asked Donna to rebuild the League that her first instinct was to gather most of the Teen Titans. I liked that there were more people brought in than were used. The building up and pulling away of various heroes made the story seem more organic. Generally, I like narration boxes that give different character points of view of the same event. Robinson added a few too many. When it came right down to it the only ones that mattered were for Dick and Donna. I look forward to the next volume and their Justice League.

Justice League: Cry for Justice

The art is beautiful in this. Painted and detailed and great to look at. The story? Needlessly dark. The premise is great. It's one of those where the author tries to push just how far a hero can go before he or she is no longer a hero. But then Robinson cuts off Arsenal's arm. He goes offscreen to say good night to his daughter and comes back missing an arm. Oh, then Robinson kills off his daughter to really stick the poker in. It felt a bit rushed in the end. I think he expected more issues when he started writing and was cut back to a finite series. I think he could have used a few more chapters.

Batgirl: The Flood

It's a shame that DC is rebooting. I think I like Stephanie Brown's Batgirl. I do like the interaction she and Babs have developed. It's not just teacher and student, it's also a friendship. The internal monologue continues to make me chuckle, especially when Barbara and Stephanie are thinking the same thing.

As for the story itself, the main story is just OK. The Calculator has never been a villain that has interested me and having him as the Oracle's nemesis seems forced. The best part of the story was Dick Grayson's shirtless cameo. The two filler stories were much better. I really liked the friendship building between Supergirl and Batgirl.

Bleach Volume 35: Higher Than Noon

I really liked the character design on Nnoitora. He was truly creepy. This one feels like it breaks the mold a little by having actual flashbacks to something important in the villian's history to explain his reaction. Kubo has done that with Ichigo before but I can't recall moving away from a fight to do character stuff before.

The ante is upped. Ichigo can save his hometown or his can save Orihime. I won't be surprised if he chooses Orihime.

Warmachine Prime Mark II

I finally got around to reading the new rules for Warmachine. They are cleaner and easier to follow.

The fluff makes me want to play Cygnar though. I like the way some of the warcasters are written. The spell lists make me want Cryx. Luckily, I have plenty of Retribution (and don't really like the Cryx models).