queenslayerbee | Entries tagged with monthly reading

Three book covers. -The Ruby in the Smoke, A Sally Lockhart Mystery by Philip Pullman. The cover shows Sally, a young blonde girl wearing a black cloack, looking at a red ruby in her hands. Behind her there's an old woman covered with a black unbrella, and a sinister house behind a mist, on a high cliff. -"El fantasma de la �pera" by Gaston Leroux, an edition illustrated by David Chapoulet. It shows Erik standing on his box in the opera, wearing his mask, and framed by red courtains. -"Small Gods" by Terry Pratchet. It shows a man (Brutah) tied up naked to a golden turtle sculpture, multiple people watching, including Voris, a bald man in charge of that punishment, and an eagle bringing down a turtle (Om) as a god makes bolts of lightning free Brutha.

Three covers. -Unholy with Eyes Like Wolves by Morgan Dante. Two women in period clothes appear over a dark background. One is brunette, a bit older, with red eyes and visible pointy ears. The other is leaning over her shoulder, blonde, also with red eyes and bared fangs in a grin, as well as sharp, bloodied claws where she's put a hand over the other's shoulder. -Barda by Ngozi Ukazu. Big Barda, a DC Comics character, appears in the cover, looking ahead with determination, fully armoured. -Gotham Central issue 33, first of the "Dead Robin" story arc. A cop looks down to the corpse of a young body who's been dressed up as Robin.

Three comic book covers. -Superman for All Seasons, by Joeb Loeb and Tim Sale. The figure of Superman, frowning, appears over a set of houses and business in Smallville, at night during the winter. -Illustrated cover of World's Finest volume 4 issue 1, without any letters. It shows Chris Kent as Nightwing, about to put on his blue helmet, with his figure looming over an orange-ish illustration of The Penguin, Oswald Cobbelpot, grinning and holding an umbrella, as he's surrounded by multiple penguins (the animal). -The Legend of Wonder Woman. Diana, with her Wonder Woman clothes and giving her back to the audience, stands in the snow, facing a looming, giant, shadowed figure of a Titan.

BOOKS

The Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman. The book was fine, but no His Dark Materials. And Sally is far from being half as interesting as Lyra. I had all but decided on not continuing the series, even if on paper I'm definitely down for some more girl detective stories in my life... but my edition included a few pages from the next installment. And those intrigued me lmao. I won't be picking it up any time soon, but I'll probably give it a try.
The Phantom of the Opera by Gaston Leroux. The best part of this novel, by far, were Chapoulet's illustrations. I find the concept of the story very, very appealing, but after so long anticipating reading it, I was so let down by the execution. I found the prose unremarkable and the drama underwhelming. And I fucking hate Raoul and his Madonna-Whore complex lmao. However, I liked enough of it (if most, sadly not what was in focus) that I'm still intrigued about watching the musical properly (as opposed to listening to a few songs).
Small Gods by Terry Pratchett. As good as every other Discworld novel, but there are two things that means it's never going to be among by favourites. One, I remain so, so uninterested in religion itself -as in, a philosophy, as in religious beliefs- that really nothing in it "hits" the way the themes in other novels do. And two... it needed women. It SO needed women smh.
Unholy with Eyes Like Wolves by Morgan Dante. This novella is quite a quick read, written by an indie author. It's a gothic story centered on a dishonored widow serving as handmaiden to Lady Erzsébet Báthory. It's a poly sapphic horror romance loosely inspired by Carmilla (Mircalla is the third part of the poly romance, but Noémie/Báthory was the strongest dynamic). The religious themes (specifically related to the subjugation of women) worked a lot better here, in my opinion, maybe because they felt more grounded, and they provided some of my favourite conversations in the book. The novel definitely scratched that itch I'll always have about monstrous sapphic dynamics, and I'm thankful for the recommendation ^-^

COMICS

Barda by Ngozi Ukazu. Very enjoyable! I know very little about this side of DC Comics, so I don't know how this YA one-shot fares in that sense, but it succeeded in making me want to read more about Big Barda and Mister Miracle (big badass hardcore woman/dainty trickstery soft man romances, come to me <3).
Gotham Central: "Dead Robin" (#33-36). I talked about this story arc here. It's given me brand new issues. I love it. I need to read the rest of the run.
Superman for All Seasons. It lives up to the hype as a Superman staple comic. Each issue is narrated by a different character: Jonathan, Lois, Luthor, and Lana, with beautiful illustrations and a great depiction of Clark that, were to be used now, I firmly believe it'd garner far less appreciation than it did then.
Chris Kent's appearances. I went through all of his appearances in new earth (and also the few on Earth-16; do not recommend, they do NOT get him lmao. Why the hell would he judge someone for their parentage...). He's now officially one of the characters whose erasure consist in one of the biggest fuckups of the reboot lmao. He was a great addition to the Superman lore, far better than Jon (in many ways a cheap copy that obeys to the new conventionality trends) could hope to be. *sighs*
The Legend of Wonder Woman (2016). Overall a pretty neat entry to Wonder Woman lore for modern audiences, which is what it clearly aimed to be. I'm sure if I was more well-read on WW I'd have issues with it, but overall I enjoyed it. Though I think it should've been gayer (I think Hippolyta/Philippus was made canon in the mainline after this run 👀).

