ARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Really enjoyed this first volume. I love the movie, and it was a joyARC provided by the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Really enjoyed this first volume. I love the movie, and it was a joy to spend more time with these characters. There were definitely a few moments that had me laughing
The plot isn't very deep or complex, and each chapter is a pretty isolated story. I did think some of the action scenes were a bit difficult to follow, especially in the second chapter. Chapter 3 felt out of order since it deals with Baymax's return, and also had a few confusing panels during the action scenes. Overall still a fun read....more
ARC received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Quin is a normal teenage boy on the surface. He loves his family, likes tinkering with teARC received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Quin is a normal teenage boy on the surface. He loves his family, likes tinkering with technology and has trouble making friends. He has a crush on a girl but doesn't think she realizes he exists. The only thing different about him is that he can't be hurt. He doesn't consider himself a superhero though; after all, invulnerability is kind of a useless power. But there are other superheroes in New Orleans, and with their help, Quin soon realizes that there's something he can do for the world.
If you're looking for a comic book with a diverse cast, this is definitely one to consider. Almost the entire cast of superheroes is PoC, and there's even a hijabi superhero amongst them. We don't meet many of the characters in this volume but we get brief glimpses of them, and it looks promising.
The art style is nice and I liked the vibrant colours. The story tackles some important themes around the treatment of PoC by the police and the unfairness of the prison system in the USA. Am not sure how this fits in with the rest of the universe, but this volume can be read as a standalone.
I did think the villain wasn't very interesting and quite 2D, but the biggest problem I have with the story is Dr. Davis. At the end of chapter one there's a panel that shows a man that looks like Dr. Davis sitting on a prayer mat with a quran in front of him.
[image]
Dr. Davis is muslim, something I was happy about until I read the other chapters. It feels arbitrary--it's never mentioned or used in any way in the rest of the story, but it once again paints a pretty unflattering picture of muslims. We get enough bad rep as it is, and it's honestly disappointing to see it happen again in a book that otherwise does pretty well when it comes to representation....more
So here I am, a month after finishing this book, and I'm still not sure I can write a review that will adeCWs: ableism, body horror (graphic), torture
So here I am, a month after finishing this book, and I'm still not sure I can write a review that will adequately explain why I think this book is amazing. But it doesn't feel right to end the year without putting this out there, so here goes nothing.
On the surface, the premise is pretty simple. Anna, working a desk job for a supervillain, gets unintentionally caught between the supervillain and the superhero, and as a result ends up disabled and then fired. Fueled by rage and a feeling of injustice, she finds out that she's not the first person to end up as a superhero's collateral damage, and makes it her new mission to collect as much data as she can, and expose superheroes for what they are: an unnatural disaster.
This sounds like a villain origin story, and it is definitely that. But there's a lot more beneath the surface that feels very relevant in the current political climate, and I constantly found myself reading parts and relating it back to the real world.
The fundamental idea that superheroes aren't as great as they're made out to be isn't new. if you've been watching the Marvel movies the past couple of years, you'll recognize a similar theme in Captain America: Civil War. This book explores what can happen if you're team Iron Man, and superheroes become part of the government's law enforcement. Just like superheroes, we're pre-disposed to see governments as the good guys. Even when lives are lost, surely it's because there was no other choice. They must've been bad guys who deserved what they got.
When you aim for the core, relationships close ranks. Even if someone knows what you're saying is true, they'll flagrantly deny it. They'll deny it harder exactly because it's true. Then the armor goes up and the daggers come out and you will find yourself facing a united front.
I couldn't help but read this as commentary on what people have come to accept from those in power, no matter how much data we have available at our fingertips that proves that the decisions they make are not for the benefit of the general public.
According to Spiderman's Uncle Ben, "with great power comes great responsibility". Hench explores what happens when there is no sense of responsibility, and superheroes are given free rein to do what they want (with government support), and eliminate whoever they deem too big a risk to themselves or even just their reputations. Using data analytics, our heroine Anna peels back the superficial layers of the superheroes to uncover the rot beneath. But she's not one of the good guys, either: she's still a hench, working for a supervillain, no matter how just her cause seems. I think the moral here is, one person's superhero is another person's supervillain, and nobody is purely good or evil.
All that said, I had a great time reading this. The pacing lags a bit at around 70-80% in but picks up again after that. I had moments of real fear for the characters, and parts of it made me not want to put the book down. There's also some pretty good humor and queer representation. I can also say I have never been as grossed out by descriptions of body horror as I was while reading this.
If you're a fan of the TV series The Boys, I think this'll be right up your alley....more
If you enjoy The Boys's depiction of superheroes, this will probably be right up your alley.
I'm not go3.5 stars (average rating since we both read it)
If you enjoy The Boys's depiction of superheroes, this will probably be right up your alley.
I'm not going to say much about the synopsis because I think this book is more fun when you jump into it with no expectations. You follow two main characters, Victor and Eli, who started off as friends 10 years ago but are now enemies. Victor escapes from prison with the sole purpose of hunting Eli down and make him pay for landing him there in the first place.
I think most people will call both Victor and Eli morally grey, but I think that's actually only true for one of them. The other is straight up evil in my book, but I'll leave you to discover which is which.
The writing is solid as always, but the book does take its time getting to the main point of the story, which is the inevitable confrontation. It switches between the past and the present, allowing us to get to know Victor and Eli both before and after the trouble began. Seeing the changes in their characters is interesting, and the developments Eli undergoes are especially fascinating to me.
Even though the buildup is on the slow side, the payoff is worth it. ...more
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