Thursday Morning Superhero

My Comic Con schedule is starting to come together.  I will once again be missing preview night to attend Hop Con and enjoy w00tstout 2.0.  The first annual Hop Con was one of the big highlights of last year and I am looking forward to drinking some tasty brews from our good friends at Stone.  In addition to Hop Con, I secured a ticket to Funko Fundays and have no idea what to expect.  It should be fun as Funko always has amazing exclusives and word was that this event last year was a blast.  With no Locke and Key or Fables panel, I am not sure what is in store in regards to actual comics (yes, there are things related to comics at Comic Con).  I am sure that there will some gem of a panel that will Bart my world.

Pick of the Week:
The United States of Murder Inc. #1 - The duo that brought us the magic that is Powers have teamed up again in this thrilling mob drama.  The entire northeast of the United States has been signed over to the mafia and divided into territories.  Valentine has just sworn the blood oath and join one of the most powerful organization in the territories and embarks on his first mission.  This mission takes him out of the territories for the first time in his life and he finds himself in D.C.  Things don't go according to plan and the twist at the end of the issue will leave most readers salivating for more.  Michael Avon Oeming's art is perfect in its portrayal of the seedy underbelly that is organized crime.  His style for action sequences fit the mysterious plot that Brian Michael Bendis is weaving.  This is a no brainer for fans of Powers, but even if you are not familiar with Powers (go pick up the trades!), this is a phenomenal start to what I hope is a long ongoing series.

The Rest:
Shutter #2 - With its stunning Wes Anderson inspired debut behind us, Shutter 2 goes full acid trip to set the scene for Kate and her predicament.  She finds herself in a shootout between rival anthropomorphic gangs.  The action is fast and furious and the art is simply stunning.  If you are looking for a book that is different and easy on the eyes, Shutter is a great option.  The big question at the center of the book thus far is why is everyone trying to protect Kate? What is this news about her siblings?  The mystery surrounding Kate and her past is the hook, the current state of her world is the eye candy.  The character design is some of the best I have seen in some time.  I am still on board with this one.


Stray Bullets: Killers #3 - Once again David Lapham delivers a stellar issue.  What I love about the Stray Bullets series is that each issue can be enjoyed on its own, but are enjoyed on a greater scale if you read the entire series.  Issue #3 focuses on why you shouldn't babysit for a gangster who is notorious for ripping people's fingers off.  Lapham's books feel too real and are uncomfortable to read, but are utterly compelling and I urge you to pick up this series.  Amazing use of the comic book medium.

The Walking Dead #127 - Quite a bit of time has passed between the conclusion of All Out War and the new arc.  Alexandria is a thriving community and the group has grown and become more efficient in steering zombies away from them and in raising their own food.  Things almost seem to good in this issue and I am sure that Mr. Kirkman plans on pulling the rug out from under Rick in the second issue in this arc.  I will say that is was nice to read a non-dramatic issue that sets the scene for a new direction for this series to take.  Looking forward to #128.

The Auteur #3 - Rick Spears is a demented individual.  His creation is one of the most bizarre and offensive things I have read and I can't get enough.  In the third issue of The Auteur, Nathan Rex learns why hiring a serial killer to spice up your horror flick may not be the best idea.  Packed with nudity, gore, nudity, and more gore, this issue should appeal to fans of vintage B cinema.  As I said with issue #2, I don't think I can recommend this series to anyone, but if you are not easily offended and want to read a genuinely entertaining series then this warrants your attention.

Superman: Doomed #1 - There have been some rumblings about why I should pick up this title and decided to buy a Superman comic for the first time since the launch of the New 52.  Very glad I did as the creative team behind this event have some exciting things in store.  Doomsday has returned, but he is bigger and stronger than before.  Each time he teleports to a new area, there is a massive loss of life and he is even bigger when he appears again.  The premise at the end of the issue is an intriguing one that may steer me to pick up the next issue of Action Comics.   Nice one-shot that is worth your $4.99.

POSTED BY MIKE N. -- comic guy, proudly raising nerdy kids, and Nerds of a Feather contributor since 2012.

Parsing the Math in Review Scores

We give scores for our reviews. We do it because it gives the reader something tangible to hold on to, and because it's fun. But it also presents a specific problem that I often struggle with--namely, how "universal" are our scores? Is an 8/10 always an 8/10, or are some worth more than others? Do our scores reflect some universal metric that can/should be applied to all books/films/games/comics equally, or are they inherently situational?