Three book covers. -"The Sign of Four" by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Red background, and a black silouette of a syringe, pointing up and spilling floating liquid, at the centre. -DC Universe. "Inheritance", Devin Grayson. The cover shows Batman, Green Arrow, and Aquaman, in that order, in battling stances. -"Lolita", by Vladimir Nabokov. The cover shows the drawing of a little girl, with only part of her torso and face visible. She wears a green dresses with small orange flowers, and there is a man's hand wrapped possessively around her shoulder.

Three comic book covers. -Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees. IDW comics. The cover shows an anthropomorphic bear in a clearing in the woods, as seen from above. She has a shovel in one hand and is carrying a large sack that's soaked with blood in the other. -Free Comic Book Day. Barda, by Ngozi Ukazu. The cover shows Big Barda, from DC comics, with her armor and red cape, in a fighting stance, staring straight ahead with determination. -Catwoman (1989) by Mindy Newel. "In the Ruins of Innocence, the Batman's Enemy is Born..." The cover shows Catwoman in a black suit, with wishkers; she looks angry, reading her claws. Near the bottom there's a small image of Selina, thrown on the floor with a tattered short dress, black tighs and red heels.

Three comic book covers. -The Bat-Man: First Knight. The silouette of Batman, with larger than usual ears, stsares down ahead. Inside it there are drawings of a mid 20th century car, a woman in a dress, a mounstrous-looking man, and another one pointing a gun ahead. -Robin: The Girl Wonder. Part of, or prequel, to the War Games arc. The cover shows Batman and Stephanie dressed as Robin, in fighting stances. -Outsiders (2003). "Nightwing and the Red Hood... side by side?" The cover, from issue 44, shows Nightwing crouching and Red Hood behind him, pointing a gun ahead.

BOOKS

The Sign of Four by Arthur Conan Doyle. This one introduces Mary. I wish she'd gotten the treasure and become a rich heiress 😢
Inheritance by Devin Grayson. Loved it. I'm definitely gonna track down her other prose novels. I made a good guess on who [redacted] from very early in the book, practically from the first, and it was still quite gripping. The funniest thing, however, is how unequal each of the former sidekicks' sections are lol. Was she just going through the motions with Garth? Although, by virtue of being the one I know the least about, it did make me want to read his comics. Roy's and Dick's were more even, both with incredibly poignant, poetic flashbacks I adored, but you can tell DickAndBruce is where her heart is and their dynamic was showcased beautifully imo. Her characterization of Ollie is... surely controversial, and doesn't quite match how I see the guy, but it didn't bother me.
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. This one is a reread, though it's been a decade since I read it for the first time. I've read it even more slowly than the first time around, pondering over practically every passage. Nabokov's prose is simply sublime, and Dolores's character is one of those that stays with you for how much you read into her.

COMICS

Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees. The first issue enchanted me, and the last one was a very apt ending for the story. The journey to get there let me down.
FCBD 2024: Barda Special Edition. This is a preview for an upcoming story. A young Barda is charged to break the prisoner Scott Free, as the beginning of their romance. Theirs is a ship I've been curious about for a while, and I really dig the premise, so I can't wait to read it.
Catwoman: Her Sister's Keeper. A short, gritty origin story that builds on the Selina we see in Batman: Year One, written by the same author as Lois Lane (1986). I really wish her sister was more present in Catwoman's story in general, tbh. She was featured in Selina's Knight Terror mini, which I might end up rereading.
The Bat-Man: First Knight. Three-part run set in the 40s, the original Batman setting. A tale of monsters, human experimentation, and the effects of the second world war. I enjoyed it, though not wildly, but it confirms I'd enjoy more historical settings in my comics.
War Games. Oh boy. OH BOY. My kill list grew with each page I read. The missed shot at a proper story with robin!Steph, the incredibly uncharitable way she's written... all to end in the grossest example of character assassination I've ever seen with Dr Leslie Thompkins, all to relieve Bruce of his guilt for his part in Steph's demise. I wanted to read the arc because I thought it was important for some Steph-focused storylines I want to write that build up on it (mostly by subverting or contradict him), but with few exceptions (SOME of Steph's Robin arc, the school plot, Tarantula's appearances, and the parts touching on Dick's downward spiral, for example) it was all so hateful and mean-spirited. Even the prelude to the proper arc, starting with Bruce and Cass's visit to Jason grave to use him as a cautionary tale against Steph, or that storyline about the teen mothers... death. Death to Dan DiDio for one thousand years.
Outsiders (2003). I'm including the Teen Titans crossover arcs (including both Secret Files and Origins issues, both GREAT), and the Outsiders: Five of a Kind arc where Batman is a shit xD (it also did make me wanna read the continuation in the next Batman and the Outsiders run). The art was... Mixed, by which I mean that sometimes it was fuck-ugly lol, but I loved the run. Winick gets me. I have a special place in my heart for Jason's little arc, OBVIOUSLY, but my favourite parts are, second, Dick's arc, and first, ANISSA AND GRACE. I as a lesbian owe Winick much for that one. They're the main attraction for the continuation, ngl. I also loved Shift and Indigo, btw. So damn tragic 🥲

