tiedyedude's reviews
976 reviews

This was a really interesting look at the experiences and politics of the blind community from someone who has a degenerative condition. I appreciated learning from the perspective of someone who will soon no longer be an outsider and who is trying to figure out his place in a complicated social structure, while presenting the information in an unbiased way. 

 An excellent take on vampire lore by gothic extraordinaire Mike Mignola. Lord Baltimore travels Europe on the hunt for the vampire that killed his family; the vampire he awakened during a battle at the height of WWI. Fueled by guilt and revenge, Baltimore's hunt is complicated by the rising of ancient evil throughout the continent. 

An absolutely essential book that probably won't be read by the people who need to experience it. Bell documents his 50 years in America as a black man, reflecting on all the shit you can probably guess he's been through, as well as the impact of major social events. I was tempted to post the page where he has "the talk" with his son, but while beautifully written, it is the culmination of the whole story, so it didn't feel right. You just need to read it to get the full impact. 

I am glad I read this, and I'll continue the series, but this was tough to get into. There was something in the writing that made the flow a struggle. I had to re-read sentences often. Jade is very private and withdrawn, which comes through well, but also makes the story hard to follow at times, like there's always a detail missing or a thought unfinished. It really picks up after page 200, which is probably past the bail point for many, but if you can find a groove and push through, it is a very rewarding tale. I am interested in seeing how the story continues.

 Nick and Charlie spend some time growing independently while developing in their relationship. Just a few months until the final volume 

 This book serves not only as a biography of Baron von Steuben, but also a celebration of queerness found in the margins of history. 

 I think I lost the thread a few times; I was hoping for more of an analysis of the events of the French/Indian War, but a lot of this seemed like a retelling of military encounters. Since that didn't interest me as much, I may have missed the other parts, but a large part of the book was just walking through battles. 

 This was an interesting read. She is at times very humble and aware of her privilege, and other times an indulgent rock star, name-dropping like crazy. She talks about some of her mental health struggles with some detail, then says she had a session with someone and got right on stage. She talks about sharing bedrooms and waiting at has stations, then she has a huge house big enough for multiple families. A good read but a bit of whiplash at times 

 I made my way through a handful of Tom King's Batman run and it was... okay. I tried starting with the “complete“ City of Bane collection, but I had no idea what was going on. I thought the story was switching between Flashpoint Batman and Earth Prime, but it wasn't. Even after going back a bit to other volumes, it still wasn't super clear until a few issues in (one of my biggest problems with modern comics: I don't want to have to read 74 other issues to enjoy a certain story (thank goodness for the Black Label)). 
I also just didn't really enjoy King's characterization of Bruce/Batman. Even as he tried to portray him as opening up to love, he was still so moody and stand-offish. And everyone had to comment about it. He was constantly whining, “I know being Batman is dumb, but I'm Batman.“ Aside from a couple insightful panels, I feel like King wasn't breaking any new ground, and since it wasn't fun, I just wasn't impressed. 

It also didn't help that they kept pulling the same twists: you beat x, but y was pulling the strings all along! Catwoman betrayed you, but that was the plan all along! Batman gets beat half to death, but that was the plan, and now the plan is done, one punch win! Vol. 8 Cold Days was actually really good, though; Bruce Wayne is seated in the jury for Mr. Freeze's trial.