James’s Comments (group member since Jul 13, 2016)

James’s comments from the I Read Comic Books group.

Caught up/finished a bunch of new and old Shonen Jump titles:
One Piece
Black Clover
Chainsaw Man
My Hero Academia
One Punch Man
Dragonball
Kaiju No. 8
Dr. Stone
Promised Neverland
Demon Slayer

Now starting up:
Claymore
Tokyo Ghoul

been a while but I'm back to reading
Pluto v8 - amazing ending to an amazing series.
Dorohedoro v2 - batshit crazy manga, so much fun
No Longer Human by Junji Ito - I didn't know what to expect going into this book, but it was an adaptation of an autobiographical story. words can't describe how well done it was, so I'm just going to say please go read it.

I'm finally back and reading comics!

Witch Hat Atelier v1
Pluto v6-8
Golden Kamui v1

One Piece v26-61 - rereading for the new movie coming out on my bday :D
A Contract With God

Been binging manga on my phone, very easy to do with the new app. Should be able to finish Pluto and Shaman King this week thanks to my library!

Shaman King v6
Genshiken v2-3
Pluto v3-5
One Piece v1-25

The One Piece manga is such a treat, as a person who watched the series first. Oda has a q+a section in each chapter with goofy stuff but also very interesting extra info on characters. The first page of each chapter has a scene from something happening in the world that's unrelated to the current story, and these can have entire sub arcs within the story. Oda really is a master of his craft.

I'm excited to see others reading Megahex, I buy every book on release day!!

Whitney wrote: "I had to cram in a lot of books this week because they were about to be overdue at the library!

-Black Butler, vols. 19-26
-Princess Jellyfish (omnibus), vols. 1-5"

EVERYONE SHOULD READ PRINCESS JELLYFISH!! :) Its real good

Fire Force v1-5
Really good shonen, deals with some heavy issues while also being really action packed.
Ultimate Spiderman: Power and Responsiblity
Probably the first Spiderman book that I've read, enjoyed it and would love to check out a non-origin story book next.
Shaman King v3-5
Shaman King started a bit slow, as shonen are wont to do, but has picked up with Yoh's first powerup! Tournament arc impending, all I could ask from a manga.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Vol. 1-2
Another manga dealing with some very heavy issues, this series has a lot more heart than I typically from Jump titles. Our main character montages through his training in a few issues, always a good start.
Ice Cream Man v2
Very messed up stuff.
Fence v1
Exciting to learn about the sport of fencing, and starting with the tournament arc is always exciting.
Jem and the Holograms v1
Not for me, but I still an enjoyable read.
Heavy Vinyl
Reminds me very much of anime, very fun read.
The Massive v1
Some intense action despite being about environmentalists.
A Walk Through Hell v1
Almost certainly shooting up to my #1 pick of the year. Scary stuff
Immortal Hulk v2
This series definitely evokes positive Swamp Thing vibes, loving it more and more with each issue.
Promised Neverland v1-2
Pretty interesting take on a shonen, so far very psychological with the kids just trying to get a grasp of whats going on.
Hikaru no Go v1-3
Fantastic book, makes me wanna play some go

Shaman King v2-3
Delicious is Dungeon v1
Ice Cream Man v1
I Am a Hero Omnibus 5

Shaman King is still pretty generic shonen but its enjoyable enough. Kinda weird that the main character Yoh has a wife at age like 11?
Delicious is Dungeon is a delightful read. Getting more granular and logical with how would people deal with dungeons is very interesting to me.
Ice Cream Man is very unsettling and good. It gets the psychological part of horror down, and the mystery of wtf is goin on compels me to read further.
I Am a Hero continues to blow my mind. It feels like a very authentic version of what could happen in this type of zombie situation, despite how crazy that situation may be. Lots of twists and turns, and your attachment to the characters makes it all the more harrowing.

Uzumaki: Spiral into Horror, Vol. 1 by Junji Ito

20th Century Boys v1
Urasawa is great, this one is even more involved with lots of characters but its still fantastic. This one will likely be put on hold, as I don't like to read multiple books by the same author simultaneously. Weirdly, I am constantly juggling dozens of series I follow no problem, but always only 1 work per author.