Current Mood: bitchy
Current Music: Tommy Richman - Million Dollar Baby

Three book covers. -We Will Devour The Night. Early Release. Book 2 of The Essence of the Equinox. The cover shows leaves, mushrooms, accorns, butterflies and snakes over a black background with scattered stars. -Why Does He Do That? Inside he minds of angry and controlling men. Lundy Bancroft. The cover has a red background. -Wuthering Heights by Emily Bront�. Penguin Popular Classics edition. An obscured figure sits over a fence with their hand up, giving their back to the audience.

Three comic book covers: -Batman: Huntress/Spoiler - Blunt Trauma. Part of the Cataclysm event. In the cover a car flies in the background, while Helena in costume is jumpint towards it and Steph as Spoiler stands in the front. -Green Lantern: Willworld. Hal Jordan is at the bottom of the image with his unifrom, and a string of images are coming directly from his head, forming buildings and strange creatures. -JLA: World Without Grown-ups. Some members of the Justice League are in the bottom half, in colour (Wonder Woman, Batman, Kyle Rayner, Wally West, Superman...). Kon as Superboy, Tim Drake as Robin, and Bart Allen as Impulse are in the top half, in faded grey colour.

Three comic covers. -A vibrant red and black image drawn by Dustin Nguyen that shows three obscured figures: Batman at the back, on the right, looking ahead with his eyes as red slits; Damian in the middle, with his back turned and his sword pointed down, dripping red; and Colin at the front in the left, enlarged by Venom, with his "abuse" brass knuckles and his trenchcoat, his face completely out of the picture. In front of him there's an arm on the ground, as from someone beaten and struggling. -Batman: Li'l Gotham. The "Batfamily" stands on a rooftop with a gargoyle, with the batsignal on the sky behind them. The image includes Batman in the middle and front, with Oracle, Huntress, and Nightwing at his left, and Damian, Tim, Jason and Katana/Tatsu at his right. -Batman Tales: Once Upon a Crime. The cover shows Batman and Robin (Damian) sitting on top large vines.

Three comic book covers. -Batman: The Chalice. Batman is at the front, holding a cowl that projects some light above. His figure is mostly obscured, projecting a large shadow in the wall behind it, covered with various small clocks. Behind him there's a strange machine, with lightbulbs encassed in glass on its sides. -Ghost/Batgirl. The front shows Cass in Batgirl costume, in a fighting pose. Behind her it's Barbara sitting on her wheelchair; Behind htem, and large, there's an image of Ghost (Elisa Cameron) dressed in a white hood and holding a gun. In the background behind barbara there are two small, obscured figures of goons holding weapons. -JLA: Tower of Babel. The cover shows Batman with a calculating expression as he moves some of his teammates like marionettes (Wally, Diana, Kyle, and Clark).

BOOKS

We Will Devour The Night by Camilla Andrew. The version I read is available in the author's ko-fi (aninkwellofnectar), and the final version will come during fall of this year. I've talked about this saga before (The Essence of the Equinox, and its prequel), and I still recommend it to those of us who like complex characters (especially female characters), gothic horror, and lush prose. This is a sequel, and I like it even more than the first instalment. It gets deeper into the darkness of the world and it's an amazing read. The third and final part has started been posted on ko-fi as well, for anyone interested.
Why Does He Do That? Inside The Minds of Angry and Controlling Men by Lundy Bancroft. I wish I could make everyone read this book. It wouldn't fix everything, because it runs against a lot of people's deep-seated belief systems, but maybe it would make SOME of them start second-guessing those beliefs... Anyway. A MUST read in terms of abuse and intimate partner violence.
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë. I read the book for the first time about 15 years ago, and only reread it now. I loved it even more than the first time. The atmosphere, the revenge tale, the love story between Catherine and Heathcliff, all the ways these families' lives affect the others, how you have to parse through Nelly's account of events... I still wish I could hit Lockwood in the head with a stick lol. Just once. Not even too hard! But hit him in the head, I would xD

