Four years ago, I wrote a post titled Wanderlust & My Travel Bucket List. In 2016, I was still in college and excited to graduate. As I re-read the post, I realized I actually crossed off a few of these places. I wanted to revisit this topic to update my list, recap where I have been, and look to the future when the borders open.
Wanderlust *noun* a strong desire to travel.
Universal Studios Orlando, Fl DONE! February 2019
This was my first trip listed in my post four years ago. I didn’t even list this as Universal Studios because I was so focused on seeing the Harry Potter portion of the theme park. This trip was planned for February because that’s my mom’s birthday month. It was also an excuse to leave and go somewhere warm. This was one of my favorite trips I have ever taken, and I’m glad I made this a priority after I graduated from college.
Seattle, Washington – HAHAHAHA 2020.
I was supposed to go to Emerald City Comic Conin March of last year; however, I canceled my trip due to the pandemic. It was 100% the right decision to make. I hope to go to Seattle one of these days.
London
I convinced the fiancé to go to Europe for our honeymoon. With the borders being monitored, I want to wait to go on a honeymoon until it’s safe to travel to Europe.
New York City Comic Con / A Bigger Con Partly Done! Planet Comic-Con in 2018, New York Trip in 2018, and C2E2 twice.
This goal is partly completed. Since 2016, I have attended Gen Con(Indianapolis), C2E2twice (Chicago), and Planet Comic Con(Kansas City, Missouri). In 2018, we flew to New York, but not to go to New York Comic Con. Once attending conventions becomes safe again, I want to attend NYCC in all of its glory.
Reading my Wanderlust post reminded me how much I have accomplished since graduating from college in 2017. Going through 2020, I struggled with the insecurity of “not doing enough” with my life. 2020 felt like a wasted year. I realize in saying this that it’s a privileged thing to say. None of my loved ones tested positive for COVID-19. I’m still healthy as I’m sitting in my apartment writing this post. My main hope for 2021 is to speed up the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine! Bring on the herd immunity!
Content Warning: hate crimes, bigotry, assault, suicide, and violence (a content warning is listed on the graphic novel)
I have backed various graphic novel-based Kickstarter campaigns. It’s gotten to the point where I forget that I backed them. I received my copy of Glitter Vipers in the mail this month. When I received my package, I stared at it, wondering what I had ordered. I read Glitter Vipers the same day I opened it, and it was a fun graphic novel to read.
Before I begin writing my review, I want to highlight that I have no intention of discussing the hate crime, suicide, or violence in this book. I only include the content warning because it’s listed on the back cover of the graphic novel, so I figured it’s important to mention.
Glitter Vipers tells the story of several LGBTQIA+ people as they form the group, Glitter Vipers. The Glitter Vipers originally belonged to a support group where they could discuss their lives amongst their own community. Each member has faced some sort of harassment, violence, or discrimination based on their orientation or identity. They are sick and tired of their circumstances, so they form their own vigilante group to stick up for themselves, which leads to them bringing down a hate group.
I received stickers when I backed the campaign, and they were shiny, pink, with a punk twist. Paging through Glitter Vipers, the art is bright when it needs to be and dark when the story goes there. The art itself was a huge positive for me.
While I did enjoy reading Glitter Vipers, there were a couple of things I wished for. Glitter Vipers is extremely short. This novel is roughly sixty pages. I wish there were more background given for some of the characters. I felt Queenie, Cal, Mel, and Bri weren’t given enough development. I would have liked to know more about them.
Additionally, I wish there were a listing of the character’s pronouns with the character art. I can deduce which characters use which pronouns, but it’s not listed. For example, I believe Queenie is non-binary, so is it safe to assume they use they/them pronouns?? There are images in the back of the graphic novel with the pre-sketches of the characters, and I think it would have been a nice touch to list their pronouns.
