All tagged Comics

2015 List of Awesome: Comics & Graphic Novels

You know we've been doing our annual "List of Awesome" every year and it's always been books, but since I'm tinkering with the focus of CEFS moving forward (more on that later), I thought I'd highlight some of the things I really enjoyed this year that aren't books in these lists.

Also, I really like lists. If you've missed previous years' installments, they're all archived here. 

For the next 2015 List of Awesome, I wanted to spotlight some of the the best comics and graphic novels of the year.

Recommendation Roundup: Summer 2015

Hi folks! I'm happy to share our summer recommended reads with you. It's funny, I keep saying that I haven't gotten super excited about many books this year, but here we have 20+ books that we feel good about recommending--I guess are some good ones out there after all!

Reading has been tough this summer--I took on some huge projects that have competing deadlines and that means my eyeballs aren't too happy with me by the end of the day, so I haven't been reading as much. Plus I've been (intentionally) checked out from a lot of the book chatter online, so I haven't been as on it with regard to what's new and buzzed. (Not necessarily a bad thing.)

Onward to the recommendations!

Recently Read: Comics Edition

You may recall that I've slid far, far down the comics rabbit hole. I even have new releases on my calendar so I remember to get say, the new Saga, on the Wednesday it releases. 

Here's what I've recently read.

Hawkeye, Volumes 1-3.

These combined volumes feature the archer Avenger and his mentee Kate, who's also known as Hawkeye and is super rad. I knew nothing about The Avengers going into this and found it incredibly accessible and liked the healthy does of angst. Fraction writes Sex Criminals, which I love, so I shouldn't be surprised by this one, but I was. My favorite was the third volume, LA Woman, which is just a Kate story.

Links, Things + More Books for Cheap

Recommendation Roundup: November 2014

My reading habits have been all over the place lately. 

For a few days, I binged on all the comics I could find. Then, I blew through Amy Poehler's book. And, it took me most of the month to listen to the final audiobook in Alexandra Bracken's Darkest Minds trilogy (I'll write more about that series later). I've continued to read the Sirantha Jax series slowly, and am kind of bummed that I'm approaching the end. Probably my two favorite reads this month were both graphic stories: Ms. Marvel and Seconds (thanks to my friend Kinoko for the recommendation). And now I'm kind of in a reading funk--not much is working for me. 

In other news, Sandra's been blowing through review books, so her recommendations are filled with newer titles, if you're looking for something fresh. 

As always, click through on the book cover image for more info!

Sarah Recommends

Recommendation Tuesday: Ms. Marvel by G. Willow Wilson

Recommendation Tuesday started as a joke and is now an official thing. Basically, this is my way of making Tuesday a little more awesome. If you've got a book to recommend on this or any Tuesday, tweet me at @FullShelves and I'll help spread the word.

View all of the past recommendations over here. 

Ms. Marvel, G. Willow Wilson's comic about teen superhero Kamala Khan, came highly recommended by many, many people. I usually don't care for the big comic publishers (Marvel, DC), largely because they're too slick for me, but the glowing recommendations from friends, plus the ridiculous controversy around meant my interest was piqued--and I pretty much loved it. 

Recommendation Roundup: September 2014

Read any good books lately? We've got a few recommendations for you, if you're in need. (And who isn't, if we're going to be honest.)

My best read of this past month was hands-down RIck Yancey's The Infinite Sea. Man oh man, was that a killer sequel. It's been interesting reading the reviews of it, because it's a slow-paced novel that's not working for everyone. Laura, lucky girl that she is, has already read the next installment in The Raven Cycle and loved, loved, loved it. I think it's up next for me. And, Sandra recovered from her anger about the second book in Barry Lyga's I Hunt Killers series enough to read the final novel and grudgingly admits that it was pretty good. 

12 Graphic Novel/Comics Mini-Reviews

Since I've fallen down the graphic novel rabbit hole (I blame the phenomenal Saga series, which you should read right now), I've been furiously reading all that I can get my hands on. It's been great as I had a very busy summer work-wise, I can get my reading in via quick bits. 

I thought I'd round up a few of my recent graphic novel reads for folks who may be dipping their toes into this format as well. 

{Early Review} The Year of the Beasts by Cecil Castellucci + Nate Powell

I don’t know what I was expecting from The Year of the Beasts, but I definitely didn’t anticipate having my heart ripped out and stomped to bits in this slim, heart-wrenching novel-meets-comic. 

Young adult novelist Cecil Castellucci and comic artist Nate Powell teamed up to create a fascinating story told in alternating chapters. Castellucci’s chapters are straight-forward narrative about the changing relationships between two sisters as they both navigate their first romantic relationships; Powell’s chapters are beautifully drawn comics of an alternate reality in which a girl with snakes for hair navigates a new school year.

Eventually the two storylines merge, and that’s when the heart ripping and stomping hit. 

I can’t write a review of The Year of the Beasts without first discussing the format.