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COMICS

Batman: Huntress/Spoiler - Blunt Trauma. One of those "it could've been so good if it was good" comics. It would've had to NOT been written by Dixon, of course. His ideas about these two characters are palpable here. He's met real women and girls, I know this, but he's completely failed to take anything from these meetings into account to understand them as people. And boy, does it show in his writing.
Green Lantern: Willworld. I've had this comic in my list for aeons and I moved it up when I found out its author would be writing Jason's upcoming ADITF "what if" story starting July. I really liked this one, and how it showcased Hal's character. It's not a guarantee I'll like his Robin Lives run, because comic writers have biases and blind spots and huge gaps in their knowlege regarding certain characters, but "he seems to be a good writer" is already a huuuuge leg up compared to most modern Jason content lol.
JLA: World Without Grown-ups. This was interesting because I've watched the Young Justice (cartoon) version of this premise, which is VERY different, from the villains to their goals to the handling of the crisis (since the cartoon had an established teen team), down to the emotional beats (the Zataras). They're too different to be compared, tbh. This one was quite fun though, and it made me feel very fond of Bart. Also Tim's parasocial relationship with Jason's memorial made an appearance LOL.
Colin Wilke's appearances. I am MOURNING this kid. He has like 9 appearances (and a couple of them are barely a few pages) but each one is gold. Bring him back. Make HIM Damian's best friend. Integrate him in the storyline!! His character and his dynamic with Damian had so so much potential. I am definitely going to include him in my fics.
Batman: Li'l Gotham. (plus the two stories introducing it in Batman Annual #27 and 'Tec Annual #11). A couple of things conspired (including me finding out there's a version of Colin in this lol) and I ended up reading it while I was sick. It's mostly fun fluff (as opposed to just corny fluff) and a quick read without much meat in it, but a few things nudged the inspiration muscle and Dustin Nguyen's art is adorable.
Batman Tales: Once Upon a Crime. I liked this one more than the above! It follows in that universe (a Gotham where everything is smaller and cuter lol), mixing it with some fairy tale vibes. Pinocchio!Damian is A Concept. Although my favourite story was "The Snow Queen", with Mister Freeze. The art goes into a whole other level in all of these, but especially that one.
Batman: The Chalice. Bruce Wayne receives the Holy Grail. I read this one in my list of Talia appearances and hers is the part that interested me: Ra's wants the Grail to make her immortal, like him, and Talia tells him that she has no desire to live forever. Her words are "Having lived my life in your company, the prospect of eernal life is not the attraction for me it might be for another." There are A LOT of things you can read into that sentence, and one of them, to me, is the idea that death to Talia would be an escape from Ra's, which is... interesting. Sidenote: this one was written by Dixon, who once in a while gets his wired crossed and is not wholly terrible with female characters xD
Ghost/Batgirl. I hadn't heard of Ghost before but I'm kinda curious after reading this mini run. I found a lot of the concepts it worked on (resurrection, mind control, etc.) quite interesting, although I ended up feeling the execution didn't delve too deeply into them. It's an story I might want to reread and pick apart at some point, though.
JLA: Tower of Babel. Yeah, THAT arc lol (also part of my Talia-reading). I also read JLA Secret Files and Origins #3 (in May, though), which shows Talia's whole thoughts on it as she steals the plans + some of the consequences the whole thing has for the other bats whose teammates no longer trust them (Dick, Tim, Barbara) + the wording of Bruce's contingency plans (which btw includes acceptance of lethal methods against Clark lol)... he certainly got off easy after this añsdlkfjasdf. Honestly, imo, the most selfish, cowardly thing he did was walking out before the JLA could tell him they'd voted him out. I know he and the comics probably won't frame it like that afterwards, but that's how it felt to me. The very least he could've done is face his teammates.

Current Mood: calm
Current Music: Anastacia - I'm Outta Love

Three book covers. -A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle. It shows someone writing in a blackboard. It's a Beeton's Christmas Annual edition, from Ward, Lock & Co (in London, New York, and Melbourne). It contains other stories: Food for Powder by R. Andr� and The Four Leaved Shamrock by C.J. Hamilton, and it says it's engraved by D.H. Friston, Matt Stretch and R. Andr�. -Investigating Lois Lane: The Turbulent History of the Daily Planet's Ace Reporter, by Tim Hanley (author of Wonder Woman Unbound). IT shows the blue silouette of a woman using a typewriter, with various skyscrappers, one with a planet on top of it, in the background. -A Spanish edition of the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri by Alianza editorial. It shows golden drawings of Beatrice and Dante, as well as various small cherubs and flowers, over a light background. It's a poetic version by Abilio Echeverr�a translating, and there's a blurb by Alberto Manguel that translated says "Of all the translations of the Comedy I know in Spanish, this is, to me, the best one."

