Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D #1 by Guggenheim, Peralta and Rosenburg

I'm so relieved that Agents of SHIELD, the TV show, became a good show. It was pretty rough first season due to the restrictions placed on them but I'm very glad that it turned itself around. I also wasn't sure about Agent Coulson becoming an actual protagonist instead of a weird side character that appeared in Marvel movies, but you know.... I actually liked what they did with him and the character. Good on you, Agents of SHIELD.

The comic book does a very good job of mirroring the TV show without it either taking away from the TV show or loading it down with unnecessary action or character development. All of the characters are there, Daisy (which by the way, who else is kind of weirded out that Skye just all of the sudden wanted to be Daisy? Sure, your father sacrificed everything, but I mean, you were called Skye for most of your life... It's not a detriment to him to still be called that.), Deathlok, FitzSimmons, May, Bobbi and Ironman, cause you don't have to pay RDJ.

The scene opens with Coulson getting beaten up, tied to a chair, and "takin' it like a man." He slyly calls his strike teams and takes down the bad guys with quips and snarky comments typical of Joss Whedon-esque dialogue.

There is a good setup for the story and the comic ends on a cliff hanger. However, again, like I said before, it's not imperative to read the comic to enjoy the TV show, and there is just enough action to not take away from the show itself. What this comic does is give more access to it's beloved characters and allow us to peek into their lives while they are not on the show. What I found interesting is that it completely ignored Daisy/Skye, choosing to focus on May, Fitz and Coulson.. oh, and Tony Stark.

There are a few panels that stick out to me the most. In one scene, Fitz and May are training, and then Fitz asked MAY out on a date. Damn, Fitz. I'm not sure if it's going to work out, but I admire Fitz' bold move to ask her out, and May's willingness to accept. There was a lot of tension between May and Andrew on the show (which was so sad, you guys) and I'm glad that May is treated like a woman with feelings instead of a robot in the comic and giving her a chance to at least try and move on. However, I sort of feel like May may eat Fitz alive... and I also feel like Fitz will enjoy it. Fun for all!

Finally, I'm kind of put off by Coulson being REALLY BUILT in the comic. Like, him and Lola sleep together, which fine, whatever, and then they show him going to her computer to gather intel when she catches him. He's like... 40 or so. 40 year old men can be in good shape, and Coulson has to be in good shape to do his job, but... he has the receding hairline of an older man and a body of an inshape 25 year old in this panel. It was a bit off putting with baby smooth skin. I would think at least the illustrator would be more scars on him or make him a bit gritty. I get they want him to be an "Bond" like character, but... not appealing. At all.

I really like the illustration and the action in the comic and besides for the hunked up version of Coulson, it was a solid read. I hope I get more of this series, but I already have a backlog of a lot of comics to get through.

Magnus Chase and the Sword of Summer by Rick Riordian

I am unsure if I just did not like this book because I've finally grew out of Rick Riordan books (never) or it's because Christopher Guetig was just an awful reader. I think if he did read alouds in class, the students would have revolted. Maybe the funny accents would have saved him, but barely. Like, I think when he would announce read aloud times, it would take forever to get the kids settled, take out their books and probably would have had to read over kids talking until he read the part of Blitzen, and the kids would settle down because, hey, funny voices.

I was definitely into the Percy Jackson novels, despite being 23 when they came out. I read them all at lightning speed, and then went on to read his other renditions. He found a formula that worked and I will be forever jealous that I didn't get to it first.

I read about a year ago that he was working on Norse Mythology, and I was interested to see where it would go. Even though it seems like Greek and Roman mythology is the most well known, I definitely recalled spending summers trying to learn to learn hieroglyphics and walking like an Egyptian. However, Vikings with Travis Fimmel is definitely my cup of tea (and also fun and nerdy fact, Travis Fimmel was definitely my play by when I wrote guys on various Harry Potter role play forums), so I was interested to see how my man Rick was able to fit Norse mythology in tween vocabulary.

So, the story begins with a 16 year old boy named Magnus Chase. Usually in this demi-god superhero stories, the kids are around age 11, but he starts older, and Riordan makes another unusual choice: Magnus is homeless.

Edgy. Interesting. Urban. I like it.

However, I am brought up short because... the voice actor is terrible. And even though I complain about a lot of things, I always try to find at least something good in the things I complain about. I will never listen to a book that is read by him ever again.

