Books Read in 2012
Let's see if I can actually keep this up this time.
Really this is looking like the Year of the Graphic Novel. I've divided up the list into graphic novels, books and picture books.
Graphic Novels:
1) The New Avengers vol. 1: Breakout by Brian Michael Bendis, David Finch and Danny Miki
Steve and Tony get the band back together. Okay, so maybe not with the same members but hey they still fight bad guys and snark at each other. My take-away from this comic is the bagel conversation and the fact that Tony has an amazing number of giant painting of Steve in his house. Their relationship is so odd. Also there's naked times and a bad guy named Suron (which cracked me up).
2) The New Avengers vol. 2: Sentry By Brian Michael Bendis and Steve McNiven
In which we learn about Sentry, sort of.
3) Invincible Iron Man vol. 1: The Five Nightmares by Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca
And thus begins the trying to match this with the Avengers time line. Tony is director of SHIELD, that’s not going well. Pepper gets her arc reactor and Tony and Maria Hill yell at each other a lot.
4) Invincible Iron Man vol.2: World’s Most Wanted Book 1 by Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca
So wow that’s a jump. We just skipped over the whole Skrull invasion here. Tony’s on the run deliberately giving himself brain damage in order to delete his brain. I did not expect to love IIM as much as I do but it turns out I have a lot of Tony Stark Feels. But as much as I love this story, summarizing it makes it sound like the plot of a bad soap opera. In addition to all the Tony stuff, Pepper finds the suit Tony made her and takes one more step in her every increasing journey of awesomeness.
5) Invincible Iron Man Vol. 3: World’s Most Wanted Book 2 by Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca
Can we talk about how awesome Pepper Potts is? Because wow, she's so awesome. I love her.
6) The Avengers vol. 1 by Brian Michael Bendis and John Romita Jr
AKA getting the team back together AGAIN! Reading things in the time honored tradition of whatever comes into the library means things are way out of order and I have to rely on Wikipedia. But that’s okay.
So this is The New Avengers but not the NewAvengers and not the New New Avengers, that’s something else entirely, completely different people on that team. Confused? Yeah just a little. These things need better names. There's time travel and the Avengers kids and delightfully old and cranky Tony and Hulk.
7)Avengers Prime by Brian Michael Bendis and Alan Davis
The Oh Thank God We Don’t ALL Hate Each Other Anymore book. Also the one where Tony Stark rides a horse naked and then he and Steve Rogers flirt shamelessly while one of them has no clothes on. Also some plot involving Thor happens. Whatever. I’m clearly just here for the snark.
8) Hades: Lord of the Dead (Olympians) by George O’Conner
This is the fourth of O’Conner’s Olympians graphic novels and while the title says it’s all about Hades, it’s actually all about Persephone. O’Conner writes the story of a young girl who gets a chance to get out from under her mother’s somewhat smothering presence and make a life for herself. Sure she’s kidnapped, at first, but O’Conner noticed that in all the rest of the greek myths we never see Persephone as anything other than the queen of the dead. And people fear her more than Hades. He wondered why there are no myths and stories about the times of the year when she’s not in the underworld. Maybe it’s because she likes it there.
9)Marvel Adventures: Thor by Paul Tobin
Marvel Adventures! Where everyone is happy and the Hulk has a box of kittens and Steve and Tony play basketball and then take down telemarketers! Whheeeee!
10) Marvel Adventures: The Avengers vol.4: The Dream Team by Jeff Parker
11)Secret Avengers: Mission to Mars by Ed Brubaker and Mike Deodato
I really like the Secret Avengers. Steve Rogers seems like he likes to keep busy. Now I just need to find a few more because my library has none.
12) The NEW Avengers vol:1 by Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen
The NEW New Avengers. Because they wanted to name things and make it as confusing as possible. Luke Cage buys the Mansion for a dollar, which he has to borrow from Danny. I love it. I also really like the humor in these, the digs at the ridiculousness of comics in general. Stephen Strange, the shirtless dude with the hair, the Voodoo guy and a lot of magic are all in this book. Then later I read stuff that happened before this and suddenly this book made more sense. Whatever. Continuity is for bitches.
13) The New Avengers vol. 3: Secrets and Lies By Brian Michael Bendis, David Finch, Frank Cho and Rick Mays
Ninjas! Tony’s penthouse in Tokyo is destroyed when the Avengers are attacked by ninjas. My favorite moment is when Luke Cage is thrown off the building and then has to come back up in the elevator. We also get a lot of Spider-Woman’s backstory which is weird and kinda creepy, even for comics. I really love her, but I’m not sure about that whole experimented on by her dad, surgery from HYDRA thing.
14) The New Avengers vol. 11: Search for the Sorcerer Supreme By Brian Michael Bendis, Billy Tan and Chris Bachalo
Note how I sort of skipped over that whole Civil War thing. I’m not sure I’m emotionally able to deal with that right now.
The Avengers take a field trip to New Orleans.
Billy gets an appearance in this! I'm going to have to get someone to get me the Young Avengers stuff because he's adorbs. Also Shirtless Dude with the Hair, Hi Shirtless dude with the Hair, Oh you're the son of satan? Of course you are.