Three book covers. -Batman: The Ultimate Evil, by Andrew Vachss, author of Footsteps of the Hawk. It shows Batman's figured from the chest up, partially shadowed, looking down, with a red background. -Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata. It shows a drawing of geisha, dressed in white, standing in the snow next to a white three. -The Lady Astronaut of Mars by Mary Robinette Kowal. It shows a drawing of a female, aging astronaut, wearing an orange suit. Her faced is completely shadowed, adorned with drawings of stars, resembling the night sky.

Three comic book covers. -Secret Origins 80-Page Giant. Beneath the title it says "Sssh! Don't tell anyone the real deal with Superboy, Robin, and Impulse", putting those three characters (with Tim Drake as Robin) in the cover. To the side it shows small circles dedicated to the characters of Spoiler, Wonder Girl (Cassie Sandmark) and Arrowette, and at the bottom it says "plus: a little Secret", referring to Greta Hayes. -Lois Lane (1986) by Mindy Newell and Gray Morrow, 1st issue of 2. Inside a square, it shows Lois shocked, seeing the corpse of a child being pulled out of the water. An inspector has his arms on her shoulders, comforting her or holding her back. An uniformed officer is holding back some reporters and photographers. -DC First: Batgirl/Joker. The cover shows Batgirl (then Barbara) cautiously pressed against a wall, and Joker ready on the other side of the corner with a large hammer.

BOOKS

A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle. Letters from Watson sent this from January to March, alongside a couple of other shorts ("The Field Bazaar" and "The Man with the Watches"). An interesting thing about it is that Sherlock was portrayed as somewhat bitter on the issue of credit (he does all the work, subpar investigators take underserved glory), while he's usually, in both ACD's later works and adaptations, portrayed as ~above such feelings. "The Field Bazaar" was interesting in that, in describing why Watson is a good "foil" for Sherlock's smarts in the books, actually illuminates why I think the smart investigator/fumbling idiot dynamic just. Fucking sucks for me lol. I don't get a kick out of it, I much prefer when they pair two investigator of different talents and portray those as both interesting and helpful in their investigations.
Investigating Lois Lane: The Turbulent History of the Daily Planet's Ace Reporter by Tim Hanley. Amazing read. It takes you through the history of the character, often looking at it through the lense of real-life issues and movements, getting into the different eras, adaptations, etc. It's giving me a lot to think about, both within the dc fandom and outside it.
Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri. This one I also read in substack newsletters, going for about a year, the last one being sent in March. It was a reread, and I maintain it's a book everyone should at least try to read. Inferno is by far my favourite part (the theology lessons in Paradise grate on me, in comparison).
Batman: The Ultimate Evil by Andrew Vachss. This book was written by a crime fiction author and attorney that specialices in representing children and in child abuse cases, who was approached by DC to write a book featuring Batman facing child sex trafficking. In the book, Bruce ends up discovering that his mother, Martha Wayne, was a sociologist who was investigating a child molester ring, and that's what caused their deaths. That's what caught my eye first, because really, how many canons give any weight and importance to Martha? If they opt to make the Wayne murders a conspiracy, it's always about Thomas's actions. I also appreciated that, even though the author clearly had to follow some dc-mandated lines (fictional country, individual villain), he practically hits you with a hammer when it comes to dispel a lot of the myths we have about child molesters and how they operate, specifically to challenge those dc-mandated lines. I wish we'd seen more of the social worker character, but I liked her as it was.
Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata. I picked this novella exclusively for vibes and not plot, and it's what it gave me. It's also made me think a lot about how men see women, and how through their eyes our selves are twisted. Komako and Yoko are fascinating characters in part for how inescrutable the male lead finds them and how he might be misunderstanding them. There's so, so much hinted under the surface, about their persons and about their relationship.
The Lady Astronaut of Mars by Mary Robinette Kowal. Short novelette I picked on a whim. A 60+ yo astronaut is offered a chance to travel to space again, her dream come true. She has to choose between taking it, or staying with her ailing husband, who has little time left. The story apparently later expanded on some novels/prequels, I might pick them up.

COMICS

Secret Origins 80-Page Giant. I picked this one up for Steph's story (I'm going through her comic arcs), but ended up reading all the others. It's cemented my desire to pick up the Young Justice comics. These teens are sooooo chaotic and fun lmao, all of them (back then) with such weird and interesting backstories.
Lois Lane (1986). A two-part issue that shows Lois getting in deep in an investigation about child abductions. It's gets gruesome and heavy at times, but it's a great read, specially for her character. It shows Lois at a moment that the mainline comics seem to have ignored (she missed out on a great professional opportunity due to Superman), and it shows how obsessive she gets and how that is what makes her a great investigator and reporter. I also liked the glimpse at the dynamic between her and her sister Lucy there, how dismissive Lois was of Lucy's stewardess' job, for example.
DC First: Batgirl/Joker. I don't like it as much as the early-Batgirl (2000) run but it's kind of on that vein. Barbara tells Cass about her first encounter with the Joker, and Cass is determined to prove herself against him. I loved the art as well (very different than in the cover).

