Dungeon Drawler Carl: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1 (Matt Dinniman et al.)

Dungeon Crawler Carl: The Graphic Novel, Volume 1

The Dungeon Crawler Carl Graphic Novel series, Issues 1 - 13
Matt Dinniman (author and creator), Aethon (creator), and Actus (creator), illustrations by Laurel Pursuit Studios
Vault Comics
Fiction, Fantasy/Graphic Novel/Humor/Media Tie-in/Sci-Fi
**** (Good)

DESCRIPTION:

It was 2 AM on a cold winter night in Seattle when Coast Guard vet Carl watched the world end. He'd run outside in nothing but his boxers and a pair of too-small pink crocs after Princess Donut, the award-winning Persian who belonged to his ex Beatrice, escaped, so he could only watch in shock as every building suddenly was squashed out of existence, along with everyone and everything inside (including his pants). A booming voice informs everyone that aliens have arrived to take the planet's minerals, but humans could regain control of their world... if anyone dares brave the eighteen levels of the dungeon "game" that have been created underground. Carl didn't even want to do it, but he and Donut will die of exposure if they don't get out of the frigid air, so when a stairwell opens nearby he ventures down, hardly expecting how his life is about to change...
This volume collects the first 13 chapters of the webtoon based on Matt Dinniman's novel, Dungeon Crawler Carl.

REVIEW:

Yes, I'm on a bit of a Carl kick at the moment (so sue me, I seriously need something to enjoy with the way everything's going), so I went ahead and sprang for this graphic novel adaptation. The story sticks pretty close to the book, covering the first third or so of Dungeon Crawler Carl, and was clearly made with the author's input. The only major change that I noticed is that Donut is now a colorpoint (mostly white) cat instead of a tortoiseshell, a perfectly understandable compromise for the medium (torties being far more complicated to consistently ink and color, plus the simpler markings of a colorpoint make expressions easier to render and read). The art, effects, and overall layout and conventions reflect more manga influences than I usually read in my admittedly-limited graphic novel experience, but do a decent job getting ideas and emotions across.
That said, I do have a few gripes. The size is a little smaller than I'd hoped, being roughly eight inches by five and a half inches, which can make some of the text a little hard to read. Speaking of hard to read, several of the dungeon announcements, such as the AI's often-hilarious "achievements" for various tasks, are printed in fine white lettering on gold/orange backgrounds. Either my copy is slightly off true in color alignment, or it's just plain too small and with too poor contrast, because a good third at least of these announcements I could not read; the text is just too grainy even with a magnifier. There's no real gutter at the inner margins of the pages, which also cuts into images and text in ways that affect readability; I can't open the thing flat enough to see it all without damaging the spine or pages. I'm also unsure how well I'd be following it if I didn't already know the story (again, in part due to bits being a little tough to read). I'm not sure it picked the best point to end, not really being at a conclusion or a cliffhanger but just in the middle of things. And there were times where the panel layout and progression wasn't quite clear, though I expect this is down to me not reading enough manga-influenced material to be familiar with how they flow compared to more "Western" graphic novel styles.
Still, for all that, it's still a fun story that doesn't stint on the emotional weight, and the visual aspect highlights both the comic absurdity and the overall darkness of what's happening to Carl, Donut, and the world.

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Damsel (Evelyn Skye)

Damsel
Evelyn Skye
Random House
Fiction, YA Fantasy/Media Tie-In
***+ (Okay/Good)

DESCRIPTION: The rest of the world may consider the drought-stricken duchy of Inophe to be backwards and worthless, but to Elodie and her father it is beautiful in its own stark, strong way. Despite being noble born, the young woman is not above building shacks or digging latrine ditches if that's what her people need of her; that's what being a leader is, after all, working hard to ensure the success of the people you lead. When her father announces that he's arranged a marriage with Prince Henry of the prosperous island nation of Aurea, she doesn't hesitate but accepts it as her role, her way of ensuring Inophe's survival. Besides, after several months of exchanging letters, it's clear that he's an educated, intelligent young man who respects her, so perhaps the marriage that saves her nation might also spark genuine love. When she and her family arrive at Aurea, they find green forests and purple mountains, great fields of amber barley and scarlet berries, orchards of silver pears, and a gilded castle, plus Prince Henry is every bit as cultured and handsome as Elodie could have imagined. It's so much like a fairy tale it's hard to believe it's all happening to someone like her!
Then, on her wedding night, Henry's mother escorts Elodie to a secret ritual... a ritual that ends in a mountain chasm where a great dragon dwells. The beast's power enables the great bounty of the island, but in exchange it demands sacrifices - and she's just become one.
But Elodie is not the first to be thrown to the cunning, cruel beast beneath the mountain. Those who came before left more than charred bones and melted tiaras; they left markers, maps, and blood that whispers of their thoughts and fears and what they learned in their final days. With their help, perhaps Elodie of Inophe will manage to be the first to escape the dragon's wrath...
Based on the screenplay by Dan Mazeali for the Netflix movie Damsel.