15) The New Avengers vol. 12: Powerloss By Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen
Mockingbird gets to be awesome. Yay. Also because of the way I'm reading these I'm reading them all out of order. But I somehow managed to get a ton of stuff about Stephen Strange, that shirtless guy with the hair, and the Red Hood guy. If I was just going on what I've managed to get my hands on I'm pretty sure I'd think they were like The Entire point of the comics.
16) Invincible Iron Man Vol. 4: Stark Disassembled by Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca
I have so many Tony feels. It's hard to express in words. What comes out is "Oh Tony" Also Pepper continues to be awesome and I've been won over by Maria Hill. I kinda like her.
17) Captain America: Reborn by Ed Brubaker, Bryan Hitch and Jackson Guice
I haven’t managed to read the Death of Captain America But this one I enjoyed. Apparently I’m going to work my way backwards through Cap.
18) Captain America: Winter Soldier vol 1. by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting
BUCKY!!!! STEVE! Oh Right in the feels!
19) Captain America: Winter Soldier vol. 2 By Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting and Mike Perkins
“Remember who you are.” Oh Bucky. That just killed me.
20) Marvel Adventures Avengers Vol 5. Some Assembling Required by Jeff Parker
We meet Hawkeye. Tony's Suit gets melted off, but he's wearing boxers not a red thong. They aren't even red boxers. Whatever. Also Vision shows up.
21) Marvel Adventures Avengers Vol 6.Mighty Marvels by Marc Sumerak
Both Hank and Natasha show up. At one point everyone plays a game of baseball.
I like the Marvel Adventure Avengers but I like the Marvel Adventure Avengers that collect the "super heroes" more. Mainly because they have over-arcing plots as well as individual bits.
22) Marvel Adventures Avengers Vol 7. Weirder and Wilder by Jeff Parker
This is the one where they go to the county fair, Hulk chases a pig, and several of them are shrunken (shrunk?). This is also the one where Steve and Tony go on a man date, play basketball and then take down...wait for it...yes telemarketers. Then they go for burgers.
23) Marvel Adventures Spider-Man and the Avengers by Paul Tobin
Competitive shopping, a robot dog, Hulk goes to the Oscars, and Hawkeye goes on what might be a terrible date.
24) Young Avengers vol 1: Sidekicks by Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung
As much as I love the Avengers I think I might love the Young Avengers more. They are adorable. I love how they don’t really know what they are doing. And I love how Kate shows up with Cassie and is all We are totally joining your little boys club because I saved your lives and we are totally awesome. I also love the discussions over names. Hawkingbird is actually kind of awesome. And the comment that Billy needs to change his name from Asgardian, that conversation made me laugh out loud.
25) Young Avengers vol 2: Family Matters by Allan Heinberg, Jim Cheung, Andrea Di Vito and Gene Ha
Billy's "coming out" was delightful. And I love that Captain America basically says "I'm going to tell your parents on you." About their superheroing and it like The Worst Thing the kids can imagine.
Also oh Teddy. I just want to hug him. That’s a lot of crap to have thrown your way. And Tommy! Oh Tommy. I love you you wackadoo, bitter boy. Man Billy’s parents are like the most chill ever. Oh you’re gay? No problem. Oh you’re a superhero? Still not a problem. Oh You have a juvenile delinquent astral twin brother who needs a place to live? Sure. These people deserve a medal.
26) Young Avengers: Dark Reign by Paul Cornell and Mark Brooks
This was good and I liked it but oh poor Melter kind of broke my heart. And I loved that Eli punched Norman Osborne. That was one of those moments that made me smile. And I love that the kids took out Sentry.
27) The New Avengers vol. 10: Power By Brian Michael Bendis and Billy Tan
Do not take Luke Cage and Jessica Jone's baby, they will mess you up with a tire iron.
28) Iron Fist vol 1 by Ed Brubker, Matt Fraction David Aja and Travel Foreman
I really liked this. I didn’t know much about Danny Rand going in to this book and it was just great. The story was well written and engaging and I liked the art. I was super excited to hear David Aja is going to be doing the art for the Hawkeye comic this fall.
29) Iron Fist vol 2: the Seven Capital Cities of Heaven by Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, David Aja and Howard Chaykin
Again I liked the story. I also liked getting to see the other Heroes for Hire and how they were helping Danny.
30) Spider-Man Revelations by J. Micheal Straczynski
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Aunt May in this. There's a lot I like about this book but Aunt May's storyline is my favorite.
31) Spider-Man: Coming Home by J. Micheal Straczynski, John Romita Jr. and Scott Hanna
32) Spider-Man: Crime and Punisher by Zeb Wells, Marc Guggenheim, Joe Kelly and Barry Kitson
I read this because it's Spider-Man and I'm never going to say I don't like Spider-Man but I didn't like this nearly as much as I liked the stuff by Straczynski. All the Brand New Day stuff was checked out so I started with this. And I was already not thrilled by what they did to Peter and MJ and this is not selling me on it at all.
33) Spider-Man: Death and Dating by A whole bunch of people
Eh.
34) Siege by Brian Michael Bendis, Olivier Coipel, Stuart Immonen and Daniel Acuna
It’s so freaking satisfying to see Osborn get what's coming to him. The moment when Tony Stark shows up and shuts down Osborne's armor was a delight. Let’s talk about the badass awesomeness that is Maria Hill in a pickup truck with a shoulder mounted missile launcher taking on Sentry.