Take this comparison of book reviews: in June 2012 I gave Haruki Murakami's bloated spec/lit crossover 1Q84 a 6/10; in May 2013, I gave Doug Hulick's thrilling crime fantasy Among Thieves an 8/10. But is Among Thieves "better" than 1Q84?

 The reviews present no mystery as to which book I enjoyed more--1Q84 was, to me, a frustrating and disappointing read, whereas Among Thieves was memorable in all the ways you want genre fiction to be. I tell anyone who will listen to avoid wasting their time on 1Q84, while I frequently evangelize Among Thieves to those looking for quality fantasy.

At the same time, these books have fundamentally different ambitions. 1Q84 wants to be high-art, and despite its flaws, does achieve that from time to time. Among Thieves, by contrast, is aimed squarely at your entertainment sensors. I see a lot of value in that--I read a lot of entertainment fiction, and enjoy it when it does its job well. And the score I gave Among Thieves reflects the fact that it accomplishes what it sets out to accomplish to a very high degree.   

1Q84, simply put, does not. In fact, if I were to review the book again, I'd be inclined to drop the score down to a 5/10. So yes, 8/10 does still trump 6/10--regardless of situational differences. In other words, I'm still picking Among Thieves over 1Q84.

But what happens if I have to pick between a literary fiction 8/10 and an entertainment fiction 8/10?

Let's throw Marcel Theroux's horror/spec/literary/mystery mashup Strange Bodies into the mix. In March 2014, I gave it an 8/10--just like Among Thieves! Yet while Strange Bodies is also qute entertaining, Theroux's ambitions are primarily literary. The crucial difference with 1Q84, of course, is that Strange Bodies accomplishes what it sets out to accomplish. But is this 8/10 the same as the other?

In a word, no. Doug Hulick has written an immensely likable novel, but it simply isn't trying to accomplish the same things as Strange Bodies. Hulick's prose is strong, but Theroux's is poetic. And while Among Thieves is expertly plotted, Strange Bodies explores new territory for plotting. In the end, it's a bit like comparing a very nice apartment building to Calatrava's Turning Torso.

That's not a snooty dig at fantasy or other forms of entertainment-first literature. I really like Among Thieves, and suggest you go read it if you haven't already (especially now that the second volume is out). And I don't think literature has to have high-art ambitions to be successful or "good." In fact, I think Among Thieves and Strange Bodies are equally successful at what achieving what they set out to achieve, hence the identical scores. Besides, the Turning Torso is pretty cool to look at, but would you really want to live in it? I'd probably prefer the little blue one next to it. 

I guess what this all goes to show is that the scores we give do not reflect universality or situationality, per se, but rather a compromise between them. An 8/10 is an 8/10 until it's more or less than the other one. And I've come to terms with that.

Thursday Morning Superhero

Temperatures have finally picked up and San Diego Comic Con will be here before I know it.  There have been quite a few reveals about this year's con, but I am most excited to hear that there will be a Gravity Falls panel.  The show has a great super natural feel to it and isn't a terrible segue into this week's books.  Genres rise and fall within the medium of comic books and it appears that horror comics are trending upward currently.  This week features some incredible tales of horror and I didn't even get a chance to read the Wake

Pick of the Week:
The Sixth Gun #40 - Becky Montcrief never ceases to amaze me.  The arc of her character has been a joy to read and I love seeing how far she is from the young lady who was dealing with the death of her father when this series began.  Her actions in this issue set the tone for what hopes to be an epic conclusion to this masterpiece.  The situation for Drake and company has never seen so bleak.  Part of me wonders if Bunn has a sad ending to this story or if Ms. Montcrief can save the day.  I hate to admit it, but I don't think Drake is going to make it out alive.  He appears to be out of ideas, Jesup may be the most formidable foe that the crew has faced (thanks a lot Griselda), but I think Ms. Montcrief has seen the future and has a plan for how to keep Jesup from using the six.  At least I hope she does.

The Rest:
Nailbiter #1 - Welcome to Buckaroo, Oregon, home of 16 serial killers and a struggling tourism industry built on that fact.  Edward Chalres Warren, aka the Nailbiter, was acquitted of the atrocities he inflicted on many, and moved back home.  Detective Carroll, who arrested Warren, has returned to town to investigate a theory and reaches out to an old friend for help.  Finch, a man at the end of his own rope, reluctantly agrees and learn that there is more than a coincidence to the fact that 16 serial killers all hail from the same town.  I am really digging the premise and the art is as horrifying as it is stunning.  If the book can live up to its premise and what it establishes in issue 1, this will be a series that you won't want to miss.

