Author: Xyon McKell

Categories
Manga Reviews

Ghost Hunt Volumes 6 & 7 Review

Ghost Hunt focuses on a core cast, but they do a good job of hitting each character’s main abilities and each story stands pretty well on their own. Volume 6 would be an ok place to start reading if you didn’t want to go back to volume 1.

I’m reviewing these two volumes together because they form one complete 10-part arc. Naru and his acquaintances are called to investigate mysterious disappearances in an old mansion. It would be a disservice to the suspense of the story get into plot details, but I can say that it builds nicely and never feels slow despite its length. Important bits of character development are worked in seamlessly, and the creepiness is off the charts. The supporting cast could’ve been used and fleshed out a bit more, but keeping the focus firmly on our main cast and the mystery they’re investigating isn’t really a negative.

Excellent atmosphere and progression in Ghost Hunt’s longest arc yet, keeping this engaging and gripping for two full volumes. This series is a must read for those who can handle disturbing tales of the supernatural.

Categories
Food Japan Mystery Boxes Reviews

Japan Crate: Lucky Crate Review

Japan Crate recently ran a special promotion called “Lucky Crates.” These crates were half the price of their Premium Crates and filled with 10 snacks from previous crates. Random crates would also contain special prizes (or redemption vouchers for larger things).

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The insert included was a great touch, as it showed and explained all of the possible snacks as well as highlighting the special prizes. I did not receive any of the special prizes, but the box contents themselves were good. There was a coupon included as sort of a conciliation prize ($7 off a crate), but it expired 3 days from the target arrival date and was only good for new subscribers. So instead of being a nice gesture it was kind of a slap in the face to regular costumers. “Sorry you didn’t win anything. Here’s something you can’t use instead!”

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I got two of these, and they were practically identical. The only difference between the two was one had Konpetio Sugar Candy and the other had Soda Mixing Jelly Beans. The other nine items were exactly the same between the two boxes. I’m sure there was more variety in general, which makes it a little disappointing that there wasn’t effort made to better randomize the prepared boxes before filling orders for multiples.

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The Excellent

I adore soda flavored candy, so was quite happy to get Soda Mixing Jelly Beans (in one crate) and Poifull Soda Beans. Both are excellent yet different in flavor.

Sweet Corn Pretz are quite good and taste exactly like they are supposed to.

Chocolate Pucca are delicious pretzel shells filled with chocolate.

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The Decent

Grape Gummy Ribbon has a nice, slightly tart grape flavor and a very unique soft, almost dough-ish texture.

Vitamin C Lemon Drops are exactly what they sound like – a lemon flavored hard candy loaded with Vit C.

Konpeito is described as a traditional Japanese candy from the 16th century. It’s pieces of what’s generally called rock candy over here. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it in such small, relatively uniform pieces. Ok, but I vastly preferred the soda jelly beans I got in the other box.

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Meiji Dice Caramel are amusingly packaged caramel candies. Fun inclusion, but a bit too sweet for me.

Two previous Premium exclusive drinks were included. Chunosuke Water is a nice, lightly flavored drink and Creamy Melon Soda tastes exactly as described.

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The Meh

Lemon Squash is quite interesting, as it’s a soft plastic bottle of a mild lemonade packaged like a snack. I found it bland, but it certainly will have its appeal among others. 

 

Conclusion

While I had a couple small complaints about the execution overall the Lucky Crates were a great deal, particularly for new customers or ones who don’t get Premium and haven’t had the drinks. Would I get another one if they did this again? Absolutely. Is it worth getting more than one at a time? Absolutely not.

Categories
Books Reviews

“It says ‘From Hell.'”

This is Nathan Garret’s fifth adventure. It’s a complete story on its own and does an ok job of explaining the key concepts and characters, but it builds heavily on previously known characters and pays off several long running plotlines. Do not start here – go back to Crimes Against Magic (book 1).

 

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Like the rest of the Hellequin series Lies Ripped Open goes back and forth between the present and a related story from Nate’s past. As usual historical and mythological stories and beings are woven into Nate’s world in various ways and unique versions. The past timeline for this book centers around a certain string of murders in late 17th century Whitechapel.

I’m going to go really light on details to avoid spoilers. The core storylines are solid and there’s a lot of implications and connections to previously established plot threads and characters. The flashback sequences are well done and feel important to the present. A couple of things that have been buildings for several books come to a head here.