35)Siege: Dark Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis, Mike Deodato and Chris Bachalo
Finally we get what's going on with The Sentry. Which still doesn’t make a lot of sense. And wow, that was kind of a boatload of fail with his wife. Her entire plotline bothers me a lot. There’s actually nothing about the Sentry story that I particularly enjoy.
36) The Amazing Spider-Man: Book 1 by J. Michael Straczynski and John Romita Jr.
The end of this one has some overlap with the first Spiderman book I read. Spiderman gets beat up alot. He meets Ezikele. May finds out he's Spiderman. Turns out I’m kind of a Peter Parker fangirl. I wish that someone would do this story with Ezikele and the totem eating guy instead of another origin story
37) The Best of Spiderman vol 3: by J. Michael Straczynski and Fiona Avery
There's a wasplady who wants to eat Peter, which seems to happen a lot. MJ and Peter get back together in a cute and delightful story.And there's a gamma radiation mobster guy. Also at one point we have guest stars of Cyclops, Reed Richards and Iron Man. If Namor had been there it would be a perfect trifecta of hilarious jerkiness. Amazingly enough they try to use science to stop magic and it goes terribly wrong. Who knew. Is there a chance that Mary Jane will one day have an entire shirt? Is her midriff allergic to cloth? That poor girl. She’s going to catch a cold. I’m concerned.
38) Invincible Iron Man Vol. 5: Stark Resilient. by Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca
Tony is back. Conveniently he doesn't remember anything about registration, the civil war, the skrulls or why everyone is mad at him. I actually really liked this story but then I'm a sucker for the whole rebuilding from scratch, gathering a team together, against the odds storyline. This also has the completely awesome story Tony tells Maria about how he went on a three day bender starting at the Playboy mansion and ending up in Monte Carlo. Even if I didn't like anything else about this book that story would have made it worth it.
However the more I read the less I like Larroca's art. I'm not a fan of the way he draws facial expressions, Tony can and should do more than grimace or smirk, and Tony Fucking Stark would have suits that actually fit him, especially if he's not actually wearing clothes he's just making them with his armor (not "amour" as I first typed. Although clothes made with Tony's amour would probably fit him MUCH better than the crap Larroca draws) One of the things I really enjoyed about Avengers Prime, besides the awesome look at the friendship of Tony, Steve and Thor, was the great facial expressions they all had. The facial expressions in the conversation about who had hooked up with Hellcat were priceless.
39)Captain America Vol. 3: Red Menace, Book One by Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting and Mike Perkins
Picking up where Winter Soldier left off we get more of Red Skull's crazy pants daughter and Steve feeling a lot of angst over Bucky. I'll be honest I spent a lot of time asking Sharon Carter "what are you wearing?" She is sure married to the trench coat over the SHIELD uniform, which is unfortunate. But I do love her enjoyment of a good burger. She's right, you have to have standards. I like Sharon a lot, I just wish I liked her with Steve. I'm not sure what it is about the two of them that bothers me. Maybe it's because I know what's coming for them? I don't know.
40) Captain America Vol. 3: Red Menace, Book Two by Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting and Mike Perkins
Everybody goes to London. Sharon continues to wear the hell out of that trench coat. This one hit me right in the Bucky feels. When he admits that he's not ready to face Steve? Hurt. Because I want them to work on repairing everything that has been broken between them. And Steve so wants to help and Bucky just can't take it.
41)Siege:Battlefield by Many, many people.
This is a bunch of oneshots about siege, including Captain America, Spider-Man and Young Avengers. I kind of adore it. Especially the great Spider-Man/Ms. Marvel banter and flirting. I admit it, I can ship that.
42) New Avengers: The Reunion by Jim McCann and David Lopez
I really don't like Lopez's art. I especially hate his Clint. Just not at ALL what I think Clint looks like. This is Mockingbird and Hawkeye's reunion after she was kidnapped by skrulls and he died. I know very little about Bobbi and I want to like her but this wasn't the book to do it for me.
43)Marvel Adventures: The Avengers vol.8: The New Recuits by Jeff Parker
Does Tony use his suit to cheat in a FISHING competition with Luke Cage? YES, he does. And does it backfire horribly and cause a giant fish attack and a pissed off Nomar? Yes again. This is also the issue where Thor and Storm sneak around on a date while Spider-man has to distract Odin. (wha? It's hilarious) and then Tony and Steve go on another of their lunch in the park dates (in costume) and then toss around Cap's shield like a Frisbee. My love of this universe is hard to express.
44)Calamity Jack by Shannon and Dean Hale, art by Nathan Hale.
A retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk set in a steampunkish Old West/Back East city.
45) Spider-Man: 24/7 by Fred Van Lente, Dan Slott, Mark Waid
Peter and the Fantastic Four go to the macroverse and spend WAY too much time there. Also J. Jonah Jameson ends up mayor of New York. WHA? I have to say though that I'm loving Aunt May's romance. I really liked her and Jarvis (although we all know how well that worked out.) I just want May to be happy!
46)Spider-Man: American Son by Joe Kelly and Phil Jimenez
Oh Peter. OH HARRY!