The Woods #1 - Horror comics seem to be all the rage this week and The Woods does a nice job of putting a new twist on the genre.  An explosion rocks a high school and is transported to an alien world (or a moon as pointed out by Benjamin).  The teachers and principal urge everyone to remain in the school, but Adrian recognizes a sign from the alien beings.  In addition to the interesting plot, the characters appear to have more depth than your cookie cutter variety and the issue is filled with some genuine laughs to mix in with the terror and mystery.

Bad Blood #5 - The conclusion to this vampire poisoning tale somewhat let me down this week.  While I still enjoyed it, I felt that more questions needed to be addressed.  It was hard to top the big reveal from the last issue, and the twist in the conclusion did not have the same impact.  The series is still worth your time and if you haven't read it I would encourage you to either pick up the back issues or check out the trade if it is ever collected.  Nice take on a tired genre and worth your time and energy.

Original Sin #1 - While not horror per say, the new Marvel event is a murder mystery full of intrigue.  The Watcher has been murdered and had his eyes swiped.  Whoever is behind this evil plot seeks to open the Watcher's eyes and use them to his or her own benefit.  There is an assembly of superheroes and a classic whodunit plot.  I was hyped up about this series after the Marvel panel at C2E2 and this issue did not disappoint.  Definitely does not feel like the usual Marvel event.

POSTED BY MIKE N. -- comic guy, proudly raising nerdy kids, and Nerds of a Feather contributor since 2012.

50s Sci-Fi: The Industrial Animations of John Sutherland

I love me some 50's sci-fi, and for lots of reasons. One of them is the retro-futurism we're able to enjoy from our perch almost 70 years into the actual future. It's a telling window into the zeitgeist of the day to see how people envisioned what the world of their future might look like. Another attraction is the sort of present-at- the- creation feeling we can get from seeing stories made during the early years of the atomic age, when the dangers and limitations were not fully comprehended, and notions of everything in somebody's house or workplace one day running on its own nuclear generator abounded. Particularly good for this kind of thing are the X Minus One radio shows I wrote about awhile back.

While not what you'd strictly call narrative sci-fi, the industrial animated films of John Sutherland Productions combine science, as it was understood in the 1950s, visions of the possible futures certain technologies could bring our way, and odd Jetsons-like juxtapositions of 1950s social and domestic norms onto visions of the future where Mars, for instance, is developing peacekeeping bombs. Here's one about automobile safety produced for the Automobile Manufacturer's Association in 1956:



In addition to the retro-futurism and everything else, these animated films also all feature the signature 1950s character design and modernism, which came out of a rebellion against the center-line school of animation that had been the standard thanks to the success of Disney, Warner Bros., and other prominent animation houses. What you see in the work of the John Sutherland company is the same kind of styling and inventiveness you'd find in the UPA cartoons of the era, from Gerald McBoing-Boing and Mr. Magoo to John Hubley's The Tell-Tale Heart. The story is that the corporate sponsors didn't much care what the things looked like, as long as they got the message across, which left the animations a ton of room to experiment in ways that were creatively compelling.



If you watched that, we can all agree it's a little terrifying, right? Maybe the reason we don't have those flying cars yet it because we spent a whole decade narrowly dodging nuclear bullets?

There is a whole treasure trove of these videos on YouTube, many converted from the wonderful Prelinger Archive by the YouTube user Films of the Public Domain. Check them out and explore, because they cover a range of topics and are almost uniformly noteworthy in one way or another, although it's a shame we can't see them with the pristine colors and resolution with which they were created. I will leave you with this one, Rhapsody of Steel, which was scored by Dimitri Tiomkin, a legendary Hollywood composer and one of Hitchcock's go-to choices.



Posted by Vance K -- Cult film aficionado, unapologetic lover of terrible movies, and Nerds of a Feather contributor since 2012.

Microreview [book]: Malice, by John Gwynne

Gwynne, John. Malice. Orbit, 2012.

 Buy it here.