I've heard and read some other reviews that stated that Magnus, despite being a homeless kid who ran out on his mom right before she was murdered, was too optimistic and tried to make the best out of every situation, with a funny quip in his back pocket. Except, I won't know if that's true until I actually read the next book in the series, because good ol' Chris was just awful. I suspect that Magnus is mostly sarcastic, using humor to deflect his personal turmoil. Towards the end of the book, Magnus actually states something like this, reflecting just how much he went through. I wish I was able to hear that more throughout the book.

Other than the fact that the voice actor blew serious ass, I was impressed with risks that Rick took with this book. He tried to incorporate a much more diverse set of characters, with a Muslim-American Valkyrie, who is set to marry in a few years, and like other Muslims I ever met, seems getting more comfortable with that idea. She fights her nature as Loki's daughter, but not as a Muslim. She is still struggling to find out who she is, but she's not revolting against being a Muslim.

Now, there is Hearthstone. He's a Deaf Alf and it's revealed that he is the only practicing magician. He has a tragic backstory, but he's accepted by his new family, Magnus included. I like how Hearthstone is a capable, strong person who doesn't want anyone's pity. I understand that it's Magnus' story, so the reader won't necessarily get Hearth's perspective... but, it's really not easy to read lips. At all. Even though I rely on reading lips to aid me in understanding people, it's very, very difficult to solely rely on reading lips and not have the audio behind it. A lot of sounds are formed similarly. I wished there was more of a communication barrier that there seemed to be because it would be more true to a deaf/Deaf person in a group of hearing people.

Overall, it's a funny, fun, YA novel. I realized there were a few more books from the other series I never got a chance to read, so there I go to order and read them! However, I think I'm going to be more selective with my audiobooks and listen to the voice before purchasing. Just brutal.

The Uncanny Avengers #1 by Duggan, Stegman and Isanove

It's never a good sign when your husband gives you the comic and flat out tells you that it's not very good. He was right; it's not very good.

At least this comic has more story than the Avengers comic I read a month ago. However, I'm not really into this at all. It's not a bad story, and it's interesting to finally read the conflict between Inhumans and X-men (because seriously... I get that there were rights involved with the movies, but... they are the same thing. It annoys me) but there are a lot of elements with this comic book that I didn't find appealing, and they WERE ALL TOGETHER IN ONE BOOK.

First of all, what is up with the illustrations? Now, I can't draw to save my life, and in terms of comics, I am not picky about how it is illustrated if the story is well done and the coloring is adequate. But I hated the way it was drawn. The coloring was also very dark and I thought the characters were drawn in a way that was very unappealing. It gives me the vibe that it was drawn this way just because it's a unique way of drawing.

Second of all, I am never interested in old Steve Rogers. He's old in the new Captain America, and I appreciate it because Falcon takes the mantel. However, Steve Rogers in this comic is Captain America and head of the Avengers Team. He's old and drawn weird, and maybe it's because I can't get over the fact that he's old, but he doesn't seem to act like Captain America. He just seems pushy, only cares about keeping the Avengers together and holding onto his youth. To quote a way better comic, "He's not my Captain America!"

Finally, I don't see why there is a conflict between Deadpool and the rest of the team. He's brash? Makes decisions in the heat of the moment? How is that any different than all the others on the team? Spider-Man is notorious for making on the fly decisions that gets people hurt. Why is he mad at Deadpool? I don't get it.

Now, I'm going to catch flack for this, but I also don't really see the big deal about Deadpool, either. I'm sure at one point, Deadpool was the only anti-hero of it's kind, but now it seems like every comic book explores the anti-hero. It seems like there is always a character that cracks jokes and breaks the 4th wall. Maybe my mind will be changed when I see the movie, or I read some of his comics. However, the exposure to him thus far has been underwhelming.

I'm not going to read the second issue. On to better things!

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey

Thank you, Target! I found this book for 20% off, and since there was a movie about it, I figured, why the heck not? Apparently the movie blew (but that won't stop me from seeing it) but I heard good things about the book.

It's a standard, Young Adult novel about a girl and the end of the world. You're introduced to her, living in the woods with an M16 and a teddy bear, discussing how she can't trust anyone. Since The Others arrived, and the Waves started... she survived on her own. Her thoughts are young, but powerful, and she's realistic. I'm quite sure I would probably think those same exact thoughts, and I'm a heck of a lot older than her. She knows she's being hunted but still tries to go on a fool's errand to save her younger brother.

At first, you think it's just one point of view, but then we're slowly introduced to several characters. I was confused when Ben, or Zombie was introduced, thinking that Cassie somehow contracted the plague, but when I realize who it was, Cassie's high school crush, I wanted to see where it went.