Immortal Hulk v1
Paul finally rubbed off on me and I picked this up on a sale. Damn, Hulk is good now. I love the horror angle, and its totally transformed the character for me into something much more interesting. I hope that Cthulhu is behind the Green Door, but not holding my breath.

Cells at Work v1
Couldn't finish this volume. A very cool way to introduce someone to microbiology, something I studied in college, but the non-existent plot made it a chore to read. I hope others can enjoy it bc the concept is really awesome, just didn't have any real characters to latch on to.

Dragon Head v1
This is about a (possibly?) real event of a train crashing in Japan underground, both sides of the tunnel collapse and the children are trapped inside. This is pretty grisly stuff, I have the next couple volumes so we'll see how far I go with it.

Black Clover - all of it
Loved the series, and in my typical James fashion binged the whole damn thing in 2-3 days. Asta is probably my favorite protagonist right now. Even though he's a muscley idiot, the faces he makes crack me up, and his ridiculous "not giving up is my magic" thing is actually kinda inspiring for me, someone who struggles with depression. Now onto the next!!! (Dr Stone and Promising Neverland)

Barbarella v1
Black Clover v1-7
Pluto v1-2

Tried out Barbarella out of curiosity, was a pretty wild sexy ride. Enjoyed but will not continue.
Black Clover is a great shonen. This time around, "my magic is not giving up!" :D I was hesitant to start this series due to a kinda plodding first few episodes of the anime imo, but starting the manga I got hooked immediately, possibly cause I tend to binge through dozens of chapters at a time. Its magic knights, its shonen and I'm a sucker for it!
Pluto by Urasawa totally blew me away. I am not usually drawn to mystery stories, but he has this ability to throw characters at you and making you totally understand every step. I'm gonna binge through this series and then read Monster (another Urasawa book) right after.

Whitney wrote: "I tried to research why this is and found only one tweet (months ago) where Viz acknowledges it as an app bug. But I have the same problem on my desktop as well. Do you have this problem??

Unfortunately I've never had picture quality issues on desktop or the app :/ Might just be Canada.

Genshiken v1
20th Century Boys v1
Black Clover v1-5

Ya since Shonen Jump happened, I've only been reading manga.
Genshiken is a hilarious take on otaku culture in Japan, although I'd probably say its more targeted towards a male audience.
20th Century Boys is a book by the guy who did Monster, Naoki Urasawa. So far its pretty slice of lifey, but its quickly transitioning into a murder mystery.
I've come to the conclusion that I'm just a sucker for shonen. It really doesn't matter what the shonen is, the tropes get me super amped and excited about life. Not that this information should take away from the quality of Black Clover. It starts as a very standard kid with no powers, cares a lot about friendship, acquires powers, protects friends. The art is pretty great, and I love high magic settings. The action picks up quick, and I'm dying for more explanation on how the magic system works. Would recommend trying the manga out, I felt like the anime was a little slow? Just my opinion

Devon wrote: "James wrote: "

Some great selections! I give Fullmetal Alchemist the highest recommendation, its one of the best and a great intro point into manga.

Berserk v39
Nekogahara: Stray Cat Samurai v1
Shaman King v1
I Am A Hero v3

Berserk continues to be amazing, now I'm to the waiting part of the game and I'm very sad bc the next book will have a HUGE reveal. Every panel of this series inspires me to try drawing again.
Nekogahara is absolutely amazing. The art is very "sketchy" which I love, and the main cat is an absolute badass. (did I mention its about cats with swords?)
Shaman King is by Hiroyuki Takei, who also wrote Nekogahara. This is a pretty generic story about a kid who bonds with ghosts to help spirits pass to the afterlife. Yoh, the protag, is different from others bc he bonds using FRIENDSHIP instead of domination. Its kinda fun and I love learning about shamans, this book being loosely based on real shamanism.
I Am A Hero continues to blow away my expectations for a zombie story. Cannot recommend it enough.

Also really excited to see people reading Megahex! I buy every book that comes out, super big fan!