REVIEW: I remember seeing the teasers for the Netflix movie and being intrigued, though mixed reviews and a general lack of time kept me from watching it. But I found this book, an adaptation of the original screenplay, for free at my old work place, and figured it would be worth a try. Having finished it, I don't think I'll be moving the movie into the viewing queue any time soon.
In its favor, Damsel reads fairly fast; I polished off nearly half of it during a long wait at the tire shop while my car was serviced, and finished the rest by the next evening. It establishes reasonably strong women, and after a meandering setup (even if I hadn't known the sacrifice "twist" from the movie trailers, the blurb on the cover gives that away, so drawing out the reveal grows mildly tedious as Elodie notes yet dismisses a string of yellow, orange, and finally glaring red flags over Prince Henry and Aurea) it delivers on the horror-like premise of a lone young woman trapped in a cavernous labyrinth with a taunting, teasing monster. Everywhere she goes, she finds marks and bones to remind her how many have tried and failed to survive the wyrm's wrath, how many have been betrayed by the Aurean royal house over the centuries. The terror is heightened when Elodie discovers that touching the bloodstains of previous victims lets her experience memories of their final days... but those stains, along with notes scratched into the walls, also provide a record of everything the previous victims over the past eight centuries have learned in their efforts to elude the dragon. Building on their progress, from mapping the maze of caverns to translating the wyrm's archaic language, Elodie might stand a slender chance of escape... but will getting away from the beast only make things worse? You don't just break a centuries-old system (or aggravate a centuries-old dragon) without significant collateral damage that may just kill you and everyone you love anyway.
There is no easy answer to the problem, not for her or the people of Aurea, many of whom are deeply troubled by the secret of their nation's wealth but haven't had the courage to fight back until now. If the parallel to Ursula K. Le Guin's classic story "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas" isn't obvious, the book hammers home that point more than once (if not using the words), even as it emphasizes how good intentions and gray areas get smudged into black by small steps and willful blindness compounded over years and generations, no single drop of water willing to take responsibility for, let alone attempt to stop, the rising flood. Even the dragon is trapped in its own way by the bargain made generations ago, though that does not make it an ally of Elodie's efforts to survive the royal family's betrayal; it just makes the beast that much more enraged and dangerous, not to mention that much more experienced in the hunting and killing of problematic princesses.
As for the beast, the dragon draws on elder traditions in the vein of Smaug, a clever yet cruel beast whose rage cannot be reasoned away and whose scales and sheer power have bested fully armed knights, let alone princesses with little but stones and the fraying remnants of their wedding finery. At every turn, it taunts its prey, and Elodie (and, by proxy, the reader) can never be certain when she has truly outsmarted it or when it's merely toying with her by letting her think she's outsmarted it, only to surprise her with flames and sulfurous smoke and terrible threats. This is not a case of every other knight and princess being a total dunderhead or wimp until she comes along; it is very little wonder that nobody else has outwitted or outlasted the dragon's games, making it a truly formidable opponent even to a plucky young woman like Elodie.
Where the book lost ground in the ratings is towards the end, where it started feeling like it was stretching out the tension, only to pull a resolution out of its tail that felt unsatisfactory given all that had gone before. The story also, after going out of its way to establish how it was women who ultimately found empowerment to challenge injustice, then fell back on a tired trope that knocked the legs out from under their independence by essentially intimating that a woman's ultimate drive, whether for good or ill or in between, is dependent on motherhood in some form or another, without exception. (I can't get into more details without spoilers, but it really flattened what had been a batch of strong characters.) It all just felt like such a letdown after everything the characters went through to get there. The earlier promise and the terror of the cat-and-mouse (or dragon-and-princess) chases through the mountain caverns managed to barely keep the rating above a flat three stars, but it was a close call.

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The Expanse: Dragon Tooth, Volume 3 (Andy Diggle)

The Expanse: Dragon Tooth, Volume 3
The Expanse: Dragon Tooth series, Issues 9 - 12
Andy Diggle and James S. A. Corey (creators), illustrations by Francesco Pisa
BOOM! Studios
Fiction, Graphic Novel/Media Tie-In/Sci-Fi
****+ (Good/Great)

DESCRIPTION: It has been ten years since the sleeper "dragon tooth" agents left behind by General Duarte and the Martian defectors - currently on the far side of the Laconia ring, under complete radio silence - caused trouble for the system, but that does not mean they have forgotten their old master and their standing orders... or that they have not been working toward the destruction of Earth, Mars, and the Belters. When an Earth diplomat dies under suspicious circumstances while en route to Luna, it signals the coming end game for the saboteurs - and possibly the end of everything that Avasarala, Drummer, and the aging crew of the Rocinante have labored to rebuild.

REVIEW: The "Season Seven" story arc wraps up in a suitably explosive, action-packed finale with this third and final volume of the Dragon Tooth storyline. With another time jump, the characters are showing their age, continuing to fill the gap between the sixth and seventh novels but on the parallel timeline established by the television series. The core cast is distinctly older but no less capable or determined to protect the hard-won peace of the system... just as their enemies are no less determined to see it all destroyed. As the crew of the Roci race to identify the threat, the sleeper agents are perpetually one step ahead of them, leading to a nail-biter climax and a fitting final scene that segues well into the events of Strange Dogs and Persepolis Rising, the next books in the greater arc. I almost thought the characters felt a little short-changed in the rush to tie up the storyline, but this is primarily an action plot, and everyone has their own parts to play in the unfolding crisis. It earned the extra half-star for continuing to capture the feel of the series, which I've missed more than I realized.
On an unrelated side note, the tail end of December may have seemed a little sparse on reviews. That is because many of my reviews are audiobooks that I listen to at work, and I have had to take some time off due to a family crisis. My elderly father's physical and mental health have been worsening for some time, and a recent medical crisis finally tipped things over the line from controlled decline to the final countdown, as it were. As of this review, he is currently under home hospice care. He is the man who helped introduce me to reading in general and science fiction in particular, a lifelong fan who was active in the local fannish community for many years, and his impending loss is a black hole in my life. I should have been a better person with him for a father, and I feel that failure every day. Between this and the horrific betrayal of hope that was the November election, I utterly and sincerely wish with every fiber of my being that 2024 burns in the deepest possible depths of whichever Hell will take it... and it can preemptively take 2025 and beyond with it into the abyss.