It's rare that I read a book where I continually guess or make assumptions about where the book is going. I usually go for a ride and wherever the author takes me, I'll go. I may complain about the journey afterwards (and maybe even during it) but rarely do I try and guess the entire plot. I actually don't mind spoilers, because even though you find out how things happen, there is still a character's journey and there are still many other discoveries.

However, Yancey did a good job of making me want to guess. When Ben, and then Evan, was introduced, along with other characters, and paths crossing between all of them, I wondered how the novel was going to resolve itself. It's a big honking book, and there were a lot of perspectives. Where was Yancy going with this? How many books are in a series? When are they going to fight?

He made sharp turns, and the end result was a bit how I expected, but only after some sharp turns and false leads. Sometimes with YA novels, when the author makes the artistic choice to write in first person, they want to identify with their teenage audience, and use the same crippling YA, first person language. I understand the reasoning for it, but when it's done badly, it's done really badly (I'm looking at you, Stephanie Meyers). Absolutely Yancey uses limited first person point of view for several young characters... but it's not stifling. He even goes so far to use the same phrases between characters, and instead of wondering how on earth they know those specific phrases that could only manifest after humans formed a post-apocalyptic community(which was not done in the book), you are delighted that you are familiar with those terms, and you root for the teenagers to face The Others and fight.

It was a quick read, a simple concept, and does the right amount of show and tell. You find out a lot about the 5th Wave, and the destruction of Earth, but you have many more questions about the Aliens' arrival, what happened to their own world, and most of all, if you'll ever see Evan again.

I highly recommend reading the book. I hope they didn't butcher the movie too badly.

Patsy Walker AKA Hellcat #1 by Leth, Williams and Wilson

I first heard of Hellcat back when I was ready my She-Hulk comics. I thought it was interesting that Marvel decided to have a superhero who was merely human. She had no special powers except for the exceptional desire to help others. She resented and loved She-Hulk and did her best in a world that was not made for her. In fact, she thrived on it.I definitely relate to Hellcat, being in a world that not made for her.

I particularly enjoyed Patsy Walker's interpretation on the Jessica Jones show on netflix and her friendship with Jessica was possibly one of the only good things to come out of that season. (WHAT? COME AT ME BRO)

As usual, Josh got me the comic book of the first Hellcat, and I was particularly interested to see how they would reimagine her character.

I really enjoyed the illustrations and artistry of the issue. It had an Manga, Kawaii feel to it, which takes me back to my Otaku days in high school (and college and early 20s...). It's colored very brightly with her red hair standing out along with her blue and yellow suit. I really appreciate the intentional brightness because sometimes comics just seem to drag with the mood and how dark everything is and how dire everything is. Hellcat isn't drawn like that, which it's a joy to look at. You just feel happier looking at it's pages.

It's a very upbeat and happy comic too. It's also very tongue in cheek, and once you realize that (I'm a slow poke, so it took me a bit), you enjoy the comic for what it is. Patsy Walker is already an established superhero, who is biffles with Jenn Walters, or She-Hulk. She has some sort of superhero powers--she can sense who has powers nearby her and she can change her costume at will. She meets an telekinetic, who is named Ian or (Telekinian) and convinces him to use his powers for good.

Patsy gets into other trouble and Ian finds out that she's the actual Patsy Walker, the girl from the books her mother wrote when she was very young. The writers gleefully foreshadow that Patsy's past will come back to haunt her. Patsy comes up with a business plan, that she pitches to Walters and company about Heroes looking for paying work. Jenn agrees to help her, and Hellcat sets on her next journey, working in retail.

Hellcat is totally cute, and such a different pace from a lot of very broody, dark comics that Marvel is putting out recently. I would like to read the second issue, though I have a backlog of other comics that my husband also reads and passes on to me. Anyone else been keeping up with Hellcat? Does it stay tongue in cheek or does it go deeper into her dark past?

The Bookish Binger: The Kill Floor, 11/22/63

My husband and I had a discussion about this episode last night. I think my stance is affected by the fact that I've read the book recently, where as he read it a few years ago. He thinks that it's the right about of cheese, horror and camp that only Franco and Hulu could provide. He thinks in terms of King's adaptations, it's a pretty good one.

Me, on the other hand.... I think this Jake Amberson character is kind of a doofus. An impulsive doofus that makes really horrible and silly mistakes during the course of an episode that leaves you wondering how he ever survived in 2011 where everything made sense? He makes this rash decisions and without a headspace in which to tell it in, me, as the viewer, just feels embarrassed for him and wonder how the heck this guy is going to save President Kennedy.

