Mostly #ComicsFebruary Reviews

It's one of my absolute favorite months of the year right now and it's all thanks to my very dear friend, Debi!! It's a favorite month for two reasons...1. It celebrates the month in which said friend was brought into this world and 2. It's the month that she has dubbed #comicsfebrurary :D A few years back, me and Debi started doing themed reading months which has always been fun and February just sort of became the month that we indulged in comics all month. This year, neither one of us really wanted to stick with themed reading months, but neither of us could pass up a whole month devoted to comics :p After the way this month has started, I'm tempted to just make this a year of graphic novels :p I thought I'd talk to you about what I've read since my last update which is almost all graphic novels aside from one regular old novel. Here we go!

• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (Graphic Novel) by Eric Shanower, illustrated by Skottie Young - I'm ashamed to admit this, but I've never read the Oz books!!! I've wanted to for years though and when Marvel released these incredibly beautiful graphic novel versions, I knew I wanted to get my hands on them. Shanower writes in the introduction about his love for all things Oz and you know right away that you're in good hands here. I loved this story SO much, I loved Young's take on the characters and it's one that I just got completely lost in. Great for all ages. Can't wait to read the next which is sitting right next to me!

• Alex + Ada by Jonathan Luna - Holy Shit this book was so good. I don't know if I'm going to be able to wait for volume 2 to be published...I may just end up buying all of the individual issues on Comixology (which I'll talk about in a second). This story takes place in the near future and immediately draws you in with it's beautiful artwork and advances in technology that seem not so science-fiction-y with the technology overload of a world that we live in. Alex is given an android for his birthday by his grandmother that looks just like a human woman and is quickly disturbed that she can't make choices for herself...or is it that he craves more from the technology around him as we become more and more attached to our devices. There are a LOT of undertones to this story and dammit I'm in love with it!

• Something Like Autumn by Jay Bell - This is the only non graphic novel that I've read this month so far. It's the third book in Jay Bell's Seasons series and I knew going into this story that it would leave me a mess and *sigh* it did :( But damn was it good. I know I've pushed this series on people like crazy with my last two reviews, but seriously...READ IT!!! Such an amazing lgbt coming of age series...I haven't been so invested in fictional characters in ages.

• The Wicked + The Divine Vol. 1 by Kieron Gillen - Well this one sounded good in theory and I loved the cover art. It's the story of 12 gods that manifest themselves on Earth every 90 years as popular culture icons for 2 years and then disappear again. They cause general mayhem during those years...I was all about this story...until I read it. It just didn't work for me sadly :( It was too disorganized and too all over the place. HOWEVER, I did get something good out of it! It was my first time reading a comic digitally through the Comixology app and I am now TOTALLY sold on digital comics!! I've never been a big ereader until now but I just love the way comics look on an ereader screen!! The colors are amazing and crisp, Comixology has a guided display where you can read panel by panel if you want and you can even subscribe to series which reminds me of the old days of having a folder in the comic book shops where my subscriptions would be waiting for me :) Love it!

• The Sculptor by Scott McCloud - WOW. This book was so damn good. I haven't loved a graphic novel this much since Blankets by Craig Thompson. It's about a young sculptor who's first and only love is his art and quite literally gives his life for it. He makes a deal with death to be able to create art from anything he touches but in doing so, he has only months to live. Through a cruel twist of fate, he falls in love during those last few days that he has and this is the story of those last few days. Heart breaking, inspiring, beautiful. I just never wanted it to end. So so good. Everyone should read this!!!

• Captain Marvel Vol. 1 by Kelly Sue DeConnick - I am really loving what Marvel is doing for women in comics these days and I'm loving that they have so many women writers in comics right now too!! This is the reboot of the Avenger, Captain Marvel's story as she teams up in volume 1 with The Guardians of the Galaxy to help save an alien planet from defeat. It was also my first time reading anything with The Guardians of the Galaxy! Once again, I love that Marvel created a strong female character that isn't overly sexualized, is intelligent and doesn't rely on a million other people to handle a situation. I read this one on Comixology too and just downloaded the rest of the series and subscribed to it so I can keep up :)

So how's #comicsfebruary going for everyone else?? Haven't read any comics yet this month? It's not to late to start! This isn't a challenge, there are no sign ups, none of that...it's just reading for fun :) And Debi is doing round ups and recaps on her blog if you're looking for some suggestions of things to read! You can follow the hashtag on social media sites too. Ok...back to the books! Have a good week everyone!