I loved reading Glitter Vipers! I loved the art and the overall style of the graphic novel. I hope a sequel is eventually released. I want to know everything and anything about all the characters. If you missed the Kickstarter, Glitter Vipers can be purchased from Joe Glass’s online store. Joe Glass can be found on Twitter @JosephGlass
I remember watching the No Man’s Land Scene from the first Wonder Woman movie. Watching this scene in the theater was an empowering moment. Diana wasn’t going to let Steve hold her back, especially since she needed Steve’s help in getting through the battleground. When my fiancé and I watched WW84, I felt let down in a huge way. The plot left a sour taste in my mouth. Diana is a part of history as seen through the mementos in her apartment. However, all of that can’t be celebrated because she’s still missing Steve???? Why does WW84 feel so different from the first film?
After the shopping mall fight sequence, Diana (played by Gal Gadot) is shown at a restaurant eating by herself and looking up at a plane flying in the night sky. These scenes conveyed to the viewer how Diana is not over Steve. Losing Steve during the war was traumatic for Diana, but I find it hard to believe that she hasn’t moved on. When I think of Wonder Woman as a character, she’s a role model to women and has fought for everyone on the planet. I would have liked to see Diana live a normal life when, suddenly, Steve is revived. It would have been more believable to the character. This Mary Sue article reiterates my thoughts regarding Diana and the way she’s portrayed in WW84.
Besides Diana, there’s Barbara Minerva. Barbara (played by Kristin Wiig) wants to be Diana, to be acknowledged, and attractive. Who cares about Barbara’s multiple Ph.Ds because she wants to be the hot girl. I felt there weren’t enough scenes in the film where I could actually buy into Barbara wanting to be Diana. There’s a brief mention of Barbara being bullied for being a nerd, so it’s assumed Barbara wants to be like Diana to be accepted. When I think of female empowerment, Barbara’s story doesn’t do that either. She feels she needs to be attractive and feminine to be taken seriously. This could be an overreaction on my part, but if someone could help me understand why Barbara wants to be like Diana, other than the fact that she’s attractive, please enlighten me. I would have liked to see Barbara own her shit and use the dream stone to wish for good luck with her research. This research could have led her to become Cheetah and seek power from Diana. This is what I would have liked to see out of the character.
When I first watched WW84, I was hoping for a friendship to be developed between Diana and Barbara. There’s only one scene where Diana and Barbara are out to dinner, where they talk about love. This again brings up the fact that Diana is still not over Steve. Once this scene ends, I’m supposed to believe Diana and Barbara are BFFs? I think there could have been more development in the friendship between Diana and Barbara.
Ultimately, if you loved WW84, I’m happy for you! I think it’s annoying when I state how much I like something, and fans remind me how much the thing I like sucks. I felt WW84 could have been a much better film if it had been structured differently. With the first Wonder Woman film, I walked out of the theater feeling elated, and with WW84, I sat at home pondering what it was that I just watched.
I have always wanted to start a comics pull list. I started reading comics in college; however, I wasn’t particularly fond of the comic book store in my college town. This meant starting a pull list back in Minneapolis wasn’t feasible since I wasn’t driving home consistently. Once I moved to the cities, I struggled to find a weekly comic series. I found reading trades easier than comic issues. Now, I have at least a couple of series I’m trying to read weekly, so it made sense to finally start a pull list. I’m excited to continue supporting a local comic book store weekly and get new comics! Wednesdays will have meaning for me again.
I started my pull list at Hot Comics and Collectibles. Hot Comics recently moved to a new store location in Minneapolis. It’s a quaint little shop, and it gives off a cozy vibe whenever I stop by. Hot Comics has three retail locations, with two of these locations being within reasonable driving distance from my apartment. When I knew I wanted to start a pull list, I wanted a comic book store close to me. This would be a place I would drive to weekly to pick up my comics, and nothing is worse than dreading a long car ride. Winter in Minnesota makes driving unpredictable, and I’d hate to miss picking up my comics because of poor driving conditions.
So what’s on my pull list? At the moment, I have three titles on there so far. If you have kept up with my posts, this shouldn’t come as a surprise as to what’s on my pull list. First, I have Finger Guns. Finger Guns is such a fun comic series. I’m all caught up on the story, so now I’m waiting for issue #6 to release. Besides Finger Guns, I have the latest Doctor Aphra series on my pull list. The new Doctor Aphra series made me a fan of the character and her adventuring team. Finally, I have King in Black on my pull list. King in Black is a Marvel crossover where the heroes are fighting Knull, the god of the Venom symbiote. I haven’t been reading Donny Cates’ Venom series, which supposedly leads up to King in Black. I never felt lost reading King in Black because the story is clear and easy to understand.