Books Read
1) The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Let's not start this year with anything less than the best. Every once in a while someone writes a book that takes what should be an uninteresting, formulaic plot and turns it into something utterly magnificent. John Green does that with The Fault in Our Stars. It’s a cancer book, but as the narrator, Hazel Grace, points out very early on, it’s not a cancer book. Green’s writing is always good and deep and rich and lyrical and he doesn’t disappoint here. I need to re-read it to be able to take the time and soak up all his fantastic prose.
2) The Chronicles of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg, Sherman Alexie, M.T. Anderson, Kate DiCamillo, Cory Doctorow, Jules Feiffer, Stephen King, Tabitha King, Lois Lowry, Gregory Maguire, Walter Dean Myers, Linda Sue Park, Louis Sachar and Jon Scieszka.
In 1984, Chris Van Allsburg created a picture book titled The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. The book consisted of 14 beautiful and fantastical black-and-white illustrations, each accompanied by a title and very short caption. The concept behind the book is that Van Allsburg found these illustrations at the home of a former children’s book publisher who had been given them by a man named Harris Burdick, who then disappeared never to be heard from again. This grabbed my attention immediately -- I loved this book. Van Allsburg’s art is amazing, and I’ve considered cutting the illustrations out to frame, if I could just overcome my inherent dislike of damaging books.
This book gave each of the 14 authors a picture and then they wrote the story that went with that picture. Written in a variety of tones and styles, each story still manages to maintain the mysterious and haunting feeling of the original book.
I definitely have favorites. Jon Scieszka’s “Under the Rug” and Sherman Alexie’s “A Strange Day in July” are both so delightfully creepy I had to immediately re-read them. “Another Place, Another Time” by Cory Doctorow is a short story with a unique take on time travel that is perfect all on its own, but if Doctorow ever decided to expand it into a novel I’d be first in line to buy it.
3) Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley
Oh this book. This book went places I was not expecting and I love it for that. The writing is beautiful. Whaley has a way with words that makes reading a delight. And the way he weaves the two stories together works amazingly well. I know what I think happened at that end but I can't promise that if you read we'll think the same thing. I call this one "literary fiction for young adults" and I've been handing it out to a select group of kids that I think are ready for this. Because it's a book that makes you think.
4) Fake mustache: or, how Jodie O'Rodeo and her wonder horse (and some nerdy kid) saved the U.S. Presidential election from a mad genius criminal mastermind. by Tom Angleberger
I have not laughed this hard at a book in a long time. It's a middle grade fiction book by the always funny Angleberger. I love his Origami Yoda books so I was really looking forward to getting a hold of this. It's a delight. Much wackier than the Yoda books, you just have to shrug off any disbelief and just go with the story. Kids love Angleberger's stuff because he manages to find that sense of the absurd that kids really get. He reigns it in in the yoda books but this book's entire premise is built on the fact that a 12 year old in a smart man-about-town suit and a fake mustache convinces everyone in the world except his best friend that he is a short business man names Fako Mustacheo. Throw in bands of evil mimes, an ex-preteen singing cowgirl rodeo star, and an disgruntled European assassin and you begin to get an idea of how this book goes. Give it to every kid that loved the Yoda books, plus kids that are looking for something "funny" or "different" The point of view switches between a boy and girl so even boys reluctant to read something about a girl will probably pick this up especially because the first chunk of the book is the boy's point of view.
5)Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir by Jenny Lawson.
There were times reading this book where I laughed so hard I gave myself a headache due to lack of oxygen. I laughed big, huge, snorting, ugly, uncontrollable laughter that made drinking or eating anything dangerous and messy. And it's so nice to know that there are other people out there that think and act like I do. I love this woman and I'm so glad that she is willing to tell these stories on herself. She's a delight and I'd love to buy her a beer but I'm pretty sure we are both so socially awkward that I'd never be able to express that desire in a non-creepy way.
6)Deadline by Mira Grant
7) Blackout by Mira Grant
8) All of Kind Family by Taylor
9) Ramona Quimby Age 8 by Cleary
Picture Books of Note:
1)The House That Baba Built by Ed Young
A beautiful picture book biography by Caldecott winning author and illustrator Ed Young about growing up in his childhood home in Shanghai during WWII. This is a beautiful book and deals with aspects of the war that many U.S. children no nothing about.
2)Me…Jane by Patrick McDonnell
Another picture book biography, this time about Jane Goodall. I fell in love with this book and was thrilled when it won a Caldecott honor this year. McDonnell incorporates sketches from Jane's own notebooks into the illustrations and tells a very simple and engaging story of a young girl named Jane who grows up to do exactly what she dreamed about.
3)Blackout by John Rocco
This Caldecott Honor book is the story of one family brought together through a summer night blackout. The illustrations are lush and deep and draw you into the fun and excitement of a blackout when you’re a child.
4) Jazz Age Josephine by Jonah Winter, Illustrations by Marjorie Priceman
This is a good year for picture book bios. I love this story of Josephine Baker. Priceman's illustrations are bright, and rich and dance across the pages. The book doesn't shy away about the racial reasons that Baker left the U.S. but it does gloss over the content of her act. Don't try to read this one aloud unless you can scat. If you can, then by god, use it in a storytime for the 5 year old set.
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Really this is looking like the Year of the Graphic Novel. I've divided up the list into graphic novels, books and picture books.