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The Expanse: Dragon Tooth, Volume 2 (Andy Diggle)

The Expanse: Dragon Tooth, Volume 2
The Expanse: Dragon Tooth series, Issues 5 - 8
Andy Diggle and James S. A. Corey (creators), illustrations by Francesco Pisa
BOOM! Studios
Fiction, Graphic Novel/Media Tie-In/Sci-Fi
****+ (Good/Great)

DESCRIPTION: Ten years ago, the crew of the Rocinante took down Sohiro and his crew of Martian defectors - violent loyalists to the rogue Duarte, long vanished beyond the Laconia gate - in a devastating firefight... or so they believe. The agent known as Sohiro and his core crew managed to slip away, still pursuing their ultimate goal of reuniting with their leader and helping bring the rest of humanity and the ring gates to their knees.
As things slowly settle down across settled space, James Holden and his crew have moved on to less dangerous assignments than tracking pirates and "dragon tooth" sleeper agents. Now, they're helping a science team led by Dr. Elvi Okoye, late of Ilus, as she studies the still-mysterious properties of the ring gates themselves. But what should be a fairly routine experiment, placing probes about an active gate, takes a deadly turn when one of the scientists is found murdered.

REVIEW: With another time jump, the Dragon Tooth graphic novels continue their impressive expansion of the Expanse universe, bringing another adventure to the doorstep of the Rocinante. This outing is less about adrenaline-rush space battles (though there are a few bullets and explosions) and more about the science and the murder mystery, as well as the continuing arc about sleeper agents "Sohiro" and "Mayes" as they steadfastly continue their agendas despite no concrete evidence that Duarte even remembers them. Some other threads and character developments from the previous volume are also followed up on here, weaving stories that, along with continued excellence in artwork, still make me feel like I've watched new episodes of a show that remains a favorite of mine and a book series that's in the top tier. I'm looking forward to seeing where this is all going.

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The Expanse: Dragon Tooth, Volume 1 (Andy Diggle)

The Expanse: Dragon Tooth, Volume 1
The Expanse: Dragon Tooth series, Issues 1 - 4
Andy Diggle and James S. A. Corey (creators), illustrations by Rubine
BOOM! Studios
Fiction, Graphic Novel/Media Tie-In/Sci-Fi
****+ (Good/Great)

DESCRIPTION: One year ago, the solar system was rocked by cataclysmic events. Already destabilized by the opening of the alien ring gates and the colony worlds beyond, the rise of Belter rebel Marco Inaros led to the bombardment of Earth, while the betrayal and desertion of Martian General Duarte left one of the major system powers half-gutted. Now, with Marco dead and Duarte vanished behind the now-closed Laconia gate, Earth, Mars, and the newly-created Transport Union of Belters try to pick up the pieces and move forward in a changed reality... but with Earth in shambles, food growing scarce, and pirates preying on colonists and freighters alike, the system is still half a click away from disaster.
Captain James Holden and the crew of the Rocinante have been hunting pirates, but one - Sohiro - proves both exceptionally brutal and exceptionally elusive, leaving nothing but carved-up wreckage in his wake. Camina Drummer, president of the Transport Union, struggles to coordinate traffic through the ring gates from Medina Station while keeping supplies of food and live soil moving... nearly impossible with the pirate problem, and with Earth - the only source of microbial-active soil needed to grow human-edible food - in such a state of disarray. Chrisjen Avasalara tries to keep the peace on a broken world, but suspects the rot revealed by Marco and by Duarte's defection is by no means cleansed; not only is the rage that led to Marco's rebellion still rampant through the Belt, but Duarte's ability to coordinate such a staggering betrayal suggests a vast network of spies and traitors, not all of whom may have passed beyond the Laconia gate with him. She is about to be proven right - and it may spell the end of the fragile peace.

REVIEW: In the interest of full disclosure, I contributed to the Kickstarter campaign that helped fund this graphic novel series, billed as "Season Seven" of the televised version of The Expanse.
Though following the show's version of events (and featuring likenesses of the actors), Dragon Tooth also fills in some of the time that was jumped over between Books 6 and 7 of the source material. It had a fairly high standard of storytelling and continuity to live up to. Happily, it cleared that bar handily.
Starting one year after the sixth season finale - the end of Marco's rebellion, the disappearance of Duarte beyond the Laconia gate, and Drummer becoming head of the fledgling Transport Union to keep supplies and people flowing between the new colony worlds - it drops the reader into a familiar situation: the Rocinante on a desperate rescue mission, hunting enemies in the Belt. From the first frame, it feels just like the show, from the fantastic artwork to the pitch-perfect dialog to the character interactions. Even though it's been a little while since my last rewatch of the show, I was back up to speed in no time, in part because it just felt so familiar. Even the new characters slot neatly into the established world. With action, intrigue, emotion, and the odd touch of humor, this first volume establishes a strong story arc for the next installment. I'm looking forward to Volume 2 already...