Despite having a pull list, I will continue to read trade paperbacks. There are certain series I started way too late, where I don’t think I will ever catch up to the current comic issue. It took me a long time to feel comfortable reading comics and to have the confidence to start a pull list. Let me know if you have a pull list and where your pull list is in the comments below.
Holidays are over, and it’s time for me to recap my reading year. I always use Perpetual Page Turner’s End of Year Survey. At this point, I have read 61 books in 2020. I blew past my original reading goal of 50. This is the highest recorded reading year ever since I started using Goodreads. Being in Quarantine, I found myself ordering more books, comics, graphic novels, and manga to read. I wanted to support local businesses to ensure they remained open. Here are my answers:
**2020 Reading Stats**
Number of Books Read: 61
Number of Re-Reads: 2. To improve on my re-reads for 2021, I pulled specific books off my shelf and created a separate pile of books I want to re-read. Last year, I re-read the Harry Potter series, so my number for this was higher.
Genre You Read the Most From: Comics / Graphic Novels. I read more single issues this year than last year. I also read more romance this year.
1. Best Book in 2020
Final Girls by Riley Sager is the best book I read in 2020. This book took me on a trip. I didn’t know what was happening until the last few pages. Everything about the premise of this book is built on a plot twist. Reading Final Girls is similar to watching a slasher film. I’m a big fan of Halloween and Scream. Final Girls feels like an ode to these movies. I want to re-read this in 2021 to see if I can pick up any foreshadowing I missed during my initial first reading.
2. Book You Were Excited About & Thought You Were Going To Love More But Didn’t?
In a Holidaze by Christina Lauren had potential. It was a romance taking place at a log cabin in Utah. However, I didn’t end up buying into the romance. I felt the romance between the two main characters wasn’t developed enough. By the end of the book, I wasn’t rooting for them as a couple. I felt certain characters weren’t written well which is a shame. I wish I would have liked this more. If you’re into cheesy, Hallmark movies, I bet you would have liked this more than me.
3. Most Surprising (in a good way or bad way) book you read?
I picked War of the Spark Ravnica by Greg Weisman. I have never read a Magic: The Gathering book coinciding with the release of a set. However, I’m a fan of Greg Weisman especially with his work on Young Justice. I wasn’t expecting anything while reading this book. I don’t know a whole lot revolving around the planes of Magic. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. It’s not rated high on Goodreads, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book.
4. Best Series You Started in 2020?
The Athena Protocol is a sapphic, young adult, super-agent series. It’s the female version of the Alex Rider series by Anthony Horowitz. I have the sequel, The Shadow Mission on my 2021 to-be-read pile and I can’t wait to start it.
5. Best Book from a Genre You Don’t Typically Read?
Berserk Volume #1 by Kentaro Miura. I’m struggling to find Manga I’m genuinely interested in. I have read Sailor Moon, Ghost in the Shell, and My Hero Academia. I tried to get into Attack on Titan, unfortunately, I only got through the first volume. I’m discovering I like grittier manga versus the light-hearted, bubblegum manga. My Hero Academia and Sailor Moon are the exceptions to this. My brother let me borrow Berserk. This series is gory, and violent; I’m into it. My brother loaned me volumes 2 – 4. I’m curious where the series will go.
6. Book You Read in 2020 That You Would Be Most Likely to Re-Read Next Year?
Final Girls. I alluded to this earlier. I want to see if there’s any foreshadowing for the plot twists that I missed from my first reading.
7. Most Memorable Character of 2020?
Delia from Rayne & Delilah’s Midnite Matinee was my favorite book character of 2020. I wanted to go into the book and hug her. Delia reminds me of me when I was her age. She’s snarky, insecure, and afraid of the future. There’s a scene where Delia meets her dad who left her at a young age. I couldn’t stop crying while reading. It’s heartbreaking. This book is a mess at times, but Delia was one of the highlights of the book.