The Meat

When this book makes it big—and it certainly deserves to do so—people will be jumping all over themselves to make comparisons to George R.R. Martin, the current king of gritty fantasy (just as everyone used to compare everything to Tolkien, the doyen of high fantasy). As a comparison, it's not entirely without merit: it's plenty grim, with distinct echoes of Red Wedding-esque betrayal in particular, and plenty of great game politics, with only a limited deployment of magic. But what Gwynne has accomplished is both less and more than the Song of Ice and Fire.

First of all, the scale—while impressively detailed—is noticeably smaller, and feels more manageable than the grand epic drama of Westeros (let alone the rest of Martin's wide world), with their huge armies and titanic clashes. If Martin speaks of tens of thousands (or more), Gwynne limits himself to thousands—and usually far fewer. In Gwynne's world of exiles decimated by an ancient catastrophe, humans have only started to dominate the land recently, and while the warrior arts are important to every man's life, each also seems to have a trade: the 'armies' of this world are not professional soldiers but a kind of clannish militia.

This should not be thought of as a weakness of the book, not by any means. Combat in Malice takes place on a human scale, where it is still possible to believe that individuals, perhaps even those without any great martial skill, can affect the course of a battle. This is so because a culture of honor—but not chivalry per se, at least not of the Arthurian kind, the knights and ladies and foppery of high medieval romances—pervades life in the world of Malice, and as such, combat is still largely a series of duels, almost Homeric in its cadences (though thankfully without Homer going on and on about Achilleus's shield in book sixteen!).

Gwynne's work is also more than the rather limiting knee-jerk comparison to Martin might suggest. For one thing, he is to be commended for crafting such a powerful mythology for this small-enough-to-be-comprehensible world, and keeping a tight focus on the moral drama at the heart of the prophecy regarding the Zoroastrian struggle set to commence between the nice god and his human avatar, Bright Star (the good guy, who the attentive reader will correctly ID almost immediately) and the bad god and his own avatar, the Black Sun (not such a good guy). Rather than "malice" itself, I would say the one catalyst provoking much of the more horrid events in the book is jealousy, which, combined with an honor culture in which any sort of slight could lead to vicious duels (or any success to great rewards), is a potent motivator indeed. One hopes Gwynne wasn't drawing on personal experience to paint such a vivid picture of the sort of childhood feuds that festered, in this honor-based society, into full-blown murder plots!

(For any foolish romantics who still long for a return to the glorious days of the past, back when men were men and any problem could be solved by sticking it with your sword until it stopped talking, you should read Steven Pinker's book Better Angels on the astonishing reduction in violence over the course of human history, and how the last holdouts opposing this growing aversion to violence were honor-based cultures.)

 
Naturally, some aspects of the book could be better. Stylistically, Gwynne's prose, and dialogue, is somewhat uneven, with his strongest passages tending to be the least dialogue-heavy; still, he does manage occasional flashes of true brilliance (the chapter describing Corban eventually selecting a name for his horse was especially memorable). And some aspects of the story he's begun to weave together here are formulaic enough to be predictable, and predictable enough to be, essentially, quite melodramatic dramatic irony; sometimes a good-hearted character keeps following at the beck and call of a(n obviously) black-hearted traitor for an unbearably long time. But lest we judge too harshly, remember this: Malice is Gwynne's first book, and as such is an astonishingly forceful tour (I've sworn off French expressions while writing under my nom de plume of Zhaoyun—haha!).

When you look at this guy, is your first thought "Gosh, I hope I can protect this gentle soul from the bad guys impugning his good name! I'll bet he likes to pet bunnies, too!" If so, you're like more than a few good-hearted characters in Malice, devoted to guys who are obviously sworn to their world's equivalent to Satan!

The Math

Baseline assessment: 7/10

Bonuses: +1 for consciously limiting the scale of his world, +1 for the intriguing mix of realpolitik, magic lite, and various animal and other factions (giants, wolven, draigs, wyrms, etc.), +1 for the scintillating story of how Corban came to name his steed

Penalties: -1 for not managing that same scintillating brilliance throughout the book (especially with the sometimes stilted dialogue), -1 for making who is good and who is bad so obvious (despite their little glamours!) that it amounts to dramatic irony/difficulty in suspending disbelief that good-hearted people would continue to serve these monsters

Nerd coefficient: 8/10 "Well worth your time and attention"

Don't be fooled by this score, which probably seems low to readers used to other sites and their endless lists of 10/10; here at Nerds of a Feather, an 8 is quite rare!

