Superheroes and Comic Book Club discussion

Is anyone here on Netgalley? Would you be interested in discussing the comics and superhero fare you're reading from there? I'm in a Netgalley group and I can't decide if this topic is too specific for that group, or if I should start one here...

So, I started this post the other day, and it got wiped out - it was long, and I didn't want to start over. So, I'll try a few shorter posts!

First, some actual graphic novels...(the ones that Diamond has available, you don't even need to be approved for! They include Image, Top Cow, and some others)

The following are now archived, but I really, really liked them:
Death Vigil: Volume 1 (Image)
The Multiversity (DC)
The Story of My Tits
Bitch Planet, Vol 1: Extraordinary Machine (Image)
The Empty, Vol. 1 (Image)
Shaft Volume 1 (Dynamite)

I liked these, but they are still available:
The Stereotypical Freaks
Side-Kicked
Take It as a Compliment
The Cartoon Introduction to Climate Change
Blue Hand Mojo: Dust to Dust

It's quite an eclectic set. And some of them tackle some really important topics. Take it as a Compliment is about abuse. The Story of My Tits is about breast cancer. The Cartoon Introduction to Climate Change is kind of obvious.

Has anyone else read any of these? Are you reading any other graphic novels?

My only disappointment in the comics realm so far is that First Second Books won't approve me. They publish authors like Gene Luen Yang and Faith Erin Hicks. I've requested 4 books from them and have been declined on all 4 :(

But they've got book about comics and superheroes, too! (Perfect for this group!) I have all of these, but have only read a few :(

Fiction
More Than Comics (My first romance novel...and I actually liked it)
The Incredible Adventures of Cinnamon Girl
The First

Non-fiction
DC Super Heroes Origami: 46 Folding Projects for Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, and More!
Secret Teachings of a Comic Book Master: The Art of Alfredo Alcala
On the Origin of Superheroes: From the Big Bang to Action Comics No. 1
The Comic Book Film Adaptation: Exploring Modern Hollywood’s Leading Genre
On the Graphic Novel
Bending steel
Lois Lane: Cloudy With a Chance of Destruction
Ghosts and Girls of Fiction House!

It's a pretty good set of books!

I may try to start this discussion over in the Netgalley group!

Natalie, I was really impressed with the Image stuff.

I was really disappointed that it was better than the DC stuff!

Natalie I think that book is in 2 parts. It may have the whole thing on there, but you have to both parts. I'm not sure why they put it up there like that, but you'll notice there's a Part 1 and a Part 2 of the same volume. (Good news is that it's like a 2-for-1 - you download 2 different files, but you only have to do 1 review - since it's one item it makes sense to post the same review on NG for both of them...)

And Diamond has posted the Rat Queens Deluxe Edition, too! This is a fantastic comment, and there's a lot of extra stuff in this one, even from the TPBs.

I got approved for Detective and for Grayson today!

But keep in mind there's a lot of violence in Rat Queens!

Well...you still may not like Rat Queens, then :)

I haven't been keeping up with Detective, either. But I love Batman, so I thought the same as you - I'll just jump in here. I may try to get earlier issues to fill in the gaps.

I haven't been reading Grayson, but I just got volume 1 out of my library, so I'll be able to catch up on that before reading volume 2!

Natalie wrote: "I just finished Wonder Woman: Earth One Vol. 1 ; and it is shockingly coherent for Grant Morrison book. I got the approval last n..."

Dang it! I just got rejected for that one! Congrats! Glad it was good.

I did get approved for Prez, Vol. 1: Corndog in Chief and it was pretty damn good! I did the same - read it in one sitting because I really liked it.

Natalie wrote: "Diamond Book Distributors has added like 17 books since I last checked -- I saw a lot of books I wouldn't mind trying out.

Hey Jim, do you add all of the read it now books you are interested in t..."

Well, now, I get all the books I'm interested in. I was up to 83% with about 22 left on my reading list (a few fiction and several comics-related non-fiction), then I saw that huge list from Diamond the other day and requested about 14 :)

I don't know how it impacts the list. I now have 36 on the reading list :) But I'll drop that down in the low 20s in about a week or so working through the comics. That should get me up to the 80s again.

But the caveat to getting all the books I'm interested in, is that there's only one or two that pop up now that aren't comic books - out of the 14 I just requested, one was a book of superhero short stories, and that was the only prose work I picked up.

But I look every few days for (1) new comics, (2) new superhero stories, and (3) equality-related non-fiction. (Those last 2 are my longest list on to-read :) )

So far I've been rejected for all the superhero related thingies I've put in for on NetGalley except for one - a superhero prose novel I spotted last night, requested, and saw I was approved this morning.

I've no idea of the quality or anything like that, but it looked interesting, and the sample I read over on Amazon looked good. It's a self-published book.


Wonder City Stories by Jude McLaughlin

Description
"Megan Amazon's life was a disaster: terrifying stalker ex, weird celebrity mom, you really don't wanna know. She decided to run, run far, run fast, run… to Wonder City. Wonder City: where an eight-foot-tall woman could try to blend in and make a normal life in a city of superheroes and superzeroes. Where else could she meet up with a retired superhero with a brain-dead son and a daughter-in-law who could fall for Megan's new BFF Simon? Or almost accidentally kill a superhero noob like Nereid, who's just trying to pass her college classes and get into her supergroup, and really didn't intend to fall in love with her (provisional) teammate? Everyone has their secrets. For some people, like the Ultimate and the Fat Lady, secrets are their stock in trade, while others don't know half the secrets they're carrying around. Megan thought her own secrets would be safe as long as she kept one-night-standing her way through the local queer scene, but sooner or later, everything will come out. And everyone will come into their own, whether they want to or not. "

There's a good chance I'll read it next.