Graphic Novels:
1) The New Avengers vol. 1: Breakout by Brian Michael Bendis, David Finch and Danny Miki
Steve and Tony get the band back together. Okay, so maybe not with the same members but hey they still fight bad guys and snark at each other. My take-away from this comic is the bagel conversation and the fact that Tony has an amazing number of giant painting of Steve in his house. Their relationship is so odd. Also there's naked times and a bad guy named Suron (which cracked me up).
2) The New Avengers vol. 2: Sentry By Brian Michael Bendis and Steve McNiven
In which we learn about Sentry, sort of.
3) Invincible Iron Man vol. 1: The Five Nightmares by Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca
And thus begins the trying to match this with the Avengers time line. Tony is director of SHIELD, that’s not going well. Pepper gets her arc reactor and Tony and Maria Hill yell at each other a lot.
4) Invincible Iron Man vol.2: World’s Most Wanted Book 1 by Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca
So wow that’s a jump. We just skipped over the whole Skrull invasion here. Tony’s on the run deliberately giving himself brain damage in order to delete his brain. I did not expect to love IIM as much as I do but it turns out I have a lot of Tony Stark Feels. But as much as I love this story, summarizing it makes it sound like the plot of a bad soap opera. In addition to all the Tony stuff, Pepper finds the suit Tony made her and takes one more step in her every increasing journey of awesomeness.
5) Invincible Iron Man Vol. 3: World’s Most Wanted Book 2 by Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca
Can we talk about how awesome Pepper Potts is? Because wow, she's so awesome. I love her.
6) The Avengers vol. 1 by Brian Michael Bendis and John Romita Jr
AKA getting the team back together AGAIN! Reading things in the time honored tradition of whatever comes into the library means things are way out of order and I have to rely on Wikipedia. But that’s okay.
So this is The New Avengers but not the NewAvengers and not the New New Avengers, that’s something else entirely, completely different people on that team. Confused? Yeah just a little. These things need better names. There's time travel and the Avengers kids and delightfully old and cranky Tony and Hulk.
7)Avengers Prime by Brian Michael Bendis and Alan Davis
The Oh Thank God We Don’t ALL Hate Each Other Anymore book. Also the one where Tony Stark rides a horse naked and then he and Steve Rogers flirt shamelessly while one of them has no clothes on. Also some plot involving Thor happens. Whatever. I’m clearly just here for the snark.
8) Hades: Lord of the Dead (Olympians) by George O’Conner
This is the fourth of O’Conner’s Olympians graphic novels and while the title says it’s all about Hades, it’s actually all about Persephone. O’Conner writes the story of a young girl who gets a chance to get out from under her mother’s somewhat smothering presence and make a life for herself. Sure she’s kidnapped, at first, but O’Conner noticed that in all the rest of the greek myths we never see Persephone as anything other than the queen of the dead. And people fear her more than Hades. He wondered why there are no myths and stories about the times of the year when she’s not in the underworld. Maybe it’s because she likes it there.
9)Marvel Adventures: Thor by Paul Tobin
Marvel Adventures! Where everyone is happy and the Hulk has a box of kittens and Steve and Tony play basketball and then take down telemarketers! Whheeeee!
10) Marvel Adventures: The Avengers vol.4: The Dream Team by Jeff Parker
11)Secret Avengers: Mission to Mars by Ed Brubaker and Mike Deodato
I really like the Secret Avengers. Steve Rogers seems like he likes to keep busy. Now I just need to find a few more because my library has none.
12) The NEW Avengers vol:1 by Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen
The NEW New Avengers. Because they wanted to name things and make it as confusing as possible. Luke Cage buys the Mansion for a dollar, which he has to borrow from Danny. I love it. I also really like the humor in these, the digs at the ridiculousness of comics in general. Stephen Strange, the shirtless dude with the hair, the Voodoo guy and a lot of magic are all in this book. Then later I read stuff that happened before this and suddenly this book made more sense. Whatever. Continuity is for bitches.
13) The New Avengers vol. 3: Secrets and Lies By Brian Michael Bendis, David Finch, Frank Cho and Rick Mays
Ninjas! Tony’s penthouse in Tokyo is destroyed when the Avengers are attacked by ninjas. My favorite moment is when Luke Cage is thrown off the building and then has to come back up in the elevator. We also get a lot of Spider-Woman’s backstory which is weird and kinda creepy, even for comics. I really love her, but I’m not sure about that whole experimented on by her dad, surgery from HYDRA thing.
14) The New Avengers vol. 11: Search for the Sorcerer Supreme By Brian Michael Bendis, Billy Tan and Chris Bachalo
Note how I sort of skipped over that whole Civil War thing. I’m not sure I’m emotionally able to deal with that right now.
The Avengers take a field trip to New Orleans.
Billy gets an appearance in this! I'm going to have to get someone to get me the Young Avengers stuff because he's adorbs. Also Shirtless Dude with the Hair, Hi Shirtless dude with the Hair, Oh you're the son of satan? Of course you are.
15) The New Avengers vol. 12: Powerloss By Brian Michael Bendis and Stuart Immonen
Mockingbird gets to be awesome. Yay. Also because of the way I'm reading these I'm reading them all out of order. But I somehow managed to get a ton of stuff about Stephen Strange, that shirtless guy with the hair, and the Red Hood guy. If I was just going on what I've managed to get my hands on I'm pretty sure I'd think they were like The Entire point of the comics.