Micro review PART 2 [book]: The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy of The Year, Vol 8 , edited by Jonathan Strahan

Last week I began reviewing the first few of the 28 stories in this absorbing anthology, and ended things positively, having been enjoyably wrong-footed and often moved by the editor's selection. The next few tales, taking us into the centre of the book, would I hoped, however, enter more traditional sci-fi and fantasy territory, whilst, with some familiar names in the line-up, achieving a continuation of the excellent quality... Oh dear.

Neil Gaiman, probably the most familiar of all, begins things confidentially and indeed traditionally, with his take on the Grimms' Sleeping Beauty, after having contributed to the excellent Fearie Tales collection of last year. He adds a heroic Snow White to the mix, travelling with her loyal dwarfs to a neighbouring kingdom to solve the plague of eternal sleep that is spreading towards her people. Some wonderful moments follow, first with the Disney-recalling 'Hi-ho'-esque journey through a tunnel beneath the mountains, then entering the land of the dormant, with many creepily chanting Beauty's story from their slumber, and some even enacting a zombie-style chase of Snow'n'co. The revisionist twists are fun and the ending smart and refreshing. 

Next however, I found disappointment and uncertainty. Cave and Julia by M. John Harrison is, to me, a confounding fog cloud of a story. I found myself admiring some of his descriptive prose - 'Now the lamp swung above their table, moving the shadows of their wineglasses regularly but uncomfortably across the tablecloth, Iike the umbrae and prenumbrae of planets' - but fuming elsewhere at his staccato sentences, particularly of dialogue, that lept from non-sequittor to non-sequittor. Some of the dialogue between the two characters struck me as downright laughable, but I was confused by the clear confidence and tight focus of some of Harrison's choices. After a while I was conflicted as to whether to chuck the book across the room in frustration (I didn't, as it was on my phone), or to start reading again, worried I was too ignorant to 'get it'. In brief, the 'plot' is initially compelling - Cave travels to a foreign coastal town and meets Julia, forming a long friendship that is haunted by a mystery of her childhood. Yet the subsequent waiting to discover more about the mystery was a frustrating and fruitless experience. Grinding my way through their depressive chats drained my soul of patience before the ending left me, like a child standing before a dropped ice cream cone, tearful with disappointment.

On top of that, I once again found myself perplexed as to the reasoning behind Strahan's picks. Not sci-fi, not fantasy. Hints of Neolithic magic, but tiny hints that perhaps I even superimposed in anticipation. And, most of all, no excitement. Thank beetlejuice for the next choice! M. Bennardo's The Herons of Mer D'Ouest is superb, frankly. Told in the form of 1764 diary entries, it charts the discovery by an early American pioneer of a local tribe and the monsters that they fight. The hero is given a brief yet profound backstory of grief and poverty, which adds a truth to his solitary and borderline suicidal actions, and a warmth to his eventual friendship with one of the local natives. The haunting imagery of the monsters (I won't spoil but the title is pretty telling) is wonderful, and the resulting violence outlandish and yet believable. 

Finally taking us back to the future (hands up who has Huey Lewis in their head now?), Water by Ramez Naam is one of the ones most articles on this book refer to, but despite finding it pleasing enough, it wasn't a stand-out for me. From what the intro says of his novels, this was a continuation on their themes of brain-hacking. Simon is an exec in a bustling city who oversees his firms advertising. The twist is that by now humans have been fitted with retina displayers that provide us with data in return for a constant barrage of advertising directly into our brain. The titular substance cries out to us from bottles that set their temperature to what they scan to be our preference, window mannequins flick to mirror our idealised selves, and tourist companies tempt us with a sensory explosion of how it would feel to be on the beach. In this landscape of invasive corporate control, an old friend hacks Simon's internal IT and precipitates a revolution. It's very Dick, it's very fun, and it's a great futurist urban follow on from Bennado's bleak rural past. 

