In Case of Literary Abandon

3.5 stars; pseudo-review posted in the Chaos Reading group.

If anyone tells you that comics cannot be deemed a successful and acceptable format by which to get emotions across, kindly point them in the direction of Strangers in Paradise.

This has to be my third (perhaps fourth) time running through it, and it still amazes me. Terry Moore manages to combine wit with harsh realities, leaving time for light humor in-between. The characters are real, raw, and believable, which makes them all the more beautiful. Francine, Katchoo, David, Tambi, Casey--hell, let's just say all of them--will waltz into your life as if they own the place, camp out, and force you to feel for them.

And, oh, will you feel. Over and over and over again.

And it doesn't help the emotions that Moore's art style is incredible. His women are not some sort of impossible ideal; they are human-shaped, which endears me to him all the more.

And I am always reminded of my own mortality when reading this (or after, I should say). I am mortal and I am going to die. And that death had better be significant to someone, otherwise I'll be incredibly pissed.

Tangent aside, this series is highly recommended. Do give it a whirl, but prep your tissues beforehand.

The ending was a bit...abrupt, but I do enjoy that all the story's events were wrapped up nice and neatly.

Who would've thought the opposite of war would be so...romantic?

And I'm not sure whether I want to punch Staples and Vaughan or not. Stunned, definitely. Impatiently waiting, of course.

Every time I forget how much I love JJBA, I reread it and am quickly reminded.

The plot is simple: a sociopathic mother balances her quest for vengeance for the murder of her father and her family life. First thought as an intentional satirical "woman's view" of The Punisher, Garth Ennis decided to continue into this foray, though it is fairly obvious (by the loose plot and looser character development) that he hadn't an idea of where it would go.

Which is probably why he stopped writing it, but I digress.

The artwork--I would say--is nice. However, somewhere in the middle of the third issue, it goes from being a gritty and defined reflection of the story to...a flop. Anatomy fails and feels stocky, and facial expressions don't do as they're supposed to do, express! Ultimately, it makes me feel disconnected to the story and disinterested, which is a shame because the idea in itself is quite interesting.

The sudden change in art ruined this for me, but not enough to hold out hope that the next volume would be better.

Right-O, time to write a review I suppose.

First, a bit of backstory. A friend recommended this to me a while ago. I recently (as in, two days ago) came across it in my local library. Deciding that it was time to pick it up (and that I needed a break from Russian classics, woo), I checked it out.

"Necromancer" is about a young adult's--Sam, short for Samhain (I can't stop hitting my head on this desk, oh no)--romp into the supernatural with nothing to accompany him save for a pile of secrets, his best friend, a head, and...uh, an employee who is described as awkward and simply useless. It makes my wonder at his existence in the story; he couldn't be a foil because he isn't expounded on enough...

Anyways, during his adventure into the unknown, Sam comes across a young werewolf-fae woman (our werewolves are different~), who almost immediately takes a shine to him. She ends up being trapped with him, and, in the span of time that it takes for her to get antsy, she's already ready to jump his bones if it means she'll be able to be calm. Which is a bit sudden, if I do say so myself.

There's a Big Bad, but moments involving him come across as flat because he's simply a Bad Guy. He has a past, but it's all about how he's Bad (capital "B" because it's very obvious that the villain can't also double as a tragic anti-hero, right) and that's it. It was a sad time for me, mostly because his personality intrigued me, and by just "killing him off", I'm left wanting.

[spoiler] It's very obvious that he isn't dead, simply "waiting for the right moment to get vengeance" or whatever that is. It felt as though such an important event should be at least a bit of surprise, but this--like other important events in this book--just didn't happen. [/spoiler]

The music references and snappy comebacks reeked of teen rebellion, and that kept me going through the book. It didn't lag at all, which gave me hope. However, parts that should've been more detailed were also rushed through, which effectively squashed my hope.

I suppose it's a nice read for those that don't quite enjoy reading all that much?