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Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves: The Road to Neverwinter (Jaleigh Johnson)

Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves: The Road to Neverwinter
The Dungeons and Dragons series
Jaleigh Johnson
Random House Worlds
Fiction, Adventure/Fantasy/Media Tie-In
***+ (Okay/Good)

DESCRIPTION: Edgin Davis was once a dedicated Harper, his lute and his easy, smiling banter a cover for his work ferreting out evil and danger across the land... until enemies made on the job followed him home. When his wife was murdered, all he has left is his infant daughter Kira and a deep chasm of bitter regret and self-recrimination that no amount of alcohol can fill, hard as he tries. It's not until an encounter with the barbarian woman of few words Holga that he begins to scrape himself off the tavern floor... and it's not until desperation leads him to his first theft, raiding the shop of the local corrupt pawnbroker, that he finds a new calling. Thus the years pass, with a growing Kira joining them on heists (protected somewhat by an invisibility amulet), but it's only after a chance encounter with card sharp and con man Forge Fitzwilliam that their little team begins to aim higher - and later, when they happen across an amateur sorcerer with a hot tip on a big score, their reputation may be truly made... assuming they survive.
This story is a prequel to the 2023 movie Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, based upon the popular fantasy role-playing game Dungeons and Dragons.

REVIEW: I watched and thoroughly enjoyed the 2023 movie Dungeons and Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, which was the kind of fun, adventurous romp of a film you don't really see much of anymore. This is one of the prequel novels written to tie in with the budding presumed-franchise, filling in backstory on the Harper-turned-thief Edgin (played by Chris Pine in the film) and the origins of the adventuring band whose reunion forms the core of the movie plot. Sometimes tie-ins like this add interesting twists and can even stand on their own. Unfortunately, this is not one of those tie-ins.
After a prologue, the book starts with exhausted and heartbroken young widower/father Edgin, an inconsolable infant Kira, and a fateful trip to the tavern of their small town where the Davis family's lives will be forever changed by the irascible, potato-obsessed Holga. This is a scenario the movie already covered, a scene that really doesn't need this print expansion to get the point across. Much of the book, actually, feels like it rehashes similar notes that the movie effectively covered, either in the backstory montage Edgin relates during his parole hearing early in the film or in the overall spirit of the movie itself, with characters growing up and coming through for the sake of their found family bond and Edgin crawling out of the pit of self-pity that grief had dropped him into to reclaim some of his former Harper integrity and honor. There is foreshadowing of later events, but that sometimes feels a touch clunky. Kira also comes across as far too much of a plot device, the precocious little scamp who wins over even the most jaded of hearts and seems incapable of comprehending how maybe her putting herself in danger also puts people she loves in danger, that her actions can have tangible and potentially negative consequences. I almost wondered if the story had been intended to be from her point of view as a middle-grade novel, as much of her arc (which isn't really much of an arc, as she doesn't really learn lessons or grow, save in the physical sense of no longer being an infant by the end) reads like wish fulfillment adventure where she gets to show up the adults who underestimate her while experiencing just enough potential peril to make things a little interesting. Edgin, at least, does do some growing and healing through the story, even if he, like more than one other character, has to be whacked by the in-world equivalent of a two-by-four to get some lessons through his skull and the clouded lenses of his grief and self-absorpion.
Things do happen, at least, almost from the first page. Like any good role-playing game campaign, there are plenty of adventurous encounters and improvised escapes (and some decent looting opportunities) and a colorful collection of characters and locales to visit, with some decent little adventure puzzles to tease out. Sometimes the metaphoric dice just aren't the players' friends and things go sideways, but between them they usually manage to get by. Nobody is especially deep and there's a general feeling of emotional immaturity about them, or at least a lack of overall complexity; they ultimately have just enough backstory and personality to them to make for an exciting and adventurous team and campaign, which does indeed occur. This is not unlike the movie that the book ties in to, of course, and on that level I could enjoy it for some stretches, but for some reason what was easily rolled with and enjoyed on screen just doesn't quite play out the same in print. Maybe I'm just conditioned to expect a little more of a book, in a way that ultimately cost it that full fourth star in the ratings. While I can't say I was never entertained or that nothing happened, I just plain enjoyed the movie better, and this book felt too much like a pale shadow retreading emotional beats and character territory that the film covered, making this prequel feel unnecessary.

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The Expanse #4 (Corinna Sara Bechko)

The Expanse #4
The Expanse series, Issue 4
Corinna Sara Bechko and James S. A. Corey (creators), illustrations by Alejandro Aragon
BOOM! Studios
Fiction, Graphic Novel/Media Tie-In/Sci-Fi
**** (Good)

DESCRIPTION: On both Luna and Mars, the two-woman investigation into a system-wide ring of criminal corruption has struck a nerve with someone - someone willing to murder a high-profile (if faded) politician like Chrisjen Avasarala and unafraid of former Martian Marine Roberta "Bobbie" Draper. Rescued in the nick of time, Chrisjen wonders if perhaps she's sacrificed too much and stepped too far over the line... and, when her husband Arjun calls from Earth, she realizes what her commitment may be costing her. On Mars, Bobbie makes a horrifying discovery.
This series takes place between Seasons 4 and 5 of the Amazon Prime series The Expanse, based on the books by James S. A. Corey.

REVIEW: The fourth installment of this interlude series wraps things up (well, at least partially; it wraps up the character arcs, though the criminal network itself lives on into Season 5 of the show.) The two women each have gone further than they intended, but then the conspiracy they're investigating is vast on a scale they still can't quite comprehend, unprecedented in scope and scale and sheer audacity of purpose. This conspiracy is too big and too dark for them to stop on their own, but what choice do they have but pursue their investigation to the bitter end? Chrisjen's storyline has some extra poignancy given events in the show's fifth season, a moment lost and path not taken that she will come to deeply regret, while Bobbie's commitment to her changing, dying world only grows stronger. I'm still not completely a fan of the art style, but it does the job. Again, I'm pretty sure I would've enjoyed all four episodes more if I'd waited to read them in a complete volume, but the free library-associated digital lending site hoopla only offered them as singletons as of this review, and you really can't say no to free. (Well, yes, technically you can, but in this case I couldn't.)