All of which makes it more frustrating that in large it feels like this book is spinning its wheels a bit. Despite feeling action packed and like it moves at a good clip, there’s a parallel feeling that not much is happening / advancing in meaningful ways with regards to the series as a whole. There’s many more new questions than answers overall and I feel like in total we don’t know much more, if any really, than when we started.

There’s also something at the end that effectively undoes one of the things I liked most about the series. It changes a lot about where the plot could go, the atmosphere of the series, and the assumptions and framework the reader has when reading future books. Reactions will vary but once I got over the surprise of it I found myself quite disappointed with the development.

So we have a mixed bag overall. Lies Ripped Open itself is a good book and a fun read. But I’m hesitant about what its reveals mean for the series. We’ll see I suppose.

Categories
Comics Reviews

Rat Queens Volume 2 Review

This trade collects Rat Queens #6-10. There are a lot of layered story threads in Rat Queens. Best to start at the beginning.

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Continues the momentum built up in volume 1 without missing a beat. There’s a lot of background on the leads here, always relevant to their current character and personality as well as to the ongoing story. Stjephan Sejic joins the art team, and his work is just as perfect for the book as Upchruch’s.

The plot pays off some ongoing threads while introducing more (including a big cliffhanger for next volume). However as good as the general story is, the true highlights of Rat Queens are its characters and their development. Despite how awsome everyone is I am developing favorites: Hannah’s proving to be the surprisingly deep enigma I was hoping for, and everything Betty does sends me into a laughing fit. That said I could keep going with similar compliments for just about every single character. The cast is that good.

More great stuff. Can’t wait for volume 3.

Categories
Comics Reviews

Rat Queens Volume 1 Review

“Did you seriously pack candy and drugs for dinner?”

This trade collects Rat Queens #1-5.

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This volume’s subtitle, “Sass and Sorcery,” is as good a summation of Rat Queens as there is. Wiebe’s cast is three-dimensional, relatable, and diverse in appearance, attitude, and actions. Upchurch’s art is a perfect match, bring everything to life in an appropriate and powerful way.

The comic is violent and vulgar, but it seems right for the characters and situations. The Queens are the toughest group of women I’ve ever read about, without being “Mary Sues.” They’re far from perfect, and aren’t entirely good either, but are incredibly likable because they feel real and charming and it’s impossible not to cheer for them. Put such a strong set of main characters into an equally interesting take on some sword and sorcery cliches turned on their heads and it all adds up to a magical, fun read.

Every bit as impressive and awesome as I’d heard, Rat Queen is a must read for fans of the fantasy genre who can handle an in-your-face approach to the material and its “booze guzzling, death dealing battle maidens-for-hire” protagonists.

Categories
Comics Reviews

Robin Volume 1: Reborn Review

This trade collects Batman #455-457, Detective Comics #618-621, and Robin (first mini-series) #1-5.

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As Nightwing, Dick Grayson is perhaps my favorite character in the DC Universe (or at least tied with Batman). But surprisingly enough he’s not actually my favorite Robin. By a small margin, that honor goes to Tim Drake. A detective in his own right, a proficient computer hacker, and level headed enough to be aware of the weight of the legacy he wishes to have passed to him, Drake was embraced as a successor to Grayson by fans in a way Jason Todd never was.

This collection contains three multi-part stories that cover his training pre-Robin and his first steps once he’s become the new boy wonder.

Rite of Passage is a four-issue story that ran in Detective Comics and was done by one of my favorite creative teams, Alan Grant and Norm Breyfogle. Grant is a fantastic writer that wrote dark stories, sometimes with mystical elements, that still felt grounded, always had a point to them, and were appropriate additions to the Batman mythos. Breyfolge’s art was always dynamic and captivating.

Here they present an important chapter in Tim’s journey to becoming Robin. He’s already being trained by Batman and Nightwing, having previously proved his potential by deducing their identities. But after what happened with Jason Todd Batman is taking it slow, trying to be sure Tim is ready before allowing him in the field. Fate has an even tougher trial in mind however, as Tim’s parents are abducted. Powerful story with themes of voodoo, fate, and responsibility.

Batman #455-457 is another arc by the same creative duo, seeing Batman investigating a string of odd murders committed by civilians in masks. Meanwhile the weight of being the next Robin hangs heavily over Tim’s shoulders. These stories are wonderfully character driven, with a Batman who’s not infallible and tough events and decisions for our heroes to contend with.

Finally we have the five issues first Robin mini-series. Tim has become Robin, but has some soul searching to do as to what that really means for him. Chuck Dixon and Tom Lyle provide this nice globe spanning tale that sees Tim trying to continue his training only to be swept up in dangerous schemes that will cross his path with an old Batman foe as well as a dangerous new villain. Like the previous two arcs this focuses on character development and what makes Tim unique, to great effect.