16) Invincible Iron Man Vol. 4: Stark Disassembled by Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca
I have so many Tony feels. It's hard to express in words. What comes out is "Oh Tony" Also Pepper continues to be awesome and I've been won over by Maria Hill. I kinda like her.
17) Captain America: Reborn by Ed Brubaker, Bryan Hitch and Jackson Guice
I haven’t managed to read the Death of Captain America But this one I enjoyed. Apparently I’m going to work my way backwards through Cap.
18) Captain America: Winter Soldier vol 1. by Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting
BUCKY!!!! STEVE! Oh Right in the feels!
19) Captain America: Winter Soldier vol. 2 By Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting and Mike Perkins
“Remember who you are.” Oh Bucky. That just killed me.
20) Marvel Adventures Avengers Vol 5. Some Assembling Required by Jeff Parker
We meet Hawkeye. Tony's Suit gets melted off, but he's wearing boxers not a red thong. They aren't even red boxers. Whatever. Also Vision shows up.
21) Marvel Adventures Avengers Vol 6.Mighty Marvels by Marc Sumerak
Both Hank and Natasha show up. At one point everyone plays a game of baseball.
I like the Marvel Adventure Avengers but I like the Marvel Adventure Avengers that collect the "super heroes" more. Mainly because they have over-arcing plots as well as individual bits.
22) Marvel Adventures Avengers Vol 7. Weirder and Wilder by Jeff Parker
This is the one where they go to the county fair, Hulk chases a pig, and several of them are shrunken (shrunk?). This is also the one where Steve and Tony go on a man date, play basketball and then take down...wait for it...yes telemarketers. Then they go for burgers.
23) Marvel Adventures Spider-Man and the Avengers by Paul Tobin
Competitive shopping, a robot dog, Hulk goes to the Oscars, and Hawkeye goes on what might be a terrible date.
24) Young Avengers vol 1: Sidekicks by Allan Heinberg and Jim Cheung
As much as I love the Avengers I think I might love the Young Avengers more. They are adorable. I love how they don’t really know what they are doing. And I love how Kate shows up with Cassie and is all We are totally joining your little boys club because I saved your lives and we are totally awesome. I also love the discussions over names. Hawkingbird is actually kind of awesome. And the comment that Billy needs to change his name from Asgardian, that conversation made me laugh out loud.
25) Young Avengers vol 2: Family Matters by Allan Heinberg, Jim Cheung, Andrea Di Vito and Gene Ha
Billy's "coming out" was delightful. And I love that Captain America basically says "I'm going to tell your parents on you." About their superheroing and it like The Worst Thing the kids can imagine.
Also oh Teddy. I just want to hug him. That’s a lot of crap to have thrown your way. And Tommy! Oh Tommy. I love you you wackadoo, bitter boy. Man Billy’s parents are like the most chill ever. Oh you’re gay? No problem. Oh you’re a superhero? Still not a problem. Oh You have a juvenile delinquent astral twin brother who needs a place to live? Sure. These people deserve a medal.
26) Young Avengers: Dark Reign by Paul Cornell and Mark Brooks
This was good and I liked it but oh poor Melter kind of broke my heart. And I loved that Eli punched Norman Osborne. That was one of those moments that made me smile. And I love that the kids took out Sentry.
27) The New Avengers vol. 10: Power By Brian Michael Bendis and Billy Tan
Do not take Luke Cage and Jessica Jone's baby, they will mess you up with a tire iron.
28) Iron Fist vol 1 by Ed Brubker, Matt Fraction David Aja and Travel Foreman
I really liked this. I didn’t know much about Danny Rand going in to this book and it was just great. The story was well written and engaging and I liked the art. I was super excited to hear David Aja is going to be doing the art for the Hawkeye comic this fall.
29) Iron Fist vol 2: the Seven Capital Cities of Heaven by Ed Brubaker, Matt Fraction, David Aja and Howard Chaykin
Again I liked the story. I also liked getting to see the other Heroes for Hire and how they were helping Danny.
30) Spider-Man Revelations by J. Micheal Straczynski
I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Aunt May in this. There's a lot I like about this book but Aunt May's storyline is my favorite.
31) Spider-Man: Coming Home by J. Micheal Straczynski, John Romita Jr. and Scott Hanna
32) Spider-Man: Crime and Punisher by Zeb Wells, Marc Guggenheim, Joe Kelly and Barry Kitson
I read this because it's Spider-Man and I'm never going to say I don't like Spider-Man but I didn't like this nearly as much as I liked the stuff by Straczynski. All the Brand New Day stuff was checked out so I started with this. And I was already not thrilled by what they did to Peter and MJ and this is not selling me on it at all.
33) Spider-Man: Death and Dating by A whole bunch of people
Eh.
34) Siege by Brian Michael Bendis, Olivier Coipel, Stuart Immonen and Daniel Acuna
It’s so freaking satisfying to see Osborn get what's coming to him. The moment when Tony Stark shows up and shuts down Osborne's armor was a delight. Let’s talk about the badass awesomeness that is Maria Hill in a pickup truck with a shoulder mounted missile launcher taking on Sentry.