8. Most Thought-Provoking / Life-Changing Book of 2020?
Reading Body Positive Power, I’m trying to be kinder to my body. Megan Jayne Crabbe breaks down various fad diets, how our culture impacts beauty, and how being fat in our society is demonized. This is a book I would recommend to anyone with a previous history of body dysmorphia to read.
9. OTP Of the Year (One True Pairing)
Stella and Michael are my everything. Michael sees Stella as being the independent woman she is. Stella likes how Michael doesn’t control her and lets her be. These two are so cute together.
10. Favorite Non-Romantic Relationship of the Year?
Wes and Sadie from Finger Guns have such a wonderful friendship. There isn’t anything romantic about their relationship and while they come from different family backgrounds, they want to support each other whenever they can.
11. Book That Made You Cry in 2020?
Waves is such a touching graphic novel. Waves details the story of a young, lesbian couple trying to have a baby. Unfortunately, they do suffer from a miscarriage. This novel highlights the pain the couple goes through as they try to move on with their grief. I couldn’t stop crying. I plan on re-reading this when I’m older especially if I reach a point in my life where I’m trying for a baby.
1. New Favorite book blog/Bookstagram/Youtube Channel
Riley Marie is a booktuber I started watching in 2020. She picks her to-be-read books for the month by pulling out a prompt from her Stormtrooper mug. Riley is fun, engaging, and her book interests align with mine. She posts videos at least twice a week, so there’s always book content for me to watch. I highly recommend her channel.
2. Favorite Post of 2020
My favorite book post I wrote this year was Pumpkinheads and the ABC’s of Fall. I read Pumpkinheads by Faith Erin Hicks and Rainbow Rowell. I wrote an ABC’s of my favorite words coordinating with Fall. I like how the post came together.
3. Favorite Bookish Photo of 2020
My fiancé took this photo of me while visiting Traverse City, Michigan. There were so many bookstores! I spent $90 on books because why not???? Before taking this photo, I dropped my bag of books because it was heavy.
4. Did You Complete Any Reading Challenges or Goals That You Had Set for Yourself at the Beginning of the Year?
I surpassed my original goal of 50 books to 61. I’m impressed with myself!
1. One Book You Didn’t Get To in 2020 But Will Be Your Number #1 Priority in 2021?
I’m reading It by Stephen King. I was planning on finishing this book by the end of the year, but it didn’t happen. I’m going to ensure that I finish this book in 2021.
2. Series Ending / A Sequel You Are Most Anticipating in 2021?
I’m anticipating two sequels. The first is The Shadow Mission by Shamim Sarif. This is the sequel to The Athena Protocol. The second sequelis A Beautiful Corpse by Christi Daugherty. This is a mystery series set in Savannah, GA. Harper McClain is a crime reporter who’s called to a murder scene that strangely resembles the murder of her mother when she’s young. The first book didn’t answer what happened to Harper’s mom much to my shock. I’m hoping the sequel will give me some answers.
3. One Thing You Hope To Accomplish Or Do In Your Reading / Blogging Life in 2021?
I’m not setting high expectations. I started a comics pull list for the first time, so I’m excited to read comics this way. I received a book gift card from my fiancé for the Holidays, so I’m curious what I will spend it on. Finally, I want to re-read a couple of books I pulled off my shelf. I’m hoping life will get back to normal in 2021.
This post turned out to be a lot longer than I thought it was going to be. I guess that’s what happens when I read more in 2020. I did link the Perpetual Page Turner book prompt in the first paragraph, so feel free to write your own post. If you do, make sure to give Perpetual Page Turner credit along with posting your link in my comments section!
Before writing this post, I read my “2019 Pop Culture Year in Review.” Many of us had such high hopes for 2020. I’m trying to stay positive for the most part, but I can’t help feeling COVID-19 took so much from me. Conventions, trips, seeing my family all have been canceled, put on hold, or decreased. While quarantine allowed me more time for my hobbies, I found myself missing social events. This is my fourth Pop Culture Year in Review post and it’s likely the most different recap I have written.
Movies I Saw in Theaters:
Rise of Skywalker
Once Upon a Time in Hollywood
Birds of Prey
Birds of Prey was the last movie I saw in theaters before the pandemic hit. I miss seeing movies in the theater. I hope theaters will bounce back after the pandemic. Birds of Prey was my favorite film of 2020.
