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Book 2/50 The Sandman: The Season of Mist by Neil Gaiman, tpb, 218 pages
Fourth in the series of Sandman books, The Season of Mist is a story about Lucifer abdicating the throne of hell and turning its key over to Morpheus. Of course, this brings about no end of trouble as Morpheus is quickly inundated with requests and demands for Hell, which is apparently prime netherworldy real estate.
I've quickly become a big Sandman fan in general, so it's no surprise that I loved this book too. And with a total of 11 graphic novels in the collected Sandman series, I have plenty more reading ahead of me.
Book 3/50 Blade of the Immortal: Blood of a Thousand by Hiroaki Samura, tpb, 136 pages
The first of many books compiling the BotI manga, "Blood of a Thousand" tells the origins of Manji and how he became the immortal ronin on a quest to slay one thousand evil men. Stylistically, Blade of the Immortal isn't much like other manga. The story itself is set in feudal Japan, but the author purposefully laces the text with cultural and linguistic anachronisms. The combat is visceral - often showing severed body parts and gouts of blood - but the fact that the book is entirely black and white masks some of the gore and keeps it artful. The story told in this first volume is nothing earth-shattering, but does do an excellent job of setting the characters up and giving you a taste of what is to come. Worth reading for anyone who is remotely interested in samurai swordplay and feudal Japanese fiction.
Fourth in the series of Sandman books, The Season of Mist is a story about Lucifer abdicating the throne of hell and turning its key over to Morpheus. Of course, this brings about no end of trouble as Morpheus is quickly inundated with requests and demands for Hell, which is apparently prime netherworldy real estate.
I've quickly become a big Sandman fan in general, so it's no surprise that I loved this book too. And with a total of 11 graphic novels in the collected Sandman series, I have plenty more reading ahead of me.
Book 3/50 Blade of the Immortal: Blood of a Thousand by Hiroaki Samura, tpb, 136 pages
The first of many books compiling the BotI manga, "Blood of a Thousand" tells the origins of Manji and how he became the immortal ronin on a quest to slay one thousand evil men. Stylistically, Blade of the Immortal isn't much like other manga. The story itself is set in feudal Japan, but the author purposefully laces the text with cultural and linguistic anachronisms. The combat is visceral - often showing severed body parts and gouts of blood - but the fact that the book is entirely black and white masks some of the gore and keeps it artful. The story told in this first volume is nothing earth-shattering, but does do an excellent job of setting the characters up and giving you a taste of what is to come. Worth reading for anyone who is remotely interested in samurai swordplay and feudal Japanese fiction.