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The Expanse #3 (Corinna Sara Bechko)

The Expanse #3
The Expanse series, Issue 3
Corinna Sara Bechko and James S. A. Corey (Creators), illustrations by Alejandro Aragon
BOOM! Comics
Fiction, Graphic Novel/Media Tie-In/Sci-Fi
**** (Good)

DESCRIPTION: On Earth and Mars, former secretary general Chrisjen Avasarala and ex-marine Bobbie Draper have been investigating a web of corruption - and, in doing so, kicked a hornet nest far bigger and more dangerous than they could have imagined. While Chrisjen finds herself trapped on Luna, Bobbie regroups after a setback... both realizing they've only seen the tip of the iceberg, and that they're in too deep to turn back now, even if it kills them.
This series takes place between Seasons 4 and 5 of the Amazon Prime series The Expanse, based on the books by James S. A. Corey.

REVIEW: The third installment of this bridge series picks up the pace somewhat. Both of them are finally realizing the sheer scale of what they've unearthed, how deep the rot runs and the unimaginable reach of its agents, but this only makes them more determined. The two outwardly mismatched women continue to make an unexpectedly solid team. Neither one takes well to having been caught off-guard, and the setbacks only make them more eager to get at the heart of the problem. But, for all their determination, they are still only two people, one a disgraced Earth politician past her prime and the other an ex-officer on a dying world. I'm looking forward to the fourth installment.

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The Expanse #2 (Corinna Sara Bechko)

The Expanse #2
The Expanse series, Issue 2
Corinna Sara Bechko and James S. A. Corey (creators), illustrations by Alejandro Aragon
BOOM! Studios
Fiction, Graphic Novel/Media Tie-In/Sci-Fi
***+ (Okay/Good)

DESCRIPTION: The investigation of corruption on Mars and Earth takes a turn... and not for the best. On Mars, former Martian Marine Bobbie Draper has been wounded in pursuit of criminals; how much more can she risk before her luck runs out? Back on Luna, sidelined politician Chrisjen Avasarala seems to have rattled the right cages in her own pursuit of answers; a contact offers her a chance to regain her former political clout, hinting at the building of a new order beyond the old, dying ways of Earth and Mars. But at what cost?
This series takes place between Seasons 4 and 5 of the Amazon Prime series The Expanse, based on the books by James S. A. Corey.

REVIEW: As expected, this picks up where the previous issue left off. Bobbie, in trouble after her near-miss with the organization behind the growing ring of thefts and corruption eating away the heart of the Mars she knew, must call in a favor from a friend, questioning what her commitment is gaining her other than fresh scars and fresh enemies. Chrisjen finds herself in personal danger after rejecting an offer that's too good to be true, for once without anyone to call upon to help her out of trouble. As with the previous issue, it's a brief fragment of a larger story, suffering for being a middle installment and thus a bit adrift; it starts and ends in the middle of larger arcs, and it's so short that, by the time I got myself oriented again in the larger story, it was almost over. (The continued rough sketchiness of the artwork did not help on this front.) Once more, I'm thinking this is a quartet that will read much better when it's published in a single volume instead of piecemeal like this, but I'm sufficiently impatient to just grab the issues as hoopla offers them. (The price tag of "free" for hoopla borrows is also a significant factor.)

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The Expanse #1 (Corinna Sara Bechko and James S. A. Corey)

The Expanse #1
The Expanse series, Issue 1
Corinna Sara Bechko and James S. A. Corey, illustrations by Alejandro Aragon
BOOM! Studios
Fiction, Graphic Novel/Media Tie-In/Sci-Fi
**** (Good)

DESCRIPTION: Mars is dying. With the opening of the ring gates and the thousand habitable worlds beyond rendering the terraforming of an airless red rock quaintly obsolete, not to mention the collapse of the old rivalry with Earth that fueled their mighty military industry, the pillars of the Martian economy and society are in freefall... and someone is taking advantage of the chaos. Ex-Marine Bobbie Draper stumbled into Mars's underworld and discovered a greater conspiracy. With off-the-books backing from Chrisjen Avasarala, a fading political force on Earth (now essentially exiled to Luna by the new secretary general), Bobbie plucks at threads hoping to find the center of the web - but that web may spread as far as Earth, and beyond, and for once Avasarala may have found an enemy even craftier than herself.
This series takes place between Seasons 4 and 5 of the Amazon Prime series The Expanse, based on the books by James S. A. Corey.

REVIEW: Filling in some backstory of events between the two seasons, this story follows Bobbie Draper's efforts to find out who is behind the growing web of corruption and Mars's burgeoning black market in military surplus, and Chrisjen Avasarala's efforts to both help Bobbie and keep her own head above increasingly murky and turbulent water in Earth's politics, as she realizes there's something not right on Luna. The two make a decent, if outwardly mismatched, team, both driven and dedicated and somewhat neglectful of personal and family lives in pursuit of greater justice... and both willing to bend a few rules to get what they need. It almost lost a half-mark for being so short (I prefer reading these things as single volumes once all issues are out, because it feels more like a finished story in a volume) and for the art sometimes being a bit sketchy. Still, it does what it sets out to do, creating a story and capturing the essence of the characters I recognize, so I cut it a little slack given that it's just the first installment of a four-issue arc.