35)Siege: Dark Avengers by Brian Michael Bendis, Mike Deodato and Chris Bachalo
Finally we get what's going on with The Sentry. Which still doesn’t make a lot of sense. And wow, that was kind of a boatload of fail with his wife. Her entire plotline bothers me a lot. There’s actually nothing about the Sentry story that I particularly enjoy.
36) The Amazing Spider-Man: Book 1 by J. Michael Straczynski and John Romita Jr.
The end of this one has some overlap with the first Spiderman book I read. Spiderman gets beat up alot. He meets Ezikele. May finds out he's Spiderman. Turns out I’m kind of a Peter Parker fangirl. I wish that someone would do this story with Ezikele and the totem eating guy instead of another origin story
37) The Best of Spiderman vol 3: by J. Michael Straczynski and Fiona Avery
There's a wasplady who wants to eat Peter, which seems to happen a lot. MJ and Peter get back together in a cute and delightful story.And there's a gamma radiation mobster guy. Also at one point we have guest stars of Cyclops, Reed Richards and Iron Man. If Namor had been there it would be a perfect trifecta of hilarious jerkiness. Amazingly enough they try to use science to stop magic and it goes terribly wrong. Who knew. Is there a chance that Mary Jane will one day have an entire shirt? Is her midriff allergic to cloth? That poor girl. She’s going to catch a cold. I’m concerned.
38) Invincible Iron Man Vol. 5: Stark Resilient. by Matt Fraction and Salvador Larroca
Tony is back. Conveniently he doesn't remember anything about registration, the civil war, the skrulls or why everyone is mad at him. I actually really liked this story but then I'm a sucker for the whole rebuilding from scratch, gathering a team together, against the odds storyline. This also has the completely awesome story Tony tells Maria about how he went on a three day bender starting at the Playboy mansion and ending up in Monte Carlo. Even if I didn't like anything else about this book that story would have made it worth it.
However the more I read the less I like Larroca's art. I'm not a fan of the way he draws facial expressions, Tony can and should do more than grimace or smirk, and Tony Fucking Stark would have suits that actually fit him, especially if he's not actually wearing clothes he's just making them with his armor (not "amour" as I first typed. Although clothes made with Tony's amour would probably fit him MUCH better than the crap Larroca draws) One of the things I really enjoyed about Avengers Prime, besides the awesome look at the friendship of Tony, Steve and Thor, was the great facial expressions they all had. The facial expressions in the conversation about who had hooked up with Hellcat were priceless.
39)Captain America Vol. 3: Red Menace, Book One by Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting and Mike Perkins
Picking up where Winter Soldier left off we get more of Red Skull's crazy pants daughter and Steve feeling a lot of angst over Bucky. I'll be honest I spent a lot of time asking Sharon Carter "what are you wearing?" She is sure married to the trench coat over the SHIELD uniform, which is unfortunate. But I do love her enjoyment of a good burger. She's right, you have to have standards. I like Sharon a lot, I just wish I liked her with Steve. I'm not sure what it is about the two of them that bothers me. Maybe it's because I know what's coming for them? I don't know.
40) Captain America Vol. 3: Red Menace, Book Two by Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting and Mike Perkins
Everybody goes to London. Sharon continues to wear the hell out of that trench coat. This one hit me right in the Bucky feels. When he admits that he's not ready to face Steve? Hurt. Because I want them to work on repairing everything that has been broken between them. And Steve so wants to help and Bucky just can't take it.
41)Siege:Battlefield by Many, many people.
This is a bunch of oneshots about siege, including Captain America, Spider-Man and Young Avengers. I kind of adore it. Especially the great Spider-Man/Ms. Marvel banter and flirting. I admit it, I can ship that.
42) New Avengers: The Reunion by Jim McCann and David Lopez
I really don't like Lopez's art. I especially hate his Clint. Just not at ALL what I think Clint looks like. This is Mockingbird and Hawkeye's reunion after she was kidnapped by skrulls and he died. I know very little about Bobbi and I want to like her but this wasn't the book to do it for me.
43)Marvel Adventures: The Avengers vol.8: The New Recuits by Jeff Parker
Does Tony use his suit to cheat in a FISHING competition with Luke Cage? YES, he does. And does it backfire horribly and cause a giant fish attack and a pissed off Nomar? Yes again. This is also the issue where Thor and Storm sneak around on a date while Spider-man has to distract Odin. (wha? It's hilarious) and then Tony and Steve go on another of their lunch in the park dates (in costume) and then toss around Cap's shield like a Frisbee. My love of this universe is hard to express.
44)Calamity Jack by Shannon and Dean Hale, art by Nathan Hale.
A retelling of Jack and the Beanstalk set in a steampunkish Old West/Back East city.
45) Spider-Man: 24/7 by Fred Van Lente, Dan Slott, Mark Waid
Peter and the Fantastic Four go to the macroverse and spend WAY too much time there. Also J. Jonah Jameson ends up mayor of New York. WHA? I have to say though that I'm loving Aunt May's romance. I really liked her and Jarvis (although we all know how well that worked out.) I just want May to be happy!
46)Spider-Man: American Son by Joe Kelly and Phil Jimenez
Oh Peter. OH HARRY!