Current Mood: contemplative
Current Music: Lil Nas X - Tales of Dominica

The FemFebruary meta posts I wanted to write this month fell to the side due to other obligations ^^U. However, I plan to make up for it now that March Meta Madness approaches!

In the meantime, here's another meme, just like I did for last month's reading.

Three book covers: -Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett (Mightily Oats reading a book and Verenice with a sword next to some Nac Mac Feegles fighting alongside him, at the front; and Agnes, Granny and Nanny in a fighting stand up front, against some floating vampires). -Dare Me by Megan Abbott (close-up to a girl biting her lip, painted red). -Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (drawing of two young women in period clothes standing in front of a tree, with patterns of flowers drawn on the spine).

Three comic covers. -Arsenal. Roy at the front with his bow shooting and arrow forward, Dinah next to him, and greyscale flashbacks of Oliver as Green Arrow looking disappointed over his shoulder, a kneedle, and a brunette Dinah consoling a crying Roy. It includes subtitles like "Sidekick, Loser... HERO?" or "When you hit rock bottom, you have to aim HIGH!" -Robin volume 1. In the cover, a smiling Shiva is kicking Tim in the face. -The Cull. Young woman drawn with vines and shining flowers growing on her head.

Three comic covers. -Batman: City of Madness. Batman with his arms extended forward, some tentacles seemingly coming out of him, and the court of owls beneath him. -Dark Spaces: The Hollywood Special. Blonde starlet smiles and waves at the camera, holding what looks like a bouquet, but it's made out of human limps, bones, and rotting flowers. She's standing in water, with a stage behind her with the letters "The End". -Batman/Hunterss: Cry for Blood. With the subtitle "...when the pursuer becomes the pursued..." Helena appears at the front, dressed as huntress with a golden cross on her neck, showing her falms stained of blood. Batman looms behind her.

Three comic covers. -Robin II: The Joker's Wild!. Batman looms in the Batcave, snarling with his fists raised. At the front there's a framed picture of Robin. -Text-less cover of Supergirl volume 6 issue 35. Kara is at the front in a fighting stand, with her eyes shining red, and Red Hood fights alongside her with two swords. -Robin III: Cry of the Huntress. Robin stands on a Gargoyle with a high on his hip, frowning, and Huntress is a little ahead of him, with a crossbow pointing up.

Three comics cover. -World Without Robin, part 3 of 5 "Altered States", from the world without Young Justice arc. Stephanie as Robin flies in front of a window; the glass shows Tim reflected on it. -Batman Plus Arsenal. Roy and Batman jump from an exploding plane. Roy has an open-mouthed, shocked face, with his arms thrown up, and Batman is snarling with his arms pointed forward, with direction. -Harley and Ivy: Love on the Lam. Harley is at the front, in Harlequin suit with a toy gun. Behind her there are portraits of Batman with an obscured face, Joker with a huge grin, Harley dressed as Batgirl, and Poison Ivy.

Three comic covers. -An issue of Batman from the Knightfall arc. Batman is tied up to a tree by some vines, and Poison Ivy looms threateningly in front of him while he struggles against them. -An issue of Batgirl from the Bruce Wayne: Murderer?/Fugitive arc. Batgirl is crouching on top a gravestone, leaning her arm on the handle of a shovel and pointing at the gravestone with a lantern. It reads: Rest in Peace. VESPER CATHERINE FAIRCHILD. Octover 14, 1973-January 4, 2002. -Robin volume 2 #102, part of Jon Lewis's run. Robin and Spoiler are at the front, with Steph holding onto his arm and Robin in a fighting stand. Behind them, Natalia Knight dressed all priest-like, with her palms up, extended to the side, and smoke surrounding her, as well as people with zombiefied expressions. The front reads "Things are getting weirder!"

(tried to put this behind a read more but dreamwidth is failing me again so. sorry ^^U. how do you guys do the thing where you hide part of the post under a ▶ ....). ETA: I think I managed!

attempt at commentary

NOVELS

Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett. As with every other Discword novel, I practically devoured this one. Very enjoyable, especially Granny's plot, which did hit close to home for me lol.
Dare Me by Megan Abbott. This is proof that, despite having aged out of the YA bracket, some of it, the really good one, still holds up. Still, I know that if I had read this as a teenager, I would've made it my whole personality for at least a while xDD. Nonetheless, it was a great read. It's a pity that the show was cancelled before it covered the entire story, because I would've loved to watched an adaptation :/
Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen. Of the Austen novels I've read so far, I would probably put it in the last place, but I did end up enjoying it. I had a good laugh with the Ferrars family drama, and I enjoy how... anti-karma Austen can be. Sometimes shitty, selfish people behalf shittily and selfishly, and that works out perfectly for them, lbr.