Since being in quarantine, I made a point to watch movies I had never seen before. These included the Blade movies, The League of Extraordinary Gentleman, Ready or Not, The Normal Heart, BlacKkKlansman, Ghostbusters re-make, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. My favorite movie I watched for the first time this year was BlacKkKlansman.
TV Shows I Watched:
Girls
Fleabag
New Girl (finally finished the whole series this year)
You
Barry
The Mandalorian
True Blood
Normal People
Challenger: The Final Flight
The obvious choice of the best TV show in 2020 is The Mandalorian. The second season topped the first season in many ways. Pedro Pascal’s back must hurt from carrying the Star Wars franchise. Besides The Mandalorian, I loved Fleabag. Phoebe Waller-Bridge is an excellent writer and Fleabag allows her to shine.
Video Games I Played:
Spy Fox in Dry Cereal
Monster Prom
Sims #3: Supernatural / Late Night expansions
Kingdom Hearts 3
Star Wars Battlefront II
Costume Quest II
Nancy Drew and the Ghost of Thornton Hall
Hidden Through Time
Marvel’s Avengers
This year I experimented with games on Steam. I uninstalled programs on my laptop to make space for my Steam games. My favorite game I purchased on Steam was Hidden Through Time. It was such a soothing hidden objects game. While other gamers were playing Animal Crossing, I played a lot of Sims. There’s something comforting about simulation games while being stuck inside.
My favorite game I played on a console was Costume Quest II. Costume Quest II is a game that appealed to my love of Halloween. I was able to play it for free on Xbox Game Pass, although I’m considering purchasing both Costume Quest I and II on Steam to re-play them.
Another fond gaming memory was spending hours playing Star Wars: Battlefront II. I played Battlefront II for most of the summer. It was such a great way to unwind from work, crack open a beer and play as Lando.
Gaming in 2020
Star Wars Outer Rim: Playing as Jyn Erso.
Star Wars: Outer Rim
Tattoo Stories
Virus < how fitting
Vampire: the Masquerade Roleplaying
Ravine
Hocus Pocus
To be clear, I played all of these board games before the pandemic started. The highlight from this year was the Vampire: the Masquerade one-shot. My character was named Karen and she was the “talk to your manager” vampire. She would only feed on managers. I had a lot of fun playing her in this one-shot.
Once quarantine began, I didn’t play nearly as many board games. Besides board games, I missed playing tabletop roleplaying games in person. Dungeons & Dragons podcasts filled the void of being able to roleplay in person.
Graphic Novels / Comics I Read this Year:
The Weirdos
Chandra IDW Issue #2
Pumpkinheads
Teen Titans: Raven
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Omnibus Edition
Wolvenheart Issue #2
Birds of Prey
Batgirl #1 Rebirth
Lucifer
Waves
Ghost in the Shell
Eat and Love Yourself
Ghosted in LA
Doctor Aphra Issue #1 & #2
She Said Destroy Volume. #1
Glitterbomb Volume #1
For Goodness Sake
Joker 80th Anniversary Edition
Cult Classic Volume #1
Berserk Volume #1
Finger Guns Issue #1 – #5
I read way more comics and graphic novels this year than in 2019. The graphic novel that stood out to me this year was Eat and Love Yourself by Sweeney Boo. This graphic novel discusses some intense topics involving body dysmorphia and eating disorders. It was an emotional read. I adore Sweeney Boo’s art style. I follow her on Instagram where she posts her art. Besides Eat and Love Yourself, I enjoyed Ghosted in LA published by Boom!
As far as individual comics, I was impressed by Doctor Aphra. It captured my attention within the first issue. Finger Guns is another comic series I enjoyed reading. I read through all five single issues quickly.
2020 Pop Culture Moments
Phoebe Waller-Bridge winning all the awards
QUARANTINE!
Celebrities & the “Imagine” video
President Trump advising people to drink.. bleach?
President Trump losing the election
Podcasts I Couldn’t Stop Listening To:
I Weigh hosted by Jameela Jamil
Ain’t Slayed Nobody
I didn’t listen to as many podcasts in 2020 versus 2019. Once I started working from home, I wasn’t listening to podcasts on my bus rides. I still listen to Not Another Dnd Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Science Rules, however, the podcasts listed above were podcasts I discovered in 2020.