@Whitney - excited to see you reading One Piece! I love it deeply, and it steadily gets more awesome as you go. Took me a year but I binged through the whole thing, watched the anime up til the "halfway point" and read the rest in manga cause I couldn't wait haha

Berserk 31-38
This series has totally blown away my ideas of what is possible in comics. Without spoiling anything: Miura has a painstakingly detailed art style that really is unmatched. He deals with controversial topics with the proper amount of weight, creating deep and flawed characters, holding none of the graphic details back. If you want the definition of dark fantasy, this is the series for you. I'm sad that I'm almost caught up and will have yet another book that I'm waiting for more releases :(

Nekogahara: Stray Cat Samurai
This book is about a cat samurai who doesn't take shit from nobody, and the art is gorgeous. Now I'm getting Shaman King from my library bc this creator's art is so inspiring.

H.P. Lovecraft's the Hound and Other Stories (Gotou)
Great retelling of some classic Lovecraft tales. Would recommend to anybody looking to sink their teeth into some of the father of horror's best stories, without the (sometimes) racism!

The Hellbound Heart
Hellraiser was based on this book, and they were very similar. Gruesome cosmic horror, and a good short story to start off with. I'm looking forward to reading Books of Blood, also by Barker.

Berserk v14-29

This series just keeps getting better and better. Miura is a true master of form, intense detailing on everything in the panel. The story stomps on my heart but I'll always root for Guts. Im definitely recommending this for reading, with a strong trigger warning for just about every trigger there is.

PTSD Radio 2-6
Absolutely love the series. All the stories seem separate but end up tying together in surprising ways, and the creepy body horror is something lovely to see. Also includes a bit of a "true ghost story" at the end that might have inspired the series. I believe!!

A few people have mentioned this, but I dont think that I Am A Hero is available digitally. I did get my MI library to buy it so hopefully some of you can get that copy! Sorry peeps

One Piece ch800-931
Hunter x Hunter v31-34
My Hero Academia ch214
Berserk v13
Dr Stone v2
PTSD Radio v1

I am caught up on all the big shonen titles I read, and now Berserk is slowly trickling in through the library after the blizzard, woohoo! The new Shonen Jump app is amazing for the price.
Berserk is turning into a real masterpiece, one that I don't know that I'd recommend to read to almost anybody. Its difficult to put into words honestly, but I will never stop reading it.
PTSD Radio was a semi-random pickup I made a while ago, and wow did it surprise me. I would highly recommend this to fans of Junji Ito. Its a sort of anthology of short stories that are semi-connected. Its high strangeness and creepin in the uncanny valley, right where James Hahn is meant to dwell. Its also a little on sale, so naturally I bought every existing volume.

IRCB Podcast Team Recommendations:
[x] Mike - Tetris: The Games People Play
[x] Brian - Heavy Vinyl, Vol. 1
[x] Tia - Megahex
[ ] Kara - Plate Tectonics: An Illustrated Memoir
[x] Nick - The Massive, Vol. 1: Black Pacific
[ ] Paul - All The Answers
[x] Rene - Dr.STONE 1
[ ] Kait - A Contract With God and Other Tenement Stories
[x] Kate - Descender, Vol. 1: Tin Stars
[x] Zander - Fence Vol. 1

Goodread Folks Picks:
[x] Robert - Sex Criminals, Vol. 1: One Weird Trick
[x] Erin - Heathen Volume 1
[ ] Danny - Mech Cadet Yu, Vol. 1
[ ] Devon - Last Sons of America
[x] Aaron - A Walk Through Hell Volume 1
[x] 47Time - Kill or be Killed, Vol. 1
[ ] Francis - Judge Dredd: America
[x] Geoff - Lone Wolf and Cub, Vol. 1: The Assassin's Road
[ ] Jakub - Alone
[ ] Oneirosophos - Clara
[ ] Stephanie - Jem and the Holograms Vol. 1: Showtime
[x] Philip - Ultimate Spider-Man, Volume 1: Power and Responsibility
[ ] Craig - Judas
[x] James - I Am a Hero Omnibus, Volume 1
[x] Brittney - Rachel Rising, Volume 1: The Shadow of Death

Over the weekend, I read 95 chapters of One Piece, putting me at 805, almost caught up :D
I also read Farmhand v1 and am once again delighted by Roy Guillory and his whimsical and grotesque mind.