Now, George Amberson/Jake Epping in the book also makes ill-timed and horrible decisions. But what I thought during the book was that, well, those types of decisions anyone could make. It was realistic, and there were some decisions that occurred that the reader didn't even realize it was a mistake until later.

I think the one flaw about the show so far is the fact that they killed Templeton way too early. I like the flashbacks of them talking, but I liked in the book he had more of a presence. I thought Al prepared him more for the time traveling. I get why Jake and Al had clippings in a book that showed JFK's assassination, but man, Jake was careless with it. It was like he just threw it wherever he wanted too instead of putting it in safe keeping. I thought for sure in the book he kept better care of it.

It was interesting how they combined two characters into one (the bartender and... the older man. I don't remember his name) and had him find the clippings. I'm not sure how they are going to utilize him, but I'm interested to see.

I thought they cast Harry Dunning very well. Mr. Fergie is charming and charismatic with the right amount of dangerous, and I thought he would kill Jake with a smile on his face. I wasn't too fond of Jake going right up to him in the first scene, because affecting the timeline (and changing it for the worse) was a huge part of the book and it just seemed like TV Jake was itching to do that.

However, I had to fast forward through the cow scene. I think the show does horror very well, and whereas the book is spooky, the show is straight up horror.

Overall... I'm not a fan of the show, namely because I really liked the book. I loved how subtle it all was, and how much care and thought Stephen King put into time travel, the time travel paradox, along with all of the research he did. This just seems like... they only had brief amount of time to write the script and just went with the first draft. Then in order to lean into the cheesiness, they cast Franco.

The Bookish Binger: 11/22/63, The Rabbit Hole

I reviewed the book by Stephen King, after I saw the previews for the Hulu miniseries. I was impressed that James Franco was involved, along with JJ Abrams. I figured, at the very least, it would be entertaining, and the miniseries proves that it's not going to go on for 6 seasons (or with Abrams' track record, a good 2 seasons and miserable 2 seasons before cancelling).

Usually what I've done with TV shows is binge watch them after they all have come out, and break it up into a few posts before calling it quits. However, this time, since for the first time I'm actually watching it on schedule, I would post weekly of my reactions, feelings, comparisons between the book and the show, and my hopes for future episodes. 

What I found interesting about the book was the setup that led up to the real conflict of Epping finally thwarting the assassination of JFK. I really liked that King took his time to really sink the reader's teeth into the implications of time travel, and the disastrous outcomes of changing those events. It really foreshadowed what was to come later in the book. 

Now, when I was younger, I definitely was one to complain when movies or TV shows weren't exactly like the book and wondered why script writers didn't just work directly with the author to write something that mirrored the author's vision. Obviously, I understand now that some things can't work for TV, like King's prologue of 11/22/63 leading up to Epping leaving to save the Dunning Family. Unfortunately, it's what I liked most about the book and so for the first episode, I was disappointed because I was looking forward to that part. However, I am fully aware that if the writers just carbon copied the book into the first episode, it wouldn't be effective, and I would have still been disappointed. 

Removing myself from the book, I thought they did a good job of creating the spookiness that King so often has with his books and the theme of time always trying to right itself. The visuals of the car crashing into the telephone pole moments after Epping steps away from it is harrowing, and it conveys that time is a sentient being, and it will do anything to keep time, and its events, on track. In later episodes, due to the shock of the events in this one (the fire, the beetles, etc.), I wonder how they are going to up the ante of preventing Epping from stopping the assassination. 

My husband tells me that there has been some criticism over James Franco's performance as Jake Epping. Considering that 11/22/63 is told in first person, I feel like Franco is going to be at a disadvantage since as the reader, you put yourself as the main character. Watching someone else play Epping, maybe the viewer won't connect as well. I think he does a good job of acting bewildered and out of place, both in 2011 and when he travels back in time. I also liked the montages of Epping walking around in 1960, absolutely loving the time period. Epping in the book romanticizes the 1960s, and it definitely shows that this one does too. 

Epping in the book, makes a ton of stupid mistakes that come back later to bite him in the ass. However, it's over a period of time, so it comes off more realistic and believable. My only problem with this Epping, and it's not to the fault of Franco, is that I think the writers wanted him to make all the stupid moves in the first episode in order for them to bite him in later episodes. There is a ton of foreshadowing in the first episode, which seems rushed, but then again, the book was 800 pages and could afford to take it's time.  

I am anxious to see how they are going to portray the Dunning family murder, and if Jake will go back through the rabbit hole to see the changed outcome. I wish they hadn't killed of Templeton so quickly because there seemed to be some more story there, but maybe it'll right itself later on. 

There is another episode night, so check out my next post this week!