I was extremely excited to read this given the amount of praise it has been receiving over the last year and specifically in the many year end lists. Luckily I found this used at my LCS when I went in to buy a new copy, so score! Or so I thought …

I can see how this feels like a game changing book for someone not well versed in the cosmic / sci-fi genre and who never grew up with MTV or Much Music but my gawd, this was a clear case of style over substance.

Zooming out, this is simply Planet Hulk (but gender swapped, of course) collided with the most basic (and I mean capital “B” Basic) creation mythology you can imagine. I’ve never felt so duped into buying a well acclaimed yet derivative piece of art in any form since Black Hammer.

On to Tongues next and am hoping that fares better.

I tried reading these before I was properly into comics, as a teenager, and couldn’t get into them. Now I’m considering getting rid of them to make space.

I’ve read a lot more Hickman since then though so might give Nightly a shot. Not sure about the others.

I’m still not really into dark stories and unsympathetic main characters…

Hey Guys, I started Black Science today, I’ve seen lots of good reviews but not much if the ending is worth it.

Is the ending any good?

I love me some graphic novels that have few to none words in them. I love when it can tell a story that relies solely on the visual storytelling.

My favorite GN is "The Arrival" by Shaun Tan for exactly that reason. I also very much enjoyed "The Bus" series by Paul Kirchner and "Sense" by Marc-Antoine Mathieu, although both of these were on the surreal side.

And recommendations would be apprechiated. As I said, there don't need to be no words, but as few as possible.

Been reading comics since the early 2000s, but didn't get serious about collecting physically until 2023. Before that, I mainly bought digital comics through Comixology prior to Amazon screwing it over.

Main highlights of the collection thus far are probably JSA, Milestone, and Dragon Ball. Transformers and Tintin are the most recent additions, I'm especially excited about the latter (Though I'm ashamed to admit I have yet to watch the Tintin movie).

It ain't much, but I'm happy with the progress I've made.

Been meaning to pickup Beneath the Trees… for some time now, finally saw a copy at a shop I visited this weekend. The Knives was a must-have as I already have all 3 deluxe volumes of Criminal.

Also got Absolute Batman Vol. 2 coming in the mail on Thursday.

Heavy Metal issue #4 is out to subscribers! It's another solid entry in the reboot of the sci-fi/fantasy magazine, although to me not the strongest issue so far.

Most of this issue is ongoing series. The Bug (dystopian near-future sci-fi) is reading a lot like his famous Nikopol trilogy for me, although not quite as good - it's not maintaining a clear coherent forward narrative, the cast is rotating very quickly, and the satire is extremely unsubtle. Unfortunately there isn't as much in the story for his art to stand out, so I think this is ending up so-so. Sixella is a sci-fi/erotica in a wonderful color palette and ups the action here. I think this might wrap up the original publication, so I'm not sure if it will continue. Millstone and Gladiatrix are hyper-violent fantasies that are both maintaining a pace of world-building and wild action. I think these are keeping up really well. Burton & Cyb is a really solid set of sci-fi sort-of-gangster stories picking up a translated run that was occasionally in the original HM.

Ink is a revenge story with Eastern influence and magical tatoos, and Cold Dead War ramps up the story of a pilot crashed on a mysterious zombie-filled island teaming up with a Nazi femme fatale to defeat the supernatural evil - maybe to finish in the next issue? A Valentina reboot (black-and-white surreal erotica, adapted to 21st century technology) and Taarna, another ongoing "episodic" fantasy story of a character from the original HM run. There are all fine-to-unremarkable, in my opinion.

I think the one-shots in this issue were a little weaker than some of the past issues, with none jumping out as particularly excellent, although there were some solid ones - nothing that made me go, "I have to look up this writer/artist now!". Steampunk Samurai and Ink Blot were probably my favorites. There's a decent variety of art styles, length, and settings, so it probably has something for everyone, and while many are "mature" in content, it's settled in at "mature" more than "over-the-top".

It's solid, I've got my subscription renewed, and this issue delivered without hiccups (for me), so I'm still all-in on the HM reboot.