COMICS COMICS COMICS

Arsenal. And absolutely great mini (four issues long) in Devin Grayson's melodrama era. Vandal Savage collecting body parts of his descendants to replace his rotten ones is A Concept. And I loved the cameos by Dinah, Oracle, Connor... perfect.
Robin (vol. 1). Tim goes to Paris to train a bit more after Bruce decides he's ready to be Robin. There he ends up in between mob complots and gets trained by Shiva for a little while. My main takeaway is that Tim should have a musical staff in more stories.
The Cull. I kept waiting for this miniseries to go somewhere and... eh. The ending is a bit open so it might continue, but unless I hear something really solid I wouldn't pick it back up.
Batman: City of Madness. The concept of this story ended up being far grander than its execution, and I think I would've liked a longer, more involved, riskier storyline... The art is still amazing, though. It's given me some proto-ideas, though.
Dark Spaces: The Hollywood Special. I could literally copy-paste the last paragraph here lol.
Batman/Huntress: Cry for Blood. Amazing. Perfect. 10/10. One comic I'm going to recommend.
Robin II: The Joker's Wild!. This should've gone harder with the Jason-haunting-the-narrative concept, IMO, but I am NOT an unbiased party lol.
All of Jason Todd's New 52 (2011-2016) appearances. There is... so much I could say about this. Not much would be good, because yes, I still rage against the reboot xD. RHATO vol. 1 ends up looking even good after Red Hood/Arsenal (which improved a bit at the very end, admittedly); Lobdell is the worst, either way. Batman Incorporated/Wingman... too little effort put on it. Appalling, poorly thought-through characterisation all around, really, alongside a lot of choices I'm still baffled by (chessmaster Joker by beloathed). Batman & Robin Eternal got on my nerves, and not just for Jason. Robin War, Grayson... all of it needed a lot more development for me to be sold on it. The cameos in Deathstroke were... fine, but forgettable, when they shouldn't have been.

I did use the cover for Supergirl vol. 6 #35 because that's the ONE Jason appearance I can say I fully enjoyed! Jason is competent (aided by some "venom" which was an arc that amounted to nothing, but whatever), he is a MENACE, he seeks a team up with Supergirl but is a fucking asshole about it despite clearly wanting to be friends xDD... it felt as if I was almost reading new earth!Jason circa Green Arrow/Outsiders, which I really enjoyed! The stupid uncanny valley helmet makes an appearance but I just ignore that xDD

Robin III: Cry of the Huntress. Tim and Helena meet for the first time and team up! It was all right.
World Without Young Justice. I read the Tim-centric issue as it was one of the firsts in Lewis's run, so I decided to read the other four issues in the arc. Tim's is my favourite, though: it has Steph as the original Robin, in a story that really caught my eye and I might use at some point... honestly, I think superhero!Steph/civilian!Tim is a DELICIOUS set-up for the ship that I know I'll revisit in some fics where I don't have Tim donning a mantle (or at least, not in a traditional way).
Batman Plus Arsenal. Great one-shot (Devin Grayson does it again etc.). The moment where Roy gets on Batman's case for how sparse he is with praise was gr10.
Harley and Ivy: Love on the Lam. Another one-shot, by Winnick this time (I have my selected favourites). The dynamics are very clearly inspired by the DCAU despite being a new earth comic, but as those are my favourite versions of the characters involved, that works for me. It's about cycles and how hard it is to break them, of course
Knightfall. I started reading the arc in January. Although I'd read part of it before, this is the first time I really set out to read the complete thing. My veredict is that it focuses way to much on JPV, who I simply don't connect with LOL. The parts with Bruce, with Tim, and especially with Dick, and even with Gordon and Essen, are far more appealling to me, and I would've preferred them to be expanded upon to JPV's detriment tbh.
Bruce Wayne: Murderer?/Fugitive. Amazing story arc, and as far as I'm concerned, a must-read among Batman/Batfam fans. Bruce's reasons for finally getting his head out of his ass were also very poignant and rang very true to him, as did his shitty non-apology about his actions lol. And in the end, Sasha and Bruce-Sasha ended up being a really fascinating part of it all. I might go back and read her older appearances.
Jon Lewis's Robin Run (vol. 2 #100-120). Really fun! A very enjoyable take on Tim Drake, very cute Steph/Tim stories, really good overall! And the plot with Tim's birthday... jail, jail to Bruce for one thousand years xDD

Current Mood: creative
Current Music: The Verve - Bitter Sweet Symphony

I'm borrowing this idea from

tjs_whatnot , and posting a list of what I read this month, with a little commentary (just a little, I hope! I don't want to go overboard añsldkfja).