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The Illustrated Good Omens (Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman)

The Illustrated Good Omens
Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, illustrations by Paul Kidby
Gollancz
Fiction, Fantasy/Humor/Media Tie-In
****+ (Good/Great)

DESCRIPTION: For several thousand years, the world has been ticking along according to God's ineffable plan... but all things must end eventually. The Antichrist has been delivered to an unsuspecting human couple in England, and in eleven years the Apocalypse will arrive, the Four Horsemen will ride, and the forces of Good and Evil will finally hash it out once and for all, all as foretold by innumerable prophets, madmen, and witches. There isn't a demon in Hell or an angel in Heaven who hasn't been waiting for this day since the beginning - but one angel and one demon on Earth aren't so eager for the end.
After thousands of years, the angel Aziraphale and demon Crowley have grown rather fond of the mortal world, if not always of the mortals themselves, and see no reason why it all has to go in the rubbish bin on a cosmic whim. They scheme to exert a little otherworldly influence over the Antichrist's childhood, so maybe the boy will think twice before unleashing total destruction. But the best laid plans of angels and demons inevitably go astray...
This edition of the bestselling novel includes illustrations by Paul Kidby.

REVIEW: I saw the miniseries before I got around to reading the book, and was surprised how faithfully it had been adapted (if with some tweaks), no doubt due to Gaiman overseeing the adaptation. I was also pleasantly surprised that the story lived up to its somewhat larger-than-life reputation. Tackling modern society, Heaven, Hell, and religion in general, not to mention numerous other side-barbs at a broad range of topics, the authors weave a fairly fast-paced story that delivers plenty to laugh with and think about, with some great characters that generally have multiple dimensions. Even the Antichrist isn't all bad, and the relationship between Aziraphale and Crowley forms a nice heart to the tale while demonstrating that both sides in the eternal fight are more alike than they care to admit. The page-sized illustrations, while well done, are unfortunately a weak spot; they appear at random, interrupting the flow of the narrative, and the artist seems to have split the difference between basing likenesses on the book and basing likenesses on the Amazon Prime series casting; the end result evokes David "Crowley" Tennant and Michael "Aziraphale" Sheen for some images, then rolls back to Pratchett's descriptions for other characters that were changed significantly for film. (More diversity was added, for one thing - which, to be honest, was a bit of an improvement, and the actor choices were great.) I understand why, of course, as tying the book to the miniseries no doubt boosts sales of this edition, but for some reason I found it slightly jarring. There were also a few times where the tale wavered on the line between humorous aside and rambling tangent, though it generally stayed on the former side. (Additionally, the Old English font that was used for some of the asides and prophecies was a little difficult to read.) On the whole, however, Good Omens is an enjoyable modern-day classic of fantasy and humor.

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Stranger Things: The Other Side (Jody Houser)

Stranger Things: The Other Side
A Stranger Things graphic novel, Volume 1
Jody Houser, illustrations by Stefano Martino and Keith Champagne
Dark Horse Books
Fiction, YA? Fantasy/Graphic Novel/Horror/Media Tie-In
***+ (Okay/Good)

DESCRIPTION: Young Will Byers led an ordinary life in small-town Hawkins, Indiana. The most danger he ever faced was in Dungeons and Dragons as the wizard Will the Wise. Then one night, riding his bike home in the dark, he somehow takes a wrong turn and ends up... elsewhere. Everything looks the same, but darker. Emptier. And there's something lurking here - a monster that even a wizard would hesitate to confront, but which stands between him and the way home.
Based on the Netflix Originals series Stranger Things, created by the Duffer brothers.

REVIEW: I've been enjoying the series, so this graphic novel, detailing Will's ordeal in the Upside-Down during the first season, looked like an interesting read. On some basic level, though, it's just plain unnecessary. Will finds himself lost and alone in a shadowy version of Hawkins (alone save for the Demogorgon beast, that is), surrounded by voices he cannot reach and with only rare glimpses of his mother and the mysterious girl Eleven. He draws on courage and lessons gleaned from his role-playing experiences, striving to become Will the Wise in order to survive... but the story is mostly him wandering (or running) through the Upside-Down, eluding the Demogorgon and trying (and failing) to escape. It doesn't add much to either the story arc or the character, as much of it was self-evident from the show. Some of the illustrations failed to capture actor likenesses, as well. While it's not a bad visit to Hawkins and the Upside-Down, and it conveys some sense of the isolation and terror experienced by Will, it ultimately feels like a needless cul-de-sac rehashing events the viewer already experienced.

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Altered Carbon: Download Blues (Richard K. Morgan and Rik Hoskin)

Altered Carbon: Download Blues
A Takeshi Kovaks graphic novel
Richard K. Morgan and Rik Hoskin, illustrations by Ferran Sellares
Dynamite Entertainment
Fiction, Graphic Novel/Media Tie-In/Sci-Fi
**** (Good)

DESCRIPTION: Across the interstellar Protectorate, Envoys have a reputation as rough customers, and ex-Envoys even moreso. So when a business magnate is found murdered in his hotel room while his ex-Envoy bodyguard is standing right outside the door, the police on Sovami consider him a prime suspect, or at least an accessory. But he refuses to talk - until they bring in another ex-Envoy already locked up for disorderly conduct, a man named Takeshi Kovacs. Kovacs isn't normally a fan of the cops, but he's offered a chance to erase the charges against him if he can get this guy to talk. It seemed like an easy enough request - until the suspect blows up the interrogation room and tackles him out through a skyscraper window during an escape. The blast took out the officers and nearly killed him, and Kovacs takes that kind of thing personally. Thus begins a chase across the stars, from one expendable "sleeve" body to another, through a plot with roots deep in a century-old atrocity of justice.
Based on the Takeshi Kovacs novels by Richard K. Morgan, also a Netflix Originals series.