Jameela Jamil’s I Weigh features Jameela interviewing various actors, activists and friends. At the end of every episode, she asks her guests “what do you weigh?” meaning what gives your life meaning other than the weight of your body. Jameela Jamil seems like a lovely human being.
Ain’t Slayed Nobody is a Call of Cthulhu roleplaying podcast. This podcast takes place in the 1800’s Wild West era in the United States. Each episode is well-edited, there’s a recap at the beginning of each episode, and the keeper does an excellent job telling the story. Ain’t Slayed Nobody releases their episodes once a month for their main campaign, but will often feature one-shots as well.
Catchiest Song in 2020
Conventions I Attended in 2020
I forgot I attended C2E2 this year. The convention was in February before COVID-19 hit. I debuted my Punisher cosplay. The cosplay is comfortable. The only change I would make is to wear my new black combat boots versus my workout shoes. At C2E2, they had the outfit Jon Berenthal was wearing on display. It was pretty cool to see.
Personal Memories
Top Three Memories of 2020:
Traverse City, Michigan (replacing canceled Seattle Trip)
I’m fortunate to still be employed throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. I have been working remotely since mid-March, and my company has extended working remotely until March 2021. Being quarantined, I have been able to save money since I’m not spending money on traveling, going out to eat, or at breweries. When payday approaches, I budget out a portion of my paycheck to donate back. I wanted to list my favorite nonprofits to donate to.
Before I launch into my favorite nonprofits, I wanted to make a statement. If you live paycheck to paycheck, I understand giving isn’t a possibility. In my first position out of college, I didn’t have much leftover to donate. I’m excited to be in a new position where I make enough and have money to give.
The Trevor Project
I have discussed The Trevor Projectmultiple times because it’s one of my favorite LGBTQIA+ nonprofits to give to. The Trevor Project helps young LGBTQIA+ individuals under the age of 25 by providing access to crisis intervention and suicide prevention. It breaks my heart how young LGBTQIA+ folks are abandoned by their families. Society has moved forward in some ways, but clearly not enough. The Trevor Project provides resources, education, and a hotline to call for assistance. I believe in The Trevor Project, so I try to give to them often.
Center for Reproductive Rights
I’m pro-choice. I believe anyone capable of getting pregnant deserves a choice in their reproductive health. I want reproductive rights to be protected. The Center for Reproductive Rights is trying to advance reproductive rights throughout the globe. Reproductive rights don’t mean abortion; they also mean the protection, accessibility, and affordability of birth control. This is a cause I’m passionate about because of how many people in our world are impacted by the lack of reproductive rights or healthcare.
Black Lives Matter
I’m based in Minneapolis, and while I’m passionate about my city, there needs to be change. Philandro Castile, George Floyd, and Jamar Clark are names to never be forgotten. I have white privilege in the sense that I have never feared the police. I believe in Black Lives Matterbecause of their work to bring awareness to this movement.
Feline Rescue Inc
Feline Rescue Inc. is where we rescued our kitty, Athena. I’m a cat person, and while there are so many cat people in this world, I believe cats are at a higher risk of abuse. Cats have a bad reputation based on outdated stereotypes. I could start crying if I think about all the mistreated cats in our world. I will continue to adopt cats for as long as I’m on this Earth. Feline Rescue Inc.is local to MN, but I encourage you to find your local animal shelter or cat shelter and give them some financial love.
Feeding America
There hasn’t been a COVID-19 financial relief since March, and many who are unemployed are struggling to afford food. Feeding Americaallows for monetary donations to be routed to a local food bank.
2020 has been awful. Donating to these charities gives me a sense of purpose. If you’re able to financially give, I encourage you to do so. If you’re living paycheck to paycheck, I hope that here in the United States, we get a financial COVID-19 relief package soon.
My pile of comics I wanted to review has been stacking up. Last weekend, I stopped by my local comic book store to refill my comics. It’s close to the end of the year which motivates me to read faster to meet my Goodreads goal. I have two paperbacks, and three individual comic issues to review. Per the title of this post, there is a Star Wars comic along with a paperback featuring dragons. I’m going to start with the trade paperbacks.
