Reading again. Here’s where I stand so far on what I’ve seen … Old Caves by Tyler Landry really fucking rules. Like, that book just rules. I don’t know how to explain it … It’s just a simple story done by someone with talent. His drawings and the heavy use of black make you feel the immensity and isolation of dead winter in the remote mountains, out there with the wolves. The pacing and presentation of the story allows for some pointed subtly, but the narrative also leans into big, dramatic moments. I don’t know, the ending really just hit me. The guy just walks off into the cave, and the perspective Landry shows it from is amazing. That, and I really appreciated the book’s focus on obsession and conspiracy and Bigfoot. While it seems to criticize a certain type of person, it does so with compassion, showing the obsessed’s side of the story. Anyway … go buy that book. It’s beautifully designed, too! … Crisis Zone by Simon Hanselmann also blew me away because it just keeps escalating, upping the ante, and it commits to the depravity of the pandemic clear until the end. I’ve never wanted to read Covid fiction, but this book breaks the rule. As a fan of the Megg & Mogg series, it further expands the scope of who these characters can be and how they can continue to change. As a standalone book and a comment on the global lockdown collectively experienced in 2020, Crisis Zone, to me, completely gets at and calls out the hypocrisy of that time and its lasting affects felt today. It does so with sharp humor and clear direction. No one operating with less talent than Hanselmann could have pulled this off. I’m very appreciative that this book exists because it made me laugh, and it helped me reassess some of what that time was like. I feel like every new Megg & Mogg comic pushes the possibilities of the series, and for that fact, I think Hanselmann is one of the best. … The Avengers #1-3 by Jed MacKay and C.F. Villa was way better than I would have initially thought to give it credit for. I’d previously read about 12 issues of MacKay’s Moon Knight series, and I found it to be uneventful, kind of boring. Which says a lot because Moon Knight is one of my favorite superhero characters. But the start of this new Avengers run is pretty fun. A lot of big moments, big characters. The cliffhanger and scene between Kang and Captain Marvel is attention getting. Captain Marvel as the team leader feels like a fresh approach. There seems to be a bigger story brewing in the background. I don’t know … I really liked what I read, and I’m hoping for a new memorable run on the series.
alec reads comics 