REVIEW: This graphic novel is a sort of hybrid between Morgan's book, which forms the roots of the setting and story arc, and the Netflix series, which has a strong influence on the artwork and overall color palette. (I checked, and this was published in early 2019, a year after the show debuted: those frames that looked straight out of the streaming show were definitely homages, not inspirations.) The whole works reasonably well, a self-contained adventure for the jaded antihero Kovacs that could exist before, after, or during the novel series. It starts with a high-class man and prostitutes of iffy legality, which threatened to hew too close to the first book and made me wonder if that was the only sort of plotline that Kovacs dealt with, but soon skews off on its own trajectory. The body count starts racking up soon, and once again stack technology and resleeving play heavily into the storyline, as the tale leaps from planet to planet, from surface to orbit, and even stopping off in a self-contained retirement habitat. Clean justice isn't really a thing in this universe (or our own, sadly), but what unfolds offers about the closest one can expect in a universe where power is built on corruption and watered with small oceans of blood. A decent, if again testosterone-heavy, cyberpunk noir graphic novel, though I'm not sure how well someone who was unfamiliar with Morgan's work (or the Netflix series) would follow it; it seemed fairly clearly laid out to me, but I've had prior exposure.

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Jim Henson's Labyrinth Coronation: Volume 1 (Simon Spurrier and Jim Henson)

Jim Henson's Labyrinth Coronation: Volume 1
The Labyrinth Coronation series, Issues 1 - 4
Simon Spurrier and Jim Henson (creator), illustrations by Daniel Bayliss
Archaia
Fiction, YA? Fantasy/Graphic Novel/Media Tie-In
***+ (Okay/Good)

DESCRIPTION: When young Sarah regrets wishing that the goblins would take her baby brother Toby away, Jareth the Goblin King gives her thirteen hours to retrieve him from the castle at the center of his vast, shifting Labyrinth - otherwise, the child will become a goblin. But this is not the first time a stolen baby has been sought by a loved one. Jareth himself was once a human boy not unlike young Toby, and it was his mother Maria who braved the Labyrinth in search of him, defying the wicked Owl King and the child's noble father, Lord Tyton.

REVIEW: Nostalgia's a hot commodity these days; I see graphic novel series revisiting The Dark Crystal and other favorites from childhood, plus there is a manga tale about an older Toby returning to the labyrinth world (which I have not read, but seen at the library.) Given that, a Labyrinth graphic novel revival was almost a given. This is not so much a retelling or a sequel as a prequel about Jareth, memorably played (and sung) by the late David Bowie in Henson's movie. Since I have a fair bit of nostalgia tied up here (I still own and listen to the soundtrack - I am a child of the 80's, after all), it was with some trepidation that I approached this title... and with some inevitable disappointment that I finish.
The framing story here supposedly occurs while Jareth watches Sarah make her way through the Labyrinth; between him and the goblin Beetleglum, the tale of Jareth's own childhood unfolds. There's an immediate issue here, as the graphic novel keeps reminding me of the movie source material, a comparison by which it can't help falling short. It's also obvious that something went horribly wrong with Maria's journey, or Jareth wouldn't be the Goblin King in Sarah's time; at some point, I couldn't help feeling toyed with on this account, especially as this is just Volume 1 of a longer arc and doesn't resolve anything. The Labyrinth itself is a remarkable and imaginative place where nothing is as it seems, though the version encountered by Maria is different than the one Sarah found in the movie; there's some implication that the place's aspect is at least partly in the eye of the beholder. Maria is not the impetuous, immature girl Sarah was at the start of her journey, but a determined and desperate mother willing to move heaven and earth to find her son. Unfortunately, knowing that she fails can't help robbing the story of some tension. The artwork is imaginative, but not quite up to the standard set by Jim Henson and Brian Froud in the film, though the characters definitely feel like they belong in the Labyrinth I grew up knowing and loving. Between (too-frequent) cutaways to Jareth and Beetleglum, the story takes a while to get going, and seems to just be hitting a decent stride by the time it ends, leaving me with mixed feelings.
On the one hand, I admit I'm a little curious about how Maria fails. On the other, if future installments are this riddled with interruptions (and keep reminding me, again, of a movie so deeply rooted in my childhood that it can't help coloring my perception of tie-in material), I'm not sure how far out of my way I'll go to find answers.

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The Expanse: Origins (James S. A. Corey, Hallie Lambert, and Georgia Lee)

The Expanse Volume 1: Origins
The Expanse Origins, Issues 1 - 4
James S. A. Corey, Hallie Lambert, and Georgia Lee; illustrations by Huang Danlan, Triona Farrell, Juan Useche, and Rahzzah
BOOM! Studios
Fiction, Collection/Graphic Novel/Media Tie-In/Sci-Fi
***+ (Okay/Good)

DESCRIPTION: Earthers Jim Holden and Amos Burton, Belters Naomi Nagata and Detective Josephus Miller, and Martian Alex Kamal: perhaps the most famous crew in the solar system, seemingly always at the heart of history-changing events. Fate brought them together aboard the gunship Rocinante, but all of them have histories and secrets that shape who they are and who they might become. In this graphic novel, glimpse their backstories.
Based on the Expanse series, created by James S. A. Corey.