The Tea Dragon Society by Katie O’Neill
Tea Dragon Society Book Cover
The Tea Dragon Society was more of a picture book than a graphic novel. The Tea Dragon Society is a story about a mystical world where tea leaves are created by Tea Dragons. Each Tea Dragon creates a different tea leaf. Greta rescues a Tea Dragon from being maimed by a creature. She takes the Tea Dragon to Hesekiel, who runs the local tea shop outside of town. Hesekiel teaches Greta over the course of a year how to care for these Tea Dragons.
Look how cute the Rooibos and Chamomile dragons are!
The art is light and whimsical. Each part of the book tells Greta’s story throughout all four seasons. I thought the Winter art was beautiful. It showed Hesekiel’s cabin lightly dusted with snow, and snowflakes falling to the ground. The tea dragons themselves are adorable! In the back of The Tea Dragon Society, it shows the different breeds of tea dragons and how to care for them. The Rooibos Tea Dragon looks like a baby dinosaur, while the Chamomile Tea Dragon looks like a baby yellow bunny.
I loved this book. The Tea Dragons were adorable. I want to save this book for my future children to read to them. As mentioned, this is more of a picture book than a graphic novel; however, adults can enjoy this story as much as kids. I rated Tea Dragon Society five stars on Goodreads.
Snapdragon by Kat Leyh
There’s a rumor of a witch living on the outskirts of town. Snapdragon (goes by Snap) finds her lost dog on the witch’s property. Jacks is the witch whom Snap meets at the beginning of the graphic novel. Snap helps Jacks pick up roadkill, so Jacks can sell the put-together bones online. This fascinates Snap, and she becomes interested in the generic anatomy of woodland creatures. As Snap and Jacks build a friendship, Snap realizes Jacks may actually possess magical abilities, and Snap starts to become aware of the world around her.
Snap is a delightful main character. She’s proud of the person she is and has no shame. I like the scenes of Snap analyzing the animal bones because it introduces Snap to science. Snap’s best friend, Lu, is experimenting with their identity. There is a lot of LGBTQIA+ representation in this book, which is seen in Lu and other characters. I’m all for representation as I want to read diverse stories. Snapdragon is one such story.
Snapdragon is a quirky, fun tale about acceptance. I rated Snapdragon four stars on Goodreads.
Doctor Aphra Issue #2 Wong, Cresta, and Rosenberg
Doctor Aphra & her team are aboard their ship after the shootout from the last issue. Ronan Tagge contacts them, offering a deal; however, their team doesn’t take it. They fly to a new location in their search for the Rings of Vaale, and chaos ensues. I like Ronan Tagge as a villain. Any person who does business on Canto Bight is shady. In this issue, we find out more about Aphra’s past as she did business with Ronan. I thought this issue carried the story, and I’m interested in continuing to read the series. I rated Doctor Aphra issue #2 five stars on Goodreads.
Finger Guns follows two kids, Wes and Sadie. Wes is goofing around and points finger guns at random people. To his surprise, he can change the emotions of the recipients of his finger guns. Wes discovers Sadie can do this, too. They discuss what their power is and why it takes the form of finger guns. I like the concept of this series. I’m curious as to how this series will go. Is their power genetic? Is it completely random? I rated Finger Guns both issues four stars on Goodreads.
This was a much longer review post than I anticipated. Let me know what graphic novels or comics you have read recently.
I had high hopes for Marvel’s Avengers. As written in a previous post, superhero games can either be well-made or unplayable. From everything I had read regarding Marvel’s Avengers, I thought this game had potential. I didn’t buy the game immediately after it was released, which is something I usually never do. However, my fiancé brought it home for me one day since he knew I wanted to play it. Marvel’s Avengers is a mediocre and disappointing superhero game.
The game opens with a celebration titled A-Day. A-Day launched the new Avengers HQ in San Francisco along with a helicarrier powered by a Terrigen Crystal. The Avengers have pulled away from A-Day celebrations after an attack by Taskmaster. Unfortunately, the helicarrier is destroyed, leaving the surrounding citizens in San Francisco exposed to the Terrigen mist. The Avengers were blamed and forced to disband. Kamala Khan was exposed to the Terrigen mist during the ceremony and has been hiding her powers. Five years after A-Day, Kamala investigates “AIM,” the replacement for the Avengers, and discovers some incriminating evidence against them. She’s on the run to protect her family and bring the Avengers back together.