NOVELS

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. This was, technically, a reread. I say technically because I don't remember the last part of the book and now I'm wondering if I DNFed it over a decade ago and completely forgot LMAO. I... could see why. While it's A Classic, and there's plenty to like in the novel, especially in the sisters, the moralising really got to me at some points. The biggest was the one where Jo attends this meeting full of artists and geniuses and political giants ~behaving just like people~~ and this is DEVASTATING to her (and then Bhaer peddles some chrisitanism). Gurl, I would have loved that LOL. But all in all I mostly enjoyed the read. I did it bit by bit, subscribed to The Public Domain Book Club in substack; each month (or, in LW's case, each couple of months) they go through a book. I've kept the subscription for February, where it'll post "Sense and Sensibility", another Jane Austen novel I haven't read.
Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirlees. I fucking ADORED this novel. I've mentioned it in this blog before but I just found it such a treat to read. Mirlees' prose is enticing and enchanting and everything I want mine to be. If you're someone that enjoys a good descriptive, florid style of narration, give this one a shot.

SHORT STORIES
I read three short stories by Angel Carter. The first three in "Burning Your Boats", apparently her earliest work: "The Man Who Loved a Double Bass", "A Very, Very Great Lady and Her Son at Home", and "A Victorian Fable (with Glossary)". They're not nearly as good as the handful of later ones I've read, but I enjoyed seeing some signs of her future style. "A Victorian Fable" was also really interesting in a technical sense.

COMICS COMICS COMICS

I'll just list here runs I set out to start and finished. Sometimes that means "reading every appearance of character X", sometimes "reading everything author Y did in this volume", sometimes "this one specific issue-long plot), sometimes it's a run properly speaking.

DC Speechless. Really cute run. Just some popcorn to the brain that you can chill with.
Robin: Year One. A re-read. Sometimes Chuck Dixon writes well. I absolutely don't have to hand it to him though.
The Judas Contract. A staple and a must-read if you're interested in these characters. Tara Markov's characterisation is sure. Something that happened. But unintentionally on the part of the writers, very, very interesting. And I loved reading Joey's introduction! Ngl, I lowkey ship him with Dick. I lowkey ship Dick with a lot of people lol.
Superman: Lost. This run is more interesting in a meta sense than a properly narrative one. I'll have to mull over it.
Oracle: Year One (The Batman Chronicles #5). Another re-read. BTW, it's already suspect that Robin: Year One has FOUR issues (and Nightwing: Year One SIX)m ETA: AND JOKER IS GOING TO HAVE THREE, but Oracle: Year One is like, 18 pages within a random issue of a Batman-adjacent comic ñlaksdjf. She deserved something longer and plottier. BUT. Those 18 pages are near perfect and a must-read to all DC fans.
The Next Batman: Second Son. About Timothy "Jace" Fox, who was Batman for a little while. I was curious, and it's a really short read (the issues are more webtoon-length than usual comics length). It was fine, but I had set out to read it before I was like, 99% done with Prime Earth lol. I wouldn't read it now and I doubt I'll continue his journey. Sorry Jace, you were cool.
Nightwing/Huntress. Loved it. Gave me a new OTP. A bit heavy-handed at times (Devin Grayson's writing gains a lot more subtlety later on), but I still loved it. And the art is gorgeous.
Batman & Son (Batman #655-658). AKA a reread of Damian's introductory arc. Morrison will have to answer for their crimes against Talia lol, but I wanted a refresher.
JLA/Titans. I'd say the same re: Devin's writer (and I'd say the same about the next in the list), but it was also a really enjoyable read. Very long, lots of characters and moving parts, lots of POWER OF FRIENDSHIP Titans stuff but they're messy as fuck (as proved by the continuation of this plot in...).
Titans #1-20, aka Devin's run. LOVED IT. They are SO messy, SO interesting, SO fun to read. The exact opposite of the current Titans run, if you ask me lmao. The character concepts alone... *chef's kiss*.
Devin Grayson's Nightwing run. Oh, this is a controversial one (yes, this one includes the infamous #93, but you have to analyse it in context)... but I adored it. Grayson's writing matured for this one, it's a lot more nuanced, it doesn't lead you by the hand. It was extremely compelling, maybe one of the most compelling storyarcs I've read in DC comics. And ofc, it was cut short and interrupted in an abrupt way by editorial meddling smh. @ dc, fight me.
Far From the Tree (Batman: Gotham Knights #15). I read this one because I wanted a taste for Tim's characterisation under certain circumstances. It's good. Bruce is an ass during it xD

ETA: I've nearly given up on my read mores working lmao. I was gonna add graphics but they made it worse, so I'll edit it/post them tomorrow.

ETA II: Okay! Let's see if I can make a read more work for the images, at the very least!

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