The Shadow Rising

Yep... Brought me to tears again.  Damn that Perrin.

The Dragon Reborn

This is probably my second favourite in the series.  The scenes with Mat always make me smile.  Rands's not in it much, but when he is, he's crazy.

The Eye of the World

Continuing on in my re-reading of my favourite series.  I have read this book before.

Batman Earth One

I've read a lot of Batman origin stories over the years.  Some much better than others.  This is one of the best.

I like that they're not afraid to make him fail.  It's what really worked for Batman: Year One by Frank Miller and this carries that on.  He's not really equipped to fight crime.  All he wants is vengeance he really needs that first failure to point him in the direction that his life will take.

Alfred as a former marine and family friend rather than the long time butler was the hardest change to swallow.  Though I did like that he admitted he knew nothing about raising a child.  He has done a rather poor job with Bruce.

The art is amazing.  There were pages that I just stopped and stared at to pull in all the details.  Seeing his eyes does make a difference.

The Penguin was actually an effective villain.  Something that a lot of writers struggle to do.  I've seen it in the new 52 now as well.  They've finally figured out what to do with this character.

Naruto Volume 48: The Cheering Village

Unlike Bleach, Naruto has really grown in both attitude and in story telling.  Naruto is no longer the brash "act before thought" youth that he was in the beginning of the series.  Now, he's not only more powerful, he's more mature.

Death Note Volumes 3 & 4

I couldn't find the regular editions of Death Note so ended up with this combo volume.  No matter, it got me further ahead in the story.  Ohba and Obata are really good at conveying Light's emotions as L gets closer to finding out the truth.  The second carrier of a death note has bought him a little time but not that much. 

Having read this right after The Psychopath Test was an interesting juxtaposition.  I found myself referencing the check list to confirm Light's status.  His use of Amane clearly points to him lacking empathy.  He's a strong contender for the psychopath label.

The Psychopath Test

I picked up this book because I was waiting around for an appointment.  I'd heard about it, and it was a recommended book in the store I was in so I gave it a try.  I'm so glad I did.  It was such a great read.

Now, when one hears psychopath one thinks about serial killers.  This book is not really about them.  They are mentioned, but it's more about the psychopaths that you might run into in your daily life.  It's written in a very conversational style and I could certainly see myself sitting down with the author to discuss what he's written.  I like that everything is told in a way that references him.  It makes the subject very approachable.  It also makes me want to read some of his other books.

Naruto Volume 47: The Seal is Destroyed

Epic battle.  Really well built up through the preceding pages and then the huge payoff.  It might have just been a big fight scene but it was rewarding.

Death Note Volume 2

In the first book I could feel some empathy for Light.  He's just doing this to rid the world of evil.  I get where he's coming from even though I didn't agree with how he was doing it.  Here, he starts to attack those that would stop him and he becomes more villainous.  He's still very ingenious and that's why it's hard to put down.

The New Teen Titans: Games

I'm so glad I picked this up.  George Perez is one of my all-time favourite artists and I loved his and Marv Wolfman's turn on The New Teen Titans it was one of the first series that I collected.  Seeing the whole team represented was a walk down memory lane.  I think this may have been from a time that I wasn't reading though, I don't remember Danny or Beast Boy with a mullet.

The story was a great read.  I'm almost glad that this was started and then dropped.  From the Foreword and Afterword, the story that they originally planned wasn't as good as this story that they've told.  My only real disappointment is that this story is probably not really part of the continuity anymore.  There was still a Teen Titans led by Nightwing (I'm assuming) but  don't think they would have had enough time to have this grand an adventure.

Red Hood: The Lost Days

I enjoyed this more than I thought I would.  I've never been a big Jason fan.  I've always felt he was just a place holder for Dick.  I remember his original origin story and it was just a complete retelling of Dick's and I remember his second origin story.  Stealing the wheels off the Batmobile was certainly points for style, but I didn't like how Batman took in a kid who was even less well trained than Dick and expected him to succeed.  He even still had a living parent but Bruce adopted him anyway.  I felt bad for Dick a lot through the Jason years.  However, when it came down to vote, I would've voted for Jason to live if I'd been an American.  I like Batman with Robin, it keeps him even.

And that's where the Red Hood enters.  I felt that Judd Winick did a really good job of getting Jason's confused emotions across to the reader.  Sure, he's murdering people, but I almost felt he was killing the right people.  The people that really did deserve to die.

Talia was an interesting choice for this tale.  Mostly she's seen as the daughter of Ra's al Ghul and that's it.  Here, she goes against her father's wishes and does something that she truly believes will bring Batman back to her.  Once she realises just how broken Jason is, her role changes, she's trying to contain him while he fixes himself.  I get the feeling that she expected that this wanting to kill Batman thing was just a phase.  She knows his love for Bruce, probably more so than Jason does.

Batgirl: The Lesson

The last of the Stephanie Brown Batgirl before the new 52.  It's a shame that she hasn't reappeared in the new 52, this was such a fresh series.  It is just a fun read.  The one-shot story with Robin was very touching.  She knows what Damian is going through and she knows that he doesn't want her pity.  So what does she do?  Take him to a bouncy castle.

Naruto Volume 41: Jiraiya's Decision

I thoroughly enjoyed this one.  And it had very little Naruto, instead focusing on his mentor Jiraiya.  Seeing consequences of decisions is a big message in this arc and this was a prime example.

Black Blutler Volume 7

Sebastian becomes both more demonic and more human in this volume.  He really lets the demon out in trying to get information from the circus performer.  I think it's the first time he's really looked evil.  On the other hand, he seems to be becoming more human in how he relates to Ciel.

This was the creepiest thing I've read in a while.  Harvesting body parts from children to make yourself into a porcelain doll is horrific.  And to do it because that's what he thought Ciel wanted hinted at paedophilia.

Black Butler Volume 5

It's all about a Victoria Curry Competition!  I love the overdone silliness of this manga.

Naruto Volume 36: Cell Number 10

Wow!  Death.  I wasn't expecting that.  Maybe I'm just to used to Western comics where no death is permanent.  As usual, the fight scenes were really good but the parts that really stand out for me are Shikamaru's reaction to his mentor's death.

Birds of Prey: End Run

I like most of the characters that make up the Birds of Prey and I'd heard that Gail Simone was having a fantastic run on the series.  So, when I saw that the graphic novel was available, I picked it up.
It was really, really good.  It almost feels like two different stories because the first part takes place in Gotham and the second in Asia.  I liked the first part better.  Simone's characterisation of Hawk and Dove reminded me how much I liked these two characters.  All the women in Birds of Prey have their own personalities and all of them have depth.  Huntress came come across as one-dimensional but Simone doesn't let that happen.  Dove is probably the least well defined but she is just being introduced to the team.

The Penguin's blood-loss induced hallucination made me laugh out loud.

The second part was less about character and more about fighting.  Even then, I didn't feel that Black Canary was quite right.  I think there may be more to it than that but I hadn't been following her character so I'm not quite sure what state of mind she was in that Simone was trying to portray.

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.

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.

Okko: The Cycle of Air

My favourite so far.  While Okko is never really the main character, the plot does revolve around him in each of the three volumes.  Since it's told from Tikku's point of view Okko comes across as a larger than life figure but in The Cycle of Air Okko really comes to the foreground to prove that the legend has merit.  Hub is not afraid to show violence and the consequences.  The Cycle of Earth had a warrior with one arm lose the second and here Okko loses an arm as well.  It also fuels speculation as to who Okko is, who his mother is and why Noburo is so devoted to him.