Marvel’s Avengers claims to be an Avengers game when really it’s centered around Kamala Khan, aka Ms. Marvel. I loved playing as Kamala. She’s a character I didn’t know much about, and her positivity helped bring back the Avengers. I believe the game wasn’t marketed as well as it could have been. The title of the game is Marvel’s Avengers, so I went into playing this game believing I would be playing an Avengers game. Kamala is on the cover, although most of the gameplay is her story. Besides Kamala, the Avengers sound like the characters they are supposed to represent. I thought the voice acting was spot on, and the way the characters were designed felt true to the comics.
In my opening paragraph, I stated how Marvel’s Avengers is a mediocre game. This game could have been so much better. I hated how I wasn’t able to switch heroes during a mission. The heroes have various abilities that allow them to collect resources. Resources are used to level up the Avengers. For example, if I played as the Hulk on a level, there might be a collectible to unlock as Black Widow, but since I can’t switch hero mid-mission, I’m not able to unlock this collectible. It’s annoying! I don’t understand why there couldn’t have been a button on the controller allowing me to switch between the heroes.
Let’s talk about the missions. There are the main campaign missions contributing to finishing the main story, along with side missions. I found the missions were repetitive. If I played a side mission on one map, it was often repeated in the campaign. It’s lazy to create missions as side quests only to replay them in the main campaign.
Finally, I disliked how the Avengers’ health worked. As an Avenger loses health, one of the few ways to regain health is to punch green boxes on the maps. This would allow an Avenger to heal. It seems odd that a god of Thunder doesn’t regenerate health; isn’t he a god? Doesn’t Captain America’s super-soldier serum allow him to regenerate automatically? The health system could have been designed better to be unique to the specific Avenger I was playing as.
Superhero video games are either fantastic or terrible; there doesn’t seem to be anything in between. Batman: Arkham Asylum is one of my all-time favorite video games. Rocksteady took the Batman universe and melded it into an enjoyable gaming experience. I’m playing through Marvel’s Avengers now, and while I’m having a fun time, it’s a flawed game. I was thinking the other day about which superheroes deserve the “Arkham Asylum” treatment, which led me to create this post.
X-Men: Open World or a Super Smash Bros Brawl
I could see the X-Men having one of two different game designs. An open-world X-Men game would be great. Having a story mode with plenty of side quests would allow you to unlock various members of the X-Men. Another intriguing game concept would be a “Super Smash Bros.” style game, playing as the X-Men. I think gamers would fight over who gets to play as Wolverine, but still, I think this concept could work.
The possibilities!! Photo taken by me.
The Defenders
The Defenders would be similar to Spider-Man in the sense that it would be an open-world game set in New York. I could imagine this game turning New York into a darker version similar to Gotham. It would feature stories allowing you to play as Daredevil, Luke Cage, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist. Additionally, let’s introduce Valkyrie (played by Tessa Thompson in the movies), Hellcat, and Silver Surfer. Can someone please make this??
Photo taken by me.
Birds of Prey
My ideal Birds of Prey would be an older Oracle being the head of the organization. Black Canary would be the main playable hero, with Helena Bertinelli on standby. I’m imagining Gail Simone’s Birds of Prey run was turned into a video game. The possibilities!
Sinister Six Meets GTA
Hear me out. The Sinister Six somehow get the upper hand, Spider-Manis supposedly killed, and New York is in chaos. Being able to rotate which Sinister Six character you play as while roaming around New York and blasting everything to bits. I could see halfway through that we learn Spider-Man is alive and works with the Avengers to reclaim New York.
I wish more game companies would take on superhero-based games. As mentioned in my opening paragraph, it can be a big undertaking to make a superhero game.Square Enix lost a lot of money making this game. I think if game companies are willing to put in the work of understanding these characters and creating a fun game, these games can be profitable. If you’re unsure, why don’t you ask Rocksteady?
Bizarre Brunette 