I’m thrilled they rereleased these early stories of Tim’s career. Hope to see more.

Categories
Comics Reviews

Heart in a Box Review

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Suffering a broken heart, Emma wishes it away. Quickly aware of what a bad choice she made, she takes the one opportunity he has to get it back from those it was redistributed to … piece by piece.

I went into this comic knowing nothing about it, and I recommend staying as close to that as possible. The back cover text gives away too much in my opinion, so I’d avoid it (and website descriptions of the book, etc) if at all possible.

I picked this up because of the intriguing cover and being previously familiar with Meredith McClaren’s amazing art. Her self written comic Hinges is a joy. Her style and versatility is a perfect match for Kelly Thompson’s desperate tale of adult heartbreak, emptiness, and growth.

There are parts I wish we’re fleshed out a little more and a couple of lingering questions, but overall Emma’s journey is wondrous, intense, and thought provoking. All beautifully brought to life by Thompson and McClaren.

I won’t go further to avoid spoiling anything, but I highly recommend Heart in a Box.

Categories
Comics Reviews

ODY-C Review

This trade collects ODY-C #1-5.

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The Odyssey in space in a universe where nearly all the people and Gods are women. Sounds much more interesting in premise than it ended up in execution. Fraction’s re-imaginings of Greek myth and parts of Odysseus’s journey are brilliant, but suffer under too grand and abstract a vision. The comic isn’t particularly cohesive and it’s often unclear how the scheming of various Gods behind the scenes is affecting the main(?) story of Odyssia’s trip home.

Odyssia herself doesn’t connect with the reader well, and other than being told she’s a hero I’m not sure why we’re supposed to be cheering for her successful return (especially since we’re also told she might or might not even want to go home in the first place).

I found the art extremely variable. Like the story I think it tries to hard to be abstract, leading to muddled coloring and hard to follow sequences. On the other hand some pages and panels are truly beautiful, capturing the trippy and alien feel they seemed to be going for.

ODY-C is a comic I expected to, and wished, I liked more than I did. As a huge fan of both Greek mythology and science fiction this comic seemed right up my alley. Unfortunately I don’t think it worked well nor achieved even close to its full potential.

Categories
Comics Reviews

“He Saw It In A Dream.”

This trade collects Jupiter’s Legacy #1-5.

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Disillusioned and reeling from the 1929 stock market collapse, Sheldon Sampson follows strange dreams he’s been having to an island where he and his companions are given superpowers. These heroes and their children could shape the world …

There’s been a lot of criticism about the derivative and cliched nature of many of the themes and plot points here, but the quality of stories always primarily depends on what’s done with the ideas it uses. I think it’s all blended wonderfully in Jupiter’s Legacy and it doesn’t bother me in the least that I’ve seen some elements before.

The execution isn’t entirely perfect. In refusing to shy away from graphical depictions of violence Millar and Quitely go over the top a couple times to the point it breaks the immersion. The ideological differences of certain characters would have been much more interesting with a few small changes  and some more shades of gray worked in.

But Jupiter’s Legacy is excellent as it is. This exploration of power and the long reaching consequences of the associated choices could become a classic depending on what the rest of the series brings.

Categories
Comics Reviews

“Not the Justice Dorks”

This trade collects Secret Six (II) issues #1-6 and DC Sneak Peek: Secret Six #1.

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I enjoyed Simone’s entire run of Secret Six comics pre-New 52, so was quite excited to check out the recent re-imagining of the title. It’s different, but retains enough of the original’s DNA to feel right. These issues cover the team being forced together by the machinations of a much different Mockingbird and for different reasons than we’ve previously seen. I think more could have been done with the opening arc, but I won’t complain too much about moving things along at a nice clip.

Familiar faces are mixed with new additions. Catman and Black Alice were two of my favorites from the original run, so I’m thrilled to see them anchoring the book as part of the core team. There are also some nice cameos. I’m split on the new crew. Strix and Porcelain are quite interesting and unique. Adoring them both so far. Not feeling Big Shot and I’ve never been a fan of this version of The Ventriloquist. Simone uses them all well though, and as usual the character interactions are a key part of her stories.

It’s not the Secret Six we know, but honestly it shouldn’t be (not to mention the previous version went through numerous shakeups during its run). Strong start here and it’s great to see my favorite dysfunctional team of not-heroes return to action.