Ted Chiang plays with expectations, mine at least, with his The Truth of Fact, The Truth of Feeling. Mirroring Naam's idea of technology becoming more intertwined with our bodies, he imagines a near-future where Remem creates a product that allows users to search and rewatch moments from their past. This is nothing new to fiction (and reminded me particularly of the excellent Charlie Brooker tv drama The Entire History of You) but Chiang makes a clever move of framing his story as an article by a  journalist who is cynical of this new tech. At first this approach was a bit distracting, although that might be his purpose - I soon caught myself questioning some of 'factual' things in the 'article', before remembering this is fiction. The area that armed my suspicions was the story the journalist interdisperses his piece with - an account of an African boy's discovery of the written word with a Christian missionary, and how writing things down affects his community's relationship with truth. What at first seemed like random snippets from another story soon became integral to the journalist's argument on memory, personal bias and evidence. Very interesting and engaging, Chiang's work makes me love the subject of writing itself - more please. 

Two fairy tales, or folk tales, follow. The first by a Dutchman set in Thailand, the second by a Mississip...pian(?) set in Japan. First, Thomas Olde Heuvelt took my mind back to where I was lucky to go last year- northern Thailand. In a village near Chiang Mai, at some point, I assumed, in the past, we find a boy being violently drowned, and then 'flash back' (as the author slightly obviously states) to see how he came to meet his fate. Despite my parathesised criticism there, Heuvelt marvelled me with his wordplay, interweaving adult and childlike elements and rustic humour with a bold spiritualism, in reverence to the faith of the land he depicts. Little jokes like a footnote translating each character's nickname and brief humorous digressions to the mating behavior of dragonflies or the mosiac hobby of a monk litter and enliven his story, and whilst again it didn't at all fit with the spaceship-fest I was still hoping for, it was very fine indeed.

No spaceships either in Cherry Blossoms on the River of Souls by Richard Parks, but no loss to his lovely piece, which took my mind to the world of Hayao Miziyaki's animated fables. He charts little Hiroshi's journey down a dark well in his Japanese village that plays a haunting song only he can hear. Encountering an elusive monk and a devilish old lady, before facing monsters and finally the truth behind the song, Hiroshi's quest is entirely charming and often witty. I found nothing especially new in its imagery or ideas - it felt familiar and  perhaps is a homage to Japanese folk tales- yet that doesn't mean I found in it anything but superb storytelling; it fully convinced and Parks is a fine writer. 

So I end this segment entertained yet again a little disappointed. No space battles. No robots. No apocalypse. No goblins or ghost-Vikings. What do you people want?! Who doesn't like a ghost-Viking?! But some very good short stories again, although with less pure brilliance than some of the first few, and one clear failure...

...All of which brings the current average down to 7/10.

Written by English Scribbler.

Happy Free Comic Book Day

Happy Free Comic Book Day from us at Nerds of a Feather.  It is hard to believe that the first Saturday in May is upon us and nerds across the country are lining up to get piles of free comics.  If you are looking for a store near you that is participating than you can use this handy dandy locator by clicking here.  Most stores have a limit to how many books you can pick up so be sure to bring the whole family and make plans to attend multiple events.  A lot of time stores run other promotions so be sure to get their early and plan on having loads of fun.  I thought it would be fun to highlight five books that I hope to pick up at my LCS.

Archaia Hardcover Anthology from Boom! Studios - You read that correctly. Archaia is once again breaking out a hardcover anthology for Free Comic Book Day.  This anthology will contain stories from the Mouse Guard, Labyrinth, Rust, and others.  I still read mine from a few years back with my kids and can't wait to pick this up.

Teen Titans Go #1 Special Edition from DC - If you think there is a theme with the books that excite me you are correct.  One of the things that is great about being a nerdy parent is reading comics with your kids.  Teen Titans Go has been a series that I enjoy as much as my kids.  This is a must get in our family and we will venture to multiple stores to make it happen.

Valiant Universe Handbook from Valiant Entertainment - Valiant has had quite a year.  It is quickly becoming my favorite of the smaller publishers and the good folk there have recruited some amazing talent.  This handy book will give you the run down of the 2014 Valiant Universe so you know which titles you should check out.

Hip Hop Family Tree Two-in-one from Fantagraphics - Ed Piskor has published five volumes in this series and they never disappoint.  On Free Comic Book Day you can scoop this two-in-one and read two self-contained stories from the first two volumes in the series.  Good stuff.

Rocket Raccoon from Marvel - Rocket Raccoon is an intriguing character that I will admit I know little about.  I have been reading some Guardians of the Galaxy in preperation of the film, but would like to know more.  This is a self-contained, new story that pits the fiesty hero in a battle against the cosmos.

POSTED BY MIKE N. -- comic guy, proudly raising nerdy kids, and Nerds of a Feather contributor since 2012.