Books Read
1) The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Let's not start this year with anything less than the best. Every once in a while someone writes a book that takes what should be an uninteresting, formulaic plot and turns it into something utterly magnificent. John Green does that with The Fault in Our Stars. It’s a cancer book, but as the narrator, Hazel Grace, points out very early on, it’s not a cancer book. Green’s writing is always good and deep and rich and lyrical and he doesn’t disappoint here. I need to re-read it to be able to take the time and soak up all his fantastic prose.
2) The Chronicles of Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg, Sherman Alexie, M.T. Anderson, Kate DiCamillo, Cory Doctorow, Jules Feiffer, Stephen King, Tabitha King, Lois Lowry, Gregory Maguire, Walter Dean Myers, Linda Sue Park, Louis Sachar and Jon Scieszka.
In 1984, Chris Van Allsburg created a picture book titled The Mysteries of Harris Burdick. The book consisted of 14 beautiful and fantastical black-and-white illustrations, each accompanied by a title and very short caption. The concept behind the book is that Van Allsburg found these illustrations at the home of a former children’s book publisher who had been given them by a man named Harris Burdick, who then disappeared never to be heard from again. This grabbed my attention immediately -- I loved this book. Van Allsburg’s art is amazing, and I’ve considered cutting the illustrations out to frame, if I could just overcome my inherent dislike of damaging books.
This book gave each of the 14 authors a picture and then they wrote the story that went with that picture. Written in a variety of tones and styles, each story still manages to maintain the mysterious and haunting feeling of the original book.
I definitely have favorites. Jon Scieszka’s “Under the Rug” and Sherman Alexie’s “A Strange Day in July” are both so delightfully creepy I had to immediately re-read them. “Another Place, Another Time” by Cory Doctorow is a short story with a unique take on time travel that is perfect all on its own, but if Doctorow ever decided to expand it into a novel I’d be first in line to buy it.
3) Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley
Oh this book. This book went places I was not expecting and I love it for that. The writing is beautiful. Whaley has a way with words that makes reading a delight. And the way he weaves the two stories together works amazingly well. I know what I think happened at that end but I can't promise that if you read we'll think the same thing. I call this one "literary fiction for young adults" and I've been handing it out to a select group of kids that I think are ready for this. Because it's a book that makes you think.
4) Fake mustache: or, how Jodie O'Rodeo and her wonder horse (and some nerdy kid) saved the U.S. Presidential election from a mad genius criminal mastermind. by Tom Angleberger
I have not laughed this hard at a book in a long time. It's a middle grade fiction book by the always funny Angleberger. I love his Origami Yoda books so I was really looking forward to getting a hold of this. It's a delight. Much wackier than the Yoda books, you just have to shrug off any disbelief and just go with the story. Kids love Angleberger's stuff because he manages to find that sense of the absurd that kids really get. He reigns it in in the yoda books but this book's entire premise is built on the fact that a 12 year old in a smart man-about-town suit and a fake mustache convinces everyone in the world except his best friend that he is a short business man names Fako Mustacheo. Throw in bands of evil mimes, an ex-preteen singing cowgirl rodeo star, and an disgruntled European assassin and you begin to get an idea of how this book goes. Give it to every kid that loved the Yoda books, plus kids that are looking for something "funny" or "different" The point of view switches between a boy and girl so even boys reluctant to read something about a girl will probably pick this up especially because the first chunk of the book is the boy's point of view.
5)Let's Pretend This Never Happened: A Mostly True Memoir by Jenny Lawson.
There were times reading this book where I laughed so hard I gave myself a headache due to lack of oxygen. I laughed big, huge, snorting, ugly, uncontrollable laughter that made drinking or eating anything dangerous and messy. And it's so nice to know that there are other people out there that think and act like I do. I love this woman and I'm so glad that she is willing to tell these stories on herself. She's a delight and I'd love to buy her a beer but I'm pretty sure we are both so socially awkward that I'd never be able to express that desire in a non-creepy way.
6)Deadline by Mira Grant
7) Blackout by Mira Grant
8) All of Kind Family by Taylor
9) Ramona Quimby Age 8 by Cleary
Picture Books of Note:
1)The House That Baba Built by Ed Young
A beautiful picture book biography by Caldecott winning author and illustrator Ed Young about growing up in his childhood home in Shanghai during WWII. This is a beautiful book and deals with aspects of the war that many U.S. children no nothing about.
2)Me…Jane by Patrick McDonnell
Another picture book biography, this time about Jane Goodall. I fell in love with this book and was thrilled when it won a Caldecott honor this year. McDonnell incorporates sketches from Jane's own notebooks into the illustrations and tells a very simple and engaging story of a young girl named Jane who grows up to do exactly what she dreamed about.
3)Blackout by John Rocco
This Caldecott Honor book is the story of one family brought together through a summer night blackout. The illustrations are lush and deep and draw you into the fun and excitement of a blackout when you’re a child.
4) Jazz Age Josephine by Jonah Winter, Illustrations by Marjorie Priceman
This is a good year for picture book bios. I love this story of Josephine Baker. Priceman's illustrations are bright, and rich and dance across the pages. The book doesn't shy away about the racial reasons that Baker left the U.S. but it does gloss over the content of her act. Don't try to read this one aloud unless you can scat. If you can, then by god, use it in a storytime for the 5 year old set.
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