REVIEW: As one might infer from the rating, I had a mixed reaction to this one. It skews toward the TV series more than the novels (understandable, as two of the writers are from the show and the art clearly favors the actors over strict book descriptions), so book purists would likely be disgruntled. (Me, I enjoy both versions: fandom has prepared me well to accept parallel universes as equals.) Indeed, it's very unlikely these would stand well on their own if someone wasn't familiar with the show, making the whole collection feel more like marketing than an independent series of stories.
The stories themselves are odd choices. The weakest is the first, Holden's backstory, which does little to elaborate on events that were mentioned in passing elsewhere. It's strange that the ship's captain and ostensible lead (even in an ensemble cast, the captain tends to be the unspoken lead) gets the least involved entry, and I couldn't help feeling that cards were deliberately being held close to the writers' vests here, to the detriment of the tale. As the first story, it set things off on an awkward foot, as I found myself wondering if I'd overpaid for graphic novel adaptations of lines from the show. Fortunately, the other three entries become more interesting, exploring events that viewers and readers (at least, readers up through Book 5, where I'm at) don't already know and meshing well with existing canon, though I'm no continuity hawk to notice incongruities. The art is serviceable, though I admit that I've been spoiled in that regard with some of my other graphic novel reads, which generally feature more cinematic styles and spreads.
Ultimately, while it offers insights into character development (and likely foreshadows future events), it ends up feeling a little too much like a marketing cash-in for me to give it a full fourth star. (More power to 'em, of course, for having a hot commodity, but it does affect my reaction.)

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Ryan Higa's How To Write Good (Ryan Higa)

Ryan Higa's How To Write Good
Ryan Higa
Little, Brown Books
Nonfiction, YA? Humor/Media Tie-In/Memoir/Writing
**** (Good)

DESCRIPTION: Popular YouTuber Ryan Higa may be the winner of the world's first Nobel Prize for internet videos (not true), but once upon a time he was a bullied preteen misfit struggling to find a reason to live (true.) Here, he presents the story of of his formative years, how he learned to cope with an inherently unfair world and push himself to excellence in unexpected ways, such as sports, comedy, and learning to write good. Or well. Whichever the proofreaders and his ghostwriter companion approve...

REVIEW: I confess I'm not a YouTube connoisseur, more of a light viewer than a binge-watcher or hardcore channel fan. But I saw this book go through the library at work, and it looked fun in the few moments I had to skim it - and, if I'm not much of a YouTube watcher, I am (something of) a writer. So I suppose I'm coming at this one a little backwards. Nevertheless, I've always been of the belief that a media tie-in book ought to stand alone, or it's not a well written book. Thus, despite my lack of familiarity with Higa's work*, I gave it a try.
With humor and frankness, not to mention several illustrated interludes, Higa relates a harrowing tale of childhood alienation and bullying. As someone who went through both and still bears certain mental tics from those days, I could readily relate despite the generational gap. It's not much of a spoiler to say that things did get better - if they hadn't, he probably wouldn't be around to have written this book - though Higa's quite honest about just how useful that "it gets better" advice is to someone going through their own personal hell (read: statistically indistinguishable from zilch.) His illustrated conversations with his ghostwriter and publisher add needed levity, with some surreal details. As for the writing angle, while it's primarily a memoir, there is indeed some talk about how to write a story. On the whole, it's a decent and fast read with some nice humor and a message about hard-won hope. My main complaint is the eBook formatting, which insisted on a locked-in scale and landscape view, not to mention a color screen. Half the benefit of an eBook is the ability to customize font text and choose viewing preferences... but, I digress.
(* - In retrospect, I believe I've seen him in a few older Smosh videos, though I don't watch them much, if at all, anymore. Changing tastes, changing world, and all that...)

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The X-Files: Earth Children are Weird (Chris Carter, series creator)

The X-Files: Earth Children are Weird
Based on The X-Files series
Chris Carter, series creator, illustrations by Kim Smith
Quirk Books
Fiction, CH Media Tie-in/Picture Book/Sci-Fi
*** (Okay)

DESCRIPTION: Young Dana and her friend Fox are having a camp-out in her back yard when Fox's imagination runs away with him... or are there really aliens out there?

REVIEW: As a former X-phile, I was curious about this title, and finally cornered it during some down time at work. Unfortunately, I just don't think it quite works on a number of levels.
First off, there's the title, which is not only a spoiler, but irrelevant for most of the story. (It's such a disconnect that one is basically just tapping one's fingers waiting for the title to make sense... and when it does, it's not so much an "aha" moment as a vague sigh.) Secondly, there's the concept of retconning Mulder and Scully into childhood pals. This could've been a fun homage, with numerous opportunities for nods to the original series, but nothing much stood out. Plus, young Dana and Fox are reading X-Files stories in their tent, which really warps a concept that already retcons characters. Either this was a very subtle nod to the show (which once had characters watching Chris Carter's Millennium series before doing a crossover), or this thing wasn't even trying to be anything but a quick cash-in on the reboot (or re-reboot, given that a second "special" season is airing soon.) Then there's the matter of using an early-reader picture book to tie into a series that was definitely not for the picture book audience. (What next, a pop-up book with a pull tab for the Flukeman to tear out a victim's liver? A See-and-Say toy for monsters?) I know there are people who happily let their toddlers and kindergartners watch Outlander and Game of Thrones, but it still feels like brand confusion to me, especially as there doesn't seem to be much here for the adult X-phile reading this to their kids. But even setting all that aside... something about the storyline, simple as it is, just doesn't quite play out right to me - a feeling definitely not helped by a title that tips its hand before the reader even picks it up.
In the end, what could've been an amusing little outing for 'philes of all ages ends up feeling flat and forced. But I suppose all's fair if it earns more money for the franchise owners...

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